Non-hispanic whites have higher risk for pulmonary impairment from pulmonary tuberculosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Disparities in outcomes associated with race and ethnicity are well documented for many diseases and patient populations. Tuberculosis (TB) disproportionately affects economically disadvantaged, racial and ethnic minority populations. Pulmonary impairment after tuberculosis (PIAT) contributes heavily to the societal burden of TB. Individual impacts associated with PIAT may vary by race/ethnicity or socioeconomic status.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We analyzed the pulmonary function of 320 prospectively identified patients with pulmonary tuberculosis who had completed at least 20 weeks standard anti-TB regimes by directly observed therapy. We compared frequency and severity of spirometry-defined PIAT in groups stratified by demographics, pulmonary risk factors, and race/ethnicity, and examined clinical correlates to pulmonary function deficits.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Pulmonary impairment after tuberculosis was identified in 71% of non-Hispanic Whites, 58% of non-Hispanic Blacks, 49% of Asians and 32% of Hispanics (<it>p </it>< 0.001). Predictors for PIAT varied between race/ethnicity. PIAT was evenly distributed across all levels of socioeconomic status suggesting that PIAT and socioeconomic status are not related. PIAT and its severity were significantly associated with abnormal chest x-ray, <it>p </it>< 0.0001. There was no association between race/ethnicity and time to beginning TB treatment, <it>p </it>= 0.978.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Despite controlling for cigarette smoking, socioeconomic status and time to beginning TB treatment, non-Hispanic White race/ethnicity remained an independent predictor for disproportionately frequent and severe pulmonary impairment after tuberculosis relative to other race/ethnic groups. Since race/ethnicity was self reported and that race is not a biological construct: these findings must be interpreted with caution. However, because race/ethnicity is a proxy for several other unmeasured host, pathogen or environment factors that may contribute to disparate health outcomes, these results are meant to suggest hypotheses for further research.</p

Hydrogeology in the vicinity of test holes and wells on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands /

Shipping list no.: 96-0361-P.Includes bibliographical references (p. 47-48).Mode of access: Internet

Computer assisted survey information collection /

"May 1990."Cover title.Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-66).Photocopy.Mode of access: Internet

Predicting risk selection following major changes in medicare

The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 created several new types of private insurance plans within Medicare, starting in 2006. Some of these plan types previously did not exist in the commercial market and there was great uncertainty about their prospects. In this paper, we show that statistical models and historical data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey can be used to predict the experience of new plan types with reasonable accuracy. This lays the foundation for the analysis of program modifications currently under consideration. We predict market share, risk selection, and stability for the most prominent new plan type, the stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plan (PDP). First, we estimate a model of consumer choice across Medicare insurance plans available in the data. Next, we modify the data to include PDPs and use the model to predict the probability of enrollment for each beneficiary in each plan type. Finally, we calculate mean-adjusted actual spending by plan type. We predict that adverse selection into PDPs will be substantial, but that enrollment and premiums will be stable. Our predictions correspond well to actual experience in 2006. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Distribution of iron, zinc and manganese in milling streams of common Serbian wheat cultivars: Preliminary survey

This study investigates distribution of three micronutrients in milling streams of three common wheat cultivars to estimate nutritive value of white and brown flours. Among the analysed wheat cultivars, the majority of flour streams of NS Todorka showed a higher content of soluble micronutrients than the other two investigated wheat cultivars. It is necessary to improve bioavailability of Fe and Zn in flours since these micronutrients were mostly in insoluble form. In contrast, considering average Serbian portion sizes for bread, bread made from flour Type '110' could supply almost 75% of the recommended daily intake for Mn