Moving the Brazilian ischaemic stroke pathway to a value-based care: introduction of a risk-adjusted cost estimate model for stroke treatment.

The unsustainable increases in healthcare expenses and waste have motivated the migration of reimbursement strategies from volume to value. Value-based healthcare requires detailed comprehension of cost information at the patient level. This study introduces a clinical risk- and outcome-adjusted cost estimate model for stroke care sustained on time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC). In a cohort and multicentre study, a TDABC tool was developed to evaluate the costs per stroke patient, allowing us to identify and describe differences in cost by clinical risk at hospital arrival, treatment strategies and modified Rankin Score (mRS) at discharge. The clinical risk was confirmed by multivariate analysis and considered patients' National Institute for Health Stroke Scale and age. Descriptive cost analyses were conducted, followed by univariate and multivariate models to evaluate the risk levels, therapies and mRS stratification effect in costs. Then, the risk-adjusted cost estimate model for ischaemic stroke treatment was introduced. All the hospitals collected routine prospective data from consecutive patients admitted with ischaemic stroke diagnosis confirmed. A total of 822 patients were included. The median cost was I$2210 (interquartile range: I$1163-4504). Fifty percent of the patients registered a favourable outcome mRS (0-2), costing less at all risk levels, while patients with the worst mRS (5-6) registered higher costs. Those undergoing mechanical thrombectomy had an incremental cost for all three risk levels, but this difference was lower for high-risk patients. Estimated costs were compared to observed costs per risk group, and there were no significant differences in most groups, validating the risk and outcome-adjusted cost estimate model. By introducing a risk-adjusted cost estimate model, this study elucidates how healthcare delivery systems can generate local cost information to support value-based reimbursement strategies employing the data collection instruments and analysis developed in this study.

Dysphagia is a strong predictor of death and functional dependence at three months post-stroke / Disfagia é um forte preditor de morte e dependência funcional três meses após acidente vascular cerebral

ABSTRACT Background: Few Brazilian studies investigated risk factors for dysphagia and associated complications in a large cohort. Objective: To investigate frequency, predictors, and associated outcomes of dysphagia in patients up to three months post-stroke. Methods: Prospective cohort study of consecutively admitted patients in a specialized center for acute stroke. Patients with a transient ischemic attack, subarachnoid hemorrhage, cerebral venous thrombosis, hemorrhagic stroke with secondary cause, non-acute stroke, or those who did not consent to participate were excluded. Swallowing was evaluated by speech language pathologists using Volume-Viscosity Swallow Test. General function at three months post-stroke was assessed using the following instruments: Modified Rankin scale, Barthel Index and Functional Independence Measure. Results: A total of 831 patients were admitted and 305 patients were included according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The mean age of patients was 63.6±13.3 years, mean time from stroke to swallowing assessment was 4.2±4.1 days, and 45.2% of the patients had dysphagia. Age (OR=1.02; 95%CI 1.00-1.04; p=0.017), known medical history of obstructive sleep apnea (OR=5.13; 95%CI 1.74-15.15; p=0.003), and stroke severity at hospital admission (OR=1.10; 95%CI 1.06-1.15; p<0.001) were independently associated with dysphagia. Dysphagia (OR=3.78; 95%CI 2.16-6.61; p<0.001) and stroke severity (OR=1.05; 95%CI 1.00-1.09; p=0.024) were independently associated with death or functional dependence at three months. Conclusions: Dysphagia was present in almost half of stroke patients. Age, obstructive sleep apnea, and stroke severity were predictors of dysphagia, which was independently associated with death or functional dependence at three months.

RESUMO Antecedentes: Poucos estudos brasileiros investigaram fatores de risco para disfagia e suas complicações associadas em uma grande coorte. Objetivo: Investigar frequência, preditores e desfechos associados da disfagia em pacientes até três meses após acidente vascular cerebral (AVC). Métodos: Selecionamos pacientes admitidos consecutivamente em um centro especializado em AVC agudo. Excluímos pacientes com ataque isquêmico transitório, hemorragia subaracnóidea, trombose venosa cerebral, AVC hemorrágico de causa secundária, AVC não agudo ou aqueles que não consentiram em participar. A deglutição foi avaliada por fonoaudiólogos, por meio do teste de deglutição de volume-viscosidade. A função geral foi avaliada usando-se escala de Rankin modificada, índice de Barthel e medida de independência funcional. Resultados: Foram admitidos 831 pacientes e incluídos 305. A idade média foi 63,6±13,3 anos, o tempo médio da avaliação foi 4,2±4,1 dias e 45,2% apresentavam disfagia. Idade (razão de chances [OR] 1,02; intervalo de confiança [IC95%] 1,00-1,04; p=0,017), história médica conhecida de apneia obstrutiva do sono (OR=5,13; IC95% 1,74-15,15; p=0,003) e gravidade do AVC na admissão hospitalar (OR=1,10; IC95% 1,06-1,15; p<0,001) foram independentemente associados à disfagia. Disfagia (OR=3,78; IC95% 2,16-6,61; p<0,001) e gravidade do AVC (OR=1,05; IC95% 1,00-1,09; p=0,024) foram independentemente associadas com morte ou dependência funcional em três meses. Conclusões: A disfagia esteve presente em quase metade dos pacientes com AVC. Idade, apneia obstrutiva do sono e gravidade do AVC foram preditores de disfagia, que esteve independentemente associada com morte ou dependência funcional em três meses.

Dysphagia is a strong predictor of death and functional dependence at three months post-stroke.

BACKGROUND: Few Brazilian studies investigated risk factors for dysphagia and associated complications in a large cohort. OBJECTIVE: To investigate frequency, predictors, and associated outcomes of dysphagia in patients up to three months post-stroke. METHODS: Prospective cohort study of consecutively admitted patients in a specialized center for acute stroke. Patients with a transient ischemic attack, subarachnoid hemorrhage, cerebral venous thrombosis, hemorrhagic stroke with secondary cause, non-acute stroke, or those who did not consent to participate were excluded. Swallowing was evaluated by speech language pathologists using Volume-Viscosity Swallow Test. General function at three months post-stroke was assessed using the following instruments: Modified Rankin scale, Barthel Index and Functional Independence Measure. RESULTS: A total of 831 patients were admitted and 305 patients were included according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The mean age of patients was 63.6±13.3 years, mean time from stroke to swallowing assessment was 4.2±4.1 days, and 45.2% of the patients had dysphagia. Age (OR=1.02; 95%CI 1.00-1.04; p=0.017), known medical history of obstructive sleep apnea (OR=5.13; 95%CI 1.74-15.15; p=0.003), and stroke severity at hospital admission (OR=1.10; 95%CI 1.06-1.15; p<0.001) were independently associated with dysphagia. Dysphagia (OR=3.78; 95%CI 2.16-6.61; p<0.001) and stroke severity (OR=1.05; 95%CI 1.00-1.09; p=0.024) were independently associated with death or functional dependence at three months. CONCLUSIONS: Dysphagia was present in almost half of stroke patients. Age, obstructive sleep apnea, and stroke severity were predictors of dysphagia, which was independently associated with death or functional dependence at three months.

Translation and Validation of the TOR-BSST© into Brazilian Portuguese for Adults with Stroke.

Brazil has a higher rate of dysphagia in stroke patients compared to developed countries, but does not have a fully validated method for early identification of dysphagia in this population. The aim of this study is to translate the TOR-BSST© into Brazilian Portuguese and assess the newly translated version for reliability and validity with Brazilian adult patients with stroke. The translation of the TOR-BSST© followed a multi-step process, according to the International Quality of Life Assessment project. For validation, we included patients with age ≥ 18 years and stroke diagnosis confirmed by neuroimaging and tolerance for videofluoroscopic swallowing assessment. The BR-PTfinal TOR-BSST© was administered by two trained screeners within two hours of videofluoroscopy. All assessors were independent and blinded. Estimates for reliability used the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and for accuracy both sensitivity (SN) and negative predictive (NP) values were used, along with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Sixty patients were enrolled and tested for a mean (SD) of 14.4 (6.9) days from last seen normal. Of all the patients, 41 (68.3%) failed the BR-PTfinal TOR-BSST© and 21 (35%) were scored to have dysphagia on videofluoroscopy, of which 11 (52.4%) had mild dysphagia. The overall reliability between screeners was satisfactory (ICC = 0.59; 95% CI 0.32 to 0.76). The SN and NP values for the BR-PTfinal TOR-BSST© were 85.7% (95% CI 0.62-0.96) and 84.2% (95% CI 0.72-0.95), respectively. The TOR-BSST© was successfully translated to Brazilian Portuguese with the BR-PTfinal TOR-BSST© proven to have high sensitivity and negative predictive values when compared to gold standard videofluoroscopy.

Fractional Anisotropy of Thalamic Nuclei Is Associated With Verticality Misperception After Extra-Thalamic Stroke.

Verticality misperception after stroke is a frequent neurological deficit that leads to postural imbalance and a higher risk of falls. The posterior thalamic nuclei are described to be involved with verticality perception, but it is unknown if extra-thalamic lesions can have the same effect via diaschisis and degeneration of thalamic nuclei. We investigated the relationship between thalamic fractional anisotropy (FA, a proxy of structural integrity), and verticality perception, in patients after stroke with diverse encephalic extra-thalamic lesions. We included 11 first time post-stroke patients with extra-thalamic primary lesions, and compared their region-based FA to a group of 25 age-matched healthy controls. For the patient sample, correlation and regression analyses evaluated the relationship between thalamic nuclei FA and error of postural vertical (PV) and haptic vertical (HV) in the roll (PVroll/HVroll) and pitch planes (PVpitch/HVpitch). Relative to controls, patients showed decreased FA of anterior, ventral anterior, ventral posterior lateral, dorsal, and pulvinar thalamic nuclei, despite the primary lesions being extra-thalamic. We found a significant correlation between HVroll, and FA in the anterior and dorsal nuclei, and PVroll with FA in the anterior nucleus. FA in the anterior, ventral anterior, ventral posterior lateral, dorsal and pulvinar nuclei predicted PV, and FA in the ventral anterior, ventral posterior lateral and dorsal nuclei predicted HV. While prior studies indicate that primary lesions of the thalamus can result in verticality misperception, here we present evidence supporting that secondary degeneration of thalamic nuclei via diaschisis can also be associated with verticality misperception after stroke.

Modeling traumatic brain injury lifetime data: Improved estimators for the Generalized Gamma distribution under small samples.

In this paper, from the practical point of view, we focus on modeling traumatic brain injury data considering different stages of hospitalization, related to patients' survival rates following traumatic brain injury caused by traffic accidents. From the statistical point of view, the primary objective is related to overcoming the limited number of traumatic brain injury patients available for studying by considering different estimation methods to obtain improved estimators of the model parameters, which can be recommended to be used in the presence of small samples. To have a general methodology, at least in principle, we consider the very flexible Generalized Gamma distribution. We compare various estimation methods using extensive numerical simulations. The results reveal that the penalized maximum likelihood estimators have the smallest mean square errors and biases, proving to be the most efficient method among the investigated ones, mainly to be used in the presence of small samples. The Simulated Annealing technique is used to avoid numerical problems during the optimization process, as well as the need for good initial values. Overall, we considered an amount of three real data sets related to traumatic brain injury caused by traffic accidents to demonstrate that the Generalized Gamma distribution is a simple alternative to be used in this type of applications for different occurrence rates and risks, and in the presence of small samples.

Predictors of quality of life after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury.

Objective To verify correlations between age, injury severity, length of stay (LOS), cognition, functional capacity and quality of life (QOL) six months after hospital discharge (HD) of victims of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Method 50 patients consecutively treated in a Brazilian emergency hospital were assessed at admission, HD and six months after HD. The assessment protocol consisted in Abbreviated Injury Scale, Injury Severity Score, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Revised Trauma Score (RTS), Mini Mental Test, Barthel Index and World Health Organization QOL - Brief. Results Strong negative correlation was observed between LOS and GCS and LOS and RTS. An almost maximal correlation was found between RTS and GCS and functional capacity and GCS at HD. Age and LOS were considered independent predictors of QOL. Conclusion Age and LOS are independent predictors of QOL after moderate to severe TBI.

Predictors of quality of life after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury / Preditores de qualidade de vida após trauma crânio-encefálico moderado a grave

ABSTRACT Objective To verify correlations between age, injury severity, length of stay (LOS), cognition, functional capacity and quality of life (QOL) six months after hospital discharge (HD) of victims of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Method 50 patients consecutively treated in a Brazilian emergency hospital were assessed at admission, HD and six months after HD. The assessment protocol consisted in Abbreviated Injury Scale, Injury Severity Score, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Revised Trauma Score (RTS), Mini Mental Test, Barthel Index and World Health Organization QOL - Brief. Results Strong negative correlation was observed between LOS and GCS and LOS and RTS. An almost maximal correlation was found between RTS and GCS and functional capacity and GCS at HD. Age and LOS were considered independent predictors of QOL. Conclusion Age and LOS are independent predictors of QOL after moderate to severe TBI.

RESUMO Objetivo Verificar correlações entre idade, gravidade do trauma, tempo de hospitalização (TH), cognição, capacidade funcional e qualidade de vida (QV) seis meses após alta hospitalar (AH) de vítimas de trauma crânio-encefálico (TCE). Método 50 pacientes tratados em um hospital de emergência brasileiro foram avaliados na admissão, AH e seis meses após AH. O protocolo de avaliação consistia em Escala Abreviada de Lesões, Índice de Gravidade de Lesão, Escala de Coma de Glasgow (ECG), Escore de Trauma Revisado (RTS), teste Mini-Mental, Índice de Barthel e Questionário Breve de QV da Organização Mundial de Saúde. Resultados Forte correlação negativa foi observada entre TH e ECG e TH e RTS. Correlação quase máxima foi observada entre RTS e ECG e capacidade funcional e ECG na AH. Idade e TH foram considerados preditores independentes de QV. Conclusão Idade e TH são preditores independentes de QV após TCE moderado e grave.