Menstrual Cycle Irregularity in Adolescence Is Associated With Cardiometabolic Health in Early Adulthood.

Background Menstrual cycle irregularities are associated with cardiovascular and cardiometabolic disease. We tested associations between age at menarche and cycle irregularity in adolescence and cardiometabolic health in early adulthood in a subsample from the Pittsburgh Girls Study. Methods and Results Data from annual interviews were used to assess age at menarche and cycle irregularity (ie, greater or less than every 27-29 days) at age 15 years. At ages 22 to 25 years, cardiometabolic health was measured in a subsample of the Pittsburgh Girls Study (n=352; 68.2% Black), including blood pressure, waist circumference, and fasting serum insulin, glucose, and lipids. T tests were used for continuous data and odds ratios for dichotomous data to compare differences in cardiometabolic health as a function of onset and regularity of menses. Early menarche (ie, before age 11 years; n=52) was associated with waist circumference (P=0.043). Participants reporting irregular cycles (n=50) in adolescence had significantly higher levels of insulin, glucose, and triglycerides, and higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure (P values range from 0.035 to 0.005) and were more likely to have clinical indicators of cardiometabolic predisease in early adulthood compared with women who reported regular cycles (odds ratios ranged from 1.89 to 2.56). Conclusions Increasing rates and earlier onset of cardiovascular and metabolic disease among women, especially among Black women, highlights the need for identifying early and reliable risk indices. Menstrual cycle irregularity may serve this purpose and help elucidate the role of women's reproductive health in protecting and conferring risk for later cardiovascular and cardiometabolic diseases.

Ethnic differences in complement system biomarkers and their association with metabolic health in men of Black African and White European ethnicity.

Inflammation plays a fundamental role in the development of several metabolic diseases, including obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D); the complement system has been implicated in their development. People of Black African (BA) ethnicity are disproportionately affected by T2D and other metabolic diseases but the impact of ethnicity on the complement system has not been explored. We investigated ethnic differences in complement biomarkers and activation status between men of BA and White European (WE) ethnicity and explored their association with parameters of metabolic health. We measured a panel of 15 complement components, regulators, and activation products in fasting plasma from 89 BA and 96 WE men. Ethnic differences were statistically validated. Association of complement biomarkers with metabolic health indices (BMI, waist circumference, insulin resistance, and HbA1c) were assessed in the groups. Plasma levels of the key complement components C3 and C4, the regulators clusterin and properdin and the activation marker iC3b were significantly higher in BA compared to WE men after age adjustment, while FD levels were significantly lower. C3 and C4 levels positively correlated with some or all markers of metabolic dysfunction in both ethnic groups while FD was inversely associated with HbA1c in both groups, and clusterin and properdin were inversely associated with some markers of metabolic dysfunction only in the WE group. Our findings of increased levels of complement components and activation products in BA compared to WE men suggest differences in complement regulation that may impact susceptibility to poor metabolic health.

Metabolic disease in the Pacific: Lessons for indigenous populations.

Twenty-five percent of the New Zealand population is either Maori or Pacific and are thus indigenous to the region. The New Zealand National Metabolic Service has considerable experience in diagnosing and managing metabolic diseases in this population. The frequencies and phenotypes of inborn errors of metabolism in indigenous people differ from that in Western European populations. Metabolic services need to be aware of these local variations and adapt their screening and treatment protocols accordingly. Likewise, the services themselves need to adopt culturally appropriate practices. This includes an understanding of the language, ideally employment of indigenous people and targeting of the service to meet the needs of the people. Knowledge of the metabolic diseases common within particular ethnic groups is important for the rapid delivery of appropriate management. Newborn screening protocols need to reflect the local populations. With the advent of expanded newborn screening relatively benign forms of fatty acid oxidation disorders have been commonly encountered. This high prevalence may reflect a selective evolutionary advantage as similar conditions have been found in other ethnic groups with traditionally high fat and low carbohydrate diets. HLA haplotypes of indigenous populations are less represented in international stem cell transplant databanks thereby making the option of human stem cell transplant more challenging. The recent discovery that short-chain enoyl-CoA hydratase deficiency is particularly common in New Zealand with nearly a dozen cases identified this year suggests there is still a lot to learn regarding Maori and Pacific and indeed an indigenous metabolic disease.

