Minorities with lupus nephritis and medications: a study of facilitators to medication decision-making

Prioritized facilitators in AA2 (UAB, Birmingham, AA, 6 low SES, 1 high SES). This table provides a list of prioritized facilitators to help patients make decisions about treatment choices in African-American patients in nominal group 2. AA African-American, SES socioeconomic status, UAB University of Alabama at Birmingham (DOC 43 kb

Protected Health Information filter (Philter): accurately and securely de-identifying free-text clinical notes.

There is a great and growing need to ascertain what exactly is the state of a patient, in terms of disease progression, actual care practices, pathology, adverse events, and much more, beyond the paucity of data available in structured medical record data. Ascertaining these harder-to-reach data elements is now critical for the accurate phenotyping of complex traits, detection of adverse outcomes, efficacy of off-label drug use, and longitudinal patient surveillance. Clinical notes often contain the most detailed and relevant digital information about individual patients, the nuances of their diseases, the treatment strategies selected by physicians, and the resulting outcomes. However, notes remain largely unused for research because they contain Protected Health Information (PHI), which is synonymous with individually identifying data. Previous clinical note de-identification approaches have been rigid and still too inaccurate to see any substantial real-world use, primarily because they have been trained with too small medical text corpora. To build a new de-identification tool, we created the largest manually annotated clinical note corpus for PHI and develop a customizable open-source de-identification software called Philter ("Protected Health Information filter"). Here we describe the design and evaluation of Philter, and show how it offers substantial real-world improvements over prior methods

Scaling theory of two-dimensional metal-insulator transitions

We discuss the recently discovered two-dimensional metal-insulator transition in zero magnetic field in the light of the scaling theory of localization. We demonstrate that the observed symmetry relating conductivity and resistivity follows directly from the quantum critical behavior associated with such a transition. In addition, we show that very general scaling considerations imply that any disordered two dimensional metal is a perfect metal, but most likely not a Fermi liquid.Comment: 4 pages, no figures, REVTEX. Minor corrections adde

Giving formulary and drug cost information to providers and impact on medication cost and use: a longitudinal non-randomized study

BackgroundProviders wish to help patients with prescription costs but often lack drug cost information. We examined whether giving providers formulary and drug cost information was associated with changes in their diabetes patients' drug costs and use. We conducted a longitudinal non-randomized evaluation of the web-based Prescribing Guide ( www.PrescribingGuide.com ), a free resource available to Hawaii's providers since 2006, which summarizes the formularies and copayments of six health plans for drugs to treat 16 common health conditions. All adult primary care physicians in Hawaii were offered the Prescribing Guide, and providers who enrolled received a link to the website and regular hardcopy updates.MethodsWe analyzed prescription claims from a large health plan in Hawaii for 5,883 members with diabetes from 2007 (baseline) to 2009 (follow-up). Patients were linked to 299 "main prescribing" providers, who on average, accounted for >88 % of patients' prescriptions and drug costs. We compared changes in drug costs and use for "study" patients whose main provider enrolled to receive the Prescribing Guide, versus "control" patients whose main provider did not enroll to receive the Prescribing Guide.ResultsIn multivariate analyses controlling for provider specialty and clustering of patients by providers, both patient groups experienced similar increases in number of prescriptions (+3.2 vs. +2.7 increase, p = 0.24), and days supply of medications (+141 vs. +129 increase, p = 0.40) averaged across all drugs. Total and out-of-pocket drug costs also increased for both control and study patients. However, control patients showed higher increases in yearly total drug costs of $208 per patient (+$792 vs. +$584 increase, p = 0.02) and in 30-day supply costs (+$9.40 vs. +$6.08 increase, p = 0.03). Both groups experienced similar changes in yearly out-of-pocket costs (+$41 vs + $31 increase, p = 0.36) and per 30-day supply (-$0.23 vs. -$0.19 decrease, p = 0.996).ConclusionGiving formulary and drug cost information to providers was associated with lower increases in total drug costs but not with lower out-of-pocket costs or greater medication use. Insurers and health information technology businesses should continue to increase providers' access to formulary and drug cost information at the point of care

