Quality indicators for osteoarthritis pain management in the primary care setting.

BACKGROUND: Development of valid and feasible quality indicators (QIs) is needed to track quality initiatives for osteoarthritis pain management in primary care settings. METHODS: Literature search identified published guidelines that were reviewed for QI extraction. A panel of 14 experts was assembled, including primary care physicians, rheumatologists, orthopedic surgeons, pain specialists, and outcomes research pharmacists. A screening survey excluded QIs that cannot be reliably extracted from the electronic health record or that are irrelevant for osteoarthritis in primary care settings. A validity screening survey used a 9-point Likert scale to rate the validity of each QI based on predefined criteria. During expert panel discussions, stakeholders revised QI wording, added new QIs, and voted to include or exclude each QI. A priority survey used a 9-point Likert scale to prioritize the included QIs. RESULTS: Literature search identified 520 references published from January 2015 to March 2021 and 4 additional guidelines from professional/governmental websites. The study included 41 guidelines. Extraction of 741 recommendations yielded 115 candidate QIs. Feasibility screening excluded 28 QIs. Validity screening and expert panel discussion excluded 73 QIs and added 1 QI. The final set of 15 prioritized QIs focused on pain management safety, education, weight-management, psychological wellbeing, optimizing first-line medications, referral, and imaging. CONCLUSION: This multi-disciplinary expert panel established consensus on QIs for osteoarthritis pain management in primary care settings by combining scientific evidence with expert opinion. The resulting list of 15 prioritized, valid, and feasible QIs can be used to track quality initiatives for osteoarthritis pain management.

Sociodemographic and Health Correlates of Multiple Health Behavior Adherence among Cancer Survivors: A Latent Class Analysis.

The study aimed to (a) assess current levels of adherence to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network's multiple health behavior guidelines and (b) identify characteristics of cancer survivors associated with different adherence levels. Cancer survivors (N = 661) were identified through the state registry and completed questionnaires. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify patterns of adherence. Associations between predictors with the latent classes were reported as risk ratios. LCA identified three classes: lower- (39.6%), moderate- (52.0%), and high-risk lifestyle (8.3%). Participants in the lower-risk lifestyle class had the highest probability of meeting most of the multiple health behavior guidelines compared to participants in the high-risk lifestyle class. Characteristics associated with membership in the moderate-risk lifestyle class included self-identifying as a race other than Asian/Asian American, being never married, having some college education, and having been diagnosed with later stage colorectal or lung cancer. Those in the high-risk lifestyle class were more likely to be male, never married, have a high school diploma or less, diagnosed with colorectal or lung cancer, and diagnosed with pulmonary comorbidities. Study findings can be used to inform development of future interventions to promote multiple health behavior adherence among higher risk cancer survivors.

Incidence and patient characteristics of venous thromboembolism during neoadjuvant chemotherapy for ovarian cancer.

There is paucity of data on venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) for advanced stage ovarian cancer. We explored the incidence and predictors of VTE in this patient population. We performed a retrospective review of women with primary ovarian, fallopian tube or peritoneal cancer who received NACT between January 2012 and October 2018 at Cooper University Hospital. Patients with history of VTE, heparin therapy or direct oral anticoagulant use prior to cancer diagnosis were excluded. The primary outcome was incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE) after cancer diagnosis. We explored demographic and clinical variables associated with VTE. Of 90 patients included, 25 (28%) were diagnosed with VTE and 16 (64%) had PE. Eight patients were diagnosed after cancer diagnosis prior to the start of chemotherapy and 17 patients during NACT. Most patients had stage III disease and serous adenocarcinoma. There was a trend towards increased risk of VTE for Black patients (OR 3.22; CI 0.997-10.42; P = 0.051). Significantly fewer patients with VTE had debulking surgery (60% vs. 88%, P = 0.005). The risk of DVT increased by 8.7% per year of age (OR 1.087; 95% CI 1.01-1.17). Obesity, smoking status, medical comorbidities, disease stage, histology, invasive diagnostic surgery, and length of NACT were not associated with VTE. The incidence of VTE during neoadjuvant chemotherapy is high. Older age and Black race may increase the risk of VTE, and this morbid complication may adversely impact cancer treatment.

Quality indicators to measure the effect of opioid stewardship interventions in hospital and emergency department settings.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this project was to develop a set of valid and feasible quality indicators used to track opioid stewardship efforts in hospital and emergency department settings. METHODS: Candidate quality indicators were extracted from published literature. Feasibility screening excluded quality indicators that cannot be reliably extracted from the electronic health record or that are irrelevant to pain management in the hospital and emergency department settings. Validity screening used an electronic survey of key stakeholders including pharmacists, nurses, physicians, administrators, and researchers. Stakeholders used a 9-point Likert scale to rate the validity of each quality indicator based on predefined criteria. During expert panel discussions, stakeholders revised quality indicator wording, added new quality indicators, and voted to include or exclude each quality indicator. Priority ranking used a second electronic survey and a 9-point Likert scale to prioritize the included quality indicators. RESULTS: Literature search yielded 76 unique quality indicators. Feasibility screening excluded 9 quality indicators. The validity survey was completed by 46 (20%) of 228 stakeholders. Expert panel discussions yielded 19 valid and feasible quality indicators. The top 5 quality indicators by priority were: the proportion of patients with (1) naloxone administrations, (2) as needed opioids with duplicate indications, and (3) long acting or extended release opioids if opioid-naïve, (4) the average dose of morphine milligram equivalents administered per day, and (5) the proportion of opioid discharge prescriptions exceeding 7 days. CONCLUSION: Multi-professional stakeholders across a health system participated in this consensus process and developed a set of 19 valid and feasible quality indicators for opioid stewardship interventions in the hospital and emergency department settings.

