Objective

The objective of this study was to understand patient perspectives to inform the voting process for the 2020 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) gout treatment guideline.

Methods

We conducted a panel meeting of eight patients with gout in Birmingham, Alabama. Patients were referred to the project by private and academic rheumatologists in the Birmingham area. All participants received orientation related to the guideline development process and evidence rating at the beginning of the meeting. With the help of a physician moderator, the patient panel reviewed nine key clinical scenarios and the supporting evidence and discussed their views and perspectives related to each. They also provided their preference for one of the two treatment options for each clinical scenario.

Results

The patient panel included eight men with gout. Of these eight participants, seven received their gout care from a rheumatologist and one from a primary care physician. Patients favored more active urate-lowering therapy (ULT) management and interventional management of gout flares to achieve desired clinical outcomes, resulting in unanimous consensus on choices related to six clinical scenarios: ULT initiation in gout, treat-to-target management strategy, use of pegloticase for refractory gout, starting ULT during a gout flare, using injectable treatments (over oral) for acute gout flares, and use of febuxostat in people with cardiovascular disease.

Conclusion

Knowledge of patient preferences and values is valuable and was influential for the development of the 2020 ACR gout treatment guideline.

Background

Although total hip arthroplasty (THA) is a successful procedure, 4% to 11% of patients who undergo THA are readmitted to the hospital. Prior studies have reported rates and risk factors of THA readmission but have been limited to single-center samples, administrative claims data, or Medicare patients. As a result, hospital readmission risk factors for a large proportion of patients undergoing THA are not fully understood.

Questions/purposes

(1) What is the incidence of hospital readmissions after primary THA and the reasons for readmission? (2) What are the risk factors for hospital readmissions in a large, integrated healthcare system using current perioperative care protocols?

Methods

The Kaiser Permanente (KP) Total Joint Replacement Registry (TJRR) was used to identify all patients with primary unilateral THAs registered between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2011. The KPTJRR's voluntary participation is 95%. A logistic regression model was used to study the relationship of risk factors (including patient, clinical, and system-related) and the likelihood of 30-day readmission. Readmissions were identified using electronic health and claims records to capture readmissions within and outside the system. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Of the 12,030 patients undergoing primary THAs included in the study, 59% (n = 7093) were women and average patient age was 66.5 years (± 10.7).

Results

There were 436 (3.6%) patients with hospital readmissions within 30 days of the index procedure. The most common reasons for readmission were infection and inflammatory reaction resulting from internal joint prosthetic (International Classification of Diseases, 9(th) Revision, Clinical Modification [ICD-9-CM] 996.66, 7.0%); other postoperative infection (ICD-9-CM 998:59, 5.5%); unspecified septicemia (ICD-9-CM 038.9, 4.9%); and dislocation of a prosthetic joint (ICD-9-CM 996.42, 4.7%). In adjusted models, the following factors were associated with an increased likelihood of 30-day readmission: medical complications (OR, 2.80; 95% CI, 1.59-4.93); discharge to facilities other than home (OR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.39-2.58); length of stay of 5 or more days (OR, 1.80; 95% CI, 1.22-2.65) versus 3 days; morbid obesity (OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.25-2.43); surgeries performed by high-volume surgeons compared with medium volume (OR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.14-2.08); procedures at lower-volume (OR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.07-1.85) and medium-volume hospitals (OR, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.20-2.72) compared with high-volume ones; sex (men: OR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.18-1.92); obesity (OR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.02-1.72); race (black: OR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.02-1.57); increasing age (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01-1.04); and certain comorbidities (pulmonary circulation disease, chronic pulmonary disease, hypothyroidism, and psychoses).

Conclusions

The 30-day hospital readmission rate after primary THA was 3.6%. Modifiable factors, including obesity, comorbidities, medical complications, and system-related factors (hospital), have the potential to be addressed by improving the health of patients before this elective procedure, patient and family education and planning, and with the development of high-volume centers of excellence. Nonmodifiable factors such as age, sex, and race can be used to establish patient and family expectations regarding risk of readmission after THA. Contrary to other studies and the finding of increased hospital volume associated with lower risk of readmission, higher volume surgeons had a higher risk of patient readmission, which may be attributable to the referral patterns in our organization.

Level of evidence

Level III, therapeutic study.

Background

Some of the poor functional outcomes of knee arthroplasty may be due to pain in the contralateral, unreplaced knee. We investigated the relationship between the preoperative pain status of the contralateral knee and the risk of a poor postoperative functional outcome in patients who underwent knee arthroplasty.

