Feasibility of Fit24, a Digital Diabetes Prevention Program for Hispanic Adolescents: Qualitative Evaluation Study.

BACKGROUND: Digital health interventions are promising for reaching and engaging high-risk youth in disease prevention opportunities; however, few digital prevention interventions have been developed for Hispanic youth, limiting our knowledge of these strategies among this population. OBJECTIVE: This study qualitatively assessed the feasibility and acceptability of Fit24, a 12-week goal-setting intervention that uses a Fitbit watch (Fitbit Inc) and theoretically grounded SMS text messages to promote physical activity and sleep among Hispanic adolescents (aged between 14 and 16 years) with obesity. METHODS: After completing the intervention, a subsample of youth (N=15) participated in an in-depth interview. We categorized the themes into dimensions based on participant perspectives using the Practical, Robust Implementation, and Sustainability Model (PRISM) framework. RESULTS: Participants shared positive perceptions of wearing the Fitbit and receiving SMS text messages. Youth were highly engaged in monitoring their behaviors and perceived increased activity and sleep. Almost all youth organically received social support from a peer or family member and suggested the use of a group chat or team challenge for integrating peers into future interventions. However, most youth also expressed the need to take personal responsibility for the change in their behavior. Barriers that impacted the feasibility of the study included the skin-irritating material on the Fitbit watch band and environmental barriers (eg, lack of resources and school schedules), that limited participation in activity suggestions. Additionally, sync issues with the Fitbit limited the transmission of data, leading to inaccurate feedback. CONCLUSIONS: Fit24 is a promising approach for engaging Hispanic youth in a diabetes prevention program. Strategies are needed to address technical issues with the Fitbit and environmental issues such as message timing. While integrating peer social support may be desired by some, peer support strategies should be mindful of youth's desire to foster personal motivation for behavior change. Findings from this study will inform future diabetes prevention trials of Fit24 and other digital health interventions for high-risk pediatric populations.

Hyperkalemia Recurrence and Its Association With Race and Ethnicity in United States Veterans: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

INTRODUCTION: Information on whether race and ethnicity are associated with a greater risk of recurrent hyperkalemia is limited. The aim of this study was to examine the association between race or ethnicity and recurrent hyperkalemia in a population of US veterans. METHODS: This retrospective study used the US Veterans Affairs database to identify adults (aged ≥18 years) with at least one serum potassium measurement during the study period who ever experienced hyperkalemia (serum potassium > 5.0 mmol/L). The proportion of patients with hyperkalemia recurrence (≥1 subsequent event) within one year was determined for different race and ethnicity groups. The association between patient race and ethnicity and the risk of hyperkalemia recurrence within one year after the index hyperkalemia event was analyzed using competing risk regression. RESULTS: Among a total of 1,493,539 veterans with incident hyperkalemia (median age (interquartile range): 61.0 years (54.0, 71.0)), recurrence within one year occurred in 19.1% of Black, 16.0% of Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander, 15.1% of White, 14.9% of American Indian/Alaska Native, and 13.1% of Asian patient groups. Recurrent hyperkalemia occurred in 18.1% of Hispanic and 15.6% of non-Hispanic patient groups. In a fully-adjusted regression model, recurrent hyperkalemia risk was significantly higher in Black versus White patient groups (subhazard ratio (sHR), 1.17; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.16-1.19; p< 0.0001) and in Hispanic versus non-Hispanic patient groups (sHR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.28-1.33; p< 0.0001). DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Among US veterans with incident hyperkalemia, the risk of recurrent hyperkalemia was higher in Black and Hispanic patient groups. This information may be useful for health system screenings to risk stratify patient groups and both guide the frequency of serum potassium monitoring and better understand the root causes of group differences.

MivacunaLA (MyshotLA): A Community-Partnered Mobile Phone Intervention to Improve COVID-19 Vaccination Behaviors among Low-Income, Spanish-Speaking, and Immigrant Latino Parents or Caregivers.

