Sex differences in the interaction of short-term particulate matter exposure and psychosocial stressors on C-reactive protein in a Puerto Rican cohort

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Christina H. Fuller, Georgia State University; Allison A. Appleton, School of Public Health; Purva J. Bulsara, Georgia State University; Marie S. O'Neill, University of Michigan School of Public Health; Howard Chang, Emory University; Jeremy Sarnat, Emory University; Luis M. Falcón, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Katherine L. Tucker, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Doug Brugge, University of Connecticut Department of Community Medicine and Healthcare
• Language: English
• Date: 2019-12-01
• Publisher: Elsevier Ltd.
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2019.100500
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: SSM - Population Health
• Volume: 9
• Start Page: 100500
• End Page: 100500
• Grant/Funding Information: This analysis was made possible by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (P01 AG023394 and P50 HL105185), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (ES015462, ES017885, ES026980), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (RD 83479801) and the JPB Environmental Health Fellows Program.
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

There is substantial evidence linking particulate matter air pollution with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, health disparities between populations may exist due to imprecisely defined non-innate susceptibility factors. Psychosocial stressors are associated with cardiovascular disease and may increase non-innate susceptibility to air-pollution. We investigated whether the association between short-term changes in ambient particulate matter and cardiovascular health risk differed by psychosocial stressors in a Puerto Rican cohort, comparing women and men. We used data from the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study (BPRHS), a longitudinal study of cardiovascular health among adults, collected between 2004 and 2013. We used mixed effect models to estimate the association of current-day ambient particle number concentration (PNC) on C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of systemic inflammation, and effect modification by psychosocial stressors (depression, acculturation, perceived stress, discrimination, negative life events and a composite score). Point estimates of percent difference in CRP per interquartile range change in PNC varied among women with contrasting levels of stressors: negative life events (15.7% high vs. 6.5% low), depression score (10.6% high vs. 4.6% low) and composite stress score (16.2% high vs. 7.0% low). There were minimal differences among men. For Puerto Rican adults, cardiovascular non-innate susceptibility to adverse effects of ambient particles may be greater for women under high stress. This work contributes to understanding health disparities among minority ethnic populations.