National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
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AHRQ Research Studies
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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 25 of 357 Research Studies DisplayedNeerland C, Slaughter-Acey J, Behrens K
An evidence map for social and structural determinants for maternal morbidity and mortality: a systematic review.
The study aimed to identify social and structural determinants of maternal morbidity and mortality during prenatal and postpartum periods in the U.S. Out of 8,378 references screened, 118 studies were included, covering domains like identity, socioeconomic factors, violence, and trauma. Findings revealed mixed patterns between risk factors and outcomes, with notable attention to depression and mental health. Advancing the field long-term should involve developing comprehensive datasets to thoroughly investigate intersections with biological and medical risk factors.
AHRQ-funded; 75Q80120D00008.
Citation: Neerland C, Slaughter-Acey J, Behrens K .
An evidence map for social and structural determinants for maternal morbidity and mortality: a systematic review.
Obstet Gynecol 2024 Mar; 143(3):383-92. doi: 10.1097/aog.0000000000005489.
Keywords: Social Determinants of Health, Maternal Care, Mortality, Evidence-Based Practice, Risk, Women, Outcomes
Hogg-Graham R, Benitez JA, Lacy ME
Association between community social vulnerability and preventable hospitalizations.
The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between variations in social vulnerability and preventable hospitalization rates. The researchers analyzed county-level preventable hospitalization rates for 33 states linked with data from the 2020 Social Vulnerability Index (SVI). The study found that preventable hospitalizations were 40% greater in the most vulnerable counties compared with the least vulnerable. Adjusted regression results confirm the strong relationship between social vulnerability and preventable hospitalizations.
AHRQ-funded; HS025494.
Citation: Hogg-Graham R, Benitez JA, Lacy ME .
Association between community social vulnerability and preventable hospitalizations.
Med Care Res Rev 2024 Feb; 81(1):31-38. doi: 10.1177/10775587231197248..
Keywords: Hospitalization, Social Determinants of Health
Carroll AR, Hall M, Noelke C
Association of neighborhood opportunity and pediatric hospitalization rates in the United States.
This study examined associations between a validated, multidimensional measure of social determinants of health and population-based hospitalization rates among children <18 years across 18 states from the 2017 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases and the US Census. Exposure was ZIP code-level Child Opportunity Index (COI), a composite measure of neighborhood resources and conditions that matter for children's health. The cohort included 614,823 hospitalizations among a population of 29,244,065 children, which measures at 21.02 hospitalizations per 1000. Adjusted hospitalization rates decreased significantly and in a stepwise fashion as COI increased, from 26.56 per 1000 in very low COI areas to 14.76 per 1000 in very high COI areas (incidence rate ratio 1.8). Decreasing neighborhood opportunity was associated with increasing hospitalization rates among children in the study.
AHRQ-funded; HS026122.
Citation: Carroll AR, Hall M, Noelke C .
Association of neighborhood opportunity and pediatric hospitalization rates in the United States.
J Hosp Med 2024 Feb; 19(2):120-25. doi: 10.1002/jhm.13252..
Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Children/Adolescents, Hospitalization, Social Determinants of Health
Fleming MD, Safaeinili N, Knox M
Organizational and community resilience for COVID-19 and beyond: leveraging a system for health and social services integration.
This case study paper examined how a preexisting initiative to align health care, public health, and social services influenced COVID-19 pandemic response. In-depth interviews were conducted with administrators and frontline staff in health care, public health, and social services in Contra Costa County, California from October 2020 to May 2021. The authors interviewed 31 informants including 14 managers in public health, health care, or social services and 17 social needs case managers who coordinated services across these sectors on behalf of patients. They identified four distinct components of the county's system alignment capabilities that supported COVID-19 response, including (1) an organizational culture of adaptability fostered through earlier system alignment efforts, which included the ability and willingness to rapidly implement new organizational processes, (2) trusting relationships among organizations based on prior, positive experiences of cross-sector collaboration, (3) capacity to monitor population health of historically marginalized community members, including information infrastructures, data analytics, and population monitoring and outreach, and (4) frontline staff with flexible skills to support health and social care who had built relationships with the highest risk community members.
