People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face numerous healthcare disparities relative to their peers without ASD, as individuals with ASD often have reduced access to high-quality health care and experience lower satisfaction with patient-provider communication.1 Recent studies have begun to shed light on the unique obstetric challenges that people with ASD may experience during the perinatal period, although research on the intersectional experience of autism and pregnancy remains limited to date.2,3 “This population of childbearing people are unique in that they face multiple challenges ..read more

Adolescents exposed to war trauma in the early phases of the conflict in Ukraine had increased odds of suicidality and self-harm, according to study results published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. The Russo-Ukrainian War began in 2014 and is the largest ground offensive in Europe since the second World War. Since 2014, Ukrainian citizens have been increasingly exposed to war trauma and are further burdened by reduced access to mental health care. Investigators from University of Turku in Finland and Norwegian University of Science and Technology i ..read more

Buprenorphine access in the United States is lower in areas with greater proportions of racial and ethnic minorities, according to study findings published in the Journal of Addiction Medicine. The opioid crisis in the US is a major public health concern. In recent years, overdose deaths have increased most rapidly among Black and Native American or Alaska Native populations. To assess whether access to buprenorphine treatment may contribute to the disparities in overdose deaths among minority populations, investigators from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health in Pittsburgh, P ..read more

HealthDay News — Subcutaneous infusion of ND0612 (a levodopa-carbidopa solution) increases on time without troublesome dyskinesia among patients with Parkinson disease, according to a study published online March 15 in The Lancet Neurology. Alberto J. Espay, M.D., from the University of Cincinnati, and colleagues examined the safety and efficacy of a continuous 24-hour/day subcutaneous infusion of ND0612 compared with oral immediate-release levodopa-carbidopa for the treatment of motor fluctuations in Parkinson disease. Participants underwent an open-label run-in phase and were then randomly a ..read more

HealthDay News — Mistreatment during childbirth is common in the United States, according to a study published online April 4 in JAMA Network Open. Chen Liu, from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City, and colleagues estimated the prevalence of mistreatment by health care professionals during childbirth in a representative multistate sample. The cross-sectional study included survey data collected from respondents to the 2020 Pregnancy Risk and Monitoring System in six states and New York City. The sample included 4,458 postpartum individuals representative o ..read more

The percentage of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who receive supplemental home oxygen post discharge has changed little since early in the pandemic, despite evidence-based strategies for reducing home oxygen use in these patients, according to study findings published in Respiratory Care. Investigators sought to estimate the proportion of oxygen-naïve patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who were subsequently discharged on home oxygen after September 2020.  They also sought to characterize patient characteristics and treatments associated with home-oxygen initiation following discharg ..read more

Severe COVID-19 breakthrough infections were found among patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs), with age and immunosuppressive treatment correlated with the risk for such infections, according to study findings published in Rheumatology. Breakthrough COVID-19 infections suggest vaccine immunity may wane over time, though these infections are generally less severe than prevaccination cases. However, patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases — especially individuals with IIMs — face heightened risks for severe outcomes from breakthrough infections, highlighting the need for f ..read more

Women with HIV infection, receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART), particularly those with unsuppressed viremia or lymphopenia, have higher myocardial fibro-inflammation relative to HIV-negative women, according to results of a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. Patients with HIV are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, because CVD risk factors are more prevalent in this population, the true impact of HIV on myocardial tissue remains unclear. In this cross-sectional, observational study, researchers examined associations of HIV and HIV-specific factors with ..read more

The race-neutral forced expiratory volume in 1 second quotient (FEV1Q) predicted mortality and had better discriminative performance than standardly used spirometry interpretation strategies, both in healthy individuals and in those with advanced lung disease. These were among the findings of a study published in the European Respiratory Journal. FEV1Q is a “simple approach to spirometry interpretation” that compares measured lung function to a value approximating the lower limit needed for survival — 0.4 L in women and 0.5 L in men, said study authors. Notably, the current spirometry interpre ..read more

Acetaminophen use during pregnancy does not increase the risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or intellectual disability in children, according to study results published in JAMA. Although acetaminophen is generally considered safe during pregnancy and is regularly used to manage pain and fever in pregnant individuals, recent studies indicated potential risks for developmental disorders associated with its use. To determine if these reports may have been attributable to familial confounding, investigators conducted a population-based study t ..read more