Referral of adults with obstructive sleep apnea for surgical consultation: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine systematic review, meta-analysis, and GRADE assessment.

INTRODUCTION: This systematic review provides supporting evidence for the accompanying clinical practice guideline on the referral of adults with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) for surgical consultation. METHODS: The American Academy of Sleep Medicine commissioned a task force of experts in sleep medicine. A systematic review was conducted to identify studies that compared the use of upper airway sleep apnea surgery or bariatric surgery to no treatment as well as studies that reported on patient-important and physiologic outcomes pre- and postoperatively. Statistical analyses were performed to determine the clinical significance of using surgery to treat obstructive sleep apnea in adults. Finally, the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) process was used to assess the evidence for making recommendations. RESULTS: The literature search resulted in 274 studies that provided data suitable for statistical analyses. The analyses demonstrated that surgery as a rescue therapy results in a clinically significant reduction in excessive sleepiness, snoring, blood pressure (BP), apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), respiratory disturbance index (RDI), and oxygen desaturation index (ODI); an increase in lowest oxygen saturation (LSAT) and sleep quality; and an improvement in quality of life in adults with OSA who are intolerant or unaccepting of positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy. The analyses demonstrated that surgery as an adjunctive therapy results in a clinically significant reduction in optimal PAP pressure and improvement in PAP adherence in adults with OSA who are intolerant or unaccepting of PAP due to side effects associated with high pressure requirements. The analyses also demonstrated that surgery as an initial treatment results in a clinically significant reduction in AHI/RDI, sleepiness, snoring, BP, and ODI and an increase in LSAT in adults with OSA and major anatomical obstruction. Analysis of bariatric surgery data showed a clinically significant reduction in BP, AHI/RDI, sleepiness, snoring, optimal PAP level, BMI, and ODI and an increase in LSAT in adults with OSA and obesity. Analyses of very limited evidence suggested that upper airway surgery does not result in a clinically significant increase in risk of serious persistent adverse events and suggested that bariatric surgery may result in a clinically significant risk of iron malabsorption that may be managed with iron supplements. The task force provided a detailed summary of the evidence along with the quality of evidence, the balance of benefits and harms, patient values and preferences, and resource use considerations. CITATION: Kent D, Stanley J, Aurora RN, et al. Referral of adults with obstructive sleep apnea for surgical consultation: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine systematic review, meta-analysis, and GRADE assessment. J Clin Sleep Med. 2021;17(12):2507-2531.

Irregular hospital discharge from acute inpatient and residential mental health treatment settings in a large integrated healthcare system.

OBJECTIVE: Irregular discharge is a concern among mental health populations and associated with poor outcomes. Little is known about the relationship between irregular discharge and treatment setting. Because care processes differ between acute inpatient and residential settings, it is important to evaluate irregular discharge in these settings. METHOD: A retrospective study was conducted in patients with mental health conditions admitted to acute inpatient or residential mental health settings in the Department of Veterans Affairs, 2003-2019. Logistic regression and multivariate Cox proportional hazards were used to evaluate factors associated with irregular discharge risk in the first 90- days of admission. RESULTS: Among 1.8 million discharges, 7.4% had an irregular discharge within 90- days of admission. Younger age was a central predictor of risk. Irregular discharge rates were four-fold higher in residential versus acute settings. When accounting for length of stay (LOS) across settings, there was a modest higher risk of irregular discharge from acute versus residential settings (HR = 1.06, 95% Confidence Interval 1.04-1.07). CONCLUSIONS: Patients are at high risk for irregular discharge from acute and residential settings when they are young. LOS is an important determinant of irregular discharge risk.. Interventions are needed to address drivers of irregular discharge.

