“
“Background. Potential disparities in health care utilization were examined using overnight hospitalization data from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Study of Aging, a longitudinal investigation of a stratified sample of Medicare beneficiaries.
Methods. Racial differences in self-reported surgical and nonsurgical overnight hospital admissions were examined using Cox proportional hazards models. Andersen’s Behavioral Model provided the conceptual framework to identify other
potential predictors of admission.
Results. Nine hundred and forty-two participants, 50.1% African American, provided data at baseline and at least one follow-up assessment (mean age = 75.3 years, range: 65-106). African Americans were less learn more likely to utilize surgical admissions compared with Caucasians in
a bivariate model (hazard ratio = 0.63, 95% confidence interval = 0.41-0.98). This effect was not significant after controlling for demographics and self-reported physical health. Additional bivariate predictors of surgical admission were intact mental status, having private insurance, and higher education. African Americans were less likely to utilize nonsurgical admissions in both bivariate (hazard ratio = 0.74, 95% confidence interval = 0.59-0.93) and covariate-adjusted models (hazard ratio this website = 0.64, 95% confidence interval = 0.50-0.84). This effect was significantly stronger for men than for women, with African American men only 0.50 times as likely as Caucasian men to report a nonsurgical admission. Other bivariate predictors of nonsurgical admission were increased age, poor physical health, negative
psychological characteristics, higher levels of social support, and low perceived discrimination.
Conclusion. Underutilization of services has been linked to increased mortality in African Americans. Modifications in mutable domains associated with service utilization such as perceived discrimination, social support, and having private insurance may be beneficial.”
“At least five symptoms must occur for a DSM diagnosis of major depressive disorder about (MDD), one of which must be sadness or anhedonia. The present study is the first known investigation of the implications of the presence or absence of these prioritized symptoms on symptom expression and clinical characteristics among 564 young adults with MDD. Differences in symptom expression and clinical characteristics occurred among MDD participants with sadness relative to those without sadness as well as among MDD participants with anhedonia relative to those without anhedonia. Differential symptom expression could have important implications for the etiology, prevention, and treatment of MDD. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“BACKGROUND: Nitric oxide (NO) depletion and periadventitial inflammation contribute to the pathogenesis of cerebral vasospasm. L-Citrulline increases L-arginine levels, thereby raising NO synthesis.