Addressing unmet basic resource needs as part of chronic cardiometabolic disease management

IMPORTANCE It is unclear if helping patients meet resource needs, such as difficulty affording food, housing, or medications, improves clinical outcomes. OBJECTIVE To determine the effectiveness of the Health Leads program on improvement in systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP, respectively), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) level, and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A difference-in-difference evaluation of the Health Leads program was conducted from October 1, 2012, through September 30, 2015, at 3 academic primary care practices. Health Leads consists of screening for unmet needs at clinic visits, and offering those who screen positive to meet with an advocate to help obtain resources, or receive brief information provision. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Changes in SBP, DBP, LDL-C level, and HbA1c level.We compared those who screened positive for unmet basic needs (Health Leads group) with those who screened negative, using intention-to-treat, and, secondarily, between those who did and did not enroll in Health Leads, using linear mixed modeling, examining the period before and after screening. RESULTS A total of 5125 people were screened, using a standardized form, for unmet basic resource needs; 3351 screened negative and 1774 screened positive. For those who screened positive, the mean age was 57.6 years and 1811 (56%) were women. For those who screened negative, the mean age was 56.7 years and 909 (57%) were women. Of 5125 people screened, 1774 (35%) reported at least 1 unmet need, and 1021 (58%) of those enrolled in Health Leads. Median follow-up for those who screened positive and negative was 34 and 32 months, respectively. In unadjusted intention-to-treat analyses of 1998 participants with hypertension, the Health Leads group experienced greater reduction in SBP (differential change, ?1.2; 95%CI, ?2.1 to ?0.4) and DBP (differential change, ?1.0; 95%CI, ?1.5 to ?0.5). For 2281 individuals with an indication for LDL-C level lowering, results also favored the Health Leads group (differential change, ?3.7; 95%CI ?6.7 to ?0.6). For 774 individuals with diabetes, the Health Leads group did not show HbA1c level improvement (differential change, ?0.04%; 95%CI, ?0.17%to 0.10%). Results adjusted for baseline demographic and clinical differences were not qualitatively different. Among those who enrolled in Health Leads program, there were greater BP and LDL-C level improvements than for those who declined (SBP differential change ?2.6; 95%CI,?3.5 to ?1.7; SBP differential change, ?1.4; 95%CI, ?1.9 to ?0.9; LDL-C level differential change, ?6.3; 95%CI, ?9.7 to ?2.8). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Screening for and attempting to address unmet basic resource needs in primary care was associated with modest improvements in blood pressure and lipid, but not blood glucose, levels

Association between access to social service resources and cardiometabolic risk factors: A machine learning and multilevel modeling analysis

Objectives Interest in linking patients with unmet social needs to area-level resources, such as food pantries and employment centres in one's ZIP code, is growing. However, whether the presence of these resources is associated with better health outcomes is unclear. We sought to determine if area-level resources, defined as organisations that assist individuals with meeting healthrelated social needs, are associated with lower levels of cardiometabolic risk factors. Design Cross-sectional. Setting Data were collected in a primary care network in eastern Massachusetts in 2015. Participants and primary and secondary outcome measures 123 355 participants were included. The primary outcome was body mass index (BMI). The secondary outcomes were systolic blood pressure (SBP), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). All participants were included in BMI analyses. Participants with hypertension were included in SBP analyses. Participants with an indication for cholesterol lowering were included in LDL analyses and participants with diabetes mellitus were included in HbA1c analyses. We used a random forest-based machine-learning algorithm to identify types of resources associated with study outcomes. We then tested the association of ZIP-level selected resource types (three for BMI, two each for SBP and HbA1c analyses and one for LDL analyses) with these outcomes, using multilevel models to account for individual-level, clinic-level and other area-level factors. Results Resources associated with lower BMI included more food resources (-0.08 kg/m2 per additional resource, 95% CI-0.13 to-0.03 kg/m2), employment resources (-0.05 kg/m2, 95% CI-0.11 to-0.002 kg/m2) and nutrition resources (-0.07 kg/m2, 95% CI-0.13 to-0.01 kg/m2). No area resources were associated with differences in SBP, LDL or HbA1c. Conclusions Access to specific local resources is associated with better BMI. Efforts to link patients to area resources, and to improve the resources landscape within communities, may help reduce BMI and improve population health