Methods

We analyzed data on 271 patients in the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study who had undergone knee arthroplasty since the time of enrollment. Eighty-six percent of these patients were white, 72% were female, and the mean age was sixty-seven years. The severity of pain in the knee contralateral to the one that was replaced was measured before the knee arthroplasty with use of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain scale, with the scores being grouped into four categories (0, 1 to 4, 5 to 9, and 10 to 20). Poor post-arthroplasty function six months or more after surgery was determined with use of the Patient Acceptable Symptom State (PASS) outcome tool and a clinical performance measure of walking speed. We evaluated the relationship between contralateral pain severity and the functional outcomes with use of Poisson regression.

Results

Seventy-two (27%) of 264 patients demonstrated poor post-arthroplasty function by failing to attain the threshold PASS score, and seventy-six (30%) of 250 subjects had a slow walking speed. As the pre-arthroplasty pain in the contralateral knee increased, there was a steady increase in the proportion with poor post-arthroplasty function (p < 0.0001 for PASS and p = 0.04 for slow walking speed). Compared with patients who had no pre-arthroplasty pain in the contralateral knee, those in the highest category of contralateral pain severity had 4.1 times the risk (95% confidence interval, 1.5 to 11.5) of having poor self-reported post-arthroplasty function. Patients in whom both knees had been replaced at the time of outcome collection were less likely to have poor self-reported function than those in whom only one knee had been replaced.

Conclusions

Preoperative pain in the contralateral knee is strongly associated with self-reported post-arthroplasty functional outcome and may therefore be a useful indicator of prognosis or a potential target of perioperative intervention.

Level of evidence

Prognostic Level II. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Objective

To examine neuromuscular factors that predict the incidence and progression of knee instability symptoms in older adults with or at high risk of knee osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods

At the 60-month clinic visit, participants in the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study underwent evaluation of quantitative vibratory sense at the knee and isokinetic quadriceps muscle strength. At this 60-month visit, participants were also asked about knee buckling and sensations of knee shifting or slipping without buckling in the past 3 months and then were asked the same questions at the 72- and 84-month follow-up visits. We performed a person-based analysis using Poisson regression analysis with robust error variance to estimate adjusted relative risks (RRs) for the association of vibratory sense and muscle strength with the incidence and worsening of knee slipping/shifting, buckling, and overall knee instability symptoms (either buckling or knee shifting/slipping), with adjustment for relevant confounders.

Results

A total of 1,803 participants (61% women) were included. Approximately one-third of the participants reported incident or worsening of instability symptoms over the study period. After adjustment for relevant confounders, better vibratory acuity (adjusted RR 0.78, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.56-1.09), P = 0.020 for trend) and greater quadriceps strength (adjusted RR 0.53, 95% CI 0.38-0.75, P < 0.001) protected against incident knee instability symptoms. Greater quadriceps strength (adjusted RR 0.73, 95% CI 0.58-0.92, P = 0.008) also protected against worsening of knee instability symptoms.

Conclusion

Vibratory acuity and quadriceps muscle strength are important predictors of the incidence and worsening of knee instability over 2 years. These neuromuscular factors are potentially modifiable and should be considered in interventional studies of instability in persons with or at risk of knee OA.

Objective

Poor functional outcomes post-knee replacement are common, but estimates of its prevalence vary, likely in part because of differences in methods used to assess function. The agreement between improvement in function and absolute good levels of function after knee replacement has not been evaluated. We evaluated the attainment of improvement in function and absolute good function after total knee replacement (TKR) and the agreement between these measures.

Methods

Using data from The Multicenter Osteoarthritis (MOST) Study, we determined the prevalence of achieving a minimal clinically important improvement (MCII, ≥ 14.2/68 point improvement) and Patient Acceptable Symptom State (PASS, ≤ 22/68 post-TKR score) on the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) Physical Function subscale at least 6 months after knee replacement. We also assessed the frequency of co-occurrence of the 2 outcomes, and the prevalence according to pre-knee replacement functional status.

Results

We included 228 subjects who had a knee replacement during followup (mean age 65 yrs, mean body mass index 33.4, 73% female). Seventy-one percent attained the PASS for function after knee replacement, while only 44% attained the MCII. Of the subjects who met the MCII, 93% also attained the PASS; however, of subjects who did not meet the MCII, 54% still achieved a PASS. Baseline functional status was associated with attainment of each MCII and PASS.

Conclusion

There was only partial overlap between attainment of a good level of function and actually improving by an acceptable amount. Subjects were more likely to attain an acceptable level of function than to achieve a clinically important amount of improvement post-knee replacement.

Background

Participation is an important, yet seldom studied, outcome after total knee replacement (TKR).

Objective

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent and predictors of participation and participation restriction among people after TKR.

