Articles related to HEALTHCARE DISPARITIES

There were significant state variations in racial and ethnic disparities in TNBC incidence in this cohort study, with Black women in Delaware, Missouri, Louisiana, and Mississippi having the highest rates among all states and racial and ethnic populations. More research is needed to identify factors contributing to the significant geographic variations in racial and ethnic disparities in TNBC incidence in order to develop effective preventive measures, and social determinants of health contribute to the geographic disparities in TNBC risk, according to the findings.

According to a 2019 survey of over 5,000 pharmacists, nearly one-third had faced workplace discrimination or harassment. According to one study, patient bullying is associated with increased stress and medication errors or near misses. The most common form of harassment reported was derogatory remarks about race or ethnicity, which were mostly made by male patients/customers. More than half of Black male pharmacists reported receiving derogatory remarks about race or ethnicity, and more than 80% of all pharmacists did not report these incidents, with more than 40% stating that they did not believe any action would be taken.

According to a University of Washington research, only 40% of rural counties nationally had at least one licensed physician who could prescribe buprenorphine in 2016. The analysis discovered that by 2020, that number had increased to 63%. The increase was attributed by the study to modifications in federal regulations that permit NPs, PAs, and other healthcare professionals to prescribe buprenorphine. Only doctors could perform this in the past, and many remote counties lacked any. In 2002, Suboxone received approval from federal regulators, providing a new option for addiction treatment in communities without methadone facilities. Marshalltown, a town of 27,000 people encircled by rural areas, offers a feasible alternative, according to Andrea Storjohann, NP.

At the time of this study, in 2016, dementia was seen in 10% of those over age 65 in the US, and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in 20%, with increased risk for every 5 year advance in age. Risk was 80% higher for non-Hispanic Black individuals and approximately 40% higher in Hispanic persons, compared with White individuals. Dementia and MCI were inversely correlated with years of education, though.

A cohort study of 1,024 patients at an urban academic medical center discovered that 13% of oral anticancer drug prescriptions were never filled. The most common reason for failure to receive an oral anticancer drug prescription was due to patient and clinician decision-making; 13% of cases of failure to receive an oral anticancer drug prescription were directly associated with financial access issues.

In this retrospective cross-sectional study of patients hospitalized for suspected infection, temporal temperature measurement was associated with a lower odds of detecting fever compared with oral measurement in Black patients but not white patients. “Health care systems routinely use fever cutoffs to trigger notification pathways such as sepsis alerts to systematize timely triage and antibiotic administration. Although the absolute difference between oral and temporal temperatures was small, the findings suggest that this discrepancy combined with commonly used fever cutoffs may lead to fever going undetected in many Black patient.” Sivasubramanium V. Bhavani, MD