Too tired to think: Relationship between post-COVID-19 fatigue and cognition in a veteran sample.

COVID-19 survivors often endorse persistent physical and neuropsychiatric problems following disease recovery, a phenomenon described as "long COVID." Research exploring long-COVID continues to evolve in large-scale studies but remains limited among smaller populations (e.g., veterans). We explored the relationship between persistent post-COVID-19 fatigue and cognition among a sample of 246 veterans who voluntarily enrolled in a COVID-19 Convalescence Programme and completed a mental health evaluation of post-illness mood (depression, anxiety, PTSD), cognition (subjective complaints, Modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status [TICS-M] performance), fatigue, pain, and sleep. In concert with our hypotheses, subjective cognitive complaints are not significantly correlated with TICS-M performance, but rather are strongly correlated with long-COVID fatigue. Although cognitive changes are common post-COVID complaints, these are likely better predicted by other factors, (e.g., fatigue, mood, pain, and sleep disruption). Furthermore, comorbid mood, sleep, and pain complaints appeared to mediate the relationship between subjective cognitive complaints and fatigue. Limitations to this study included use of retrospective chart review data, limited access to pre-disease data for comparison, and lack of healthy controls. Clinicians should consider the impact of modifiable conditions associated with cognitive and functional decline, as these conditions may be targets for interdisciplinary treatment in a long-COVID veteran population.

Immune resilience despite inflammatory stress promotes longevity and favorable health outcomes including resistance to infection.

Some people remain healthier throughout life than others but the underlying reasons are poorly understood. Here we hypothesize this advantage is attributable in part to optimal immune resilience (IR), defined as the capacity to preserve and/or rapidly restore immune functions that promote disease resistance (immunocompetence) and control inflammation in infectious diseases as well as other causes of inflammatory stress. We gauge IR levels with two distinct peripheral blood metrics that quantify the balance between (i) CD8+ and CD4+ T-cell levels and (ii) gene expression signatures tracking longevity-associated immunocompetence and mortality-associated inflammation. Profiles of IR metrics in ~48,500 individuals collectively indicate that some persons resist degradation of IR both during aging and when challenged with varied inflammatory stressors. With this resistance, preservation of optimal IR tracked (i) a lower risk of HIV acquisition, AIDS development, symptomatic influenza infection, and recurrent skin cancer; (ii) survival during COVID-19 and sepsis; and (iii) longevity. IR degradation is potentially reversible by decreasing inflammatory stress. Overall, we show that optimal IR is a trait observed across the age spectrum, more common in females, and aligned with a specific immunocompetence-inflammation balance linked to favorable immunity-dependent health outcomes. IR metrics and mechanisms have utility both as biomarkers for measuring immune health and for improving health outcomes.

A Learning Health System Approach to Long COVID Care.

Background: Global initiatives to mitigate COVID-19 transmission have shifted health system priorities to management of patients with prolonged long COVID symptoms. To better meet the needs of patients, clinicians, and systems, a learning health system approach can use rapid-cycle methods to integrate data and real-world experience to iteratively evaluate and adapt models of long COVID care. Observations: Employees in the Veterans Health Administration formed a multidisciplinary workgroup. We sought to develop processes to learn more about this novel long COVID syndrome and innovative long COVID care models that can be applied within and outside of our health care system. We describe our workgroup processes and goals to create a mechanism for cross-facility communication, identify gaps in care and research, and cocreate knowledge on best practices for long COVID care delivery. Conclusions: The learning health system approach will be critical in reimagining health care service delivery after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Immunologic resilience and COVID-19 survival advantage.

BACKGROUND: The risk of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) varies significantly among persons of similar age and is higher in males. Age-independent, sex-biased differences in susceptibility to severe COVID-19 may be ascribable to deficits in a sexually dimorphic protective attribute that we termed immunologic resilience (IR). OBJECTIVE: We sought to examine whether deficits in IR that antedate or are induced by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection independently predict COVID-19 mortality. METHODS: IR levels were quantified with 2 novel metrics: immune health grades (IHG-I [best] to IHG-IV) to gauge CD8+ and CD4+ T-cell count equilibrium, and blood gene expression signatures. IR metrics were examined in a prospective COVID-19 cohort (n = 522); primary outcome was 30-day mortality. Associations of IR metrics with outcomes in non-COVID-19 cohorts (n = 13,461) provided the framework for linking pre-COVID-19 IR status to IR during COVID-19, as well as to COVID-19 outcomes. RESULTS: IHG-I, tracking high-grade equilibrium between CD8+ and CD4+ T-cell counts, was the most common grade (73%) among healthy adults, particularly in females. SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with underrepresentation of IHG-I (21%) versus overrepresentation (77%) of IHG-II or IHG-IV, especially in males versus females (P < .01). Presentation with IHG-I was associated with 88% lower mortality, after controlling for age and sex; reduced risk of hospitalization and respiratory failure; lower plasma IL-6 levels; rapid clearance of nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 burden; and gene expression signatures correlating with survival that signify immunocompetence and controlled inflammation. In non-COVID-19 cohorts, IR-preserving metrics were associated with resistance to progressive influenza or HIV infection, as well as lower 9-year mortality in the Framingham Heart Study, especially in females. CONCLUSIONS: Preservation of immunocompetence with controlled inflammation during antigenic challenges is a hallmark of IR and associates with longevity and AIDS resistance. Independent of age, a male-biased proclivity to degrade IR before and/or during SARS-CoV-2 infection predisposes to severe COVID-19.

