Factors associated with continued participation in mammography screening.

BACKGROUND: Relatively little is known about factors that predict ongoing participation in mammography screening at regular intervals. Members of managed care plans have access to this preventive service; yet, many still do not receive it routinely. METHODS: Using administrative data from HIP Health Plan of New York, a group model HMO, 24,215 women ages 50-80 years identified as having a screening mammogram during the baseline period were followed for 2 years to determine demographic and utilization factors that might be related to having a subsequent mammogram within the recommended time interval. RESULTS: Of the 24,215 women with an index mammogram, 71.8;pc had a subsequent screening mammogram within 2 years. Women ages 65-74 years and those with Medicare coverage had the highest mammogram rates among the age and coverage categories. Number of primary care and gynecology physician visits was strongly related to having a subsequent mammogram. The average (mean) time between index and subsequent mammogram was 14.4 months. CONCLUSION: The significance of health plan visits in subsequent mammography underscores the importance of physician-patient communication in a managed care plan and the integration of health plan members into the HMO delivery system. Even in this environment with equal access for all types of coverage, Medicaid members were less likely to receive this preventive service.

A randomized intervention to improve ongoing participation in mammography.

OBJECTIVE: To test the effectiveness of interventions intended to increase rates of regular breast cancer screening, according to recommended guidelines. STUDY DESIGN: A randomized controlled trial of 2 outreach interventions (a mail reminder and a telephone reminder plus appointment scheduling) compared with a routine publicity campaign to encourage continued participation in mammography screening. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Participants were 1908 women aged 50 to 75 years continuously enrolled in a large group-model HMO during the study who underwent a bilateral mammogram during the first quarter of 1994 and no subsequent mammogram during the next 18 to 21 months. Data were obtained from health plan administrative data files supplemented by medical chart review. Women were randomly assigned to receive (1) a mail reminder, (2) a telephone reminder, or (3) routine publicity on mammography for all women. The outcome measure was a mammogram received after the intervention period and within 2 years of the initial mammogram date. RESULTS: Bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses showed that participation was significantly higher for women contacted by telephone than through routine publicity. Mail reminders were no more effective than a routine publicity campaign. Primary care physician and gynecologist visits increased the likelihood of a subsequent mammogram for women in all intervention groups. CONCLUSIONS: Telephone contact by regular health plan staff was more successful than publicity in encouraging continued participation in mammography screening in women enrolled in a group-model managed health care plan. Because mailings did not influence participation in mammography screening, health plans should be cautious about investing in member mailings without first evaluating their effectiveness in the context of existing outreach efforts.

Teaching medical undergraduates basic clinical skills in hospice--is it practical?

AIM: Basic clinical skills teaching to medical undergraduates was a new departure for the hospice stimulated by the changing philosophies and organisation of students' training. This study was undertaken to assess the practicalities of the venture. METHOD: Questionnaires were designed for each of the three major groups of people involved, namely the students, the patients, and the hospice nurses. Involved patients completed theirs after teaching sessions, while the students and nurses were given two different questionnaires each, one at the start and another at the end of the academic year. RESULTS: All students completed both questionnaires. Overall they had acquired adequate skills to pass their end of year assessments and considered themselves more comfortable with difficult situations than may otherwise have been the case. The majority of patients had enjoyed the experience and found it personally educational and a change to hospice routines. The nurses' response rates were very poor, limiting any conclusions that could be drawn. CONCLUSION: The venture was successful, stimulating, and practical for patients and students. Its impact on the nurses remains uncertain but, by their unusual lack of opinion expression, it can be inferred tentatively that this was minimal.

Screening for hereditary hemochromatosis: are DNA-based tests the answer?

Universal screening for hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) has been proposed by many experts, with understandable enthusiasm: HH can cause fatal complications, which are preventable with early treatment. The disorder involves excess iron accumulation that can result in tissue iron overload, with secondary cirrhosis, diabetes, heart failure, impotence and arthritis. These complications are preceded by years of iron accumulation, and most are believed to be preventable by removal of excess iron by phlebotomy. Thus, early identification and treatment - the quintessential functions of health screening - seem to make sense for HH. However, the available screening tests are imperfect. While they can identify many persons at increased risk from HH, the proportion that will develop serious clinical manifestations related to iron overload is not known with certainty. DNA-based tests do not provide a simple resolution to these questions.

Screening for hemochromatosis. A public health perspective.

CONTEXT: The discovery of the HFE gene in 1996 has introduced DNA testing as a possible tool for screening and diagnosis of hemochromatosis and increased interest in the disorder. Population screening using transferrin saturation has been advocated by experts to permit early detection and treatment with phlebotomy before the onset of clinical disease. METHODS: Based on a literature review, we consider the relative risks and merits of two screening tests as part of a broader look at the evidence required for the recommendation of universal screening for hemochromatosis. RESULTS: Several questions must be answered before universal screening can be recommended. Uncertainties remain about the penetrance and preventable disease burden, laboratory standardization, and optimal strategies to minimize potential risks of screening for hemochromatosis. CONCLUSIONS: As a common genetic disorder with simple, effective therapy, hemochromatosis offers a model for other genetically influenced chronic diseases that some day may have interventions to improve prognosis. Resolution of questions related to prevention of chronic diseases from hemochromatosis, therefore, will have broad usefulness in the future.

