This study examined: (a) differences in lung function between current and non current smokers who had sedentary lifestyles and non sedentary lifestyles and (b) the mediating effect of sedentary lifestyle on the association between smoking and lung function in African Americans. Sedentary lifestyle was defined as the lowest quartile of the total physical activity score. The results of linear and logistic regression analyses revealed that non smokers with non sedentary lifestyles had the highest level of lung function, and smokers with sedentary lifestyles had the lowest level. The female non-smokers with sedentary lifestyles had a significantly higher FEV₁% predicted and FVC% predicted than smokers with non sedentary lifestyles (93.3% vs. 88.6%; p = 0.0102 and 92.1% vs. 86.9%; p = 0.0055 respectively). FEV₁/FVC ratio for men was higher in non smokers with sedentary lifestyles than in smokers with non sedentary lifestyles (80.9 vs. 78.1; p = 0.0048). Though smoking is inversely associated with lung function, it seems to have a more deleterious effect than sedentary lifestyle on lung function. Physically active smokers had higher lung function than their non physically active counterparts.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the US and in Mississippi. Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer among women, and the underlying pathophysiology remains unknown, especially among African American (AA) women. The study purpose was to examine the joint effect of menopause status (MS) and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on the association with cancers, particularly BC using data from the Jackson Heart Study. The analytic sample consisted of 3202 women between 35 and 84 years of which 73.7% and 22.6% were postmenopausal and on HRT, respectively. There were a total of 190 prevalent cancer cases (5.9%) in the sample with 22.6% breast cancer cases. Menopause (p < 0.0001), but not HRT (p = 0.6402), was independently associated with cancer. Similar results were obtained for BC. BC, cancer, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, prevalent cardiovascular disease, physical activity and certain dietary practices were all significantly associated with the joint effect of menopause and HRT in the unadjusted analyses. The family history of cancer was the only covariate that was significantly associated with cancer in the age-adjusted models. In examining the association of cancer and the joint effect of menopause and HRT, AA women who were menopausal and were not on HRT had a 1.97 (95% CI: 1.15, 3.38) times odds of having cancer compared to pre-menopausal women after adjusting for age; which was attenuated after further adjusting for family history of cancer. Given that the cancer and BC cases were small and key significant associations were attenuated after adjusting for the above mentioned covariates, these findings warrant further investigation in studies with larger sample sizes of cancer (and BC) cases.

Building Collaborative Health Promotion Partnerships: The Jackson Heart Study. Background: Building a collaborative health promotion partnership that effectively employs principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR) involves many dimensions. To ensure that changes would be long-lasting, it is imperative that partnerships be configured to include groups of diverse community representatives who can develop a vision for long-term change. This project sought to enumerate processes used by the Jackson Heart Study (JHS) Community Outreach Center (CORC) to create strong, viable partnerships that produce lasting change. Methods: JHS CORC joined with community representatives to initiate programs that evolved into comprehensive strategies for addressing health disparities and the high prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD). This collaboration was made possible by first promoting an understanding of the need for combined effort, the desire to interact with other community partners, and the vision to establish an effective governance structure. Results: The partnership between JHS CORC and the community has empowered and inspired community members to provide leadership to other health promotion projects. Conclusion: Academic institutions must reach out to local community groups and together address local health issues that affect the community. When a community understands the need for change to respond to negative health conditions, formalizing this type of collaboration is a step in the right direction.

This study examined the practices, personal motivation, and barriers of African American communities in Mississippi regarding their dietary practices. We selected the Metro Jackson Area comprised of Hinds, Madison and Rankin Counties because it is a combination of urban and rural communities. The sample consisted of 70 participants from seven sites. A total of seven focus groups responded to six questions to assess practices, personal motivation, and barriers to dietary practices: (1) Where in your community can you access fresh fruits and vegetables? (2) How many meals a day should a person eat? (3) What would you consider to be a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner? (4) What would you consider to be a healthy snack? (5) What do you consider to be your motivations for eating healthy? (6) What do you consider to be your barriers to eating healthy? Each of the seven focus groups consisted of 6 to 12 participants and provided details of their dietary practices. The focus group interviews were digitally‐recorded. The recorded interviews were transcribed. The majority of the participants stated that there is a limited availability of fresh fruits/vegetables in rural areas because of a shortage of grocery stores. When they do find fruits, they are priced very high and are unaffordable. Even though health conditions dictate food frequency and portion size, community members feel that individuals should eat three good balanced meals per day with snacks, and they should adhere to small portion sizes. While the desire to attain overall good health and eliminate associative risks for heart disease (e.g., diabetes, obesity) are personal motivations, the cost of food, transportation, age, and time required for food preparation were seen as barriers to healthy eating. Decisions regarding meal choice and meal frequency can have an impact on long‐term health outcomes. Health promotion programs should become an integral part of academic‐ community collaborative agreements.

Background: History has recorded the tremendous concerns and apprehension expressed by African Americans about participating in research studies. This review enumerates the collaborative techniques that were utilized by the Jackson State University (JSU) Jackson Heart Study (JHS) community-focused team to facilitate recruitment and retention of the JHS cohort and to implement health education and health promotion in the JHS communities. Methods: This review describes the evolution of the JSU JHS community initiatives, an innovative community-driven operation, during the period 1999–2018. Results: JSU JHS community-focused investigators published approximately 20 manuscripts, including community-led research and publications with community lead authors and co-authors, research and publications in collaboration with other JHS staff, through other JSU-funded projects. The JSU JHS community-focused unit also initiated the JHS Community Training Activities, developed the Community Health Advisory Network (CHAN), and trained and certified 137 Community Health Advisors. In addition, the JSU JHS community-focused unit developed the Collaborative Community Science Model (CCSM) that symbolized its approach to community engagement and outreach, and a Trust Scale for ascertaining African Americans’ willingness to engage in biomedical research collaborations. Conclusion: This review offers educators, public health professionals, and research investigators a useful starting point for the development, selection, or improvement of techniques to motivate, inspire, and engage community residents in a community–academia partnership that yielded maximum benefits in the areas of health education, health promotion and interventions, and biomedical research. Substantial, meaningful community engagement is possible when prioritizing elimination of health disparities and long-term improvement in health care access in the target populations.

The public health burden caused by cardiovascular disease (CVD) continues to adversely affect individuals in terms of cost, life expectancy, medical, pharmaceutical and hospital care. This burden has been excessive in the case of African Americans. The objective of this paper is to chronicle the procedures and processes that were implemented in the development of the Jackson Heart Study Coordinating Center. The Jackson Heart Study (JHS) is a population-based investigation of traditional and emerging risk factors that predict progression to CVD among African Americans. In response to the struggle against CVD, the Jackson Heart Study has convened a professional, technical, and administrative staff with specific competence in the operation of a coordinating center to handle the wide variety of areas related to CVD studies. The Jackson Heart Study Coordinating Center (JHSCC) was created to assure validity of the JHS findings and provide the resources necessary to meet comprehensive statistical needs (planning, implementing and monitoring data analysis); data management (designing, implementing and managing data collection and quality control), and administrative support. The JHSCC began with a commitment to support study functions in order to increase participant recruitment, retention and safety, meet regulatory requirements, prepare progress reports, and facilitate effective communication with the community and between all JHS centers. The JHSCC facilitates the efforts of the JHS scientists through the development and implementation of the study protocol. The efforts of the JHSCC have resulted in the successful preparation of scientific reports and manuscripts for publication and presentation of study findings and results. In summary, the JHSCC has emerged as an effective research mechanism that serves as the driving force behind the Jackson Heart Study activities.