Tele-Nephrology: A Feasible Way to Improve Access to Care for Patients with Kidney Disease Who Reside in Underserved Areas.

BACKGROUND: The Miami VA Healthcare System serves veterans in three South Florida counties: Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe, with an estimated veteran population of 175,000. To overcome geographical barriers and facilitate the access to nephrology clinics, we implemented provider-patient tele-nephrology using secured videoconferencing. METHODS: A retrospective and descriptive study design was used to evaluate the effect of the tele-nephrology clinic intervention. Multiple clinical indicators were included in the analysis: blood pressure (BP) control, stabilization of the renal function, and electrolyte/metabolic control. One hundred one patients who were evaluated in the clinic between 2013 and 2015 were included in the analysis, and the indicators were collected retrospectively. RESULTS: One hundred one patients were included in the analysis, with 95% of patients being male (n = 96) and 5% female (n = 5). The mean age was 65.5 years. Fifty patients had chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage III (49.5%), 14 patients had CKD stage IV (13%), and 8 patients had CKD stage II (7.9%). A one-way analysis of variance between subjects was conducted and showed that the effect of the tele-nephrology clinic intervention on reducing BP was statistically significant (systolic BP less than 140 p value <0.0001). Renal function stabilized but the creatinine changes over time were not statistically significant (p value: 0.50). Potassium showed a significant improvement in this sample (p value: 0.0076). Phosphorous and bicarbonate did not show a statistically significant improvement (p value 0.79 and 0.91, respectively). CONCLUSION: With the tele-nephrology clinic intervention, we were able to effectively improve BP and stabilize renal function in patients with kidney disease who reside in underserved areas.

Ocular surface symptoms in veterans returning from operation Iraqi freedom and operation enduring freedom.

PURPOSE: To correlate situational exposures and psychiatric disease with self-reported ocular surface symptoms in a younger veteran population involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF). METHODS: Cross-sectional study of all veterans evaluated in the OIF/OEF clinic between December 2012 and April 2013 who completed the dry eye questionnaire and screening evaluations for environmental exposures, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression. The main outcome measures were the influence of environmental exposure and psychiatric disease on ocular surface symptoms. RESULTS: Of 115 participants, the average age was 33 years. While overseas, exposure to incinerated waste (odds ratio [OR] 2.67, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.23-5.81, P = 0.02) and PTSD (OR 2.68, 95% CI 1.23-5.85, P = 0.02) were associated with self-reported ocular surface symptoms. On return to the United States, older age (OR per decade 2.66, 95% CI 1.65-4.31, P = 0.04) was associated with persistent symptoms and incinerated waste was associated with resolution of symptoms (OR 0.25, 95% CI 0.07-0.90, P = 0.04). When evaluating symptom severity, 26% of the responders complained of severe ocular surface symptoms, with PTSD (OR 3.10, 95% CI 1.22-7.88, P = 0.02) and depression (OR 4.28, 95% CI 1.71-10.68, P = 0.002) being significant risk factors for their presence. CONCLUSIONS: PTSD was significantly associated with ocular surface symptoms both abroad and on return to the United States, whereas air pollution in the form of incinerated waste, was correlated with reversible symptoms.