The Influence of Gentrification on Adverse Birth Outcomes in California.

Evidence has documented the effects of place on perinatal outcomes, but less is known about the sociopolitical mechanisms, such as gentrification, that shape neighborhood context and produce spatialized inequities in adverse birth outcomes. Leveraging a diverse sample in California, we assessed the associations between gentrification and birth outcomes: preterm birth, small-for-gestational-age, and low birth weight. Gentrification was measured using the Freeman method and the Displacement and Gentrification Typology. Descriptive analysis assessed outcome prevalence and race and ethnicity distribution by exposure and participant characteristics. Overall and race and ethnicity-stratified mixed effects logistic models examined associations between gentrification and birth outcomes, sequentially adjusting for sociodemographic status and pregnancy factors, with a random intercept to account for clustering by census tract. In a sample of 5,116,131 births, outcome prevalence ranged from 1.0% for very preterm birth, 5.0% for low birth weight, 7.9% for preterm birth, and 9.4% for small-for-gestational-age. Adjusting for individual-level factors, gentrification was associated with increased odds of preterm birth (Freeman OR = 1.09, 95% CI 1.07-1.10; Displacement and Gentrification Typology OR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.09-1.13). While Displacement and Gentrification Typology-measured gentrification was consistently associated with greater odds of adverse outcomes, Freeman-measured gentrification was associated with slightly lower odds of small-for-gestational-age and low birth weight. Furthermore, gentrification was associated with birth outcome odds across multiple racial and ethnic groups, but the directions and magnitudes of the associations varied depending on the gentrification assessment methodology and the outcome assessed. Results demonstrate that gentrification plays a role in shaping adverse birth outcomes in California.

Disparities in Documentation: Evidence of Race-Based Biases in the Electronic Medical Record.

Personal implicit biases may contribute to inequitable health outcomes, but the mechanisms of these effects are unclear at a system level. This study aimed to determine whether stigmatizing subjective terms in electronic medical records (EMR) reflect larger societal racial biases. A cross-sectional study was conducted using natural language processing software of all documentation where one or more predefined stigmatizing words were used between January 1, 2019 and June 30, 2021. EMR from emergency care and inpatient encounters in a metropolitan healthcare system were analyzed, focused on the presence or absence of race-based differences in word usage, either by specific terms or by groupings of negative or positive terms based on the common perceptions of the words. The persistence ("stickiness") of negative and/or positive characterizations in subsequent encounters for an individual was also evaluated. Final analyses included 12,238 encounters for 9135 patients, ranging from newborn to 104 years old. White (68%) vs Black/African American (17%) were the analyzed groups. Several negative terms (e.g., noncompliant, disrespectful, and curse words) were significantly more frequent in encounters with Black/African American patients. In contrast, positive terms (e.g., compliant, polite) were statistically more likely to be in White patients' documentation. Independent of race, negative characterizations were twice as likely to persist compared with positive ones in subsequent encounters. The use of stigmatizing language in documentation mirrors the same race-based inequities seen in medical outcomes and larger sociodemographic trends. This may contribute to observed healthcare outcome differences by disseminating one's implicit biases to unknown future healthcare providers.

