Religion and Death in the United States: A Meta-Regression Comparative Assessment of Between-County Mortality Heterogeneity in the United States

Religion can have a favorable impact on individual-level health. The influence of religion on population health, however, remains less clear. This study investigated the association between religion and mortality at the population-level. Using county data, a meta-regression was performed to examine between-county mortality heterogeneity. The percent heterogeneity associated with religion variables were compared to demographics (i.e., place, race, language, age, and gender) and health factors (i.e., individual behaviors, clinical care, social and economic, and physical environment) as predictors of mortality. Religion was measured in terms of adherence (i.e., prevalence attending/belonging to a congregation), congregation density, and the diversity of adherents and congregation by denominations. Results showed counties with lower mortality were associated with higher proportions of religion adherents and a greater diversity of adherents and congregations. Counties with higher mortality were associated with higher religion congregation density. Religion, as a parsimonious multivariate model with all demographic and health factor predictors, had less added value when controlled for individual variables or constructs. The direction of association between religion and mortality was consistent, even when controlling for demographics and health factors, and thus merits further consideration as a population health determinant, as it may play a critical role in understanding other population health outcomes.

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Race in the Biomedical Sciences

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190236953.013.40 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Michael Root

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Population Level ◽

The United States ◽

Morbidity And Mortality ◽

Diagnosis And Treatment ◽

Biomedical Sciences ◽

Racial Categories ◽

Individual Level ◽

The Individual

Racial categories are used in the biomedical sciences both at the population and individual level. At the population level, race is used in fields like epidemiology, to describe and explain variations in the rate or risk of morbidity and mortality within the United States, and at the individual level, race is used in the hospital and clinic, in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Both uses are controversial and raise questions about the nature and importance of racial categories, such as which uses benefit individuals and which benefit groups.

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In search of opportunity and community: Internal migration of refugees in the United States

Science Advances ◽

10.1126/sciadv.abb0295 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (32) ◽

pp. eabb0295

Author(s):

Nadwa Mossaad ◽

Jeremy Ferwerda ◽

Duncan Lawrence ◽

Jeremy Weinstein ◽

Jens Hainmueller

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Population Level ◽

The United States ◽

Retention Rates ◽

State Governments ◽

Individual Level ◽

Welfare Benefits ◽

Level Data ◽

Immigrant And Refugee ◽

National Networks

At a time of heightened anxiety surrounding immigration, state governments have increasingly sought to manage immigrant and refugee flows. Yet the factors that influence where immigrants choose to settle after arrival remain unclear. We bring evidence to this question by analyzing population-level data for refugees resettled within the United States. Unlike other immigrants, refugees are assigned to initial locations across the country but are free to relocate and select another residence after arrival. Drawing on individual-level administrative data for adult refugees resettled between 2000 and 2014 (N = 447,747), we examine the relative desirability of locations by examining how retention rates and patterns of secondary migration differ across states. We find no discernible evidence that refugees’ locational choices are strongly influenced by state partisanship or the generosity of welfare benefits. Instead, we find that refugees prioritize locations with employment opportunities and existing co-national networks.

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Comparison of Health Behaviour Mortality Hazards in Canada and the United States

International Journal for Population Data Science ◽

10.23889/ijpds.v3i4.791 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 3 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Stacey Fisher ◽

