Severe flooding and cause-specific hospitalisation among older adults in the USA: a retrospective matched cohort analysis.

Background: Floods are the most common climate-related disaster; yet previous studies have investigated the impact of floods on only a few health outcomes in narrow spatiotemporal settings. We aimed to assess the association between severe flood exposure and cause-specific hospitalisation rates in adults older than 65 years in the contiguous USA.

Methods: In this retrospective matched cohort analysis, we obtained inpatient claims data from Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries older than 65 years living in the contiguous USA from Jan 1, 2000, to Dec 31, 2016.

Association between Long-term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution and Myocardial Fibrosis Assessed with Cardiac MRI.

Background Poor air quality is associated with cardiovascular morbidity. However, the underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms are unclear. Purpose To determine the relationship between long-term exposure to ambient fine particulate matter with 2.

Residential greenness and diabetes incidence in two prospective cohorts of US women.

Background: Epidemiologic studies have associated higher neighborhood greenness with lower type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk. However, more work is needed to assess interrelationships between greenness, T2D risk factors, and T2D. Our aim was to prospectively evaluate the association between greenness and T2D incidence, and investigate effect modifiers, in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and Nurses' Health Study II (NHSII) cohorts of US women.

A Bayesian spatial measurement error approach to incorporate heterogeneous population-at-risk uncertainty in estimating small-area opioid mortality rates.

Monitoring small-area geographical population trends in opioid mortality has significant implications for informing preventative resource allocation. A common approach to estimating small-area opioid mortality uses a standard disease mapping method where population-at-risk estimates (denominators) are treated as fixed. This assumption ignores the uncertainty in small-area population estimates, potentially biasing risk estimates and underestimating their uncertainties.

Guideline-based physical activity and health-related quality of life among prostate cancer survivors: a target trial emulation in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.

Prostate cancer and its treatment can impact health-related quality of life. Evidence for physical activity strategies sustained over long periods to improve quality of life is limited. Given the limited feasibility of a randomized trial to answer this question, we emulated a target trial of physical activity strategies based on current clinical guidelines and 6-year quality of life using observational data from 1,549 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study diagnosed with nonmetastatic prostate cancer between 2004-2016.

The effect of air pollution exposure on menstrual cycle health using self-reported data from a mobile health app: a prospective, observational study.

Background: Toxicological evidence suggests that ambient air pollution has endocrine-disrupting properties that can affect menstrual cycle functioning, which represents an important marker of women's reproductive health. We aimed to estimate the effect of short-term and long-term PM exposure on menstrual cycle outcomes across the USA, Brazil, and Mexico using self-reported data from a mobile health app.

Methods: For this prospective observational study, we collected de-identified self-reported data from the Clue mobile health app, in which users self-tracked menstruation cycles.

Long-Term Exposure to Air Pollution and Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes in the Nurses' Health Study and Nurses' Health Study II.

Background: Research has detected associations between air pollution exposure and type 2 diabetes (T2DM), but findings from large cohort studies are needed to ascertain the most influential pollutants, susceptible subpopulations, and low-level exposure associations. Our aim was to prospectively evaluate the association between long-term exposure to fine particulate matter in aerodynamic diameter () and nitrogen dioxide () and T2DM incidence in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and Nurses' Health Study II (NHSII) cohorts of US women.

Methods: Monthly and exposures were predicted from spatiotemporal models and linked to participants' residential addresses.

Wildfire Smoke Exposure and Cause-Specific Hospitalization in Older Adults.

Importance: The escalating intensity of wildfires in the western US is increasing exposure to smoke pollution. Previous studies of wildfire smoke and health have primarily focused on mortality and respiratory and cardiovascular events, with limited research on broader health impacts or on the shape of concentration-response curves.

Objective: To characterize the associations between exposure to smoke-specific fine particulate matter (PM2.

Large floods drive changes in cause-specific mortality in the United States.

Flooding greatly endangers public health and is an urgent concern as rapid population growth in flood-prone regions and more extreme weather events will increase the number of people at risk. However, an exhaustive analysis of mortality following floods has not been conducted. Here we used 35.

Increased Emergency Department Medical Imaging: Association with Short-Term Exposures to Ambient Heat and Particulate Air Pollution.

Background Climate change adversely affects human health, resulting in higher demand for health care services. However, the impact of climate-related environmental exposures on medical imaging utilization is currently unknown. Purpose To determine associations of short-term exposures to ambient heat and particulate air pollution with utilization of emergency department medical imaging.

Gerrymandering and the Packing and Cracking of Medical Uninsurance Rates in the United States.

Context: Technological innovation and access to big data have allowed partisan gerrymandering to increase dramatically in recent redistricting cycles.

Objective: To understand whether and how partisan gerrymandering, including "packing" and "cracking" (ie, respectively concentrating within or dividing specified social groups across political boundaries), distorts understanding of public health need when health statistics are calculated for congressional districts (CDs).

Design: Cross-sectional study using 2020 CDs and nonpartisan simulated districts.

Neighborhood greenness and long-term physical and psychosocial quality of life among prostate cancer survivors in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.