Racial, Ethnic, and Language Inequities in Ambulatory Pediatrics Patient Family Experience.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association of patient race, patient-provider racial congruence, patient ethnicity, and family primary language with patient family experience (PFE) survey responses. METHODS: Cross-sectional review of PFE survey responses from all ambulatory medical encounters at a large, urban children's hospital system June 1, 2020-May 31, 2022. Exposures were patient race, patient-provider racial congruence, patient ethnicity, and family primary language. We adjusted analyses for neighborhood-level socioeconomic deprivation, patient sex and age, encounter specialty, and location of care. Outcomes were PFE survey scores for 5 questions focused on overall experience, respect, and safety; categorized using industry standard metric of presence of a "top-box" score, defined as a 9 or 10 for questions on an 11-point scale or as 4 on a 4-point scale. RESULTS: We included 89,175 surveys (15.6% response rate). The odds of having optimal, "top-box" responses for several assessed questions were lower for patients identified as Asian (e.g., adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.46; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.40, 0.52) or Black (e.g., OR 0.65; CI 0.60, 0.70) compared to White, and for Hispanic (e.g., OR 0.84; CI 0.72, 0.97) compared to non-Hispanic. Similarly, the odds of having "top-box" scores were lower for Spanish-primary-language (e.g., OR 0.38; CI 0.30, 0.48) compared to English-primary-language patients. Patient-provider racial congruence had higher odds of "top-box" responses for 2 of 5 assessed questions (e.g., OR 1.18; CI 1.04, 1.35). CONCLUSIONS: We found previously unreported inequities in ambulatory pediatric PFE outcomes, with worse experiences reported by Asian, Black, Hispanic, and Spanish-language patients.

The Impact of Structural Racism on Continuity of Care at Pediatric Academic Primary Care Clinics.

OBJECTIVE: Using a structural racism framework, we assessed racial inequities in continuity of care, using the Usual Provider Continuity Index (UPC - the proportion of visits with the provider the patient saw most frequently out of all visits), in a set of large pediatric academic clinics. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study. Patients 12-24 months seen at three pediatric academic primary care clinics for any visit during October 1-31, 2021 were included. We then reviewed continuity for these patients in the preceding 12 months. Outcomes included each patient's UPC for all visits, and a modified UPC for well child checks only (UPC Well). Covariates included race, ethnicity, insurance, clinic site, age, sex, care management, or seeing a social worker. We evaluated for differences in outcomes using bivariate analyses and multivariable regression models. RESULTS: Our cohort included 356 patients (74% Black, 5% Hispanic, 85% Medicaid, 52% female, median age 15.8 months). The median UPC was 0.33 and median UPC Well was 0.40. Black patients had significantly lower median values for UPC (0.33 Black vs 0.40 non-Black, P < .01) and UPC Well (0.33 Black vs 0.50 non-Black, P < .01). There were similar inequities in continuity rates by insurance and clinic site. In multivariable models, clinic site was the only variable significantly associated with continuity. CONCLUSIONS: Clinic sites serving higher percentages of Black patients had lower rates of continuity. The main driver of racial inequities in continuity rates was at the institutional level.

The physiological toll of arrests: An examination of arrest history on midlife allostatic load.

PURPOSE: To understand how allostatic load - cumulative physiologic burden of stress - varies by amount and timing of arrests stratified by race/ethnicity and by sex. METHODS: Using The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we calculated descriptive statistics and mean differences in bio-marker measured allostatic load by arrest history stratified by race/ethnicity and sex. RESULTS: One-third of participants experienced at least one arrest, and most experienced arrests only as adults. Allostatic load scores were higher for those that had ever experienced an arrest compared to never (mean difference: 0.58 (0.33, 0.84)). Similar results held for men and women and across race/ethnicity, but Black non-Hispanic individuals had higher allostatic load at all levels compared to other individuals. CONCLUSIONS: Experiencing both any arrest and multiple arrests were associated with higher allostatic load. The stress of arrests may contribute to physiological maladaptations and poor health. The public health and law enforcement fields must recognize the detrimental consequences of arrests on physiological stress and search for non-carceral solutions.

A Qualitative Exploration of Self-Advocacy Experiences of Black Women in the Perinatal Period: Who Is Listening?

