American Indians and Alaskan Natives greeted the passage of the self-determination legislation of 1975 with cautious optimism. The law gave tribes and tribal organizations the ability to contract for the management of health care and other services previously managed by agencies of the federal government. The doctrine that motivated this shift toward increased Indian self-sufficiency determined that tribes would be more responsive to the needs of Indian people than the federal government bureaucracy. However, the law included many financial barriers to tribal management. Moreover, after years of being excluded from management decisions, many tribes lacked the resources necessary to manage these services successfully. Given these impediments and the continued under-funding of Indian health, some tribal leaders began to view the legislation as a way to rid the federal government of its obligations to American Indians once and for all. This study explores the tribal and environmental characteristics that may influence a tribe’s decision to switch to tribally managed health care resources. The findings of this study suggest that inadequate responsiveness by the local Indian Health Service (IHS), as measured by a lower percent of American Indian managers and fewer appropriations at the area level, is a crucial determinant in switching to tribal management. The issue of inequity in the responsiveness of IHS area offices and how it affects a tribe’s ability and desire to manage health care resources deserves further consideration.

OBJECTIVE: We estimated the prevalence and incidence of diabetes among specific subgroups of Asians and Pacific Islanders (APIs) in a multiethnic U.S. population with uniform access to care. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This prospective cohort analysis included 2,123,548 adult members of Kaiser Permanente Northern California, including 1,704,363 with known race/ethnicity (white, 56.9%; Latino, 14.9%; African American, 8.0%; Filipino, 4.9%; Chinese, 4.0%; multiracial, 2.8%; Japanese, 0.9%; Native American, 0.6%; Pacific Islander, 0.5%; South Asian, 0.4%; and Southeast Asian, Korean, and Vietnamese, 0.1% each). We calculated age-standardized (to the 2010 U.S. population) and sex-adjusted diabetes prevalence at baseline and incidence (during the 2010 calendar year). Poisson models were used to estimate relative risks. RESULTS: There were 210,632 subjects with prevalent diabetes as of 1 January 2010 and 15,357 incident cases of diabetes identified during 2010. The crude diabetes prevalence was 9.9% and the incidence was 8.0 cases per 1,000 person-years and, after standardizing by age and sex to the 2010 U.S. Census, 8.9% and 7.7 cases per 1,000 person-years. There was considerable variation among the seven largest API subgroups. Pacific Islanders, South Asians, and Filipinos had the highest prevalence (18.3, 15.9, and 16.1%, respectively) and the highest incidence (19.9, 17.2, and 14.7 cases per 1,000 person-years, respectively) of diabetes among all racial/ethnic groups, including minorities traditionally considered high risk (e.g., African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans). CONCLUSIONS: High rates of diabetes among Pacific Islanders, South Asians, and Filipinos are obscured by much lower rates among the large population of Chinese and several smaller Asian subgroups.

Objective

Depression afflicts 14% of individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Depression is a robust risk factor for dementia but it is unknown if this holds true for individuals with T1D, who recently started living to an age conferring dementia risk. We examined if depression is a dementia risk factor among elderly individuals with T1D.

Methods

3,742 individuals with T1D age ≥50 were followed for dementia from 1/1/96-9/30/2015. Depression, dementia, and comorbidities were abstracted from electronic medical records. Cox proportional hazard models estimated the association between depression and dementia adjusting for demographics, glycosylated hemoglobin, severe dysglycemic epidsodes, stroke, heart disease, nephropathy, and end stage renal disease. The cumulative incidence of dementia by depression was estimated conditional on survival dementia-free to age 55.

Results

Five percent (N = 182) were diagnosed with dementia and 20% had baseline depression. Depression was associated with a 72% increase in dementia (fully adjusted HR = 1.72; 95% CI:1.12-2.65). The 25-year cumulative incidence of dementia was more than double for those with versus without depression (27% vs. 12%).

Conclusions

For people with T1D, depression significantly increases dementia risk. Given the pervasiveness of depression in T1D, this has major implications for successful aging in this population recently living to old age.

Objectives

To examine rates of smoking and tobacco treatment utilization by insurance coverage status (Medicaid, commercial, exchange) among newly enrolled patients in the post Affordable Care Act (ACA) era.

Methods

We examined new members who enrolled in Kaiser Permanente Northern California through Medicaid, the California exchange, or nonexchange commercial plans (N=122,298) in the first 6 months of 2014 following ACA implementation. We compared these groups on smoking prevalence and tested whether smokers in each group differed on sociodemographic characteristics and in their utilization of tobacco treatment (pharmacotherapy and counseling) in 2014.

Results

Smoking prevalence was higher among Medicaid (22%) than exchange (13%) or commercial (12%) patients (P<0.0001). Controlling for key sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, Medicaid (odds ratio, 1.49; 95% confidence interval, 1.29-1.73) smokers had greater odds of tobacco treatment use than commercial smokers. Other groups at risk for underuse included men, younger patients, Asians, and Latinos.

