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Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health... Feb 2021Cervical cancer continues to be a leading cancer among women in India. Despite availability of various screening techniques, majority of Indian women remain unscreened...
BACKGROUND
Cervical cancer continues to be a leading cancer among women in India. Despite availability of various screening techniques, majority of Indian women remain unscreened for cancer cervix. The increasing incidence could be attributed to the lack of awareness regarding cervical cancer screening and paucity of organized screening facilities in the country. This study assessed the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) towards cervical cancer screening among tribal women of coastal Karnataka, southern India.
METHODS
A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 1140 women aged 20-65 years from three tribes. Information on their KAP towards cervical cancer screening was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire.
RESULTS
Mean age of the participants was 39.8 ± 10.1 years. Although 82.9% of the participants reported to have heard of cervical cancer, 51% were aware that the disease could be prevented, and only 2.3% knew that it can be detected at an early stage. Over 75% of the participants did not have adequate knowledge regarding cervical cancer. However, majority of them (99.9%) had a favourable attitude towards cervical cancer screening. None of them had undergone cervical cancer screening prior to the study. The knowledge scores were significantly associated with age group, marital status, education level, socioeconomic status and tribal community of the participants (p < 0.05).
CONCLUSION
Overall knowledge regarding cervical cancer among the surveyed women was poor, though they exhibited a positive attitude. This calls for a sustained health education and screening program to create awareness and improve the uptake of cervical cancer screening among these women.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Cross-Sectional Studies; Early Detection of Cancer; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; India; Middle Aged; Population Groups; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms; Young Adult
PubMed: 32333376
DOI: 10.1007/s40615-020-00760-4 -
PloS One 2023Cardiovascular diseases are some of the leading causes of death worldwide, with coronary artery disease leading as one of the primary causes of mortality in both the...
BACKGROUND
Cardiovascular diseases are some of the leading causes of death worldwide, with coronary artery disease leading as one of the primary causes of mortality in both the developing and developed worlds. Despite its prevalence, there is a disproportionately small number of studies conducted in populations of non-European ancestry, with the limited sample sizes of such studies further restricting the power and generalizability of respective findings. This research aimed at understanding the differences in the genetic architecture of coronary artery disease (CAD) in populations of diverse ancestries in order to contribute towards the understanding of the pathophysiology of coronary artery disease.
METHODS
We performed a systematic review on the 6th of October, 2022 summarizing genome-wide association studies on coronary artery disease, while employing the GWAS Catalog as an independent database to support the search. We developed a framework to assess the methodological quality of each study. We extracted and grouped associated single nucleotide polymorphisms and genes according to ancestry groups of participants.
RESULTS
We identified 3100 studies, of which, 36 relevant studies were included in this research. Three of the studies that were included were not listed in the GWAS Catalog, highlighting the value of conducting an independent search alongside established databases in order to ensure the full research landscape has been captured. 743,919 CAD case participants from 25 different countries were analysed, with 61% of the studies identified in this research conducted in populations of European ancestry. No studies investigated populations of Africans living in continental Africa or admixed American ancestry groups besides African-Americans, while limited sample sizes were included of population groups besides Europeans and East Asians. This observed disproportionate population representation highlights the gaps in the literature, which limits our ability to understand coronary artery disease as a global disease. 71 genetic loci were identified to be associated with coronary artery disease in more than one article, with ancestry-specific genetic loci identified in each respective population group which were not detected in studies of other ancestries.
CONCLUSIONS
Although the replication and validation of these variants are still warranted, these finding are indicative of the value of including diverse ancestry populations in GWAS reference panels, as a more comprehensive understanding of the genetic architecture and pathophysiology of CAD can be achieved.
Topics: Humans; Africa; Coronary Artery Disease; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Genome-Wide Association Study; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Population Groups; Racial Groups
PubMed: 38019802
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0294341 -
The Journal of Forensic... Dec 2011Estimation of age is an important requisite in forensic, judicial and criminal proceedings. Dental age can be estimated from a dataset that has been prepared from a...
