Publications by authors named "Summer Ngo"

Background: Rates of oral anticoagulation (OAC) nonprescription in atrial fibrillation approach 50%. Understanding reasons for OAC nonprescription may reduce gaps in guideline-recommended care. We aimed to identify reasons for OAC nonprescription from clinical notes using large language models.

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Purpose Of Review: In this review, we discuss the importance of digital health equity and how social determinants of health (and intersectionality with race, ethnicity, and gender) affect cardiovascular health-related outcomes in digital health trials. We propose strategies to improve digital health equity as we move to a digitally-connected world for healthcare applications and beyond.

Recent Findings: Digital health has immense promise to improve population health by reaching individuals in their homes, at their preferred times.

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Background: There are established sex-specific differences in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) outcomes. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) based on cardiovascular outcome benefits, typically either reduced cardiovascular mortality or hospitalization for heart failure (HHF), influence current guidelines for therapy.

Objectives: The authors evaluate the representation of women in HFrEF RCTs that observed reduced all-cause or cardiovascular mortality or HHF.

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Objective: Statins are the cornerstone for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Patients often consult online patient education materials (OPEMs) to inform medical decision-making. We therefore aimed to assess the readability and reliability of OPEMs related to statins.

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Article Synopsis
  • * When prescribed, women are also less likely to receive high-intensity dosing of statins (41.4% for women vs. 49.8% for men), especially among younger patients and those with private insurance.
  • * The study utilized Natural Language Processing (NLP) to analyze clinical notes, revealing that women were less frequently documented as being discussed for statin prescriptions and more likely to have statin intolerance noted.
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Introduction: Diverse race and ethnicity representation remains lacking in science and technology (S&T) careers in the United States (US). Due to systematic barriers across S&T training stages, there may be sequential loss of diverse representation leading to low representation, often conceptualized as a leaky pipeline. We aimed to quantify the contemporary leaky pipeline of S&T training in the US.

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Background Statins are guideline-recommended medications that reduce cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes. Yet, statin use is concerningly low in this high-risk population. Identifying reasons for statin nonuse, which are typically described in unstructured electronic health record data, can inform targeted system interventions to improve statin use.

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Background: Coronary artery calcium (CAC) can be identified on nongated chest computed tomography (CT) scans, but this finding is not consistently incorporated into care. A deep learning algorithm enables opportunistic CAC screening of nongated chest CT scans. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of notifying clinicians and patients of incidental CAC on statin initiation.

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Background: Statins conclusively decrease mortality in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), the leading cause of death worldwide, and are strongly recommended by guidelines. However, real-world statin utilization and persistence are low, resulting in excess mortality. Identifying reasons for statin nonuse at scale across health systems is crucial to developing targeted interventions to improve statin use.

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Article Synopsis
  • Hispanic populations in the US traditionally face poorer socioeconomic conditions but have lower mortality rates compared to Non-Hispanic Whites, known as the "Hispanic paradox."
  • The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted Hispanic mortality, leading to a notable decline in the prior mortality advantage in 2020.
  • Almost 16% of US counties saw Hispanic mortality rates surpass those of Non-Hispanic Whites, while an additional 50% noted a decrease in the historical Hispanic mortality advantage, highlighting the need to address health disparities exacerbated by the pandemic.
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Extreme weather events are predicted to increase as a result of climate change, yet amphibian responses to extreme disturbance events remain understudied, especially in the Neotropics. Recently, an unprecedented windstorm within a protected Costa Rican rainforest opened large light gaps in sites where we have studied behavioral responses of diurnal strawberry poison frogs () to ultraviolet radiation for nearly two decades. Previous studies demonstrate that .

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Background: Lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) is a highly proatherogenic lipid fraction that is a clinically significant risk modifier. Patients wanting to learn more about Lp(a) are likely to use online patient educational materials (OPEMs). However, the readability of OPEMs may exceed the health literacy of the public.

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Introduction: Female authors are underrepresented in cardiology journals, although prior work suggested improvement in reducing disparities over time. Early in the recent COVID-19 pandemic, female authorship continued to lag that of their male counterparts despite a surge in publications. The cumulative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on authorship gender disparities remains unclear.

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Background Coronary artery calcium (CAC) scans can help reclassify risk and guide patient-clinician shared treatment decisions for cardiovascular disease prevention. Patients increasingly access online patient educational materials (OPEMs) to guide medical decision-making. The American Medical Association (AMA) recommends that OPEMs should be written below a 6th-grade reading level.

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