Publications by authors named "Elise Gatsby"

Objective: To use natural language processing (NLP) of clinical notes to augment existing structured electronic health record (EHR) data for classification of a patient's menopausal status.

Materials And Methods: A rule-based NLP system was designed to capture evidence of a patient's menopause status including dates of a patient's last menstrual period, reproductive surgeries, and postmenopause diagnosis as well as their use of birth control and menstrual interruptions. NLP-derived output was used in combination with structured EHR data to classify a patient's menopausal status.

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Introduction: Uterine fibroids are common, nonmalignant tumors that disproportionately impact Black patients. We aimed to examine Black and White differences in receipt of any treatment and type of first treatment in the Department of Veterans Affairs, including effect modification by severity as approximated by anemia.

Methods: We used Department of Veterans Affairs administrative data to identify 5,041 Black and 3,206 White veterans with symptomatic uterine fibroids, identified by International Classification of Diseases, 9th edition, Clinical Modification, codes, between fiscal year 2010 and fiscal year 2012 and followed in the administrative data through fiscal year 2018 for outcomes.

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Background: Alcohol use is a significant concern nationally and research now highlights higher rates of alcohol attributable death (AAD) and years of potential life lost (YPLL) among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) veterans compared to non-LGB veterans. In this study, we examined specific causes of AAD and associated YPLL between LGB and non-LGB veteran men and women to highlight needed outreach, prevention, and treatment strategies.

Methods: Using data from the nationwide Veterans Health Administration electronic health record and National Death Index from 2014 to 2018, we examined the top ten ranked causes of AAD among LGB (n = 102,085) and non-LGB veteran (n = 5,300,521) men and women, as well as associated YPLL per AAD.

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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers studied the rs35705950-T genetic variant to see how it affects the risk of severe outcomes in COVID-19 patients, particularly in the Million Veteran Program (MVP) participants.
  • The study found that those with the rs35705950-T allele had fewer hospitalizations due to COVID-19 but did not show significant differences in overall positivity rates for the virus.
  • The variant was linked to reduced rates of post-COVID-19 pneumonia among individuals of European ancestry, suggesting potential protective effects against certain complications of the disease.
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Article Synopsis
  • Sickle cell trait (SCT) affects millions in the US, especially among African and Hispanic populations, but its link to COVID-19 remains uncertain.* -
  • The study analyzed data from the Million Veteran Program, comparing 2,729 SCT-positive individuals, 353 of whom had COVID-19, to SCT-negative individuals to understand COVID-19 outcomes.* -
  • Results showed that SCT is associated with higher COVID-19 mortality among individuals of African ancestry and linked to various chronic health conditions before the pandemic.*
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Background: Unhealthy alcohol use is disproportionally experienced by individuals with minoritized sexual orientations. Unlike the general US population, for whom the burden of alcohol as it relates to mortality is consistently monitored across time with national survey data, the impact of unhealthy alcohol use among veterans with minoritized sexual orientations, for whom addressing substance use is a national priority, is largely unknown.

Methods: Using Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test Consumption data from the Department of Veterans Affairs electronic health record and underlying cause of death from National Death Index from 2014 to 2018 we quantified alcohol consumption and related mortality among veterans with (n = 102,085) and without minoritized sexual orientations (n = 5300,521).

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Background: Healthcare providers are often targeted as research participants, especially for implementation science studies evaluating provider- or system-level issues. Frequently, provider eligibility is based on both provider and patient factors. Manual chart review and self-report are common provider screening strategies but require substantial time, effort, and resources.

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The prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychiatric disorders is high among military veterans and even higher among transgender veterans. Prior prevalence estimates have become outdated, and novel methods of estimation have since been developed but not used to estimate PTSD prevalence among transgender veterans. This study provides updated estimates of PTSD prevalence among transgender and cisgender veterans.

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Questionnaire studies show people with minoritized sexual orientations (MSOs) face increased risk for conditions including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study replicated Harrington et al.'s (2019) electronic health record probabilistic algorithm to evaluate lifetime PTSD prevalence in Veterans Health Administration (VHA)-using veterans.

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Purpose: The Veterans Health Administration (VA) is the largest single integrated healthcare system in the US and is likely the largest healthcare provider for people with minoritized sexual orientations (e.g., gay, lesbian, bisexual).

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Purpose: To estimate the positive predictive value (PPV) of International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code U07.1, COVID-19 virus identified, in the Department of Veterans of Affairs (VA).

Patients And Methods: Records of ICD-10 code U07.

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The purpose of this study was to determine variation in sexual minority (SM) sexual orientation documentation within the electronic medical records of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Documentation of SM sexual orientation was retrospectively extracted from clinical notes and administrative data in the VHA from October 1, 1999 to July 1, 2019. The rate of documentation overall and by calendar year was calculated, and differences across patient, provider, and clinic characteristics were evaluated.

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