Continuity of Care and Lifestyle Intervention Programs for Spanish-Speaking Immigrants Without Health Insurance at a Free Clinic in Rhode Island.

Introduction: We conducted a retrospective cohort study to evaluate changes in metabolic biomarkers among participants in Bridging the [Health Equity] Gap (BTG), a free program run by Clínica Esperanza/Hope Clinic (CEHC) for Spanish-speaking immigrants without health insurance in Rhode Island.

Methods: From July 2019 through June 2021, 471 people volunteered to participate in the BTG program. Participants enrolled in lifestyle change classes and visited quarterly with health care providers.

Promotion of Muscle-Strengthening Activity Among Latina and Black/African American Women: A Review of Literature.

Latina and Black/African American (AA) women report disproportionately low levels of muscle-strengthening activities (MSA) and high rates of related chronic health conditions. Despite the health benefits of MSA, physical activity intervention research in these populations has focused mostly on increasing aerobic physical activity. The purpose of this review was to describe the current state of scientific literature on MSA interventions among Latina and Black/AA women.

Evaluating public health vending machine rollout and utilization in criminal-legal settings.

Introduction: Harm reduction resources for people who are involved in the criminal-legal system should be easily accessible. The Rhode Island Department of Corrections (DOC) used funding from a state opioid stewardship fund created through the Rhode Island Opioid Stewardship Act (legislation passed in 2019) to implement five custom-designed vending machines for community corrections offices and state awaiting trial carceral facilities. The vending machines provide resources for overdose prevention, infection prevention, basic needs, and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).

Applying a behavioral economic approach to understanding smoking processes: The indirect effect of past quit experiences.

Background: The Cigarette Purchase Tasks (CPT) measures the relative reinforcing value of cigarettes (i.e., cigarette demand).

Behavioral weight loss interventions in college health centers: A qualitative analysis of barriers and facilitators to implementation.

Background: Emerging adults are underrepresented in standard behavioral weight loss interventions (BWLIs). Offering BWLIs in college health centers may help to address obesity in emerging adulthood by reducing student barriers associated with participation; however, implementation barriers and facilitators for health centers are unknown.

Methods: Health services center administrators and providers ( = 14) and students eligible to participate in a BWLI ( = 9, average BMI = 29.

The Role of Sex and Gender in Precision Emergency Medicine: A Scoping Review and Proposed Hierarchy.

Background: Precision medicine utilizes individual patient data to guide decision making. Sex and gender medicine is likewise focused on individual patients' biological sex or sociocultural gender as determinants of disease. How these two fields intersect with one another and with acute care medicine is unclear.

One Month Whole Food Plant-Based Nutrition Educational Program Lowers LDL, A1C, and Decreases Inflammatory Markers.

Lifestyle-related chronic disease increases in the United States have led to the need for innovative programs targeting dietary choices. Based on growing evidence supporting whole food plant-based (WFPB) nutrition to improve overall health, we devised a one-month WFPB intervention program, Jumpstart Your Health! (JYH), to introduce and encourage adoption of the WFPB dietary lifestyle. This paper investigates its effects on various health indicators associated with cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

Radiation Therapy for Heterotopic Ossification: A Systematic Review.

Purpose: Heterotopic ossification (HO) is a benign disorder characterized by ectopic bone formation in soft tissues that can lead to functional loss in patients. We conducted a systematic review of the evidence on the use of radiation therapy (RT) for the prevention or treatment of HO.

Methods And Materials: Literature searches were conducted using Medline (via PubMed), Embase, and ClinicalTrials.

Calculating risk and prevalence ratios and differences in R: Developing intuition with a hands-on tutorial and code.

Epidemiologic research questions often focus on evaluating binary outcomes, yet curricula and scientific literature do not always provide clear guidance or examples on selecting and calculating an appropriate measure of association in these scenarios. Reporting inappropriate measures may lead to misleading statistical conclusions. We present a hands-on tutorial that includes annotated code written in an open-source statistical programming language (R) showing readers how to apply, compare, and understand four methods used to estimate a risk or prevalence ratio (or difference), rather than presenting an odds ratio.

The Hypocritical Oath? Unintended Consequences of Prenatal Substance Use Policies and Considerations for Health Care Providers.

