Regional Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Childhood Obesity Prevalence, Denver, Colorado, 2019-2022.

During the early COVID-19 pandemic, many US youths experience rapid excess weight gain and increase in BMI and obesity prevalence. We leveraged longitudinal electronic health records from three health care organizations in metropolitan Denver, Colorado, to assess COVID-19 pandemic effects on BMI and obesity prevalence. Using a retrospective cohort of 55,429 children aged 2-19 years, each with ≥3 BMI measurements during 2019-2022, we used mixed-effects regression models to estimate rates of change in BMI and obesity prevalence during prepandemic, early pandemic (March-December 2020), and two later pandemic periods (2021, 2022).

Electrodiagnostic Assessment of Peri-Procedural Iatrogenic Peripheral Nerve Injuries and Rehabilitation.

Iatrogenic nerve injuries are a significant concern for medical professionals and the patients affected. Peri-procedural nerve injuries result in functional deficits associated with pain and disability. The exact pathophysiology and etiology of peri-procedural nerve injuries are complex and often elude providers.

Using 42 CFR part 2 revisions to integrate substance use disorder treatment information into electronic health records at a safety net health system.

Background: Regulations put in place to protect the privacy of individuals receiving substance use disorder (SUD) treatment have resulted in an unintended consequence of siloed SUD treatment and referral information outside of the integrated electronic health record (EHR). Recent revisions to these regulations have opened the door to data integration, which creates opportunities for enhanced patient care and more efficient workflows. We report on the experience of one safety-net hospital system integrating SUD treatment data into the EHR.

The wildland firefighter exposure and health effect (WFFEHE) study: cohort characteristics and health behavior changes in context.

Objectives: Work is an under-recognized social determinant of health. There is limited research describing US wildland firefighter (WFF) workforce demographics or how to work associates with WFF health behaviors. In this study researchers characterized a WFF cohort and tested hypotheses that WFFs used tobacco, alcohol, and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) differently over the course of the fire season and that different fire crews may exhibit different behavior patterns.

Fatalities Involving Substance Use Among US Oil and Gas Extraction Workers Identified Through an Industry Specific Surveillance System (2014-2019).

Objective: Characteristics of oil and gas extraction (OGE) work, including long hours, shiftwork, fatigue, physically demanding work, and job insecurity are risk factors for substance use among workers. Limited information exists examining worker fatalities involving substance use among OGE workers.

Methods: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's Fatalities in Oil and Gas Extraction database was screened for fatalities involving substance use from 2014 through 2019.

Working Alone and/or in Remote Locations: Opportunities to Prevent the Risk of Fatality From Cardiovascular Events in Oil and Gas Extraction Workers.

Objective: The aim of the study is to explore personal and work factors related to fatal cardiac events among oil and gas extraction (OGE) workers.

Methods: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Fatalities in Oil and Gas Extraction database was reviewed to identify fatal cardiac events among OGE workers from 2014 through 2019. A case series design was used to review case files, provide descriptive statistics, and summarize the findings.

Association of falls and fear of falling with objectively-measured driving habits among older drivers: LongROAD study.

Objective: Falls in older adults are associated with increased motor vehicle crash risk, possibly mediated by driving behavior. We examined the relationship of falls and fear of falling (FOF) with subsequent objectively measured driving habits.

Methods: This multi-site, prospective cohort study enrolled 2990 active drivers aged 65-79 (53% female).

Self-reported exposure to hazards and mitigation strategies among oil and gas extraction workers in three U.S. states.

Numerous health and safety hazards exist at U.S. onshore oil and gas extraction worksites.

A process to deduplicate individuals for regional chronic disease prevalence estimates using a distributed data network of electronic health records.

Introduction: Learning health systems can help estimate chronic disease prevalence through distributed data networks (DDNs). Concerns remain about bias introduced to DDN prevalence estimates when individuals seeking care across systems are counted multiple times. This paper describes a process to deduplicate individuals for DDN prevalence estimates.

A Governance Framework to Integrate Longitudinal Clinical and Community Data in a Distributed Data Network: The Childhood Obesity Data Initiative.

Context: Integrating longitudinal data from community-based organizations (eg, physical activity programs) with electronic health record information can improve capacity for childhood obesity research.

Objective: A governance framework that protects individual privacy, accommodates organizational data stewardship requirements, and complies with laws and regulations was developed and implemented to support the harmonization of data from disparate clinical and community information systems.

Participants And Setting: Through the Childhood Obesity Data Initiative (CODI), 5 Colorado-based organizations collaborated to expand an existing distributed health data network (DHDN) to include community-generated data and assemble longitudinal patient records for research.

The Childhood Obesity Data Initiative: A Case Study in Implementing Clinical-Community Infrastructure Enhancements to Support Health Services Research and Public Health.

Context: We describe a participatory framework that enhanced and implemented innovative changes to an existing distributed health data network (DHDN) infrastructure to support linkage across sectors and systems. Our processes and lessons learned provide a potential framework for other multidisciplinary infrastructure development projects that engage in a participatory decision-making process.

Program: The Childhood Obesity Data Initiative (CODI) provides a potential framework for local and national stakeholders with public health, clinical, health services research, community intervention, and information technology expertise to collaboratively develop a DHDN infrastructure that enhances data capacity for patient-centered outcomes research and public health surveillance.

Associations Between Socioeconomic Context and Congenital Heart Disease Related Outcomes in Adolescents and Adults.

Little is known about the relation between socioeconomic factors and health outcomes in adults and adolescents with congenital heart defects (CHD). Population-level data from the Colorado CHD surveillance system from 2011 to 2013 was used to examine the association between area deprivation and outcomes including hospitalizations, emergency department visits, cardiac procedures, all-cause and cardiac-related mortality, and major adverse cardiac events. Socioeconomic context was measured by the Area Deprivation Index at census tract level.

Evaluating Population Coverage in a Regional Distributed Data Network: Implications for Electronic Health Record-Based Public Health Surveillance.

Objective: Electronic health records (EHRs) hold promise as a public health surveillance tool, but questions remain about how EHR patients compare with populations in health and demographic surveys. We compared population characteristics from a regional distributed data network (DDN), which securely and confidentially aggregates EHR data from multiple health care organizations in the same geographic region, with population characteristics from health and demographic surveys.

Methods: Ten health care organizations participating in a Colorado DDN contributed data for coverage estimation.

The Associations Between Falls, Fall Injuries, and Labor Market Outcomes Among U.S. Workers 65 Years and Older.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine whether falls are associated with the subsequent ability to work among workers aged 65 years and older.

Methods: This longitudinal cohort study followed older workers enrolled in the Health and Retirement Study. Outcomes included time to health-related work limitation and to labor force exit.

Early labor force exit subsequent to permanently impairing occupational injury or illness among workers 50-64 years of age.

Background: Severity of workplace injury tends to increase with age. Whether older workers who experience a workplace injury or illness exit the labor force sooner than comparable peers is not established.

Methods: A case-cohort study design and complementary log-log model were used to identify factors associated with average time to early substantial labor force exit among workers' compensation claimants 50-64 years of age with permanent impairment from an occupational injury or illness.

Same-level fall injuries in US workplaces by age group, gender, and industry.

Background: As the workforce ages, occupational injuries from falls on the same level will increase. Some industries may be more affected than others.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to estimate same-level fall injury incidence rates by age group, gender, and industry for four sectors: 1) healthcare and social assistance; 2) manufacturing; 3) retail; and 4) transportation and warehousing.

Associations Between Falls and Driving Outcomes in Older Adults: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objectives: To examine associations between falls and subsequent motor vehicle crashes (MVCs), crash-related injuries, driving performance, and driving behavior.

Design: Systematic review and metaanalysis.

Participants: Observational studies including drivers aged 55 and older or with a mean age of 65 and older.

The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project.

The PREDICTS project-Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.

Occupational physical activity assessment for chronic disease prevention and management: A review of methods for both occupational health practitioners and researchers.

Occupational physical activity (OPA) is an occupational exposure that impacts worker health. OPA is amenable to measurement and modification through the hierarchy of controls. Occupational exposure scientists have roles in addressing inadequate physical activity, as well as excessive or harmful physical activity.