Faculty Bibliography

Multiple studies show that racial and ethnic minorities with low socioeconomic status are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD) in more advanced disease stages, receive fewer formal services, and have worse health outcomes. For primary care providers confronting this challenge, community-based organizations can be key partners in supporting earlier identification of AD/ADRD and earlier entry into treatment, especially for minority groups. The New York University Center for the Study of Asian American Health, set out to culturally adapt and translate The Kickstart-Assess-Evaluate-Refer (KAER) framework created by the Gerontological Society of America to support earlier detection of dementia in Asian American communities and assist in this community-clinical coordinated care. We found that CBOs play a vital role in dementia care, and are often the first point of contact for concerns around cognitive impairment in ethnically diverse communities. A major strength of these centers is that they provide culturally appropriate group education that focuses on whole group quality of life, rather than singling out any individual. They also offer holistic family-centered care and staff have a deep understanding of cultural and social issues that affect care, including family dynamics. For primary care providers confronting the challenge of delivering evidence-based dementia care in the context of the busy primary care settings, community-based organizations can be key partners in supporting earlier identification of AD/ADRD and earlier entry into treatment, especially for minority groups.

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND:Race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status are known to influence staging and survival in colorectal cancer (CRC). It is unclear how these relationships are affected by geographic factors and changes in insurance coverage for CRC screening. We examined the temporal trends in the association between sociodemographic and geographic factors and staging and survival among Medicare beneficiaries. METHODS:We identified patients 65 years or older with CRC using the 1991-2010 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare database and extracted area-level sociogeographic data. We constructed multinomial logistic regression models and the Cox proportional hazards models to assess factors associated with CRC stage and survival in 4 periods with evolving reimbursement and screening practices: (i) 1991-1997, (ii) 1998-June 2001, (iii) July 2001-2005, and (iv) 2006-2010. RESULTS:We observed 327,504 cases and 102,421 CRC deaths. Blacks were 24%-39% more likely to present with distant disease than whites. High-income areas had 7%-12% reduction in distant disease. Compared with whites, blacks had 16%-21% increased mortality, Asians had 32% lower mortality from 1991 to 1997 but only 13% lower mortality from 2006 to 2010, and Hispanics had 20% reduced mortality only from 1991 to 1997. High-education areas had 9%-12% lower mortality, and high-income areas had 5%-6% lower mortality after Medicare began coverage for screening colonoscopy. No consistent temporal trends were observed for the associations between geographic factors and CRC survival. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS:Disparities in CRC staging and survival persisted over time for blacks and residents from areas of low socioeconomic status. Over time, staging and survival benefits have decreased for Asians and disappeared for Hispanics.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening has increased substantially in New York City in recent years. However, screening uptake measured by telephone surveys may not fully capture rates among underserved populations. We measured screening completion within one year of a primary care visit among previously unscreened patients in a large urban safety-net hospital and identified sociodemographic and health-related predictors of screening. We identified 21,256 patients aged 50-75 who were seen by primary care providers (PCPs) in 2014, of whom 14,425 (67.9%) were not up-to-date with screening. Since PCPs facilitate the majority of screening, we compared patients who received screening within one year of an initial PCP visit to those who remained unscreened using multivariable logistic regression. Among patients not up-to-date with screening at study outset, 11.5% (1,658 patients) completed screening within one year of a PCP visit. Asian race, more PCP visits, and higher area-level income were associated with higher screening completion. Factors associated with remaining unscreened included morbid obesity, ever smoking, Elixhauser comorbidity index of 0, and having Medicaid/Medicare insurance. Age, sex, language, and travel time to the hospital were not associated with screening status. Overall, 39.9% of patients were up-to-date with screening by 2015. In an underserved urban population, CRC screening disparities remain, and overall screening uptake was low. Since more PCP visits were associated with modestly higher screening completion at one year, additional community-level education and outreach may be crucial to increase CRC screening in underserved populations.