AHRQ-funded; HS027648.
Citation: Fleming MD, Safaeinili N, Knox M .
Organizational and community resilience for COVID-19 and beyond: leveraging a system for health and social services integration.
Health Serv Res 2024 Feb; 59(suppl 1):e14250. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.14250..
Keywords: COVID-19, Social Determinants of Health
Danielson EC, Li W, Suleiman L
Social risk and patient-reported outcomes after total knee replacement: implications for Medicare policy.
The objective of this study was to determine if county- or patient-level social risk factors are associated with patient-reported outcomes after total knee replacement when added to the comprehensive joint replacement risk-adjustment model. Patient and outcomes data from the Function and Outcomes Research for Comparative Effectiveness in Total Joint Replacement cohort were merged with the CDC Social Vulnerability Index. The findings indicated that patient-reported race, education, and income were associated with patient-reported pain or functional scores; pain improvement was negatively associated with Black race and positively associated with higher annual incomes. The authors concluded that these findings suggested that patient-level social factors warrant further investigation to promote health equity in patient-reported outcomes after total knee replacement.
Citation: Danielson EC, Li W, Suleiman L .
Social risk and patient-reported outcomes after total knee replacement: implications for Medicare policy.
Health Serv Res 2024 Feb; 59(1):e14215. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.14215.
Keywords: Surgery, Orthopedics, Medicare, Outcomes, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Social Determinants of Health
Chisolm DJ, Dugan JA, Figueroa JF
Improving health equity through health care systems research.
This study’s objective was to describe health equity research priorities for health care delivery systems and delineate a research and action agenda that generates evidence-based solutions to persistent racial and ethnic inequities in health outcomes. This project was conducted as a component of the AHRQ stakeholder engaged process to develop an Equity Agenda and Action Plan to guide priority setting to advance health equity. The stakeholders included experts from academia, health care organizations, industry, and government. Five priority themes were derived iteratively through experts from academia, health care organizations, industry, and government. They identified six priority themes for research; (1) institutional leadership, culture, and workforce; (2) data-driven, culturally tailored care; (3) health equity targeted performance incentives; (4) health equity-informed approaches to health system consolidation and access; (5) whole person care; (6) and whole community investment. They also suggested cross-cutting themes regarding research workforce and research timelines.
AHRQ-funded.
Citation: Chisolm DJ, Dugan JA, Figueroa JF .
Improving health equity through health care systems research.
Health Serv Res 2023 Dec; 58(suppl 3):289-99. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.14192..
Keywords: Health Systems, Disparities, Social Determinants of Health, Healthcare Delivery
Heintzman J, Springer R, Marino M
Latino adolescent-mother language concordance, neighborhood deprivation, and vaccinations in community health centers.
Researchers examined the association between adolescent-mother language concordance and neighborhood social deprivation with adolescent vaccination completion in order to understand social/family factors related to Latino adolescent vaccination. They used a multistate, EHR-based dataset of community health center patients to compare three Latino groups; their sample included over 56,000 adolescent-mother dyads. Their findings indicated that English-preferring adolescents with Spanish-preferring mothers had the highest completion rates. The researchers concluded that future studies could attempt to understand what advantage this language dyad may have in adolescent vaccination completion.
AHRQ-funded; HS025962.
Citation: Heintzman J, Springer R, Marino M .
Latino adolescent-mother language concordance, neighborhood deprivation, and vaccinations in community health centers.
Matern Child Health J 2023 Nov; 27(11):2026-37. doi: 10.1007/s10995-023-03742-0..
Keywords: Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Community-Based Practice, Vaccination, Children/Adolescents, Vulnerable Populations, Social Determinants of Health
Beck AF, Wymer L, Pinzer E
Reduced prevalence of childhood asthma after housing renovations in an underresourced community.
