Browsing by Subject "Pandemics"
Now showing 1 - 10 of 35
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item A framework for reinitiating global academic exchange in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic(IJME, 2022-09-09) Kelly, Caitrin M.; Some, Fatma; Guiles, Daniel A.; Turissini, Matthew; Gardner, Adrian; Litzelman, Debra K.; Medicine, School of MedicineItem A National Survey of U.S. Adolescent Sleep Duration, Timing, and Social Jetlag During the COVID-19 Pandemic(Taylor & Francis, 2023) Wesley, Katherine L.; Cooper, Emily H.; Brinton, John T.; Meier, Maxene; Honaker, Sarah; Simon, Stacey L.; Pediatrics, School of MedicineObjectives: To assess changes in duration, timing, and social jetlag in adolescent sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluate the impact of mood, physical activity, and social interactions on sleep. Study design: An online survey queried adolescents' sleep before (through retrospective report) and during the initial phase of COVID-19 in May 2020. Adolescents (N = 3,494), 13-19 years old, in the United States (U.S.) answered questions about their current and retrospective (prior to COVID-19) sleep, chronotype, mood, and physical and social activities. Linear regression models were fit for time in bed, reported bed and wake times, and social jetlag during COVID-19, accounting for pre-COVID-19 values. Results: Total reported time in bed (a proxy for sleep duration) increased on weekdays by an average of 1.3 ± 1.8 hours (p < .001) during COVID-19, compared to retrospective report of time in bed prior to COVID-19. During COVID-19, 81.3% of adolescents reported spending 8 hours or more in bed on weekdays compared to only 53.5% prior to COVID-19. On weekdays, bedtimes were delayed on average by 2.5 hours and wake times by 3.8 hours during COVID-19 compared to prior to COVID-19. On weekends, bedtimes were delayed on average by 1.6 hours and waketimes by 1.5 hours (all p's < 0.001). Social jetlag of >2 hours decreased to 6.3% during COVID-19 compared to 52.1% prior to COVID-19. Anxiety and depression symptoms and a decline in physical activity during COVID-19 were associated with delayed bed and wake times during COVID-19. Conclusions: During COVID-19, adolescents reported spending more time in bed, with most adolescents reporting 8 hours of sleep opportunity and more consistent sleep schedules. As schools return to in-person learning, additional research should examine how sleep schedules may change due to school start times and what lessons can be learned from changes that occurred during COVID-19 that promote favorable adolescent sleep.Item Adversarial Attacks on Deep Temporal Point Process(IEEE, 2022) Khorshidi, Samira; Wang, Bao; Mohler, George; Computer Science, Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and EngineeringTemporal point processes have many applications, from crime forecasting to modeling earthquake aftershocks sequences. Due to the flexibility and expressiveness of deep learning, neural network-based approaches have recently shown promise for modeling point process intensities. However, there is a lack of research on the robustness of such models in regards to adversarial attacks and natural shocks to systems. Precisely, while neural point processes may outperform simpler parametric models on in-sample tests, how these models perform when encountering adversarial examples or sharp non-stationary trends remains unknown. Current work proposes several white-box and blackbox adversarial attacks against temporal point processes modeled by deep neural networks. Extensive experiments confirm that predictive performance and parametric modeling of neural point processes are vulnerable to adversarial attacks. Additionally, we evaluate the vulnerability and performance of these models in the presence of non-stationary abrupt changes, using the crimes dataset, during the Covid-19 pandemic, as an example.Item Breast Cancer Screening, Diagnosis, and Surgery during the Pre- and Peri-pandemic: Experience of Patients in a Statewide Health Information Exchange(Springer Nature, 2023) Milgrom, Zheng Z.; Milgrom, Daniel P.; Han, Yan; Hui, Siu L.; Haggstrom, David A.; Fisher, Carla S.; Mendonca, Eneida A.; Pediatrics, School of MedicineBackground: Measures taken to address the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted routine diagnosis and care for breast cancer. The aim of this study was to characterize the effects of the pandemic on breast cancer care in a statewide cohort. Patients and methods: Using data from a large health information exchange, we retrospectively analyzed the timing of breast cancer screening, and identified a cohort of newly diagnosed patients with any stage of breast cancer to further access the information available about their surgical treatments. We compared data for four subgroups: pre-lockdown (preLD) 25 March to 16 June 2019; lockdown (LD) 23 March to 3 May 2020; reopening (RO) 4 May to 14 June 2020; and post-lockdown (postLD) 22 March to 13 June 2021. Results: During LD and RO, screening mammograms in the cohort decreased by 96.3% and 36.2%, respectively. The overall breast cancer diagnosis and surgery volumes decreased up to 38.7%, and the median time to surgery was prolonged from 1.5 months to 2.4 for LD and 1.8 months for RO. Interestingly, higher mean DCIS diagnosis (5.0 per week vs. 3.1 per week, p < 0.05) and surgery volume (14.8 vs. 10.5, p < 0.05) were found for postLD compared with preLD, while median time to surgery was shorter (1.2 months vs. 1.5 months, p < 0.0001). However, the postLD average weekly screening and diagnostic mammogram did not fully recover to preLD levels (2055.3 vs. 2326.2, p < 0.05; 574.2 vs. 624.1, p < 0.05). Conclusions: Breast cancer diagnosis and treatment patterns were interrupted during the lockdown and still altered 1 year after. Screening in primary care should be expanded to mitigate possible longer-term effects of these interruptions.Item Changes in substance use, recovery, and quality of life during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic(Public Library of Science, 2024-05-22) Lewandowski, Megayn E.; Delawalla, Colette N.; Butcher, Tarah J.; Oberlin, Brandon G.; Psychiatry, School of MedicineBackground: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted lives on a massive scale. While the pandemic appeared to worsen mental health outcomes broadly, its effects on alcohol/substance use and recovery are unclear. Many studies convolved the sociopolitical unrest beginning in May 2020 with the pandemic. We assessed pandemic-related changes in substance use, recovery involvement, and quality of life among US adults at two specified time periods that isolated pandemic effects from potentially confounding sociopolitical factors. Objectives: We tested the following hypotheses: the pandemic and consequent policies (1) increased use of alcohol and illicit substances in active users; (2) increased use of alcohol/substances among people in early recovery; (3) reduced participation in recovery activities among those in early recovery, and that (4) use amount and use events correlated with impulsivity in both groups and that (5) substance use and abstinence correlated with resilience. Methods: We recruited 1,685 participants through Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk). We assessed demographics, quality of life, alcohol/substance use, recovery activities, and measures of impulsivity and resilience at two time points, pre-pandemic and (early) during-pandemic. Only n = 45 (Active Users; males n = 32) and n = 34 (Recovery; males n = 20) passed data quality checks and were included in the primary analyses. Results: Among Active Users, weekly alcohol consumption and days spent using alcohol and illicit substances decreased during the pandemic. Resilience negatively correlated with pandemic-related substance use in early recovering participants. Significant reduction in the quality of life was coincident with a trend of lower recovery activity participation (31% decline) during the pandemic. Conclusions: The reduced alcohol/substance use and participation in recovery activities might be expected from conditions that promote social isolation. The high prevalence of low-quality data from MTurk cautions for careful use of online data sourcing.Item COVID-19 isolation strategies: What have we learned(Elsevier, 2022) Al-Tawfiq, Jaffar A.; Memish, Ziad A.; Medicine, School of MedicineSince the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, infection prevention and control policies have significantly differed between different public health organization and have been complicated by the emergence of new data on Variants of Concern (VOC). Here, we try to highlight the different strategies for isolating patients with COVID-19 and point-out the evolution of such strategies over time, mainly for mildly or moderately severe SARS-CoV-2 infected patients.Item COVID-19 pandemic stressors are associated with reported increases in frequency of drunkenness among individuals with a history of alcohol use disorder(Springer Nature, 2023-10-06) Meyers, Jacquelyn L.; McCutcheon, Vivia V.; Horne-Osipenko, Kristina A.; Waters, Lawrence R.; Barr, Peter; Chan, Grace; Chorlian, David B.; Johnson, Emma C.; Kuo, Sally I-Chun; Kramer, John R.; Dick, Danielle M.; Kuperman, Samuel; Kamarajan, Chella; Pandey, Gayathri; Singman, Dzov; Subbie-Saenz de Viteri, Stacey; Salvatore, Jessica E.; Bierut, Laura J.; Foroud, Tatiana; Goate, Alison; Hesselbrock, Victor; Nurnberger, John; Plaweck, Martin H.; Schuckit, Marc A.; Agrawal, Arpana; Edenberg, Howard J.; Bucholz, Kathleen K.; Porjesz, Bernice; Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of MedicineSome sources report increases in alcohol use have been observed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among women. Cross-sectional studies suggest that specific COVID-19-related stressful experiences (e.g., social disconnection) may be driving such increases in the general population. Few studies have explored these topics among individuals with a history of Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD), an especially vulnerable population. Drawing on recent data collected by the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA; COVID-19 study N = 1651, 62% women, age range: 30-91) in conjunction with AUD history data collected on the sample since 1990, we investigated associations of COVID-19 related stressors