Faculty Bibliography

Mental health is a significant public health challenge globally, and one anticipated to increase following the COVID-19 pandemic. In many rural regions of developing nations, little is known about the prevalence of mental health conditions and factors that may help mitigate poor outcomes. This study assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and social support for residents of rural Haiti. Data were collected from March to May 2020. The Patient Health Questionnaire subscales for anxiety and depression, and the Perceived Stress Scale were utilized in addition to tailored questions specific to COVID-19 knowledge. Half (51.8%) of the 500 survey respondents reported COVID-19-related anxiety and worrying either daily or across a few days. Half (50.2%) also reported experiencing depression daily or across several days. Most (70.4%) did not have any social support, and 28.0% experienced some stress, with 13.4% indicating high perceived stress. Furthermore, 4.6% had suitable plumbing systems in their homes. The results were immediately actionable, informing the implementation of a mental health counseling program for youth following a loss of social support through school closures. Long-term investments must be made as part of public health responses in rural communities in developing nations, which remain under-studied.

OBJECTIVE:Given the significant disparities in diabetes burden and access to care, this study uses qualitative interviews of Black men having HbA1c levels consistent with previously undiagnosed diabetes or prediabetes to understand their perceptions of the healthcare system. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS/METHODS:We recruited Black men from Black-owned barbershops in Brooklyn, NY, who were screened using point-of-care HbA1c tests. Among those with HbA1c levels within prediabetes or diabetes thresholds, qualitative interviews were conducted to uncover prevalent themes related to their overall health status, health behaviors, utilization of healthcare services, and experiences with the healthcare system. We used a theoretical framework from the William and Mohammed medical mistrust model to guide our qualitative analysis. RESULTS:Fifty-two Black men without a prior history of diabetes and an HbA1c reading at or above 5.7% were interviewed. Many participants stated that their health was in good condition. Some participants expressed being surprised by their abnormal HbA1c reading because it was not previously mentioned by their healthcare providers. Furthermore, many of our participants shared recent examples of negative interactions with physicians when describing their experiences with the healthcare system. Finally, several participants cited a preference for incorporating non-pharmaceutical options in their diabetes management plans. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:To help alleviate the disparity in diabetes burden among Black men, healthcare providers should take a more active role in recognizing and addressing their own implicit biases, engage in understanding the specific healthcare needs and expectations of each patient, and consider emphasizing non-medication approaches to improve glycemic control.

IMPORTANCE:Black men have a higher risk of prostate cancer compared with White men, but Black adults are underrepresented in online content about prostate cancer. Across racial groups, the internet is a popular source of health information; Black adults are more likely to trust online health information, yet have more medical mistrust than White adults. OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the association between racial representation in online content about prostate cancer and trust in the content and identify factors that influence trust. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS:A randomized clinical trial was conducted from August 18, 2021, to January 7, 2022, consisting of a 1-time online survey. Participants included US men and women aged 40 years and older. Data were analyzed from January 2022 to June 2023. INTERVENTIONS:Participants were randomized to watch the same video script about either prostate cancer screening or clinical trials presented by 1 of 4 speakers: a Black physician, a Black patient, a White physician, or a White patient, followed by a questionnaire. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES:The primary outcome was a published scale for trust in the information. χ2 tests and multivariable logistic regression were used to compare trust according to the video's speaker and topic. RESULTS:Among 2904 participants, 1801 (62%) were men, and the median (IQR) age was 59 (47-69) years. Among 1703 Black adults, a greater proportion had high trust in videos with Black speakers vs White speakers (72.7% vs 64.3%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.62; 95% CI, 1.28-2.05; P < .001); less trust with patient vs physician presenter (64.6% vs 72.5%; aOR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.49-0.80; P < .001) and about clinical trials vs screening (66.3% vs 70.7%; aOR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.62-0.99; P = .04). Among White adults, a lower proportion had high trust in videos featuring a patient vs physician (72.0% vs 78.6%; aOR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.54-0.95; P = .02) and clinical trials vs screening (71.4% vs 79.1%; aOR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.42-0.76; P < .001), but no difference for Black vs White presenters (76.8% vs 73.7%; aOR, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.83-1.48; P = .49). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE:In this randomized clinical trial, prostate cancer information was considered more trustworthy when delivered by a physician, but racial concordance was significantly associated with trust only among Black adults. These results highlight the importance of physician participation and increasing racial diversity in public dissemination of health information and an ongoing need for public education about clinical trials. TRIAL REGISTRATION:ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05886751.