Carol Bennett ◽

Deirdre Hennessy ◽

Philippe Fines ◽

Mahsa Jessri ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

United States ◽

Population Health ◽

Health Survey ◽

Health Behaviour ◽

Health Surveys ◽

The United States ◽

Individual Level ◽

Diet And Physical Activity

IntroductionNational health surveys, available in over 100 countries, are the most common data used for health behaviour surveillance and are increasingly being linked to individual-level health outcomes. We propose that improved health behaviour hazard estimates can be obtained from pooled international population health surveys linked to outcome data. Objectives and ApproachThe objective of this study was to compare smoking, alcohol, diet and physical activity all-cause mortality hazards in Canada and the United States using individual-level, linked population health survey data and common model specifications. The Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) (2003-2007) and the United States National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) (2000, 2005) linked to individual-level mortality outcomes with follow up to December 31, 2011 were used. Variable definitions consistent across the CCHS and NHIS were developed and used to estimate country-specific mortality hazards with sex-specific Cox proportional hazard models, including health behaviours, sociodemographic indicators and proximal factors including disease history. ResultsA total of 296,407 respondents and 1,813,884 million person-years of follow-up from the CCHS and 62,226 respondents and 497,909 person-years from the NHIS were included. Hazards of smoking, alcohol consumption, diet and physical activity in Canada and the United States are of similar magnitude and direction, with similar dose response relationships. The largest health behaviour mortality hazards were associated with female heavy smokers in both Canada (HR: 3.36, 95% CI: 2.86, 3.95) and the United States (Female HR: 2.63, 95% CI: 2.11, 3.27), compared to non-smokers. Conclusion/ImplicationsHealth behaviour mortality hazards are comparable in Canada and the United States, supporting the use of hazards obtained from pooled analyses for population heath. These hazards can replace those obtained from independent epidemiology studies that are often incompletely adjusted, rarely population-based and often not generalizable to the population of interest.

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Context shapes early diversity in abstract thought

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1818365116 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 116 (28) ◽

pp. 13891-13896 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Alexandra Carstensen ◽

Jing Zhang ◽

Gail D. Heyman ◽

Genyue Fu ◽

Kang Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Developmental Trajectories ◽

Critical Role ◽

Population Level ◽

The United States ◽

Developmental Trajectory ◽

Relational Reasoning ◽

The Two Cultures ◽

Context Shapes ◽

Object Features

Early abstract reasoning has typically been characterized by a “relational shift,” in which children initially focus on object features but increasingly come to interpret similarity in terms of structured relations. An alternative possibility is that this shift reflects a learned bias, rather than a typical waypoint along a universal developmental trajectory. If so, consistent differences in the focus on objects or relations in a child’s learning environment could create distinct patterns of relational reasoning, influencing the type of hypotheses that are privileged and applied. Specifically, children in the United States may be subject to culture-specific influences that bias their reasoning toward objects, to the detriment of relations. In experiment 1, we examine relational reasoning in a population with less object-centric experience—3-y-olds in China—and find no evidence of the failures observed in the United States at the same age. A second experiment with younger and older toddlers in China (18 to 30 mo and 30 to 36 mo) establishes distinct developmental trajectories of relational reasoning across the two cultures, showing a linear trajectory in China, in contrast to the U-shaped trajectory that has been previously reported in the United States. In a third experiment, Chinese 3-y-olds exhibit a bias toward relational solutions in an ambiguous context, while those in the United States prefer object-based solutions. Together, these findings establish population-level differences in relational bias that predict the developmental trajectory of relational reasoning, challenging the generality of an initial object focus and suggesting a critical role for experience.

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Proportion of Individuals With Past-Year Suicidal Ideation Who Attempted Suicide Over the Past 10 Years in the United States, and the Influence of Age and Sex

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910/a000690 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-5

Author(s):

Shannon Lange ◽

Courtney Bagge ◽

Charlotte Probst ◽

Jürgen Rehm

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Suicidal Ideation ◽

Random Effects ◽

Attempted Suicide ◽

Suicide Attempts ◽

The United States ◽

Individual Level ◽

The Past ◽

Meta Analyses ◽

Age Category

Abstract. Background: In recent years, the rate of death by suicide has been increasing disproportionately among females and young adults in the United States. Presumably this trend has been mirrored by the proportion of individuals with suicidal ideation who attempted suicide. Aim: We aimed to investigate whether the proportion of individuals in the United States with suicidal ideation who attempted suicide differed by age and/or sex, and whether this proportion has increased over time. Method: Individual-level data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 2008–2017, were used to estimate the year-, age category-, and sex-specific proportion of individuals with past-year suicidal ideation who attempted suicide. We then determined whether this proportion differed by age category, sex, and across years using random-effects meta-regression. Overall, age category- and sex-specific proportions across survey years were estimated using random-effects meta-analyses. Results: Although the proportion was found to be significantly higher among females and those aged 18–25 years, it had not significantly increased over the past 10 years. Limitations: Data were self-reported and restricted to past-year suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. Conclusion: The increase in the death by suicide rate in the United States over the past 10 years was not mirrored by the proportion of individuals with past-year suicidal ideation who attempted suicide during this period.

