Is neighborhood deprivation index a risk factor for Staphylococcus aureus infections?

BACKGROUND: We assessed the association between neighborhood area deprivation index (ADI) and community-onset (co) and hospital-onset (ho) Staphylococcus aureus infection. METHODS: Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients admitted to 5 adult hospitals in the mid-Atlantic between 2016 and 2018 were obtained. The association of ADI with methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and methicillin-sensitive (MSSA) S aureus infections was assessed using logistic regression models adjusting for severity of illness and days of admission. RESULTS: Overall, increasing ADI was associated with higher odds of co- and ho-MRSA and MSSA infection. In univariate analysis, Black race was associated with 44% greater odds of ho-MRSA infection (odds ratio [OR] 1.44; 95% CI 1.18-1.76) and Asian race (co-MRSA OR 0.355; Confidence Interval (CI) 0.240-0.525; co-MSSA OR 0.718; CI 0.557-0.928) and unknown race (co-MRSA OR 0.470; CI 0.365-0.606; co-MSSA OR 0.699; CI 0.577-0.848) was associated with lower odds of co-MSSA and co-MRSA infections. When both race and ADI were included in the model, Black race was no longer associated with ho-MRSA infections whereas Asian and unknown race remained associated with lower odds of co-MRSA and co-MSSA infection. In the multivariable logistic regression, ADI was consistently associated with increased odds of S aureus infection (co-MRSA OR 1.132; CI 1.064-1.205; co-MSSA OR 1.089; CI 1.030-1.15; ho-MRSA OR 1.29; CI 1.16-1.43: ho-MSSA OR 1.215; CI 1.096-1.346). CONCLUSIONS: The area deprivation index is associated with community and hospital-onset MRSA and MSSA infections.

Development and Implementation of a Maryland State Program Providing Hospital Payment Incentives for Reduction in Readmission Disparities.

BACKGROUND: Social factors are a key determinant of hospital readmission. We describe the development of the country's first statewide policy providing hospitals with financial incentives to reduce readmission disparities. OBJECTIVE: To describe the development and evaluation of a novel program that measures hospital-level disparity in readmission and rewards hospitals for improvement. RESEARCH DESIGN: Observational study using inpatient claims. PARTICIPANTS: Baseline data included 454,372 all-cause inpatient discharges in 2018 and 2019. Of the included discharges, 34.01% involved Black patients, 40.44% involved female patients, 33.1% involved patients covered by Medicaid, and 11.76% involved patients who were readmitted. Mean age was 55.18. MEASURES: The key measure was the percentage change over time within the hospital in readmission disparity. Readmission disparity was measured using a multilevel model that gauged the association between social factors and readmission risk at a given hospital. Three social factors (Race, Medicaid coverage, and Area Deprivation Index) were combined into an index reflecting exposure to social adversity. RESULTS: Of the State's 45 acute-care hospitals, 26 exhibited improved disparity performance in 2019. LIMITATIONS: The program is limited to inpatients within a single state; the analysis does not provide evidence on the causal relationship between the intervention and readmission disparities. CONCLUSION: This represents the first large-scale effort in the US to link disparities to hospital payment. Because the methodology relies on claims data, it could easily be adopted elsewhere. The incentives are directed to within-hospital disparities, thus mitigating concerns about penalizing hospitals with patients with greater social exposure. This methodology could be used to measure disparity in other outcomes.

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) in a previous room occupant predicts CDI in subsequent room occupants across different hospital settings.

BACKGROUND: Previous single-center studies suggest that exposure to a room previously occupied by a patient with CDI may increase the risk of CDI in subsequent patients. We evaluated the risk of previous room occupant on CDI risk across 5 adult hospitals. METHODS: This is a non-concurrent cohort study of adult inpatients admitted to 5 hospitals. Exposed rooms were identified as being occupied by a patient diagnosed with CDI and a logistic regression was performed to assess if staying in an exposed room increases the risk of CDI in subsequent patients. RESULTS: Patients admitted to a room that was previously occupied by a patient with CDI had a 27% increased odds of subsequently being diagnosed with CDI (odds ratio (OR)=1.269; 95% confidence interval (CI)= 1.12-1.44) if exposed within the last 90 days and 40% increased odds (OR=1.401; 95% CI= 1.25-1.57) if exposed in the last 365 days after controlling for previous admissions and length of stay. Cumulative patient-day exposure to previously CDI-positive occupied rooms within both 90 and 365 days were also found to be independently significant, with a 4.5% (OR 1.045; 95% CI = 1.03-1.06) and 4.2% (OR 1.042; 95% CI = 1.03-1.06) increase in odds of CDI with each day of exposure respectively. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS: This study adds further evidence that hospital environment in patient rooms may contribute to risk for CDI.