BACKGROUND:The American Heart Association funded a Health Equity Research Network on the prevention of hypertension, the RESTORE Network, as part of its commitment to achieving health equity in all communities. This article provides an overview of the RESTORE Network. METHODS:The RESTORE Network includes five independent, randomized trials testing approaches to implement non-pharmacological interventions that have been proven to lower blood pressure (BP). The trials are community-based, taking place in churches in rural Alabama, mobile health units in Michigan, barbershops in New York, community health centers in Maryland, and food deserts in Massachusetts. Each trial employs a hybrid effectiveness-implementation research design to test scalable and sustainable strategies that mitigate social determinants of health (SDOH) that contribute to hypertension in Black communities. The primary outcome in each trial is change in systolic BP. The RESTORE Network Coordinating Center has five cores: BP measurement, statistics, intervention, community engagement, and training that support the trials. Standardized protocols, data elements and analysis plans were adopted in each trial to facilitate cross-trial comparisons of the implementation strategies, and application of a standard costing instrument for health economic evaluations, scale up, and policy analysis. Herein, we discuss future RESTORE Network research plans and policy outreach activities designed to advance health equity by preventing hypertension. CONCLUSIONS:The RESTORE Network was designed to promote health equity in the US by testing effective and sustainable implementation strategies focused on addressing SDOH to prevent hypertension among Black adults.

BACKGROUND:Black men in the United States have higher hypertension (HTN) prevalence than other groups, largely due to adverse social determinants of health, including poor healthcare access. The Community-to-Clinic Linkage Implementation Program (CLIP) is effective for HTN screening in Black-owned barbershops. However, its effect on HTN prevention among Black men is untested. Here, we describe the rationale and study protocol for the development and testing of a barbershop facilitation (BF) strategy, with trained Community Health Workers, to implement and scale CLIP for HTN prevention in Black men. METHODS:The study is part of the American Heart Association (AHA)-funded RESTORE (Addressing Social Determinants to Prevent Hypertension) Health Equity Research Network. The study is tri-phasic: (i) pre-implementation-qualitative examination of factors affecting adoption of CLIP and development of BF strategy, (ii) implementation-cluster randomized control trial to test the effectiveness of CLIP with and without BF. We will partner with 20 barbershops and enroll 420 Black men with elevated blood pressure (BP)/Stage 1 HTN (2017 ACC/AHA HTN guidelines). Outcomes include reduction in BP, rate of CLIP adoption and linkage to care, and incidence of Stage 2 HTN. The study time frame is 12 months, (iii) post-implementation-we will evaluate program sustainability (6 months post-trial conclusion) and cost-effectiveness (up to 10 years). CONCLUSIONS:This study harnesses community-based resources to address HTN prevention in Black men, who are more adversely impacted by HTN than other groups. It has major policy relevance for health departments and other stakeholders to address HTN prevention in Black communities. CLINICALTRIALS.GOV IDENTIFIER/BACKGROUND:NCT05447962.

We examine the efficacy of MARHABA, a social marketing-informed, lay health worker (LHW) intervention with patient navigation (PN), to increase breast and cervical cancer screening among Muslim women in New York City. Muslim women were eligible if they were overdue for a mammogram and/or a Pap test. All participants attended a 1-h educational seminar with distribution of small media health education materials, after which randomization occurred. Women in the Education + Media + PN arm received planned follow-ups from a LHW. Women in the Education + Media arm received no further contact. A total of 428 women were randomized into the intervention (214 into each arm). Between baseline and 4-month follow-up, mammogram screening increased from 16.0 to 49.0% in the Education + Media + PN arm (p < 0.001), and from 14.7 to 44.6% in the Education + Media arm (p < 0.001). Pap test screening increased from 16.9 to 42.3% in the Education + Media + PN arm (p < 0.001) and from 17.3 to 37.1% in the Education + Media arm (p < 0.001). Cancer screening knowledge increased in both groups. Between group differences were not statistically significant for screening and knowledge outcomes. A longer follow-up period may have resulted in a greater proportion of up-to-date screenings, given that many women had not yet received their scheduled screenings. Findings suggest that the educational session and small media materials were perhaps sufficient to increase breast and cervical cancer screening among Muslim American women. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03081507.

