Background and purpose

Heart disease is the leading killer of women and remains poorly recognized in high-risk groups. We assessed baseline knowledge gaps and efficacy of a survey-based educational intervention.

Methods

Four hundred seventy-two women in clinical settings completed pre-/post-surveys for knowledge of: heart disease as the leading killer, risk factors (general and personal levels), heart attack/stroke symptoms, and taking appropriate emergency action. They received a clinic-based educational intervention delivered by healthcare professionals in the course of their clinical care. Change score analyses tested pre-/post-differences in knowledge after the educational intervention, comparing proportions by race, ethnicity, and urban/nonurban status.

Results

Knowledge and awareness was low in all groups, especially for American Indian women (p < 0.05). Awareness was overall highest for heart disease as the leading killer, but it was the lowest for taking appropriate action (13% of Hispanic, 13% of American Indian, 29% of African American, and 18% of nonurban women; p < 0.05). For all women, knowledge of the major risk factors was low (58%) as was knowledge of their personal levels for risk factors (73% awareness for hypertension, 54% for cholesterol, and 50% for diabetes). The intervention was effective (% knowledge gain) in all groups of women, particularly for raising awareness of: (1) heart disease as the leading killer in American Indian (25%), Hispanic (18%), and nonurban (15%) women; (2) taking appropriate action for American Indian (80%), African American (64%), non-Hispanic (55%), and urban (56%) women; (3) heart disease risk factors for Hispanic (56%) and American Indian (47%) women; and (4) heart disease and stroke symptoms in American Indian women (54% and 25%, respectively).

Conclusions

Significant knowledge gaps persist for heart disease in high-risk women, suggesting that these gaps and groups should be targeted by educational programs. We specify areas of need, and we demonstrate efficacy of a clinic-based educational intervention that can be of utility to busy healthcare professionals.

Background

Averaging length of stay (LOS) ignores patient complexity and is a poor metric for quality control in geriatric hip fracture programs. We developed a predictive model of LOS that compares patient complexity to the logistic effects of our institution's hip fracture care pathway.

Methods

A retrospective analysis was performed on patients enrolled into a hip fracture co-management pathway at an academic level I trauma center from 2014 to 2015. Patient complexity was approximated using the Charlson Comorbidity Index and ASA score. A predictive model of LOS was developed from patient-specific and system-specific variables using a multivariate linear regression analysis; it was tested against a sample of patients from 2016.

Results

LOS averaged 5.95 days. Avoidance of delirium and reduced time to surgery were found to be notable predictors of reduced LOS. The Charlson Comorbidity Index was not a strong predictor of LOS, but the ASA score was. Our predictive LOS model worked well for 63% of patients from the 2016 group; for those it did not work well for, 80% had postoperative complications.

Discussion

Predictive LOS modeling accounting for patient complexity was effective for identifying (1) reasons for outliers to the expected LOS and (2) effective measures to target for improving our hip fracture program.

Level of evidence

III.

Introduction

Over 300,000 patients in the United States sustain low-trauma fragility hip fractures annually. Multidisciplinary geriatric fracture programs (GFP) including early, multimodal pain management reduce morbidity and mortality. Our overall goal was to determine the effects of a GFP on the emergency department (ED) pain management of geriatric fragility hip fractures.

Methods

We performed a retrospective study including patients age ≥65 years with fragility hip fractures two years before and two years after the implementation of the GFP. Outcomes were time to (any) first analgesic, use of acetaminophen and fascia iliaca compartment block (FICB) in the ED, and amount of opioid medication administered in the first 24 hours. We used permutation tests to evaluate differences in ED pain management following GFP implementation.

Results

We studied 131 patients in the pre-GFP period and 177 patients in the post-GFP period. In the post-GFP period, more patients received FICB (6% vs. 60%; difference 54%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 45-63%; p<0.001) and acetaminophen (10% vs. 51%; difference 41%, 95% CI 32-51%; p<0.001) in the ED. Patients in the post-GFP period also had a shorter time to first analgesic (103 vs. 93 minutes; p=0.04) and received fewer morphine equivalents in the first 24 hours (15mg vs. 10mg, p<0.001) than patients in the pre-GFP period.

Conclusion

Implementation of a GFP was associated with improved ED pain management for geriatric patients with fragility hip fractures. Future studies should evaluate the effects of these changes in pain management on longer-term outcomes.

Background and objectives

Safety event reporting systems facilitate identification of system-level targets to improve patient safety. Resident physicians report few safety events despite their role as frontline providers and the frequent occurrence of events. The objective of this study is to increase the number of pediatric resident safety event submissions from <1 to 4 submissions per 14-day period within 12 months.

