Faculty Bibliography

Early in the pandemic, New York City's public hospital system partnered with multiple philanthropic foundations to offer an unconditional cash transfer program for low-income New Yorkers affected by COVID-19. The $1000 cash transfers were designed to help people meet their most immediate health and social needs and were incorporated into healthcare delivery and contact tracing workflows as a response to the public health emergency. To better understand program recipients' experiences, researchers conducted 150 telephone surveys with randomly sampled cash transfer recipients and 20 in-depth qualitative interviews with purposefully sampled survey participants. Survey participants were predominantly Latinx (87%) and women (65%). The most common reported uses of the $1000 were food and rent. Most participants (79%) reported that without the $1000 cash transfer they would have had difficulty paying for basic expenses or making ends meet, with specific positive effects reported related to food, housing, and ability to work. The majority of survey participants reported that receiving the cash assistance somewhat or greatly improved their physical health (83%) and mental health (89%). Qualitative interview results generally supported the survey findings.

BACKGROUND:Social determinants of health (SDOH) refer to the social, economic, and psychosocial conditions that influence health. Lower levels of SDOH factors including income, education, and employment are associated with a higher prevalence of diabetes, poorer glycemic control, and increased diabetes-related mortality. Few studies have conducted a comprehensive evaluation of multiple SDOH factors in a population with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). OBJECTIVE:This study aimed to identify the range of SDOH challenges-including diabetes-related distress-that impact patients with insulin-dependent diabetes at an urban safety-net clinic using the 5-domain SDOH framework developed by the Healthy People 2020 initiative. METHODS:The pilot study used a cross-sectional, mixed methods approach. Participants were recruited from 3 programs within a general internal medicine clinic that provides ambulatory care for patients with uncontrolled T2DM. We administered an investigator-developed SDOH survey based on the Healthy People 2020 framework and the validated Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS), which assesses 4 domains of diabetes-related distress. One-on-one interviews were conducted to gain in-depth information about challenges. RESULTS:level of 11.0% (SD 2.6%). Overall, 92% (52/57) of participants had a barrier in at least one SDOH domain. SDOH challenges were most commonly reported in the domain of Health and Health Care (84%, 48/57), followed by Economic Stability (54%, n=31), Neighborhood and Built Environment (53%, n=30), Education and Health Literacy (47%, n=27), and Social and Community context (37%, n=21). The mean overall DDS score was 2.09 (SD 0.84), where scores of ≥2 indicate distress. Further, 79% (45/57) of participants had at least moderate diabetes-related distress in one of the 4 DDS domains. General themes that emerged from participant interviews included job interference with healthy behaviors, concerns about burdening others, challenges communicating with providers, and difficulty getting appointments in a timely manner. CONCLUSIONS:We found high levels of SDOH barriers across all 5 domains of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Healthy People 2020 framework, including significant levels of diabetes-related distress. Future programs to address SDOH barriers in patients with uncontrolled insulin-dependent diabetes should consider screening for and focusing on a wide range of challenges.

BACKGROUND:Appointment non-attendance has clinical, operational, and financial implications for patients and health systems. How telehealth services are associated with non-attendance in primary care is not well-described, nor are patient characteristics associated with telehealth non-attendance. OBJECTIVE:We sought to compare primary care non-attendance for telehealth versus in-person visits and describe patient characteristics associated with telehealth non-attendance. DESIGN/METHODS:An observational study of electronic health record data. PARTICIPANTS/METHODS:Patients with primary care encounters at 23 adult primary care clinics at a large, urban public healthcare system from November 1, 2019, to August 31, 2021. MAIN MEASURES/METHODS:We analyzed non-attendance by modality (telephone, video, in-person) during three time periods representing different availability of telehealth using hierarchal multiple logistic regression to control for patient demographics and variation within patients and clinics. We stratified by modality and used hierarchal multiple logistic regression to assess for associations between patient characteristics and non-attendance in each modality. KEY RESULTS/RESULTS:There were 1,219,781 scheduled adult primary care visits by 329,461 unique patients: 754,149 (61.8%) in-person, 439,295 (36.0%) telephonic, and 26,337 (2.2%) video visits. Non-attendance for telephone visits was initially higher than that for in-person visits (adjusted odds ratio 1.04 [95% CI 1.02, 1.07]) during the early telehealth availability period, but decreased later (0.82 [0.81, 0.83]). Non-attendance for video visits was higher than for in-person visits during the early (4.37 [2.74, 6.97]) and later (2.02 [1.95, 2.08]) periods. Telephone visits had fewer differences in non-attendance by demographics; video visits were associated with increased non-attendance for patients who were older, male, had a primary language other than English or Spanish, and had public or no insurance. CONCLUSIONS:Telephonic visits may improve access to care and be more easily adoptable among diverse populations. Further attention to implementation may be needed to avoid impeding access to care for certain populations using video visits.

