Publications

These publications are examples of research made possible with data from CanPath and its regional cohorts.

2019

Care quality for rheumatoid arthritis patients in Quebec

Authors: Zeinab Slim, Cristiano Moura, Sasha Bernatsky, Elham Rahme

The main objectives of this study were to determine the number of CARTaGENE participants with rheumatoid arthritis that fulfilled pre-specified quality indicators and to examine the variation in DMARD use with respect to patient age,sex, education, and income. They assessed ~20000 people, and 142 rheumatoid arthritis patients. Quality Indicators that pertained to RA pharmacotheraphy and medical treatment ranged from 60-80%,. With lifestyle factors, 55% had moderate physical activity and less than 17% were reported to be smokers.

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2019

Dissecting features of epigenetic variants underlying cardiometabolic risk using full-resolution epigenome profiling in regulatory elements.

Authors: Fiona Allum, Åsa K. Hedman, Xiaojian Shao, Warren A. Cheung, Jinchu Vijay,Frédéric Guénard, Tony Kwan, Marie-Michelle Simon, Bing Ge, Cristiano Moura, Elodie Boulier, Lars Rönnblom, Sasha Bernatsky, Mark Lathrop, Mark I. McCarthy, Panos Deloukas, André Tchernof, Tomi Pastinen, Marie-Claude Vohl, Elin Grundberg

The research team looked up 1) genetic and 2) epigenetic regulation via intergrational studies. The comprehensive sequencing of regulatory elements methylomes reveals lots of information of functional variants linked genetically as well as epigentically to plasma lipid traits.

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2019

Rural‐Urban Disparities in Total Physical Activity, Body Composition, and Related Health Indicators: An Atlantic PATH Study

Authors: Cynthia Forbes, Zhijie Michael Yu, Yunsong Cui, Vanessa DeClerq, Scott Grandy, Louise Parker, Ellen Sweeney, Trevor Dummer, Melanie Keats

This study was done to compare the sociodemographic/lifestyle characteristics of urban/rural residents in Atlantic Canada. Over 17000 adults were surveyed and multi-linear/logistic regression were done. It was found that rural residents were significantly less likely to be regular or habitual drinkers. Obesity prevalence was much higher out in the Atlantic provinces.

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2019

Impact of adherence to cancer-specific prevention recommendations on subsequent risk of cancer in participants in Alberta’s Tomorrow Project.

Authors: JY Xu, JE Vena, HK Whelan, PJ Robson

This study wanted to see if cancer-specific recommendations actually prevented cancer. They found that those who adhered to said recommendations saw lower risk of develop cancer over time.

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2019

Fracture status in middle-aged individuals with early CKD: cross-sectional analysis of the CARTaGENE survey

Authors: L.C. Desbiens, R. Goupil., A. Sidine., F. Madore., F. Mac-Way

In this cross-sectional analysis, the study team determined that CKD was not correlated with increase fractures, was not a modification factor between calcaneal QUS and fracture, but modified the association between clinical, pharmacological parameters and fracture.

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2019

Nuclear genetic regulation of the human mitochondrial transcriptome

Authors: Aminah Ali, Lena Boehme, Guillermo Carbajosa, Vlad Seitan, Kerrin Small, Alan Hodgkinson

They analyzed more than 11000 RNA sequencing libraries across 36 tissue/cell types and they found considerable variation in mitochondrial gene expression along the transcriptome. This was also looked at tissues and inviduals and highlighted the importance of cell-type specific and post transcriptional processes in shaping mitochondrial-encoded RNA levels.

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2019

Central body fatness is a stronger predictor of cancer risk than overall body size

Authors: Amanda Barberio, Asalah Alareeki, Benjamin Viner, Joy Pader, Jennifer Vena, Paul Arora, Christine Fredenreich, Darren Brenner

They wanted to see the relationship between body size and weight distribution for cancer risk. They had a sample size of 26607 and determined that men have a 33% increased risk of cancer, while women have 22% increased risk. Essentially central adiposity appears to be a strong predictor of all-cancer risk than actual body size.

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2019

Strategies to Address Misestimation of Energy Intake Based on Self-Report Dietary Consumption in Examining Associations Between Dietary Patterns and Cancer Risk

Authors: Nathan Solbak, Ala Al Rajabi, Alianu Akawung, Geraldine Siou, Sharon Kirkpatrick, Paula Robson

The objective of this study was to determine the influence of strategies of handling misestimation of energy intake (EI) on observed associations between dietary patterns and cancer risk.

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2019

Sleep and cancer incidence in Alberta’s Tomorrow Project cohort

Authors: Jessica McNeil, Amanda Barberio, Christine Fredenreich, Darren Brenner

This article looked at the relationship between cancer incidence and sleeping patterns. They found there was a correlation between sleep duration and cancer etiology

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2019

Identifying Rheumatoid Arthritis Cases within the Quebec Health Administrative Database

Authors: Zeinab Slim, Cristiano Moura, Sasha Bernatsky, Elham Rahme

The team’s objective was to calculate rheumatoid arthritis point prevalence in the CARTaGENE cohort. They also aimed to estimate sensitivity/specificity. In the study, they were looking at 3 factors: number of years of billing data, addition of self reported information of RA diagnosis and drugs, and adjustment for calculation error. They found that there was a RAMQ sensitivity of 84% and specificity of 99.8%. Their results showed variations in the prevalence point estimates of the 3 factors being assessed.

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