A participatory method to develop human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine short video content for rural New York parents.

Purpose: Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake is lower in rural areas, particularly for boys. The purpose of the study was to demonstrate how a participatory approach to developing a series of videos about the HPV vaccine better meets the informational needs of rural parents.

Methods: We recruited six rural parents to participate on a parent advisory board (PAB).

Impact of Rural School-Based Health Centers on Asthma Management.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that students with asthma who have access to school-based health centers (SBHCs) receive more recommended preventive care and use less emergency care, we compared patterns of health care utilization among rural students with asthma by SBHC access.

Study Design: Using a cross-sectional design, we analyzed encounters for all patients ages 4 through 19 living in 4 counties covered by a health care system that sponsors a network of SBHCs in rural upstate New York. Patient addresses for each encounter were geocoded to school districts, allowing us to determine whether students lived in districts with (n = 15) or without (n = 23) a SBHC.

Health Care Engagement in Disease Prevention and Management: Factors Influencing Chronic Disease Program Referral Adherence Among Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic Men With Chronic Conditions.

This study aimed to identify factors associated with being referred to an evidence-based disease prevention and management program by a health care provider and adherence to such referrals by non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic men. Utilizing a cross-sectional design, data were collected via an internet-based questionnaire from a national sample of 1,679 non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic men ages 40 years and older with one or more chronic diseases. A 105-item survey assessed program referral and attendance, chronic conditions and medications, disease symptoms, support, communication during physician visit, health care frustrations, disease self-management efficacy, barriers to self-care, helpfulness of learning from others for self-care, and sociodemographics.

School-based health centers as an approach to address health disparities among rural youth: A study protocol for a multilevel research framework.

School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs) are important healthcare providers for children in medically underserved communities. While most existing research on SBHCs has focused on urban environments, this study protocol proposes a mixed-methods, multi-level research framework to evaluate the role of SBHCs in addressing health disparities among underserved children and adolescents in rural communities. The study area includes four high-poverty rural counties in New York State served by Bassett Healthcare Network that permits a comparison of school districts with SBHCs to those without SBHCs, all served by providers within the Bassett Healthcare Network.

Examining differences in time to appointment and no-show rates between rural telehealth users and non-users.

Background: Telehealth has undergone widespread implementation since 2020 and is considered an invaluable tool to improve access to healthcare, particularly in rural areas. However, telehealth's applicability may be limited for certain populations including those who live in rural, medically underserved communities. While broadband access is a recognized barrier, other important factors including age and education influence a person's ability or preference to engage with telehealth via video telehealth or a patient portal.

The Effect of Mandatory Fitness Requirements on Cardiovascular Events: A State-by-State Analysis Using a National Database.

Background: Cardiovascular events are known to be the leading cause of death among on-duty firefighters. Implementing fitness standards may help reduce the incidence of cardiovascular deaths; however, standards vary between firefighter type and states. We aimed to investigate the rate of cardiovascular events among firefighters across states.

Exploring Multiple Dimensions of Access to and Preferences for Telehealth Use.

Introduction: During the pandemic, telehealth became critically important in care provision. Yet, research exposed the inequities facing various groups of people in terms of accessing telehealth. The purpose of this analysis was to examine the various dimensions of access that impact a person's ability to use and preference for telehealth.

Rural Health Disparities in Allergy, Asthma, and Immunologic Diseases: The Current State and Future Direction for Clinical Care and Research.

Rural health disparities are well documented and continue to jeopardize the long-term health and wellness for the millions of individuals who live in rural America. The disparities observed between urban and rural residents encompass numerous morbidity and mortality measures for several chronic diseases and have been referred to as the "rural mortality penalty." Although the unmet health needs of rural communities are widely acknowledged, little is known about rural health disparities in allergies, asthma, and immunologic diseases.

Trends in telehealth use among a cohort of rural patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: Rural populations faced unique challenges to healthcare access during the COVID-19 pandemic. This analysis assesses trends in digital health technology use at the onset of the pandemic and describes digital health behaviors among a cohort of patients within a rural integrated healthcare network throughout the first 3 years of the pandemic.

Methods: We used data from both the electronic health record (EHR) and a patient survey.

Remote delivery of self-management education workshops for adults with chronic pain, 2020-2021.

Objectives: We intended to assess changes in pain-related outcomes among rural adults who completed 6-week self-management programs offered remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We offered the Chronic Pain Self-Management Program and Chronic Disease Self-Management Program between May 2020 and December 2021. Delivery mode options included 2½-hour weekly videoconference, mailed toolkit plus 1-hour weekly conference call, and mailed toolkit alone.

Prescribing Patterns for Long-Acting Inhaled Bronchodilators Among Rural Adults With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is prevalent in rural areas of the USA. Long-acting inhaled bronchodilators (LABDs) are a key tool in COPD management and are underutilized. The purpose of this study was to determine whether rates of prescriptions for LABD differed by payer among patients with COPD in a rural healthcare network.

