Human intelligence just got less mysterious says Leicester neuroscientist

UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER

Research News

 

NEUROSCIENCE EXPERTS from the University of Leicester have released research that breaks with the past fifty years of neuroscientific opinion, arguing that the way we store memories is key to making human intelligence superior to that of animals.

It has previously been thought and copiously published that it is 'pattern separation' in the hippocampus, an area of the brain critical for memory, that enables memories to be stored by separate groups of neurons, so that memories don't get mixed up.

Now, after fifteen years of research, Leicester University's Director of Systems Neuroscience believes that in fact the opposite to pattern separation is present in the human hippocampus. He argues that, contrary to what has been described in animals, the same group of neurons store all memories. The consequences of this are far reaching, as such neuronal representation, devoid of specific contextual details, explains the abstract thinking that characterizes human intelligence.

Leicester University's Director of Systems Neuroscience Professor Rodrigo Quian Quiroga explains,

"In contrast to what everybody expects, when recording the activity of individual neurons we have found that there is an alternative model to pattern separation storing our memories.

"Pattern separation is a basic principle of neuronal coding that precludes memory interference in the hippocampus. Its existence is supported by numerous theoretical, computational and experimental findings in different animal species but these findings have never been directly replicated in humans. Previous human studies have been mostly obtained using Functional Magnetic Resource Imagining (fMRI), which doesn't allow recording the activity of individual neurons. Shockingly, when we directly recorded the activity of individual neurons, we found something completely different to what has been described in other animals. This could well be a cornerstone of human's intelligence."

The study, 'No pattern sepaeration in the human hippocampus', argues that the lack of pattern separation in memory coding is a key difference compared to other species, which has profound implications that could explain cognitive abilities uniquely developed in humans, such as our power of generalization and of creative thought.

Professor Quian Quiroga believes we should go beyond behavioural comparisons between humans and animals and seek for more mechanistic insights, asking what in our brain gives rise to human's unique and vast repertoire of cognitive functions. In particular, he argues that brain size or number of neurons cannot solely explain the difference, since there is, for example, a comparable number and type of neurons in the chimp and the human brain, and both species have more or less the same anatomical structures. Therefore, our neurons, or at least some of them, must be doing something completely different, and one such difference is given by how they store our memories.

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The biggest trees capture the most carbon: Large trees dominate carbon storage in forests

Large-diameter trees make up 3% of total stems, but account for 42% of total carbon storage in Pacific Northwest forest ecosystems

FRONTIERS

Research News

 

IMAGE: A RECENT STUDY EXAMINING CARBON STORAGE IN PACIFIC NORTHWEST FORESTS DEMONSTRATED THAT ALTHOUGH LARGE-DIAMETER TREES (21 INCHES) ONLY COMPRISED 3% OF TOTAL STEMS, THEY ACCOUNTED FOR 42% OF THE TOTAL... view more 

CREDIT: THE AUTHORS

Older, large-diameter trees have been shown to store disproportionally massive amounts of carbon compared to smaller trees, highlighting their importance in mitigating climate change, according to a new study in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. Researchers examined the aboveground carbon storage of large-diameter trees (>21 inches or >53.3 cm) on National Forest lands within Oregon and Washington. They found that despite only accounting for 3% of the total number of trees on the studied plots, large trees stored 42% of the total above-ground carbon within these forest ecosystems. This study is among the first of its kind to report how a proposed policy could affect carbon storage in forest ecosystems, potentially weakening protections for large-diameter trees and contributing to huge releases of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in the face of a changing climate.

In the Pacific Northwest region of the US, a 21-inch diameter rule was enacted in 1994 to slow the loss of large, older trees in national forests. However, proposed amendments to this limit would potentially allow widespread harvesting of large trees up to 30 inches in diameter with major implications for carbon dynamics and forest ecology. Dr David Mildrexler, who led the study, highlights:

"Large trees represent a small proportion of trees in the forest, but they play an exceptionally important role in the entire forest community -- the many unique functions they provide would take hundreds of years to replace."

To examine the relationship between tree diameter and aboveground carbon storage in forests east of the Cascades Crest, the researchers used species-specific equations to relate tree diameter and height to the aboveground biomass in the stem and branches, taking into account that half this biomass in a tree is comprised of carbon. They also examined what proportion large trees made up of the total forest stand, their total calculated aboveground carbon storage and therefore what the potential consequence of removing these large trees could have within future forest management practices.

