News Archives
Shingles vaccine linked to lower risk of COVID-19
December 28, 2021Read more...People who were vaccinated for shingles had a lower risk of COVID-19 diagnosis or hospitalization, according to a Kaiser Permanente study of people ages 50 and older. The research was published December 28 in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. “Our findings add to a compelling body of evidence that some vaccines may provide some protection
Dr. Nguyen named 2021 Physician Researcher of the Year
December 28, 2021Read more...John K. Nguyen, MD, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center, has been named the 2021 Southern California Permanente Medical Group Physician Researcher of the Year. The award has been given each year since 2007 to recognize a physician or surgeon for his or her outstanding contributions to the research community. Dr. Nguyen is
Moderna COVID-19 vaccine effective against virus variants
December 16, 2021Read more...Kaiser Permanente research published on December 15, 2021 in The British Medical Journal showed 2 doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine were highly effective against all SARS-CoV-2 variants. However, vaccine effectiveness against the delta variant moderately declined with increasing time after vaccination. “We conducted a previous study that showed the high effectiveness of the 2-dose Moderna COVID-19
Five questions for … Dr. Matthew Mefford
December 16, 2021Read more...Matthew Mefford, PhD, is a cardiovascular disease epidemiologist and research scientist in the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation. His research interests include heart failure, cardiovascular disease disparities, risk factors and outcomes, and the intersection of chronic disease and infectious diseases. He also maintains a broad focus on applying epidemiologic methods to
Heart attack patients may have delayed care over COVID-19 concerns
December 14, 2021Read more...A study of Kaiser Permanente Southern California members shows that rates of hospital admissions or emergency department visits for heart attacks dropped significantly after stay-at-home orders for the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. These findings, published in The Permanente Journal on December 13, 2021, suggest that people may have delayed seeking care out of concern
New Virtual Research Office enables physician research
December 14, 2021Read more...Kaiser Permanente Southern California has launched a new Virtual Research Office portal to make it easier for physicians to conduct clinical research that can have a direct impact on the quality of care provided to Kaiser Permanente members. The new portal, developed and housed by the Department of Research & Evaluation, provides a single point
People with HIV are at increased risk for heart failure
December 13, 2021Read more...People with HIV are at higher risk of developing heart failure than people without HIV, a new study found. The research, published Dec. 13, 2021, in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, is one of the largest studies to investigate heart failure risk in people with HIV and how that risk varies by age, gender, race, and ethnicity.
Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is effective 5 months after 2nd dose
November 29, 2021Read more...Kaiser Permanente research in Southern California published November 25, 2021, in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas confirmed high Moderna COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness up to 5 months after the second dose. Effectiveness was 87% against COVID-19 infection, 96% against COVID-19 hospitalization, and 98% against COVID-19 death. “This research provides reassuring evidence of the high effectiveness
Higher risk of dementia for older adults living with HIV
November 28, 2021Read more...A study reviewing 16 years of patient data found nearly double the rate of dementia among people with HIV compared with those without HIV. The rate of dementia decreased over time for both groups but remained higher for those with HIV, reported research published in the journal AIDS. The study compared more than 13,000 people with HIV,
Exercise during pandemic linked to better mental health
November 10, 2021Read more...People who exercised more during the initial lockdown period of the COVID-19 pandemic experienced less anxiety and depression than those who didn’t exercise, according to new research published November 11, 2021, in Preventive Medicine. The research also showed that people who spent more time outdoors typically experienced lower levels of anxiety and depression than those
Five questions for … Dr. Stanley Xu
November 10, 2021Read more...Dr. Stanley Xu is a senior research scientist biostatistician in the Division of Biostatistics Research in the Department of Research & Evaluation. He has served as principal investigator, co-investigator, and lead biostatistician on randomized trials and observational studies funded by the National Institutes of Health, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Centers for Disease Control
Kaiser Permanente members invited to join flu vaccine study
October 27, 2021Read more...The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has selected Kaiser Permanente Southern California as a new site in its U.S. Flu Vaccine Effectiveness network. Kaiser Permanente Southern California is inviting its members to participate in a nationwide study of how well flu and COVID-19 vaccines are working. It is one of 2 new sites selected
New study looking at millions of vaccinated and unvaccinated people found no increased risk of death among COVID-19 vaccine recipients
October 22, 2021Read more...COVID-19 vaccine recipients had lower non-COVID-19 death rates than people who weren’t vaccinated, according to Kaiser Permanente research published Oct. 22, 2021 in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. “Despite numerous studies showing the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, some people have remained hesitant to get vaccinated,” said lead author
Kaiser Permanente study to assess COVID-19 antibodies in employees, physicians
October 22, 2021Read more...A physician investigator in the Southern California Permanente Medical Group received a grant to study antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccination among health care workers. The study will also help learn more about the impact of booster vaccination and the rates of asymptomatic COVID-19 infection among the vaccinated. Kaiser Permanente Southern California is inviting up to
Five questions for … Dr. Debbie Malden
October 19, 2021Read more...Debbie Malden, DPhil, MSc, is an epidemiologist with research experience in large-scale prospective cohort studies. Before joining Kaiser Permanente, Dr. Malden completed her DPhil at the University of Oxford, assessing risk factors for cardiovascular disease among a half million U.K. adults using both observational and genetic epidemiological techniques. In addition to her research on chronic
