Sociodemographic Factors of Asthma Prevalence and Costs Among Children and Adolescents in the United States, 2016-2021.

Introduction: Asthma is a chronic condition with a high prevalence and cost of care among children and adolescents. While previous research described the association of sociodemographic factors with childhood asthma prevalence, there is limited knowledge of these factors' association with medical expenditures. In this study, we examined disparities in treated asthma prevalence and medical expenditures among US children and adolescents. Methods: Using nationally representative data from the 2016-2021 Medical Expenditures Panel Survey, we conducted a cross-sectional study of 2,365 children and adolescents (aged 0-17 y) with treated asthma compared with 40,497 children and adolescents without treated asthma. Treated asthma was defined as whether the child or adolescent had a medical event (emergency department visit, hospital inpatient stay, hospital outpatient visit, office-based medical visit, home health, and/or prescribed medicines) due to asthma. We controlled for sociodemographic factors of race and ethnicity, age, sex, health insurance coverage, family poverty status, and census region. We used 2-part models and generalized linear models to estimate annual per-person incremental medical expenditures associated with asthma. Results: Children and adolescents with treated asthma were more likely than those without treated asthma to be non-Hispanic Black or Hispanic, male, and publicly insured. Children and adolescents with treated asthma had $3,362.56 in additional annual medical expenditures, of which $174.06 was out-of-pocket, compared with children and adolescents without treated asthma. The additional expenditures included $955.96 for prescribed medicines, $151.52 for emergency department visits, and $858.17 for office-based medical visits. Non-Hispanic Black children with treated asthma had significantly lower total ($2,721.28) and office-based visit expenditures ($803.19) than non-Hispanic White children with treated asthma. Conclusion: Disparities among children and adolescents in the US persist in treated asthma prevalence and associated medical expenditures by sociodemographic factors.

Preventable Emergency Department Visits of Patients with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias During the COVID-19 Pandemic by Hospital-Based Health Information Exchange.

Background: This study examined the relationship between hospital-based electronic health information exchange (HIE) and the likelihood of having a preventable emergency department (ED) visit during the COVID-19 pandemic for US patients with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). Methods: We used multi-level data from six states. The linked data sets included the 2020 State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD), the Area Health Resources File, the American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey, and the AHA Information Technology Supplement to study 85,261 hospital discharges from patients with ADRD. Logistic regression models were produced to determine the odds of having a preventable ED visit among patients with ADRD. Results: Our final sample included 85,261 hospital discharges from patients with ADRD. Patients treated in hospitals that received more types of clinical information for treating patients with COVID-19 from outside providers (OR = 0.961, p < .05) and/or hospitals that received COVID-19 test results from more outside entities were significantly less likely to encounter preventable EDs (OR = 0.964, p < .05), especially among patients who also had multiple chronic conditions (MCC) (OR = 0.89, p = .001; OR = 0.856, p < .001). Conclusion: Our results suggest that electronic HIE may be useful for reducing preventable ED visits during the COVID-19 pandemic for people with ADRD and ADRD alongside MCC.

