Do emergency medical system response times matter for health outcomes?

The introduction of technology aimed at reducing the response times of emergency medical services has been one of the principal innovations in crisis care over the last several decades. These substantial investments have typically been justified by an assumed link between shorter response times and improved health outcomes. However, current medical research does not generally show a relationship between response time and mortality. In this study, we explain the discrepancy between conventional wisdom and mortality; existing medical research fails to account for the endogeneity of incident severity and response times. Analyzing detailed call-level information from the state of Utah's Bureau of Emergency Medical Services, we measure the impact of response time on mortality and hospital utilization using the distance of the incident from the nearest EMS agency headquarters as an instrument for response time. We find that response times significantly affect mortality and the likelihood of being admitted to the hospital, but not procedures or utilization within the hospital.

Racial differences in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival and treatment.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether there are prehospital differences between blacks and whites experiencing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and to ascertain which factors are responsible for any such differences. METHODS: Cohort study of 3869 adult patients (353 blacks and 3516 whites) in the Illinois Prehospital Database with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest as a primary or secondary indication for emergency medical service (EMS) dispatch between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 2004. RESULTS: Return of spontaneous circulation was lower for black patients (19.8%) than for white patients (26.3%) (unadjusted OR 0.69, 95% CI 0.53 to 0.91). After adjusting for age, sex, prior medical history, prehospital event factors, patient zip code characteristics and EMS agency characteristics, the no difference line was suggestive of a trend, with a CI just transposing 1.00 (adjusted OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.50 to 1.01, p=0.053). CONCLUSIONS: Blacks were less likely to experience a return of spontaneous circulation than whites, less likely to receive defibrillation or cardiopulmonary resuscitation from EMS and more likely to receive medications from EMS. Differences in underlying health, care prior to the arrival of EMS, and delays in the notification of EMS personnel may contribute to racial disparities in prehospital survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

The effect of small class sizes on mortality through age 29 years: evidence from a multicenter randomized controlled trial.

Limiting the number of students per classroom in the early years has been shown to improve educational outcomes. Improved education is, in turn, hypothesized to improve health. The authors examined whether smaller class sizes affect mortality through age 29 years and whether cognitive factors play a role. They used data from the Project Student Teacher Achievement Ratio, a 4-year multicenter randomized controlled trial of reduced class sizes in Tennessee involving 11,601 students between 1985 and 1989. Children randomized to small classes (13-17 students) experienced improved measures of cognition and academic performance relative to those assigned to regular classes (22-25 students). As expected, these cognitive measures were significantly inversely associated with mortality rates (P < 0.05). However, through age 29 years, students randomized to small class size nevertheless experienced higher mortality rates than those randomized to regular size classes (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.58, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.07, 2.32). The groups at risk included males (HR = 1.73, 95% CI: 1.05, 2.85), whites/Asians (HR = 1.68, 95% CI: 1.04, 2.72), and higher income students (HR = 2.20, 95% CI: 1.06, 4.57). The authors speculate that small classes might produce behavior changes that increase mortality through young adulthood that are stronger than the protective effects of enhanced cognition.

Welfare programs that target workforce participation may negatively affect mortality.

During the 1990s reforms to the US welfare system introduced new time limits on people's eligibility to receive public assistance. These limits were developed to encourage welfare recipients to seek employment. Little is known about how such social policy programs may have affected participants' health. We explored whether the Florida Family Transition Program randomized trial, a welfare reform experiment, led to long-term changes in mortality among participants. The Florida program included a 24-36-month time limit for welfare participation, intensive job training, and placement assistance. We linked 3,224 participants from the experiment to 17-18 years of prospective mortality follow-up data and found that participants in the program experienced a 16 percent higher mortality rate than recipients of traditional welfare. If our results are generalizable to national welfare reform efforts, they raise questions about whether the cost savings associated with welfare reform justify the additional loss of life.

The effect of class size in grades K-3 on adult earnings, employment, and disability status: evidence from a multi-center randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Early education interventions have been forwarded as a means for reducing social disparities in income and health in adulthood. We explore whether a successful early education intervention, which occurred between 1985 and 1989, improved the employment rates, earnings and health of blacks relative to whites through 2008. METHODS: We used data from Project STAR (Student Teacher Achievement Ratio), a four-year multi-center randomized controlled trial of reduced class sizes in Tennessee involving 11,601 students. Students were initially randomized within 79 schools to classes with 22-25 or 13-17 students. We linked subject records to Social Security Administration (SSA) earnings and disability data collected between 1997 and 2008-when the majority of subjects were between the ages of 18 and 28. We focused our analysis on annual, rather than cumulative, measures of earnings and employment because educational attainment after high school might reduce earnings through age 23. We considered three or more years of statistically significant positive (or negative) annual impacts to be a meaningful effect. RESULTS: Project STAR improved cognition and high school graduation rates. These benefits were primarily realized among low-income and minority students. These early education benefits did not translate into reduced disability claims in adulthood for treated subjects. However, exposure to small class size increased employment for blacks, and increased earnings for black males (p<0.05). Exposure to small classes also led to an increase in earnings for white males. However, white females exposed to small classes experienced a net decline in earnings and employment across the later years of follow up (p<0.05), offsetting any gains by white males. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to small class size in grades K-3 appears to improve earnings and employment for black males and earnings for white males, while reducing employment and earnings among white females.

Association between prescription co-payment amount and compliance with adjuvant hormonal therapy in women with early-stage breast cancer.

PURPOSE: Noncompliance with adjuvant hormonal therapy among women with breast cancer is common. Little is known about the impact of financial factors, such as co-payments, on noncompliance. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study by using the pharmacy and medical claims database at Medco Health Solutions. Women older than age 50 years who were taking aromatase inhibitors (AIs) for resected breast cancer with two or more mail-order prescriptions, from January 1, 2007, to December 31, 2008, were identified. Patients who were eligible for Medicare were analyzed separately. Nonpersistence was defined as a prescription supply gap of more than 45 days without subsequent refill. Nonadherence was defined as a medication possession ratio less than 80% of eligible days. RESULTS: Of 8110 women younger than age 65 years, 1721 (21.1%) were nonpersistent and 863 (10.6%) were nonadherent. Among 14,050 women age 65 years or older, 3476 (24.7%) were nonpersistent and 1248 (8.9%) were nonadherent. In a multivariate analysis, nonpersistence (ever/never) in both age groups was associated with older age, having a non-oncologist write the prescription, and having a higher number of other prescriptions. Compared with a co-payment of less than $30, a co-payment of $30 to $89.99 for a 90-day prescription was associated with less persistence in women age 65 years or older (odds ratio [OR], 0.69; 95% CI, 0.62 to 0.75) but not among women younger than age 65, although a co-payment of more than $90 was associated with less persistence both in women younger than age 65 (OR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.72 to 0.94) and those age 65 years or older (OR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.65 to 0.80). Similar results were seen with nonadherence. CONCLUSION: We found that higher prescription co-payments were associated with both nonpersistence and nonadherence to AIs. This relationship was stronger in older women. Because noncompliance is associated with worse outcomes, future policy efforts should be directed toward interventions that would help patients with financial difficulties obtain life-saving medications.