Clozapine clearance is influenced by sex, smoking status, ethnicity, coprescription of inducers or inhibitors, obesity, and inflammation. In 126 Beijing inpatients, we measured repeated trough ...steady-state serum concentrations and identified 4% (5/126) who were phenotypical poor metabolizers (PMs); none were ultrarapid metabolizers (UMs). They were defined as being 2 SDs beyond the means of total clozapine concentration/dose ratios stratified by sex and smoking. Using this definition, this study explores the prevalence of PMs and UMs using data from 4 already published Asian samples. Three samples were East Asian (Beijing 2, Taipei, and Seoul); one was from South India (Vellore).
The prevalence of phenotypical PMs ranged from 2% to 13%, but inflammation was not excluded. The prevalence was 7% (14/191) for Beijing 2, 11% (8/70) for Taipei, 13% (9/67) for Seoul, and 2% (2/101) for the Vellore sample. Five phenotypic PMs appeared to be associated with extreme obesity. Phenotypic UM prevalence ranged from 0% to 1.6% but may be partly explained by lack of adherence. A Vellore phenotypic UM appeared to be associated with induction through high coffee intake.
Approximately 10% of Asians may be clozapine PMs and may need only 50 to 150 mg/d to get therapeutic concentrations. Future studies combining gene sequencing for new alleles with repeated concentrations and careful control of confounders including inhibitors, inflammation, and obesity should provide better estimations of the prevalence of phenotypic clozapine PMs across races. Clozapine UM studies require excluding potent inducers, careful supervision of compliance in inpatient settings, and multiple serum concentrations.
Purpose
The purpose of the present study was to investigate ethnic differences in trauma-related mental health symptoms among adolescents, and test the mediating and moderating effects of ...polyvictimization (i.e., number of types of traumas/victimizations experienced by an individual) and household income, respectively.
Methods
Data were drawn from the first wave of the National Survey of Adolescents-replication study (NSA-R), which took place in the US in 2005 and utilized random digit dialing to administer a telephone survey to adolescents ages 12–17. Participants included in the current analyses were 3312 adolescents (50.2 % female; mean age 14.67 years) from the original sample of 3614 who identified as non-Hispanic White (
n
= 2346, 70.8 %), non-Hispanic Black (
n
= 557, 16.8 %), or Hispanic (
n
= 409, 12.3 %). Structural equation modeling was utilized to test hypothesized models.
Results
Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic participants reported higher levels of polyvictimization and trauma-related mental health symptoms (symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression) compared to non-Hispanic Whites, though the effect sizes were small (
γ
≤ 0.07). Polyvictimization fully accounted for the differences in mental health symptoms between non-Hispanic Blacks and non-Hispanic Whites, and partially accounted for the differences between Hispanics and non-Hispanic Whites. The relation between polyvictimization and trauma-related mental health symptoms was higher for low-income youth than for high-income youth.
Conclusions
Disparities in trauma exposure largely accounted for racial/ethnic disparities in trauma-related mental health. Children from low-income family environments appear to be at greater risk of negative mental health outcomes following trauma exposure compared to adolescents from high-income families.
This study examined trajectories of progression from early substance use to treatment entry as a function of race, among inpatient treatment seekers (N = 945). Following primary race-contingent ...analyses of use progression, secondary analyses were conducted to investigate the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) on the observed differences. African Americans reported significant delays in treatment entry relative to Caucasians. Racial differences in alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine use trajectories were observed. Accounting for SES rendered observations of accelerated use among African Americans nonsignificant. However, inclusion of SES failed to mitigate the marked racial disparity in treatment entry.
Negative attitudes toward people with mental illness are a widespread concern and may vary across countries. This study used a 36-item questionnaire to compare attitudes toward people with mental ...illness and beliefs about the causes of mental illness among medical students from the United States, Brazil, Ghana, Nigeria, and China (N = 1131). Exploratory factor analysis identified the underlying factor structure of the questionnaire, and analysis of covariance was then used to compare factors representing four nonstigmatized attitudes across students from the five countries. US Medical students scored highest on all four factors, followed by those from Brazil. Nigerian and Ghanaian students scored lowest on nonsupernatural etiology of mental illness, and Chinese students showed the lowest score on personal social acceptance and public policy acceptance of people with mental illness. Differences in medical student attitudes between these five countries suggest underlying sociocultural differences in attitudes with the more stigmatized attitudes in developing countries.
Racial/ethnic disparities in health care use and clinical outcomes for behavioral health disorders, including psychosis, are well documented, but less is known about these disparities during the ...period leading up to first-episode psychosis (FEP).
To describe the racial/ethnic disparities in behavioral health care use and prescription drug use of children and young adults before the diagnosis of FEP.
An observational cohort study was conducted using medical and prescription drug claims from January 1, 2007, to September 30, 2015, obtained from Optum's deidentified Clinformatics Data Mart Database, a commercial claims database augmented with race/ethnicity and socioeconomic variables. Data analysis was performed from February 6, 2018, to October 10, 2020. First-episode psychosis was determined by the presence of psychosis diagnoses on claims for at least 1 hospitalization or 2 outpatient events, with a continuous enrollment requirement of at least 2 years before the first diagnosis. Participants included 3017 Black, Hispanic, or White patients who were continually enrolled in commercial insurance plans and received an FEP diagnosis between the ages of 10 and 21 years.
Race/ethnicity was determined from a commercial claims database. Rates of inpatient admission, emergency department presentation, and outpatient visits (including psychotherapy), behavioral health disorder diagnoses, and antipsychotic/antidepressant prescription fills were determined for the year before FEP. Race/ethnicity was also obtained from Optum's claims database. With use of multivariable logistic regression, results were adjusted for covariates including estimated household income, age, sex, and geographic division in the US.
