Low Self-Reported Physical Function Status Was an Excellent Predictor of Adverse Postoperative Course in Older Veterans Having Knee and Hip Surgery

Objectives: To measure the association between functional status and an adverse postoperative course. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Participants: Older adults who underwent total hip and knee replacement (THR and TKR) at a VA facility from 2002-2009. To be included, subjects must have completed the Veteran Rand-12 (VR-12) within six months of surgery. VR-12 is a general purpose 12 item health quality survey nearly identical to the SF-12 for which the summary score of physical health called physical component score (PCS) is normed to a value of 50 for US adults with standard deviation of 10. Measurements: We measured the association of PCS split into quartiles with the outcomes major complication (cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction, stoke, respiratory failure, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, sepsis, and renal failure), discharge to nursing home, and readmission. We checked our association for confounding by age, race, surgery type, facility volume, duration of time between collection of PCS and surgery, and clustering by facility. Results: We identified 3,542 THR and TKR surgeries for which PCS information was available. The very lowest quartile of PCS (values 4.9-24.2) predicted a 2.7 fold increase in odds of major complications, 2.1 fold increase in odds of discharge to nursing home, and a 1.9 fold increase in odds of readmission compared with highest quartile (PCS 38.9-61). The next lowest quartile (PCS 24.3-31.8) also predicted elevated rates of major complication and readmission. Conclusions: Very low PCS predicts greater than a 2 fold increase in major complication and readmission after total hip and knee replacement. Future research should re-measure the effect of very low PCS in populations not addressed by our study including women, patients having non-orthopedic surgery, and nonveterans

Show Back: Evaluation of Scoresheet for Identifying Self-Management Medication Problems of Older Adults

Purpose The study purpose was to test the feasibility of a scoresheet to screen for problems older adults may have managing medications after discharge from a hospital or nursing home facility. Background Adverse drug events (ADE) prevention is an important patient safety priority, with ADEs accounting for an estimated one-third of hospital adverse events and approximately 280,000 hospital admissions annually. Home healthcare nurses work with older adults to avoid ADEs and promote self-management of medications. Few, if any, studies have described older adults’ cognitive and psychomotor abilities to manage their medications after being discharged home. Methods We enrolled patients if they were aged 65 and older, recently discharged from a hospital, rehabilitation center, or nursing facility, and were prescribed at least one antidiabetic, anticoagulant, or opioid medication. A physician and homecare nurse observed and scored patients’ proficiency managing across five domains: identification, explanation of purpose, organization, administration, and timing. Based on the experiences in the first 20 visits, we created a protocol and a detailed manual for determining proficiency in each domain. Through the subsequent home visits, we determined inter-rater reliability using Cohen’s Kappa (κ). Results Thirty older adults participated. During the ten visits completed after we developed the protocol and scoring guide, we scored a total of 90 medications with an average of 8 (SD±2.04) medications per patient. The physician and nurse scored the explanation domain most reliably, with an inter-rater reliability Kappa of 0.872 (p \u3c 0.0001), followed by timing (κ=0.707, p \u3c 0.0001), organization (κ=0.624, p \u3c 0.0001), and identification (0.376, p \u3c 0.0001). The physician and nurse scorers were least reliable in scoring the administration domain (κ=0.133, p=0.4454). Conclusions & Implication: The Show Back scoresheet shows promise to identify domain-specific problems faced by older adults’ managing their medications at home. We plan to hone our protocol and recalculate agreement in subsequent cohort of patients

Learning Latent Space Representations to Predict Patient Outcomes: Model Development and Validation

