Reducing Ex-offender Health Disparities through the Affordable Care Act: Fostering Improved Health Care Access and Linkages to Integrated Care.

Despite steadily declining incarceration rates overall, racial and ethnic minorities, namely African Americans, Latinos, and American Indians and Alaska Natives, continue to be disproportionately represented in the justice system. Ex-offenders commonly reenter communities with pressing health conditions but encounter obstacles to accessing care and remaining in care. The lack of health insurance coverage and medical treatment emerge as the some of the most reported reentry health needs and may contribute to observed health disparities.

Implementing health reform: improved data collection and the monitoring of health disparities.

The relative lack of standards for collecting data on population subgroups has not only limited our understanding of health disparities, but also impaired our ability to develop policies to eliminate them. This article provides background about past challenges to collecting data by race/ethnicity, primary language, sex, and disability status. It then discusses how passage of the Affordable Care Act has provided new opportunities to improve data-collection standards for the demographic variables of interest and, as such, a better understanding of the characteristics of populations served by the U.

Lifestyle behaviors and physician advice for change among overweight and obese adults with prediabetes and diabetes in the United States, 2006.

Introduction: The objective of this study was to examine the lifestyle behaviors of overweight and obese people with prediabetes or diabetes and to determine whether an association exists between reported behaviors and physician advice for behavior change.

Methods: This investigation included overweight and obese people (body mass index ≥25.0 kg/m(2)) with prediabetes and diabetes aged 40 years or older identified from the 2006 National Health Interview Survey.

Monitoring in diabetes self-management: issues and recommendations for improvement.

The American Association of Diabetes Educators hosted a Monitoring Symposium during which 18 invited participants considered pre-set questions regarding how diabetes education can more effectively address barriers to monitoring for people with diabetes and related conditions. This report provides a summary of the moderated discussion and highlights the key points that apply to diabetes educators and other providers involved with diabetes care. The participating thought leaders reviewed findings from published literature and participated in a moderated discussion with the aim of providing practical advice for health care practitioners regarding monitoring for people with diabetes so that the overall health of this population can be enhanced.

Racial and ethnic differences in weight management behavior by weight perception status.

Objective: To examine racial/ethnic differences in the relationship between weight perception and weight management behaviors among overweight and obese adults.

Participants: The study examined a nationally representative sample of 11,319 non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black and Mexican American overweight and obese adults aged > or = 20 years from the 1999-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Design: Body mass index (BMI, defined as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) was used to categorize overweight (25 < or = BMI < 30) and obesity (BMI > or = 30).

Control of risk factors among people with diagnosed diabetes, by lower extremity disease status.

Introduction: We examined the control of modifiable risk factors among a national sample of diabetic people with and without lower extremity disease (LED).

Methods: The sample from the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey consisted of 948 adults aged 40 years or older with diagnosed diabetes and who had been assessed for LED. LED was defined as peripheral arterial disease (ankle-brachial index <0.

Racial/ethnic differences in weight perception.

The objective of this research was to estimate the prevalence of weight misperception among adults using the most recent nationally representative data, according to measured weight category and to assess the relationship between weight misperception and race/ethnicity. Height and weight were measured as part of the 1999-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The study sample consisted of 17,270 adults aged >or=20 years.

Does patient behavior or access factors have the largest influence on screening in type 1 diabetes?

Objective: Successful disease management is heavily influenced by access to care issues and patient behavior. Screening tests to detect chronic complications are part of diabetes management and may be influenced by access to care or patient decisions. The objective of this research was to examine how strongly access to care and patient behavior predict screening practices.

Health-related quality of life and support group attendance for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem autoimmune disease with variable symptoms. Severity of disease has been associated with mental and physical health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The potential effects of support groups have not been examined.

High risk characteristics for motor vehicle crashes in persons with diabetes by age.

Studies highlight a higher involvement of drivers with diabetes in motor vehicle accidents. Extensive debate, though, exists over the most appropriate approach to license these drivers. Risk factors for crashes in persons with diabetes are not well defined.

Influences on screening for chronic diabetes complications in type 1 diabetes.

Screening for the long-term complications of diabetes is a critical component of diabetes management; however, evidence demonstrates that screening rates in diabetes populations are suboptimal. Our objective was to determine the use and predictors of optimal screening behavior, defined as receiving a fasting lipid test, dilated eye exam, spot urine test, foot examination, blood pressure reading, and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in the previous year in a representative cohort of subjects with type 1 diabetes. Data are from the Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications Study, a prospective cohort study of subjects with childhood onset type 1 diabetes.