Race-Specific Comparisons of Antihypertensive and Metabolic Effects of Hydrochlorothiazide and Chlorthalidone.

BACKGROUND: Chlorthalidone is recommended over hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) as the preferred thiazide, but the supporting evidence is not robust at routinely used doses, or in whites vs blacks, in whom differences in response to thiazides are well known. We compare the efficacy and safety of HCTZ and chlorthalidone as first-line therapies for white and black hypertensive patients. METHODS: We compared treatment-related outcomes between the HCTZ arm (12.5 mg for 2-3 weeks; 25 mg for additional 6 weeks) of the Pharmacogenomic Evaluation of Antihypertensive Responses (PEAR, n = 376) and chlorthalidone arm (15 mg for 2 weeks; 25 mg for additional 6 weeks) of PEAR-2 (n = 326) clinical trials, in 17-65-year-old mild-moderate uncomplicated hypertensive whites and blacks. RESULTS: Mean systolic/diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP) reduction with HCTZ vs chlorthalidone: 8 ± 8/4 ± 5 vs 12 ± 9/7 ± 5 mm Hg in whites (P < 10-6 SBP and DBP); 12 ± 10/7 ± 6 vs 15 ± 10/9 ± 6 in blacks (P = .008 SBP, P = .054 DBP). Treatment with HCTZ vs chlorthalidone in whites resulted in significantly fewer patients achieving target BP (<140/90 mm Hg) (44% vs 57%, P = .018) and clinical response rate (≥10 mm Hg DBP reduction); and significantly higher nonresponse rate (<6 mm Hg DBP reduction); but no significant differences in rates among blacks (eg, target-BP rate: 56% vs 63%, P = .31). HCTZ treatment led to significantly lower rates of hypokalemia and hyperuricemia in whites and blacks, vs chlorthalidone, and significantly lower odds of requiring potassium supplementation among blacks (odds ratio 0.16; 95% confidence interval, 0.07-0.37; P = 3.4e-7). CONCLUSION: Compared with HCTZ, chlorthalidone showed greater blood pressure lowering and adverse metabolic effects in whites, but similar blood pressure lowering and greater adverse effects in blacks; suggesting that the recent guideline recommendations to choose chlorthalidone over HCTZ may not be warranted in blacks.

A novel PIK3R1 mutation of SHORT syndrome in a Chinese female with diffuse thyroid disease: a case report and review of literature.

BACKGROUND: SHORT syndrome is a rare genetic disease named with the acronyms of short stature, hyper-extensibility of joints, ocular depression, Rieger anomaly and teething delay. It is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner confirmed by the identification of heterozygous mutations in PIK3R1. This study hereby presents a 15-year-old female with intrauterine growth restriction, short stature, teething delay, characteristic facial gestalts who was identified a novel de novo nonsense mutation in PIK3R1. CASE PRESENTATION: The proband was admitted to our department due to irregular menstrual cycle and hirsutism with short stature, who had a history of intrauterine growth restriction and presented with short stature, teething delay, characteristic facial gestalts, hirsutism, and thyroid disease. Whole-exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing revealed c.1960C > T, a novel de novo nonsense mutation, leading to the termination of protein translation (p. Gln654*). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first case report of SHORT syndrome complicated with thyroid disease in China, identifying a novel de novo heterozygous nonsense mutation in PIK3R1 gene (p. Gln654*). The phenotypes are mildly different from other cases previously described in the literature, in which our patient presents with lipoatrophy, facial feature, and first reported thyroid disease. Thyroid disease may be a new clinical symptom of patients with SHORT syndrome.

Cardiometabolic comorbidities and epithelial ovarian cancer risk among African-American women in the African-American Cancer Epidemiology Study (AACES).