Safety-Net Hospitals, Neighborhood Disadvantage, and Readmissions Under Maryland's All-Payer Program: An Observational Study.

Background: Safety-net hospitals have higher-than-expected readmission rates. The relative roles of the mean disadvantage of neighborhoods the hospitals serve and the disadvantage of individual patients in predicting a patient's readmission are unclear. Objective: To examine the independent contributions of the patient's neighborhood and the hospital's service area to risk for 30-day readmission. Design: Retrospective observational study. Setting: Maryland. Participants: All Maryland residents discharged from a Maryland hospital in 2015. Measurements: Predictors included the disadvantage of neighborhoods for each Maryland resident (area disadvantage index) and the mean disadvantage of each hospital's discharged patients (safety-net index). The primary outcome was unplanned 30-day hospital readmission. Generalized estimating equations and marginal modeling were used to estimate readmission rates. Results were adjusted for clinical readmission risk. Results: 13.4% of discharged patients were readmitted within 30 days. Patients living in neighborhoods at the 90th percentile of disadvantage had a readmission rate of 14.1% (95% CI, 13.6% to 14.5%) compared with 12.5% (CI, 11.8% to 13.2%) for similar patients living in neighborhoods at the 10th percentile. Patients discharged from hospitals at the 90th percentile of safety-net status had a readmission rate of 14.8% (CI, 13.4% to 16.1%) compared with 11.6% (CI, 10.5% to 12.7%) for similar patients discharged from hospitals at the 10th percentile of safety-net status. The association of readmission risk with the hospital's safety-net index was approximately twice the observed association with the patient's neighborhood disadvantage status. Limitations: Generalizability outside Maryland is unknown. Confounding may be present. Conclusion: In Maryland, residing in a disadvantaged neighborhood and being discharged from a hospital serving a large proportion of disadvantaged neighborhoods are independently associated with increased risk for readmission. Primary Funding Source: National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities and Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission.

Sub-clinical anxiety and the onset of alcohol use disorders: longitudinal associations from the Baltimore ECA follow-up, 1981-2004.

The current study examines the longitudinal relationship between anxiety disorders in general, specific phobia in particular, and subsequent-onset alcohol use disorders in an adult population-based sample. In addition, the authors explore whether the hypothesized associations vary by gender. Approximately 23 years of data from the Baltimore Epidemiological Catchment Area Follow-up (N = 587) allow for the estimation of the development of incident alcohol use disorders in later life among those with anxiety disorders at the time of the baseline interview in 1981. Although baseline specific phobias were common, neither the number of fears nor any specific fear was statistically associated with the onset of alcohol use disorders. Rather, the findings suggested a modest association between adult sub-clinical specific phobia (without substantial distress or interference) and later-onset alcohol use disorders (odds ratio = 3.2). Moreover, the authors found that this association might be stronger for women than for men.

Chronic care improvement in primary care: evaluation of an integrated pay-for-performance and practice-based care coordination program among elderly patients with diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of an intervention comprising (1) a practice-based care coordination program, (2) augmented by pay for performance (P4P) for meeting quality targets, and (3) complemented by a third-party disease management on quality of care and resource use for older adults with diabetes. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Claims files of a managed care organization (MCO) for 20,943 adults aged 65 and older with diabetes receiving care in Alabama, Tennessee, or Texas, from January 2004 to March 2007. STUDY DESIGN: A quasi-experimental, longitudinal study in which pre- and postdata from 1,587 patients in nine intervention primary care practices were evaluated against 19,356 patients in MCO comparison practices (>900). Five incentivized quality measures, two nonincentivized measures, and two resource-use measures were investigated. We examined trends and changes in trends from baseline to follow-up, contrasting intervention and comparison group member results. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Quality of care generally improved for both groups during the study period. Only slight differences were seen between the intervention and comparison group trends and changes in trends over time. CONCLUSIONS: This study did not generate evidence supporting a beneficial effect of an on-site care coordination intervention augmented by P4P and complemented by third-party disease management on diabetes quality or resource use.

Changing profile of abused substances by older persons entering treatment.