Availability and use of telehealth services among patients with ADRD enrolled in traditional Medicare vs. Medicare advantage during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The objective of this study was to examine differences in availability and use of telehealth services among Medicare enrollees according to Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) status and enrollment in Medicare Advantage (MA) versus Traditional Medicare (TM) during the period surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of data from community-dwelling MA and TM enrollees with and without ADRD from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) Fall 2020 and Winter 2021 COVID-19 Supplement Public Use Files. We examined self-reported availability of telehealth service before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and use of telehealth services during COVID-19. We analyzed marginal effects under multivariable logistic regression. Results: There were 13,700 beneficiaries with full-year enrollment in MA (6,046) or TM (7,724), 518 with ADRD and 13,252 without ADRD. Telehealth availability during COVID-19 was positively associated with having a higher income (2.81 pp. [percentage points]; 95% CI: 0.57, 5.06), having internet access (7.81 pp.; 95% CI: 4.96, 10.66), and owning telehealth-related technology (3.86; 95% CI: 1.36, 6.37); it was negatively associated with being of Black Non-Hispanic ethnicity (-8.51 pp.; 95% CI: -12.31, -4.71) and living in a non-metro area (-8.94 pp.; 95% CI: -13.29, -4.59). Telehealth availability before COVID-19 was positively associated with being of Black Non-Hispanic ethnicity (9.34 pp.; 95% CI: 3.74, 14.94) and with enrollment in MA (4.72 pp.; 95% CI: 1.63, 7.82); it was negatively associated having dual-eligibility (-5.59 pp.; 95% CI: -9.91, -1.26). Telehealth use was positively associated with being of Black Non-Hispanic ethnicity (6.47 pp.; 95% CI: 2.92, 10.01); it was negatively associated with falling into the age group of 75+ years (-4.98 pp.; 95% CI: -7.27, -2.69) and with being female (-4.98 pp.; 95% CI: -7.27, -2.69). Conclusion: Telehealth services were available to and used by Medicare enrollees with ADRD to a similar extent compared to their non-ADRD counterparts. Telehealth services were available to MA enrollees to a greater extent before COVID-19 but not during COVID-19, and this group did not use telehealth services more than TM enrollees during COVID-19.

Association of APOE gene with longitudinal changes of CSF amyloid beta and tau levels in Alzheimer's disease: racial differences.

BACKGROUND: The Apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele is a risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, no investigation has focused on racial differences in the longitudinal effect of APOE genotypes on CSF amyloid beta (Aß42) and tau levels in AD. METHODS: This study used data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI): 222 participants with AD, 264 with cognitive normal (CN), and 692 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) at baseline and two years follow-up. We used a linear mixed model to investigate the effect of APOE-ε4-genotypes on longitudinal changes in the amyloid beta and tau levels. RESULTS: Individuals with 1 or 2 APOE ε4 alleles revealed significantly higher t-Tau and p-Tau, but lower amyloid beta Aß42 compared with individuals without APOE ε4 alleles. Significantly higher levels of log-t-Tau, log-p-Tau, and low levels of log-Aß42 were observed in the subjects with older age, being female, and the two diagnostic groups (AD and MCI). The higher p-Tau and Aß42 values are associated with poor Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) performance. Non-Hispanic Africa American (AA) and Hispanic participants were associated with decreased log-t-Tau levels (ß = - 0.154, p = 0.0112; ß = - 0.207, and p = 0.0016, respectively) as compared to those observed in Whites. Furthermore, Hispanic participants were associated with a decreased log-p-Tau level (ß = - 0.224, p = 0.0023) compared to those observed in Whites. There were no differences in Aß42 level for non-Hispanic AA and Hispanic participants compared with White participants. CONCLUSION: Our study, for the first time, showed that the APOE ε4 allele was associated with these biomarkers, however with differing degrees among racial groups.

Early-onset alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use with age at onset of hypertension: a survival analysis.

PURPOSE: To examine the associations of age when first substance use and early-onset substance use before age 18 with age at onset (AAO) of hypertension. METHODS: This study included 19,270 individuals with AAO of hypertension from the 2015-2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Age when first use of 10 substance use variables included alcohol, daily cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, marijuana, cocaine, hallucinogens, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), inhalants, and methamphetamine use. The outcome was AAO of hypertension and variable cluster analysis was used to classify the exposures and outcome. Substance use status was classified into three categories: early-onset substance use (first used substance before age 18), late-onset substance use (first used substance after age 18), and never used. RESULTS: The mean AAO of hypertension was 42.7 years. Age when first use of 10 substance use variables had significant correlations with AAO of hypertension (all p values < 0.001). Individuals with early-onset alcohol, cigars, smokeless tobacco, marijuana, hallucinogens, inhalants, cocaine, LSD, and methamphetamine use revealed significantly earlier onset of hypertension than those never used. Compared with never used substances, the Cox regression model showed that early-onset alcohol, smokeless tobacco, marijuana, inhalants, and methamphetamine use had an increased risk of AAO of hypertension [hazard ratio (HR) (95%CI) = 1.22 (1.13, 1.31), 1.36 (1.24, 1.49), 1.85 (1.75, 1.95), 1.41 (1.30, 1.52), and 1.27 (1.07,1.50), respectively]. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that intervention strategies or programs focusing on preventing early-onset substance use before age 18 may delay the onset of adult hypertension.