Vaginal estrogen creams: use patterns among a cohort of women.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence, amount, and duration of use of vaginal estrogen cream among several birth cohorts of women from 1983 through 1992. DESIGN: Analyses are based on automated membership, pharmacy, and hospital discharge databases from Group Health Cooperative (GHC) of Puget Sound, a large health maintenance organization in Seattle, Washington. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 33,822 women, aged 45 years and older as of December 31, 1983, who were enrolled in GHC from 1983 to 1992 or who were enrolled at baseline and died in the following decade. RESULTS: About 24% of the cohort had filled at least one prescription for vaginal estrogen cream during 1983 through 1992, and about 60% of the users had more than one prescription filled. The annual birth cohort-specific prevalence of having filled one or more prescriptions for vaginal estrogen creams ranged between 1.6 and 8.2% across birth cohorts, whereas the average annual prevalence for the cohort was between 5.3 and 6.8%. The total amount, duration of use, and proportion of total estrogen exposure from creams increased with age of the birth cohort. Among the 733 women with intact uteri who were long-term cream users, 60.4% had no progestin prescriptions while averaging 22.1 tubes of estrogen cream. CONCLUSION: The prescription-filling patterns for estrogen in this cohort show an increase in the amount, years of use, and proportion of estrogen exposure from creams with the age of the birth cohort and extensive unopposed cream use among a small proportion of women with intact uteri. The systemic effects of vaginal estrogen cream among older postmenopausal women with urogenital atrophy deserve closer scrutiny.

Iron overload, public health, and genetics: evaluating the evidence for hemochromatosis screening.

Population screening for hemochromatosis done by using the transferrin saturation test has been advocated by experts to permit the initiation of therapeutic phlebotomy before the onset of clinical disease. The discovery of a gene associated with hemochromatosis has made DNA testing another option for screening and diagnosis. In this paper, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force criteria are used to evaluate the evidence for the usefulness of population screening done by using iron measures or genetic testing. Published clinical research offers little evidence to suggest that population screening for hemochromatosis done by using genetic testing improves clinical outcomes. Although one recently discovered mutation, C282Y, accounts for 60% to 92% of cases of the disease in series of patients with hemochromatosis, uncertainties remain about the clinical penetrance of various genotypes; the accuracy of genetic testing; and the ethical, legal, and social effects of genetic testing. Before population screening for hemochromatosis done by using transferrin saturation testing can be recommended, laboratory standardization needs to be addressed and questions about risk for clinical disease in asymptomatic persons with mutations or early biochemical expression of disease require resolution. Evidence from case series suggests that hemochromatosis may be associated with liver cancer, other liver disease, diabetes, bradyarrhythmias, and arthritis. In all studies but one, however, estimation of the magnitude and significance of this risk is limited by lack of adequate comparison groups. The need for population data to answer questions about penetrance among asymptomatic persons should not impede efforts to increase the detection and treatment of hemochromatosis in persons found to have elevated iron measures a family history of hemochromatosis, or consistent early signs and symptoms of the disease.

Research priorities in hereditary hemochromatosis.

The Working Group on Research Priorities used a formal nominal group technique to identify and prioritize the specific aims of applied research needed to provide the scientific basis for population screening for iron overload disorders. The most important applied research goal was characterization of the natural history of the relation between genotype and phenotype in hereditary hemochromatosis and other iron overload disorders. Three other important research objectives were development of an optimal approach to screening for iron overload; analyses of the cost-effectiveness of screening; and assessment of the ethical, legal, and social implications of screening. To achieve these specific aims, two research studies were recommended as being of the highest priority: a multicenter, cross-sectional, population-based study of the natural history of iron overload and a multicenter, case-control study of patients with disease manifestations potentially attributable to hereditary hemochromatosis in primary care and subspecialty clinics.

The prevalence of risk factors among women in the United States by race and age, 1992-1994: opportunities for primary and secondary prevention.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the prevalence of 11 modifiable behavioral risk factors, including multiple risk factors, among white, black, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian, and Hispanic women in the United States. DESIGN: We used Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data for 1992 to 1994 to examine risk factors (smoking; obesity; diabetes; heavy alcohol consumption; sedentary lifestyle; and inadequate use of seat belts, pap smears, consumption of fruits or vegetables, mammography and colorectal screening, and immunization), among women age 18 to 49, 50 to 64, and 65 and older. We also conducted a multiple regression analysis, comparing the odds of having either 1-2 versus 0 or 3 or more versus 0 risk factors among racial/ethnic groups, controlling for education and family income, to see if racial/ethnic differences can be attributed to socioeconomic differences. RESULTS: US women engage in a variety of behaviors that place them at risk for many causes of morbidity and mortality. Risk profiles vary substantially among racial/ethnic populations: Pacific Islanders have relatively low prevalences of most major risk factors, while blacks and American Indians have relatively high prevalences of many major risk factors. Prevalence differences among racial/ethnic populations are diminished but not eliminated when socioeconomic factors are accounted for. CONCLUSIONS: Appropriately designed programs to help women reduce their behavioral risk factors are needed. Action by health care providers, communities, and policy makers can substantially improve the health of women in the United States.

