Jessica Sayles West

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Medical Instructor at Duke University School of Medicine

The association between socioeconomic status and 30-day readmissions is well-documented in patients with heart failure (HF). However, it is less clear whether socioeconomic disadvantage has an immediate and/or lasting impact on risk of hospital admissions following the diagnosis of HF. We examined whether area-level disadvantage was associated with...

Racial/ethnic disparities in major cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors are well documented. However, studies have not considered racial/ethnic differences in the interrelationships among these CVD risk factors and how they vary across age. We used six waves of longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study ([HRS] 2006-2016; n=10,292)...

Little is known about racial/ethnic differences in the long-term patterns of hospitalization following the diagnosis of heart failure (HF). We examined racial/ethnic differences in trajectories of hospital admissions following a diagnosis of HF and assessed the factors contributing to the long-term risks of hospitalization. We included 5,606 patien...

BACKGROUND Socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with greater risks of hospital readmission and mortality among patients with heart failure (HF). However, it is less clear whether socioeconomic disadvantage has an immediate and lasting impact on the risk of admissions after the diagnosis of HF. METHODS We used electronic health record data of p...

Objectives: Few studies have examined how patient sex or race influence hearing healthcare, which was our study purpose. Design: We performed a secondary analysis using data from a pragmatic clinical trial that examined the effect of provider encouragement (yes/no) or setting (at-home/clinic) for older adults to follow through with routine hearing...

Objectives Few studies have examined how patient sex or race influence hearing healthcare, which was our study purpose. Design We performed a secondary analysis using data from a pragmatic clinical trial that examined the effect of provider encouragement (yes/no) or setting (at-home/clinic) for older adults to follow through with routine hearing s...

Objectives A great deal of literature documents the significant demands, both physical and psychosocial, that care partners experience when providing care to persons with a range of health conditions. There is, however, far less research available on care partners of adult persons who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing (d/DHH). In response to this gap,...

Objectives Ageism appears widely across the globe and poses an important threat to older people’s well-being and health. With respect to hearing health, experiences, perceptions, and fear of ageism can delay the diagnosis of hearing loss, reduce pursuit of hearing care, and fuel reluctance to wear a hearing device. Ageism intertwines with hearing l...

Objectives Although hearing devices such as cochlear implants and hearing aids often improve communication, many people who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing (d/DHH) choose not to use them. Hearing device-related stigma, or negative societal beliefs about people who use hearing devices, often drives this decision. Although much research has documented...

In this special supplement of Ear and Hearing , we have presented preliminarily validated measures for stigma related to being d/Deaf or hard of hearing (d/DHH) in the United States and Ghana. In this concluding article, we suggest avenues for the future refinement and use of these measures. First, the measures should be further validated. Second,...

People who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing (d/DHH) often experience stigma and discrimination in their daily lives. Qualitative research describing their lived experiences has provided useful, in-depth insights into the pervasiveness of stigma. Quantitative measures could facilitate further investigation of the scope of this phenomenon. Thus, under t...

Objectives: Hearing difficulty is prevalent in older adulthood and projected to increase via global aging, particularly among men. Currently, there is limited research on how this gender disparity might vary by country. Methods: Using 2018 data ( n = 29,480) from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) international family of studies, we investigate...

Objectives: We investigated whether self-reported vision and hearing were associated with cognitive function and loneliness among Mexican adults aged 50 and older. Methods: Mexican Health and Aging Study data. Vision/hearing status was self-reported (excellent-very good, good, fair-poor). Cognition was measured using nine tasks. Loneliness was meas...

Prior studies have documented how social and systemic factors contribute to racial differences in health; however, less is known about the life course and social determinants of racial differences in hearing loss (HL) among middle-aged and older adults. Evidence from U.S. population-based cohorts indicates that Black adults have better pure-tone th...

To assess factors associated with the perceived risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) and how the perceived risk of ADRD was related to cognitive function. We conducted a retrospective cohort study using 5 waves of data from the Health and Retirement Study (2012-2022) that included adults aged 65 years or older with no previous d...

Objectives: The prevalence of hearing loss increases with age. Untreated hearing loss is associated with poorer communication abilities and negative health consequences, such as increased risk of dementia, increased odds of falling, and depression. Nonetheless, evidence is insufficient to support the benefits of universal hearing screening in asym...

Introduction: The aim of the study was to assess factors associated with the perceived risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) and how the perceived risk of ADRD was related to cognitive function. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using 5 waves of data from the Health and Retirement Study (2012-2022)...

Health status may shape network structure through network dynamics (tie formation and persistence) and direction (sent and received ties), net of typical network processes. We apply Separable Temporal Exponential Random Graph Models (STERGMs) to National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health survey data (n = 1,779) to differentiate how h...

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between self-reported hearing handicap and life-space mobility utilizing the Life-Space Questionnaire (LSQ). Life-space mobility reflects how an individual moves through their daily physical and social environment, and the role of hearing loss in life-space mobility is not fully unde...

Hearing loss is a prevalent chronic stressor among older adults and is associated with numerous adverse health outcomes. The life course principle of linked lives highlights that an individual's stressors can impact the health and well-being of others; however, there are limited large-scale studies examining hearing loss within marital dyads. Using...

