Objectives: Few prospective studies examine the impact of ethnicity or race on outcomes with lithium for bipolar disorder. This exploratory study examines differences in lithium response and treatment outcomes in Hispanics, African Americans, and non-Hispanic whites with bipolar disorder in the Lithium Treatment Moderate Dose Use Study (LiTMUS).
Methods: LiTMUS was a six-site randomized controlled trial of low-dose lithium added to optimized treatment (OPT; personalized, evidence-based pharmacotherapy) vs. OPT alone in outpatients with bipolar disorder. Of 283 participants, 47 African Americans, 39 Hispanics, and 175 non-Hispanic whites were examined. We predicted minority groups would have more negative medication attitudes and higher attrition rates, but better clinical outcomes.
Results: African Americans in the lithium group improved more on depression and life functioning compared to whites over the 6 month study. African Americans in the OPT only group had marginal improvement on depression symptoms. For Hispanics, satisfaction with life did not significantly improve in the OPT only group, in contrast to whites and African Americans who improved over time on all measures. Attitudes toward medications did not differ across ethnic/racial groups.
Conclusions: African Americans show some greater improvements with lithium than non-Hispanic whites, and Hispanics showed more consistent improvements in the lithium group. The impact of low-dose lithium should be studied in a larger sample as there may be particular benefit for African Americans and Hispanics. Given that the control group (regardless of ethnicity/race) had significant improvements, optimized treatment may be beneficial for any ethnic group.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.02.035 | DOI Listing |
JCO Precis Oncol
January 2025
Karmanos Cancer Institute and Department of Oncology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI.
Purpose: Although lung cancer is one of the most common malignancies, the underlying genetics regarding susceptibility remain poorly understood. We characterized the spectrum of pathogenic/likely pathogenic (P/LP) germline variants within DNA damage response (DDR) genes among lung cancer cases and controls in non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs) and African Americans (AAs).
Materials And Methods: Rare, germline variants in 67 DDR genes with evidence of pathogenicity were identified using the ClinVar database.
JAMA Netw Open
January 2025
San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco, California.
Importance: The rise of high-potency opioids such as fentanyl makes buprenorphine initiation challenging due to the risks of precipitated withdrawal, prompting the exploration of strategies, such as low-dose initiation (LDI) of buprenorphine. However, no comparative studies on LDI outcomes exist.
Objective: To evaluate outpatient outcomes associated with 2 LDI protocols of buprenorphine among individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) using fentanyl.
JAMA Netw Open
January 2025
RAND Health, RAND, Boston, Massachusetts.
Importance: Long-term nursing home stay or death (long-term NH stay or death), defined as new long-term residence in a nursing home or death following hospital discharge, is an important patient-centered outcome.
Objective: To examine whether the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with changes in long-term NH stay or death among older adults with sepsis, and whether these changes were greater in individuals from racial and ethnic minoritized groups.
Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional study used patient-level data from the Medicare Provider Analysis and Review File, the Master Beneficiary Summary File, and the Minimum Data Set.
J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich)
January 2025
Department of Pediatrics, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, USA.
Essential hypertension is one of the most common conditions managed in pediatric cardiology and can result in lasting deleterious effects on the cardiovascular system. Pediatric hypertension is so prevalent in the United States that it is often referred to as a public health challenge. Social determinants of health (SDH) are the cultural, economic, educational, healthcare accessibility, and political influences in the environment in which an individual is born or lives, all of which can affect that individual's overall health.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychooncology
January 2025
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Background: Black women generally report high levels of spirituality. Less is known about Black women's spiritual coping with a cancer diagnosis. Persisting health disparities between Black breast cancer survivors and other racial groups necessitate examining whether spirituality can be a contextual and personal resource for Black women with breast cancer.
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