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Social epidemiology is the study of how the social world influences - and in many cases defines - the fundamental determinants of health. This second edition elevates the field again, first by codifying the last decade of research, then by extending it to examine how public policies impact health

Background: We assessed cross-sectional differences in sleep quality and risk factors among Asian, Black, Latino, and White participants in the Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences (KHANDLE) Study.Methods: KHANDLE enrolled community-dwelling adults aged ≥65 years living in northern California. Participants completed a modified Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index to measure six sleep components and a global sleep score (scored 0-24). Covari­ates included age, sex, central adiposity, education, income, alcohol consumption, ever smoking, physical activity, and depres­sion. Ordinal logistic regression was used to model sleep component scores across race/ ethnic groups. Linear regression was used to assess racial/ethnic differences in global sleep score and the association between risk factors and global sleep score.Results: 1,664 participants with a mean age of 76 (SD=7) and mean global sleep score of 6 (SD=4) were analyzed. Using Latinos as reference (highest average sleep score), Blacks had an average .96 (.37, 1.54) unit higher global sleep score (worse sleep) while Asians [β: .04 (-.56, .63)] and Whites [β: .28 (-.29, .84)] did not significantly differ. Compared with Latinos, Blacks and Asians had greater odds of a worse score on the sleep duration component; Blacks and Whites had greater odds of a worse score on the sleep disturbances component; and, Whites had greater odds of a worse score on the medication component. Risk factors for poor sleep did not differ by race/ethnic­ity except alcohol consumption (interaction P=.04), which was associated with poor sleep in Blacks only.Conclusion: In this cohort, racial/ethnic differences in sleep quality were com­mon. Ethn Dis. 2020;30(3):469-478; doi:10.18865/ed.30.3.469

BACKGROUND: Adverse childhood socioeconomic status (cSES) predicts higher late-life risk of memory loss and dementia. Veterans of U.S. wars are eligible for educational and economic benefits which may offset cSES disadvantage. We test whether cSES disparities in late-life memory and dementia are smaller among veterans than non-veterans. METHODS: Data came from U.S.-born men in the 1995–2014 biennial surveys of the Health and Retirement Study (N=7,916 born 1928–1956, contributing N=38,381 cognitive assessments). Childhood SES was represented by maternal education. Memory and dementia risk were assessed with brief neuropsychological assessments and proxy reports. Military service (non-veteran/veteran) was evaluated as a modifier of the effect of maternal education on memory and dementia risk. We employed linear or logistic regression models to test whether military service modified the effect of maternal education on memory or dementia risk, adjusting for age, race, birthplace, and childhood health. RESULTS: Low maternal education was associated with worse memory than high maternal education (β=−0.07SD,95%CI:−0.08,−0.05), while veterans had better memory than non-veterans (β=0.03SD,95%CI:0.02,0.04). In interaction analyses, maternal education disparities in memory were smaller among veterans than non-veterans (difference in disparities=0.04SD,95%CI:(0.01,0.08),p=0.006). Patterns were similar for dementia risk. CONCLUSIONS: Disparities in memory by maternal education were smaller among veterans than non-veterans, suggesting military service and benefits partially offset the deleterious effects of low maternal education on late-life cognitive outcomes.

Abstract
Excess mortality has exceeded reported deaths from Covid-19 during the pandemic. This gap may be attributable to deaths that occurred among individuals with undiagnosed Covid-19 infections or indirect consequences of the pandemic response such as interruptions in medical care; distinguishing these possibilities has implications for public health responses. In the present study, we examined patterns of excess mortality over time and by setting (in-hospital or out-of-hospital) and cause of death using death certificate data from California. The estimated number of excess natural-cause deaths from 2020 March 1 to 2021 February 28 (69,182) exceeded the number of Covid-19 diagnosed deaths (53,667) by 29%. Nearly half, 47.4% (32,775), of excess natural-cause deaths occurred out of the hospital, where only 28.6% (9,366) of excess mortality was attributed to Covid-19. Over time, increases or decreases in excess natural non-Covid-19 mortality closely mirrored increases or decreases in Covid-19 mortality. The time series were positively correlated in out-of-hospital settings, particularly at time lags when excess natural-cause deaths preceded reported Covid-19 deaths; for example, when comparing Covid-19 deaths to excess natural-cause deaths in the week prior, the correlation was 0.73. The strong temporal association of reported Covid-19 deaths with excess out-of-hospital deaths from other reported natural-cause causes suggests Covid-19 deaths were undercounted during the first year of the pandemic.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked Files ; Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease with both genetic and environmental risk factors. Recent studies indicate that childhood and adolescent obesity double the risk of MS, but this association may reflect unmeasured confounders rather than causal effects of obesity. We used separate-sample Mendelian randomization to estimate the causal effect of body mass index (BMI) on susceptibility to MS. Using data from non-Hispanic white members of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Plan of Northern California (KPNC) (2006-2014; 1,104 cases of MS and 10,536 controls) and a replication data set from Sweden (the Epidemiological Investigation of MS (EIMS) and the Genes and Environment in MS (GEMS) studies, 2005-2013; 5,133 MS cases and 4,718 controls), we constructed a weighted genetic risk score using 97 variants previously established to predict BMI. Results were adjusted for birth year, sex, education, smoking status, ancestry, and genetic predictors of MS. Estimates in KPNC and Swedish data sets suggested that higher genetically induced BMI predicted greater susceptibility to MS (odds ratio = 1.13, 95% confidence interval: 1.04, 1.22 for the KPNC sample; odds ratio = 1.09, 95% confidence interval: 1.03, 1.15 for the Swedish sample). Although the mechanism remains unclear, to our knowledge, these findings support a causal effect of increased BMI on susceptibility to MS for the first time, and they suggest a role for inflammatory pathways that characterize both obesity and the MS disease process. ; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation Ellison Medical Foundation AFA Foundation Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation Swedish Brain Foundation Margareta af Ugglas Foundation European Union Seventh Framework ...

BackgroundClinical sequelae of Ebola virus disease (EVD) have not been described more than 3 years postoutbreak. We examined survivors and close contacts from the 1995 Ebola outbreak in Kikwit, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and determined prevalence of abnormal neurological, cognitive, and psychological findings and their association with EVD survivorship.MethodsFrom August to September 2017, we conducted a cross-sectional study in Kikwit, DRC. Over 2 decades after the EVD outbreak, we recruited EVD survivors and close contacts from the outbreak to undergo physical examination and culturally adapted versions of the Folstein mini-mental status exam (MMSE) and Goldberg anxiety and depression scale (GADS). We estimated the strength of relationships between EVD survivorship and health outcomes using linear regression models by comparing survivors versus close contacts, adjusting for age, sex, educational level, marital status, and healthcare worker status.ResultsWe enrolled 20 EVD survivors and 187 close contacts. Among the 20 EVD survivors, 4 (20%) reported at least 1 abnormal neurological symptom, and 3 (15%) had an abnormal neurological examination. Among the 187 close contacts, 14 (11%) reported at least 1 abnormal neurologic symptom, and 9 (5%) had an abnormal neurological examination. EVD survivors had lower mean MMSE and higher mean GADS scores as compared to close contacts (MMSE: adjusted coefficient: -1.85; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -3.63, -0.07; GADS: adjusted coefficient: 3.91; 95% CI: 1.76, 6.04).ConclusionsEVD survivors can have lower cognitive scores and more symptoms of depression and anxiety than close contacts more than 2 decades after Ebola virus outbreaks.