Facilitators and Barriers to Health Research Knowledge and Participation Among Arab/Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Patients in the US.

Research examining Arab and Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) health disparities faces several research limitations. These obstacles include unrepresentative national data due to the absence of a MENA identifier on the US Census, and a lack of Arab/MENA American participant trust in surveying bodies. This research hesitancy prompts the need for targeted investigation of the barriers preventing Arab/MENA Americans from participating in health research.

"Our Voices Will Get Louder": A Qualitative Exploration of Factors Influencing Arab/Middle Eastern North African (MENA) American Patient Participation in US-Based Health Care and Health Research.

Background: Heightened anti-Arab/Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) xenophobia in the United States (US) coupled with the addition of a MENA category on the next US Census call into attention the health needs of this minoritized population. Targeted research is needed to better understand the factors that influence Arab/MENA American participation in US-based health research and health care.

Methods: A novel qualitative interview guide was constructed to better understand the health research experiences, health care experiences and needs of Arab/MENA patients nationally.

Between worlds: Cis-and trans-identifying diaspora Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) women in Ontario, Canada on the intersections of gender, sexuality and sexual health.

Youth Sexual Health and HIV/STI Prevention in Middle Eastern and North African Communities (YSMENA) is the first community-based research study in Canada to explore key determinants of sexual health among diaspora Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) women living in Canada. Our objectives were to identify the factors influencing sexual health for MENA youth and grow an evidence base to strengthen the sexual health response for MENA communities. Using mixed- method design, data were gathered through a quantitative socio-demographic survey and qualitative focus groups with 24 women-identifying MENA youth (16-29 years) living in Ontario, Canada.

Intersectionality of sex and race in COVID-19 mortality and vaccination inequities in Massachusetts.

Background: Inequities in COVID-19 incidence, morbidity, and mortality between racial and ethnic groups in the United States (U.S.) have been documented since the start of the pandemic in early 2020.

HPV vaccine behaviors and intentions among a diverse sample of women aged 27-45 years: implications for shared clinical decision-making.

Background: The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices issued a shared clinical decision-making (SCDM) recommendation for HPV vaccination in persons aged 27-45. Since expanded eligibility for the vaccine was issued, little information has been available about HPV vaccine behaviors and intentions among women in this age group.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey among women aged 27-45 years recruited through a Qualtrics™ respondent panel (N = 324) to answer the following questions (1) What is the prevalence of HPV vaccination among a diverse sample of adult women aged 27-45 years? (2) What are the characteristics of those who have or have not previously been vaccinated? and (3) What factors are associated with the intention to obtain the HPV vaccine among those who had never been vaccinated? Multivariable logistic regression analyses estimated adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs).

Racism as a Threat to Palestinian Health Equity.

Between October 2023 and April 2024, more than 30,000 Palestinians were killed, and countless others injured, displaced, and traumatized, in the fifth major Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip since 2006. Recent events, along with the trajectory of events over the past 75 years, demonstrate that using a public health framework could help recognize racism as a structural and social determinant of Palestinian health. Using the principles of health equity, we show how Palestinian health inequities are rooted in settler colonialism and racism, amounting to violence and oppression against Palestinian Arabs as a racialized group, regardless of religion or citizenship.

Systems analysis and improvement approach to optimize tuberculosis (SAIA-TB) screening, treatment, and prevention in South Africa: a stepped-wedge cluster randomized trial.

Background: The use of systems engineering tools, including the development and use of care cascades using routinely collected data, process mapping, and continuous quality improvement, is used for frontline healthcare workers to devise systems level change. South Africa experiences high rates of tuberculosis (TB) infection and disease as well as HIV co-infection. The Department of Health has made significant gains in HIV services over the last two decades, reaching their set "90-90-90" targets for HIV.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Emergency Allotments and Food Security, Hospitalizations, and Hospital Capacity.

Importance: Understanding how social policies shape health is a national priority, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: To understand the association between politically motivated changes to Nebraska's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) policy and public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional study used synthetic control methods to estimate the association of Nebraska's decision to reject emergency allotments for the SNAP with food security and hospital capacity indicators.

Inclusion of Middle Eastern and North African populations in diabetes clinical research.

The need for diverse representation in clinical trials has recently been reinforced by the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) guidance for industry entitled, "Diversity Plans to Improve Enrollment of Participants from Underrepresented Racial and Ethnic Populations in Clinical Trials." By ensuring inclusion of underrepresented racial and ethnic minority populations in clinical trials, results can be more generalizable and the safety and efficacy can be accurately assessed within the diverse U.S.

Acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination in a sample of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Houston residents.

Background: COVID-19 vaccination has averted a significant number of deaths in the United States, but vaccination hesitancy continues to be a problem. Therefore, examining vaccination acceptance and/or hesitancy in local communities is critical.

Methods: A quantitative survey and a multivariable logistic regression model was utilized to determine predictors of COVID-19 vaccination in Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) origin Houston residents.

Accounting for historical injustices in mathematical models of infectious disease transmission: An analytic overview.

Differences in infectious disease risk, acquisition, and severity arise from intersectional systems of oppression and resulting historical injustices that shape individual behavior and circumstance. We define historical injustices as distinct events and policies that arise out of intersectional systems of oppression. We view historical injustices as a medium through which structural forces affect health both directly and indirectly, and are thus important to study in the context of infectious disease disparities.

