Sleep Quality and Disability for Custodial Grandparents Caregivers in the Southern United States.

Sleep quality amongst caregivers with disability may have been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. We evaluated differences in sleep quality amongst custodial grandparents from a southern state that were identified through state-based Kinship Care support groups coordinators and online. Participants (N = 102) completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and self-reported disability statuses. Gamma tests showed a strong negative relationship between disability and sleep duration indicating fewer hours of sleep, higher use of sleep medication and greater sleep disturbances. Disability is not significantly related to sleep latency, sleep efficiency, and daytime dysfunction. T-tests showed no strength of relationship between disability and overall sleep quality. During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, custodial grandparents with disability had greater issues with their sleep quality than those without disability. Sleep, as it pertains to its overall preponderant role in maintaining good health, should be examined amongst custodial grandparent caregivers and those with disability.

GenBank 2023 update.

GenBank® (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank/) is a comprehensive, public database that contains 19.6 trillion base pairs from over 2.9 billion nucleotide sequences for 504 000 formally described species. Daily data exchange with the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) and the DNA Data Bank of Japan (DDBJ) ensures worldwide coverage. Recent updates include resources for data from the SARS-CoV-2 virus, NCBI Datasets, BLAST ClusteredNR, the Submission Portal, table2asn, a Foreign Contamination Screening tool and BioSample.

The impact of COVID-19 on access to canine integrative medical care in Michigan, USA, and Ontario and British Columbia, Canada.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of the COVID-19 associated restrictions on the ability of owners in Michigan (MI), USA versus Ontario (ON) and British Columbia (BC), Canada, to obtain care for their chronically painful dogs. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. POPULATION: A total of 90 owners met the inclusion criteria for the study. METHODS: An anonymous electronic survey was distributed to owners at four veterinary integrative medicine (IM) clinics during July and August 2020. Two clinics in MI and one each in ON and BC were recruited. Owners were asked about availability of IM care preceding and during COVID-19 restrictions and their opinions of the impact of COVID-19 on their dog's health. The survey asked where owners sought care for their dogs, types of chronic conditions treated, therapeutic modalities used, and if owners had a medical background. Comparisons were made within and between groups. Thematic analysis, Fisher's exact test, chi-square analyses, McNemar's and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests for paired comparisons were performed (p < 0.05). RESULTS: During COVID-19 restrictions, access to IM care was better for dogs in ON and BC than in MI (p < 0.001). The negative effect of the pandemic restrictions to IM care on quality of life was perceived greater by owners in MI than those in ON and BC (p < 0.001). The owners' medical backgrounds had no effect on attempts to access care during this time (p = 0.76). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The results suggest that a widespread disease in humans had an adverse impact on animal welfare. Providers of veterinary care should use this experience to establish protocols to ensure continuity of care for chronically painful animals in the event of a similar situation in the future.

Rethinking the Digital Divide: Using an Internet Survey in a Flint Water Crisis Medicaid Population.

This project examined the preferred mode of response (internet, phone, mail) to a health services survey. Data were collected via survey responses from a subsample of Flint Water Crisis Medicaid Expansion Waiver enrollees (N=2,584). Analyses were stratified by age, residency, race, and income. Chi-square tests were used to detect categorical differences. The majority of participants responded by internet (55.5%), followed by mail (39.4%), and phone (5.2%). Of those responding by internet, 75% used smartphones for connectivity. Black and White respondents used the internet at a greater rate than Hispanic respondents (p<.01). Respondents at 200% federal poverty level (FPL) or higher used the internet mode at greater rates than those below 200% FPL (p<.01). Our findings suggest greater internet use in a vulnerable population than expected, but the digital divide persists. In the advent of COVID-19, this finding can inform future health programming using digital communication and telehealth.

Disability & Sleep Quality of Custodial Grandparents During Fall 2020 of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Disability of custodial grandparents, grandparents who are the primary caretakers of their grandchildren often in parent absent households, are not frequently examined. One in four adults in the U.S. lives with a disability with the highest percentage of disabilities reported in the South. Quality sleep is integral for overall wellbeing and is altered with age. Sleep complaints of older adults are associated with multiple adverse health outcomes such as dementia, stroke and obesity. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between disability and sleep quality amongst custodial grandparents during the COVID-19, Fall 2019 in Georgia. Thirty-four custodial grandparents were recruited from the Georgia Division of Aging Kinship Care Support Groups, ages 42 to 78, with most identifying as African American. Disability status and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index were measured. Results showed a significant negative relationship for custodial grandparents’ disability status and sleep quality (χ2= 9.167, p=0.027;Γ=-0.683, p=0.002), sleep disturbance (χ2= 12.150, p=0.002;Γ=-0.897, p<.001), and use of sleeping medication (χ2= 9.645, p=0.022;Γ=-0.785, p<.001). Custodial grandparents with a disability had worse sleep quality, more sleep disturbances, and took more sleeping medication compared to custodial grandparents without a disability. Results have implications for kinship care providers and medical practitioners when engaging with custodial grandparents about their health, disability and impacts on their sleep quality.

Examining Different Types of Sleep Among Custodial Grandparents During COVID-19

Sleep is associated with healthy living. With increased age, sleep is harder to initiate and maintain. Currently, over two million grandparents have become primary caregivers to their grandchildren and are at risk for poor sleep outcomes. Research shows that grandparent caregivers are at risk for depression due to poor sleep quality. Thus, this study aimed to identify the sleep quality of custodial grandparents to gain a better understanding of sleep patterns during COVID-19 in 2020. Thirty-four custodial grandparents were recruited from the Georgia Division of Aging Kinship Care Support Groups from September through October 2020. Participants were between 42 to 78 years old with a mean age of 57. Participants completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Stata statistical software was used to analyze the relationship between the sleep quality subscales. Results showed a significant positive relationship for custodial grandparents between sleep quality and daytime dysfunction (χ2=25.993, p=0.002;Γ=0.495, p=0.039) as well as sleep quality and sleep disturbance (χ2=11.129, p=0.084;Γ=0.751, p<0.001). There is a significant positive relationship between daytime dysfunction and sleep duration (χ2=14.984, p=0.091;Γ=0.681, p<.001), where grandparents with daytime dysfunction have longer sleep duration. Findings suggest grandparents with poor sleep quality are more likely to experience daytime dysfunction and have more sleep disturbances in the COVID-19 environment. Our study will benefit researchers and practitioners caring for custodial grandparents and contribute to future research focused on custodial grandparents and sleep quality.

GenBank.

GenBank® (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank/) is a comprehensive, public database that contains 15.3 trillion base pairs from over 2.5 billion nucleotide sequences for 504 000 formally described species. Recent updates include resources for data from the SARS-CoV-2 virus, including a SARS-CoV-2 landing page, NCBI Datasets, NCBI Virus and the Submission Portal. We also discuss upcoming changes to GI identifiers, a new data management interface for BioProject, and advice for providing contextual metadata in submissions.

GenBank.

GenBank® (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank/) is a comprehensive, public database that contains 9.9 trillion base pairs from over 2.1 billion nucleotide sequences for 478 000 formally described species. Daily data exchange with the European Nucleotide Archive and the DNA Data Bank of Japan ensures worldwide coverage. Recent updates include new resources for data from the SARS-CoV-2 virus, updates to the NCBI Submission Portal and associated submission wizards for dengue and SARS-CoV-2 viruses, new taxonomy queries for viruses and prokaryotes, and simplified submission processes for EST and GSS sequences.