and coping activities with changes in drunkenness frequency since the start of the pandemic. Analyses were conducted for those without a history of AUD (N: 645) and three groups of participants with a history of AUD prior to the start of the pandemic: (1) those experiencing AUD symptoms (N: 606), (2) those in remission who were drinking (N: 231), and (3) those in remission who were abstinent (had not consumed alcohol for 5+ years; N: 169). Gender-stratified models were also examined. Exploratory analyses examined the moderating effects of 'problematic alcohol use' polygenic risk scores (PRS) and neural connectivity (i.e., posterior interhemispheric alpha EEG coherence) on associations between COVID-19 stressors and coping activities with changes in the frequency of drunkenness. Increases in drunkenness frequency since the start of the pandemic were higher among those with a lifetime AUD diagnosis experiencing symptoms prior to the start of the pandemic (14% reported increased drunkenness) when compared to those without a history of AUD (5% reported increased drunkenness). Among individuals in remission from AUD prior to the start of the pandemic, rates of increased drunkenness were 10% for those who were drinking pre-pandemic and 4% for those who had previously been abstinent. Across all groups, women reported nominally greater increases in drunkenness frequency when compared with men, although only women experiencing pre-pandemic AUD symptoms reported significantly greater rates of increased drunkenness since the start of the pandemic compared to men in this group (17% of women vs. 5% of men). Among those without a prior history of AUD, associations between COVID-19 risk and protective factors with increases in drunkenness frequency were not observed. Among all groups with a history of AUD (including those with AUD symptoms and those remitted from AUD), perceived stress was associated with increases in drunkenness. Among the remitted-abstinent group, essential worker status was associated with increases in drunkenness. Gender differences in these associations were observed: among women in the remitted-abstinent group, essential worker status, perceived stress, media consumption, and decreased social interactions were associated with increases in drunkenness. Among men in the remitted-drinking group, perceived stress was associated with increases in drunkenness, and increased relationship quality was associated with decreases in drunkenness. Exploratory analyses indicated that associations between family illness or death with increases in drunkenness and increased relationship quality with decreases in drunkenness were more pronounced among the remitted-drinking participants with higher PRS. Associations between family illness or death, media consumption, and economic hardships with increases in drunkenness and healthy coping with decreases in drunkenness were more pronounced among the remitted-abstinent group with lower interhemispheric alpha EEG connectivity. Our results demonstrated that only individuals with pre-pandemic AUD symptoms reported greater increases in drunkenness frequency since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to those without a lifetime history of AUD. This increase was more pronounced among women than men in this group. However, COVID-19-related stressors and coping activities were associated with changes in the frequency of drunkenness among all groups of participants with a prior history of AUD, including those experiencing AUD symptoms, as well as abstinent and non-abstinent participants in remission. Perceived stress, essential worker status, media consumption, social connections (especially for women), and relationship quality (especially for men) are specific areas of focus for designing intervention and prevention strategies aimed at reducing pandemic-related alcohol misuse among this particularly vulnerable group. Interestingly, these associations were not observed for individuals without a prior history of AUD, supporting prior literature that demonstrates that widespread stressors (e.g., pandemics, terrorist attacks) disproportionately impact the mental health and alcohol use of those with a prior history of problems.Item Dashboards Are Trendy, Visible Components of Data Management in Public Health: Sustaining Their Use After the Pandemic Requires a Broader View(American Public Health Association, 2022) Dixon, Brian E.; Dearth, Shandy; Duszynski, Thomas J.; Grannis, Shaun J.; Epidemiology, School of Public HealthItem Depression, Anxiety, and Suicidality in Individuals With Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems Study(Elsevier, 2023) Katta-Charles, Sheryl; Adams, Leah M.; Chiaravalloti, Nancy D.; Hammond, Flora M.; Perrin, Paul B.; Rabinowitz, Amanda R.; Venkatesan, Umesh M.; Weintraub, Alan H.; Bombardier, Charles H.; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of MedicineObjective: To examine the prevalence, severity, and correlates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation in people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) assessed before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design: Retrospective cohort study using data collected through