Differential Impacts of Anticipated Success on Employment Outcomes Among Adults Who Stutter.

Purpose: Stuttering is associated with disparities in labor market outcomes among young adults, but little is known about how labor market outcomes associated with stuttering change over time. Therefore, this study characterized longitudinal associations between stuttering and early life expectations, job satisfaction, receipt of employer-provided insurance benefits, and income.

Method: The analysis used data from three waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, which contained 16,653 individuals aged 18-43 years interviewed over 18 years.

Protocol for exploring pathways to equitable outcomes in post-stroke aphasia and dysphagia.

Introduction: Longstanding racial disparities in stroke-related outcomes have been well documented. However, the underlying causes of observed disparities have neither been clearly determined nor have strategies to mitigate disparities been developed. Evidence suggests that racial disparities may be partially explained by structural barriers that can arise from implicit and explicit provider biases, institutional practices, public policies, or characteristics of the community where patients reside and recover from their conditions.

Allostatic load and cognitive recall among young adults: Racial, ethnic, and sex-specific variations.

Introduction: While factors such as age and education have been associated with persistent differences in functional cognitive decline, they do not fully explain observed variations particularly those between different racial/ethnic and sex groups. The aim of this study was to explore the association between allostatic load (AL) and cognition in a racially diverse cohort of young adults.

Methods: Utilizing Wave V of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health - a nationally representative, longitudinal survey of adults aged 34-44, this study utilized primary data from 10 immune, cardiovascular, and metabolic biomarkers to derive an AL Index.

Anxiety and depression among individuals with long COVID: Associations with social vulnerabilities.

Background: We examined the association between symptoms of anxiety and depression among individuals with long COVID and five social vulnerabilities (expenses, employment, food insufficiency, housing, and insurance).

Methods: Data from the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey (HPS) detailing COVID incidence, duration, and symptoms between June 1st and November 14th, 2022 contained versions of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-2) and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) questionnaires. Associations between anxiety, depression, and the five social vulnerabilities among respondents from different racial and ethnic groups experiencing long COVID were evaluated using generalized binomial logistic regression.

Multilevel Determinants of Long COVID and Potential for Telehealth Intervention.

Background: Post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) syndrome, or long COVID, has a variety of symptoms, but little is known about the condition. This study evaluated the association between individual factors, social determinants of health, and the likelihood of long COVID by assessing internet usage as an indicator of viable access to telehealth.

Methods: Data from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey identified adults who (1) reported a previous COVID-19-positive test and/or diagnosis and (2) experienced long COVID.

The Impact of Hearing Loss on Diabetes Distress Among Adults With Type 2 Diabetes.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the combined effects of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and hearing loss on the level of distress in individuals with diabetes.

Methods: The 2021 National Health Interview Survey included 2633 adults (ages 18+) with T2D who reported perceived hearing loss, level of diabetes-related distress, household composition, and demographic characteristics. Logistic regressions evaluated these association between hearing loss and diabetes distress controlling for age, income, region of residence, marital status, rurality, educational attainment, insurance coverage, time since diabetes diagnosis, and household composition.

Food Insufficiency and Coping Resources among Women: Postpandemic Racial, Ethnic, and Household Disparities.

Empirical evidence shows women are more likely to report food hardship (e.g., food insufficiency and food insecurity) compared with men.

Financial Well-Being Among US Adults with Vascular Conditions: Differential Impacts Among Blacks and Hispanics.

Background: The ability to meet current and ongoing financial obligations, known as financial well-being (FWB), is not only associated with the likelihood of adverse health events but is also affected by unexpected health care expenditures. However, the relationship between FWB and common health outcomes is not well understood. Using data available in the Financial Well-Being Scale from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, we evaluated the impact of four vascular conditions-cardiovascular disease (CVD), stroke, high blood pressure (BP), and high cholesterol-on FWB and how these impacts varied between racial and ethnic groups.

Diabetes and Financial Well-Being: Differential Hardship Among Vulnerable Populations.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine financial well-being among a diverse population of individuals with and without diabetes.