Molecular record for the first authentication of Isaria cicadae from Vietnam.

The entomopathogenic fungus T011, parasitizing on nymph of Cicada, collected in the coffee garden in Dak Lak Province, Vietnam, was preliminarily morphologically identified as Isaria cicadae, belonged to order Hypocreales and family Clavicipitaceae. To ensure the authenticity of T011, phylogenetic analysis of the concatenated set of multiple genes including ITS, nrLSU, nrSSU, Rpb1, and Tef1 was applied to support the identification. Genomic DNA was isolated from dried sample T011. The PCR assay sequencing was applied to amplify ITS, nrLSU, nrSSU, Rpb1, and Tef1 gene. For phylogenetic analysis, the concatenated data of both target gens were constructed with MEGAX with a 1,000 replicate bootstrap based on the neighbor-joining, maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony method. As the result, the concatenated data containing 62 sequences belonged to order Hypocreales, families Clavicipitaceae, and 2 outgroup sequences belonged to order Hypocreales, genus Verticillium. The phylogenetic analysis results indicated that T011 was accepted at subclade Cordyceps and significantly formed the monophyletic group with referent Cordyceps cicadae (Telemorph of Isaria cicadae) with high bootstrap value. The phylogenetically analyzed result was strongly supported by our morphological analysis described as the Isaria cicadae. In summary, phylogenetic analyses based on the concatenated dataset were successfully applied to strengthen the identification of T011 as Isaria cicadae.

Strategic management in local hospital markets: service duplication or service differentiation.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to assess the influences of market structure on hospitals' strategic decision to duplicate or differentiate services and to assess the relationship of duplication and differentiation to hospital performance. This study is different from previous research because it examines how a hospital decides which services to be duplicated or differentiated in a dyadic relationship embedded in a complex competitive network. METHODS: We use Linear Structural Equations (LISREL) to simultaneously estimate the relationships among market structure, duplicated and differentiated services, and performance. All non-federal, general acute hospitals in urban counties in the United States with more than one hospital are included in the sample (n = 1726). Forty-two high-tech services are selected for the study. Data are compiled from the American Hospital Association Annual Survey of Hospitals, Area Resource File, and CMS cost report files. State data from HealthLeaders-InterStudy for 2015 are also used. RESULTS: The findings provide support that hospitals duplicate and differentiate services relative to rivals in a local market. Size asymmetry between hospitals is related to both service duplication (negatively) and service differentiation (positively). With greater size asymmetry, a hospital utilizes its valuable resources for its own advantage to thwart competition from rivals by differentiating more high-tech services and reducing service duplication. Geographic distance is positively related to service duplication, with duplication increasing as distance between hospitals increases. Market competition is associated with lower service duplication. Both service differentiation and service duplication are associated with lower market share, higher costs, and lower profits. CONCLUSIONS: The findings underscore the role of market structure as a check and balance on the provision of high-tech services. Hospital management should consider cutting back some services that are oversupplied and/or unprofitable and analyze the supply and demand in the market to avoid overdoing both service duplication and service differentiation.

Socioeconomic Factors Associated with the Receipt of Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy in Women with Breast Cancer.

