Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is underutilized among those with lower socioeconomic status and in racial and ethnic minoritized populations who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID.
Objective: To compare disparities in CRC screening before and after the onset of the COVID pandemic among privately insured individuals.
Design: Retrospective cohort study using deidentified claims data from the USA between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2022.
Participants: Blue Cross Blue Shield beneficiaries aged 50-75 years with average risk of CRC.
Main Measure(s): Mean screening use was compared by demographic and area-level socioeconomic factors between the periods preceding (January 1, 2017 to February 28, 2020) and following (July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2022) the onset of the COVID pandemic. Difference-in-differences analysis was used to evaluate changes in screening differences.
Results: Our study included 21,724,223 beneficiaries. Compared to males, females had higher screening in both periods (p < 0.05), and this sex difference in screening increased 1.63% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.32%, 1.94%) following the onset of the pandemic. Compared to residents in areas with high socioeconomic status (SES), low SES area residents had lower screening (p < 0.001) during both periods. Furthermore, this difference grew 4.32% (95% CI, 3.76%, 4.88%) during the post-onset period. Metropolitan area residents had higher screening than non-metropolitan area residents during both periods (p < 0.001); however, this difference decreased 0.77% (95% CI, 0.34%, 1.20%) during the post-onset period. Among beneficiaries with high risk of CRC, the difference in screening based on social deprivation index and metropolitan area status increased 6.99% (95% CI, 5.77%, 8.20%) and 1.82% (95% CI, 0.88%, 2.74%), respectively.
Conclusions: Among privately insured individuals, CRC screening after the COVID pandemic recovered unevenly based on sex, area-level socioeconomic measures, and metropolitan area status, with pre-pandemic disparities persisting and even worsening for some of the factors.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11606-024-09153-3 | DOI Listing |
Vet Med Sci
March 2025
Department of Veterinary Medicine, National Chiayi University, Chiayi City, Taiwan.
This case report highlights a potential vaccine safety concern associated with the Pseudorabies virus (PRV) live vaccine, which warrants further investigation for comprehensive understanding. Vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), a novel syndrome of adverse events following adenovirus vector COVID-19 vaccines, was observed after vaccination with Zoetis PR-VAC PLUS. This led to a 100% morbidity and high mortality among PRV-free Danish purebred pigs from Danish Genetics Co.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle
February 2025
Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Medicine, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Background: Chest computed tomography (CT) is a valuable tool for diagnosing and predicting the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and assessing extrapulmonary organs. Reduced muscle mass and visceral fat accumulation are important features of a body composition phenotype in which obesity and muscle loss coexist, but their relationship with COVID-19 outcomes remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate the association between the erector spinae muscle (ESM) to epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) ratio (ESM/EAT) on chest CT and disease severity in patients with COVID-19.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWorld Allergy Organ J
January 2025
Department of Dermatology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
Background: While epidemiological data suggest a connection between atopic dermatitis (AD) and COVID-19, the molecular mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear.
Objective: To investigate whether COVID-19-related CpGs may contribute to AD development and whether this association is mediated through the regulation of specific genes' expression.
Methods: We combined Mendelian randomization and transcriptome analysis for data-driven explorations.
Front Pediatr
January 2025
Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine Vajira Hospital, Navamindradhiraj University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Background: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in neonates (MIS-N) is a rare condition thought to be associated with prenatal exposure to maternal severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. This immune-mediated hyperinflammation has been described in neonates with multiorgan dysfunction, including cardiopulmonary, encephalopathy, coagulopathy, and vascular complications. However, renovascular complications in MIS-N are rare.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To determine how many people with long COVID also meet diagnostic criteria for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).
Methods: We identified which participants with long COVID also met the Institute of Medicine (IOM) or the 2003 Canadian Consensus Criteria (CCC) for ME/CFS at approximately 6-8 months post-SARS-CoV-2 infection in two cohorts: (1) the JHU COVID Recovery cohort, which enrolled participants within 4 weeks of infection and (2) the Long-term Impact of Infection with Novel Coronavirus (LIINC) cohort, which enriched for participants with long COVID. Neither study administered ME/CFS-specific surveys, so available data elements were mapped onto each ME/CFS diagnostic criteria.
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