Publications by authors named "Avital Fischer"

This study examined challenges and factors promoting resilience among 20 California family physicians (FPs) during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. A subset of academic, community, and resident FPs who responded to an online survey also participated in a semi-structured interview that explored concerns, moral distress, burnout, resource needs, support systems, coping strategies, and motivation to continue caring for patients. Thematic analysis was used to identify common themes in participant interviews.

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Objectives: The case definition for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is broad and encompasses symptoms and signs commonly seen in children with fever. Our aim was to identify clinical predictors that, independently or in combination, identify febrile children presenting to the emergency department (ED) as low risk for MIS-C.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective single-center study of otherwise healthy children 2 months to 20 years of age presenting to the ED with fever and who had a laboratory evaluation for MIS-C between April 15, 2020, and October 31, 2020.

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Physicians are experiencing symptoms of burnout at unprecedented rates. It is essential to assess programmatic factors contributing to physician burnout as actionable items for work climate improvement. Creation of an evidence base of strategies and methods to cultivate a culture of wellness requires iterative assessment, program development and implementation, and evaluation.

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Purpose: Patient-centered approaches to health care acknowledge the important role that families have in patients' lives. Shared expectations between families and providers have the potential to improve patient and family experience, hospital care, and outcomes. We aimed to understand families' expectations for their child's admission from the vantage point of the start of a hospital stay.

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Background: Approximately one in six women in the USA takes antidepressants and a third use selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) after breast cancer diagnosis. Recent investigation demonstrated serotonin receptor (5-HTR2B) expression in the breast and serotonin production as an indicator of poor breast cancer prognosis. This study investigates the association between SSRI use at different time intervals relative to breast cancer diagnosis on survival.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics has long recognized a need for more resources for integrative medicine for health care providers and for patients. The aim of this study was to introduce Aroma Acupoint Therapy (AAT)-a relatively new integrative medicine modality using essential oils to activate acupoints-and to describe the early experiences of providers using AAT for adolescents at school-based health centers (SBHCs). This was a case series of 15 adolescents treated with 1 of 2 AAT specific protocols plus standard medical therapy between April 2018 and February 2019 at SBHCs.

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Objectives: To examine whether patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) demonstrated well-defined clinical features distinct from other febrile outpatients, given the difficulties of seeing acute care visits during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic and the risks associated with both over- and underdiagnosis of MIS-C.

Study Design: This case-controlled study compared patients diagnosed with and treated for MIS-C at a large urban children's hospital with patients evaluated for fever at outpatient acute care visits during the peak period of MIS-C. Symptomatology and available objective data were extracted.

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The novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has spread quickly across the globe, creating unique and pressing challenges for today's physicians. Although this virus disproportionately affects adults, initial SARS-CoV-2 infection can present a significant disease burden for the pediatric population. A review of the literature yields descriptive studies in pediatric patients; however, no evidence-based or evidence-informed guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of the hospitalized pediatric patient have been published in peer-reviewed journals.

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Importance: Descriptions of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) experience in pediatrics will help inform clinical practices and infection prevention and control for pediatric facilities.

Objective: To describe the epidemiology, clinical, and laboratory features of patients with COVID-19 hospitalized at a children's hospital and to compare these parameters between patients hospitalized with and without severe disease.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective review of electronic medical records from a tertiary care academically affiliated children's hospital in New York City, New York, included hospitalized children and adolescents (≤21 years) who were tested based on suspicion for COVID-19 between March 1 to April 15, 2020, and had positive results for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

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Objective: The relationship between psychological stress and breast cancer risk is unclear. The present study sought to understand how stressfulness appraisal of salient Life Events (LEs) influences breast cancer risk.

Methods: A case-control design was used and included 664 female cases identified through the Cancer Surveillance Program of Orange County, CA and 203 female population-based controls.

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Background: The influence of stress on breast cancer risk remains unknown. The goal of the present study was to determine the effect of stress in the form of salient positive and negative valence life events (LEs) on primary invasive breast cancer risk. We hypothesized that salient negative LEs would increase breast cancer risk and salient positive LEs would attenuate this increased risk.

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Chronic health conditions are commonplace in older populations. The process of aging impacts many of the world's top health concerns. With the average life expectancy continuing to climb, understanding patterns of morbidity in aging populations has become progressively more important.

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Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may involve over-consolidated emotional memories of the traumatic event. Reactivation (RP) can return a memory to an unstable state, from which it must be restabilized (reconsolidated) if it is to persist. Pharmacological agents administered while the memory is unstable have been shown to impair reconsolidation.

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