Background: Contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) treatments have been on the rise among white women with early stage unilateral breast cancer who have a higher socioeconomic status (SES) and private insurance. Low income and uninsured women are not choosing CPM at the same rate. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the socioeconomic factors related to the choice of surgical treatment in women diagnosed with unilateral breast cancer in the state of New Jersey. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study of 10 years of breast cancer data abstracted from the New Jersey State Cancer Registry utilized bivariate analyses and two multivariate logistic regression models to analyze the effect of socioeconomics on choice of surgical treatment. Results: In New Jersey, 52,529 women were treated for breast cancer from 2004 to 2014. CPM rates increased gradually over time from 3.72% in 2004 to 10.82% in 2014 with women more likely to choose CPM if they were younger, white, and had private insurance (p < 0.001). The single factor that was most predictive of choosing CPM was access to immediate reconstruction (odds ratio 2.36, confidence interval 2.160-2.551). Women with low SES were much less likely to choose CPM. Conclusions: Results of this study may provide incentive for researchers to assess the impact of culture, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomics on a woman's interactions with health care providers so as to allow all women regardless of SES to express their needs, concerns, and wishes when confronted with a breast cancer diagnosis.

Strategic Differentiation of High-Tech Services in Local Hospital Markets.

This study assesses organizational and market factors related to high-tech service differentiation in local hospital markets. The sample includes 1704 nonfederal, general acute hospitals in urban counties in the United States. We relate organizational and market factors in 2011 to service differentiation in 2013, using ordinary least squares regression. Data are compiled from the American Hospital Association Annual Survey of Hospitals, Area Resource File, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Results show that hospitals differentiate more services relative to market rivals if they are larger than the rival and if the hospitals are further apart geographically. Hospitals differentiate more services if they are large, teaching, and nonprofit or public and if they face more market competition. Hospitals differentiate fewer services from rivals if they belong to multihospital systems. The findings underscore the pressures that urban hospitals face to offer high-tech services despite the potential of high-tech services to drive hospital costs upward.

Determinants of Community-Related Expenses of US Tax-Exempt Hospitals, 2013.

CONTEXT: Tax-exempt hospitals in the United States are required to report community benefit expenses on their federal tax forms. Two categories of expenses critical to the public health mission of hospitals are the "community health improvement" and "community-building" expense categories. The community health improvement expenses formally qualify as a community benefit, whereas community-building expenses do not. Increasing both types of spending would be consistent with the growing evidence on the effects of social determinants on population health. OBJECTIVE: To identify characteristics associated with the level of community health improvement and community-building expenses reported by tax-exempt hospitals. DESIGN: The general acute care hospital is the unit of analysis. We utilize secondary data for all US general acute care hospitals that filed their own Internal Revenue Service Form 990 Schedule H for 2013 (n = 1508). We apply linear regression analysis to an explanatory model with 8 independent variables. MEASURES: The primary dependent variables are percentage of operating expenses devoted to community health improvement and to community building. The independent variables include 4 hospital-level measures, 3 county-level measures, and a measure of state requirements for community benefit. RESULTS: The level of community health improvement expenses is positively associated with bed size, system membership, profit margin, and urban location. In states where tax-exempt hospitals are required to demonstrate community benefit to the state, there is lower community health improvement spending. Teaching hospitals also demonstrate lower community health improvement spending. Results for community-building expenses mirror those for community health improvement except that teaching hospital status and per capita income lose significance and hospital competition gains significance in the negative direction. CONCLUSIONS: Leaders among tax-exempt hospitals in community-related spending are hospitals that are larger, more profitable, members of systems, and located in urban areas and in states that do not have community benefit requirements.

The proliferation of elective services in U.S. urban hospitals.

BACKGROUND: Although adding convenience for both patients and providers, the proliferation of elective services and equipment in U.S. general hospitals contributes to higher costs and raises concerns about quality and overuse. PURPOSES: We assess the relationship of two forces-health system membership and market competition-with the diffusion of elective services and equipment. METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The sample consists of all urban U.S. nonfederal general acute hospitals in 2010 (n = 2,467). Elective equipment and services are defined by 25 services offered by less than 33% of urban general hospitals. We relate the number of elective services to environmental and organizational conditions, adopting a contingency theory perspective. Ordinary least squares regression is used to estimate the associations among the key variables. FINDINGS: Market competition is positively associated with numbers of elective services. The effect of health system membership varies by system type, with the most developed integrated systems showing a positive relationship with the quantity of elective services, relative to freestanding hospitals. Members of less-developed integrated systems, however, have fewer elective services than freestanding hospitals. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The evidence on market competition is consistent with a medical arms race scenario in which hospitals pursue elective services and equipment to compete with each other. Membership in highly integrated systems does not act as a constraint on the pursuit of elective services and equipment but instead may independently promote it. It may be unrealistic to expect hospitals to resist offering elective services in the face of competitive and organizational considerations that encourage proliferation.

Service duplication within urban hospital clusters.

