Health Studies Assess Northwest Arkansas Residents

Brittany Erter with her two sons, Eli, left, 2, and Bentlee, 1, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014 at her home in Siloam Springs. The boys are in the National Children's Study will monitor the boys from birth to age 21 and observe any link between health and environment.

Brittany Erter with her two sons, Eli, left, 2, and Bentlee, 1, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014 at her home in Siloam Springs. The boys are in the National Children's Study will monitor the boys from birth to age 21 and observe any link between health and environment.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Childhood asthma. Lung cancer. Diabetes.

Hundreds of Northwest Arkansas residents are helping researchers learn about these and other health issues by taking part in a national cancer study and children’s health study.

More will soon be asked to join a study group called the Sentinel Network, which targets older and minority populations in the area.

Fast Facts

Sentinel Network

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Northwest, partnering with the University of Arkansas, is doing a study aimed at increasing underrepresented populations’ participation in research and guiding community research priorities. Northwest Arkansas target groups include Marshallese, Hispanic and elderly.Organizers hope to sign up 5,000 people. Sentinel Network is underway in six sites:

• Washington University in St. Louis

• University of Michigan

• University of Rochester, N.Y.

• Albert Einstein-Montefiore Medical Center in New York

• University of Florida

• University of California, Davis

Source: Staff Report


At A Glance

National Children’s Study

The National Children’s Study is a multiyear research study examining the effects of environmental influences on the health and development of more than 100,000 children across the U.S. Project follows children from before birth to 21.

• The study enrolled 200 Benton County children.

• It’s sponsored by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

• It can be found online at nationalchildren’sstudy.gov

Source: Staff Report


At A Glance

Cancer Prevention Study-3

The American Cancer Society enrolled 300,000 men and women between 30 and 65 across the country with no personal history of cancer. The program enrolled 253 Northwest Arkansas residents in September. The multiyear survey will study lifestyle, behavioral, environmental and genetic factors that may cause or prevent cancer with the goal of eliminating cancer for future generations. It can be found at www.cancer.org/research/researchtopreventcancer/cancer-prevention-study-3

Source: Staff report

Pearl McElfish believes in getting the community involved in the research process. She’s director of research at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Northwest. The medical school’s local research program started last year.

“We really want to look at research that helps people the most,” she said. “Research is about solving problems and communities have problems they want solved.”

She uses a model called community-based participatory research, which brings community members and researchers together.

One small study McElfish said is starting this month includes a partnership with Marshallese churches. The university will provide diabetes screenings to examine why diabetes is so prevalent in the Marshallese community. The national rate for diabetes in the general population is about 8 percent. McElfish said the rate among Marshallese adults is 30 to 50 percent.

“We are committed to community based participatory research that joins the knowledge of science and the wisdom of the community,” she said. “We are also working with the Hispanic community to see what types of things they would like us to research.”

Sentinel Network

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Northwest is partnering with the University of Arkansas to use a Sentinel Network Survey that will help identify the community’s willingness to participate in research and learn the health needs and concerns for the under-served and minority populations, said Melissa Bridges, research and regulatory manager at medical school’s Northwest campus.

Focus groups include Marshallese, Hispanic and aging populations.

Bridges said the research department has worked on smaller projects since it started last summer. The group is launching the the survey Feb. 10.

The survey is used by six universities, including the lead site at Washington University. McElfish said the network was successful getting people involved by administering surveys in places such as churches, libraries, laundromats and grocery stores.

Irasema Roldan, community research project coordinator at the university, said the goal is to enroll 5,000 in Northwest Arkansas into the study within 18 months.

“The survey is short and precise. It takes about three minutes,” Roldan said. “Right now we are asking health history and willingness to participate in future research.”

Bridges said early work on the study indicates a successful future.

“I’m surprised and how open and willing people have been to participating,” she said.

Children’s Study

The National Children’s Study enrolled 200 Benton County babies in the last three years. The study is the largest long-term study of environmental and genetic influences on children’s health attempted in the United States. The study includes more than 100,000 children across the U.S. from birth to 21.

