The Design and Early Results of a Structured Longitudinal Training Program for Undergraduate Students to Increase Diversity in Aging-Research.

Background: The Cultivating Health and Aging Researchers by Integrating Science, Medicine, and Aging (CHARISMA) program at the University of Chicago (UC), is an NIA-funded longitudinal clinical research training program for undergraduate students from groups underrepresented in the sciences and medicine. CHARISMA students participate in an aging-focused: 1) realistic research career experience, 2) didactic curriculum, and 3) multi-tiered mentorship program. This manuscript describes CHARISMA and early quantitative data demonstrating its success. Methods: Students apply for and are accepted into CHARISMA in year-long intervals, with programming lasting from June to May. Short-term outcomes are measured using student surveys, including an adapted 23-question version of the critical research appraisal inventory (CRAI), the Geriatrics Attitude Scale for Primary Care Residents, and questions rating the overall program, mentor, importance of aging research, and career interests. Results: Twenty-two students have completed CHARISMA. After completing CHARISMA, student aggregate CRAI scores increased (6.8 to 7.5, p = 0.04). Additionally, the substantial majority of students completing CHARISMA were definitely, very or somewhat Additionally, 87% (19/22), 73% (16/22), and 82% (18/22) of students were definitely, very, or somewhat interested in pursuing a career in medicine that serves older adults, pursuing a career in clinical research, or pursuing a career focused on aging-related research. Conclusion: Early data demonstrates that CHARISMA increases undergraduate student knowledge of and interest in aging-related clinical research.

Red Blood Cell Transfusion: 2023 AABB International Guidelines.

Importance: Red blood cell transfusion is a common medical intervention with benefits and harms. Objective: To provide recommendations for use of red blood cell transfusion in adults and children. Evidence Review: Standards for trustworthy guidelines were followed, including using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation methods, managing conflicts of interest, and making values and preferences explicit. Evidence from systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials was reviewed. Findings: For adults, 45 randomized controlled trials with 20 599 participants compared restrictive hemoglobin-based transfusion thresholds, typically 7 to 8 g/dL, with liberal transfusion thresholds of 9 to 10 g/dL. For pediatric patients, 7 randomized controlled trials with 2730 participants compared a variety of restrictive and liberal transfusion thresholds. For most patient populations, results provided moderate quality evidence that restrictive transfusion thresholds did not adversely affect patient-important outcomes. Recommendation 1: for hospitalized adult patients who are hemodynamically stable, the international panel recommends a restrictive transfusion strategy considering transfusion when the hemoglobin concentration is less than 7 g/dL (strong recommendation, moderate certainty evidence). In accordance with the restrictive strategy threshold used in most trials, clinicians may choose a threshold of 7.5 g/dL for patients undergoing cardiac surgery and 8 g/dL for those undergoing orthopedic surgery or those with preexisting cardiovascular disease. Recommendation 2: for hospitalized adult patients with hematologic and oncologic disorders, the panel suggests a restrictive transfusion strategy considering transfusion when the hemoglobin concentration is less than 7 g/dL (conditional recommendations, low certainty evidence). Recommendation 3: for critically ill children and those at risk of critical illness who are hemodynamically stable and without a hemoglobinopathy, cyanotic cardiac condition, or severe hypoxemia, the international panel recommends a restrictive transfusion strategy considering transfusion when the hemoglobin concentration is less than 7 g/dL (strong recommendation, moderate certainty evidence). Recommendation 4: for hemodynamically stable children with congenital heart disease, the international panel suggests a transfusion threshold that is based on the cardiac abnormality and stage of surgical repair: 7 g/dL (biventricular repair), 9 g/dL (single-ventricle palliation), or 7 to 9 g/dL (uncorrected congenital heart disease) (conditional recommendation, low certainty evidence). Conclusions and Relevance: It is good practice to consider overall clinical context and alternative therapies to transfusion when making transfusion decisions about an individual patient.

Current advances in 2022: A critical review of selected topics by the Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies (AABB) Clinical Transfusion Medicine Committee.

