Affiliates' Research in Medical Journals, Summer 2024

Many NBER-affiliated researchers publish some of their health-related findings in journals that preclude pre-publication distribution, and thus do not post them as NBER Working Papers. This is a partial listing of recent papers in this category by NBER affiliates.

Clinical Outcomes after Admission of Patients with COVID-19 to Skilled Nursing Facilities
McGarry BE, Gandhi AD, Chughtai MA, Yin J, Barnett ML. JAMA Internal Medicine, June 2024.

To assess the association between the admission of COVID-19-positive patients to Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) and subsequent COVID-19 cases and death rates among residents, this study used survey data from the National Healthcare Safety Network of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a cohort of SNFs in the US from June 2020 to March 2021, 264 exposed facilities (with initial admission of COVID-19-positive patients) were matched to 518 control facilities (without such admissions) in the same county and with similar preadmission case counts. A stacked difference-in-differences approach was used to compare outcomes for 10 weeks before and 15 weeks after the first admission. Exposed SNFs had a cumulative increase of 6.94 additional COVID-19 cases per 100 residents compared with control SNFs, a 31.3 percent increase compared with the sample mean (SD) of 22.2 (26.4). Exposed facilities experienced 2.31 additional cumulative COVID-19-related deaths per 100 residents compared with control facilities. Exposed facilities experiencing potential staff shortages and a personal protective equipment shortage had larger increases in COVID-19 cases per 100 residents (an additional 10.97 and 14.81 cases, respectively) compared with those without such shortages. Thus, during the prevaccine phase of the pandemic, postacute care provided to patients who were discharged from a hospital while still requiring transmission-based precautions due to COVID-19 could have served as a vector for early outbreaks in SNFs. 

Officer–Involved Killings of Unarmed Black People and Racial Disparities in Sleep Health
Venkataramani AS, Bair EF, Bor J, Jackson CL, Kawachi I, Lee J, Papachristos A, Tsai AC. JAMA Internal Medicine 184(4), April 2024, pp. 363–373.

Short sleep duration is a risk factor for many chronic and mental health conditions, and is more prevalent among Black than among White individuals in the US. Unequal exposure to police violence is examined in this study as a contributor to differences in short sleep, using data from three sources: the US Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS, 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2018), the American Time Use Survey (ATUS, 2013–2019), and the Mapping Police Violence database. An exposure was quantified as the occurrence of any police killing of an unarmed Black person in the state, county, or commuting zone of the survey respondent’s residence in each of the four 90-day periods prior to interview, or occurrence of a highly public, nationally prominent police killing of an unarmed Black person anywhere in the US during the 90 days prior to interview. Short sleep (<7 hours) was reported by 46 percent of Black respondents to the BRFSS and 33 percent of White respondents, and for very short sleep (<6 hours) the rates were 18 and 10 percent respectively. Difference-in-differences analyses found statistically significant increases in the probability of short sleep and very short sleep among Black respondents to the BRFSS and the ATUS when officers killed an unarmed Black person in their state of residence during the first two 90-day periods prior to interview. Magnitudes were larger in models using exposure to a nationally prominent police killing occurring anywhere in the US. These effects were not found for officer-involved killings of armed Black people, or among White respondents (for killings of unarmed Black or White individuals). Estimates were equivalent to 7 percent to 16 percent of the sample disparity between Black and White individuals in short sleep and 13 percent to 30 percent of the disparity in very short sleep.

The Impact of Telemedicine on Medicare Utilization, Spending, and Quality, 2019–22
Nakamoto CH, Cutler DM, Beaulieu ND, Uscher-Pines L, Mehrotra A. Health Affairs 43(5), May 2024, pp. 691–700.

Clinical and Healthcare Use Outcomes after Cessation of Long Term Opioid Treatment Due to Prescriber Workforce Exit: Quasi-experimental Difference-in-Differences Study
Sabety AH, Neprash HT, Gaye M, Barnett ML. BMJ 385, May 2024.

Loss of Medicaid Coverage during the Renewal Process
Dague L, Myerson R. JAMA Health Forum 5(5), May 2024.

Recreational Marijuana Laws and Teen Marijuana Use, 1993–2021
Anderson DM, Fe HT, Liang Y, Sabia JJ. JAMA Psychiatry, April 2024.

Comparison of Hospital Mortality and Readmission Rates by Physician and Patient Sex
Miyawaki A, Jena AB, Rotenstein LS, Tsugawa Y. Annals of Internal Medicine 177(5), April 2024, pp. 598–608.

State Paid Sick Leave Mandates Associated with Increased Mental Health Disorder Prescriptions among Medicaid Enrollees
Maclean JC, Golberstein E, Stein B. Health Affairs Scholar 2(5), April 2024.

Measuring Local-Area Racial Segregation for Medicare Hospital Admissions
Akré EL, Chyn D, Carlos HA, Barnato AE, Skinner J. JAMA Network Open 7(4), April 2024.

Paternal Depression in the Postpartum Year and Children’s Behaviors at Age 5 in an Urban US Birth Cohort
Schmitz K, Jimenez ME, Corman H, Noonan K, Reichman NE. PLOS ONE 19(4), April 2024.

How Does Telehealth Expansion Change Access to Healthcare for Patients with Different Types of Substance Use Disorders?
Tilhou AS, Burns M, Chachlani P, Chen Y, Dague L, . Substance Use & Addiction Journal 45(3), March 2024, pp. 473–485.

Public versus Private Care in the Military Health System: Evidence from Low Back Pain Patients
Leggett CG, Schmidt RO, Skinner J, Lurie JD, Luan WP. Military Medicine, March 2024.

Effects of Medicaid Expansions on Coverage, Prenatal Care, and Health among American Indian/Alaska Native Women
Strully KW, Chatterji P, Liu H, Han S, Schell L. Health Affairs 43(3), March 2024, pp. 344–353.

Racial and Gender Disparities in the Effect of New Drug Approvals on US Cancer Mortality
Lichtenberg FR. Academia Medicine, February 2024.

Chronic Health Conditions and Adolescents’ Social Connectedness
James C, Corman H, Noonan K, Reichman NE, Jimenez ME. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 94(3), January 2024, pp. 235–245.