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Interventions to reduce harms related to prescription opioids are needed in primary care settings.To determine whether a multicomponent intervention, Improving the safety of opioid therapy (ISOT), is efficacious in reducing prescription opioid harms.Clinician-level, cluster randomized clinical trial. ( ClinicalTrials.gov : NCT02791399) SETTING: Eight primary care clinics at 1 Veterans Affairs health care system.Thirty-five primary care clinicians and 286 patients who were prescribed long-term opioid therapy (LTOT).All clinicians participated in a 2-hour educational session on patient-centered care surrounding opioid adherence monitoring and were randomly assigned to education only or ISOT. ISOT is a multicomponent intervention that included a one-time consultation by an external clinician to the patient with monitoring and feedback to clinicians over 12 months.The primary outcomes were changes in risk for prescription opioid misuse (Current Opioid Misuse Measure) and urine drug test results. Secondary outcomes were quality of the clinician-patient relationship, other prescription opioid safety outcomes, changes in clinicians' opioid prescribing characteristics, and a non-inferiority analysis of changes in pain intensity and functioning.ISOT did not decrease risk for prescription opioid misuse (difference between groups = -1.12, p = 0.097), likelihood of an aberrant urine drug test result (difference between groups = -0.04, p=0.401), or measures of the clinician-patient relationship. Participants allocated to ISOT were more likely to discontinue prescription opioids (20.0% versus 8.1%, p = 0.007). ISOT did not worsen participant-reported scores of pain intensity or function.ISOT did not impact risk for prescription opioid misuse but did lead to increased likelihood of prescription opioid discontinuation. More intensive interventions may be needed to impact treatment outcomes.

Introduction Lung cancer screening (LCS) uptake is low. Assessing patients’ cigarette pack-years and years since quitting is challenging given the lack of documentation in structured electronic health record data. Materials and Methods We used a convenience sample of patients with a chest CT scan in the Veterans Health Administration. We abstracted data on cigarette use from electronic health record notes to determine LCS eligibility based on the 2021 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force age and cigarette use eligibility criteria. We used these data as the “ground truth” of LCS eligibility to compare them with structured data regarding tobacco use and a COPD diagnosis. We calculated sensitivity and specificity as well as fast-and-frugal decision trees. Results For 50-80–year-old veterans identified as former or current tobacco users, we obtained 94% sensitivity and 47% specificity. For 50-80–year-old veterans identified as current tobacco users, we obtained 59% sensitivity and 79% specificity. Our fast-and-frugal decision tree that included a COPD diagnosis had a sensitivity of 69% and a specificity of 60%. Conclusion These results can help health care systems make their LCS outreach efforts more efficient and give administrators and researchers a simple method to estimate their number of possibly eligible patients.

BACKGROUND During the early pandemic, there was substantial variation in public and government response to COVID-19 in Europe and the United States. Mass media are a vital source of health information and news, frequently disseminate this information through social media, and may influence public and policy response to the pandemic. OBJECTIVE The aims of this study were to describe the extent to which major media outlets in the USA and Spain tweeted about health-related behaviors relevant to COVID-19, compare the tweeting pattern between both countries’ media outlets, and determine user engagement in response to these tweets. METHODS We investigated tweets posted by 30 major media outlets (17 from Spain and 13 from the United States) between December 1st 2019 and May 31st 2020 that included keywords related to health-related behaviors (HRB) relevant to COVID-19. We classified tweets into six categories: 1) mask-wearing, 2) physical distancing, 3) handwashing, 4) quarantine/confinement, 5) disinfecting objects, or 6) multiple HRB (any combination of the prior HRB categories). In addition, we assessed likes and retweets generated by each tweet. Poisson regression analyses were performed to compare average predicted number of likes and retweets between the different HRB categories and to compare between both countries. RESULTS Of 2,351 COVID-19-related tweets included in the content analysis, 1,479 (62.91%) mentioned at least one HRB. The proportion of COVID-19 tweets mentioning at least one health-related behavior was significantly different between countries (p=0.006). Quarantine/confinement-was mentioned in nearly half of all HRB tweets in both countries. On the other hand, the least frequently mentioned HRB was disinfecting objects in Spain (6.9%) and hand washing in the USA (9.1%). For tweets from the USA mentioning at least one HRB, disinfecting objects had the highest median likes and retweets, whereas mask-wearing and hand-washing related tweets achieved the highest median number of likes from Spanish tweets. Tweets from Spain that mentioned social distancing or disinfecting objects had a significantly lower predicted count of likes compared to tweets mentioning a different HRB (p=0.02 and p=0.01, respectively). Tweets from the USA that mentioned quarantine/confinement or disinfecting objects had a significantly lower predicted number of likes compared to tweets mentioning a different HRB (p CONCLUSIONS The type of health-related behavior content and engagement with media outlet tweets containing this content varied between Spain and the USA early in the pandemic. However, content related to quarantine/confinement and engagement related to hand-washing was relatively high in both countries.

BACKGROUND SAVE (Signs; Ask; Validate; Encourage) is a brief gatekeeper training designed to teach lay individuals how to identify and assist military veterans at risk for suicide. SAVE can be delivered asynchronously using a web-based video format, but no studies of the effectiveness of SAVE exist. OBJECTIVE The aim of this project was to determine the feasibility and acceptability of recruitment and retention in a remote trial of SAVE. METHODS We conducted a social media campaign using sponsored Facebook posts (ads) to recruit veterans, including those outside the Veterans Affairs network of care, and their loved ones. Participants (N=214) were randomized to SAVE or a sham video training unrelated to suicide prevention and followed for 6 months. We also conducted qualitative interviews with a subgroup (n=15) and used a mixed methods framework to integrate findings. RESULTS At baseline, most participants were a family member or friend of a veteran (146/214, 68.2%), and 47.7% (102/214) knew at least one veteran or service member who had died by suicide. Across both study arms, 73.8% (158/214) responded to at least 3 of 6 follow-up surveys and 72.4% (155/214) completed follow-up at 6 months. Themes from interviews indicated the following three barriers to study participation: generic posts, copy (ad text) referring to “research,” and Facebook as a platform. There were 5 facilitators to participation: audience segmentation focused on veterans’ family members and friends, an urgent call to action to help a veteran, prior exposure to suicide, emphasizing the benefits of receiving training, and using a university as the campaign messenger. CONCLUSIONS A social media campaign was a feasible and acceptable approach to recruiting and retaining participants—especially the loved ones of veterans with prior exposure to suicide—for a fully remote trial of SAVE gatekeeper training. Several campaign strategies may be applied to further promote remote study participation in this population. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04565951; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04565951

Rationale: Because of improvements in screening, there is an increasing number of patients with early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are making treatment decisions.Objectives: Among patients with suspected stage I NSCLC, we evaluated longitudinal patient-centered outcomes (PCOs) and the association of changes in PCOs with treatment modality, stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) compared with surgical resection.Methods: We conducted a multisite, prospective, observational cohort study at seven medical institutions. We evaluated minimum clinically important differences of PCOs at four time points (during treatment, 4-6 wk after treatment, 6 mo after treatment, and 12 mo after treatment) compared with pretreatment values using validated instruments. We used adjusted linear mixed models to examine whether the association between treatment and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer global and physical quality-of-life (QOL) scales differed over time.Results: We included 127 individuals with stage I NSCLC (53 surgery, 74 SBRT). At 12 months, approximately 30% of patients remaining in each group demonstrated a clinical deterioration on global QOL from baseline. There was a significant difference in slopes between treatment groups on global QOL (-12.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], -13.34 to -12.37) and physical QOL (-28.71; 95% CI, -29.13 to -28.29) between baseline and during treatment, with the steeper decline observed among those who underwent surgery. Differences in slopes between treatment groups were not significant at all other time points.Conclusions: Approximately 30% of patients with stage I NSCLC have a clinically significant decrease in QOL 1 year after SBRT or surgical resection. Surgical resection was associated with steeper declines in QOL immediately after treatment compared with SBRT; however, these declines were not lasting and resolved within a year for most patients. Our results may facilitate treatment option discussions for patients receiving treatment for early-stage NSCLC.

