Peritraumatic C-reactive protein levels predict pain outcomes following traumatic stress exposure in a sex-dependent manner.

Background: Chronic pain following traumatic stress exposure (TSE) is common. Increasing evidence suggests inflammatory/immune mechanisms are induced by TSE, play a key role in the recovery process versus development of post-TSE chronic pain, and are sex specific. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) is associated with chronic pain after TSE in a sex-specific manner.

Preliminary findings regarding the association between patient demographics and ED experience scores across a regional health system: A cross sectional study using natural language processing of patient comments.

Objective: Existing literature shows associations between patient demographics and reported experiences of care, but this relationship is poorly understood. Our objective was to use natural language processing of patient comments to gain insight into associations between patient demographics and experiences of care.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of 14,848 unique emergency department (ED) patient visits from 1/1/2020 to 12/31/2020.

Availability of behavioral health crisis care and associated changes in emergency department utilization.

Objective: To determine whether availability of behavioral health crisis care services is associated with changes in emergency department (ED) utilization.

Data Sources And Study Setting: We used longitudinal panel data (2016-2021) on ED utilization from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's State ED Databases and a novel dataset on crisis care services compiled using information from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Directories of Mental Health Treatment Facilities. A total of 1002 unique zip codes from Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, and Wisconsin were included in our analyses.

Neighborhood Resources Associated With Psychological Trajectories and Neural Reactivity to Reward After Trauma.

Importance: Research on resilience after trauma has often focused on individual-level factors (eg, ability to cope with adversity) and overlooked influential neighborhood-level factors that may help mitigate the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Objective: To investigate whether an interaction between residential greenspace and self-reported individual resources was associated with a resilient PTSD trajectory (ie, low/no symptoms) and to test if the association between greenspace and PTSD trajectory was mediated by neural reactivity to reward.

Design, Setting, And Participants: As part of a longitudinal cohort study, trauma survivors were recruited from emergency departments across the US.

Patient Comments and Patient Experience Ratings Are Strongly Correlated With Emergency Department Wait Times.

Background And Objectives: Hospitals and clinicians increasingly are reimbursed based on quality of care through financial incentives tied to value-based purchasing. Patient-centered care, measured through patient experience surveys, is a key component of many quality incentive programs. We hypothesize that operational aspects such as wait times are an important element of emergency department (ED) patient experience.

Probing the neurocardiac circuit in trauma and posttraumatic stress.

The neurocardiac circuit is integral to physiological regulation of threat and trauma-related responses. However, few direct investigations of brain-behavior associations with replicable physiological markers of PTSD have been conducted. The current study probed the neurocardiac circuit by examining associations among its core regions in the brain (e.

Sex-dependent differences in vulnerability to early risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder: results from the AURORA study.

Background: Knowledge of sex differences in risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can contribute to the development of refined preventive interventions. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine if women and men differ in their vulnerability to risk factors for PTSD.

Methods: As part of the longitudinal AURORA study, 2924 patients seeking emergency department (ED) treatment in the acute aftermath of trauma provided self-report assessments of pre- peri- and post-traumatic risk factors, as well as 3-month PTSD severity.

Intensive longitudinal assessment following index trauma to predict development of PTSD using machine learning.

There are significant challenges to identifying which individuals require intervention following exposure to trauma, and a need for strategies to identify and provide individuals at risk for developing PTSD with timely interventions. The present study seeks to identify a minimal set of trauma-related symptoms, assessed during the weeks following traumatic exposure, that can accurately predict PTSD. Participants were 2185 adults (Mean age=36.

Concordance Between Electronic Health Record-Recorded Race and Ethnicity and Patient Report in Emergency Department Patients.

Objective: We assessed the concordance of patient-reported race and ethnicity for emergency department (ED) patients compared with what was recorded in the electronic health record.

Methods: We conducted a single-center, prospective, observational study of 744 ED patients (English- and/or Spanish-speaking), asking them to describe their race and ethnicity. We compared the distributions of ethnicity and race between patient-reported and electronic health record data using McNemar's test.

Post-traumatic stress and future substance use outcomes: leveraging antecedent factors to stratify risk.

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use (tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis) are highly comorbid. Many factors affect this relationship, including sociodemographic and psychosocial characteristics, other prior traumas, and physical health. However, few prior studies have investigated this prospectively, examining new substance use and the extent to which a wide range of factors may modify the relationship to PTSD.

Sex Differences in Response Inhibition-Related Neural Predictors of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Civilians With Recent Trauma.

Background: Females are more likely to develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than males. Impaired inhibition has been identified as a mechanism for PTSD development, but studies on potential sex differences in this neurobiological mechanism and how it relates to PTSD severity and progression are relatively rare. Here, we examined sex differences in neural activation during response inhibition and PTSD following recent trauma.

Brain dynamics reflecting an intra-network brain state is associated with increased posttraumatic stress symptoms in the early aftermath of trauma.

This study examines the association between brain dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) and current/future posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptom severity, and the impact of sex on this relationship. By analyzing 275 participants' dFNC data obtained ~2 weeks after trauma exposure, we noted that brain dynamics of an inter-network brain state link negatively with current (r=-0.179, = 0.

Association between microbiome and the development of adverse posttraumatic neuropsychiatric sequelae after traumatic stress exposure.

Patients exposed to trauma often experience high rates of adverse post-traumatic neuropsychiatric sequelae (APNS). The biological mechanisms promoting APNS are currently unknown, but the microbiota-gut-brain axis offers an avenue to understanding mechanisms as well as possibilities for intervention. Microbiome composition after trauma exposure has been poorly examined regarding neuropsychiatric outcomes.

Prior Sexual Trauma Exposure Impacts Posttraumatic Dysfunction and Neural Circuitry Following a Recent Traumatic Event in the AURORA Study.

Background: Prior sexual trauma (ST) is associated with greater risk for posttraumatic stress disorder after a subsequent traumatic event; however, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms remain opaque. We investigated longitudinal posttraumatic dysfunction and amygdala functional dynamics following admission to an emergency department for new primarily nonsexual trauma in participants with and without previous ST.

Methods: Participants ( = 2178) were recruited following acute trauma exposure (primarily motor vehicle collision).

Neighborhood Disadvantage and Neural Correlates of Threat and Reward Processing in Survivors of Recent Trauma.

Importance: Differences in neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics are important considerations in understanding differences in risk vs resilience in mental health. Neighborhood disadvantage is associated with alterations in the function and structure of threat neurocircuitry.

Objective: To investigate associations of neighborhood disadvantage with white and gray matter and neural reactivity to positive and negative stimuli in the context of trauma exposure.

Internal capsule microstructure mediates the relationship between childhood maltreatment and PTSD following adulthood trauma exposure.

Childhood trauma is a known risk factor for trauma and stress-related disorders in adulthood. However, limited research has investigated the impact of childhood trauma on brain structure linked to later posttraumatic dysfunction. We investigated the effect of childhood trauma on white matter microstructure after recent trauma and its relationship with future posttraumatic dysfunction among trauma-exposed adult participants (n = 202) recruited from emergency departments as part of the AURORA Study.