Korean American immigrants (KAIs) face diverse sociocultural stressors in the acculturation process. While stress is known to cause short sleep, little is known about how acculturative stress affects sleep differently for KAI men and women. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine gender differences in the association between diverse domains of acculturative stress and sleep duration among KAIs. Middle-aged KAIs were recruited in community settings and online. KAIs completed validated measures of acculturative stress (homesickness, social isolation, employment barriers, discrimination, civic disengagement, and family problems) and sleep duration. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed and stratified by gender. 343 KAIs participated (mean age = 41 ± 10 years, 47% female, 11% short sleepers [< 6 h]). After adjustment for covariates, higher homesickness (β = - 23.19, p < 0.05) and lower civic disengagement (β = 17.75, p < 0.05) were associated with shorter sleep duration in women, while higher isolation was associated with shorter sleep duration in men (β = - 13.73, p < 0.05). Discussion: Results suggest gender-specific associations between acculturative stress and sleep duration. Future research should take into account gender differences in the experience and effects of acculturative stress when developing interventions to improve sleep health in KAIs.

Hypertension affects a third of U.S. adults and is especially high among Asian American groups. The Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health for Asian AmeRicans (REACH FAR) project delivers culturally adapted, evidence-based hypertension-related programs to Bangladeshi, Filipino, Korean, and Asian Indian communities in New York and New Jersey through 26 sites: ethnic grocery stores, restaurants, and Muslim, Christian, and Sikh faith-based organizations. Knowledge of the implementation mechanisms of culturally adapted programs is limited and is critical to inform the design and execution of such programs by and in community sites. We applied four categories of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research-intervention and individuals' characteristics, inner and outer setting-to analyze factors influencing implementation outcomes, that is, site leaders' perceptions about adopting, adapting, and sustaining REACH FAR. We conducted semistructured interviews with 15 leaders, coded them for implementation outcomes, and recoded them to identify contextual factors. Our findings show that REACH FAR resonated in sites where leaders perceived unhealthy diet and lifestyles in their communities (intervention characteristics), sites had historically engaged in health programs as a public-service mission (inner setting), and leaders identified with this mission (individuals' characteristics). Site leaders strived to adapt programs to respond to community preferences (outer setting) without compromising core objectives (inner setting). Leaders noted that program sustainability could be impeded by staff and volunteer turnover (inner setting) but enhanced by reinforcing programs through community networks (outer setting). The findings suggest that to facilitate implementation of culturally adapted health behavior programs through community sites, interventions should reinforce sites' organizational commitments and social ties.

Introduction/UNASSIGNED:Sikh Asian Indians are an underserved, minority group demonstrating high rates of diabetes. Community health workers (CHWs) are effective in addressing health disparities by reaching socially and linguistically isolated populations. There are no culturally-adapted programs for diabetes prevention among Sikh Asian Indians, thus, this study tests the efficacy of a culturally-tailored CHW intervention to improve diabetes prevention-related outcomes among Sikh Asian Indians at-risk for diabetes. Methods/UNASSIGNED:A quasi-experimental two-arm intervention among Sikh Asian Indian adults at-risk for diabetes and living in New York City (n=160) was conducted in 2013-2014. The treatment group received six monthly CHW group education sessions and ten follow-up phone calls; the control group received the first session. Main outcomes included weight, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP), physical activity (PA), diet, and health self-efficacy. Results/UNASSIGNED:Positive and significant changes in weight, BMI, and diabetes prevention-related indicators were seen among both study groups. However, only treatment group participants showed significant changes over time for weight, BMI, PA self-efficacy, and health-related self-efficacy. Significant between-group differences were seen in adjusted analyses for weight, BMI, systolic BP, total weekly PA, PA self-efficacy, PA social interaction, portion control, barriers to healthy eating, and health self-efficacy. At 6-months, treatment participants were more likely to lose ≥5% and ≥7% of their weight compared to control participants (p=0.071, and p=0.015, respectively). Conclusions/UNASSIGNED:Findings demonstrate that a culturally-adapted CHW diabetes prevention program in the Sikh community is efficacious, adding to the growing literature on CHWs' capacity to address health inequity among underserved populations.

