Missed opportunities: Lack of a diagnostic workup of anaemia results in a high prevalence of unidentified anaemia.

Background And Objectives: Anaemia is a treatable common condition with various aetiologies and is prevalent in hospitalized patients. However, anaemia is inconsistently worked up and treated in the inpatient setting, in part because there is no standardized inpatient diagnostic and treatment approach to anaemia. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the diagnostic approach and prevalence of common aetiologies of anaemia in hospitalized patients and test for an association between aetiologies of anaemia and patient characteristics.

Disparities in cancer stage shifts associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in California, 2020-2021.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and associated shutdowns disrupted healthcare access and resulted in decreased cancer screenings. Cancer diagnosis delays have concerning downstream effects on late-stage cancer, especially for marginalized populations.

Methods: The study population included 349,458 adults in the California Cancer Registry diagnosed with cancer between January 2019-December 2021, during which California experienced two stay-at-home orders.

Exploring relationships between smoke exposure, housing characteristics, and preterm birth in California.

Pregnant people are vulnerable to air pollution exposure, including risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, and stillbirth. Understanding the infiltration of outdoor wildfire smoke into a residential space is critical for the accurate assessment of wildfire smoke exposure and associated health effects in pregnant people. Relying on ambient measurements of wildfire smoke alone can result in exposure misclassification.

Correction: The Masters athlete in Olympic weightlifting: Training, lifestyle, health challenges, and gender differences.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Association of health confidence with hospital length of stay and readmission.

Background: Length of stay (LOS) is an important measure of hospital quality and may be impacted by patient participation. However, concepts of patient participation, like health confidence, have received little examination in hospitalized patients' LOS, especially in diverse populations.

Objective: To determine if the Health Confidence Score (HCS) is associated with hospital LOS and readmission in a socioeconomically diverse population.

The Association of Alcohol Outlet Density With Alcohol Intake: The Multiethnic Cohort.

Objective: Neighborhood characteristics have been shown to influence lifestyle behaviors. Here we characterized alcohol outlet density in Los Angeles County, CA, and Hawaii and assessed the association of alcohol outlet density with self-reported alcohol intake in the Multiethnic Cohort.

Method: Participants ( = 178,977) had their addresses geocoded at cohort entry (1993-1996) and appended to block group-level alcohol outlet densities (on- and off-premises).

The Design and Early Results of a Structured Longitudinal Training Program for Undergraduate Students to Increase Diversity in Aging-Research.

The Cultivating Health and Aging Researchers by Integrating Science, Medicine, and Aging (CHARISMA) program at the University of Chicago (UC), is an NIA-funded longitudinal clinical research training program for undergraduate students from groups underrepresented in the sciences and medicine. CHARISMA students participate in an aging-focused: 1) realistic research career experience, 2) didactic curriculum, and 3) multi-tiered mentorship program. This manuscript describes CHARISMA and early quantitative data demonstrating its success.

Association of preadmission insomnia symptoms with objective in-hospital sleep and clinical outcomes among hospitalized patients.

Study Objectives: To determine the prevalence of preadmission insomnia symptoms among hospitalized patients and assess the association of insomnia symptoms with objective in-hospital sleep and clinical outcomes.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study of medicine inpatients (age ≥ 50, no previously diagnosed sleep disorders). Participants answered the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) questionnaire to assess for preadmission insomnia symptoms (scored 0-28; higher scores suggest more insomnia symptoms).

Investigation of genomic and transcriptomic risk factors in clopidogrel response in African Americans.

Clopidogrel, an anti-platelet drug, used to prevent thrombosis after percutaneous coronary intervention. Clopidogrel resistance results in recurring ischemic episodes, with African Americans suffering disproportionately. The aim of this study was to identify biomarkers of clopidogrel resistance in African American patients.

Developing an Integrated Longitudinal Dataset for Patient-Centered Outcome Measures in Cost-Related Medication Nonadherence.

Background: Cost-related medication nonadherence (CRN) is an important patient-centered outcome measure. Longitudinal follow-up of CRN is rare.

Objective: We propose to develop a novel integrated dataset to study CRN longitudinally.

When Guideline-Concordant Standardized Care Results in Healthcare Disparities.

