Contemporary care patterns in the management of small renal masses.

OBJECTIVES: Incidental small renal masses (SRMs) now account for the majority of new diagnoses of renal cancers. Although there are established management guidelines, referral and management patterns can vary. We aimed to explore identification, practice patterns, and management of identified SRMs in an integrated health system. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective analysis. METHODS: We identified patients with a newly diagnosed SRM measuring 3 cm or less from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2017, at Kaiser Permanente Southern California. These patients were flagged at the time of radiographic identification to ensure adequate notification of findings. Diagnostic modality, referral, and treatment patterns were analyzed. RESULTS: Of 519 patients with SRMs, 65% were found on abdominal CT and 22% on renal/abdominal ultrasounds. Within 6 months, 70% of patients consulted with a urologist. Initial management patterns were as follows: active surveillance (60%), partial/radical nephrectomy (18%), and ablation (4%). Among 312 patients on surveillance, 14% eventually received treatment. The majority of patients (69.4%) did not receive guideline-recommended chest imaging for initial staging. Urologist visit within 6 months of SRM diagnosis was associated with increased adherence to staging (P = .003) and subsequent surveillance imaging (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: In this contemporary analysis of an integrated health system's experience, referral to a urologist was associated with guideline-concordant staging and surveillance imaging. Frequent utilization of active surveillance with a low rate of progression to active treatment was noted in both groups. These findings shed light on care patterns upstream of urologic evaluation and support the need for clinical pathways to be implemented at the time of radiologic diagnosis.

Neighborhood deprivation and residential property values do not affect weight loss at 1 or 3 years after bariatric surgery.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the association between individual- and neighborhood-level sociodemographic factors and surgical weight loss at 1 year (short term) and 3 years (long term). METHODS: Data were obtained from the baseline survey of the BELONG (Bariatric Experience Long Term) prospective longitudinal cohort study. Individual-level self-reported data on sex, race and ethnicity, education, and household income were obtained by survey. Data from the 2010 US Census were used to calculate area Neighborhood Deprivation Index score and median value of owner-occupied housing units at the census tract level. RESULTS: Patients (N = 1341) had a mean age of 43.4 (SD 11.3) years, were mostly female (86%), were mostly Black or Hispanic (52%), had some college education (83%), and had annual household incomes ≥$51,000 (55%). Percentage total weight loss was 25.8% (SD 9.0%) at year 1 and 22.2% (SD 10.5%) at year 3. Race and ethnicity and age were significant predictors of weight loss at 1 and 3 years with a small effect of self-reported household income at year 1. There were no significant associations between census tract-level Neighborhood Deprivation Index score or value of owner-occupied housing units and weight loss at either time point. CONCLUSIONS: Health systems could improve the chances of weight-loss maintenance after surgery by addressing factors related to racial and ethnic disparities and to income disparities.

The association of 1-year weight loss from bariatric surgery and self-reported sleep: a prospective cohort.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the association of weight loss following bariatric surgery with self-reported sleep quality after accounting for other sleep-related factors. METHODS: Participants were from the Bariatric Experience Long Term (BELONG) study. Participants completed a survey up to 6 months before surgery and approximately 1 year after surgery. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to measure sleep quality. One-year percentage total weight loss (%TWL) was determined from electronic medical records. Covariates included demographics, Charlson Comorbidity Index, geocoded variables to assess neighborhood quality, and physical activity. The authors assessed the association between %TWL at 1 year and PSQI component scores with separate cumulative logit models. RESULTS: There were 997 participants in the analytic cohort. Participants were 86.2% women, 37.0% Hispanic, and 13.7% Black adults. Mean one-year %TWL was 26.3 (SD 8.7). Each 1% increase in %TWL was associated with a 3% better daytime dysfunction score (odds ratio = 1.03; 95% CI: 1.02-1.05) and a 2% better sleep quality score (odds ratio = 1.02; 95% CI: 1.00-1.03). No significant differences were found for the other PSQI components. CONCLUSIONS: Weight loss from bariatric surgery was associated with better self-reported sleep at 1 year. For people undergoing bariatric surgery, there may be an added benefit of better sleep.

Effect of a Community-Based Medical Oncology Depression Screening Program on Behavioral Health Referrals Among Patients With Breast Cancer: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Implementation of guideline-recommended depression screening in medical oncology remains challenging. Evidence suggests that multicomponent care pathways with algorithm-based referral and management are effective, yet implementation of sustainable programs remains limited and implementation-science guided approaches are understudied. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of an implementation-strategy guided depression screening program for patients with breast cancer in a community setting. Design, Setting, and Participants: A pragmatic cluster randomized clinical trial conducted within Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC). The trial included 6 medical centers and 1436 patients diagnosed with new primary breast cancer who had a consultation with medical oncology between October 1, 2017, through September 30, 2018. Patients were followed up through study end date of May 31, 2019. Interventions: Six medical centers in Southern California participated and were randomized 1:1 to tailored implementation strategies (intervention, 3 sites, n = 744 patients) or education-only (control, 3 sites, n = 692 patients) groups. The program consisted of screening with the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and algorithm-based scoring and referral to behavioral health services based on low, moderate, or high score. Clinical teams at tailored intervention sites received program education, audit, and feedback of performance data and implementation facilitation, and clinical workflows were adapted to suit local context. Education-only controls sites received program education. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was percent of eligible patients screened and referred (based on PHQ-9 score) at intervention vs control groups measured at the patient level. Secondary outcomes included outpatient health care utilization for behavioral health, primary care, oncology, urgent care, and emergency department. Results: All 1436 eligible patients were randomized at the center level (mean age, 61.5 years; 99% women; 18% Asian, 17% Black, 26% Hispanic, and 37% White) and were followed up to the end of the study, insurance disenrollment, or death. Groups were similar in demographic and tumor characteristics. For the primary outcome, 7.9% (59 of 744) of patients at tailored sites were referred compared with 0.1% (1 of 692) at education-only sites (difference, 7.8%; 95% CI, 5.8%-9.8%). Referrals to a behavioral health clinician were completed by 44 of 59 patients treated at the intervention sites (75%) intervention sites vs 1 of 1 patient at the education-only sites (100%). In adjusted models patients at tailored sites had significantly fewer outpatient visits in medical oncology (rate ratio, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.86-0.89; P = .001), and no significant difference in utilization of primary care, urgent care, and emergency department visits. Conclusions and Relevance: Among patients with breast cancer treated in community-based oncology practices, tailored strategies for implementation of routine depression screening compared with an education-only control group resulted in a greater proportion of referrals to behavioral care. Further research is needed to understand the clinical benefit and cost-effectiveness of this program. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02941614.

The longitudinal associations of physical activity, time spent outdoors in nature and symptoms of depression and anxiety during COVID-19 quarantine and social distancing in the United States.

Stressors associated with COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home orders are associated with increased depression and anxiety and decreased physical activity. Given that physical activity and time spent outdoors in nature are associated with improved mental health, we examined the longitudinal association of these variables during the pandemic. Over 20,000 adults who participated in the U.S. Kaiser Permanente Research Bank, did not report COVID-19 symptoms, and responded to an online baseline and 3 follow-up surveys over approximately 3 months formed the cohort. Physical activity was assessed from a modified survey, time spent outdoors was assessed from one question, and anxiety and depression scores were assessed from validated instruments. Almost 60% were women, 82.8% were non-Hispanic white, and more than 93% of respondents were over the age of 50. Less in-person contact with friends and visiting crowded places was highly prevalent (>80%) initially and decreased somewhat (>70%). Participants in the lowest physical activity category (no physical activity) had the highest depression and anxiety scores compared to each successive physical activity category (p < 0.001). Spending less time outdoors was associated with higher depression and anxiety scores. This effect was greater for participants in the younger age categories compared with older age categories. The effect of less time spent outdoors on anxiety (p = 0.012) and depression (p < 0.001) scores was smaller for males than females. Results suggest that physical activity and time outdoors is associated with better mental health. People should be encouraged to continue physical activity participation during public health emergencies.

Prevalence and Characteristics of Chronic Cough in Adults Identified by Administrative Data.

CONTEXT: International Classification of Diseases-9/10 codes for chronic cough (CC) do not exist, limiting investigation. OBJECTIVE: To develop a computerized algorithm to determine CC prevalence and its characteristics. DESIGN: This observational study using administrative data identified hierarchically patients aged 18 to 85 years with CC from 2013 to 2016. First, a specialist-diagnosed CC group was identified using an internal CC encounter code during an outpatient visit to a pulmonologist, allergist, otolaryngologist, or gastroenterologist. Subsequently, an event-diagnosed CC group was identified based on clinical notes through natural language processing, ICD-9/ICD-10 cough codes, and dispensed antitussives. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of CC and comparison of clinical characteristics between specialist-diagnosed and event-diagnosed CC subgroups. RESULTS: A total of 50,163 patients with CC of more than 8 weeks were identified. Of these, 11,290 (22.5%) were specialist diagnosed, and 38,873 (77.5%) were event diagnosed. The CC cohort was 57.4 ± 16.5 years of age; 67.6% were female. The overall prevalence was 1.04% (95% confidence interval = 1.03-1.06) in 2016. Prevalence in 2016 was higher in female patients (1.21%) than in male patients (0.81%), higher in patients aged 65 to 85 years (2.2%) than in patients aged 18 to 44 years (0.43%), and higher in Blacks (1.38%) than in Whites (1.21%). Compared with patients with event-diagnosed CC, patients with specialist-diagnosed CC exhibited significantly higher frequencies of laboratory tests and respiratory and nonrespiratory comorbidities and dispensed medication and lower frequency of pneumonia, all-cause and respiratory-cause emergency department visits and hospitalizations, and dispensed antitussives. CONCLUSIONS: We identified a CC cohort using electronic data in a managed care organization. Prevalences varied by sex, age, and ethnicity. Clinical characteristics varied between specialist-diagnosed and event-diagnosed CC.