Background Cannabis is increasingly available and used for medical and recreational purposes, but few studies have assessed provider knowledge, attitudes, and practice regarding cannabis. Methods We administered a 47-item electronic survey to assess nationwide Veterans Health Administration (VHA) clinician knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and practice regarding patients’ use of cannabis. Results We received 249 completed surveys from 39 states and the District of Columbia. Fifty-five percent of respondents were female, 74% were white, and the mean age was 50 years. There were knowledge gaps among a substantial minority of respondents in specific areas: terminology, psychoactive effects of cannabis components, VHA policy, and evidence regarding benefits and harms of cannabis. Most respondents were likely or very likely to plan to taper opioids if urine drug testing was positive for tetra-hydro cannabinol (THC; 73%). A significantly greater proportion of respondents from states in which cannabis is illegal for any purpose (odds ratio [OR] = 4.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.0–10.8) or is recreationally illegal (OR = 5.0, 95% CI = 2.4–10.8) reported being likely or very likely to taper opioids as compared with respondents from states in which cannabis is legal for medical and recreational purposes. Conclusions Among the sample, we found knowledge gaps, areas of discomfort discussing key aspects of cannabis use with their patients, and variation in practice regarding opioids in patients also using THC. These results suggest a need for more widespread clinician education about cannabis, as well as an opportunity to develop more robust guidance and evidence regarding management of patients using prescription opioids and cannabis concomitantly.

Abstract PURPOSE High-quality, comprehensive care of vulnerable populations requires interprofessional ambulatory care teams skilled in addressing complex social, medical, and psychological needs. Training health professionals in interprofessional settings is crucial for building a competent future workforce. The impacts on care utilization of adding continuity trainees to ambulatory teams serving vulnerable populations have not been described. We aim to understand how the addition of interprofessional trainees to an ambulatory clinic caring for Veterans experiencing homelessness impacts medical and mental health services utilization. METHODS Trainees from five professions were incorporated into an interprofessional ambulatory clinic for Veterans experiencing homelessness starting in July 2016. We performed clinic-level interrupted time series (ITS) analyses of pre- and post-intervention utilization measures among patients enrolled in this training continuity clinic, compared to three similar VA homeless clinics without training programs from October 2015 to September 2018. RESULTS Our sample consisted of 37,671 patient- months. There was no significant difference between the intervention and comparison groups’ post-intervention slopes for numbers of primary care visits (difference in slopes =−0.16 visits/100 patients/month; 95% CI −0.40, 0.08; p=0.19), emergency department visits (difference in slopes = 0.08 visits/100 patients/month; 95% CI −0.16, 0.32; p=0.50), mental health visits (difference in slopes = −1.37 visits/month; 95% CI −2.95, 0.20; p= 0.09), and psychiatric hospitalizations (−0.005 admissions/100 patients/month; 95% CI −0.02, 0.01; p= 0.62). We found a clinically insignificant change in medical hospitalizations. CONCLUSIONS Adding continuity trainees from five health professions to an interprofessional ambulatory clinic caring for Veterans experiencing homelessness did not adversely impact inpatient and outpatient care utilization. An organized team-based care approach is beneficial for vulnerable patients and provides a meaningful educational experience for interprofessional trainees by building health professionals’ capabilities to care for vulnerable populations.

Importance Head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors are about twice as likely to die by suicide compared with other cancer survivors. Objective To examine the associations between precancer mental health and pain and postcancer receipt of mental health, substance use disorder (SUD), or palliative care services with risk of suicidal self-directed violence (SSDV). Design, setting, and participants This retrospective cohort study used the Veterans Health Administration data of 7803 veterans with a diagnosis of HNC (stage I-IVB) who received cancer treatment between January 1, 2012, and January 1, 2018. Data were analyzed between May 2020 and July 2021. Exposures Presence of precancer chronic pain and SUD diagnoses, and postcancer SUD, mental health, or palliative care treatment. Exposures were defined using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision and International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision codes in Veterans Health Administration administrative data. Main outcomes and measures Documented SSDV event, including suicide attempt or death by suicide, after HNC diagnosis. Results Among the cohort of 7803 veterans (7685 [98.4%] male; mean [SD] age, 65 [10.7] years), 72 (0.9%) had at least 1 documented SSDV event following their cancer diagnosis, and 51 (0.7%) died by suicide. Four adjusted modified Poisson regression analyses identified that precancer chronic pain (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 2.58; 95% CI 1.54-4.32) or mood disorder diagnoses (IRR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.17-3.24) were associated with higher risk of postcancer SSDV. Those who had at least 1 documented mental health (IRR, 2.73; 95% CI, 1.24-6.03) or SUD (IRR, 3.92; 95% CI, 2.46-6.24) treatment encounter in the 90 days following HNC diagnosis were at higher risk for SSDV. A palliative care encounter within 90 days of postcancer diagnosis was associated with decreased risk of SSVD (IRR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.31-0.78). Conclusions and relevance In this cohort study, a high proportion of HNC survivors with an SSVD event died from their injuries. Identification of risk factors for SSDV among HNC survivors may help direct additional resources to those who are at high risk. Referral to palliative care appears to be an important component of supportive oncologic care to reduce the risk of SSDV.

