Outcomes of pregnancy and childbirth in women with hidradenitis suppurativa.

BACKGROUND: Many women affected by hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) are of childbearing age. To date, the literature is limited on pregnancy-related outcomes for women with HS. OBJECTIVE: To investigate maternal and obstetric outcomes and treatment utilization among women with HS. METHODS: This retrospective analysis used the IBM MarketScan Commercial Claims Database. Pregnant women with HS (n = 998) and 5:1 age-matched pregnant women without HS (n = 5065) were identified and information on claims related to diagnoses, procedures, and medications were analyzed. RESULTS: Compared to women without HS, pregnant women with HS had significantly lower odds of having a live birth (odds ratio [OR], 0.45; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.39-0.51) and significantly higher odds of having elective terminations (OR, 2.51; 95% CI, 2.13-2.96), gestational hypertension (OR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.12-1.84), and cesarean deliveries (OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.06-1.55), and of receiving HS designated treatment during pregnancy (OR, 4.41; 95% CI, 3.56-5.46). LIMITATIONS: Retrospective and convenience sampling and absence of clinical information to correlate HS severity and outcomes. CONCLUSION: Pregnant women with HS have an increased probability of select complicated maternal and obstetric outcomes. Women planning for pregnancy or who are currently pregnant may benefit from coordinated care by dermatologists and obstetric providers.

Knowledge, Perceptions, and Preferred Information Sources Related to COVID-19 Among Healthcare Workers: Results of a Cross Sectional Survey.

PURPOSE: To compare COVID-19 related knowledge, perceptions, and preferred information sources between healthcare workers and non-healthcare workers. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Web-based. SUBJECTS: Convenience sample of Pennsylvanian adults. MEASURES: Primary outcomes were binary responses to 15 COVID-19 knowledge questions weighted by a Likert scale assessing response confidence. ANALYSIS: Generalized linear mixed-effects models to assess comparisons between clinical decision makers (CDM), non-clinical decision makers working in healthcare (non-CDM) and non-healthcare workers (non-HCW). RESULTS: CDMs (n = 91) had higher overall knowledge than non-CDMs (n = 854; OR 1.81 [1.51, 2.17], p < .05). Overall knowledge scores were not significantly different between non-CDMs (n = 854) and non-HCW (n = 4,966; OR 1.03 [0.97, 1.09], p > .05). CONCLUSION: The findings suggest a need for improved education about COVID-19 for healthcare workers who are not clinical decision makers, as they play key roles in patient perceptions and compliance with preventive medicine during primary care visits.

The impact of COVID-19-related changes in media consumption on public knowledge: results of a cross-sectional survey of Pennsylvania adults.

OBJECTIVE: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans have increasingly relied on internet versus television news. The extent to which this change in health news consumption practice impacts health knowledge is not known. This study investigates the relationship between most trusted information source and COVID-19 knowledge. METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey was sent to a convenience sample from a list of adults on a central Pennsylvania health system's marketing database 25-31 March 2020. Respondents were grouped by their trusted news sources and comparison of respondent COVID-19 knowledge was made between these groups for 5948 respondents. RESULTS: Those who selected government health websites as their most trusted source were more likely to answer COVID-19 questions correctly than those who selected other internet news sources or television news (OR 1.21, p < .05; 1.08, p > .05; and 0.87, p < .05, respectively). Those who used Facebook as an additional source of news in any way were less likely to answer COVID-19 questions correctly than those who did not (OR 0.93, p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 knowledge correlates with trusted news source. To increase public knowledge of COVID-19 in order to maximize information dissemination and compliance with COVID-19-related public health recommendations, those who provide health information should consider use of the public's most trusted sources of information, as well as monitoring and correcting misinformation presented by other sources. Independent content review for accuracy in media may be warranted in public health emergencies to improve knowledge.