Validation Assessment of Privacy-Preserving Synthetic Electronic Health Record Data: Comparison of Original Versus Synthetic Data on Real-World COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness.

Purpose: To assess the validity of privacy-preserving synthetic data by comparing results from synthetic versus original EHR data analysis.

Methods: A published retrospective cohort study on real-world effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines by Maccabi Healthcare Services in Israel was replicated using synthetic data generated from the same source, and the results were compared between synthetic versus original datasets. The endpoints included COVID-19 infection, symptomatic COVID-19 infection and hospitalization due to infection and were also assessed in several demographic and clinical subgroups.

Assessing racial bias in healthcare predictive models: Practical lessons from an empirical evaluation of 30-day hospital readmission models.

Objective: Despite increased availability of methodologies to identify algorithmic bias, the operationalization of bias evaluation for healthcare predictive models is still limited. Therefore, this study proposes a process for bias evaluation through an empirical assessment of common hospital readmission models. The process includes selecting bias measures, interpretation, determining disparity impact and potential mitigations.

Evaluating Algorithmic Bias in 30-Day Hospital Readmission Models: Retrospective Analysis.

Background: The adoption of predictive algorithms in health care comes with the potential for algorithmic bias, which could exacerbate existing disparities. Fairness metrics have been proposed to measure algorithmic bias, but their application to real-world tasks is limited.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the algorithmic bias associated with the application of common 30-day hospital readmission models and assess the usefulness and interpretability of selected fairness metrics.

Changes in vaccine administration trends across the life-course during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States: a claims database study.

Background: This study provides an updated and expanded analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on routine vaccinations across the life-course in the United States.

Research Design And Methods: Routine wellness visits and vaccination rates were calculated using structured claims data for each month during the impact period (January 2020 to August 2022) and compared to the respective baseline period (January 2018 to December 2019). Monthly rates were aggregated as annual accumulated and cumulative percent changes.

A bias evaluation checklist for predictive models and its pilot application for 30-day hospital readmission models.

Objective: Health care providers increasingly rely upon predictive algorithms when making important treatment decisions, however, evidence indicates that these tools can lead to inequitable outcomes across racial and socio-economic groups. In this study, we introduce a bias evaluation checklist that allows model developers and health care providers a means to systematically appraise a model's potential to introduce bias.

Materials And Methods: Our methods include developing a bias evaluation checklist, a scoping literature review to identify 30-day hospital readmission prediction models, and assessing the selected models using the checklist.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric and adolescent vaccinations and well child visits in the United States: A database analysis.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted healthcare, including immunization practice and well child visit attendance. Maintaining vaccination coverage is important to prevent disease outbreaks and morbidity. We assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric and adolescent vaccination administration and well child visit attendance in the United States.

The in Vitro Immune-Modulating Properties of a Sweat Gland-Derived Antimicrobial Peptide Dermcidin.

The epidermal barriers of the skin serve as the first layer of defense by limiting the access of many pathogens to the blood circulation. In addition, human skin also contains sweat glands that can secrete a wide array of antimicrobial peptides to restrain the growth of various microbes. In the case of microbial infection, macrophages and monocytes constitute the first line of defense by producing a wide array of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines.

Ethnic identity salience improves recognition memory in Tibetan students via priming.

Objectives: Social identity salience affects group-reference effect in memory. However, limited studies have examined the influence of ethnic identity salience on group-reference effect among minority group people in conditions where the minority group dominates. In the present research, we aim to investigate, in a Tibetan-dominant context, whether the salience of ethnic identity among Tibetan students could display an influence on their group-reference effect via priming method.

Process evaluation of Healthy Bodies, Healthy Souls: a church-based health intervention program in Baltimore City.

Soaring obesity rates in the United States demand comprehensive health intervention strategies that simultaneously address dietary patterns, physical activity, psychosocial factors and the food environment. Healthy Bodies, Healthy Souls (HBHS) is a church-based, community-participatory, cluster-randomized health intervention trial conducted in Baltimore City to reduce diabetes risk among urban African Americans by promoting healthy dietary intake, increased physical activity and improvement to the church food environment. HBHS was organized into five 3-8-week phases: Healthy Beverages, Healthy Desserts, Healthy Cooking, Healthy Snacking and Eating Out and Physical Activity.