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INTRODUCTION Inclusion of historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in clinical research has been low, remains low, and does not mirror the diversity of the US population. (1) For example, [...], The Circle of Trust is a new conceptual model that can help investigators and the American Indian/Alaska Natives (AI/AN) community work together to promote inclusion of AI/AN populations in clinical trials to improve health outcomes. Racial/ethnic minority groups remain underrepresented in clinical trials and this creates the need and opportunity for novel approaches. Indigenous populations are particularly underrepresented in clinical trials. Studies show that AI/AN have the lowest representation of race/ethnic groups in the United States. American Indian/Alaska Natives suffer from significant health disparities with higher rates of morbidity and mortality and lower rates for preventative measures and access to health services. A variety of barriers to recruitment of minority patients exist at several levels including the system/institutional, interpersonal, and the individual. The authors, experts in AI/AN health and recruitment of minorities into research, collaborated to modify the currently existing and published "trust triangle" model that focuses on minority recruitment to include participants, researcher, and trusted entity. We advocate for expanding the trust triangle into a circle of trust inclusive of community. The "circle of trust" is a new conceptual model that can help investigators and the AI/AN community work together to promote inclusion of AI/AN populations in clinical trials to improve health outcomes. Key words: American Indians; Alaska Natives; patient recruitment for clinical trials; circle of trust; triangle of trust; barriers to recruitment; trust more...

INTRODUCTION Accurate, easy-to-use prognostic tools may help optimize management decisions for patients with COVID-19, potentially reducing inpatient burden by identifying patients at low risk for inpatient death. Most previous risk [...], Our objective was to externally validate 2 simple risk scores for mortality among a mostly inpatient population with COVID-19 in Canada (588 patients for COVID-NoLab and 479 patients for COVID-SimpleLab). The mortality rates in the low-, moderate-, and high-risk groups for COVID-NoLab were 1.1%, 9.6%, and 21.2%, respectively. The mortality rates for COVID-SimpleLab were 0.0%, 9.8%, and 20.0%, respectively. These values were similar to those in the original derivation cohort. The 2 simple risk scores, now successfully externally validated, offer clinicians a reliable way to quickly identify low-risk inpatients who could potentially be managed as outpatients in the event of a bed shortage. Both are available online (https://ebell-proiects.shinyapps.io/covid_nolab/ and https://ebell-projects.shiny apps.io/COVID-SimpleLab/). https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.2872 more...

INTRODUCTION Growing use of electronic health record (EHR) data for research has created practical and ethical challenges for health systems and researchers. (1,2-4) In 2018, the Federal Policy for the [...], PURPOSE Patients are frequently asked to share their personal health information, The objective of this study was to compare the effects on patient experiences of 3 electronic consent (e-consent) versions asking patients to share their health records for research, METHODS A multi-arm randomized controlled trial was conducted from November 2017 through November 2018. Adult patients (n = 734) were recruited from 4 family medicine clinics in Florida, Using a tablet computer, participants were randomized to (1) a standard e-consent (standard), (2) an e-consent containing standard information plus hyperlinks to additional interactive details (interactive), or (3) an e-consent containing standard information, interactive hyperlinks, and factual messages about data protections and researcher training (trust-enhanced), Satisfaction (1 to 5), subjective understanding (0 to 100), and other outcomes were measured immediately, at 1 week, and at 6 months, RESULTS A majority of participants (94%) consented to future uses of their health record information for research. No differences in study outcomes between versions were observed at immediate or 1-week follow-up, At 6-month follow-up, compared with the standard e-consent, participants who used the interactive e-consent reported greater satisfaction (B = 0,43; SE = 0,09; P CONCLUSIONS Patients who used e-consents with interactive research details and trust-enhancing messages reported higher satisfaction and understanding at 6-month follow-up, Research institutions should consider developing and further validating e-consents that interactively deliver information beyond that required by federal regulations, including facts that may enhance patient trust in research, Key words: consumer health informatics; electronic health records; informed consent; health communication; trust https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.2610 more...