Hearing loss (HL) is an increasingly prevalent chronic stressor among older adults and is associated with numerous adverse health outcomes. The life course perspective and stress process framework highlight that an individual’s stressors may have a short and/or long-term impact on the health of others. However, little is known about how HL influenc...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100845.].

There has been increasing attention to the role of hearing loss as a potentially modifiable risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. However, more nationally-representative studies are needed to understand the co-occurring changes in hearing loss and cognitive function in older adults over time, and how hearing aid use might influ...

Objectives We draw from the life course and stress process frameworks to examine how experiencing disability in early life influences mental health in adulthood. Methods Data come from the Health and Retirement Study Cross-Wave Childhood Health and Family Aggregated Data file (2008-2018, n = 15,289). Childhood disability status is a retrospective...

For decades, life course and stress process scholars have documented that negative, stressful experiences in childhood have consequences for health across the life course. One aspect of the childhood adversity that deserves more research attention is childhood disability. Children with disabilities experience higher levels of psychological distress...

Health varies by U.S. region of residence. Despite regional heterogeneity in the outbreak of COVID-19, regional differences in physical distancing behaviors over time are relatively unknown. This study examines regional variation in physical distancing trends during the COVID-19 pandemic and investigates variation by race and socioeconomic status (...

Objectives: Falls are considered a significant public health issue and falls risk increases with age. There are many age-related physiologic changes that occur that increase postural instability and the risk for falls (i.e., age-related sensory declines in vision, vestibular, somatosensation, age-related orthopedic changes, and polypharmacy). Hear...

A growing line of research underscores that sociodemographic factors may contribute to disparities in the impact of COVID-19. Further, stages of disease theory suggests that disparities may grow as the pandemic unfolds and more advantaged areas are better able to apply growing knowledge and mitigation strategies. In this paper, we focus on the role...

Research has made strides in disaggregating health data among racial/ethnic minorities, but less is known about the extent of diversity among Whites. Using logistic regression modeling applied to data on respondents aged 40+ from the 2008 to 2016 American Community Survey, we disaggregated the non-Hispanic White population by ancestry and other rac...

As the population ages, increased prevalence of cognitive and sensory impairments may pose growing public health challenges. Among the nine modifiable risk factors for dementia, the highest percentage (9%) of dementia cases are attributed to hearing impairment. While much research has examined the relationship between hearing impairment and cogniti...

Objectives: Hearing impairment is one of the most common disabilities among older people, and its prevalence will increase as the U.S. population ages. However, little is known about social disparities in onset or transitions into and out of hearing impairment, nor how these transitions impact years of life to be spent impaired. Methods: We inve...

Objective To examine regional variation in physical distancing trends over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to investigate inequalities within regions by race and socioeconomic status (SES).Methods Race and SES information from the American Community Survey were matched with location data from mobile device location pings at the Census bloc...

Background To evaluate regional disparities in the influence of diabetes on population health, we examine life expectancies at age 50 between population with diabetes and healthy population and life quality among the population with diabetes among native-born Americans by birth region and current residence. Methods Using data on a cohort of 17 686...

Given that hearing loss currently affects 72.4% of persons over 651 and older individuals tend to be hospitalized when affected by COVID‐19, it is likely that the global COVID‐19 pandemic will impact numerous individuals with hearing loss. Based on these overlapping demographics, we should assume that communication needs will be heightened during t...

Objectives: Disablement is a significant health problem and chronic stressor for older adults and is associated with negative mental health outcomes. Although some research has explored how disability extends beyond individuals to influence the mental health of their support networks, less population-based research has assessed the consequences of...

Immigration is central to our understanding of U.S. racial and ethnic health disparities, yet relatively little is known about the health of white immigrants – a group whose ethnic origins have become increasingly diverse. To the extent that whites are included in social stratification research, they are typically used as the reference category for...

Although functional mobility limitations are associated with increased healthcare needs in later life, little research explores how older adults with varying functional mobility trajectories experience healthcare quality. To this end, we explore the effects of functional mobility trajectories on differences in healthcare treatment satisfaction, per...

As the number of older adults increases, increased prevalence of cognitive and sensory impairments pose growing public health challenges. Research on the relationship between hearing impairment and cognition, however, is minimal and has yielded mixed results, with some studies finding that hearing impairment is associated with cognitive decline, an...

This study contributes to a growing literature that documents the importance of arrival cohort and country of birth for differentiating the health of U.S. immigrants. We use nationally-representative data from nine years of the American Community Survey (2008-2016) to examine if an immigrant health advantage exists among Arab Americans ages 40+ (n=...

Hearing impairment is a growing physical disability affecting older adults and is an important physical health stressor, but few studies have examined it in relation to mental health outcomes and even fewer have considered the role of social support in buffering this relationship. The current study builds on the stress process framework and uses lo...

Objective: Hearing loss is the most common sensory deficit and congenital anomaly, yet the decision-making processes involved in disclosing hearing loss have been little studied. To address this issue, we have explored the phrases that adults with hearing loss use to disclose their hearing loss. Design: Since self-disclosure research has not foc...

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91845/1/jswest.pdf