Materials and methods

This study investigated the changes in pain, function, and participation scores (measured using a subscale of the Late-Life Function and Disability Instrument) from pre-TKR to ≥1 year post-TKR among a subsample of participants from the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST) longitudinal cohort (MOST is funded by the National Institutes of Health). The proportions of individuals with participation restriction pre-TKR and ≥1 and ≥2 years post-TKR were calculated for all participants and for important demographic subgroups. The association between demographic and clinical factors and participation was estimated using linear regression. The association between demographic and clinical factors and participation restriction was estimated using logistic regression.

Results

There were 292 individuals with outcome data ≥1 year post-TKR. Of these, 218 (75%) had data pre-TKR and ≥1 year post-TKR and 160 (55%) had data ≥2 years post-TKR. There were mean improvements in pain, function, and participation at ≥1 and 2 years. However, approximately 30% of the study sample had participation restriction pre-TKR and post-TKR, and the proportion decreased significantly only for those <65 years old. Non-whites had a higher proportion of participation restriction than any other subgroup (41% ≥1 year, 48% ≥2 years). Female sex and non-white race were associated with a worse participation score, and several demographic and modifiable factors were associated with participation restriction following TKR.

Limitations

The time between pre-TKR and post-TKR assessment varied across study participants, and data were not available on their rehabilitation utilization.

Conclusions

Although there was a mean increase in participation ≥1 year following TKR, participation restriction was common. The likelihood of low participation was increased among women, non-whites, and those with depressive symptoms, severe pain in either knee, or worse pre-TKR function.

Objective

Electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) rely on computer algorithms to extract data from electronic health records (EHRs). On behalf of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), we sought to develop and test eCQMs for rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods

Drawing from published ACR guidelines, a working group developed candidate RA process measures and subsequently assessed face validity through an interdisciplinary panel of health care stakeholders. A public comment period followed. Measures that passed these levels of review were electronically specified using the quality data model, which provides standard nomenclature for data elements (category, datatype, and value sets) obtained through an EHR. For each eCQM, 3 clinical sites using different EHR systems tested the scientific feasibility and validity of measures. Measures appropriate for accountability were presented for national endorsement.

Results

Expert panel validity ratings were high for all measures (median 8-9 of 9). Health system performance on the eCQMs was 53.6% for RA disease activity assessment, 69.1% for functional status assessment, 93.1% for disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) use, and 72.8% for tuberculosis screening. Kappa statistics, which evaluated whether the eCQM validly captured data obtained from manual EHR chart review, demonstrated moderate to substantial agreement (0.54 for functional status assessment, 0.73 for tuberculosis screening, 0.84 for disease activity, and 0.85 for DMARD use).

Conclusion

Four eCQMs for RA have achieved national endorsement and are recommended for use in federal quality reporting programs. Implementation and further refinement of these measures is ongoing in the ACR's registry, the Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness (RISE).

Objective

To develop a Gout, Hyperuricaemia and Crystal-Associated Disease Network (G-CAN) common language definition of gout, with the goal of increasing public understanding and awareness, and ensure consistent and understandable messages about gout.

Methods

A G-CAN working group that included patients, physicians and nongovernmental organisation (NGO) representatives was formed to develop a common language definition of gout for use with the public, media, healthcare providers and stakeholders. A literature search and interviews with patients, healthcare workers and stakeholders informed development of the definition. Following consultation with G-CAN members and partners, the definition was endorsed by the G-CAN board.

Results

The G-CAN common language definition of gout describes the epidemiology, pathophysiology, symptoms and impact, risk factors, comorbidities, management and healthcare and workforce considerations. Detailed information is provided to support the content of the definition. After the publication of the English-language version, the definition will be available for translation into other languages by G-CAN members.

Conclusion

G-CAN has developed a concise and easily understandable statement describing gout in language that can be used in conversations with the lay public, media, NGOs, funders, healthcare providers and other stakeholders.

Pragmatic clinical trials (PCTs) seek to improve the generalizability and increase the statistical power of traditional explanatory trials. They are a major tenet of comparative effectiveness research. While a powerful study design, PCTs have been limited by high cost, modest efficiency, and limited ability to fill relevant evidence gaps. Based on an American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) supported meeting of national stakeholders, we propose several innovations and future research that could improve the efficiency and effectiveness of such studies focused in the U.S. Innovations discussed include optimizing the use of community based practices through partnership with Practice Based Research Networks (PBRNs), using information technology to simplify PCT subject recruitment, consent and randomization processes, and utilizing linkages to large administrative databases, such as Medicare, as a mechanism to capture outcomes and other important PCT variables with lower subject and research team burden. Testing and adaptation of such innovations to PCT are anticipated to improve the public health value of these increasingly important studies.