Prenatal substance use (PSU) is a serious perinatal health issue in the United States with consequential health effects. To address this issue and protect children from the detrimental effects of substance exposure during pregnancy, the US government amended the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to provide funding to states with protocol to notify child protective services of PSU cases and develop treatment plans for affected families. Although well-intentioned, this statute resulted in diverse inter- and intrastate interpretations and implementation of PSU regulations nationwide, ultimately leading to mass confusion about who the policy applies to and when it should be applied.

Physical activity interventions: an update on advancing sedentary time, technology, and dissemination and implementation research.

Approximately 28% of American adults meet both the physical activity (PA) and strength training guidelines despite the numerous health benefits associated with a physically active lifestyle. The purpose of this paper is to provide an update of the 2017 Society of Behavioral Medicine PA Special Interest Group article that outlined future directions in sedentary time reduction interventions, technology-based PA interventions, and the dissemination and implementation of PA interventions. Since the prior review, there has been significant progress on effective interventions for reducing sedentary time.

Randomised clinical trial of a 16 mg vs 24 mg maintenance daily dose of buprenorphine to increase retention in treatment among people with an opioid use disorder in Rhode Island: study protocol paper.

Introduction: Buprenorphine is a highly effective treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). However, provider observations and preliminary research suggest that the current standard maintenance dose may be insufficient for suppressing withdrawal and preventing cravings among people who use or have used fentanyl. Buprenorphine dosing guidelines were based on studies among people who use heroin and have not been formally re-evaluated since fentanyl became predominant in the unregulated drug supply.

Variation in the time to complete the primary COVID-19 vaccine series by race, ethnicity, and geography among older US adults.

Introduction: Racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 vaccine access are well-documented; however, few studies have examined whether racial disparities are modified by other factors, including geographic location and area-level deprivation.

Methods: We conducted an observational study using the COVVAXAGE database. Medicare beneficiaries who received the COVID-19 vaccine primary series (two doses) between 01/01/2021 and 12/31/2021 were included.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Referral Rejection from Postacute Care Facilities among People with Opioid Use Disorder in Massachusetts.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to examine the association between Black, White, and Hispanic or Latino race and ethnicity and referral rejection from private postacute care facilities among hospitalized individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD).

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we linked electronic postacute care referrals from Boston Medical Center in 2018 to electronic medical record data, which we used to ascertain OUD status and race and ethnicity. Using multivariable logistic regression, we examined the association between Black, White, and Hispanic or Latino race and ethnicity and referral rejection, adjusting for individual-level characteristics including medication for opioid use disorder treatment type and for facility-level factors using facility random effects.

Rapid Assessment Amid an Injection Drug Use-Driven HIV Outbreak in Massachusetts' Merrimack Valley: Highlights from a Case Study.

Illicitly manufactured fentanyl within the drug supply has substantially increased opioid-related overdose deaths and driven infectious disease outbreaks among people who use drugs (PWUD). Local jurisdictions often lack the data and tools necessary to detect and translate such moments into actionable and effective responses. Informed by a risk environment framework, this case study adopted a mixed-methods design spanning two rapid assessment studies with PWUD in Lowell (n = 90) and Lawrence (n = 40), Massachusetts, during an HIV outbreak (2017, Study 1) and following the outbreak (2019, Study 2).

Pediatric Practices' Experiences with Massachusetts' Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations.

Objective: To examine the experience of Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) that include pediatric practices, including their motivations and experiences working together.

Methods: This mixed methods study is set within the first two years of the Massachusetts Medicaid ACO Program, which created 17 Medicaid ACOs across the Commonwealth in 2018. It combines qualitative interviews from organizational leaders across three Medicaid ACOs with pediatric representation (N=28; purposive sample; 2018) with a 44-item primary care practice leader survey (N=225 after 64% response rate; statewide stratified random sample of primary care practices; 2019).

The ABCDs of nutritional assessment in infectious diseases research.

Malnutrition is the most common acquired cause of immunodeficiency worldwide. Nutritional deficiencies can blunt both the innate and adaptive immune response to pathogens. Furthermore, malnutrition is both a cause and consequence of infectious diseases.

Engagement in substance use disorder treatment after an emergency department visit among persons at high risk of opioid overdose: A prediction analysis.

Background: Certified peer recovery specialists (CPRS) and licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs) can facilitate substance use disorder (SUD) treatment engagement for emergency department (ED) patients at risk for overdose. Predictors of treatment engagement after such behavioral services are unknown.

Methods: This secondary analysis included Rhode Island ED patients at high risk for opioid overdose participating in a randomized controlled trial comparing the effectiveness of CPRS and LCSWs services (2018-2021).