COVID-19 among Black people in Canada: a scoping review. / La COVID-19 chez les personnes noires au Canada : un examen de la portée.

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated health inequities worldwide. Research conducted in Canada shows that Black populations were disproportionately exposed to COVID-19 and more likely than other ethnoracial groups to be infected and hospitalized. This scoping review sought to map out the nature and extent of current research on COVID-19 among Black people in Canada. METHODS: Following a five-stage methodological framework for conducting scoping reviews, studies exploring the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black people in Canada, published up to May 2023, were retrieved through a systematic search of seven databases. Of 457 identified records, 124 duplicates and 279 additional records were excluded after title and abstract screening. Of the remaining 54 articles, 39 were excluded after full-text screening; 2 articles were manually picked from the reference lists of the included articles. In total, 17 articles were included in this review. RESULTS: Our review found higher rates of COVID-19 infections and lower rates of COVID-19 screening and vaccine uptake among Black Canadians due to pre-COVID-19 experiences of institutional and structural racism, health inequities and a mistrust of health care professionals that further impeded access to health care. Misinformation about COVID-19 exacerbated mental health issues among Black Canadians. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest the need to address social inequities experienced by Black Canadians, particularly those related to unequal access to employment and health care. Collecting race-based data on COVID-19 could inform policy formulation to address racial discrimination in access to health care, quality housing and employment, resolve inequities and improve the health and well-being of Black people in Canada.

What contributes to COVID-19 online disinformation among Black Canadians: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Black Canadians are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the literature suggests that online disinformation and misinformation contribute to higher rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccine hesitancy in Black communities in Canada. Through stakeholder interviews, we sought to describe the nature of COVID-19 online disinformation among Black Canadians and identify the factors contributing to this phenomenon. METHODS: We conducted purposive sampling followed by snowball sampling and completed in-depth qualitative interviews with Black stakeholders with insights into the nature and impact of COVID-19 online disinformation and misinformation in Black communities. We analyzed data using content analysis, drawing on analytical resources from intersectionality theory. RESULTS: The stakeholders (n = 30, 20 purposively sampled and 10 recruited by way of snowball sampling) reported sharing of COVID-19 online disinformation and misinformation in Black Canadian communities, involving social media interaction among family, friends and community members and information shared by prominent Black figures on social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook. Our data analysis shows that poor communication, cultural and religious factors, distrust of health care systems and distrust of governments contributed to COVID-19 disinformation and misinformation in Black communities. INTERPRETATION: Our findings suggest racism and underlying systemic discrimination against Black Canadians immensely catalyzed the spread of disinformation and misinformation in Black communities across Canada, which exacerbated the health inequities Black people experienced. As such, using collaborative interventions to understand challenges within the community to relay information about COVID-19 and vaccines could address vaccine hesitancy.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Black Communities in Canada.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in differential impacts on the Black communities in Canada and has unmasked existing race-related health inequities. The purpose of this study was to illuminate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black people in Canada. Historically, social inequalities have determined the impacts of pandemics on the population, and in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, disproportionate infections and mortalities have become evident among racialized communities in Canada. This qualitative descriptive study utilized an intersectionality framework. We invited Black stakeholders across Canada to participate in semi-structured interviews to deepen our knowledge of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black communities in Canada. A total of 30 interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using content analysis. Our findings fell into three categories: (1) increased vulnerability to COVID-19 disease, (2) mental impacts, and (3) addressing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings show the underlying systemic inequities in Canada and systemic racism exacerbated health inequities among the Black communities and undermined interventions by public health agencies to curb the spread of COVID-19 and associated impacts on Black and other racialized communities. The paper concludes by identifying critical areas for future intervention in policy and practice.

Co-designing a web-based education platform for patients with early pregnancy loss.

Canadian emergency departments (EDs) frequently provide care to patients undergoing early pregnancy loss. Unfortunately, in this setting, patients commonly have negative experiences, in part due to lack of appropriate follow-up and education on symptoms that may arise after discharge. In response to this gap, our team created a free, web-based, patient-informed educational platform for women to access accurate information on early pregnancy loss. This free and publicly accessible resource was launched in May 2022 at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto and was shared with EDs across Canada.

RéSUMé: Les services d'urgence (SU) canadiens fournissent fréquemment des soins aux patientes qui subissent une perte de grossesse précoce. Malheureusement, dans ce contexte, les patientes ont souvent des expériences négatives, en partie à cause du manque de suivi approprié et d'éducation sur les symptômes qui peuvent apparaître après la sortie de l'hôpital. Pour combler cette lacune, notre équipe a créé une plate-forme éducative gratuite, basée sur le Web et informée par les patientes, permettant aux femmes d'accéder à des informations précises sur la perte de grossesse précoce. Cette ressource gratuite et accessible au public a été lancée en mai 2022 à l'hôpital Mount Sinai de Toronto et a été partagée avec les services d'urgence de tout le Canada.

