Evidence-based concussion practices have been codified into legislation, yet implementation has been narrowly evaluated. We examined implementation of concussion practices in Massachusetts high schools and adopted a disproportionality lens to assess the relationship between school sociodemographic and policy implementation and examine whether differences in policy implementation represent systematic disparities consistent with the disproportionality literature.

A cross-sectional survey was sent to Massachusetts high school nurses (N=304). Responses (n=201; 68.1% response rate) were tallied so that higher scores indicated greater policy implementation. School demographic data were collected using publicly available datasets and were linked to survey responses. Descriptive statistics, correlations, k-means clustering, and groupwise comparisons were conducted.

Policy implementation is varied across schools and is associated with school sociodemographic variables. As percentages of marginalized identities in student population increased, implementation rates decreased. K-means cluster analysis revealed two discrete groups based on policy implementation scores, with significant differences in sociodemographic variables between groups. Schools with low implementation scores had a greater percentage of students who identified as African American/Black and nurses with less experience.

Findings highlight current disparities in the implementation of concussion management policies and support adoption of a disproportionality lens in this sphere.

Persistent discrimination and identity threats contribute to adverse health outcomes in minoritized groups, mediated by both structural racism and physiological stress responses.

This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of recruiting African American volunteers for a pilot study of race-based stress, the acceptability of a mindfulness intervention designed to reduce racism-induced stress, and to evaluate preliminary associations between race-based stress and clinical, psychosocial, and biological measures.

A convenience sample of African Americans aged 18–50 from New York City’s Tri-state area underwent assessments for racial discrimination using the Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS) and Race-Based Traumatic Stress Symptom Scale. Mental health was evaluated using validated clinical scales measuring depression, anxiety, stress, resilience, mindfulness, resilience, sleep, interpersonal connection, and coping. Biomarkers were assessed through clinical laboratory tests, allostatic load assessment, and blood gene expression analysis.

Twenty participants (12 females, 8 males) completed assessments after consent. Elevated EDS scores were associated with adverse lipid profiles, including higher cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein (HDL) ratios and lower HDL levels, as well as elevated inflammatory markers (NF-kB activity) and reduced antiviral response (interferon response factor). Those with high EDS reported poorer sleep, increased substance use, and lower resilience. Mindfulness was positively associated with coping and resilience but inversely to sleep disturbance. 90% showed interest in a mindfulness intervention targeting racism-induced stress.

This study demonstrated an association between discrimination and adverse health effects among African Americans. These findings lay the groundwork for further research to explore the efficacy of mindfulness and other interventions on populations experiencing discrimination.

Telecommunication-assisted neuropsychological assessment (teleNP) has become more widespread, particularly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, comparatively few studies have evaluated in-home teleNP testing and none, to our knowledge, have evaluated the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center’s (NACC) Uniform Data Set version 3 tele-adapted test battery (UDS v3.0 t-cog). The current study compares in-home teleNP administration of the UDS v3.0, acquired while in-person activities were suspended due to COVID-19, with a prior in-person UDS v3.0 evaluation.

210 participants from the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center’s longitudinal study of memory and aging completed both an in-person UDS v3.0 and a subsequent teleNP UDS v3.0 evaluation. The teleNP UDS v3.0 was administered either via video conference (n = 131), telephone (n = 75), or hybrid format (n = 4) with approximately 16 months between evaluations (mean = 484.7 days; SD = 122.4 days; range = 320-986 days). The following clinical phenotypes were represented at the initial assessment period (i.e., the most recent in-person UDS v3.0 evaluation prior to the teleNP UDS v3.0): cognitively healthy (n = 138), mild cognitive impairment (MCI; n = 60), dementia (n = 11), and impaired not MCI (n = 1). Tests included both the in-person and teleNP UDS v3.0 measures, as well as the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R) and Letter “C” Fluency.

We calculated intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) with raw scores from each time point for the entire sample. Sub-analyses were conducted for each phenotype among participants with an unchanged consensus research diagnosis: cognitively healthy (n = 122), MCI (n = 47), or cognitively impaired (i.e., MCI, dementia, and impaired not MCI) (n = 66). Test-retest reliability across modalities and clinical phenotypes was, in general, moderate. The poorest agreement was associated with the Trail Making Test (TMT) - A (ICC = 0.00; r = 0.027), TMT - B (ICC = 0.26; r = 0.44), and Number Span Backward (ICC = 0.49). The HVLT-R demonstrated moderate reliability overall (ICC = 0.51-0.68) but had notably weak reliability for cognitively healthy participants (ICC = 0.12-0.36). The most favorable reliability was observed in Craft Story 21 Recall - Delayed (ICC = 0.77), Letter Fluency (C, F, and L) (ICC = 0.74), Multilingual Naming Test (MINT) (ICC = 0.75), and Benson Complex Figure – Delayed (ICC = 0.79).

Even after accounting for the inherent limitations of this study (e.g., significant lapse of time between testing intervals), our findings suggest that the UDS v3.0 teleNP battery shows only modest relationships with its in-person counterpart. Particular caution should be used when interpreting measures showing questionable reliability, though we encourage further investigation of remote vs. in-person testing under more controlled conditions.

