Disparities in Continuous Glucose Monitoring Among Patients Receiving Care in Federally Qualified Health Centers.

Importance: While continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) has been found to improve diabetes care processes and outcomes, adoption remains low.

Objective: To examine the association between CGM prescriptions and individual characteristics among patients with type 1 or 2 diabetes (T1D and T2D, respectively).

Design, Setting, And Participants: Retrospective cross-sectional study using electronic health record data for patients with T1D or T1D from 275 clinic sites nationwide between January 2014 and February 2021.

Housing instability patterns among low-income, urban Black young adults in California and associations with mental health outcomes: baseline data from a randomized waitlist-controlled trial.

Background: Deep-rooted racial residential segregation and housing discrimination have given rise to housing disparities among low-income Black young adults in the US. Most studies have focused on single dimensions of housing instability, and thus provide a partial view of how Black young adults experience multiple, and perhaps overlapping, experiences of housing instability including homelessness, frequent moves, unaffordability, or evictions. We aimed to illuminate the multiple forms of housing instability that Black young adults contend with and examine relationships between housing instability and mental health outcomes.

Forty Years Searching for Neurosteroid Binding Sites on GABA Receptors.

Brain inhibition is a vital process for controlling and sculpting the excitability of the central nervous system in healthy individuals. This level of control is provided over several timescales and involves the neurotransmitter GABA acting at inhibitory synapses to: rapidly inhibit neurons by activating the GABA receptor; over a slower timescale, to tonically activate extrasynaptic GABA receptors to provide a low level of background inhibition; and finally, to activate G-protein coupled GABA receptors to control transmitter release by inhibiting presynaptic Ca channels whilst providing postsynaptic inhibition via K channel activation. From this plethora of roles for GABA and its receptors, the GABA receptor isoform is of major interest due to its dynamic functional plasticity, which in part, is due to being targeted by modulatory brain neurosteroids derived from sex and stress hormones.

The Role of Telehealth in Improving Care Connections and Outcomes for Community Health Center Patients with Diabetes.

Introduction: Does telehealth decrease health disparities by improving connections to care or simply result in new barriers for vulnerable populations who often lack access to technology? This study aims to better understand the role of telehealth and social determinants of health in improving care connections and outcomes for Community Health Center patients with diabetes.

Methods: This retrospective analysis of Electronic Health Record (EHR) data examined the relationship between telehealth utilization and glycemic control and consistency of connection to the health care team ("connectivity"). EHR data were collected from 20 Community Health Centers from July 1, 2019 through December 31, 2021.

Exploring the experiences and expectations of trainee representatives in medical specialties: A qualitative study in the West Midlands, UK.

Introduction: Despite its importance, there is a paucity of evidence describing the role and responsibilities of trainee representatives.

Aim: This study explored key stakeholders' experiences and expectations of the trainee representative role.

Method: All eligible individuals in the West Midlands Deanery's School of Medicine were invited to participate in an interview exploring their experiences and expectations of the trainee representative role.

Asynchronous consult report generation for pharmacogenomic clinical support: Time and motion.

As pharmacogenomic (PGx) testing becomes more commonplace in clinical practice, appropriate application of laboratory data to all relevant medications becomes necessary to maximize PGx value. However, many clinicians lack PGx knowledge and confidence, so prescribers may appreciate clinical support when applying PGx data to a patient's entire medication list. Pharmacists routinely provide PGx consult support, and asynchronous written consults may improve logistical simplicity, but specific process steps and time expectations are less settled.

Investigating the methods and characteristics of the trafficking of performance and image enhancing drugs in Australia.

Introduction: Using case law, the aims of this study were to document the methods for trafficking of performance and image-enhancing drugs (PIED) into Australia, and the characteristics of individuals and groups involved.

Methods: Data was collected from judges' sentencing comments. Searches were conducted using the Australasian Legal Information Institute database across all states in Australia, for the period of January 2010 to December 2021.

Food Allergies: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention.

In the United States, approximately 2% to 3% of adults and 8% of children have a food allergy. Allergic reactions range from minor pruritus to life-threatening anaphylaxis. These allergies often lead to significant anxiety and costs for patients and caregivers.

COVID-19 host genetic risk study conducted at community pharmacies: Implications for public health, research and pharmacists' scope of practice.

Community pharmacists serve a large, diverse population of patients, resulting in the potential to utilize community pharmacies as recruitment sites for clinical research. Beyond traditional roles as one of the most accessible health care professionals in the US healthcare system, pharmacists have played a major role in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, administering hundreds of thousands of vaccines and tests. However, less emphasis is placed on the ability to leverage community pharmacies as research-focused partners for clinical studies.

Mapping Inequities in Digital Health Technology Within the World Health Organization's European Region Using PROGRESS PLUS: Scoping Review.

Background: The use of digital technologies within health care rapidly increased as services transferred to web-based platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Inequalities in digital health across the domains of equity are not routinely examined; yet, the long-term integration of digitally delivered services needs to consider such inequalities to ensure equitable benefits.

Objective: This scoping review aimed to map inequities in access, use, and engagement with digital health technologies across equity domains.

Pre- and postsynaptic modulation of hippocampal inhibitory synaptic transmission by pregnenolone sulphate.

Neurosteroids are important endogenous modulators of GABA receptor-mediated neurotransmission within the CNS and play a vital role in maintaining normal healthy brain function. Research has mainly focussed on neurosteroids such as allopregnanolone and tetrahydro-deoxycorticosterone (THDOC) which are allosteric potentiators of GABA receptors, whilst the sulphated steroids, including pregnenolone sulphate (PS), which inhibit GABA receptor function, have been relatively neglected. Importantly, a full description of PS effects on inhibitory synaptic transmission, at concentrations that are expected to inhibit postsynaptic GABA receptors, is lacking.

