Iron Metabolism in African American Women in the Second and Third Trimesters of High-Risk Pregnancies

ObjectiveTo examine iron metabolism during the second and third trimesters in African American women with high-risk pregnancies.DesignLongitudinal pilot study.SettingLarge, university-based, urban Midwestern U.S. medical center.ParticipantsConvenience sample of 32 African American women with high-risk pregnancies seeking care at an urban maternal-fetal medicine clinic.MethodsNonfasting venous blood was collected in the second and third trimesters to assess iron status, hepcidin, and systemic inflammation. Anthropometric and survey data were obtained via self-report. Descriptive statistics were calculated from these data, and changes in the clinical parameters between the second and third trimesters were evaluated via paired t tests. Associations among demographic, reproductive, anthropometric, inflammatory, and iron-related parameters were also assessed in each trimester.ResultsThe mean age of participants was 28.3 (± 6.8) years, and mean prepregnancy body mass index was 31.9 (± 10.7) kg/m2. In the longitudinal analysis, significant (p < .05) declines in serum iron, ferritin, transferrin saturation, and C-reactive protein were observed between the second and third trimesters. There was no statistically significant change in hepcidin between trimesters. When using a ferritin level cut-point of less than 15 ng/ml and soluble transferrin receptor level of greater than 28.1 nmol/L, 48% of the participants (14 of 29) were classified with iron deficiency in the third trimester.ConclusionIn this pilot study, iron deficiency was prevalent among a small cohort of African American women with high-risk pregnancies. Hepcidin concentrations were greater than previously reported in healthy, pregnant, primarily White women, which suggests decreased iron bioavailability in this high-risk group

Abstract 211: Subjective Judgments of Physicians and Nurses Are More Accurate Than Formal Clinical Scales in Predicting Functional Outcome After Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Introduction: Providing an accurate prognosis is a fundamental responsibility of care providers for patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). The ICH and FUNC Scores are common clinical scales designed to predict functional outcome and mortality for ICH patients. Hypothesis: The ICH Score and FUNC Score have superior accuracy, compared to the early clinical judgment of physicians and nurses, with regards to the prediction of the Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) achieved by ICH patients at 3 months. Methods: We conducted a prospective study at 5 centers. For each consecutive adult patient admitted with primary ICH, one physician and one nurse on the treatment team were asked for prediction of mRS at 3 months. All predictions were collected within 24 hours of admission. ICH and FUNC Scores on admission and blinded outcome at 3 months were obtained for each patient, in part using data collected for the ongoing Ethnic/Racial Variations with ICH (ERICH) project. Predictive ability was measured by Spearman’s rank correlation (r). Results: For a total of 100 patients, 100 physicians (75 attendings, 25 trainees) and 100 nurses gave predictions. In order of strength of association with actual 3-month mRS, correlations were attending physicians r = 0.81, nurses r = 0.72, and trainees r = 0.66. Although suggestive, none of these groups were statistically superior (p > 0.10). However, nurses (p = 0.015) and attending physicians (p = 0.002), but not trainees (p = 0.57), were superior in their predictive ability over ICH Score (r = 0.55). Similarly, nurses (p = 0.0003) and attending physicians (p < 0.0001), but not trainees (p = 0.27), were superior over FUNC Score (r = -0.46). This accuracy advantage remained when examining predictions for (1) only those patients alive at 3 months (n = 65), and (2) only those patients for whom providers indicated that they would not recommend comfort care within the first 24 hours (n = 82). Conclusions: The ICH Score and FUNC Score did not have superior accuracy, compared to subjective clinical judgment, with regards to prediction of 3-month ICH outcome

Abstract W P126: Accurate Outcome Predictions for Intracerebral Hemorrhage Patients Are More Likely Than Inaccurate Predictions to Be Influenced by Co-morbidities Not Included in Clinical Scales