Methods: Data from the Understanding America Survey, a nationally representative, longitudinal panel, were utilized to identify adults with self-reported diabetes diagnoses between 2014 and 2020. We used longitudinal mixed effects regression models to assess the association between diabetes and financial well-being score (FWBS) among racial and ethnic population subgroups.

Exploring the association between social determinants and aphasia impairment: A retrospective data integration approach.

Introduction: Traditionally, the study of aphasia focused on brain trauma, clinical biomarkers, and cognitive processes, rarely considering the social determinants of health. This study evaluates the relationship between aphasia impairment and demographic, socioeconomic, and contextual determinants among people with aphasia (PWA).

Methods: PWA indexed within AphasiaBank-a database populated by multiple clinical aphasiology centers with standardized protocols characterizing language, neuropsychological functioning, and demographic information-were matched with respondents in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey based on response year, age, sex, race, ethnicity, time post stroke, and mental health status.

Age, 12-Step Group Involvement, and Relapse Affect Use of Sobriety Date as Recovery Start Date: A Mixed Methods Analysis.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of sobriety date as recovery start date, from the perspective of those in recovery, using a mixed methods approach. We report findings from 389 individuals who identify as being in recovery from a substance and/or alcohol use disorder concerning how they define their recovery start date. We report findings from logistic regression examining how the use of a sobriety date as a recovery start date differs across age, 12-step group engagement, and previous relapse occurrence.

Alternatives assessment: An analysis on progress and future needs for research and practice.

Alternatives assessment is a science-policy approach to support the informed substitution of chemicals of concern in consumer products and industries, with the intent of avoiding regrettable substitution and facilitating the transition to safer, more sustainable chemicals and products. The field of alternatives assessment has grown steadily in recent decades, particularly after the publication of specific frameworks and the inclusion of substitution and alternatives assessment requirements in a number of policy contexts. Previously, 14 research and practice needs for the field were outlined across five critical areas: comparative hazard assessment, comparative exposure characterization, lifecycle considerations, decision-making and decision analysis, and professional practice.

Racial-Ethnic Disparities in Hearing Aid Use: Price Responsiveness Among Older Adults with Hearing Loss.

Objective: To explore the role of racial-ethnic background, income, residential context, and historic variation in hearing aid (HA) price HA usage among a nationally representative cohort of older adults with hearing loss.

Methods: Multilevel logistic regression models evaluated data from the 2012 through 2017 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) to 1) compare historic HA use between subgroups, 2) test for differential responsiveness to price changes between racial and ethnic groups, and 3) assess the relative role of demographic characteristics and HA use.

Results: Between 2012 and 2017, the price of economy HAs decreased by 5% while HA use among Non-Hispanic (NH) Whites and Hispanics with hearing loss increased by 30% and 20% respectively, but usage among NH-Blacks increased by less than 10%.

Comparing Direct-to-Consumer Devices to Hearing Aids: Amplification Accuracy for Three Types of Hearing Loss.

Purpose: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration finalized regulations for over-the-counter hearing aids (OTC-HAs) on August 17, 2022.

The Intersection of Social Determinants of Health and Post-stroke Aphasia Outcomes: A Need for Intersectional Analysis.

Aphasia is a disorder that results from damage to portions of the brain that are responsible for language and can vary significantly by type and severity. Differences in aphasia outcomes are influenced by the social determinants of health (SDOH). The SDOH are structural, environmental, and personal determinants that influence health outcomes.

A Rural Delivery-Based Produce Prescription Intervention Improves Glycemic Control and Stress.

Objective: We examined the impact of a pilot 24-week delivery-based produce prescription (PRx) intervention with tailored education and culinary resources for rural patients (n = 40) with type-2 diabetes in underresourced communities on behavioral and clinical outcomes.

Methods: We used a single group pretest-posttest design that included a home-delivered PRx, culturally tailored recipes, and health/nutrition education handouts. Measures included hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), self-reported fruit/vegetable consumption, and stress.

Stroke in women between 2006 and 2018: Demographic, socioeconomic, and age disparities.

