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This article presents an analysis of seven articles published within the International Perspectives and Initiatives regular feature series on the impact of technology on the provision of health information. The articles provide a road map of how technology is facilitating new and enhanced services for library users in seven countries: Australia, Bangladesh, China, England, Germany, Sweden and the United States. Although there are differences in how countries are implementing technological solutions, only one describes problems in leveraging technology to improve library services. Authors from the remaining six countries describe how they ensure that the 21st century library consults with its user groups and find way of using the latest applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The extent to which education explains variations in sex differences in cognitive function between countries at different levels of economic development is unknown. We examined the role of education in sex differences in four cognitive domains in high- and middle-income countries. Methods Analyses were based on 70,846 participants, aged 60 years and older, in cohort studies from a high-income (United States) and four middle-income countries (Mexico, Brazil, China, and India). We used weighted linear models to allow nationally-representative comparisons of sex differences in orientation, memory, attention, and fluency using the United States as the reference, before and after adjustment for education, and after stratification by education. Results Females had lower levels of education than males in all countries, particularly in India. Before adjustment for education, sex differences in orientation and attention in all middle-income countries, memory in Brazil, China, and India, and fluency in India were less favourable to females than in the United States (P  < 0.010). For example, females outperformed males in memory in the United States (mean difference [male–female scores] = −0.26 standard deviations [95% CI −0.30, −0.22]) but not in China (0.15 [0.09, 0.21]) or India (0.16 [0.13, 0.19]). Adjustment for education attenuated these sex differences. In analyses stratified by education, there were minimal sex differences in the high education group in all countries. Conclusion Education contributes to larger female disadvantages in cognitive function at older ages in middle-income countries compared with the United States. Gender equity in education is an important target to reduce sex disparities in cognitive function globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To study educational gradients in births after medically assisted reproduction across 5 countries with different institutional arrangements., Design: We use logistic regression and compute predicted probabilities to estimate the association between education and giving birth after assisted reproduction, before and after adjustment for maternal age at delivery and marital/partnership status, using an overall sample of about 3.9 million live births in 5 countries., Settings: Not applicable., Patients: This study includes survey or register data containing information on births in 5 countries: N = 61,564 for Denmark, N = 37,533 for France, N = 12,889 for Spain, N = 17,097 for the United Kingdom, and N = 3,700,442 for the United States., Intervention (for Rct) or Exposure (for Observational Studies): None., Main Outcome Measures: The probability of a child being born after medically assisted reproduction for mothers with a university degree relative to those having less than a university degree., Results: University-educated mothers are more likely to give birth after assisted reproduction compared with mothers with lower levels of education. After adjustment for socio-demographic characteristics, educational differences disappear in the United Kingdom and to some extent Spain, whereas they attenuate but persist in the other countries. The United States seems to show a larger educational gradient., Conclusion: The results suggest that the institutional setting around assisted reproduction may moderate the gradient. A possible explanation may be access to treatments, as the United States - the context with the lowest subsidization - seems to show larger educational gradients than other contexts. In the context of global postponement of childbearing to older ages, mothers with lower levels of socioeconomic resources might find it more difficult to fully realize their fertility intentions in countries with less generous subsidization of treatments., Competing Interests: Declaration of Interests A.G. reports funding from European Research Council (Grant agreement n. 803958 MARTE) for the submitted work. P.F. has nothing to disclose. M.S. reports funding from Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Juan de La Cierva-Incorporación Fellowship 2018; IJC2018-038444-I) and Department of Sociology II, Spanish National University of Distance Education (UNED) for the submitted work. L.S. reports funding from European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) Centre for Advanced Studies and the DIGCLASS project and Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, Ref. PID2019-111564RB-I00 / AEI /10.13039/501100011033 for the submitted work. T.E. reports funding from Comunidad de Madrid (Atracción de Talento Investigador Postdoctoral Fellowship, Ref. 2017-T2/SOC-5560), Department of Sociology II, Spanish National University of Distance Education (UNED), and Department of Sociology and Communication, University of Salamanca for the submitted work; funding from European Commission Joint Research Center – Expert Contract “Scientific support in the development of Centre for Advanced Study (CAS) on Social Classes in the Digital Age (DIGCLASS)” – Research line “research line dealing with health inequalities by socioeconomic position” outside the submitted work. M.C. reports funding from Italian Ministry of Education (PE8-Conseguenze esfide dell’invecchiamento AGE-IT– CUPB83C22004800006) for the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Despite attention in the literature of intergenerational mobility (IGM) and the welfare state, it remains unclear about how "small" welfare states, South Korea and the United States in particular, play a role in promoting levels of IGM. This article compares levels of IGM using intergenerational elasticity (IGE) of income as well as alternative mobility measures during two study periods (1980‒1995 and 1996‒2015) between Korea and the US. Data come from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study in Korea and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics in the US. The article found no period effects on IGE in both countries; however, the Korean IGE decreased and the US's IGE increased. These results confirm that Korea is more mobile than the US. Implications for the observed between‐country differences in IGE levels in relation to sociocultural and institutional contexts of the welfare state are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasing mental health problems witnessed among students, adequately addressing their well-being is becoming important on college campuses. This study compares international and domestic graduate students in the United States on domains that are relevant to both student groups (perfectionistic personality, academic stress) and how these factors combinedly predict satisfaction with life. With 531 international and 359 domestic graduate students, results found support for perfectionism and academic stress predicting life satisfaction in both groups with notable similarities and differences. For perfectionists in both student groups, the level of academic stress was an important factor that determined satisfaction with life. Interestingly, for international students only, the perfectionism dimension of standards, which has been traditionally considered adaptive, functioned in a maladaptive way. Findings from this study suggest that international and domestic students share similarities and differences that should be noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology transfer law plays an important role in promoting technology transfer. There is a sound technology transfer legal system in the United States, which makes a huge impact on many other countries, including China. As the main body of technology transfer, the functions and responsibilities of national scientific research institutions in China and