Rollins Research Review: Quality of Hospices, Atrial Fibrillation in Older Adults, and Methamphetamine Use Among Black Sexual Minority Men

By Sarah Timbie 

Last month, Rollins researchers authored papers on a wealth of public health topics. Find summaries of a few highlights below. 

Title: Caregiver-Reported Quality in Hospices Owned by Private Equity Firms and Publicly Traded Companies 

Journal: JAMA 

Rollins Author: Alexander E. Soltoff 

Important Takeaways: 

• This study used results from the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems data which had caregivers score a hospice in the following measures: Communication, timely care, treating family member with respect, emotional and religious support, help for symptoms, hospice care training, hospice rating, and willingness to recommend.  

• Researchers compared caregiver-reported quality of 2676 private equity firms (PEs) and publicly traded company (PTCs) for-profit hospices, non-PE/PTC for-profit hospices, and not-for-profit hospices. 

• PE- and PTC-owned hospices were rated significantly lower across all measures of care quality than not-for-profit and non-PE/PTC for-profit hospices.  

• The focus on short-term profits in PE and PTC ownership models may compromise care quality, which could lead to worse health outcomes and patient well-being. 

Title: The Association Between Alcohol Intake and Incident Atrial Fibrillation in Older Adults: The ARIC Cohort 

Journal: PLOS One 

Rollins Authors: Louis Li; Linzi Li; Alvaro Alonso, MD 

Important Takeaways: 

• A Rollins team investigated the association between alcohol intake and incident atrial fibrillation (the most common kind of irregular heartbeat) in older adults using data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities cohort. 

• Results showed that both current and former drinkers had similar atrial fibrillation risk compared to non-drinkers. There was also no difference in the risk for atrial fibrillation risk based on alcohol consumption level or years without drinking. 

• Most existing studies on alcohol and atrial fibrillation focus on younger populations, leaving a gap in understanding for older adults, meaning more research is needed in this area. 

Title: Structural Influences on Methamphetamine Use Among Black Sexual Minority Men (HISTORY Study): Protocol for a Longitudinal Cohort Study 

Journal: Research Protocols 

Rollins Authors: Natalie Crawford, PhD; McKinsey Bullock; Marcus Reed; Srija Dutta; Kamini Doraivelu; Sophia Hussen, MD 

Important Takeaways: 

• Structural racism and discrimination are significant contributors to health disparities and the disproportionate impact of methamphetamine use among Black sexual minority men in Atlanta.  

• This five-year longitudinal cohort study will incorporate surveys, medical records, and interviews from participants in Atlanta to explore how structural racism and discrimination influences methamphetamine use among Black sexual minority men. 

• The final part of the study will incorporate model-building workshops involving a variety of participants from diverse sectors to develop maps of the relationships between structural racism and discrimination, mobility, and methamphetamine use.  

• The results of this study will hopefully influence future programs and policies built to support Black sexual minority men who may be at risk of harm from methamphetamine use. 

Title: “Games Being Played”: A US Exploration of Market Strategies Used by the Beverage Industry as Experienced by Food Retailers 

Journal: Globalization and Health 

Rollins Authors: Megan Winkler, PhD; Cerra Antonacci; Angela Zhang 

Important Takeaways: 

• Large beverage companies use market strategies to maintain control over retailers, especially smaller stores, by standardizing agreement terms, favoring larger chain retailers, and imposing costly and strict terms on smaller retailers. 

• Review of interviews, marketing agreements, and industry documents showed that smaller stores face higher costs and disadvantages than larger chains, which could limit their competitiveness and ability to offer healthier beverage options. 

• Large beverage company practices contribute to the prevalence of sugary, unhealthy beverages in the retail space, making it harder to promote healthier alternatives and undermining efforts to improve public health through better food and beverage access. 

• Further work to uncover beverage industry truths and show how they may apply to other unhealthy foods could help drive legal changes that improve public health.