Building Towards Common Psychosocial Measures in U.S. Cohort Studies: A Qualitative Assessment of Principal Investigators’ Views regarding the Role of Spirituality in Human Health

Abstract Background. The goal of this study was to understand prospective cohort Principal Investigators’ (PIs’) attitudes regarding the importance of religion and spirituality (R/S) on disease etiology in order to identify barriers and opportunities for greater inclusion of these domains in high-quality epidemiological research.Methods. One-hour, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 PIs representing 24 National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded prospective cohort studies in the US, collectively capturing health data on 1 in 100 Americans. Sample size was calculated to achieve thematic saturation.Results. The majority of PIs we interviewed saw R/S as a potentially important area to investigate to better understand disease etiology, but some were unsure about the mechanisms through which R/S can impact health and how to translate this knowledge into public health interventions. PIs identified 5 key areas that are lacking in current R/S research that need to be addressed in future research to convince them of collecting more R/S measures in their cohorts: (1) high-quality, prospective studies; (2) examining a plausible biological mechanism; (3) commonly collected, well-validated R/S measures; (4) addressing bias against R/S research; and (5) NIH funding for R/S research.Conclusions. Results of this study provide a roadmap for future R/S research investigating the impact of R/S on disease etiology in the context of U.S. prospective cohort studies. Such research could provide potentially important information concerning how to address existing health disparities in the U.S.

Building Towards Common Psychosocial Measures in U.S. Cohort Studies: Principal Investigators’ Views Regarding the Role of Religiosity and Spirituality in Human Health

10.21203/rs.3.rs-15662/v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Alexandra E. Shields ◽

Tracy Balboni

Keyword(s):

Cohort Studies ◽

Prospective Cohort ◽

Qualitative Interviews ◽

Religion And Spirituality ◽

Minority Communities ◽

High Quality ◽

Disease Etiology ◽

Principal Investigators ◽

Abstract Background. The goal of this study was to understand prospective cohort Principal Investigators’ (PIs’) attitudes regarding the importance of religion and spirituality (R/S) on disease etiology in order to identify barriers and opportunities for greater inclusion of these domains in high-quality epidemiological research. Methods. One-hour, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 PIs, who represent 24 different National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded prospective cohort studies in the U.S. Collectively, these PIs collect detailed health data on approximately 1.25 of every 100 adult Americans. Sample size was calculated to achieve thematic saturation. Results. The majority of PIs we interviewed viewed R/S as potentially important factors influencing disease etiology, particularly among minority communities that report higher levels of R/S. Yet nearly all PIs interviewed felt there was not yet a compelling body of evidence elucidating R/S influences on health, and the potential mechanisms through which R/S may be operating to affect health outcomes. PIs identified 5 key areas that would need to be addressed before they would be persuaded to collect more R/S measures in their cohorts: (1) high-quality, prospective studies that include all appropriate covariates; (2) studies that posit a plausible biological mechanism; (3) well-validated R/S measures, collected in common across multiple cohorts; (4) the need to address bias against R/S research; and (5) NIH funding for R/S research. Conclusions. Results of this study provide a roadmap for future R/S research investigating the impact of R/S influences on disease etiology within the context of U.S. prospective cohort studies. Identifying significant R/S influences on health could inform novel interventions to improve population health. Given the higher levels of religiosity/spirituality among minority communities, R/S research may also provide a new leverage points for reducing health disparities.

A Roadmap for conducting psychosocial research in epidemiological studies: perspectives of cohort study principal investigators

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-037235 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. e037235

Author(s):

M Austin Argentieri ◽

Bobak Seddighzadeh ◽

Sarah Noveroske Philbrick ◽

Tracy Balboni ◽

Alexandra Shields

Keyword(s):

Cohort Studies ◽

Psychosocial Factors ◽

Prospective Cohort ◽

Qualitative Interviews ◽

Research Area ◽

Theory Approach ◽

High Quality ◽

Principal Investigators ◽

Disease Aetiology

BackgroundPsychosocial adversity disproportionately affects racial/ethnic and socioeconomic minorities in the USA, and therefore understanding the mechanisms through which psychosocial stress and resilience influence human health can provide meaningful insights into addressing US health disparities. Despite this promise, psychosocial factors are infrequently and unsystematically collected in the US prospective cohort studies.MethodsWe sought to understand prospective cohort principal investigators’ (PIs’) attitudes regarding the importance of psychosocial influences on disease aetiology, in order to identify barriers and opportunities for greater inclusion of these domains in high-quality epidemiological research. One-hour, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 PIs representing 24 US prospective cohort studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), collectively capturing health data on 1.25 of every 100 American adults. A hypothesis-free, grounded theory approach was used to analyse and interpret interview data.ResultsMost cohort PIs view psychosocial factors as an important research area to further our understanding of disease aetiology and agree that this research will be crucial for future public health innovations. Virtually all PIs emphasised that future psychosocial research will need to elucidate biological and behavioural mechanisms in order to be taken seriously by the epidemiological community more broadly. A lack of pertinent funding mechanisms and a lack of consensus on optimal scales and measures of psychosocial factors were identified as additional barriers to advancing psychosocial research.ConclusionsOur interviews emphasised the need for: (1) high-quality, longitudinal studies that investigate biological mechanisms and pathways through which psychosocial factors influence health, (2) effort among epidemiological cohorts to broaden and harmonise the measures they use across cohorts, to facilitate replication of results and (3) the need for targeted funding opportunities from NIH and other grant-making institutions to study these domains.

Cardiovascular Mortality after Venous Thromboembolism: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies

Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis ◽

10.1055/s-0041-1733923 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Steve Raoul Noumegni ◽

Thomas Grangereau ◽

Arzu Demir ◽

Luc Bressollette ◽

Francis Couturaud ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Venous Thromboembolism ◽

Cardiovascular Diseases ◽

General Population ◽

Cohort Studies ◽

Incidence Rate ◽

Prospective Cohort ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Cardiovascular Death ◽

AbstractMany studies from current literature show that cardiovascular diseases in patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE) are more frequent than in the general population without VTE. However, data summarizing the impact of cardiovascular diseases on mortality of patients with VTE are lacking. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we aimed to determine the frequency and incidence rate of cardiovascular death in patients with VTE. MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched from January 1, 2000 to February 28, 2021. Eligible studies were observational prospective cohort studies including patients with VTE and reporting all causes of death. Cardiovascular death was defined as deaths that result from new or recurrent pulmonary embolism, death due to acute myocardial infarction, sudden cardiac death or heart failure, death due to stroke, death due to cardiovascular procedures or hemorrhage, death due to ruptured aortic aneurysm or aortic dissection and death due to other cardiovascular causes. Random-effect models meta-analysis served to determine all pooled effect size of interest with their 95% confidence interval (CI). Thirteen observational studies enrolling 22,251 patients were identified and included. The mean/median age varied between 49 and 75 years. The proportion of men ranged from 38.3 to 53.2%. The overall pooled frequency of cardiovascular death in patients with VTE was 3.9% (95% CI: 2.5–5.6%), while the overall pooled frequency of all-cause mortality was 12.0% (95% CI: 9.1–15.4%). The pooled proportion of cardiovascular death among all causes of deaths in patients with VTE was 35.2% (95% CI: 22.2–49.3%). The pooled incidence rate of cardiovascular death was 1.92 per 100 patient-years (95% CI: 0–4.1). The frequency of cardiovascular death in patients with VTE was significantly higher than in patients without VTE (risk ratio: 3.85, 95% CI: 2.75–5.39). Based on this updated meta-analysis from 13 prospective cohort studies, cardiovascular death in patients with VTE is more frequent than in the general population without VTE.

The impact of confounder selection in propensity scores when applied to prospective cohort studies in pregnancy

Reproductive Toxicology ◽

10.1016/j.reprotox.2018.04.003 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 78 ◽

pp. 75-80 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ronghui Xu ◽

Jue Hou ◽

Christina D. Chambers

Keyword(s):

Cohort Studies ◽

Prospective Cohort ◽

Propensity Scores ◽

Confounder Selection ◽

The Impact ◽

In Pregnancy

Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) Exposure in Early Life Increases Risk of Childhood Adiposity: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph15102070 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 15 (10) ◽

pp. 2070 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Pingping Liu ◽

Fang Yang ◽

Yongbo Wang ◽

Zhanpeng Yuan

Keyword(s):

Cohort Studies ◽

Prospective Cohort ◽

Early Life ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Perfluorooctanoic Acid ◽

Analysis Model ◽

Childhood Adiposity ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Some articles have examined perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) exposure in early life in relation to risk of childhood adiposity. Nevertheless, the results from epidemiological studies exploring the associations remain inconsistent and contradictory. We thus conducted an analysis of data currently available to examine the association between PFOA exposure in early life and risk of childhood adiposity. The PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases were searched to identify studies that examined the impact of PFOA exposure in early life on childhood adiposity. A random-effects meta-analysis model was used to pool the statistical estimates. We identified ten prospective cohort studies comprising 6076 participants with PFOA exposure. The overall effect size (relative risk or odds ratio) for childhood overweight was 1.25 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04, 1.50; I2 = 40.5%). In addition, exposure to PFOA in early life increased the z-score of childhood body mass index (β = 0.10, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.17; I2 = 27.9%). Accordingly, exposure to PFOA in early life is associated with an increased risk for childhood adiposity. Further research is needed to verify these findings and to shed light on the molecular mechanism of PFOA in adiposity.

Timing and Outcomes of Intracranial Stenting in the Post-SAMMPRIS Era: A Systematic Review

Frontiers in Neurology ◽

10.3389/fneur.2021.637632 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Yanying Yu ◽

Tao Wang ◽

Kun Yang ◽

Xiao Zhang ◽

Simon Chun Ho Yu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cohort Studies ◽

Randomized Controlled Trials ◽

Prospective Cohort ◽

Death Rate ◽

Controlled Trials ◽

Intracranial Stenting ◽

Safety And Efficacy ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Objective: To investigate the impact of timing on the safety and efficacy of stenting for ICAS, we reviewed high-volume randomized controlled trials or prospective cohort studies of stenting for intracranial atherosclerotic artery stenosis (ICAS) after the SAMMPRIS trial.Methods: We included randomized controlled trials or prospective cohort studies since 2011 (the publication of the SAMMPRIS trial), evaluating the outcomes of intracranial stenting for ICAS patients. The primary outcomes were perioperative and 1-year stroke or death rate. The interaction of timing and outcomes were shown on trend plots. Overall meta-analysis and subgroup analysis by timing of intracranial stenting were conducted.Results: Fourteen studies with a total of 1,950 patients were included. The perioperative and post-operative stroke or death rates decreased with the time of stenting to the qualifying events. The perioperative stroke rate was significantly higher in patients treated within 21 days after the qualifying events, compared to those beyond 21 days (IRR = 1.60, 95%CI: 1.10–2.33; p = 0.014), similar relationships were obtained for both post-procedural (IRR = 1.61, 95%CI: 1.02–2.55; p = 0.042) and 1-year (IRR = 1.51, 95%CI: 1.10–2.08; p = 0.012) stroke or death rate.Conclusions: The timing of intracranial stenting may influence the safety and efficacy outcomes of stenting. Intracranial stenting within 21 days from the qualifying events may confer a higher risk of stroke or death. More studies are needed to confirm the impact of timing and the proper cut-off value.