Socially Assigned Race and the Health of Racialized Women and Their Infants.

Introduction: While historically most public health research has relied upon self-identified race as a proxy for experiencing racism, a growing literature recognizes that socially assigned race may more closely align with racialized lived experiences that influence health outcomes. We aim to understand how women's health behaviors, health outcomes, and infant health outcomes differ for women socially assigned as nonwhite when compared with women socially assigned as white in Massachusetts.

Methods: Using data from the Massachusetts Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) Reactions to Race module, we documented the associations between socially assigned race (white vs.

Depression and anxiety symptoms among Arab/Middle Eastern American college students: Modifying roles of religiosity and discrimination.

Introduction: We examine mental health outcomes in a national sample of Arab/Middle Eastern college students using the Healthy Minds Study (HMS) from 2015-2018 and assess the modifying roles of religion and discrimination.

Methods: HMS is an annual web-based survey administered to random samples of undergraduate and graduate students at participating colleges and universities. A total of 2,494 Arab/Middle Eastern and 84,423 white students were included in our sample.

Collecting and Reporting Accurate Data on Race and Ethnicity Are Necessary to Achieve Health Equity.

Limitations to the collection of data on race and ethnicity currently exist, but nurse researchers can implement strategies to conduct more inclusive research.

Exploring Relationships Between State-Level LGBTQ Inclusivity and BRFSS Indicators of Mental Health and Risk Behaviors: A Secondary Analysis.

Objectives: Minority Stress Theory suggests that repeated exposure to enacted stigma adversely affects mental health. States have wide authority to enact policies affecting the level of inclusivity experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) residents. The purpose of this study was to explore relationships between states' level of LGBTQ inclusivity and indicators of mental health/risk behaviors among an LGBTQ sample.

Risk Factors for COVID-19 Positivity and Hospital Admission Among Arab American Adults in Southern California.

Objective: Little is known about risk factors associated with COVID-19 infection among Arab American people. We aimed to understand the predictors of receiving a positive COVID-19 test result and being admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 among Arab American adults using data from a hospital near an Arab ethnic enclave.

Methods: We used electronic medical record data for Arab American adults aged ≥18 years from March 1, 2020, through January 31, 2021, at Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, California.

Differential COVID-19 testing, admissions, and mortality for Arab Americans in Southern California.

Background: Understanding of COVID-19 acquisition and severity risk in minoritized groups is limited by data collection on race and ethnicity; very little is known about COVID-19 risk among Arab Americans in the United States.

Purpose: To quantify whether Arab Americans in the El Cajon region of California experienced differential levels of SARS-CoV-2 infection, severity and mortality when compared to other racial/ethnic groups.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted using Sharp Grossmont Hospital's electronic medical records.

Contested racial identity and the health of women and their infants.

Contested racial identity- self-identified race not matching socially-assigned race-may be an indication of experiences with racism. We aimed to understand the relationship between contested racial identity and women's health behaviors, health outcomes, and infant health outcomes. We used 2012-2015 Massachusetts Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System data on 5735 women linked with infants' birth certificates.

Undergraduate nursing students' COVID-19 vaccine intentions: A national survey.

Introduction: In December 2020, the first two COVID-19 vaccines were approved in the United States (U.S.) and recommended for distribution to front-line personnel, including nurses.

A National Survey Assessing COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Arab Americans.

Background: Arab Americans' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic have been largely undocumented. Disparities in vaccine hesitancy between non-Hispanic Whites and minoritized groups have been observed, warranting exploration into the prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Arab Americans.

Methods: Data from the Survey of Arab Health in America (SAHA) (n = 638), collected between May 2020 and September 2020, were analyzed to determine predictors for vaccine intention among Arab Americans.

Skin Tone, Discrimination, and Allostatic Load in Middle-Aged and Older Puerto Ricans.

Objective: A growing body of research suggests that skin tone may be a health risk indicator for Hispanics. Black and darker-skinned Hispanics have worse mental and physical outcomes than White and lighter-skinned Hispanics. Discrimination exposure has been implicated as a risk factor that may explain the association between skin tone and health.

Undergraduate nursing students' perceptions on nursing education during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic: A national sample.

Background: In 2020, nursing educational programs were abruptly interrupted and largely moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: To explore nursing students' perspectives about the effects of the pandemic on their education and intention to join the nursing workforce.

Methods: Undergraduate nursing students from 5 universities across 5 United States regions were invited to participate in an online survey to elicit both quantitative and qualitative data.

Understanding differences within ethnic group designation: comparing risk factors and health indicators between Iranian and Arab Americans in Northern California.

Background: The Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) ethnic group is a diverse group composed of two primary subsets in the United States: Iranian and Arab Americans. We aimed to compare health risk factors, chronic health conditions, and mental health conditions of Iranian and Arab American adults in Northern California.

Methods: We used cross-sectional electronic health record (EHR) data from a 2016 Northern California health plan study cohort to compare adults classified as Iranian or Arab American based on ethnicity, language, or surname.

Health Risks and Chronic Health Conditions among Arab American and White Adults in Northern California.

Objectives: To characterize the prevalence of chronic cardiovascular conditions and risk factors among Arab American adults stratified by sex and compare these with non-Hispanic Whites.

Design: Cross-sectional study using electronic health record data from visits between January 2015 and December 2016. Age-adjusted prevalence estimates were calculated for men and women and compared using generalized linear models.