Population-based studies to identify disease-associated risk alleles typically require samples from a large number of individuals. Here, we report a human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-based screening strategy to link human genetics with viral infectivity. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified a cluster of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a cis-regulatory region of the NDUFA4 gene, which was associated with susceptibility to Zika virus (ZIKV) infection. Loss of NDUFA4 led to decreased sensitivity to ZIKV, dengue virus, and SARS-CoV-2 infection. Isogenic hiPSC lines carrying non-risk alleles of SNPs or deletion of the cis-regulatory region lower sensitivity to viral infection. Mechanistic studies indicated that loss/reduction of NDUFA4 causes mitochondrial stress, which leads to the leakage of mtDNA and thereby upregulation of type I interferon signaling. This study provides proof-of-principle for the application of iPSC arrays in GWAS and identifies NDUFA4 as a previously unknown susceptibility locus for viral infection.

OBJECTIVE:The patient-physician relationship impacts patients' experiences and health outcomes. Physician attire is a form of nonverbal communication that influences this relationship. Prior studies examining attire preferences suffered from heterogeneous measurement and limited context. We thus performed a multicentre, cross-sectional study using a standardised survey instrument to compare patient preferences for physician dress in international settings. SETTING:20 hospitals and healthcare practices in Italy, Japan, Switzerland and the USA. PARTICIPANTS:Convenience sample of 9171 adult patients receiving care in academic hospitals, general medicine clinics, specialty clinics and ophthalmology practices. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES:The survey was randomised and included photographs of a male or female physician dressed in assorted forms of attire. The primary outcome measure was attire preference, comprised of composite ratings across five domains: how knowledgeable, trustworthy, caring and approachable the physician appeared, and how comfortable the respondent felt. Secondary outcome measures included variation in preferences by country, physician type and respondent characteristics. RESULTS:The highest rated forms of attire differed by country, although each most preferred attire with white coat. Low ratings were conferred on attire extremes (casual and business suit). Preferences were more uniform for certain physician types. For example, among all respondents, scrubs garnered the highest rating for emergency department physicians (44.2%) and surgeons (42.4%). However, attire preferences diverged for primary care and hospital physicians. All types of formal attire were more strongly preferred in the USA than elsewhere. Respondent age influenced preferences in Japan and the USA only. CONCLUSIONS:Patients across a myriad of geographies, settings and demographics harbour specific preferences for physician attire. Some preferences are nearly universal, whereas others vary substantially. As a one-size-fits-all dress policy is unlikely to reflect patient desires and expectations, a tailored approach should be sought that attempts to match attire to clinical context.

PROBLEM/OBJECTIVE:Sexual and gender minority (SGM) people face multiple health disparities. Clinicians often lack adequate training to address the health needs of SGM people. In this setting, some health care organizations have sought to develop system-wide curricula to build clinician knowledge and capacity around SGM health. APPROACH/METHODS:NYC Health + Hospitals partnered with the National LGBTQIA+ [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual] Health Education Center at The Fenway Institute to design and implement a novel SGM health care curriculum, offered from 2017-2020. The pilot program featured a 90-minute live introductory session, a pre-test, a post-test, and six 45-minute online modules focusing on a range of topics in SGM health care. OUTCOMES/RESULTS:Of approximately 35,000 employees from a range of settings and professional roles across NYC Health + Hospitals, 792 participated in the pilot program; most were clinicians at acute care hospitals, with the single largest group being attending clinicians. The proportion of eligible employees completing each component of the curriculum varied: 544 of 792 (68.7%) completed the online pre-test, while 373 of 792 (47.1%) completed the module on behavioral health. Of 373 participants who completed both the pre- and post-tests, mean scores rose significantly from 60.9 on the pre-test to 81.9 on the post-test (P < .001). NEXT STEPS/CONCLUSIONS:Future efforts should focus on increasing staff participation in the curriculum through scale-up efforts across the health care system, as well as measuring patient outcomes to assess the clinical impact of the initiative.