INTRODUCTION: Black women face poor maternal health outcomes including being over 3 times more likely to die from pregnancy complications than White women. Yet the lived experience of how these women self-advocate has not been clearly explored. The goal of this cross-sectional qualitative study was to describe the lived experiences of Black women advocating for their needs and priorities during the perinatal period. METHODS: Between January and October of 2022, we recruited Black women from obstetric clinics, research registries, and community advocacy groups who were either in their third trimester of pregnancy or within a year postpartum. Participants completed one-on-one interviews describing their experiences of self-advocacy. These data were analyzed using descriptive content analysis approaches that summarized women's experiences by iteratively creating major themes and subthemes that encapsulate their self-advocacy descriptions. RESULTS: Fifteen Black women completed interviews. Major themes and subthemes describing women's experience of self-advocacy were the following: (1) carrying a burden with subthemes of having to be good and easy, not trusting health care information and providers, and being dismissed; (2) building comfort with health care providers with subthemes of trusting I have a good provider, comfort in knowing they understand, and wanting low-touch, high-concern care; and (3) advocating for my child and myself when I need to with subthemes of going with the flow, becoming informed, pushing to ask questions, and balancing being proactive and pushy. DISCUSSION: Women reported self-advocating mainly due to experiences related to the burdens associated with not trusting providers and health care information. These findings provide clarity to how women carefully balance between ensuring their health is taken seriously while not jeopardizing their health or that of their newborn. This study offers promising directions to support Black women in advocating for their perinatal health care needs and values.

Healthcare disparities encountered by patients with headache disorders and potential mitigation strategies.

This chapter discusses the healthcare disparities in headache medicine and proposes solutions to mitigate them. Disparities exist in the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of underserved patients with migraine and other headache disorders. Systemic racism, provider bias and lack of cultural sensitivity, a history of mistrust and historical injustices, lack of research of underrepresented groups, lack of diversity in clinical and research realms as well as leadership positions within national institutions and organizations all contribute to the ongoing disparities in headache medicine. Making strides in increasing the diversity of the clinical and research workforce, training providers on cultural sensitivity, providing mentorship programs to underrepresented groups in headache medicine, increasing funding for headache medicine disparity research, and facilitating participation of underrepresented groups in research are all potential ways to address disparities.

Racial Inequities in the Control of Hypertension and the Explanatory Role of Residential Segregation: a Decomposition Analysis in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil).

The mechanisms underlying racial inequities in uncontrolled hypertension have been limited to individual factors. We investigated racial inequities in uncontrolled hypertension and the explanatory role of economic segregation in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil). All 3897 baseline participants with hypertension (2008-2010) were included. Uncontrolled hypertension (SBP ≥ 140 mmHg or DBP ≥ 90 mmHg), self-reported race (White/Brown/Black people), and neighborhood economic segregation (low/medium/high) were analyzed cross-sectionally. We used decomposition analysis, which describes how much a disparity would change (disparity reduction; explained portion) and remain (disparity residual; unexplained portion) upon removing racial differences in economic segregation (i.e., if Black people had the distribution of segregation of White people, how much we would expect uncontrolled hypertension to decrease among Black people). Age- and gender-adjusted prevalence of uncontrolled hypertension (39.0%, 52.6%, and 54.2% for White, Brown, and Black participants, respectively) remained higher for Black and Brown vs White participants, regardless of economic segregation. Uncontrolled hypertension showed a dose-response pattern with increasing segregation levels for White but not for Black and Brown participants. After adjusting for age, gender, education, and study center, unexplained portion (disparity residual) of race on uncontrolled hypertension was 18.2% (95% CI 13.4%; 22.9%) for Black vs White participants and 12.6% (8.2%; 17.1%) for Brown vs White participants. However, explained portion (disparity reduction) through economic segregation was - 2.1% (- 5.1%; 1.3%) for Black vs White and 0.5% (- 1.7%; 2.8%) for Brown vs White participants. Although uncontrolled hypertension was greater for Black and Brown vs White people, racial inequities in uncontrolled hypertension were not explained by economic segregation.

Lessons Learned from Immigrant Health Cohorts: A Review of the Evidence and Implications for Policy and Practice in Addressing Health Inequities among Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.