BACKGROUND: Scalable and accurate health outcome prediction using electronic health record (EHR) data has gained much attention in research recently. Previous machine learning models mostly ignore relations between different types of clinical data (ie, laboratory components, International Classification of Diseases codes, and medications). OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to model such relations and build predictive models using the EHR data from intensive care units. We developed innovative neural network models and compared them with the widely used logistic regression model and other state-of-the-art neural network models to predict the patient\u27s mortality using their longitudinal EHR data. METHODS: We built a set of neural network models that we collectively called as long short-term memory (LSTM) outcome prediction using comprehensive feature relations or in short, CLOUT. Our CLOUT models use a correlational neural network model to identify a latent space representation between different types of discrete clinical features during a patient\u27s encounter and integrate the latent representation into an LSTM-based predictive model framework. In addition, we designed an ablation experiment to identify risk factors from our CLOUT models. Using physicians\u27 input as the gold standard, we compared the risk factors identified by both CLOUT and logistic regression models. RESULTS: Experiments on the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care-III dataset (selected patient population: 7537) show that CLOUT (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve=0.89) has surpassed logistic regression (0.82) and other baseline NN models ( \u3c 0.86). In addition, physicians\u27 agreement with the CLOUT-derived risk factor rankings was statistically significantly higher than the agreement with the logistic regression model. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the applicability of CLOUT for real-world clinical use in identifying patients at high risk of mortality

Anticoagulant Prescribing for Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation in the Veterans Health Administration

Background: Direct acting oral anticoagulants (DOACs) theoretically could contribute to addressing underuse of anticoagulation in non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). Few studies have examined this prospect, however. The potential of DOACs to address underuse of anticoagulation in NVAF could be magnified within a healthcare system that sharply limits patients\u27 exposure to out-of-pocket copayments, such as the Veterans Health Administration (VA). Methods and Results: We used a clinical data set of all patients with NVAF treated within VA from 2007 to 2016 (n=987 373). We examined how the proportion of patients receiving any anticoagulation, and which agent was prescribed, changed over time. When first approved for VA use in 2011, DOACs constituted a tiny proportion of all prescriptions for anticoagulants (2%); by 2016, this proportion had increased to 45% of all prescriptions and 67% of new prescriptions. Patient characteristics associated with receiving a DOAC, rather than warfarin, included white race, better kidney function, fewer comorbid conditions overall, and no history of stroke or bleeding. In 2007, before the introduction of DOACs, 56% of VA patients with NVAF were receiving anticoagulation; this dipped to 44% in 2012 just after the introduction of DOACs and had risen back to 51% by 2016. Conclusions: These results do not suggest that the availability of DOACs has led to an increased proportion of patients with NVAF receiving anticoagulation, even in the context of a healthcare system that sharply limits patients\u27 exposure to out-of-pocket copayments

Geriatric Conditions Are Associated With Decreased Anticoagulation Use in Long-Term Care Residents With Atrial Fibrillation

Background Anticoagulation is the mainstay for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation, but concerns about bleeding inhibit its use in residents of long-term care facilities. Risk-profiling algorithms using comorbid disease information (eg, CHADS2 and ATRIA [Anticoagulation and Risk Factors in Atrial Fibrillation]) have been available for years. In the long-term care setting, however, providers and residents may place more value on geriatric conditions such as mobility impairment, activities of daily living dependency, cognitive impairment, low body mass index, weight loss, and fall history. Methods and Results Using a retrospective cohort design, we measured the association between geriatric conditions and anticoagulation use and type. After merging nursing home assessments containing information about geriatric conditions (Minimum Data Set 2015) with Medicare Part A 2014 to 2015 claims and prescription claims (Medicare Part D) 2015 to 2016, we identified 228 741 residents with atrial fibrillation and elevated stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc score \u3e /=2) for our main analysis. Recent fall, activities of daily living dependency, moderate and severe cognitive impairment, low body mass index, and unintentional weight loss were all associated with lower anticoagulation use even after adjustment for multiple predictors of stroke and bleeding (odds ratios ranging from 0.51 to 0.91). Residents with recent fall, low body mass index, and unintentional weight loss were more likely to be using a direct oral anticoagulant, although the magnitude of this effect was smaller. Conclusions Geriatric conditions were associated with lower anticoagulation use. Preventing stroke in these residents with potential for further physical and cognitive impairment would appear to be of paramount significance, although the net benefit of anticoagulation in these individuals warrants further research