The study also revealed that trees >30 inches (>76.2 cm) in diameter only constituted 0.6% of the total stems, but these giants accounted for over 16% of the total aboveground carbon across the forests examined. Once trees reached a large size, each additional increment in diameter resulted in a significant addition to the tree's total carbon stores:

"If you think of adding a ring of new growth to the circumference of a large tree and its branches every year, that ring adds up to a lot more carbon than the ring of a small tree.' explains Dr Mildrexler. "This is why specifically letting large trees grow larger is so important for climate change because it maintains the carbon stores in the trees and accumulates more carbon out of the atmosphere at a very low cost."

The study highlights the importance of protecting existing large trees and strengthening the 21-inch rule so that additional carbon is accumulated as 21-30" diameter trees are allowed to continue to grow to their ecological potential, and letting a sufficient number of sub-21 inch trees grow further and become additional large, effective carbon stores.

Dr Mildrexler argues that this is among the most effective short-term options for stabilizing climate change and providing other valuable ecosystem services:

"Large trees are the cornerstones of diversity and resilience for the entire forest community. They support rich communities of plants, birds, mammals, insects, and micro-organisms, as well as act as giant water towers that tap into groundwater resources and cool our planet through evaporation."

"There is a real need for monitoring forest condition beyond what the forest service does on their inventory plots, and so local communities can also play their part to provide citizen science data and learn about the living forests on their lands, contributing to community income and mitigating climate change."

CAPTION

Pictured here is a Ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa

CAPTION

Pictured here: Ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa, and Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii

GUY FAWKES DAY NOV 5.

 

GUY FAWKES THE ONLY MAN TO ENTER PARLIAMENT WITH HONEST INTENTIONS

ANARCHIST GRAFFITI 

The burning question of Bonfire Night pollution

UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS

Research News

 

IMAGE: AN AIR FILTER BEFORE AND AFTER THE EXPERIMENT, SHOWING THE AMOUNT OF POLLUTING MATERIALS COLLECTED ON BONFIRE NIGHT 2017 view more 

CREDIT: MICHAEL ADAMS

Bonfire Night celebrations contaminate our air with hugely elevated amounts of soot, scientists have found.

Researchers from the University of Leeds were monitoring air quality to determine whether soot created by fires and fireworks, known as black carbon, could help to create ice in clouds.

They found soot in the atmosphere around Guy Fawkes Night events was around 100 times its normal level.

Ice occurs naturally in clouds, but tiny particles of desert dust, soil dust, fungus and bacteria swept high into the air can cause supercooled water droplets in clouds to freeze around them. High concentrations of these ice-nucleating particles can cause clouds to freeze, potentially impacting the earth's climate.

The team carried out experiments on 5 November 2016 into the early hours of the following day, and in 2017 from November 4 and 5, filtering the air with samples taken hourly. Equipment was set up on the balcony of the School of Earth and Environment building, 15m from ground level and more than 0.5 km from any individual bonfires or firework displays, to give a representative view of the air quality across the city.

The filters were washed and the liquid subjected to different temperatures to replicate atmospheric conditions.

The researchers discovered black carbon produced on Bonfire Night did not act as ice nucleating particles - but they did not expect to see such high levels of the polluting matter in the atmosphere.

Black carbon particles are so small, they can penetrate deep into the lungs and cause irritation. Long term exposure can cause harmful effects on the heart and lungs and contributes to millions of deaths worldwide each year.

The paper, A major combustion aerosol event had a negligible impact on the atmospheric ice-nucleating particle population, has been published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres today.

The research was funded by the European Research Council.

Lead author Michael Adams, Research Fellow in Atmospheric Ice Nucleation, said: "Our measurements showed that whilst pollution emitted on Bonfire Night shouldn't have any effect on whether clouds are liquid or ice, the elevated concentrations of soot and other pollutants in the atmosphere should be a warning to those with pre-existing health conditions, as the aerosol particles are in the size range where they can enter the lungs and cause problems."

Research supervisor Benjamin Murray, Professor of Atmospheric Science in Leeds' School of Earth and Environment, said: "Bonfire Night is a massive pollution event across the UK. People with existing health problems, such as heart and lung conditions, are at increased risk."

"The impact on clouds and climate was not clear. The good news is that Bonfire Night does not impact the formation of ice in supercooled cloud droplets. But, we know that BC causes climate warming in other ways.