BACKGROUND: Studies that have examined the association between cardiovascular comorbidities and epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) have yielded inconsistent results. It remains unknown whether cardiometabolic disease is associated with EOC in African American (AA) women, who have a higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease and lower risk of EOC than White women. Here, we estimate the effect of cardiovascular comorbid conditions and EOC risk among AA women. METHODS: Data were available from 593 ovarian carcinoma patients and 752 controls enrolled in the African American Cancer Epidemiology Study (AACES). Participants were asked to self-report a history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes and any current medication use. The relationship between hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and medications taken for these conditions was determined using multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Hypertension was associated with an increased risk (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.32, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.01, 1.73), whereas diabetes and hyperlipidemia were associated with a decreased risk (aOR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.49, 0.91 and aOR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.47, 0.80, respectively) of EOC. Use of anti-diabetic medication was inversely associated with EOC risk, as was use of lipid lowering medications (in the overall study population), which were predominantly statins. Among women with hypertension, use of anti-hypertensive medications was inversely associated with EOC risk, with associations that were most pronounced for diuretics, ARBs and ACE inhibitors. CONCLUSION: Hypertension was associated with an increased EOC risk in this patient population, whereas an inverse association was observed for diabetes and hyperlipidemia. The decreased risk of EOC identified with use of anti-hypertensive, anti-diabetes or lipid-lowering medications could have implications for risk reduction strategies.

Ten-Year Trends in Enrollment of Women and Minorities in Pivotal Trials Supporting Recent US Food and Drug Administration Approval of Novel Cardiometabolic Drugs.

Background In 1993, the US Food and Drug Administration established guidelines to increase diversity by sex and race/ethnicity of participants in clinical trials supporting novel drug approvals. In this study we investigated the 10-year trends of participation of women and minorities in pivotal trials supporting approval of new molecular entities in cardiometabolic drugs from January 2008 to December 2017. Methods and Results A list of new molecular entities was abstracted from publicly available data at Drugs@Fda. Sex and race/ethnicity data were collected from trial publications. Linear regression analysis was performed to assess the relation between drug approval year and proportion of women and minorities enrolled. Thirty-five novel cardiovascular (n=24) and diabetes mellitus (n=11) drugs were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration during the study period. The median number of participants supporting each drug was 5930 (interquartile range, 3175-10 942). Women represented 36% (n=108 052) of trial participants (n=296 163). Women were underrepresented compared with their proportion of the disease population in trials of coronary heart disease (participation-to-prevalence ratio, 0.52), heart failure (participation-to-prevalence ratio, 0.58), and acute coronary syndrome (participation-to-prevalence ratio, 0.68). Among trial participants, 81% were white, 4% black, 12% Asian, and 11% Hispanic/Latino. There was no significant association between enrollment of women (P=0.29) or underrepresented minorities (P=0.45) with the drug approval year. Conclusions Over the past decade (2008-2017), women and minorities, particularly blacks, have continued to be inadequately represented in pivotal cardiometabolic clinical trials that support US Food and Drug Administration approval of new molecular entities. This may have major implications in determining efficacy of such therapies in these groups, and may impair generalizability of trial results to routine clinical practice.

Is visceral abdominal fat area a better indicator for hyperglycemic risk? Results from the Pinggu Metabolic Disease Study.

AIMS/INTRODUCTION: The aim of the present study was to analyze the strength of association between fasting plasma glucose (FPG), 2-h postprandial glucose (2h PPG), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), disposition index (DI) and nine anthropometrics measures, to explore the best indicator for hyperglycemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Analyses were based on the cross-sectional data of 3,572 adults from the Pinggu Metabolic Disease Study. Anthropometrics were measured, visceral fat area (VFA) and subcutaneous fat area were calculated using an abdominal computed tomography scan. Linear regression was used to analyze the association between FPG, 2h PPG, HbA1c, DI and nine anthropometrics measures (height, weight, waist circumference [WC], body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio [WHR], waist-to-height ratio, VFA, subcutaneous fat area, and visceral-to-subcutaneous ratio). Logistic regression was further carried out to understand the association between per standard increase and risk for hyperglycemia. RESULTS: Higher VFA and subcutaneous fat area were associated with higher FPG, 2h PPG, HbA1c and DI after adjusting for other covariates. The strongest association observed after adjustment was WC for FPG, with one standard deviation greater WC being associated with 1.70 increased odds; WHR for 2h PPG, with one standard deviation greater WHR being associated with 1.83 increased odds. The strength of the association between VFA and FPG, 2h PPG, HbA1c, and DI was less than WHR and WC, but slightly stronger than body mass index. Stratified analyses showed that VFA performs better as an anthropometrics indicator in predicting hyperglycemic risk in women than men. CONCLUSIONS: WHR and WC remain the best indicators for hyperglycemic risk among ahealthy Chinese population.

Sick Individuals and Sick (Microbial) Populations: Challenges in Epidemiology and the Microbiome.

The human microbiome represents a new frontier in understanding the biology of human health. While epidemiology in this area is still in its infancy, its scope will likely expand dramatically over the coming years. To rise to the challenge, we argue that epidemiology should capitalize on its population perspective as a critical complement to molecular microbiome research, allowing for the illumination of contextual mechanisms that may vary more across populations rather than among individuals. We first briefly review current research on social context and the gut microbiome, focusing specifically on socioeconomic status (SES) and race/ethnicity. Next, we reflect on the current state of microbiome epidemiology through the lens of one specific area, the association of the gut microbiome and metabolic disorders. We identify key methodological shortcomings of current epidemiological research in this area, including extensive selection bias, the use of noncompositionally robust measures, and a lack of attention to social factors as confounders or effect modifiers.

Death by a Thousand Cuts: Stress Exposure and Black-White Disparities in Physiological Functioning in Late Life.

OBJECTIVES: This paper investigates Black-White differences in stress-including diverse measures of chronic, acute, discrimination-related, and cumulative stress exposure-and examines whether race differences in these stress measures mediate Black-White disparities in C-reactive protein (CRP) and metabolic dysregulation in later life. METHODS: Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) (2004-2012), this study uses stepwise ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models to examine the prospective associations between multiple stressors-including traumatic and stressful life events, financial strain, chronic stress, everyday and major life discrimination, and measures of cumulative stress burden-and CRP and metabolic dysregulation. Mediation analyses assessed the contribution of stress exposure to Black-White disparities in the outcomes. RESULTS: Blacks experienced more stress than Whites across domains of stress, and stress exposure was strongly associated with CRP and metabolic dysregulation. Race differences in financial strain, everyday and major life discrimination, and cumulative stress burden mediated Black-White gaps in the outcomes, with measures of cumulative stress burden mediating the greatest proportion of the racial disparities. DISCUSSION: The "thousand cuts" that Blacks experience from their cumulative stress exposure across domains of social life throughout the life course accelerate their physiological deterioration relative to Whites and play a critical role in racial health disparities at older ages.

Sex-Specific Associations Between Area-Level Poverty and Cardiometabolic Dysfunction Among US Adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: Cardiometabolic disease is the leading cause of mortality in the United States. Cardiometabolic function during adolescence predicts future cardiometabolic disease, yet few studies have examined early determinants of cardiometabolic function. Informed by evidence of sex differences in the prevalence and severity of cardiometabolic disorders and evidence of sexual dimorphism in the stress response, we examined sex differences in the association between living in poverty and cardiometabolic function during adolescence, a precursor of later cardiometabolic disorders. METHODS: We linked data from 10 415 adolescents aged 12-19 in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2012) with US Census-tract data on area-level poverty (percentage of the population living in poverty, grouped into quartiles). We parameterized cardiometabolic dysfunction by summing the z scores of 6 cardiometabolic biomarkers, grouped into quintiles. Hierarchical ordinal models estimated associations. RESULTS: Compared with residents in low-poverty areas, residents in high-poverty areas had elevated odds of cardiometabolic dysfunction (highest quartile of poverty odds ratio [OR] = 1.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08-1.50). This association was more pronounced among boys than girls (highest quartile of poverty for boys: OR = 1.36; 95% CI, 1.10-1.70; highest quartile of poverty for girls: OR = 1.17; 95% CI, 0.94-1.47). CONCLUSION: Our study supports the existence of sex-specific associations. These results highlight the potential for community-based programs, such as housing assistance, to improve population health.

Cross-sectional and Prospective Associations of Actigraphy-Assessed Sleep Regularity With Metabolic Abnormalities: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: To cross-sectionally and prospectively investigate the association between irregular sleep patterns, a potential marker for circadian disruption, and metabolic abnormalities. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, participants completed 7-day actigraphy at exam 5 (2010-2013) and were prospectively followed throughout exam 6 (2016 to 2017). Sleep regularity was quantified by the 7-day SD of actigraphy-assessed sleep duration and sleep onset timing. Metabolic abnormalities were defined by 1) the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria and 2) a data-driven clustering of metabolic factors. RESULTS: In the exam 5 cross-sectional analysis adjusted for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors (n = 2,003), every 1-h increase in the sleep duration SD was associated with 27% (95% CI 1.10, 1.47) higher odds of metabolic syndrome, and every 1-h increase in the sleep timing SD was associated with 23% (95% CI 1.06, 1.42) higher odds. The associations remained significant with additional adjustment for sleep-related factors including sleep duration. In the prospective analysis (n = 970), the corresponding fully adjusted odds ratio (OR) was 1.27 (95% CI 0.97, 1.65) for sleep duration and 1.36 (1.03, 1.80) for sleep timing. Compared with the cluster of few metabolic changes, every 1-h increase in sleep variability was associated with almost doubled odds for the cluster characterized by incidence of multiple metabolic abnormalities (OR 1.97 [95% CI 1.18, 3.30] for sleep duration and OR 2.10 [95% CI 1.25, 3.53] for sleep timing). CONCLUSIONS: Increased variability in sleep duration and timing was associated with higher prevalence and incidence of metabolic abnormalities even after consideration of sleep duration and other lifestyle factors.

Obesogenic Behaviors and Depressive Symptoms' Influence on Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in American Indian Children.

BACKGROUND: American Indian (AI) populations suffer disproportionately from cardiovascular disease and depression as compared to other racial/ethnic groups. Behaviors that contribute to obesity are considered obesogenic and include poor diet, low physical activity, and high screen time. This study examined the relationship between depressive symptoms and obesogenic behaviors on cardiometabolic risk factors in AI youth. METHODS: Participants (n=121) were evaluated for depressive symptoms, obesogenic behaviors, weight, blood pressure, lipids, and glucose levels. RESULTS: All participants failed to meet guidelines for intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and fruits/vegetables, 74% did not meet physical activity guidelines, and 85% did not meet screen time guidelines. Lower physical activity was associated with higher body fat percentage (b=-4.20 ± 1.82, p=0.022). Elevated depressive symptoms and presence of at-risk cardiometabolic risk factors were found. Higher depressive symptoms were associated with higher blood glucose (random, fasting, and hemoglobin A1c). CONCLUSIONS: Low physical activity, high screen time, and the presence of depressive symptomology heighten cardiometabolic risk factors in AI children. Associations between depressive symptoms and blood glucose underscore the impact of emotional health on cardiometabolic disease and emphasize need for proper depression assessment in chronic disease prevention efforts.

Sleep influences on cardio-metabolic health in Indigenous populations.

Indigenous populations continue to be among the world's most marginalized population groups. Studies in Indigenous populations from high income countries (including the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) indicate increased risk of sleep disorders compared to non-Indigenous populations. Poor sleep, whether it be short sleep duration or fragmented sleep, is a well-established risk factor for cardio-metabolic diseases. Given the implications, targeted improvement of poor sleep may be beneficial for the health and well-being of Indigenous people. In this narrative review, we will: (1) discuss the effects of sleep on the cardio-metabolic processes; (2) examine sleep in Indigenous populations; (3) review the association between sleep and cardio-metabolic risk in Indigenous populations; and (4) review the potential role of sleep in cardiovascular disease risk detection and interventions to improve sleep and cardio-metabolic health in Indigenous people. In particular, this review highlights that the assessment of sleep quality and quantity may be a beneficial step toward identifying Indigenous people at risk of cardio-metabolic diseases and may represent a key intervention target to improve cardio-metabolic outcomes.