AbstractClinical red blood cell transfusion guidelines have been widely adopted in clinical practice, resulting in standardized transfusion practices in hospitalized patients with anemia. Standardization of transfusion practice has been welcomed by clinicians and health systems as a mechanism for reducing unnecessary, harmful, and costly practice variation that results in healthcare disparities. However, overzealously applied guidelines can have deleterious consequences for individual patients, ultimately resulting in and/or exacerbating healthcare disparities, rather than resolving them.

Reducing Physical Therapy Consults for Patients With High Functional Mobility in the Acute Medical Inpatient Setting: A Difference-in-Difference Analysis.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of clinical decision support for reducing misallocation of physical therapy (PT) consults.

Design: A prospective quasi-experimental study. Between October 2018 and November 2021, routinely documented data on functional status and physical therapy referrals were collected from electronic medical records.

Prevalence and persistence of cost-related medication non-adherence before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among medicare patients at high risk of hospitalization.

Objective: To study cost-related medication non-adherence (CRN) for a 30-month period before and during the COVID-19 pandemic using a sample of Medicare patients at high risk of hospitalization.

Design: A novel data set of quarterly surveys of CRN was used to evaluate CRN before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) analyses were conducted to evaluate the adjusted coefficients of change in CRN behaviors controlling for socio-demographic and health characteristics.

Industry Payments to Urologists and Urologic Advanced Practice Providers in 2021.

Objective: To compare industry payments from drug and medical device companies to urologists and urologic advanced practice providers (APPs) in 2021.

Methods: We used the 2020 Medicare Data on Provider Practice and Specialty file to identify single-specialty urology practices, defined as those where the majority of physicians were urologists. We then used the Open Payments Program Year 2021 data to summarize the value and number of industry payments to urologists and APPs, including nurse practitioners and physician assistants, in these practices.

Comparison of Olympic-Style Weightlifting Performances of Elite Athletes: Scaling Models Account for Body Mass.

Purpose: We developed a scale for comparison of performances by weightlifters of different body mass and compare this scaling formula to current systems.

Methods: Data from Olympics and World and Continental Championships from 2017 to 2021 were obtained; results from athletes with doping violations were excluded, resulting in performances from 1900 athletes from 150 countries for use in analysis. Functional relationships between performance and body mass were explored by testing various transformations of body mass in the form of fractional polynomials that include a wide range of nonlinear relationships.

Asian American Enclaves and Healthcare Accessibility: An Ecologic Study Across Five States.

Introduction: Access to primary care has been a long-standing priority for improving population health. Asian Americans, who often settle in ethnic enclaves, have been found to underutilize health care. Understanding geographic primary care accessibility within Asian American enclaves can help to ensure the long-term health of this fast-growing population.

Outcomes of Hematuria Evaluation by Advanced Practice Providers and Urologists.

Objective: To examine the quality and costs of care for patients evaluated for hematuria by urologic advanced practice providers (APPs) and urologists. The roles of APPs in urology are growing, but their clinical and financial outcomes compared to urologists are not well understood.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of commercially insured patients using data from 2014 to 2020.

Assessing Disparities in Video-Telehealth Use and eHealth Literacy Among Hospitalized Patients: Cross-sectional Observational Study.

Background: Medicare coverage for audio-only telehealth is slated to end this year after the public health emergency concludes. When the time comes, many patients may be unable to make the transition from audio-only to video telehealth due to digital inexperience. This study explores the second digital divide within video telehealth use, which is primarily characterized by skills and capabilities rather than access, by measuring eHealth literacy (eHL) and video capabilities in hospitalized patients.

Changes in Patient Perceptions of the Provider Most Involved in Care During COVID-19 and Corresponding Effects on Patient Trust.

During COVID-19 routine clinical operations were disrupted, including limits on the types of providers allowed to perform in-person care and frequency of times they could enter a patient's room. Whether these changes affected patients' trust in the care they received during hospitalization is unknown. Hospitalized patients on the general medicine service were called after discharge and asked to identify who (attending, resident, etc.

Neighborhood-level COVID vaccination and booster disparities: A population-level analysis across California.

Objectives: To describe vaccine and booster uptake by neighborhood-level factors in California.

Methods: We examined trends in COVID-19 vaccination up to September 21, 2021, and boosters up to March 29, 2022 using data from the California Department of Public Health. Quasi-Poisson regression was used to model the association between neighborhood-level factors and fully vaccinated and boosted among ZIP codes.