BACKGROUND: The Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies Clinical Transfusion Medicine Committee (CTMC) composes a summary of new and important advances in transfusion medicine (TM) on an annual basis. Since 2018, this has been assembled into a manuscript and published in Transfusion. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: CTMC members selected original manuscripts relevant to TM that were published electronically and/or in print during calendar year 2022. Papers were selected based on perceived importance and/or originality. References for selected papers were made available to CTMC members to provide feedback. Members were also encouraged to identify papers that may have been omitted initially. They then worked in groups of two to three to write a summary for each new publication within their broader topic. Each topic summary was then reviewed and edited by two separate committee members. The final manuscript was assembled by the first and senior authors. While this review is extensive, it is not a systematic review and some publications considered important by readers may have been excluded. RESULTS: For calendar year 2022, summaries of key publications were assembled for the following broader topics within TM: blood component therapy; infectious diseases, blood donor testing, and collections; patient blood management; immunohematology and genomics; hemostasis; hemoglobinopathies; apheresis and cell therapy; pediatrics; and health care disparities, diversity, equity, and inclusion. DISCUSSION: This Committee Report reviews and summarizes important publications and advances in TM published during calendar year 2022, and maybe a useful educational tool.

State of research in adult Hospital Medicine: Updated results of a national survey and longitudinal analysis of national data.

We sought to understand the current state of research in adult Hospital Medicine by repeating a 2018 survey of leaders in Hospital Medicine with changes to improve the response rate of surveyed programs. We also analyzed the public sources of federal research funding and MEDLINE-indexed publications from 2010 through 2019 among members of the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM). Of the 102 contacted leaders of Hospital Medicine groups across the country, 49 responded, for a total response rate of 48%. Among the 3397 faculty members represented in responding programs, 72 (2%) of faculty were identified as conducting research for more than 50% of their time. Respondents noted difficulties at every stage of the research development pipeline, from a lack of mentors to running a fellowship program to a lack of applicants seeking further research training. Improvements to our research training pipeline will be essential to the long-term improvement of our profession.

Longitudinal assessment of quality of life in indolent non-Hodgkin lymphomas managed with active surveillance.

There are limited data describing the impact of active surveillance on longitudinal health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with indolent non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL). A cohort of untreated indolent NHL patients completed FACT-LYM questionnaires at 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months after diagnosis. Longitudinal FACT-LYM scores were analyzed by ANOVA and generalized linear mixed models. Indolent NHL scores were compared to norm general population scores. A total of 52 patients were identified, of which 46 (88%) remained on active surveillance at 36 months. There was no significant change in any of the FACT-LYM scores over 36 months. As compared to the general population, indolent NHL patients had higher, clinically meaningful scores in physical, functional, and social well-being, but not emotional well-being. Patients with indolent NHL on active surveillance have globally preserved HRQoL for up to 3 years after diagnosis. Emotional well-being continues to be an unmet need during active surveillance.

Current advances in transfusion medicine 2021: A critical review of selected topics by the AABB Clinical Transfusion Medicine Committee.

BACKGROUND: Each year the AABB Clinical Transfusion Medicine Committee (CTMC) procures a synopsis highlighting new, important, and clinically relevant studies in the field of transfusion medicine (TM). This has been made available as a publication in Transfusion since 2018. METHODS: CTMC members reviewed and identified original manuscripts covering TM-related topics published electronically (ahead-of-print) or in print from December 2020 to December 2021. Selection of publications was discussed at committee meetings and chosen based on perceived relevance and originality. Next, committee members worked in pairs to create a synopsis of each topic, which was then reviewed by additional committee members. The first and senior authors assembled the final manuscript. Although this synopsis is extensive, it is not exhaustive, and some articles may have been excluded or missed. RESULTS: The following topics are included: blood products; convalescent plasma; donor collections and testing; hemoglobinopathies; immunohematology and genomics; hemostasis; patient blood management; pediatrics; therapeutic apheresis; and cell therapy. CONCLUSIONS: This synopsis highlights and summarizes recent key developments in TM and may be useful for educational purposes.

Antibiotics prior to age 2 years have limited association with preschool growth trajectory.

BACKGROUND: Prior studies of early antibiotic use and growth have shown mixed results, primarily on cross-sectional outcomes. This study examined the effect of oral antibiotics before age 24 months on growth trajectory at age 2-5 years. METHODS: We captured oral antibiotic prescriptions and anthropometrics from electronic health records through PCORnet, for children with ≥1 height and weight at 0-12 months of age, ≥1 at 12-30 months, and ≥2 between 25 and 72 months. Prescriptions were grouped into episodes by time and by antimicrobial spectrum. Longitudinal rate regression was used to assess differences in growth rate from 25 to 72 months of age. Models were adjusted for sex, race/ethnicity, steroid use, diagnosed asthma, complex chronic conditions, and infections. RESULTS: 430,376 children from 29 health U.S. systems were included, with 58% receiving antibiotics before 24 months. Exposure to any antibiotic was associated with an average 0.7% (95% CI 0.5, 0.9, p < 0.0001) greater rate of weight gain, corresponding to 0.05 kg additional weight. The estimated effect was slightly greater for narrow-spectrum (0.8% [0.6, 1.1]) than broad-spectrum (0.6% [0.3, 0.8], p < 0.0001) drugs. There was a small dose response relationship between the number of antibiotic episodes and weight gain. CONCLUSION: Oral antibiotic use prior to 24 months of age was associated with very small changes in average growth rate at ages 2-5 years. The small effect size is unlikely to affect individual prescribing decisions, though it may reflect a biologic effect that can combine with others.

