Incidence rates for esophageal adenocarcinoma have increased >350% since the mid-1970s. Rates for gastric cardia adenocarcinoma have also increased, although less steeply. This led to the initiation of large population-based case-control studies, particularly in the United States and Sweden, aimed at identifying risk factors for these cancers. Results have been emerging from these studies, with the consistent finding that obesity and gastroesophageal reflux disease are important risk factors for these cancers. Analyses of dietary factors are also available and indicate that diets high in total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol are associated with an increased risk of these cancers, whereas several nutrients, particularly those found in plant foods (fiber, vitamin C, beta-carotene, folate), are associated with a reduced risk. Considering the incidence trends of these cancers and the trends in the prevalence of risk factors, the increasing prevalence of obesity in the United States likely accounts for some of the increased incidence. However, other contributors to the increasing trends have been suggested and will be discussed. Because diet, obesity and gastroesophageal reflux disease may not act independently in contributing to these cancers, current research is attempting to identify associations between the three risk factors and potential mechanisms of action to better understand the etiology of these cancers.

Background: Patient experiences with health care have been widely used as benchmark indicators of quality for providers, health care practices, and health plans.Objective: The objective of this study was to summarize the literature regarding the associations between Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) patient experiences and clinical and quality outcomes.Research Design: A systematic review of the literature was completed using PubMed, Embase, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature on December 14, 2019. Separate searches were conducted to query terms identifying CAHPS surveys with clinical and quality outcomes of care. Two reviewers completed all components of the search process.Study Selection: Studies investigating associations between CAHPS composite ratings and health care sensitive clinical outcomes or quality measures of care were included in this review. Studies were excluded if they did not investigate patient experiences using CAHPS composite ratings or if CAHPS composites were not treated as the independent variable.Results: Nineteen studies met inclusion criteria, 10 investigating associations of CAHPS composite ratings with clinical outcomes and 9 investigating these associations with quality measures. Patientprovider communication was the most studied CAHPS composite rating and was significantly associated with self-reported physical and mental health, frequency of emergency room visits and inpatient hospital stays, hospitalization length, and CAHPS personal physician global ratings.Conclusions: Ratings of patient experience with care may influence clinical and quality outcomes of care. However, key inconsistencies between studies affirm that more research is needed to solidify this conclusion and investigate how patient experiences differentially relate to outcomes for various patient groups.

Objective: Drug injection initiation is often assisted by a person who injects drugs (PWID). How often PWID provide this assistance has not been examined. We examine frequency of injection initiation assistance and factors associated with high (4+) and low frequency (1 to 3) initiation assistance as compared to no initiation assistance among PWID. Methods: Participants were 979 Californian PWID. PWID were interviewed about providing injection initiation assistance in the last 6 months among other items. Multinomial regression analysis was used to examine factors associated with levels of frequency of injection initiation assistance. Results: Among participants, 132 (14%) had initiated 784 people into injection (mean=5.94 [standard deviation=20.13]; median=2, interquartile range=1,4) in the last 6 months. PWID engaged in high frequency initiation (26% of sample) assisted 662 new initiates (84% of total). Using multinomial regression analysis with no initiating as the referent group, we found that high frequency initiating was statistically associated with higher injection frequency, having a paying sex partner, taking someone to a shooting gallery, and providing injection assistance. Lower frequency initiation was statistically associated with having a paying sex partner, illegal income source, and providing injection assistance. Conclusion: Differences between high and low frequency initiators were not found. Sex work and assisting with drug injection were linked to initiating others. Individual-level interventions that

PURPOSE: Black patients with cancer report worse experiences with health care compared with White patients; however, little is known about what influences these ratings. The objective of this study is to explore the multilevel factors that influence global ratings of care for Black cancer survivors. METHODS: We conducted semistructured in-depth interviews with 18 Black cancer survivors. We assessed the global ratings of their personal doctor, specialist, health plan, prescription drug plan, and overall health care, and asked patients to elaborate on their rating. We analyzed the interviews with a deductive grounded theory approach using the socioecologic model to identify the individual, interpersonal, organizational, and environmental influences on Black cancer patient experiences with global ratings of care. We used an inductive constant comparison approach to identify additional themes that emerged. Two coauthors separately coded a set of transcripts and met to refine the codebook. RESULTS: On average, participants reported the highest mean rating for their specialist (9.39/10) and the lowest mean rating for their personal doctor (7.33/10). Emerging themes that influenced patient ratings were perceptions about their interaction with medical providers, physician communication, the doctor's expertise, and aspects of the physical facilities. Global ratings of care measures were widely influenced by patient interactions with their providers that were empathetic, nondiscriminatory, and where the doctors addressed all concerns. CONCLUSION: This grounded theory study identifies multiple aspects of health care that intervention researchers, health care administrators, and providers may target to improve Black cancer patient experiences with care.

Background As Asian American breast cancer incidence rises, it is necessary to investigate the origins of differential breast cancer outcomes among Asian ethnic subgroups. This study aims to examine disparities in delays of breast cancer surgery among Asian ethnic subgroups. Methods We obtained California Cancer Registry data on female breast cancer diagnoses and treatment from 2012–2017. Our main independent variable was patient race and ethnicity, including six Asian ethnic subgroups. Dependent variables included time to surgical treatment for breast cancer and receipt of surgical treatment within 30 and 90 days of diagnosis. We conducted multivariable logistic regression to determine the odds of receiving surgery within 30 and 90 days of diagnosis and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression to determine the risk of prolonged time to surgery. Results In our cohort of 93,168 breast cancer patients, Hispanic (odds ratio [OR]=0.86, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.82–0.89) and non-Hispanic Black (OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.78–0.88) patients were statistically significantly less likely than non-Hispanic White patients to receive surgery within 30 days of breast cancer diagnosis, while Asian Indian or Pakistani (OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.09–1.40) and Chinese (OR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.20–1.40) patients were statistically significantly more likely to receive surgery within 30 days of diagnosis. Conclusions This large, population-based retrospective cohort study of female breast cancer patients is the first to demonstrate that time to surgical treatment is not equal for all Asians. Distinct differences among Asian ethnic subgroups suggest the necessity of further investigating breast cancer treatment patterns to fully understand and target disparities in breast cancer treatment.