A scoping review of COVID-19 online mis/disinformation in Black communities.

Background: Mis/disinformation has reached an epidemic level with the COVID-19 virus and can be largely attributed to the growing digitalization of information and its rapid transmission via social media. Approximately 96% of Canadians and 80% of Americans report encountering COVID-19 dis/misinformation on at least one social media site/app. COVID-19 dis/misinformation promotes scepticism and a lack of confidence in COVID-19 interventions. Black people have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of negative impacts on their livelihoods and are also more likely to be hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Dis/misinformation contributes to high rates of COVID-19 infection and low uptake of COVID-19 vaccination. Hence, the purpose of this scoping review was to map out the nature and extent of current research on COVID-19 disinformation among Blacks in Africa and the African diaspora. Methods: We searched and reviewed articles from major databases such as MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL. Our search strategy involved the following concepts: 1) COVID-19, including variants; 2) misinformation, conspiracy theories, and fake news, and modes of misinformation transmission such as social media; and 3) Blacks or people of African descent, or the African diaspora. We retrieved 600 articles that were independently screened by two researchers. We included studies focusing on 1) Black people living inside or outside Africa; and 2) COVID-19 online dis/misinformation among this population. A total of 19 studies fit our inclusion criteria. We used a thematic analysis to analyse qualitative data. Results: Our findings indicate Black people are accessing and often sharing online disinformation and misinformation primarily through social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Dis/misinformation concerns the origin of COVID-19, transmission, prevention, and treatment of COVID-19, assertions of race immunity to the virus, distrust in government and health organizations, and intervention research and programming. Conclusions: There is a global paucity of literature addressing COVID-19 online dis/misinformation among Black people. Dis/misinformation can fuel vaccine hesitancy and threaten the goal of herd immunity. Knowledge of the impact and implications of COVID-19 online dis/misinformation is necessary to inform public health interventions in Black communities.

Maternal-Newborn Health System Changes and Outcomes in Ontario, Canada, During Wave 1 of the COVID-19 Pandemic-A Retrospective Study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the population-level impact of COVID-19 pandemic-related obstetric practice changes on maternal and newborn outcomes. METHODS: Segmented regression analysis examined changes that occurred 240 weeks pre-pandemic through the first 32 weeks of the pandemic using data from Ontario's Better Outcomes Registry & Network. Outcomes included birth location, length of stay, labour analgesia, mode of delivery, preterm birth, and stillbirth. Immediate and gradual effects were modelled with terms representing changes in intercepts and slopes, corresponding to the start of the pandemic. RESULTS: There were 799 893 eligible pregnant individuals included in the analysis; 705 767 delivered in the pre-pandemic period and 94 126 during the pandemic wave 1 period. Significant immediate decreases were observed for hospital births (relative risk [RR] 0.99; 95% CI 0.98-0.99), length of stay (median change -3.29 h; 95% CI -3.81 to -2.77), use of nitrous oxide (RR 0.11; 95% CI 0.09-0.13) and general anesthesia (RR 0.69; 95% CI 0.58- 0.81), and trial of labour after cesarean (RR 0.89; 95% CI 0.83-0.96). Conversely, there were significant immediate increases in home births (RR 1.35; 95% CI 1.21-1.51), and use of epidural (RR 1.02; 95% CI 1.01-1.04) and regional anesthesia (RR 1.01; 95% CI 1.01-1.02). There were no significant immediate changes for any other outcomes, including preterm birth (RR 0.99; 95% CI 0.93-1.05) and stillbirth (RR 1.11; 95% CI 0.87-1.42). CONCLUSION: Provincial health system changes implemented at the start of the pandemic resulted in immediate clinical practice changes but not insignificant increases in adverse outcomes.

Inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility: From organizational responsibility to leadership competency.

An awakening to systemic anti-Black racism, anti-Indigenous racism, and harmful colonial structures in the context of a pandemic has made health inequities and injustices impossible to ignore, and is driving healthcare organizations to establish and strengthen approaches to inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA). Health research and care organizations, which are shaping the future of healthcare, have a responsibility to make IDEA central to their missions. Many organizations are taking concrete action critically important to embedding IDEA principles, but durable change will not be achieved until IDEA becomes a core leadership competency. Drawing from the literature and consultation with individuals recognized for excellence in IDEA-informed leadership, this study will help Canadian healthcare and health research leaders-particularly those without lived experience-understand what it means to embed IDEA within traditional leadership competencies and propose opportunities to achieve durable change by rethinking governance, mentorship, and performance management through an IDEA lens.

Reframing How Early Pregnancy Loss Is Viewed in the Emergency Department.

