Faculty Bibliography

PURPOSE OF REVIEW/OBJECTIVE:To review studies evaluating renal outcomes based on patient adherence to the Mediterranean diet or to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet and to determine which diet is most effective in preventing and managing renal disease. RECENT FINDINGS/RESULTS:Both the DASH and Mediterranean diets have shown many health benefits, including reduced risk for chronic kidney disease (CKD), nephrolithiasis, mortality due to all renal causes and composite outcomes. Both diets have shown a decrease in estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR) decline with a concomitant improvement in mortality and dialysis initiation. In summary, both diets resulted in similar magnitudes of risk reduction when comparing equivocal levels of adherence to each diet. Review of evidence for renal outcomes shows strikingly similar effects for both DASH and Mediterranean diets. We hypothesize that these results are due to the overlap in nutritional composition. Both encourage whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, beans/legumes, whole grains, and nuts. Additionally, they restrict animal protein consumption and limit processed and fast foods. Determining a nutritional management intervention for renal impairment is clinically important as approximately 1% of the USA annual budget is spent on end stage renal disease (ESRD) treatment. We believe either diet could be incorporated into a patient's management when considering their renal health. In conclusion, we urge physicians to help patients choose either the DASH diet or Mediterranean diet based on the patient preference.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:The right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) velocity time integral (VTI), an echocardiographic measure of stroke distance, correlates with cardiac index. We sought to determine the prognostic significance of low RVOT VTI on clinical outcomes among patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE). MATERIALS AND METHODS/METHODS:We conducted a retrospective review of echocardiograms on Pulmonary Embolism Response Team (PERT) activations at our institution. The main outcome was a composite of death, cardiac arrest, or hemodynamic deterioration. RESULTS:Of 188 patients, 30 met the combined outcome (16%) and had significantly lower RVOT VTI measurements (9.0 cm v 13.4 cm, p < 0.0001). The AUC for RVOT VTI at a cutoff of 10 cm was 0.78 (95% CI 0.67-0.90) with a sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, and positive predictive value of 0.72, 0.81, 0.94, and 0.42, respectively. Fifty-two patients of the cohort were classified as intermediate-high-risk PE and 21% of those met the combined outcome. RVOT VTI was lower among outcome positive patients (7.3 cm v 10.7 cm, p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS:Low RVOT VTI is associated with poor clinical outcomes among patients with acute PE.

Addressing patients' social needs is key to helping patients heal from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), preventing the spread of the virus, and reducing its disproportionate burden on low-income communities and communities of color. New York City Health + Hospitals (NYC H+H) is the city's single largest healthcare provider to Medicaid and uninsured patients. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NYC H+H staff developed and executed a strategy to meet patients' intensified social needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. NYC H+H identified food, housing, and income support as patients' most pressing needs and built programming to quickly connect patients to these resources. While NYC H+H was able to build on its existing foundation of strong social work support of patients, all health systems must prioritize the social needs of patients and their families to mitigate the damage of COVID-19. National and local leaders should accelerate change by developing robust policy approaches to redesign the social and economic system that reinforces structural inequity and exacerbates crises like COVID-19. [Editor's Note: This Fast Track Ahead Of Print article is the accepted version of the manuscript. The final edited version will appear in an upcoming issue of Health Affairs.].

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND:Hospital and ambulatory care systems are rapidly building their virtual care capacity in response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The use of resident trainees in telemedicine is one area of potential development and expansion. To date, however, training opportunities in this field have been limited, and residents may not be adequately prepared to provide high-quality telemedicine care. AIM/OBJECTIVE:This study evaluates the impact of an adapted telemedicine Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) on telemedicine-specific training competencies of residents. SETTING/METHODS:Primary Care Internal Medicine residents at a large urban academic hospital. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION/METHODS:In March 2020, the New York University Grossman School of Medicine Primary Care program adapted its annual comprehensive OSCE to a telemedicine-based platform, to comply with distance learning and social distancing policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. A previously deployed in-person OSCE on the subject of a medical error was adapted to a telemedicine environment and deployed to 23 primary care residents. Both case-specific and core learning competencies were assessed, and additional observations were conducted on the impact of the telemedicine context on the encounter. PROGRAM EVALUATION/RESULTS:Three areas of telemedicine competency need were identified in the OSCE case: technical proficiency; virtual information gathering, including history, collateral information collection, and physical exam; and interpersonal communication skills, both verbal and nonverbal. Residents expressed enthusiasm for telemedicine training, but had concerns about their preparedness for telemedicine practice and the need for further competency and curricular development. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS:Programs interested in building capacity among residents to perform telemedicine, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, can make significant impact in their trainees' comfort and preparedness by addressing key issues in technical proficiency, history and exam skills, and communication. Further research and curricular development in digital professionalism and digital empathy for trainees may also be beneficial.

