Publications by authors named "Whitaker K"

Background: There is a shortage of equine veterinarians. Understanding what factors are associated with job satisfaction in equine veterinarians can inform interventions to increase retention in equine medicine.

Objective: To explore the prominent factors causing work dissatisfaction and burnout in equine veterinarians.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death among women in America. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) negatively impact acute and long-term cardiovascular health, with approximately 16% of all pregnancies affected. With CVD 2-4 times more likely after HDP compared to normotensive pregnancies, effective interventions to promote cardiovascular health are imperative.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Individual health behaviors are associated with pregnancy outcomes, but their joint effects are rarely considered. We aimed to examine associations between combinations of first trimester health behaviors and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), normotensive adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs), and blood pressure (BP) 2-7 years after delivery.

Methods: Participants in the nuMoM2b and follow-up Heart Health Study were included.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Nonattendance at colonoscopy is associated with reduced colorectal cancer (CRC) survival.

Purpose: The aim of this research was to quantify barriers to colonoscopy and test the effectiveness of behavior change techniques (BCTs) to address them.

Methods: Two studies were conducted.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Physical activity is recommended during pregnancy, and high sedentary behavior and poor sleep may increase the risk of pregnancy complications. Activity patterns and sleep were negatively impacted by the COVID pandemic in many segments of the population, but the impact of the pandemic on pregnant people is understudied. We aimed to compare patterns of physical activity, sedentary time, and sleep during pregnancy between a pre-COVID and a COVID-era cohort.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Older adults with type 1 diabetes are at risk for serious hypoglycemia. Automated insulin delivery can reduce risk but has not been sufficiently evaluated in this population.

Methods: We conducted a multicenter, randomized crossover trial in adults older than or equal to 65 years of age with type 1 diabetes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Tackling inequities in cancer outcomes is a global health priority. One avenue for improving early diagnosis of cancer is to ensure people know when and how to seek help for cancer symptoms and that this knowledge (and behaviour) is equitably distributed across the population. In this perspective piece we highlight the challenges in understanding sociodemographic differences in help-seeking behaviour (for example, how help-seeking is defined / conceptualised and subsequently assessed), as well as challenges with using existing datasets that are now more readily accessible than ever.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Symptoms are a common reason for contact with primary care. This study investigated associations between symptom-related, demographic, social, and economic factors on general practice (GP) help-seeking. Secondary analysis of responses to a 25-symptom questionnaire, from 10 904 adults aged ≥50 years reporting at least one symptom in the preceding year.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Interpreting services bridge language barriers that may prevent patients and clinicians from understanding each other, impacting quality of care and health outcomes. Despite this, there is limited up-to-date evidence regarding the barriers to and facilitators of uptake in primary care. The aim of this study was to ascertain current national uptake and experience of interpreting services in primary care (general practice) by South Asian communities in England.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The UK National Institute for Health and Care (NICE) recommends that GPs inform patients referred onto the Urgent Suspected Cancer (USC) pathway about what to expect from the service. However, there is a lack of evidence on patient experience and information needs at the point of referral. It is a challenge for GPs to communicate the reasons for referral and provide reassurance.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Recent observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have found many massive-galaxy candidates in the early Universe, stretching further back in time and at lower brightness levels than previously seen.
  • These findings initially posed challenges to the Λ cold dark-matter model, but the new study's results show no significant conflicts when accounting for spectroscopic redshifts.
  • The research highlights three ultra-massive galaxies that convert a notably high percentage of baryons into stars, suggesting they play a significant role in cosmic star-formation rates at redshifts 5 to 6.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Persistent inequities in breast cancer outcomes exist. Understanding women's experiences along the care pathway is the first step to finding solutions to tackle these inequities.

