The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the under-utilisation of statutory mental health care services by minority ethnic groups in the United Kingdom (UK).

To improve ethnicity reporting to better understand the needs of patients accessing a primary care talking therapies service.

We conducted a clinical audit to observe outcomes from pre-COVID (2019), first wave of COVID-19 (2020) and 2021 for three broad ethnic categories: black African/Caribbean, Asian and white British. Intervention was conducted on staff to improve data recording of ethnicity. A patient survey was sent to those identified as dropped out from treatment from May 2020 to April 2021. A total of 229 patients responded to the survey. The survey asked for reasons that impacted on not continuing with sessions.

Quantitative analysis showed a statistically significant difference on discharge outcome between white British and black African/Caribbean (p=<0.0001), with black African/Caribbean patients most likely to drop out of treatment, and in 2020 the Asian population was below the recovery target of 50%. Qualitative analysis revealed therapist factors included lack of confidence in therapist and not being listened to, patient factors included neurodiversity, being unsure whether it would be helpful and confidentiality concerns, and service factors included being notified of discharge from the service, remote delivery of therapy, treatment options, and treatment materials.

Services must work towards improving service provision by capturing hidden disparities and socialising treatment to meet the needs of minority ethnic groups in the UK. The present study recommends culturally adapted treatment and co-producing therapy materials.

We created a COVID-19 Research Patient and Community Advisory Board (PCAB) to provide patient and community input into clinical and translational research studies. The purpose of this article is to describe the PCAB creation, implementation, and evaluation.

We identified PCAB members who had participated in previous stakeholder engaged activities at our institution and invited their participation. We created a systematic consultation process where researchers could submit plain language research summaries and questions for the PCAB. A facilitated 1-hour virtual consultation was then held where PCAB members provided feedback. We assessed satisfaction of PCAB members and researchers who received consultations using surveys. We also reviewed video recordings of PCAB consultations and reflections from team meetings to identify key lessons learned.

Twenty-seven PCAB members took part in 23 consultation sessions. Twenty-two completed an evaluation survey (81% response rate). Most members agreed or strongly agreed their opinions were valued (86%), it was a productive use of time (86%) and were satisfied (86%). Nineteen researchers completed an evaluation survey (83% response rate). Researchers reported positive experiences of working with the PCAB. Additional insights include limited funding in COVID-19 research for equitable community engagement, deficiencies in researcher communication skills, and a lack of cultural humility incorporated into study activities.

PCAB members provided recommendations that maximized the patient-centeredness and health equity focus of COVID-19 research. The detailed description of the process of developing, implementing, and evaluating our PCAB can be used as a template for others wishing to replicate this engagement model.

Lower-income older adults with multiple chronic conditions (MCC) are highly vulnerable to food insecurity. However, few studies have considered how health care access is related to food insecurity among older adults with MCC. The aims of this study were to examine associations between MCC and food insecurity, and, among older adults with MCC, between health care access and food insecurity.

Cross-sectional study data from the 2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey.

Washington State, USA.

Lower-income adults, aged 50 years or older (n 2118). MCC was defined as having ≥ 2 of 11 possible conditions. Health care access comprised three variables (unable to afford seeing the doctor, no health care coverage and not having a primary care provider (PCP)). Food insecurity was defined as buying food that did not last and not having money to get more.

The overall prevalence of food insecurity was 26·0 % and was 1·50 times greater (95 % CI 1·16, 1·95) among participants with MCC compared to those without MCC. Among those with MCC (n 1580), inability to afford seeing a doctor was associated with food insecurity (prevalence ratio (PR) 1·83; 95 % CI 1·46, 2·28), but not having health insurance (PR 1·49; 95 % CI 0·98, 2·24) and not having a PCP (PR 1·10; 95 % CI 0·77, 1·57) were not.

Inability to afford healthcare is related to food insecurity among older adults with MCC. Future work should focus on collecting longitudinal data that can clarify the temporal relationship between MCC and food insecurity.

This study aims to look at the trends in our head and neck cancer patient population over the past 5 years with an emphasis on the past 2 years to evaluate how the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted our disparities and availability of care for patients, especially those living in rural areas. An additional aim is to identify existing disparities at our institution in the treatment of head and neck patients and determine solutions to improve patient care.