Women experiencing early pregnancy loss frequently seek care in emergency departments or early pregnancy clinics. The existing qualitative literature on the experience of miscarriage has yet to address how to connect how these women perceive their care experience and the prevailing structures which may be at the root of why their experience continues to be challenging. This study aimed to look deeper into the sources of negative experiences of early pregnancy loss for insight into how to rethink where to make impactful changes to care. Phenomenologically informed interviews with 59 women revealed several points of tension in the framing of early pregnancy loss, including the view of miscarriage as common, of it as a medical versus emotional experience, and the assumptions around care needs. Our work suggests that these tensions need to be dismantled through more patient-centered approaches to patient-provider relationships, policies, models of care, and medical discourse.

Maternal Ethnicity and the Risk of Obstetrical Anal Sphincter Injury: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the role of maternal ethnicity as a risk factor for obstetrical anal sphincter injury (OASI). METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of all women with singleton gestations who had a vaginal delivery at term, between January 2014 and October 2017, at a single center. OASI was defined as a third-degree perineal tear (anal sphincter complex) or a fourth-degree perineal tear (anorectal mucosa). The characteristics of women with and without OASIs were compared. Multiple logistic regression was performed to account for potential confounders, including ethnicity. RESULTS: During the study period, 11 012 women were eligible for inclusion, of whom 336 (3.1%) had an OASI; 313 (93.1%) had a third-degree tear, and 23 (6.9%) had a fourth-degree tear. Women with OASIs were characterized by younger maternal age (<35 years), Asian ethnicity, nulliparity, neonatal birth weight ≥3500 grams, midline and mediolateral episiotomy, second stage of labour lasting ≥60 minutes, and assisted vaginal delivery. After adjusting for potential confounders, Asian ethnicity remained independently associated with increased risk of OASI (adjusted odds ratio 2.07; 95% CI 1.6-2.7) whereas mediolateral episiotomy was independently associated with decreased risk of OASI (adjusted odds ratio 0.64; 95% CI 0.5-0.9). CONCLUSION: Asian ethnicity is independently associated with increased risk of OASI. Although midline episiotomy increases the risk of OASI, mediolateral episiotomy may protect against OASI, and should be considered in high-risk patients.

Decreasing Cesarean Delivery Rates Using a Trial of Labour After Cesarean (TOLAC) Bundle.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and implement a trial of labour after cesarean delivery (TOLAC) bundle-a group of interventions aimed at decreasing cesarean delivery (CD) for women who have had a prior CD (Robson group 5). METHODS: A TOLAC bundle was developed that included: (1) educational rounds for health care providers, (2) a physician-patient TOLAC discussion aid, and (3) patient-centred educational resources. A before-and-after study design was employed. A one-year chart review determined baseline CD rates in Robson group 5 patients at a tertiary care academic centre. Following this, from February 1, 2018 until May 31, 2019, each bundle intervention was sequentially introduced every four to six months and modified based on provider feedback. Obstetricians were provided with their individual CD rates using an audit-and-feedback approach prior to the introduction of the next intervention. RESULTS: The baseline CD rate for Robson group 5 patients was 71% (175/247 eligible patients). Following the introduction of the bundle, the CD rate decreased to 61% (131/214 eligible patients). This was a 10% decrease in the CD rate (P = 0.029). A significant increase in rate of induction was noted, from 5% pre-intervention to 11% post-intervention (p = 0.017). There were no significant decreases in the rate of vaginal birth after CD or increases in the rates of uterine rupture or NICU admission. CONCLUSIONS: A TOLAC bundle, consisting of provider education, a TOLAC discussion aid, and patient resources, combined with audit and feedback, decreased CD for Robson group 5 patients.

The Sustained Value of an Early Pregnancy Assessment Clinic in the Management of Early Pregnancy Complications: A 10-Year Retrospective Study.

OBJECTIVE: This study sought to evaluate the sustained value of an early pregnancy assessment clinic (EPAC) in the management of early pregnancy complications and its effect on the incidence emergency room (ER) visits. METHODS: A 10-year retrospective study (January 2006 to December 2015) was conducted. The number of patients assessed, sources and reasons for referral, and treatments provided were reviewed. The numbers of ER assessments and reassessments for abortion, hemorrhage, and ectopic pregnancy from January 2004 to December 2005 (pre-EPAC) and January 2006 to December 2015 (post-EPAC) were also reviewed. RESULTS: There were 11 349 new referrals and 10 764 follow-up visits. The reasons for referral were threatened miscarriage (n = 3568, 31.4%), missed miscarriage (n = 3056, 26.9%), incomplete miscarriage (n = 1064, 9.4%), complete miscarriage (n = 991, 8.7%), ectopic pregnancy (n = 857, 7.6%), hyperemesis gravidarum (n = 139, 1.2%), and others (n = 1674, 14.8%). There has been a significant decreasing trend (tau = -0.60, P = 0.0127) and a significant decrease in the post-EPAC rate of ER reassessments (P = 0.0396) for hemorrhage, with a concomitant decrease in EPAC visits for hemorrhage. In addition, there has been a significant increasing trend (tau = 0.64, P = 0.0081) and a significant increase in the post-EPAC rate of ER assessments (P = 0.00001) for ectopic pregnancies. CONCLUSION: Over the 10-year period, the EPAC has remained a vital service for managing early pregnancy complications for women. However, the clinic has not yet had a sustained impact on ER visits for miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, and hemorrhage. It is possible that a reduction in ER assessments and reassessments for early pregnancy complications can be achieved through a clinic with daily access.