This study’s goal as to determine whether housing renovations affect the prevalence of asthma in an underresourced community. Between 2010 and 2012, the Fay Apartments (~800 units) in Cincinnati, Ohio, were renovated to "green building" standards and renamed the Villages at Roll Hill. Asthma prevalence among 7-year-olds was determined by accessing Ohio Medicaid data for the years 2013 to 2021. Average prevalence of asthma among 7-year-olds averaged 12.7% in the first 6 years after the renovations (2013-2018). But in postrenovation years 7-9 (2019-221), average prevalence of asthma had dropped to 5.9%.
AHRQ-funded; HS027996.
Citation: Beck AF, Wymer L, Pinzer E .
Reduced prevalence of childhood asthma after housing renovations in an underresourced community.
J Allergy Clin Immunol Glob 2023 Nov; 2(4):1-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jacig.2023.100143..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Asthma, Respiratory Conditions, Vulnerable Populations, Social Determinants of Health
Wu L, Chang C, Lo K
Telephone-based social health screening by pharmacists in the nonadherent Medicare population.
The study examined social health needs among Medicare patients and pharmacist-led screening's impact on medication adherence and healthcare use. Using a predictive algorithm, higher-risk patients were identified. Patients accepting referrals had better statin adherence, while those declining had more hospital stays and fewer primary care visits. The findings suggest pharmacist interventions can improve medication adherence without worsening healthcare use or plan membership.
AHRQ-funded; HS027343.
Citation: Wu L, Chang C, Lo K .
Telephone-based social health screening by pharmacists in the nonadherent Medicare population.
J Manag Care Spec Pharm 2023 Nov; 29(11):1184-92. doi: 10.18553/jmcp.2023.29.11.1184..
Keywords: Provider: Pharmacist, Patient Adherence/Compliance, Social Determinants of Health, Medication
Ryus CR, Janke AT, Kunnath N
Association of hospital discharge against medical advice and coded housing instability in the US.
This study examined the relationship between discharge type and housing instability, then identified primary reasons for hospitalization among self-discharged patients with housing instability. This cross-sectional, retrospective study analyzed the National Inpatient Sample between January 2017 and December 2019, available from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. Among 85,402,831 hospitalizations analyzed, 1.6% resulted in self-discharge. Compared to admissions with planned discharges, self-discharges were more likely to have coded housing instability. Among hospitalizations resulting in self-discharge, admissions with coded housing instability were more likely to result in self-discharge than those without coded housing instability. Relationships between housing instability and self-discharges were found among major medical conditions: septicemia, acute myocardial infarction, and respiratory failure. Alcohol-related disorders and opioid-related disorders were among the highest self-discharge volumes, but relationships were minimal.
AHRQ-funded; HS028963.
Citation: Ryus CR, Janke AT, Kunnath N .
Association of hospital discharge against medical advice and coded housing instability in the US.
J Gen Intern Med 2023 Oct; 38(13):3082-85. doi: 10.1007/s11606-023-08240-1..
Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Hospital Discharge, Social Determinants of Health, Vulnerable Populations, Hospital Readmissions
Beck D, Hall S, Costa DK
Leveraging population health datasets to advance maternal health research.
Researchers reviewed a sample of population health datasets and highlighted recommended changes to the datasets to identify existing gaps in maternal health research and help address maternal morbidity and mortality. Their findings showed insufficient representation of pregnant and postpartum individuals across all datasets. They recommended that pregnant and postpartum individuals should be oversampled in population health data to facilitate rapid policy and program evaluation and that individuals with pregnancies resulting in outcomes other than livebirth be included or asked about their experiences.
AHRQ-funded; HS027640.
Citation: Beck D, Hall S, Costa DK .
Leveraging population health datasets to advance maternal health research.
Matern Child Health J 2023 Oct; 27(10):1683-88. doi: 10.1007/s10995-023-03695-4..
Keywords: Maternal Care, Women, Social Determinants of Health
Pantell MS, Holmgren AJ, Leary JC
Social and medical care integration practices among children's hospitals.
