The Impact of Using Standardized Autism Screening on Referral to Specialist Evaluation for Young Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: We tested whether the implementation of standardized, high-fidelity screening for autism during routine well-child check-ups results in the following: increasing the number of children with suspected autism referred to diagnostic evaluation; lowering the age at which they are referred; and facilitating autism diagnosis for children across a more diverse range of demographic backgrounds and clinical presentations, including those with subtle manifestations.

Method: As part of a multi-site cluster randomized trial, pediatric practices were randomly assigned to an experimental condition involving training and supervision in the universal, standardized, high-fidelity implementation of the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised with Follow-Up (M-CHAT-R/F), or a usual care condition. Children in both conditions identified as having a high likelihood of autism during well-child visits were referred to a diagnostic evaluation conducted by clinicians naive to referral source.

Predictors of Pediatric Asthma Management: Identifying Actionable Results With Geographic Determinants.

Background: Pediatric asthma remains one of the most prominent chronic health conditions among US youth. Geographic determinants such as air pollutants have been identified as playing a role in asthma development and exacerbation. The purpose of this study was to determine geospatial predictors of pediatric asthma exacerbation events and to prioritize housing remediation resources.

Path-specific causal decomposition analysis with multiple correlated mediator variables.

A causal decomposition analysis allows researchers to determine whether the difference in a health outcome between two groups can be attributed to a difference in each group's distribution of one or more modifiable mediator variables. With this knowledge, researchers and policymakers can focus on designing interventions that target these mediator variables. Existing methods for causal decomposition analysis either focus on one mediator variable or assume that each mediator variable is conditionally independent given the group label and the mediator-outcome confounders.

Community-Based Strategies to Improve Health-Related Outcomes in People Living With Hypertension in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Individuals living with hypertension are at an increased risk of cardiovascular- and cerebrovascular-related outcomes. Interventions implemented at the community level to improve hypertension control are considered useful to prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events; however, systematic evaluation of such community level interventions among patients living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is scarce.

Methods: Nine databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cluster randomized control trials (cRCTs) implementing community level interventions in adults with hypertension in LMICs.

Depression Symptoms Linked to Multiple Oral Health Outcomes in US Adults.

Background: Individuals with mental illness have poor oral health compared to those without mental health conditions. However, the literature is still lacking regarding the specifics of this relationship.

Objective: This study aims at examining the relationship between depression and oral health problems such as oral conditions, access to dental care, and oral hygiene measures.

Survival trends for left and right sided colon cancer using population-based SEER database: A forty-five-year analysis from 1975 to 2019.

Background: Survival differences between left-sided colon cancer (LSCC) and right-sided colon cancer (RSCC) has been previously reported with mixed results, with various study periods not accounting for other causes of mortality.

Purpose: We sought to assess the trends in colon cancer cause- specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) based on sidedness.

Method: Fine-Gray competing risk and Cox models were used to analyze Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) population-based cohort from 1975 to 2019.

The Effect of a Merit Point Incentive System on the Willingness to Donate Organs.

Purpose: Although over 90% of the population of the United States supports organ donation, only 60% of the population is registered as donors. Currently, there is a need for a nonmonetary incentive that will improve willingness to donate. We assessed the young adult population's perspective on their willingness to donate organs when merit points are granted to their family members to prioritize their potential transplant if needed.

Associations between air pollution and the risk of first admission and multiple readmissions for cardiovascular diseases.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate the associations between air pollutants and the risk of admission and multiple readmission events for cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Methods: A total of 285 009 participants free of CVD at baseline from the UK Biobank were included in this analysis. Four major cardiovascular admission events were identified during the follow-up: chronic ischaemic heart disease (CIHD), cerebrovascular disease, atrial fibrillation and heart failure.

Neither Words nor Images: Health Departments' and Hospitals' Use of Twitter During COVID-19 Had Limited Racial Representation and Content on Disparities Decreased Over Time.

Objective: To determine the degree to which hospitals and state health departments used written content or visual representation on social media to draw attention to racial disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Study Design: A retrospective analysis, using Twitter content (words and images) between May-June 2020 and May-June 2021 from organizations in the 5 states with the largest documented racial disparities in COVID-19-related mortality.

Main Outcomes: All tweets and retweets (n = 6790) were coded along several lines.

Engaging rural communities to incorporate social determinants in developing strategies to improve access to health care in the Missouri Bootheel counties.

Introduction: The purpose of the study was to engage community members and practice partners across multiple sectors in a participatory strategy development process to identify social and organizational determinants of accessing health care, collectively prioritize identified issues, and develop strategies for change.

Methods: Using concept mapping, a mixed-methods approach, a collaborative team of academics, practice partners, and community health workers collected data from community members and agency representatives (n=366) across four counties through facilitated community forums and an online survey in four counties in the Bootheel region of Missouri, USA. These responses were consolidated into a set of statements that were used with a smaller group of participants (n=60, 15 per county) for sorting and rating purposes.

Racial/Ethnic Differences in the Association Between Food Security and Depressive Symptoms Among Adult Foreign-Born Immigrants in the US: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Foreign-born immigrants are at greater risks of both food insecurity and depressive symptoms, while the association between the two has yet to be elucidated. Our sample includes 6,857 adults aged 20 years and older from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2005 to 2016. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine whether the association between food security and depressive symptoms varies across race/ethnicity among US foreign-born immigrants.