the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems (TBIMS) network at 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 years post TBI. Setting: United States-based TBIMS rehabilitation centers with telephone assessment of community residing participants. Participants: Adults (72.4% male; mean age, 47.2 years) who enrolled in the TBIMS National Database and completed mental health questionnaires prepandemic (January 1, 2017 to February 29, 2020; n=5000) or during pandemic (April 1, 2022 to June 30, 2021; n=2009) (N=7009). Interventions: Not applicable. Main outcome measures: Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire. Results: Separate linear and logistic regressions were constructed with demographic, psychosocial, injury-related, and functional characteristics, along with a binary indicator of COVID-19 pandemic period (prepandemic vs during pandemic), as predictors of mental health outcomes. No meaningful differences in depression, anxiety, or suicidal ideation were observed before vs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Correlations between predictors and mental health outcomes were similar before and during the pandemic. Conclusions: Contrary to our predictions, the prevalence, severity, and correlates of mental health conditions were similar before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results may reflect generalized resilience and are consistent with the most recent findings from the general population that indicate only small, transient increases in psychological distress associated with the pandemic. While unworsened, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation remain prevalent and merit focused treatment and research efforts.Item Editors' Note and Special Communication: Research Priorities in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Emerging From the COVID-19 Pandemic(Elsevier, 2021) Novins, Douglas K.; Stoddard, Joel; Althoff, Robert R.; Charach, Alice; Cortese, Samuele; Cullen, Kathryn Regan; Frazier, Jean A.; Glatt, Stephen J.; Henderson, Schuyler W.; Herringa, Ryan J.; Hulvershorn, Leslie; Kieling, Christian; McBride, Anne B.; McCauley, Elizabeth; Middeldorp, Christel M.; Reiersen, Angela M.; Rockhill, Carol M.; Sagot, Adam J.; Scahill, Lawrence; Simonoff, Emily; Stewart, S. Evelyn; Szigethy, Eva; Taylor, Jerome H.; White, Tonya; Zima, Bonnie T.; Psychiatry, School of MedicineOver the last year, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in profound disruptions across the globe, with school closures, social isolation, job loss, illness, and death affecting the lives of children and families in myriad ways. In an Editors' Note in our June 2020 issue,1 our senior editorial team described this Journal's role in advancing knowledge in child and adolescent mental health during the pandemic and outlined areas we identified as important for science and practice in our field. Since then, the Journal has published articles on the impacts of the pandemic on child and adolescent mental health and service systems,2-5 which are available in a special collection accessible through the Journal's website.6 Alongside many opinion papers, the pace of publication of empirical research in this area is rapidly expanding, covering important issues such as increased frequency of mental health symptoms among children and adolescents3,5,7-10 and changes in patterns of clinical service use such as emergency department visits.11-14 As the Senior Editors prepared that Editors' Note, they were acutely aware that the priorities that they identified were broad and generated by only a small group of scientists and clinicians. Although this had the advantage of enabling us to get this information out to readers quickly, we decided that a more systematic approach to developing recommendations for research priorities would be of greater long-term value. We were particularly influenced by the efforts of the partnership between the UK Academy of Medical Scientists and a UK mental health research charity (MQ: Transforming Mental Health) to detail COVID-19-related research priorities for "Mental Health Science" that was published online by Holmes et al. in The Lancet Psychiatry in April 2020.15 Consistent with its focus on mental health research across the lifespan, several recommendations highlighted child development and children's mental health. However, a more detailed assessment of research priorities related to child and adolescent mental health was beyond the scope of that paper. Furthermore, the publication of that position paper preceded the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police on May 25, 2020, which re-energized efforts to acknowledge and to address racism and healthcare disparities in the United States and many other countries. To build upon the JAACAP Editors' Note1 and the work of Holmes et al.,15 we conducted an international survey of professionals-practitioners and researchers-working on child and adolescent development and pediatric mental health to identify concerns about the impact of the pandemic on children, adolescents, and their families, as well as what is helping families navigate these impacts, and the specific research topics that are of greatest importance.