Acceptability of a real-time notification of stress and access to self-help therapies among law enforcement officers.

BACKGROUND: Law enforcement officers (LEOs) are exposed to chronic stress throughout the course of their shift, which increases the risk of adverse events. Although there have been studies targeting LEO safety through enhanced training or expanded equipment provisions, there has been little attempt to leverage personal technology in the field to provide real-time notification of LEO stress. This study tests the acceptability of implementing of a brief, smart watch intervention to alleviate stress among LEOs. METHODS: We assigned smart watches to 22 patrol LEOs across two police departments: one suburban department and one large, urban department. At baseline, we measured participants' resting heart rates (RHR), activated their watches, and educated them on brief wellness interventions in the field. LEOs were instructed to wear the watch during the entirety of their shift for 30 calendar days. When LEO's heart rate or stress continuum reached the predetermined threshold for more than 10 min, the watch notified LEOs, in real time, of two stress reduction interventions: [1] a 1-min, guided breathing exercise; and [2] A Calm app, which provided a mix of guided meditations and mindfulness exercises for LEOs needing a longer decompression period. After the study period, participants were invited for semi-structured interviews to elucidate intervention components. Qualitative data were analyzed using an immersion-crystallization approach. RESULTS: LEOs reported three particularly useful intervention components: 1) a vibration notification when hearts rates remained high, although receipt of a notification was highly variable; 2) visualization of their heart rate and stress continuum in real time; and, 3) breathing exercises. The most frequently reported type of call for service when the watch vibrated was when a weapon was involved or when a LEO was in pursuit of a murder suspect/hostage. LEOs also recollected that their watch vibrated while reading dispatch notes or while on their way to work. CONCLUSIONS: A smart watch can deliver access to brief wellness interventions in the field in a manner that is both feasible and acceptable to LEOs.

Novel Interactive Tool for Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk Assessment (Bright Pink Assess Your Risk): Development and Usability Study.

BACKGROUND: The lifetime risk of breast and ovarian cancer is significantly higher among women with genetic susceptibility or a strong family history. However, current risk assessment tools and clinical practices may identify only 10% of asymptomatic carriers of susceptibility genes. Bright Pink developed the Assess Your Risk (AYR) tool to estimate breast and ovarian cancer risk through a user-friendly, informative web-based quiz for risk assessment at the population level. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to present the AYR tool, describe AYR users, and present evidence that AYR works as expected by comparing classification using the AYR tool with gold standard genetic testing guidelines. METHODS: The AYR is a recently developed population-level risk assessment tool that includes 26 questions based on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines and factors from other commonly used risk assessment tools. We included all women who completed the AYR between November 2018 and January 2019, with the exception of self-reported cancer or no knowledge of family history. We compared AYR classifications with those that were independently created using NCCN criteria using measures of validity and the McNemar test. RESULTS: There were 143,657 AYR completions, and most participants were either at increased or average risk for breast cancer or ovarian cancer (137,315/143,657, 95.59%). Using our estimates of increased and average risk as the gold standard, based on the NCCN guidelines, we estimated the sensitivity and specificity for the AYR algorithm-generated risk categories as 100% and 89.9%, respectively (P<.001). The specificity improved when we considered the additional questions asked by the AYR to define increased risk, which were not examined by the NCCN criteria. By race, ethnicity, and age group; we found that the lowest observed specificity was for the Asian race (85.9%) and the 30 to 39 years age group (87.6%) for the AYR-generated categories compared with the NCCN criteria. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that Bright Pink's AYR is an accurate tool for use by the general population to identify women at increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. We plan to validate the tool longitudinally in future studies, including the impact of race, ethnicity, and age on breast and ovarian cancer risk assessment.

Changes in intimate partner violence during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA.

The objective of this study is to describe intimate partner violence (IPV) severity and types of victimization during the early states of the COVID19 pandemic. A survey was distributed through social media and email distribution lists. The survey was open for 14 days in April 2020 and 2441 participated. Information on IPV, COVID19-related IPV severity, sociodemographics, and COVID19-related behaviors (eg, job loss) were collected. Regression models were used to evaluate COVID19-related IPV severity across victimization types and sociodemographics. 18% screened positive for IPV. Among the respondents that screened positive, 54% stated the victimization remained the same since the COVID19 outbreak, while 17% stated it worsened and 30% stated it got better. The odds of worsening victimization during the pandemic was significantly higher among physical and sexual violence. While the majority of IPV participants reported victimization to remain the same, sexual and physical violence was exacerbated during the early stages of the pandemic. Addressing victimization during the pandemic (and beyond) must be multi-sectorial.