Methods

We conducted an iterative quality improvement process with 39 pediatric residents at a children's hospital. Interventions focused on 4 key drivers: user-friendly event submission process, resident buy-in, nonpunitive safety culture, and data transparency. The primary outcome measure of number of pediatric resident event submissions was analyzed by using statistical process control. Balancing measures included time from submission to feedback, duplicate submissions, and nonevent submissions. As a control, the primary outcome measure was monitored for nonpediatric residents during the same period.

Results

The mean number of pediatric resident event submissions increased from 0.9 to 5.7 submissions per 14 days. Impactful interventions included a designated space in the resident workroom to list safety events to submit, monthly project updates, and an interresident competition. There were no duplicate submissions or nonevent submissions in the postintervention period. Time to feedback in the postintervention period had both upward and downward shifts, with >8 consecutive points above and below the baseline period's centerline. The control group showed no sustained change in event submissions.

Conclusions

Our improvement process was associated with significant increase in pediatric resident safety event submissions without an increase in the number of submissions categorized as duplicates or nonevents.

Abstract Background Cancer-related pain is common and under-treated. This article describes a study designed to test the effectiveness of a theory-driven, patient-centered coaching intervention to improve cancer pain processes and outcomes. Methods/Design The Cancer Health Empowerment for Living without Pain (Ca-HELP) Study is an American Cancer Society sponsored randomized trial conducted in Sacramento, California. A total of 265 cancer patients with at least moderate pain severity (Worst Pain Numerical Analog Score >=4 out of 10) or pain-related impairment (Likert score >= 3 out of 5) were randomly assigned to receive tailored education and coaching (TEC) or educationally-enhanced usual care (EUC); 258 received at least one follow-up assessment. The TEC intervention is based on social-cognitive theory and consists of 6 components (assess, correct, teach, prepare, rehearse, portray). Both interventions were delivered over approximately 30 minutes just prior to a scheduled oncology visit. The majority of visits (56%) were audio-recorded for later communication coding. Follow-up data including outcomes related to pain severity and impairment, self-efficacy for pain control and for patient-physician communication, functional status and well-being, and anxiety were collected at 2, 6, and 12 weeks. Discussion Building on social cognitive theory and pilot work, this study aims to test the hypothesis that a brief, tailored patient activation intervention will promote better cancer pain care and outcomes. Analyses will focus on the effects of the experimental intervention on pain severity and impairment (primary outcomes); self-efficacy and quality of life (secondary outcomes); and relationships among processes and outcomes of cancer pain care. If this model of coaching by lay health educators proves successful, it could potentially be implemented widely at modest cost. Trial Registration [Clinical Trials Identifier: NCT00283166]

Purpose

Interventions tailored to sociopsychological factors associated with health behaviors have promise for reducing colorectal cancer screening disparities, but limited research has assessed their impact in multiethnic populations. We examined whether an interactive multimedia computer program (IMCP) tailored to expanded health belief model sociopsychological factors could promote colorectal cancer screening in a multiethnic sample.

Methods

We undertook a randomized controlled trial, comparing an IMCP tailored to colorectal cancer screening self-efficacy, knowledge, barriers, readiness, test preference, and experiences with a nontailored informational program, both delivered before office visits. The primary outcome was record-documented colorectal cancer screening during a 12-month follow-up period. Secondary outcomes included postvisit sociopsychological factor status and discussion, as well as clinician recommendation of screening during office visits. We enrolled 1,164 patients stratified by ethnicity and language (49.3% non-Hispanic, 27.2% Hispanic/English, 23.4% Hispanic/Spanish) from 26 offices around 5 centers (Sacramento, California; Rochester and the Bronx, New York; Denver, Colorado; and San Antonio, Texas).

Results

Adjusting for ethnicity/language, study center, and the previsit value of the dependent variable, compared with control patients, the IMCP led to significantly greater colorectal cancer screening knowledge, self-efficacy, readiness, test preference specificity, discussion, and recommendation. During the followup period, 132 (23%) IMCP and 123 (22%) control patients received screening (adjusted difference = 0.5 percentage points, 95% CI -4.3 to 5.3). IMCP effects did not differ significantly by ethnicity/language.

Conclusions

Sociopsychological factor tailoring was no more effective than nontailored information in encouraging colorectal cancer screening in a multiethnic sample, despite enhancing sociopsychological factors and visit behaviors associated with screening. The utility of sociopsychological tailoring in addressing screening disparities remains uncertain.