PURPOSE/UNASSIGNED:Black men have a higher risk of prostate cancer diagnosis and mortality but are less likely to receive definitive treatment. The impact of structural aspects on treatment is unknown but may lead to actionable insights to mitigate disparities. We sought to examine the associations between urology practice organization and racial composition and treatment patterns for Medicare beneficiaries with incident prostate cancer. METHODS/UNASSIGNED:Using a 20% sample of national Medicare data, we identified beneficiaries diagnosed with prostate cancer between January 2010 and December 2015 and followed them through 2016. We linked urologists to their practices with tax identification numbers. We then linked patients to practices on the basis of their primary urologist. We grouped practices into quartiles on the basis of their proportion of Black patients. We used multilevel mixed-effects models to identify treatment associations. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:< .05). CONCLUSION/UNASSIGNED:Despite Medicare coverage, we found less definitive treatment among Black beneficiaries consistent with ongoing prostate cancer treatment disparities. Our findings are reflective of the adverse effects of practice segregation and structural racism, highlighting the need for multilevel interventions.

INTRODUCTION/UNASSIGNED:Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among men in the United States and harms Black men disproportionately. Most US men are uninformed about many key facts important to make an informed decision about prostate cancer. Most experts agree that it is important for men to learn about these problems as early as possible in their lifetime. OBJECTIVES/UNASSIGNED:To compare the effect of a community health worker (CHW)-led educational session with a physician-led educational session that counsels Black men about the risks and benefits of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening. METHODS/UNASSIGNED:One hundred eighteen Black men recruited in 8 community-based settings attended a prostate cancer screening education session led by either a CHW or a physician. Participants completed surveys before and after the session to assess knowledge, decisional conflict, and perceptions about the intervention. Both arms used a decision aid that explains the benefits, risks, and controversies of PSA screening and decision coaching. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:There was no significant difference in decisional conflict change by group: 24.31 physician led versus 30.64 CHW led (P=.31). The CHW-led group showed significantly greater improvement on knowledge after intervention, change (SD): 2.6 (2.81) versus 5.1 (3.19), P<.001). However, those in the physician-led group were more likely to agree that the speaker knew a lot about PSA testing (P<.001) and were more likely to trust the speaker (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS/UNASSIGNED:CHW-led interventions can effectively assist Black men with complex health decision-making in community-based settings. This approach may improve prostate cancer knowledge and equally minimize decisional conflict compared with a physician-led intervention.

The rapid onset of the COVID-19 pandemic elicited a swift response to control the virus ubiquitous within the United States. Expanded telehealth and health informatics became critical components of the pandemic response. The aim of this study was to assess the utilization of the COVID-19 New York (NY) Alert App and identify the perceived benefits and limitations of the App. A cross-sectional design was employed to collect data by using questionnaires with closed-ended and open-ended questions. The survey was developed and administered during March through April 2021. The study found that the highest rated benefit from using the COVID-19 NY Alert App was receiving alerts about being in close proximity to individuals diagnosed with COVID-19. Results showed that ineffective (insufficient and inappropriate) usage was the highest rated potential challenge for using the App. Study subjects were likely to download this Alert App when they perceived more benefits and less barriers to using the App. Findings from this study can help improve utilization of the App and inform development of similar tele-education tools. The study illuminated considerations for health information applications in scaling-up traditional COVID-19 tracing efforts and may facilitate the design of similar emergency preparedness health technology.

Background Peripheral artery disease (PAD) increases the risk of cardiovascular events and limb events including amputations. PAD is twice as prevalent in Black compared with non-Hispanic White individuals, especially among men. Screening for PAD using the ankle-brachial index in community settings, such as the barbershop, could lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment. Methods and Results A pilot study was conducted at 2 barbershops in Cleveland, OH from June to December 2020 to assess the feasibility of screening for PAD in the barbershop setting and the effect of an educational intervention on PAD awareness. After screening with both automated and Doppler ankle-brachial index, PAD was identified in 5/31 (16.1%) of participants. Baseline systolic blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and random blood glucose were higher in participants who screened positive for PAD (P<0.001). PAD awareness was low overall. There was a significant improvement in PAD awareness assessment scores obtained at the initial and exit visits (9.93±4.23 to 12.50±4.41, P=0.004). An association was found between PAD awareness at baseline and highest education level achieved: compared with those with some college/associate's degree or higher, non-high school graduates scored lower on PAD awareness (P=0.022), as did those who only had a high school diploma or tests of General Educational Development (P=0.049). Conclusions In a pilot study, barbershop-based screening for PAD among Black men revealed a higher than expected PAD prevalence and low PAD awareness. An educational video was effective at increasing PAD awareness. Ankle-brachial index screening and educational outreach in the barbershop may be a feasible and effective tool to diagnose PAD and reduce PAD disparities among Black men at highest risk.