Deep learning analysis of UPLC-MS/MS-based metabolomics data to predict Alzheimer's disease.

OBJECTIVE: Metabolic biomarkers can potentially inform disease progression in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The purpose of this study is to identify and describe a new set of diagnostic biomarkers for developing deep learning (DL) tools to predict AD using Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS)-based metabolomics data. METHODS: A total of 177 individuals, including 78 with AD and 99 with cognitive normal (CN), were selected from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) cohort along with 150 metabolomic biomarkers. We performed feature selection using the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO). The H2O DL function was used to build multilayer feedforward neural networks to predict AD. RESULTS: The LASSO selected 21 metabolic biomarkers. To develop DL models, the 21 biomarkers identified by LASSO were imported into the H2O package. The data was split into 70% for training and 30% for validation. The best DL model with two layers and 18 neurons achieved an accuracy of 0.881, F1-score of 0.892, and AUC of 0.873. Several metabolomic biomarkers involved in glucose and lipid metabolism, in particular bile acid metabolites, were associated with APOE-ε4 allele and clinical biomarkers (Aß42, tTau, pTau), cognitive assessments [the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale 13 (ADAS13), the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)], and hippocampus volume. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified a new set of diagnostic metabolomic biomarkers for developing DL tools to predict AD. These biomarkers may help with early diagnosis, prognostic risk stratification, and/or early treatment interventions for patients at risk for AD.

Sleep Apnea and Substance Use Disorders Associated with Co-Occurrence of Anxiety Disorder and Depression among U.S. Adults: Findings from the NSDUH 2008-2014.

Few studies have focused on sleep apnea and substance use disorders with co-occurrence of anxiety disorder and depression. This study included a total of 270,227 adults, 9268 with co-occurrence of anxiety disorder and depression in the past year, from the combined 2008-2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) data, which are the latest datasets with measures of anxiety disorder and sleep apnea. Weighted multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the associations between anxiety disorder and depression and their co-occurrence. Comorbidity was highly prevalent: 40.4% of those with depression also met the criteria for anxiety disorder, whereas 51.8% of those with anxiety disorder also met the criteria for depression. The prevalences of anxiety only and co-occurrence increased from 2008 to 2014. The prevalences of anxiety disorder only, depression only, and co-occurrence of anxiety disorder and depression in individuals with sleep apnea were 4.4%, 12.9%, and 12.2%, respectively, and the prevalences in substance use disorders were 6.4%, 9.4%, and 10.7%, respectively. The results showed that sleep apnea, substance use disorders, and nicotine dependence were significantly associated with increased odds of anxiety disorder, depression, and co-occurrence (all p values < 0.0001). Furthermore, several chronic diseases (asthma, bronchitis, hypertension, and heart disease) were associated with the co-occurrence of anxiety disorder and depression. These findings suggest clinicians and other healthcare providers consider screening for depression and anxiety with sleep apnea and substance use disorders for improved therapeutic outcomes.

Decreasing Racial Disparities in Preventable Emergency Department Visits Through Hospital Health Information Technology Patient Engagement Functionalities.

