Race and Ethnicity and Diffusion of Telemedicine in Medicaid for Schizophrenia Care After Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Importance: Delivery of mental health care through telehealth (telemental health care) increased after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Little is known about the speed of adoption (diffusion) of telemental health in the care in the care of individuals with schizophrenia.

Objectives: To characterize telemental health care diffusion in mental health agencies serving Medicaid beneficiaries with schizophrenia and the beneficiary-level association of telemental health care use with race and ethnicity.

Identification of blood lipid markers of docetaxel treatment in prostate cancer patients.

Docetaxel is commonly used for treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer. Unfortunately, many prostate cancer patients develop resistance to docetaxel. Clinical markers less invasive than biopsies, such as blood samples, would be ideal for monitoring and predicting patient treatment outcomes to docetaxel.

Prevalence and incidence measures for schizophrenia among commercial health insurance and medicaid enrollees.

Given the chronic nature of schizophrenia, it is important to examine age-specific prevalence and incidence to understand the scope of the burden of schizophrenia across the lifespan. Estimates of lifetime prevalence of schizophrenia have varied widely and have often relied upon community-based data estimates from over two decades ago, while more recent studies have shown considerable promise by leveraging pooled datasets. However, the validity of measures of schizophrenia, particularly new onset schizophrenia, has not been well studied in these large health databases.

The brominated flame retardant hexabromocyclododecane causes systemic changes in polyunsaturated fatty acid incorporation in mouse lipids.

Brominated flame retardants are used in many household products to reduce flammability, but often leach into the surrounding environment over time. Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) is a brominated flame retardant detected in human blood across the world. HBCD exposure can result in neurological problems and altered lipid metabolism, but to date, the two remain unlinked.

Racial-Ethnic Disparities in Quality of Care Among Medicaid Beneficiaries With Schizophrenia.

Objective: The authors sought to update and expand the evidence on the quality of health care and disparities in care among Medicaid beneficiaries with schizophrenia.

Methods: Adult beneficiaries of New York State Medicaid with schizophrenia receiving care during 2016-2019 were identified. Composite quality scores were derived from item response theory models by using evidence-based indicators of the quality of mental and general medical health care.