We developed and tested MivacunaLA/MyshotLA, a community-informed mobile phone intervention, to increase COVID-19 vaccination among Latino parents/caretakers of minors in under-resourced areas of Los Angeles by addressing misinformation and building trust. We recruited Latino parents/caregivers with at least one unvaccinated child in East and South Los Angeles in the summer of 2021 and evaluated MivacunaLA as a randomized controlled trial with a wait-list control group. A difference-in-difference analysis showed Latino parents/caregivers that participated in MivacunaLA (n = 246), in comparison to the control group, were 15 percentage points more likely (p = 0.04) to report vaccination of minors aged 12-17 years, and 12 percentage points more likely (p = 0.03) to report a positive intention to vaccinate minors aged 2-11 years (when COVID-19 vaccines became available). Mobile phone-delivered digital interventions using videos and culturally tailored educational material to promote COVID-19 vaccine confidence can be an effective way to combat misinformation and deliver timely information to marginalized communities. Community-based participatory research approaches are crucial to advance health equity among minority communities, especially immigrant Spanish-speaking underserved communities.

The PhenX Toolkit: Recommended Measurement Protocols for Social Determinants of Health Research.

Health disparities are driven by unequal conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age, commonly termed the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH). The availability of recommended measurement protocols for SDoH will enable investigators to consistently collect data for SDoH constructs. The PhenX (consensus measures for Phenotypes and eXposures) Toolkit is a web-based catalog of recommended measurement protocols for use in research studies with human participants. Using standard protocols from the PhenX Toolkit makes it easier to compare and combine studies, potentially increasing the impact of individual studies, and aids in comparability across literature. In 2018, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities provided support for an initial expert Working Group to identify and recommend established SDoH protocols for inclusion in the PhenX Toolkit. In 2022, a second expert Working Group was convened to build on the work of the first SDoH Working Group and address gaps in the SDoH Toolkit Collections. The SDoH Collections consist of a Core Collection and Individual and Structural Specialty Collections. This article describes a Basic Protocol for using the PhenX Toolkit to select and implement SDoH measurement protocols for use in research studies. © 2024 The Authors. Current Protocols published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA. Basic Protocol: Using the PhenX Toolkit to select and implement SDoH protocols.

Differences in the Receipt of Regional Anesthesia Based on Race and Ethnicity in Colorectal Surgery.

BACKGROUND: Health equity in pain management during the perioperative period continues to be a topic of interest. The authors evaluated the association of race and ethnicity with regional anesthesia in patients who underwent colorectal surgery and characterized trends in regional anesthesia. METHODS: Using the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database from 2015 to 2020, the research team identified patients who underwent open or laparoscopic colorectal surgery. Associations between race and ethnicity and use of regional anesthesia were estimated using logistic regression models. RESULTS: The final sample size was 292,797, of which 15.6% (n = 45,784) received regional anesthesia. The unadjusted rates of regional anesthesia for race and ethnicity were 15.7% white, 15.1% Black, 12.8% Asian, 29.6% American Indian or Alaska Native, 16.3% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and 12.4% Hispanic. Black (odds ratio [OR] 0.93, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.90-0.96, p < 0.001) and Asian (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.71-0.80, p < 0.001) patients had lower odds of regional anesthesia compared to white patients. Hispanic patients had lower odds of regional anesthesia compared to non-Hispanic patients (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.68-0.75, p < 0.001). There was a significant annual increase in regional anesthesia from 2015 to 2020 for all racial and ethnic cohorts (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: There was an annual increase in the use of regional anesthesia, yet Black and Asian patients (compared to whites) and Hispanics (compared to non-Hispanics) were less likely to receive regional anesthesia for colorectal surgery. These differences suggest that there are racial and ethnic differences in regional anesthesia use for colorectal surgery.

Adherence to the healthy eating index-2010 and alternative healthy eating index-2010 in relation to metabolic syndrome among African Americans in the Jackson heart study.

OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of this study was to determine whether Healthy Eating Index (HEI) and Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) scores were associated with incident metabolic syndrome. DESIGN: This study is a secondary analysis of data from the Jackson Heart Study. HEI and AHEI scores were divided into quintiles and Cox proportional hazards regression models were analysed for 1864 African American adults free from metabolic syndrome at Exam 1 to examine the incidence of metabolic syndrome by quintile of dietary quality score. SETTING: Hinds, Madison and Rankin counties, Mississippi, USA. PARTICIPANTS: African American adults, ages 21-94 years, 60·9 % female. RESULTS: Over a mean follow-up time of 6·7 years, we observed 932 incident cases of metabolic syndrome. After adjusting for multiple covariates, a higher HEI score at Exam 1 was not associated with the risk of incident metabolic syndrome, except when looking at the trend analysis for the subgroup of adults with two metabolic syndrome components at Exam 1 (P-trend = 0·03). A higher AHEI score at Exam 1 was associated with the risk of incident metabolic syndrome (hazard ratio for those in the highest quintile compared to the lowest: 0·80 (95 % CI: 0·65, 0·99), P-trend = 0·03). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that a dietary pattern that scores higher on the AHEI may help reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome, even for adults who already have two of the minimum of three components required for a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome.

