Abortion assistance fund staff and volunteers as patient navigators following an abortion ban in Texas.

CONTEXT: Abortion assistance funds constitute an important part of the healthcare safety net by covering some of abortion patients' out-of-pocket costs. Few studies have examined the other ways abortion assistance fund staff and volunteers support callers who need help obtaining care. METHODS: Between June and September 2020, we conducted in-depth interviews with 23 staff and volunteers at 11 local abortion assistance funds that helped Texans seeking abortion care following a March 2020 state executive order that prohibited most abortions. Interviewers explored respondents' experiences with callers whose appointments had been canceled or who traveled out of state and subsequent operational changes. We used both inductive and deductive codes in the thematic analysis. RESULTS: Abortion assistance fund staff and volunteers bridged callers' information gaps about the services and financial resources available and helped create plans to secure care that accounted for callers' specific needs. They provided emotional support so callers felt it was possible to overcome logistical hurdles to get an abortion, even if that required out-of-state travel. Respondents described greater collaboration between Texas-based abortion assistance funds and out-of-state organizations to support callers' more complex logistical needs and increased costs. Some callers who encountered multiple barriers to care, including interpersonal violence, were unable to obtain an abortion, even with additional supports. CONCLUSIONS: Local abortion assistance funds worked with Texas callers to co-create person-centered plans for care and expanded inter-organization collaborations. Initiatives that bolster local assistance funds' infrastructure and capacity will be needed as the abortion access landscape becomes further restricted and complex.

Long-Term Outcomes and Health-Related Quality of Life in a Swiss Patient Group with Esophageal Atresia.

INTRODUCTION: Surgical treatment of esophageal atresia (EA) has markedly improved, allowing the focus to shift from short-term complications and mortality to long-term complications and quality of life. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is variable and reported to range from reduced to unimpaired in patients with repaired EA. We assessed the HRQoL, determined the prevalence of long-term complications and their possible impact on the HRQoL in patients who had correction of EA in Switzerland. Further, we also investigated in the general well-being of their parents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with EA repair in Switzerland between 1985 and 2011 were enrolled. Long-term complications were assessed by enquiring disease-related symptoms, standardized clinical examinations, and analysis of radiographs. HRQoL was inquired using different validated questionnaires (KIDSCREEN-27, World Health Organization [WHO]-5, and Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index [GIQLI]). Patients were grouped according to their age. In underage patients, general well-being of the parents was assessed using the WHO-5 questionnaire. RESULTS: Thirty patients were included with a mean age of 11.3 ± 5.7 years. Long-term complications were present in 63% of all patients. HRQoL in underage patients was comparable to the provided reference values and rated as good, while adult patients reported a reduced HRQoL. The presence of gastroesophageal reflux disease symptoms was associated with reduced HRQoL in underage patients. Parents of underage patients stated a good general well-being. CONCLUSION: Long-term complications among patients with repair of EA in Switzerland are common. HRQoL in underage patients is good and general well-being of their parents is unimpaired. Adult patients reported a reduced HRQoL, consistent with other reports. As long-term complications may manifest only later in life, a structured follow-up of patients with an EA repair during childhood and adolescence is needed.

Abdominal compartment syndrome and decompressive laparotomy in children: a 9-year single-center experience.

PURPOSE: Abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) in children results in 100% mortality if left untreated. Decompressive laparotomy (DL) is the only effective treatment if conservative medical therapies have failed. This study aims to determine the incidence of ACS among pediatric patients who underwent an emergency laparotomy (EL), to describe the effect of DL on clinical and laboratory parameters and, to make a better prediction on fatal outcome, to analyze variables and their association with mortality. METHODS: This retrospective study includes 418 children up to the age of 16 years who underwent EL between January 2010 and December 2018 at our tertiary pediatric referral center. ACS was defined according to the latest guidelines of the World Society of the Abdominal Compartment Syndrome. RESULTS: Fourteen patients had emergency DL for ACS. 6 h preoperatively; median intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) and abdominal perfusion pressure (APP) were 22.5 mmHg and 29 mmHg, respectively. After DL, IAP decreased and APP increased, both by an average of 60%. Six patients survived, eight patients had a fatal outcome, resulting in a mortality of 57%. An age under 1 year, weight under the 3rd percentile, an open abdomen treatment, an intestinal resection and an elevated serum lactate > 1.8 mmol/L were associated with an increased relative risk of death. CONCLUSIONS: Improving the outcome in pediatric patients with ACS by removing or attenuating risk factors is difficult. This emphasizes the need for early diagnosis and prompt DL once the diagnosis of ACS is made.

Changes in racial-ethnic disparities in use and adequacy of mental health care in the United States, 1990­2003.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined changes in white-black and white-Latino disparities in the use of any mental health care and minimally adequate mental health care. METHODS: Using data from the 1990–1992 National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) and the 2001–2003 National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R), this study examined changes by race-ethnicity in use of mental health care among individuals age 18 to 54 with a 12-month mood or anxiety disorder. The sample consisted of 1,198 NCS respondents and 929 NCS-R respondents. Changes in disparities were estimated in the use of any mental health care in the general medical sector, the specialty mental health sector, and in total. Changes in disparities were also estimated in the use of minimally adequate mental health care (in total only). RESULTS: Disparities in the use of any mental health care increased over time, particularly between non-Latino whites and non-Latino blacks in the general medical sector and between non-Latino whites and Latinos in the specialty mental health sector. Disparities in the use of minimally adequate mental health care persisted between whites and blacks over time but were not detected between whites and Latinos in either period. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of greater racial-ethnic disparities in the general medical and specialty mental health sectors indicate that more targeted policies and programs are needed to increase use of mental health care in these health sectors among persons from racial-ethnic minority groups. The persistence of white-black disparities in the use of minimally adequate mental health care warrants further examination.