Hospital-based health systems 20 years later: A taxonomy for policy research and analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Building on the original taxonomy of hospital-based health systems from 20 years ago, we develop a new taxonomy to inform emerging public policy and practice developments. DATA SOURCES: The 2016 American Hospital Association's (AHA) Annual Survey; the 2016 IQVIA Healthcare Organizations and Systems (HCOS) database; and the 2017-2018 National Survey of Healthcare Organizations and Systems (NSHOS). STUDY DESIGN: Cluster analysis of the 2016 AHA Annual Survey data to derive measures of differentiation, centralization, and integration to create categories or types of hospital-based health systems. DATA COLLECTION: Principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation generating the factors used in the cluster algorithms. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Among the four cluster types, 54% (N = 202) of systems are decentralized (-0.35) and relatively less differentiated (-0.37); 23% of systems (N = 85) are highly differentiated (1.28) but relatively decentralized (-0.29); 15% (N = 57) are highly centralized (2.04) and highly differentiated (0.65); and approximately 9 percent (N = 33) are least differentiated (-1.35) and most decentralized (-0.64). Despite differences in calculation, the Highly Centralized, Highly Differentiated System Cluster and the Undifferentiated, Decentralized System Cluster were similar to those identified 20 years ago. The other two system clusters contained similarities as well as differences from those 20 years ago. Overall, 82 percent of the systems remain relatively decentralized suggesting they operate largely as holding companies allowing autonomy to individual hospitals operating within the system. CONCLUSIONS: The new taxonomy of hospital-based health systems bears similarities as well as differences from 20 years ago. Important applications of the taxonomy for addressing current challenges facing the healthcare system, such as the transition to value-based payment models, continued consolidation, and the growing importance of the social determinants of health, are highlighted.

An analysis of the relationship between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, smoking and depression in an integrated healthcare system.

OBJECTIVE: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and smoking are highly associated with depression and hypoxia. There is limited knowledge about whether hypoxic conditions interact to cause depression. METHOD: A population-based cohort study was conducted using the Veterans Affairs (VA) Corporate Data Warehouse. Patients must have accessed any healthcare at a VA facility between 2004 and 2014 and had a negative depression screen (Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) score ≤ 2). Patients with COPD or a positive depression screen (PHQ-2 score: 3+) during or prior to the year with a negative depression screen were excluded. Logistic regression with annual observations was used to evaluate depression incidence based on COPD and smoking status. Models were adjusted for demographics and other comorbid conditions. A probability scale was used to examine interactions between COPD and smoking. RESULTS: A total of 3,284,496 patients were included. Patients with COPD and current smokers were at increased risk for developing depression. There were minimal interaction effects between COPD and smoking. The odds of developing depression in a year varied from 1.4% among never smokers without COPD to 2.9.% among current smokers with COPD. CONCLUSION: Smoking and COPD are independent risk factors for depression and interact to cause depression. Further research is needed to confirm whether hypoxia contributes to this association.

Regional Supply of Chiropractic Care and Visits to Primary Care Physicians for Back and Neck Pain.

BACKGROUND: Whether availability of chiropractic care affects use of primary care physician (PCP) services is unknown. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study of 17.7 million older adults who were enrolled in Medicare from 2010 to 2011. We examined the relationship between regional supply of chiropractic care and PCP services using Spearman correlation. Generalized linear models were used to examine the association between regional supply of chiropractic care and number of annual visits to PCPs for back and/or neck pain. RESULTS: We found a positive association between regional supply of chiropractic care and PCP services (rs = 0.52; P <.001). An inverse association between supply of chiropractic care and the number of annual visits to PCPs for back and/or neck pain was apparent. The number of PCP visits for back and/or neck pain was 8% lower (rate ratio, 0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.91-0.92) in the quintile with the highest supply of chiropractic care compared to the lowest quintile. We estimate chiropractic care is associated with a reduction of 0.37 million visits to PCPs nationally, at a cost of $83.5 million. CONCLUSIONS: Greater availability of chiropractic care in some areas may be offsetting PCP services for back and/or neck pain among older adults.

Higher health care quality and bigger savings found at large multispecialty medical groups.

The belief that integrated delivery systems offer better care at lower cost has contributed to growing interest in accountable care organizations. These provider-led delivery systems would accept responsibility for their primary care populations and would have financial incentives for improving care and reducing costs. We investigated this belief by comparing the costs and quality of care provided to Medicare beneficiaries in twenty-two health care markets by physicians who did and did not work within large multispecialty group practices affiliated with the Council of Accountable Physician Practices. In most markets, and after adjustment for patient factors, group physicians affiliated with the council provided higher-quality care at a 3.6 percent lower annual cost ($272 per patient).