PaniniQA: Enhancing Patient Education Through Interactive Question Answering

Patient portal allows discharged patients to access their personalized discharge instructions in electronic health records (EHRs). However, many patients have difficulty understanding or memorizing their discharge instructions. In this paper, we present PaniniQA, a patient-centric interactive question answering system designed to help patients understand their discharge instructions. PaniniQA first identifies important clinical content from patients' discharge instructions and then formulates patient-specific educational questions. In addition, PaniniQA is also equipped with answer verification functionality to provide timely feedback to correct patients' misunderstandings. Our comprehensive automatic and human evaluation results demonstrate our PaniniQA is capable of improving patients' mastery of their medical instructions through effective interactionsComment: Accepted to TACL 2023. Equal contribution for the first two authors. This arXiv version is a pre-MIT Press publication versio

Characteristics Associated With Facebook Use and Interest in Digital Disease Support Among Older Adults With Atrial Fibrillation: Cross-Sectional Analysis of Baseline Data From the Systematic Assessment of Geriatric Elements in Atrial Fibrillation (SAGE-AF) Cohort

BACKGROUND: Online support groups for atrial fibrillation (AF) and apps to detect and manage AF exist, but the scientific literature does not describe which patients are interested in digital disease support. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to describe characteristics associated with Facebook use and interest in digital disease support among older patients with AF who used the internet. METHODS: We used baseline data from the Systematic Assessment of Geriatric Elements in Atrial Fibrillation (SAGE-AF), a prospective cohort of older adults ( \u3e /=65 years) with AF at high stroke risk. Participants self-reported demographics, clinical characteristics, and Facebook and technology use. Online patients (internet use in the past 4 weeks) were asked whether they would be interested in participating in an online support AF community. Mobile users (owns smartphone and/or tablet) were asked about interest in communicating with their health care team about their AF-related health using a secure app. Logistic regression models identified crude and multivariable predictors of Facebook use and interest in digital disease support. RESULTS: Online patients (N=816) were aged 74.2 (SD 6.6) years, 47.8% (390/816) were female, and 91.1% (743/816) were non-Hispanic white. Roughly half (52.5%; 428/816) used Facebook. Facebook use was more common among women (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.21, 95% CI 1.66-2.95) and patients with mild to severe depressive symptoms (aOR 1.50, 95% CI 1.08-2.10) and less common among patients aged \u3e /=85 years (aOR 0.27, 95% CI 0.15-0.48). Forty percent (40.4%; 330/816) reported interest in an online AF patient community. Interest in an online AF patient community was more common among online patients with some college/trade school or Bachelors/graduate school (aOR 1.70, 95% CI 1.10-2.61 and aOR 1.82, 95% CI 1.13-2.92, respectively), obesity (aOR 1.65, 95% CI 1.08-2.52), online health information seeking at most weekly or multiple times per week (aOR 1.84, 95% CI 1.32-2.56 and aOR 2.78, 95% CI 1.86-4.16, respectively), and daily Facebook use (aOR 1.76, 95% CI 1.26-2.46). Among mobile users, 51.8% (324/626) reported interest in communicating with their health care team via a mobile app. Interest in app-mediated communication was less likely among women (aOR 0.48, 95% CI 0.34-0.68) and more common among online patients who had completed trade school/some college versus high school/General Educational Development (aOR 1.95, 95% CI 1.17-3.22), sought online health information at most weekly or multiple times per week (aOR 1.86, 95% CI 1.27-2.74 and aOR 2.24, 95% CI 1.39-3.62, respectively), and had health-related apps (aOR 3.92, 95% CI 2.62-5.86). CONCLUSIONS: Among older adults with AF who use the internet, technology use and demographics are associated with interest in digital disease support. Clinics and health care providers may wish to encourage patients to join an existing online support community for AF and explore opportunities for app-mediated patient-provider communication

Reducing Hospitalizations and Emergency Department Visits in Patients With Venous Thromboembolism Using a Multicomponent Care Transition Intervention