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Building America

10.1093/oso/9780190696450.001.0001 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Jean H. Baker

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Early Republic ◽

Critical Role ◽

Water System ◽

The United States ◽

Primary Sources ◽

Early American ◽

Transatlantic Exchange ◽

The Us ◽

Private Homes

Building America: The Life of Benjamin Henry Latrobe is a biography of America’s first professionally trained architect and engineer. Born in 1764, Latrobe was raised in Moravian communities in England and Germany. His parents expected him to follow his father and brother into the ministry, but he rebelled against the church. Moved to London, he studied architecture and engineering. In 1795 he emigrated to the United States and became part of the period’s Transatlantic Exchange. Latrobe soon was famous for his neoclassical architecture, designing important buildings, including the US Capitol and Baltimore Basilica as well as private homes. Carpenters and millwrights who built structures more cheaply and less permanently than Latrobe challenged his efforts to establish architecture as a profession. Rarely during his twenty-five years in the United States was he financially secure, and when he was, he speculated on risky ventures that lost money. He declared bankruptcy in 1817 and moved to New Orleans, the sixth American city that he lived in, hoping to recoup his finances by installing a municipal water system. He died there of yellow fever in 1820. The themes that emerge in this biography are the critical role Latrobe played in the culture of the early republic through his buildings and his genius in neoclassical design. Like the nation’s political founders, Latrobe was committed to creating an exceptional nation, expressed in his case by buildings and internal improvements. Additionally, given the extensive primary sources available for this biography, an examination of his life reveals early American attitudes toward class, family, and religion.

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Dual MD–MPH Degree Students in the United States: Moving the Medical Workforce Toward Population Health

Public Health Reports ◽

10.1177/0033354920978422 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 003335492097842

Author(s):

Jo Marie Reilly ◽

Christine M. Plepys ◽

Michael R. Cousineau

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

United States ◽

Population Health ◽

Health Care Policy ◽

The United States ◽

Extensive Literature ◽

Master Of Public Health ◽

Telephone Interviews ◽

Public Health Training ◽

The Impact

Objective A growing need exists to train physicians in population health to meet the increasing need and demand for physicians with leadership, health data management/metrics, and epidemiology skills to better serve the health of the community. This study examines current trends in students pursuing a dual doctor of medicine (MD)–master of public health (MPH) degree (MD–MPH) in the United States. Methods We conducted an extensive literature review of existing MD–MPH databases to determine characteristics (eg, sex, race/ethnicity, MPH area of study) of this student cohort in 2019. We examined a trend in the MD community to pursue an MPH career, adding additional public health and health care policy training to the MD workforce. We conducted targeted telephone interviews with 20 admissions personnel and faculty at schools offering MD–MPH degrees in the United States with the highest number of matriculants and graduates. Interviews focused on curricula trends in medical schools that offer an MD–MPH degree. Results No literature describes the US MD–MPH cohort, and available MD–MPH databases are limited and incomplete. We found a 434% increase in the number of students pursuing an MD–MPH degree from 2010 to 2018. The rate of growth was greater than the increase in either the number of medical students (16%) or the number of MPH students (65%) alone. Moreover, MD–MPH students as a percentage of total MPH students more than tripled, from 1.1% in 2010 to 3.6% in 2018. Conclusions As more MD students pursue public health training, the impact of an MPH degree on medical school curricula, MD–MPH graduates, and MD–MPH career pursuits should be studied using accurate and comprehensive databases.

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Patterns of dental antibiotic prescribing in 2017: Australia, England, United States, and British Columbia (Canada)

Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology ◽

10.1017/ice.2021.87 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Wendy Thompson ◽

