Knowledge of sex differences in risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can contribute to the development of refined preventive interventions. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine if women and men differ in their vulnerability to risk factors for PTSD.

As part of the longitudinal AURORA study, 2924 patients seeking emergency department (ED) treatment in the acute aftermath of trauma provided self-report assessments of pre- peri- and post-traumatic risk factors, as well as 3-month PTSD severity. We systematically examined sex-dependent effects of 16 risk factors that have previously been hypothesized to show different associations with PTSD severity in women and men.

Women reported higher PTSD severity at 3-months post-trauma. Z-score comparisons indicated that for five of the 16 examined risk factors the association with 3-month PTSD severity was stronger in men than in women. In multivariable models, interaction effects with sex were observed for pre-traumatic anxiety symptoms, and acute dissociative symptoms; both showed stronger associations with PTSD in men than in women. Subgroup analyses suggested trauma type-conditional effects.

Our findings indicate mechanisms to which men might be particularly vulnerable, demonstrating that known PTSD risk factors might behave differently in women and men. Analyses did not identify any risk factors to which women were more vulnerable than men, pointing toward further mechanisms to explain women's higher PTSD risk. Our study illustrates the need for a more systematic examination of sex differences in contributors to PTSD severity after trauma, which may inform refined preventive interventions.

Understanding characteristics of healthcare personnel (HCP) with SARS-CoV-2 infection supports the development and prioritization of interventions to protect this important workforce. We report detailed characteristics of HCP who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 from April 20, 2020 through December 31, 2021.

CDC collaborated with Emerging Infections Program sites in 10 states to interview HCP with SARS-CoV-2 infection (case-HCP) about their demographics, underlying medical conditions, healthcare roles, exposures, personal protective equipment (PPE) use, and COVID-19 vaccination status. We grouped case-HCP by healthcare role. To describe residential social vulnerability, we merged geocoded HCP residential addresses with CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) values at the census tract level. We defined highest and lowest SVI quartiles as high and low social vulnerability, respectively.

Our analysis included 7,531 case-HCP. Most case-HCP with roles as certified nursing assistant (CNA) (444, 61.3%), medical assistant (252, 65.3%), or home healthcare worker (HHW) (225, 59.5%) reported their race and ethnicity as either non-Hispanic Black or Hispanic. More than one third of HHWs (166, 45.2%), CNAs (283, 41.7%), and medical assistants (138, 37.9%) reported a residential address in the high social vulnerability category. The proportion of case-HCP who reported using recommended PPE at all times when caring for patients with COVID-19 was lowest among HHWs compared with other roles.

To mitigate SARS-CoV-2 infection risk in healthcare settings, infection prevention, and control interventions should be specific to HCP roles and educational backgrounds. Additional interventions are needed to address high social vulnerability among HHWs, CNAs, and medical assistants.

Cohort studies demonstrate that people who later develop schizophrenia, on average, present with mild cognitive deficits in childhood and endure a decline in adolescence and adulthood. Yet, tremendous heterogeneity exists during the course of psychotic disorders, including the prodromal period. Individuals identified to be in this period (known as CHR-P) are at heightened risk for developing psychosis (~35%) and begin to exhibit cognitive deficits. Cognitive impairments in CHR-P (as a singular group) appear to be relatively stable or ameliorate over time. A sizeable proportion has been described to decline on measures related to processing speed or verbal learning. The purpose of this analysis is to use data-driven approaches to identify latent subgroups among CHR-P based on cognitive trajectories. This will yield a clearer understanding of the timing and presentation of both general and domain-specific deficits.

Participants included 684 young people at CHR-P (ages 12–35) from the second cohort of the North American Prodromal Longitudinal Study. Performance on the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) and the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI-I) was assessed at baseline, 12-, and 24-months. Tested MCCB domains include verbal learning, speed of processing, working memory, and reasoning & problem-solving. Sex- and age-based norms were utilized. The Oral Reading subtest on the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT4) indexed pre-morbid IQ at baseline. Latent class mixture models were used to identify distinct trajectories of cognitive performance across two years. One- to 5-class solutions were compared to decide the best solution. This determination depended on goodness-of-fit metrics, interpretability of latent trajectories, and proportion of subgroup membership (>5%).

A one-class solution was found for WASI-I Full-Scale IQ, as people at CHR-P predominantly demonstrated an average IQ that increased gradually over time. For individual domains, one-class solutions also best fit the trajectories for speed of processing, verbal learning, and working memory domains. Two distinct subgroups were identified on one of the executive functioning domains, reasoning and problem-solving (NAB Mazes). The sample divided into unimpaired performance with mild improvement over time (Class I, 74%) and persistent performance two standard deviations below average (Class II, 26%). Between these classes, no significant differences were found for biological sex, age, years of education, or likelihood of conversion to psychosis (OR = 1.68, 95% CI 0.86 to 3.14). Individuals assigned to Class II did demonstrate a lower WASI-I IQ at baseline (96.3 vs. 106.3) and a lower premorbid IQ (100.8 vs. 106.2).

Youth at CHR-P demonstrate relatively homogeneous trajectories across time in terms of general cognition and most individual domains. In contrast, two distinct subgroups were observed with higher cognitive skills involving planning and foresight, and they notably exist independent of conversion outcome. Overall, these findings replicate and extend results from a recently published latent class analysis that examined 12-month trajectories among CHR-P using a different cognitive battery (Allott et al., 2022). Findings inform which individuals at CHR-P may be most likely to benefit from cognitive remediation and can inform about the substrates of deficits by establishing meaningful subtypes.

Late Life Major Depressive Disorder (LLD) and Hoarding Disorder (HD) are common in older adults with prevalence estimates up to 29% and 7%, respectively. Both LLD and HD are characterized by executive dysfunction and disability. There is evidence of overlapping neurobiological dysfunction in LLD and HD suggesting potential for compounded executive dysfunction and disability in the context of comorbid HD and LLD. Yet, prevalence of HD in primary presenting LLD has not been examined and potential compounded impact on executive functioning, disability, and treatment response remains unknown. Thus, the present study aimed to determine the prevalence of co-occurring HD in primary presenting LLD and examine hoarding symptom severity as a contributor to executive dysfunction, disability, and response to treatment for LLD.

Eighty-three adults ages 65-90 participating in a psychotherapy study for LLD completed measures of hoarding symptom severity (Savings Inventory-Revised: SI-R), executive functioning (WAIS-IV Digit Span, Letter-Number Sequencing, Coding; Stroop Interference; Trail Making Test-Part B; Letter Fluency), functional ability (World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule-II-Short), and depression severity (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale) at post-treatment. Pearson's Chi-squared tests evaluated group differences in cognitive and functional impairment rates and depression treatment response between participants with (HD+LLD) and without (LLD-only) clinically significant hoarding symptoms. Linear regressions were used to examine the association between hoarding symptom severity and executive function performance and functional ability and included as covariates participant age, years of education, gender, and concurrent depression severity.

At post-treatment, 24.1% (20/83) of participants with LLD met criteria for clinically significant hoarding symptoms (SI-R.41). Relative to LLD-only, the LLD+HD group demonstrated greater impairment rates in Letter-Number Sequencing (χ2(1)=4.0, p=.045) and Stroop Interference (χ2(1)=4.8, p=.028). Greater hoarding symptom severity was associated with poorer executive functioning performance on Digit Span (t(71)=-2.4, β=-0.07, p=.019), Letter-Number Sequencing (t(70)=-2.1, β=-0.05, p=.044), and Letter Fluency (t(71)=-2.8, β=-0.24, p=.006). Rates of functional impairment were significantly higher in the LLD+HD (88.0%) group compared to the LLD-only (62.3%) group, (χ2(1)=5.41, p=.020). Additionally, higher hoarding symptom severity was related to greater disability (t(72)=2.97, β=0.13, p=.004). Furthermore, depression treatment response rates were significantly lower in the LLD+HD group at 24.0% (6/25) compared to 48.3% (28/58) in the LLD-only group, χ2(1)=4.26, p=.039.

The present study is among the first to report prevalence of clinically significant hoarding symptoms in primary presenting LLD. The findings of 24.1% co-occurrence of HD in primary presenting LLD and increased burden on executive functioning, disability, and depression treatment outcomes have important implications for intervention and prevention efforts. Hoarding symptoms are likely under-evaluated, and thus may be overlooked, in clinical settings where LLD is identified as the primary diagnosis. Taken together with results indicating poorer depression treatment response in LLD+HD, these findings underscore the need for increased screening of hoarding behaviors in LLD and tailored interventions for this LLD+HD group. Future work examining the course of hoarding symptomatology in LLD (e.g., onset age of hoarding behaviors) may provide insights into the mechanisms associated with greater executive dysfunction and disability.

Clinical implementation of risk calculator models in the clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHR-P) population has been hindered by heterogeneous risk distributions across study cohorts which could be attributed to pre-ascertainment illness progression. To examine this, we tested whether the duration of attenuated psychotic symptom (APS) worsening prior to baseline moderated performance of the North American prodrome longitudinal study 2 (NAPLS2) risk calculator. We also examined whether rates of cortical thinning, another marker of illness progression, bolstered clinical prediction models.

Participants from both the NAPLS2 and NAPLS3 samples were classified as either ‘long’ or ‘short’ symptom duration based on time since APS increase prior to baseline. The NAPLS2 risk calculator model was applied to each of these groups. In a subset of NAPLS3 participants who completed follow-up magnetic resonance imaging scans, change in cortical thickness was combined with the individual risk score to predict conversion to psychosis.

