Grover, Ashna

Importance Elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of premature death worldwide. Assessing the LDL-C–related burden is critical for guiding prevention and treatment strategies. Objectives To estimate the global, regional, and national burden of ischemic heart disease and ischemic stroke attributable to elevated LDL-C (relative to 35-54 mg/dL) from 1990 to 2023 and to quantify the contributions of population growth, aging, risk-deleted burden, and exposure changes to burden trends. Design, Setting, and Population This comparative risk assessment, part of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023, estimated population-level LDL-C exposure and associated health loss in 204 countries and territories. Mean LDL-C levels were estimated using spatiotemporal gaussian process regression based on 806 studies across 161 countries. Relative risks were derived from meta-analyses of 38 randomized clinical trials. Population-attributable fractions for deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) were estimated by age and sex for adults aged 25 years or older from 1990 to 2023, with 95% uncertainty intervals. Exposure Population-level LDL-C concentrations. Main Outcomes and Measures Population-attributable fractions, counts, and rates (all ages and age standardized per 100 000) of LDL-C–attributable deaths and DALYs from ischemic heart disease and ischemic stroke, with uncertainty intervals. Results In 2023, elevated LDL-C accounted for 3.6 million deaths (95% uncertainty interval, 2.2-5.4 million; 6.0% of global mortality) and 90.7 million DALYs (95% uncertainty interval, 58.9-123.3 million; 3.2% of DALYs). Although global all-ages rates remained stable, age-standardized death and DALY rates decreased by 45.6% and 39.5%, respectively, since 1990. In 2023, age-standardized LDL-C–attributable DALY rates were highest in Eastern Europe and lowest in high-income Asia-Pacific. One-third of the global LDL-C burden occurred in India and China. Population growth and aging drove the increasing burden, with notable regional disparities in LDL-C exposure and risk-deleted DALY rates shifting toward middle-sociodemographic settings. Conclusions and Relevance Despite declining age-standardized rates, the absolute LDL-C burden has increased since 1990 due to demographic changes and has shifted toward middle-sociodemographic countries. Measurement and surveillance gaps persist. Strengthened prevention, diagnosis, and treatment access strategies are essential to mitigate the health burden of LDL-C.

Background: HIT has the potential to improve the health of individuals and the performance of providers, yielding improved quality, cost savings, and greater engagement by patients. Minorities face a variety of financial and nonfinancial barriers to obtaining appropriate and timely health care. Studying the behavior of minority patients will help understand the specific challenges to HIT adoption and engagement in patients and their caregivers. We undertook a patient-reported survey to explore these factors and understand any underlying disparities. Methods: A 21-question paper-based anonymous questionnaire addressing the responder's attitudes, understanding and needs of the electronic medical record (EMR) was used. This was administered to adult patients with lymphoid malignancies and their caregivers at two campuses of Mayo Clinic in Florida (San Pablo and inner-city; Riverside). Categorical and continuous variables between white and minority responders as well as minority responders from the two campuses were compared using the Chi-square test and U Mann Whitney with a significance level of 0.05. Results: The survey was completed by 1004 patients and caregivers. Average time taken to complete the survey was approximately 11 minutes. Of the responders, 716 (71%) were whites and 271 (27%) were minorities, with race-ethnicity not reported by 17 (2%). Among minorities, 30% (n=80) were seen at San Pablo and 64% (n=173) at the Riverside campus, with 6% at a multiple myeloma patient-caregiver symposium. Whites were older (median age 66 vs. 62 years, p<0.001) and had higher education (undergraduate or higher 60% vs. 52%, p=0.023) as compared to minorities. Minority survey responders had lesser access to a computer (84% vs. 92%, p<0.001) or a smartphone (85% vs. 89%, p=0.08). (Figure 1a) Exploring HIT awareness showed that only 51% of minorities were registered to use the EMR as compared to 72% whites (p<0.001) and a lesser number of minorities even knew that they could access their medical records electronically (81% vs. 92%, p<0.001). even among those registered to use the EMR, 13% minorities reported never using the EMR as compared to 4% whites (p<0.001). Encouragingly, a higher willingness to learn about and use the EMR was noted among minorities who were more interested in knowing how to access the EMR (43% vs. 36%, p=0.04), would increase the use of EMR if someone explained how to use it (17% vs. 10%, p=0.002), and if someone explained about test results (14% vs. 6%, p<0.001). (Figure 1b) Comparing minorities among the two campuses, those from the San Pablo campus were older (67.5 yrs. vs. 57 yrs., P<0.001), had higher level of education (undergraduate or higher in 66% vs. 47%, p=0.005) and a higher number had access to a computer (94% vs. 78%, P=0.001) as compared to those from the inner-city Riverside. (Figure 2a) Minorities from the Riverside campus were less likely to be aware of the current HIT EMR (75% vs. 93%, p<0.001), were significantly less likely to have registered for the patient EMR portal (38% vs. 76%, p<0.001) and never used the EMR even if registered for it (22% vs. 7%, p=0.01) as against those from the San Pablo campus. Minorities at the Riverside campus had a higher interest in knowing how to access the EMR (47% vs. 33%, p=0.03). Linguistic barriers were more striking in the inner-city Riverside campus where a higher proportion of minority survey responders noted that it would help if the EMR was in their primary language (66% vs. 48%, p=0.006). (Figure 2b) Conclusions: Minorities continue to struggle with suboptimal utilization of healthcare system including that of HIT. There are barriers related to access, awareness, language and understanding of HIT that prevent the integration and participation of racial-ethnic minorities in the healthcare system to a full extent. It is important to qualify the minorities better, since there exist HIT utilization disparities even within the minorities from different areas representing socioeconomic and demographic differences. Efforts need to be made at several levels to help the minorities overcome educational, access and linguistic barriers so that they can benefit from advancements in the healthcare system. Disclosures Ailawadhi: Celgene: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Research Funding; Cellectar: Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy. Manochakian:Novocure: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; AstraZeneca: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Guardant Health: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Chanan-Khan:AbbVie: Research Funding; Xencor: Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Research Funding; Merck: Research Funding; Jansen: Research Funding; Mayo Clinic: Employment; Ascentage: Research Funding; Millennium: Research Funding.

Multiple myeloma (MM) treatment has advanced significantly over the last 2 decades. In most patients, the disease course has been altered from early fatality to chronic morbidity with multiple lines of treatment. The MM treatment paradigm has shifted toward treating patients before end-organ damage occurs. Thus, timeliness of treatment initiation in this era might improve patient outcomes. This is the first report to our knowledge analyzing disparities and trends in treatment timeliness of patients with MM using the National Cancer Database. Multiple factors affected the timing of treatment initiation in MM and disparities were found. We noted that initiation of treatment was delayed in women (odds ratio [OR], 1.15; 95% CI, 1.1 to 1.2) and blacks (OR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.14 to 1.28; reference, whites) and in patients diagnosed in more recent years (2012-2015; OR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.1 to 1.22; reference, 2004-2007). Patients were likely to start treatment earlier if they were age ≥ 80 years (OR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.76 to 0.9; reference, age < 60 years), were uninsured (OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.72 to 0.91; reference, private insurance), had Medicaid (OR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.79 to 0.95; reference, private insurance), were treated in a comprehensive community cancer program (OR, 0.7; 95% CI, 0.65 to 0.77; reference, community cancer program), lived in a location other than the US Northeast, or had a higher Charlson comorbidity score. Patient education and income levels did not affect time to treatment initiation. Particular aspects of these disparities could be explained by our current health care system and insurance rules, whereas others need to be investigated more deeply.