Predictors of acupuncture use among children and adolescents with cancer.

BACKGROUND: Evidence for the application of acupuncture in pediatric oncology is limited. We investigated the acceptance of acupuncture and factors associated with its use among children and adolescents with cancer. METHODS: Ninety acupuncture-naïve children receiving cancer treatment at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) provided consent/assent for participation. Participants could choose to receive or refuse integrative services offered at CUMC. Symptoms were collected for a 6-month period with the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS). Acute and delayed adverse events among participants who received acupuncture were recorded. RESULTS: Fifty-four percent of the participants elected to receive acupuncture. In total, 252 acupuncture sessions were administered with a median of four sessions per patient (range 1-13 sessions). Pain (56%), nausea (51%), lack of energy (50%), and irritability (43%) were the most frequently reported symptoms in the whole cohort. Determinants of acupuncture use included older age and ethnicity. Acupuncture was more likely than other integrative modalities to be used for gastrointestinal and constitutional symptoms including drowsiness (odds ratio [OR], 3.34; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.98-5.66; P < 0.0001), lack of energy (OR, 3.23; 95% CI, 1.78-5.87; P = 0.0001), and pain (OR, 2.63; 95% CI, 1.46-4.72; P = 0.001). Adverse events were reported by 3% of the participants. There was no increased incidence of adverse events in children with thrombocytopenia (P = 0.189) or neutropenia (P = 0.497). CONCLUSION: Our results highlight the potential use of acupuncture as a safe, adjunctive therapy for symptom management within existing supportive care regimens in pediatric oncology and potential areas to focus research initiatives.

Do attitudes and beliefs regarding complementary and alternative medicine impact its use among patients with cancer? A cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) incorporates treatments used by cancer survivors in an attempt to improve their quality of life. Although population studies have identified factors associated with its use, to the best of the authors knowledge, assessment of why patients use CAM or the barriers against its use have not been examined to date. METHODS: The authors conducted a cross-sectional survey study in the thoracic, breast, and gastrointestinal medical oncology clinics at an academic cancer center. Clinical and demographic variables were collected by self-report and chart abstraction. Attitudes and beliefs were measured using the validated Attitudes and Beliefs about CAM (ABCAM) instrument. This instrument divides attitudes and beliefs into 3 domains: expected benefits, perceived barriers, and subjective norms. RESULTS: Among 969 participants (response rate, 82.7%) surveyed between June 2010 and September 2011, patient age ≤65 years, female sex, and college education were associated with a significantly greater expected benefit from CAM (P<.0001 for all). Nonwhite patients reported more perceived barriers to CAM use compared with white patients (P<.0001), but had a similar degree of expected benefit (P = .76). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, all domains of the ABCAM instrument were found to be significantly associated with CAM use (P<.01 for all) among patients with cancer. Attitudes and beliefs regarding CAM explained much more variance in CAM use than clinical and demographic variables alone. CONCLUSIONS: Attitudes and beliefs varied by key clinical and demographic characteristics, and predicted CAM use. By developing CAM programs based upon attitudes and beliefs, barriers among underserved patient populations may be removed and more patient centered care may be provided.

Effects of fentanyl pretreatment on regional cerebral blood flow in focal cerebral ischemia in rats.

BACKGROUND: There are reports that opioid preconditioning induces opioid-receptor-dependent neuroprotection against cerebral ischemia. This experiment was performed to test whether pretreatment with fentanyl, a synthetic primary mu-opioid receptor agonist, would affect the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in focal cerebral ischemia in rats. METHODS: Twenty-four hours before permanent and unilateral middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion, rats were pretreated with normal saline, 200 microg/kg of fentanyl i.p. or 500 microg/kg of fentanyl i.p. The rats were anesthetized with isoflurane and were mechanically ventilated to cannulate the vessels and to occlude MCA. One hour after MCA occlusion, the rCBF was measured using (14)C-iodoantipyrine. RESULTS: The cortical rCBF decreased 1 h after MCA occlusion in all the experimental groups. In the ischemic cortex, the rCBF of the rats treated with 500 microg/kg of fentanyl was significantly greater (+80%, p < 0.05) than that of the control animals. The rCBF of the ischemic cortex of the rats treated with fentanyl 200 microg/kg seemed higher than in the control animals, but the difference was not statistically significant. The rCBF was similar in the nonischemic brain regions such as the contralateral cortex or pons among the experimental groups. CONCLUSION: Our data demonstrated that pretreatment with fentanyl improved the rCBF in the focal ischemic area without change in rCBF in the nonischemic cortex. Our data suggest that fentanyl could be effective in improving the rCBF in the focal ischemic area when used as a preconditioning agent and that improvement of rCBF could be one of the contributing factors of neuroprotection by opioid preconditioning.