Brittany Erter of Siloam Springs enrolled her sons because she wants to help future generations live healthier.

“My oldest son has a lot of asthma issues, and I want to look into it and find out what causes it,” she said. “The information is also going to help other kids.”

Sherry Lloyd, community outreach and engagement manager for the National Children’s Study South Region, said the study has all the Benton County participants it wants right now, but more could be needed in the future.

The Benton County babies are part of the 5,500-child Vanguard Study, a study that evaluates the feasibility, acceptability and cost of different recruitment strategies, as well as study procedures and outcome assessments for later use in the main children’s study. Benton County is the study’s only Arkansas location and one of 40 sites participating in the Vanguard Study.

Both studies will run side-by-side.

Jane Holl, a National Children’s Study South Region principal investigator and pediatrician at Northwestern University, said the initial plan was to launch the children’s study quickly.

“They quickly found there were huge issues. Five years ago they decided there must be constant innovation and that led to the birth of the Vanguard Study,” she said.

Holl said a preliminary report on the status of the main study was due in January with a final report expected this summer. Once the main study starts , enrollment will grow to about 100,000.

Recruitment in Benton County involved medical professionals across the county to telling patients about the study. That’s how Erter learned of the study when she was pregnant with Eli, who turned three Friday.

When she became pregnant with Bentlee 15 months later, Erter said she didn’t want to leave him out.

“We do something for the study once or twice a year. They track their growth, their living environment and developmental skills,” she said.

Cancer Study

The Cancer Prevention Study started in 2010 with a goal of recruiting 300,000 men and women nationwide between the age 30 and 65 who have never been diagnosed with cancer. The American Cancer Society wants to get a better idea of what causes and prevents cancer. The study enrolled 253 Northwest Arkansans in September.

The society has used three earlier long-term studies to direct the group’s focus.

“The American Cancer Society has a long history of saving lives through cancer research. Cancer Prevention Study-3 will do so much to build on that legacy, helping us learn more about the causes of cancer so we can better prevent, detect, treat, and help cure it, for generations to come,” said John Seffrin, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society.

Smoking and obesity were the focus of Cancer Prevention Study-1 held from 1959 and 1972. It led the the U.S. Surgeon General’s health warning label being placed on tobacco products starting in 1966.

More than 2 million volunteers have taken part in American Cancer Society studies in the past 50 years. The studies asked people to fill out surveys and share details on their behaviors, lifestyle, family and personal medical histories.

The most recent study pulled in more than 300,000 volunteers from across the county, 2,100 in Arkansas. The Cancer Prevention Study-3 is an extension of an earlier study still ongoing. The studies are looking at how environmental and lifestyle exposures affect cancer risk.

Keisha Pittman, Northwest Arkansas American Cancer Society director, said the goal to understand how to prevent cancer.

Four community registration events were held in September. Participants were asked to fill out an online survey before attending one of the signup events. Signup included a blood draw and waist measurement. The remaining survey time will be complected through periodic surveys that will be sent to participants at home.

Greg Broy, American Cancer Society spokesman, said participants will be contacted by a member of the research team sometime over the next couple of years. They will also receive periodic newsletters.

“The idea is to make it easy,” he said. “We want to keep up with people and hopefully one day be able to prevent this disease.”

Study Savvy

Mike Harvey, chief operating officer at the Northwest Arkansas Council, said studies are one way groups get the information they need to set priorities.

“The worst thing you can do is do a study and then have the results sit on a shelf,” Harvey said. “Anytime we do a survey or study we typically have to have actionable items at the end of it.”

The council performs studies ddressing the area’s business and quality of life issues, including a Business Retention and Expansion Study.

“It’s important to be proactive,” Harvey said. “To identify challenges and craft solutions if there are problems, that is why you do a study.”

Cory Anderson, vice president of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, said well crafted and executed studies can reveal important information.

“Good research and good data help people make good public policy decisions,” he said. “Everyone can make better, more informed decision instead of just reacting to a situation.”