University:
Boston University
Course:
SAR HP 151 | Introduction to Health Professions
Academic year:

2022
Views:

364

Pages:

14
Author:

Dawson Thornton

Why is the BWHS needed? Black Women’s Health Study • Prospective cohort study of 59,000 black women ages 2169 at baseline (1995) • Essence subscribers enrolled by postal questionnaire • Baseline: demographic and lifestyle factors, reproductive and medical history • Data updated biennially 95 97 99 01 03 05 07 09 11 13 15 17 19 21 BWHS participants in 1995 Geographic region Age 50-69: 17% 40-49: 27% <30: 23% 30-39: 33% West: 20% Education Bachelor's degree or higher: 43% High school or less: 21% At least some college: 36% Midwest: 25% Northeast: 26% South: 29% Questionnaire data • Demographics • Anthropometry • Reproductive history • Pregnancy history • Hormone use • Lifestyle factors • • • • Smoking Diet Exercise Sleep • Medical history (individual, family history) • Medication use • Psychosocial factors (e.g, racism, stress) Data Linkages • Cancer registries • Medicare • NDI (mortality) • Census bureau • Neighborhood SES • Built environment • EPA • Environmental exposures Biorepository Saliva samples from ~27,600 participants Blood samples from ~13,030 participants • CBC, hemoglobin A1c, vitamin D Tumor tissue blocks & slides • ~850 breast cancers • Ongoing collection for other cancers Digital mammogram image repository • 37,000 images from among 10,000 women Hologic 8 Connecting with participants and the community Participant Advisory Group BWHS publications (N=283), 1996-2021 Cancers Non-cancer conditions Breast 80 Obesity 30 Endometrium 10 Type 2 diabetes 23 Liver 9 Uterine fibroids 21 Colorectal 8 Mortality 9 Lung 4 Hypertension 7 Ovarian 3 Lupus 6 Pancreatic 2 Preterm birth 6 Cervical 1 Sarcoidosis 6 Asthma 6 Oral health 3 An additional 38 publications addressed cardiovascular disease, cognitive health, and other outcomes N Engl J Med 2011;365:901-8. PMCID: PMC3206314. • Analysis carried out in response to controversy about obesity and mortality • Mortality increased with increasing levels of body mass index • • Risk prediction model for breast cancer in Black women, developed and tested in data from BWHS Increased the proportion of Black women considered eligible for breast cancer prevention trials Current research (NCI R01, J Palmer) – develop an improved risk prediction model that considers risk factors for the breast cancer subtype (estrogen receptor negative) that disproportionately affects Black women Alzheimer’s Dement; 2020;12:e12-67 • Utilized questions from the Structured Telephone Interview for Dementia Assessment (STIDA) • Experiences of daily and institutional racism (2009) were associated with lower cognitive function in 17,320 women aged 55 and older • Women who reported the highest levels of daily or institutional racism were estimated to have ≥2.5 times the risk of poor cognitive function as women who reported the lowest levels New Research Areas • Alzheimer’s disease • Stroke • Multiple myeloma • Inflammatory bowel disease • Chronic kidney disease • COVID-19 New research areas in the BWHS • BWHS Insomnia Treatment Study • • Funded by PCORI Aim: Randomized Controlled Trial to study webbased therapy approaches to combating insomnia in black women. • COVID-19 • • Funded by American Heart Association (AHA) To document the experiences and health of black women related to the pandemic (e.g., infection risk, vaccine hesitancy, cardiovascular complications) • Cognitive Health • Pilot study to determine whether a smartphonebased cognitive assessment can be successfully completed at home. Conclusion • The BWHS is a valuable resource for understanding causes of illness in black women • Can address a wide range of risk factors • Traditional • Psychosocial • Genetic • Can lead to more effective prevention programs