Introduction: Hospitals are a major source of care for underserved populations in the United States. However, little is known about how hospital-based health information technology (HIT) can improve the efficiency of care and reduce disparities. Objective: We examined the variation of preventable emergency department (ED) visits and associated racial disparities by hospital adoption of HIT patient engagement (HIT-PE) functionalities. Methods: This was an observational study of 6,543,514 non-Hispanic Black (Black) and non-Hispanic White (White) adult patients using 2019 datasets of seven states (Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Vermont, Wisconsin) from the State Emergency Department Databases, American Hospital Association Annual Survey & Information Technology Supplement, and Area Health Resources File. Results: High HIT-PE adoption was associated with lower rates of preventable ED (odds ratio [OR] = 0.992, p < 0.001). Specific HIT-PE functions such as importing medical records from other organizations into the patient portal (OR = 0.977, p < 0.001), electronically sending medical information to a third party (OR = 0.970, p < 0.001), and scheduling appointments online (OR = 0.987, p < 0.001) were also associated with reduced preventable ED rates. Black patients had higher rates of preventable ED compared with Whites (OR = 1.386, p < 0.001); however, the interaction of Black patients and high HIT-PE adoption was associated with lower rates of preventable ED (OR = 0.977, p < 0.001). Our results also showed that higher HIT-PE adoption was associated with a reduction in preventable ED visits among Black patients with comorbidities and Black patients living in low-income areas. Conclusions: The results of our study suggest that there is potential to reduce preventable ED rates and racial disparities through hospital-based HIT-PE functionalities.

Rural and urban disparities in potentially preventable hospitalizations among US patients with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias: Evidence of hospital-based telehealth and enabling services.

We examined urban and rural disparities in potentially preventable hospitalizations (PPHs) among US patients with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) and the use of telehealth post-discharge and enabling services as mediators. We merged 2017 100% Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) claims with the Medicare Beneficiary Summary File, along with population and hospital-based characteristics. Logistic regression models were employed to examine differences in PPHs by telehealth and enabling services. The rates of PPHs related to acute and chronic conditions for patients with ADRD living in rural and micropolitan areas were significantly higher compared to patients with ADRD in urban areas. Telehealth post-discharge combined with enabling services significantly decreased the odds of PPHs associated with acute (OR: 0.93, 95% CI: 0.89-0.98, P-value <0.01) and chronic conditions (OR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.92-1.00, P-value = 0.07). In addition, telehealth post-discharge combined with enabling services significantly decreased the odds of PPHs in patients with ADRD in rural (acute PPHs OR: 0.56, 95% CI: 0.41-0.77, P-value <0.01; chronic PPHs OR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.55-0.97, P-value = 0.03) and micropolitan (acute PPHs OR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.57-0.73, P-value <0.01; chronic PPHs OR: 0.83, 95% CI: 0.74-0.93, P-value <0.01) areas. Our results suggest that the combinations of telehealth post-discharge and enabling services are important interventions in helping to reduce preventable hospitalizations among patients with ADRD living in rural and micropolitan areas.

Social experiences with mental health service use among US adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the associations of social experiences with mental health service use. AIM: This study aimed to classify social experiences variables in the past year and examine the associations of selected variables in social experiences with mental health service use among US adolescents. METHODS: A total of 13,038 adolescents (aged 12 to 17), of which 2208 received mental health services, were from the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Multivariate logistic regression (MLR) analysis was conducted. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of mental health service use was 16.1%. 44 variables on social experiences were grouped into 10 disjoint clusters and one variable from each cluster was selected for MLR analysis. Being female, African American, Hispanics, insured and having depression in the past year were associated with increased odds of mental health service use. Negative feelings about going to school, having a serious fight at school/work, active involvement in substance use help programs, knowledge of drug prevention, negative perceptions about the role of religious beliefs on life decisions were positively associated with mental health service use. CONCLUSION: Mental health service use is associated with feelings about school and peers, perceptions about drug use, and involvement in activities.

Exploring hospital-based health information technology functions for patients with Alzheimer's Disease and related Dementias.

