Effects of In-Person Assistance vs Personalized Written Resources About Social Services on Household Social Risks and Child and Caregiver Health: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Social and economic contexts shape children's short- and long-term health. Efforts to address contextual risk factors are increasingly incorporated into pediatric health care. Objective: To compare the effectiveness of 2 social risk-related interventions. Design, Setting, and Participants: This randomized clinical trial included English- and/or Spanish-speaking caregiver-child dyads recruited from a pediatric urgent care clinic nested in a large, urban, safety-net hospital. Study recruitment, enrollment, and follow-up were conducted from July 18, 2016, to March 8, 2019. Data analysis was conducted from January 1, 2019, to January 20, 2020. Interventions: Following standardized social risk assessment, caregivers were randomly assigned to receive either written information regarding relevant government and community social services resources or comparable written information plus in-person assistance and follow-up focused on service access. Main Outcomes and Measures: Caregiver-reported number of social risk factors and child health 6 months after enrollment. Results: Among 611 caregiver-child dyads enrolled in the study, 302 dyads were randomized to the written resources group and 309 dyads were randomized to the written resources plus in-person assistance group. The mean (SD) age of children was 6.1 (5.0) years; 483 children (79.1%) were Hispanic; and 315 children (51.6%) were girls. There were no significant differences between groups in the effects of the interventions. In post hoc secondary analyses, the number of reported social risks decreased from baseline to 6-month follow-up in both groups: caregivers who received written resources alone reported a mean (SE) of 1.28 (0.19) fewer risks at follow-up, while those receiving written resources plus in-person assistance reported 1.74 (0.21) fewer risks at follow-up (both P < .001). In both groups, there were small but statistically significant improvements from baseline to follow-up in child health (mean [SE] change: written resources, 0.37 [0.07]; written resources plus in-person assistance, 0.24 [0.07]; both P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance: This randomized clinical trial compared 2 approaches to addressing social risks in a pediatric urgent care setting and found no statistically significant differences in the social risk and child and caregiver health effects of providing written resources at the point of care with vs without in-person longitudinal navigation services. Caregivers in both groups reported fewer social risks and improved child and caregiver health 6 months after the intervention. These findings deepen understanding of effective doses of social risk-related interventions. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02746393.

Markers of Alzheimer's Disease in Primary Visual Cortex in Normal Aging in Mice.

Aging is the principal risk factor for the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The hallmarks of AD are accumulation of the amyloid-ß peptide 1-42 (Aß42) and abnormal hyperphosphorylation of Tau (p-Tau) protein in different areas of the brain and, more recently reported, in the visual cortex. Recently, Aß42 peptide overproduction has been involved in visual loss. Similar to AD, in normal aging, there is a significant amyloid deposition related to the overactivation of the aforementioned mechanisms. However, the mechanisms associated with visual loss secondary to age-induced visual cortex affectation are not completely understood. Young and aged mice were used as model to analyze the presence of Aß42, p-Tau, glial-acidic fibrillary protein (GFAP), and presenilin-2, one of the main enzymes involved in Aß42 production. Our results show a significant increase of Aß42 deposition in aged mice in the following cells and/or tissues: endothelial cells and blood vessels and neurons of the visual cortex; they also show an increase of the expression of GFAP and presenilin-2 in this region. These results provide a comprehensive framework for the role of Aß42 in visual loss due to inflammation present with aging and offer some clues for fruitful avenues for the study of healthy aging.