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Abstract Background Despite benefits of endocrine therapy (ET) for patients with hormone-receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer, many patients do not initiate or discontinue ET against recommendations. Methods We identified variables associated with ET initiation and continuation, analyzing pooled data from two longitudinal studies at a National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer center in St. Louis, Missouri. The sample included 533 women with newly diagnosed, non-metastatic, HR-positive breast cancer who completed interviews at enrollment and 6, 12, and 24 months after definitive surgical treatment. Logistic regression models estimated the adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence interval (aOR [95% CI]) for each of self-reported ET initiation by the 12-month interview and continuation for ≥12 months by the 24-month interview in association with self-reported diabetes, elevated depressed mood, menopausal-symptom severity and obesity, adjusting for race, age, insurance status, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Results Overall, 81.4% (434/533) of patients initiated ET, and 86.5% (371/429) continued ET ≥12 months. Patients with diabetes had lower odds of initiating ET (0.50 [0.27-0.91]). Patients reporting greater menopausal-symptom severity had lower odds of continuing ET (0.72 [0.53-0.99]). Conclusion Efforts to increase ET initiation among patients with diabetes and better manage severe menopausal symptoms among ET users might promote ET continuation. Clinical trial information ClinicalTrials.gov : #NCT00929084.

Abstract Background With the increasing changes in tobacco use patterns, “current use” definition and the survey used may have important implications for monitoring population use trends. Methods Using three US surveys (2014/15 TUS-CPS, NHIS and PATH), we compared the adult (age 18+) prevalence of four product groups (cigarettes, other combustibles, smokeless tobacco, and e-cigarettes) based on three past 30-day frequency of use thresholds: 1+, 10+, and 25+ days. We also examined mutually exclusive single, dual, and polytobacco users as a percentage of total users for each product group. Results Regardless of threshold or product, the prevalence was higher in PATH followed by NHIS and TUS-CPS, in some cases by large percentages. The differences in cigarette and smokeless tobacco use prevalence in going from the 1+ to 10+ days and to the 25+ days threshold were minimal. Applying different frequency thresholds had the largest impact on other combustibles prevalence, with a 60% reduction with the 10+ days threshold and a 80% reduction with the 25+ days threshold, compared to the 1+ days threshold, followed by e-cigarettes with 40 and 60% reductions, respectively. The proportion of dual and polytobacco users decreased considerably when using the 10+ vs. the 1+ days threshold and polytobacco use was almost non-existent with the 25+ days threshold. Conclusion The estimated prevalence of each tobacco product use depends largely on the survey and frequency of use threshold adopted. The choice of survey and frequency threshold merits serious consideration when monitoring patterns of tobacco use.

Objective: We investigated sex differences in sleep and examined the association between objectively-measured sleep characteristics and weight gain among 54 black students at a historically black university in spring 2018. Methods: Participants wore a wearable tracker (Fitbit Alta) for an average of 68 days of sleep over the spring semester and 5.5 days of sleep over the spring break. They also completed a questionnaire. Results: Average sleep duration was 6 hours 35 minutes. More women had short sleep (< 7 hours / night) than men (92.1% vs 43.8%; p < .001). Women had shorter sleep (6 hours 24 minutes vs 7 hours 1 minute; p = .003), shorter naps (2 hours 4 minutes vs 2 hours 30 minutes; p = .043), and lower sleep efficiency (93.0% vs 94.1%; p = .048) than men. More women than men experienced weight gain (79.0% vs 68.8%, p < .05). We found an inverse relationship between sleep duration and weight gain in both sexes (r = -0.42, p < .05). Conclusions: Appropriate sleep and weight management should be considered to address sex disparities in sleep and weight gain among black students at historically black universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]