Provision of preventive health care in systemic lupus erythematosus: data from a large observational cohort study

IntroductionCancer and infections are leading causes of mortality in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) after diseases of the circulatory system, and therefore preventing these complications is important. In this study, we examined two categories of preventive services in SLE: cancer surveillance (cervical, breast, and colon) and immunizations (influenza and pneumococcal). We compared the receipt of these services in SLE to the general population, and identified subgroups of patients who were less likely to receive these services.MethodsWe compared preventive services reported by insured women with SLE enrolled in the University of California, San Francisco Lupus Outcomes Study (n=685) to two representative samples derived from a statewide health interview survey, a general population sample (n=18,013) and a sample with non-rheumatic chronic conditions (n=4,515). In addition, using data from the cohort in both men and women (n=742), we applied multivariate regression analyses to determine whether characteristics of individuals (for example, sociodemographic and disease factors), health systems (for example, number of visits, involvement of generalists or rheumatologists in care, type of health insurance) or neighborhoods (neighborhood poverty) influenced the receipt of services.ResultsThe receipt of preventive care in SLE was similar to both comparison samples. For cancer surveillance, 70% of eligible respondents reported receipt of cervical cancer screening and mammography, and 62% reported colon cancer screening. For immunizations, 59% of eligible respondents reported influenza immunization, and 60% reported pneumococcal immunization. In multivariate regression analyses, several factors were associated with a lower likelihood of receiving preventive services, including younger age and lower educational attainment. We did not observe any effects by neighborhood poverty. A higher number of physician visits and involvement of generalist providers in care was associated with a higher likelihood of receiving most services.ConclusionsAlthough receipt of cancer screening procedures and immunizations in our cohort was comparable to the general population, we observed significant variability by sociodemographic factors such as age and educational attainment. Further research is needed to identify the physician, patient or health system factors contributing to this observed variation in order to develop effective quality improvement interventions

Individualized decision aid for diverse women with lupus nephritis (IDEA-WON): A randomized controlled trial.

BackgroundTreatment decision-making regarding immunosuppressive therapy is challenging for individuals with lupus. We assessed the effectiveness of a decision aid for immunosuppressive therapy in lupus nephritis.Methods and findingsIn a United States multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled trial (RCT), adult women with lupus nephritis, mostly from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds with low socioeconomic status (SES), seen in in- or outpatient settings, were randomized to an individualized, culturally tailored, computerized decision aid versus American College of Rheumatology (ACR) lupus pamphlet (1:1 ratio), using computer-generated randomization. We hypothesized that the co-primary outcomes of decisional conflict and informed choice regarding immunosuppressive medications would improve more in the decision aid group. Of 301 randomized women, 298 were analyzed; 47% were African-American, 26% Hispanic, and 15% white. Mean age (standard deviation [SD]) was 37 (12) years, 57% had annual income of <$40,000, and 36% had a high school education or less. Compared with the provision of the ACR lupus pamphlet (n = 147), participants randomized to the decision aid (n = 151) had (1) a clinically meaningful and statistically significant reduction in decisional conflict, 21.8 (standard error [SE], 2.5) versus 12.7 (SE, 2.0; p = 0.005) and (2) no difference in informed choice in the main analysis, 41% versus 31% (p = 0.08), but clinically meaningful and statistically significant difference in sensitivity analysis (net values for immunosuppressives positive [in favor] versus negative [against]), 50% versus 35% (p = 0.006). Unresolved decisional conflict was lower in the decision aid versus pamphlet groups, 22% versus 44% (p < 0.001). Significantly more patients in the decision aid versus pamphlet group rated information to be excellent for understanding lupus nephritis (49% versus 33%), risk factors (43% versus 27%), medication options (50% versus 33%; p ≤ 0.003 for all); and the ease of use of materials was higher in the decision aid versus pamphlet groups (51% versus 38%; p = 0.006). Key study limitations were the exclusion of men, short follow-up, and the lack of clinical outcomes, including medication adherence.ConclusionsAn individualized decision aid was more effective than usual care in reducing decisional conflict for choice of immunosuppressive medications in women with lupus nephritis.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov, NCT02319525

