Race and ethnicity and pharmacy dispensing of SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists in type 2 diabetes.

Background: Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors (SGLT2i) and Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1 RA) improve cardiorenal outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. Equitable use of SGLT2i and GLP-1 RA has the potential to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities. We evaluated trends in pharmacy dispensing of SGLT2i and GLP-1 RA by race and ethnicity. Methods: Retrospective cohort study of patients (≥18 years) with type 2 diabetes using 2014-2022 electronic health record data from six US care delivery systems. Entry was at earliest pharmacy dispensing of any type 2 diabetes medication. We used multivariable logistic regression to evaluate the association between pharmacy dispensing of SGLT2i and GLP1-RA and race and ethnicity. Findings: Our cohort included 687,165 patients (median 6 years of dispensing data; median 60 years; 0.3% American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN), 16.6% Asian, 10.5% Black, 1.4% Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (HPI), 31.1% Hispanic, 3.8% Other, and 36.3% White). SGLT2i was lower for AI/AN (OR 0.80, 95% confidence interval 0.68-0.94), Black (0.89, 0.86-0.92) and Hispanic (0.87, 0.85-0.89) compared to White patients. GLP-1 RA was lower for AI/AN (0.78, 0.63-0.97), Asian (0.50, 0.48-0.53), Black (0.86, 0.83-0.90), HPI (0.52, 0.46-0.57), Hispanic (0.69, 0.66-0.71), and Other (0.78, 0.73-0.83) compared to White patients. Interpretation: Dispensing of SGLT2is, and GLP-1 RAs was lower in minority group patients. There is a need to evaluate approaches to increase use of these cardiorenal protective drugs in patients from racial and ethnic minority groups with type 2 diabetes to reduce adverse cardiorenal outcomes and improve health equity. Funding: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and National Institutes of Health.

Predicting stroke risk after sepsis hospitalization with new-onset atrial fibrillation.

BACKGROUND: New-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) during sepsis is common, but models designed to stratify stroke risk excluded patients with secondary AF. We assessed the predictive validity of CHA2DS2VASc scores among patients with new-onset AF during sepsis and developed a novel stroke prediction model incorporating presepsis and intrasepsis characteristics. METHODS: We included patients ≥40 years old who survived hospitalizations with sepsis and new-onset AF across 21 Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals from January 1, 2011 to September 30, 2017. We calculated the area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) for CHA2DS2VASc scores to predict stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) within 1 year after a hospitalization with new-onset AF during sepsis using Fine-Gray models with death as competing risk. We similarly derived and validated a novel model using presepsis and intrasepsis characteristics associated with 1-year stroke/TIA risk. RESULTS: Among 82,748 adults hospitalized with sepsis, 3992 with new-onset AF (median age: 80 years, median CHA2DS2VASc of 4) survived to discharge, among whom 70 (2.1%) experienced stroke or TIA outcome and 1393 (41.0%) died within 1 year of sepsis. The CHA2DS2VASc score was not predictive of stroke risk after sepsis (AUC: 0.50, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.48-0.52). A newly derived model among 2555 (64%) patients in the derivation set and 1437 (36%) in the validation set included 13 variables and produced an AUC of 0.61 (0.49-0.73) in derivation and 0.54 (0.43-0.65) in validation. CONCLUSION: Current models do not accurately stratify risk of stroke following new-onset AF secondary to sepsis. New tools are required to guide anticoagulation decisions following new-onset AF in sepsis.

Initial antiretroviral therapy regimen and risk of heart failure.