This study investigated whether hospital-adopted health information technology (HIT) is associated with a reduction in the frequency of preventable emergency department (ED) visits for patients with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). We used data from the 2015 State Emergency Department Databases, Area Health Resources File, and the American Hospital Association Annual Survey Information Technology Supplement. We employed multivariable logistic regression models to examine the variation of the likelihood of having preventable ED visits by hospitals' adoption of HIT functions and adjusted for patient, hospital, and county-level factors. We focused on hospital-HIT functions related to patient engagement, routine integration and availability of electronic clinical information, frequency of hospital reported use of electronic patient information, and the provision of electronic notification to the patient's primary care provider. Approximately 23% of ADRD patients went to a hospital that often used electronic records from outside providers, and 75% of ADRD patients went to a hospital that provided electronic notification to the patient's primary care provider. Regression results showed that hospital reported use of electronic patient health information from outside providers (OR = 0.88; p < 0.001), provision of electronic notification to the patient's primary care physician inside and outside of the system (OR = 0.91; p = 0.013), and hospital-HIT patient engagement functionalities (OR = 0.90; p < 0.001) were associated with significantly lower preventable ED visit rates. The results of our study suggest that certain types of HIT functionalities may be useful for reducing preventable ED visits for ADRD patients.

Trends in Health Care Utilization and Expenditures in the United States Across 5 Decades: 1977-2017.

BACKGROUND: Health care expenditures in the United States are high and rising, with significant increases over the decades. The delivery, organization, and financing of the health care system has evolved over time due to technological innovation, policy changes, patient preferences, altering payment mechanisms, shifting demographics, and other factors. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine trends over time in health care utilization and expenditures in the United States. RESEARCH DESIGN: This analysis employs descriptive statistics to examine 5 decades of health care utilization and expenditure data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) for 1977-2017. MEASURES: Measures include utilization and expenditures (not charges) for inpatient, emergency department, outpatient physician, outpatient nonphysician, office-based physician, dental, and out-of-pocket retail prescription drugs. RESULTS: We demonstrate that while health care expenditures have increased significantly overall and by type of care, utilization trends are less pronounced. The population of the United States grew 53% between 1977 and 2017, while annual total expenditures on health care increased by 208%. Amidst attention to out-of-pocket exposure for unexpected medical care bills, out-of-pocket payments for care have declined from 32% in 1977 to 12% in 2017 but increased in amount. CONCLUSIONS: This article provides the first extended snapshot of the dynamics of health care utilization and expenditures in the United States. Aspects of health care are much different today than in previous decades, yet the inpatient setting still dominates the expenditures.

Decomposing Urban and Rural Disparities of Preventable ED Visits Among Patients With Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias: Evidence of the Availability of Health Care Resources.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the urban and rural differences in the frequency of preventable Emergency Department (ED) visits among Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) patients, with a focus on the availability of health care resources in urban and rural areas. METHODS: Linked datasets of 2015 State Emergency Department Databases from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project and the Area Health Resource File were used. ED discharges of 7 states were included in our analysis. We performed a state fixed-effect multivariable logistic regression to estimate the variation of preventable EDs by urban and rural areas. Individual characteristics and county-level health care resources were included in the estimation. The Oaxaca decomposition was used to quantify the association of county-level health care resources and urban/rural disparities. FINDINGS: Rural patients with ADRD had 1.23 higher adjusted odds (P < .001) of going to the ED for a preventable visit compared to urban counterparts. The decomposition results showed that the model specification explained 49.2% of the differences between urban and rural patients. Patient residence in a mental health professional shortage area is one of the driving factors (contributing to 27%-48%) that explained the urban and rural disparities. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates the importance of improving health care resources in rural areas to improve health care quality and outcomes among ADRD patients who reside in rural areas. Future research and data collection on unobserved factors, such as health care quality, will be helpful in explaining the geographic differences.

The Effect of Patient-Centered Communication and Racial Concordant Care on Care Satisfaction Among U.S. Immigrants.

Immigrants living in the United States experience disparities in satisfaction with medical care. Practicing patient-centered communication and providing racially (or race-concordant) concordant care are suggested as effective approaches to improve care satisfaction. Using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, we found that immigrant patients with medical providers who practiced patient-centered communication were more likely to be satisfied with the care they received regardless of patient-provider racial concordance, and that simply having racially concordant medical providers did not significantly affect the satisfaction level for immigrant patients. The findings suggest that providing patient-centered communication may mitigate racial and cultural differences between providers and patients, and is key to reducing disparities and improving immigrant patients' satisfaction level with medical care.