Introduction: Neighborhood greenness may benefit long-term prostate cancer survivorship by promoting physical activity and social integration, and reducing stress and exposure to air pollution, noise, and extreme temperatures. We examined associations of neighborhood greenness and long-term physical and psychosocial quality of life in prostate cancer survivors in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.

Methods: We included 1437 individuals diagnosed with non-metastatic prostate cancer between 2008 and 2016 across the United States.

Social integration and long-term physical and psychosocial quality of life among prostate cancer survivors in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.

Purpose: Prostate cancer survivors may benefit from a supportive social environment. We investigated associations of social integration and long-term physical and psychosocial quality of life among prostate cancer survivors who were participants in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.

Methods: We included 1,428 individuals diagnosed with non-metastatic prostate cancer between 2008 and 2016.

Long-term exposure to air pollution, greenness and temperature and survival after a nonfatal myocardial infarction.

Background: Little is known about the impact of environmental exposures on mortality risk after a myocardial infarction (MI).

Objective: The goal of this study was to evaluate associations of long-term temperature, air pollution and greenness exposures with mortality among survivors of an MI.

Methods: We used data from the US-based Nurses' Health Study to construct an open cohort of survivors of a nonfatal MI 1990-2017.

Quantifying Multipollutant Health Impacts Using the Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program-Community Edition (BenMAP-CE): A Case Study in Atlanta, Georgia.

Background: Air pollution risk assessments do not generally quantify health impacts using multipollutant risk estimates, but instead use results from single-pollutant or copollutant models. Multipollutant epidemiological models account for pollutant interactions and joint effects but can be computationally complex and data intensive. Risk estimates from multipollutant studies are therefore challenging to implement in the quantification of health impacts.

1965 US Voting Rights Act Impact on Black and Black Versus White Infant Death Rates in Jim Crow States, 1959-1980 and 2017-2021.

To investigate the impact of the US Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 on Black and Black versus White infant deaths in Jim Crow states. Using data from 1959 to 1980 and 2017 to 2021, we applied difference-in-differences methods to quantify differential pre-post VRA changes in infant deaths in VRA-exposed versus unexposed counties, controlling for population size and social, economic, and health system characteristics. VRA-exposed counties, identified by Section 4, were subject to government interventions to remove existing racist voter suppression policies.

Air Pollution and Temperature: a Systematic Review of Ubiquitous Environmental Exposures and Sudden Cardiac Death.

Purpose Of Review: Environmental exposures have been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular mortality and acute coronary events, but their relationship with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) and sudden cardiac death (SCD) remains unclear. SCD is an important contributor to the global burden of cardiovascular disease worldwide.

Recent Findings: Current literature suggests a relationship between environmental exposures and cardiovascular disease, but their relationship with OHCA/SCD remains unclear.

Associations between air pollution, residential greenness, and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in three prospective cohorts of U.S. adults.

Background: While studies suggest impacts of individual environmental exposures on type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk, mechanisms remain poorly characterized. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) is a biomarker of glycemia and diagnostic criterion for prediabetes and T2D. We explored associations between multiple environmental exposures and HbA1c in non-diabetic adults.

Impacts of census differential privacy for small-area disease mapping to monitor health inequities.

The U.S. Census Bureau will implement a modernized privacy-preserving disclosure avoidance system (DAS), which includes application of differential privacy, on publicly released 2020 census data.

Association between Outdoor Light at Night and Prostate Cancer in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.

Background: Circadian disruption is a potential risk factor for advanced prostate cancer, and light at night (LAN) exposure may disrupt circadian rhythms. We evaluated whether outdoor LAN increases the risk of prostate cancer.

Methods: We prospectively followed 49,148 participants in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study from 1986 through 2016.

Air Pollution and Cardiovascular and Thromboembolic Events in Older Adults With High-Risk Conditions.

Little epidemiologic research has focused on pollution-related risks in medically vulnerable or marginalized groups. Using a nationwide 50% random sample of 2008-2016 Medicare Part D-eligible fee-for-service participants in the United States, we identified a cohort with high-risk conditions for cardiovascular and thromboembolic events (CTEs) and linked individuals with seasonal average zip-code-level concentrations of fine particulate matter (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm (PM2.

Air Pollution and Mortality at the Intersection of Race and Social Class.

Background: Black Americans are exposed to higher annual levels of air pollution containing fine particulate matter (particles with an aerodynamic diameter of ≤2.5 μm [PM]) than White Americans and may be more susceptible to its health effects. Low-income Americans may also be more susceptible to PM pollution than high-income Americans.

Mobile Source Benzene Regulations and Risk of Childhood and Young Adult Hematologic Cancers in Alaska: A Quasi-experimental Study.

Background: We aimed to evaluate the impact of the EPA's Mobile Source Air Toxics rules (MSAT), which targeted benzene emissions, on childhood and young adult leukemia and lymphoma incidence in Alaska.

Methods: MSAT was implemented in 2011 and produced a dramatic decline in ambient benzene in Alaska. Due to previous benzene-related regulations enacted in the continental United States, MSAT had relatively modest impacts in other states.