Perceived racial discrimination has been associated with the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activities-two major stress response systems. To date, most studies have used cross-sectional data that captured retrospective measures of the racial discrimination associated with current physiological stress responses. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between racial discrimination measured in real-time and physiological stress responses. Twelve healthy Black adults completed baseline surveys and self-collected saliva samples 4x/day for 4 days to measure cortisol and alpha amylase (AA) as a proxy of HPA and ANS systems, respectively. Real-time racial discrimination was measured using ecological momentary assessments (EMA) sent to participants 5x/day for 7 days. Multilevel models were conducted to examine the relationship between racial discrimination and stress responses. In multilevel models, the previous day's racial discrimination was significantly associated with the next day's cortisol level at wakening (β = 0.81, partial r = 0.74, p<0.01) and diurnal slope (β = -0.85, partial r = -0.73, p<0.01). Also, microaggressions were significantly associated with the diurnal cortisol slope in the same day, indicating that on the day when people reported more microaggressions than usual, a flatter diurnal slope of cortisol was observed (β = -0.50, partial r = -0.64, p<0.01). The concurrent use of salivary biomarkers and EMA was feasible methods to examine the temporal relationship between racial discrimination and physiological stress responses. The within-person approach may help us understand the concurrent or lagged effects of racial discrimination on the stress responses. Further studies are needed to confirm the observed findings with a large sample size and to improve stress related health outcomes in racial/ethnic minorities.

Perceived racial discrimination is linked to unhealthy behaviors and stress-related morbidities. A compelling body of research indicates that perceived racial discrimination may contribute to health disparities among African Americans (AAs). The purposes of this study were to describe the study protocol including data collection procedures and study measures and to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of intensive biobehavioral data collection using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), salivary biomarkers, and accelerometers over 7 days among middle-aged AAs with a goal of understanding the relationships between perceived racial discrimination and biobehavioral responses to stress. Twelve AA men and women participated in the feasibility/acceptability study. They completed surveys, anthropometrics, and received in-person training in EMA and saliva sample collection at baseline. Participants were asked to respond to the random prompt text message-based EMA five times a day, wear an accelerometer daily for 7 days, and to self-collect saliva samples four times a day for 4 consecutive days. The EMA surveys included perceived racial discrimination, affective states, lifestyle behaviors, and social and physical contexts. The mean EMA response rate was 82.8%. All participants collected saliva samples four times a day for 4 consecutive days. About 83% of participants wore the accelerometer on the hip 6 out of 7 days. Despite the perception that the intensive nature of assessments would result in high participant burden, the acceptability of the study procedures was uniformly favorable.

Objective

To compare three statistical strategies for classifying positive treatment response based on a dimensional measure (Yale Global Tic Severity Scale [YGTSS]) and a categorical measure (Clinical Global Impression-Improvement [CGI-I] scale).

Method

Subjects (N=232; 69.4% male; ages 9-69years) with Tourette syndrome or chronic tic disorder participated in one of two 10-week, randomized controlled trials comparing behavioral treatment to supportive therapy. The YGTSS and CGI-I were rated by clinicians blind to treatment assignment. We examined the percent reduction in the YGTSS-Total Tic Score (TTS) against Much Improved or Very Much Improved on the CGI-I, computed a signal detection analysis (SDA) and built a mixture model to classify dimensional response based on the change in the YGTSS-TTS.

Results

A 25% decrease on the YGTSS-TTS predicted positive response on the CGI-I during the trial. The SDA showed that a 25% reduction in the YGTSS-TTS provided optimal sensitivity (87%) and specificity (84%) for predicting positive response. Using a mixture model without consideration of the CGI-I, the dimensional response was defined by 23% (or greater) reduction on the YGTSS-TTS. The odds ratio (OR) of positive response (OR=5.68, 95% CI=[2.99, 10.78]) on the CGI-I for behavioral intervention was greater than the dimensional response (OR=2.86, 95% CI=[1.65, 4.99]).

Conclusion

A 25% reduction on the YGTSS-TTS is highly predictive of positive response by all three analytic methods. For trained raters, however, tic severity alone does not drive the classification of positive response. Clinicaltrials.gov identifiers: NCT00218777; NCT00231985.

Background

The number of adults with heart failure (HF) and HIV infection is increasing. These patients may benefit from palliative care (PC).

Objectives

Determine the association between HIV infection, other HIV characteristics, and PC among hospitalized patients with HF in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

Design

Nested case-control study of patients with HF hospitalized from 2003 to 2015 and enrolled in the Veterans Aging Cohort Study.

Setting/patients

Two hundred and ten hospitalized patients with HF who received PC matched to 1042 patients with HF who did not receive PC, by age, discharge date, and left ventricular ejection fraction.

Measurements

Palliative care use was the primary outcome. Independent variables included HIV infection identified by International Classification of Diseases Ninth Revision code and further characterized as the primary diagnosis for hospitalization, unsuppressed HIV-1 RNA, CD4 counts <200 cells/mm³, and other covariates. We examined associations between independent variables and PC using conditional logistic regression.

Results

The sample was 99% male, mean age was 64 years (standard deviation ±10), 54% of cases and 59% of controls were black, and 30% of cases and 31% of controls were HIV-infected. In adjusted models, HIV as the primary diagnosis for hospitalization (odds ratio [OR]: 3.69, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.30-10.52), unsuppressed HIV-1 RNA (OR: 2.62, 95% CI: 1.31-5.24), and CD4 counts <200 cells/mm³ (OR: 3.47; 1.78-6.77), but not HIV infection (OR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.55-1.13), were associated with PC.

Conclusions

HIV characteristics indicative of severe disease are associated with PC for hospitalized VHA patients with HF. Increasing access to PC for patients with HF and HIV is warranted.

BACKGROUND:Patients with heart failure (HF) are at increased risk of unmet palliative care needs. The International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision ( ICD-9) code, V66.7, can identify palliative care services. However, code validity for specialist palliative care in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has not been determined. OBJECTIVE:To validate the ICD-9 code for specialist palliative care and determine common reasons for specialist palliative care consultation among VHA patients hospitalized with HF. DESIGN:Electronic health record review of data from the Veterans Aging Cohort Study. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS:The sample included 100 patients hospitalized with HF from 2003 to 2012. MEASUREMENTS:Data from 50 patients with V66.7 were matched by age, race, site of care, hospital length of stay, intensive care unit admission, and fiscal year of study discharge to 50 patients with HF without V66.7 who had died within a year of hospitalization. We calculated positive and negative predictive values (PPV, NPV), sensitivity, and specificity. RESULTS:All patients included in the sample were male, 66% black ethnicity, and mean age = 65 years (standard deviations [SD] ± 10.5 for cases; SD ± 9.8 for matches). Specialist palliative care was documented for 49 of 50 patients with V66.7 (PPV = 98%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 88-99) and 9 of 50 patients without the code (NPV = 82%, 95% CI: 68-91). Sensitivity was 84% (95% CI: 72-92), and specificity was 98% (95% CI: 86-99). Establishing goals of care was the most frequent reason for palliative care consultation (43% of the sample). CONCLUSION:The ICD-9 code V66.7 identifies specialist palliative care for hospitalized patients with HF in the VHA. Replication of findings in other data sources and populations is needed.