Disentangling the root causes of COVID-19 related increases in alcohol consumption.

Recent studies suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased alcohol sales and alcohol related problems. This may be due to the synergistic effects of unemployment, stress from childcare or additional caregiving responsibilities, reduced social interactions and negative coping strategies. Weerakoon and colleagues set out to identify the most robust risk factors for alcohol consumption, binge drinking, and changes in drinking patterns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One-third of the sample reported consuming more alcohol after COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID-19. In addition, each additional week spent at home under stay-at-home orders was increased the odds of binge drinking by 19%. Individuals who have been diagnosed with depression and were currently experiencing depressive symptoms were more than three times more likely (OR = 3.37) to have increased their alcohol consumption during COVID-19 compared to those with no history or symptoms of depression. Parents of children was associated with decreased COVID-19 related binge drinking (OR = .74). As many daily life factors have been altered due to the pandemic, a more holistic lifestyle disruption construct may help further investigate the long term effects of social isolation on alcohol use as the pandemic continues. Furthermore, the role of social support in mitigating COVID-19-related stress has yet to be examined and may be a protective factor against alcohol related problems. As stress continues, researchers should continue assessing the longitudinal effects of COVID-19 lockdowns with the goal of early identification for those at the highest risk of problematic alcohol use.

Cumulative, high-stress calls impacting adverse events among law enforcement and the public.

BACKGROUND: The unpredictable, and sometimes dangerous, nature of the occupation exposes officers to both acute and chronic stress over law enforcement officers' (LEO)  tenure. The purpose of this study is two-fold: 1) Describe multi-level characteristics that define high-stress calls for service for LEO; and 2) Characterize factors that impact cumulative stress over the course of a LEO's shift. METHODS: Qualitative data were collected from 28 LEOs at three law enforcement agencies in the Dallas-Fort Worth areas from April 2019 to February 2020. Focus group data were iteratively coded by four coders using inductive and deductive thematic identification. RESULTS: Five multi-level factors influenced officer stress: 1) officer characteristics (e.g. military experience; gender); 2) civilian behavior (e.g. resistance, displaying a weapon); 3) supervisor factors (micromanagement); 4) environmental factors (e.g. time of year); and, 5) situational factors (e.g. audience present; complexity of calls). Four themes that characterized cumulative stress: 1) cyclical risk; 2) accelerators; 3) decelerators; and 4) experience of an adverse event. CONCLUSIONS: LEOs become susceptible to adverse events (e.g. injury, excessive use of force) after repeated exposure to high-stress calls for service. Ongoing exposures to stress continue to occur throughout the shift. Our long-term goal is to interrupt this repetitive, cumulative process by restricting the number of consecutive high-risk, high-intensity calls an officer is permitted to respond to.

Temporal Trends in Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes in Birthing Individuals Aged 15 to 44 Years in the United States, 2007 to 2019.

Background Adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs) (hypertensive disorders of pregnancy [HDP], preterm delivery [PTD], or low birth weight [LBW]) are associated adverse maternal and offspring cardiovascular outcomes. Therefore, we sought to describe nationwide temporal trends in the burden of each APO (HDP, PTD, LBW) from 2007 to 2019 to inform strategies to optimize maternal and offspring health outcomes. Methods and Results We performed a serial cross-sectional analysis of APO subtypes (HDP, PTD, LBW) from 2007 to 2019. We included maternal data from all live births that occurred in the United States using the National Center for Health Statistics Natality Files. We quantified age-standardized and age-specific rates of APOs per 1000 live births and their respective mean annual percentage change. All analyses were stratified by self-report of maternal race and ethnicity. Among 51 685 525 live births included, 15% were to non-Hispanic Black individuals, 24% Hispanic individuals, and 6% Asian individuals. Between 2007 and 2019, age standardized HDP rates approximately doubled, from 38.4 (38.2-38.6) to 77.8 (77.5-78.1) per 1000 live births. A significant inflection point was observed in 2014, with an acceleration in the rate of increase of HDP from 2007 to 2014 (+4.1% per year [3.6-4.7]) to 2014 to 2019 (+9.1% per year [8.1-10.1]). Rates of PTD and LBW increased significantly when co-occurring in the same pregnancy with HDP. Absolute rates of APOs were higher in non-Hispanic Black individuals and in older age groups. However, similar relative increases were seen across all age,racial and ethnic groups. Conclusions In aggregate, APOs now complicate nearly 1 in 5 live births. Incidence of HDP has increased significantly between 2007 and 2019 and contributed to the reversal of favorable trends in PTD and LBW. Similar patterns were observed in all age groups, suggesting that increasing maternal age at pregnancy does not account for these trends. Black-White disparities persisted throughout the study period.

