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The aim of the study was to better address sociodemographic-related health disparities. This study examined which sociodemographic variables most strongly correlate with self-reported health in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain.This single-center, cross-sectional study examined adult patients, followed by a physiatrist for chronic (≥4 yrs) musculoskeletal pain. Sociodemographic variables considered were race, sex, and disparate social disadvantage (measured as residential address in the worst vs. best Area Deprivation Index national quartile). The primary comparison was the adjusted effect size of each variable on physical and behavioral health (measured by Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System [PROMIS]).In 1193 patients (age = 56.3 ± 13.0 yrs), disparate social disadvantage was associated with worse health in all domains assessed (PROMIS Physical Function Β = -2.4 points [95% confidence interval = -3.8 to -1.0], Pain Interference = 3.3 [2.0 to 4.6], Anxiety = 4.0 [1.8 to 6.2], and Depression = 3.7 [1.7 to 5.6]). Black race was associated with greater anxiety than white race (3.2 [1.1 to 5.3]), and female sex was associated with worse physical function than male sex (-2.5 [-3.5 to -1.5]).Compared with race and sex, social disadvantage is more consistently associated with worse physical and behavioral health in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Investment to ameliorate disadvantage in geographically defined communities may improve health in sociodemographically at-risk populations.

The postoperative results of 210 consecutive eyes in 177 patients who had simultaneous penetrating keratoplasty, extracapsular cataract extraction, and posterior chamber intraocular lens (IOL) implantation (triple procedure) were reviewed. All procedures were performed by one surgeon between January 1980 and December 1989. The most common diagnosis requiring a triple procedure was Fuchs' endothelial dystrophy. The remainder of the patients required the procedure for either corneal scarring, keratoconus, or Chandler's syndrome. Of the 210 grafts, 191 (91%) remained clear with a mean follow-up of 53 months (range 6 to 116 months). The mean preoperative keratometry (K) reading (n = 161) was 44.51/44.85 (SD 4.86/4.94), and the mean postoperative K reading (n = 111) was 44.29/43.50 (SD 3.83/3.63). The mean IOL power (n = 196) was + 20.87 diopters (D) (SD 2.86). The mean postoperative best visual acuity (n = 166) was 20/65 with a range from 20/20 to less than 20/400, although 61% had 20/50 acuity or better and 92% had 20/100 acuity or better. The mean spherical correction in 155 eyes was - 1.38 (SD 2.89), and the mean positive refractive cylinder was + 3.21 (SD 2.20). One hundred forty six of the 155 eyes with reported refractions (96%) had 6 D or less of refractive cylinder. Correlation of the recipient-donor disparity % and refractive cylinder was significant such that as disparity increased refractive cylinder increased (r = 0.197, P = .021). Correlation of the recipient-donor disparity % and keratometric cylinder indicated a similar trend but was not significant (r = 0.105, P = .310).

The authors assessed the convergent validity and the sources of error in an electronic single-plane accelerometer (i.e., Caltrac Personal Activity Computer (Hemokinetics, Inc., Vienna, VA). The device was validated against observed all-day physical activity levels of children in their natural environment. Thirty pre-school children were observed in non-structured activity for periods of approximately 9 h while wearing the accelerometer. The results revealed moderately high but variable Spearman rank-order correlations between hourly readings of the accelerometer and the observational system (range of correlations = 0.62 to 0.95). An all-day accelerometer reading significantly correlated with the observational instrument (rho = 0.54). A step-wise regression analysis revealed that the best behavioral predictor of the all-day accelerometer reading was the observed behavior of walking, explaining 32% of the total variance. Older vs younger children (i.e., greater than 32.5 months), females vs males, and overweight (i.e., 75 percentile or greater) vs normal weight children tended to show higher correlations between direct observation and accelerometer readings. Implications of these findings and the utilization of the accelerometer in epidemiologic research are discussed.