Role of Age and Competing Risk of Death in the Racial Disparity of Kidney Failure Incidence after Onset of CKD.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Black adults in the United States have 2-4 times higher incidence of kidney failure than White adults. Yet, the reasons underlying this disparity remain poorly understood. Among 547,188 US veterans with new-onset CKD, according to a new race-free GFR equation, Black veterans had a 2.5-fold higher cumulative incidence of kidney failure, compared with White veterans, in any follow-up period from CKD onset. This disparity resulted from a combination of higher hazards of progression to kidney failure and lower hazards of competing-risk death in Black veterans. Both, in turn, were largely explained by the younger age at CKD onset in Black veterans, underscoring an urgent need to prevent early onset and slow progression of CKD in younger Black adults. BACKGROUND: The Black adult population is well known to have higher incidence of kidney failure than their White counterpart in the United States, but the reasons underlying this disparity are unclear. We assessed the racial differences in kidney failure and death from onset of CKD on the basis of the race-free 2021 CKD Epidemiology Collaboration equation and examined the extent to which these differences could be explained by factors at the time of CKD onset. METHODS: We analyzed a national cohort consisting of 547,188 US veterans (103,821 non-Hispanic Black and 443,367 non-Hispanic White), aged 18-85 years, with new-onset CKD between 2005 and 2016 who were followed through 10 years or May 2018 for incident kidney failure with replacement therapy (KFRT) and pre-KFRT death. RESULTS: At CKD onset, Black veterans were, on average, 7.8 years younger than White veterans. In any time period from CKD onset, the cumulative incidence of KFRT was 2.5-fold higher for Black versus White veterans. Meanwhile, Black veterans had persistently >2-fold higher hazards of KFRT throughout follow-up (overall hazard ratio [95% confidence interval], 2.38 [2.31 to 2.45]) and conversely had 17%-48% decreased hazards of pre-KFRT death. These differences were reduced after accounting for the racial difference in age at CKD onset. CONCLUSIONS: The 2.5-fold higher cumulative incidence of kidney failure in Black adults resulted from a combination of higher hazards of progression to kidney failure and lower hazards of the competing risk of death, both of which can be largely explained by the younger age at CKD onset in Black compared with White adults.

The Association of eHealth Literacy Skills and mHealth Application Use Among US Adults With Obesity: Analysis of Health Information National Trends Survey Data.

BACKGROUND: Physical inactivity and a poor diet are modifiable behaviors that contribute to obesity. Obesity is a well-recognized risk factor for chronic diseases, including diabetes. Mobile health (mHealth) apps can play an important adjuvant role in preventing and treating chronic diseases and promoting positive health behavior change among people with obesity, and eHealth literacy skills have the potential to impact mHealth app use. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore the associations between the 2 dimensions, access and application, of eHealth literacy skills and mHealth app use among US adults (≥18 years of age) with obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2). METHODS: Data were obtained from February to June 2020 using the Health Information National Trends Survey 5. A total of 1079 respondents met the inclusion criteria of adults with obesity and owners of smartphones. Individual associations between mHealth app use and sociodemographic variables were explored using weighted chi-square and 2-tailed t tests. A multivariable weighted logistic regression model was fitted, and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of using mHealth apps with corresponding 95% CIs were reported across multiple sociodemographic variables. An Ising model-weighted network visualization was produced. A receiver operating characteristic curve was calculated, and the area under the curve was reported with the corresponding Delong 95% CI. RESULTS: A majority of respondents were female (550/923, 59.6%) or non-Hispanic White (543/923, 58.8%). Individuals in households earning less than US $50,000 comprised 41.4% (382/923) of the sample. All sociodemographic variables were found to be univariately significant at the 5% level, except employment and region. Results from the multivariable weighted logistic regression model showed that the adjusted odds of using an mHealth app are 3.13 (95% CI 1.69-5.80) and 2.99 (95% CI 1.67-5.37) times higher among those with an access eHealth literacy skill of using an electronic device to look for health or medical information for themselves and an application eHealth literacy skill of using electronic communications with a doctor or doctor's office, respectively. Several sociodemographic variables were found to be significant, such as education, where adjusted ORs comparing subgroups to the lowest educational attainment were substantial (ORs ≥7.77). The network visualization demonstrated that all eHealth literacy skills and the mHealth app use variable were positively associated to varying degrees. CONCLUSIONS: This work provides an initial understanding of mHealth app use and eHealth literacy skills among people with obesity, identifying people with obesity subpopulations who are at risk of a digital health divide. Future studies should identify equitable solutions for people with obesity (as well as other groups) and their use of mHealth apps.