To evaluate the uptake of universal vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy, its effectiveness in preventing vitamin D deficiency and the factors associated with these.

The regional public health organisation in Ayrshire, Scotland has a policy of universal provision of vitamin D supplements (10 µg/d) to all pregnant women for the duration of their pregnancy. Pregnant women in this area were recruited at their 12-week antenatal appointment. Blood samples were collected at the 12-week and 34-week appointments. To account for the seasonal variation, women were recruited in two cohorts: summer and winter. Telephone interviews were conducted at 34 weeks to assess the uptake of vitamin D supplements during pregnancy. Other variables were obtained from medical records.

The study was conducted in the NHS Ayrshire and Arran Health Board in Scotland.

612 pregnant women (aged 15–44 years) living in Ayrshire (latitude 55°), Scotland.

Sixty-six percentage took supplementation as recommended. Consumption of supplementation was significantly associated with a higher median serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations at 34 weeks. Despite this at 34 weeks, 33 % of the summer cohort had insufficient or deficient vitamin D status, while 15 % of the winter cohort had insufficient or deficient status. In multivariable analysis, only adherence and season were independent predictors of vitamin D status.

While supplementation improved and maintained vitamin D status during pregnancy, it was not adequate to ensure all those insufficient at 12 weeks achieved sufficient status at the end of pregnancy.

Few studies have evaluated in-home teleneuropsychological (teleNP) assessment and none, to our knowledge, has evaluated the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center’s (NACC) Uniform Data Set version 3 tele-adapted test battery (UDS v3.0 t-cog). The current study evaluates the reliability of the in-home UDS v3.0 t-cog with a prior in-person UDS v3.0 evaluation.

One hundred and eighty-one cognitively unimpaired or cognitively impaired participants from a longitudinal study of memory and aging completed an in-person UDS v3.0 and a subsequent UDS v3.0 t-cog evaluation (∼16 months apart) administered either via video conference (n = 122) or telephone (n = 59).

We calculated intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) between each time point for the entire sample. ICCs ranged widely (0.01–0.79) but were generally indicative of “moderate” (i.e., ICCs ranging from 0.5–0.75) to “good” (i.e., ICCs ranging from 0.75–0.90) agreement. Comparable ICCs were evident when looking only at those with stable diagnoses. However, relatively stronger ICCs (Range: 0.35–0.87) were found between similarly timed in-person UDS v3.0 evaluations.

Our findings suggest that most tests on the UDS v3.0 t-cog battery may serve as a viable alternative to its in-person counterpart, though reliability may be attenuated relative to the traditional in-person format. More tightly controlled studies are needed to better establish the reliability of these measures.

The incidence of infections from extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)–producing Enterobacterales (ESBL-E) is increasing in the United States. We describe the epidemiology of ESBL-E at 5 Emerging Infections Program (EIP) sites.

During October–December 2017, we piloted active laboratory- and population-based (New York, New Mexico, Tennessee) or sentinel (Colorado, Georgia) ESBL-E surveillance. An incident case was the first isolation from normally sterile body sites or urine of Escherichia coli or Klebsiella pneumoniae/oxytoca resistant to ≥1 extended-spectrum cephalosporin and nonresistant to all carbapenems tested at a clinical laboratory from a surveillance area resident in a 30-day period. Demographic and clinical data were obtained from medical records. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) performed reference antimicrobial susceptibility testing and whole-genome sequencing on a convenience sample of case isolates.

We identified 884 incident cases. The estimated annual incidence in sites conducting population-based surveillance was 199.7 per 100,000 population. Overall, 800 isolates (96%) were from urine, and 790 (89%) were E. coli. Also, 393 cases (47%) were community-associated. Among 136 isolates (15%) tested at the CDC, 122 (90%) met the surveillance definition phenotype; 114 (93%) of 122 were shown to be ESBL producers by clavulanate testing. In total, 111 (97%) of confirmed ESBL producers harbored a blaCTX-M gene. Among ESBL-producing E. coli isolates, 52 (54%) were ST131; 44% of these cases were community associated.

The burden of ESBL-E was high across surveillance sites, with nearly half of cases acquired in the community. EIP has implemented ongoing ESBL-E surveillance to inform prevention efforts, particularly in the community and to watch for the emergence of new ESBL-E strains.

In response to advancing clinical practice guidelines regarding concussion management, service members, like athletes, complete a baseline assessment prior to participating in high-risk activities. While several studies have established test stability in athletes, no investigation to date has examined the stability of baseline assessment scores in military cadets. The objective of this study was to assess the test–retest reliability of a baseline concussion test battery in cadets at U.S. Service Academies.

All cadets participating in the Concussion Assessment, Research, and Education (CARE) Consortium investigation completed a standard baseline battery that included memory, balance, symptom, and neurocognitive assessments. Annual baseline testing was completed during the first 3 years of the study. A two-way mixed-model analysis of variance (intraclass correlation coefficent (ICC)3,1) and Kappa statistics were used to assess the stability of the metrics at 1-year and 2-year time intervals.