Preventing utilization of hospital and emergency department after diagnosis of venous thromboembolism is a complex problem. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of a care transition intervention on hospitalizations and emergency department visits after venous thromboembolism. We randomized adults diagnosed with a new episode of venous thromboembolism to usual care or a multicomponent intervention that included a home pharmacist visit in the week after randomization (typically occurring at time of discharge), illustrated medication instructions distributed during home visit, and a follow-up phone call with an anticoagulation expert scheduled for 8 to 30 days from time of randomization. Through physician chart review of the 90 days following randomization, we measured the incidence rate of hospital and emergency department visits for each group and their ratio. We also determined which visits were related to recurrent venous thromboembolism, bleeding, or anticoagulation and which where preventable. We enrolled 77 intervention and 85 control patients. The incidence rate was 4.50 versus 6.01 visits per 1000 patient days in the intervention versus control group (incidence rate ratio = 0.71; 95% confidence interval = 0.40-1.27). Most visits in the control group were not related to venous thromboembolism or bleeding (21%) and of those that were, most were not preventable (25%). The adjusted incidence rate ratio for the intervention was 1.05 (95% confidence interval = 0.57-1.91). Our patients had a significant number of hospital and emergency department visits after diagnosis. Most visits were not related to recurrent venous thromboembolism or bleeding and of those that were, most were not preventable. Our multicomponent intervention did not decrease hospitalizations and emergency department visits

SUPPORT-AF: Piloting a Multi-Faceted, Electronic Medical Record-Based Intervention to Improve Prescription of Anticoagulation

Background: Only 50% of eligible atrial fibrillation ( AF ) patients receive anticoagulation ( AC ). Feasibility and effectiveness of electronic medical record (EMR)-based interventions to profile and raise provider AC percentage is poorly understood. The SUPPORT-AF (Supporting Use of AC Through Provider Profiling of Oral AC Therapy for AF) study aims to improve rates of adherence to AC guidelines by developing and delivering supportive tools based on the EMR to providers treating patients with AF. Methods and Results: We emailed cardiologists and community-based primary care providers affiliated with our institution reports of their AC percentage relative to peers. We also sent an electronic medical record-based message to these providers the day before an appointment with an atrial fibrillation patient who was eligible but not receiving AC . The electronic medical record message asked the provider to discuss AC with the patient if he or she deemed it appropriate. To assess feasibility, we tracked provider review of our correspondence. We also tracked the change in AC for intervention providers relative to alternate primary care providers not receiving our intervention. We identified 3786, 1054, and 566 patients cared for by 49 cardiology providers, 90 community-based primary care providers, and 88 control providers, respectively. At baseline, the percentage of AC was 71.3%, 63.5%, and 58.3% for these 3 respective groups. Intervention providers reviewed our e-mails and electronic medical record messages 45% and 96% of the time, respectively. For providers responding, patient refusal was the most common reason for patients not being on AC (21%) followed by high bleeding risk (19%). At follow-up 10 weeks later, change in AC was no different for either cardiology or community-based primary care providers relative to controls (0.2% lower and 0.01% higher, respectively). Conclusions: Our intervention profiling AC was feasible, but not sufficient to increase AC in our population

Supplying Pharmacist Home Visit and Anticoagulation Professional Consultation During Transition of Care for Patients With Venous Thromboembolism

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to assess the feasibility, satisfaction, and effectiveness of a care transition intervention with pharmacist home visit and subsequent anticoagulation expert consultation for patients with new episode of venous thromboembolism within a not-for-profit health care network. METHODS: We randomized patients to the intervention or control. During the home visit, a clinical pharmacist assessed medication management proficiency, asked open-ended questions to discuss knowledge gaps, and distributed illustrated medication instructions. Subsequent consultation with anticoagulation expert further filled knowledge gaps. At 30 days, we assessed satisfaction with the intervention and also measured the quality of care transition, knowledge of anticoagulation and venous thromboembolism, and anticoagulant beliefs (level of agreement that anticoagulant is beneficial, is worrisome, and is confusing/difficult to take). RESULTS: The mean +/- SD time required to conduct home visits was 52.4 +/- 20.5 minutes and most patients agreed that the intervention was helpful. In general, patients reported a high-quality care transition including having been advised of safety issues related to medications. Despite that, the mean percentage of knowledge items answered correctly among patients was low (51.5 versus 50.7 for intervention and controls, respectively). We did not find any significant difference between intervention and control patients for care transition quality, knowledge, or anticoagulant beliefs. CONCLUSIONS: We executed a multicomponent intervention that was feasible and rated highly. Nevertheless, the intervention did not improve care transition quality, knowledge, or beliefs. Future research should examine whether alternate strategies potentially including some but not all components of our intervention would be more impactful