Abstract Background Depression in primary care is common, yet this costly and disabling condition remains underdiagnosed and undertreated. Persisting gaps in the primary care of depression are due in part to patients’ reluctance to bring depressive symptoms to the attention of their primary care clinician and, when depression is diagnosed, to accept initial treatment for the condition. Both targeted and tailored communication strategies offer promise for fomenting discussion and reducing barriers to appropriate initial treatment of depression. Methods/design The Activating Messages to Enhance Primary Care Practice (AMEP2) Study is a stratified randomized controlled trial comparing two computerized multimedia patient interventions --- one targeted (to patient gender and income level) and one tailored (to level of depressive symptoms, visit agenda, treatment preferences, depression causal attributions, communication self-efficacy and stigma)--- and an attention control. AMEP2 consists of two linked sub-studies, one focusing on patients with significant depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 [PHQ-9] scores ≥ 5), the other on patients with few or no depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 < 5). The first sub-study examined effectiveness of the interventions; key outcomes included delivery of components of initial depression care (antidepressant prescription or mental health referral). The second sub-study tracked potential hazards (clinical distraction and overtreatment). A telephone interview screening procedure assessed patients for eligibility and oversampled patients with significant depressive symptoms. Sampled, consenting patients used computers to answer survey questions, be randomized, and view assigned interventions just before scheduled primary care office visits. Patient surveys were also collected immediately post-visit and 12 weeks later. Physicians completed brief reporting forms after each patient’s index visit. Additional data were obtained from medical record abstraction and visit audio recordings. Of 6,191 patients assessed, 867 were randomized and included in analysis, with 559 in the first sub-study and 308 in the second. Discussion Based on formative research, we developed two novel multimedia programs for encouraging patients to discuss depressive symptoms with their primary care clinicians. Our computer-based enrollment and randomization procedures ensured that randomization was fully concealed and data missingness minimized. Analyses will focus on the interventions’ potential benefits among depressed persons, and the potential hazards among the non-depressed. Trial registration ClinicialTrials.gov Identifier: http://NCT01144104

Importance

Encouraging primary care patients to address depression symptoms and care with clinicians could improve outcomes but may also result in unnecessary treatment.

Objective

To determine whether a depression engagement video (DEV) or a tailored interactive multimedia computer program (IMCP) improves initial depression care compared with a control without increasing unnecessary antidepressant prescribing.

Design, setting, and participants

Randomized clinical trial comparing DEV, IMCP, and control among 925 adult patients treated by 135 primary care clinicians (603 patients with depression and 322 patients without depression, defined by Patient Health Questionnaire-9 [PHQ-9] score) conducted from June 2010 through March 2012 at 7 primary care clinical sites in California.

Interventions

DEV targeted to sex and income, an IMCP tailored to individual patient characteristics, and a sleep hygiene video (control).

Main outcomes and measures

Among depressed patients, superiority assessment of the composite measure of patient-reported antidepressant drug recommendation, mental health referral, or both (primary outcome); depression at 12-week follow-up, measured by the PHQ-8 (secondary outcome). Among nondepressed patients, noninferiority assessment of clinician- and patient-reported antidepressant drug recommendation (primary outcomes) with a noninferiority margin of 3.5%. Analyses were cluster adjusted.

Results

Of the 925 eligible patients, 867 were included in the primary analysis (depressed, 559; nondepressed, 308). Among depressed patients, rates of achieving the primary outcome were 17.5% for DEV, 26% for IMCP, and 16.3% for control (DEV vs control, 1.1 [95% CI, -6.7 to 8.9], P = .79; IMCP vs control, 9.9 [95% CI, 1.6 to 18.2], P = .02). There were no effects on PHQ-8 measured depression score at the 12-week follow-up: DEV vs control, -0.2 (95% CI, -1.2 to 0.8); IMCP vs control,  0.9 (95% CI, -0.1 to 1.9). Among nondepressed patients, clinician-reported antidepressant prescribing in the DEV and IMCP groups was noninferior to control (mean percentage point difference [PPD]: DEV vs control, -2.2 [90% CI, -8.0 to 3.49], P = .0499 for noninferiority; IMCP vs control, -3.3 [90% CI, -9.1 to 2.4], P = .02 for noninferiority); patient-reported antidepressant recommendation did not achieve noninferiority (mean PPD: DEV vs control,  0.9 [90% CI, -4.9 to 6.7], P = .23 for noninferiority; IMCP vs control,  0.3 [90% CI, -5.1 to 5.7], P = .16 for noninferiority).

Conclusions and relevance

A tailored IMCP increased clinician recommendations for antidepressant drugs, a mental health referral, or both among depressed patients but had no effect on mental health at the 12-week follow-up. The possibility that the IMCP and DEV increased patient-reported clinician recommendations for an antidepressant drug among nondepressed patients could not be excluded.

Trial registration

clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01144104.