Publications by authors named "Ramon A Durazo-Arvizu"

Objective: Postoperative communication errors contribute to patient harm and excess costs. There are no existing standards for postoperative handoff to the acute care inpatient unit. We aimed to compare the experiences and preferences of pediatric hospitalists and surgeons about the content and timing of this handoff.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the relationship between sleep apnea severity and hypertension in Hispanic/Latino adults, who often experience high rates of uncontrolled blood pressure, leading to cardiovascular disease (CVD).
  • Data was collected from 2,849 participants with hypertension, focusing on their sleep apnea levels and how these correlate with their blood pressure management while on antihypertensive medications.
  • Results indicate that moderate-to-severe sleep apnea is linked to an increased likelihood of resistant hypertension, suggesting that addressing sleep apnea could help improve blood pressure control and reduce CVD risks in this population.
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Early childhood adversity increases risk for negative lifelong impacts on health and wellbeing. Identifying the risk factors and the associated biological adaptations early in life is critical to develop scalable early screening tools and interventions. Currently, there are limited, reliable early childhood adversity measures that can be deployed prospectively, at scale, to assess risk in pediatric settings.

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Background: Metabolic syndrome varies by socio-demographic characteristics, with younger (18-29 years) and older (50-69 years) Hispanic/Latino having higher prevalence compared to other groups. While there is substantial research on neighborhood influences on cardiometabolic health, there are mixed findings regarding the effects of gentrification and few studies have included Hispanic/Latinos. The role of neighborhood income inequality on metabolic health remains poorly understood.

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Ulcerative Colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that has been associated with gut dysbiosis. Changes in the gut microbiome lead to changes in bile acids (BA) metabolism, which changes the BA profiles in patients with UC. We conducted this study to investigate the differences in bile acids and gut microbiota between Hispanic and Caucasian children and young adults with UC.

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Measurement error is a major issue in self-reported diet that can distort diet-disease relationships. Use of blood concentration biomarkers has the potential to mitigate the subjective bias inherent in self-reporting. As part of the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) baseline visit (2008-2011), self-reported information on diet was collected from all participants (n = 16,415).

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Genomic summary statistics, usually defined as single-variant test results from genome-wide association studies, have been widely used to advance the genetics field in a wide range of applications. Applications that involve multiple genetic variants also require their correlations or linkage disequilibrium (LD) information, often obtained from an external reference panel. In practice, it is usually difficult to find suitable external reference panels that represent the LD structure for underrepresented and admixed populations, or rare genetic variants from whole genome sequencing (WGS) studies, limiting the scope of applications for genomic summary statistics.

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Background: A multivariable logistic regression model resulting from a case-control study of nutritional rickets in Nigerian children suggested that higher levels of serum 25(OH)D may be required to prevent nutritional rickets in populations with low-calcium intakes.

Objectives: This current study evaluates if adding serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)D] to that model shows that increased levels of serum 1,25(OH)D are independently associated with risk of children on low-calcium diets having nutritional rickets.

Methods: Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to model the association between serum 1,25(OH)D and risk of having nutritional rickets in cases (n = 108) and controls (n = 115) after adjusting for age, sex, weight-for age z-score, religion, phosphorus intake and age began walking and the interaction between serum 25(OH)D and dietary calcium intake (Full Model).

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Purpose: Examine the association between neighborhood segregation and 6-year incident metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos.

Methods: Prospective cohort of adults residing in Miami, Chicago, the Bronx, and San Diego. The analytic sample included 6,710 participants who did not have MetSyn at baseline.

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Objectives: Derive latent profiles of accelerometry-measured moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) for Hispanic/Latino adults, examine associations between latent MVPA profiles and neurocognition, and describe profiles via self-reported MVPA.

Methods: Complex survey design methods were applied to cross-sectional data from 7,672 adults ages 45-74 years in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL; 2008-2011). MVPA was measured via hip-worn accelerometers.

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Introduction: Although Latino immigrants, especially noncitizens, endure structural factors that may increase their risk of death at younger ages, little is known about their risk of death in young adulthood. This study evaluates mortality differences across citizenship status among young Latino adults (aged 18-44 years) in the U.S.

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Purpose: The aim of this study is to compare the patient-reported bleeding outcomes and complication rates with the use of the 52-mg levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (52-LNG-IUS) for treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) among adolescents with and without a diagnosed inherited bleeding disorder (BD) within the first 12 months after insertion.

Methods: Retrospective chart review was conducted of adolescents ages 14-21 years, with and without an inherited BD, who underwent 52-LNG-IUS insertion between September 2013 and February 2020 for the treatment of HMB.

Results: One hundred forty-four 52-LNG-IUS insertions among 139 subjects were evaluated.

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Study Objectives: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a rare yet serious complication of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Echocardiographic screening for PH is recommended in children with severe OSA, but the health care burden of universal screening is high. We sought to determine the prevalence of PH on echocardiogram among children with severe OSA and identify variables associated with a positive PH screen.

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Context: Supplementation with vitamin D has the potential to both reduce and increase risk of falling, and parathyroid hormone (PTH) may contribute to fall risk.

Objective: To assess the associations of intra-trial mean circulating levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and PTH on incident falls in healthy older adults.

Design: Observational within a clinical trial.