This study evaluated whether there were increasing admissions for illicit drug abuse treatment among older persons from 1992 to 2005 in the United States and describes the characteristics, number, and type of substances most commonly abused in this population over this 14-year period. Analyses used public data files from the Treatment Episode Data Set, which tracks federally and state funded substance abuse treatment admissions. From 1992 to 2005, admissions for illicit drug abuse increased significantly; in 2005, 61% of admissions age 50 to 54 years old and 45% of admissions age 55 years and older reported some type of illicit drug abuse, most commonly heroin or cocaine abuse. Criminal justice referrals for drug abuse admissions have increased over time and daily substance use remains high. Efforts to determine best practices for prevention, identification, and treatment of illicit drug abuse in older persons are indicated.

Morbidity and older persons' perceptions of the quality of their primary care.

OBJECTIVES: To quantify the association between community-dwelling older persons' level of morbidity and their perceptions of the quality of their primary care. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Urban primary care practice. PARTICIPANTS: A sample of community-dwelling members of a capitated health plan aged 65 and older who were patients of four general internists in one urban practice (N = 120). MEASUREMENTS: The Johns Hopkins Adjusted Clinical Groups case-mix system was used to designate a person's aggregate morbidity level as moderate or high depending on the number and types of chronic conditions they had. Aspects of quality of primary care (physician-patient communication, interpersonal treatment, knowledge of patient, integration of care, and trust in physician) were assessed using the Primary Care Assessment Survey. RESULTS: All participants were classified as having moderate (41%) or high morbidity (59%). Older adults with high morbidity assigned a lower rating to all aspects of quality of primary care (physician-patient communication (P = .001), interpersonal treatment (P = .002), knowledge of patient (P = .03), integration of care (P = .004), and trust in physician (P = .01)) than those with moderate morbidity. The differences in quality of primary care remained statistically significant after controlling for age, sex, race, and education level. CONCLUSION: Older persons with multiple chronic conditions report inadequate quality of primary care and dissatisfaction with their care. Those with high morbidity levels experience poorer quality of primary care than those with moderate morbidity in all five aspects measured here.

Clinical features of high-risk older persons identified by predictive modeling.

The objective of this study was to describe the clinical features of older persons identified as high risk by a predictive modeling algorithm and to determine their suitability for clinical interventions like case management or disease management. A cross-sectional survey was undertaken at a community-based general internal medicine practice with 826 older patients enrolled in a Medicare-like health plan for military retirees and their dependents. Administrative claims data provided information about all 826 enrollees' chronic conditions, their use of health services, and the cost of those services during the past year. A survey mailed to 150 identified high-risk enrollees provided information about sociodemographic characteristics, general health, bed disability days, restricted activity days, activities of daily living (ADL) limitations, and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) limitations. Compared to the 676 low-risk enrollees, the 150 high-risk enrollees had higher prevalence of eight individual chronic conditions, higher total chronic conditions (2.93 vs. 1.48, p < 0.001), higher annual rates of hospital admission (1.1 vs. 0.1, p < 0.001), more annual hospital days (7.3 vs. 0.5, p < 0.001), and higher total health insurance expenditures ($22,815 vs. $3,726, p < 0.001). The high-risk respondents to the survey (response rate = 80.0%) had suboptimal health (42.8% "fair or poor"), impaired functional ability (36.3% with 1+ ADL limitations, 58.1% with 1+ IADL limitations), and frequent health-related disruptions in their activities during the previous six months (38.7% with 1+ bed disability day, 52.3% with 1+ restricted activity day). A claims-based predictive modeling algorithm identifies older persons whose health, functional ability, and use of health services suggest they are good candidates for clinical interventions such as case management and disease management.

Biphasic alcohol response differs in heavy versus light drinkers.

BACKGROUND: Most studies of risk factors for alcohol-related problems have focused on biological family history as a primary risk factor. However, other factors, such as early-age heavy drinking, are also risk factors for sustained or progressive heavy consumption. Little is currently known about the mechanisms underlying binge or heavy drinking. METHODS: This study examined the acute subjective and objective effects of ethanol in heavy drinkers versus light drinkers. Thirty-four subjects participated in this within-subjects study consisting of three early-evening testing sessions in which subjects consumed a beverage containing either 0.8 or 0.4 g/kg ethanol or placebo. RESULTS: Compared with lighter drinkers, heavy drinkers were more sensitive to the positive stimulant-like effects of ethanol (p < 0.05), especially during the increasing limb of the blood alcohol curve. Heavy drinkers also showed less sedation and cortisol response after alcohol than the light drinkers (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that young adult binge drinkers show a biphasic alcohol response, with heightened sensitivity to stimulant-like alcohol effects and greater tolerance to sedative alcohol effects compared with their light-drinking counterparts.