the United States are very similar, but the efficiency of technology transfer between them is hugely divergent. Based on patent data, this study compares the efficiency of each section in the technology transfer process, and analyzes the reasons for the efficiency difference from the perspective of technology transfer legislation in the two countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Municipal amalgamation (or merger or consolidation) is commonly employed in countries around the world to improve efficiency in public service. While mergers occur among jurisdictions of all sizes, the municipal amalgamation discourse is typically limited to one national setting and a focus on mergers of larger local jurisdictions. The existing municipal amalgamation literature pays little attention to predicate conditions for successful mergers. This study seeks to address these deficiencies by examining the premerger conditions and effects of municipal amalgamations that recently took place in four small jurisdictions of similar size in Thailand and the United States. Design/methodology/approach: A holistic multiple case study approach was employed. These two cases share a geographical attribute: one municipal jurisdiction encircled by another. Findings: The evidence indicates that factors associated with what the researchers refer to as "familiarity" facilitated both successful approval of and outcomes resulting from the amalgamation actions. While the study's findings align with international research regarding the potential for reducing administrative support costs through consolidation, its findings diverge from existing international evidence in that the evidence indicates operating effectiveness and efficiency improvements. Economies of scope and marginal economies of scale are in evidence. Although findings from this study indicate that there might be problematic effects regarding political representation and participation, in that the consolidated jurisdictions remain small in size, negative citizen engagement and participation consequences may be less than that evidenced in larger consolidated jurisdictions. Originality/value: The study introduces the "familiarity" theorem as a theoretical lens to assist in understanding the cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 outbreak raised questions about how people experience their mental health, quality of life (QoL), wellbeing and loneliness in the context of social distancing, and the use of social media during this time To examine the experience of mental health, QoL, wellbeing and loneliness and use of social media among people living in Norway, USA, UK and Australia. A cross-country comparative survey of people living in Norway, USA, UK and Australia. Relevant statistical analyses were used to examine differences between the countries and to explore associations between demographic, mental health and psychosocial variables and use of social media. There were 3810 respondents from four countries, of which 50 − 74% showed a high level of emotional distress. The Norwegian population reported significantly better mental health, QoL and wellbeing and lower levels of loneliness compared to the other countries. High-frequent use of social media after the COVID-19 outbreak was associated with poorer mental- and psychosocial health. The results suggest that the COVID-19 outbreak took a toll on people's experience of mental health, QoL, wellbeing and experienced loneliness, and high-frequent use of social media was associated with these factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although many studies have identified the risk factors for suicide, the absence of a statistical model that integrates several risk areas makes it difficult to understand the abnormally high suicide rate in South Korea. Therefore, we aimed to establish a multidimensional structural equation model of suicide incorporating socio-cultural and psychiatric factors. We performed cross-national comparisons to identify the unique factors influencing South Korea's suicide rate.Methods: We conducted a web survey inviting adults aged 20- to 59-years from South Korea, Japan, and the United States to respond to questionnaires. A total of 2,213 subjects were included. We then developed a structural equation model, exhibiting a good fit in all countries.Results: A permissive attitude was the factor that most strongly predicted the intensity of suicidal ideation in all countries. In South Korea, a low income was directly associated with both permissive attitude and the intensity of suicidal ideation. South Korea's highly fatalistic attitude related to more receptive attitudes toward suicide. Individual's resilience to stress provided significant protection against suicidal ideation in the United States and Japan, but not in South Korea.Limitations: Since our sample excluded adults over 60 years, thus reducing the generalizability of our results. Furthermore, we employed a cross-sectional design; a longitudinal study is needed to draw causal inferences about suicidal death CONCLUSIONS: This study developed the first multidimensional, integrated statistical model of suicidal ideation. Our findings explain the causes of South Korea's high suicide rate and can be used to develop new interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two former industrial giants on opposite sides of the globe—the well-known and extensively studied city of Detroit (USA) and the lesser-known but regionally important city of Łódź (Poland)—developed in historically differing economic and political circumstances but have much in common. In both cases, postwar prosperity brought the working class to the center of the social imaginary, resulting in the emergence of a corporate welfare state on one side of the Atlantic Ocean and a socialist one on the other. Thus, two "workers' El Dorados" were based on almost opposite lifestyles, values and models of society, and each lasted for no more than one generation. Changes in industrial structures and locations, the inflexibility of the mono-industrial giants, and a general shift to late capitalism and the post-Fordist mode of production affected both cities. Workers' biographies were experienced through the primacy of work as a means of individual, social, and state reproduction. Factory work offered a device for the allocation of social worth and welfare benefits across time in both contexts. The latter is examined by the construct of a "good worker" and the creation of an imagined, expected life course in the postwar welfare projects, as well as the generational division of workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For-profit hospitals' market share has increased in many nations over recent decades. Previous studies suggest that their growth is not attributable to superior performance on access, quality of care, or efficiency. We analyzed other factors that we hypothesized may contribute to the increasing role of for-profit hospitals. We studied the historical development of the for-profit hospital sector across 4 nations with contrasting trends in for-profit hospital market share: the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands. We focused on 3 factors that we believed might help explain why the role of for-profits grew in some nations but not in others: (1) the treatment of for-profits by public reimbursement plans, (2) physicians' financial interests, and (3) the effect of the political environment. We conclude that access to subsidies and reimbursement under favorable terms from public health care payors is an important factor in the rise of for-profit hospitals. Arrangements that aligned financial incentives of physicians with the interests of for-profit hospitals were important in stimulating for-profit growth in an earlier era, but they play little role at present. Remarkably, the environment for for-profit ownership seems to have been largely immune to political shifts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hypertension significantly impacts the well-being and health of individuals globally. Hypertension management apps (HMAs) have been shown to assist patients in controlling blood pressure (BP), with their efficacy validated in clinical trials. However, the utilization of HMAs continues to be suboptimal. Presently, there is a dearth of real-world research based on big data and exploratory mining that compares Chinese and American HMAs., Objective: This study aims to systematically gather HMAs and their user reviews from both China