Antimicrobial resistance in the United States: Origins and future directions.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains a critical public health problem that pervades hospitals and health systems worldwide. The ongoing AMR crisis is not only concerning for patient care but also healthcare delivery and quality. This article outlines key components of the origins of AMR in the United States and how it presents across the American healthcare system. Numerous factors contributed to the crisis, including agricultural antibiotic use, wasteful prescribing practices in health care, conflicting behaviours among patients and clinicians, patient demand and satisfaction, and payment and reimbursement models that incentivize inappropriate antibiotic use. To combat AMR, clinicians, healthcare professionals, and legislators must continue to promote and implement innovative solutions, including antibiotic stewardship programmes (ASPs), hand hygiene protocols, ample supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), standardized treatment guidelines for antibiotic prescribing, clinician and patient educational programmes, and health policy initiatives. With the rising prevalence of multi-drug resistant bacterial infections, AMR must become a greater priority to policymakers and healthcare stakeholders.

Does psychological distress predict risk of orthopaedic surgery and postoperative opioid prescribing in patients with hip pain? A retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Clinicians and public health professionals have allocated resources to curb opioid over-prescription and address psychological needs among patients with musculoskeletal pain. However, associations between psychological distress, risk of surgery, and opioid prescribing among those with hip pathologies remain unclear. METHODS: Using a retrospective cohort study design, we identified patients that were evaluated for hip pain from January 13, 2020 to October 27, 2021. Patients' surgical histories and postoperative opioid prescriptions were extracted via chart review. Risk of hip surgery within one year of evaluation was analyzed using multivariable logistic regression. Multivariable linear regression was employed to predict average morphine milligram equivalents (MME) per day of opioid prescriptions within the first 30 days after surgery. Candidate predictors included age, gender, race, ethnicity, employment, insurance type, hip function and quality of life on the International Hip Outcome Tool (iHOT-12), and psychological distress phenotype using the OSPRO Yellow Flag (OSPRO-YF) Assessment Tool. RESULTS: Of the 672 patients, n = 350 (52.1%) underwent orthopaedic surgery for hip pain. In multivariable analysis, younger patients, those with TRICARE/other government insurance, and those with a high psychological distress phenotype had higher odds of surgery. After adding iHOT-12 scores, younger patients and lower iHOT-12 scores were associated with higher odds of surgery, while Black/African American patients had lower odds of surgery. In multivariable analysis of average MME, patients with periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) received opioid prescriptions with significantly higher average MME than those with other procedures, and surgery type was the only significant predictor. Post-hoc analysis excluding PAO found higher average MME for patients undergoing hip arthroscopy (compared to arthroplasty or other non-PAO procedures) and significantly lower average MME for patients with public insurance (Medicare/Medicaid) compared to those with private insurance. Among those only undergoing arthroscopy, older age and having public insurance were associated with opioid prescriptions with lower average MME. Neither iHOT-12 scores nor OSPRO-YF phenotype assignment were significant predictors of postoperative mean MME. CONCLUSIONS: Psychological distress characteristics are modifiable targets for rehabilitation programs, but their use as prognostic factors for risk of orthopaedic surgery and opioid prescribing in patients with hip pain appears limited when considered alongside other commonly collected clinical information such as age, insurance, type of surgery pursued, and iHOT-12 scores.

Advancing youth transportation safety in North Carolina through addressing alcohol-related motor vehicle collisions.

The aim of this work is to analyze trends in youth transportation fatalities and injuries in North Carolina (NC), assess the implementation of ignition interlock devices (IIDs) in the United States and abroad, discuss policy implications for IIDs, and highlight health equity considerations related to motor vehicle collisions (MVCs). MVCs cause the highest number of unintentional injury-related deaths for children and teenagers in NC, and policymakers should pay special attention to MVCs related to alcohol consumption. IIDs are effective in reducing collision rates and recidivism for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). Ignition interlock device requirements have been increasingly implemented globally over the past three decades. However, the adoption of stricter IID policies after first-time DUI offenses in NC and across the U.S. is a prudent public health measure to enhance transportation safety for both adults and children. Evidence-based interventions such as IIDs must also strive to address inequities in transportation safety, and the framing of proposed policies should reflect the tenets of cultural humility.

Pain-Associated Psychological Distress Is of High Prevalence in Patients With Hip Pain: Characterizing Psychological Distress and Phenotypes.

