Modeling health risks using neural network ensembles.

This study aims to demonstrate that demographics combined with biometrics can be used to predict obesity related chronic disease risk and produce a health risk score that outperforms body mass index (BMI)-the most commonly used biomarker for obesity. We propose training an ensemble of small neural networks to fuse demographics and biometrics inputs. The categorical outputs of the networks are then turned into a multi-dimensional risk map, which associates diverse inputs with stratified, output health risk.

Diagnoses and Treatment of Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia Among Racially and Ethnically Diverse Persons Living with Dementia.

Background: Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) and prescribed central nervous system (CNS) active drugs to treat them are prevalent among persons living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (PLWD) and lead to negative outcomes for PLWD and their caregivers. Yet, little is known about racial/ethnic disparities in diagnosis and use of drugs to treat BPSD.

Objective: Quantify racial/ethnic disparities in BPSD diagnoses and CNS-active drug use among community-dwelling PLWD.

Staffing Shortages, Staffing Hours, and Resident Deaths in US Nursing Homes During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objectives: Staffing shortages at nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted care providers' staffing hours and affected residents' care and outcomes. This study examines the association of staffing shortages with staffing hours and resident deaths in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design: This study measured staffing hours per resident using payroll data and measured weekly resident deaths and staffing shortages using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Healthcare Safety Network data.

The International Cannabis Toolkit (iCannToolkit): a multidisciplinary expert consensus on minimum standards for measuring cannabis use.

Background: The lack of an agreed international minimum approach to measuring cannabis use hinders the integration of multidisciplinary evidence on the psychosocial, neurocognitive, clinical and public health consequences of cannabis use.

Methods: A group of 25 international expert cannabis researchers convened to discuss a multidisciplinary framework for minimum standards to measure cannabis use globally in diverse settings.

Results: The expert-based consensus agreed upon a three-layered hierarchical framework.

Community health events for enrolling uninsured into public health insurance programs: implications for health reform.

Objectives: To determine whether enrollment events may serve as a venue to identify eligible individuals, enroll them into health insurance programs, and educate them about the changes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will bring about.

Methods: More than 2900 surveys were administered to attendees of 7 public health insurance enrollment events in California. Surveys were used to identify whether participants had any change in understanding of health reform after participating in the event.

Public hospital quality report awareness: evidence from National and Californian Internet searches and social media mentions, 2012.

Objectives: Publicly available hospital quality reports seek to inform consumers of important healthcare quality and affordability attributes, and may inform consumer decision-making. To understand how much consumers search for such information online on one Internet search engine, whether they mention such information in social media and how positively they view this information.

Setting And Design: A leading Internet search engine (Google) was the main focus of the study.

One and done? Equality of opportunity and repeated access to scarce, indivisible medical resources.

Background: Existing ethical guidelines recommend that, all else equal, past receipt of a medical resource (e.g. a scarce organ) should not be considered in current allocation decisions (e.