A sitting/companionship service for palliative care patients: Leicestershire, England.

Volunteers are vital to most UK hospices, performing wide-ranging duties. In our unit a carefully selected and trained group provides a professionally coordinated setting/companionship service for housebound patients. In this study we questioned their reasons for volunteering to "sit" and their evaluations of the training course. Six (of eight) completing the most recent course returned questionnaires. Five already were engaged in voluntary work, three within Leicestershire Hospice. They wanted to be "sitters" primarily to support the carers and to use their time constructively. They were aware of potential difficulties in "sitting" and considered the course had realistically acknowledged these and highlighted others that the volunteers had not contemplated, preparing them appropriately. Overall the course was valuable; all enthusiastically welcomed ongoing support and training.

Racial differences in the use of invasive coronary procedures after acute myocardial infarction in Medicare beneficiaries.

We examined differences in the use of invasive diagnostic and therapeutic coronary procedures between white and black Medicare beneficiaries following acute myocardial infarction. We used Medicare hospitalization data for patients aged 65 years or older who were hospitalized with an acute myocardial infarction in 1988, and we followed them through the calendar year to determine whether they received invasive coronary procedures. We used multivariate logistic regression to control simultaneously for multiple potential confounding factors including age, geographic region, poverty, comorbid conditions, access to hospitals equipped to provide invasive procedures, and short-term survival. We calculated odds ratios for racial differences in use of invasive diagnostic procedures (coronary arteriography, cardiac catheterization) and, separately, of myocardial revascularization procedures (coronary artery bypass grafting, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty). We found that the odds of receiving an invasive diagnostic procedure after acute myocardial infarction were 2.0 times greater for white men than for black men (95% CI: 1.8-2.1); for white women, the odds were 1.5 times greater than for black women (95% CI: 1.4-1.6). Following an invasive diagnostic procedure, the odds of myocardial revascularization were 1.8 times greater among white than among black men (95% CI: 1.6-2.0), and 1.7 times greater among white than among black women (95% CI: 1.6-2.0). We conclude that invasive diagnostic and therapeutic coronary procedures are used more often among white than among black Medicare beneficiaries following acute myocardial infarction. Further investigation of this discrepancy will require detailed clinical and attitudinal information from medical records, patients, and physicians.

Trends in obstetric operative procedures, 1980 to 1987.

OBJECTIVES: Increasing rates of cesarean deliveries have received widespread attention in recent years, as concern in the United States about unnecessary surgical procedures has increased. However, little information has been published on the national trends of other operative obstetric procedures occurring during deliveries. METHODS: We analyzed data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey to examine trends in the use of forceps, vacuum extraction, and cesarean section from 1980 through 1987. RESULTS: The rate of cesarean sections increased by 48%, while the rate of forceps procedures declined by 43%. Although the risk of cesarean section was significantly increased for older women, the risk of forceps and vacuum extraction procedures did not vary by age. Women with private insurance were significantly more likely to receive a cesarean section (rate ratio [RR] = 1.2), forceps procedure (RR = 1.7), and vacuum extraction procedure (RR = 1.8) than were women without private insurance. CONCLUSIONS: As pressure mounts to decrease the national cesarean section rate from 24% to 15% by the year 2000, attention should also be given to surveillance of other operative delivery procedures.

Hospitalization for pregnancy complications, United States, 1986 and 1987.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of our analysis was to provide a national overview of the magnitude of the public health burden associated with inpatient care for pregnancy complications. STUDY DESIGN: We analyzed data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey for 1986 and 1987. We calculated ratios of hospitalizations for pregnancy complications for every 100 hospitalizations involving a birth. Standard errors for these ratios were calculated with RATIOEST, and relative ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated for subgroups of interest. RESULTS: We found that for every 100 hospitalizations involving a birth, there were 22.2 nondelivery hospitalizations for pregnancy complications (14.6 antenatal complications, 7.6 pregnancy loss complications). These ratios were higher for black than for white women (relative ratio 1.4, 95% confidence interval 1.2 to 1.6). The effects of marital status, age, and insurance coverage differed between black and white women, and mean length of stay was longer for black than for white women. CONCLUSION: Hospitalization for pregnancy complications is far more common than is widely appreciated and is more frequent among black than white women.

Maternal mortality in the United States, 1979-1986.

To understand better the epidemiology and to describe the causes of maternal death, we reviewed all identified maternal deaths in the United States and Puerto Rico for 1979-1986. The overall maternal mortality ratio for the period was 9.1 deaths per 100,000 live births. The ratios increased with age and were higher among women of black and other minority races than among white women for all age groups. The causes of death varied for different outcomes of pregnancy; pulmonary embolism was the leading cause of death after a live birth. Unmarried women had a higher risk of death than married women. The risk of death increased with increasing live-birth order, except for primiparas. In order to develop strategies to reduce the risk of maternal death in the United States, future studies should include expanded information about each death, which will allow better understanding of factors associated with maternal mortality.