Digital Commons Network^™

Use Of Clearguard Hd Caps In Pediatric Hemodialysis Patients., Amy E. Nau, Troy Richardson, Diana Cardwell, Jennifer Ehrlich, Jyothsna Gattineni, Melisha Hanna, Mahima Keswani, Emily Neibauer, Kelly Nitz, Raymond Quigley, Michelle Rheault, Rebekah Sims, Mayna Woo, Bradley A. Warady

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Bloodstream infections (BSIs) are a leading cause of hospitalizations and mortality among patients receiving hemodialysis (HD) therapy, especially those with a central venous catheter (CVC) for dialysis access. The use of chlorhexidine impregnated catheter caps (ClearGuard) has been associated with a decrease in the rate of HD catheter-related BSIs (CA-BSIs) in adults; similar data have not been published for children.

METHODS: We compared CA-BSI data from participating centers within the Standardizing Care to Improve Outcomes in Pediatric Endstage Kidney Disease (SCOPE) collaborative based on the center's use of ClearGuard caps for patients with HD catheter access. Centers were characterized …

Naturalistic Assessment Of Reaction Time Variability In Older Adults At Risk For Alzheimer's Disease, Matthew S Welhaf, Hannah Wilks, Andrew J Aschenbrenner, David A Balota, Suzanne E Schindler, Tammie L S Benzinger, Brian A Gordon, Carlos Cruchaga, Chengjie Xiong, John C Morris, Jason Hassenstab

2020-Current year OA Pubs

OBJECTIVE: Maintaining attention underlies many aspects of cognition and becomes compromised early in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease (AD). The consistency of maintaining attention can be measured with reaction time (RT) variability. Previous work has focused on measuring such fluctuations during in-clinic testing, but recent developments in remote, smartphone-based cognitive assessments can allow one to test if these fluctuations in attention are evident in naturalistic settings and if they are sensitive to traditional clinical and cognitive markers of AD.

METHOD: Three hundred and seventy older adults (aged 75.8 +/- 5.8 years) completed a week of remote daily testing on the …

Vascular Risk Profile And Changes Of Arterial Hypertension After Surgical Revascularization In Adult Moyamoya Patients, Patrick Haas, Lucas Moritz Wiggenhauser, Jonas Tellermann, Helene Hurth, Daniel Feucht, Marcos Tatagiba, Nadia Khan, Constantin Roder

Journal Articles

Moyamoya disease (MMD) is a rare stenoocclusive cerebral vasculopathy often treated by neurosurgical revascularization using extracranial-intracranial bypasses to prevent ischemic or hemorrhagic events. Little is known about the vascular risk profile of adult MMD patients compared to the general population. We therefore analyzed 133 adult MMD patients and compared them with data from more than 22,000 patients from the German Health Update database. Patients with MMD showed an age- and sex-adjusted increased prevalence of arterial hypertension, especially in women between 30 and 44 years and in patients of both sexes between 45 and 64 years. Diabetes mellitus was diagnosed significantly …

Barriers To Pregnancy Prevention For Adolescents In Rural Haiti: Perceptions Of Healthcare Providers., Shelbie Wooten, Emily A. Hurley, Nikolaus Schuetz, Melissa K. Miller, Jonathan Rodean, Emily Rupe, Kemi Lewis, Marie Daphnée Boncoeur, Abbey R. Masonbrink

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Little is known about healthcare providers' (HCPs) contraceptive views for adolescents in Haiti, who experience high rates of unintended pregnancy. We sought to describe HCPs' perspectives on barriers and facilitators to contraceptive care delivery in rural Haiti.

METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey and qualitative interviews with HCPs in two rural communities in Haiti from 08/2021-03/2022. We assessed demographics, clinical practice behaviors and explored contraception perspectives according to Theory of Planned Behavior constructs: attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (e.g., people's perceptions of their ability to perform a given behavior, barriers and facilitators of a behavior).

RESULTS: Among …

Sustained Response To Atogepant In Episodic Migraine: Post Hoc Analyses Of A 12-Week Randomized Trial And A 52-Week Long-Term Safety Trial, Richard Lipton, Stephanie J. Nahas, Patricia Pozo-Rosich, Tanya Bilchik, Peter Mcallister, Michelle Finnegan, Yingyi Liu, Natty Chalermpalanupap, Brett Dabruzzo, David Dodick

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Atogepant is an oral calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor antagonist approved for the preventive treatment of migraine in adults. These analyses evaluated the proportions of clinical trial participants who experienced sustained responses to atogepant over 12 or 52 weeks of treatment.

METHODS: These were post hoc analyses of ADVANCE, a 12-week, double-blind, randomized trial of atogepant 10, 30, and 60 mg once daily vs. placebo for the preventive treatment of episodic migraine, and a separate open-label long-term safety (LTS) trial of atogepant 60 mg once daily over 52 weeks. The 60 mg dose of atogepant was used to detect safety …

Common Single-Base Insertions In The Vntr Of The Carboxyl Ester Lipase (Cel) Gene Are Benign And Also Likely To Arise Somatically In The Exocrine Pancreas, Ranveig S Brekke, Anny Gravdal, Khadija El Jellas, Grace E Curry, Jianguo Lin, Steven J Wilhelm, Solrun J Steine, Eric Mas, Stefan Johansson, Mark E Lowe, Bente B Johansson, Xunjun Xiao, Karianne Fjeld, Anders Molven

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The CEL gene encodes carboxyl ester lipase, a pancreatic digestive enzyme. CEL is extremely polymorphic due to a variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) located in the last exon. Single-base deletions within this VNTR cause the inherited disorder MODY8, whereas little is known about VNTR single-base insertions in pancreatic disease. We therefore mapped CEL insertion variants (CEL-INS) in 200 Norwegian patients with pancreatic neoplastic disorders. Twenty-eight samples (14.0%) carried CEL-INS alleles. Most common were insertions in repeat 9 (9.5%), which always associated with a VNTR length of 13 repeats. The combined INS allele frequency (0.078) was similar to that observed in …

Common Variation In A Long Non-Coding Rna Gene Modulates Variation Of Circulating Tgf-Β2 Levels In Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Patients (Alliance), Julia Quintanilha, Alexander Sibley, Yingmiao Liu, Donna Niedzwiecki, Susan Halabi, Layne Rogers, Bert O'Neil, Hedy Kindler, William Kelly, Alan Venook, Howard Mcleod, Mark Ratain, Andrew Nixon, Federico Innocenti, Kouros Owzar

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Herein, we report results from a genome-wide study conducted to identify protein quantitative trait loci (pQTL) for circulating angiogenic and inflammatory protein markers in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). The study was conducted using genotype, protein marker, and baseline clinical and demographic data from CALGB/SWOG 80405 (Alliance), a randomized phase III study designed to assess outcomes of adding VEGF or EGFR inhibitors to systemic chemotherapy in mCRC patients. Germline DNA derived from blood was genotyped on whole-genome array platforms. The abundance of protein markers was quantified using a multiplex enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay from plasma derived from peripheral venous …

Genome-Wide Epistatic Network Analyses Of Semantic Fluency In Older Adults, Qihua Tan, Weilong Li, Marianne Nygaard, Ping An, Mary Feitosa, Mary K Wojczynski, Joseph Zmuda, Konstantin Arbeev, Svetlana Ukraintseva, Anatoliy Yashin, Kaare Christensen, Jonas Mengel-From

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Semantic fluency impairment has been attributed to a wide range of neurocognitive and psychiatric conditions, especially in the older population. Moderate heritability estimates on semantic fluency were obtained from both twin and family-based studies suggesting genetic contributions to the observed variation across individuals. Currently, effort in identifying the genetic variants underlying the heritability estimates for this complex trait remains scarce. Using the semantic fluency scale and genome-wide SNP genotype data from the Long Life Family Study (LLFS), we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and epistasis network analysis on semantic fluency in 2289 individuals aged over 60 years from the …

Keratin 17 Modulates The Immune Topography Of Pancreatic Cancer, Lyanne Delgado-Coka, Michael Horowitz, Mariana Torrente-Goncalves, Lucia Roa-Peña, Cindy Leiton, Mahmudul Hasan, Sruthi Babu, Danielle Fassler, Jaymie Oentoro, Ji-Dong Bai, Emanuel Petricoin, Lynn Matrisian, Edik Matthew Blais, Natalia Marchenko, Felicia Allard, Wei Jiang, Brent Larson, Andrew Hendifar, Chao Chen, Shahira Abousamra, Dimitris Samaras, Tahsin Kurc, Joel Saltz, Luisa Escobar-Hoyos, Kenneth Shroyer

Kimmel Cancer Center Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: The immune microenvironment impacts tumor growth, invasion, metastasis, and patient survival and may provide opportunities for therapeutic intervention in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Although never studied as a potential modulator of the immune response in most cancers, Keratin 17 (K17), a biomarker of the most aggressive (basal) molecular subtype of PDAC, is intimately involved in the histogenesis of the immune response in psoriasis, basal cell carcinoma, and cervical squamous cell carcinoma. Thus, we hypothesized that K17 expression could also impact the immune cell response in PDAC, and that uncovering this relationship could provide insight to guide the development of …

Biallelic Borcs8 Variants Cause An Infantile-Onset Neurodegenerative Disorder With Altered Lysosome Dynamics., Raffaella De Pace, Reza Maroofian, Adeline Paimboeuf, Mina Zamani, Maha S. Zaki, Saeid Sadeghian, Reza Azizimalamiri, Hamid Galehdari, Jawaher Zeighami, Chad D. Williamson, Emily Fleming, Dihong Zhou, Jennifer L. Gannon, Isabelle Thiffault, Emmanuel Roze, Mohnish Suri, Giovanni Zifarelli, Peter Bauer, Henry Houlden, Mariasavina Severino, Shunmoogum A. Patten, Emily G. Farrow, Juan S. Bonifacino

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BLOC-one-related complex (BORC) is a multiprotein complex composed of eight subunits named BORCS1-8. BORC associates with the cytosolic face of lysosomes, where it sequentially recruits the small GTPase ARL8 and kinesin-1 and -3 microtubule motors to promote anterograde transport of lysosomes toward the peripheral cytoplasm in non-neuronal cells and the distal axon in neurons. The physiological and pathological importance of BORC in humans, however, remains to be determined. Here, we report the identification of compound heterozygous variants [missense c.85T>C (p.Ser29Pro) and frameshift c.71-75dupTGGCC (p.Asn26Trpfs*51)] and homozygous variants [missense c.196A>C (p.Thr66Pro) and c.124T>C (p.Ser42Pro)] in BORCS8 in five …

Parents' Perceptions Of Eye-Gaze Technology Use By Children With Complex Communication Needs, Sandra Masayko, Joy Mcgowan, Namrata Grampurohit

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

PURPOSE: Some preschool students with complex communication needs explore eye-gaze computer technology (EGCT) and adopt computer-based augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The objective of this study was to follow preschool explorers of EGCT who are now school aged to describe the children's use of technology and parents' perceptions of its utility for communication, participation, or leisure.

METHOD: Ten parents completed survey questions by Internet and phone and reported their perceptions of nine children's effectiveness in the use and acceptance of AAC and the support they received in implementing technology. The results are reported as a descriptive study.

RESULTS: All children …

Patient Priorities Care Increases Long-Term Service And Support Use: Propensity Match Cohort Study, Rafael Samper-Ternent, Javad Razjouyan, Lilian Dindo, Jaime Halaszynski, Jennifer Silva, Terri Fried, Aanand D Naik

Journal Articles

OBJECTIVES: Patient priorities care (PPC) is an evidence-based approach designed to help patients achieve what matters most to them by identifying their health priorities and working with clinicians to align the care they provide to the patient's priorities. This study examined the impact of the PPC approach on long-term service and support (LTSS) use among veterans.

DESIGN: Quasi-experimental study examining differences in LTSS use between veterans exposed to PPC and propensity-matched controls not exposed to PPC adjusting for covariates.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-six social workers in 5 Veterans Health Administration (VHA) sites trained in PPC in 2018, 143 veterans who …

Low Absolute Risk Of Thrombotic And Cardiovascular Events In Outpatient Pregnant Women With Covid-19, Behnood Bikdeli, Darsiya Krishnathasan, Candrika Khairani, Antoine Bejjani, Julia Davies, Nicole Porio, Anthony Tristani, Andre Armero, Ali Assi, Victor Nauffal, Umberto Campia, Zaid Almarzooq, Eric Wei, Marcos Ortiz-Rios, Valeria Zuluaga-Sánchez, Aditya Achanta, Sirus Jesudasen, Bruce Tiu, Geno Merli, Orly Leiva, John Fanikos, Elvira Grandone, Aditya Sharma, Samantha Rizzo, Mariana Pfeferman, Ruth Morrison, Alec Vishnevsky, Judith Hsia, Mark Nehler, James Welker, Marc Bonaca, Brett Carroll, Samuel Goldhaber, Zhou Lan, Gregory Piazza

Division of Cardiology Faculty Papers

INTRODUCTION: Pregnancy may contribute to an excess risk of thrombotic or cardiovascular events. COVID-19 increases the risk of these events, although the risk is relatively limited among outpatients. We sought to determine whether outpatient pregnant women with COVID-19 are at a high risk for cardiovascular or thrombotic events.

MATERIALS & METHODS: We analyzed pregnant outpatients with COVID-19 from the multicenter CORONA-VTE-Network registry. The main study outcomes were a composite of adjudicated venous or arterial thrombotic events, and a composite of adjudicated cardiovascular events. Events were assessed 90 days after the COVID-19 diagnosis and reported for non-pregnant women ≤45 years, and …

Availability And Utilization Of Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography At Children's Hospitals., Sagar J. Pathak, Thomas M. Attard, Matthew Hall, Mustafa Arain, Melvin B. Heyman, Emily R. Perito

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

OBJECTIVES: No study has explored whether availability of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is adequate and equitable across US children's hospitals. We hypothesized that ERCP availability and utilization differs by geography and patient factors.

METHODS: Healthcare encounter data from 2009 to 2019 on children with pancreatic and biliary diseases from the Pediatric Health Information System were analyzed. ERCP availability was defined as treatment at a hospital that performed pediatric ERCP during the year of service.

RESULTS: From 2009 to 2019, 37,946 children (88,420 encounters) had a potential pancreatic or biliary indication for ERCP; 7066 ERCPs were performed. The commonest pancreatic diagnoses …

Family Physicians And Menstrual Care: An Analysis Of Cera 2023, Allison Casola, Olivia Rea, Tiffany Ho

Department of Family & Community Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Menstrual health is an important indicator of overall health and has large impacts on quality of life. Despite number and impact, discussion of menstruation remains largely taboo within health care. Patients and physicians are not engaging in regular, meaningful discussions on menstruation. Family physicians, as primary care providers, can facilitate these important conversations.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to understand the profile of menstrual care providing family physicians and assessed physician comfort, knowledge, training, and perceived importance regarding menstrual care.

DESIGN/METHODS: This is a cross-sectional analysis of the 2022 Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance survey. The survey included …

Understanding Persistence Factors For Non-Traditional Black Female Doctoral Graduates: A Qualitative Approach, Aree E. Robinson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of non-traditional Black female graduates of doctoral programs in central Tennessee. For the purposes of this research, non-traditional Black female graduates was generally defined as Black females who pursued and completed a doctoral degree at forty-plus years of age and identified with any of the following statuses: 1) parenting dependent children, 2) primary caretaker for elderly parent(s), and/or 3) full-time employee. The Central Research Question was: What are the experiences of non-traditional Black female graduates of doctoral programs in Tennessee? Schlossberg’s transition theory and Erickson’s psychosocial development theory …

Prognostic Values Of Serum Lactate-To-Bicarbonate Ratio And Lactate For Predicting 28-Day In-Hospital Mortality In Children With Dengue Shock Syndrome, Thanh Nguyen Tat, Nhu Vo Hoang-Thien, Dat Nguyen Tat, Phuc Hoang Nguyen, Lien Thi Ho, Duong Hung Doan, Dung Tuan Phan, Yen Nguyen-Hoang Duong, Truc Huynh Nguyen, Tuyet Kim Nguyen, Ha Thi-Thu Dinh, Thuy Thi-Diem Dinh, Anh Thi-Mai Pham, Viet Do Chau, Tung Huu Trinh, Luan Vo Thanh

Journal Articles

This study aimed to assess the clinical utility of blood lactate-to-bicarbonate (L/B) ratio, as a prognostic factor for 28-day in-hospital mortality in children with dengue shock syndrome (DSS), admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). This single-center retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary children hospital in southern Vietnam from 2013 to mid-2022. Prognostic models for DSS mortality were developed, using a predefined set of covariates in the first 24 hours of PICU admission. Area under the curves (AUCs), multivariable logistic and Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regressions, bootstrapping and calibration slope were performed. A total of …

Correlational Analysis Of Sarcopenia And Multimorbidity Among Older Inpatients, Wenjing Xia, Kang Luo, Ziwei Gu, Jianping Hu, Xintong Liu, Qian Xiao

Journal Articles

BACKGROUND: Sarcopenia and multimorbidity are common in older adults, and most of the available clinical studies have focused on the relationship between specialist disorders and sarcopenia, whereas fewer studies have been conducted on the relationship between sarcopenia and multimorbidity. We therefore wished to explore the relationship between the two.

METHODS: The study subjects were older patients (aged ≥ 65 years) who were hospitalized at the Department of Geriatrics of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University between March 2016 and September 2021. Their medical records were collected. Based on the diagnostic criteria of the Asian Sarcopenia Working Group in …

Discussing Menstrual Health In Family Medicine, Allison Casola, Alice Renaud, Ashwini Kamath Mulki

Department of Family & Community Medicine Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

Genetic Diversity Promotes Resilience In A Mouse Model Of Alzheimer's Disease., Neelakshi Soni, Lindsay A Hohsfield, Kristine M Tran, Shimako Kawauchi, Amber Walker, Dominic Javonillo, Jimmy Phan, Dina Matheos, Celia Da Cunha, Asli Uyar, Giedre Milinkeviciute, Angela Gomez-Arboledas, Katelynn Tran, Catherine C Kaczorowski, Marcelo A Wood, Andrea J Tenner, Frank M Laferla, Gregory W. Carter, Ali Mortazavi, Vivek Swarup, Grant R Macgregor, Kim N Green

Faculty Research 2024

INTRODUCTION: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with multifactorial etiology, including genetic factors that play a significant role in disease risk and resilience. However, the role of genetic diversity in preclinical AD studies has received limited attention.

METHODS: We crossed five Collaborative Cross strains with 5xFAD C57BL/6J female mice to generate F1 mice with and without the 5xFAD transgene. Amyloid plaque pathology, microglial and astrocytic responses, neurofilament light chain levels, and gene expression were assessed at various ages.

RESULTS: Genetic diversity significantly impacts AD-related pathology. Hybrid strains showed resistance to amyloid plaque formation and neuronal damage. Transcriptome diversity was …

Experiences Of Using The Mindset Self-Management Mobile Health App Among Hispanic Patients: Results Of A Qualitative Study, Refugio Sepulveda, Jenny Chong, Ross Shegog, Kimberly Martin, Charles Begley, Robert Addy, Omar Rosales, Tomas Nuño, Shiela Soto, Cecilia Rosales, David Labiner

Journal Articles

BACKGROUND: Interventions focusing on epilepsy self-management (ESM) are vital for promoting the health of people living with epilepsy. E-technology and mobile health (mHealth) tools are becoming increasingly integrated into practice to promote self-management strategies for chronic diseases, enhance care delivery, and reduce health disparities. Management Information and Decision Support Epilepsy Tool (MINDSET), a bilingual decision support tool (available in English and Spanish), was found to be both feasible and effective in facilitating goal-based ESM in the clinic.

PURPOSE: To assess the experience of using MINDSET as an ESM intervention among Hispanic patients with epilepsy to inform future interventional studies.

METHODS: …

Transitioning From An In-Person Intervention To Augmented Text Messaging During Covid-19 In Mexican Americans With Prediabetes: The Starr County Diabetes Prevention Randomized Clinical Trial, Sharon A Brown, Mary A Winter, Heather A Becker, Alexandra A García, Mary M Velasquez, Hirofumi Tanaka, William B Perkison, Eric L Brown, David Aguilar, Craig L Hanis

Journal Articles

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to explore the feasibility of using commonly available technology, such as text messaging, for diabetes prevention in rural Mexican American communities during COVID-19.