Leanne Teoh ◽

Colin C. Hubbard ◽

Fawziah Marra ◽

David M. Patrick ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

British Columbia ◽

Broad Spectrum ◽

Antibiotic Prescription ◽

Population Level ◽

The United States ◽

Antibiotic Prescribing ◽

Prescribing Behavior ◽

The Us ◽

Amoxicillin Clavulanic Acid

Abstract Objective: Our objective was to compare patterns of dental antibiotic prescribing in Australia, England, and North America (United States and British Columbia, Canada). Design: Population-level analysis of antibiotic prescription. Setting: Outpatient prescribing by dentists in 2017. Participants: Patients receiving an antibiotic dispensed by an outpatient pharmacy. Methods: Prescription-based rates adjusted by population were compared overall and by antibiotic class. Contingency tables assessed differences in the proportion of antibiotic class by country. Results: In 2017, dentists in the United States had the highest antibiotic prescribing rate per 1,000 population and Australia had the lowest rate. The penicillin class, particularly amoxicillin, was the most frequently prescribed for all countries. The second most common agents prescribed were clindamycin in the United States and British Columbia (Canada) and metronidazole in Australia and England. Broad-spectrum agents, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, and azithromycin were the highest in Australia and the United States, respectively. Conclusion: Extreme differences exist in antibiotics prescribed by dentists in Australia, England, the United States, and British Columbia. The United States had twice the antibiotic prescription rate of Australia and the most frequently prescribed antibiotic in the US was clindamycin. Significant opportunities exist for the global dental community to update their prescribing behavior relating to second-line agents for penicillin allergic patients and to contribute to international efforts addressing antibiotic resistance. Patient safety improvements will result from optimizing dental antibiotic prescribing, especially for antibiotics associated with resistance (broad-spectrum agents) or C. difficile (clindamycin). Dental antibiotic stewardship programs are urgently needed worldwide.

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Is Distance to Drop Box an Appropriate Proxy for Drop Box Treatment? A Case Study of Washington State

American Politics Research ◽

10.1177/1532673x211022192 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1532673X2110221

Author(s):

Loren Collingwood ◽

Benjamin Gonzalez O’Brien

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Voter Turnout ◽

The United States ◽

Washington State ◽

Individual Level ◽

Primary 52 ◽

The One ◽

Vote By Mail

In the United States, drop box mail-in voting has increased, particularly in the all vote by mail (VBM) states of Washington, Colorado, Utah, and Oregon. To assess if drop boxes improve voter turnout, research proxies box treatment by voters’ residence distance to nearest drop box. However, no research has tested the assumption that voters use drop boxes nearest their residence more so than they do other drop boxes. Using individual-level voter data from a 2020 Washington State election, we show that voters are more likely to use the nearest drop box to their residence relative to other drop boxes. In Washington’s 2020 August primary, 52% of drop box voters in our data used their nearest drop box. Moreover, those who either (1) vote by mail, or (2) used a different drop box from the one closest to their residence live further away from their closest drop box. Implications are discussed.

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Blood Pressure Trajectories Across the Life Course

American Journal of Hypertension ◽

10.1093/ajh/hpab009 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 34 (3) ◽

pp. 234-241

Author(s):

Norrina B Allen ◽

Sadiya S Khan

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Measurement Errors ◽

Clinical Care ◽

Population Level ◽

Cumulative Exposure ◽

Older Adulthood ◽

Individual Level ◽

The Life Course ◽

Level Group ◽

Improve Health

Abstract High blood pressure (BP) is a strong modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Longitudinal BP patterns themselves may reflect the burden of risk and vascular damage due to prolonged cumulative exposure to high BP levels. Current studies have begun to characterize BP patterns as a trajectory over an individual’s lifetime. These BP trajectories take into account the absolute BP levels as well as the slope of BP changes throughout the lifetime thus incorporating longitudinal BP patterns into a single metric. Methodologic issues that need to be considered when examining BP trajectories include individual-level vs. population-level group-based modeling, use of distinct but complementary BP metrics (systolic, diastolic, mean arterial, mid, and pulse pressure), and potential for measurement errors related to varied settings, devices, and number of readings utilized. There appear to be very specific developmental periods during which divergent BP trajectories may emerge, specifically adolescence, the pregnancy period, and older adulthood. Lifetime BP trajectories are impacted by both individual-level and community-level factors and have been associated with incident hypertension, multimorbidity (CVD, renal disease, cognitive impairment), and overall life expectancy. Key unanswered questions remain around the additive predictive value of BP trajectories, intergenerational contributions to BP patterns (in utero BP exposure), and potential genetic drivers of BP patterns. The next phase in understanding BP trajectories needs to focus on how best to incorporate this knowledge into clinical care to reduce the burden of hypertensive-related outcomes and improve health equity.

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