and the United States. Subsequently, using data mining techniques, the study aims to compare the user experience, satisfaction levels, influencing factors, and asymmetry between Chinese and American users of HMAs. In addition, the study seeks to assess the disparities in satisfaction and its determinants while delving into the asymmetry of these factors., Methods: The study sourced HMAs and user reviews from 10 prominent Chinese and American app stores globally. Using the latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic model, the research identified various topics within user reviews. Subsequently, the Tobit model was used to investigate the impact and distinctions of each topic on user satisfaction. The Wald test was applied to analyze differences in effects across various factors., Results: We examined a total of 261 HMAs along with their associated user reviews, amounting to 116,686 reviews in total. In terms of quantity and overall satisfaction levels, Chinese HMAs (n=91) and corresponding reviews (n=16,561) were notably fewer compared with their American counterparts (n=220 HMAs and n=100,125 reviews). The overall satisfaction rate among HMA users was 75.22% (87,773/116,686), with Chinese HMAs demonstrating a higher satisfaction rate (13,866/16,561, 83.73%) compared with that for American HMAs (73,907/100,125, 73.81%). Chinese users primarily focus on reliability (2165/16,561, 13.07%) and measurement accuracy (2091/16,561, 12.63%) when considering HMAs, whereas American users prioritize BP tracking (17,285/100,125, 17.26%) and data synchronization (12,837/100,125, 12.82%). Seven factors (easy to use: P<.001; measurement accuracy: P<.001; compatibility: P<.001; cost: P<.001; heart rate detection function: P=.02; blood pressure tracking function: P<.001; and interface design: P=.01) significantly influenced the positive deviation (PD) of Chinese HMA user satisfaction, while 8 factors (easy to use: P<.001; reliability: P<.001; measurement accuracy: P<.001; compatibility: P<.001; cost: P<.001; interface design: P<.001; real-time: P<.001; and data privacy: P=.001) affected the negative deviation (ND). Notably, BP tracking had the greatest effect on PD (β=.354, P<.001), while cost had the most significant impact on ND (β=3.703, P<.001). All 12 factors (easy to use: P<.001; blood pressure tracking function: P<.001; data synchronization: P<.001; blood pressure management effect: P<.001; heart rate detection function: P<.001; data sharing: P<.001; reliability: P<.001; compatibility: P<.001; interface design: P<.001; advertisement distribution: P<.001; measurement accuracy: P<.001; and cost: P<.001) significantly influenced the PD and ND of American HMA user satisfaction. Notably, BP tracking had the greatest effect on PD (β=0.312, P<.001), while data synchronization had the most significant impact on ND (β=2.662, P<.001). In addition, the influencing factors of PD and ND in user satisfaction of HMA in China and the United States are different., Conclusions: User satisfaction factors varied significantly between different countries, showing considerable asymmetry. For Chinese HMA users, ease of use and interface design emerged as motivational factors, while factors such as cost, measurement accuracy, and compatibility primarily contributed to user dissatisfaction. For American HMA users, motivational factors were ease of use, BP tracking, BP management effect, interface design, measurement accuracy, and cost. Moreover, users expect features such as data sharing, synchronization, software reliability, compatibility, heart rate detection, and nonintrusive advertisement distribution. Tailored experience plans should be devised for different user groups in various countries to address these diverse preferences and requirements., (©Yunfan He, Wei Zhu, Tong Wang, Han Chen, Junyi Xin, Yongcheng Liu, Jianbo Lei, Jun Liang. Originally published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth (https://mhealth.jmir.org), 28.03.2024.)

Some farm scholars have contended that agricultural policies are seldom designed with the well-being and social needs of farm households in mind, even though the challenges experienced in the farm sector directly impact the farm household. Surprisingly little is known about how farm households meet their social needs and the role of social policy in the agricultural sector. As a first step towards a holistic understanding of the interactions between social policy, farm viability, and farm persistence, we conducted a cross-national comparative document review of government-sponsored social safety net programs available to farm households in two countries on opposite sides of the social policy continuum: France and the United States. In particular, we developed a foundational framework of social safety net programs to be used in future empirical work, identified four factors that may shape farm households' use of social safety net programs and potential consequences on family farms, and propose a research agenda to move the literature forward. By grounding our article in the farm persistence theoretical tradition, our article offers an opportunity to reframe and broaden approaches to study family farms by highlighting the critical need for understanding the ways in which institutional social supports may play a role in supporting them. • Article extend family farm literature by considering household level difficulties. • Propose a bridge between the family farm and social policy literatures. • Reframe the debate on farm families by highlighting the role institutional supports may play in farm persistence. • Develop a foundational framework of institutionalized social supports. • Outline a research agenda to study the interactions between social needs, social policy, and farm persistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although numerous studies have examined the role of helicopter parenting in child outcomes, there is little empirical cross-cultural research on the academic outcomes of helicopter parenting for late adolescents. This study investigated the differences in the association between mothers' and fathers' helicopter parenting and college students' (N = 343) academic outcomes across American and South Korean contexts, examining the role of self-efficacy as a mediator. Multigroup structural equation modeling analyses showed that South Korean fathers' helicoptering has a negative relation with students' academic outcomes. Higher levels of fathers' parenting were directly related to students' lower academic outcomes in the Korean context. However, comparable results were not observed with South Korean mothers or American parents. In addition, mothers' helicopter parenting was not related to either self-efficacy or academic outcomes across the two countries. Although there are cultural differences in helicopter parenting practices, there appear to be potentially more cultural similarities across the two cultures than was conjectured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Advantages and disadvantages of major methods for studying energy consumption are summarized. • TECs of China and the U.S. are compared from the short-, mid- and long-term perspectives. • Trends of change in TECs of China and the U.S. in 2000–2015 are analyzed. • Mechanism causing the differences in the changes of the TECs of China and the U.S. are examined. Using Tapio elastic analysis, the differences and similarities of the energy consumption in the transportation sectors in China and the United States were compared. The results showed that the energy consumption of the transportation sectors in the two countries in 2000–2015 had a weak decoupling overall from economic growth in the long term. The decoupling indicator (0.61) in China was about ten times that (0.069) of the United States. Namely, the dependence of China's transportation sector on energy consumption was far larger than that of the United States. Furthermore, using a logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) model, the factors influencing the energy consumption in transportation sectors in China and the United States were analyzed from five perspectives. Based on this model, the reason why the two countries show decoupling difference was explained. Relevant policies implications for energy conservation and emission reduction in the transportation sector were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) has attracted academic endeavor and strategic emphasis in practice to examine its role for brand success. Despite