The Boston Puerto Rican Health Study, a longitudinal cohort study on health disparities in Puerto Rican adults: challenges and opportunities

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Luis M Falcon¹  Jason Nelson²  John Griffith²  Bridgette M Collado³  Jackie Mendez³  Jose M Ordovas⁴  Sabrina E Noel⁴  Josiemer Mattei⁴  Katherine L Tucker⁵ 

[1] Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA;Tufts Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA;USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA;USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA;Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA;USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA;Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA;

关键词: Depressive Symptomatology;    Allostatic Load;    Hispanic Subgroup;    Great Boston Area;    Psychological Acculturation;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-10-107

 received in 2009-07-28, accepted in 2010-03-01,  发布年份 2010

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe Boston Puerto Rican Health Study is an ongoing longitudinal cohort study designed to examine the role of psychosocial stress on presence and development of allostatic load and health outcomes in Puerto Ricans, and potential modification by nutritional status, genetic variation, and social support.MethodsSelf-identified Puerto Ricans, aged 45-75 years and residing in the Boston, MA metro area, were recruited through door-to-door enumeration and community approaches. Participants completed a comprehensive set of questionnaires and tests. Blood, urine and salivary samples were extracted for biomarker and genetic analysis. Measurements are repeated at a two-year follow-up.ResultsA total of 1500 eligible participants completed baseline measurements, with nearly 80% two-year follow-up retention. The majority of the cohort is female (70%), and many have less than 8th grade education (48%), and fall below the poverty level (59%). Baseline prevalence of health conditions is high for this age range: considerable physical (26%) and cognitive (7%) impairment, obesity (57%), type 2 diabetes (40%), hypertension (69%), arthritis (50%) and depressive symptomatology (60%).ConclusionsThe enrollment of minority groups presents unique challenges. This report highlights approaches to working with difficult to reach populations, and describes some of the health issues and needs of Puerto Rican older adults. These results may inform future studies and interventions aiming to improve the health of this and similar communities.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Tucker et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2010