A Comparison of the Number of Patient Visits Required for Different Management Options for Early Pregnancy Loss at an Early Pregnancy Assessment Clinic.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the total number of patient visits required for the conservative, medical, or surgical management of early pregnancy loss in an early pregnancy assessment clinic (EPAC). METHODS: A retrospective study of the number of patient visits at an EPAC for conservative, medical, or surgical management of early spontaneous abortion from October 2013 to September 2015 was undertaken. Visits counted included initial assessment, follow-up visits, and surgery date, if separate from a clinic visit. RESULTS: A total of 945 patients were seen, with 2144 visits during the study period. Conservative management required an average of 3.01 visits (n = 159, median = 3, SD = 1.16, range [1,7]) and misoprostol treatment required an average of 2.51 visits (n = 329, median = 2, SD = 0.83, range [1,6]) to achieve a complete abortion. Dilatation and curettage (D&C) required an average of 1.60 visits (n = 417, median = 1, SD = 0.80, range [1-6]), when including scheduling limitations or an average of 1.13 visits when excluding these limitations. The difference in the number of visits required for the three management options was statistically significant (P <0.0001). Management with D&C was more likely to require less than two visits to achieve complete abortion compared with the other options (93.8% for D&C vs. 64.5% for misoprostol vs. 37.8% for conservative). CONCLUSION: An EPAC provides a significant value in the management of early pregnancy losses. There is a significant difference in the total number of visits required for different treatment options. Patients may find this information helpful when considering and deciding upon their preferred treatment option.

The value of the early pregnancy assessment clinic in the management of early pregnancy complications.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the value of North York Hospital's Early Pregnancy Assessment Clinic (EPAC) in the management of early pregnancy complications and its effect on the number of emergency room (ER) visits. METHODS: The EPAC was opened in August 2005 at North York General Hospital. The number of patients being assessed, the sources of referral, the reasons for referral and the treatments provided in the clinic between January 2006 and December 2007 were reviewed. The number of patients attending the ER with the diagnoses of miscarriage, early pregnancy hemorrhage, and ectopic pregnancy one year prior to the opening of the EPAC (July 2004 to June 2005, year 0), during the first subsequent year (January to December 2006, year 1) and the second subsequent year (January to December 2007, year 2) were reviewed. RESULTS: Of the 1448 referrals to the EPAC during the two-year period, 38% were referred from the ER, 31% from family physicians, 24% from obstetricians, 2% from midwives, and 5% from other sources. The reasons for referral included confirmed missed miscarriage (450 patients, 31%), threatened miscarriage (471, 32.5%), complete miscarriage (182, 12.6%), ectopic pregnancy (111, 7.7%), incomplete miscarriage (59, 4.1%), hyperemesis gravidarum (23, 1.6%), and others (152, 10.5%). Through arrangements made by the clinic, 200 women underwent dilatation and curettage, and 133 were administered misoprostol to induce miscarriage. Fifty-seven patients with ectopic pregnancy received medical treatment with methotrexate, and 13 patients had surgery for ectopic pregnancy. There was no significant change in the total number of patients being assessed in the ER for early pregnancy hemorrhage, miscarriage, and ectopic pregnancy before and after the opening of the EPAC. However, there was a significant reduction in the number of repeat assessments in the ER for ectopic pregnancy, from 37% in year 0 (n = 24/65) to 24% in year 1 (n = 14/54) and 14.5% in year 2 (n = 9/62). There was also a trend towards a reduction in the number of repeat assessments in the ER for hemorrhage (year 0 = 32.4%; year 1 = 29.4%; year 2 = 27.5%), and miscarriage (year 0 = 19.5%; year 1 = 12.6%; year 2 = 16.9%). CONCLUSION: The EPAC is of significant value in the management of early pregnancy complications. It is particularly useful in the follow-up of patients with ectopic pregnancy and also helps to reduce the number of patients attending the ER for follow-up of other early pregnancy complications.