Background Hikikomori is a form of severe social withdrawal that is particularly prevalent in Japan. Social media posts offer insight into public perceptions of mental health conditions and may also inform strategies to identify, engage, and support hard-to-reach patient populations such as individuals affected by hikikomori. Objective In this study, we seek to identify the types of content on Twitter related to hikikomori in the Japanese language and to assess Twitter users’ engagement with that content. Methods We conducted a mixed methods analysis of a random sample of 4940 Japanese tweets from February to August 2018 using a hashtag (#hikikomori). Qualitative content analysis included examination of the text of each tweet, development of a codebook, and categorization of tweets into relevant codes. For quantitative analysis (n=4859 tweets), we used bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models, adjusted for multiple comparisons, and estimated the predicted probabilities of tweets receiving engagement (likes or retweets). Results Our content analysis identified 9 codes relevant to tweets about hikikomori: personal anecdotes, social support, marketing, advice, stigma, educational opportunities, refuge (ibasho), employment opportunities, and medicine and science. Tweets about personal anecdotes were the most common (present in 2747/4859, 56.53% of the tweets), followed by social support (902/4859, 18.56%) and marketing (624/4859, 12.84%). In the adjusted models, tweets coded as stigma had a lower predicted probability of likes (−33 percentage points, 95% CI −42 to −23 percentage points; P Conclusions Japanese tweets about hikikomori reflect a unique array of topics, many of which have not been identified in prior research and vary in their likelihood of receiving engagement. Tweets often contain personal stories of hikikomori, suggesting the potential to identify individuals with hikikomori through Twitter.

PURPOSE: Our study explored whether aspects of veterans’ social connectedness (social support, interpersonal conflict, loneliness, social norms, number of confidants) are associated with change in their depression symptoms and health services utilization over 1 year. METHODS: We conducted a prospective, longitudinal study of 262 military veterans who obtained primary care and other services at a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facility and screened positive for depression. Participants completed surveys at baseline and 12-month follow-up. We measured social connectedness variables using the NIH Toolbox Adult Social Relationship Scales. We used the Patient Health Questionnaire to assess depression symptoms and suicidal ideation and administrative medical record data for health services utilization. We calculated change scores to model outcomes over time using multivariable regressions. RESULTS: We found that higher levels of baseline loneliness were associated with decreased depression severity over 1 year (B = − 1.55, 95% CI [− 2.53, − .56], p < .01). We found a similar association for suicidal ideation. In contrast, higher baseline number of confidants was associated with increased depression (B = .55, 95% CI [.18, .92], p < .01). Higher levels of emotional support were associated with decreased mental health visits (B = − 3.88, 95% CI [− 6.80, − .96], p < .01). No significant associations were found between social connectedness variables and primary care visits. CONCLUSIONS: Emotional support may play an important role in reducing mental health treatment utilization among VHA-using veterans. Additional investigation as to how and why loneliness and number of confidants might be paradoxically associated with depression symptoms remains necessary.

Background SAVE (Signs; Ask; Validate; Encourage) is a brief gatekeeper training designed to teach lay individuals how to identify and assist military veterans at risk for suicide. SAVE can be delivered asynchronously using a web-based video format, but no studies of the effectiveness of SAVE exist. Objective The aim of this project was to determine the feasibility and acceptability of recruitment and retention in a remote trial of SAVE. Methods We conducted a social media campaign using sponsored Facebook posts (ads) to recruit veterans, including those outside the Veterans Affairs network of care, and their loved ones. Participants (N=214) were randomized to SAVE or a sham video training unrelated to suicide prevention and followed for 6 months. We also conducted qualitative interviews with a subgroup (n=15) and used a mixed methods framework to integrate findings. Results At baseline, most participants were a family member or friend of a veteran (146/214, 68.2%), and 47.7% (102/214) knew at least one veteran or service member who had died by suicide. Across both study arms, 73.8% (158/214) responded to at least 3 of 6 follow-up surveys and 72.4% (155/214) completed follow-up at 6 months. Themes from interviews indicated the following three barriers to study participation: generic posts, copy (ad text) referring to “research,” and Facebook as a platform. There were 5 facilitators to participation: audience segmentation focused on veterans’ family members and friends, an urgent call to action to help a veteran, prior exposure to suicide, emphasizing the benefits of receiving training, and using a university as the campaign messenger. Conclusions A social media campaign was a feasible and acceptable approach to recruiting and retaining participants—especially the loved ones of veterans with prior exposure to suicide—for a fully remote trial of SAVE gatekeeper training. Several campaign strategies may be applied to further promote remote study participation in this population. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04565951; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04565951 Conflicts of Interest None declared.

Background The Veterans Health Administration's system for documenting self-directed violence (SDV) requires that clinicians make a determination of the suicidal intent of the behavior (ie, "undetermined" intent vs. "suicide attempt") which contributes to the enhanced care offered. Past studies suggest clinicians' judgment of suicide risk is impacted by patient demographics regardless of clinical presentation. As women are less likely to die by suicide than men, women's SDV may be taken less seriously; they may be more likely to have their SDV classified as "undetermined" than men, which may impact the care received. Objectives This study examines whether women veterans' SDV is disproportionately classified as "undetermined" suicidal intent versus "suicide attempt" as compared with men veterans, and how one's classification and gender modifies the care received. Research design This was an observational, retrospective study of data from Veterans Health Administration administrative databases. We included all veterans with documented nonfatal "undetermined" SDV events and "suicide attempts" between 2013 and 2018 (N=55,878). Objectives were evaluated using mixed-effects logistic regression models. Results Women veterans were disproportionately more likely than men veterans to have SDV classified as "undetermined" (odds ratio=1.17; 95% confidence interval, 1.08-1.27). Veterans who received an "undetermined" classification were significantly less likely to receive enhanced care. However, this relationship was not moderated by gender. Conclusions Gender may impact clinicians' determinations of intent of SDV, but more research is needed on the extent of classification biases and to understand causes. Further, classification of intent is critical, as there is a strong relationship between classification and enhanced care.

T50 is a novel serum-based marker that assesses the propensity of calcification in serum. Shorter T50 indicates greater propensity to calcify and it has been associated to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality among patients with kidney disease. In the general population, neither the correlates of T50 nor the relationships of T50 with bone mineral density (BMD) are known. We performed a nested cross-sectional study selecting 150 individuals at random among participants from the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Study, a study of community-living older men. We categorized individuals into tertiles of T50 and compared demographics and disease indicators across tertiles. We utilized linear regression to evaluate the cross-sectional association between T50 and hip and spine BMD in multivariable models. Older age was associated with shorter T50. Kidney function tended to be lower in those with shorter T50 and the prevalence of CVD and peripheral arterial disease in those with shorter T50, albeit these findings did not achieve statistical significance. We found no statistically significant associations between T50 and total hip or total spine BMD in either unadjusted or multivariable adjusted models. T50, a novel indicator of serum calcification propensity, is not associated with BMD in community-living older men. Future larger studies should determine if T50 may give insights to CVD in the general population above and beyond traditional risk factors.

The relationship of the gastrointestinal microbiome to health and disease is of major research interest, including the effects of the gut microbiota on age related conditions. Here we report on the outcome of a project to collect stool samples on a large number of community dwelling elderly men using the OMNIgene-GUT stool/feces collection kit (OMR-200, DNA Genotek, Ottawa, Canada). Among 1328 men who were eligible for stool collection, 982 (74%) agreed to participate and 951 submitted samples. The collection process was reported to be acceptable, almost all samples obtained were adequate, the process of sample handling by mail was uniformly successful. The DNA obtained provided excellent results in microbiome analyses, yielding an abundance of species and a diversity of taxa as would be predicted. Our results suggest that population studies of older participants involving remote stool sample collection are feasible. These approaches would allow large scale research projects of the association of the gut microbiota with important clinical outcomes. Keywords: Microbiome, Aging, Men, Gastrointestinal, Genotyping, Stool

