Risks and Benefits of Clinical Diagnosis Around the Time of Dementia Onset.

Diagnostic delay in dementia is common in the U.S. Drivers of diagnostic delay are poorly understood, but appear related to misconceptions about dementia, stigma, concerns about autonomy, the nature of the diagnostic process, and provider-related factors. There is little quantitative evidence underlying cited risks and benefits of receiving a diagnosis around the time of dementia onset, including impacts on physical health, impacts on mental health, care partner interactions, costs of care, increased time for care planning, or earlier access to treatment. While various groups continue to push for reductions in diagnostic delay, realization of benefits and mitigation of harms will require new research on potential benefits and harms. Workforce and resource constraints, coupled with the expected growth in the number of persons living with dementia, may be a barrier to realization of potential benefits and mitigation of identified harms, which will require adequate access to providers, services, and supports.

Medicare Hospice Policy Changes and Beneficiaries' Rate of Live Discharge and Length-of-Stay.

CONTEXT: The 2014 Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act systemized audits of long hospice stays, and the 2016 two-tier payment system decreased daily reimbursement rates after 60 days of enrollment. Both aimed to reduce long stays. OBJECTIVES: Examine how live discharge rates and length of stay changed in relation to the policies. METHODS: We computed monthly hospice-level percent live discharges and length of stay using 2008-2019 Medicare hospice claims. We compared prepolicies trends and postpolicies trends overall, within Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) patients, within lung cancer patients, and stratified by hospice ownership (for-profit vs. nonprofit/government-owned). RESULTS: We included 10,539,912 and 10,453,025 episodes of care in the analytical samples for live discharge and length of stay analyses, respectively. Overall percent live discharges declined during the prepolicies period (-0.13 percentage-points per month, 95% CI: -0.14, -0.12), but exhibited no significant change during the postpolicies period. Trends were driven primarily by for-profits, with similar patterns within ADRD and lung cancer patients. Overall, mean length of stay increased over time, with greater rate of increase during the postpolicies period (0.41 days per month, 95% CI: 0.39, 0.42) compared to the prepolicies period (0.12 days per month, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.14). Length-of-stay increased faster among ADRD patients, but changed minimally for lung cancer patients. CONCLUSION: Live discharge rates declined significantly during the prepolicies period, but plateaued after implementation of the policies, driven by changes in for-profits. However, the policies did not reduce length of stay, which increased at faster rates, suggesting that postpolicies excess live discharges were not restricted to long-stay patients.

Evaluation of Federal Policy Changes to the Hospice Benefit and Use of Hospice for Persons With ADRD.

Importance: Hospice is an important end-of-life service for patients with Alzheimer disease and related dementias (ADRD). Objective: To determine whether hospice use among patients with ADRD changed in association with recent policies aimed at reducing hospice misuse and long hospice stays, an outcome that may have disproportionately affected patients with ADRD because of their lengthy end-of-life trajectories. Design Setting and Participants: This observational cross-sectional study used Medicare hospice claims data from Medicare hospice episodes of care beginning between July 2008 and December 2019 among Medicare hospice beneficiaries 65 years or older at time of enrollment. Data analysis was conducted between September 2019 and June 2021. Exposures: The 2014 Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act, which systematized audits of hospices with a high proportion of long stays, and the 2016 2-tier payment system, which reduced daily reimbursement rates after 60 days. Main Outcomes and Measures: Monthly percentage of (1) new patient enrollees, (2) patient census, and (3) care days provided to patients with an ADRD code. Results: The sample included 11 124 992 unique hospice episodes between 2008 and 2019; mean (SD) patient enrollment age ranged from 82.0 (8.2) years to 82.8 (8.7) years; the percentage of male patients ranged from 40.5% to 42.7%, and the percentage of Black, Hispanic, and White patients ranged from 7.7% to 8.2%, 1.5% to 2.0%, and 86.2% to 88.8%, respectively, across years. The percentage of new enrollees with an ADRD code dropped significantly during the months of IMPACT passage (-1.42 percentage points; 95% CI, -2.13 to -0.71) and implementation (-1.98 percentage points; 95% CI, -2.70 to -1.26) but rose again during the following months. While no significant changes were observed at the time of 2-tier payment implementation (0.15 percentage points; 95% CI, -0.21 to 0.51), the average rate of increase during the subsequent period was slower (0.01 percentage points per month; 95% CI, 0-0.02) than in earlier periods (0.05; 95% CI, 0.04-0.06 during the baseline period). Similar patterns were observed for the percentage of patient census and care days provided to patients with an ADRD code. Conclusions and Relevance: The results of this cross-sectional study of Medicare hospice claims data suggested that recent Medicare policies were associated with immediate and lasting reductions in the share of patients receiving hospice care with an ADRD code compared with expectations from preimplementation trends. Future research should examine mechanisms through which hospices enacted change and consequences for quality of care.

Brain Health.

Brain health and the health of the aging brain are topics of increased interest in recent years given the expected aging of the world's population. Many conditions associated with memory loss and other disorders of cognition have age as a risk factor. This article describes the healthy aging brain and theories about how to maintain brain health through later life. The role of gender in brain health and whether women are at increased risk of neurodegenerative disorders leading to dementia are discussed. Important factors that contribute to brain health, including nutrition, exercise, chronic disease management, and others, also are discussed.

The use of a primary care provider survey to implement a fall prevention program in an urban hospital system.

BACKGROUND: Falls are the leading cause of traumatic injury in older adults. Multidisciplinary approaches between trauma surgeons and primary care providers can powerfully advocate for fall prevention. This study explores current fall prevention practices and barriers to falls screening and prevention in the primary care setting and proposes pertinent recommendations to address the deficiencies. METHODS: A questionnaire was adapted from a previous survey study to explore the beliefs, knowledge, attitudes, and clinical practice regarding falls by primary care providers. The questionnaire was distributed by e-mail to primary care providers at a tertiary urban medical center. RESULTS: The survey achieved a response rate of 58%. All respondents agreed that older adult patients should be assessed for fall risks and that evidence-based fall prevention programs can reduce the risk of falls. However, 43% of respondents did not agree that they had the expertise to perform fall risk assessments, and similarly 43% did not agree they have the time to perform fall risk assessments in the office. Furthermore, although 52% of respondents were aware of the Medicare reimbursement for fall risk screening, only 24% had billed for fall risk screening and only 5% agreed that they were adequately reimbursed. CONCLUSION: Several barriers to performing fall prevention care in the primary care setting were identified: unfamiliarity with resources, perceived lack of time, and perceived insufficient reimbursement. We implemented a set of interventions which include an educational series and workflow optimization to overcome barriers identified.

Integrating Palliative Care on an Adult Trauma Service.

Background: In 2017, the American College of Surgeons' Trauma Quality Improvement Program adopted a Palliative Care Best Practices Guidelines that calls for early palliative care for hospitalized injured patients. Objective: To develop an educational intervention to address the palliative needs of injured patients. Design: Palliative faculty presented a three-part monthly lecture series focused on core primary palliative skills, including the components of palliative care; conducting family conferences; communication skills for complex medical decision making; pain management; and, end-of-life planning. Additionally a palliative provider joined trauma team rounds every other week to highlight opportunities for enhanced palliative assessments, identify appropriate consults, and provide just-in-time teaching. Setting: Urban, level-1 trauma center. Measurements: Surgical residents completed a survey at the beginning and end of the academic year, during which the intervention took place. All survey questions were answered with a 5-point Likert scale. Rate of palliative care consultation was also tracked. Results: There were statistically significant perceived improvements in goals-of-care discussions (initial discussion-4.30 vs. 3.52, p = 0.4; follow-up discussion-3.89 vs. 3.05, p = 0.021) and documentation (3.89 vs. 2.9, p = 0.032), incorporation of patient preferences into decision making (4.20 vs. 3.43, p = 0.04), discussion of palliative needs during rounds (4.30 vs. 2.81; p < 0.001) and care transitions (3.90 vs. 3.05, p = 0.008), respect for decisions to forgo life-sustaining treatments (4.40 vs. 3.52, p = 0.004), and identification of advance directives (4.11 vs. 3.05, p = 0.002) and surrogate decision maker (4.44 vs. 3.60, p = 0.015). The overall rate of palliative specialist consultation also increased (8.4% vs. 16.1%, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Embedding primary palliative education into usual didactic and rounding time for an inpatient trauma team is an effective way to help residents develop palliative skills and foster culture change. Educational partnerships such as this may serve as an example to other trauma programs.

Self-Reported Hearing Loss and Nonfatal Fall-Related Injury in a Nationally Representative Sample.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between self-reported hearing loss and nonfatal fall-related injury in a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling adults living in the United States. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of national survey data. SETTING: National Health Interview Survey (2016). PARTICIPANTS: A total of 30 994 community-dwelling adults in the United States, aged 18 years and older. MEASUREMENTS: We evaluated the association between self-reported hearing loss and nonfatal injury resulting from a fall in the previous 3 months. We used multivariate logistic regression to calculate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and evaluated effect measure modification by age. RESULTS: The odds of nonfatal fall-related injury were 1.60 times higher among respondents with hearing loss compared to respondents without hearing loss (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.20-2.12; P = .0012). Results were unchanged when adjusting for demographics (OR = 1.59; 95% CI = 1.18-2.15; P = .002). After adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors, cardiovascular disease, visual impairment, and limitation caused by nervous system/sensory organ conditions and depression, anxiety, or another emotional problem, the OR fell to 1.27 (95% CI = 0.92-1.74; P = .14). In the fully adjusted model, including adjustment for vestibular vertigo, there was little support to link hearing loss and fall-related injury (OR = 1.16; 95% CI = 0.84-1.60; P = .36). Effect modification by age was not observed. CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported hearing loss may be a clinically useful indicator of increased fall risk, but treatment for hearing loss is unlikely to mitigate this risk, given that there is no independent association between self-reported hearing loss and nonfatal falls after accounting for vestibular function and other potential confounders.

Racial disparities and temporal trends in dementia misdiagnosis risk in the United States.

INTRODUCTION: Systematic disparities in misdiagnosis of dementia across racial/ethnic groups have implications for health disparities. We compared the risk of dementia under- and overdiagnosis in clinical settings across racial/ethnic groups from 2000 to 2010. METHODS: We linked fee-for-service Medicare claims to participants aged ≥70 from the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study. We classified dementia status using an algorithm with similar sensitivity and specificity across racial/ethnic groups and assigned clinical dementia diagnosis status using ICD-9-CM codes from Medicare claims. Multinomial logit models were used to estimate relative risks of clinical under- and overdiagnosis between groups and over time. RESULTS: Non-Hispanic blacks had roughly double the risk of underdiagnosis as non-Hispanic whites. While primary analyses suggested a shrinking disparity over time, this was not robust to sensitivity analyses or adjustment for covariates. Risk of overdiagnosis increased over time in both groups. DISCUSSION: Our results suggest that efforts to reduce racial disparities in underdiagnosis are warranted.

Significance of perioperative infection in survival of patients with ovarian cancer.

OBJECTIVES: Perioperative infectious diseases comprise some of the most common causes of surgical mortality in women with ovarian cancer. This study was aimed to evaluate the significance of perioperative infections in survival of patients with ovarian cancer. METHODS: Patients who underwent primary cytoreductive surgery were included in the analysis (n = 276). The enumeration and speciation of pathogens, antimicrobial agents used, and sensitivity assay results were culled from medical records and correlated to clinicopathologic demographics and survival outcomes. Perioperative infection was determined as a positive microbiology result obtained within a 6-week postoperative period. RESULTS: The incidence of perioperative infection was 15.9% (common sites: urinary tract, 57.3%, and surgical wound, 21.4%). Commonly isolated pathogens were Enterococcus species (22.4%) and Escherichia coli (19.4%) in urinary tract infection, and Bacteroides fragilis, E. coli, and Klebsiella pneumoniae (all, 16%) in surgical wound infection. Imipenem represents one of the least resistant antimicrobial agents commonly seen in urinary tract and surgical wound infections in our institution. Perioperative infection was associated with diabetes, serous histology, lymph node metastasis, bowel resection, decreased bicarbonate, and elevated serum urea nitrogen in multivariate analysis. Perioperative infections were associated with increased surgical mortality, delay in chemotherapy treatment, decreased chemotherapy response, shorter progression-free survival (median time, 8.4 vs 17.6 months; P < 0.001), and decreased overall survival (29.0 vs 51.8 months; P = 0.011). Multivariate analysis showed that perioperative infections other than urinary tract infection remained a significant risk factor for decreased survival (progression-free survival, P = 0.02; and overall survival, P = 0.019). CONCLUSION: Perioperative infectious disease comprises an independent risk factor for survival of patients with ovarian cancer.

Patient-reported symptoms and survival in ovarian cancer.

OBJECTIVE: While the development of an index of clinical symptoms to use for the detection and diagnosis of ovarian cancer is under active investigation, the role of clinical symptoms in survival after the initial diagnosis is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to correlate the type and extent of clinical symptoms with survival outcomes in ovarian cancer. METHODS: Medical records of 276 cases of primary epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal cancers were evaluated. Thirty-one symptoms in 5 categories were cataloged. The significance of clinical symptoms in progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) was evaluated. RESULTS: Overall, 93.5% of ovarian cancer patients expressed at least 1 symptom at the time of initial diagnosis. The 3 most common symptoms were abdominal pain (40.6%), increased abdominal size (33.7%), and bloating (21.7%). In survival analysis, weight loss (16.3%), nausea/vomiting (13.4%), and lower extremity edema (6.5%) were significantly associated with both decreased PFS and OS (all, P < 0.05). In multivariate analysis, lower extremity edema remained the strongest significant symptom, associated with increased surgical mortality rate, decreased response rate to adjuvant chemotherapy after primary cytoreductive surgery, and diminished survival outcomes (median PFS, 4.9 vs 15.3 months, P < 0.0001; and median OS, 5.9 vs 49.1 months, P < 0.001). Multiple symptoms were associated with poor survival outcomes (individual number of symptom ≤1 vs 2 vs ≥3; median PFS, 26.8 vs 17.4 vs 11.7 months [P < 0.001]; and median OS, 70 vs 41.6 vs 37.2 months [P < 0.001]). CONCLUSIONS: Lower extremity edema at initial diagnosis is a strong prognostic indicator of ovarian cancer patient.