Voting Restrictions and Increased Odds of Adverse Birth Outcomes in the US.

Background: Disparities persist in adverse birth outcomes - preterm birth and small-for-gestational age (SGA) among racialized populations. Previous studies have indicated that voting restrictions are associated with health outcomes, such as access to health insurance and teenage birth rates. This paper examines whether the association between voting restrictions and adverse birth outcomes varies according to birthing individuals' race/ethnicity.

State Schooling Policies and Cognitive Performance Trajectories: A Natural Experiment in a National US Cohort of Black and White Adults.

Background: Education is strongly associated with cognitive outcomes at older ages, yet the extent to which these associations reflect causal effects remains uncertain due to potential confounding.

Methods: Leveraging changes in historical measures of state-level education policies as natural experiments, we estimated the effects of educational attainment on cognitive performance over 10 years in 20,248 non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White participants, aged 45+ in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Disparities in Stroke cohort (2003-2020) by (1) using state- and year-specific compulsory schooling laws, school-term length, attendance rate, and student-teacher ratio policies to predict educational attainment for US Census microsample data from 1980 and 1990, and (2) applying policy-predicted years of education (PPYEd) to predict memory, verbal fluency, and a cognitive composite. We estimated overall and race- and sex-specific effects of PPYEd on level and change in each cognitive outcome using random intercept and slope models, adjusting for age, year of first cognitive assessment, and indicators for state of residence at age 6.

The association between reproductive rights and access to abortion services and mental health among US women.

Background: This study examines whether living in US states with (1) restrictive reproductive rights and (2) restrictive abortion laws is associated with frequent mental health distress among women.

Methods: We operationalize reproductive rights using an overall state-level measure of reproductive rights as well as a state-level measure of restrictive abortion laws. We merged data from the 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) with these state-level exposure variables and other state-level information.

Can changing neighborhoods influence mental health? An ecological analysis of gentrification and neighborhood-level serious psychological distress-New York City, 2002-2015.

Neighborhood conditions influence people's health; sustaining healthy neighborhoods is a New York City (NYC) Health Department priority. Gentrification is characterized by rapid development in historically disinvested neighborhoods. The gentrification burden, including increased living expenses, and disrupted social networks, disproportionally impacts certain residents.

Increased female political representation associated with lower county-level uninsured and preventable hospitalizations rates in the United States, 2013-2018.

Objective: Although women comprise 50% of the population, females remain underrepresented in government. Inequitable female political representation, a form of structural sexism, may impact population health. Previous studies focused primarily on individual health behaviors and low- or middle-income countries.

The relationship between voting restrictions and COVID-19 case and mortality rates between US counties.

Background: Since the 2010 election, the number of laws in the U.S. that create barriers to voting has increased dramatically.

The Bidirectional Relationship between Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Social Support in a 9/11-Exposed Cohort: A Longitudinal Cross-Lagged Analysis.

Research on the longitudinal relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and social support among survivors of large-scale trauma is limited. This study assessed bidirectional relationships between PTSD and perceived social support in a large sample of the 9/11-exposed cohort over a 14-year follow-up. We used data from 23,165 World Trade Center Health Registry (WTCHR) enrollees who were exposed to the 9/11 attacks and participated in the first four WTCHR surveys (Wave 1 (2003−2004) to Wave 4 (2015−2016)).

Financial Barriers to Mental Healthcare Services and Depressive Symptoms among Residents of Washington Heights, New York City.

In the United States, Hispanics are more likely to experience financial barriers to mental health care than non-Hispanics. We used a unique survey to study the effect of these financial barriers on the severity of depressive symptoms among Hispanics who had previously been diagnosed as having depression. This cross-sectional study used data from the 2015 Washington Heights Community Survey, administered to 2,489 households in Manhattan, New York City.

Dynamic residential movement and depression among the World Trade Center Health Registry enrollees.

Purpose: Residential instability is associated with poor mental health, but its causal inference is challenging due to time-varying exposure and confounding, and the role of changing social environments. We tested the association between frequent residential moving and depression risk among adults exposed to the 9/11 disaster.

Methods: We used four waves of survey data from the World Trade Center Health Registry.

Barriers to Voting and Access to Health Insurance Among US Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Many states in the United States (US) have introduced barriers to impede voting among individuals from socio-economically disadvantaged groups. This may reduce representation thereby decreasing access to lifesaving goods, such as health insurance.

Methods: We used cross-sectional data from 242,727 adults in the 50 states and District of Columbia participating in the US 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).

Difference in Hospital Utilization Within the First 12 Months Among Low-Birth-Weight Infants in Medicaid Managed Care Versus Fee-for-Service: A Regression Discontinuity Study.

Objective: To examine the effect of Medicaid managed care (MMC) versus Medicaid fee-for-service (FFS) on emergency department (ED) use and hospitalization during the first 6 and 12 months of life among low-birth-weight (LBW) infants.