Evaluation of a Peer Led Chronic Pain Self-Management Program in a Rural Population.

Background: The Chronic Pain Self-Management Program is an evidence-based intervention that has been shown to be efficacious in reducing symptoms of chronic pain. However, there is a paucity of research examining CPSMP in a predominantly rural population. The purpose was to evaluate patient-reported outcomes of in-person peer-led CPSMP workshops offered in a rural region in 2018 and 2019.

Comparison of antibody response durability of mRNA-1273, BNT162b2, and Ad26.COV2.S SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in healthcare workers.

Objectives: There are limited comparative immunologic durability data post COVID-19 vaccinations.

Methods: Approximately 8.4 months after primary COVID-19 vaccination, 647 healthcare workers completed surveys about COVID-19 vaccinations/infections and blood draws.

Loneliness Among Rural Self-Management Education Program Enrollees During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Purpose: Pandemic-related isolation may exacerbate loneliness among rural adults; we sought to characterize loneliness and associated factors among rural adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design: Cross-sectional observational study.

Setting: Remotely delivered self-management education (SME) workshops, rural upstate New York, May-December 2020.

Recruitment and engagement in disease self-management programs: Special concerns for rural residents reporting depression and/or anxiety.

Chronic disease self-management education (CDSME) programs benefit individuals with chronic diseases, including mental health conditions, by improving health-related outcomes and increasing engagement with the health care system. Recruiting individuals with a history of mental health conditions to participate in CDSME is challenging, particularly in rural, underserved areas. Hence, it is important to understand factors associated with the presence of mental health conditions, and impacts of CDSME on patient engagement.

Implementation of Evidence-Based Disease Self-Management Programs in a Rural Region: Leveraging and Linking Community and Health Care System Assets.

Context: Rural populations experience both a higher prevalence of and risk for premature death from chronic conditions than do their urban counterparts. Yet barriers to implement community-based chronic disease self-management programs persist.

Program: The Living Well program, a multi-sector collaboration between a rural health care system and a network of community-based organizations, has offered the 6-week evidence-based Chronic Disease Self-Management and Diabetes Self-Management workshops since 2017.

Associations between depressive symptoms, cigarette smoking, and cardiovascular health: Longitudinal results from CARDIA.

Introduction: Depression is associated with increased risk of incident and recurrent cardiovascular disease, while the association between depression and cardiovascular health (CVH) remains unknown. Because the natural course of depression varies widely, different patterns of depression, as well as co-occurring factors such as cigarette smoking, may influence this relationship. We examined potential interactions between longitudinal patterns of depression and smoking with CVH.

Depression and risk of incident asthma in adults. The CARDIA study.

Rationale: Asthma is associated with depression, but the temporality of the association has not been established.

Objectives: To examine the association between prevalent elevated depressive symptoms and incident asthma, and between prevalent asthma and incident elevated depressive symptoms in a cohort of young and middle-aged adults.

Methods: We examined the longitudinal association between asthma and depressive symptoms bidirectionally in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) cohort.

Prevalence of work-related asthma in Michigan, Minnesota, and Oregon.

Introduction: Adults who have asthma that is caused or aggravated by triggers at work experience a reduced quality of life. In this study, the authors sought to estimate the proportion of asthma that is associated with work using a state-based survey of adults with asthma.

Methods: In 2005, Michigan, Minnesota, and Oregon piloted the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Adult Asthma Call-Back Survey, with sample sizes of 867, 469, and 1072, respectively.

Review of the asthma mortality rate for Minnesota residents aged 55 years or older, 2004-2005: when death certificates deserve a second look.

Introduction: Asthma mortality rates are based on deaths for which asthma is coded as the underlying cause on the death certificate. We conducted an asthma mortality review to evaluate this surveillance measure for Minnesota residents who were aged 55 years or older

Methods: We enlisted an expert panel to review transcribed interviews from the next-of-kin and case histories for decedents whose deaths were attributed to asthma. In addition, we examined death certificates to determine whether the certifier had intended asthma to be the underlying cause.

Investigation of exposures to commercial asbestos in northeastern Minnesota iron miners who developed mesothelioma.

A 70% excess of mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer, has been reported among men in northeastern Minnesota, where iron mining has been the major industry. The Minnesota Department of Health has studied iron miners who developed mesothelioma to identify possible sources of asbestos exposure. A database of all Minnesota residents diagnosed with mesothelioma between 1988 and 1996 was linked to a database of approximately 72,000 current and former Minnesota iron-mining employees to identify cases who had ever worked in the mining industry.

Asthma among rural Minnesota adolescents.

This study examined the prevalence of and risk factors for wheezing and asthma in rural Minnesota adolescents. A survey querying about wheezing, asthma, farm residence, and other respiratory-related factors was administered to all 9th to 11th grade students (N = 13,490) in a stratified, random sample of high schools in rural Minnesota. Nearly one in 8 (12.