its diagnostic power for brands, prior studies fail to: reach consensus on conceptualization and operationalization, consider prospective consumers and competing brands, and identify linkages with brand performance. Our study therefore proposes an integrative model of consumer-based brand performance (CBBP) to address its relationship with CBBE. Within this aim, we intend to achieve two objectives. First, we prove that the key components of CBBE, that is, brand attributes, associations and judgments, all play significant roles in determining CBBP. Second, we demonstrate the detailed relationship among the three components of CBBE. Accordingly, we test hypotheses based on the structural equation modeling of 1670 valid questionnaire responses from young consumers (aged 18–35) in the USA and comparative analysis of two competing smartphone brands (iPhone vs. Samsung). As a result, we contribute to theoretical and empirical understanding concerning the relationship between CBBE and CBBP. We also enrich brand empirical understanding by addressing two main competing brands in the US smartphone industry. The combined SEM and comparative analysis add both breadth and depth to current understandings. The results provide implications for practitioners to devise brand strategies which consider the varied impact of consumers, as a key stakeholder, for success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives Over the last 2 decades, several international indices have been developed to describe the status of older persons. None, however, have examined their human rights. The International Older Persons' Human Rights Index (IOPHRI) fills in this gap by analyzing the formal legislative foundation of human rights for older people. The objective of this exploratory study is to examine the IOPHRI while comparing the legislation in 6 countries. Research Design and Methods A comparative international exploratory study comparing the human rights legislation of 6 countries: United States, Chile, Ireland, South Africa, India, and Australia in 5 different human rights domains: constitutional, protection, familial and informal support, planning, and empowerment. Results The findings suggest that the actual relationship between formal human rights of older persons and the real world is complex: for example, while the IOPHRI index places South Africa in first place, it is far behind compared with all other participants in the Global AgeWatch Index (which measures objective elements such as life expectancy at 60, or poverty rates in old age). Discussion and Implications Measuring and indexing human rights of older persons reveal significant methodological issues. Beyond these methodological challenges, comparing the ranking of the IOPHRI to nonlegalistic indices raises significant questions about the relationship between formal human rights and the actual living experiences of older persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This comparative study investigates the use of and preference towards the two major academic library classification schemes – Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) and Library of Congress Classification (LCC) – in developed (United States) and quickly developing (Nigeria) countries. The findings reveal that approximately 81% of academic libraries in the U.S. and 93% in Nigeria use LCC for classifying the majority of their collections. Academic library employees in both countries show a strong preference for LCC, except for those employees working in a library that currently uses DDC, in which case these employees tend to prefer DDC over LCC. The comparison between results among the United States and Nigeria provides insight into two different histories and narratives about academic library classification, which may prove beneficial to those libraries investigating classification or a reclassification decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) data from 2013 to study (1) the contribution of child maintenance to the income packages of lone mothers, (2) the proportion of lone mothers receiving child maintenance and the level of child maintenance for those receiving it and (3) the extent to which child maintenance is helping families who may need it the most (those at the low end of the income distribution), compared with families with moderate or higher incomes. Our analysis covers data from five countries: Finland, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States. Our results show that in all countries except the United Kingdom, labour income is an important source of income for lone mothers and less than 40 percent of income comes from social transfers. Child maintenance contributes significantly to the income of lone mothers, particularly in Spain, followed by the United States and Germany. We find the highest coverage of child maintenance receipt in Finland. In the other countries, only one-third of lone mother households receive child maintenance. The median amounts of maintenance are the lowest in the United Kingdom and Finland, but there is great variation in the level of child maintenance within countries. The comparison of the quintile groups reveals that in the United States, the lone mothers in lowest income quintile do not seem to benefit as much from child maintenance compared with the highest income quintiles, whereas in Finland, Germany and Spain, more lone mothers in the low-income quintiles receive maintenance. However, amounts are quite equal across income quintiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The positive relationship between cross-cutting exposure and tolerance has long been a topic in the political communication field. By reinvestigating this issue, this study further explores whether hasty discussion moderates the relationship from a cross-cultural perspective by comparing South Korea with the United States. The authors posit that hasty discussion—a term that was coined to explain South Korean’s fast lifestyle as reflected in discussion processes—is a South Korean characteristic that can have deleterious effects on deliberative democracy. Nine hundred and sixty survey participants (480 South Koreans and 480 Americans) showed meaningful results: (1) Hasty discussion comprises two factors (ignoring discussion processes and pursuing discussion efficiency). (2) Americans are exposed to more cross-cutting opinions than South Koreans, but the positive relationship between cross-cutting exposure and tolerance is more significant in the South Korean sample. (3) In the South Korean sample, ignoring discussion processes negatively affected tolerance. (4) An interaction effect of ignoring discussion processes and cross-cutting exposure on tolerance was found among South Koreans. That is, ignoring the discussion process lowered tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing number of faculty have brought up questions and concerns about supporting international students' academic engagement and success. However, little is known about faculty's approaches to international student engagement and how they may differ from international students' selfreported engagement at four-year institutions. Using data from the National Survey of Student Engagement and Faculty Survey of Student Engagement, both large-scale and multi-institutional datasets, this study explores international student engagement in learning strategies, collaborative learning, and student-faculty interaction as well as international student engagement from the perspectives of faculty and students. Recommendations on supporting international student engagement from an individual faculty level, department level, and institutional level are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we have taken initial steps towards highlighting the employability discourse in higher education by using content analysis to explore website data at 40 higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK and 40 HEIs in the USA by searching for 'employability' in respective web engines. The findings from our preliminary data analysis were inserted into a MIT SIMILE software package to create a bespoke, interactive webpage that could be disseminated for discussion by higher education managers. The initial findings suggest that, in the UK, the broad discourse is centred upon government policies and targeted preparation for employment while in the USA it is centred upon the institutional vision and social inclusion agenda. Recent graduates' views were sought on these initial findings