Estimation of age is an important requisite in forensic, judicial and criminal proceedings. Dental age can be estimated from a dataset that has been prepared from a similar or a different population group. Demirjian and his co-workers proposed dental maturity scores from a French-Canadian population and this has served as a reference dataset for evaluation of age for various population groups. Considering the high number of illegal immigrants who have entered Hong Kong from neighboring countries, age estimation studies on southern Chinese is warranted. This study aimed to validate the applicability of Demirjian's dataset on a southern Chinese population. A total of 182 dental panoramic tomographs comprising an equal number of boys and girls with an age range from 3 to 16 years were scored. Dental maturity scores were obtained from the Demirjian's dataset and dental age was calculated. The difference in chronological and estimated dental ages was calculated using the paired t-test. There was a mean overestimation of dental age of 0.62 years for boys (p < 0.01) and 0.36 years for girls (p < 0.01). Demirjian's dataset is not suitable for estimating the age of 3-16 years old southern Chinese children.
Topics: Adolescent; Age Determination by Teeth; Asian People; Child; Child, Preschool; China; Female; Humans; Male; Reference Standards; Regression Analysis; Statistics, Nonparametric; Tooth; White People
PubMed: 22717910
DOI: No ID Found -
Acta Diabetologica Oct 2003Most in vivo body composition methods rely on assumptions that may vary among different population groups as well as within the same population group. The assumptions... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
Most in vivo body composition methods rely on assumptions that may vary among different population groups as well as within the same population group. The assumptions are based on in vitro body composition (carcass) analyses. The majority of body composition studies were performed on Caucasians and much of the information on validity methods and assumptions were available only for this ethnic group. It is assumed that these assumptions are also valid for other ethnic groups. However, if apparent differences across ethnic groups in body composition 'constants' and body composition 'rules' are not taken into account, biased information on body composition will be the result. This in turn may lead to misclassification of obesity or underweight at an individual as well as a population level. There is a need for more cross-ethnic population studies on body composition. Those studies should be carried out carefully, with adequate methodology and standardization for the obtained information to be valuable.
Topics: Adipose Tissue; Black People; Body Composition; Body Height; China; Ethnicity; Female; Humans; India; Malaysia; Male; Racial Groups; Reproducibility of Results; Singapore; White People
PubMed: 14618484
DOI: 10.1007/s00592-003-0077-z -
Clinical Anatomy (New York, N.Y.) May 2010The 7th cervical vertebrae of 240 cadavers of South African Zulu, White, and Colored population groups were examined to determine morphometric variation. White and...
The 7th cervical vertebrae of 240 cadavers of South African Zulu, White, and Colored population groups were examined to determine morphometric variation. White and Colored females had statistically significant narrower cervical anteroposterior diameters than their male counterparts, whereas no statistically significant difference between sexes of the Zulu population group was observed in this variable. In addition, although Zulu and Colored females had statistically significant narrower cervical transverse diameters than their male counterparts, there was no statistically significant variation between South African white males and females in this respect. The findings indicate that sexual dimorphism is more apparent in the vertebral centrum, across the three population groups, where males had significantly larger dimensions in centrum anteroposterior diameter, height, and width than their female counterparts. The study further reveals that sexual dimorphism is more apparent when one compares aspects of the 7th cervical vertebra between sexes within the same population group. Overall, the dimensions of the various variates of the vertebra are substantially smaller in women than in men. The smaller dimensions, particularly of the centrum, may be the result of lower skeletal mass in women and render them more vulnerable to fractures resulting from compression forces.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Black People; Cervical Vertebrae; Ethnicity; Female; Genetic Variation; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Population Groups; South Africa; White People
PubMed: 20235180
DOI: 10.1002/ca.20962 -
American Journal of Physical... May 1988Renal weights of 430 adult black subjects coming to medicolegal autopsy at the Diepkloof State Mortuary, a large urban area southwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, were... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
Renal weights of 430 adult black subjects coming to medicolegal autopsy at the Diepkloof State Mortuary, a large urban area southwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, were analyzed. The subjects were from 10 southern African black ethnic groups-Zulu, Sotho, Tswana, Xhosa, Shangaan, Swazi, Venda, Ndebele, Kalanga, and Malawi. The aims of the study were: 1) to ascertain the anatomical "norm" as it pertains to renal weights in this diverse population group; 2) to formulate standard reference tables that might be of use to the practicing pathologist in the southern African arena; 3) to provide a range of values that take into account the variables of age, sex, race, body weight, and body height; and 4) to provide a standard of comparison with anthropological and anatomical studies conducted on North American black, North American Caucasian, Indian subcontinent, Burmese, and Jamaican population groups. In each of the 430 subjects, age, sex, ethnic group, supine body length, body weight, individual left and right renal weights, and causes of death were noted. The latter were divided into 6 categories: 1) penetrating incised wounds; 2) multiple injuries; 3) gunshot wounds; 4) craniocerebral injuries; 5) various miscellaneous nonnatural causes of death; and 6) natural causes of death. The above variables were analyzed by computer and compared with respect to renal weights. No statistically significant differences were observed between the sexes or the age groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Topics: Adult; Aged; Black People; Female; Humans; Kidney; Male; Middle Aged; Organ Size; Reference Values; South Africa
PubMed: 3407754
DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.1330760109 -
Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers Jun 2012Balancing the subject composition of case and control groups to create homogenous ancestries between each group is essential for medical association studies.