A retrospective chart review was performed to identify patients who were consulted and subsequently treated with at least one fraction of radiation therapy at our institution with palliative or curative intent. Patient demographic information was collected including hometown, distance from the cancer centre based on zip-codes and insurance information and type of appointment (in-person or telehealth). Rural–urban continuum codes were used to determine rurality.

A total of 490 head and neck cancer patients (n = 490) were treated from 2017 to 2021. When broken down by year, there were no significant trends in patient population regarding travel distance or rurality. Roughly 20–30% of our patients live in rural areas and about 30% have a commute > 50 miles for radiation treatment. A majority of our patients rely on public insurance (68%) with a small percentage of those uninsured (4%). Telehealth visits were rare prior to 2019 and rose to 5 and 2 visits in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Head and neck cancer patients, despite rurality or distance from a cancer centre, may present with alarmingly enough symptoms despite limitations and difficulties with seeking medical attention even during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. However, providers must be aware of these potential disparities that exist in the rural population and seek to address these.

The aim of this study was to assess variations in presentation and outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) across race/ethnicity at a large Texas metroplex hospital.

A retrospective cohort study was performed.

Although COVID-19 patients demonstrated significant socioeconomic disparities, race/ethnicity was not a significant predictor of intensive care unit (ICU) admission (P = 0.067) or case fatality (P = 0.078). Hospital admission varied by month, with incidence among Black/African-American and Hispanic/Latino patients peaking earlier in the pandemic timeline (P < 0.001). Patients reporting Spanish as their primary language were significantly more likely to be admitted to the ICU (odds ratio, 1.75; P = 0.007).

COVID-19 patients do not demonstrate significant racial/ethnic disparities in case fatality, suggesting that state-wide disparities in mortality rate are rooted in infection risk rather than hospital course. Variations in admission rates by race/ethnicity across the timeline and increased ICU admission among Spanish-speaking patients demonstrate the need to pursue tailored interventions on both a community and structural level to mitigate further health disparities throughout the pandemic and after.

The high cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality reported for patients with psychiatric disorders may possibly be due to a poorer management of CV risk factors (CVRFs). However, these healthcare disparities remain poorly understood. In this paper, studies comparing the management of smoking, diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidaemia, in patients with and without depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar or personality disorder, were reviewed.

Prospective studies comparing rates of screening, diagnosis, treatment and control of CVRFs were searched in PubMed, Embase, PsychInfo, Scopus and Web of Science (inception to January 2017). The Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) criteria were used. Studies were assessed for quality. Wherever possible, meta-analyses were conducted to summarize the findings.

Twenty studies, out of the 18 333 references initially identified, were included. Most studies were heterogeneous in design. Two areas permitted meta-analyses: the pooled odds ratio for quitting smoking for those with depression was 0.64 (0.49–0.80) p < 0.001; the pooled difference of glycated haemoglobin for patients with type 2 diabetes and depression was 0.18 (0.06–0.31) p = 0.005. Individual studies showed associations between: schizophrenia and lower probability of having smoking habit recorded; schizoid personality disorder and higher probability of remaining non-smokers after quitting; anxiety and poorer control of type I diabetes; depression, anxiety or schizophrenia and lower probability of having a diagnosis of hypertension; schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and lower use of antihypertensive and lipid-lowering drugs.

A proactive clinical management, together with further studies, are needed to reduce the CV morbidity and mortality of patients with psychiatric disorders.

There is a lack of information regarding geographical differences in the incidence and prevalence of dementia diagnosis according to the degree of aging of the population. The objectives of this study were to analyze the rate of dementia diagnoses, and to compare the dementia subtypes and the clinical characteristics of the patients depending on the degree of aging of their municipalities.

We used data from the Registry of Dementias of Girona (ReDeGi), containing the cases of dementia diagnosed in the memory clinics of the Health Region of Girona, in Catalonia (Spain), during 2007–2012. The municipalities were classified by a cluster analysis as aged or young municipalities according to their proportion of older people using population ageing indicators. The incidence rates of dementia diagnosis in each type of municipality were compared.

The ReDeGi registered 4,314 cases in the municipalities under surveillance. The clinical incidence of dementia was lower in aged municipalities (4.5 vs. 6.1 cases per 1,000 person-years aged 65 and over). Patients from young municipalities had an increased frequency of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.

The environment may influence the clinical manifestations of dementia that predispose people to visit health specialists and obtain a diagnosis.