Changes in breakfast and water consumption among adolescents in Canada: examining the impact of COVID-19 in worsening inequity.

Background: To assess whether changes in breakfast and water consumption during the first full school year after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic varied based on sex/gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status among Canadian adolescents.

Methods: Prospective annual survey data collected pre- (October 2019-March 2020) and post-COVID-19 onset (November 2020-June 2021) the Cannabis, Obesity, Mental health, Physical activity, Alcohol, Smoking, and Sedentary behaviour (COMPASS) study. The sample consisted of 8,128 students; mean (SD) age = 14.

Enhancing detection of SARS-CoV-2 re-infections using longitudinal sero-monitoring: demonstration of a methodology in a cohort of people experiencing homelessness in Toronto, Canada.

Background: Accurate estimation of SARS-CoV-2 re-infection is crucial to understanding the connection between infection burden and adverse outcomes. However, relying solely on PCR testing results in underreporting. We present a novel approach that includes longitudinal serologic data, and compared it against testing alone among people experiencing homelessness.

Patterns of publicly funded naltrexone use among patients diagnosed with alcohol use disorder in Ontario.

Aims: Naltrexone is recommended first-line to manage alcohol use disorder (AUD). With previous studies indicating poor retention on naltrexone, we determined duration of naltrexone use and assessed the association between prescription setting and time to discontinuation in Ontario.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study among Ontario public drug beneficiaries diagnosed with AUD who initiated publicly funded naltrexone from June 2018 to September 2019.

Examining the role of child welfare worker characteristics and the substantiation decision.

Background: The role of child welfare workers is twofold, to promote the safety of children and youth and to address their wellbeing. This provincially legislated mandate requires child welfare workers to make decisions across the child welfare service continuum. After a report of child maltreatment is investigated, workers are required to assess the veracity of the allegation through the substantiation decision and to determine whether the child has been victimized, which may impact on families' future involvement with services.

Randomized controlled trial demonstrates novel tools to assess patient outcomes of Indigenous cultural safety training.

Background: Health care routinely fails Indigenous peoples and anti-Indigenous racism is common in clinical encounters. Clinical training programs aimed to enhance Indigenous cultural safety (ICS) rely on learner reported impact assessment even though clinician self-assessment is poorly correlated with observational or patient outcome reporting. We aimed to compare the clinical impacts of intensive and brief ICS training to control, and to assess the feasibility of ICS training evaluation tools, including unannounced Indigenous standardized patient (UISP) visits.

Predictors of non-adherence to cervical cancer screening among immigrant women in Ontario, Canada.

Cervical cancer is one of the most common types of cancer among women and is largely preventable with regular screening using Papanicolau (Pap) tests. In Canada, all provinces have regular screening programs, although with slightly differing recommendations. Previous research has found that immigrant women, who are a large proportion of the Canadian population, are at higher risk of being under-screened, or non-adherent to the recommended screening frequency.

Delivering health promotion during school closures in public health emergencies: building consensus among Canadian experts.

School-based health promotion is drastically disrupted by school closures during public health emergencies or natural disasters. Climate change will likely accelerate the frequency of these events and hence school closures. We identified innovative health promotion practices delivered during COVID-19 school closures and sought consensus among education experts on their future utility.

Comprehensive whole-genome analyses of the UK Biobank reveal significant sex differences in both genotype missingness and allele frequency on the X chromosome.

The UK Biobank is the most used dataset for genome-wide association studies (GWAS). GWAS of sex, essentially sex differences in minor allele frequencies (sdMAF), has identified autosomal SNPs with significant sdMAF, including in the UK Biobank, but the X chromosome was excluded. Our recent report identified multiple regions on the X chromosome with significant sdMAF, using short-read sequencing of other datasets.

Enhancing the value of digital health tools for mental health help-seeking in Canadian transitional aged youth during the pandemic: Qualitative study.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly exacerbated the mental health challenges of transition-aged youth (TAY) between 17 and 29 years old, it has also led to the rapid adoption of digital tools for mental health help-seeking and treatment. However, to date, there has been limited work focusing on how this shift has impacted perceptions, needs and challenges of this population in using digital tools. The current study aims to understand their perspectives on mental health help-seeking during the pandemic and emerging issues related to digital tools (e.

Genetic endowments for social capital: An investigation accounting for genetic nurturing effects.

Despite social capital having been shown to be important for health and well-being, relatively little research has examined genetic determinants. Genetic endowments for education have been shown to influence human, financial, and health capital, but few studies have examined social capital, and those conducted have yet to account for genetic nurturing. We used the Add-Health data to study the effect of genetic endowments on individual social capital using the education polygenic score (PGS).

Minimal important difference of the 12-item World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) 2.0 in persons with chronic low back pain.

Background: The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 12-item survey (WHODAS-12) is a questionnaire developed by the WHO to measure functioning across health conditions, cultures, and settings. WHODAS-12 consists of a subset of the 36 items of WHODAS-2.