BACKGROUND: Approximately 80% of multihospital system member hospitals in U.S. urban areas are clustered with other same-system member hospitals located in the same market area. A key argument for clustering is the potential for reducing service duplication across cluster members. PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to examine the effects of characteristics of hospital clusters on service duplication within 339 hospital clusters in U.S. metropolitan statistical areas and adjacent counties in 2002. METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Ordinary least squares regression is used to estimate the relationship between cluster characteristics in 1998 and duplicated services per cluster member in 2002. FINDINGS: Duplication is higher in hospitals clusters with higher case mix index and higher bed size range. Duplication is lower in hospital clusters with more members, for-profit ownership, and more geographic dispersion. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Increases in the size of hospital clusters allow more opportunities for service rationalization. For-profit clusters may be innovators in rationalization activity, and they should be studied in this regard. Clusters with a higher case mix, lower geographic dispersion, and hub-and-spoke design (with high bed-size range) may find service reallocation less feasible.

Better to receive than to give? Interorganizational service arrangements and hospital performance.

BACKGROUND: The literature points to possible efficiencies in local-hospital-system performance, but little is known about the internal dynamics that might contribute to this. Study of the service arrangements that nearby same-system hospitals have with one another should provide clues into how system efficiencies might be attained. PURPOSES: The purpose of this research was to better understand the financial and operational effects of service sharing and receiving arrangements among nearby hospitals belonging to the same systems. METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Data are compiled for the 1,227 U.S. urban acute care hospitals that belong to multihospital systems. A longitudinal structural equation model is employed-environmental pressures and organizational characteristics in 1997 are associated with service sharing and receiving arrangements in 2000; service sharing and receiving arrangements are then associated with performance in 2003. Service sharing and receiving are measured by counts of services focal hospitals report that are not duplicated by other-system hospitals within the same county. Linear Structural Relations (LISREL) is used to estimate the model. FINDINGS: In general, market competition from managed care and hospitals influences hospitals to exchange services. For individual hospitals, service sharing has no effects on operational efficiency and financial performance. Service receiving, however, is related to greater efficiencies and higher profits. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The findings underscore the asymmetrical relationships that exist among local-system hospitals. Individual hospitals benefit from service receiving arrangements but not from sharing arrangements-it is better to receive than to give. To the extent that individual hospitals independently determine service capacities, systems may not be able to effectively rationalize service offerings.

Hospital service duplication: evidence on the medical arms race.

BACKGROUND: Hospital administrators face challenging decisions about whether to maintain, cut, or add services in response to changes in consumer demand or managed-care pressures. The challenge is heightened for services that are also offered by other hospitals in the local community. PURPOSES: This study provides evidence on the financial effects of providing services that are also provided by other hospitals in the same county. Its purpose is to help guide administrators and policy makers in assessing the wisdom of service duplication at the local level. METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The unit of analysis is the individual hospital. The study reports data from the 2,204 general acute care hospitals located in counties with more than one hospital. A longitudinal path model is constructed for the years 1998, 2000, and 2002, with environmental and organizational factors from 1998 affecting service duplication in 2000, which in turn affects financial performance in 2002. Maximum likelihood estimation in linear structural relations is used to evaluate the path model and its coefficients. FINDINGS: Hospital competition is associated with higher levels of duplication of inpatient, ancillary, and high-tech services. Duplication of inpatient services is associated with higher costs but also with higher operating margin. Duplication of ancillary services is associated with higher return on assets. Duplicated high-tech services are financial losers for hospitals. Higher levels of duplicated high-tech services are associated with higher cost per day, higher cost per discharge, and lower operating margin. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: From the standpoint of financial impact on the hospital, administrators should reexamine the costs and benefits of offering high-tech services that are offered by other providers in the local area. The higher costs may not be offset by revenues. Duplicated ancillary and inpatient services, on the other hand, produce some positive financial returns.