Purpose: To identify common pain-related psychological factors among patients seeking care for athletic hip pain, as well as characterize psychological distress phenotypes and compare hip-specific quality-of-life measures across those phenotypes. Methods: A total of 721 patients were recruited from hip preservation clinics. The Optimal Screening for Prediction of Referral and Outcome-Yellow Flag Assessment Tool (OSPRO-YF) was used to identify the presence or absence of 11 different pain-associated psychological distress characteristics (yellow flags), while the International Hip Outcome Tool-12 (iHOT-12) was used to assess hip-related quality of life. Latent class analysis identified patient subgroups (phenotypes) based on naturally occurring combinations of distress characteristics. An analysis of variance was used to compare demographics, number of yellow flags, and iHOT-12 scores across phenotypes. Results: The median (interquartile range) number of yellow flags was 6 (3-9), with 13.5% of the sample reporting 11 yellow flags. Latent class analysis (L2 = 543.3, classification errors = 0.082) resulted in 4 phenotypes: high distress (n = 299, 41.5%), low distress (n = 172, 23.9%), low self-efficacy and acceptance (n = 74, 10.3%), and negative pain coping (n = 276, 24.4%). Significant differences in mean yellow flags existed between all phenotypes except low self-efficacy and negative pain coping. There were no differences in demographics between phenotypes. The high distress class had the lowest mean iHOT-12 score (mean [SD], 23.5 [17.6]), with significant differences found between each phenotypic class. Conclusions: There was a high prevalence of pain-associated psychological distress in patients presenting to tertiary hip arthroscopy clinics with hip pain. Furthermore, hip quality-of-life outcome scores were uniformly lower in patients with higher levels of psychological distress. Level of Evidence: Level III, retrospective cohort study.

Risk factors and epidemiology of spontaneous intestinal perforation among infants born at 22-24 weeks' gestational age.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the epidemiology, risk factors, and timing of spontaneous intestinal perforation (SIP) among infants born at 22-24 weeks' gestational age (GA). STUDY DESIGN: Observational cohort study among infants born at 22-24 weeks' GA in 446 neonatal intensive care units. RESULTS: We identified 9712 infants, of whom 379 (3.9%) developed SIP. SIP incidence increased with decreasing GA (P < 0.001). Antenatal magnesium (odds ratio (OR) 1.42; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.09-1.85), antenatal indomethacin (OR 1.40; 95% CI, 1.06-1.85), postnatal indomethacin (OR 1.61; 95% CI, 1.23-2.11), and postnatal hydrocortisone exposure (OR 2.02; 95% CI 1.50-2.73) were associated with SIP. Infants who lost 15-20% (OR 1.77; 95% CI, 1.28-2.44) or >20% (OR 2.04; 95% CI, 1.46-2.85) of birth weight had higher odds of SIP than infants with weight loss <10%. CONCLUSIONS: Antenatal magnesium exposure, antenatal indomethacin exposure, postnatal hydrocortisone exposure, postnatal indomethacin exposure, and weight loss ≥15% were associated with SIP.

A SEER database retrospective cohort of 547 patients with penile non-squamous cell carcinoma: demographics, clinical characteristics, and outcomes.

Introduction: Little research has investigated the prevalence and distribution of the diverse pathologies of non-squamous cell carcinoma (non-SCC) of the penis. Although rare in clinical practice, these cancers have become a focus of greater importance among patients, clinicians, and researchers, particularly in developing countries. The principal objective of this study was to analyze the major types of penile non-SCC, elucidate common treatment pathways, and highlight outcomes including 5-year survival. Materials/methods: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database was queried between 2000 and 2018 to identify a retrospective cohort of patients with penile non-SCC. Demographic information, cancer characteristics, diagnostic methods, treatments administered, and survival were investigated. Results: A total of 547 cases of penile non-SCC were included in the analysis. The most prevalent non-SCC cancers included epithelial neoplasms, not otherwise specified (NOS) (15.4%), unspecified neoplasms (15.2%), basal cell neoplasms (13.9%), blood vessel tumors (13.0%), nevi and melanomas (11.7%), and ductal and lobular neoplasms (9.9%). Over half (56.7%) of patients elected to undergo surgical intervention. Patients rarely received systemic therapy (3.8%) or radiation (4.0%). Five-year survival was 35.5%. Patients who underwent surgery had greater annual survival for 0-10 years compared to those who did not have surgery. Significant differences in survival were found between patients who had regional, localized, and distant metastases (p < 0.05). A significant difference in survival was found for patients married at diagnosis versus those who were unmarried at diagnosis (p < 0.05). Lower survival rates were observed for patients older than 70 years. Discussion: Although less prevalent than SCC, penile non-SCC encompasses a diverse set of neoplasms. Patients in this cohort had a high utilization of surgical management leading to superior outcomes compared to those not receiving surgery. Radiation is an uncommonly pursued treatment pathway. Patient demographics and socioeconomic variables such as marital status may be valuable when investigating cancer outcomes. This updated database analysis can help inform diagnosis, management, and clinical outcomes for this rare group of malignancies.