Geographic Dialysis Facility Density and Early Dialysis Initiation.

Importance: The decision of when to start maintenance hemodialysis may be affected by health system-level support for high-intensity care as manifested by area dialysis facility density. Yet an association between early hemodialysis initiation and higher area density of dialysis facilities has not been shown. Objective: To examine whether there is an association between area dialysis facility density and earlier dialysis initiation. Design, Setting, and Participants: Cross-sectional analysis was conducted of publicly reported claims and geographic-based population data collected in the Medical Evidence files of the US Renal Data System (USRDS), a comprehensive registry of all patients initiating hemodialysis in the US, from calendar years 2011 through 2019. Data were linked to the American Community Survey, using residential zip codes, and then to health service area (HSA) primary care and hospitalization benchmarks, using the Dartmouth Atlas crosswalk. Data were analyzed from November 1, 2021, to August 31, 2023. Exposure: Dialysis facility density at the level of HSA (number of dialysis facilities per 100 000 HSA residents) split into 5 categories. Main Outcomes and Measures: The odds of hemodialysis initiation at an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) greater than 10 mL/min/1.73 m2 vs less than or equal to 10 mL/min/1.73 m2. Results: Hemodialysis was initiated in a total of 844 466 individuals at 3397 HSAs at a mean (SD) eGFR of 8.9 (3.8) mL/min/1.73 m2. Their mean (SD) age was 63.5 (14.7) years, and 484 346 participants (57.4%) were men. In the HSA category with the highest facility density, individuals were younger (63.3 vs 65.2 years in least-dense HSAs), poorer (mean percent of households living in poverty, 10.4% vs 8.4%), and more commonly had a higher percentage of Black individuals (40.6% vs 11.3%). More individuals in the dialysis-dense HSAs than least-dense HSAs had diabetes (60.1% vs 58.5%) and fewer had access to predialysis nephrology care (60.8% vs 64.1%); the rates of heart failure and immobility varied, but not in a consistent pattern, by HSA dialysis density. The mean (SD) facility density was 4.1 (1.89) centers per 100 000 population in the most dialysis-dense HSAs. Compared with patients in HSAs with a mean of 1.0 per 100 000 population, the odds of hemodialysis initiation at eGFR greater than 10 mL/min/1.73 m2 were 1.07 (95% CI, 1.03-1.11) for patients in the densest HSAs, and compared with HSAs with 0 facilities, the odds of early hemodialysis initiation were 1.06 (95% CI, 1.02-1.10) for patients in the densest HSAs. Conclusions and Relevance: In this cross-sectional study of USRDS- and HSA-level data, HSA dialysis density was associated with early hemodialysis initiation.

Racial Disparities in End-Stage Kidney Disease Outcomes among Asians and Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders across Geographic Residence.