Conclusions

In this cohort of newly enrolled patients after ACA implementation, Medicaid patients were more likely to be smokers compared with exchange and commercial patients, but they were also more likely to use tobacco treatment. Low tobacco treatment use among exchange and commercial plan smokers, as well as younger men, Asians and Latinos poses a significant obstacle to improving public health and additional targeted outreach strategies may be needed to engage these patients with available health services.

Objective

Ethnic minorities with diabetes typically have lower rates of cardiovascular outcomes and higher rates of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) compared with whites. Diabetes outcomes among Asian and Pacific Islander subgroups have not been disaggregated.

Research design and methods

We performed a prospective cohort study (1996-2006) of patients enrolled in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Diabetes Registry. There were 64,211 diabetic patients, including whites (n = 40,286), blacks (n = 8,668), Latinos (n = 7,763), Filipinos (n = 3,572), Chinese (n = 1,823), Japanese (n = 951), Pacific Islanders (n = 593), and South Asians (n = 555), enrolled in the registry. We calculated incidence rates (means ± SD; 7.2 ± 3.3 years follow-up) and created Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for age, educational attainment, English proficiency, neighborhood deprivation, BMI, smoking, alcohol use, exercise, medication adherence, type and duration of diabetes, HbA(1c), hypertension, estimated glomerular filtration rate, albuminuria, and LDL cholesterol. Incidence of myocardial infarction (MI), congestive heart failure, stroke, ESRD, and lower-extremity amputation (LEA) were age and sex adjusted.

Results

Pacific Islander women had the highest incidence of MI, whereas other ethnicities had significantly lower rates of MI than whites. Most nonwhite groups had higher rates of ESRD than whites. Asians had ~60% lower incidence of LEA compared with whites, African Americans, or Pacific Islanders. Incidence rates in Chinese, Japanese, and Filipinos were similar for most complications. For the three macrovascular complications, Pacific Islanders and South Asians had rates similar to whites.

Conclusions

Incidence of complications varied dramatically among the Asian subgroups and highlights the value of a more nuanced ethnic stratification for public health surveillance and etiologic research.

Introduction

Effective, equity-promoting interventions implemented by health care systems are needed to address health care disparities and population-level health disparities. We evaluated the impact of a clinical decision support tool to improve evidence-based thiazide diuretic prescribing among Black patients to address racial disparities in hypertension control.

Methods

We employed an interrupted time series design and qualitative interviews to evaluate the implementation of the tool. Our primary outcome measure was the monthly rate of thiazide use among eligible patients before and after implementation of the tool (January 2013-December 2016). We modeled month-to-month changes in thiazide use for Black and White patients, overall, and by sex and medical center racial composition. We conducted key informant interviews to identify modifiable facilitators and barriers to implementation of the tool across medical centers.

Results

Of the 318,720 patients, 15.5% were Black. We observed no change in thiazide use or blood pressure control following the implementation of the tool in either racial subgroup. There was a slight but statistically significant reduction (2.32 percentage points, p < 0.01) in thiazide use among Black patients following the removal the tool that was not observed among White patients. Factors affecting the tool's implementation included physician and pharmacist resistance to thiazide use and a lack of ongoing promotion of the tool.

Discussion

The clinical decision support tool was insufficient to change prescribing practices and improve blood pressure control among Black patients.

Conclusions

Future interventions should consider physician attitudes about thiazide prescribing and the importance of multilevel approaches to address hypertension disparities.

Background

Previous studies have reported that health literacy limitations are associated with poorer disease control for chronic conditions, but have not evaluated potential associations with medication adherence.

Objective

To determine whether health literacy limitations are associated with poorer antidepressant medication adherence.

Design

Observational new prescription cohort follow-up study.

Participants

Adults with type 2 diabetes who completed a survey in 2006 and received a new antidepressant prescription during 2006-2010 (N = 1,366) at Kaiser Permanente Northern California.

Main measures

Validated three-item self-report scale measured health literacy. Discrete indices of adherence based on pharmacy dispensing data according to validated methods: primary non-adherence (medication never dispensed); early non-persistence (dispensed once, never refilled); non-persistence at 180 and 365 days; and new prescription medication gap (NPMG; proportion of time that the person is without medication during 12 months after the prescription date).

Key results

Seventy-two percent of patients were classified as having health literacy limitations. After adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical covariates, patients with health literacy limitations had significantly poorer adherence compared to patients with no limitations, whether measured as early non-persistence (46 % versus 38 %, p < 0.05), non-persistence at 180 days (55 % versus 46 %, p < 0.05), or NPMG (41 % versus 36%, p < 0.01). There were no significant associations with primary adherence or non-persistence at 365 days.

Conclusions

Poorer antidepressant adherence among adults with diabetes and health literacy limitations may jeopardize the continuation and maintenance phases of depression pharmacotherapy. Findings underscore the importance of national efforts to address health literacy, simplify health communications regarding treatment options, improve public understanding of depression treatment, and monitor antidepressant adherence.

