The relationship between insurance and health outcomes of diabetes mellitus patients in Maryland: a retrospective archival record study.

BACKGROUND: Past studies examining the health outcomes of diabetes mellitus (DM) patients found that social determinants of health disparities were associated with variabilities in health outcomes. However, improving access to healthcare, such as health insurance, should mitigate negative health outcomes. The aim of the study was to explore the association between four types of health insurance, namely, Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS), Medicare Managed Care (MC), Private FFS, and Private MC plans, and the health outcomes of DM patients, controlling for patients' social determinants of health. METHODS: This is a retrospective cross-sectional archival record study to explore the relationships between types of health insurance and health outcomes of DM patients who were at least 65 years old, or the elderly. Data was drawn from the 2012 Maryland Clinical Public Use Data and received an exempt status from our Institutional Review Board. Elderly Maryland residents with chronic DM were included in the study, resulting in a sample size of 43,519 individuals. Predictor variables were four types of insurance and health outcome variables were length of hospital stay (LOS), 30-day readmission, and end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Control variables included hospital characteristics, patient characteristics, and social determinants of health. Student's t-tests determined the statistical differences for the control variables between the types of insurance. Multiple hierarchical regression analysis was applied to test the association between insurance plans and LOS, while logistic regression analyses were applied to test the association between insurance plans with 30-day readmission and ESRD. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: t-test results indicated minimal statistical differences between the health statuses of patients enrolled in different insurance plans. After factoring out the control variables, regression analyses indicated that Medicare FFS patients had the worst outcome for LOS, 30-day readmission, and ESRD rates. Although patients on Medicare MC plans had lower LOS, 30-day readmission, and ESRD rates compared to those on Medicare FFS, patients enrolled in Private MC plans had the lowest odds of a 30-day readmission and patients enrolled in Private FFS had the lowest odds of an ESRD. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggests that insurance plans were related to the health outcomes of elderly DM patients after considering their social determinants of health. Specifically, DM patients enrolled in managed care and private insurance plans had better health outcomes compared to those on Medicare FFS plans.

Videoconference fatigue? Exploring changes in fatigue after videoconference meetings during COVID-19.

In response to the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global health pandemic, many employees transitioned to remote work, which included remote meetings. With this sudden shift, workers and the media began discussing videoconference fatigue, a potentially new phenomenon of feeling tired and exhausted attributed to a videoconference. In the present study, we examine the nature of videoconference fatigue, when this phenomenon occurs, and what videoconference characteristics are associated with fatigue using a mixed-methods approach. Thematic analysis of qualitative responses indicates that videoconference fatigue exists, often in near temporal proximity to the videoconference, and is affected by various videoconference characteristics. Quantitative data were collected each hour during five workdays from 55 employees who were working remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Latent growth modeling results suggest that videoconferences at different times of the day are related to deviations in employee fatigue beyond what is expected based on typical fatigue trajectories. Results from multilevel modeling of 279 videoconference meetings indicate that turning off the microphone and having higher feelings of group belongingness are related to lower postvideoconference fatigue. Additional analyses suggest that higher levels of group belongingness are the most consistent protective factor against videoconference fatigue. Such findings have immediate practical implications for workers and organizations as they continue to navigate the still relatively new terrain of remote work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Examining the interplay of micro-break durations and activities for employee recovery: A mixed-methods investigation.

On a given workday, employees spend time at work doing tasks that are not work-related, potentially using these micro-breaks (i.e., short breaks that are less than 10 min) to attempt to recover depleted psychological resources such as energy and attention. However, most work break and recovery research has focused on how individuals recover from work during formal nonwork time with longer or unspecified time durations (e.g., lunch breaks, evenings, vacations), limiting theoretical and empirical understanding of whether employees can experience recovery within the workday via brief micro-breaks. In the current investigation, we first conducted interviews from 16 shift workers at a Fortune 500 company to develop research questions about how micro-breaks impact psychological resources and recovery experiences. We then used a randomized experiment with a sample of undergraduate students (n = 232) to test the impact of micro-break durations and activities on the recovery of psychological resources (i.e., energy and attention) and recovery experiences. Results show that some, but not all, micro-break conditions can help employees recover back to their baseline (i.e., prework task) levels of psychological resources following a micro-break. Overall, this experiment provides stronger levels of causal inference about the recovery process and presents new ideas regarding how micro-break durations influence well-being via psychological resource recovery. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Author Correction: A consensus-based transparency checklist.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Better together? Examining profiles of employee recovery experiences.

Employees are exposed to a wide variety of job demands that deplete personal resources and necessitate recovery. In light of this need, research on work recovery has focused on how distinct recovery experiences during postwork time relate to employee well-being. However, investigators have largely tested the effects of these experiences in isolation, neglecting the possibility that profiles of recovery experiences may exist and influence the recovery process. The current set of studies adopted a person-centered approach using latent profile analysis to understand whether unique constellations of recovery experiences-psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery, control, and problem-solving pondering-emerged for 2 samples of full-time employees. In Study 1, which involved a single-time-point assessment, we identified 4 unique profiles of recovery experiences, tested whether job demands (i.e., time pressure, role ambiguity) and job resources (i.e., job control) differentiated profile membership, and evaluated whether each profile uniquely related to employee well-being outcomes (i.e., emotional exhaustion, engagement, somatic complaints). In Study 2, which involved 2 time points, we replicated 3 of the 4 profiles observed in Study 1, and tested 2 additional antecedents rated by employees' supervisors: leader-member exchange and supervisor support for recovery. Across both studies, unique differences emerged in regard to antecedents and outcomes tied to recovery experience profile membership. (PsycINFO Database Record