The risk calculator models achieved similar performance across the combined NAPLS2/NAPLS3 sample [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.69], the long duration group (AUC = 0.71), and the short duration group (AUC = 0.71). The shorter duration group was younger and had higher baseline APS than the longer duration group. The addition of cortical thinning improved the prediction of conversion significantly for the short duration group (AUC = 0.84), with a moderate improvement in prediction for the longer duration group (AUC = 0.78).

These results suggest that early illness progression differs among CHR-P patients, is detectable with both clinical and neuroimaging measures, and could play an essential role in the prediction of clinical outcomes.

Several hypotheses may explain the association between substance use, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression. However, few studies have utilized a large multisite dataset to understand this complex relationship. Our study assessed the relationship between alcohol and cannabis use trajectories and PTSD and depression symptoms across 3 months in recently trauma-exposed civilians.

In total, 1618 (1037 female) participants provided self-report data on past 30-day alcohol and cannabis use and PTSD and depression symptoms during their emergency department (baseline) visit. We reassessed participant's substance use and clinical symptoms 2, 8, and 12 weeks posttrauma. Latent class mixture modeling determined alcohol and cannabis use trajectories in the sample. Changes in PTSD and depression symptoms were assessed across alcohol and cannabis use trajectories via a mixed-model repeated-measures analysis of variance.

Three trajectory classes (low, high, increasing use) provided the best model fit for alcohol and cannabis use. The low alcohol use class exhibited lower PTSD symptoms at baseline than the high use class; the low cannabis use class exhibited lower PTSD and depression symptoms at baseline than the high and increasing use classes; these symptoms greatly increased at week 8 and declined at week 12. Participants who already use alcohol and cannabis exhibited greater PTSD and depression symptoms at baseline that increased at week 8 with a decrease in symptoms at week 12.

Our findings suggest that alcohol and cannabis use trajectories are associated with the intensity of posttrauma psychopathology. These findings could potentially inform the timing of therapeutic strategies.

The transition from residency to paediatric cardiology fellowship is challenging due to the new knowledge and technical skills required. Online learning can be an effective didactic modality that can be widely accessed by trainees. We sought to evaluate the effectiveness of a paediatric cardiology Fellowship Online Preparatory Course prior to the start of fellowship.

The Online Preparatory Course contained 18 online learning modules covering basic concepts in anatomy, auscultation, echocardiography, catheterisation, cardiovascular intensive care, electrophysiology, pulmonary hypertension, heart failure, and cardiac surgery. Each online learning module included an instructional video with pre-and post-video tests. Participants completed pre- and post-Online Preparatory Course knowledge-based exams and surveys. Pre- and post-Online Preparatory Course survey and knowledge-based examination results were compared via Wilcoxon sign and paired t-tests.

151 incoming paediatric cardiology fellows from programmes across the USA participated in the 3 months prior to starting fellowship training between 2017 and 2019. There was significant improvement between pre- and post-video test scores for all 18 online learning modules. There was also significant improvement between pre- and post-Online Preparatory Course exam scores (PRE 43.6 ± 11% versus POST 60.3 ± 10%, p < 0.001). Comparing pre- and post-Online Preparatory Course surveys, there was a statistically significant improvement in the participants’ comfort level in 35 of 36 (97%) assessment areas. Nearly all participants (98%) agreed or strongly agreed that the Online Preparatory Course was a valuable learning experience and helped alleviate some anxieties (77% agreed or strongly agreed) related to starting fellowship.

An Online Preparatory Course prior to starting fellowship can provide a foundation of knowledge, decrease anxiety, and serve as an effective educational springboard for paediatric cardiology fellows.

We investigated the efficacy and complication profile of intranasal dexmedetomidine for transthoracic echocardiography sedation in patients with single ventricle physiology and shunt-dependent pulmonary blood flow during the high-risk interstage period.

A single-centre, retrospective review identified interstage infants who received dexmedetomidine for echocardiography sedation. Baseline and procedural vitals were reported. Significant adverse events related to sedation were defined as an escalation in care or need for any additional/increased inotropic support to maintain pre-procedural haemodynamics. Minor adverse events were defined as changes from baseline haemodynamics that resolved without intervention. To assess whether sedation was adequate, echocardiogram reports were reviewed for completeness.

From September to December 2020, five interstage patients (age 29–69 days) were sedated with 3 mcg/kg intranasal dexmedetomidine. The median sedation onset time and duration time was 24 minutes (range 12–43 minutes) and 60 minutes (range 33–60 minutes), respectively. Sedation was deemed adequate in all patients as complete echocardiograms were accomplished without a rescue dose. When compared to baseline, three (60%) patients had a >10% reduction in heart rate, one (20%) patient had a >10% reduction in oxygen saturations, and one (20%) patient had a >30% decrease in blood pressure. Amongst all patients, no significant complications occurred and haemodynamic changes from baseline did not result in need for intervention or interruption of study.

Intranasal dexmedetomidine may be a reasonable option for echocardiography sedation in infants with shunt-dependent single ventricle heart disease, and further investigation is warranted to ensure efficacy and safety in an outpatient setting.