"I was surprised to see levels of black carbon so persistently high for so long on multiple nights. It was striking how poor air quality was on Bonfire Night."

Weather conditions can affect how long the particles remain in the air. The team found the pollution was flushed out of the city within a few hours during the 2016 experiment, due to a brisk wind from the north.

But in 2017 the air was relatively still and the pollution lingered into the next day.

While providing insight into the levels of black carbon emitted on Bonfire Night, the team's discoveries have also contributed to the understanding of different sources of ice nucleating particles - a key research area in climate science.

Prof Murray said: "Clouds containing supercooled water and ice are first order importance for climate. Vast cloud systems made of a mixture of ice and water over the world's oceans buffer the warming effect of CO2.

"But the buffering capacity depends on how much ice is in them, which in turn depends on the concentration and distribution of ice nucleating particles.

"We found that aerosol particles emitted during the celebration are not as effective at nucleating ice as aerosol particle already present in the atmosphere.

"We conclude that aerosol particles emitted from combustion processes such as those observed on Bonfire Night are not an important source of ice nucleating particles."

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Further information

Picture:
An air filter before and after the experiment, showing the amount of polluting materials collected on Bonfire Night 2017
(Credit: Michael Adams)

For further details, contact University of Leeds press officer Lauren Ballinger at L.ballinger@leeds.ac.uk

University of Leeds

The University of Leeds is one of the largest higher education institutions in the UK, with more than 38,000 students from more than 150 different countries, and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. The University plays a significant role in the Turing, Rosalind Franklin and Royce Institutes.

We are a top ten university for research and impact power in the UK, according to the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, and are in the top 100 of the QS World University Rankings 2021.

The University was awarded a Gold rating by the Government's Teaching Excellence Framework in 2017, recognising its 'consistently outstanding' teaching and learning provision. Twenty-six of our academics have been awarded National Teaching Fellowships - more than any other institution in England, Northern Ireland and Wales - reflecting the excellence of our teaching.
http://www.leeds.ac.uk

 THE INJURIES OF CLASS 

Analysis reveals high burden of musculoskeletal disorders across the globe

WILEY

Research News

Musculoskeletal disorders--which affect muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, and joints--can severely affect individuals' physical and mental health, and they're especially prevalent among aging adults. Although many researchers are studying these conditions and their rates in different regions of the world, no study to date has provided an overview of the burden of all musculoskeletal disorders. Investigators have now done so in Arthritis & Rheumatology, an official journal of the American College of Rheumatology.

For the analysis, researchers examined data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017, which assessed the extent of diseases and injuries across 21 regions and 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2017. Musculoskeletal disorders included rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, low back pain, neck pain, gout, and related conditions.

The team found that there were approximately 1.3 billion prevalent cases and 121,300 deaths due to musculoskeletal disorders in 2017, as wells as 138.7 million disability-adjusted life years, or the number of years lost due to ill-health, disability, or early death. The burden of these diseases generally increased with age for both sexes, was more prevalent among females, and was higher in developed countries.

"Our study describes the enormous global burden of disability from musculoskeletal conditions in a single paper," said senior author Rachelle Buchbinder, MD, of the Cabrini Institute and Monash University, in Australia. "These conditions are under-recognized despite their enormous costs to individuals, the economy, and the health system. Also, there has been a lack of any significant decline in the burden from these conditions over time, which means that there is still insufficient emphasis on addressing the problem."

Dr. Buchbinder noted that policy makers must be made aware of the size of this growing problem, especially in light of rapidly aging populations around the world. "A global response is needed, and this should be integrated with other strategies that can address some of the modifiable and important risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders, including obesity, poor nutrition, smoking, and sedentary lifestyles," she said. "As well, there should be an emphasis on reducing low-value care for some of the most burdensome conditions such as low back pain and osteoarthritis that is contributing to the problem."

The authors also stressed the need for standardized methods for collecting data on the prevalence and impact of musculoskeletal disorders across the world.