Introduction: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is causing an emerging global epidemic. The global burden of disease (GBD) study estimates the burden of NAFLD in 203 countries and geographic areas across the world, providing a unique opportunity to understand the landscape of this disease.
Method(s): Prevalence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of NAFLD from 1990 to 2019 by region and country in all sex and age groups were collected from the Global Health Data Exchange (GHDx) results tool (Available from http://ghdx.healthdata.org/gbd-results-tool). DALYs are the sum of years lost due to premature death and years lived with disability. The socio-demographic index (SDI) categorizes countries and geographic areas by development (low, low-middle, middle, high-middle, and high).
Result(s): Between 1990 to 2019, the global prevalence of NAFLD increased from 10.9% to 16.6% (increased by 52.6%; linear regression beta-coefficient 0.2, P < .001). In 2019, an estimated 1.3 billion people were affected by NAFLD worldwide. Mortality attributed to NAFLD increased from 93,000 to 169,000. DALYs of NAFLD increased from 2.7 million years to 4.4 million years. Significant uptrends were observed in all SDI regions, more prominent in the middle SDI regions (Table). Changes in the prevalence of NAFLD by countries are depicted in Figure. All but three countries demonstrated an increase in the prevalence of NAFLD. More notable increases (>=10%) were mostly observed in North African and Middle Eastern countries.
Conclusion(s): NAFLD's prevalence increased by more than 50% globally from 1990 to 2019. The mortality and DALYs also increased. The increase in NAFLD prevalence is more prominent in countries with middle SDI and countries in North African and Middle Eastern regions, possibly due to changes in lifestyle in these areas over the past 30 years. (Figure Presented)

An observational cohort study was conducted with data from the Observational Pharmaco-Epidemiology Research & Analysis (OPERA) cohort to investigate weight gain among virologically suppressed people with HIV (PWH) switching to regimens containing tenofovir alafenamide/emtricitabine/ (TAF/FTC). Virologically suppressed, ART-experienced PWH switching to TAF/FTC with either darunavir/cobicistat (DRV/c), elvitegravir (EVG)/c, dolutegravir (DTG) or bictegravir (BIC) were selected. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the risk of excessive weight gain (i.e. ≥5% gain within 28 weeks or ≥10% within 54 weeks), by regimen. A linear mixed effects model with random intercept and restricted cubic splines on time was used to assess continuous changes in weight. Confounding was controlled for with both inverse probability of treatment weighting and traditional covariate adjustment. Among 5,536 PWH, 18% gained ≥5% of their weight within 28 weeks, and 9% gained ≥10% within 54 weeks. There were no differences in the risk of excessive weight gain by regimen, although there was a non-statistically significant 20% increase in the risk of gaining ≥10% within 54 weeks with all regimens compared to DRV/c. Throughout follow-up, the mean predicted weight remained fairly constant, with no notable differentiation between regimens. Expected weight gains ranged from +0.2 kg to +0.3 kg at 6 months and from +0.5 kg to +0.6 kg at 24 months. In conclusion, in this study of virologically suppressed, ART-experienced PWH switching to regimens containing TAF/FTC and either DRV/c, EVG/c, DTG or BIC, up to 18% experienced excessive levels of weight gain. However, no statistically significant difference was observed across regimens.

INTRODUCTION/UNASSIGNED:The learning health system (LHS) aligns science, informatics, incentives, stakeholders, and culture for continuous improvement and innovation. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute designed a K12 initiative to grow the number of LHS scientists. We describe approaches developed by 11 funded centers of excellence (COEs) to promote partnerships between scholars and health system leaders and to provide mentored research training. METHODS/UNASSIGNED:Since 2018, the COEs have enlisted faculty, secured institutional resources, partnered with health systems, developed and implemented curricula, recruited scholars, and provided mentored training. Program directors for each COE provided descriptive data on program context, scholar characteristics, stakeholder engagement, scholar experiences with health system partnerships, roles following program completion, and key training challenges. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:To date, the 11 COEs have partnered with health systems to train 110 scholars. Nine (82%) programs partner with a Veterans Affairs health system and 9 (82%) partner with safety net providers. Clinically trained scholars (n = 87; 79%) include 70 physicians and 17 scholars in other clinical disciplines. Non-clinicians (n = 29; 26%) represent diverse fields, dominated by population health sciences. Stakeholder engagement helps scholars understand health system and patient/family needs and priorities, enabling opportunities to conduct embedded research, improve outcomes, and grow skills in translating research methods and findings into practice. Challenges include supporting scholars through roadblocks that threaten to derail projects during their limited program time, ranging from delays in access to data to COVID-19-related impediments and shifts in organizational priorities. CONCLUSIONS/UNASSIGNED:Four years into this novel training program, there is evidence of scholars' accomplishments, both in traditional academic terms and in terms of moving along career trajectories that hold the potential to lead and accelerate transformational health system change. Future LHS training efforts should focus on sustainability, including organizational support for scholar activities.