Positive psychosocial factors may protect against perceived stress in people with systemic lupus erythematosus with and without trauma history

Objective: Trauma history is associated with SLE onset and worse patient-reported outcomes; perceived stress is associated with greater SLE disease activity. Stress perceptions vary in response to life events and may be influenced by psychosocial factors. In an SLE cohort, we examined whether stressful events associated with perceived stress, whether psychosocial factors affected perceived stress, and whether these relationships varied by prior trauma exposure. Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis of data from the California Lupus Epidemiology Study, an adult SLE cohort. Multivariable linear regression analyses controlling for age, gender, educational attainment, income, SLE damage, comorbid conditions, glucocorticoids ≥7.5 mg/day and depression examined associations of recent stressful events (Life Events Inventory) and positive (resilience, self-efficacy, emotional support) and negative (social isolation) psychosocial factors with perceived stress. Analyses were stratified by lifetime trauma history (Brief Trauma Questionnaire (BTQ)) and by adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in a subset. Results: Among 242 individuals with SLE, a greater number of recent stressful events was associated with greater perceived stress (beta (95% CI)=0.20 (0.07 to 0.33), p=0.003). Positive psychosocial factor score representing resilience, self-efficacy and emotional support was associated with lower perceived stress when accounting for number of stressful events (−0.67 (−0.94 to –0.40), p<0.0001); social isolation was associated with higher stress (0.20 (0.14 to 0.25), p<0.0001). In analyses stratified by BTQ trauma and ACEs, associations of psychosocial factors and perceived stress were similar between groups. However, the number of recent stressful events was significantly associated with perceived stress only for people with BTQ trauma (0.17 (0.05 to 0.29), p=0.0077) and ACEs (0.37 (0.15 to 0.58), p=0.0011).Conclusion: Enhancing positive and lessening negative psychosocial factors may mitigate deleterious perceived stress, which may improve outcomes in SLE, even among individuals with a history of prior trauma who may be more vulnerable to recent stressful events

Omicron variant infection in inflammatory rheumatological conditions – outcomes from a COVID-19 naive population in Aotearoa New Zealand

Background: Due to geographic isolation and border controls Aotearoa New Zealand (AoNZ) attained high levels of population coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) vaccination before widespread transmission of COVID-19. We describe outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection (Omicron variant) in people with inflammatory rheumatic diseases in this unique setting. Methods: This observational study included people with inflammatory rheumatic disease and SARS-CoV-2 infection in AoNZ between 1 February and 30 April 2022. Data were collected via the Global Rheumatology Alliance Registry including demographic and rheumatic disease characteristics, and COVID-19 vaccination status and outcomes. Multivariable logistic regression was used to explore associations of demographic and clinical factors with COVID-19 hospitalisation and death. Findings: Of the 1599 cases included, 96% were from three hospitals that systematically identified people with inflammatory rheumatic disease and COVID-19. At time of COVID-19, 1513 cases (94.6%) had received at least two COVID-19 vaccinations. Hospitalisation occurred for 104 (6.5%) cases and 10 (0.6%) patients died. Lower frequency of hospitalisation was seen in cases who had received at least two vaccinations (5.9%), compared to the unvaccinated (20.6%) or those with a single vaccine dose (10.7%). In multivariable adjusted models, people with gout or connective tissue diseases (CTD) had increased risk of the combined outcome of hospitalisation/death, compared to people with inflammatory arthritis. Glucocorticoid and rituximab use were associated with increased rates of hospitalisation/death. All patients who died had three or more co-morbidities or were over 60 years old. Interpretation: In this cohort with inflammatory rheumatic diseases and high vaccination rates, severe outcomes from SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant were relatively infrequent. The outcome of Omicron variant infection among vaccinated but SARS-CoV-2 infection-naive people with inflammatory rheumatic disease without other known risk factors were favourable. Funding: Financial support from the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) included management of COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance funds