Geographic Variation in Trends and Disparities in Heart Failure Mortality in the United States, 1999 to 2017.

Background Cardiovascular disease mortality related to heart failure (HF) is rising in the United States. It is unknown whether trends in HF mortality are consistent across geographic areas and are associated with state-level variation in cardiovascular health (CVH). The goal of the present study was to assess regional and state-level trends in cardiovascular disease mortality related to HF and their association with variation in state-level CVH. Methods and Results Age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMR) per 100 000 attributable to HF were ascertained using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research from 1999 to 2017. CVH at the state-level was quantified using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Linear regression was used to assess temporal trends in HF AAMR were examined by census region and state and to examine the association between state-level CVH and HF AAMR. AAMR attributable to HF declined from 1999 to 2011 and increased between 2011 and 2017 across all census regions. Annual increases after 2011 were greatest in the Midwest (ß=1.14 [95% CI, 0.75, 1.53]) and South (ß=0.96 [0.66, 1.26]). States in the South and Midwest consistently had the highest HF AAMR in all time periods, with Mississippi having the highest AAMR (109.6 [104.5, 114.6] in 2017). Within race‒sex groups, consistent geographic patterns were observed. The variability in HF AAMR was associated with state-level CVH (P<0.001). Conclusions Wide geographic variation exists in HF mortality, with the highest rates and greatest recent increases observed in the South and Midwest. Higher levels of poor CVH in these states suggest the potential for interventions to promote CVH and reduce the burden of HF.

Risk-Based Intensive Blood Pressure Lowering and Prevention of Heart Failure: A SPRINT Post Hoc Analysis.

[Figure: see text].

Prevalence of Mental Illness and Mental Health Care Use Among Police Officers.

Importance: Limited literature has characterized patterns of mental illnesses and barriers in seeking mental health care among police officers. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of mental illness (diagnosis) and symptoms of mental illness, evaluate the characteristics of officers interested in seeking mental health care, and characterize perceptions of mental health care use. Design, Setting, and Participants: This survey study was conducted among officers at a large police department in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. Focus group sessions were conducted from April 1, 2019, to November 30, 2019, and the survey was conducted from January 1 to February 27, 2020. A total of 446 sworn, employed patrol officers who were present during the recruitment briefing were eligible to participate in surveys and focus groups. Main Outcomes and Measures: Officers reported lifetime or current diagnosis of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder, as well as current mental health symptoms (using validated screeners of depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and suicidal ideation or self-harm) and mental health care use in the past 12 months. Focus group data were collected to contextualize mental health care use. Logistic regression analyses were used for quantitative data, and focus groups were iteratively coded by 4 coders using inductive and deductive thematic identification. Results: Of the 446 officers invited to participate, 434 (97%) completed the survey (mean [SD] age, 37 [10] years; 354 [82%] male; 217 White [50%]). Of these officers, 19 (17%) had sought mental health care services in the past 12 months. A total of 54 officers (12%) reported a lifetime mental health diagnosis, and 114 (26%) had positive screening results for current mental illness symptoms. Among officers with positive screening results, the odds of interest in using mental health services was significantly higher for officers with suicidal ideation or self-harm than for those who did not (adjusted odds ratio, 7.66; 95% CI, 1.70-34.48). Five focus groups were conducted with 18 officers and found 4 primary barriers in accessing mental health services: (1) inability to identify when they are experiencing a mental illness, (2) concerns about confidentiality, (3) belief that psychologists cannot relate to their occupation, and (4) stigma that officers who seek mental health services are not fit for duty. Conclusions and Relevance: The study found that although few officers were seeking treatment, they were interested in seeking help, particularly those with suicidal ideation or self-harm. Additional interventions appear to be needed to systematically identify and refer officers to health care services while mitigating their concerns, such as fear of confidentiality breach.

Trends in Family Violence Are Not Causally Associated with COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Orders: a Commentary on Piquero et al.

COVID-19 has caused a wave of research publications in academic and pre-print outlets which have resulted in several high-profile retractions. While the breadth of emerging research has been instrumental in understanding and curbing the global pandemic in near real-time, unfortunately manuscripts with major methodological challenges have fallen through the cracks. In this perspective, we illustrate this issue in light of a recent manuscript by Piquero et al. (2020). In the study, a statistically significant association between stay-at-home orders and family violence was not detected; however, the authors widely disseminated a "12.5% increase in family violence" offenses to a variety of media outlets. This negligent dissemination of inaccurate research findings has important implications for policy and the virus mitigation efforts, which might urge policymakers to terminate stay-at-home orders in an effort to reduce family violence and other social risk factors. Changes may ultimately result in more COVID-related deaths as stay-at-home orders are prematurely and inappropriately lifted to prevent purported injuries in the home. Therefore, the widespread propagation of these claims in the absence of scientific evidence of an increase has great potential to cause harm.