to validate whether their experiences corroborated with our suggested employability discourse claims. These insights are a useful first step for HEIs to question and re-evaluate employability at an institutional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Around the world, rapid media choice proliferation is empowering audiences and allowing individuals to more precisely tailor personal media use. From a democratic perspective, the relationship between the changing media environment and news use is of particular interest. This paper presents a comparative exploration of citizens' changing orientations towards local, national and international news in two very different countries, Norway and the United States, between 1995 and 2012. Prior research suggests that more media choice correlates with a decrease in news consumption. Our analysis shows a pattern of increasing specialization in news orientation in both countries. We also find that the strongest Norwegian trend is one of specialization while the strongest trend in the United States is one of disconnection. Altogether, the results illustrate how local conditions shape the effects of global technological developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Concerns have been raised about the long-term performance of aortic stent grafts for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms, in particular, unibody stent grafts (eg, Endologix AFX AAA stent grafts). Only limited data sets are available to evaluate the long-term risks related to these devices. The SAFE-AAA Study (Comparison of Unibody and Non-Unibody Endografts for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair in Medicare Beneficiaries Study) was designed with the Food and Drug Administration to provide a longitudinal assessment of the safety of unibody aortic stent grafts among Medicare beneficiaries., Methods: The SAFE-AAA Study was a prespecified, retrospective cohort study evaluating whether unibody aortic stent grafts are noninferior to non-unibody aortic stent grafts with respect to the composite primary outcome of aortic reintervention, rupture, and mortality. Procedures were evaluated from August 1, 2011, through December 31, 2017. The primary end point was evaluated through December 31, 2019. Inverse probability weighting was used to account for imbalances in observed characteristics. Sensitivity analyses were used to evaluate the effect of unmeasured confounding, including assessment of the falsification end points heart failure, stroke, and pneumonia. A prespecified subgroup included patients treated from February 22, 2016, through December 31, 2017, corresponding to the market release of the most contemporary unibody aortic stent grafts (Endologix AFX2 AAA stent graft)., Results: Of 87 163 patients who underwent aortic stent grafting at 2146 US hospitals, 11 903 (13.7%) received a unibody device. The average age of the total cohort was 77.0±6.7 years, 21.1% were female, 93.5% were White, 90.8% had hypertension, and 35.8% used tobacco. The primary end point occurred in 73.4% of unibody device-treated patients versus 65.0% of non-unibody device-treated patients (hazard ratio, 1.19 [95% CI, 1.15-1.22]; noninferior P value of 1.00; median follow-up, 3.4 years). Falsification end points were negligibly different between groups. In the subgroup treated with contemporary unibody aortic stent grafts, the cumulative incidence of the primary end point occurred in 37.5% of unibody device-treated patients and 32.7% of non-unibody device-treated patients (hazard ratio, 1.06 [95% CI, 0.98-1.14])., Conclusions: In the SAFE-AAA Study, unibody aortic stent grafts failed to meet noninferiority compared with non-unibody aortic stent grafts with respect to aortic reintervention, rupture, and mortality. These data support the urgency of instituting a prospective longitudinal surveillance program for monitoring safety events related to aortic stent grafts.

We study the short-term trajectories of employment, hours worked, and real wages of immigrants in Canada and the USA using nationally representative longitudinal datasets covering 1996-2008. Models with person fixed effects show that, on average, immigrant men in Canada do not experience any relative growth in these three outcomes compared to men born in Canada. Immigrant men in the USA, on the other hand, experience positive annual growth in all three domains relative to US-born men. This difference is largely on account of low-educated immigrant men, who experience faster or longer periods of relative growth in employment and wages in the USA than in Canada. We further compare longitudinal and cross-sectional trajectories and find that the latter over-estimate wage growth of earlier arrivals, presumably reflecting selective return migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China and the United States become the top two carbon emitters in the world, it is crucial for citizens in both countries to construct a sophisticated understanding of energy consumption issues. This interview study examines how U.S. and Chinese students compare in explaining and arguing about two critical energy consumption issues: burning fossil fuels and using electricity. In particular, we focused on using scientific knowledge to explain and argue about these issues. Based on relevant literature and our previous research, we developed a model to guide separate assessment and evaluation of students' argumentation and explanation. We conducted clinical interviews with 40 biology majors, including 20 U.S. students and 20 Chinese students. This study generated several important findings. First, Chinese students tended to be less consistent across explanations and argumentation, and their levels of argumentation were lower than their levels of explanation. Second, in comparison to their Chinese counterparts, U.S. students provided more scientific arguments but many fewer scientific explanations. Finally, although all participants were college students and had completed at least one introductory level science course before the interviews, some of their explanations and arguments were based on informal ideas rather than matter and energy. We discuss the possible interpretations of these findings and their implications for teaching and learning of scientific explanation and argumentation in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The perceptions and judgments of social workers who interview the child and family are especially significant factors in child abuse assessment process. The current study describes and compares child protection workers' assessment processes in Korea and the USA through the use of case vignettes and in-depth interview. The responses from social workers in these two countries were compared and discussed in the areas of: risk assessment; perception of the main problems; tolerance of corporal punishment; and judgments about appropriateness of interventions. Most revealing was that Korean social workers determined abuse based on their child abuse definition and the US Army FAP social workers determined abuse based on their definition, which was affected by legal standards and cultural differences. Korean social workers are more likely to remove a child from the home, even in mild cases, but US FAP social workers would recommend child removal from the home as a last option. The social workers that participated in this survey play a vital role in the safety of children in child protective services. Both countries can benefit from sharing information to improve the child protection services delivered. Social workers' professional judgment leads to objective and consistent outcomes and are less likely to compromise child safety in the decision making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compares a policy response to child maltreatment-family preservation programs-in the U.S. and in Taiwan. The comparison focuses on analyses of policy development, implementation, and evaluation under the historical and social contexts in both countries. In order to prevent and reduce occurrence and recurrence of maltreatment, both the U.S. and Taiwanese governments have targeted high-risk families to provide services with the ideology of preserving family. This study first compares historical and social contexts in both countries. The impacts of economic recession, social movements, social changes, and social values toward child maltreatment are examined. Second, this study analyzes the characteristics of family preservation programs. It