Self-reported sleep duration overestimated objectively measured sleep across all races, and compared with PSG, overestimation is significantly greater in whites compared with blacks. Larger reporting bias reduces the ability to identify significant associations between sleep duration and health among blacks compared with whites. Sleep measurement property differences should be considered when comparing sleep indices across racial/ethnic groups.

Background:The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster led to the largest ever marine oil spill. Individuals who worked on the spill were exposed to toxicants and stressors that could lead to adverse effects.Objectives:The GuLF STUDY was designed to investigate relationships between oil spill exposures and multiple potential physical and mental health effects.Methods:Participants were recruited by telephone from lists of individuals who worked on the oil spill response and clean-up or received safety training. Enrollment interviews between 2011 and 2013 collected information about spill-related activities, demographics, lifestyle, and health. Exposure measurements taken during the oil spill were used with questionnaire responses to characterize oil exposures of participants. Participants from Gulf states completed a home visit in which biological and environmental samples, anthropometric and clinical measurements, and additional health and lifestyle information were collected. Participants are being followed for changes in health status.Results:Thirty-two thousand six hundred eight individuals enrolled in the cohort, and 11,193 completed a home visit. Most were young (56.2% ≤ 45 years of age), male (80.8%), lived in a Gulf state (82.3%), and worked at least 1 day on the oil spill (76.5%). Workers were involved in response (18.0%), support operations (17.5%), clean-up on water (17.4%) or land (14.6%), decontamination (14.3%), and administrative support (18.3%). Using an ordinal job exposure matrix, 45% had maximum daily total hydrocarbon exposure levels ≥ 1.0 ppm.Conclusions:The GuLF STUDY provides a unique opportunity to study potential adverse health effects from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.Citation:Kwok RK, Engel LS, Miller AK, Blair A, Curry MD, Jackson WB II, Stewart PA, Stenzel MR, Birnbaum LS, Sandler DP for the GuLF STUDY Research Team. 2017. The GuLF STUDY: a prospective study of persons involved in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response and clean-up. Environ Health Perspect 125:570–578; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP715

Summary Background Adverse mental health effects were reported following oil spills but few studies identified specific responsible attributes of the clean-up experience. Methods We evaluated the impact of multiple oil spill response and clean-up (OSRC) exposures following the Deepwater Horizon disaster on the mental health using data from the GuLF STUDY which includes 8,968 workers and 2,225 non-workers who completed an exam with depression and post-traumatic stress (PTS) screeners. Findings OSRC work was associated with increased prevalence of depression, PRDepression=1·22 (1·08, 1·37) and PTS, PRPTS =1·35 (1·07, 1·71). Among workers, those who reported smelling oil, dispersants or cleaning chemicals had an elevated prevalence of depression, PRDepression=1·58 (1·38, 1·81) and PTS, PRPTS=2·29 (1·71, 3·07). Other factors associated with depression and PTS included stopping work because of the heat (PRDepression=1·36 [1·22, 1·52] and PRPTS =1·41 [1·14, 1·74]) and working as a commercial fisherman prior to the spill (PRDepression=1·36 [1·19, 1·56]; PRPTS =1·86 [1·46, 2·38]). Increasing exposure to total hydrocarbons (TH) appeared associated with depression and PTS but after taking into account work experiences, only the association between the highest TH level and PTS remained, PRPTS=1·75 (1·11, 2·76). Interpretation Workers with high levels of TH exposure or potentially stressful work experiences had increased prevalence of depression and PTS.

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