Current advances in transfusion medicine 2020: A critical review of selected topics by the AABB Clinical Transfusion Medicine Committee.

BACKGROUND: The AABB Clinical Transfusion Medicine Committee (CTMC) compiles an annual synopsis of the published literature covering important developments in the field of transfusion medicine (TM), which has been made available as a manuscript published in Transfusion since 2018. METHODS: CTMC committee members reviewed original manuscripts including TM-related topics published electronically (ahead) or in print from December 2019 to December 2020. The selection of topics and manuscripts was discussed at committee meetings and chosen based on relevance and originality. Next, committee members worked in pairs to create a synopsis of each topic, which was then reviewed by two additional committee members. The first and senior authors of this manuscript assembled the final manuscript. Although this synopsis is extensive, it is not exhaustive, and some papers may have been excluded or missed. RESULTS: The following topics are included: COVID-19 effects on the blood supply and regulatory landscape, COVID convalescent plasma, adult transfusion practices, whole blood, molecular immunohematology, pediatric TM, cellular therapy, and apheresis medicine. CONCLUSIONS: This synopsis provides easy access to relevant topics and may be useful as an educational tool.

The effect of red blood cell transfusion on fatigability after hospital discharge.

In patients with anemia, there is interest in understanding the impact of red blood cell (RBC) transfusion on patient-reported outcomes such as fatigue. However, data from previous studies are mixed as to whether transfusion improves fatigue. One explanation for this is that prior studies have not examined whether changes in fatigue from transfusion may also affect patient activity levels. This is important because if transfusion reduces fatigue, patients may become more active, which could increase their fatigue. Thus, testing whether transfusion affects patients' fatigability, a measure of fatigue in the context of activity, may be more useful than testing the effect of transfusion on fatigue alone. The objective of this study was to test the effect of transfusion during hospitalization on patients' fatigability 7 days postdischarge. This prospective observational study included hospitalized general medicine patients with hemoglobin levels <10 g/dL. Patient-reported fatigability was collected during hospitalization and by telephone 7 days after discharge. Multivariable linear regression was used to test the association between receipt of a transfusion and fatigability 7 days postdischarge. Among the 350 patients participating, larger reductions in fatigability were observed with more transfused RBCs. Receipt of 1 U of RBCs was associated with a smaller reduction in fatigability, whereas receipt of 2 to 3 U of RBCs was associated with reductions in fatigability nearly 1 standard deviation from baseline and 3 times greater than patients receiving 1 U of RBCs. In hospitalized patients with anemia, receipt of a transfusion is associated with reductions in fatigability 7 days after hospital discharge.

The effect of red-blood-cell transfusion on fatigue in hospitalized patients with anaemia.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Guidelines suggest that red-blood-cell transfusion decisions for most hospitalized patients be based on haemoglobin (Hb) concentration and the presence of symptoms of anaemia, including fatigue. However, studies differ in whether transfusion is associated with improvements in fatigue. One explanation is that the benefit of transfusion varies by baseline fatigue levels, which existing studies have not examined. The objective of this study was to determine whether the association between transfusion during hospitalization and improvements in fatigue 30 days postdischarge varies by baseline fatigue level. METHODS: A prospective observational study of hospitalized general medicine patients with any Hb <9 g/dl. Patients with sickle cell anaemia and gastrointestinal bleeding were excluded since these diagnoses have alternative transfusion practices. Patients with depression were excluded because their fatigue is not primarily due to anaemia. Fatigue was measured during an in-person interview and a 30-day postdischarge phone interview. Hb values and receipt of a transfusion were collected from hospital administrative data. Linear regression was used to test associations between 'change in fatigue', Hb concentration and receipt of a transfusion. RESULTS: Transfusion interacted with nadir Hb was associated with reduced fatigue postdischarge for patients with higher baseline fatigue (20% most fatigued: ß = 12, P = 0·02; 10% most fatigued: ß = 17, P = 0·02). Patients <50 years old with high baseline fatigue had large reductions in fatigue from transfusion (20%: ß = 23, P = 0·02; 10%: ß = 29, P = 0·03). CONCLUSIONS: Transfusion during hospitalization is associated with reduced fatigue 30 days postdischarge in patients with higher levels of baseline fatigue.

Trends in Troponin-Only Testing for AMI in Academic Teaching Hospitals and the Impact of Choosing Wisely®.

BACKGROUND: Identifying hospitals that are both early and consistent adopters of high-value care can help shed light on the culture and practices at those institutions that are necessary to promote high-value care nationwide. The use of troponin to diagnose acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and not to test for myoglobin or creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), is a high-value recommendation of the Choosing Wisely® campaign. OBJECTIVE: To examine the variation in cardiac biomarker testing and the effect of the Choosing Wisely® troponin-only recommendation for the diagnosis of AMI. DESIGN: A retrospective observational study using administrative ordering data from Vizient's Clinical Database/Resource Manager. SETTING: Ninety-one academic medical centers from the fourth quarter of 2013 through the third quarter of 2016. PATIENTS: Hospitalized patients with a principal discharge diagnosis of AMI. INTERVENTION: The Choosing Wisely® recommendation to order troponin-only testing to diagnose AMI was released during the first quarter of 2015. RESULTS: In 19 hospitals, troponin-only testing was consistently ordered to diagnose AMI before the Choosing Wisely® recommendation and throughout the study period. In 34 hospitals, both troponin and myoglobin/CK-MB were ordered to diagnose AMI even after the Choosing Wisely® recommendation. In 26 hospitals with low rates of troponin-only testing before the Choosing Wisely® recommendation, the release of the recommendation was associated with a statistically significant increase in the rate of troponin-only testing to diagnose AMI. CONCLUSIONS: In institutions with low rates of troponin-only testing prior to the Choosing Wisely® recommendation, the recommendation was associated with a significant increase in the rate of troponin-only testing.

Association Between Anemia and Fatigue in Hospitalized Patients: Does the Measure of Anemia Matter?

OBJECTIVE: To assess multiple Hb-based measures of anemia in hospitalized patients and test whether these are associated with fatigue. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: Urban, academic medical center. PATIENTS: Hospitalized general medicine patients, age =50 years, with any Hb < 9 g/dL. MEASUREMENTS: Measures of anemia were created for each patient based on the Hb values from their hospitalization (mean, median, minimum, maximum, admission, and discharge). Fatigue was measured using the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT)-Fatigue subscale. RESULTS: Seven hundred eighty-four patients participated. Minimum Hb was strongly associated with fatigue. Patients with a minimum Hb of < 8 g/dL had higher fatigue levels (mean FACIT [standard deviation] Hb < 7 g/dL: 25 [13], 7 g/ dL = Hb <8 g/dL: 25 [14] Hb =8 g/dL: 29 [14], P = 0.001) and were more likely to report high levels of fatigue (FACIT-Fatigue < 27) (56% vs 41%; P = 0.002). Mean Hb had a less robust association with fatigue than minimum Hb, and no other measure of Hb was associated with patients' fatigue levels. CONCLUSIONS: Minimum Hb is associated with fatigue while hospitalized and may help identify patients for interventions to address anemia-related fatigue.

US Physicians Overwhelmingly Endorse Hospice as the Better Option for Most Patients at the End of Life.

BACKGROUND: Utilization of hospice has increased significantly over the past 2 decades, but there has been no recent assessment of US physicians' opinions regarding and practices of referring patients to hospice. METHODS: We surveyed 2016 US physicians from various specialties. Respondents agreed or disagreed with 2 statements: "For most patients, hospice provides better care at the end of life than they would otherwise receive without hospice" and "Many patients who enter hospice end up missing out on medical interventions from which they would have benefited." Physicians were also asked, "In the past 12 months, approximately how many patients and/or their surrogates have you encouraged to consider entering hospice?" RESULTS: Ninety-eight percent of physicians agreed that hospice provides better care at the end of life than the patient would receive without hospice. Only 11% of physicians agreed that patients who enter hospice miss out on medical interventions from which they would have benefitted. Ninety-two percent encouraged at least 1 patient to consider hospice in the previous 12 months. Oncologists were the most ambivalent about whether patients who enter hospice miss out on beneficial interventions, but they also referred more patients to hospice than physicians from other specialties. CONCLUSION: US physicians overwhelmingly believe hospice is the best form of care for most patients at the end of life. Compared to a study published in 1998, the median oncologist reports referring fewer patients to hospice, but the median general internist reports referring more.