Of the 3017 patients with FEP, 643 Black or Hispanic patients (343 53.3% Black, 300 46.7% Hispanic, 324 50.4% male, mean SD age, 17.2 2.76 years) were less likely than 2374 White patients (1210 51.0% male, mean age, 17.0 2.72 years) to receive comorbid behavioral health disorder diagnoses in the year before the diagnosis of FEP (410 63.8% vs 1806 76.1%, χ2 = 39.3; P < .001). Except for emergency care, behavioral health care use rates were lower in Black and Hispanic patients vs White patients (424 65.9% vs 1868 78.7%; χ2 = 45.0; P < .001), particularly for outpatient visits with behavioral health care professionals (232 36.1% vs 1236 52.1%; χ2 = 51.7; P < .001). After adjustment for socioeconomic covariates, behavioral health care use rates (68.9% vs 79.2%; P < .001), outpatient visits with behavioral health professionals (37.7% vs 51.2%; P < .001), and other outcomes remained significantly lower for Black and Hispanic patients vs White patients.
The results of this study extend existing research findings of well-known racial/ethnic disparities in the population of patients who are diagnosed with FEP. These differences were apparent in young patients with continuous commercial health insurance and after controlling for household income. Providing equal access to preventive outpatient behavioral health care may increase opportunities for timely detection of psychotic symptoms and early intervention and improve differential outcomes after FEP.
To determine the associations between classes of antihypertensive medication use and the risk of cognitive impairment among elderly hypertensive men.
The Honolulu-Asia Aging Study is a prospective, ...community-based cohort study of Japanese American men conducted in Honolulu, Hawaii. We examined 2,197 participants (mean age 77 years at cohort entry, 1991-1993, followed through September 2010) with hypertension and without dementia or cognitive impairment at baseline, who provided information on medication use. Cognitive function was assessed at 7 standardized examinations using the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI). Cognitive impairment was defined as a CASI score <74.
A total of 854 men developed cognitive impairment (median follow-up, 5.8 years). β-Blocker use as the sole antihypertensive drug at baseline was consistently associated with a lower risk of cognitive impairment (incidence rate ratio IRR 0.69; 95% confidence interval CI 0.50-0.94), as compared with men not taking any antihypertensive medications, adjusting for multiple potential confounders. The use of diuretics, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, or vasodilators alone was not significantly associated with cognitive impairment. Results were similar excluding those with cardiovascular disease or <1 year of follow-up, and additionally adjusting for pulse pressure, heart rate, baseline and midlife systolic blood pressure, and midlife antihypertensive treatment (IRR 0.65; 95% CI 0.45-0.94). The association between β-blocker use and cognitive impairment was stronger among men with diabetes, men aged >75 years, and those with pulse pressure ≥70 mm Hg.
β-blocker use is associated with a lower risk of developing cognitive impairment in elderly Japanese American men.
Aims
There is some confusion regarding which anthropometric measurement of adiposity should be used to indicate diabetes, especially for Asians. The present study was to evaluate different indicators ...of adiposity (BMI, waist circumference and body fat) with Type 2 diabetes risk among women with prior gestational diabetes mellitus.
Methods
We performed a cross‐sectional survey in 1263 women with gestational diabetes at 1–5 years after delivery. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the association of BMI, waist circumference and body fat with Type 2 diabetes risk.
Results
BMI, waist circumference and body fat were all associated with an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes among women with prior gestational diabetes (all Ptrend < 0.001). After adjustment for waist circumference and body fat, the positive association of BMI with Type 2 diabetes risk became non‐significant and reversed. There was a significantly positive association of waist circumference with Type 2 diabetes risk after adjustment for BMI, and a significantly positive association of body fat with Type 2 diabetes risk after adjustment for both BMI and waist circumference. When the joint effects were examined, the significantly positive associations of waist circumference or body fat with Type 2 diabetes risk were consistent among women with different levels of BMI, and the positive association of BMI and Type 2 diabetes risk was significant among women with gestational diabetes with a waist circumference of ≥ 50% or body fat ≥ 50%.
Conclusions
BMI, waist circumference and body fat were all associated with an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, and waist circumference and body fat were better indicators than BMI for Type 2 diabetes risk among Chinese women with prior gestational diabetes.
What's new?
There is some confusion regarding which anthropometric measurement of adiposity should be used to indicate diabetes, especially for Asians. The present study evaluated different indicators of adiposity (BMI, waist circumference and body fat) with Type 2 diabetes risk among women with prior gestational diabetes mellitus in China and concluded that waist circumference and body fat were better indicators than BMI, and that body fat might be the best indicator for risk of Type 2 diabetes among Chinese women with prior gestational diabetes.
The Modern Anthropology of India is an accessible textbook providing a critical overview of the ethnographic work done in India since 1947. It assesses the history of research in each region and ...serves as a practical and comprehensive guide to the main themes dealt with by ethnographers. It highlights key analytical concepts and paradigms that came to be of relevance in particular regions in the recent history of research in India, and which possibly gained a pan-Indian or even trans-Indian significance.
Structured according to the states of the Indian union, contributors raise several key questions, including:
What themes were ethnographers interested in?
What are the significant ethnographic contributions?
How are peoples, communities and cultural areas represented?
How has the ethnographic research in the area developed?
Filling a significant gap in the literature, the book is an invaluable resource to students and researchers in the field of Indian anthropology/ethnography, regional anthropology and postcolonial studies. It is also of interest to students of South Asian studies in general as it provides an extensive and critical overview of regionally based ethnographic activity undertaken in India.
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