Financial Incentive Increases CPAP Acceptance in Patients from Low Socioeconomic Background

OBJECTIVE: We explored whether financial incentives have a role in patients' decisions to accept (purchase) a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device in a healthcare system that requires cost sharing. DESIGN: Longitudinal interventional study. PATIENTS: The group receiving financial incentive (n = 137, 50.8±10.6 years, apnea/hypopnea index (AHI) 38.7±19.9 events/hr) and the control group (n = 121, 50.9±10.3 years, AHI 39.9±22) underwent attendant titration and a two-week adaptation to CPAP. Patients in the control group had a co-payment of $330-660; the financial incentive group paid a subsidized price of$55. RESULTS: CPAP acceptance was 43% greater (p = 0.02) in the financial incentive group. CPAP acceptance among the low socioeconomic strata (n = 113) (adjusting for age, gender, BMI, tobacco smoking) was enhanced by financial incentive (OR, 95% CI) (3.43, 1.09-10.85), age (1.1, 1.03-1.17), AHI (>30 vs. <30) (4.87, 1.56-15.2), and by family/friends who had positive experience with CPAP (4.29, 1.05-17.51). Among average/high-income patients (n = 145) CPAP acceptance was affected by AHI (>30 vs. <30) (3.16, 1.14-8.75), living with a partner (8.82, 1.03-75.8) but not by the financial incentive. At one-year follow-up CPAP adherence was similar in the financial incentive and control groups, 35% and 39%, respectively (p = 0.82). Adherence rate was sensitive to education (+yr) (1.28, 1.06-1.55) and AHI (>30 vs. <30) (5.25, 1.34-18.5). CONCLUSIONS: Minimizing cost sharing reduces a barrier for CPAP acceptance among low socioeconomic status patients. Thus, financial incentive should be applied as a policy to encourage CPAP treatment, especially among low socioeconomic strata patients

Do transferred patients increase the risk of venous thromboembolism in trauma centers?

Trauma patients often require initial stabilization followed by transfer for ongoing trauma care. Thus, the administration of VTE prophylaxis is often delayed until admission to the receiving hospital. It is unclear if transfer status is a risk factor for VTE. The National Trauma Database v6.2 was used to identify patients admitted to Level I and II trauma centers. Exclusions included patients on anticoagulation, &lt;18 years, known VTE before trauma, or pregnant. Patients transferred were compared with nontransferred patients. Analysis included 736,374 patients with 189,166 (25.69%) transferred patients within 24 hours of injury. Using weighted measures, VTE was identified in 11,619 (1.50%) patients. The VTE rate was significantly higher in the transferred group compared with the nontransferred group (1.73% vs 1.42%, P = 0.002) including deep venous thrombosis (1.39% vs 1.14%, P = 0.004) and pulmonary embolism (0.45% vs 0.39%, P = 0.003). Multivariable analyses adjusting for patient-level risk factors demonstrated that transfer was associated with a higher likelihood of VTE (aOR 1.18; 95% CI: 1.09-1.28, P &#x2264; 0.001), pulmonary embolism (aOR 1.21; 95% CI: 1.11-1.33, P &#x2264; 0.001), and deep venous thrombosis (aOR 1.17; 95% CI: 1.07-1.28, P = 0.0004). Transfer status of trauma patients is a risk factor for VTE. Accepting a transferred patient results in an increased VTE risk and may not be reflective of the quality of care at the receiving facility

Association of androgen deprivation therapy with depression in localized prostate cancer