Additional information

NOTE: The information contained in this release is protected by copyright. Please include journal attribution in all coverage. For more information or to obtain a PDF of any study, please contact:

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Full Citation: "Prevalence deaths and disability adjusted life years (DALYs) due to musculoskeletal disorders for 195 countries and territories 1990-2017." Saeid Safiri, Ali-Asghar Kolahi, Marita Cross, Catherine Hill, Emma Smith, Kristin Carson-Chahhoud, Mohammad Ali Mansournia, Amir Almasi-Hashiani, Ahad Ashrafi-Asgarabad, Jay Kaufman, Mahdi Sepidarkish, Seyed Kazem Shakouri, Damian Hoy, Anthony D. Woolf, Lyn March, Gary Collins, and Rachelle Buchbinder, MD. Arthritis & Rheumatology; Published Online: November 5, 2020. (DOI: 10.1002/art.41571).

URL Upon Publication: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/art.41571

Disclosures: The GBD 2017 Study was funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; however, the organization was not involved in any way in the preparation of the Arthritis & Rheumatology article. The report was supported by Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran (grant No 21740-4-7). Rachelle Buchbinder is supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Senior Principal Research Fellowship. Marita Cross is supported by the Institute of Bone and Joint Research and the Global Alliance for Musculoskeletal Health.

Author Contact: media@monash.edu or +61 3 9903 4840

About the Journal

Arthritis & Rheumatology is an official journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and covers all aspects of inflammatory disease. The American College of Rheumatology (http://www.rheumatology.org) is the professional organization whose members share a dedication to healing, preventing disability, and curing the more than 100 types of arthritis and related disabling and sometimes fatal disorders of the joints, muscles, and bones. Members include practicing physicians, research scientists, nurses, physical and occupational therapists, psychologists, and social workers. The journal is published by Wiley on behalf of the ACR. For more information, please visit http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/art.

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Wiley drives the world forward with research and education. Through publishing, platforms and services, we help students, researchers, universities, and corporations to achieve their goals in an ever-changing world. For more than 200 years, we have delivered consistent performance to all of our stakeholders. The Company's website can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com.

 

Researchers study strength-training gender gap, possible solutions

PENN STATE

Research News

 

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Strength training is an important part of any exercise routine, but some women may not be getting the recommended hours. New Penn State research discovered some of the barriers preventing women from strength training, as well as some solutions to overcoming those obstacles.

In a study of college students, researchers found that women were less likely than men to participate in muscle-strengthening activities and use weight areas in campus recreation facilities. But, the researchers also found that women were more likely to feel uncomfortable using campus recreation facilities -- and weight areas in particular.

Oliver Wilson, graduate student in kinesiology, said the study suggests that there are gender differences in both physical exercise habits and campus facility use. He added that there may be opportunities for school administrators, policy makers and others to help provide equal opportunities for everyone.

"Ideally, all students -- regardless of gender identity, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, and/or socio-economic status -- should participate in muscle-strengthening activities," Wilson said. "Implementation and enforcement of policies, facility design and equipment layout, supportive social environments, and other opportunities for students to build the skills and confidence to participate in muscle-strengthening activities are necessary to provide equitable opportunities for all."

According to the researchers, previous research has consistently found disparities in physical activity between men and women. Additionally, prior work has found certain areas of campus recreational facilities to be highly gendered spaces.

For example, the researchers said women may feel constrained from using the free weights section of some facilities due to a lack of knowledge or confidence, crowded spaces, or unsolicited advice from male peers.

Melissa Bopp, associate professor of kinesiology, said that because a person's college-age years are an important period for establishing good exercise habits, they wanted to investigate potential reasons and solutions for these disparities.

"It was important to ask these questions because we know that physical activity participation typically declines across students' time in college despite the access they may have to facilities," Bopp said. "It's important to understand why this decline happens before we can create strategies for promoting physical activity."

The researchers recruited 319 college students for the study. The participants were asked to complete a survey designed to measure physical activity and their use and comfort in using campus recreational facilities, as well as their reasons and potential solutions for feeling uncomfortable using the facilities.

According to Wilson, meaningful differences in physical activity behaviors, facility use, and comfort levels in using facilities between male and female students appeared once the data were analyzed.

"Women reported less muscle-strengthening activity, lower frequency of both weight use and informal sport participation, and higher frequency of cardio and group exercise participation," Wilson said. "Women also reported lower comfort using facilities in general -- as well as machine weights, free weights, and indoor running tracks -- compared to men."

The researchers found that the presence and behaviors of men, feeling like they don't know how to properly use the equipment, and feeling self-consciousness emerged as common themes women gave for not using weight equipment.