Extreme phosphate levels (P) have been associated with mineralization defects and increased fracture risk. Whether P within normal range is related to bone health in the general population is not well understood. To investigate the association of P with bone mineral density (BMD) and fracture risk, we assessed two population-based cohorts: the Dutch Rotterdam Study (RS-I, RS-II, RS-III; n = 6791) and the US Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS; n = 5425) study. The relationship of P with lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN) BMD was tested in all cohorts via linear models; fracture risk was tested in RS-I, RS-II, and MrOS through Cox models, after follow-up of 8.6, 6.6, and 10.9 years, respectively. Adjustments were made for age, body mass index, smoking, serum levels of calcium, potassium, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), FN-BMD, prevalent diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Additional adjustments were made for phosphate intake, parathyroid hormone, and fibroblast growth factor 23 levels in MrOS. We further stratified by eGFR. Results were pooled through study-level meta-analyses. Hazard ratios (HR) and betas (β) (from meta-analyses) are expressed per 1 mg/dL P increase. P was positively associated with fracture risk in men and women from RS, and findings were replicated in MrOS (pooled HR all [95% CI]: 1.47 [1.31-1.65]). P was associated with fracture risk in subjects without chronic kidney disease (CKD): all (1.44 [1.26-1.63]) and in men with CKD (1.93 [1.42-2.62]). P was inversely related to LS-BMD in men (β: -0.06 [-0.11 to -0.02]) and not to FN-BMD in either sex. In summary, serum P was positively related to fracture risk independently from BMD and phosphate intake after adjustments for potential confounders. P and LS-BMD were negatively related in men. Our findings suggest that increased P levels even within normal range might be deleterious for bone health in the normal population. © 2017 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

We compared smoking status from Veterans Health Administration (VHA) structured data with text in electronic health record (EHR) to assess validity. We manually abstracted the smoking status of 5,610 VHA patients. Only those with a smoking status found in both EHR text data and VHA structured data were included (n=5,289). We calculated agreement and kappa statistics to compare structured data vs. manually abstracted EHR text smoking status. We found a kappa statistic of 0.70 and total agreement of 81.1% between EHR text data and structured data for Current, Former, and Never smoking categories. Comparing EHR text data and structured data between Never and Ever smokers revealed a kappa statistic of 0.62 and total agreement of 89.1%. For comparison between Current and Never/Former smokers, the kappa statistic was 0.80 and total agreement was 90.2%. We found substantial and significant agreement between smoking status in EHR text data and structured data that may aid in future research.

Key Points Question Is the implementation of an interprofessional education initiative in US Department of Veterans Affairs primary care clinics associated with changes in quality of care? Findings In this study using difference-in-differences analysis of Department of Veterans Affairs electronic health record data, patients cared for by resident clinicians who participated in a large, multisite, interprofessional education quality improvement initiative had modestly improved quality of care compared with patients cared for by resident clinicians at similar, nonparticipating Department of Veterans Affairs teaching clinics. Meaning In this study, interprofessional education in primary care was associated with improvements in quality of care., This study estimates the association of a multisite interprofessional education initiative in the US Department of Veterans Affairs primary care clinics with quality of care., Importance Studies have shown that interprofessional education (IPE) improves learner proficiencies, but few have measured the association of IPE with patient outcomes, such as clinical quality. Objective To estimate the association of a multisite IPE initiative with quality of care. Design, Setting, and Participants This study used difference-in-differences analysis of US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) electronic health record data from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2015. Patients cared for by resident clinicians in 5 VA academic primary care clinics that participated in the Centers of Excellence in Primary Care Education (CoEPCE), an initiative designed to promote IPE among physician, nurse practitioner, pharmacist, and psychologist trainees, were compared with patients cared for by resident clinicians in 5 regionally matched non-CoEPCE clinics using data for the 3 academic years (ie, July 1 to June 30) before and 4 academic years after the CoEPCE launch. Analysis was conducted from January 18, 2018, to January 17, 2019. Main Outcomes and Measures Among patients with diabetes, outcomes included annual hemoglobin A1c, poor hemoglobin A1c control (ie