INTRODUCTION Where a person lives is now thought to be an essential determinant of health. (1) The social and economic opportunities along with the resources and supports available in our [...], PURPOSE Social determinants of health (SDoH) have been linked to a variety of health conditions, but there are no multivariate measures of these determinants to estimate the risk of morbidity or mortality in a community. We developed a score derived from multivariate measures of SDoH that predicts county-level cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. METHODS Using county-level data from 3,026 US counties, we developed a score considering variables of neighborhood socioeconomic status, food/lifestyle environment, and health care resource availability and accessibility to predict the 3-year average (2015-2017) age-adjusted county-level mortality rate for all CVD. We used one 50% random sample to develop the score and the other to validate the score. A Poisson regression model was developed to estimate parameters of variables while accounting for intrastate correlation. RESULTS The index score was based on 7 SDoH factors: percentage of the population of minority (nonwhite) race, poverty rate, percentage of the population without a high school diploma, grocery store ratio, fast-food restaurant ratio, after- tax soda price, and primary care physician supply. The area under the curve for the development and validation groups was similar, 0.851 (95% CI, 0.829-0.872) and 0.840 (95% CI, 0.817-0.863), respectively, indicating excellent discriminative ability. The index had better predictive performance for CVD burden than other area-level indexes: poverty only (area under the curve = 0.808, P CONCLUSIONS Our validated multivariate SDoH index score accurately classifies counties with high CVD burden and therefore has the potential to improve CVD risk prediction for vulnerable populations and interventions for CVD at the county level. Key words: social determinants of health; cardiovascular disease; county-level health assessment; risk score; risk stratification; health status disparities; vulnerable populations; population health https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.2534. more...

We sought to examine the relationship between elevated transferrin saturation (TS) and measures of health status (telomere length and patient-reported health-related quality of life) to assess whether elevated TS is associated with negative patient outcomes beyond increased risk for morbidity and mortality, using a cross-sectional analysis of the Hemochromatosis and Iron Overload Screening Study supplemented with assays for leukocyte telomere length in adults ≥25 years old (n = 669). Among individuals with elevated TS (≥45 % for women and ≥50 % for men), who also had a usual source of care, only 5.2 % reported ever being told by a doctor that they had an elevated iron condition. In a fully adjusted general linear regression model controlling for demographic characteristics as well as health conditions associated with iron overload, elevated TS versus non-elevated TS was associated with worse general health status (60.4 vs. 63.8, P more...

Purpose: The objective of this study was to use cross-sectional, nationally representative data to examine the relationship between self-reported hearing impairment and undetected diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and chronic kidney disease. Method: We analyzed the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for the years 2007-2012 for individuals 40 years of age and older without previously diagnosed cardiovascular disease. Analyses were conducted examining hearing impairment and undiagnosed disease. Results: The unweighted sample size was 9,786, representing 123,444,066 Americans. Hearing impairment was reported in 10.2% of the individuals. In unadjusted analyses, there was no significant difference between adults with hearing impairment and adults with typical hearing for undiagnosed diabetes, hypertension, or hypercholesterolemia. A higher proportion of adults with hearing impairment than adults with typical hearing had undiagnosed chronic kidney disease (20.1% vs. 10.7%; p = 0.0001). In models adjusting for demographics and health care utilization, hearing impairment was associated with a higher likelihood of having undiagnosed chronic kidney disease (odds ratio = 1.53, 95% CI [1.23, 1.91]). Conclusions: Individuals with hearing impairment are more likely to have undiagnosed chronic kidney disease. Hearing impairment may affect disclosure of important signs and symptoms as well as the comprehension of medical conversations for chronic disease management. General practitioners can play a critical role in improving medical communication by responding with sensitivity to the signs of hearing impairment in their patients. more...

Context: Hispanics are at increased risk for diabetes, while rural residents have historically had decreased access to care. Purpose: To determine whether living in a rural area and being Hispanic confers special risks for diagnosis and control of diabetes. Methods: We analyzed the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988-1994). Hispanics and non-Hispanic white adults were classified according to rural/urban residence to create 4 ethnicity-residence groups. Investigated outcomes were previously diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes. Among those with diagnosed diabetes, we investigated control of glucose, hypertension, and lipids. Findings: The prevalence of diagnosed diabetes was greatest for rural residents, especially for rural Hispanics (8.2%) versus that for urban whites (4.6%), rural whites (6.5%), or urban Hispanics (4.5%), (P less than 0.01). However, urban Hispanics were most likely to have undiagnosed diabetes at 3.7%, versus 2.3% of rural whites, 2.8% of urban whites, and 2.7% of rural Hispanics (P = 0.04). Among people with diagnosed diabetes, there was no difference in glycemic control between the 4 groups. Rural Hispanics with diagnosed diabetes had the greatest prevalence of elevated systolic blood pressure at 45%, compared to 37% of urban whites, 29% of rural whites, 28% of urban Hispanics (P = 0.01). In regression models controlling for potential confounders, there were no differences among urban and rural whites and Hispanics in the likelihood of undiagnosed diabetes or in glycemic control for those with diagnosed diabetes. Conclusions: Initiatives that target Hispanic health, and especially diabetes, should acknowledge rural/urban Hispanic health differences. more...