Impact of alcohol use disorder on inpatient hospitalizations: A comparison of outcomes between urban and rural Veterans Affairs hospitals.

Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality that disproportionately affects rural residents and Veterans.

Objective: To evaluate the burden of AUD in admissions at rural and urban hospitals within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) comparing patient characteristics, clinical outcomes, and 1-, 3-, and 5-year mortality rates.

Methods: Retrospective cross-sectional study of patients admitted to VHA hospitals from 2016 to 2020, with a primary or secondary diagnosis related to AUD.

Home health utilization in the Veterans Health Administration: Are there rural and urban differences?

Purpose: Growing numbers of older adults need home health care, yhese services may be more difficult to access for rural Veterans, who represent one-third of Veterans Health Administration (VA) enrollees. Our objective was to examine whether home health use differs within VA based on rurality.

Methods: We examined national VA administrative data for 2019-2021 (January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2021) among Veterans ages ≥65 years.

Effect of Chronic Disease Home Telehealth Monitoring in the Veterans Health Administration on Healthcare Utilization and Mortality.

Background: The high prevalence of chronic diseases, including congestive heart failure (CHF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and diabetes mellitus (DM), accounts for a large burden of cost and poor health outcomes in US hospitals, and home telehealth (HT) monitoring has been proposed to improve outcomes.

Objective: To measure the association between HT initiation and 12-month inpatient hospitalizations, emergency department (ED) visits, and mortality in veterans with CHF, COPD, or DM.

Design: Comparative effectiveness matched cohort study.

Lifetime infertility and environmental, chemical, and hazardous exposures among female and male US veterans.

Background: Veterans experience many potentially hazardous exposures during their service, but little is known about the possible effect of these exposures on reproductive health.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the association between infertility and environmental, chemical, or hazardous material exposures among US veterans.

Study Design: This study examined self-reported cross-sectional data from a national sample of female and male US veterans aged 20 to 45 years separated from service for ≤10 years.

Implementing a Telehospitalist Program Between Veterans Health Administration Hospitals: Outcomes, Acceptance, and Barriers to Implementation.

Background: Telehospitalist services are an innovative alternative approach to address staffing issues in rural and small hospitals.

Objective: To determine clinical outcomes and staff and patient satisfaction with a novel telehospitalist program among Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospitals.

Design, Setting, And Participants: We conducted a mixed-methods evaluation of a quality improvement program with pre- and postimplementation measures.

Greater intraprocedural systolic blood pressure and blood pressure variability are associated with contrast-induced neurotoxicity after neurointerventional procedures.

Background: Contrast-induced neurotoxicity (CIN) is a rare complication of neurointerventional procedures and its understanding remains limited. We evaluated the association of CIN with systemic hemodynamics in patients undergoing neuroendovascular interventions.

Methods: We conducted a 1:2 matched case-control study from a prospectively collected database of 2510 neurointerventional patients.

Patterns of Care and Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Cerebral Sinus Venous Thrombosis.

Objectives: To explore the association between rurality, transfer patterns and level of care with clinical outcomes of CVST patients in a rural Midwestern state.

Materials And Methods: CVST patients admitted to the hospitals between 2005 and 2014 were identified by inpatient diagnosis codes from statewide administrative claims dataset. Records were linked across interhospital transfers using probabilistic linkage.

Association of admission clinical predictors and functional outcome in patients with Cerebral Venous and Dural Sinus Thrombosis.

Objectives: Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is a rare subtype of stroke that most commonly affects younger women. While most patients treated with anticoagulation therapy have good outcomes, a significant number go on to experience disability. The primary aim of this study was to identify objective, easily reproducible, clinical admission predictors of poor outcome at discharge in patients with CVST.

Second Generation Drug-Eluting Stents for Endovascular Treatment of Ostial Vertebral Artery Stenosis: A Single Center Experience.

To report a single-center experience using drug-eluting balloon mounted stents (DES) for endovascular treatment of atherosclerotic ostial vertebral artery stenosis (OVAS). Posterior circulation is affected in up to 25% of strokes, 20% of them resulting from atherosclerotic OVAS. The optimal management of symptomatic OVAS remains controversial.

Association between polypharmacy and death: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: Polypharmacy has been linked to a myriad of adverse consequences, and escalating rates of polypharmacy present an emerging concern, particularly among older adults. This systematic review and meta-analysis summarizes the existing literature concerning the association between polypharmacy and mortality.

Data Sources: A systematic literature review was done by searching the EMBASE, PubMed, Scopus, and International Pharmaceutical Abstract databases to identify studies assessing the association between polypharmacy and death published until June 2016.

Chronic Use of Aspirin and Total White Matter Lesion Volume: Results from the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between aspirin and subclinical cerebrovascular heath, we evaluated the effect of chronic aspirin use on white matter lesions (WML) volume among women.

Methods: Chronic aspirin use was assessed in 1365 women who participated in the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study of Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Differences in WML volumes between aspirin users and nonusers were assessed with linear mixed models.

Domperidone and Risk of Ventricular Arrhythmia and Cardiac Death: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background And Objective: Domperidone is a drug used globally for relieving nausea and vomiting and stimulating breast milk production. Several case reports and studies linked domperidone usage with major cardiovascular adverse events (cardiac arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death). However, multiple randomized controlled efficacy studies failed to detect such adverse events.