Background--Although current guidelines emphasize the importance of social support to the success of left ventricular assist device (LVAD) therapy, few studies examine the influence of the caregiver on patient outcomes or quantify the impact of LVAD caregiving on caregiver outcomes. The purpose of this analysis was to identify patient and caregiver determinants of patient quality of life (QOL) and caregiver strain in response to LVAD therapy. Methods and Results--Data on patients receiving LVAD therapy and their caregivers (n=50 dyads) were prospectively collected pre-implantation and 1, 3, and 6 months post-implantation. Growth curve modeling was used to describe change in patient QOL (Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire) and caregiver strain (Multidimensional Caregiver Strain Index). Patient QOL improved most in the first month (β=23.22±3.76, P < 0.001), followed by gradual gains over 6 months (β=1.90±0.64, P<0.01). Caregivers experienced worsening of strain in the first month (β=4.30±1.42, P < 0.01), followed by gradual resolution to pre-implantation levels by 6 months (β=-0.71±0.23, P < 0.01). Worse pre-implantation patient symptoms were associated with greater improvement in patient QOL (β=0.53±0.19, P < 0.01) but worsening caregiver strain (β=0.15±0.07, P=0.04). Better relationship quality was associated with greater improvement in patient QOL (β=14.39±5.85, P=0.01) and less pre-implantation caregiver strain (β=-9.31±2.28, P < 0.001). Nonspousal caregivers experienced less pre-implantation strain (β=-8.60±3.10, P=0.01), and patients with nonspousal caregivers had less improvement in QOL (β=-3.70±1.62, P=0.02). Conclusions--A combination of patient and caregiver characteristics predicts patient and caregiver response to LVAD therapy. Including caregiver factors in future studies may be helpful in developing interventions that improve patient and caregiver outcomes, together.
by
Jesmin Pervin;
Allisyn Moran;
Monjur Rahman;
Abdur Razzaque;
Lynn Sibley;
Peter K. Streatfield;
Laura J. Reichenbach;
Marge Koblinsky;
Daniel Hruschka;
Anisur Rahman
Background: Antenatal Care (ANC) during pregnancy can play an important role in the uptake of evidence-based services vital to the health of women and their infants. Studies report positive effects of ANC on use of facility-based delivery and perinatal mortality. However, most existing studies are limited to cross-sectional surveys with long recall periods, and generally do not include population-based samples.
Methods: This study was conducted within the Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) in Matlab, Bangladesh. The HDSS area is divided into an icddr,b service area (SA) where women and children receive care from icddr,b health facilities, and a government SA where people receive care from government facilities. In 2007, a new Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health (MNCH) program was initiated in the icddr,b SA that strengthened the ongoing maternal and child health services including ANC. We estimated the association of ANC with facility delivery and perinatal mortality using prospectively collected data from 2005 to 2009. Using a before-after study design, we also determined the role of ANC services on reduction of perinatal mortality between the periods before (2005 - 2006) and after (2008-2009) implementation of the MNCH program.
Results: Antenatal care visits were associated with increased facility-based delivery in the icddr,b and government SAs. In the icddr,b SA, the adjusted odds of perinatal mortality was about 2-times higher (odds ratio (OR) 1.91; 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.50, 2.42) among women who received ≤1 ANC compared to women who received ≥3 ANC visits. No such association was observed in the government SA. Controlling for ANC visits substantially reduced the observed effect of the intervention on perinatal mortality (OR 0.64; 95% CI: 0.52, 0.78) to non-significance (OR 0.81; 95% CI: 0.65, 1.01), when comparing cohorts before and after the MNCH program initiation (Sobel test of mediation P < 0.001).
Conclusions: ANC visits are associated with increased uptake of facility-based delivery and improved perinatal survival in the icddr,b SA. Further testing of the icddr,b approach to simultaneously improving quality of ANC and facility delivery care is needed in the existing health system in Bangladesh and in other low-income countries to maximize health benefits to mothers and newborns.
Purpose: Psychosocial and sensory factors including anxiety, depression, and pressure pain threshold have been used to cluster chronic symptoms in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). However, little is known about the contribution of psychosocial sensory factors on pain interference and quality of life (QOL) in this population.
Design: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a randomized controlled trial.
Sample: Eighty young adults with IBS aged 21 ± 2.57 years (76.25% female).
Methods:
Demographic and psychosocial factors including anxiety, depression, fatigue, cognition/general concerns, sleep disturbance, self-efficacy, coping, and food intake were measured as independent variables. Quantitative sensory testing (QST) was conducted to measure mechanical, thermal, and pressure pain thresholds. Self-reported pain measured by the brief pain inventory (BPI) and IBS-QOL were assessed as the outcome variables. Regression analysis and mediation analysis were conducted to determine the associated factors of IBS pain and QOL.
Results: Age, sex, and psychosocial factors including coping, self-efficacy, alcohol intake, mechanical pain sensitivity, and cold pain threshold were significantly associated with pain interference (all p < 0.05). Coping, and self-efficacy were significantly associated with IBS-QOL (all p < 0.05). In the mediation analysis, coping catastrophizing and self-efficacy were indirectly associated with IBS-QOL mediated by fatigue.
Conclusions: Psychosocial factors including coping and self-efficacy, and QST factors significantly correlate with self-reported pain and QOL among young adults with IBS. This preliminary research calls for further interventional studies that target personalized psychosocial and quantitative sensory factors to improve pain management and quality of life in IBS patients.
Background:
The Children's Oncology Group (COG) publishes consensus guidelines with screening recommendations for early identification of treatment-related morbidities among childhood cancer survivors. We sought to estimate the yield of recommended yearly urinalysis screening for genitourinary complications as per Version 3.0 of the COG Long-Term Follow-Up Guidelines and identify possible risk factors for abnormal screening in a survivor population. Procedure: A database of pediatric cancer survivors evaluated between January 2008 and March 2012 at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta was queried for survivors at risk for genitourinary late effects. The frequency of abnormal urinalyses (protein ≥1+ and/or presence of glucose and/or ≥5 red blood cells per high power field) was estimated. Risk factors associated with abnormal screening were identified. Results: Chart review identified 773 survivors (57% male; 67% Caucasian; 60% leukemia/lymphoma survivors; mean age at diagnosis, 5.7 years [range: birth to 17.7 years]; time from diagnosis to initial screening, 7.6 years [range: 2.3 to 21.5 years]) who underwent urinalysis. Abnormal results were found in 78 (5.3%) of 1,484 total urinalyses. Multivariable analysis revealed higher dose ifosfamide (odds ratio [OR] = 6.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.9-16.0) and total body irradiation (TBI, OR = 3.0, 95% CI 1.0-8.4) as significant risk factors for abnormal initial urinalysis screening. Conclusions: Pediatric cancer survivors exposed to higher dose ifosfamide or TBI may be at higher risk of abnormal findings on urinalysis screening. Targeted screening of these higher risk patients should be considered.