The health of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) is uniquely impacted by structural and social determinants of health (SSDH) shaped by immigration policies and colonization practices, patterns of settlement, and racism. These SSDH also create vast heterogeneity in disease risks across the AANHPI population, with some ethnic groups having high disease burden, often masked with aggregated data. Longitudinal cohort studies are an invaluable tool to identify risk factors of disease, and epidemiologic cohort studies among AANHPI populations have led to seminal discoveries of disease risk factors. This review summarizes the limited but growing literature, with a focus on SSDH factors, from seven longitudinal cohort studies with substantial AANHPI samples. We also discuss key information gaps and recommendations for the next generation of AANHPI cohorts, including oversampling AANHPI ethnic groups; measuring and innovating on measurements of SSDH; emphasizing the involvement of scholars from diverse disciplines; and, most critically, engaging community members to ensure relevancy for public health, policy, and clinical impact.

Abortion Rights and the Child Welfare System: How Dobbs Exacerbates Existing Racial Inequities and Further Traumatizes Black Families.

This article explores how abortion bans in states with large Black populations will exacerbate existing racial inequities in those states' child welfare systems.

Clinical characteristics, racial inequities, and outcomes in patients with breast cancer and COVID-19: A COVID-19 and cancer consortium (CCC19) cohort study.

Background: Limited information is available for patients with breast cancer (BC) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), especially among underrepresented racial/ethnic populations. Methods: This is a COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19) registry-based retrospective cohort study of females with active or history of BC and laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection diagnosed between March 2020 and June 2021 in the US. Primary outcome was COVID-19 severity measured on a five-level ordinal scale, including none of the following complications, hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, mechanical ventilation, and all-cause mortality. Multivariable ordinal logistic regression model identified characteristics associated with COVID-19 severity. Results: 1383 female patient records with BC and COVID-19 were included in the analysis, the median age was 61 years, and median follow-up was 90 days. Multivariable analysis revealed higher odds of COVID-19 severity for older age (aOR per decade, 1.48 [95% CI, 1.32-1.67]); Black patients (aOR 1.74; 95 CI 1.24-2.45), Asian Americans and Pacific Islander patients (aOR 3.40; 95 CI 1.70-6.79) and Other (aOR 2.97; 95 CI 1.71-5.17) racial/ethnic groups; worse ECOG performance status (ECOG PS ≥2: aOR, 7.78 [95% CI, 4.83-12.5]); pre-existing cardiovascular (aOR, 2.26 [95% CI, 1.63-3.15])/pulmonary comorbidities (aOR, 1.65 [95% CI, 1.20-2.29]); diabetes mellitus (aOR, 2.25 [95% CI, 1.66-3.04]); and active and progressing cancer (aOR, 12.5 [95% CI, 6.89-22.6]). Hispanic ethnicity, timing, and type of anti-cancer therapy modalities were not significantly associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes. The total all-cause mortality and hospitalization rate for the entire cohort was 9% and 37%, respectively however, it varied according to the BC disease status. Conclusions: Using one of the largest registries on cancer and COVID-19, we identified patient and BC-related factors associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes. After adjusting for baseline characteristics, underrepresented racial/ethnic patients experienced worse outcomes compared to non-Hispanic White patients. Funding: This study was partly supported by National Cancer Institute grant number P30 CA068485 to Tianyi Sun, Sanjay Mishra, Benjamin French, Jeremy L Warner; P30-CA046592 to Christopher R Friese; P30 CA023100 for Rana R McKay; P30-CA054174 for Pankil K Shah and Dimpy P Shah; KL2 TR002646 for Pankil Shah and the American Cancer Society and Hope Foundation for Cancer Research (MRSG-16-152-01-CCE) and P30-CA054174 for Dimpy P Shah. REDCap is developed and supported by Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research grant support (UL1 TR000445 from NCATS/NIH). The funding sources had no role in the writing of the manuscript or the decision to submit it for publication. Clinical trial number: CCC19 registry is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04354701.

Obstetrical health care inequities in a universally insured health care system.