INTRODUCTION: While Asian and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (NHOPI) patients have a high prevalence of kidney disease risk factors, there are sparse data examining their end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) outcomes. As Hawaii has high representation of Asian and NHOPI individuals, we compared their ESKD outcomes based on residence in the mainland USA versus Hawaii/Pacific Islands (PIs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using United States Renal Data System data, we examined the impact of geographic residence in the mainland versus Hawaii/PIs on race-mortality associations among incident ESKD patients transitioning to dialysis over January 1, 2000-December 31, 2016 using Cox regression. We examined likelihood of post-dialysis kidney transplantation using Cox models and cumulative incidence curves. RESULTS: Compared with White patients in the mainland, Asian and NHOPI patients in the mainland had lower mortality: adjusted HRs (95% CIs) 0.67 (0.66-0.67) and 0.72 (0.70-0.73), respectively. When examining Asian and NHOPI patients in Hawaii/PIs, survival benefit was attenuated in Asian and diminished to the null in NHOPI patients (ref: mainland White patients). Cumulative incidence curves comparing Asian, NHOPI, and White patients showed Asian and NHOPI patients in the mainland had the highest likelihood of transplantation, whereas NHOPI and Asian patients in Hawaii/PIs had the lowest likelihood. CONCLUSION: In the mainland, Asian and NHOPI patients had lower mortality versus White patients, whereas in Hawaii/PIs, this survival benefit was diminished in Asian and mitigated in NHOPI patients. NHOPI and Asian patients in Hawaii/PIs had less transplantation versus those in the mainland. Further research is needed to uncover factors contributing to differential ESKD outcomes among Asian and NHOPI patients across geographic residence.

Self-reported fatigue by the Chalder fatigue questionnaire and mortality in Brazilian hemodialysis patients: The PROHEMO.

BACKGROUND: The existing data support the Chalder Fatigue Questionnaire (CFQ-11) as a valid instrument to assess fatigue in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients. The objective of this work was to investigate whether self-reported fatigue can serve as an independent prognostic indicator for mortality in MHD patients. METHODS: The data are from 233 adult patients enrolled in the cohort "The Prospective Study of the Prognosis of Chronic Hemodialysis Patients" (PROHEMO) developed in Salvador, BA, Brazil. The Brazilian version of the validated CFQ-11 was used to calculate self-reported fatigue. The CFQ-11 scores may range from 0 to 33; higher scores represent more fatigue. Fatigue categories were created based on proposed cut point: absence or mild degree if CFQ-11 scores <4 and moderate to severe if scores ≥ 4. Cox models were used to estimate the hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of associations between fatigue and mortality with adjustments for sociodemographic factors, time on dialysis, education, economic class, hemoglobin concentration, diabetes, heart failure, depression, and other psychiatric disorders. RESULTS: The mean age was 51.5±2.5 years, 58% were male and 30% diabetics. Self-reported moderate to severe fatigue was reported by 71% of patients. The mortality rate was 8.6 cases/100 person-years. Patients with moderate to severe fatigue had a more than threefold mortality rate (HR = 3.07, 95% CI: 1.19, 7.93) compared to patients with absent or mild fatigue, after extensive adjustments for covariates. CONCLUSION: The study provides evidence that self-reported fatigue can help identify MHD patients at higher risk of earlier death.

Flattening the Playing Field for Treatment of Diabetic Kidney Disease.

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) remains a major health care issue and is beset with significant racial and ethnic disparities in regard to its incidence, progression, and complication rate. An individual's health is influenced strongly by an array of societal-level factors commonly called the social determinants of health. Among these, DKD is influenced highly by structured resources and opportunities, as well as an individual's socioeconomic status, health insurance status, access to care, education, health literacy, nutrition, green space exposure, level of trust in the medical community, and more. Health equity is considered a state in which everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain his or her highest level of health. Conversely, health inequities are a consequence of a structured discriminatory system of inequitable allocation of social determinants of health. When this discriminatory system is race-based it is referred to as structural racism, which eventually leads to racial and ethnic health disparities. The further downstream sequela of structural racism, consciously or unconsciously, impacts health systems, providers, and patients, and can lead to disparities in DKD development, progression, and complications. In this article, we explore potential interventions at the societal, health system, and provider levels that can help flatten the playing field and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in DKD.

Receiving hemodialysis in Hispanic ethnic dense communities is associated with better adherence and outcomes among young patients: a retrospective analysis of the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study.

