Objectives

To examine how the National Cancer Institute-funded Community Network Program (CNP) operationalized principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR).

Methods

Based on our review of the literature and extant CBPR measurement tools, scientists from nine of 25 CNPs developed a 27-item questionnaire to self-assess CNP operationalization of nine CBPR principles.

Results

Of 25 CNPs, 22 (88%) completed the questionnaire. Most scored well on CBPR principles to recognize community as a unit of identity, build on community strengths, facilitate co-learning, embrace iterative processes in developing community capacity, and achieve a balance between data generation and intervention. CNPs varied in extent to which they employed CBPR principles of addressing determinants of health, sharing power among partners, engaging community in research dissemination, and striving for sustainability.

Conclusions

Although tool development in this field is in its infancy, findings suggest that fidelity to CBPR processes can be assessed in a variety of settings.

Background

Research suggests individuals with diabetes are twice as likely as those without diabetes to be clinically depressed. Still unknown is the relationship between diabetes and depression in socioeconomically disadvantaged populations.

Purpose

We examined the relationship between diabetes and depressive symptoms in a large, racially diverse, low-income cohort in the southeastern United States.

Methods

69,068 adults were recruited from community health centers in the twelve southeastern states in the U.S. A fully adjusted polytomous logistic regression model tested the relationship between demographics, lifestyle behaviors, antidepressant use, body mass index, diabetes diagnosis, diabetes duration, diabetes medication compliance, and depressive symptoms using the Centers for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale.

Results

Diabetes was present in 21.7% of sample. While a diabetes diagnosis was associated with having severe depressive symptoms (AOR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.14-1.34), demographics, lifestyle behaviors, antidepressant use, body mass index were more strongly associated with severe depressive symptoms than a diabetes diagnosis.

Conclusions

Having diabetes was associated with the presence and severity of depressive symptoms in a large, low-income sample of racially diverse adults. However, the relationship between diabetes and depressive symptoms was weaker than other studies with higher socioeconomic groups.

OBJECTIVE

Individuals with diabetes are at higher risk for depression than the general population. Although depression can be treated with antidepressant medications, patients with diabetes and comorbid depression often go untreated. The goal of this study was to examine racial disparities in the treatment of depression with antidepressant medication in the southeastern U.S.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Cross-sectional data were collected at baseline from 69,068 participants (71% African American, 60% female, and 82% with incomes <$25,000) recruited from community health centers and enrolled in the Southern Cohort Community Study (SCCS). The SCCS is a prospective epidemiological cohort study designed to explore causes of health disparities in adults aged 40–79 years. Binary logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with antidepressant use among those with diabetes (n = 14,279).

RESULTS

Individuals with diagnosed diabetes (14,279) were classified with no depressive symptoms (54.7%), or with mild (24.2%), moderate (12.8%), or severe depressive symptoms (8.3%). After controlling for sex, age, insurance, income, education, BMI, smoking status, alcohol consumption, and level of depression, African Americans with diabetes were much less likely to report taking antidepressant medication than whites (adjusted odds ratio 0.32 [95% CI 0.29–0.35], P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

Antidepressant use is much less common among African Americans than among whites with diabetes. Reasons for racial disparities in treatment of depressive symptoms are unclear but may include a combination of differential diagnosis and treatment by health professionals as well as cultural differences in seeking help for emotional distress.

Introduction

Smoking is among the leading causes of premature mortality and preventable death in the United States. Although smoking contributes to the probability of developing chronic illness, little is known about the relationship between quitting smoking and the presence of chronic illness. The present study investigated the association between diagnoses of one or more chronic diseases (diabetes, hypertension, or high cholesterol) and smoking status (former or current smoker).

Methods

The data analyzed were a subset of questions from a 155-item telephone-administered community survey that assessed smoking status, demographic characteristics, and presence of chronic disease. The study sample consisted of 3,802 randomly selected participants.

Results

Participants with diabetes were more likely to report being former smokers, after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, whereas having hypertension or high cholesterol was not associated significantly with smoking status. The likelihood of being a former smoker did not increase as number of diagnosed chronic diseases increased. Participants who were women, older (aged 65+), or single were significantly less likely to be former smokers. Participants with at least a college degree, those with incomes of US$50,000+, and those who were underweight or obese were more likely to be former smokers.

Discussion

These findings were inconsistent with research that has suggested that having a chronic illness or experiencing a serious medical event increases the odds of smoking cessation. Supporting prior research, we found that being male, having a higher income, and being obese were associated with greater likelihood of being a former smoker.

Introduction

The objective of our study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Medical Outcomes Study's 12-Item Short Form Survey Instrument (SF-12) for use in a low-income African American community. The SF-12, a commonly used functional health status assessment, was developed based on responses of an ethnically homogeneous sample of whites. Our assessment addressed the appropriateness of the instrument for establishing baseline indicators for mental and physical health status as part of Nashville, Tennessee's, Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) 2010 initiative, a community-based participatory research study.

Methods

A cross-sectional random residential sample of 1721 African Americans responded to a telephone survey that included the SF-12 survey items and other indicators of mental and physical health status. The SF-12 was assessed by examining item-level characteristics, estimates of scale reliability (internal consistency), and construct validity.

Results

Construct validity assessed by the method of extreme groups determined that SF-12 summary scores varied for individuals who differed in self-reported medical conditions. Convergent and discriminate validity assessed by multitrait analysis yielded satisfactory coefficients. Concurrent validity was also shown to be satisfactory, assessed by correlating SF-12 summary scores with independent measures of physical and mental health status.

Conclusion

The SF-12 appears to be a valid measure for assessing health status of low-income African Americans.