This study sought to describe screening practices for adverse social determinants of health (SDOH) among a national sample of children’s hospitals. The authors analyzed responses to the 2020 American Hospital Association Annual Survey. Among children's hospitals, they calculated the prevalence of screening for social needs, strategies to address social risks/needs, partnerships with community-based organizations to address social risks/needs at the individual and community level, and rates of impact assessments of how social risk-related interventions affect outcomes. They also used χ2 tests to compare results by hospital characteristics and weighted results to adjust for nonresponse. Out of 82 children’s hospitals in the sample, a total of 79.6% screened for and 96.0% had strategies to address at least 1 social risk factor, although rates varied by SDOH domain. These hospitals more commonly partnered with community-based organizations to address patient-level social risks than participated in community-level initiatives. SDOH intervention effectiveness was assessed in a total of 39.2% of hospitals. The authors found differences in social risk-related care practices commonly varied by hospital ownership and Medicaid population but not by region.
AHRQ-funded; HS028473.
Citation: Pantell MS, Holmgren AJ, Leary JC .
Social and medical care integration practices among children's hospitals.
Hosp Pediatr 2023 Oct; 13(10):886-94. doi: 10.1542/hpeds.2023-007246..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Hospitals, Social Determinants of Health
Sullivan SS, Ledwin KM, Hewner S
A clinical classification framework for identifying persons with high social and medical needs: the COMPLEXedex-social determinants of health (SDH).
The purpose of this two-phase retrospective, descriptive cohort study was to incorporate nursing expertise into a clinical definition of high-need cases and create a clinical classification algorithm for implementing nursing interventions. The researchers utilized 2019 data to build an algorithm (n = 19,20,848) and 2021 data to test the algorithm in adults 18 years old or greater (n = 15,99,176). The researchers developed the COMPLEXedex-SDH algorithm to improve health equity and outcomes, and identified these populations: cross-cohort needs (10.9%); high-need persons (cross-cohort needs and other social determinants) (17.7%); suboptimal health care utilization for persons with medical complexity (13.8%); high need persons with suboptimal health care utilization (6.2%).
AHRQ-funded; HS028000.
Citation: Sullivan SS, Ledwin KM, Hewner S .
A clinical classification framework for identifying persons with high social and medical needs: the COMPLEXedex-social determinants of health (SDH).
Nurs Outlook 2023 Sep-Oct; 71(5):102044. doi: 10.1016/j.outlook.2023.102044..
Keywords: Social Determinants of Health, Disparities, Healthcare Delivery
Magoc T, Allen KS, McDonnell C
Generalizability and portability of natural language processing system to extract individual social risk factors.
The purpose of this study was to validate the portability and generalizability of a Natural Language Processing (NLP) method to extract individual social factors from clinical notes. More than 6 million notes were processed at the receiving site by the NLP model. The study found that approximately 13,000 and 19,000 were categorized as positive for financial insecurity and housing instability, respectively. The NLP model reflected excellent performance on the validation dataset with all measures over 0.87 for both social factors.
AHRQ-funded; HS028636.
Citation: Magoc T, Allen KS, McDonnell C .
Generalizability and portability of natural language processing system to extract individual social risk factors.
Int J Med Inform 2023 Sep; 177:105115. doi: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2023.105115..
Keywords: Social Determinants of Health, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Mehta S, Lyles CR, Rubinsky AD
Social determinants of health documentation in structured and unstructured clinical data of patients with diabetes: comparative analysis.
It is not clear how accurately Electronic health records (HER) data reflect patients' lived experience of social determinants of health (SDOH). The process of manually reviewing clinical notes to retrieve SDOH information is not feasible. The purpose of this study was to apply two tools, PatientExploreR and Electronic Medical Record Search Engine (EMERSE), to identify SDOH mappings for structured and unstructured patient data. The researchers included 4,283 adult patients receiving primary care for diabetes at UCSF. The study results revealed that SDOH may be more significant in the lives of patients with diabetes than is evident from structured data recorded on EHRs. When researchers applied EMERSE NLP rules, additional information was uncovered from patient clinical notes on problems related to social connections isolation, employment, financial insecurity, housing insecurity, food insecurity, education, and stress.
AHRQ-funded; HS026383.
Citation: Mehta S, Lyles CR, Rubinsky AD .
Social determinants of health documentation in structured and unstructured clinical data of patients with diabetes: comparative analysis.
