Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a frequent complication of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
Objectives: We aimed to identify molecular markers and signatures of leukemia microenvironment associated with VTE in childhood ALL, by dual-omics approach of gene expression (GEP) and DNA-methylation profiling.
Patients/methods: Eligible children were aged 1-21 years old with newly diagnosed ALL enrolled on the Dana Farber Cancer Institute 16-001 trial with available RNA sequencing data from bone marrow at diagnosis.
Background: Addressing equity in healthcare is necessary to improve population health outcomes. In doing so, a requisite level of foundational resources, organization, and processes are needed. Although increasing attention is being devoted to addressing health inequities, the current landscape supporting these efforts remains unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Massachusetts signed into law An Act Modernizing Tobacco Control (hereinafter, the Act) in 2019, which restricted retail sales of flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. This study assessed differences in advertising exposure to flavored tobacco products among adolescents in Massachusetts compared with adolescents in 4 neighboring states after passage of the Act.
Methods: We collected monthly cross-sectional survey data from April 2021 through August 2022 among a convenience sample of adolescents (aged 13-17 y) in Massachusetts and 4 control states: Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive primary liver malignancy often diagnosed at an advanced stage, resulting in a poor prognosis. Accurate risk stratification and early detection of HCC are critical unmet needs for improving outcomes. Several blood-based biomarkers and imaging tests are available for early detection, prediction, and monitoring of HCC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Acute histological chorioamnionitis (HCA) is detected in over 50% of spontaneous preterm birth (PTB) and is associated with worse neonatal prognosis. We aim to investigate whether the presence of HCA impacts subsequent pregnancy outcomes.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study included deliveries at a tertiary centre from 2014 to 2020.
Background And Objectives: Very low birth weight infants in the NICU are more susceptible to adverse outcomes. We recently described improving survival without major morbidity among very low birth weight infants in California. This study aims to examine whether this improvement was equitable across racial and ethnic groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Premature children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) encounter several health issues potentially affecting their health-related quality of life (HRQL). We aimed to determine agreement between children with BPD and their parent's HRQL assessments. Using Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) assessment tools, we evaluated agreement and potential bias between parent proxy and child self-reports of the PROMIS-Scale-Global Health-7, the Psychological Stress Experiences Short Form (PSE), and the PROMIS-Profile-25.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Perceptions of health harms and addictiveness related to nicotine products, THC e-cigarettes, and e-cigarettes with other ingredients are an important predictor of use. This study examined differences in perceived harm and addiction across such products among adolescents, young adults, and adults.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey ( = 6,131, ages 13-40 years old) in which participants reported perceived harm and addictiveness for 11 products (cigarettes, disposable nicotine e-cigarettes, pod-based nicotine e-cigarettes, other nicotine e-cigarettes, THC e-cigarettes, e-cigarettes with other ingredients, nicotine pouches, nicotine lozenges, nicotine gums, nicotine tablets, nicotine toothpicks).
Objectives: Examine family safety-reporting after implementing a parent-nurse-physician-leader coproduced, health literacy-informed, family safety-reporting intervention for hospitalized families of children with medical complexity.
Methods: We implemented an English and Spanish mobile family-safety-reporting tool, staff and family education, and process for sharing comments with unit leaders on a dedicated inpatient complex care service at a pediatric hospital. Families shared safety concerns via predischarge surveys (baseline and intervention) and mobile tool (intervention).
Background And Objectives: Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Therapeutic hypothermia (TH), a proven treatment of moderate-severe HIE, was first used clinically after 2006. We describe trends in HIE diagnosis and use of TH over a 10-year period in California.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe identification of deceased migrants is a global challenge that is exacerbated by migration distance, post-mortem conditions, access to ante-mortem data for comparison, inconsistent international procedures and lack of communication between arrival and origin countries. Due to low technology requirements, fast speed analysis and ease of transferring digital data, facial image comparison is particularly beneficial in those contexts, especially in challenging scenarios when this may be the only initial ante-mortem data available to identify the deceased. The Facial Identification Scientific Working Group (FISWG) professional guidelines for facial image comparison were developed for living facial appearance, and, therefore, a tailored protocol for the application of post-mortem to ante-mortem facial image comparison was proposed and evaluated in this research.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Co-use of tobacco and cannabis is common. However, few studies have examined the temporal sequencing through which individuals initiate co-use, and how these patterns vary across age. This study addresses this gap by examining the specific products and temporal sequencing through which adolescents, young adults, and adults initiate co-use of tobacco and cannabis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: This study identifies brands of nicotine pouches used in 2021, just before the surge in popularity of Zyn use.
Methods: We conducted a national, cross-sectional online survey of a general U.S.
Introduction: Little is known about the prevalence and predictors of adolescents' intention to quit or reduce use of e-cigarettes and/or cannabis.
Methods: Frequencies of intention to change (quit, reduce) e-cigarettes and/or cannabis use were examined among 23,915 surveyed middle and high school students with sole and co-use. Predictors of intention to change were identified via LASSO/multilevel logistic regression.
Unhoused children and adolescents have high rates of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The objective of this study was to characterize a large cohort of unhoused children and investigate rates of psychiatric diagnoses, medical diagnoses, and utilization of emergency department (ED) resources depending on the presence of additional documented ACEs. A retrospective cohort of all unhoused children who presented to the ED of a large Midwestern health system from January 2014 to July 2019 were included.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In November 2019, the Massachusetts legislature passed An Act Modernizing Tobacco Control and became the first state to restrict retail sales of all flavored (including menthol) cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and other tobacco products. Our study aims to provide the retailer experience of the new law from the perspectives of multiple stakeholders, including tobacco retailers themselves, public health officials, and Massachusetts residents.
Methods: We conducted in-depth interviews with seven tobacco retailers and ten public health officials from March 2021 to April 2022.
Introduction: The Massachusetts legislature passed An Act Modernizing Tobacco Control in November 2019 to restrict retail sales of flavored commercially manufactured tobacco products including menthol products, increase penalties for violating the law's provisions, and provide health insurance coverage for tobacco treatment.
Aims And Methods: This study explores key informants' perceptions of intended and unintended impacts of implementation of the 2019 Massachusetts statewide law through a health equity and racial justice lens. We conducted in-depth interviews with 25 key informants from three key informant groups (public health officials and advocates, clinicians, and school staff) between March 2021 and April 2022.
Preoperative Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections are associated with postoperative adverse outcomes. However, there is limited data on the impact of postoperative COVID-19 infection on postoperative outcomes of common general surgery procedures. To evaluate the impact of postoperative COVID-19 diagnosis on laparoscopic cholecystectomy outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy contributes to morbidity and mortality among neonates ≥36 weeks of gestation. Evidence of preventative antenatal treatment is limited. Magnesium sulfate has neuroprotective properties among preterm fetuses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To evaluate the ability of routinely collected electronic health record (EHR) use measures to predict clinical work units at increased risk of burnout and potentially most in need of targeted interventions.
Methods: In this observational study of primary care physicians, we compiled clinical workload and EHR efficiency measures, then linked these measures to 2 years of well-being surveys (using the Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index) conducted from April 1, 2019, through October 16, 2020. Physicians were grouped into training and confirmation data sets to develop predictive models for burnout.
Purpose: Young adults' e-cigarette use is a leading public health concern. Using messages from credible sources can help improve message acceptance, yet little research has examined the role of source credibility on young adults' responses to e-cigarette education messages.
Methods: We examined the impact of source on young adults' perceptions of e-cigarette education messages and e-cigarettes.