Background: Black Americans have a higher prevalence of stroke and stroke-related deaths than any other racial group. Racial disparities in stroke outcomes are even wider among women than men. Conventional studies have cited differences in lifestyle (i.

The use of alternatives assessment in chemicals management policies: Needs for greater impact.

Alternatives assessment is a methodology used to identify, evaluate, and compare potential chemical and nonchemical solutions with a substance of concern. It is required in several chemicals management regulatory frameworks, with the objective of supporting the transition to safer chemistry and avoiding regrettable substitutions. Using expert input from symposium presentations and a discussion group hosted by the Association for the Advancement of Alternatives Assessment, four case examples of the use of alternatives assessment in regulatory frameworks were evaluated and compared: (1) the US Environmental Protection Agency Significant New Alternatives Policy (USEPA SNAP), (2) authorization provisions in the EU REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals) regulation, (3) the California (CA) Safer Consumer Products (SCP) Program, and (4) the Safer Products for Washington (WA) Program.

Racial Disparities in Pain Among Women with Fibromyalgia: Secondary Data Analysis of Severity, Interference with Function, and Response to Guided Imagery.

Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is characterized by widespread persistent musculoskeletal pain. Mostly prevalent among White women, little is known about FMS in other population cohorts. This study examined secondary data of a racially diverse sample of women with FMS that were collected as part of a randomized controlled clinical trial that examined the effect of a complementary therapy intervention over the course of a 10-week guided imagery intervention to identify demographic, social, or economic differences in self-reported pain.

Intersectional sociodemographic and neurological relationships in the naming ability of persons with post-stroke aphasia.

Introduction: Significant attention has been given to the role of brain function and disruption in determining performance on naming tasks among individuals with aphasia. However, scholarly pursuit of a neurological explanation has overlooked the fundamental cornerstone of individual health-the underlying social, economic, and environmental factors that shape how they live, work, and age, also known as the social determinants of health (SDOH). This study examines the correlation between naming performance and these underlying factors.

Drivers of Individual and Regional Variation in CMS Hierarchical Condition Categories Among Florida Beneficiaries.

Objective: To explore hierarchical condition categories (HCC) risk score variation among Florida Fee for Service (FFS) Medicare beneficiaries between 2016 and 2018.

Data Sources: This study analyzed HCC risk score variation using Medicare claims data for Florida beneficiaries enrolled in Parts A & B between 2016 and 2018.

Study Design: The CMS methodology analyzed HCC risk score variation using annual mean county- and beneficiary-level risk score changes.

Healthcare cost and race: analysis of young women with stroke.

Background: Over the last decade, the prevalence of young stroke has increased 40% particularly among vulnerable populations. These strokes are often more severe with worse outcomes. However, few studies have examined the impact on annual healthcare costs.

Disparities in Perceived Physical and Mental Wellness: Relationships Between Social Vulnerability, Cardiovascular Risk Factor Prevalence, and Health Behaviors Among Elderly US Residents.

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death for males, females, and people of most racial and ethnic groups in the United States. In addition to known epidemiological and behavioral risk factors, recent evidence suggests that circumstantial or behavioral factors may also be associated with CVD. This study evaluates the contribution of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, community vulnerabilities, and individual health behaviors to individual physical and mental wellness among Black and White, male, and female Medicare beneficiaries.

Racial, ethnic, and sex disparities in the incidence and cognitive symptomology of long COVID-19.

Background: The pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated health inequities in both acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its longer-term sequelae. Given the heterogeneity in definitions of long COVID and the lack of centralized registries of patients with the disease, little is known about the differential prevalence among racial, ethnic, and sex subgroups. This study examines long COVID among Black, White, Asian, and Hispanic Americans and evaluates differences in the associated cognitive symptomology.

Sick, Hungry, and Vulnerable: Federal Stimulus and Food Security on Marginalized Populations During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

In addition to the threat of serious illness, COVID-19 and subsequent restrictions had devastating economic consequences for many US citizens. This study examines the evolution of food security over the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic testing whether the initial economic stimulus payment improved the nutritional well-being of vulnerable populations. We use data from phase 1 of the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey among a nationally representative sample of adults and the 2017-2018 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement.