Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Prevalence Of Sars-Cov-2 Antibodies Within The Community Of A Private Tertiary University In The Philippines: A Serial Cross Sectional Study, Lourdes S. Tanchanco, Jenica Clarisse Y. Sy, Angel Belle C. Dy, Myla D. Levantino, Arianna Maever L. Amit, John Wong, Kirsten Angeles, John Paul Vergara

Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a public health emergency in all sectors of society, including universities and other academic institutions. This study determined the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among administrators, faculty, staff, and students of a private tertiary academic institution in the Philippines over a 7 month period. It employed a serial cross-sectional method using qualitative and quantitative COVID-19 antibody test kits. A total of 1,318 participants were tested, showing 47.80% of the study population yielding IgG antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 virus. A general increase in seroprevalence was observed from June to December 2021, which coincided with the vaccine roll-out of …

Cancer Incidence And Stage At Diagnosis Among People With Psychotic Disorders: Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis., Jared C Wootten, Joshua C Wiener, Phillip S Blanchette, Kelly K. Anderson

Epidemiology and Biostatistics Publications

Research regarding the incidence of cancer among people with psychotic disorders relative to the general population is equivocal, although the evidence suggests that they have more advanced stage cancer at diagnosis. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the incidence and stage at diagnosis of cancer among people with, relative to those without, psychotic disorders. We searched the MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases. Articles were included if they reported the incidence and/or stage at diagnosis of cancer in people with psychotic disorders. Random effects meta-analyses were used to determine risk of cancer and odds of advanced stage …

Cancer Incidence And Stage At Diagnosis Among People With Recent-Onset Psychotic Disorders: A Retrospective Cohort Study Using Health Administrative Data From Ontario, Canada., Jared C Wootten, Lucie Richard, Phillip S Blanchette, Joshua C. Wiener, Kelly K. Anderson

Epidemiology and Biostatistics Publications

OBJECTIVE: Prior evidence on the relative risk of cancer among people with psychotic disorders is equivocal. The objective of this study was to compare incidence and stage at diagnosis of cancer for people with psychotic disorders relative to the general population.

METHOD: We constructed a retrospective cohort of people with a first diagnosis of non-affective psychotic disorder and a comparison group from the general population using linked health administrative databases in Ontario, Canada. The cohort was followed for incident diagnoses of cancer over a 25-year period. We used Poisson and logistic regression models to compare cancer incidence and stage at …

Sex And Gender Differences In Symptoms Of Early Psychosis: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Brooke Carter, Jared Wootten, Suzanne Archie, Amanda L Terry, Kelly K. Anderson

Epidemiology and Biostatistics Publications

First-episode psychosis (FEP) can be quite variable in clinical presentation, and both sex and gender may account for some of this variability. Prior literature on sex or gender differences in symptoms of psychosis have been inconclusive, and a comprehensive summary of evidence on the early course of illness is lacking. The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature to summarize prior evidence on the sex and gender differences in the symptoms of early psychosis. We conducted an electronic database search (MEDLINE, Scopus, PsycINFO, and CINAHL) from 1990 to present to identify quantitative …

The Prevalence And Impact Of Adolescent Hospitalization To Adult Psychiatric Units., Samantha Mcrae, Jordan Edwards, Kathy N Speechley, Javeed Sukhera, Guangyong Zou, Kelly K. Anderson

Epidemiology and Biostatistics Publications

BACKGROUND: With increasing psychiatric hospitalizations among adolescents and constrained hospital resources, there are times when youth are hospitalized in adult inpatient psychiatry units. Evidence on the prevalence of this practice and associated impacts is lacking.

AIMS: We sought to explore the prevalence, determinants, and outcomes related to the hospitalization of adolescents aged 12-17 years on adult inpatient psychiatry units in Ontario.

METHODS: Using health administrative data, we constructed a cohort of adolescents with an inpatient psychiatric admission in Ontario (2007-2011). We classified adolescents as having an admission to an adult psychiatry unit or to other inpatient units. Multivariable regression models …

Effect Of Musculature On Mortality, A Retrospective Cohort Study, Amy L Shaver, Mary E Platek, Anurag K Singh, Sung Jun Ma, Mark Farrugia, Gregory Wilding, Andrew D Ray, Heather M Ochs-Balcom, Katia Noyes

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

Background: While often life-saving, treatment for head and neck cancer (HNC) can be debilitating resulting in unplanned hospitalization. Hospitalizations in cancer patients may disrupt treatment and result in poor outcomes. Pre-treatment muscle quality and quantity ascertained through diagnostic imaging may help identify patients at high risk of poor outcomes early. The primary objective of this study was to determine if pre-treatment musculature was associated with all-cause mortality.