ICC values for the 1-year test interval ranged from 0.28 to 0.67 and from 0.15 to 0.57 for the 2-year interval. Kappa values ranged from 0.16 to 0.21 for the 1-year interval and from 0.29 to 0.31 for the 2-year test interval. Across all measures, the observed effects were small, ranging from 0.01 to 0.44.

This investigation noted less than optimal reliability for the most common concussion baseline assessments. While none of the assessments met or exceeded the accepted clinical threshold, the effect sizes were relatively small suggesting an overlap in performance from year-to-year. As such, baseline assessments beyond the initial evaluation in cadets are not essential but could aid concussion diagnosis.

To examine the contributions of two aspects of executive functioning (executive cognitive functions and behavioral control) to changes in diabetes management across emerging adulthood.

Two hundred and forty-seven high school seniors with type 1 diabetes were assessed at baseline and followed up for 3 years. The baseline assessment battery included performance-based measures of executive cognitive functions, behavioral control, IQ estimate (IQ-est), and psychomotor speed; self-report of adherence to diabetes regimen; and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) assay kits as a reflection of glycemic control.

Linear and quadratic growth curve models were used to simultaneously examine baseline performance on four cognitive variables (executive cognitive functions, behavioral control, IQ, and psychomotor speed) as predictors of indices of diabetes management (HbA1c and adherence) across four time points. Additionally, general linear regressions examined relative contributions of each cognitive variable at individual time points. The results showed that higher behavioral control at baseline was related to lower (better) HbA1c levels across all four time points. In contrast, executive cognitive functions at baseline were related to HbA1c trajectories, accounting for increasingly more HbA1c variance over time with increasing transition to independence. IQ-est was not related to HbA1c levels or changes over time, but accounted instead for HbA1c variance at baseline (while teens were still living at home), above and beyond all other variables. Cognition was unrelated to adherence.

Different aspects of cognition play a different role in diabetes management at different time points during emerging adulthood years.

Evidence from high-income countries suggests that childhood trauma is associated with schizophrenia. Studies of childhood trauma and schizophrenia in low and middle income (LMIC) countries are limited. This study examined the prevalence of childhood traumatic experiences among cases and controls and the relationship between specific and cumulative childhood traumatic experiences and schizophrenia in a sample in South Africa.

Data were from the Genomics of Schizophrenia in the South African Xhosa people study. Cases with schizophrenia and matched controls were recruited from provincial hospitals and clinics in the Western and Eastern Cape regions in South Africa. Childhood traumatic experiences were measured using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Adjusted logistic regression models estimated associations between individual and cumulative childhood traumatic experiences and schizophrenia.

Traumatic experiences were more prevalent among cases than controls. The odds of schizophrenia were 2.44 times higher among those who experienced any trauma than those who reported no traumatic experiences (95% CI 1.77–3.37). The odds of schizophrenia were elevated among those who experienced physical/emotional abuse (OR 1.59, CI 1.28–1.97), neglect (OR 1.39, CI 1.16–1.68), and sexual abuse (OR 1.22, CI 1.03–1.45) compared to those who did not. Cumulative physical/emotional abuse and neglect experiences increased the odds of schizophrenia as a dose–response relationship.

Childhood trauma is common in this population. Among many other benefits, interventions to prevent childhood trauma may contribute to a decreasing occurrence of schizophrenia.

A common approach to one-way sensitivity analysis is to vary inputs by a constant percentage. An alternative is to derive ranges using evidence-based probability distributions from published sources. Our objective was to compare one-way sensitivity analysis results when using these two approaches for a reference case model, along with two additional case studies.

For the reference case, we replicated a published Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) cost-effectiveness Markov model (zidovudine versus zidovudine plus lamivudine in the UK) using TreeAge®. Health states included three HIV/AIDS states and death. We generated one-way sensitivity analyses by varying inputs in two ways: (i) using ±15 percent for all inputs, and (ii) using the 2.5 and 97.5 percentile values of the evidence-based probability distributions for all inputs. Our outcome was the mean difference between lower and upper incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) for each variation method for the ten most influential inputs. We assessed the number of inputs with a mean difference between lower and upper ICERs of >10 percent of the deterministic ICER.

The deterministic ICER was GBP7,654/QALY (quality adjusted life year) for combination therapy versus monotherapy. The mean difference in ICER uncertainty for the evidence-based vs. ±15 percent variation method was GBP3,251/QALY (p = .0096). Six inputs had a mean difference in ICER uncertainty of >10 percent of GBP7,654/QALY (that is, mean difference in ICER uncertainty > GBP765) for the evidence-based variation method, compared to only two inputs for the constant percentage variation method.

For the reference case, the magnitude of uncertainty in the outcome was larger for the evidence-based variation method compared to the constant percentage variation method. Evidence-based uncertainty in inputs should be used in all sensitivity analyses to reflect realistic uncertainty in an outcome and aid decision-making about future research strategies. Additional case studies will be presented using validated models in diabetes and asthma.