Delaying Or Avoiding Health Care During The Pandemic Because Of Concerns About COVID-19
According to the September 11, 2020 issue of Morbidity And Mortality Weekly Report, as of June 30, 2020, an estimated 41% of U.S. adults reported having delayed or avoided medical care during the pandemic because of concerns about COVID-19, including 12% who reported having avoided urgent or emergency care. These findings align with recent reports that hospital admissions, overall emergency department (ED) visits, and the number of ED visits for heart attack, stroke, and hyperglycemic crisis have declined since the start of the pandemic, and that excess deaths directly or indirectly related to COVID-19 have increased in 2020 versus prior years. Delayed or avoided medical care might increase morbidity and mortality associated with both chronic and acute health conditions. Avoidance of urgent or emergency care was more prevalent among unpaid caregivers for adults, individuals with underlying medical conditions, Black adults, Hispanic adults, young adults, and persons with disabilities.
Trends And Patterns In Menarche In The United States: 1995 Through 2013–2017
A report on September 10, 2020 from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) presents national estimates of age at first menstrual period for women aged 15–44 in the United States in 2013–2017 based on data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). The median age at menarche decreased from 1995 (12.1) to 2013–2017 (11.9). The cumulative probability of menarche at young ages was higher in 2013 –2017 compared with 1995. Differences in age at menarche exist by Hispanic origin and race, mother’s education, and living arrangement at age 14. A decreasing linear trend in the probability of age at first sexual intercourse by age at menarche was seen. Earlier age at menarche has been associated with greater risk of health problems including breast cancer, obesity, diabetes, liver disease, depression, eating disorders, and substance abuse during adolescence.
HEALTH TECHNOLOGY CORNER
Machine Learning Maps Research Needs In COVID-19 Literature
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientific and medical journals have published more than 100,000 studies on SARS-CoV-2. According to data scientists who created a machine-learning tool to analyze the deluge of publications, however, basic lab-based studies on the microbiology of the virus, including research on its pathogenesis and mechanisms of viral transmission, are lacking. Their analysis was published on September 16, 2020 in the journal Patterns. Topic modeling indicates that COVID-19 publications have focused on public health, outbreak reporting, clinical care, and testing for 30 coronaviruses, as opposed to the more limited number focused on basic microbiology, including pathogenesis and transmission. A fast, scalable, and reusable framework to parse novel disease literature, machine learning approaches rapidly can survey the actual text of publication abstracts to identify research overlap between COVID-19 and other coronaviruses, research hotspots, and areas warranting exploration.
Rapid Blood Test Could Detect Brain Injury In Minutes
A blood protein test could detect the severity of head trauma in under 15 minutes, according to research published on September 14, 2020 in the Journal of Neurotrauma. By showing that glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) can determine the severity of a brain injury through a blood test accurately, a research team at the University of Pittsburgh advanced the development of a point-of-care testing device designed to help clinicians assess traumatic brain injury (TBI) in minutes. For the rapid test, the vision included using a hand-held device with a cartridge that would measure GFAP in a patient’s blood. Researchers at Abbott Laboratories, a global health care company, will need to finalize the test for the i-STAT device, which already is used by the military and health care providers around the world to perform several common blood tests within minutes. The blood test would reveal a patient’s GFAP level. An advantage is that guesswork will be eliminated in diagnosing TBIs and learning whether a patient requires further treatment.
More September 2020 TRENDS Articles
A QUASI-CATEGORICAL DEMURRAL
indicates that it is too soon to understand the full implications and overall impact of COVID-19. Read More
WHISTLING THE COLLEGE HORNPIPE
contains information about advantages the federal government possesses in developing financial responses to the coronavirus pandemic. Read More
HEALTH REFORM DEVELOPMENTS
Points out how despite a decline in poverty rates, the ability to access health care remains difficult for some population subgroups while at the same time insufficient attention is paid by policymakers regarding the adequacy of the health workforce. Read More
DEVELOPMENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Describes how once again reauthorization of the Higher Education Act failed to occur; the issuance of final regulations for distance education and innovation; and how the U.S. Department of Education is rescinding several guidance documents. Read More
QUICK STAT (SHORT, TIMELY, AND TOPICAL)
Delaying Or Avoiding Health Care During The Pandemic Because Of Concerns About COVID-19
Trends And Patterns In Menarche In The United States: 1995 Through 2013–2017
Machine Learning Maps Research Needs In Coronavirus Literature
Rapid Blood Test Could Detect Brain Injury In Minutes Read More
AVAILABLE RESOURCES ACCESSIBLE ELECTRONICALLY
Scorecard On State Health System Performance
Racial Disparities In Cancer
The State of Obesity 2020: Better Policies For A Healthier America Read More
COMPOSITION AND CAPACITY OF THE GENETICS WORKFORCE
discusses how the clinical genetics workforce likely will face greatly increased demand for its services. Read More
THE NEUROBIOLOGY OF SOCIAL DISTANCE
refers to the neurocognitive basis of social isolation and its deep consequences for mental and physical health, along with neurobiological mechanisms underlying social interplay and the impact that social deprivation has on them. Read More