Risk factors for delirium among SARS-CoV-2 positive veterans.

There have been increasing reports of atypical neuropsychological symptoms among patients hospitalized with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Although numerous pathophysiological mechanisms have been proposed to account for the association between COVID-19 and delirium, few studies have examined factors associated with its development and none have done so in the context of a veteran sample. The current study exploratorily examined demographic and medical variables that might be associated with delirium among a cohort of SARS-CoV-2 positive veterans. Demographic and medical data were extracted from the computerized patient records of 162 veterans who were admitted to a large southeastern Veterans Affairs hospital for COVID-19 complications between March 1, 2020 and April 20, 2020. At the zero-order level, age, a history of cardiovascular illness, length of stay, intensive care unit admission, initiation of new dialysis, and the development of new thromboembolic or cardiac findings were associated with delirium. However, when simultaneously examining the impact of these predictor variables in a logistic regression, only length of stay and new cardiac findings increased the odds of delirium. Findings highlight the importance of continued investigation into factors that may account for neuropsychiatric dysfunction among COVID-19 patients.

Registry-Managed Care Coordination and Education for Patients With Co-occurring Diabetes and Serious Mental Illness.

OBJECTIVE: Longitudinal changes in health outcomes of patients with serious mental illness and co-occurring diabetes were examined after introduction of an intervention involving electronic disease management, care coordination, and personalized patient education. METHODS: This observational cohort study included 179 patients with serious mental illness and diabetes mellitus type 2 at a behavioral health home in Chicago. The intervention employed a care coordinator who used a diabetes registry to integrate services; patients also received personalized diabetes self-management education. Outcomes included glucose, lipid, and blood pressure levels as assessed by glycosylated hemoglobin, low-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, and systolic/diastolic values from electronic medical records and completion of specialty visits confirmed with optometrists and podiatrists. Interrupted time-series segmented random-effects regression models tested for level changes in the eight study quarters following intervention implementation compared with eight preimplementation study quarters, controlling for clinic site and preimplementation secular trends. RESULTS: Significant declines were found in levels of glucose, lipids, and blood pressure postimplementation. In addition, completed optometry referrals increased by 44% and completed podiatry referrals increased by 60%. CONCLUSIONS: Significant improvement in medical outcomes was found among patients of a behavioral health home who had comorbid diabetes and mental illness after introduction of a multicomponent care coordination intervention, regardless of which clinic they attended.

Discharges "Against Medical Advice" in Patients With Opioid-related Hospitalizations.

OBJECTIVES: We performed a descriptive analysis of patient and treatment characteristics in premature discharges "against medical advice" (AMA) in a cohort of patients with opioid-related hospitalizations. METHODS: We abstracted data from 1152 opioid related hospitalizations of 928 adult patients in a large academic health system. Using electronic health record data, hospitalizations were categorized as AMA or conventional discharge (CD). To determine differences between AMA and CD regarding treatment characteristics, Fisher exact test, t tests, ANOVA, and logistic regression were performed. RESULTS: 74 / 1152 (6%) of opioid-related hospitalizations were discharged AMA. Hospitalizations that resulted in AMA discharge had shorter median length of stay (AMA vs CD 3.5 vs 5.5 days, P < 0.001) and received fewer of any type of opioid agonist treatment (AMA vs CD 73% vs 84%, P = 0.03). Although the number of hospitalizations in which methadone was administered did not differ between the AMA and CD groups, hospitalizations that resulted in AMA had more dose reductions and lesser quantities of methadone overall before discharge. Buprenorphine use was low overall in AMA and CD (0% and 2.1%, respectively). CONCLUSION: In this sample of opioid related hospitalizations, admissions that resulted in AMA discharge had fewer opioid agonist administrations and lower methadone dosing. These findings support efforts to initiate opioid agonist therapy during hospital admissions, and further studies should determine whether this practice mitigates AMA discharges.