Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Megan Todd, Meagan Pharis, Sam P. Gulino, Jessica M. Robbins, Cheryl Bettigole
Summary: This study estimated excess all-cause mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and found that excess mortality was disproportionately high among older adults and people of color. Some excess deaths were not attributed to COVID-19, and official counts significantly underestimated the true death toll.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Yeva Aleksanyan, Jason P. Weinman
Summary: This study using global COVID-19 data found that gender norms play a significant role in explaining the differences in male and female COVID-19 case and death rates. Women often face disadvantages in healthcare access due to gender bias and socioeconomic factors.
SOCIAL SCIENCE & MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Goran Muric, Kristina Lerman, Emilio Ferrara
Summary: Results: The study found that during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a decrease in the number of publications by female authors in the biomedical field, particularly in papers related to COVID-19 research. The gender disparities became even more apparent when disaggregated by country, up to 35% in some cases.
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL INTERNET RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Kaja Z. LeWinn, Leonardo Trasande, Andrew Law, Courtney K. Blackwell, Traci A. Bekelman, Jessica A. Arizaga, Alexis A. Sullivan, Theresa M. Bastain, Carrie V. Breton, Margaret R. Karagas, Amy J. Elliott, Catherine J. Karr, Kecia N. Carroll, Anne L. Dunlop, Lisa A. Croen, Amy E. Margolis, Akram N. Alshawabkeh, Jose F. Cordero, Anne Marie Singh, Christine M. Seroogy, Daniel J. Jackson, Robert A. Wood, Tina V. Hartert, Young Shin Kim, Cristiane S. Duarte, Julie B. Schweitzer, Barry M. Lester, Cynthia T. Mcevoy, Thomas G. O'Connor, Emily Oken, Nicole Bornkamp, Eric D. Brown, Christina A. Porucznik, Assiamira Ferrara, Carlos A. Camargo, Qi Zhao, Jody M. Ganiban, Lisa P. Jacobson
Summary: The findings of this cohort study of US families reveal that families with lower socioeconomic status and young children faced more burdens during the pandemic. Recovery efforts and future planning should prioritize populations that are more vulnerable to public health crises.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Shelby R. Steuart, Emily C. Lawler, Grace Bagwell Adams, Hailemichael Shone, Amanda J. Abraham
Summary: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in postpartum opioid prescription fills. The increased use of opioids may contribute to a higher risk of opioid misuse, opioid use disorder, and opioid-related overdose among postpartum women.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Lori Uscher-Pines, Colleen McCullough, Michael S. Dworsky, Jessica Sousa, Zach Predmore, Kristin Ray, Anthony Magit, Chris Rivanis, Carlos Lerner, Joy Iwakoshi, Steven Barkley, James P. Marcin, Troy McGuire, Michael-Anne Browne, Craig Swanson, John Patrick Cleary, Erin Kelly, Katie Layton, Lucy Schulson
Summary: The study highlighted significant variability in the adoption of telehealth across different pediatric subspecialties, with varying patterns of use over time. Understanding the variation in telehealth adoption can help inform policy decisions regarding telehealth use for pediatric patients, including identifying areas where additional support may be needed to promote appropriate usage.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Laurent Boyer, Guillaume Fond, Vanessa Pauly, Veronica Orleans, Pascal Auquier, Marco Solmi, Christoph U. Correll, Dong Keon Yon, Pierre-Michel Llorca, Karine Baumstarck-Barrau, Antoine Duclos
Summary: The study found that the COVID-19 pandemic had a greater impact on non-COVID-19 acute care mortality and access to hospital care for patients with schizophrenia compared to patients without severe mental disorders, underscoring the importance of developing specific strategies for vulnerable patients in anticipation of future public health emergencies.
MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Emily C. Marlow, Ahmedin Jemal, Blake Thomson, Daniel Wiese, Jingxuan Zhao, Rebecca L. Siegel, Farhad Islami
Summary: This study examines the mortality disparities in the U.S. based on socioeconomic status, particularly in relation to education, and investigates whether these disparities were exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The findings show that there was a significant increase in overall mortality disparities in 2020 compared to 2017 and 2019, particularly for heart disease, cancer, cerebrovascular disease, and unintentional injury. Further research is needed to understand the factors contributing to these widening disparities.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
John N. Mafi, Melody Craff, Sitaram Vangala, Thomas Pu, Dale Skinner, Cyrus Tabatabai-Yazdi, Anikia Nelson, Rachel Reid, Denis Agniel, Chi-Hong Tseng, Catherine Sarkisian, Cheryl L. Damberg, Katherine L. Kahn
Summary: This study aimed to assess whether patients with Medicaid or Medicare-Medicaid dual eligibility had lower return to use of ambulatory care rates compared to other insurance types during the pandemic. The results showed that overall utilization of 6 ambulatory care services decreased between March 2020 and February 2021, and participants with Medicaid or Medicare-Medicaid dual eligibility had a significantly lower rate of increase in utilization compared to other insurance types.
JAMA-JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
(2022)
Article
Communication
Austin Y. Hubner
Summary: Several studies have found that female experts are underrepresented in news coverage on health and science topics. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic and the development of vaccines, female health and science workers played a prominent role. This study examined the representation of female experts in vaccine news coverage in The New York Times over a 2-year period (n = 1978). The findings showed that male experts were quoted more often than female experts, even among researchers and medical experts. However, when both genders were quoted, females were quoted first, indicating a primary expert role.
PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Adrien N. Bernstein, Ruchika Talwar, Elizabeth Handorf, Kaynaat Syed, John Danella, Serge Ginzburg, Laurence Belkoff, Adam C. Reese, Jeffery Tomaszewski, Edouard Trabulsi, Eric A. Singer, Bruce Jacobs, Alexander Kutikov, Robert Uzzo, Jay D. Raman, Thomas Guzzo, Marc C. Smaldone, Andres Correa
Summary: This study found that Black patients had lower odds of undergoing prostate cancer surgery compared to White patients during the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although localized prostate cancer does not require immediate treatment, the lessons from this study suggest systemic inequities within health care, likely applicable across medical specialties.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Thomas C. Tsai, Sercan Arik, Benjamin H. Jacobson, Jinsung Yoon, Nate Yoder, Dario Sava, Margaret Mitchell, Garth Graham, Tomas Pfister
Summary: Racial and ethnic minorities in the United States have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is essential to address bias in data and forecasts to ensure fairness, as these biases can perpetuate disparities and exacerbate the harms of the pandemic. This paper outlines key modeling domains where unfairness can be introduced and offers strategies to mitigate bias and promote fairness in pandemic forecasting.
NPJ DIGITAL MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hei Wan Mak, Feifei Bu, Daisy Fancourt
Summary: This study compares the predictors and patterns of home-based arts engagement in the UK during the three lockdowns and suggests that the pandemic may have affected long-term cultural behaviors for some groups.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
K. Baig
Summary: The study found that countries with institutionalized gender disparities and poor healthcare access and quality tend to have higher male to female ratios of confirmed COVID-19 cases. This highlights the underutilization of testing services influenced by multiple individual, social, and policy factors.
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Elizabeth Critchlow, Lyena Birkenstock, Melanie Hotz, Lauren Sablone, Amy Henderson Riley, Rebecca Mercier, Rosemary Frasso
Summary: The study identified significant stressors faced by new mothers during the pandemic, such as fear, child care, older children, loss, isolation, and employment. It also emphasized key support structures that were sometimes helpful in reducing stress but were at other times inadequate or even exacerbating stress.
OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Georgina Freeman, Aleem Bharwani, Allison Brown, Shannon M. Ruzycki
Summary: This study aims to explore the work-related barriers faced by physicians during pregnancy and parenthood, finding that physician parents lack systems-level guidelines and support, calling for the need for policies to address these issues.
JOURNAL OF GENERAL INTERNAL MEDICINE
(2021)
Review
Psychology, Developmental
Sarah Fletcher, Colleen Pawliuk, Angie Ip, Linda Huh, S. Rod Rassekh, Tim F. Oberlander, Harold Siden
Summary: This scoping review aimed to identify and map symptoms, outcomes, and adverse events related to medicinal cannabis treatment for ASD-related behaviors. The findings suggest that medicinal cannabis can improve symptoms significantly, with a large proportion of subjects benefiting, but adverse events were also reported. Due to limitations in study design, further evidence from prospective clinical trials on safety and efficacy is needed.
CHILD CARE HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Vivian W. L. Tsang, Sarah Fletcher, Sara Jassemi, Sharon Smith
Summary: This study aimed to examine perspectives of young patients, caregivers, and physicians in the transition process. The current transition process was rated as average, with the top barrier being a lack of communication between doctors. Improvement strategies include providing formal transition guidelines. Young patients prefer transfer to occur with other life transitions, while caregivers prefer transfer to happen during times of stability.
JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL PEDIATRICS
(2022)
Article
Anesthesiology
Kristin Flemons, Michael Bosch, Sarah Coakeley, Bushra Muzammal, Rahim Kachra, Shannon M. Ruzycki
Summary: The study found that only 55.7% of consult notes had all recommendations followed, indicating a quality gap in perioperative medical care. The qualitative data suggests multiple drivers of missed recommendations that should be targeted to improve the efficiency of care for these patients.
PERIOPERATIVE MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Shannon M. Ruzycki, Pamela Roach, Jayna Holroyd-Leduc, Cheryl Barnabe, Sofia B. Ahmed
Summary: This study examines the experiences and perceptions of harassment and discrimination in the medical field among physicians of different racial and gender identities in Canada. The results indicate that harassment and discrimination are more prevalent among BIPOC cisgender women, while White cisgender men perceive greater gender and racial equity.
JOURNAL OF GENERAL INTERNAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Education, Scientific Disciplines
Shannon M. Ruzycki, Oluwatomilayo Daodu, Santanna Hernandez, Kirstie C. Lithgow
Summary: This critical policy analysis examines the dress code policies of Canadian undergraduate medical schools and reveals that these policies excessively regulate women and gender, racially and culturally diverse students, leading to discrimination and a hostile culture.
Correction
Psychology, Biological
Shannon M. Ruzycki, Sofia B. Ahmed
NATURE HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
(2022)
Editorial Material
Psychology, Biological
Shannon M. Ruzycki, Sophia B. Ahmed
Summary: Failure to consider equity, diversity, and inclusion principles in biomedical and human behavior research can lead to harm for patients, trainees, and scientists. This article provides actionable recommendations on how to incorporate equity, diversity, and inclusion considerations at each stage of a research project.
NATURE HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
(2022)
Review
Anesthesiology
Nathaniel Morin, Sarah Taylor, Danae Krahn, Leyla Baghirzada, Michael Chong, Tyrone G. Harrison, Anne Cameron, Shannon M. Ruzycki
Summary: There is substantial variation in the recommendations for intraoperative glycemic management. Future studies should consider the study population, surgical characteristics, and pre- and postoperative management of hyperglycemia.
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ANESTHESIA-JOURNAL CANADIEN D ANESTHESIE
(2022)
Editorial Material
Education, Scientific Disciplines
Oluwatomilayo Daodu, Shannon M. Ruzycki
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Pamela Roach, Shannon M. Ruzycki, Santanna Hernandez, Amanda Carbert, Jayna Holroyd-Leduc, Sofia Ahmed, Cheryl Barnabe
Summary: The study aimed to describe the explicit and implicit biases against Indigenous people among physicians in Alberta. The results showed that a significant number of physicians had explicit anti-Indigenous biases, and discussions about racism and bias were met with discomfort. The findings support the validity of patient reports regarding anti-Indigenous bias in healthcare and highlight the need for intervention.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Nicola Cherry, Anil Adisesh, Igor Burstyn, Quentin Durand-Moreau, Jean-Michel Galarneau, France Labreche, Shannon M. Ruzycki, Tanis Zadunayski
Summary: This study aims to identify modifiable workplace risk factors for infection and mental ill health among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were recruited from multiple provinces in Canada and underwent serology testing and questionnaires before and after vaccination.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Aleem Bharwani, Shannon M. Ruzycki
Summary: This study explores the differences in perceptions of work experiences and gender equity between male and female physicians, finding that male physicians have a significant empathy gap in understanding the experiences of their female colleagues. By developing empathy and implementing verbal commitments to empathy within organizations, individuals and the medical community can work towards creating a more equitable and diverse workplace environment.
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Shannon M. Ruzycki, Chanda Mcfadden, Jessica Jenkins, Vikas Kuriachan, Michelle Keir
Summary: Gender-and sex-based harassment and discrimination are significant issues faced by women in cardiology, impacting their careers and personal lives. By conducting one-on-one interviews with women working in cardiac sciences, this study aims to inform interventions and supports to address these experiences.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Shannon M. Ruzycki, Pamela Roach, Sofia B. Ahmed, Cheryl Barnabe, Jayna Holroyd-Leduc
Summary: The diversity of the Albertan physician workforce revealed potential marginalization based on race and gender, especially in medical leadership and academic promotion. To increase diversity in medicine, efforts should focus on creating inclusive cultures and environments, and universities should support BIPOC physicians, particularly BIPOC cisgender women, in applying for promotions.
