image: Based on a study by Donaldson SV, et al. in CHEST 2021, there were major disparities in mortality and these disparities varied by region.
Published monthly, the journal CHEST® features peer-reviewed, cutting-edge original research in chest medicine: Pulmonary, critical care, sleep medicine and related disciplines. Journal topics include asthma, chest infections, COPD, critical care, diffuse lung disease, education and clinical practice, pulmonology and cardiology, sleep and thoracic oncology.
The June issue of CHEST includes 95 articles, clinically relevant research, reviews, case series, commentary and more. Each month, the journal also offers complementary web and multimedia activities, including visual abstracts, to expand the reach of its most interesting, timely and relevant research.
"We have a great lineup of original research and review articles in this month's issue," says Editor in Chief of the journal, Peter Mazzone, MD, MPH, FCCP. "As always, I am grateful to the authors of this work, the reviewers who volunteered their time to improve the quality of these submissions and our editorial board for guiding everything that we do."
Included in the June 2021 issue:
Racial disparities in asthma and COPD
Looking deeper into the racial, ethnic and economic disparities in access to care associated with asthma and COPD, National Trends and Disparities in Health-Care Access and Coverage Among Adults With Asthma and COPD: 1997-2018 looks to determine whether health coverage and access to care and medication have improved, and disparities have narrowed, over the past 2 decades. An accompanying visual abstract can be found here.
Inequalities in influenza and pneumonia
Asking whether geographic variation in racial disparity in influenza and pneumonia mortality exists, Geographic Variation in Racial Disparities in Mortality From Influenza and Pneumonia in the United States in the Pre-Coronavirus Disease 2019 Era found age-adjusted mortality rates were higher in non-Hispanic Blacks than in non-Hispanic Whites across age groups. The greatest disparity was seen in two Health and Human Services regions, with disparities greatest in the core of major metropolitan areas. An accompanying visual abstract can be found here.
Obesity and ventilator-associated pneumonia
The first study to evaluate obesity and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), Relationship Between Obesity and Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia: A Post Hoc Analysis of the NUTRIREA2 Trial revealed no statistically significant difference in VAP between obesity and nonobesity. Furthermore, the study found that the 90-day mortality rate was significantly less in the obese group, highlighting the "obesity paradox." The accompanying visual abstract can be found here.
Lung cancer among gender minority individuals
Individuals whose gender identity (man, woman, other) or expression (masculine, feminine, other) is different from their sex (male, female) assigned at birth face unique challenges in cancer diagnosis and care. A research letter, Assessing Disparities in Lung Cancer Incidence for Gender Minority Individuals Using California Cancer Registry Data, describes a unique study looking at gender minorities in lung cancer.