Implications of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures among patients with recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes.

BACKGROUND: For the past two decades, the assessment of the quality of diabetes care has mostly relied on clinical quality indicators. These have not included Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) which provide information on outcomes deemed valuable by patients. We aimed to examine the potential utility of PROMs in type 2 diabetes care and to study the association of PROMs with patients' characteristics and clinical quality indicators. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of recently (≤ 4 years) diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes (n = 392) in the setting of a large health plan. PROMs were based on two well-validated questionnaires, the Problem Areas in Diabetes (PAID) one-page questionnaire that measures diabetes-related distress, and the ten item PROMIS-10 global health questionnaire that measures general health. Additional items were added following a previous qualitative study among Israeli patients with diabetes. The survey was carried out using phone interviews, and data collected were linked to the electronic medical records. Multivariable regression models were used to assess the associations of socio-demographic variables and clinical quality indicators with the PROMs. RESULTS: About a fifth of participants (22%) had high diabetes-related distress (PAID score ≥ 40), a third reported that they did not feel confident in self-management of diabetes and about a third reported having sexual dysfunction. Women, younger patients, and those with a low education level (≤ 12 years) reported worse general health, were more likely to experience high diabetes-related distress, and to have low confidence in diabetes self-management. Interestingly, performance of all seven diabetes quality indicators was associated with worse general health and high diabetes-related distress. Of note, levels of glycated hemoglobin, LDL-cholesterol, or blood pressure were not associated with PROMs. CONCLUSIONS: PROMs provide important information on patient self-reported health status and are likely to reflect aspects of the quality of care that are not otherwise available to clinicians. Thus, the use of PROMs has the potential to expand the evaluation of diabetes care and promote patient-centered care. We recommend that policy-makers in the Ministry of Health and health maintenance organizations implement PROMs for assessing and improving the care for patients with type 2 diabetes.

Perinatal exposures and adolescence overweight: The role of shared maternal-offspring pathways.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Early life exposures affect offspring health across the life-course. We aimed to examine whether prevalent perinatal exposures and obstetric complications are independently associated with offspring overweight in adolescence. We then assessed whether shared maternal-offspring pathways drive the association of perinatal exposures with offspring overweight. METHODS: Using data from the Jerusalem Perinatal Study birth cohort, two perinatal scores were constructed: obstetric complications (OC) and prevalent perinatal exposures (PPE) scores. PPE score, generated by principal component analysis, included three primary components. Logistic regressions were used to assess associations of scores with offspring overweight, with and without adjustment for maternal life-course survival. RESULTS: OC and PPE scores were independently associated with offspring overweight (OROC = 1.15, 95%CI:1.07,1.25; ORPPE1- SEP and lifestyle = 0.85, 95%CI:0.79,0.91; ORPPE2- Maternal body size = 1.20, 95%CI: 1.13,1.28; ORPPE3-Fetal growth = 1.18, 95%CI:1.11,1.26). Maternal survival was associated with offspring overweight (OR = 1.38, 95%CI:1.08,1.76), yet introducing PPE score to the same model attenuated this association (OR = 1.16, 95%CI:0.90, 1.49). When OC score and maternal survival were included in the same model, their associations with offspring overweight remained unchanged. CONCLUSIONS: Mother-offspring shared factors, captured by maternal life-course survival, underlie the effect of prevalent perinatal exposures on offspring overweight. However, the effect of obstetric complications was independent, highlighting the contribution of additional pathways.

Adherence to diabetes quality indicators in primary care and all-cause mortality: A nationwide population-based historical cohort study.

