OBJECTIVES Early-life intelligence has been shown to predict multiple causes of death in populations around the world. This finding suggests that intelligence might influence mortality through its effects on a general process of physiological deterioration (i.e., individual variation in "biological age"). We examined whether intelligence could predict measures of aging at midlife before the ons...

BACKGROUND Data collection for the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) comprises three levels: a household screener, an interview, and a physical examination. The primary objective of the screener is to determine whether any household members are eligible for the interview and examination. Eligibility is determined by the preset selection probabilities for the desired demo...

PURPOSE This study assessed awareness of metabolic syndrome and evaluated health knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of respondents at risk. METHODS Study to Help Improve Early evaluation and management of risk factors Leading to Diabetes (SHIELD), a longitudinal US population-based survey initiated in 2004, included respondents, > or = 18 years of age, reporting a diagnosis of metabolic synd...

There is compelling evidence from animal experiments that noise exposure suppresses testosterone in males by affecting the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis. Virtually nothing is known about its effect in humans. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the association between occupational noise exposure and serum testosterone in a representative sample of the general population. Th...

Two recent reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and reports from a number of states and municipalities suggest that we are making progress in the control of the obesity epidemic, particularly with respect to younger children. The 2 national surveys that have provided the most valid and reliable data are the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and the...

BACKGROUND A common issue in descriptive injury epidemiology is that in order to calculate injury rates that account for the time spent in an activity, both injury cases and exposure time of specific activities need to be collected. In reality, few national surveys have this capacity. To address this issue, we combined statistics from two different national complex surveys as inputs for the num...

BACKGROUND Despite a considerable number of studies describing the relationship between area-level socioeconomic conditions and mammography screening, definitive conclusions have yet to be drawn. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between area-level socioeconomic position (SEP) and repeat mammography screening, using nationwide U.S. census SEP data linked to a nationally repr...

The current study assessed the prevalence of diabetes across four different physical activity lifestyles and infer through machine learning which combinations of physical activity, sleep, stress, and body mass index yield the lowest prevalence of diabetes in Blacks and Whites. Data were extracted from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) dataset from 2004-2013 containing demographics, ch...

BACKGROUND The primary route of exposure to methylmercury (MeHg), a known developmental neurotoxicant, is from ingestion of seafood. Since 2004, women of reproductive age in the U.S. have been urged to eat fish and shellfish as part of a healthy diet while selecting species that contain lower levels MeHg. Yet few studies have examined trends in MeHg exposure and fish consumption over time in th...

BACKGROUND A substantial proportion of US adults hold fatalistic beliefs about cancer prevention. Although evidence suggests that fatalistic beliefs discourage people from engaging in screening behaviors that can reduce their cancer risk, far less is known about associations between cancer fatalism and other prevention behaviors. We examined sociodemographic correlates of these beliefs and thei...