METHODS: Participants were selected from a diabetes prevention study funded by the National Institutes of Health that, prior to COVID-19, involved in-person group intervention sessions. Participants were predominantly female adults born in Mexico and Spanish-speaking. A subsample (n = 140) was divided into 3 cohorts: (1) 50 who completed the initial in-person intervention prior to the COVID-19 research pause, (2) 60 who needed additional support sessions to complete the intervention …

The Dementia Care Study (D-Care): Recruitment Strategies And Demographic Characteristics Of Participants In A Pragmatic Randomized Trial Of Dementia Care, Mia Yang, Rafael Samper-Ternent, Elena Volpi, Aval-Na'ree Green, Maya Lichtenstein, Katy Araujo, Pamela Borek, Peter Charpentier, James Dziura, Thomas M Gill, Rebecca Galloway, Erich J Greene, Kristin Lenoir, Peter Peduzzi, Can Meng, Jordan Reese, Amy Shelton, Eleni A Skokos, Jenny Summapund, Erin Unger, David B Reuben, Jeff D Williamson, Alan B Stevens

Journal Articles

INTRODUCTION: Pragmatic research studies that include diverse dyads of persons living with dementia (PLWD) and their family caregivers are rare.

METHODS: Community-dwelling dyads were recruited for a pragmatic clinical trial evaluating three approaches to dementia care. Four clinical trial sites used shared and site-specific recruitment strategies to enroll health system patients.

RESULTS: Electronic health record (EHR) queries of patients with a diagnosis of dementia and engagement of their clinicians were the main recruitment strategies. A total of 2176 dyads were enrolled, with 80% recruited after the onset of the pandemic. PLWD had a mean age of 80.6 years (SD 8.5), …

Medicaid Eligibility Loss Among Dual-Eligible Beneficiaries Before And During Covid-19 Public Health Emergency, Yanlei Ma, Eric T Roberts, Kenton J Johnston, E John Orav, Jose F Figueroa

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Medicaid coverage loss can substantially compromise access to and affordability of health care for dual-eligible beneficiaries. The extent to which this population lost Medicaid coverage before and during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) and the characteristics of beneficiaries more at risk for coverage loss are currently not well known.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the loss of Medicaid coverage among dual-eligible beneficiaries before and during the first year of the PHE, and to examine beneficiary-level and plan-level factors associated with heightened likelihood of losing Medicaid.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This repeated cross-sectional study used national Medicare data to estimate annual …

Zika Virus Prevention Behaviors And Knowledge Among Male Partners Of Pregnant People And Lack Of Condom Use As A Prevention Behavior From The Zika En Embarazadas Y Niños (Zen) Prospective Cohort Study, Colombia, Christina L Sancken, Ayzsa Tannis, Sandra A Amouzou, Veronica Burkel, Jeffrey M Carlson, Suzanne Newton, Suzanne M Gilboa, Maritza Gonzalez, Diana Valencia, Van T Tong, Martha Ospina

Journal Articles

Objective: Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in pregnancy can cause brain and eye abnormalities and neurodevelopmental sequelae. In the absence of medical countermeasures, behavioral interventions were recommended to prevent mosquito bites and sexual transmission of ZIKV. This report uses data from the Zika en Embarazadas y Niños (ZEN) prospective cohort study in Colombia to describe the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors (KAB) related to ZIKV prevention in male partners compared to those of their pregnant partners at study enrollment during February 2017-2018.

Results: Most male partners reported wearing protective clothing such as long pants (97.6%) and long sleeves (72.8%), as well as …

Reaching The Unheard: Overcoming Challenges In Health Research With Hard-To-Reach Populations, Venera Bekteshi, Munjireen Sifat, Darla Kendzor

Kimmel Cancer Center Faculty Papers

PURPOSE: Addressing obstacles such as logistical complexities, social stigma, and the impact of historical traumas is essential for the successful inclusion of underrepresented groups in health research.

