Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Pediatric Preventive Health Care Among North Carolina Children Enrolled in Medicaid.

Background: Children enrolled in private insurance had reduced preventive health care during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, the impact of the pandemic on children enrolled in Medicaid has been minimally described.

Methods: We used an administrative claims database from North Carolina Medicaid to evaluate the rates of well-child visits and immunization administration for children ≤14 months of age, and used a quasi-Poisson regression model to estimate the rate ratio (RR) of each outcome during the pandemic period (3/15/2020 through 3/15/2021) compared with the pre-pandemic period (3/15/2019 through 3/14/2020).

The longitudinal association between neighbourhood quality and cardiovascular risk factors among youth receiving obesity treatment.

Background: Neighbourhood factors are associated with cardiovascular health in adults, but these relationships are under-explored in youth.

Objectives: To characterize the associations between neighbourhood factors and child and adolescent health among youth with obesity.

Methods: Data were drawn from patient health records at a pediatric weight management clinic (n = 2838) and the Child Opportunity Index (COI).

SARS-CoV-2 Screening Testing Programs for Safe In-person Learning in K-12 Schools.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) screening testing is a recommended mitigation strategy for schools, although few descriptions of program implementation are available.

Methods: Kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) students and staff practicing universal masking during the delta and omicron variant waves from five schools in Durham, North Carolina and eight schools in Kansas City, Missouri participated; Durham's program was structured as a public health initiative facilitated by school staff, and Kansas City's as a research study facilitated by a research team. Tests included school-based rapid antigen or polymerase chain reaction testing, at-home rapid antigen testing, and off-site nucleic acid amplification testing.

Rationale and design of a multicenter randomized clinical trial of vestibulodynia: understanding pathophysiology and determining appropriate treatments (vestibulodynia: UPDATe).

Background: Limited data are available to establish evidence-based management protocols for vestibulodynia (VBD), a chronic vulvar pain condition that affects approximately 14 million women in the U.S. For the purposes of the study, our group subdivided VBD subtypes that may benefit from different types of treatment: 1) VBD peripheral (VBD-p), characterized by pain localized to the vulvar vestibule and 2) VBD central (VBD-c), characterized by VBD alongside one or more other chronic overlapping pain conditions (e.

Predictors of engagement in young and older adults: The role of specific activity experience.

Activity that places demands on cognitive resources has positive effects on cognitive health in old age. To further understand determinants of age-group differences in participation, we examined how negative aging stereotypes and responses associated with a cognitively challenging activity influenced future willingness to engage in that activity. Sixty-nine young (20-40 years) and 80 older (63-84 years) adults performed a letter-number sequencing (LNS) task at different levels of demand for 15 min, during which systolic blood pressure responses-a measure of effort mobilization-and subjective perceptions of task demands were assessed.