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Article Synopsis
  • The Vitamin D External Quality Assessment Scheme (DEQAS) sends human serum samples to over 1000 global participants to measure total serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels four times a year.
  • A study was conducted to determine if shipping these samples at ambient temperature affects the reliability of various 25(OH)D assays compared to shipping them frozen.
  • Results showed significant differences for four specific assays when samples were shipped ambiently, but all 14 LC-MS/MS assays showed no significant differences, indicating they remained stable during shipping at room temperature.
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To determine if elevated rates of autoimmune disease are present in children with both Down syndrome and moyamoya disease given the high rates of autoimmune disease reported in both conditions and unknown etiology of angiopathy in this population. A multi-center retrospective case-control study of children with Down syndrome and moyamoya syndrome, idiopathic moyamoya disease, and Down syndrome without cerebrovascular disease was performed. Outcome measures included presence of autoimmune disease, presence of autoantibodies and angiopathy severity data.

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Background: Studies have reported an association between prevalent cardiovascular disease (CVD) and risk of diabetes mellitus (DM). However, factors that may explain the association remain unclear. We examined the association of prevalent CVD with incident DM and assessed whether weight gain and medication use may explain the association.

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An interlaboratory comparison study was conducted by the Vitamin D Standardization Program (VDSP) to assess the performance of ligand binding assays (Part 2) for the determination of serum total 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D]. Fifty single-donor samples were assigned target values for concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], 3-epi-25-hydroxyvitamin D [3-epi-25(OH)D], and 24R,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [24R,25(OH)D] using isotope dilution liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (ID LC-MS/MS). VDSP Intercomparison Study 2 Part 2 includes results from 17 laboratories using 32 ligand binding assays.

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An interlaboratory comparison study was conducted by the Vitamin D Standardization Program (VDSP) to assess the performance of liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assays used for the determination of serum total 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), which is the sum of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D). A set of 50 single-donor samples was assigned target values for concentrations of 25(OH)D, 25(OH)D, 3-epi-25-hydroxyvitamin D (3-epi-25(OH)D), and 24R,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (24R,25(OH)D) using isotope dilution liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (ID LC-MS/MS). VDSP Intercomparison Study 2 Part 1 includes results from 14 laboratories using 14 custom LC-MS/MS assays.

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Background Evidence suggests that subjective (perceived) social status (SSS) may predict health outcomes more strongly than objective social status, but little is known about the relationship between SSS and cardiovascular health (CVH). This study focuses on this relationship among diverse Hispanic/Latino adults because while poor CVH profiles are prevalent in this population, immigration complicates attempts to measure their social status. Methods and Results We analyzed baseline HCHS/SOL (Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos) data on 15 374 Hispanic/Latino adults aged 18 to 74 years in 2008 to 2011.

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Article Synopsis
  • - An interlaboratory study was conducted by the Vitamin D Standardization Program (VDSP) to evaluate how well Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) and proficiency testing samples can be used interchangeably for measuring serum total 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels using different assay methods.
  • - A total of 50 single-donor serum samples were tested across 28 laboratories using a mix of 20 ligand binding assays and 14 LC-MS/MS methods, with target values assigned based on reference measurement procedures.
  • - Results showed that certain SRM and proficiency testing samples were found to be non-commutable for specific assays, particularly indicating that SRM 972a (with high 3-epi-25(OH)
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An intralaboratory study assessing assay variability and bias for determination of serum total 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] was conducted by the Vitamin D Standardization Program (VDSP). Thirteen assays for serum total 25(OH)D were evaluated in a single laboratory including 11 unique immunoassays and one liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assay. Fifty single-donor serum samples, including eight samples with high concentrations of 25(OH)D (> 30 nmol/L), were assigned target values for 25(OH)D and 25(OH)D using reference measurement procedures (RMP).

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Article Synopsis
  • - Nutritional rickets, caused by low vitamin D and calcium intake, can be identified through serum alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity levels, which indicate mineralization issues.
  • - A study involving 122 children with rickets and 119 controls found that those with rickets had significantly higher serum AP levels (812 U/L) compared to those without (245 U/L), suggesting a strong link between AP and nutritional rickets.
  • - An AP level above 350 U/L effectively identified rickets with high sensitivity (93%) and specificity (92), highlighting AP as a cost-effective screening tool, though further validation is needed for broader application.
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Background: Nutritional rickets is believed to result from the interaction of inadequate serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration and dietary calcium intake, but this interaction has not been confirmed in children with rickets. Determining the vitamin D requirements to prevent nutritional rickets has been thwarted by inconsistent case definition, inadequate adjustment for calcium intake and other confounders, and 25(OH)D assay variability.

Objectives: To model the 25(OH)D concentration associated with nutritional rickets in calcium-deprived Nigerian children, adjusted for confounding factors, and develop a general approach to define vitamin D status while accounting for calcium intake.

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Introduction: Evidence regarding the associations between accelerometer-measured moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and cardiovascular health (CVH) indicators among Hispanic/Latino adults are unavailable.

Methods: Examined cross-sectional data from 12,008 Hispanic/Latino adults aged 18-74 years participating in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos. Accelerometer-measured MVPA was assessed categorically and dichotomously per 2008 PA guidelines.

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