Defining the Need for Causal Inference to Understand the Impact of Social Determinants of Health: A Primer on Behalf of the Consortium for the Holistic Assessment of Risk in Transplantation (CHART).

Objective: This study aims to introduce key concepts and methods that inform the design of studies that seek to quantify the causal effect of social determinants of health (SDOH) on access to and outcomes following organ transplant. Background: The causal pathways between SDOH and transplant outcomes are poorly understood. This is partially due to the unstandardized and incomplete capture of the complex interactions between patients, their neighborhood environments, the tertiary care system, and structural factors that impact access and outcomes. Designing studies to quantify the causal impact of these factors on transplant access and outcomes requires an understanding of the fundamental concepts of causal inference. Methods: We present an overview of fundamental concepts in causal inference, including the potential outcomes framework and direct acyclic graphs. We discuss how to conceptualize SDOH in a causal framework and provide applied examples to illustrate how bias is introduced. Results: There is a need for direct measures of SDOH, increased measurement of latent and mediating variables, and multi-level frameworks for research that examine health inequities across multiple health systems to generalize results. We illustrate that biases can arise due to socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, and incongruencies in language between the patient and clinician. Conclusions: Progress towards an equitable transplant system requires establishing causal pathways between psychosocial risk factors, access, and outcomes. This is predicated on accurate and precise quantification of social risk, best facilitated by improved organization of health system data and multicenter efforts to collect and learn from it in ways relevant to specialties and service lines.

Time Period of Treatment's Effect on the Association Between Race and Survival in Patients With Malignant Colorectal Adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer is one of the most common malignancies diagnosed in the United States, with 126,240 new cases diagnosed in 2020. Past studies have shown that disparities may exist between certain patient populations, but it is unknown how they are affected over time as treatments evolve. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the decade of treatment modifies the association between race and five-year survival in adults diagnosed and treated for malignant colorectal adenocarcinomas since the 1970s. METHODS: This was a non-concurrent retrospective cohort study using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database of the National Cancer Institute. The inclusion criteria involved patients with primary malignant colorectal adenocarcinoma between the years 1975 and 2018. Exclusion criteria included previous malignancies or missing information on any of the variables. The exposure variable was the patient's race, and the main outcome variable was average five-year survival rates. The effect modifier was the time period in which the patient received treatment. The covariates of the study included age, sex, Hispanic status, surgical intervention recommendation, and disease stage. Unadjusted and adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using Cox regression models. RESULTS: As the interaction term between race/ethnicity and year of diagnosis was statistically significant, the data were stratified according to year of diagnosis. Black patients in both time periods had a higher mortality rate from malignant colorectal carcinoma after adjustment for the covariates (1975-1990: HR 1.10, 95% CI 1.06-1.15; 1991-2018: HR 1.19, 95% CI 1.16-1.23) when compared with White patients. American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Asian patients were found to have lower mortality in both time periods when compared with White patients (1975-1990: HR 0.90, 95% CI 0.85-0.95; 1991-2018: HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.89-0.96). CONCLUSION: Our data found that despite the evolution in the standard of care treatment for malignant colorectal adenocarcinoma since the year 1975, Black patients had lower five-year survival rates when compared with their White counterparts as well as increased rates of being diagnosed with this disease. Overall, addressing these disparities in colorectal cancer outcomes is critical for improving public health and reducing healthcare costs.

[Equity in access to health-services in Antioquia, Colombia]. / Equidad en el Acceso a Servicios de Salud en Antioquia, Colombia.

OBJECTIVE: Analysing equity in access to health care in Antioquia, Colombia. METHODS: Poorer and richer groups' access to health-care was evaluated, as was that of people with insurance and those without it. A Logit model was estimated for analysing the main determinants of access to curative and preventative health-care services; explanatory variables were socioeconomic status, education level, self-reported health status, age, gender, urban/rural location and social security affiliation. RESULTS: There was no difference in health-care service access amongst people affiliated to contribution-based and subsidised regimes. However, financial constraints represented important obstacles for subsidised regime members and those having no affiliation. Contribution-based regime members had greater resources for continuing to receive attention. There was positive bias in using preventative services thereby favouring people having higher socioeconomic status. CONCLUSIONS: Educational level, age and being affiliated to social security were the main factors explaining health-care service access. Gender, self-reported health status and geographical location were additional factors explaining preventative health-service access.

Equidad en el Acceso a Servicios de Salud en Antioquia, Colombia / Equity in access to health-services in Antioquia, Colombia

Objetivo Analizar la equidad en el acceso a servicios de salud en Antioquia así como sus principales determinantes. Metodología para el análisis descriptivo se discriminan variables de acceso a servicios de salud por nivel socioeconómico y tipo de afiliación. Para identificar los determinantes del acceso a servicio de salud se construye un modelo Logit cuyas variables explicativas son el estatus socioeconómico, edad, educación, género, ubicación urbano/rural, estado de salud autorreportado y tipo de afiliación a la seguridad social. Resultados Ante la necesidad de buscar atención no se observan diferencias entre afiliados al régimen contributivo y subsidiado, pero sí entre éstos y los no afiliados. Las barreras financieras se constituyen en el principal obstáculo para no acceder a servicios de salud para los afiliados al régimen subsidiado y los no afiliados. Se evidencian inequidades entre afiliados y no afiliados, en tanto los del régimen contributivo tienen mayores facilidades para continuar con la atención. Existe un sesgo positivo en el acceso a servicios de salud preventivos que favorece los de mejor situación económica. Conclusiones La educación, edad y tipo de afiliación a la seguridad social son los principales factores que inciden sobre el acceso a servicios curativos y preventivos. El género, estado de salud autorreportado y ubicación geográfica son factores adicionales para explicar el acceso a servicios preventivos, pero que no inciden en el acceso a servicios curativos.

Objective Analysing equity in access to health care in Antioquia, Colombia. Methods Poorer and richer groups' access to health-care was evaluated, as was that of people with insurance and those without it. A Logit model was estimated for analysing the main determinants of access to curative and preventative health-care services; explanatory variables were socioeconomic status, education level, self-reported health status, age, gender, urban/rural location and social security affiliation. Results There was no difference in health-care service access amongst people affiliated to contribution-based and subsidised regimes. However, financial constraints represented important obstacles for subsidised regime members and those having no affiliation. Contribution-based regime members had greater resources for continuing to receive attention. There was positive bias in using preventative services thereby favouring people having higher socioeconomic status. Conclusions Educational level, age and being affiliated to social security were the main factors explaining health-care service access. Gender, self-reported health status and geographical location were additional factors explaining preventative health-service access.

Linfadenectomía retroperitoneal económica en tumor testicular no seminomatoso etapa clínica A: efectos sobre la eyaculación / Economic retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy in non seminomatous testicular tumors stage A: effects in ejaculation

Se presenta una serie de 10 linfadenectomías retroperitoneales en tumores no seminoma etapa A, en quienes se utiliza una técnica económica. Obtienen conservación de la eyaculación en 9 de los 10 casos