Accountable Care Hospitals and Preventable Emergency Department Visits for Rural Dementia Patients.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study examined urban/rural differences in the frequency of preventable emergency department (ED) visits among patients with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD), with a focus on the variation of accountable care organization (ACO) participation status for hospitals in urban and rural areas. DESIGN: We performed a cross-sectional study using the 2015 State Emergency Department Databases, the American Hospital Association Annual Survey of Hospitals, and the Area Health Resource File. Individual-, county-, and hospital-level characteristics and state fixed effects were used for model specification. SETTING: Patients with ADRD from seven states who visited the ED and had routine discharges. PARTICIPANTS: Our sample consisted of 117,196 patients with ADRD. MEASUREMENTS: The outcome was preventable ED visits classified using the New York University Emergency Department visit algorithm. We performed a multivariable logistic regression to estimate the variation of preventable ED visits by urban and rural areas. RESULTS: Rural patients with ADRD had 1.13 higher adjusted odds (P = .007) of going to the ED for a preventable visit compared with their urban counterparts. In addition, ACO-affiliated hospitals had .91 lower adjusted odds (P = .005) of preventable ED visits for ADRD patients compared with hospitals not affiliated with an ACO. Whole-county Mental Health Care Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) (odds ratio = 1.14; P = .002) designation was also an indicator of higher preventable ED rates. CONCLUSION: ACO delivery systems have the potential to decrease rural preventable ED visits among ADRD patients.

Gender differences in the associations of early onset poly tobacco and drug use prior to age 18 with the prevalence of adult bronchitis in the United States.

PURPOSE: We investigated the associations of early onset polysubstance use prior to age 18 with the prevalence of bronchitis among U.S. adults and tested whether the associations differ by gender. METHODS: A total of 77,950 adults, of them 2,653 with bronchitis in the past year, were from the combined 2013 and 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health data. The variable cluster analysis was used to classify nine variables about substance use prior to age 18 (cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, ecstasy, and phencyclidine). Weighted multivariate logistic regression analysis (MLR) was used to examine the associations with bronchitis. RESULTS: Nine variables were divided into two clusters: early onset poly tobacco use (three tobacco use variables) and early onset poly drug use (six drug use variables). The overall prevalence of bronchitis was 3.8% (5.1% for females and 2.3% for males). MLR analysis showed that being female, elderly (ages 65 and above), obese, and early onset poly tobacco use were associated with increased odds of bronchitis (p < 0.05). Gender-stratified analyses showed that early-onset poly tobacco use was significantly associated with bronchitis only in males, whereas early onset poly drug use was associated with bronchitis only in females. Moreover, obesity and tobacco use in the past year revealed associations with bronchitis regardless of gender. CONCLUSIONS: Obesity, early onset poly tobacco use prior to age 18, and tobacco use in the past year were positively associated with bronchitis; furthermore, the associations of early onset polysubstance use with bronchitis differed by gender, which indicated that gender differences should be considered in developing effective prevention strategies.

Variable reduction for past year alcohol and drug use in unmet need for mental health services among US adults.

BACKGROUND: No previous study has focused on the inter-relationship among alcohol and drug use variables in the past year. This study aimed to classify the past year alcohol and drug use variables and investigate the selected variables in past year alcohol and drug use with the unmet need for mental health services among US adults. METHODS: Data came from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Oblique principal component cluster analysis (OPCCA) was used to classify 37 variables on alcohol and drug use in the past year into disjoint clusters. Weighted multiple logistic regression analysis was used to examine the associations of selected variables with the unmet need. RESULTS: 37 alcohol and drug use variables were divided into 7 clusters. The variable with the lowest 1-R2 ratio (R2 is the squared correlation) from each cluster was selected as follows: tobacco use, pain reliever use, tranquilizer use, stimulant use, zolpidem products use, illicit drug and alcohol use, and benzodiazepine tranquilizers misuse. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that pain reliever use (OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.17-1.50), tranquilizer use (OR = 2.49, 95% CI = 2.16-2.86), stimulant use (OR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.01-1.47), and illicit drug and alcohol use (OR = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.34-1.77) revealed positive associations with the unmet need for mental health services. CONCLUSION: This is the first study using OPCCA to reduce the dominations of alcohol and drug use; several alcohol and drug use variables in the past year were associated with unmet need of mental health services.