OBJECTIVES: Heart failure risk is elevated in people with HIV (PWH). We investigated whether initial antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens influenced heart failure risk. DESIGN: Cohort study. METHODS: PWH who initiated an ART regimen between 2000 and 2016 were identified from three integrated healthcare systems. We evaluated heart failure risk by protease inhibitor, nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI), and integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI)-based ART, and comparing two common nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors: tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (tenofovir) and abacavir. Follow-up for each pairwise comparison varied (i.e. 7 years for protease inhibitor vs. NNRTI; 5 years for tenofovir vs. abacavir; 2 years for INSTIs vs. PIs or NNRTIs). Hazard ratios were from working logistic marginal structural models, fitted with inverse probability weighting to adjust for demographics, and traditional cardiovascular risk factors. RESULTS: Thirteen thousand six hundred and thirty-four PWH were included (88% men, median 40 years of age; 34% non-Hispanic white, 24% non-Hispanic black, and 24% Hispanic). The hazard ratio (95% CI) were: 2.5 (1.5-4.3) for protease inhibitor vs. NNRTI-based ART (reference); 0.5 (0.2-1.8) for protease inhibitor vs. INSTI-based ART (reference); 0.1 (0.1-0.8) for NNRTI vs. INSTI-based ART (reference); and 1.7 (0.5-5.7) for tenofovir vs. abacavir (reference). In more complex models of cumulative incidence that accounted for possible nonproportional hazards over time, the only remaining finding was evidence of a higher risk of heart failure for protease inhibitor compared with NNRTI-based regimens (1.8 vs. 0.8%; P  = 0.002). CONCLUSION: PWH initiating protease inhibitors may be at higher risk of heart failure compared with those initiating NNRTIs. Future studies with longer follow-up with INSTI-based and other specific ART are warranted.

An application of the Causal Roadmap in two safety monitoring case studies: Causal inference and outcome prediction using electronic health record data.

Background: Real-world data, such as administrative claims and electronic health records, are increasingly used for safety monitoring and to help guide regulatory decision-making. In these settings, it is important to document analytic decisions transparently and objectively to assess and ensure that analyses meet their intended goals. Methods: The Causal Roadmap is an established framework that can guide and document analytic decisions through each step of the analytic pipeline, which will help investigators generate high-quality real-world evidence. Results: In this paper, we illustrate the utility of the Causal Roadmap using two case studies previously led by workgroups sponsored by the Sentinel Initiative - a program for actively monitoring the safety of regulated medical products. Each case example focuses on different aspects of the analytic pipeline for drug safety monitoring. The first case study shows how the Causal Roadmap encourages transparency, reproducibility, and objective decision-making for causal analyses. The second case study highlights how this framework can guide analytic decisions beyond inference on causal parameters, improving outcome ascertainment in clinical phenotyping. Conclusion: These examples provide a structured framework for implementing the Causal Roadmap in safety surveillance and guide transparent, reproducible, and objective analysis.

A comparative effectiveness study of carotid intervention for long-term stroke prevention in patients with severe asymptomatic stenosis from a large integrated health system.

OBJECTIVE: The results of current prospective trials comparing the effectiveness of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) vs standard medical therapy for long-term stroke prevention in patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis (ACS) will not be available for several years. In this study, we compared the observed effectiveness of CEA and standard medical therapy vs standard medical therapy alone to prevent ipsilateral stroke in a contemporary cohort of patients with ACS. METHODS: This cohort study was conducted in a large integrated health system in adult subjects with 70% to 99% ACS (no neurologic symptom within 6 months) with no prior ipsilateral carotid artery intervention. Causal inference methods were used to emulate a conceptual randomized trial using data from January 1, 2008, through December 31, 2017, for comparing the event-free survival over 96 months between two treatment strategies: (1) CEA within 12 months from cohort entry vs (2) no CEA (standard medical therapy alone). To account for both baseline and time-dependent confounding, inverse probability weighting estimation was used to derive adjusted hazard ratios, and cumulative risk differences were assessed based on two logistic marginal structural models for counterfactual hazards. Propensity scores were data-adaptively estimated using super learning. The primary outcome was ipsilateral anterior ischemic stroke. RESULTS: The cohort included 3824 eligible patients with ACS (mean age: 73.7 years, 57.9% male, 12.3% active smokers), of whom 1467 underwent CEA in the first year, whereas 2297 never underwent CEA. The median follow-up was 68 months. A total of 1760 participants (46%) died, 445 (12%) were lost to follow-up, and 158 (4%) experienced ipsilateral stroke. The cumulative risk differences for each year of follow-up showed a protective effect of CEA starting in year 2 (risk difference = 1.1%, 95% confidence interval: 0.5%-1.6%) and persisting to year 8 (2.6%, 95% confidence interval: 0.3%-4.8%) compared with patients not receiving CEA. CONCLUSIONS: In this contemporary cohort study of patients with ACS using rigorous analytic methodology, CEA appears to have a small but statistically significant effect on stroke prevention out to 8 years. Further study is needed to appropriately select the subset of patients most likely to benefit from intervention.

Development of cardiometabolic risk factors following endocrine therapy in women with breast cancer.

PURPOSE: Studies comparing the effect of aromatase inhibitor (AI) and tamoxifen use on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer (BC) survivors report conflicting results. We examined associations of endocrine therapy use with incident diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. METHODS: The Pathways Heart Study examines cancer treatment exposures with CVD-related outcomes in Kaiser Permanente Northern California members with BC. Electronic health records provided sociodemographic and health characteristics, BC treatment, and CVD risk factor data. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of incident diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension in hormone receptor-positive BC survivors using AIs or tamoxifen compared with survivors not using endocrine therapy were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression models adjusted for known confounders. RESULTS: In 8985 BC survivors, mean baseline age and follow-up time was 63.3 and 7.8 years, respectively; 83.6% were postmenopausal. By treatment, 77.0% used AIs, 19.6% used tamoxifen, and 16.0% used neither. Postmenopausal women who used tamoxifen had an increased rate (HR 1.43, 95% CI 1.06-1.92) of developing hypertension relative to those who did not use endocrine therapy. Tamoxifen use was not associated with incident diabetes, dyslipidemia, or hypertension in premenopausal BC survivors. Postmenopausal AI users had higher hazard rates of developing diabetes (HR 1.37, 95% CI 1.05-1.80), dyslipidemia (HR 1.58, 95% CI 1.29-1.92), and hypertension (HR 1.50, 95% CI 1.24-1.82) compared with non-endocrine therapy users. CONCLUSION: Hormone receptor-positive BC survivors treated with AIs may have higher rates of developing diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension over an average 7.8 years post-diagnosis.

Development of cardiometabolic risk factors following endocrine therapy in women with breast cancer.

PURPOSE: Studies comparing the effect of aromatase inhibitor (AI) and tamoxifen use on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in hormone-receptor positive breast cancer (BC) survivors report conflicting results. We examined associations of endocrine therapy use with incident diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. METHODS: The Pathways Heart Study examines cancer treatment exposures with CVD-related outcomes in Kaiser Permanente Northern California members with BC. Electronic health records provided sociodemographic and health characteristics, BC treatment, and CVD risk factor data. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of incident diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension in hormone-receptor positive BC survivors using AIs or tamoxifen compared with survivors not using endocrine therapy were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression models adjusted for known confounders. RESULTS: In 8,985 BC survivors, mean baseline age and follow-up time was 63.3 and 7.8 years, respectively; 83.6% were postmenopausal. By treatment, 77.0% used AIs, 19.6% used tamoxifen, and 16.0% used neither. Postmenopausal women who used tamoxifen had an increased rate (HR: 1.43, 95% CI: 1.06-1.92) of developing hypertension relative to those who did not use endocrine therapy. Tamoxifen use was not associated with incident diabetes, dyslipidemia, or hypertension in premenopausal BC survivors. Postmenopausal AI users had higher hazard rates of developing diabetes (HR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.05-1.80), dyslipidemia (HR: 1.58, 95% CI: 1.29-1.92) and hypertension (HR: 1.50, 95% CI: 1.24-1.82) compared with non-endocrine therapy users. CONCLUSION: Hormone-receptor positive BC survivors treated with AIs may have higher rates of developing diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension over an average 7.8 years post-diagnosis.

Maternal and neonatal outcomes associated with treating hypertension in pregnancy at different thresholds.

INTRODUCTION: In the United States, there has been controversy over whether treatment of mild-to-moderate hypertension during pregnancy conveys more benefit than risk. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to compare risks and benefits of treatment of mild-to-moderate hypertension during pregnancy. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included 11,871 pregnant women with mild-to-moderate hypertension as defined by blood pressure (BP) values from three Kaiser Permanente regions between 2005 and 2014. Data were extracted from electronic health records. Dynamic marginal structural models with inverse probability weighting and informative censoring were used to compare risks of adverse outcomes when beginning antihypertensive medication treatment at four BP thresholds (≥155/105, ≥150/100, ≥145/95, ≥140/90 mm Hg) compared with the recommended threshold in the United States at that time, ≥160/110 mm Hg. Outcomes included preeclampsia, preterm birth, small-for-gestational-age (SGA), Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) care, and stillbirth. Primary analyses allowed 2 weeks for medication initiation after an elevated BP. Several sensitivity and subgroup (i.e., race/ethnicity and pre-pregnancy body mass index) analyses were also conducted. RESULTS: In primary analyses, medication initiation at lower BP thresholds was associated with greater risk of most outcomes. Comparing the lowest (≥140/90 mm Hg) to the highest BP threshold (≥160/110 mm Hg), we found an excess risk of preeclampsia (adjusted Risk Difference (aRD) 38.6 per 100 births, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 30.6, 46.6), SGA (aRD: 10.2 per 100 births, 95% CI: 2.6, 17.8), NICU admission (aRD: 20.2 per 100 births, 95% CI: 12.6, 27.9), and stillbirth (1.18 per 100 births, 95% CI: 0.27, 2.09). The findings did not reach statistical significance for preterm birth (aRD: 2.5 per 100 births, 95% CI: -0.4, 5.3). These relationships were attenuated and did not always reach statistically significance when comparing higher BP treatment thresholds to the highest threshold (i.e., ≥160/110 mm Hg). Sensitivity and subgroup analyses produced similar results. CONCLUSIONS: Initiation of antihypertensive medication at mild-to-moderate BP thresholds (140-155/90-105 mm Hg; with the largest risk consistently associated with treatment at 140/90 mm Hg) may be associated with adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. Limitations include inability to measure medication adherence.

Practice Patterns and Outcomes Associated With Anticoagulation Use Following Sepsis Hospitalizations With New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation.

BACKGROUND: Practice patterns and outcomes associated with the use of oral anticoagulation for arterial thromboembolism prevention following a hospitalization with new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) during sepsis are unclear. METHODS: Retrospective, observational cohort study of patients ≥40 years of age discharged alive following hospitalization with new-onset AF during sepsis across 21 hospitals in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California health care delivery system, years 2011 to 2018. Primary outcomes were ischemic stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA), with a safety outcome of major bleeding events, both within 1 year of discharge alive from sepsis hospitalization. Adjusted risk differences for outcomes between patients who did and did not receive oral anticoagulation within 30 days of discharge were estimated using marginal structural models fitted by inverse probability weighting using Super Learning within a target trial emulation framework. RESULTS: Among 82 748 patients hospitalized with sepsis, 3992 (4.8%) had new-onset AF and survived to hospital discharge; mean age was 78±11 years, 53% were men, and 70% were White. Patients with new-onset AF during sepsis averaged 45±33% of telemetry monitoring entries with AF, and 27% had AF present on the day of hospital discharge. Within 1 year of hospital discharge, 89 (2.2%) patients experienced stroke/TIA, 225 (5.6%) had major bleeding, and 1011 (25%) died. Within 30 days of discharge, 807 (20%) patients filled oral anticoagulation prescriptions, which were associated with higher 1-year adjusted risks of ischemic stroke/TIA (5.69% versus 2.32%; risk difference, 3.37% [95% CI, 0.36-6.38]) and no significant difference in 1-year adjusted risks of major bleeding (6.51% versus 7.10%; risk difference, -0.59% [95% CI, -3.09 to 1.91]). Sensitivity analysis of ischemic stroke-only outcomes showed a risk difference of 0.15% (95% CI, -1.72 to 2.03). CONCLUSIONS: After hospitalization with new-onset AF during sepsis, oral anticoagulation use was uncommon and associated with potentially higher stroke/TIA risk. Further research to inform mechanisms of stroke and TIA and management of new-onset AF after sepsis is needed.

High-dimensional propensity scores for empirical covariate selection in secondary database studies: Planning, implementation, and reporting.

Real-world evidence used for regulatory, payer, and clinical decision-making requires principled epidemiology in design and analysis, applying methods to minimize confounding given the lack of randomization. One technique to deal with potential confounding is propensity score (PS) analysis, which allows for the adjustment for measured preexposure covariates. Since its first publication in 2009, the high-dimensional propensity score (hdPS) method has emerged as an approach that extends traditional PS covariate selection to include large numbers of covariates that may reduce confounding bias in the analysis of healthcare databases. hdPS is an automated, data-driven analytic approach for covariate selection that empirically identifies preexposure variables and proxies to include in the PS model. This article provides an overview of the hdPS approach and recommendations on the planning, implementation, and reporting of hdPS used for causal treatment-effect estimations in longitudinal healthcare databases. We supply a checklist with key considerations as a supportive decision tool to aid investigators in the implementation and transparent reporting of hdPS techniques, and to aid decision-makers unfamiliar with hdPS in the understanding and interpretation of studies employing this approach. This article is endorsed by the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology.

Identifying hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, a comparison of two epidemiologic definitions.

Introduction: Studies of hypertension in pregnancy that use electronic health care data generally identify hypertension using hospital diagnosis codes alone. We sought to compare results from this approach to an approach that included diagnosis codes, antihypertensive medications and blood pressure (BP) values. Materials and methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 1,45,739 pregnancies from 2009 to 2014 within an integrated healthcare system. Hypertensive pregnancies were identified using the "BP-Inclusive Definition" if at least one of three criteria were met: (1) two elevated outpatient BPs, (2) antihypertensive medication fill plus an outpatient hypertension diagnosis, or (3) hospital discharge diagnosis for preeclampsia or eclampsia. The "Traditional Definition" considered only delivery hospitalization discharge diagnoses. Outcome event analyses compared rates of preterm delivery and small for gestational age (SGA) between the two definitions. Results: The BP-Inclusive Definition identified 14,225 (9.8%) hypertensive pregnancies while the Traditional Definition identified 13,637 (9.4%); 10,809 women met both definitions. Preterm delivery occurred in 20.9% of BP-Inclusive Definition pregnancies, 21.8% of Traditional Definition pregnancies and 6.6% of non-hypertensive pregnancies; for SGA the numbers were 15.6, 16.3, and 8.6%, respectively (p < 0.001 for all events compared to non-hypertensive pregnancies). Analyses in women meeting only one hypertension definition (21-24% of positive cases) found much lower rates of both preterm delivery and SGA. Conclusion: Prevalence of hypertension in pregnancy was similar between the two study definitions. However, a substantial number of women met only one of the study definitions. Women who met only one of the hypertension definitions had much lower rates of adverse neonatal events than women meeting both definitions.

Maternal and neonatal outcomes of antihypertensive treatment in pregnancy: A retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To compare maternal and infant outcomes with different antihypertensive medications in pregnancy. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Kaiser Permanente, a large healthcare system in the United States. POPULATION: Women aged 15-49 years with a singleton birth from 2005-2014 treated for hypertension. METHODS: We identified medication exposure from automated pharmacy data based on the earliest dispensing after the first prenatal visit. Using logistic regression, we calculated weighted outcome prevalences, adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals, with inverse probability of treatment weighting to address confounding. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Small for gestational age, preterm delivery, neonatal and maternal intensive care unit (ICU) admission, preeclampsia, and stillbirth or termination at > 20 weeks. RESULTS: Among 6346 deliveries, 87% with chronic hypertension, the risk of the infant being small for gestational age (birthweight < 10th percentile) was lower with methyldopa than labetalol (prevalence 13.6% vs. 16.6%; aOR 0.77, 95% CI 0.63 to 0.92). For birthweight < 3rd percentile the aOR was 0.57 (0.39 to 0.80). Compared with labetalol (26.0%), risk of preterm delivery was similar for methyldopa (26.5%; aOR 1.10 [0.95 to 1.27]) and slightly higher for nifedipine (28.5%; aOR 1.25 [1.06 to 1.46]) and other ß-blockers (31.2%; aOR 1.58 [1.07 to 2.23]). Neonatal ICU admission was more common with nifedipine than labetalol (25.9% vs. 23.3%, aOR 1.21 [1.02 to 1.43]) but not elevated with methyldopa. Risks of other outcomes did not differ by medication. CONCLUSIONS: Risk of most outcomes was similar comparing labetalol, methyldopa and nifedipine. Risk of the infant being small for gestational age was substantially lower for methyldopa, suggesting this medication may warrant further consideration.

Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in Women With and Without Breast Cancer: The Pathways Heart Study.

PURPOSE: To examine cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality risk in women with breast cancer (BC) by cancer therapy received relative to women without BC. METHODS: The study population comprised Kaiser Permanente Northern California members. Cases with invasive BC diagnosed from 2005 to 2013 were matched 1:5 to controls without BC on birth year and race/ethnicity. Cancer treatment, CVD outcomes, and covariate data were from electronic health records. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models estimated hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs of CVD incidence and mortality by receipt of chemotherapy treatment combinations, radiation therapy, and endocrine therapy. RESULTS: A total of 13,642 women with BC were matched to 68,202 controls without BC. Over a 7-year average follow-up (range < 1-14 years), women who received anthracyclines and/or trastuzumab had high risk of heart failure/cardiomyopathy relative to controls, with the highest risk seen in women who received both anthracyclines and trastuzumab (HR, 3.68; 95% CI, 1.79 to 7.59). High risk of heart failure and/or cardiomyopathy was also observed in women with BC with a history of radiation therapy (HR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.69) and aromatase inhibitor use (HR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.60), relative to their controls. Elevated risks for stroke, arrhythmia, cardiac arrest, venous thromboembolic disease, CVD-related death, and death from any cause were also observed in women with BC on the basis of cancer treatment received. CONCLUSION: Women with BC had increased incidence of CVD events, CVD-related mortality, and all-cause mortality compared with women without BC, and risks varied according to the history of cancer treatment received. Studies are needed to determine how women who received BC treatment should be cared for to improve cardiovascular outcomes.

Association of Glyburide and Subcutaneous Insulin With Perinatal Complications Among Women With Gestational Diabetes.

Importance: Nearly 30% of individuals with gestational diabetes (GDM) do not achieve glycemic control with lifestyle modification alone and require medication treatment. Oral agents, such as glyburide, have several advantages over insulin for the treatment of GDM, including greater patient acceptance; however, the effectiveness of glyburide for the treatment of GDM remains controversial. Objective: To compare the perinatal and neonatal outcomes associated with glyburide vs insulin using causal inference methods in a clinical setting with information on glycemic control. Design, Setting, and Participants: The population-based cohort study included patients with GDM who required medication treatment from 2007 to 2017 in Kaiser Permanente Northern California. Machine learning and rigorous casual inference methods with time-varying exposures were used to evaluate associations of exposure to glyburide vs insulin with perinatal outcomes. Data analysis was conducted from March 2018 to July 2017. Exposures: Time-varying exposure to glyburide vs insulin during pregnancy. Main Outcomes and Measures: Outcomes evaluated separately included neonatal hypoglycemia, jaundice, shoulder dystocia, respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission, size-for-gestational age, and cesarean delivery. Inverse probability weighting (IPW) estimation was used to separately compare perinatal outcomes between those initiating glyburide and insulin. This approach was combined with Super Learning for propensity score estimation to account for both baseline and time-dependent confounding in both per-protocol (primary) and intention-to-treat (secondary) analyses to evaluate sustained exposure to the same therapy. Results: From 2007 to 2017, 11 321 patients with GDM (mean [SD] age, 32.9 [4.9] years) initiated glyburide or insulin during pregnancy. In multivariate models, the risk of neonatal respiratory distress was 2.03 (95% CI, 0.13-3.92) per 100 births lower and the risk of NICU admission was 3.32 (95% CI, 0.20-6.45) per 100 births lower after continuous exposure to glyburide compared with insulin. There were no statistically significant differences in glyburide vs insulin initiation in risk for neonatal hypoglycemia (0.85 [95% CI, -1.17 to 2.86] per 100 births), jaundice (0.02 [95% CI, -1.46 to 1.51] per 100 births), shoulder dystocia (-1.05 [95% CI, -2.71 to 0.62] per 100 births), or large-for-gestational age categories (-2.75 [95% CI, -6.31 to 0.80] per 100 births). Conclusions and Relevance: Using data from a clinical setting and contemporary causal inference methods, our findings do not provide evidence of a difference in the outcomes examined between patients with GDM initiating glyburide compared with those initiating insulin.

Risk of Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Women With and Without a History of Breast Cancer: The Pathways Heart Study.

PURPOSE: The incidence of cardiometabolic risk factors in breast cancer (BC) survivors has not been well described. Thus, we compared risk of hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia in women with and without BC. METHODS: Women with invasive BC diagnosed from 2005 to 2013 at Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) were identified and matched 1:5 to noncancer controls on birth year, race, and ethnicity. Cumulative incidence rates of hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia were estimated with competing risk of overall death. Subdistribution hazard ratios (sHRs) were estimated by Fine and Gray regression, adjusted for cardiovascular disease-related risk factors, and stratified by treatment and body mass index (BMI). RESULTS: A total of 14,942 BC cases and 74,702 matched controls were identified with mean age 61.2 years and 65% non-Hispanic White. Compared with controls, BC cases had higher cumulative incidence rates of hypertension (10.9% v 8.9%) and diabetes (2.1% v 1.7%) after 2 years, with higher diabetes incidence persisting after 10 years (9.3% v 8.8%). In multivariable models, cases had higher risk of diabetes (sHR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.26) versus controls. Cases treated with chemotherapy (sHR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.11 to 1.38), left-sided radiation (sHR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.48), or endocrine therapy (sHR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.12 to 1.34) continued to have higher diabetes risk. Hypertension risk was higher for cases receiving left-sided radiation (sHR, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.21) or endocrine therapy (sHR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.03 to 1.16). Normal-weight (BMI < 24.9 kg/m2) cases had higher risks overall and within treatment subgroups versus controls. CONCLUSION: BC survivors at KPNC experienced elevated risks of diabetes and hypertension compared with women without BC depending on treatments received and BMI. Future studies should examine strategies for cardiometabolic risk factor prevention in BC survivors.

Association of Cardiovascular Outcomes and Mortality With Sustained Long-Acting Insulin Only vs Long-Acting Plus Short-Acting Insulin Treatment.

Importance: Cardiovascular events and mortality are the principal causes of excess mortality and health care costs for people with type 2 diabetes. No large studies have specifically compared long-acting insulin alone with long-acting plus short-acting insulin with regard to cardiovascular outcomes. Objective: To compare cardiovascular events and mortality in adults with type 2 diabetes receiving long-acting insulin who do or do not add short-acting insulin. Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective cohort study emulated a randomized experiment in which adults with type 2 diabetes who experienced a qualifying glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level of 6.8% to 8.5% with long-acting insulin were randomized to continuing treatment with long-acting insulin (LA group) or adding short-acting insulin within 1 year of the qualifying HbA1c level (LA plus SA group). Retrospective data in 4 integrated health care delivery systems from the Health Care Systems Research Network from January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2013, were used. Analysis used inverse probability weighting estimation with Super Learner for propensity score estimation. Analyses took place from April 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019. Exposures: Long-acting insulin alone or with added short-acting insulin within 1 year from the qualifying HbA1c level. Main Outcomes and Measures: Mortality, cardiovascular mortality, acute myocardial infarction, stroke, and hospitalization for heart failure. Results: Among 57 278 individuals (39 279 with data on cardiovascular mortality) with a mean (SD) age of 60.6 (11.5) years, 53.6% men, 43.5% non-Hispanic White individuals, and 4 years of follow-up (median follow-up of 11 [interquartile range, 5-20] calendar quarters), the LA plus SA group was associated with increased all-cause mortality compared with the LA group (hazard ratio, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.05-1.49) and a decreased risk of acute myocardial infarction (hazard ratio, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.81-0.97). Treatment with long-acting plus short-acting insulin was not associated with increased risks of congestive heart failure, stroke, or cardiovascular mortality. Conclusions and Relevance: Findings of this retrospective cohort study suggested an increased risk of all-cause mortality and a decreased risk of acute myocardial infarction for the LA plus SA group compared with the LA group. Given the lack of an increase in major cardiovascular events or cardiovascular mortality, the increased all-cause mortality with long-acting plus short-acting insulin may be explained by noncardiovascular events or unmeasured confounding.

A prognostic information system for real-time personalized care: Lessons for embedded researchers.

Embedded researchers could play a central role in developing tools to personalize care using electronic medical records (EMRs). However, few studies have described the steps involved in developing such tools, or evaluated the key factors in success and failure. This case study describes how we used an EMR-derived data warehouse to develop a prototype informatics tool to help oncologists counsel patients with pancreatic cancer about their prognosis. The tool generated real-time prognostic information based on tumor type and stage, age, comorbidity status and lab tests. Our multidisciplinary team included embedded researchers, application developers, user experience experts, and an oncologist leader.This prototype succeeded in establishing proof of principle, but did not reach adoption into actual practice. In pilot testing, oncologists succeeded in generating prognostic information in real time. A few found it helpful in patient encounters, but all identified critical areas for further development before implementation. Generalizable lessons included the need to (1) include a wide range of potential use cases and stakeholders when selecting use cases for such tools; (2) develop talking points for clinicians to explain results from predictive tools to patients; (3) develop ways to reduce lag time between events and data availability; and (4) keep the options presented in the user interface very simple. This case demonstrates that embedded researchers can lead collaborations using EMR-derived data to create systems for real-time personalized patient counseling, and highlights challenges that such teams can anticipate.