BACKGROUND: Racial and ethnic disparities in health care exist and are rooted in long-standing systemic inequities. These disparities result in significant excess health care expenditures and are due to complex interactions between patients, health care providers and systems, and social and environmental factors. In perinatal care, these inequities also exist, with Black patients being 3 to 4 times more likely to die of childbirth compared with White patients. Similar health care inequities may also exist in the Military Health System despite universal health care coverage, stable employment, and social programs that benefit military families. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate racial disparities in obstetrical outcomes in the Military Health System. STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective cohort study of deliveries from 2019 to 2021 in the Military Health System, which provides obstetrical care for approximately 35,000 annual deliveries. The study was conducted using National Perinatal Information Center data on cesarean delivery, postpartum hemorrhage, and severe maternal morbidity by race and ethnicity from direct-care military hospitals representing tertiary care medical centers and community hospitals in the United States and abroad. Chi-square analyses and binary logistic regression were used to compare groups. RESULTS: The cohort included 68,918 deliveries. Of these, 32,358 (47%) were White, 9594 (13.9%) Black, 3120 (4.5%) Asian Pacific Islander, 456 (0.7%) American Indian/Alaska Native, 19,543 (28.4%) other, 3976 (5.8%) unknown, 7096 (10.3%) Hispanic, 58,009 (84.2%) non-Hispanic, and 4399 (6.4%) other ethnicity. Rates of cesarean delivery were significantly higher for Black (30%; odds ratio, 1.44; 95% confidence interval, 1.37-1.52), Asian Pacific Islander (27%; odds ratio, 1.24; 95% confidence interval, 1.14-1.35), and other (26%; odds ratio, 1.20; 95% confidence interval, 1.15-1.25) compared with White race (23%) (P<.001). Postpartum hemorrhage rates were higher for Black (5.9%; odds ratio, 1.11; 95% confidence interval, 1.00-1.24) and Asian Pacific Islander (7.7%; odds ratio, 1.49; 95% confidence interval, 1.29-1.72) compared with White race (5.3%) (P<.001). Severe maternal morbidity was higher for Black (2.9%; odds ratio, 1.44; 95% confidence interval, 1.24-1.67), Asian Pacific Islander (2.9%; odds ratio, 1.45; 95% confidence interval, 1.15-1.82), and other (2.8%; odds ratio, 1.36; 95% confidence interval, 1.21-1.54) compared with White race (2.1%) (P<.001). For severe maternal morbidity excluding blood transfusions, rates were also significantly higher for Black (1%; odds ratio, 1.68; 95% confidence interval, 1.30-2.17) than for White race (0.6%) (P<.002). Hispanic ethnicity was associated with a lower rate of severe maternal morbidity excluding transfusions (0.5%; odds ratio, 0.68; 95% confidence interval, 0.48-0.98) compared with non-Hispanic ethnicity (0.7%) (P=.04). CONCLUSION: Racial disparities in obstetrical outcomes exist in the Military Health System despite universal health care coverage, with significantly higher rates of cesarean delivery and severe maternal morbidity in Black, Asian Pacific Islander, and other races compared with White race. These findings suggest that these disparities are likely related to other factors or social determinants of health rather than availability of health care and insurance coverage. Further work should include investigation into such social determinants of health to address their causes, including systemic and structural barriers.