"It is uncomfortable using certain parts of the recreational facilities because it is often divided into mostly women using the cardio machines and men in the weight section," according to one anonymous participant quoted in the study. "So, even though I like using weights, it can be a little intimidating going into a room full of guys by myself to work out with weights."

The participants also provided potential solutions that could help them feel more comfortable participating in muscle strengthening activities. Themes included the addition of women's-only sections or hours, as well as implementing sexual harassment policies.

Bopp said the study -- recently published in the Journal of American College Health -- suggests that making campus recreational facilities more open and welcoming to all students may be key to ensuring equitable opportunities for all to get the exercise they need.

"I think that it's important to understand that despite the fact that we have wonderful resources for physical activity on our campus, they sometimes don't feel accessible to everyone," Bopp said. "Whether it's the culture or policies that need to be changed to create a welcoming environment remains to be seen, but it also informs us that physical activity behavior is complex -- just having a place to be active doesn't ensure exercise participation."

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David Guthrie, associated professor of education, and Crystal Colinear, undergraduate kinesiology student, also participated in this work.

 

ACA results in fewer low-income uninsured, but non-urgent ER visits haven't changed

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

Since the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) Medicaid expansion program went into effect 10 years ago, the U.S. has seen a larger reduction in the number of uninsured low-income, rural residents, compared to their urban contemporaries.

But the likelihood of repeated visits to emergency rooms for non-urgent reasons has not decreased.

That's what Washington State University's Bidisha Mandal discovered in a new paper published in the journal Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy.

"Using emergency departments for non-urgent care is often a sign that people don't have convenient access to doctors," said Mandal, a professor in WSU's School of Economic Sciences. "With more people having insurance under the ACA, demand has increased for doctors. Supply seems to have gone up in cities, but not in rural areas."

Non-urgent visits put an additional strain on emergency rooms, and cost more for patients as well, she said.

One potential reason that non-urgent emergency room visits haven't decreased with more insurance is that Medicaid reimbursements for doctors are lower than other insurances. Physicians don't have a monetary incentive to increase the number of low-income patients they see.

"I was surprised to see that low-income rural residents actually had more insurance gains than urban residents," Mandal said. "But providers just don't have enough incentive to accept new Medicaid patients."

Low-income people benefited from the ACA's Medicaid expansion, and the Supreme Court ruling that made the expansion optional for states allowed researchers to compare outcomes between states that accepted or rejected the expansion, Mandal said.

She also found that the number of annual checkups has increased for low-income people in rural areas. But those additional visits haven't led to fewer non-urgent ER visits.

Mandel hopes policymakers looking to improve the ACA will read papers like hers to see and fix weaknesses in the law.

"There are definite gaps in the ACA, and I hope this paper helps fill some of them," Mandal said. "Having access to proper medical care is really important for our entire population."

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Researchers urge healthcare providers to routinely ask patients about cannabis use

Discussing use with chronic pain patients who use opioids is especially important

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

Nurses and other healthcare providers should talk to patients about their cannabis use the same way they talk about other habits like smoking and drinking: routinely and without judgment.

That should happen, but too often doesn't, said Marian Wilson, registered nurse and associate professor at the Washington State University College of Nursing. She is the lead author on a paper published recently in the journal Pain Management Nursing about shared decision-making in talking about cannabis use.

"We want this paper to guide providers in how they can start opening up this conversation and normalizing it," Wilson said.

The shared decision-making model starts with either the patient or the provider bringing up the topic of cannabis use, then moving on to specifics about that patient's situation, benefits, and risks of cannabis use based on research and evidence, and finally formulating a plan.

"Central to patient-centered conversations is understanding the top priorities of patients," Wilson writes. "Researchers have suggested that clinicians should ask 'What matters to you?' as well as 'What is the matter?'"

Some studies have suggested cannabis use is beneficial to patients with chronic pain who are also using opioids, so many in that patient population are using cannabis or considering it, Wilson said. That's why it's especially important for providers working in pain management to discuss the subject, though patients may be reluctant to disclose cannabis use because they might have been penalized in the past.

Wilson says providers face real challenges in obtaining current, evidence-based information on the benefits and risks of cannabis use. The paper calls for the creation of a centralized, noncommercial, scientific repository of information, research, and best practices on cannabis use. Such a resource will become more important as cannabis legalization spreads nationwide.

"We want providers to ask people about their cannabis use and we want patients to feel comfortable talking about it, but right now many don't," Wilson said.