Methods: We used the New York City Office of Vital Statistics-Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (OVS-SPARCS) dataset to identify 9135 LBW infants born to female Medicaid beneficiaries in New York City from January 2008-March 2012. We applied a robust regression discontinuity framework using a New York State Medicaid policy in effect at that time.

Perceived Discrimination and Increased Odds of Unmet Medical Needs Among US Children.

Our study examines the association between perceived discrimination due to race and unmet medical needs among a nationally representative sample of children in the United States. We used data from the 2016-2017 National Survey of Children's Health, a population-based cross-sectional survey of randomly selected parents or guardians in the United States. We compared results from the coarsened exact matching (CEM) method and survey-weighted logistic regression to assess the robustness of the results.

Impact of law enforcement-related deaths of unarmed black New Yorkers on emergency department rates, New York 2013-2016.

Background: Law enforcement-related deaths of unarmed black Americans may lead black communities to distrust public institutions. Our study quantifies the impact of law enforcement-related deaths of black New York residents on the use of hospital emergency departments (ED) during 2013-2016.

Methods: We used regression discontinuity models stratified by race and time period (2013-2015 and 2015-2016) to estimate the impact of law enforcement-related deaths on ED rates.

Association between racial discrimination and health-related quality of life and the impact of social relationships.

Purpose: Interpersonal racial discrimination is associated with poor health. Social relationships may moderate the impact of discrimination and represent modifiable behaviors that can be targeted by public health interventions. We described citywide associations between self-reported racial discrimination and health-related quality of life among the overall New York City (NYC) adult residential population and by four main race/ethnicity groups and explored whether social relationships moderated health effects of discrimination.

Residential mobility and chronic disease among World Trade Center Health Registry enrollees, 2004-2016.

Residential mobility is hypothesized to impact health through changes to the built environment and disruptions in social networks, and may vary by neighborhood deprivation exposure. However, there are few longitudinal investigations of residential mobility in relation to health outcomes. This study examined enrollees from the World Trade Center Health Registry, a longitudinal cohort of first responders and community members in lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001.

A Comparison of Common Health Indicators From Two Surveys of Latinos in the Bronx, New York.

Introduction: Population health surveys inform and demonstrate the impact of public health policies. However, the performance of such surveys in specific groups of interest (e.g.

Collective Trauma and Mental Health Hospitalization Rates Among Children in New York State, 1999-2013: Age, Period, and Cohort Effects.

Mental health hospitalization rates among U.S. children have been increasing locally and nationally in recent decades.

Structural Racism and Severe Maternal Morbidity in New York State.

Objective: We examined the association between county-level structural racism indicators and the odds of severe maternal morbidity (SMM) in New York State.

Design: We merged individual-level hospitalization data from the New York State Department of Health Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) with county-level data from the American Community Survey and the Vera Institute of Justice from 2011 to 2013 (n = 244 854). Structural racism in each county included in our sample was constructed as the racial inequity (ratio of black to white population) in female educational attainment, female employment, and incarceration.

Cirrhosis as a Comorbidity in Conditions Subject to the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program.

Introduction: Although the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) has decreased readmissions in targeted conditions, outcomes in high-risk subgroups are unknown. This study analyzed the impact of cirrhosis as a comorbidity on readmissions in conditions subjected to the HRRP.

Methods: Using a longitudinal analysis of the New York, Florida, and Washington State inpatient databases from 2009 to 2013, adult Medicare beneficiaries with a diagnosis-related group of targeted conditions by the HRRP-pneumonia, congestive heart failure (CHF), and myocardial infarction (MI)-were included.

Trends in nonresident abortion rates in New York City from 2005 to 2015: a time series analysis.

Objectives: To examine trends and utilization patterns of NYC abortion services by nonresidents since growing abortion restrictions across many states could drive women to seek care in less restrictive jurisdictions including NYC.

Study Design: We used data from Induced Termination of Pregnancy certificates filed with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in 2005-2015. An autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model was fit to the monthly nonresident abortion rate time series.

Determinants of Severe Maternal Morbidity and Its Racial/Ethnic Disparities in New York City, 2008-2012.

Objectives Severe maternal morbidity (SMM) is an important indicator for identifying and monitoring efforts to improve maternal health. Studies have identified independent risk factors, including race/ethnicity; however, there has been limited investigation of the modifying effect of socioeconomic factors. Study aims were to quantify SMM risk factors and to determine if socioeconomic status modifies the effect of race/ethnicity on SMM risk.

Complex Infections: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: Infections caused by group strains are usually resistant to multiple antimicrobials and challenging to treat worldwide. We describe the risk factors, treatment, and clinical outcomes of patients in 2 large academic medical centers in the United States.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study of hospitalized adults with a positive culture for in Miami, Florida (January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2014).