Microbiology of surgical site infections and associated antimicrobial use among Vietnamese orthopedic and neurosurgical patients.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the pathogens associated with surgical site infections (SSIs) and describe patterns of antimicrobial use and resistance in orthopedic and neurosurgical patients in a large university hospital in Vietnam. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Cho Ray Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. PATIENTS: All patients who had operations during a 5-week study period. RESULTS: Of 702 surgical patients, 80 (11.4%) developed an SSI. The incidence of SSI among orthopedic patients was 15.2% (48 of 315), and among neurosurgical patients it was 8.3% (32 of 387). Postoperative bacterial cultures of samples from the surgical sites were performed for 55 (68.8%) of the 80 patients with SSI; 68 wound swab specimens and 10 cerebrospinal fluid samples were cultured. Of these 78 cultures, 60 (76.9%) were positive for a pathogen, and 15 (25%) of those 60 cultures yielded multiple pathogens. The 3 most frequently isolated pathogens were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (29.5% of isolates), Staphylococcus aureus (11.5% of isolates), and Escherichia coli (10.3% of isolates). Ninety percent of S. aureus isolates were methicillin resistant, 91% of P. aeruginosa isolates were ceftazidime resistant, and 38% of E. coli isolates were cefotaxime resistant. All but 1 of the 702 patients received antimicrobial therapy after surgery, and the median duration of antimicrobial therapy was 11 days. Commonly used antimicrobials included aminopenicillins and second- and third-generation cephalosporins. Two or more agents were given to 634 (90%) of the patients, and most combination drug regimens (86%) included an aminoglycoside. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that the incidence of SSI is high in our study population, that the main pathogens causing SSI are gram-negative bacteria and are often resistant to commonly used antimicrobials, that the use of broad-spectrum antimicrobials after surgery is widespread, and that implementation of interventions aimed at promoting appropriate and evidence-based use of antimicrobials are needed in Vietnam.

Applying clinical significance methodology to alcoholism treatment trials: determining recovery outcome status with individual- and population-based measures.

BACKGROUND: The current analysis applies clinical significance methodology to alcoholism treatment outcome research using data available from Project MATCH. Because of its high internal validity and its inclusion of multiple measures assessing multiple outcome dimensions, MATCH was considered an ideal study to explore the utility of this methodology. METHODS: Data reported here are from a total of 1,726 participants enrolled in either aftercare (n = 774) or outpatient (n = 952) arms of the study. First, a cutoff score was determined differentiating functional versus dysfunctional status on three outcome measures: percent days abstinent (PDA), mean drinks per drinking day (DDD) and negative consequences of alcohol use. Second, the reliable change in pre- to post-treatment scores on these three measures was calculated. RESULTS: The results reported herein support the importance of distinguishing between statistical and clinical significance of outcomes. During three months post-treatment, approximately one-half of the treated patients were "recovered" (i.e., both functional and reliably changed) with respect to both PDA (i.e., 51%) and negative consequences of drinking (i.e., 47%); however, only about one-third of individuals remained recovered throughout the full one-year follow-up period (i.e., 33% on PDA and 35% on negative consequences). These individual-based change outcomes compared similarly to a population-based indicator of heavy drinking. Alternatively, only about one-quarter of participants were recovered using two distinct criteria for mean DDD (i.e., 23-29%), and even fewer participants remained recovered on mean DDD over the full one-year follow-up period (i.e., about 14-18%). CONCLUSIONS: Based on study limitations, more work is required to make clinical significance methodology practically useful to alcoholism treatment trials including more precise definitions of functional status and relative change as well as better interpretation of the inter-relationship between multiple measures assessing multiple outcome domains.

Helpful or harmful? The impact of strategic change on the performance of U.S. urban hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: To contribute to the debate as to whether strategic change helps or harms organizations by empirically examining how strategic change influences performance change in urban hospitals. DATA SOURCES: AHA Annual Survey (1994 and 1996), Health Care Financing Administration's Medicare Cost Reports (1994 and 1996) and Medicare HMO Files (1994), U.S. Bureau of the Census' County Business Patterns Files (1994), and Area Resources File (1994). STUDY DESIGN: This work employed a longitudinal approach using a panel design to study the effect of environmental and organizational characteristics on urban hospital strategic behavior and performance. A path analytic model was used to examine the simultaneous effects of environmental and organizational characteristics (1994) on strategic behavior (change in strategies to enhance HMO business and change in strategies to control costs 1994-96), as well as the effects of all of these variables on change in urban hospital performance (change in market share, change in operational efficiency, change in financial performance 1994-96). PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: (1) Environmental context exerts a greater influence on urban hospitals' HMO business enhancement strategies, whereas organizational characteristics have more influence on cost-control strategies. (2) Between the two strategies, HMO business enhancement and cost control, strategic change to enhance business with HMOs is much more complex. (3) Strategic change observed across the 1994 to 1996 time period can be either helpful or harmful to urban hospitals. A strategic change that contributes positively to one type of performance can negatively impact the other. CONCLUSIONS: Although differences of opinion persist in the strategic change debate, results of this study indicate that strategic change can be helpful or harmful to urban hospitals, and its consequences are far more complex than previously thought. Strategic rationality has its own limitations and cannot always be relied on to yield expected results. Hospital strategic changes require coordination to achieve greater performance results.