Background: Ambient fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) is among the most prevalent sources of environmentally induced inflammation and oxidative stress, both of which are implicated in the pathogenesis of most mental disorders. Evidence, however, concerning the impact of PM 2.5 on mental health is just emerging. oBjective: We examined the association between PM 2.5 and current level of depressive and anxiety symptoms using a nationally representative probability sample (n = 4,008) of older, community-dwelling individuals living across the United States (the National Social Life, Health and Aging project). Methods: Mental health was evaluated using validated, standardized questionnaires and clinically relevant cases were identified using well-established cutoffs; daily PM 2.5 estimates were obtained using spatio temporal models. We used generalized linear mixed models, adjusting for potential confounders, and explored effect modification. results: An increase in PM 2.5 was significantly associated with anxiety symptoms, with the largest increase for 180-days moving average (OR = 1.61; 95% CI: 1.35, 1.92) after adjusting for socio economic measures (SES); PM 2.5 was positively associated with depressive symptoms, and significantly for 30-day moving average (OR = 1.16; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.29) upon SES adjustment. The observed associations were enhanced among individuals who had low SES and history of comorbidity. When considering mental health as chronic conditions, PM 2.5 was significantly associated with incident depressive symptoms for all exposure windows examined, but with incident anxiety symptoms only for shorter exposure windows, which may be due to a drop in power resulting from the decreased between-subject variability in chronic PM 2.5 exposure.

The impact of chronic exposure to fine particulate matter (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 2.5 μm (PM2.5)) on respiratory disease and lung cancer mortality is poorly understood. In a cohort of 18.9 million Medicare beneficiaries (4.2 million deaths) living across the conterminous United States between 2000 and 2008, we examined the association between chronic PM2.5 exposure and cause-specific mortality. We evaluated confounding through adjustment for neighborhood behavioral covariates and decomposition of PM2.5 into 2 spatiotemporal scales. We found significantly positive associations of 12-month moving average PM2.5 exposures (per 10-μg/m3 increase) with respiratory, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and pneumonia mortality, with risk ratios ranging from 1.10 to 1.24. We also found significant PM2.5-associated elevated risks for cardiovascular and lung cancer mortality. Risk ratios generally increased with longer moving averages; for example, an elevation in 60-month moving average PM2.5 exposures was linked to 1.33 times the lung cancer mortality risk (95% confidence interval: 1.24, 1.40), as compared with 1.13 (95% confidence interval: 1.11, 1.15) for 12-month moving average exposures. Observed associations were robust in multivariable models, although evidence of unmeasured confounding remained. In this large cohort of US elderly, we provide important new evidence that long-term PM2.5 exposure is significantly related to increased mortality from respiratory disease, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease.

Mothers need consistent, sustained information and support to develop and meet personal breastfeeding goals, but often receive insufficient assistance and conflicting and incorrect advice. The use of technology may be helpful in supplementing existing health care professional breastfeeding education and support efforts. We developed and evaluated a computer-based animated, interactive agent designed to provide breastfeeding information and support to mothers interested in breastfeeding. A randomized controlled study of a first-generation system was conducted to determine the feasibility of (1) use of the Computer Agent; (2) the recruitment plan; and (3) the planned outcome evaluation (assessing the impact of the intervention on intent to breastfeed, attitudes towards breastfeeding, and breastfeeding self-efficacy). The pilot study (N = 15) showed that the use of the Computer Agent, the recruitment plan, and the planned outcome evaluation were all feasible. Mothers who used the Computer Agent had greater intentions to exclusively breastfeed after exposure to the Agent (intent to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months 1-7 scale score of 6.14 (post) vs. 5.14 (pre); p < 0.05). Non-statistically significant trends in improvement with use of the Computer Agent breastfeeding support system were also seen in the between subjects analyses of intent to breastfeed and breastfeeding self-efficacy. The pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of using a Computer Agent to support breastfeeding mothers and informed the design of a larger randomized clinical trial. An interactive Computer Agent may be helpful in improving rates of exclusive breastfeeding, particularly when there is not adequate health care professional support.

BackgroundNeighborhood environment, such as green vegetation, has been shown to play a role in coping with stress and mental ill health. Yet, epidemiological evidence of the association between greenness and mental health is inconsistent.MethodsWe examined whether living in green space is associated with self-perceived stress, depressive and anxiety symptoms in a nationally representative, longitudinal sample of community-dwelling older adults (N = 4118; aged 57–85 years) in the United States. We evaluated perceived stress, depression and anxiety symptoms using the Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale, the Center for Epidemiological Studies – Depression, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale − anxiety subscale, respectively. Greenness was assessed for each participant using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index at 250-m resolution, as well as a buffer of 1000-m. We conducted longitudinal analyses to assess the associations between greenness and mental health upon adjusting for confounders (e.g., education), and to examine potential mediation and effect modification.ResultsAn interquartile range (0.25 point) increase in contemporaneous greenness was significantly associated with 0.238 unit (95% CI: − 0.346, − 0.130) and 0.162 unit (95% CI: − 0.271, − 0.054) decrease in the perceived stress in base and multivariable models, respectively. The magnitude of the association was similar or even stronger when examining summer (− 0.161; 95% CI: − 0.295, − 0.027) and annual average of greenness (− 0.188; 95% CI: − 0.337, − 0.038), as well as greenness buffer of 1000-m. The greenness-stress association was partially mediated by physical activity (15.1% mediated), where increased greenness led to increased physical activity and less stress, and by history of respiratory diseases (− 3.8% mediated), where increased greenness led to increased respiratory disease and more stress. The association was also significantly modified by race, social support, physical function, socioeconomic status, and region. While greenness was not significantly associated with anxiety and depressive scores across all participants, significant inverse associations were found for Whites participants, and for individuals with higher socioeconomic status, who were physically active, as compared to their counterparts.ConclusionWe found a direct association of greenness with perceived stress among older adults, and an indirect association mediated through physical activity and respiratory disease history. Our study findings warrant further examination of the mediation and modification of the greenness-mental health association.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12940-018-0381-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background: Aggregation of spatial data is intended to protect privacy, but some effects of aggregation on spatial methods have not yet been quantified. Methods:We generated 3,000 spatial data sets and evaluated power of detection at 12 different levels of aggregation using the spatial scan statistic implemented in SaTScan v6.0. Results:Power to detect clusters decreased from nearly 100% when using exact locations to roughly 40% at the coarsest level of spatial resolution. Conclusion:Aggregation has the potential for obfuscation.