Sleep and cardiometabolic health by government-assisted rental housing status among Black and White men and women in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate Black-White disparities in suboptimal sleep and cardiometabolic health by government-assisted rental housing status. DESIGN: National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) pooled cross-sectional data (2004-2016). SETTING: United States. PARTICIPANTS: Black and White adult participants (n = 80,880). MEASUREMENTS: Poisson regression with robust variance was used to estimate prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals for self-reported unrecommended (<6 hours), short (≤6-<7 hours), and long (>9 hours) sleep duration (each separately vs recommended (≤7-9 hours)) and sleep difficulties (eg, trouble falling/staying asleep ≥3 days/week) (yes vs no) among Blacks compared to Whites within rental housing categories (government-assisted vs unassisted), separately, for men and women. Within sex/housing categories, we applied the same approach to compare cardiometabolic health outcomes (ie, overweight/obesity, hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, stroke) between Blacks with worse sleep and Whites with recommended sleep. Models were adjusted for age and other potential confounders. RESULTS: Participants' mean age was 42 ±â€¯18 years, 57% were female, and 30% Black. Blacks in unassisted housing had a higher prevalence of unrecommended and short sleep (PR = 1.22 [1.15-1.30] -men, PR = 1.14 [1.08-1.21] -women) compared to their White counterparts (phousing⁎race = 0.001 -men, phousing⁎race = 0.008 -women), but no Black-White differences (PR = 0.88 [0.73-1.07] -men, PR = 0.98 [0.89-1.09] -women) were observed among government-assisted renters. Generally, Blacks were less likely to report sleep difficulties than Whites. Cardiometabolic health disparities between Blacks with worse sleep and Whites with recommended sleep were generally smaller among government-assisted renters, but relationships varied by sex. CONCLUSIONS: There were no racial disparities in short sleep duration, and cardiometabolic health disparities were generally attenuated when Blacks and Whites resided in government-assisted rental housing.

Biological embedding of neighborhood disadvantage and collective efficacy: Influences on chronic illness via accelerated cardiometabolic age.

The present study extends prior research on the link between neighborhood disadvantage and chronic illness by testing an integrated model in which neighborhood characteristics exert effects on health conditions through accelerated cardiometabolic aging. Hypotheses were tested using a sample of 408 African Americans from the Family and Community Health Study. Using four waves of data spanning young adulthood (ages 18-29), we first found durable effects of neighborhood disadvantage on accelerated cardiometabolic aging and chronic illness. Then, we used marginal structural modeling to adjust for potential neighborhood selection effects. As expected, accelerated cardiometabolic aging was the biopsychosocial mechanism that mediated much of the association between neighborhood disadvantage and chronic illness. This finding provides additional support for the view that neighborhood disadvantage can influence morbidity and mortality by creating social contexts that becomes biologically embedded. Perceived neighborhood collective efficacy served to buffer the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and biological aging, identifying neighborhood-level resilience factor. Overall, our results indicate that neighborhood context serves as a fundamental cause of weathering and accelerated biological aging. Residing in a disadvantaged neighborhood increases biological wear and tear that ultimately leads to onset of chronic illness, but access to perceived collective efficacy buffers the impact of these neighborhood effects. From an intervention standpoint, identifying such an integrated model may help inform future health-promoting interventions.

Cardio-metabolic disease genetic risk factors among Maori and Pacific Island people in Aotearoa New Zealand: current state of knowledge and future directions.