BACKGROUND: Hispanic ethnic density (HED) is a marker of better health outcomes among Hispanic patients with chronic disease. It is unclear whether community HED is associated with mortality risk among ethnically diverse patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of patients in the United States cohort of the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS) database (2011-2015) was conducted (n = 4226). DOPPS data was linked to the American Community Survey database by dialysis facility zip code to obtain % Hispanic residents (HED). One way ANOVA and Kruskal Wallis tests were used to estimate the association between tertiles of HED with individual demographic, clinical and adherence characteristics, and facility and community attributes. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the mortality hazard ratio (HR) and 95% CIs by tertile of HED, stratified by age; a sandwich estimator was used to account for facility clustering. RESULTS: Patients dialyzing in facilities located in the highest HED tertile communities were younger (61.4 vs. 64.4 years), more commonly non-White (62.4% vs. 22.1%), had fewer comorbidities, longer dialysis vintage, and were more adherent to dialysis treatment, but had fewer minutes of dialysis prescribed than those in the lowest tertile. Dialyzing in the highest HED tertile was associated with lower hazard of mortality (HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.72-1.00), but this association attenuated with the addition of individual race/ethnicity (HR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.78-1.09). In multivariable age-stratified analyses, those younger than 64 showed a lower hazard for mortality in the highest (vs. lowest) HED tertile (HR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.49-0.90). Null associations were observed among patients ≥ 64 years. CONCLUSIONS: Treating in communities with greater HED and racial/ethnic integration was associated with lower mortality among younger patients which points to neighborhood context and social cohesion as potential drivers of improved survival outcomes for patients receiving hemodialysis.

Diversifying the Medical Pathway in a Post-Affirmative Action World.

This Viewpoint discusses a pathway toward individual, institutional, professional, and societal actions to increase the number of underrepresented individuals in medicine within the medical workforce in a "post­affirmative action" landscape.

Humanistic and Economic Burden of Patients with Cardiorenal Metabolic Conditions: A Systematic Review.

INTRODUCTION: Diabetes is associated with significant economic burden. Moreover, cardiovascular disease (CVD), including heart failure, and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are common comorbidities, leading to premature mortality. We conducted a systematic review to assess the humanistic and economic burden of cardio-renal-metabolic (CRM) conditions in individuals ≥ 18 years with CVD, CKD, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS: We searched Embase® and Medline® databases from 2011 to January 10, 2022 for English publications reporting humanistic and economic burden outcomes from observational studies, real-world evidence, and economic model studies. Intervention and validation studies were excluded. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Abstracts/posters were identified from four conferences (2020-2022). RESULTS: Of 1804 studies identified, 22 (including four conference publications) were selected involving 351,296,930 participants (one modeled the US population); eight reported healthcare resource utilization (HCRU), seven only cost data, six HCRU and cost data, one reported quality-of-life data (11/18 and 7/18 had estimated low and medium risk of bias, respectively). Participants were predominantly ≥ 65 years and identified as having White ethnicity. Higher costs and HCRU were observed in patients with all three conditions compared to those with two or none. Urban/metropolitan and insured patients had higher healthcare expenditure and service utilization compared to uninsured and racial/ethnic minority populations. Comorbidities were associated with increased hospitalizations, higher costs, and more emergency department visits. In general, patients identified as having Black ethnicity had low odds of using healthcare services, possibly due to disparities in healthcare access and distrust in the system. Limitations included no adjustment for inflation and a predominance of retrospective studies. CONCLUSIONS: This review showed a greater economic burden for patients with CRM conditions, with a clear trend between increasing numbers of comorbidities and increasing healthcare costs/resource use. Comparisons between countries are complicated and the scarcity of evidence from minority racial and ethnic groups and lack of data from non-US geographies warrant further investigation.

The Effectiveness of Shared Decision-making for Diabetes Prevention: 24- and 36-Month Results From the Prediabetes Informed Decision and Education (PRIDE) Trial.

OBJECTIVE: We conducted a cluster-randomized, shared decision-making (SDM) trial offering lifestyle change, metformin, or both options, to adults at risk for diabetes in a primary care network (n = 20 practices). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We used propensity score matching to identify control patients and used electronic health record data to compare weight loss at 24 and 36 months of follow-up and diabetes incidence at 36 months of follow-up. RESULTS: In adjusted post hoc analyses, SDM participants (n = 489) maintained modestly greater 24-month weight loss of -3.1 lb and 36-month weight loss of -2.7 lb versus controls (n = 1,430, both comparisons P < 0.001). SDM participants who chose both lifestyle change and metformin sustained weight loss at 36 months of -4.1 lb (P < 0.001 vs. controls). We found no differences in incident diabetes (15% of SDM participants, 14% of control participants; P = 0.64). CONCLUSIONS: This is one of the first studies to demonstrate weight loss maintenance up to 36 months after diabetes prevention SDM.