Preventing venous thromboembolism in oncology practice: Use of risk assessment and anticoagulation prophylaxis.

BACKGROUND: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with cancer. Expert consensus recommends a risk-based approach to guide prophylactic anticoagulation to prevent VTE in ambulatory patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy. However, oncology practice patterns for VTE prevention remain unclear. PATIENTS/METHODS: We conducted (i) a retrospective, single-center cohort study of patients with pancreatic and gastric cancers to examine rates of prophylactic anticoagulation prescription for eligible patients at high risk of VTE based on the validated Khorana score, and (ii) a 15-question survey of oncology clinicians at the same institution to assess current practice patterns and knowledge regarding VTE risk assessment and primary thromboprophylaxis in February 2020. RESULTS: Of 437 patients who met study criteria, 181 (41%) had a score of ≥ 3 (high-risk), and none had an anticoagulation prescription for prophylaxis without an alternate treatment indication. In a survey sent to 98 oncology clinicians, of which 34 participated, 67% were unfamiliar with the Khorana score or guideline recommendations regarding risk-based VTE prophylaxis, and 90% "never" or "rarely" used VTE risk assessment. CONCLUSIONS: Despite available evidence and existing guideline recommendations for VTE risk assessment for ambulatory patients with cancer, and primary prophylaxis for high-risk patients, this study demonstrates that there is limited uptake in clinical practice.

Time Trends in Pulmonary Embolism Mortality Rates in the United States, 1999 to 2018.

Background Although historical trends before 1998 demonstrated improvements in mortality caused by pulmonary embolism (PE), contemporary estimates of mortality trends are unknown. Therefore, our objective is to describe trends in death rates caused by PE in the United States, overall and by sex-race, regional, and age subgroups. Methods and Results We used nationwide death certificate data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research to calculate age-adjusted mortality rates for PE as underlying cause of death from 1999 to 2018. We used the Joinpoint regression program to examine statistical trends and average annual percent change. Trends in PE mortality rates reversed after an inflection point in 2008, with an average annual percent change before 2008 of -4.4% (-5.7, -3.0, P<0.001), indicating reduction in age-adjusted mortality rates of 4.4% per year between 1999 and 2008, versus average annual percent change after 2008 of +0.6% (0.2, 0.9, P<0.001). Black men and women had approximately 2-fold higher age-adjusted mortality rates compared with White men and women, respectively, before and after the inflection point. Similar trends were seen in geographical regions. Age-adjusted mortality rates for younger adults (25-64 years) increased during the study period (average annual percent change 2.1% [1.6, 2.6]) and remained stable for older adults (>65 years). Conclusions Our study findings demonstrate that PE mortality has increased over the past decade and racial and geographic disparities persist. Identifying the underlying drivers of these changing mortality trends and persistently observed disparities is necessary to mitigate the burden of PE-related mortality, particularly premature preventable PE deaths among younger adults (<65 years).

Trends in Place of Death for Cardiovascular Mortality Related to Heart Failure in the United States From 2003 to 2017.

BACKGROUND: The location of death is an important component of end-of-life care. However, contemporary trends in the location of death for cardiovascular deaths related to heart failure (CV-HF) and comparison to cancer deaths have not been fully examined. METHODS: We analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Control Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research database between 2003 and 2017 to identify location of death for CV-HF and cancer deaths. The proportions of deaths that occurred in a hospice facility, home, and medical facility were tested for trends using linear regression. Odds ratios were calculated to determine the odds of death occurring in a hospice facility or home (versus a medical facility) stratified by sex and race. RESULTS: We identified 2 940 920 CV-HF and 8 852 066 cancer deaths. Increases were noted in the proportion of CV-HF deaths in hospice facilities (0.2% to 8.2%; Ptrend<0.001) and at home (20.6% to 30.7%; Ptrend<0.001), whereas decreases were noted in the proportion of deaths in medical facilities (44.5% to 31.0%; Ptrend<0.001) and nursing homes (30.8% to 25.7%; Ptrend<0.001). The odds of dying in a hospice facility (odds ratio, 1.79 [1.75-1.82]) or at home (odds ratio, 1.55 [1.53-1.56]) versus a medical facility was higher for whites versus blacks. The rate of increase in proportion of deaths in hospice facilities was higher for cancer deaths (ß=1.05 [95% CI, 0.97-1.12]) than for CV-HF deaths (ß=0.61 [95% CI, 0.58-0.64]). CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of CV-HF deaths occurring in hospice facilities is increasing but remains low. Disparities are noted whereby whites are more likely to die in hospice facilities or at home versus medical facilities compared with blacks. More research is needed to determine end-of-life preferences for patients with HF and identify the basis for these differences in location of death.

