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Introduction: Social determinants of health (SDOH) have significant impacts on patients who seek care in the emergency department (ED). We administered a social needs screening tool and needs assessment survey to assess SDOH and evaluate for trends in the population of patients visiting our ED. Methods: A survey was distributed via convenience sampling to adult ED patients to capture self-reported demographic information and data about social needs. We categorized the questions related to SDOH based on the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification coding format and created a composite variable called “SDOH Strata” based on the SDOH Index scores (0-5-low, 6-10-middle, or ≥11-high). We conducted bivariate analyses using the sociodemographic characteristics of the patients and their SDOH Strata using Fisher’s exact test. We then conducted multinomial logistic regression to examine the association between the patients’ sociodemographic characteristics and the SDOH Strata. Results: A total of 269 surveys were collected. We observed that Hispanic/Latino patients were more than two times as likely (odds ratio: 2.04, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12,-6.51) to be in the higher impact stratum than in the lower impact stratum. Those who were undocumented had 3.43 times increased adjusted odds (95% CI, 1.98, 9.53) of being in the higher than the lower impact stratum compared to US citizens. Additionally, people speaking Spanish as their primary language were 5.16 times as likely to be in the higher impact stratum compared to the reference (English-speaking and lower impact stratum). Conclusion: In our patient population, patients noted to have the highest impact burden of the SDOH were those who identified as Hispanic/Latino, Spanish-speaking, and undocumented immigrant status.

Advancing Health Equity Through Innovations and Technology This year’s summit was unique given the COVID-19 pandemic: a major global outbreak that has imposed severe restrictions in all aspects of our life. At the outset, we were faced with three mutually exclusive options. First option was to cancel the summit in its entirety: this was the easiest and most obvious choice once the COVID-19 pandemic forced a near total lockdown all over the country with unprecedented disruptions of normal daily activities as the disease announced its thunderous touchdown on United States (US) soil. It was also the most-logical response faced with uncertainty regarding summit logistics and expected poor attendance due to the raging pandemic. Second option was to conduct a digital summit restricted to local audiences at Baylor College of Medicine: this option entailed implementing a virtual summit with attendance restricted to participants from our institution only. It sounded like a reasonable choice but that would impede the presence of diversity of topics, perspectives, insights and experiential learning opportunities, which are what render the summit exciting and worth attending. And finally, the last option was to conduct a digital unrestricted summit open to all interested audiences throughout the US. The conduct of a virtual summit open to all participants from around the country was initially considered daunting given the likelihood of amplified technical problems associated with an array of internet access differentials around the country, which would require a strong Information Technology (IT) presence throughout the sessions. Nonetheless, the attractiveness of going national with a virtual summit, despite the pandemic and logistical challenges, slowly gained converts and became the dominant choice. The response and level of participation in this first virtual summit showed an unanticipated surge despite the increase in registration fees to cover IT costs. This year, we had attendees from all regions of the US as well as from the United Kingdom. The range of topics was quite diverse encompassing health disparities in relation to cancers, nutrition, musculo-skeletal disorders, amputation rates, vaccination uptakes and COVID-19 infections. Various solutions were passionately presented to address these disparities including novel health technologies, community engagement and partnerships, improvement in health literacy and alternative therapeutics. There were no hitches despite the complex breakout sessions, and above all, attendees were satisfied and offered outstanding evaluation scores. This was definitely a summit that metamorphosed from pessimism to a triumphant success! Copyright © 2020 Salihu et al. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in this journal, is properly cited.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) pulmonary infections are a growing concern worldwide, with a disproportionate incidence in persons with pre-existing health conditions. NTM have frequently been found in municipally-treated drinking water and building plumbing, leading to the hypothesis that an important source of NTM exposure is drinking water. The identification and quantification of NTM in environmental samples are complicated by genetic variability among NTM species, making it challenging to determine if clinically relevant NTM are present. Additionally, their unique cellular features and lifestyles make NTM and their nucleic acids difficult to recover. This review highlights a recent work focused on quantification and characterization of NTM and on understanding the influence of source water, treatment plants, distribution systems, and building plumbing on the abundance of NTM in drinking water.

— A beginning step in the prevention of child psychopathology is the identification of conditions associated with a disproportionately high incidence of behavior problems. Rutter and colleagues (British Journal of Psychiatry, 1975, 126, 493-509) have reported a dramatic increase in the probability of child adjustment difficulties as a function of multiple family stressors. However, few investigators have tested this association beginning in infancy. The present investigation examines this relationship at the ages of 1 and 2 with behavioral adjustment at age 3 among 100 low-income families. Broad support was found for the family adversity hypothesis, though sex differences were evident regarding individual correlates of problem behavior.