Methods: Patient demographic and clinical characteristics were abstracted from the cancer center electronic database (n = 403). Musculature was ascertained from pre-treatment CT scans. Propensity score matching was utilized to adjust for confounding …

Longitudinal Analysis Of The Impact Of Oral Contraceptive Use On The Gut Microbiome, Xinwei Hua, Yueming Cao, David M Morgan, Kaia Miller, Samantha M Chin, Danielle Bellavance, Hamed Khalili

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

Introduction. Evidence has linked exogenous and endogenous sex hormones with the human microbiome.Hypothesis/Gap statement. The longitudinal effects of oral contraceptives (OC) on the human gut microbiome have not previously been studied.Aim. We sought to examine the longitudinal impact of OC use on the taxonomic composition and metabolic functions of the gut microbiota and endogenous sex steroid hormones after initiation of OC use.Methodology. We recruited ten healthy women who provided blood and stool samples prior to OC use, 1 month and 6 months after starting OC. We measured serum levels of sex hormones, including estradiol, progesterone, sex hormone-binding …

Rare Coding Variants In Rcn3 Are Associated With Blood Pressure, Karen Y. He, Tanika N. Kelly, Heming Wang, Jingjing Liang, Luke Zhu, Brian E. Cade, Themistocles L. Assimes, Lewis C. Becker, Amber L. Beitelshees, Lawrence F. Bielak, Adam P. Bress, Jennifer A. Brody, Yen-Pei Christy Chang, Yi-Cheng Chang, Paul S. De Vries, Ravindranath Duggirala, Ervin R. Fox, Nora Franceschini, Anna L. Furniss, Yan Gao, Donna K. Arnett

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: While large genome-wide association studies have identified nearly one thousand loci associated with variation in blood pressure, rare variant identification is still a challenge. In family-based cohorts, genome-wide linkage scans have been successful in identifying rare genetic variants for blood pressure. This study aims to identify low frequency and rare genetic variants within previously reported linkage regions on chromosomes 1 and 19 in African American families from the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program. Genetic association analyses weighted by linkage evidence were completed with whole genome sequencing data within and across TOPMed ancestral groups consisting of 60,388 individuals of …

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Reinfection: A Case Series From A 12-Month Longitudinal Occupational Cohort, Christina D. Mack, Caroline Tai, Robby Sikka, Yonatan H. Grad, Lisa L. Maragakis, Nathan D. Grubaugh, Deverick J. Anderson, David Ho, Michael Merson, Radhika M. Samant, Joseph R. Fauver, James Barrett, Leroy Sims, John Difiori

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

Findings are described in 7 patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 reinfection from the National Basketball Association 2020-2021 occupational testing cohort, including clinical details, antibody test results, genomic sequencing, and longitudinal reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction results. Reinfections were infrequent and varied in clinical presentation, viral dynamics, and immune response.

Lineage Abundance Estimation For Sars-Cov-2 In Wastewater Using Transcriptome Quantification Techniques, Jasmijn A. Baaijens, Alessandro Zulli, Isabel M. Ott, Ioanna Nika, Mart J. Van Der Lugt, Mary E. Petrone, Tara Alpert, Joseph R. Fauver, Chaney C. Kalinich, Chantal B. F. Vogels, Mallery I. Breban, Claire Duvallet, Kyle A. Mcelroy, Newsha Ghaeli, Maxim Imakaev, Malaika F. Mckenzie-Bennett, Keith Robison, Alex Plocik, Rebecca Schilling, Martha Pierson, Rebecca Littlefield, Michelle L. Spencer, Birgitte B. Simen, Yale Sars-Cov-2 Genomic Surveillance Initiative, William P. Hanage, Nathan D. Grubaugh, Jordan Peccia, Michael Baym

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

Effectively monitoring the spread of SARS-CoV-2 mutants is essential to efforts to counter the ongoing pandemic. Predicting lineage abundance from wastewater, however, is technically challenging. We show that by sequencing SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater and applying algorithms initially used for transcriptome quantification, we can estimate lineage abundance in wastewater samples. We find high variability in signal among individual samples, but the overall trends match those observed from sequencing clinical samples. Thus, while clinical sequencing remains a more sensitive technique for population surveillance, wastewater sequencing can be used to monitor trends in mutant prevalence in situations where clinical sequencing is unavailable.