BACKGROUND
Balancing the subject composition of case and control groups to create homogenous ancestries between each group is essential for medical association studies.
METHODS
We explored the applicability of single-tube 34-plex ancestry informative markers (AIM) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to estimate the African Component of Ancestry (ACA) to design a future case-control association study of a Brazilian urban sample.
RESULTS
One hundred eighty individuals (107 case group; 73 control group) self-described as white, brown-intermediate or black were selected. The proportions of the relative contribution of a variable number of ancestral population components were similar between case and control groups. Moreover, the case and control groups demonstrated similar distributions for ACA <0.25 and >0.50 categories. Notably a high number of outlier values (23 samples) were observed among individuals with ACA <0.25. These individuals presented a high probability of Native American and East Asian ancestral components; however, no individuals originally giving these self-described ancestries were observed in this study.
CONCLUSIONS
The strategy proposed for the assessment of ancestry and adjustment of case and control groups for an association study is an important step for the proper construction of the study, particularly when subjects are taken from a complex urban population. This can be achieved using a straight forward multiplexed AIM-SNPs assay of highly discriminatory ancestry markers.
Topics: Asian People; Black People; Brazil; Case-Control Studies; Female; Humans; Hypercholesterolemia; Indians, South American; Male; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Population Groups; Urban Population; White People
PubMed: 22288895
DOI: 10.1089/gtmb.2011.0267 -
Human Biology Apr 2010The Quebec population is one of the rare populations of its size for which genealogical information is available for an uninterrupted period of almost four centuries.... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
The Quebec population is one of the rare populations of its size for which genealogical information is available for an uninterrupted period of almost four centuries. This allows for in-depth studies on the formation and evolution of a young founder population. Using data from two major population registers, in this study we focus on the maternal and paternal lineages (i.e., strictly female or male genealogical lines) that can be traced back within the Quebec genealogies. Through the analysis of these lineages it is possible to characterize the founders who transmitted to the contemporary population their mitochondrial (for females) and Y-chromosome (for males) DNA. The basic material consists of 2,221 ascending genealogies of subjects who married in the Quebec population between 1945 and 1965. On average, more than nine generations of ancestors were identified among the lineages. Analyses of maternal and paternal lineages show that the number of paternal founders is higher and their origins and genetic contributions are more variable than that of maternal founders, leading to a larger effective population size and greater diversity of Y chromosomes than of mtDNA. This is explained for the most part by differential migratory patterns among male and female founders of the Quebec population. Comparisons of sex-specific genetic contributions with total genetic contribution showed a strong correlation between the two values, with some discrepancies related to sex ratio differences among the founders' first descendants.
Topics: Chromosomes, Human, Y; DNA, Mitochondrial; Emigration and Immigration; Female; Gene Flow; Genealogy and Heraldry; Genetic Variation; Genetics, Population; Humans; Male; Pedigree; Population Groups; Quebec; Registries; Statistics as Topic
PubMed: 20649399
DOI: 10.3378/027.082.0204 -
Ethnicity & Health Jan 2021The objective of this study was to investigate potential county-level disparities among racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups in confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths in...
OBJECTIVES
The objective of this study was to investigate potential county-level disparities among racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups in confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths in the United States in 100,000 population.