Patient Perceptions of Wearable Face-Mounted Computing Technology and the Effect on the Doctor-Patient Relationship.

BACKGROUND: Wearable face-mounted computers such as Google Glass™ , Microsoft HoloLens™, and Oculus' Rift®, are increasingly being tested in hospital care. These devices challenge social etiquette, raise privacy issues, and may disrupt the intimacy of the doctor patient relationship. We aimed to determine patients' perception of and their privacy concerns with an archetype of wearable face-mounted computer devices, Google Glass. METHODS: Hospitalized inpatients were asked about their familiarity with Glass, how comfortable they would be and if they would be concerned about privacy if their physician wore Glass, if the use of Glass would affect their trust in their physician, and if they would want their physician to wear Glass if it improved their care. RESULTS: Most (73%) respondents were unfamiliar with Glass, though 64% would be comfortable if their doctor wore Glass. Under half (46%) of respondents were concerned about privacy with the use of Glass. Seventy-six percent (76%) of respondents stated their doctor wearing Glass would not affect their trust in their doctor. Patients concerned about their privacy were less likely to trust their doctor if their doctor wore Glass (17% vs. 0%, p<0.01). Sixty-five percent (65%) of respondents would want their doctor to wear Glass if it improved their care. CONCLUSION: Most patients appear open to and would want their doctor to use face-mounted wearable computers such as Glass, even when unfamiliar with this technology. While some patients expressed concerns about privacy, patients were much less concerned about wearable technologies affecting the trust they have in their physician.

Bayesian reasoning in residents' preliminary diagnoses.

Whether and when humans in general, and physicians in particular, use their beliefs about base rates in Bayesian reasoning tasks is a long-standing question. Unfortunately, previous research on whether doctors use their beliefs about the prevalence of diseases in diagnostic judgments has critical limitations. In this study, we assessed whether residents' beliefs about the prevalence of a disease are associated with their judgments of the likelihood of the disease in diagnosis, and whether residents' beliefs about the prevalence of diseases change across the 3 years of residency. Residents were presented with five ambiguous vignettes typical of patients presenting on the inpatient general medicine services. For each vignette, the residents judged the likelihood of five or six possible diagnoses. Afterward, they judged the prevalence within the general medicine services of all the diseases in the vignettes. Most importantly, residents who believed a disease to be more prevalent tended to rate the disease as more likely in the vignette cases, suggesting a rational tendency to incorporate their beliefs about disease prevalence into their diagnostic likelihood judgments. In addition, the residents' prevalence judgments for each disease were assessed over the 3 years of residency. The precision of the prevalence estimates increased across the 3 years of residency, though the accuracy of the prevalence estimates did not. These results imply that residents do have a rational tendency to use prevalence beliefs for diagnosis, and this finding also contributes to a larger question of whether humans intuitively use base rates for making judgments.

Measuring patient experiences on hospitalist and teaching services: Patient responses to a 30-day postdischarge questionnaire.

BACKGROUND: Data comparing patient experiences between general medicine teaching and nonteaching hospitalist services are lacking. OBJECTIVE: Evaluate hospitalized patients' experience on general medicine teaching and nonteaching hospitalist services by assessing patients' confidence in their ability to identify their physician(s), understand their roles, and their rating of the coordination and overall care. METHODS: Retrospective cohort analysis of general medicine teaching and nonteaching hospitalist services from 2007 to 2013 at an academic medical center. Patients were surveyed 30-days after hospital discharge regarding their confidence in their ability to identify their physician(s), understand the role of their physician(s), and their perceptions of coordination and overall care. A 3-level, mixed effects logistic regression was performed to ascertain the association between service type and patient-reported outcomes. RESULTS: Data from 4591 general medicine teaching and 1811 nonteaching hospitalist service patients demonstrated that those cared for by the hospitalist service were more likely to report being able to identify their physician (50% vs 45%, P < 0.001), understand their role (54% vs 50%, P < 0.001), and rate greater satisfaction with coordination (68 vs 64%, P = 0.006) and overall care (73% vs 67%, P < 0.001). In regression models, the hospitalist service was associated with higher ratings in overall care (odds ratio [OR]: 1.33; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.15-1.47), even when hospitalists were the attendings on general medicine teaching services (OR: 1.17; 95% CI: 1.01-1.31). CONCLUSION: Patients on a nonteaching hospitalist service rated their overall care slightly better than patients on a general medicine teaching service. Team structure and complexity may play a role in this difference.