Pregnancy Complications in Women with Weight Loss Surgery Compared to a Non-Surgical Population of Women with Obesity.

Background: The objective of this study was to assess the effect of WLS on pregnancy and delivery complications in women who had WLS compared to women with obesity who did not undergo WLS.

Methods: We used the National Inpatient Sample data from 2012 to 2017, with a study population of women between the ages of 20 and 44 who had a maternal admission code in the NIS data (n = 663,795). Weighted logistic regression models were fitted and the models were stratified by race.

Community Health Worker Impact on Knowledge, Antenatal Care, And Birth Outcomes: A Systematic Review.

Objectives: Community health worker (CHW) interventions have been shown to be effective in areas of maternal and child health (MCH), mostly in relation to infant and neonatal mortality. The specific aims of this review were to expand outcomes to include improving knowledge related to pregnancy and infant health and the receipt of antenatal care (ANC), along with birth outcomes. We also summarized the role, characteristics and activities of CHWs in interventions conducted in settings with demonstrated improvements in key MCH outcomes.

Epidemiology of mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) in United States: challenges and opportunities.

Background: Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) are rare, inherited lysosomal storage disorders characterized by progressive multiorgan involvement. Previous studies on incidence and prevalence of MPS mainly focused on countries other than the United States (US), showing considerable variation by country. This study aimed to identify MPS incidence and prevalence in the US at a national and state level to guide clinicians and policy makers.

Designing HIV Testing and Self-Testing Services for Young People in Nigeria: A Discrete Choice Experiment.

Background And Objective: A third of new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections occur among young people and the majority of young people living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa. We examined the strength of Nigerian youth preferences related to HIV testing and HIV self-testing (HIVST).

Methods: Discrete choice experiments were conducted among Nigerian youth (age 14-24 years).

Testing the Cognitive Reserve Index Questionnaire in an Alzheimer's Disease Population.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States and has no cure or progression prevention. The Cognitive Reserve (CR) theory poses that constant brain activity earlier in life later helps to deter pathological changes in the brain, delaying the onset of disease symptoms.

Objective: To determine the reliability and validity of the Cognitive Reserve Index questionnaire (CRIq) in AD patients.

The Good and Evil of Health Policy: Medicaid Expansion, Republican Governors, and Moral Intuitions.

Using moral foundations theory (MFT), this study analyzes how Republican governors employed moral concepts to either build support or opposition to Medicaid expansion. The study examined statements about Medicaid expansion made by all Republican governors as reported in two large newspapers in each governor's state from 28 June 2012 to 31 December 2018. A slight majority of the statements (183 or 58.

Progress in Corrections Worker Health: The National Corrections Collaborative Utilizing a Total Worker Health® Strategy.

Objective: To examine National Corrections Collaborative (NCC) activities, as an outreach initiative, to advance corrections workplace health and safety research, practice, and policy through a series of applied Research to Practice (r2p) meetings informed by the Total Worker Health(Total Worker Health is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) (TWH) strategy.

State Medicaid expansion status, insurance coverage and stage at diagnosis in head and neck cancer patients.

Objectives: Only one in three head and neck cancer (HNC) patients present with early-stage disease. We aimed to quantify associations between state Medicaid expansions and changes in insurance coverage rates and stage at diagnosis of HNC.

Methods: Using a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences (DID) approach and data from 26,330 cases included in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program (2011-2015), we retrospectively examined changes in insurance coverage and stage at diagnosis of adult HNC in states that expanded Medicaid (EXP) versus those that did not (NEXP).

Development and validation of a genomic mutation signature to predict response to PD-1 inhibitors in non-squamous NSCLC: a multicohort study.

Background: Genetic variations of some driver genes in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) had shown potential impact on immune microenvironment and associated with response or resistance to programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) blockade immunotherapy. We therefore undertook an exploratory analysis to develop a genomic mutation signature (GMS) and predict the response to anti-PD-(L)1 therapy.

Methods: In this multicohort analysis, 316 patients with non-squamous NSCLC treated with anti-PD-(L)1 from three independent cohorts were included in our study.

Association of hospital-area deprivation with hospital performance on health care associated infection rates in 2018.

Background And Objective: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are common and often preventable complications of care, with reduction emphasized in national policy. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services introduced an HAI-focused Hospital Acquired Condition Reduction Program in 2015 to penalize poor-performing hospitals. Standardized infection ratios (SIRs) are used for comparisons between healthcare organizations, though they are not adjusted for socioeconomic risks known to impact infection.

Identifying potential undocumented COVID-19 using publicly reported influenza-like-illness and laboratory-confirmed influenza disease in the United States: An approach to syndromic surveillance?

In the absence of widespread testing, syndromic surveillance approaches may be useful for understanding potential undocumented coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States. We used publicly available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention FluView Interactive to evaluate its potential for COVID-19 syndromic surveillance. Unlike the prior 3 influenza seasons, we found a 76% decrease in influenza positive tests and a 27% increase in influenza like illness during the weeks since COVID-19 outbreaks began in the United States, which suggests FluView's potential utility for COVID-19 syndromic surveillance.