Health Disparities

Understanding the Short- and Long-term Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Opioid Overdose Crisis

Posted on by Jodi Snare

Study Updated 03/28/2024

Study Design: Retrospective Observational
PCORnet Infrastructure: Collaboration, CDM (+supplemental data), Engagement, Single IRB
Principal Investigator: Magdalena Cerdá
Site Name: New York University Langone Health
PCORnet® Network Partner: INSIGHT
Funder: NIDA
Funding Date: 2023
Study Duration: 2023 – 2028
Participating Clinical Research Networks: GPC, INSIGHT, OneFlorida+, PaTH, REACHnet, STAR
Therapeutic Area: Health Disparities
Condition: COVID-19, Opioid Use
Population: 18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult )
Status: Active, not recruiting

Research Question(s):

  1. Did a community rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths contribute to an increase in the risk of overdose among PCORnet patients?
  2. What role did public health and economic policies enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic play in explaining whether a rise in community COVID-19 burden contributed to a rise in overdose?
  3. Did the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on overdose depend on the socioeconomic, social, and policy characteristics the community had in place prior to the pandemic?

Comparing patient-reported impact of COVID-19 shelter-in-place policies and access to containment and mitigation strategies, overall and in vulnerable populations

Posted on by Jodi Snare

Study Updated 03/05/2024

Study Website: COVID-19 Citizen Science
ClinicalTrials.gov#: NCT5548803
Study Design: Prospective Observational
PCORnet Infrastructure: Collaboration, CDM (+supplemental data), Engagement, Single IRB
Principal Investigator: Mark Pletcher
Site Name: University of California, San Francisco
PCORnet® Network Partner: REACHnet
Funder: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)
Funding Date: 2020
Study Duration: 2020 – 2023
Participating Clinical Research Networks: GPC, INSIGHT, REACHnet
Therapeutic Area: Health Disparities
Condition: COVID-19
Population: 18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
Status: Completed

Research Question(s):

  1. What is the comparative impact of different shelter-in-place/reopening policies, overall and in vulnerable populations, on patient-reported financial insecurity, mental health, and other subjective outcomes important to patients?
  2. What is the comparative effectiveness of county-level containment and mitigation strategies at achieving timely access to testing, healthcare, information, and contact tracing, overall and in vulnerable populations?
  3. What is the comparative accuracy of different algorithms designed to predict risk of infection and severe COVID-19 among patients with symptoms, overall and in vulnerable populations?

Primary Publication(s):
The COVID-19 Citizen Science Study: Protocol for a Longitudinal Digital Health Cohort Study
Beatty AL, Peyser ND, Butcher XE, et al. The COVID-19 citizen science study: protocol for a longitudinal digital health cohort. JMIR Res Protoc, 2021; 10(8):e28169.

Provider-Targeted Behavioral Interventions to Prevent Unsafe Opioid Prescribing for Acute Non-Cancer Pain in Primary Care

Posted on by Jodi Snare

Study Updated 03/05/2024

ClinicalTrials.gov#: NCT03537573
Study Design: Interventional
PCORnet Infrastructure: Collaboration, CDM, Engagement
Principal Investigator: Kevin Kraemer
Site Name: University of Pittsburgh/UPMC
PCORnet® Network Partner: PaTH
Funder: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)
Funding Date: 2017
Study Duration: 2018-2021
Participating Clinical Research Networks: GPC, PaTH
Therapeutic Area: Health Disparities
Condition: Acute Pain; Headache; Musculoskeletal Pain
Population: 18 Years and older (Adult,  Older Adult)
Status: Completed

Research Question(s):

What is the comparative effectiveness of different payer or health system strategies that aim to prevent unsafe opioid prescribing while ensuring access to non-opioid methods for pain management with the goal of reducing pain and improving patient function and quality of life outcomes, while reducing patient harm?

Evaluating the Comparative Effectiveness of Telemedicine in Primary Care: Learning from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Posted on by Jodi Snare

Study Updated 03/05/2024

Study Website: Evaluating the Comparative Effectiveness of Telemedicine in Primary Care: Learning from the COVID-19 Pandemic
ClinicalTrials.gov#:NCT04684836
Study Design: Telephone survey of primary care practice leadership, Qualitative interview study with patients and primary care providers, Observational data analysis
PCORnet Infrastructure: Collaboration, CDM (+supplemental data), Engagement, Single IRB
Principal Investigator: Rainu Kaushal, Jessica Ancker
Site Name: Weill Cornell Medicine
PCORnet® Network Partner: INSIGHT
Funder: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)
Funding Date: 2020
Study Duration: 2020 – 2022
Participating Clinical Research Networks: INSIGHT, OneFlorida+, STAR
Therapeutic Area: Health Disparities
Condition: Asthma; Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD); Congestive Heart Failure; Diabetes; Hypertension
Population: 19 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
Status: Completed

Research Question(s):
What are the features of primary care telemedicine programs that have been newly implemented or expanded in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how do diverse populations experience these programs?

Primary Publications(s):
An urgent need for guidelines for telemedicine use. Lin JJ, Horowitz CR, Ancker JS. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2022;38(4):1061-1062. doi:10.1007/s11606-022-07905-7

Patient experiences with and preferences for telemedicine relative to in-person care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yu J, Andreadis K, Schpero WL, Abedian S, Kaushal R, Ancker JS. Telemedicine and e-Health. Published online 2023. doi:10.1089/tmj.2022.0311

Provider and patient experiences of delays in primary care during the early COVID-19 pandemic. Journal for Healthcare Quality. 2023;45(3):169-176. doi:10.1097/jhq.0000000000000380