focuses on the comparison of target population, eligibility, type of services, and government's role. Third, this study evaluates the implementations of the programs. Strengths and weaknesses of the programs in both countries are identified. Fourth, effectiveness of the programs is evaluated. Finally, based on these analyses, policy recommendations are provided for both countries to address the weakness in program implementation. Findings from this comparative study make unique contributions to modifying the child welfare services in both U.S. and Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study comparatively examines three major models of citizens’ satisfaction with the police, using two similar community surveys on policing from Cincinnati, Ohio, USA and Queensland, Australia. It tests the wider applicability of the demographic model, the neighborhood condition model, and the prior contacts with police model and analyzes whether the effects of common determinants on citizens’ satisfaction remain the same across the two international samples. Results from a series of comparisons show that there is a substantial amount of similarity across statistical models for Cincinnati and Queensland, suggesting a general framework of citizens’ satisfaction with the police that could be generalized to other international contexts. Limitations and future directions of comparative research in this area are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although attitudes toward intimate partner violence (IPV) have been the subject of many studies, little research has been conducted to comparatively assess public definitions of IPV in Western and non-Western countries. Drawing upon survey data collected from approximately 500 Chinese and American college students, this study compared and contrasted Chinese and American college students in their beliefs about what constitute IPV. Chinese students were found to be less likely to define abusive acts as IPV than their U.S. counterparts. Gender-role attitudes, such as beliefs of male dominance and IPV as crime, were among the most prominent predictors of students' definitions of IPV. Chinese and American college students' attitudes differed not only in what was defined as IPV, but also in what were the factors that shaped such attitudes. Directions for future research and policy were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars implicitly assume that the conceptual models of fear of crime found in the Western literature are also applicable to populations that have different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. To investigate whether such an assumption is legitimate, the current study analyzed survey data from samples of Korean immigrants in the Detroit metropolitan area and native Koreans in Seoul, South Korea. The result indicated a higher level of fear among native Koreans than Korean immigrants. The presented subgroup analyses revealed that perceived incivility, confidence in the police, and ethnic attachment were significant predictors of fear of crime among Korean immigrants, while gender, vicarious victimization, and perceived crime increase in the neighborhood were significant among native Koreans. Based on these findings, we offer implications for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patterns of end-of-life cancer care differ in Canada and the United States; yet little is known about differences in service-specific and overall costs. Aim: The aim of this study was to compare end-of-life costs in Ontario, Canada, and the United States, using administrative health data. Design: Advanced-stage nonsmall cell lung cancer patients who died from cancer at age ⩾65.5 years in 2001–2005 were selected from the US Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results–Medicare database (N = 16,858) and the Ontario Cancer Registry (N = 8643). We estimated total and service-specific costs (2009 US dollars) in each of the last 6 months of life from the public payer perspectives for short-term and long-term survivors (lived <180 and ⩾180 days post-diagnosis, respectively). Services were defined for comparisons between systems. Results: Mean monthly costs increased as death approached, were higher in short-term than long-term survivors, and were generally higher in the United States than in Ontario until the month before death, when they were similar (long-term survivors: US$10,464 and US$10,094 (p = 0.53), short-term survivors US$14,455 and US$12,836 (p = 0.11), in Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results–Medicare and Ontario, respectively). Costs for Medicare hospice and Ontario’s palliative care components were similar and increased closer to death. Inpatient hospitalization was the main cost driver with similar costs in both cohorts, despite lower utilization in the United States. The compositions of many services and costs differed. Conclusion: Costs for nonsmall cell lung cancer patients were slightly higher in the United States than Ontario until 1 month before death. Administrative data allow exploration and international comparisons of reimbursement policies, health-care delivery, and costs at the end of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a neuromuscular disease caused by homozygous deletion or loss-of-function mutations of the survival of motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene, resulting in reduced levels of SMN protein throughout the body. Patients with SMA may have multiple tissue defects, which could present prior to neuromuscular symptoms., Objective: To assess the signs, comorbidities and potential extraneural manifestations associated with SMA in treatment-naïve patients., Methods: This observational, retrospective and matched-cohort study used secondary insurance claims data from the US IBM® MarketScan® Commercial, Medicaid and Medicare Supplemental databases between 01/01/2000 and 12/31/2013. Treatment-naïve individuals aged≤65 years with≥2 International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) SMA codes were stratified into four groups (A-D), according to age at index (date of first SMA code recorded) and type of ICD-9 code used, and matched with non-SMA controls. The occurrence of ICD-9 codes, which were converted to various classifications (phecodes and system classes), were compared between groups in pre- and post-index periods., Results: A total of 1,457 individuals with SMA were included and matched to 13,362 controls. Increasing numbers of SMA-associated phecodes and system classes were generally observed from pre- to post-index across all groups. The strongest associations were observed in the post-index period for the youngest age groups. Endocrine/metabolic disorders were associated with SMA in almost all groups and across time periods., Conclusions: This exploratory study confirmed the considerable disease burden in patients with SMA and identified 305 unique phecodes associated with SMA, providing a rationale for further research into the natural history and progression of SMA, including extraneural manifestations of the disease.

Throughout the twentieth century, packaging was a carefully cultivated element of the appeal of the cigarette. However, the tobacco industry's control over cigarette packaging has been steadily eroded through legislation that aims to rebrand the packet from a desirable to a dangerous commodity—epitomized in Australia's introduction of plain packaging in 2012. Evident in both the enactment of cigarette packaging legislation and industry efforts to overturn it is the assumption that packets do things—i.e. that they have a critical role to play in either promoting or discouraging the habit. Drawing on 175 ethnographic interviews conducted with people smoking in public spaces in Vancouver, Canada; Canberra, Australia; Liverpool, England; and San Francisco, USA, we produce a ‘thick description’ of smokers' engagements with cigarette packets. We illustrate that despite the very different types of cigarette packaging legislation in place in the four countries, there are marked similarities in the ways smokers engage with their packets. In particular, they are not treated as a purely visual sign; instead, a primary means through which one's own cigarette packet is apprehended is by touch rather than by sight. Smokers perceive cigarette packets largely through the operations of their hands—through their ‘handiness’. Thus, our study findings problematize the assumption that how smokers engage with packets when asked to do so on a