JMIR Med Inform 2023 Aug 22; 11:e46159. doi: 10.2196/46159..
Keywords: Social Determinants of Health, Diabetes, Chronic Conditions, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Cheng TL, Mistry KB
AHRQ Author: Mistry KB
Clarity on disparity: who, what, when, where, why, and how.
This purpose of this article was to explain a comprehensive framework of health disparities descriptors that can offer a systematic approach to advance the understanding of causes of health disparities and facilitate action steps to ensure health equity.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Cheng TL, Mistry KB .
Clarity on disparity: who, what, when, where, why, and how.
Pediatr Clin North Am 2023 Aug; 70(4):639-50. doi: 10.1016/j.pcl.2023.03.003..
Keywords: Disparities, Social Determinants of Health, Newborns/Infants, Mortality, Health Status, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Access to Care
Klawetter S, Weikel B, Roybal K
Social determinants of health and parenting self-efficacy among mothers of preterm infants.
The purpose of this prospective cohort study was to utilize a social determinants of health (SDoH) framework to examine the associations between social and environmental factors and parenting self-efficacy (PSE) in mothers of preterm infants hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The study found that the multiple linear regression model predicting the efficacy score including maternal race/ethnicity, age, insurance, employment status before giving birth, gestational age, depression, and having other children was significant. Significant predictors of PSE were race/ethnicity, having another child/children, and depression.
AHRQ-funded; HS026370.
Citation: Klawetter S, Weikel B, Roybal K .
Social determinants of health and parenting self-efficacy among mothers of preterm infants.
J Soc Social Work Res 2023 Summer; 14(2):411-29. doi: 10.1086/716303..
Keywords: Social Determinants of Health, Newborns/Infants, Maternal Care, Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
Taylor KK, Neiman PU, Bonner S
Unmet social health needs as a driver of inequitable outcomes after surgery: a cross-sectional analysis of the National Health Interview Survey.
The objective of this study was to identify opportunities to improve surgical equity by evaluating unmet social health needs by race, ethnicity, and insurance type. Researchers used the National Health Interview Survey for 2008-2018 to identify adults aged 18 and older who reported surgery in the past year. The results indicated that unmet social health needs varied significantly by race, ethnicity, and insurance, and were independently associated with poor health among surgical populations.
AHRQ-funded; HS028672; HS027788.
Citation: Taylor KK, Neiman PU, Bonner S .
Unmet social health needs as a driver of inequitable outcomes after surgery: a cross-sectional analysis of the National Health Interview Survey.
Ann Surg 2023 Aug 1; 278(2):193-200. doi: 10.1097/sla.0000000000005689.
Keywords: Social Determinants of Health, Surgery, Disparities, Outcomes
Vest JR, Mazurenko O
Non-response bias in social risk factor screening among adult emergency department patients.
This study assessed differences between respondents and those refusing participation in social factor screening questionnaires to determine if non-response contributed to selection bias. Study subjects were patients from a mid-western state safety-net hospital's emergency department aged 18 or older, English or Spanish speakers, and able to complete a self-administered questionnaire. Results indicated that subjects with prior documentation of financial insecurity were less likely to respond to the screening questionnaire, but no other factors were significantly associated with response. The authors concluded that this study contributed to the growing social determinants of health literature by confirming that selection bias might exist within screening practices and research studies.
AHRQ-funded; HS028008.
Citation: Vest JR, Mazurenko O .
Non-response bias in social risk factor screening among adult emergency department patients.
J Med Syst 2023 Jul 22; 47(1):78. doi: 10.1007/s10916-023-01975-8..
Keywords: Emergency Department, Screening, Social Determinants of Health
Linfield GH, Patel S, Ko HJ
Evaluating the comparability of patient-level social risk data extracted from electronic health records: a systematic scoping review.