Pre-Pregnancy Hypertension Among Women in Rural and Urban Areas of the United States.

BACKGROUND: Rates of maternal mortality are increasing in the United States with significant rural-urban disparities. Pre-pregnancy hypertension is a well-established risk factor for adverse maternal and offspring outcomes. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to describe trends in maternal pre-pregnancy hypertension among women in rural and urban areas in 2007 to 2018 in order to inform community-engaged prevention and policy strategies. METHODS: We performed a nationwide, serial cross-sectional study using maternal data from all live births in women age 15 to 44 years between 2007 and 2018 (CDC Natality Database). Rates of pre-pregnancy hypertension were calculated per 1,000 live births overall and by urbanization status. Subgroup analysis in standard 5-year age categories was performed. We quantified average annual percentage change using Joinpoint Regression and rate ratios (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) to compare yearly rates between rural and urban areas. RESULTS: Among 47,949,381 live births to women between 2007 and 2018, rates of pre-pregnancy hypertension per 1,000 live births increased among both rural (13.7 to 23.7) and urban women (10.5 to 20.0). Two significant inflection points were identified in 2010 and 2016, with highest annual percentage changes between 2016 and 2018 in rural and urban areas. Although absolute rates were lower in younger compared with older women in both rural and urban areas, all age groups experienced similar increases. The rate ratios of pre-pregnancy hypertension in rural compared with urban women ranged from 1.18 (95% CI: 1.04 to 1.35) for ages 15 to 19 years to 1.51 (95% CI: 1.39 to 1.64) for ages 40 to 44 years in 2018. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal burden of pre-pregnancy hypertension has nearly doubled in the past decade and the rural-urban gap has persisted.

Heterogeneous trends in burden of heart disease mortality by subtypes in the United States, 1999-2018: observational analysis of vital statistics.

OBJECTIVE: To describe trends in the burden of mortality due to subtypes of heart disease from 1999 to 2018 to inform targeted prevention strategies and reduce disparities. DESIGN: Serial cross sectional analysis of cause specific heart disease mortality rates using national death certificate data in the overall population as well as stratified by race-sex, age, and geography. SETTING: United States, 1999-2018. PARTICIPANTS: 12.9 million decedents from total heart disease (49% women, 12% black, and 19% <65 years old). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Age adjusted mortality rates (AAMR) and years of potential life lost (YPLL) for each heart disease subtype, and respective mean annual percentage change. RESULTS: Deaths from total heart disease fell from 752 192 to 596 577 between 1999 and 2011, and then increased to 655 381 in 2018. From 1999 to 2018, the proportion of total deaths from heart disease attributed to ischemic heart disease decreased from 73% to 56%, while the proportion attributed to heart failure increased from 8% to 13% and the proportion attributed to hypertensive heart disease increased from 4% to 9%. Among heart disease subtypes, AAMR was consistently highest for ischemic heart disease in all subgroups (race-sex, age, and region). After 2011, AAMR for heart failure and hypertensive heart disease increased at a faster rate than for other subtypes. The fastest increases in heart failure mortality were in black men (mean annual percentage change 4.9%, 95% confidence interval 4.0% to 5.8%), whereas the fastest increases in hypertensive heart disease occurred in white men (6.3%, 4.9% to 9.4%). The burden of years of potential life lost was greatest from ischemic heart disease, but black-white disparities were driven by heart failure and hypertensive heart disease. Deaths from heart disease in 2018 resulted in approximately 3.8 million potential years of life lost. CONCLUSIONS: Trends in AAMR and years of potential life lost for ischemic heart disease have decelerated since 2011. For almost all other subtypes of heart disease, AAMR and years of potential life lost became stagnant or increased. Heart failure and hypertensive heart disease account for the greatest increases in premature deaths and the largest black-white disparities and have offset declines in ischemic heart disease. Early and targeted primary and secondary prevention and control of risk factors for heart disease, with a focus on groups at high risk, are needed to avoid these suboptimal trends beginning earlier in life.