purely intellectual or aesthetic level reflects how they engage with packets as they are enfolded into their everyday lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequent catastrophic earthquakes have highlighted the significance of postearthquake recovery and reconstruction (PERR) planning, a dynamic and inclusive process which encourages the building of more resilient communities. This paper aims to provide some meaningful lessons for quake-prone countries through a review, comparison, and discussion of PERR planning success and failure factors in the 1994 Northridge earthquake in the United States, the 1995 Kobe earthquake in Japan, the 2003 Bam earthquake in Iran, and the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China. The authors then provide some guidance for PERR planning in key areas such as formulating predisaster planning, enabling participatory planning, capacity building for public involvement, schedule control, process coordination, developing catastrophe insurance, protecting vulnerable groups, and assessing plan quality. Further in-depth studies could be done to conduct broader crossnational comparisons on some important specific aspects, such as predisaster planning, participatory planning, and plan implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Labour force activity and marriage share some pathways through which they potentially influence health. In this paper, we examine whether marriage and labour force participation interact in the way they influence mortality in the USA and six European countries. Methods: We used data from the US National Health Interview Survey linked to the National Death Index, and national mortality registry data for Austria, England/Wales, Finland, Hungary, Norway and Spain (specifically, the Basque country) during 1999–2007, for men and women aged 30–59 years at baseline. We used Poisson regression to estimate both the additive (relative excess risk due to interaction) and multiplicative interactions between marriage and labour force activity on mortality. Results: Labour force inactivity was associated with higher mortality, but this association was stronger for unmarried, rather than married, individuals. Likewise, being unmarried was associated with higher mortality, but this association was stronger for inactive than for active individuals. To illustrate, among US women out of the labour force, being unmarried was associated with a 3.98 times (95%CI 3.28–4.82) higher risk of dying than being married; whereas the relative risk (RR) was 2.49 (95%CI 2.10–2.94), for women who were active in the labour market. Although this interaction between marriage and labour force activity was only significant for women on a multiplicative scale, there was a significant additive interaction for both men and women. The pattern was similar across all countries. Conclusions: Marriage attenuated the increased mortality risk associated with labour force inactivity; while labour force activity attenuated the mortality risk associated with being unmarried. Our study emphasizes the importance of public health and social policies that improve the health and well-being of unmarried and inactive men and women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context An aging population leads to a growing demand for long-term services and supports (LTSS). In 2002, France introduced universal, income-adjusted, public long-term care coverage for adults 60 and older, whereas the United States funds means-tested benefits only. Both countries have private long-term care insurance (LTCI) markets: American policies create alternatives to out-of-pocket spending and protect purchasers from relying on Medicaid. Sales, however, have stagnated, and the market's viability is uncertain. In France, private LTCI supplements public coverage, and sales are growing, although its potential to alleviate the long-term care financing problem is unclear. We explore whether France's very different approach to structuring public and private financing for long-term care could inform the United States' long-term care financing reform efforts. Methods We consulted insurance experts and conducted a detailed review of public reports, academic studies, and other documents to understand the public and private LTCI systems in France, their advantages and disadvantages, and the factors affecting their development. Findings France provides universal public coverage for paid assistance with functional dependency for people 60 and older. Benefits are steeply income adjusted and amounts are low. Nevertheless, expenditures have exceeded projections, burdening local governments. Private supplemental insurance covers 11% of French, mostly middle-income adults (versus 3% of Americans 18 and older). Whether policyholders will maintain employer-sponsored coverage after retirement is not known. The government's interest in pursuing an explicit public/private partnership has waned under President François Hollande, a centrist socialist, in contrast to the previous center-right leader, President Nicolas Sarkozy, thereby reducing the prospects of a coordinated public/private strategy. Conclusions American private insurers are showing increasing interest in long-term care financing approaches that combine public and private elements. The French example shows how a simple, cheap, cash-based product can gain traction among middle-income individuals when offered by employers and combined with a steeply income-adjusted universal public program. The adequacy of such coverage, however, is a concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment of university students’ economic knowledge has become an increasingly important research area within and across countries. Particularly, the different influences of prior education, native language, and gender as some of the main prerequisites on students’ economic knowledge have been highlighted since long. However, the findings are often only available within countries and focus on students who are at different levels of their studies or graduates. To remedy this research deficit, the goal of our article is to analyze the status of economic knowledge of students at the beginning of their course of studies and compare the effects of prior economic education, gender, and native language between the USA and Germany. Therefore, we used a translated and adapted version of the fourth edition of the Council for Economic Education'sTest of Understanding in College Economics(TUCE). The TUCE is an international measuring instrument that has been validated and widely been used in several countries to assess the economic knowledge of students in higher education. Since the curricular structure as well as higher education studies/programs in both countries is quite comparable, no tremendous general between-country effect has been expected. But as our results show, if micro- and macroeconomics are analyzed separately, divergent effects on the students’ economic knowledge were detected showing that prior education has a positive significant effect merely on micro test scores, while gender and native language are purely significant on macro test scores in both countries. In our conclusion, we discuss several reasons that might have caused these different effects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Farmers are decision-makers in a complex system of cause and effect. They decide with respect to their own attitude and beliefs, according to their farm structure and they take into account programs and regulations of the overarching policy scheme. In this paper we used mail surveys with identical questions to establish a cross-national comparison of two case study areas. The questionnaire investigates farmer's perspectives on what influences their own decision-making as well as their perception of the socio-ecological environment to relate these findings to the respective policy schemes in the case study areas. The two case studies are located in Southern Illinois, United States and in central Switzerland. The analysis shows that full-time farmers of the Southern Illinois case study area rate constraining factors such as financial aspects higher than Southern Illinois part-time farmers and farmers from the central Switzerland case study area. Furthermore, it is apparent that Swiss case study-farmers rate aspects of their land use responsibility and the Illinois case study-farmers rate ecological aspects higher. The empirical findings can be qualitatively explained through analysis of agricultural