DESIGN
Secondary data analysis using county-level data for 3,142 US counties was conducted in 2020. Hierarchical linear regression and concentration curve analyses were performed. The combined association of COVID-19 cases and deaths was examined separately by the county population's socioeconomic characteristics. Data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates (2014-2018), Area Health Resources File (AHRF) 2018-2019, Kaiser Health News 2020, and 2020 COVID-19 data from Johns Hopkins University were used in this study.
RESULTS
After adjusting for covariates, U.S. counties with a higher proportion of the Black population and a higher proportion of adults with less than a high school diploma had disproportionately higher COVID-19 cases and deaths (β > 0, <0.05 for all relations). A higher proportion of the Hispanic population was associated with higher confirmed cases (β = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.48-0.87). The majority observed disparities in COVID-19 deaths persisted even after controlling for all-cause deaths in 2019 and COVID-19 cases per 100,000 county population. This can potentially aggravate the existing health disparities among these population groups.
CONCLUSIONS
Identification of disproportionately impacted population groups can pave the way towards narrowing the disparity gaps and guide policymakers and stakeholders in designing and implementing population group-specific interventions to mitigate the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Topics: Adult; COVID-19; Ethnicity; Female; Health Status Disparities; Humans; Male; Mortality; Racial Groups; Socioeconomic Factors; United States
PubMed: 33334160
DOI: 10.1080/13557858.2020.1853067 -
South African Medical Journal =... Oct 1996This article aims: (i) to re-examine the use and usefulness of categorisation based on 'race', ethnicity and 'population group' membership in public health research; and...
OBJECTIVE
This article aims: (i) to re-examine the use and usefulness of categorisation based on 'race', ethnicity and 'population group' membership in public health research; and (ii) to assess the consequences of using these categories for describing, analysing and redressing disparities in health within South Africa. The utility of categorisation based on 'race', ethnicity and 'population group'. Categorising populations and comparing patterns of disease between different groups of people can be a useful technique for identifying potential causes of disease. In this context, ethnicity is a valid social concept that could be used to investigate the consequences of self-ascribed identity on health. Likewise, 'population group', as defined during apartheid in South Africa, represents a valid political concept that could be used for assessing the impact of social discrimination on health. However, both these concepts are often seen, and used, as euphemisms for 'race', even though there are no genetically distinct human subspecies that can be identified and categorised as discrete 'races'. Indeed, 'race' as a biological concept has no validity in human biology. Nevertheless, categories based on 'race', ethnicity and 'population group; continue to be used in health research, and reinforce the perception that differences in disease between different 'racial', ethnic and 'population' groups are the result of heritable biological characteristics. In so doing, they undermine support for health interventions that would otherwise address the social and political origins of 'racial' and ethnic disparities in health. The utility of 'population group' for redressing the consequences of apartheid. Despite these problems, 'population group' classification provides important information for assessing the impact of apartheid on disparities in health within South Africa. Yet, the abolition of apartheid legislation is likely to result in extensive socio-economic and geographical migration that will weaken the sensitivity and specificity of 'population group' as an indicator for identifying inequalities in health. For this reason, targeting corrective action at specific population groups in order to tackle disparities in health, runs the risk of ignoring alternative social causes of inequalities in health, and ignoring disadvantaged individuals from elsewhere in the population. The continued use of 'population group' classification might also perpetuate the root cause of disparities in health, by maintaining the process used to formalise discrimination.
CONCLUSION
If the purpose of health research is to monitor inequalities in health and to help target resources aimed at reducing these inequalities, then it should seek, in its language, concepts and methods to undermine the root cause of disadvantage. Health research aimed at monitoring and redressing the consequences of social disadvantage on health should therefore focus on non-biological determinants of social disparities in health. As a general rule, health researchers should avoid using categories based on 'race', ethnicity and 'population group' when collecting and analysing health data; journal editors should not accept articles that use these categories without justification; and health authorities should not collect data routinely segregated by 'race', ethnicity or 'population group'.
Topics: Bias; Data Collection; Delivery of Health Care; Ethnicity; Health Services Accessibility; Humans; Prejudice; Racial Groups; Research; Socioeconomic Factors; South Africa; Terminology as Topic
PubMed: 8955730
DOI: No ID Found