Faculty Bibliography

Maximizing vaccine uptake is critical for the optimal implementation of COVID-19 immunization programs. Indicators of socioeconomic status (SES) have been associated with variations in COVID-19 vaccine uptake in the United States. The present study investigates COVID-19 vaccination behavior in individuals with history of COVID-19 infection, with the specific goal of understanding whether experiences during illness explain socioeconomic disproportionalities in vaccine uptake. We leveraged a large sample of adults (n = 1584) infected with COVID-19 in NYC to examine this question, investigating whether specific experiences during illness explained the association between socioeconomic status and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Data from this study were collected during February and March 2021. Principal component analysis was used to create three composite variables that measure distinct COVID-19 related experiences: infection-related health impacts, pandemic-related psychosocial disruption, and perceived quality of medical care during COVID-19 illness. Neither infection-related impacts nor psychosocial disruption were related to vaccine hesitancy after adjusting for related sociodemographic covariates. However, perceptions of higher quality care received during COVID-19 illness predicted decreased COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Furthermore, mediation analysis revealed that perceived care quality during COVID-19 illness mediate the relationship between objective socioeconomic risk and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. These findings highlight patient-reported care quality during illness as a novel target that may increase vaccine uptake among socioeconomically vulnerable populations.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW/OBJECTIVE:Toxic metal exposures have been associated with cardiovascular disease in adults and growing evidence suggests metal exposures also adversely affect cardiovascular phenotypes in childhood and adolescence. However, to our knowledge, the influence of perinatal metals exposure, particularly metal mixtures, in relation to cardiovascular-related outcomes have not been comprehensively reviewed. RECENT FINDINGS/RESULTS:We summarized 17 contemporary studies (2017-2021) that investigated the impact of perinatal metal exposures on measures of cardiovascular health in children. Accumulating evidence supports a potential adverse impact of perinatal Pb exposure on BP in children. Fewer recent studies have focused on perinatal As, Hg, and Cd; thus, the cardiovascular impacts of these metals are less clear. Studies of metal mixtures demonstrate that interactions between metals may be complex and have identified numerous understudied elements and essential metals, including Mo, Co, Ni, Se, Zn, and Mn, which may influence cardiovascular risk. A key question that remains is whether perinatal metals exposure influences cardiovascular health into adulthood. Comparisons across studies remain challenging due to several factors, including differences in the timing of exposure/outcome assessments and exposure biomarkers, as well as variability in exposure levels and mixture compositions across populations. Future studies longitudinally investigating trajectories of cardiovascular outcomes could help determine the influence of perinatal metals exposure on long-term effects of clinical relevance in later life and whether interventions, which reduce metals exposures during this key developmental window, could alter disease development.

A recent study concluded that SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine responses were improved among transplant patients taking mTOR inhibitors (mTORi). This could have profound implications for vaccine strategies in transplant patients; however, limitations in the study design raise concerns about the conclusions. To address this issue more robustly, in a large cohort with appropriate adjustment for confounders, we conducted various regression- and machine learning-based analyses to compare antibody responses by immunosuppressive agents in a national cohort (n = 1037). MMF was associated with significantly lower odds of positive antibody response (aOR = _0.09 0.13_0.18 ). Consistent with the recent mTORi study, the odds tended to be higher with mTORi (aOR = _1.00 1.45_2.13 ); however, importantly, this seemingly protective tendency disappeared (aOR = _0.47 0.73_1.12 ) after adjusting for MMF. We repeated this comparison by combinations of immunosuppression agents. Compared to MMF + tacrolimus, MMF-free regimens were associated with higher odds of positive antibody response (aOR = _2.39 4.26_7.92 for mTORi+tacrolimus; _2.34 5.54_15.32 for mTORi-only; and _6.78 10.25_15.93 for tacrolimus-only), whereas MMF-including regimens were not, regardless of mTORi use (aOR = _0.81 1.54_2.98 for MMF + mTORi; and _0.81 1.51_2.87 for MMF-only). We repeated these analyses in an independent cohort (n = 512) and found similar results. Our study demonstrates that the recently reported findings were confounded by MMF, and that mTORi is not independently associated with improved vaccine responses.

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND:As the first step in the HIV care continuum, timely diagnosis is central to reducing transmission of the virus and ending the HIV epidemic. Studies have shown that distance from a testing site is essential for ease of access to services and educational material. This study shows how location-allocation analysis can be used to improve allocation of HIV testing services utilizing existing publicly available data from 2015 to 2019 on HIV prevalence, testing site location, and factors related to HIV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. METHODS:The ArcGIS Location-Allocation analytic tool was used to calculate locations for HIV testing sites using a method that minimizes the distance between demand-point locations and service facilities. ZIP code level demand was initially specified on the basis of the percentage of late HIV diagnoses and in a sensitivity analysis on the basis of a composite of multiple factors. Travel time and distance from demand to facilities determined the facility location allocation. This analysis was conducted from 2021 to 2022. RESULTS:Compared with the 37 facilities located in 20 (43%) Philadelphia ZIP codes, the model proposed reallocating testing facilities to 37 (79%) ZIP codes using percent late diagnoses to define demand. On average, this would reduce distance to the facilities by 65% and travel time to the facilities by 56%. Results using the sensitivity analysis were similar. CONCLUSIONS:A wider distribution of HIV testing services across the city of Philadelphia may reduce distance and travel time to facilities, improve accessibility of testing, and in turn increase the percentage of people with knowledge of their status.

BACKGROUND:Housing insecurity is prevalent among emergency department (ED) patients. Despite a surge of interest in screening for patients' social needs including housing insecurity, little research has examined ED social needs interventions. We worked together with government and community partners to develop and pilot test a homelessness prevention intervention targeted to ED patients with drug or unhealthy alcohol use. METHODS:We approached randomly sampled patients at an urban public hospital ED, May to August 2019. Adult patients were eligible if they were medically stable, not incarcerated, spoke English, had unhealthy alcohol or any drug use, and were not currently homeless but screened positive for risk of future homelessness using a previously developed risk screening tool. Participants received a three-part intervention: (1) brief counseling and referral to treatment for substance use delivered through a preexisting ED program; (2) referral to Homebase, an evidence-based community homelessness prevention program; and (3) up to three troubleshooting phone calls by study staff. Participants completed surveys at baseline and 6 months. RESULTS:Of 2183 patients screened, 51 were eligible and 40 (78.4%) participated; one later withdrew, leaving 39 participants. Participants were diverse in age, gender, race, and ethnicity. Of the 32 participants reached at 6 months, most said it was very or extremely helpful to talk to someone about their housing situation (n = 23, 71.9%) at the baseline ED visit. Thirteen (40.6%) said their housing situation had improved in the past 6 months and 16 (50.0%) said it had not changed. Twenty participants (62.5%) had made contact with a Homebase office. Participants shared ideas of how to improve the intervention. CONCLUSIONS:This pilot intervention was feasible and well received by participants though it required a large amount of screening to identify potentially eligible patients. Our findings will inform a larger future trial and may be informative for others seeking to develop similar interventions.

RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE/UNASSIGNED:Recent literature suggests improvement in kidney function after percutaneous valvular replacement therapies, implying a pathophysiological contribution of valvular heart disease to chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, this association has not been investigated epidemiologically. We aimed to assess the association of valvular abnormality with prevalent and incident CKD. STUDY DESIGN/UNASSIGNED:Cross-sectional and prospective analyses. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS/UNASSIGNED:Community-dwelling participants (mean age 75.5 [standard deviation 5.1] years) from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study (2011-2013). EXPOSURE/UNASSIGNED:Valvular abnormality defined as echocardiography-based aortic stenosis, aortic regurgitation, and mitral regurgitation. OUTCOMES/UNASSIGNED:with ≥25% decline or hospitalization/deaths with CKD diagnosis. ANALYTICAL APPROACH/UNASSIGNED:We cross-sectionally evaluated the association between valvular abnormality and prevalent CKD with logistic regression in 5,216 participants. Then, 3,752 participants without prevalent CKD were analyzed for incident CKD using Cox models. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:There were 1.4% (n = 74) with any aortic stenosis, 10.6% (n = 555) with any aortic regurgitation, and 43.1% (n = 2,249) with any mitral regurgitation. After adjustment for potential confounders, any mitral regurgitation and moderate/severe aortic regurgitation showed significant associations with prevalent CKD (adjusted OR, 1.17 [95% CI, 1.03-1.34] and 2.82 [95% CI, 1.12-7.10]), as did any aortic stenosis in a sensitivity analysis with prevalent CKD defined including albuminuria ≥30 mg/g (1.83 [95% CI, 1.10-3.05]). Only any aortic stenosis showed an independent association with incident CKD (adjusted HR, 2.12 [95% CI, 1.13-4.00]). LIMITATIONS/UNASSIGNED:Despite a relatively large study population, some subgroups had small numbers. Although we minimized reverse causation, we cannot completely rule it out. CONCLUSIONS/UNASSIGNED:Different valvular abnormality types were associated with prevalent CKD. Only aortic stenosis was robustly associated with incident CKD. These findings suggest an etiological link between valvular abnormality and CKD, highlighting the importance of clinical attention to kidney function in individuals with aortic stenosis.

Sleep disparities in sexual minority male (SMM) populations have received relatively little attention but they may be critical to explaining other health disparities seen among SMM, via neural or hormonal pathways. Recent research suggests that crime may be a psychosocial stressor that contributes to sleep disparities but that finding has been based on subjective measures of crime. We conducted the P18 Neighborhood Study of 250 SMM in New York City, including 211 with adequate GPS tracking data. We used the GPS tracking data to define daily path area activity spaces and tested the associations of violent crime in those activity spaces and in the subject's residential neighborhood, perceived neighborhood safety, and witnessing crime with a subjective measure of sleep. Using quasi-Poisson regression, adjusted for individual and neighborhood socio-demographics, we found that SMM who witnessed more types of crime experienced significantly more nights of poor sleep over the course of a month (RR: 1.16, 95%CI: 1.05-1.27, p-value: < 0.01). We did not find any associations between violent crime rates in either the activity area or residential area and sleep. Our findings support the conclusion that personal exposure to crime is associated with sleep problems and provide further evidence for the pathway between stress and sleep. The lack of association between neighborhood crime levels and sleep suggests that there must be personal experience with crime and ambient presence is insufficient to produce an effect.

BACKGROUND:To estimate lifetime risk of breast cancer among women utilizing mobile mammography and to determine the proportion that might benefit from additional services, such as genetic counseling and educational programs. METHODS:Retrospective analysis of electronic health records for 2214 women screened for breast cancer on a mobile mammography van was conducted. Participants answered questions about their demographic characteristics, breast health, and family history of cancer. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess the odds of being recommended for additional services by the Tyrer-Cuzick (TC) lifetime risk score. RESULTS:The average TC ten-year risk score was 2.76 % ± 2.01 %, and the average TC lifetime risk score was 7.30 % ± 4.80 %. Using lifetime risk scores ≥ 10 %, it was determined that 444 patients (20.23 %) could be referred to additional services. Less than one percent of patients had been tested for the BRCA genes previously. The odds of being recommended for additional services by the TC model were significantly greater among those who were eligible for the New York Cancer Services Program (i.e., a proxy for lack of insurance) when compared to those who were ineligible (OR=1.31, 95 % CI: 1.03-1.66). After adjustment, screening borough and race/ethnicity were not significantly associated with being recommended for services. CONCLUSION:Genetic counseling and education are some of the tools available to promote awareness and early detection of breast cancer; however, screening guidelines do not mandate genetic counseling or referrals for individuals at high-risk. POLICY SUMMARY:Patients and providers should have discussions about predicted TC lifetime risk scores at follow-up breast cancer screening appointments, as this is a missed opportunity to improve care at both fixed sites and mobile clinics.