METHODS: This article reviews engagement and interview techniques used to ethically engage recently settled Afghan refugees in Oklahoma and rural Mexican-born women in Illinois in research. The paper concludes with a reflective discussion on the challenges and lessons learned.

RESULTS: Creative strategies to engage hard-to-reach populations in research included considering the participants' socioeconomic and cultural contexts in their interactions and developing community partnerships to establish trust and obtain reliable data. Other engagement strategies …

Exploration Of Latina/Hispanic Women's Experiences Living With Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Qualitative Study With Patients In Houston, Natalia I Heredia, Erika Mendoza Duque, Sylvia Ayieko, Amelia Averyt, Lorna H Mcneill, Jessica P Hwang, Maria E Fernandez

Journal Articles

OBJECTIVES: A deeper understanding of the lived experiences of Hispanic patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) can help guide the development of behavioral programs that facilitate NAFLD management. This paper explores Hispanic women's experiences living with NAFLD.

DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS: We collected brief sociodemographic questionnaires and conducted in-depth interviews with 12 low-income (all had household income ≤USD$55 000 per year) Hispanic women with NAFLD from the Houston area. Transcripts were audio-recorded and transcribed. We developed a coding scheme and used thematic analysis to identify emergent themes, supported by Atlas.ti.

RESULTS: Participants identified physicians as their main information source on …

Mental Health, Chronic And Infectious Conditions Among Pregnant Persons In Us State Prisons And Local Jails 2016-2017., Caitlin A Hendricks, Karissa M Rajagopal, Carolyn B Sufrin, Camille Kramer, Monik C Jiménez

Cooper Medical School of Rowan University Faculty Scholarship

BACKGROUND: Pregnant individuals in incarcerated settings have unique healthcare needs. Rates of mental health, infectious diseases, and chronic disease are higher among nonpregnant incarcerated women compared with those who are not, but the prevalence of these conditions among pregnant people in custody has not been documented.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to describe the prevalence of metabolic, infectious, and mental health conditions in pregnant people to identify the medical needs of high-risk pregnancies in US state prisons and local jails.

STUDY DESIGN: This was a prospective epidemiologic surveillance of a convenience sample of state prisons (n = …

Medical Home Implementation And Follow-Up Of Cancer-Related Abnormal Test Results In The Veterans Health Administration, Suja S Rajan, Shashank Sarvepalli, Li Wei, Ashley N D Meyer, Daniel R Murphy, Debra T Choi, Hardeep Singh

Journal Articles

IMPORTANCE: Lack of timely follow-up of cancer-related abnormal test results can lead to delayed or missed diagnoses, adverse cancer outcomes, and substantial cost burden for patients. Care delivery models, such as the Veterans Affairs' (VA) Patient-Aligned Care Team (PACT), which aim to improve patient-centered care coordination, could potentially also improve timely follow-up of abnormal test results. PACT was implemented nationally in the VA between 2010 and 2012.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term association between PACT implementation and timely follow-up of abnormal test results related to the diagnosis of 5 different cancers.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This multiyear retrospective cohort study …

Association Of Risk Factors And Comorbidities With Chronic Pain In The Elderly Population., Neil Mookerjee, Nicole Schmalbach, Gianna Antinori, Subhadra Thampi, Dylan Windle-Puente, Amy Gilligan, Ha Huy, Megha Andrews, Angela Sun, Roshni Gandhi, William Benedict, Austin Chang, Ben Sanders, Justin Nguyen, Maanika Reddy Keesara, Janet Aliev, Aneri Patel, Isaiah Hughes, Ian Millstein, Krystal Hunter, Satyajeet Roy

Cooper Medical School of Rowan University Faculty Scholarship

INTRODUCTION/OBJECTIVE: Chronic pain disorders affect about 20% of adults in the United States, and it disproportionately affects individuals living in the neighborhoods of extreme socioeconomic disadvantage. In many instances, chronic pain has been noted to arise from an aggregation of multiple risk factors and events. Therefore, it is of importance to recognize the modifiable risk factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the comorbid medical conditions and risk factors associated with chronic pain disorders in patients aged 65 years and older.

METHODS: Our team retrospectively reviewed medical records of elderly patients (65 years and older) who were evaluated …