Associations of health insurance coverage, mental health problems, and drug use with mental health service use in US adults: an analysis of 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of mental health service use among US adults, examine the associations of mental health service use with health insurance coverage, mental health problems and drug use, and detect health disparities. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study with 5,434 adults receiving mental health service out of 37,424 adult respondents from the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Weighted univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the associations of potential factors with mental health service use. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of mental health services use was 14.7%. Our results showed that being female, aging, having a major depressive episode, serious psychological distress, and illicit drug or alcohol abuse/dependence were positively associated with mental health service use; whereas being African American, Asian or Hispanic ethnicity, married, and having any form of insurance were negatively associated with mental health service use . Stratified analysis by insurance types showed that Medicaid/CHIP, CHAMPUS, and other insurance were positively associated with mental health service use. CONCLUSIONS: Health insurance coverage, mental health problems, and drug abuse or dependence were associated with mental health service use in US adults. Furthermore, adults with different insurances had disparities in access of mental health service.

Quantitative DNA Methylation Analysis of DLGAP2 Gene using Pyrosequencing in Schizophrenia with Tardive Dyskinesia: A Linear Mixed Model Approach.

Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a side effect of antipsychotic medications used to treat schizophrenia (SCZ) and other mental health disorders. No study has previously used pyrosequencing to quantify DNA methylation levels of the DLGAP2 gene; while the quantitative methylation levels among CpG sites within a gene may be correlated. To deal with the correlated measures among three CpG sites within the DLGAP2 gene, this study analyzed DNA methylation levels of the DLGAP2 gene using a linear mixed model (LMM) in a Chinese sample consisting of 35 SCZ patients with TD, 35 SCZ without TD (NTD) and 34 healthy controls (HCs) collected in Beijing, China. The initial analysis using the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test revealed that three groups (TD, NTD and HC) had significant differences in DNA methylation level for CpG site 2 (p = 0.0119). Furthermore, the average methylation levels among the three CpG sites showed strong correlations (all p values < 0.0001). In addition, using the LMM, three groups had significant differences in methylation level (p = 0.0027); while TD, NTD and TD + NTD groups showed higher average methylation levels than the HC group (p = 0.0024, 0.0151, and 0.0007, respectively). In conclusion, the LMM can accommodate a covariance structure. The findings of this study provide first evidence of DNA methylation levels in DLGAP2 associated with SCZ with TD in Chinese population. However, TD just showed borderline significant differences to NTD in this study.

Gender disparities in the associations of behavioral factors, serious psychological distress and chronic diseases with type 2 diabetes screening among US adults.

BACKGROUND: The increasing prevalence of undiagnosed and diagnosed type 2 diabetes (T2D) posed a major challenge for public health and thus screening for T2D becomes essentially important. The social-demographical factors associated with the use of T2D screening have been widely studied, however, little is known about the impact of behavioral factors, mental health and chronic diseases on prevalence of screening, especially by gender and age groups. METHODS: We investigated the impact of behavioral factors, mental health and chronic diseases across gender and age groups on the usage rate of T2D screening. To analyze the likelihood of the use of T2D screening, we performed weighted binomial logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Obesity, physical activity and smoking increased the use of T2D screening for females more than for males, and alcohol use increased screenings only for females. Serious psychological distress (SPD) was found to have a positive association with the use of T2D screening for females rather than for males; whereas hypertension and diabetes increased the use of T2D screening for males more than for females. Physical activity was an effective predictor of screening for T2D in the groups of 45-64 years and 65 years or older. Former drinking was positively associated with T2D screening for people aged 65 or older, and smoking was found to increase the odds of screening for T2D for people aged less than 65. CONCLUSIONS: Behavioral factors, mental health, and chronic diseases were significantly associated with the use of T2D screening and further demonstrated that gender differences exist in the role of above factors.