This assessment of common primary care measures from 10 Veterans Affairs clinics from 2014 compares outcomes in patients of resident physicians with patients of attending physicians.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate fall rates across body mass index (BMI) categories by age group, considering physical performance and comorbidities. Method: In the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) study, 5,834 men aged ≥65 reported falls every 4 months over 4.8 (±0.8) years. Adjusted associations between BMI and an incident fall were tested using mixed-effects models. Results: The fall rate (0.66/man-year overall, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.65, 0.67]) was lowest in the youngest, normal weight men (0.44/man-year, 95% CI = [0.41, 0.47]) and greatest in the oldest, highest BMI men (1.47 falls/man-year, 95% CI = [1.22, 1.76]). Obesity was associated with a 24% to 92% increased fall risk in men below 80 ( ptrend ≤ .0001, p for interaction by age = .03). Only adjustment for dynamic balance test altered the BMI–falls association substantially. Discussion: Obesity was independently associated with higher fall rates in men 65 to 80 years old. Narrow walk time, a measure of gait stability, may mediate the association.

There are adverse effects associated with long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) for chronic pain and clinicians infrequently adhere to opioid treatment guideline recommendations for reducing risk and mitigating opioid-related harms. The primary goal of the Improving the Safety of Opioid Therapy (ISOT) intervention is to reduce harms related to prescription opioids. Secondary aims focus on enhancing the clinician-patient relationship and not having a negative impact on pain-related outcomes (to be examined through a non-inferiority analysis). The study is a cluster-randomized trial and the 44 primary care providers (PCPs) who enrolled were randomized to receive either (1) a two-hour educational workshop about a patient-centered approach to opioid therapy or (2) the educational workshop plus a collaborative care intervention delivered by a nurse care manager (NCM). Patients were assigned to the same condition as their treating PCP. ISOT was based on the chronic care model and includes patient and provider activation, outcomes monitoring, and feedback to the PCP over 12 months. The NCM conducted a baseline assessment with intervention patients, tracked opioid-related behaviors and outcomes, and provided decision support to the opioid-prescribing clinician about opioid safety. Between June 2016 and October 2018, 293 veterans who were prescribed LTOT for chronic pain were enrolled, completed a baseline assessment, and assigned to a treatment condition. Participants were enrolled for 12 months. Masked assessments were conducted with participants at baseline, 6-months, and 12-months. This manuscript describes study rationale, research methods, and baseline findings.

Objective This study evaluates whether a web-based educational program for patients who read their mental health notes online improves patient-clinician communication and increases patient activation. Methods The web-based educational program, developed with end-user input, was designed to educate patients on the content of mental health notes, provide guidance on communicating with clinicians about notes, and facilitate patients’ safe and purposeful use of their health information. Eligible patients were engaged in mental health treatment (≥1 visit in the prior 6 months) and had logged into the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patient portal at least twice. Participants completed measures of patient activation, perceived efficacy in healthcare interactions, patient trust in their clinicians, and patient assessment of the therapeutic relationship before and after participating in the program. A total of 247 participants had complete data and engaged with the program for 5 minutes or more, comprising the analytic sample. Multivariate analysis using mixed effects models were used to examine pre-post changes in outcomes. Results In bivariate analyses, patient activation, perceived efficacy in healthcare interactions, and trust in clinicians increased significantly between pre- and post-training assessments. In fully adjusted models, changes in patient activation [b = 2.71 (1.41, 4.00), P Conclusions Findings suggest that this educational program may help empower mental health patients who read their notes online to be active participants in their care, while also providing information and tools that may facilitate better relationships with their clinicians.

Objective: Higher body–mass index (BMI) and lower birth weight (BW) are associated with elevated risk of diabetes in adulthood, but the extent to which they compose two distinct pathways is unclear. Methods: We used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a cohort of adolescents (1994–1995) followed for 14 years over four waves into adulthood (n = 13,413). Sex-stratified path analysis was used to examine pathways from BW [kg; linear (BW) and quadratic (BW(2))] to latent trajectories in BMI from adolescence to adulthood to prevalent diabetes or prediabetes (pre/diabetes) in adulthood, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics. Results: Two pathways from BW to pre/diabetes were characterized: one from higher BW to elevated BMI and pre/diabetes and a second from lower BW, independent of BMI. In the BMI-independent pathway, greater BW was associated with marginally lower odds of pre/diabetes in women, but not men. Girls born at lower and higher BW exhibited elevated BMI in adolescence [coeff (95% CI): BW: −2.1 (−4.1, −0.05); BW(2): 0.43 (0.09, 0.76)]; higher BW predicted marginally faster BMI gain and higher adolescent BMI and faster BMI gain were associated with pre/diabetes [coeff (95% CI): BMI intercept: 0.09 (0.06, 0.11); BMI slope: 0.11 (0.07, 0.15)]. In boys, BW was weakly associated with BMI intercept and slope; BMI slope, but not BMI intercept, was positively associated with pre/diabetes [coeff (95% CI): 0.29 (0.19, 0.39)]. Conclusions: Findings suggest that in girls, slowing BMI gain is critical for diabetes prevention, yet it may not address distinct pathology stemming from early life.