Disparities In Awareness Of And Willingness To Participate In Cancer Clinical Trials Between African American And White Cancer Survivors, Gaurav Kumar, Jungyoon Kim, Paraskevi A. Farazi, Hongmei Wang, Dejun Su

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

BACKGROUND: Cancer clinical trials (CCTs) are essential for cancer care, yet the evidence is scarce when it comes to racial disparities in CCT participation among cancer survivors in the Midwest. This study aimed to 1) assess disparities in the awareness of and willingness to participate in CCTs between African American and White cancer survivors; and 2) compare perceptions about CCTs between the two racial groups.

METHODS: The study was based on cross-sectional data from the survey "Minority Patient Participation in Cancer Clinical Trials" that collected information from 147 Black and White cancer survivors from Nebraska between 2015 and 2016. Chi-square …

Quantifying The Impact Of Immune History And Variant On Sars-Cov-2 Viral Kinetics And Infection Rebound: A Retrospective Cohort Study, James A. Hay, Stephen M. Kissler, Joseph R. Fauver, Christina Mack, Caroline G. Tai, Radhika M. Samant, Sarah Connolly, Deverick J. Anderson, Gaurav Khullar, Matthew Mackay, Miral Patel, Shannan Kelly, April Manhertz, Isaac Eiter, Daisy Salgado, Tim Baker, Ben Howard, Joel T. Dudley, Christopher E. Mason, Manoj Nair, Yaoxing Huang, John Difiori, David D. Ho, Nathan D. Grubaugh, Yonatan H. Grad

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

BACKGROUND: The combined impact of immunity and SARS-CoV-2 variants on viral kinetics during infections has been unclear.

METHODS: We characterized 1,280 infections from the National Basketball Association occupational health cohort identified between June 2020 and January 2022 using serial RT-qPCR testing. Logistic regression and semi-mechanistic viral RNA kinetics models were used to quantify the effect of age, variant, symptom status, infection history, vaccination status and antibody titer to the founder SARS-CoV-2 strain on the duration of potential infectiousness and overall viral kinetics. The frequency of viral rebounds was quantified under multiple cycle threshold (Ct) value-based definitions.

RESULTS: Among individuals detected …

Mothers' Perceptions Of Their Children's Weight: Opportunity For Health Promotion In Kuwait, Abdullah Al-Taiar, Nawal Alqaoud, Reem Sharaf-Alddin, Muge Akpinar-Elci

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background: Mothers’ perceptions of their children’s weight remain mostly unknown in oil-rich countries of the Middle East.

Aims: To compare maternal perceptions of their children’s weight with actual body weight.

Methods: We used the Kuwait nutritional surveillance data for 5 consecutive years (2015-2019) (N = 5119), which were collected through face-to-face interviews with mothers of children aged 2-5 years attending vaccination centres.

Results: Of the 5119 mothers in the study, 163 (3.18%) and 332 (6.48%) had obese or overweight children, respectively. Among 4624 mothers who had normal weight children, 1350 (29.20%) perceived their children’s weight as …

Covid-19 Vaccination In Palestine/Israel: Citizenship, Capitalism, And The Logic Of Elimination, Nicolas Howard, Emily Schneider

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Despite Israel’s responsibility under international law to combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics in its occupied territories, Israeli officials have refused to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Through a critical discourse analysis of Israeli officials’ statements regarding Israel’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign, this paper explores how Israel evades this responsibility while presenting itself as committed to public health and human rights. We find that Israeli officials strategically present Palestinians as an autonomous nation when discussing COVID-19 vaccinations, despite Israel’s ongoing attempts to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state. Relatedly, Israel justifies …

Access, Socioeconomic Environment, And Death From Covid-19 In Nebraska, He Bai, Michelle M. Schwedhelm, John-Martin Lowe, Rachel Lookadoo, Daniel R. Anderson, Abigail Lowe, James V. Lawler, M. Jana Broadhurst, David Brett-Major

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

Our study assesses whether factors related to healthcare access in the first year of the pandemic affect mortality and length of stay (LOS). Our cohort study examined hospitalized patients at Nebraska Medicine between April and October 2020 who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 and had a charted sepsis related diagnostic code. Multivariate logistic was used to analyze the odds of mortality and linear regression was used to calculate the parameter estimates of LOS associated with COVID-19 status, age, gender, race/ethnicity, median household income, admission month, and residential distance from definitive care. Among 475 admissions, the odds of mortality is greater among …