Preliminary Analysis of Chemical and Non-Chemical Stressors Collected from Mother-Child Pairs in the National Children’s Study
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Children are exposed to diverse chemical and non-chemical stressors found in their everyday community environment. These stressors, individually and in combination, are thought to contribute to their health and well-being during each developmental stage throughout their lifecourse. Our research approach considers how these complex interrelationships interact to affect health and well-being. The National Children’s Study Vanguard Study database contains a wide array of environmental, survey, and outcome data collected from approximately 6,000 mothers who participated in the pilot studies from 2009-2014. This database provides a robust dataset to explore analytical approaches for combining and assessing both quantitative and qualitative information as it relates to explaining health outcomes for children in secondary data analyses. We used the nationally standardized PRAPARE (Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patients' Assets, Risks, and Experiences) tool to organize our demographic and non-chemical stressors into social determinant of health clusters with associated scores. We examined relationships between PRAPARE scores with the chemical exposure information derived from maternal biomarker and residential measurements. All information was then examined to assess associations with selected children’s health outcomes. Because health outcomes are often associated with many stressors and demographic variables, we used supporting information from the literature to focus our preliminary analysis on birth weight. Birth weight has been associated with exposure to many chemical stressors including PAHs, phthalates, pesticides, metals, and other consumer product chemicals all of which were included in the NCS dataset. This presentation will highlight our preliminary analysis to better understand cumulative exposures and risks.