Jessica M. Sautter

• PhD
• Professor (Assistant) at University of the Sciences

We examined whether exposure to urban environments was linked with mortality in a longitudinal survey dataset of nearly 28,000 Chinese adults who were 65 years of age or older in the years 2002–2014. Urban life exposure was measured by residential status at birth, current residential status, and urban-related primary lifetime occupation, which gene...

Objectives: To examine the population characteristics associated with the health behavior of receiving an influenza vaccine from a pharmacy-based setting. Design: Secondary analysis of data from states that participated in an optional influenza module in the 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a state-based observational survey of U...

Using data from a nationally representative study of the community-dwelling U.S. population, we estimated the percentage of male veterans who visited a mental health professional in the past year, compared it to an estimate from non-veteran males, and examined factors associated with visiting a mental health professional. We found that 10.5% of mal...

Recent assessments of the current palliative care workforce recommend increased training and exposure for all health care providers to manage symptoms and improve quality of life during serious illness. To assess the future workforce in palliative care, a multi-institution team conducted an online survey of students pursuing professional degrees in...

Background Self-perceived uselessness is associated with poor health and high mortality among older adults in China. However, it is unclear which demographic, psychosocial, behavioral and health factors are associated with self-perceived uselessness. Methods Data came from four waves (2005, 2008, 2011 and 2014) of the largest nationwide longitudin...

Objectives: To investigate subtypes of successful aging (SA) based on concordance and discordance between self-rated and researcher-defined measures and their associations with demographic, psychosocial, and life satisfaction factors. Method: We used multinomial logistic regression models to analyze 2013 cross-sectional survey data from 1,962 pe...

Homeownership is a key element to maintain social welfare and stability in an aging society. Yet, the existing literature on homeownership does not adequately address non-Western cultures and institutional factors. We used two nationwide surveys in 2006 and 2010 to investigate how institutional factors are associated with homeownership among older...

Background Despite the well-established power of frailty to predict mortality, and the known associations of socioeconomic status (SES) with mortality, it is largely unknown whether the linkage between frailty and mortality varies across different SES groups. This study aims to investigate whether SES moderates the association between frailty and m...

This poster assessed influenza immunization rates and explored trends and disparities in service utilization rates in the United states by the service setting (pharmacy-based vs. others).

Objectives: To examine pharmacy-based influenza vaccination using diffusion of innovation theory. Methods: We used 1993 to 2013 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data to generate weighted prevalence rates of influenza vaccination, stratified by age (18-64 years vs ≥ 65 years) and state of residence. The diffusion of innovation theory ad...

Prior studies of psychotropic medication use among US veterans are limited in their ability to generalize estimates to the full veteran population and make comparisons with non-veterans. This study estimated the prevalence of psychotropic medication use and trends over time among male US veterans, compared their use of psychotropic medications with...

I. Original Research Background: Although palliative care includes patients across the spectrum from serious illness to end-of-life, little data describe patterns of experience over time and whether bio-psychosocial needs differ between stages of advanced illness. II. Research objectives: Describe trajectories of patient experience during serious...

Studies examining health and health care utilization among U.S. veterans often rely on non-representative samples, so their findings are not generalizable to community-dwelling veterans in the U.S. population. Our objective was to provide estimates of psychotropic medication use and contacts with mental health professionals among community-dwelling...

Background Obesity often occurs co-morbid with chronic, non-cancer pain. While behavioral treatments have proved effective for pain management and weight loss independently, integrated interventions are lacking. The study Simultaneously Targeting Obesity and Pain (STOP) is a prospective, pragmatic, randomized controlled trial that aims to determine...

Objectives To compare the prevalence and predictors of caregiver esteem and burden during two different stages of care recipients' illnesses—advanced chronic illness and the last year of life.DesignLongitudinal, observational cohort study.SettingCommunity sample recruited from outpatient clinics at Duke University and Durham Veterans Affairs Medica...

We use a population-based longitudinal survey in China from 2002 to 2005 to examine age differentials in the association between severity of visual impairment and mortality risk in older adults. Controlling for numerous factors and baseline health, a substantial age difference is found. Young-old women and men aged 65 to 79 with severe visual impai...

Three important causes of death in the U.S. (cancer, congestive heart failure, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) are preceded by long periods of declining health; often, family members provide most care for individuals who are living with serious illnesses and are at risk for impaired well-being. To expand understanding of caregiver burden...

We investigated associations among age, race, socioeconomic status (SES), and mortality in older persons and whether low SES contributes to the Black-White mortality crossover (when elevated age-specific mortality rates invert). We used panel data from the North Carolina Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly to test the m...

Tea consumption may be associated with reduced risk of morbidity and mortality; however, this association is not conclusive and has rarely been investigated among very old adults. The present study examines how self-reported frequency of tea consumption in daily life is associated with health and mortality among very old adults in China. The data a...

Studies suggest that sleep quality and duration are significantly associated with mortality risk and health conditions, yet such studies are seldom conducted among very old adults. The objective of this study was to examine associations between self-reported sleep quality/duration and subsequent mortality/health among very old adults in China. A se...

Using a health economics framework, we examined how both individual level investments at different life stages and current community-level environmental factors affect individual health stock and flows at old ages. We used a nationwide dataset from the 2002 and 2005 waves of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, which included more tha...

Objective. The objective of this article is to identify the sociodemographic correlates of Internet dating net of selective processes that determine who is “at risk.” We also examine the role of computer literacy, social networks, and attitudes toward Internet dating among single Internet users. Methods. We use multivariate logistic regression to a...

To examine factors associated with self-reported sleep quality and duration among very old adults in China. Cross-sectional analysis of the 2005 wave of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS). In-home interview with older adults in 22 provinces in mainland China. A total of 15,638 individuals aged 65 and older (5,047 aged 65-79,...

This study investigates the factors associated with frailty and the association of frailty with mortality in a national sample of adults aged 65-109 in China. Using the 2002 wave of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, we construct a frailty index (FI) based on 39 measures available in the data set. We use ordinal logistic regressions...

This study examines whether trajectories of multiple social role occupancy, measured by level and dynamics of spouse, parent, and worker roles, are associated with mortality and concurrent trajectories of depressive symptoms and self-rated health. I frame hypotheses with role strain, role enhancement, role context, stress process, and life course t...