Project description:ImportanceLittle is known about recent trends in rural-urban disparities in youth suicide, particularly sex- and method-specific changes. Documenting the extent of these disparities is critical for the development of policies and programs aimed at eliminating geographic disparities.ObjectiveTo examine trends in US suicide mortality for adolescents and young adults across the rural-urban continuum.Design, setting, and participantsLongitudinal trends in suicide rates by rural and urban areas between January 1, 1996, and December 31, 2010, were analyzed using county-level national mortality data linked to a rural-urban continuum measure that classified all 3141 counties in the United States into distinct groups based on population size and adjacency to metropolitan areas. The population included all suicide decedents aged 10 to 24 years.Main outcomes and measuresRates of suicide per 100,000 persons.ResultsAcross the study period, 66,595 youths died by suicide, and rural suicide rates were nearly double those of urban areas for both males (19.93 and 10.31 per 100,000, respectively) and females (4.40 and 2.39 per 100,000, respectively). Even after controlling for a wide array of county-level variables, rural-urban suicide differentials increased over time for males, suggesting widening rural-urban disparities (1996-1998: adjusted incidence rate ratio [IRR], 0.98; 2008-2010: adjusted IRR, 1.19; difference in IRR, P = .02). Firearm suicide rates declined, and the rates of hanging/suffocation for both males and females increased. However, the rates of suicide by firearm (males: 1996-1998, 2.05; and 2008-2010: 2.69 times higher) and hanging/suffocation (males: 1996-1998, 1.24; and 2008-2010: 1.63 times higher) were disproportionately higher in rural areas, and rural-urban differences increased over time (P = .002 for males; P = .06 for females).Conclusions and relevanceSuicide rates for adolescents and young adults are higher in rural than in urban communities regardless of the method used, and rural-urban disparities appear to be increasing over time. Further research should carefully explore the mechanisms whereby rural residence might increase suicide risk in youth and consider suicide-prevention efforts specific to rural settings.

Project description:BackgroundHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-experienced clinicians are critical for positive outcomes along the HIV care continuum. However, access to HIV-experienced clinicians may be limited, particularly in nonmetropolitan areas, where HIV is increasing. We examined HIV clinician workforce capacity, focusing on HIV experience and urban-rural differences, in the Southern United States.MethodsWe used Medicaid claims and clinician characteristics (Medicaid Analytic eXtract [MAX] and MAX Provider Characteristics, 2009-2011), county-level rurality (National Center for Health Statistics, 2013), and diagnosed HIV cases (AIDSVu, 2014) to assess HIV clinician capacity in 14 states. We assumed that clinicians accepting Medicaid approximated the region's HIV workforce, since three-quarters of clinicians accept Medicaid insurance. HIV-experienced clinicians were defined as those providing care to ≥ 10 Medicaid enrollees over 3 years. We assessed HIV workforce capacity with county-level clinician-to-population ratios, using Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney tests to compare urban-rural differences.ResultsWe identified 5012 clinicians providing routine HIV management, of whom 28% were HIV-experienced. HIV-experienced clinicians were more likely to specialize in infectious diseases (48% vs 6%, P < .001) and practice in urban areas (96% vs 83%, P < .001) compared to non-HIV-experienced clinicians. The median clinician-to-population ratio for all HIV clinicians was 13.3 (interquartile range, 38.0), with no significant urban-rural differences. When considering HIV experience, 81% of counties had no HIV-experienced clinicians, and rural counties generally had fewer HIV-experienced clinicians per 1000 diagnosed HIV cases (P < .001).ConclusionsSignificant urban-rural disparities exist in HIV-experienced workforce capacity for communities in the Southern United States. Policies to improve equity in access to HIV-experienced clinical care for both urban and rural communities are urgently needed.