policy schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reading for personal interest and acquiring and using information using various reading processes are important parts of reading literacy that students need to develop in order to progress successfully through their schooling and fully function in the information society. Computer assisted reading instructional activities are assumed useful in improving the reading literacy of students, especially reading processes. However, students in Hong Kong and the US demonstrated a substantial performance gap in reading proficiency. Using the data from Progress in International Reading Literacy (PIRLS) 2011, this study examines whether and to what extent four computer-based reading instructional activities influence students’ performance in reading processes central to reading for interest and acquiring and using information in Hong Kong and the US. It found that computer-based reading activities are associated with students’ literacy performance in different ways in the two places. In particular, the more often Hong Kong students used the computer to read, the lower the reading achievement in all reading processes measured. However, in the US context, using the computer to write is positively associated with students’ reading scores in all reading processes while using software is negatively related to their reading performance in using all the reading processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to compare graduate human resource development (HRD) curricular content between the United States and Korean higher education institutions. Also, the perceived importance of each of the curricular content areas from these graduate HRD programmes in the United States and in South Korea was assessed by the faculty members, graduate students and practitioners in the HRD field. Through web search of the United States and Korean institutions, 68 topical content areas were identified and used for comparison. Using an online survey, the ratings and ranking of the important content areas perceived by the HRD faculty members, graduate students and practitioners in the United States and in South Korea were collected. From the comparative data analysis, it was indicated that there were several different as well as similar curriculum topical content found between the two countries. Conclusions and implications for graduate HRD curriculum revision and development were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined Chinese and US middle-school science teachers' perceptions of autonomy support. Previous research has documented the link between teachers' perceptions of autonomy and the use of student-oriented teaching practices for US teachers. But is not clear how the perception of autonomy may differ for teachers from different cultures or more specifically how motivation factors differ across cultures. The survey measured teachers' motivation, perceptions of constraints at work, perceptions of students' motivation, and level of autonomy support for students. Exploratory factor analysis of responses for the combined teacher sample (n = 201) was carried out for each of the survey assessments. Significance testing for Chinese (n = 107) and US (n = 94) teachers revealed significant differences in teachers' motivation and perceptions of constraints at work and no significant differences for perceptions of students' motivation or their level of autonomy support for students. Chinese teachers' perceptions of constraints at work, work motivation, and perceptions of student motivation were found to significantly predict teachers' autonomy support. For the US teachers, teacher motivation was the only significant predictor of teachers' autonomy support. A sub-sample of teachers (n = 19) was interviewed and results showed that teachers in both countries reported that autonomy was important to their motivation and the quality of science instruction they provided to students. The primary constraints on teaching reported by the US teachers related to materials and laboratory space while the Chinese teachers reported constraints related to the science curriculum and standards. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Following a sociocultural perspective, this study investigates how students who have grown up using the SI (Système International d'Unités) (metric) or US customary (USC) systems of units for everyday use differ in their knowledge of scale and measurement. Student groups were similar in terms of socioeconomic status, curriculum, native language transparency of number word structure, type of school, and makeup by gender and grade level, while varying by native system of measurement. Their performance on several tasks was compared using binary logistic regression, ordinal logistic regression, and analysis of variance, with gender and grade level as covariates. Participants included 17 USC-native and 89 SI-native students in a school in Mexico, and 31 USC-native students in a school in the Midwestern USA. SI-native students performed at a significantly higher level estimating the length of a metre and a conceptual task (coordinating relative size and absolute size). No statistically significant differences were found on tasks involving factual knowledge about objects or units, scale construction, or estimation of other units. USC-native students in the US school performed at a higher level on smallest known object. These findings suggest that the more transparent SI system better supports conceptual thinking about scale and measurement than the idiosyncratic USC system. Greater emphasis on the SI system and more complete adoption of the SI system for everyday life may improve understanding among US students. Advancing sociocultural theory, systems of units were found to mediate learner's understanding of scale and measurement, much as number words mediate counting and problem solving. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The importance of students' problem-posing abilities in mathematics has been emphasized in the K-12 curricula in the USA and China. There are claims that problem-posing activities are helpful in developing creative approaches to mathematics. At the same time, there are also claims that students' mathematical content knowledge could be highly related to creativity in mathematics, too. This paper reports on a study that investigated USA and Chinese high school students' mathematical content knowledge, their abilities in mathematical problem posing, and the relationships between students' mathematical content knowledge and their problem-posing abilities in mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) refers to the spectrum of diagnoses involving abnormally and morbidly adherent trophoblastic tissue to the gravid uterus. These disorders are associated with significant maternal morbidity and mortality. While race/ethnicity is known to impact pregnancy outcomes, racial disparities have not been previously examined in women with PAS. The objective of current study was to compare patient characteristics and perioperative outcomes of women with PAS who underwent cesarean delivery across race/ethnicity. This is a comparative study that retrospectively queried the National Inpatient Sample, a hospital-based inpatient database in the USA. The study cohort was women diagnosed with PAS who underwent cesarean delivery from 10/2015 to 12/2018. The exposure group was race/ethnicity. Main outcomes were (i) patient/pregnancy characteristics and (ii) surgical morbidity for cesarean delivery, assessed in multivariable analysis. A total of 10,535 women comprised the study cohort (White n = 5,230 [49.6%], Black n = 2,045 [19.4%], Hispanic n = 2,540 [24.1%], and Asian n = 720 [6.8%]). Patient demographics, pregnancy characteristics, and hospital factors for the non-White groups significantly differed compared to the White group. Older age, obesity, diabetes, placenta previa, percreta, non-elective surgery, lower median household income, and Medicaid particularly represented the non-White groups. When perioperative outcomes were compared, non-White women were more likely to have any measured complications, hemorrhage/transfusion, and shock/coagulopathy compared to White women. Various sensitivity analyses redemonstrated the main cohort results. In conclusion, this study suggests that there were significant disparities in patient characteristics and outcomes of women with PAS across race/ethnicity., (© 2021. Society for Reproductive Investigation.)