CONTEXT: Cardio-metabolic conditions in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) Maori and non-indigenous Polynesian (Pacific) populations have been increasing in prevalence and severity, especially over the last two decades. OBJECTIVES: To assess knowledge on genetic and non-genetic risk factors for cardio-metabolic disease in the Maori and Pacific populations residing in Aotearoa NZ by a semi-systematic review of the PubMed database. To outline possible future directions in genetic epidemiological research with Maori and Pacific communities. RESULTS: There have been few studies to confirm that risk factors in other populations also associate with cardio-metabolic conditions in Maori and Pacific populations. Such data are important when interventions are considered. Genetic studies have been sporadic, with no genome-wide association studies done. CONCLUSIONS: Biomedical research with Maori and Pacific communities is important to reduce the prevalence and impact of the cardio-metabolic diseases, as precision medicine is implemented in other Aotearoa NZ populations using overseas findings. Genuine engagement with Maori and Pacific communities is needed to ensure positive outcomes for genetic studies, from data collection through to analysis and dissemination. Important is building trust, understanding by researchers of fundamental cultural concepts and implementing protocols that minimise risks and maximise benefits. Approaches that utilise information such as genealogical information and whole genome sequencing technologies will provide new insights into cardio-metabolic conditions-and new interventions for affected individuals and families.

Racial/Ethnic and County-level Disparity in Inpatient Utilization among Hawai'i Medicaid Population.

We investigated racial/ethnic and county-level disparities in inpatient utilization for 15 clinical conditions among Hawaii's Medicaid population. The study was conducted using inpatient claims data from more than 200,000 Hawai'i Medicaid beneficiaries, reported in the year 2010. The analysis was performed by stratifying the Medicaid population into three age groups: children and adolescent group (1-20 years), adult group (21-64 years), and elderly group (65 years and above). Among the differences found, Asians had a low probability of inpatient admissions compared to Whites for many disease categories, while Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders had higher probabilities than Whites, across all age groups. Pediatric and adult groups from Hawai'i County (Big Island) had lower probabilities for inpatient admissions compared to Honolulu County (O'ahu) for most disease conditions, but higher probabilities were observed for several conditions in the elderly group. Notably, the elderly population residing on Kaua'i County (Kaua'i and Ni'ihau islands) had substantially increased odds of hospital admissions for several disease conditions, compared to Honolulu.

Sleep deficiency among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Black, and White Americans and the association with cardiometabolic diseases: analysis of the National Health Interview Survey Data.

PURPOSE: Examine sleep deficiency, factors, and associations with cardiometabolic diseases in United States Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders (NHPI), Blacks, and Whites. DESIGN: Data from the 2014 National Health Interview Survey and NHPI National Health Interview Survey household interviews of adults were analyzed. PARTICIPANTS: Of 31,724 participants, 7% were NHPI, 14% were Black, and 79% were White. METHODS: Habitual sleep duration and quality, sociodemographic/economic covariates, health behaviors, psychological distress, and chronic diseases were self-reported. Sleep duration was coded as very short (VSS; <5 hours), short (SS; 5-6 hours), long (LS; >8 hours), or healthy (7-8 hours). Using multivariate logistic regressions, the association between sleep duration and diseases was assessed after adjusting for covariates. RESULTS: NHPI were more likely to report sleep <7 hours compared to Whites (40.2% NHPI, 29.3% White) and less LS than Blacks (7% NHPI, 9.2% Black), report poor sleep quality, and use fewer sleep medications. VSS was related to smoking and psychological distress in NHPI men. VSS was associated with hypertension and SS with diabetes in NHPI, even in adjusted models. The relationship between SS and diabetes was higher in NHPI (risk ratio [RR]: 1.40, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03-1.90) than Whites (RR: 1.01, 95% CI: 0.90-1.14, P = .027) and Blacks (RR: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.85-1.23, P = .043) even after adjusting for other covariates. CONCLUSIONS: NHPI reported suboptimal sleep duration that was linked to hypertension and diabetes even after controlling for covariates. Additional prospective studies in NHPI are needed to understand biological, behavioral, and psychological factors of sleep deficiency and its impact on chronic diseases.