OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationship between depressive symptoms and risk for COVID-19 hospitalization and death in a United States general population-based sample.
METHODS
We studied participants enrolled into observational NIH-funded cohorts from 1971-2010 with ongoing follow-up through 2023. Pre-pandemic Centers for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) 10-item scale scores ≥10 defined elevated depressive symptoms. Questionnaires, medical records, and death certificates classified incident COVID-19 as severe (hospitalized/fatal) or non-severe from April 2020 through February 2023.
RESULTS
Of 33,565 participants, 633 (1.9%) had incident severe COVID-19 over a mean (SD) follow-up of 453 (207) days. Elevated pre-pandemic depressive symptoms were present in 4,922 (16.3%) of participants. Elevated pre-pandemic depressive symptoms increased the hazard of severe COVID-19 in fully-adjusted (aHR=1.27; 95%CI: 1.03-1.57) models. In sex-stratified models (p-interaction=0.03), elevated depressive symptoms increased the hazard in women (aHR=1.49; 95%CI: 1.17-1.90) but not in men (aHR=0.96; 95%CI: 0.67-1.39).
CONCLUSIONS
Pre-pandemic depressive symptoms were associated with increased risk of severe COVID-19 among women in a large US general population-based study of adults, and associations in men were neither confirmed nor ruled out. These results support current CDC recommendations that depression be considered an underlying medical condition associated with higher risk for severe COVID-19 and suggest that increased clinical focus on risk mitigation for COVID-19 and other acute respiratory infections among patients with depressive symptoms is warranted.
E. Oelsner, Yi-Fei Sun, P. Balte et al.· Biopsychosocial science and...· 0 citations
OBJECTIVE
This study examined cognitive health in Vietnamese American older adults in association with social determinants of health and a variety of health-related variables.
METHOD
Participants were 548 volunteers in the Vietnamese Insights into Cognitive Aging Program, which enrolls community-dwelling Vietnamese-speaking older adults. Cognitive outcomes were measured using a global composite and domain-specific measures of memory, language, visuospatial abilities, and executive functions. Medical comorbidities included self-reported overall health, a history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes. Social determinants of health variables included self-reported economic status, neighborhood environment, and migration. Bayesian regression was used to model associations.
RESULTS
Participants had a mean age of 73 ± 5.3 years and resided in the United States for an average of 27 ± 13.1 years, and a majority (63.3%) had ≤12 years of education. In models including all predictors and covariates, lower cognitive performance was related to older age (b = -0.028 to -0.064), less education (b = 0.230-0.385), not speaking English (b = 0.190-0.331), and younger age at immigration (b = 0.010-0.014); lower scores were also seen in people with hypertension (executive, b = -0.156) and diabetes (executive, b = -0.188; visuospatial, b = -0.185; and global, b = -0.208). Cognitive associations with sex, neighborhood trust, income, and general health were more nuanced and, in some cases, varied by which covariates were included in the models.
CONCLUSIONS
Findings largely align with those from other diverse older adult populations and emphasize the complex relationships between cognitive performance, demographic factors, medical comorbidities, and social determinants of health, including those specific to immigration history. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Sarah Tomaszewski Farias, Brandon E. Gavett, Danielle J. Harvey et al.· Neuropsychology· 0 citations
BACKGROUND
Low-dose metal exposure contributes to chronic disease, yet differences in metal exposure and metabolism across diverse U.S. populations remain poorly characterized. Geographic location, drinking-water sources, diet, lifestyle, and culturally specific product use may shape multi-metal exposure.
OBJECTIVES
To characterize urinary multi-metal biomarkers among Asian Indian adults, compare them with profiles with other western U.S. populations, and evaluate serum-urine relationships for these metals among Asian Indian adults to distinguish metal clearance from physiological regulation.
METHODS
We measured 19 urinary metals by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in harmonized subsamples of Asian Indians in the Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (MASALA) pilot study (San Francisco Bay Area, 2010-2013; n = 111), White, Black, Hispanic/Latino, and Chinese in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, Los Angeles (MESA-LA, 2010-2012; n = 444), and American Indians in the Strong Heart Family Study (SHFS, 2006-2009; n = 111). Metals were creatinine-corrected and reported as µg/g creatinine. In MASALA, the same 19-metal panel was measured in serum.
RESULTS
Median age (years)/percent female were 56/50% (MASALA), 62/49% (MESA-LA), and 56/49% (SHFS). Compared with MESA-LA and SHFS, MASALA participants had the lowest urinary Zn (354 µg/g) and Mn (0.11 µg/g), and the highest Mo (66.5 µg/g) and Tl (0.26 µg/g). Median urinary Cs in MASALA (8.55 µg/g) was comparable to MESA-LA Chinese (9.38 µg/g), while Ba was highest in MASALA (2.57 µg/g) relative to both MESA-LA and SHFS. MASALA participants had higher As, Pb, and Cd than SHFS (As 7.60 vs 5.08 µg/g; Pb 0.88 vs 0.59 µg/g; Cd 0.51 vs 0.47 µg/g), but lower levels than MESA-LA Chinese (As 43.9 µg/g; Pb 1.12 µg/g; Cd 0.81 µg/g). In MASALA, serum-urine correlations were strongest for Mo (r = 0.83), As (r = 0.79), Co (r = 0.76), and Cs (r = 0.67); Zn, Cu, and Mn were weakly correlated.
SIGNIFICANCE
Multi-metal biomarker patterns differed across study populations, influencing exposure assessment and biomonitoring interpretation. Serum-urine analyses distinguish elements reflecting recent exposure versus physiological regulation and support population-specific metal mixtures linked to chronic disease risk.
IMPACT
Harmonized multi-metal biomarker data across diverse U.S. populations remain limited, which constrains interpretation of exposure patterns in epidemiologic research. This study provides one of the first cross-cohort comparisons of urinary metal profiles across diverse study populations in the western United States and includes paired urine-serum measurements for a broad 19-metal panel in MASALA adults, a population with elevated cardiometabolic disease risk but limited metal exposure data. The results support population-specific biomonitoring approaches and future studies evaluating metal mixtures and chronic disease.
K. Schilling, I. Martinez-Morata, William A. Anderson et al.· Journal of Exposure Science...· 0 citations
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