Last data update: Sep 16, 2024. (Total: 47680 publications since 2009)
Records 1-4 (of 4 Records) |
Query Trace: Shenassa ED [original query] |
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Income inequality and U.S. Children's secondhand smoke exposure: Distinct associations by race-ethnicity
Shenassa ED , Rossen LM , Cohen J , Morello-Frosch R , Payne-Sturges DC . Nicotine Tob Res 2016 19 (11) 1292-1299 INTRODUCTION: Prior studies have found considerable racial and ethnic disparities in second-hand smoke exposure. Although a number of individual-level determinants of this disparity have been identified, contextual determinants of racial and ethnic disparities in second-hand smoke exposure remain unexamined. The objective of this study was to examine disparities in serum cotinine in relation to area-level income inequality among 14,649 children from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). METHODS: We fit log-normal regression models to examine disparities in serum cotinine in relation to Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) level income inequality among 14,649 non-smoking children aged 3-15 from the NHANES (1999-2012). RESULT: Non-Hispanic black children had significantly lower serum cotinine than non-Hispanic white children (-0.26; 95% CI: -0.38, -0.15) in low income inequality areas, but this difference was attenuated in areas with high income inequality (0.01; 95% CI: -0.16, 0.18). Serum cotinine declined for non-Hispanic white and Mexican American children with increasing income inequality. Serum cotinine did not change as a function of the level of income inequality among non-Hispanic black children. CONCLUSIONS: We have found evidence of differential associations between SHS exposure and income inequality by race and ethnicity. Further examination of environments which engender SHS exposure among children across various racial/ethnic subgroups can foster a better understanding of how area-level income inequality relates to health outcomes such as levels of SHS exposure and how those associations differ by race/ethnicity. IMPLICATIONS: In the US, the association between children's risk of secondhand smoke exposure and income inequality is modified by race/ethnicity in a manner that is inconsistent with theories of income inequality. In overall analysis this association appears to be as predicted by theory. However, race-specific analyses reveal that higher levels of income inequality are associated with lower levels of SHS exposure among white children, while levels of secondhand smoke exposure among non-Hispanic black children are largely invariant to area-level income inequality. Future examination of the link between income inequality and smoking related health outcomes should consider differential associations across racial and ethnic subpopulations. |
Telomere length and age-at-menopause in the US
Shenassa ED , Rossen LM . Maturitas 2015 82 (2) 215-21 OBJECTIVES: Age-at-menopause and leukocyte telomere length (LTL) are both associated with biologic aging. Therefore, it would be reasonable to hypothesize that LTL may also serve as a marker for reproductive aging as shorter LTL may be associated with earlier age-at-menopause. METHODS: We analyzed data from 799 post-menopausal (ages 41-85) participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2002), a nationally representative sample of U.S. women. RESULTS: Controlling for behavioral, socio-demographic, and health-related determinants of menopause, we found that among non-Hispanic white women, an increase of one standard deviation in LTL was associated with a 0.43 year higher reported age-at-menopause. Among Mexican-Americans, an increase of one standard deviation in LTL was associated with a 1.56 year earlier menopause. There was no significant association between LTL and age-at-menopause among non-Hispanic black women. CONCLUSIONS: Our main finding is evidence of a strong interaction by race/ethnicity in the association between LTL and age-at-menopause. This evidence does not support the hypothesis that shorter LTL is a predictor of earlier age-at-menopause, as the magnitude and direction of the associations between LTL and age-at-menopause varied across racial/ethnic groups. |
Allostatic load may not be associated with chronic stress in pregnant women, NHANES 1999-2006
Morrison S , Shenassa ED , Mendola P , Wu T , Schoendorf K . Ann Epidemiol 2013 23 (5) 294-7 PURPOSE: Pregnant women are generally excluded from studies that measure allostatic load (AL) because there is concern that the changing levels of AL-related biomarkers during pregnancy do not reflect a woman's true AL. The goal of this study was to determine whether AL can be measured in a meaningful way during pregnancy. METHODS: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey of the U.S. civilian population. AL was based on the distributions of 10 biomarkers in pregnant (n=1138) and nonpregnant (n=4993) women aged 15 to 44 from NHANES (1999-2006). RESULTS: The distribution of each AL-related biomarker differed significantly between pregnant and nonpregnant women (P<.01). Among nonpregnant women, high AL findings were consistent with previous studies (e.g., higher AL in women who are black, are older, and who have lower incomes). However, these associations were not seen in pregnant women. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the various biomarkers that comprise AL may reflect proximal factors in pregnancy more strongly than they represent exposure to chronic stress over a woman's lifetime. Therefore, our approach to measuring AL may not provide meaningful information about chronic stress in pregnant women without further consideration of pregnancy-related factors. |
Menopause and lead body burden among US women aged 45-55, NHANES 1999-2010
Mendola P , Brett K , Dibari JN , Pollack AZ , Tandon R , Shenassa ED . Environ Res 2013 121 110-3 BACKGROUND: Environmental factors in menopause have received limited attention. Lead is a known reproductive toxicant associated with delayed puberty in girls that may also affect menopause. METHODS: The odds of menopause among US women aged 45-55 were estimated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2010, in relation to quartiles of blood lead. Women still menstruating (n=2158) were compared to women with natural menopause (n=1063). Logistic regression models included age, race/ethnicity, current hormone use, poverty, smoking and where available, bone density or bone alkaline phosphatase. RESULTS: Lead levels (ug/dL) were higher in menopausal women, geometric mean (standard error)=1.71 (0.04) vs. 1.23 (0.02). Adjusted odds of menopause and 95% confidence intervals for lead quartiles (lowest quartile referent) were 1.7 (1.0-2.8), 2.1 (1.2-3.6), and 4.2 (2.5-7.0) respectively. Results adjusting for bone markers were generally similar but had less precision. CONCLUSIONS: Blood lead was associated with natural menopause in US women even after adjustment for bone turnover. This raises concern that lead exposure, even at low levels, may shorten women's reproductive lifespan. |
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