BACKGROUND: In the last three decades, much effort has been invested in measuring and improving the quality of diabetes care. We assessed the association between adherence to diabetes quality indicators and all-cause mortality in the primary care setting. METHODS: A nationwide, population-based, historical cohort study of all people aged 45-80 with pharmacologically-treated diabetes in 2005 (n = 222,235). Data on annual performance of quality indicators (including indicators for metabolic risk factor management and glycemic control) and vital status were retrieved from electronic medical records of the four Israeli health maintenance organizations. Cox proportional hazards and time-dependent models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) for mortality by degree of adherence to quality indicators. RESULTS: During 2,000,052 person-years of follow-up, 35.8% of participants died. An inverse dose-response association between the degree of adherence and mortality was shown for most of the quality indicators. Participants who were not tested for proteinuria or did not visit an ophthalmologist during the first-5-years of follow-up had HRs of 2.60 (95%CI:2.49-2.69) and 2.09 (95%CI:2.01-2.16), respectively, compared with those who were fully adherent. In time-dependent analyses, not measuring LDL-cholesterol, blood pressure, HbA1c, or HbA1c>9% were similarly associated with mortality (HRs ≈1.5). The association of uncontrolled blood pressure with mortality was modified by age, with increased mortality shown for those with controlled blood pressure at older ages (≥65 years). CONCLUSIONS: Longitudinal adherence to diabetes quality indicators is associated with reduced all-cause mortality. Primary care professionals need to be supported by health care systems to perform quality indicators.

Maternal hybrid immunity and risk of infant COVID-19 hospitalizations: national case-control study in Israel.

Hybrid immunity, acquired through vaccination followed or preceded by a COVID-19 infection, elicits robust antibody augmentation. We hypothesize that maternal hybrid immunity will provide greater infant protection than other forms of COVID-19 immunity in the first 6 months of life. We conducted a case-control study in Israel, enrolling 661 infants up to 6 months of age, hospitalized with COVID-19 (cases) and 59,460 age-matched non-hospitalized infants (controls) between August 24, 2021, and March 15, 2022. Infants were grouped by maternal immunity status at delivery: Naïve (never vaccinated or tested positive, reference group), Hybrid-immunity (vaccinated and tested positive), Natural-immunity (tested positive before or during the study period), Full-vaccination (two-shot regimen plus 1 booster), and Partial-vaccination (less than full three shot regimen). Applying Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the hazard ratios, which was then converted to percent vaccine effectiveness, and using the Naïve group as the reference, maternal hybrid-immunity provided the highest protection (84% [95% CI 75-90]), followed by full-vaccination (66% [95% CI 56-74]), natural-immunity (56% [95% CI 39-68]), and partial-vaccination (29% [95% CI 15-41]). Maternal hybrid-immunity was associated with a reduced risk of infant hospitalization for Covid-19, as compared to natural-immunity, regardless of exposure timing or sequence. These findings emphasize the benefits of vaccinating previously infected individuals during pregnancy to reduce COVID-19 hospitalizations in early infancy.

Androgenicity in Young Women and Development of Metabolic Syndrome Before Menopause: The CARDIA and CARDIA Women's Studies.

Context: There are no reported data from prospective long-term studies on the relation of androgen levels in young women with development of metabolic syndrome (MetS) before menopause. Objective: We investigated associations of androgens and SHBG with incident MetS during 23 years of follow-up. Methods: We included 366 White and 375 Black women ages 20 to 32 years participating in the CARDIA study and CARDIA Women's study, free of MetS at baseline examination (1987-1988), and premenopausal 23 years later. Androgens and SHBG were categorized into quartiles. MetS was defined according to the American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute 2009 Joint Scientific Statement. Cox proportional hazards models were used. Results: By year 23, 30% of women developed MetS. Adjusting for baseline age, race, and education, hazard ratios (95% CI) of developing MetS were 1.46 (1.02-2.10) and 2.22 (1.53-3.21) for women in the highest vs lowest total testosterone (T) and free T quartile, respectively. The hazards of developing MetS were 47%, 59%, and 53% lower for women with SHBG in the second, third, and fourth quartiles (vs lowest quartile), respectively. Associations were attenuated for total T with further adjustments for smoking, physical activity, menstrual status, oral contraceptive/hormone (OCHM) use, insulin level, oligomenorrhea, and age at menarche, but remained statistically significant for free T and SHBG. Associations were similar for both Blacks and Whites, and OCHM nonusers, but not for OCHM users. Conclusion: High androgenicity in young premenopausal women is associated with higher risk of future MetS, suggesting that early assessment of androgens may contribute to prevention.