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. 2018 Jan:160:107-114.
doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2017.09.026. Epub 2017 Sep 30.

Cardiometabolic profiles of adolescents and young adults exposed to the World Trade Center Disaster

Leonardo Trasande  1 , Tony T Koshy  2 , Joseph Gilbert  2 , Lauren K Burdine  2 , Michael Marmor  3 , Xiaoxia Han  4 , Yongzhao Shao  5 , Claude Chemtob  6 , Teresa M Attina  2 , Elaine M Urbina  7
Affiliations

Cardiometabolic profiles of adolescents and young adults exposed to the World Trade Center Disaster

Leonardo Trasande et al. Environ Res. 2018 Jan.

Abstract

Background and objective: Few studies have examined the possible cardiometabolic consequences of World Trade Center-related exposures on children who lived and/or attended school near the disaster site. Our objective was to compare cardiometabolic profiles of participants in the World Trade Center Health Registry (WTCHR) with a matched comparison group.

Methods: We evaluated WTCHR enrollees who resided in New York City and were born between September 11, 1993 and September 10, 2001, and a matched comparison group. We assessed exposure to dust cloud, home dust, as well as traumatic exposure, and associations with blood pressure, arterial wall stiffness, body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, and LDL.

Results: A total of 402 participants completed the study, 222 in the comparison group and 180 in the WTCHR group. In multivariable regression analysis, after adjusting for relevant confounders we detected a weak association between participation in the WTCHR group and lower BMI (-1.12kg/m2, 95% CI -2.11, -0.12; p = 0.03), which became non-significant after adjusting for multiple comparisons. With respect to traumatic and psychosocial exposures, the only association that persisted in our multivariable model, below our predefined level of significance, was between post-traumatic stress disorder and higher BMI (2.06kg/m2, 95% CI 0.37, 3.74; p = 0.02).

Conclusions: Our findings do not support an association between self-reported exposures to the WTC disaster and adverse cardiometabolic profile. However, further longitudinal studies may better inform the full extent of WTC-related conditions associated with exposure to the disaster.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02068183.

Keywords: Cardiometabolic effects; Dust exposure; Traumatic exposure; World Trade Center Disaster.

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Conflict of interest statement

Potential Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Recruitment Flowchart for WTCHR and Comparison Cohorts
*The number of attempted encounters (939) is the number of potential participants that our study team was able to approach **A total of 592 subjects were screened: 222 were enrolled, 103 were considered ineligible, 96 refused participation, and 171 were considered lost to follow up
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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