Introduction: Clinical scales for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), such as the ICH and FUNC Scores, utilize a limited number of variables for outcome prediction. The variables that physicians incorporate into subjective predictions of ICH outcome and how they relate to predictive accuracy are unknown. Hypothesis: Accurate physician predictions of functional outcome for ICH patients are more likely than inaccurate predictions to incorporate decision-making factors outside of the variables comprising the ICH and FUNC Scores. Methods: For each consecutive adult patient admitted with primary ICH at 5 centers, one physician on the treatment team was surveyed for a prediction of modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at 3 months. All predictions were prospectively collected within 24 hours of admission. Physicians were also asked to indicate up to 10 factors influencing their prediction. Accuracy was defined as an exact prediction of the mRS obtained for each patient at 3 months. The frequency of recurring factors listed by physicians were calculated for both the accurate and inaccurate predictions and compared using Fisher’s exact test. Results: We collected 38 accurate and 86 inaccurate predictions for 124 ICH patients. There was no difference between groups with regards to the proportion of respondents listing age, ICH volume, or general clinical exam on admission as factors. However, 16 (42.1%) of the accurate surveys listed the patient’s general co-morbidities as a factor in prediction, compared to 20 (23.3%) of inaccurate surveys (p = 0.05). Listing of pre-morbid functional status as a factor also trended towards a higher percentage in the accurate survey group (n = 7, 18.4%, versus n = 6, 7.0%; p = 0.11). Of note, all surveys that cited the etiology of the bleed (n = 5), the initial blood pressure (n= 4), and the presence or absence of an extraventricular drain (n = 7) as influencing factors contained either overly optimistic or pessimistic predictions. Conclusions: Accurate predictions of ICH outcome are more likely than inaccurate predictions to factor in general patient co-morbidities, which are not included in ICH or FUNC Score calculation

Factors Considered by Clinicians when Prognosticating Intracerebral Hemorrhage Outcomes

The early subjective clinical judgment of clinicians outperforms formal prognostic scales for accurate determination of outcome after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), with the judgment of physicians and nurses having equivalent accuracy. This study assessed specific decisional factors that physicians and nurses incorporate into early predictions of functional outcome. This prospective observational study enrolled 121 ICH patients at five US centers. Within 24 h of each patient's admission, one physician and one nurse on the clinical team were each surveyed to predict the patient's modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at 3 months and to list up to 10 subjective factors used in prognostication. Factors were coded and compared between (1) physician and nurse and (2) accurate and inaccurate surveys, with accuracy defined as an exact prediction of mRS. Aside from factors that are components of the ICH or FUNC scores, surveys reported pre-existing comorbidities (40.0%), other clinical or radiographic factors not in clinical scales (43.0%), and non-clinical/radiographic factors (21.9%) as important. Compared to physicians, nurses more frequently listed neurologic examination components (Glasgow Coma Scale motor, 27.3 vs. 5.8%, p < 0.0001; GCS verbal, 12.4 vs. 0.0%, p < 0.0001) and non-clinical/radiographic factors (31.4 vs. 12.4%, p = 0.0005). Physicians more frequently listed neuroimaging factors (ICH location, 33.9 vs. 7.4%, p < 0.0001; intraventricular hemorrhage, 13.2 vs. 2.5%, p = 0.003). There was no difference in listed factors between accurate versus inaccurate surveys. Clinicians frequently utilize factors outside of the components of clinical scales for prognostication, with physician and nurses focusing on different factors despite having similar accuracy

Clinician judgment vs formal scales for predicting intracerebral hemorrhage outcomes

OBJECTIVE: To compare the performance of formal prognostic instruments vs subjective clinical judgment with regards to predicting functional outcome in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). METHODS: This prospective observational study enrolled 121 ICH patients hospitalized at 5 US tertiary care centers. Within 24 hours of each patient's admission to the hospital, one physician and one nurse on each patient's clinical team were each asked to predict the patient's modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score at 3 months and to indicate whether he or she would recommend comfort measures. The admission ICH score and FUNC score, 2 prognostic scales selected for their common use in neurologic practice, were calculated for each patient. Spearman rank correlation coefficients (r) with respect to patients' actual 3-month mRS for the physician and nursing predictions were compared against the same correlation coefficients for the ICH score and FUNC score. RESULTS: The absolute value of the correlation coefficient for physician predictions with respect to actual outcome (0.75) was higher than that of either the ICH score (0.62, p = 0.057) or the FUNC score (0.56, p = 0.01). The nursing predictions of outcome (r = 0.72) also trended towards an accuracy advantage over the ICH score (p = 0.09) and FUNC score (p = 0.03). In an analysis that excluded patients for whom comfort care was recommended, the 65 available attending physician predictions retained greater accuracy (r = 0.73) than either the ICH score (r = 0.50, p = 0.02) or the FUNC score (r = 0.42, p = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Early subjective clinical judgment of physicians correlates more closely with 3-month outcome after ICH than prognostic scales

The global COVID-19 student survey:first wave results

University students have been particularly a!ected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We present results from the first wave of the Global COVID-19 Student Survey, which was administered at 28 universities in the United States, Spain, Australia, Sweden, Austria, Italy, and Mexico between April and October 2020. The survey addresses contemporaneous outcomes and future expectations regarding three fundamental aspects of students’ lives in the pandemic: the labor market, education, and health. We document the differential responses of students as a function of their country of residence, parental income, gender, and for the US their race