Agricultural Health Study (AHS) Add-on Studies
Social & Scientific Systems provides coordination and support on several substudies from the Agricultural Health Study, a large prospective cohort of pesticide applicators in Iowa and North Carolina, conducted by NCI, NIEHS, and EPA.
African American Agricultural Health Study (AHS). We recontacted 389 male African American North Carolina AHS participants previously enrolled as a supplemental minority cohort for the AHS. The followup study included a reinterview, blood collection, and assessment of potential indicators of hormonal dysfunction that may be mediated by DDT exposure. Staff conducted a telephone interview to ask specific farming history questions about types of crops, chemicals used, and methods of application, and obtained updated information on other risk factors, such as lifestyle, health history, and diet. Working in collaboration with local black churches and an advisory board, staff set up rural study sites where a subgroup of 118 participants came for blood draws and anthropometric measurements. Subjects were given health information on conditions of particular interest to older African American men, such as diabetes, prostate cancer, and hypertension. SSS developed study forms; hired, trained, and supervised telephone interviewers, phlebotomists, and field staff; and collected and processed blood specimens, questionnaire data, and physical measurement data.
Farming and Movement Evaluation Study (FAME). We provided field support for the North Carolina portion of this nested case-control study of environmental and farming exposures in relation to Parkinson's Disease in collaboration with NIEHS, SRA Battelle, and The Parkinson's Institute. Field visits were made to approximately 250 homes and farms in North Carolina to assist in the conduct of a neurological exam, blood sampling, dust and soil sampling, and farm record review.
Autoimmune Confirmation Study. Social & Scientific Systems, in collaboration with SRA Batelle, conducted a confirmation study on self-reported diagnoses of systemic autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, and Sjogren syndrome) reported by AHS participants during followup. The confirmed cases will constitute a refined case group to allow etiologic analyses of pesticides and other farming-related exposures as possible risk factors for these diseases, using data that have already been collected. The cases can also be used in a nested case-control study that could be designed to collect additional exposure data (e.g., on silica-related exposures). Staff requested permission from participants to obtain their medical records and a physician checklist confirming their diagnoses.
Growth and Preteen Study. We have begun development of a substudy of puberty and pesticides among offspring of AHS Iowa participants ages 7-12 years old. The purpose of the study is to determine whether exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals in utero and during early childhood is associated with altered pubertal development. SSS will develop a methodological pilot study to determine the efficacy of repeated measures of hormones assayed in saliva and urine over a 6-month period compared with physician-assessed Tanner staging, the traditional method of determining puberty. In addition, the pilot study will evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of using self- and parent-assessed Tanner scales three times over a 6-month interval and assess their validity of the physician-assessed Tanner scale completed in the context of an office visit. Our staff will develop protocols, consent forms, all data collection instruments, and all scripts and materials for communicating with the pilot study population; submit the initial IRB application and all amendments or modifications to the IRB; coordinate the contact, enrollment, and followup of 68 Iowa families and their children; coordinate all data collection occurring during three visits over a period of about 6 months with each family; and coordinate all specimen collection, processing, handling, storage, and shipping.
Neurobehavioral Substudy. We assist with the development of the protocol and procedures for the study, particularly the blood and buccal collection, processing, and storage, and preparation of the protocol for NIEHS IRB submission. We assist in identifying and selectung appropriate AHS participant IDs for inclusion. Contact information is stored apart from data and held by the Agricultural Health Field Stations in Iowa and North Carolina. We send selected IDs to the field stations so that they can contact participants directly about the upcoming study.