Metabolic Monitoring for Children and Adolescents Prescribed Second-Generation Antipsychotics: A Qualitative Study with Child Psychiatrists.

Professional guidelines recommend that providers routinely monitor children prescribed second-generation antipsychotics (SGA) to reduce the risk of adverse metabolic events associated with the medication. Despite this guidance, many studies show low rates of monitoring compliance. In this study, we interviewed child psychiatrists for their views of possible barriers to monitoring.

Association Between Abnormal Metabolic Parameters and Receiving Subsequent Interventions in Children and Adolescents Initiating Second-Generation Antipsychotics.

This study aimed to examine the association between abnormal readings of metabolic parameters detected during second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) treatment and the likelihood of receiving subsequent adverse drug event interventions. This was a nested case-control study conducted on patients 1-17 years of age with at least two prescriptions of SGAs between January 2010 and January 2019 using TriNetX EMR data. Following an incident density sampling procedure, patients who received the SGA metabolic adverse event intervention (mAEI) (case) were matched with three nonrecipients (controls).

Impact of the AACAP practice parameters on the metabolic adverse event monitoring for second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) in children and adolescents.

Introduction: The objective of our study was to evaluate the impact of the publication of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) practice parameters for SGA metabolic monitoring in 2011 on SGA metabolic monitoring uptake among pediatric SGA recipients.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of children 1-17 years of age who initiated SGA treatment from Jan 2010 to December 2018 using a national Electronic Medical Records database. A segmented regression of interrupted time-series (ITS) analysis was conducted to analyze the change of metabolic monitoring rates for Body Mass Index (BMI), Blood Glucose (BG), and Total Cholesterol (CHL) 9 quarters pre- and 26 quarters post-the publication of the AACAP practice parameters.

Vertical Transmission and Discordance of Cytomegalovirus in Twin Pregnancies.

Objective: The objectives are to estimate the vertical transmission rate in twins relative to singleton pregnancies, to evaluate whether discordance within twin pairs is rare, and to characterize concordance within monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs in relation to hereditability.

Methods: We first sought to estimate the vertical transmission rate of congenital CMV infection in twins by gathering cohort-based studies of congenital CMV in which vertical transmission in both singleton and twin pregnancies was reported. This also allowed us to compare singleton and twin infection rates.

Racial/ethnic differences in health-related quality of life among female breast cancer survivors: cross-sectional findings from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

Objectives: Breast cancer survivors have reported worse health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes on some subscales when compared with members of the general population. However, the increased attention to breast cancer survivorship should have improved the HRQoL of these survivors. Our aim was to examine whether physical and mental component scores (PCS-12 and MCS-12) using the Short Form (SF-12) questionnaire were different for racial/ethnic minorities, specifically for Black and Hispanic women relative to White women.

Impact of Serious Mental Illness on Medicaid and Other Public Healthcare Costs in Texas.

Medicaid-enrolled adults with serious mental illness may be dually-enrolled in Medicare, and may receive health care services from other state and local programs. To understand cross-program costs of care, we linked 2012 payment data across Medicaid, Medicare, state, and local programs. Average costs were calculated according to presence/absence of SMI, Medicare coverage, SSI coverage, medical comorbidities, and other characteristics.

Management of Infection.

Since the discovery of infection (CDI) in the 1970s, there has been an increase in the incidence, severity, and recurrence rate of the disease. We reviewed the recent CDI literature in PubMed published before February 28, 2016 that focused on advances in therapy. Despite a large number of studies describing methods for diagnosing the disease, there is currently no definitive test that identifies this infection with certainty, which complicates therapy.

Researching Complex and Multi-Level Workplace Factors Affecting Disability and Prolonged Sickness Absence.

Purpose There is growing research evidence that workplace factors influence disability outcomes, but these variables reflect a variety of stakeholder perspectives, measurement tools, and methodologies. The goal of this article is to summarize existing research of workplace factors in relation to disability, compare this with employer discourse in the grey literature, and recommend future research priorities. Methods The authors participated in a year-long collaboration that ultimately led to an invited 3-day conference, "Improving Research of Employer Practices to Prevent Disability, held October 14-16, 2015, in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, USA.

Newer antiepileptic drug use and other factors decreasing hospital encounters.