Methods: Secondary data analysis of the 2017/2018 English National Cancer Patient Experience Survey (n = 25,408) using logistic regression to explore inequities in care experience by sociodemographic factors (age, ethnicity, socioeconomic position, sexual orientation) across 59 survey questions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Underrepresented populations' participation in clinical trials remains limited, and the potential impact of genomic variants on drug metabolism remains elusive. This study aimed to assess the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacogenomics (PGx) of ribociclib in self-identified Black women with hormone receptor-positive (HR+)/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2) advanced breast cancer. LEANORA (NCT04657679) was a prospective, observational, multicenter cohort study involving 14 Black women.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to translate childhood cardiovascular (CV) risk factors into clinically actionable values that could predict adult CV diseases and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
  • It involved a long-term observational study with nearly 39,000 participants, tracking children from ages 3 to 19 over 30 years and analyzing several CV risk factors like BMI, blood pressure, and cholesterol.
  • Findings revealed that the risk for CV events and T2DM starts at levels previously deemed normal, suggesting that earlier intervention may be necessary to prevent adult diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A representation for learning potential energy surfaces (PESs) in terms of permutationally invariant polynomials (PIPs) using the Hartree-Fock expression for electronic energy is proposed. Our approach is based on the one-electron core Hamiltonian weighted by the configuration-dependent elements of the bond-order charge density matrix (CDM). While the previously reported model used an -function Gaussian basis for the CDM, the present formulation is expanded with -functions, which are crucial for describing chemical bonding.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Underrepresented groups continue to face challenges in participating in clinical trials, specifically regarding the effects of genetic variations on how drugs are processed in the body.
  • This study focused on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacogenomics of the medication ribociclib in Black women with advanced breast cancer, revealing a mix of metabolizer types among participants.
  • No significant differences were found in drug exposure or adverse events across different metabolizer groups, highlighting the need for further research and inclusion of diverse populations in clinical trials for more equitable healthcare outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Managing diagnostic uncertainty is a significant challenge in primary care, especially with unclear symptoms and no definitive tests, which can harm patient trust and lead to diagnostic errors.
  • The study aimed to investigate how UK GPs handle and communicate this uncertainty during consultations, using video and audio recordings to analyze their actions.
  • Key findings reveal that GPs employed different strategies for managing uncertainty, including monitoring symptoms and prescribing treatments, but the specificity and negotiation around management plans varied significantly among them.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Problem Identification: We summarised the international evidence relating to the role of intersectionality in patients' lived experience of inequities along the cancer care pathway. We produced guidance to use intersectionality in future research.

Literature Search: We included 42 articles published between 1989 to 2023 that used intersectionality to guide the study and interpretation of inequities in cancer care.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Guided by the Intersectionality Framework, we examined the differential in breast cancer care experience across population subgroups in England.

Methods: Secondary data analysis using the 2017/2018 National Cancer Patient Experience Surveys. We used disaggregated descriptive statistics (mean, standard errors, 95% confidence interval) to analyse 26,030 responses from female breast cancer patients to a question relating to overall care experience categorised by age, ethnicity, and sexual orientation in their intersection with social position.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Tumor immune infiltration and blood immune signatures are important for predicting outcomes in breast cancer, but their link to response from neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) hasn't been well studied.
  • In a study of 126 breast cancer patients, various immune cell populations in their blood were analyzed to determine if these profiles could predict how well patients would respond to NAC.
  • The findings indicated that specific immune cell types (like myeloid cells in triple-negative and T cells in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer) correlated with treatment responses, while those in HER2-positive cancer showed no significant associations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aim: To examine clinical characteristics, real-world treatment patterns, and health outcomes among patients with germline -mutated, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced breast cancer (ABC).

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted using medical records from patients with HER2-negative ABC with mutation who received cytotoxic chemotherapy. Data were stratified into groups with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) or hormone receptor-positive (HR+)/HER2-negative diagnoses.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: DESTINY B04 provided clinical meaning to a new classification of human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) expression in breast cancer: HER2-low. Patients with germline breast cancer type 1 gene pathogenic variants (gBRCA1) often develop triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), but the proportion who could be classified as HER2-low and qualify for an additional targeted therapy option is unknown. This study aims to characterize the proportion of gBRCA1 or germline breast cancer type 2 gene pathogenic variants patients for whom these novel targeted therapies may be an option.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Qualitatively assess experiences of occupational pregnancy discrimination.

Methods: A fully remote phenomenological qualitative study was completed leveraging semistructured interviews with a sample of pregnant employees in the United States. Inclusion criteria included being pregnant, working at least 35 hours per week, employed at least 1 year at current employer, and without diagnosed depression/anxiety.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Up to one-third of older adults with type 1 diabetes experience impaired awareness of hypoglycemia (IAH), yet the factors associated with IAH remain underexplored in older adults.

Research Design And Methods: This post hoc analysis evaluated the clinical and glycemic correlates of IAH in adults ≥60 years old with type 1 diabetes in the WISDM study. IAH and normal awareness of hypoglycemia (NAH) were defined by a Clarke score of ≥4 or <4, respectively.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF