Annals of family medicine
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Annals of family medicine · Jan 2023
Observational StudyImpact of the Affordable Care Act Medicaid Expansion on Weight Loss among Community Health Center Patients with Obesity.
Context: Obesity affects over 40% of the US population and is linked to multiple preventable health conditions which can cause premature morbidity and mortality. Weight loss of at least 5% in patients with obesity reduces their risk of comorbid conditions and leads to improvement in some conditions, such as diabetes. Patients with obesity from underserved populations are less likely to access primary and preventive care services. ⋯ Among newly insured patients, Hispanic (22%) and Black (29%) patients residing in expansion states, had larger proportion of patients with WL5+ than those in non-expansion states (20% and 18%, respectively). No differences were observed among non-Hispanic White patients (expansion 28% vs non-expansion 27%). Conclusions: The findings suggest greater improvement in weight management among patients residing in expansion states than those in non-expansion states, especially among racial and ethnic minorities receiving care in CHCs.
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Annals of family medicine · Jan 2023
Explainable Machine Learning Model to Predict COVID-19 Severity Among Older Adults in the Province of Quebec.
Context: Patients over the age of 65 years are more likely to experience higher severity and mortality rates than other populations from COVID-19. Clinicians need assistance in supporting their decisions regarding the management of these patients. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help with this regard. ⋯ Conclusions: The use of explainable machine learning models, to predict the severity of COVID-19 among older adults is feasible. We obtained a high-performance level as well as explainability in the prediction of COVID-19 severity in this population. Further studies are required to integrate these models into a decision support system to facilitate the management of diseases such as COVID-19 for (primary) health care providers and evaluate their usability among them.
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Annals of family medicine · Jan 2023
Development and Design Needs of Mobile Health (mHealth) Apps for Adolescents.
Context: Adolescent obesity remains a significant public health issue within the United States. Application (app) technology growth and popularity offer new opportunities for research and health improvement. The development of a consolidated mobile health application (mHealth app) for adolescents on these platforms has the potential to improve health outcomes. ⋯ Outcomes: Adolescent stakeholder feedback is crucial in the successful development of an adolescent-targeted mHealth app. Adolescents prefer vibrant colors, modern, easy-to-use interface, gamification and rewards, customizable and personalized, simple, and mature graphics. Adolescents were especially motivated by gamification techniques in maintaining their interest in the application and their health behavior goals.
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Annals of family medicine · Jan 2023
Imbalanced Incentives: A Content Analysis of research Participant Incentive Structures in Clinical and Translational Science.
In conducting research with underserved and vulnerable populations, incentives for research participants can improve recruitment efforts. However, incentives lose influence if researchers treat them as merely transactional. This study seeks to identify how researchers describe research participant incentives and incentive structures, with a focus on populations that experience health disparities. ⋯ Findings here show few publications describe incentive structures, which indicates that either 1) incentives are underutilized in recruitment efforts or 2) studies are not publishing incentive information. Furthermore, incentives are more frequently used to recruit healthcare worker populations than community or clinical participants, which may indicate a transactional approach in contrast to a community or patient-oriented approach to research participation. A standardized approach to describing incentives could help researchers and clinicians contextualize a study's findings.
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Annals of family medicine · Jan 2023
Dietary, Cooking, and Eating Pattern Outcomes from the Emory Healthy Kitchen Collaborative.
Context: Teaching kitchens are emerging innovative and engaging models for creating lifestyle behavior change. They are increasingly being utilized in workplace settings. Objective: The Emory Healthy Kitchen Collaborative (EHKC) year-long worksite wellness teaching kitchen program sought to improve self-reported health behaviors, including food choices, cooking skills, and mindful eating habits. ⋯ Conclusion: The EHKC worksite wellness program provided valuable knowledge and insight into the use of a teaching kitchen as a unique health care delivery model. The program significantly improved participant dietary patterns and mindful eating habits; though did not significantly improve cooking confidence or frequency. Further research is needed to understand long term health consequences and disease risk reduction of the EHKC program.