An analysis of racial inequities in emergency department triage among patients with stroke-like symptoms in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Racial inequities exist in treatment and outcomes in patients with acute stroke. OBJECTIVES: Our objective was to determine if racial inequities exist in the time-lapse between patient presentation and provider assessment in patients with stroke-like symptoms in Emergency Departments (ED) across the U.S. METHODS: This study is a retrospective, observational study of the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) 2014-2018. We identified visits with stroke-like symptoms and stratified the proportion of door-to-provider (DTP) times by racial groups. We used broad and narrow definitions of stroke-like symptoms. We performed bivariate and multivariate analyses using race and clinical and demographic characteristics as covariates. RESULTS: Between 2014-2018, there were an average of 138.58 million annual ED visits. Of the total ED visits, 0.36% to 7.39% of the ED visits presented with stroke-like symptoms, and the average DTP time ranged from 39 to 49 min. The proportion of the visits with a triage level of 1 (immediate) or 2 (emergent) ranged from 16.03% to 23.27% for stroke-like symptoms. We did not find statistically significant racial inequities in DTP or ED triage level. We found significantly longer DTP times in non-Hispanic blacks (15.88 min, 95% CI: 4.29-27.48) and Hispanics (by 14.77 min, 95% CI: 3.37-26.16) than non-Hispanic whites that presented with atypical stroke-like symptoms. We observed that non-Hispanic whites were significantly more diagnosed with a stroke/TIA than other racial minority groups (p = 0.045) for atypical stroke-like symptoms. CONCLUSION: In our population-based analysis, we did not identify systemic racial inequities in the DTP times or ED triage level at ED triage for stroke-like symptoms.

Addressing Barriers to Care in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Promoting Equity and Access.

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the leading cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Chronic viral hepatitis is projected to surpass the composite mortality rates of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), tuberculosis, and malaria by 2040. It can be attributed to several barriers to chronic HBV infection (CHBVI) surveillance that warrant urgent attention. Here, we report a case of a 40-year-old male with CHBVI who developed HCC and underwent partial hepatic resection. However, due to an interruption in insurance and medication regimen, the patient became the victim of healthcare disparity, which led to the progression of HCC and succumbed to widespread metastasis. This case highlights and discusses the healthcare disparity and critical value of continuity of care for patients with HBV infection to promote optimal patient outcomes.

Pathways to racial disparities in the effects of Good Samaritan Laws: A mixed methods pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Drug overdose deaths continue to rise, and considerable racial inequities have emerged. Overdose Good Samaritan laws (GSLs) are intended to encourage overdose witnesses to seek emergency assistance. However, evidence of their effectiveness is mixed, and little is known regarding racial disparities in their implementation. This study examined GSL impact by assessing racial differences in awareness of and trust in New York state's GSL. METHODS: Using a sequential mixed methods design, Black and white participants were recruited from an existing longitudinal cohort study of people who use illicit opioids in New York City to participate in a quantitative survey and qualitative interviews. Racially stratified survey responses were analyzed using chi-squared tests, Fisher exact tests, or t-tests. Qualitative interviews were analyzed using a hybrid inductive-deductive approach. RESULTS: Participants (n=128) were 56% male and predominantly aged 50 years or older. Most met criteria for severe opioid use disorder (81%). Fifty-seven percent reported that the New York GSL makes them more likely to call 911 even though 42% reported not trusting law enforcement to abide by the GSL; neither differed by race. Black people were less likely to have heard of the GSL (36.1% vs 60%) and were less likely to have accurate information regarding its protections (40.4% vs 49.6%). CONCLUSIONS: Though GSLs may reduce negative impacts of the criminalization of people who use drugs, their implementation may exacerbate existing racial disparities. Resources should be directed towards harm reduction strategies that do not rely on trust in law enforcement.

A qualitative crossroads of rhythm and race: Black patients' experiences living with atrial fibrillation.

Importance: Race-based disparities in atrial fibrillation (AF) outcomes are well-documented, but few studies have investigated individuals' experiences of living with the condition, particularly among Black individuals. Objective: We aimed to identify common themes and challenges experienced by individuals of Black race with AF. Design: A tailored, qualitative script was developed to assess the perspectives of participants in focus groups. Setting: Virtual focus groups. Participants: Three focus groups of 4-6 participants (16 participants total) were recruited from the racial/ethnic minority participants in the Mobile Relational Agent to Enhance Atrial Fibrillation Self-care Trial. Main outcomes and measures: Focus group transcripts were inductively coded to identify common themes. Results: Nearly all participants self-identified as Black race (n = 15, 93.8 %). Participants were mostly male (62.5 %) with mean age of 67 (range 40-78) years. Three themes were identified. First, participants described physical and mental burdens associated with having AF. Second, participants described AF as being a condition that is difficult to manage. Lastly, participants identified key tenets to support self-management of AF (self-education, community support, and patient-provider relationships). Conclusions and relevance: Participants reported AF is unpredictable and challenging to manage, and that social and community supports are essential. The social and behavioral themes identified in this qualitative research highlight the need for tailored clinical strategies for AF self-management which incorporate individuals' social contexts. Trial registration: National Clinical Trial number 04075994.