A Pilot Study to Assess Stool Sample Collection Methods for Gut Microbiome Research in Large Prospective Cohort Studies (FS07-01-19)

Current Developments in Nutrition ◽

10.1093/cdn/nzz036.fs07-01-19 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

Author(s):

Caroline Um ◽

Cari Lichtman ◽

Victoria Stevens ◽

Susan Gapstur ◽

Alpa Patel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Cohort Studies ◽

Ambient Temperature ◽

Gut Microbiome ◽

Prospective Cohort ◽

Disease Etiology ◽

Fresh Frozen ◽

Stool Samples ◽

Risk Of Cancer

Abstract Objectives Colonic microbiota can be modified by diet and other environmental exposures that are associated with risk of cancer and other diseases. In addition, the stool metabolome represents products formed by gut microbial utilization of foods, nutrients, and other compounds. The collection of stool samples for analyses of the microbiome and metabolome in prospective cohort studies may lead to a better understanding of diet and other factors in disease etiology. Most studies of the gut microbiome and metabolome have been small clinical studies and relied on the collection of stool samples that were quickly flash-frozen and stored with no preservative. However, this method of collection is not feasible in large epidemiologic studies in which participants would self-collect and ship samples to a central repository. Other methods may preclude metabolomic analyses or result in a limited amount of stool. Methods We designed a pilot study to inform stool collection procedures for participants enrolled in a nationwide prospective cohort study. In this pilot study, stool samples will be collected by 10 volunteers who will aliquot their sample into: 1) OMNIgene Gut collection kit, 2) 95% ethanol collection kit, (3) Fecal Occult Blood Test cards, and (4) a vial for fresh-frozen sample with no solution (i.e., the gold standard in this analysis). Fresh-frozen samples will be shipped overnight on dry ice to a central biorepository. The remaining samples will be: 1) shipped overnight on cold packs; 2) shipped overnight at ambient temperature; 3) shipped overnight after 4 days at ambient temperature; and 4) shipped overnight at ambient temperature, followed by 4-day incubation at 50 °C to mimic maximum shipment temperature. The reproducibility, stability, and accuracy of 16S sequencing and metabolomics in stool will be compared among the collection kits, and shipping and storage conditions. Results Initial results are anticipated by June 2019. Conclusions The findings of this pilot study will inform future stool collection among Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3) participants, which, when analyzed with food frequency questionnaire data, will broaden our understanding of the role of diet in cancer risk. Funding Sources The American Cancer Society funds the creation, maintenance, and updating of CPS-3.

The Impact of Dairy Products in the Development of Type 2 Diabetes: Where Does the Evidence Stand in 2019?

Advances in Nutrition ◽

10.1093/advances/nmz050 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 1066-1075 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Jing Guo ◽

D Ian Givens ◽

Arne Astrup ◽

Stephan J L Bakker ◽

Gijs H Goossens ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Type 2 Diabetes ◽

Fatty Acids ◽

Cohort Studies ◽

Prospective Cohort ◽

Dairy Products ◽

The Public ◽

Dairy Consumption ◽

ABSTRACTThe prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) has increased rapidly. Adopting a heathy diet is suggested as one of the effective behaviors to prevent or delay onset of T2D. Dairy consumption has been recommended as part of a healthy diet, but there remains uncertainty in both the scientific community and the public about the effect of different dairy products on T2D risk. In a recent workshop, the evidence on dairy products and T2D risk was presented and discussed by a group of experts. The main conclusions from the workshop are presented in this position paper and are as follows. 1) Available evidence from large prospective cohort studies and limited randomized controlled trials (RCTs) suggests that total dairy consumption has a neutral or moderately beneficial effect on T2D risk. 2) Increasing evidence from prospective cohort studies indicates that yogurt is most strongly associated with a lower T2D risk, but evidence from RCTs is scarce. 3) Fatty acids from dairy (medium-chain, odd, and very long-chain SFAs as well as trans-palmitoleic acid) are associated with lower T2D risk and improved metabolic health, but more research is needed on studies that explore cause and effect relations to exclude the possibility that the dairy fatty acids simply serve as markers of overall dairy consumption. 4) The food matrix can be a stronger determinant of health effects than SFA content. This review further identifies research gaps in the existing knowledge and highlights key research questions that need to be addressed to better understand the impact of dairy consumption on future T2D risk.