Characteristics, treatment patterns and retention with extended-release subcutaneous buprenorphine for opioid use disorder: A population-based cohort study in Ontario, Canada.

Background: Uptake and retention for opioid agonist treatment (OAT) remains low. Novel extended-release formulations may improve OAT accessibility by reducing the frequency of healthcare visits. Our aim was to examine uptake, characteristics, treatment patterns and retention of individuals initiating extended-release subcutaneous buprenorphine (BUP-ER), a monthly injectable OAT.

Using self-reported health as a social determinants of health outcome: a scoping review of reviews.

Reducing disease prevalence rather than promoting health has long been the objective of significant population health initiatives, such as the social determinants of health (SDH) framework. However, empirical evidence suggests that people with diagnosed diseases often answer the self-reported health (SRH) question positively. In pursuit of a better proxy to understand, measure and improve health, this scoping review of reviews examines the potential of SRH to be used as an outcome of interest in population health policies.

Corruption risks in health procurement during the COVID-19 pandemic and anti-corruption, transparency and accountability (ACTA) mechanisms to reduce these risks: a rapid review.

Background: Health systems are often susceptible to corruption risks. Corruption within health systems has been found to negatively affect the efficacy, safety, and, significantly, equitable distribution of health products. Enforcing effective anti-corruption mechanisms is important to reduce the risks of corruption but requires first an understanding of the ways in which corruption manifests.

The AI Act Grand Challenge shows how autonomous robots will be regulated.

One of the winning teams of the EU AI Act Grand Challenge analyzes how the AI Act will regulate robots.

Adapting co-design methodology to a virtual environment: co-designing a communication intervention for adult patients in critical care.

Background: Research co-design is recommended to reduce misalignment between researcher and end-user needs and priorities for healthcare innovation. Engagement of intensive care unit patients, clinicians, and other stakeholders in co-design has historically relied upon face-to-face meetings. Here, we report on our co-design processes for the development of a bundled intensive care unit patient communication intervention that used exclusively virtual meeting methods in response to COVID-19 pandemic social distancing restrictions.

Validation of the European SCORE2 models in a Canadian primary care cohort.

Aims: Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation Model 2 (SCORE2) was recently developed to predict atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) in Europe. Whether these models could be used outside of Europe is not known. The objective of this study was to test the validity of SCORE2 in a large Canadian cohort.

Expanding access to high-cost medicines under the Universal Health Coverage scheme in Thailand: review of current practices and recommendations.

Background: There has been an increasing demand to reimburse high-cost medicines, through public health insurance schemes in Thailand.

Methods: A mixed method approach was employed. First, a rapid review of select high-income countries was conducted, followed by expert consultations and an in-depth review of three countries: Australia, England and Republic of Korea to understand reimbursement mechanisms of high-cost medicines.

The impact of eHealth on relationships and trust in primary care: a review of reviews.

Background: Given the increasing integration of digital health technologies in team-based primary care, this review aimed at understanding the impact of eHealth on patient-provider and provider-provider relationships.

Methods: A review of reviews was conducted on three databases to identify papers published in English from 2008 onwards. The impact of different types of eHealth on relationships and trust and the factors influencing the impact were thematically analyzed.

Development of the cervical myelopathy severity index: a new patient reported outcome measure to quantify impairments and functional limitations.

Background Context: Existing degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) severity scales have significant shortcomings, creating a strong impetus for the development of a practical measurement tool with sound psychometric properties.

Purpose: This work reports the item generation and reduction of the Cervical Myelopathy Severity Index (CMSI), a new DCM patient-reported outcome measure of symptoms and functional limitations.

Design: Prospective observational study.

Understanding the Unmet Accommodation Needs of People Working with Mental or Cognitive Conditions: The Importance of Gender, Gendered Work, and Employment Factors.

Purpose: Workplace support needs for women and men living with mental health conditions are not well understood. This study examined workplace accommodation and support needs among women and men with and without mental health or cognitive conditions and individual and workplace factors associated with having unmet needs.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 3068 Canadian workers collected information on disability, gender, gendered occupations, job conditions, work contexts, and workplace accommodations.

Trajectories of patients relisted for liver transplantation.

Introduction And Objectives: Recurrent cirrhosis complicates 10-30% of Liver transplants (LT) and can lead to consideration for re-transplantation. We evaluated the trajectories of relisted versus primary listed patients on the waitlist using a competing risk framework.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively examined 1,912 patients listed for LT at our centre between from 2012 to 2020.

Adaptation and outcomes of a lay-guided mental health self-care model: Results of six trials.

Objective: To synthesize results of six controlled trials of self-care interventions for depression and/or anxiety, focusing on five trials in which lay guidance was compared to self-directed use of the same self-care tools.

Methods: The trials were conducted in Canada in different target populations. Self-care tools were adapted to each population.