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For more information: "Shared Decision-Making for Patients Using Cannabis for Pain Symptom Management in the United States," Marian Wilson, PhD, MPH, RN-BC; Tracy Klein, PhD, FNP, ARNP, FAANP, FRE, FAAN; Ross J. Bindler, PharmD; Louise Kaplan, PhD, ARNP, FNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN, Pain Management Nursing.

 

Health care use drops during pandemic; switch to telemedicine creates disparities

Switch to telemedicine was not enough to offset reductions in in-person care

RAND CORPORATION

Research News

 

During the first two months of the pandemic lockdown, Americans dramatically reduced their use of preventive and elective health care, while increasing use of telemedicine -- but the switch was not enough to offset reductions in in-person care, according to a new study.

The analysis, one of the first to quantify the cuts in elective medical care experienced in March and April, found that the number of mammograms and colonoscopies -- diagnostic procedures that cannot be done via telehealth -- dropped by more than 65% during the period. Overall health care utilization declined by 23% in March and by 52% in April.

Smaller cuts in in-person care and lower rates of telemedicine use were observed among patients who reside in lower-income or predominately non-white zip codes. Researchers say the findings are another example of disparities in health care that have worsened during the coronavirus pandemic.

The study, published online by the journal JAMA Network Open, is based on medical records from more than 5 million Americans who have private health insurance.

"This adds detailed evidence to the anecdotal reports that Americans quit going to see the doctor when the pandemic shutdown started," said Christopher Whaley, the study's lead author and a policy researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. "If important visits are only delayed for a few months, there will likely be no harm. But if patients do not get important screenings, there could be long-term negative health consequences."

Most studies about the change in medical care since the beginning of the pandemic shutdown have used information from a single health system or geographic market to observe changes in use of medical services.

The new study used insurance claims data from 2018 to 2020 from about 200 employers across all 50 states.

Researchers found that for March and April 2020, utilization of colonoscopy decreased by nearly 70% relative to rates observed in March and April 2019. Relative reductions for mammograms was 67% among women ages 46 to 64.

Blood sugar tests dropped by more than 50%, vaccines among children under age 2 dropped by 22% and angioplasty procedures dropped by nearly 17%. A small drop was seen in chemotherapy treatments. In addition, musculoskeletal surgery, cataract surgery and MRIs all dropped by 45% or more.

Use of prescription drugs for high cholesterol and diabetes saw small drops, while use of asthma medications increased by 11% over March and April.

During the same period, telemedicine visits skyrocketed, increasing by more than 4,000% in April 2020 as compared to April 2019. But the increase in telemedicine visits replaced only about 40% of the decline in medical office visits.

Researchers found that patients who resided in lower-income or predominately non-white zip codes had an increase in telehealth visits that was about a third lower than those who lived in the wealthiest neighborhoods.

"The extent to which access barriers to telemedicine contribute to lower rates of in-person care deferral, and thus increases in potential exposure to COVID-19, should be examined in future work," Whaley said.

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Support for the study was provided by the National Institute on Aging and the National Cancer Institute.

Other authors of the study are Megan F. Pera, Jennie Chang, Julia Velasco and Heather K. Hagg, all of Castlight Health, Jonathan Cantor of RAND, Neeraj Sood of USC, and Dena M. Bravata of Castlight Health and the Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research at Stanford University.

RAND Health Care promotes healthier societies by improving health care systems in the United States and other countries.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not res

 

Changes in health services use among commercially insured US populations during COVID-19 pandemic

JAMA NETWORK OPEN

Research News 

What The Study Did: Researchers examined whether the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic were associated with changes in non-COVID health care use among a large population of individuals with employer-sponsored insurance, specifically preventive services (e.g., pediatric vaccinations), elective services (e.g., orthopedic surgery) and nonelective services (e.g., labor and delivery care) in March and April 2020 compared with the same months in 2018 and 2019.

Authors: Christopher M. Whaley, Ph.D., of the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California, is the corresponding author.

To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/

(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.24984)

Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

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Media advisory: The full study and commentary are linked to this news release.

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About JAMA Network Open: JAMA Network Open is the new online-only open access general medical journal from the JAMA Network. On weekdays, the journal publishes peer-reviewed clinical research and commentary in more than 40 medical and health subject areas. Every article is free online from the day of publication.

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