by
Sean van Diepen;
Saket Girotra;
Benjamin S. Abella;
Lance B. Becker;
Bentley J. Bobrow;
Paul S. Chan;
Carol Fahrenbruch;
Christopher B. Granger;
James G. Jollis;
Bryan McNally;
Lindsay White;
Demetris Yannopoulos;
Thomas D. Rea
BACKGROUND: The HeartRescue Project is a multistate public health initiative focused on establishing statewide out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) systems of care to improve case capture and OHCA care in the community, by emergency medical services (EMS), and at hospital level. METHODS AND RESULTS: From 2011 to 2015 in the 5 original HeartRescue states, all adults with EMS-treated OHCA due to a presumed cardiac cause were included. In an adult population of 32.8 million, a total of 64 988 OHCAs-including 10 046 patients with a bystander-witnessed OHCA with a shockable rhythm-were treated by 330 EMS agencies. From 2011 to 2015, the case-capture rate for all-rhythm OHCA increased from an estimated 39.0% (n=6762) to 89.2% (n=16 103; P<0.001 for trend). Overall survival to hospital discharge was 11.4% for all rhythms and 34.0% in the subgroup with bystander-witnessed OHCA with a shockable rhythm. We observed modest temporal increases in bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (41.8-43.5%, P<0.001 for trend) and bystander automated external defibrillator application (3.2-5.6%, P<0.001 for trend) in the all-rhythm group, although there were no temporal changes in survival. There were marked all-rhythm survival differences across the 5 states (8.0-16.1%, P<0.001) and across participating EMS agencies (2.7-26.5%, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In the initial 5 years, the HeartRescue Project developed a population-based OHCA registry and improved statewide case-capture rates and some processes of care, although there were no early temporal changes in survival. The observed survival variation across states and EMS systems presents a future challenge to elucidate the characteristics of high-performing systems with the goal of improving OHCA care and survival.
Purpose: We evaluate the bidirectional association between urological symptoms (urinary incontinence, lower urinary tract symptoms and nocturia) and sleep related variables. Materials and Methods: Data were obtained from a prospective cohort study of 1,610 men and 2,535 women who completed baseline (2002 to 2005) and followup (2006 to 2010) phases of the BACH (Boston Area Community Health) Survey, a population based random sample survey. Sleep restriction (5 hours or less per night), restless sleep, sleep medication use and urological symptoms were assessed by self-report. Urinary incontinence was defined as weekly leakage or moderate/severe leakage, lower urinary tract symptoms (overall, obstructive, irritative) were defined by the AUA-SI (American Urological Association symptom index) and nocturia was defined as urinary frequency 2 or more times per night. Results: At the 5-year followup 10.0%, 8.5% and 16.0% of subjects newly reported lower urinary tract symptoms, urinary incontinence and nocturia, respectively, and 24.2%, 13.3% and 11.6% newly reported poor sleep quality, sleep restriction and use of sleep medication, respectively. Controlling for confounders, the odds of urological symptoms developing were consistently increased for subjects who reported poor sleep quality and sleep restriction at baseline, but only baseline nocturia was positively associated with incident sleep related problems at followup. Body mass index, a potential mediator, reduced selected associations between sleep and incident urinary incontinence and irritative symptoms, but C-reactive protein did not. Conclusions: These data suggest that self-reported sleep related problems and urological symptoms are linked bidirectionally, and that body mass index may be a factor in the relationship between sleep and the development of urological symptoms.
The delivery of dermatology services has undergone dramatic changes in the past century. The goals and timelines of care have evolved as have the diagnostic and therapeutic tools, resulting in the need to capture and manage information differently, both qualitatively and quantitatively. The predominant and basic office-based ambulatory care model has remained relatively unchanged. Patients and providers interact with minimal pre-visit preparation using the “agenda-less” meeting model. This care model is ill-suited to manage the vastly expanded data capture and processing requirement of twenty-first century dermatology. We have developed novel tools to automate pre-visit data collection which allows for more robust information capture which moves data capture outside of the time-constrained clinic visit. These tools capture structured data, integrate into electronic health records, and create summary reports in real time to assist decision-making. These tools, if scaled, can facilitate the information management needs of dermatology care.
Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) measure health states in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and have become the dominant metrics of treatment outcomes. Interpersonal traits (IPTs) are patient-specific factors that include personality type, perceived social support, and trust in physicians. The association of IPTs on treatment outcomes among patients with CRS has not been described previously, and IPTs may represent major clinical factors influencing treatment outcomes. Methods: Adult patients electing medical or surgical treatment for recalcitrant CRS were prospectively enrolled into a multi-institutional, observational outcomes study. Validated measures of IPTs, including the Big Five Inventory-10 Short Version (BFI-10), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and the Trust in Physician Scale (TPS), were completed and compared with PROMs, which included the 22-item SinoNasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22), the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-6D (SF-6D), and the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2). Results: Three hundred fifty-four participants were included and followed for an average (± standard deviation) of 16.3 (±4.8) months. Significant within-subject improvement in mean PROM scores was reported (all p < 0.001). No association was detected between PROM score improvement and baseline BFI-10 or MSPSS scores (p > 0.050). Significant, but weak, absolute correlations were reported between baseline TPS scores and improvement in SNOT-22, SF-6D, and PHQ-2 total scores (p < 0.050; r ≤ 0.138). Conclusion: Personality type and perceived social support do not associate with improvement after treatment for CRS. However, increased trust in physicians is weakly associated with greater posttreatment improvement. Further study is needed to examine the relationship between physician trust, patient satisfaction, and treatment outcomes among patients with CRS.
Aerobic exercise is a common intervention for rehabilitation of motor, and more recently, cognitive function (Intlekofer and Cotman, 2013; Wood et al., 2012). While the underlying mechanisms are complex, BDNF may mediate much of the beneficial effects of exercise to these neurons (Ploughman et al., 2007; Griffin et al., 2011; Real et al., 2013). We studied the effects of aerobic exercise on retinal neurons undergoing degeneration. We exercised wild-type BALB/c mice on a treadmill (10 m/min for 1 h) for 5 d/week or placed control mice on static treadmills. After 2 weeks of exercise, mice were exposed to either toxic bright light (10,000 lux) for 4 h to induce photoreceptor degeneration or maintenance dim light (25 lux). Bright light caused 75% loss of both retinal function and photoreceptor numbers. However, exercised mice exposed to bright light had 2 times greater retinal function and photoreceptor nuclei than inactive mice exposed to bright light. In addition, exercise increased retinal BDNF protein levels by 20% compared with inactive mice. Systemic injections of a BDNF tropomyosin-receptor-kinase (TrkB) receptor antagonist reduced retinal function and photoreceptor nuclei counts in exercised mice to inactive levels, effectively blocking the protective effects seen with aerobic exercise. The data suggest that aerobic exercise is neuroprotective for retinal degeneration and that this effect is mediated by BDNF signaling.
by
Dara W. Ford;
Terryl Hartman;
Christopher Still;
Craig Wood;
Diane C. Mitchell;
Regan Bailey;
Helen Smiciklas-Wright;
Donna L. Coffman;
Gordon L. Jensen
Health care resource consumption is a growing concern. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between diet quality and body mass index with health care resource use (HRU) in a cohort of advanced age. Participants in the Geisinger Rural Aging Study (n=5,993) were mailed demographic and dietary questionnaires in 2009. Of those eligible, 2,995 (50%; 1,267 male, 1,728 female; mean age 81.4±4.4 years) provided completed surveys. Multivariate negative binomial models were used to estimate relative risk and 95% CI of HRU outcomes with diet quality as assessed by the Dietary Screening Tool score and body mass index determined from self-reported height and weight. Poor diet quality was associated with a 20% increased risk for emergency room (ER) visits. Fruit and vegetable consumption was grouped into quintiles of intake, with the highest quintile serving as the reference group in analyses. The three lowest fruit and vegetable quintiles were associated with increased risk for ER visits (23% to 31%); the lowest quintile increased risk for inpatient visits (27%). Obesity increased risk of outpatient visits; however, individuals with class I obesity were less likely than normal-weight individuals to have ER visits (relative risk=0.84; 95% CI 0.70 to 0.99). Diets of greater quality, particularly with greater fruit and vegetable intake, are associated with favorable effects on HRU outcomes among older adults. Overweight and obesity are associated with increased outpatient HRU and, among obese individuals, with decreased ER visits. These findings suggest that BMI and diet quality beyond age 74 years continue to affect HRU measures.