Publications by authors named "Nichole A Smith"

Importance: Firearm violence is increasingly recognized as a public health issue, but whether physicians should intervene remains politically contested.

Objective: To explore self-described patient perspectives about the appropriateness and acceptability of health care screening for firearms.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This qualitative study recruited 50 adult patients from a primary care clinic in Chicago, Illinois, from June 7, 2019, to January 11, 2021, to participate in 1 of 12 one-time qualitative focus groups.

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Health care providers hold negative explicit and implicit biases against marginalized groups of people such as racial and ethnic minoritized populations. These biases permeate the health care system and affect patients via patient-clinician communication, clinical decision making, and institutionalized practices. Addressing bias remains a fundamental professional responsibility of those accountable for the health and wellness of our populations.

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Hypervigilance, a state of heightened awareness and watchfulness, is a consequence of violence that has been linked to adverse psychosocial outcomes. Although well documented in veteran populations, it remains poorly quantified in community populations that are exposed to high levels of neighborhood violence. In-person surveys of 504 adults were conducted in Chicago, Illinois, in 2018 to assess the relationships between hypervigilance and exposure to neighborhood violence, including community and police altercations.

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Background: In March and April 2018, more than 150 patients presented to hospitals in Illinois with coagulopathy and bleeding diathesis. Area physicians and public health organizations identified an association between coagulopathy and synthetic cannabinoid use. Preliminary tests of patient serum samples and drug samples revealed that brodifacoum, an anticoagulant, was the likely adulterant.

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