Advancing Public Health through Community Pharmacy Practice.

The overarching goal of public health is to advance the health of individuals, communities, and populations [...

Inequalities in colorectal cancer screening uptake in Wales: an examination of the impact of the temporary suspension of the screening programme during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Response to the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the temporary disruption of cancer screening in the UK, and strong public messaging to stay safe and to protect NHS capacity. Following reintroduction in services, we explored the impact on inequalities in uptake of the Bowel Screening Wales (BSW) programme to identify groups who may benefit from tailored interventions.

Methods: Records within the BSW were linked to electronic health records (EHR) and administrative data within the Secured Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank.

Impact of the temporary suspension of the Bowel Screening Wales programme on inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective register-based study.

Background: Response to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the temporary disruption of routine services in the UK National Health Service, including cancer screening. Following the reintroduction of services, we explored the impact on inequalities in uptake of the Bowel Screening Wales (BSW) programme to identify groups who might benefit from tailored intervention.

Methods: BSW records were linked to electronic health record and administrative data within the Secured Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank Trusted Research Environment.

Beyond Contraception: Pharmacist Roles to Support Maternal Health.

While contraception prescribing by pharmacists has seen rapid growth in recent years, pharmacist-provided services that can impact maternal health encompass more than just contraception. Each phase of maternal health-preconception, pregnancy, and post-pregnancy-has unique needs, and pharmacists are well equipped to provide services to meet those needs and are more accessible than other healthcare providers. While pharmacist-provided maternal health services may lead to significant savings to the healthcare system, additional research to more fully capture the value of pharmacist-provided maternal health services is needed.

Birth Control Use and Access Including Pharmacist-Prescribed Contraception Services during COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic influenced health care with effects on contraception access emerging. The study objectives were to analyze pandemic impacts on birth control (BC) use and access; and evaluate perceptions of pharmacist-prescribed BC. A 50-item survey was distributed by 31 Michigan community pharmacies to women aged 18-45 over a three-month period.

Development and Initial Evaluation of an Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience Readiness Assessment Plan.

To describe the composition of an advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) readiness assessment plan (APPE-RAP) along with initial findings following retrospective application to a cohort of students. The APPE-RAP uses existing summative assessment data within the ExamSoft platform on six skills and 12 ability-based outcomes from the pre-APPE curriculum. Thresholds were created to sort students into three readiness categories for skills and knowledge, determine overall readiness, and identify need for curricular review.

Multilevel network interventions: Goals, actions, and outcomes.

COVID-19 has resulted in dramatic and widespread social network interventions across the globe, with public health measures such as distancing and isolation key epidemiological responses to minimize transmission. Because these measures affect social interactions between people, the networked structure of daily lives is changed. Such largescale changes to social structures, present simultaneously across many different societies and touching many different people, give renewed significance to the conceptualization of social network interventions.

An Empirical Comparison of the Profiles of Security Threat Group Offenders with General Offenders.

Datasets of offender attributes, both pre-custody and in-custody, were provided by the Correctional Service of Canada with the goal of exploring whether Security Threat Group (STG) offenders (informally, gang members of various kinds) differ in any systematic way from other offenders. For pre-custody attributes, we show that the entire offender population varies along two almost independent axes, one associated with affinity for violence, and the other with affinity for substance abuse. Within this structure, STG offenders are characteristically less extreme, in either direction, than the general offender population.

The Biota orientalis, oil extract Epiitalis, is efficacious at reducing the symptoms of knee osteoarthritis: a pilot, multi-site, dose-ranging, randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled trial.

Objective: To explore the safety, and efficacy of a proprietary hydrolyzed oil extract from seeds of Biota orientalis (hBO/Epiitalis, Interpath Pty Ltd) in patients with knee pain due to osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods: Patients aged 40-65 with X-ray diagnosed knee OA and knee pain ≥ 60 on a 100-point VAS (visual analog scale) were enrolled and randomized into four groups to receive daily hBO for 56 days as high (hBO-HD, 640 mg), mid (hBO-MD, 320 mg) or low (hBO-LD, 160 mg) doses, or a matched placebo oil. The primary outcome was change in VAS knee pain from baseline to 56 days in the mITT (modified intention to treat) population.

Recruiting Black Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM) Couples via Dating Apps: Pilot Study on Challenges and Successes.

Background: HIV disproportionately impacts Black men who have sex with men (MSM), and targeting the primary relationship (ie, couples) using mobile technology for health holds promise for HIV prevention. Web-based recruitment of MSM is commonly employed in HIV prevention and intervention research. However, little known about recruiting Black MSM couples on the internet in the United States.

Pharmacy technician-administered immunizations: A five-year review.

In October 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued guidance authorizing trained pharmacy technicians in all states to administer immunizations.

An integrative review of the potential of wireless assistive technologies and internet of things (IoT) to improve accessibility to education for students with disabilities.

This research paper seeks to examine the challenges and opportunities for wireless technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT) to improve access to education for students with disabilities (SwDs). As technology integration into educational content and learning environments occurs, it becomes paramount for scholars to consider how the needs of students with disabilities are incorporated into these learning spaces. This paper synthesizes existing literature via an integrative review that explores barriers to accessing technology-mediated learning and the classroom.