Implementing practice facilitation in research: how facilitators spend their time guiding practices to improve blood pressure control.

BACKGROUND: Practice facilitators (PFs) coach practices through quality improvement (QI) initiatives aimed at enhancing patient outcomes and operational efficiencies. Practice facilitation is a dynamic intervention that, by design, is tailored to practices' unique needs and contexts. Little research has explored the amount of time PFs spend with practices on QI activities. This short report expands on previously published work that detailed a 12-month practice facilitation intervention as part of the Southeastern Collaboration to Improve Blood Pressure Control (SEC) trial, which focused on improving hypertension control among people living in rural settings in the southeastern USA. This report analyzes data on the time PFs spent to guide 32 primary care practices in implementing QI activities to support enhanced outcomes in patients with high blood pressure. METHODS: The SEC trial employed four certified PFs across all practice sites, who documented time spent: (1) driving to support practices; (2) working on-site with staff and clinicians; and (3) communicating remotely (phone, email, or video conference) with practice members. We analyzed the data using descriptive statistics to help understand time devoted to individual and aggregated tasks. Additionally, we explored correlations between practice characteristics and time spent with PFs. RESULTS: In aggregate, the PFs completed 416 visits to practices and spent an average of 130 (SD 65) min per visit driving to and from practices. The average time spent on-site per visit with practices was 87 (SD 37) min, while an average of 17 (SD 12) min was spent on individual remote communications. During the 12-month intervention, 1131 remote communications were conducted with practices. PFs spent most of their time with clinical staff members (n = 886 instances) or with practice managers alone (n = 670 instances) while relatively few on-site visits were conducted with primary care providers alone (n = 15). In 19 practices, no communications were solely with providers. No significant correlations were found between time spent on PF activities and a practices' percent of Medicaid and uninsured patients, staff-provider ratio, or federally qualified health center (FQHC) status. CONCLUSIONS: PFs working with practices serving rural patients with hypertension devote substantial time to driving, highlighting the importance of optimizing a balance between time spent on-site vs. communicating remotely. Most time spent was with clinical staff, not primary care providers. These findings may be useful to researchers and business leaders who design, test, and implement efficient facilitation services. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NIH ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02866669 . Registered on 15 August 2016. NHLBI AWARD number: PCS-1UH3HL130691.

Successful Trial of Practice Facilitation for Plan, Do, Study, Act Quality Improvement.

BACKGROUND: Practice facilitation (PF) is a promising but relatively new intervention supporting data-driven practice change. There is a need to better detail research-based facilitation methods, which must balance intervention fidelity and time restrictions with the flexibility required for the intervention. As part of a multi-level 4-armed cluster randomized clinical trial (RCT), 32 rural primary care practices received PF for 1 year. We evaluated the feasibility of having facilitators guide practices to perform 4 key driver domain activities, implemented as Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles, to better understand facilitation "exposure." We describe the intervention and activity length such that our experiences may be useful to other PF research efforts. METHODS: Thirty-two practices serving rural patients involved in the Southeastern Collaboration to Improvement Blood Pressure Control engaged with a facilitator to develop and implement PDSAs nested within key drivers of change domains. Numbers of months practices worked on activities deemed most likely to be sustained were captured along with practice satisfaction data. RESULTS: All practices engaged in at least 4 domain-level activities, and 59% of the PDSAs were active for at least 3 months. There was variation by domain in the average length of the PDSA activities. Ninety-seven percent (31 of 32) of practices recommended similarly structured facilitation services to other primary care practices, and 84% (27 of 32) noted substantive changes in their care processes. CONCLUSION: In this trial, it was feasible for PFs to engage practices in at least 4 Key Driver quality improvement activities within 1 year, which will inform PF methods and protocol development in future trials.