Longitudinal changes in biomarkers of cardiometabolic health following a greening intervention in Detroit, MI

Keywords: Urban planning, health, stress management, health disparities
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

Low-income populations in urban areas often have lower access to nearby, high-quality greenspaces and are disproportionately affected by cardiometabolic diseases (CMD) with etiologies rooted in increased stress and lack of physical activity. Chronic stress leads to chronic inflammation over time, which is associated with increased risk of CMD. Black persons, who represent the largest subset of the StAND sample, are at higher risk for CMD compared to non-Hispanic Whites. We explored whether ecological rehabilitation of parks had a positive influence over time on measures of cardiometabolic health (i.e., blood pressure, hemoglobin A1c (A1c) a measure of blood glucose over the preceding 3 months, and C-Reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation). Blood pressure was measured using an Omron HEM-711DLX pressure monitor. A1c was measured using A1C+Now diagnostic kits. CRP was measured from dried blood spots using a high-sensitive ELISA. Of the 566 enrolled participants, 497 (87%) had measures for A1c and 301 (53%) for CRP at Time 1. Preliminary analyses of the data do not support the hypothesis that the presence of rehabilitated parks improved measures of cardiometabolic health. The number of repeat samples drops over time. Of enrolled participants, samples were provided by only 68 (12%) for A1c and 58 (10%) for CRP at Time 4. The reduction in sample size over time may influence the results. Thus, while objective biomarkers may be desirable outcomes, participant retention and adherence to protocols for collection of samples from which to measure biomarkers may make their application difficult in studies using natural experimental designs.