Background

Depression and adherence to antidepressant treatment are important clinical concerns in diabetes care. While patient-provider communication patterns have been associated with adherence for cardiometabolic medications, it is unknown whether interpersonal aspects of care impact antidepressant medication adherence.

Objective

To determine whether shared decision-making, patient-provider trust, or communication are associated with early stage and ongoing antidepressant adherence.

Design

Observational new prescription cohort study.

Setting

Kaiser Permanente Northern California.

Patients

One thousand five hundred twenty-three adults with type 2 diabetes who completed a survey in 2006 and received a new antidepressant prescription during 2006-2010.

Measurements

Exposures included items based on the Trust in Physicians and Interpersonal Processes of Care instruments and the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) communication scale. Measures of adherence were estimated using validated methods with physician prescribing and pharmacy dispensing data: primary non-adherence (medication never dispensed), early non-persistence (dispensed once, never refilled), and new prescription medication gap (NPMG; proportion of time without medication during 12 months after initial prescription).

Results

After adjusting for potential confounders, patients' perceived lack of shared decision-making was significantly associated with primary non-adherence (RR = 2.42, p < 0.05), early non-persistence (RR = 1.34, p < 0.01) and NPMG (estimated 5% greater gap in medication supply, p < 0.01). Less trust in provider was significantly associated with early non-persistence (RRs 1.22-1.25, ps < 0.05) and NPMG (estimated NPMG differences 5-8%, ps < 0.01).

Limitations

All patients were insured and had consistent access to and quality of care.

Conclusions

Patients' perceptions of their relationships with providers, including lack of shared decision-making or trust, demonstrated strong associations with antidepressant non-adherence. Further research should explore whether interventions for healthcare providers and systems that foster shared decision-making and trust might also improve medication adherence.

BACKGROUND: Reducing symptom burden is paramount at the end-of-life, but typically considered secondary to risk factor control in chronic disease, such as diabetes. Little is known about the symptom burden experienced by adults with type 2 diabetes and the need for symptom palliation. OBJECTIVE: To examine pain and non-pain symptoms of adults with type 2 diabetes over the disease course - at varying time points before death and by age. DESIGN: Survey follow-up study. PARTICIPANTS: 13,171 adults with type 2 diabetes, aged 30-75 years, from Kaiser Permanente, Northern California, who answered a baseline symptom survey in 2005-2006. MAIN MEASURES: Pain and non-pain symptoms were identified by self-report and medical record data. Survival status from baseline was categorized into ≤ 6, >6-24, or alive >24 months. KEY RESULTS: Mean age was 60 years; 48 % were women, and 43 % were non-white. Acute pain was prevalent (41.8 %) and 39.7 % reported chronic pain, 24.6 % fatigue, 23.7 % neuropathy, 23.5 % depression, 24.2 % insomnia, and 15.6 % physical/emotional disability. Symptom burden was prevalent in all survival status categories, but was more prevalent among those with shorter survival, p< .001. Adults ≥ 60 years who were alive >24 months reported more physical symptoms such as acute pain and dyspnea, whereas participants <60 years reported more psychosocial symptoms, such as depressed mood and insomnia. Adjustment for duration of diabetes and comorbidity reduced the association between age and pain, but did not otherwise change our results. CONCLUSIONS: In a diverse cohort of adults with type 2 diabetes, pain and non-pain symptoms were common among all patients, not only among those near the end of life. However, symptoms were more prevalent among patients with shorter survival. Older adults reported more physical symptoms, whereas younger adults reported more psychosocial symptoms. Diabetes care management should include not only good cardiometabolic control, but also symptom palliation across the disease course.

Objective

To estimate the effect of out-of-pocket (OOP) cost on nonadherence to classes of cardiometabolic medications among patients with diabetes.

Data sources/setting

Electronic health records from a large, health care delivery system for 223,730 patients with diabetes prescribed 842,899 new cardiometabolic medications during 2006-2012.

Study design

Observational, new prescription cohort study of the effect of OOP cost on medication initiation and adherence.

Data collection

Adherence and OOP costs were based on pharmacy dispensing records and benefits.

Principal findings

Primary nonadherence (never dispensed) increased monotonically with OOP cost after adjusting for demographics, neighborhood socioeconomic status, Medicare, medical financial assistance, OOP maximum, deductibles, mail order pharmacy incentive and use, drug type, generic or brand, day's supply, and comorbidity index; 7 percent were never dispensed the new medication when OOP cost ≥$11, 5 percent with OOP cost of $1-$10, and 3 percent when the medication was free of charge (p < .0001). Higher OOP cost was also strongly associated with inadequate secondary adherence (≥20 percent of time without adequate medication). There was no clinically significant or consistent relationship between OOP costs and early nonpersistence (dispensed once, never refilled) or later stage nonpersistence (discontinued within 24 months).

Conclusions

Cost-sharing may deter clinically vulnerable patients from initiating essential medications, undermining adherence and risk factor control.