This study’s objective was to evaluate how and from where social risk data are extracted from electronic health records (EHRs) for research purposes, and how observed differences may impact study generalizability. A systematic scoping review was conducted of peer-reviewed literature that used patient-level EHR data to assess 1 ± 6 social risk domains: housing, transportation, food, utilities, safety, social support/isolation. The authors found 111 of 9022 identified articles met inclusion criteria. By domain, martial/partner status was most often included, predominantly defined by marital partner status, and extracted from structured sociodemographic data. Structured housing data was extracted most from billing codes and screening tools. Across domains, data were predominantly sourced from structured fields (n = 89/111) versus unstructured free text (n = 32/111).
AHRQ-funded; HS026383.
Citation: Linfield GH, Patel S, Ko HJ .
Evaluating the comparability of patient-level social risk data extracted from electronic health records: a systematic scoping review.
Health Informatics J 2023 Jul-Sep; 29(3):14604582231200300. doi: 10.1177/14604582231200300..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Social Determinants of Health, Risk
Apathy NC, Dixit RA, Boxley CL
Variations in physician telemedicine provision.
This study’s objective was to quantify physician variation in telemedicine provisions and the extent to which telemedicine use is explainable by the individual physician, adjusting for temporal, patient, and visit factors. This cross-sectional study used data on adult primary care visits across MedStar Health, Stanford Health Care, and Intermountain Healthcare systems. Primary care physicians who conducted at least 1000 visits between March 13, 2020 and December 31, 2021 were included. Primary care visits were defined in the electronic health record and scheduling systems as completed outpatient visits with those included primary care physicians. The sample consisted of 2,410,471 visits total, with 25.6% via telemedicine seen by 729 physicians. Substantial variation in telemedicine provision was shown across physicians. At least 237 physicians (32.5%) had at least 1 high-outlier week of telemedicine provision. Patient demographics only accounted for 2.3% of the variation in telemedicine use, with the site accounting for 16.3% of the variation. Residual (unexplained) variation accounted for more than half of the explanations. Telemedicine use has slowly declined, largely due to the lack of physical examinations.
AHRQ-funded; HS028255.
Citation: Apathy NC, Dixit RA, Boxley CL .
Variations in physician telemedicine provision.
JAMA Netw Open 2023 Jul; 6(7):e2321955. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.21955..
Keywords: Low-Income, Social Determinants of Health, Outcomes, Risk
Blebu BE, Liu PY, Harrington M
Implementation of cross-sector partnerships: a description of implementation factors related to addressing social determinants to reduce racial disparities in adverse birth outcomes.
The purpose of this mixed methods design study was to integrate the perspectives of healthcare staff and community-based partner organizations to describe the implementation of a cross-sector partnership developed for the purpose of addressing social and structural determinants in pregnancy. The researchers utilized in-depth interviews and social network analysis to incorporate the perspectives of healthcare clinicians and staff with the views of community-based partner organizations to identify implementation factors related to cross-sector partnerships. The study identified 7 implementation variables related to 3 themes: strengths of a network approach to cross-sector collaboration, relationship-centered care, and barriers and facilitators of cross-sector partnerships. The study results highlighted establishing relationships between healthcare staff, patients, and community-based partner organizations.
AHRQ-funded; HS026407.
Citation: Blebu BE, Liu PY, Harrington M .
Implementation of cross-sector partnerships: a description of implementation factors related to addressing social determinants to reduce racial disparities in adverse birth outcomes.
Front Public Health 2023 Jun 16; 11:1106740. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1106740..
Keywords: Social Determinants of Health, Disparities, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Maternal Care, Women, Implementation
Ackerman SL, Wing H, Acves B
“We were trying to do quality versus quantity”: challenges and opportunities at the intersection of standardized and personalized social care in community health centers.
The purpose of this study was to explore activities to incorporate social risk programs into community health centers (CHCs) providing primary care services in Oregon. CHCs took part in either one or both of two large programs with the goal of incorporating standardized social risk screening and referral processes. The researchers conducted 42 semi-structured interviews with clinicians, managers and staff at 12 clinics affiliated with five CHCs to understand implementation procedures and challenges to those procedures. Thematic analysis utilized the Normalization Process Theory (NPT) to discover the dynamic, interactional nature of activities to integrate a complex sociotechnical intervention. The study found that standardized social care was expected to correspond well with institutional commitments and priorities. However, challenges maintaining support among staff was encountered, affected by competing priorities, staff turnover, and uncertainties about roles and responsibilities. The new tools were frequently altered or abandoned to retain the advantages of existing social care practices. Across clinics, the association between standardized procedures and existing social care activities, had a key role in patterns of adoption, non-adoption and adaptation, with standardized tools frequently experienced as undermining more relational, team-based social care.