Clinical Characteristics, Racial Inequities, and Outcomes in Patients with Breast Cancer and COVID-19: A COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19) Cohort Study.

Background: Limited information is available for patients with breast cancer (BC) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), especially among underrepresented racial/ethnic populations. Methods: This is a COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19) registry-based retrospective cohort study of females with active or history of BC and laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection diagnosed between March 2020 and June 2021 in the US. Primary outcome was COVID-19 severity measured on a five-level ordinal scale, including none of the following complications, hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, mechanical ventilation, and all-cause mortality. Multivariable ordinal logistic regression model identified characteristics associated with COVID-19 severity. Results: 1,383 female patient records with BC and COVID-19 were included in the analysis, the median age was 61 years, and median follow-up was 90 days. Multivariable analysis revealed higher odds of COVID-19 severity for older age (aOR per decade, 1.48 [95% CI, 1.32 - 1.67]); Black patients (aOR 1.74; 95 CI 1.24-2.45), Asian Americans and Pacific Islander patients (aOR 3.40; 95 CI 1.70 - 6.79) and Other (aOR 2.97; 95 CI 1.71-5.17) racial/ethnic groups; worse ECOG performance status (ECOG PS ≥2: aOR, 7.78 [95% CI, 4.83 - 12.5]); pre-existing cardiovascular (aOR, 2.26 [95% CI, 1.63 - 3.15])/pulmonary comorbidities (aOR, 1.65 [95% CI, 1.20 - 2.29]); diabetes mellitus (aOR, 2.25 [95% CI, 1.66 - 3.04]); and active and progressing cancer (aOR, 12.5 [95% CI, 6.89 - 22.6]). Hispanic ethnicity, timing and type of anti-cancer therapy modalities were not significantly associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes. The total all-cause mortality and hospitalization rate for the entire cohort was 9% and 37%, respectively however, it varied according to the BC disease status. Conclusions: Using one of the largest registries on cancer and COVID-19, we identified patient and BC related factors associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes. After adjusting for baseline characteristics, underrepresented racial/ethnic patients experienced worse outcomes compared to Non-Hispanic White patients.

Unpacking Inequities in ADHD Diagnosis: Examining Individual-Level Race/Ethnicity and State-Level Online Information-Seeking Patterns.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent, persistent, and costly mental health condition. The internet is an increasingly popular source for information related to ADHD. With a nationally representative sample (2018 NSCH), we aimed to separate individual- and state-level effects to examine inequities in ADHD diagnoses. We extracted state-level relative search volumes using "ADHD," "ADHD treatment," "ADHD medication," and "ADHD therapy" from Google Trends, and sociodemographic and clinical variables from the 2018 National Survey of Children's Health (N = 26,835). We examined state variation in ADHD-related information-seeking and applied multilevel modeling to examine associations among individual-level race/ethnicity, state-level information-seeking patterns, and ADHD diagnoses. Online information seeking related to ADHD varies by state and search term. Individual-level racial/ethnic background and state-level information-seeking patterns were associated with ADHD diagnoses; however, their cross-level interaction was not significant. This study adds to the strong body of evidence documenting geographical variation and diagnostic disparity in mental health and the growing literature on the impact of the digital divide on population health, indicating an urgent need for addressing inequities in mental health care. Increasing public interest in and access to empirically supported online information may increase access to care, especially among people of color.