Recent evidence suggests that adverse prenatal development alters physiological response to physical activity, but longitudinal epidemiologic evidence is scant. This study tested the hypothesis that lower physical activity during adolescence and young adulthood is more strongly associated with later cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and diabetes or prediabetes (DM/PDM) in women and men who were born with high or low birth weight (HBW, LBW), compared to normal birth weight (NBW). We analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a cohort study of US adolescents followed into adulthood (1994–2009). Using sex-stratified multivariable regression, 30-year CVD risk score (calculated using objective measures; n=12,775) and prevalent DM/PDM (n=15,138) at 24–32 years of age were each modeled as a function of birth weight category, self-reported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity frequency in adolescence (MVPA1) and young adulthood (MVPA3), and MVPA-birth weight interactions. Greater MVPA1 was associated with lower 30-year CVD risk score and DM/PDM risk in HBW women but not NBW or LBW women. Associations between MVPA1 and 30-year CVD risk or DM/PDM were not modified by HBW in men; or by LBW in women or men. Additionally, birth weight did not modify estimated effects of MVPA3. Findings suggest that frequent MVPA in adolescence may be a particularly important cardiometabolic risk reduction strategy in girls born HBW; however, we found no evidence that birth weight and MVPA interact in cardiometabolic disease risk in men, for MVPA in adulthood, or for LBW.

Cannabis use is rising in the USA. Its relationship to cannabinoid signaling in bone cells implies its use could affect bone mineral density (BMD) in the population. In a national survey of people ages 20–59, we found no association between self-reported cannabis use and BMD of the hip or spine. Cannabis is the most widely used illegal drug in the USA, and its recreational use has recently been approved in several US states. Cannabinoids play a role in bone homeostasis. We aimed to determine the association between cannabis use and BMD in US adults. In the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007–2010, 4743 participants between 20 and 59 years old, history of cannabis use was categorized into never, former (previous use, but not in last 30 days), light (1–4 days of use in last 30 days), and heavy (≥5 days of use in last 30 days). Multivariable linear regression was used to test the association between cannabis use and DXA BMD of the proximal femur and lumbar spine with adjustment for age, sex, BMI, and race/ethnicity among other BMD determinants. Sixty percent of the population reported ever using cannabis; 47% were former users, 5% were light users, and 7% were heavy users. Heavy cannabis users were more likely to be male, have a lower BMI, increased daily alcohol intake, increased tobacco pack-years, and were more likely to have used other illegal drugs (cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamines). No association between cannabis and BMD was observed for any level of use (p ≥ 0.28). A history of cannabis use, although highly prevalent and related to other risk factors for low BMD, was not independently associated with BMD in this cross-sectional study of American men and women.

Purpose Rapid growth during infancy predicts higher risk of obesity later in childhood. The association between patterns of early life growth and later obesity may differ by race/ethnicity or socioeconomic status (SES), but prior evidence syntheses do not consider vulnerable subpopulations. Methods We systemically reviewed published studies that explored patterns of early life growth (0–24 months of age) as predictors of later obesity (>24 months) that were either conducted in racial/ethnic minority or low-SES study populations or assessed effect modification of this association by race/ethnicity or SES. Literature searches were conducted in PubMed and SocINDEX. Results Ten studies met the inclusion criteria. Faster growth during the first 2 years of life was consistently associated with later obesity irrespective of definition and timing of exposure and outcome measures. Associations were strongest in populations composed of greater proportions of racial/ethnic minority and/or low-SES children. For example, ORs ranged from 1.17 (95% CI: 1.11, 1.24) in a heterogeneous population to 9.24 (95% CI: 3.73, 22.9) in an entirely low-SES nonwhite population. Conclusions The impact of rapid growth in infancy on later obesity may differ by social stratification factors such as race/ethnicity and family income. More robust and inclusive studies examining these associations are needed.