Epidemiological surveys conducted in general populations have found that the prevalence of depression is about 9% in the United States. World Health Organization has projected that depression will be leading cause of disease burden by the year 2030. Growing evidence suggests that sedentary lifestyle is an important risk factor of depression among adults. The relationship between television watching/computer use and depression in US adults is still unknown. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between television watching/computer use and depression. This is a cross-sectional study that used the secondary data from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) (2011/2012). Participants were 3201 US adults who were 20 years or more. Self-reported Patient Health Questionnaire-9 [PHQ-9] was used to classify depression level; self-reported hours of watching TV and use of computer/day, and demographic information were obtained from NHANES data set. SAS®9.4was used to perform all statistical analyses and final model selection procedure. Depression was found to be significantly higher among female. Results showed that moderate or severe depression level was associated with higher time spent on TV watching and use of computer (> 6 h/day) (adjusted odds ratio: 2.3, 95% CI: 1.602–3.442). Duration of screen time was significantly associated when all covariates were adjusted. TV watching and computer use can predict the depression level among adults. Prospective studies and measurement of factors such as: work place sitting, social relationship, and family history of depression are warranted.

BackgroundCorticosteroids (CS) are the mainstay of immune-related adverse effect (irAE) management, as well as for other indications in cancer treatment. Previous studies evaluating whether CS affect immune checkpoint inhibitor (CPI) efficacy compared patients receiving CS versus no CS. However, there is a paucity of clinical data evaluating the timing of concomitant CS and CPI efficacy.MethodsWe retrospectively collected data from patients who received CS during CPI treatment at a single institution. Patients were in two cohorts based on timing of initiation of CS (≥2 months vs <2 months after initiating CPI). Patient characteristics, irAEs, cancer type, treatment type, treatment response/progression per RECIST V.1.1, and survival data were collected. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard regression methods estimated HRs for the primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS) along with overall survival (OS).ResultsWe identified 247 patients with metastatic cancer who received CS concurrently with CPIs. The median time on CS was 1.8 months. After adjusting for treatment type, tumor type, brain metastases, and irAEs, those treated with CS ≥2 months after starting CPI had a statistically significant longer PFS (HR=0.30, p<0.001), and OS (HR 0.34, p<0.0001) than those who received CS <2 months after starting CPI. Objective response rate (ORR) for patients on CS ≥2 months was 39.8%, versus ORR for patients <2 months was 14.7% (p value =<0.001)ConclusionOur results suggest that early use of CS during CPI treatment significantly hinders CPI efficacy. This data needs to be validated prospectively. Future studies should focus on the immune mechanisms by which CSs affect T-cell function early in the CPI treatment course.

Background Louisiana in the summer of 2020 had the highest per capita case count for COVID-19 in the United States and COVID-19 deaths disproportionately affects the African American population. Neighborhood deprivation has been observed to be associated with poorer health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between neighborhood deprivation and COVID-19 in Louisiana. Methods The Area Deprivation Index (ADI) was calculated and used to classify neighborhood deprivation at the census tract level. A total of 17 US census variables were used to calculate the ADI for each of the 1148 census tracts in Louisiana. The data were extracted from the American Community Survey (ACS) 2018. The neighborhoods were categorized into quintiles as well as low and high deprivation. The publicly available COVID-19 cumulative case counts by census tract were obtained from the Louisiana Department of Health website on July 31, 2020. Descriptive and Poisson regression analyses were performed. Results Neighborhoods in Louisiana were substantially different with respect to deprivation. The ADI ranged from 136.00 for the most deprived neighborhood and –33.87 in the least deprived neighborhood. We observed that individuals residing in the most deprived neighborhoods had almost a 40% higher risk of COVID-19 compared to those residing in the least deprived neighborhoods. Conclusion While the majority of previous studies were focused on very limited socio-environmental factors such as crowding and income, this study used a composite area-based deprivation index to examine the role of neighborhood environment on COVID-19. We observed a positive relationship between neighborhood deprivation and COVID-19 risk in Louisiana. The study findings can be utilized to promote public health preventions measures besides social distancing, wearing a mask while in public and frequent handwashing in vulnerable neighborhoods with greater deprivation.

Purpose: Louisiana currently has the highest per capita case count for COVID-19 in the United States and disproportionately affects the Black or African American population. Neighborhood deprivation has been observed to be associated with poorer health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between neighborhood deprivation and COVID-19 in Louisiana. Methods: The Area Deprivation Index (ADI) was calculated and used to classify neighborhood deprivation at the census tract level. A total of 17 US census variables were used to calculate the ADI for each of the 1148 census tracts in Louisiana. The data were extracted from the American Community Survey (ACS) 2018. The neighborhoods were categorized into quintiles as well as low and high deprivation. The publicly available COVID-19 cumulative case counts by census tract was obtained from the Louisiana Department of Health website on July 31, 2020. Descriptive and Poisson regression analyses were performed. Results: Neighborhoods in Louisiana were substantially different with respect to deprivation. The ADI ranged from 136.00 for the most deprived neighborhood and -33.87 in the least deprived neighborhood. We observed that individuals residing in the most deprived neighborhoods had a 45% higher risk of COVID-19 disease compared to those residing in the least deprived neighborhoods. Conclusion: While the majority of previous studies were focused on very limited socio-environmental factors such as crowding and income, this study used a composite area-based deprivation index to examine the role of neighborhood environment on COVID-19. We observed a positive relationship between neighborhood deprivation and COVID-19 risk in Louisiana. The study findings can be utilized to promote public health preventions measures besides social distancing, wearing a mask while in public and frequent handwashing in vulnerable neighborhoods with greater deprivation.

Background: The overall survival rate of prostate cancer (PCa) has improved over the past decades. However, huge socioeconomic and racial disparities in overall and prostate cancer-specific mortality exist. The neighborhood-level factors including socioeconomic disadvantage and lack of access to care may contribute to disparities in cancer mortality. This study examines the impact of neighborhood deprivation on mortality among PCa survivors.Methods: North Carolina-Louisiana Prostate Cancer Project (PCaP) data were used.A total of 2113 men, 1046 AA and 1067 EA, with PCa were included in the analysis.Neighborhood deprivation was measured by the Area Deprivation Index (ADI) at the census block group level using data from the US Census Bureau. Quintiles of ADI were created. Cox proportional hazards and competing risk models with mixed effects were performed to estimate the effect of neighborhood deprivation on