Sleep aids increase fracture risk in breast cancer survivors
October 8, 2021Read more...About 40% of breast cancer survivors use prescription medications to alleviate sleep problems, but these medications can increase their risk of bone fractures, according to research from Kaiser Permanente in Southern California published Sept. 29, 2021 in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. For many of the 3.8 million breast cancer survivors living in the United States,
COVID-19 delta variant associated with increased risk of severe disease
October 7, 2021Read more...Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente Southern California found that COVID-19 cases caused by the delta variant increased rapidly from April 15 to July 21, particularly among people ages 18 to 44. The study was published October 7, 2021, in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, known as
COVID-19 severity associated with air pollution from non-freeway traffic
October 7, 2021Read more...A study of Kaiser Permanente Southern California members diagnosed with COVID-19 found that patients who had recently lived in areas with higher levels of air pollution from non-freeway roadways had a higher risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes. “Our analysis suggests that traffic-related air pollution may be a contributor to the severity of COVID-19,” said the
Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness wanes over time
October 4, 2021Read more...A recent study led by Kaiser Permanente found the Pfizer-BioNTech, BNT162b2, mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective against hospitalization for 6 months after full vaccination, even in the face of widespread transmission of the delta variant. The study was published in The Lancet. (An earlier draft of the study was previously posted on The Lancet
5 questions for … Dr. Sarah Carter
September 15, 2021Read more...Sarah Carter, DPhil, MA, is a postdoctoral research fellow at Kaiser Permanente Southern California’s Department of Research & Evaluation. She completed her doctoral work at the University of Southampton in England, where she studied childbirth intervention in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS). She is currently studying pre- and perinatal maternal health, environmental exposures,
Vulnerable populations sought virtual care during pandemic
September 13, 2021Read more...Kaiser Permanente Southern California patients who were Latinx or low-income had the largest percentage increase in use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Kaiser Permanente research recently published in Journal of Medical Internet Research. Increases in telehealth visits during the COVID-19 pandemic varied across age, sex, race/ethnicity, and household income groups, while decreases
Infant lung disease rates drop dramatically over 10-year effort
September 1, 2021Read more...Over the last decade, rates of a chronic lung condition known as bronchopulmonary dysplasia have dropped from 20% to less than 2% among very preterm babies at Kaiser Permanente Panorama City. As reported in JAMA Network Open, this decrease is associated with a novel system of care designed by Kaiser Permanente Southern California researchers. Meanwhile,
Young children gained weight during the pandemic
August 27, 2021Read more...A Kaiser Permanente study of nearly 200,000 children showed that children gained excess weight during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those between 5 and 11 years old. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “When we compared the weight gain among children from 2019 to 2020, we found that there was
5 questions for … Dr. Darryl Palmer-Toy
August 26, 2021Read more...Darryl Palmer-Toy, MD, PhD, is the physician director of the Regional Reference Core Laboratories for Kaiser Permanente Southern California. He has been in this position for 5 years. In this role, Dr. Palmer-Toy oversees the ancillary, clinical chemistry, and immunochemistry departments, which perform about 20 million tests per year. A student of proteomics (the study
Bariatric surgery associated with better health for mothers
August 13, 2021Read more...A study of more than 20,000 Kaiser Permanente members in Southern California showed that women with obesity who underwent bariatric surgery prior to pregnancy experienced improved outcomes such as a reduced risk of serious pregnancy-related blood pressure conditions, and lower instances of a newborn needing to be sent to the neonatal intensive care unit, or
Risk of severe COVID-19 higher for patients who recently needed asthma care
August 10, 2021Read more...A study of Kaiser Permanente Southern California members diagnosed with COVID-19 found that patients who needed clinical visits for asthma care in the 12 months prior to infection faced a higher risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes than patients who did not have asthma. Of patients who had recent asthma-related visits, those who also received medications
5 questions for … Dr. Sonya Negriff
August 10, 2021Read more...Sonya Negriff, PhD, is a developmental psychologist with expertise in the effects of child maltreatment on physical and mental health. She has been with the Department of Research & Evaluation for 3 years. Dr. Negriff examines the pathways linking child maltreatment to negative outcomes such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use, obesity, and sexual
Where you live may affect your long-term survival after heart attack
August 2, 2021Read more...A study of more than 31,000 Kaiser Permanente members in Southern California showed that Black patients from disadvantaged neighborhoods were significantly more likely to die within 5 years of surviving a heart attack than white patients. In contrast, there was no difference in rates of death between white patients and Black patients who lived in
COVID-19 vaccine trials for children are underway
July 30, 2021Read more...When their parents asked if they wanted to be part of a COVID-19 vaccine trial for children, Aidan and Avery Shih didn’t have to think about it for long. Both were eager to help end the pandemic. “The vaccine does help you not get COVID, of course, but then also it helps you so you don’t spread COVID. So, if enough people get the vaccine, COVID will slow and hopefully eventually stop,” said Aidan, 11.
New protocol allows teen to go home same day as chest surgery
July 27, 2021Read more...About 5 years ago, John Connell, now 16, was at a water park when a friend pointed his index finger at John’s bare chest and asked, “Were you in a car accident or something?” John looked down at his chest, and then at the chests of the other boys around him, and realized for the