Project description:ImportanceAtherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) remains a leading cause of death and disability in the US and worldwide. Influenza vaccination has shown to decrease overall morbidity, mortality, severity of infection, and hospital readmissions among these individuals. However, national estimates of influenza vaccination among individuals with ASCVD in the US are not well studied.ObjectiveTo evaluate the prevalence of and sociodemographic disparities in influenza vaccination among a nationally representative sample of individuals with ASCVD.Design, setting, and participantsPooled Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data from 2008 to 2016 were used and included adults 40 years or older with ASCVD. Participants' ASCVD status was ascertained via self-report and/or International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision diagnosis of coronary heart disease, peripheral artery disease, and/or cerebrovascular disease. Analysis began April 2020.Main outcomes and measuresPrevalence and characteristics of adults with ASCVD who lacked influenza vaccination during the past year. Covariates including age, sex, race/ethnicity, family income, insurance status, education level, and usual source of care were assessed.ResultsOf 131 881 adults, 19 793 (15.7%) had ASCVD, corresponding to 22.8 million US adults annually. A total of 7028 adults with ASCVD (32.7%), representing 7.4 million adults, lacked influenza vaccination. The highest odds of lacking vaccination were observed among individuals aged 40 to 64 years (odds ratio [OR], 2.32; 95% CI, 2.06-2.62), without a usual source of care (OR, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.71-2.33), without insurance (OR, 2.05; 95% CI, 1.63-2.58), with a lower education level (OR, 1. 25; 95% CI, 1.12-1.40), with a lower income level (OR, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.01-1.27), and of non-Hispanic Black race/ethnicity (OR, 1.24, 95% CI, 1.10-1.41). A stepwise increase was found in the prevalence and odds of lacking influenza vaccination among individuals with increase in high-risk characteristics. Overall, 1171 individuals (59.7%; 95% CI, 55.8%-63.5%) with 4 or more high-risk characteristics and ASCVD (representing 732 524 US adults annually) reported lack of influenza vaccination (OR, 6.06; 95% CI, 4.88-7.53).Conclusion and relevanceDespite current recommendations, a large proportion of US adults with established ASCVD lack influenza vaccination, with several sociodemographic subgroups having greater risk. Focused public health initiatives are needed to increase access to influenza vaccinations for high-risk and underserved populations.

Project description:Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) is a recognized risk factor for the global burden of disease in human populations. We are presenting here the application of toxicogenomics in the evaluation of the toxic effects of organic content of atmospheric particle matter (PM), from urban and rural environments (city of Barcelona and village of La Pobla, NE Spain), using the developing zebrafish embryo. The main goal is to identify the metabolic pathways involved in the adverse effects observed in zebrafish embryos exposed to PM organic content from urban and rural environments, also allowing the selection of genes of interest that are differentially expressed. The relevance of particle size to the PM toxicity is also addressed. Indeed, the zebrafish embryos were exposed to PM of aerodynamic diameter larger than 7.2 μm and smaller than 0.5 μm (PM10 and PM0.5, respectively). PM0.5 concentrated biological and toxic activities linked to organic substances. Transcriptomic analyses showed strong induction of the AhR signalling pathway (a.k.a. dioxin-like activity) for embryos exposed to both rural and urban extracts, correlating with the concentrations of PAHs. Urban extracts, with strong contribution of traffic emissions, specifically de-regulated oxidative stress-related genes, as well as pancreatic and eye-lens specific genes, two organs known to be affected by air pollution in humans. Exposure to rural extracts, with high contribution of wood burning emissions, affected genes implicated in basic cellular functions, in agreement with their strong embryotoxicity. Extracts from rural and urban samples elicited both common and specific transcriptome responses, suggesting different potentially adverse outcomes depending on PM source and composition. The authors thank the financial support of the Spanish Ministry (project TEA-PARTICLE, grant number CGL2011-29621) and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology for the doctoral grant of Sofia R. Mesquita (SFRH/BD/80710/2011) funded by the Program POPH-QREN through the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science and the European Social Fund, and support through project PEst-C/MAR/LA0015/2013.

Project description:Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) is a recognized risk factor for the global burden of disease in human populations. We are presenting here the application of toxicogenomics in the evaluation of the toxic effects of organic content of atmospheric particle matter (PM), from urban and rural environments (city of Barcelona and village of La Pobla, NE Spain), using the developing zebrafish embryo. The main goal is to identify the metabolic pathways involved in the adverse effects observed in zebrafish embryos exposed to PM organic content from urban and rural environments, also allowing the selection of genes of interest that are differentially expressed. The relevance of particle size to the PM toxicity is also addressed. Indeed, the zebrafish embryos were exposed to PM of aerodynamic diameter larger than 7.2 Î¼m and smaller than 0.5 Î¼m (PM10 and PM0.5, respectively). PM0.5 concentrated biological and toxic activities linked to organic substances. Transcriptomic analyses showed strong induction of the AhR signalling pathway (a.k.a. dioxin-like activity) for embryos exposed to both rural and urban extracts, correlating with the concentrations of PAHs. Urban extracts, with strong contribution of traffic emissions, specifically de-regulated oxidative stress-related genes, as well as pancreatic and eye-lens specific genes, two organs known to be affected by air pollution in humans. Exposure to rural extracts, with high contribution of wood burning emissions, affected genes implicated in basic cellular functions, in agreement with their strong embryotoxicity. Extracts from rural and urban samples elicited both common and specific transcriptome responses, suggesting different potentially adverse outcomes depending on PM source and composition. The authors thank the financial support of the Spanish Ministry (project TEA-PARTICLE, grant number CGL2011-29621) and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology for the doctoral grant of Sofia R. Mesquita (SFRH/BD/80710/2011) funded by the Program POPH-QREN through the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science and the European Social Fund, and support through project PEst-C/MAR/LA0015/2013. The PM filter samples used in the present study were PM10 and PM0.5 from the urban site - total of 4 samples from 2 sampling months; and PM0.5 from the rural site - total of 2 samples from 2 sampling months (PM10 samples from the rural site were not tested due to their very low concentration in organic compounds, and insignificant biological activity, previously measured). Sampling occurred during the cold periods of the year 2012/2013. The organic fraction of PM samples was extracted by sonication using a mixture of dichloromethane:methanol. Then, the extracts were filtered, evaporated and re-dissolved in Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Zebrafish fertilized eggs were exposed to PM organic extracts (0.2% DMSO) from the urban and rural sites from 24 to 120h post-fertilization. Total RNA was isolated from whole embryos (pools of 20 individuals), using Trizol reagent protocol (Invitrogen Life Technologies, Carlsberg, CA). The microarray study was performed using the Agilent Two-colour D. rerio Oligo Microarray v3 platform, following the Agilent Microarray â?? Based Gene Expression Analysis protocol. Three biological replicates were performed for each PM sample and controls. Biological replicates, a technical replicate and a self-to-self, were simultaneously amplified and labelled using Cyanine 3 (Cy3) and Cyanine 5 (Cy5) dye. After cRNA purification (RNeasy Kit, Quiagen GmbH, Hilden, Germany), the cRNA concentration and labelling were quantified in the NanoDrop spectrophotometer, obtaining incorporation rates in the range of 15-20pmol of cyanide dye/Âµl cRNA and yield values > 0.825ug, as recommended. cRNA was fragmented and hybridized in 4x44K arrays, for 17h at 65oC. After the hybridization the array slides were washed, and immediately scanned using Microarray Scanner Agilent G2505C system. Data was extracted using Agilent Feature Extraction Software v10.5.1.1, and the quality of microarray data was evaluated using the Quality Control report provided by Agilent Software. Based on the microarray data analysis, 22 primers were selected and designed using Primer Express 2.0 software (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA). Genes were quantified by real-time PCR to validate the microarray data, and a subset of 13 genes were further selected by their robust behaviour in the validation assays, allowing to differentiate the toxic potential of PM from urban and rural sources.

Project description:Rabies is a devastating zoonotic disease causing nearly 60,000 deaths globally each year. The disease causes Malawi an economic loss of 13 million USD and kills almost 500 people annually. Domestic dogs are the main reservoir for rabies and vaccinating over 70% of the dog population is the most efficient method to reduce its incidence in both humans and canines. However, achieving such coverages is often difficult and depend on many geospatial factors. Rural and pastoral regions are considered difficult to vaccinate efficiently due to low dog densities, and reports of campaigns spanning large areas containing vastly different communities are lacking. This study describes a mass canine vaccination campaign covering rural and urban regions in southern Malawi. The campaign achieved an average vaccination coverage of 83.4% across 3 districts, and vaccinated over 89,000 dogs through a combined static point and door-to-door effort. A dog population of 107,574 dogs was estimated (dog:human ratio of 1:23). The canine population was found to be almost completely owned (99.2%) and mostly kept for security purposes (82.7%). The dogs were mainly adults, males, and not neutered. Regression analysis identified education level and proportion of young dogs as the only factors influencing (positively and negatively, respectively) whether vaccination coverage over 70% was achieved in a region, independently of variables such as population density or poverty. A second regression analysis was performed predicting absolute vaccination coverage. While education level and the proportion of confined dogs were associated with positive vaccination coverage, higher proportions of young animals and female dogs were associated with a decrease in coverage. This study confirms the feasibility of homogeneously vaccinating over 70% of the dogs in a large area including rural and urban communities. These findings can inform the logistics of future campaigns and might be used as a template to facilitate high-number, high-coverage vaccination campaigns to other regions in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Impact of demographic disparities in social distancing and vaccination on influenza epidemics in urban and rural regions of the United States.

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