AHRQ-funded; HS026435.
Citation: Ackerman SL, Wing H, Acves B .
“We were trying to do quality versus quantity”: challenges and opportunities at the intersection of standardized and personalized social care in community health centers.
SSM Qual Res Health 2023 Jun; 3:100267. doi: 10.1016/j.ssmqr.2023.100267..
Keywords: Community-Based Practice, Social Determinants of Health, Primary Care
Rees CA, Stewart AM, Portillo EN
Reporting of important social determinants of health in pediatric clinical trials.
The purpose of this study was to assess the rates and trends in the reporting of sexual orientation, gender identity, preferred language, and socioeconomic factors in published pediatric clinical trials. The researchers conducted a cross-sectional study of pediatric clinical trials in the United States published from January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2020 in 5 general pediatric and 5 general medical journals with the highest impact factor in their respective fields. Outcomes included reporting of sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic factors, and preferred language. The study found that in 612 trials, 29.6% reported preferred language. Among these, 64.6% exclusively enrolled participants whose preferred language was English. From 2011 to 2020, there was a relative increase in the reporting of preferred language. Socioeconomic factors were reported in 47.9% of trials. There was no significant change in the reporting of socioeconomic factors of published trial results among adolescent participants reported any measure of sexual orientation, and 1.1% reported gender identity. The researchers concluded that despite sexual orientation, gender identity, preferred language, and socioeconomic factors being increasingly recognized as social determinants of health these variables were infrequently included in pediatric clinical trial results reporting.
AHRQ-funded; HS026503.
Citation: Rees CA, Stewart AM, Portillo EN .
Reporting of important social determinants of health in pediatric clinical trials.
Am J Prev Med 2023 Jun; 64(6):918-26. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2022.12.004..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Social Determinants of Health, Health Services Research (HSR)
Field C, Lynch CD, Fareed N
Association of community walkability and glycemic control among pregnant individuals with pregestational diabetes mellitus.
The role of community walkability in influencing glycemic regulation in expectant individuals with pre-existing diabetes is yet to be established. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between the walkability of a neighborhood at the community level and glycemic control, as indicated by hemoglobin A1c (A1C), in pregnant individuals with pregestational diabetes. The researchers conducted a retrospective examination of expectant individuals with pregestational diabetes who participated in a combined prenatal and diabetic care program from 2012 to 2016. The determinant of interest was community walkability, determined by the US Environmental Protection Agency National Walkability Index (score range 1-20), which includes intersection concentration (design), closeness to transit stops (distance), and a combination of job and household varieties (diversity). Participants from the most walkable neighborhoods were contrasted with those from less walkable neighborhoods as per the National Environmental Protection Agency's definition. The outcomes were glycemic control, including A1C, measured both in early and late pregnancy, and the average change in A1C throughout pregnancy. The study found that out of 417 expectant individuals, 10% resided in the most walkable areas. All 417 participants had an A1C assessment in early pregnancy, and 376 had another A1C assessment in late pregnancy. Pregnant individuals living in the most walkable areas were more likely to have an A1C <6.0% in early pregnancy, and an A1C <6.5% in late pregnancy compared with those in less walkable areas. The change in A1C across pregnancy was not related to walkability. The study concluded that individuals with pre-existing diabetes residing in more walkable areas demonstrated better glycemic control during both early and late pregnancy.
AHRQ-funded; HS028822.
Citation: Field C, Lynch CD, Fareed N .
Association of community walkability and glycemic control among pregnant individuals with pregestational diabetes mellitus.
Am J Obstet Gynecol MFM 2023 May; 5(5):100898. doi: 10.1016/j.ajogmf.2023.100898..
Keywords: Diabetes, Maternal Care, Social Determinants of Health, Women