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The department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics will be hosting their next Epi/Bios Forum on Wednesday, November 6th, 2024 from 3:30pm-5:00pm.
Please note the forum will be held on Teams.
You will need to be logged in with your CUNY login in order to access the session.
Forum Link: Microsoft Teams
Forum information and links will also be provided in the Epi/bios Department Team.
Department of Epidemiology and BiostatisticsGraduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, City University of New York (CUNY)
Bio: Dr. Borrell is a social epidemiologist with a research interest in race, ethnicity, socioeconomic position, and neighborhood effects as social determinants of health. She also investigates the impact of nationality, nativity status, and race on health outcomes among the Hispanic/Latino population.
Dr. Borrell has expertise in research methods and analyses of large datasets, including survey, census, and spatially linked data. In addition, she has an extensive track record of mentoring master’s and doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty members.
Finally, Dr. Borrell is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Preventive Medicine and Preventive Medicine Reports, and she serves on the editorial boards of several other high-impact journals, such as the American Journal of Public Health, Annals of Epidemiology, Health & Place, PLoS One, Social Science and Medicine, and Social Science and Medicine – Population Health.
Topic: The Hispanic/Latino Paradox: Looking forward
This paradoxical finding was first observed among Mexican Americans in the Southwest, with explanations including but not limited to cultural beliefs, selective migration, ethnic enclaves, familism or social support, and data quality. However, the paradox has come into question with the increased population size and its increased diversity and heterogeneity related to culture, racial and pan-ethnic identities, country of origin, and health outcomes.
This presentation will provide an overview of the Hispanic/Latino population and its heterogeneity, describe the Hispanic/Latino paradox, and discuss issues challenging the future of the paradox.
Student Speaker:Lauren Buscarino, MPH
Bio: Lauren Buscarino (she/her) is a recent graduate of the Epidemiology and Biostatistics program at CUNY SPH. Her research on perinatal HIV survivors’ diagnosis disclosure experience underscores her desire to improve healthcare service delivery to marginalized communities so they may experience a better quality of life.
As an extension of this desire, she will be starting as a research analyst with the Bronx Health Collective at Montefiore Medical Center, helping to implement and evaluate a number of special initiatives that are aimed at improving retention in care and overall health outcomes of Bronx residents.
Topic: The Impact of the Initial Diagnosis Disclosure Experience on Long-Term Mental Health Outcomes of the Longest-Living Survivors of Perinatal HIV
Abstract: Background – Delaying disclosure of an HIV-positive status to youth with perinatal HIV beyond the age of 12 can lead to lasting negative feelings and re-traumatization in later adolescence. As these youth age into adulthood since the advent of anti- retroviral therapy (ART), the long-term mental health impact of their initial diagnosis disclosure experience is unclear.
Methods: We utilized survey data from a convenience sample of 70 adult survivors of perinatal HIV from the Beating the Odds (BTO) study to examine the long-term impact of age at diagnosis disclosure and discloser identity on mental health status. Differences in age at diagnosis disclosure by discloser identity group were tested using Pearson’s chi-square test. Standardization using logistic regression to adjust for age, sex, and race was employed to estimate the average treatment effect (ATE) of disclosure by a parent or guardian at the age of six versus disclosure by a healthcare provider at the age of 18 on mental health status.
Results: Survivors who were disclosed to by a parent or guardian learned earlier in time compared to those disclosed to by a healthcare provider (Chi-square p<.001). We estimated that the risk of experiencing a poor long-term mental health status would be 10% [-0.10 (95% CI: -0.34-0.14)] lower if all survivors were disclosed to by a parent or guardian at age six compared to if all participants were disclosed to by a healthcare provider at age 18.
Conclusion: While early disclosure by a parent or guardian may reduce survivors’ risk of poor long-term mental health, the confidence interval implies that this may also be harmful to survivors. Our results underscore the need to clarify the effects of initial diagnosis disclosure to inform disclosure protocols that support survivors’ mental health.