More than 20 papers about COVID-19 have been retracted at the time of this writing. It is premature, however, to conclude that such work is being retracted at higher rates than the rest of the literature.

Increasing global urbanization limits interaction between people and natural environments, which may negatively impact population health and wellbeing. Urban residents who live near parks report better mental health. Physical activity (PA) reduces depression and improves quality of life. Despite PA's protective effects on mental health, the added benefit of urban park use for PA is unclear. Thus, we examined whether park-based PA mediated associations between park proximity and mental distress among 3652 New York City residents (61.4% 45 + years, 58.9% female, 56.3% non-white) who completed the 2010-2011 Physical Activity and Transit (PAT) random-digit-dial survey. Measures included number of poor mental health days in the previous month (outcome), self-reported time to walk to the nearest park from home (exposure), and frequency of park use for sports, exercise or PA (mediator). We used multiple regression with bootstrap-generated 95% bias-corrected confidence intervals (BC CIs) to test for mediation by park-based PA and moderation by gender, dog ownership, PA with others, and perceived park crime. Park proximity was indirectly associated with fewer days of poor mental health via park-based PA, but only among those not concerned about park crime (index of moderated mediation = 0.04; SE = 0.02; 95% BC CI = 0.01, 0.10). Investment in park safety and park-based PA promotion in urban neighborhoods may help to maximize the mental health benefits of nearby parks.

Background/UNASSIGNED:The published literature on education about transgender health within health professions curricula was previously found to be sporadic and fragmented. Recently, more inclusive and holistic approaches have been adopted. We summarize advances in transgender health education. Methods/UNASSIGNED:A 5-stage scoping review framework was followed, including a literature search for articles relevant to transgender health care interventions in 5 databases (Education Source, LGBT Source, MedEd Portal, PsycInfo, PubMed) from January 2017 to September 2019. Search results were screened to include original articles reporting outcomes of educational interventions with a transgender health component that included MD/DO students in the United States and Canada. A gray literature search identified continuing medical education (CME) courses from 12 health professional associations with significant transgender-related content. Results/UNASSIGNED:Our literature search identified 966 unique publications published in the 2 years since our prior review, of which 10 met inclusion criteria. Novel educational formats included interdisciplinary interventions, post-residency training including CME courses, and online web modules, all of which were effective in improving competencies related to transgender health care. Gray literature search resulted 15 CME courses with learning objectives appropriate to the 7 professional organizations who published them. Conclusions/UNASSIGNED:Current transgender health curricula include an expanding variety of educational intervention formats driven by their respective educational context, learning objectives, and placement in the health professional curriculum. Notable limitations include paucity of objective educational intervention outcomes measurements, absence of long-term follow-up data, and varied nature of intervention types. A clear best practice for transgender curricular development has not yet been identified in the literature.

BACKGROUND:This review examines the effectiveness of diet and physical activity interventions to reduce cardiometabolic risk among Chinese immigrants and their descendants living in high income countries. The objective of this review is to provide information to help build future interventions aimed at improving diet and increasing physical activity levels among Chinese immigrants. METHODS:Outcomes included BMI, weight, waist circumference (WC), waist-hip ratio (WHR), cholesterol (LDL, HDL), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP), hemoglobin A1c (HgbA1c), fasting blood glucose (FBG), and HOMA-IR. Six databases were systematically searched from database inception to date of search (February 2020). Meta-analyses used random effect models to estimate pooled effects of outcomes with 95% confidence intervals. The outcomes assessed were changes in mean outcomes (post-intervention versus baseline) among the intervention group versus control groups. RESULTS: = 0%, respectively. Among adults there were no other significant effects among the meta-analyses conducted (weight, WC, LDL, HgbA1c, and FBG). CONCLUSIONS:This review is the first to summarize the effectiveness of diet and physical activity interventions specifically designed for Chinese immigrants living in high income countries. There were clinically meaningful changes in BMI and blood pressure among adults, but evidence was weak for other cardiometabolic outcomes (weight, WC, LDL, HgbA1c, and FBG), and among children, there was no evidence of effect for any cardiometabolic outcomes. Given our mixed findings, more work is needed to support the design of successful interventions, particularly those targeting children and their families. TRIAL REGISTRATION/BACKGROUND:The systematic review protocol was registered in PROSPERO on December 17, 2018, the international prospective register of systematic reviews (registration number: CRD42018117842 ).