A retrospective analysis was conducted in one claims database and was confirmed in a second independent database (covering both commercial and government insurance plans between 11/2009 and 9/2011) for the understanding of factors influencing antiepileptic drug (AED) use and the role of AEDs and other health-care factors in hospital encounters. In both datasets, epilepsy cases were identified by AED use and epilepsy diagnosis coding. Variables analyzed for effect on hospitalization rates were as follows: (1) use of first-generation AEDs or second-generation AEDs, (2) treatment changes, and (3) factors that may affect AED choice.

Effect of acculturation and access to care on colorectal cancer screening in low-income Latinos.

Latinos have lower colorectal cancer screening (CRCS) and survival rates compared to other race/ethnic groups. This cross-sectional study examines relationships between acculturation, access to and utilization of healthcare services, and CRCS in low-income Latinos. Bilingual data collectors conducted structured interviews with 544 Latino men and women (>50 years) residing in the Texas-Mexico border area.

Indeterminate QuantiFERON-TB gold in-tube assay results in children: possible association with procedural specimen collection.

Fifty-six of 182 (31%) children had indeterminate QuantiFERON assays. Indeterminate assays were associated with inpatient status [odds ratios (OR): 11.7, 95% confidence interval 3.

Planning a multilevel intervention to prevent hearing loss among farmworkers and managers: a systematic approach.

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is the second most prevalent self-reported occupational illness or injury in the U.S., and agricultural workers experience high rates of hearing loss.

Occupational risk factors and asthma among health care professionals.

Rationale: Recent U.S. data suggest an increased risk of work-related asthma among health care workers, yet only a few specific determinants have been elucidated.

Relationship between English language use and preferences for involvement in medical care among Hispanic women.

Objective: To assess how English language use by Hispanic women affects their preferences for participating in decision making and information seeking regarding medical care.

Methods: The study included 235 Hispanic women aged 35-61 years participating in a larger multicenter study, the Ethnicity, Needs, and Decisions of Women (ENDOW) Project. Participants were recruited from community settings and primary care public health clinics.

Correlates of breast cancer screening among Asian Americans enrolled in ENCOREplus.

This study examines the correlates of mammogram utilization among predominantly low income Asian American women using cross sectional data of women recruited through the ENCORE(plus) program (n = 1,695) between July 1996 and June 1998. Logistic regression was used to examine the independent effect of variables corresponding to Andersen's behavioral model of health services utilization on mammography screening behavior. Foreign-born women living in the U.

Some methodologic lessons learned from cancer screening research.

Credible and useful methodologic evaluations are essential for increasing the uptake of effective cancer screening tests. In the current article, the authors discuss selected issues that are related to conducting behavior change interventions in cancer screening research and that may assist researchers in better designing future evaluations to increase the credibility and usefulness of such interventions. Selection and measurement of the primary outcome variable (i.

School-based health education programs can be maintained over time: results from the CATCH Institutionalization study.

Background: Developing and evaluating interventions to influence students' opportunities for healthful choices has been a focus of school-based health promotion research; however, few studies have examined the sustainability of these programs and viability of continued organizational implementation.

Methods: The purpose of this study was to determine the maintenance of Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH) school-level changes in former intervention (n = 56) and former comparison (n = 20) schools 5 years post-intervention. Twelve schools unexposed to CATCH were measured as controls.

Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli diarrhea in travelers: response to rifaximin therapy.

Background And Aims: We have recently shown that enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) strains commonly cause travelers' diarrhea. The study was designed to determine whether U.S.

Epidemiology and molecular characterization of co-circulating influenza A/H3N2 virus variants in children: Houston, Texas, 1997-8.

Co-circulating variants of influenza A/H3N2 viruses in children were studied in Houston, Texas between October 1997 and March 1998 to assess the effects of a new variant strain on the severity of clinical illness. Influenza A virus was isolated from the nasal wash or nasal aspirate specimens collected from children at two tertiary care hospitals, and 271 isolates were available for variant-specific subtyping using RT-PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. We classified 124 (46%) influenza viruses as A/H3N2/Wuhan/359/95-like and 137 (50%) as A/H3N2/Sydney/05/97-like.

A double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study of SP-303 (Provir) in the symptomatic treatment of acute diarrhea among travelers to Jamaica and Mexico.

Objective: The study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of SP-303 (Provir), a plant-derived product with novel antisecretory properties, in the treatment of travelers' diarrhea.

Methods: A total of 184 persons from the United States who acquired diarrhea in Jamaica or Mexico were enrolled in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study examining the effectiveness of three doses of SP-303 in reducing illness. Subjects were treated with 125 mg, 250 mg, or 500 mg SP-303 or a matching placebo four times a day for 2 days.