These findings reveal that localized transmission is an important driver of the epidemic of MDR-tuberculosis in Lima. Efforts to interrupt transmission may be most effective if targeted to this area of the city.

BACKGROUND Air pollution exposures have been shown to adversely impact health through a number of biological pathways associated with glucose metabolism. However, few studies have evaluated the associations between air pollution and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels. Further, no studies have evaluated these associations in US populations or investigated whether associations differ in diabetic as compared to non-diabetic populations. To address this knowledge gap, we investigated the associations between airborne fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and HbA1c levels in both diabetic and non-diabetic older Americans. We also examined the impact of PM2.5 and NO2 on prevalent diabetes mellitus (DM) in this cohort. METHODS We used multilevel logistic and linear regression models to evaluate the association between long-term average air pollutant levels and prevalence of DM and HbA1c levels, respectively, among 4,121 older (57+ years) Americans enrolled in the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project between 2005 and 2011. All models adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, smoking status, race, household income, education level, neighborhood socioeconomic status, geographic region, urbanicity and diabetic medication use. We estimated participant-specific exposures to PM2.5 on a six-kilometer grid covering the conterminous U.S. using spatio-temporal models, and to NO2 using nearest measurements from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality System. HbA1c levels were measured for participants in each of two data collection waves from dried blood spots and log-transformed prior to analysis. Participants were considered diabetic if they had HbA1c values ≥ 6.5% or reported taking diabetic medication. RESULTS The prevalence of diabetes at study entry was 22.2% (n=916) and the mean HbA1c was 6.0 ± 1.1%. Mean one-year moving average PM2.5 and NO2 exposures were 10.4 ± 3.0 μg/m3 and 13.1 ± 7.0 ppb, respectively. An inter-quartile range (IQR, 3.9 μg/m3) increase in one-year moving average PM2.5 was positively associated with increased diabetes prevalence (prevalence odds ratio, POR 1.35, 95% CI: 1.19, 1.53). Similarly, an IQR (8.6 ppb) increase in NO2 was also significantly associated with diabetes prevalence (POR 1.27, 95% CI: 1.10, 1.48). PM2.5 (1.8% ± 0.6%, p<0.01) and NO2 (2.0% ± 0.7%, p<0.01) exposures were associated with higher HbA1c levels in diabetic participants, while only NO2 was significantly associated with HbA1c in non-diabetic participants (0.8% ± 0.2%, p<0.01). Significant dose response relationships were identified for both pollutants in diabetic participants and for NO2 in non-diabetic participants. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATIONS In a cohort of older men and women in the United States, PM2.5 and NO2 exposures were significantly associated with prevalence of DM and increased HbA1c levels among both non-diabetic and diabetic participants. These associations suggest that air pollution could be a key risk factor for abnormal glucose metabolism and diabetes in the elde...

We examined the association of long-term, daily 1-h maximum O 3 (ozone) exposures on cause-specific mortality for 22.2 million US Medicare beneficiaries between 2000-2008. We modeled the association between O 3 and mortality using agegender-race stratified log-linear regression models, adjusted for state of residence. We examined confounding by (1) adjusting for PM 2.5 (particles with aerodynamic diameters <2.5 μm) and NO 2 (nitrogen dioxide) exposures, temperature, and neighborhood-level characteristics and behaviors, and (2) decomposing O 3 into its temporal and spatio-temporal components and comparing estimated risk ratios. We also examined sensitivity of our results to alternate exposure measures based on warm-season 8-h daily maximum and 24-h average exposures. We found increased risks from long-term O 3 exposures to be strongest and most consistent for mortality from respiratory disease (1.030, 95% CI: 1.027, 1.034) (including COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)), CHF (congestive heart failure), and lung cancer (1.015, 95% CI: 1.010, 1.020), with no evidence of confounding by PM 2.5 , NO 2 , and temperature and with results similar across O 3 exposure measures. While significant, associations between long-term O 3 exposures and CVD (cardiovascular)-related mortality (1.005, 95% CI: 1.003, 1.007) were confounded by PM 2.5 and varied with the exposure measure, with associations no longer significantly positive when warm-season 8-h maximum or 24-h average O 3 was used to assess exposures. In this large study, we provide strong evidence that O 3 exposure is associated with mortality from respiratory-related causes and for the first-time, lung cancer, but raise questions regarding O 3 -related impacts on CVD mortality. Our findings demonstrate the need to further identify potential confounders.