Objectives/UNASSIGNED:To assess prevalence of dietary cultural norms (consumption of brown rice, raw vegetables, low sodium diet) and the association of acculturation level with these norms in a Chinese American sample in New York City (NYC). Methods/UNASSIGNED: = 239). Multivariable models predicted the effect of acculturation on three dimensions of Chinese cultural dietary norms: non-consumption of raw vegetables, brown rice, and low sodium diet, adjusted for age and sex. Acculturation dimensions were defined as both identification with ethnic society (Chinese culture) immersion (ESI) and with dominant society (American culture) immersion (DSI); maximum possible scores = 4. STATA was used for all analyses. Results/UNASSIGNED:The majority of the sample identified strongly with Chinese culture (73% above mean ESI = 3.2) and less with American culture (55% below mean DSI = 3.0). Overall, participation in dietary norms was low across the three dimensions; 21% reported not consuming raw vegetables; 37% not consuming brown rice; and 41% not consuming low sodium diets. Participants with higher acculturation to American society (DSI > 3.0) had lower participation in raw vegetable and brown rice dietary norms; 7% for raw vegetables, and 22% for brown rice. Those more acculturated to American culture were more likely to report consumption of brown rice (aOR = 3.57, 95% CI 0.01-12.50). Having a college education or higher was associated with reduced likelihood of participating in raw vegetable norms (aOR = 0.21, 95% CI 0.08-0.51) and brown rice norms (aOR = 0.46, 95% CI 0.22-0.98). No associations were found between ESI and participating in any dietary norms using univariate or multivariate models. Conclusions/UNASSIGNED:Immersion into American society and education may be more influential on norms than traditional beliefs while acculturation to American society appears to dissuade participation in traditional Chinese dietary norms - specifically, consumption of brown rice. Interestingly, education appears to be a stronger predictor of participation in cultural dietary norms than American or Chinese acculturation in this sample. Funding Sources/UNASSIGNED:NIMHD/NIH.

Minority populations, including Asian Americans, face disparities in hypertension compared with non-Hispanic whites. This underscores the need for culturally adapted programs in settings that reach Asian American communities, such as faith-based organizations. We worked collaboratively with community partners to culturally adapt and implement an evidence-based community blood pressure monitoring program for Asian Americans (Asian Indians, Koreans, Filipinos, and Bangladeshis) in metropolitan New York during 2015 and 2016. The program included regularly scheduled volunteer-led screening and counseling events with congregants at faith-based organizations. Among participants with complete 6-month data (n = 348), health-related self-efficacy significantly improved after 6 months, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure was significantly reduced in some subgroups; reductions were highest in participants who self-reported a previous diagnosis of hypertension. Among Asian Americans, faith-based programs may be a replicable, low-cost, sustainable way to increase health-related self-efficacy and decrease blood pressure, specifically among individuals with self-reported hypertension.

Despite the high prevalence of smokeless tobacco (SLT) use in South Asia, little is known about the use of cultural smokeless tobacco among South Asians in the United States (US). This study examines the prevalence and correlates of SLT products among South Asians living in New York City (NYC). A total of 602 South Asians living in NYC completed a community health needs and resource assessment and answered questions about the use of SLT. Multivariable logistic regression models were run to examine predictors of SLT use (ever and current use). A total of 28.2% South Asian individuals reported ever use of SLT (35.9% among men and 21.5% among women) and a total of 12.9% reported current use of SLT (16.5% among men and 9.7% among women). Logistic regression models were stratified by sex. Among men, factors associated with ever or current use included: Bangladeshi and Himalayan ethnic subgroup, speaking English very well, attending a religious service a few times a year (ever use only), and current or former cigarette smoking. Among women, factors associated with ever use included: Bangladeshi ethnic subgroup, self-reporting condition of mouth and teeth as fair/poor, and at risk for depression. No factors were significant among women for current use. Overall, prevalence of current and ever use of SLT is high, and important differences exist by sex. Future studies are needed to better understand SLT use patterns in South Asian communities in the US and to inform culturally relevant interventions aiming to decrease overall tobacco use.