Abstract not availableKathryn T. Dinh, Gally Reznor, Vinayak Muralidhar, Brandon A. Mahal, Michelle D. Nezolosky, Toni K. Choueiri, Karen E. Hoffman, Jim C. Hu, Christopher J. Sweeney, Quoc-Dien Trinh, and Paul L. Nguye

Variation in national use of long-term ADT by disease aggressiveness among men with unfavorable-risk prostate cancer

The current NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for Prostate Cancer recommend long-term androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for all men with high-risk prostate cancer treated with external-beam radiation therapy (EBRT). We determined whether the use of long-term ADT varied by the recently defined subcategories of high-risk disease (favorable, other, and very high) versus unfavorable intermediate-risk disease.We identified 5,524 patients with unfavorable-risk prostate cancer diagnosed from 2004 to 2007 and managed with EBRT using the SEER-Medicare linked database. Patients were stratified by risk group: unfavorable intermediate-risk, favorable high-risk (previously defined and validated as clinical stage T1c, Gleason score of 4 + 4 = 8, and prostate-specific antigen [PSA] level 20 ng/mL), very-high-risk (clinical stage T3b-T4 or primary Gleason pattern 5), or other high risk (ie, neither favorable nor very high). We used multivariable competing risks regression to estimate the rates of long-term (≥2 years) ADT by group.Men with favorable high-risk prostate cancer were significantly less likely to receive long-term ADT than those with other high-risk disease (15.4% vs 24.6%, adjusted hazard ratio [AHR], 0.68; 95% CI, 0.60-0.76;P<.001), and similarly likely as those with unfavorable intermediate-risk disease (AHR, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.99-1.23;P=.087). Other high-risk disease was less likely to receive long-term ADT than very high-risk cancer (24.6% vs 30.8%; AHR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.74-0.93;P=.002).Despite current guidelines, patients with EBRT-managed high-risk prostate cancer received significantly different rates of long-course ADT based on subclassification. Our results suggest that oncologists view these patients as a heterogeneous group with favorable high-risk cancer warranting less aggressive therapy than other high-risk or very high-risk disease.Vinayak Muralidhar, Brandon Arvin Virgil Mahal, Gally Reznor, Toni K. Choueiri, Christopher Sweeney, Neil E. Martin, Peter F. Orio, Yu-Wei Chen, Michelle Daniel Nezolosky, Karen E. Hoffman, Felix Yi-Chung Feng, Quoc-Dien Trinh, Paul L. Nguye

Medical androgen deprivation therapy and increased non-cancer mortality in non-metastatic prostate cancer patients aged ≥66 years.

PURPOSE: To examine the potential relationship between androgen deprivation therapy and other-cause mortality (OCM) in patients with prostate cancer treated with medical primary-androgen deprivation therapy, prostatectomy, or radiation. METHODS: A total of 137,524 patients with non-metastatic PCa treated between 1995 and 2009 within the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results Medicare-linked database were included. Cox-regression analysis tested the association of ADT with OCM. A 40-item comorbidity score was used for adjustment. RESULTS: Overall, 9.3% of patients harbored stage III-IV disease, and 57.7% of patients received ADT. The mean duration of ADT exposure was 22.9 months (median: 9.1; IQR: 2.8-31.5). Mean and median follow-up were 66.9, and 60.4 months, respectively. At 10 years, overall-OCM rate was 36.5%; it was 30.6% in patients treated without ADT vs. 40.1% in patients treated with ADT (p \u3c 0.001). In multivariable-analysis, ADT was associated with an increased risk of OCM (Hazard-ratio [HR]: 1.11, 95% Confidence-interval [95% CI]: 1.08-1.13). Patients with no comorbidity (10-year OCM excess risk: 9%) were more subject to harm from ADT than patients with high comorbidity (10-year OCM excess risk: 4.7%). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with PCa, treatment with medical ADT may increase the risk of mortality due to causes other than PCa. Whether this is a simple association or a cause-effect relationship is unknown and warrants further study in prospective studies