The Ecology of Economic Distress and Life Expectancy.

Objectives: To determine whether life expectancy (LE) changes between 2000 and 2019 were associated with race, rural status, local economic prosperity, and changes in local economic prosperity, at the county level.

Methods: Between 12/1/22 and 2/28/23, we conducted a retrospective analysis of 2000 and 2019 data from 3,123 United States counties. For Total, White, and Black populations, we compared LE changes for counties across the rural-urban continuum, the local economic prosperity continuum, and for counties in which local economic prosperity dramatically improved or declined.

Evidence-Based Strategies to Enhance Weight Management Programs for Adult Military Beneficiaries: A Narrative Review.

Introduction: Overweight and obesity trends are on the rise among both civilian and military beneficiaries. The purpose of this narrative review was to evaluate nutrition, behavioral, lifestyle, pharmacotherapy, and alternative approaches to weight management (WM) among adults with a focus toward identifying gaps and evidence-based strategies that could support or enhance current and future WM programming among military adult beneficiaries.

Materials And Methods: A trained research team identified publications (January 2013-January 2020) for abstract review using key search terms and inclusion criteria.

Rural-urban disparities in health outcomes, clinical care, health behaviors, and social determinants of health and an action-oriented, dynamic tool for visualizing them.

While rural-urban disparities in health and health outcomes have been demonstrated, because of their impact on (and intervenability to improve) health and health outcomes, we sought to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal inequities in health, clinical care, health behaviors, and social determinants of health (SDOH) between rural and non-rural counties in the pre-pandemic era (2015 to 2019), and to present a Health Equity Dashboard that can be used by policymakers and researchers to facilitate examining such disparities. Therefore, using data obtained from 2015-2022 County Health Rankings datasets, we used analysis of variance to examine differences in 33 county level attributes between rural and non-rural counties, calculated the change in values for each measure between 2015 and 2019, determined whether rural-urban disparities had widened, and used those data to create a Health Equity Dashboard that displays county-level individual measures or compilations of them. We followed STROBE guidelines in writing the manuscript.

Trends in Characteristics of Adults Enrolled in Traditional Fee-for-Service Medicare and Medicare Advantage, 2011-2019.

Background: While overall Medicare Part C (Medicare Advantage) enrollment has grown more rapidly than fee-for-service Medicare enrollment, changes in the growth and characteristics of different enrollee populations have not been examined.

Objectives: For 2011-2019, to compare changes in the growth and characteristics of younger (age younger than 65) and older (age 65 and older) Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Part A only, Medicare Parts A & B, and Medicare Part C.

Research Design: This was a retrospective, observational study.

A Method for Examining Geographic Variation When Denominators Are Unknown, Populations Vary, and Time is of the Essence: Back Surgery as an Example.

: Level of Evidence: 3.

Assessment of Year-to-Year Patient-Specific Comorbid Conditions Reported in the Medicare Chronic Conditions Data Warehouse.

This cross-sectional study evaluates the persistence of chronic condition flags for 51 conditions over single-year and multiyear periods.

The Essential Role of Technology in the Public Health Battle Against COVID-19.

Technology has played an important role in responding to the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and subsequent COVID-19 pandemic. The virus's blend of lethality and transmissibility have challenged officials and exposed critical limitations of the traditional public health apparatus. However, throughout this pandemic, technology has answered the call for a new form of public health that illustrates opportunities for enhanced agility, scale, and responsiveness.

Association of Declines in End-of-Life Health Care Costs With Fee-for-Service Enrollee Per Capita Expenditures.

This cross-sectional study assesses the association between end-of-life health care costs and fee-for-service Medicare spending and examines whether expenditures attributed to decedents have changed over time.