Infant Mortality by Maternal Prepregnancy Body Mass Index: United States, 2017-2018.

Objective-This report presents 2017-2018 infant mortality rates in the United States by maternal prepregnancy body mass index, and by infant age at death, maternal age, and maternal race and Hispanic origin. Methods-Descriptive tabulations of infant deaths by maternal and infant characteristics are presented using the 2017-2018 linked period birth/infant death files; the linked period birth/infant death file is based on birth and death certificates registered in all states and the District of Columbia. The 2017 linked birth/infant death file is the first year that national data on maternal prepregnancy body mass index were available. Results-Total infant, neonatal, and postneonatal mortality rates were lowest for infants of women who were normal weight prepregnancy, and then rose with increasing prepregnancy body mass index. Total, neonatal, and postneonatal rates were higher for infants of women who were underweight prepregnancy compared with infants of women who were normal or overweight before pregnancy. Mortality rates for infants of underweight women were generally, but not exclusively, lower than those of infants born to women with obesity. Infants born to women of normal weight generally had lower mortality rates than infants born to women who had obesity prepregnancy for all maternal age and race and Hispanic-origin groups.

Person-Centered Care as Facilitated by Kansas' PEAK 2.0 Medicaid Pay-for-Performance Program and Nursing Home Resident Clinical Outcomes.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: Person-centered care (PCC) is intended to improve nursing home residents' quality of life, but the closer bonds it engenders between residents and staff may also facilitate improvements to residents' clinical health. Findings on whether adoption ameliorates resident clinical outcomes are conflicting, with some evidence of harm as well as benefit. To provide clearer evidence, the present study made use of Kansas' PEAK 2.0 Medicaid pay-for-performance (P4P) program, which incents the adoption of PCC. The program is distinctive in training facilities' staff on adopting PCC through a series of well-defined stages and providing regular feedback about their progress. DESIGN AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed with 349 Kansas facilities spread across several well-defined PCC adoption stages, ranging from nonadoption to comprehensive adoption. The outcomes were thirteen 2014-2016 Nursing Home Compare long-stay resident clinical measures and a composite measure incorporating only nonimputed data for those 13 outcomes. Observed facility demographic differences were controlled for with propensity score adjustment. Treatment effect analyses were run with each outcome, with the predictor variable of program stage. RESULTS: Seven of the 13 clinical measures plus the composite measure indicated better health for residents in homes at higher program stages, relative to those in nonparticipating homes, including a 49% lower prevalence of major depressive symptoms in strongly adopting facilities. IMPLICATIONS: The findings suggest that greater PCC adoption through PEAK participation is associated with better quality of care. Policymakers in other states may want to consider implementing a program modeled on PEAK 2.0.

Lack of Change in Perinatal Mortality in the United States, 2014-2016.

Perinatal mortality (late fetal death at 28 weeks or more and early neonatal death under age 7 days) can be an indicator of the quality of health care before, during, and after delivery (1,2). The U.S. perinatal mortality rate based on the date of the last normal menses (LMP) declined 30% from 1990-2011, but was stable from 2011-2013 (1,3). In 2014, National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) transitioned to the use of the obstetric estimate of gestational age (OE), introducing a discontinuity in perinatal measures for earlier years (4,5). This report presents trends in perinatal mortality, as well as its components, late fetal and early neonatal mortality, for 2014-2016. Also shown are perinatal mortality trends by mother's age, race and Hispanic origin, and state for 2014-2016 and state perinatal rates for 2016.

Births: Final Data for 2016.

This report presents 2016 data on U.S. births according to a wide variety of characteristics. Trends in fertility patterns and maternal and infant characteristics are described and interpreted.Descriptive tabulations of data reported on the birth certificates of the 3.95 million births that occurred in 2016 are presented. Data are presented for maternal age, live-birth order, race and Hispanic origin, marital status, tobacco use, prenatal care, source of payment for the delivery, method of delivery, gestational age, birthweight, and plurality. Selected data by mother's state of residence and birth rates by age also are shown. Trend data for 2010-2016 are presented for selected items. A total of 3,945,875 births were registered in the United States in 2016, down 1% from 2015. Compared with rates in 2015, the general fertility rate declined to 62.0 per 1,000 women aged 15-44. The birth rate for females aged 15-19 fell 9% in 2016. Birth rates declined for women in their 20s but increased for women intheir 30s and early 40s. The total fertility rate declined to 1,820.5 births per 1,000 women in 2016. The birth rate for unmarried women declined, while the rate for married women increased. More than three-quarters of women began prenatal care in the firsttrimester of pregnancy (77.1%) in 2016, while 7.2% of all women smoked during pregnancy. The cesarean delivery rate declined for the fourth year in a row. Medicaid was the source of payment for 42.6% of all 2016 births. The preterm birth rate rose for the second straight year, and the rate of low birthweight increased 1%. Twin and triplet and higher-order multiple birth rates declined, although the changes were not statistically significant.

Cigarette Smoking During Pregnancy: United States, 2016.

Maternal tobacco use during pregnancy has been linked to a host of negative infant and child outcomes, including low birthweight, preterm birth, and various birth defects (1-5). The 2003 revision of the U.S. Standard Certificate of Live Birth included new and modified items on maternal cigarette smoking before and during pregnancy. The 2016 natality data file is the first for which this information is available for all states and the District of Columbia (D.C.). This report presents the prevalence of cigarette smoking at any time during pregnancy among women who gave birth in 2016 in the United States by state of residence as well as maternal race and Hispanic origin, age, and educational attainment.

Births: Final Data for 2017.

Objectives-This report presents 2017 data on U.S. births according to a wide variety of characteristics. Trends in fertility patterns and maternal and infant characteristics are described and interpreted. Methods-Descriptive tabulations of data reported on the birth certificates of the 3.86 million births that occurred in 2017 are presented. Data are presented for maternal age, livebirth order, race and Hispanic origin, marital status, tobacco use, prenatal care, source of payment for the delivery, method of delivery, gestational age, birthweight, and plurality. Selected data by mother's state of residence and birth rates by age also are shown. Trend data for 2010 to 2017 are presented for selected items. Trend data by race and Hispanic origin are shown for 2016 and 2017. Results- A total of 3,855,500 births were registered in the United States in 2017, down 2% from 2016. Compared with rates in 2016, the general fertility rate declined to 60.3 births per 1,000 women aged 15-44. The birth rate for females aged 15-19 fell 7% in 2017. Birth rates declined for women in their 20s and 30s but increased for women in their early 40s. The total fertility rate declined to 1,765.5 births per 1,000 women in 2017. Birth rates for both married and unmarried women declined from 2016 to 2017. The percentage of women who began prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy rose to 77.3% in 2017; the percentage of all women who smoked during pregnancy declined to 6.9%. The cesarean delivery rate increased to 32.0% following 4 years of declines. Medicaid was the source of payment for 43.0% of all births in 2017, up 1% from 2016. The preterm birth rate rose for the third straight year, as did the rate of low birthweight. Twin and triplet and higher-order multiple birth rates were essentially stable in 2017.

Does Person-Centered Care Improve Residents' Satisfaction With Nursing Home Quality?

OBJECTIVE: Person-centered care (PCC) is meant to enhance nursing home residents' quality of life (QOL). Including residents' perspectives is critical to determining whether PCC is meeting residents' needs and desires. This study examines whether PCC practices promote satisfaction with QOL and quality of care and services (QOC and QOS) among nursing home residents. DESIGN: A longitudinal, retrospective cohort study using an in-person survey. SETTING: Three hundred twenty nursing homes in Kansas enrolled or not enrolled in a pay-for-performance program, Promoting Excellent Alternatives in Kansas (PEAK 2.0), to promote PCC in nursing homes. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 6214 nursing home residents in 2013-2014 and 5538 residents in 2014-2015, with a Brief Interview for Mental Status score ≥8, participated in face-to-face interviews. Results were aggregated to the nursing home level. MEASUREMENTS: My InnerView developed a Resident Satisfaction Survey for Kansas composed of 32 questions divided into QOL, QOC, QOS, and global satisfaction subdomains. RESULTS: After controlling for facility characteristics, satisfaction with overall QOL and QOC was higher in homes that had fully implemented PCC. Although some individual measures in the QOS domain (eg, food) showed greater satisfaction at earlier levels of implementation, high satisfaction was observed primarily in homes that had fully implemented PCC. CONCLUSION: These findings provide evidence for the effectiveness of PCC implementation on nursing home resident satisfaction. The PEAK 2.0 program may provide replicable methods for nursing homes and states to implement PCC systematically.

Seascape drivers of Macrocystis pyrifera population genetic structure in the northeast Pacific.

At small spatial and temporal scales, genetic differentiation is largely controlled by constraints on gene flow, while genetic diversity across a species' distribution is shaped on longer temporal and spatial scales. We assess the hypothesis that oceanographic transport and other seascape features explain different scales of genetic structure of giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera. We followed a hierarchical approach to perform a microsatellite-based analysis of genetic differentiation in Macrocystis across its distribution in the northeast Pacific. We used seascape genetic approaches to identify large-scale biogeographic population clusters and investigate whether they could be explained by oceanographic transport and other environmental drivers. We then modelled population genetic differentiation within clusters as a function of oceanographic transport and other environmental factors. Five geographic clusters were identified: Alaska/Canada, central California, continental Santa Barbara, California Channel Islands and mainland southern California/Baja California peninsula. The strongest break occurred between central and southern California, with mainland Santa Barbara sites forming a transition zone between the two. Breaks between clusters corresponded approximately to previously identified biogeographic breaks, but were not solely explained by oceanographic transport. An isolation-by-environment (IBE) pattern was observed where the northern and southern Channel Islands clustered together, but not with closer mainland sites, despite the greater distance between them. The strongest environmental association with this IBE pattern was observed with light extinction coefficient, which extends suitable habitat to deeper areas. Within clusters, we found support for previous results showing that oceanographic connectivity plays an important role in the population genetic structure of Macrocystis in the Northern hemisphere.