TY - JOUR
T1 - Mediation of an association between neighborhood socioeconomic environment and type 2 diabetes through the leisure-time physical activity environment in an analysis of three independent samples
AU - Moon, Katherine A.
AU - Nordberg, Cara M.
AU - Orstad, Stephanie L.
AU - Zhu, Aowen
AU - Uddin, Jalal
AU - Lopez, Priscilla
AU - Schwartz, Mark D.
AU - Ryan, Victoria
AU - Hirsch, Annemarie G.
AU - Schwartz, Brian S.
AU - Carson, April P.
AU - Leann Long, D.
AU - Meeker, Melissa
AU - Brown, Janene
AU - Lovasi, Gina S.
AU - Adhikari, Samranchana
AU - Kanchi, Rania
AU - Avramovic, Sanja
AU - Imperatore, Giuseppina
AU - Poulsen, Melissa N.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2023/3/1
Y1 - 2023/3/1
N2 - Introduction Inequitable access to leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) resources may explain geographic disparities in type 2 diabetes (T2D). We evaluated whether the neighborhood socioeconomic environment (NSEE) affects T2D through the LTPA environment. Research design and methods We conducted analyses in three study samples: the national Veterans Administration Diabetes Risk (VADR) cohort comprising electronic health records (EHR) of 4.1 million T2D-free veterans, the national prospective cohort REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) (11 208 T2D free), and a case-control study of Geisinger EHR in Pennsylvania (15 888 T2D cases). New-onset T2D was defined using diagnoses, laboratory and medication data. We harmonized neighborhood-level variables, including exposure, confounders, and effect modifiers. We measured NSEE with a summary index of six census tract indicators. The LTPA environment was measured by physical activity (PA) facility (gyms and other commercial facilities) density within street network buffers and population-weighted distance to parks. We estimated natural direct and indirect effects for each mediator stratified by community type. Results The magnitudes of the indirect effects were generally small, and the direction of the indirect effects differed by community type and study sample. The most consistent findings were for mediation via PA facility density in rural communities, where we observed positive indirect effects (differences in T2D incidence rates (95% CI) comparing the highest versus lowest quartiles of NSEE, multiplied by 100) of 1.53 (0.25, 3.05) in REGARDS and 0.0066 (0.0038, 0.0099) in VADR. No mediation was evident in Geisinger. Conclusions PA facility density and distance to parks did not substantially mediate the relation between NSEE and T2D. Our heterogeneous results suggest that approaches to reduce T2D through changes to the LTPA environment require local tailoring.
AB - Introduction Inequitable access to leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) resources may explain geographic disparities in type 2 diabetes (T2D). We evaluated whether the neighborhood socioeconomic environment (NSEE) affects T2D through the LTPA environment. Research design and methods We conducted analyses in three study samples: the national Veterans Administration Diabetes Risk (VADR) cohort comprising electronic health records (EHR) of 4.1 million T2D-free veterans, the national prospective cohort REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) (11 208 T2D free), and a case-control study of Geisinger EHR in Pennsylvania (15 888 T2D cases). New-onset T2D was defined using diagnoses, laboratory and medication data. We harmonized neighborhood-level variables, including exposure, confounders, and effect modifiers. We measured NSEE with a summary index of six census tract indicators. The LTPA environment was measured by physical activity (PA) facility (gyms and other commercial facilities) density within street network buffers and population-weighted distance to parks. We estimated natural direct and indirect effects for each mediator stratified by community type. Results The magnitudes of the indirect effects were generally small, and the direction of the indirect effects differed by community type and study sample. The most consistent findings were for mediation via PA facility density in rural communities, where we observed positive indirect effects (differences in T2D incidence rates (95% CI) comparing the highest versus lowest quartiles of NSEE, multiplied by 100) of 1.53 (0.25, 3.05) in REGARDS and 0.0066 (0.0038, 0.0099) in VADR. No mediation was evident in Geisinger. Conclusions PA facility density and distance to parks did not substantially mediate the relation between NSEE and T2D. Our heterogeneous results suggest that approaches to reduce T2D through changes to the LTPA environment require local tailoring.
KW - Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2
KW - Physical Fitness
KW - Primary Prevention
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U2 - 10.1136/bmjdrc-2022-003120
DO - 10.1136/bmjdrc-2022-003120
M3 - Article
C2 - 36858436
AN - SCOPUS:85149427185
SN - 2052-4897
VL - 11
JO - BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care
JF - BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care
IS - 2
M1 - e003120
ER -