Medical School Location and Sex Affect the In-State Retention of Pediatric Residency Program Graduates in Hawai'i.

The objective of this study was to assess the impact of medical school, sex, career choice, and location of practice of one pediatric residency program on physician workforce. This is a retrospective study of all categorical pediatric graduates of a residency program located in Honolulu, Hawai'i from 1968 to 2015. Information on medical school training, sex, career choice (general pediatrics or specialty), and location of practice were studied by examining data into five 10-year graduation periods. The program graduated 319 residents over nearly a 50-year timespan. Of these, 181 (56.7%) residents remained in Hawai'i to practice (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 7.46, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.61-15.43). There were 125 (39.1%) graduates who relocated to the continental US with the majority moving to the West (55.2%), while other graduates moved to the South, Midwest, and Northeast (25.6%, 13.6%, and 5.6%, respectively). The remaining 13 (4.1%) graduates moved internationally. Female residents steadily increased over time (P < .001), with females significantly choosing general pediatrics (OR = 3.05, 95% CI: 1.91-4.89). In the time periods with the highest percentage of University of Hawai'i medical school graduates, there was an increased percentage of graduates staying in Hawai'i. This study examined the regional and national impact of a small residency program. The results indicated that trends in gender and the impact of medical school location were important in establishing a pediatrician workforce for local communities. Support of both medical school and residency education should be considered when assessing future workforce needs.

Diagnosis of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in a Polynesian Male with a History of Rheumatic Fever: A Case Report and Literature Review.

The presence of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has rarely been described in one patient. This report describes an adolescent Polynesian male with RHD who developed SLE years later. Initially, he fulfilled modified Jones criteria for rheumatic fever with aortic insufficiency, transient arthritis, elevated streptococcal titers, and a high erythrocyte sedimentation rate with a negative antinuclear antibody (ANA). He responded well to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory and penicillin prophylaxis, which supported the diagnosis of rheumatic fever. Five years after his RHD diagnosis, he developed pancreatitis with glomerulonephritis, nephrosis, and pancytopenia. In addition, laboratory results revealed that he had multiple autoantibodies: anti-Sm and extremely elevated anti-dsDNA and ANA, fulfilling diagnostic criteria for SLE. The patient was treated, and he responded to pulse steroids followed by oral steroid therapy. To our knowledge, there are no known reported cases of a patient who was diagnosed with both RHD and SLE and met the clinical criteria for both diseases. The rarity of this concurrent disease process in one patient suggests a possible overlap in humoral immunity toward self-antigens as well as ethnic variability that increases predisposition to rheumatologic diseases.

Warning Statements and Safety Practices Among Manufacturers and Distributors of Electronic Cigarette Liquids in the United States.

Introduction: Prior to the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) regulation of electronic cigarettes and warning statements related to nicotine addiction, there was no critical examination of manufacturer/distributor voluntary practices that could potentially inform FDA actions aimed to protect consumers. This study examined the content of warning statements and safety characteristics of electronic cigarette liquid bottles using a national sample. Methods: Research staff randomly selected four electronic cigarette liquid manufacturers/distributors from four US geographic regions. Staff documented the characteristics of product packaging and content of warning statements on 147 electronic cigarette liquids (0-30 mg/ml of nicotine) purchased online from 16 manufacturers/distributors in April of 2016. Results: Data showed that 97.9% of the electronic cigarette liquid bottles included a warning statement, most of which focused on nicotine exposure rather than health. Only 22.4% of bottles used a warning statement that indicated the product "contained nicotine." Of bottles that advertised a nicotine-based concentration of 12 mg/ml, 26% had a warning statements stated that the product "contains nicotine." None of the statements that indicated that the product "contained nicotine" stated that nicotine was "addictive." All bottles had a safety cap and 12% were in plastic shrink-wrap. Fifty-six percent of the websites had a minimum age requirement barrier that prevented under-aged persons from entering. Conclusions: Most manufacturers/distributors printed a warning statement on electronic cigarette liquid bottles, but avoided warning consumers about the presence and the addictiveness of nicotine. Studies are needed to examine manufacturer/distributor modifications to product packaging and how packaging affects consumer behaviors. Implications: These data can inform future FDA requirements related to the packaging and advertising of e-cigarette liquids; regulation related to the content of warning statements, including exposure warning statements, which are not currently mandated; and requirements on websites or language on packaging to help manufacturers adhere to the minimum age of purchase regulation. The data can also be used to help FDA develop additional guidance on the framing of statements on packaging that helps consumers make informed decisions about purchasing the product or protecting young people from use or unintentional exposure to the product.

Identifying Barriers in the Use of Electronic Health Records in Hawai'i.

Hawai'i faces unique challenges to Electronic Health Record (EHR) adoption due to physician shortages, a widespread distribution of Medically Underserved Areas and Populations (MUA/P), and a higher percentage of small independent practices. However, research on EHR adoption in Hawai'i is limited. To address this gap, this article examines the current state of EHR in Hawai'i, the barriers to adoption, and the future of Health Information Technology (HIT) initiatives to improve the health of Hawai'i's people. Eight focus groups were conducted on Lana'i, Maui, Hawai'i Island, Kaua'i, Moloka'i, and O'ahu. In these groups, a total of 51 diverse health professionals were asked about the functionality of EHR systems, barriers to use, facilitators of use, and what EHRs would look like in a perfect world. Responses were summarized and analyzed based on constant comparative analysis techniques. Responses were then clustered into thirteen themes: system compatibility, loss of productivity, poor interface, IT support, hardware/software, patient factors, education/training, noise in the system, safety, data quality concerns, quality metrics, workflow, and malpractice concerns. Results show that every group mentioned system compatibility. In response to these findings, the Health eNet Community Health Record initiative - which allows providers web-based access to patient health information from the patient's provider network- was developed as a step toward alleviating some of the barriers to sharing information between different EHRs. The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) legislation will introduce a new payment model in 2017 that is partially based on EHR utilization. Therefore, more research should be done to understand EHR adoption and how this ruling will affect providers in Hawai'i.

Menthol cigarette smoking and obesity in young adult daily smokers in Hawaii.

This study investigates 1) the relationship between menthol cigarette smoking and obesity and 2) the association of body mass index with the nicotine metabolite ratio among menthol and non-menthol daily smokers aged 18-35 (n = 175). A brief survey on smoking and measures of height and weight, carbon monoxide, and saliva samples were collected from participants from May to December 2013 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Multiple regression was used to estimate differences in body mass index among menthol and non-menthol smokers and the association of menthol smoking with obesity. We calculated the log of the nicotine metabolite ratio to examine differences in the nicotine metabolite ratio among normal, overweight, and obese smokers. Sixty-eight percent of smokers used menthol cigarettes. Results showed that 62% of normal, 54% of overweight, and 91% of obese smokers used menthol cigarettes (p = .000). The mean body mass index was significantly higher among menthol compared with non-menthol smokers (29.4 versus 24.5, p = .000). After controlling for gender, marital status, educational attainment, employment status, and race/ethnicity, menthol smokers were more than 3 times as likely as non-menthol smokers to be obese (p = .04). The nicotine metabolite ratio was significantly lower for overweight menthol smokers compared with non-menthol smokers (.16 versus .26, p = .02) in the unadjusted model, but was not significant after adjusting for the covariates. Consistent with prior studies, our data show that menthol smokers are more likely to be obese compared with non-menthol smokers. Future studies are needed to determine how flavored tobacco products influence obesity among smokers.