Real-world ePRO use and clinical outcomes using electronic patient-reported symptom monitoring for patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer receiving first-line pembrolizumab.

This ambispective observational study assessed the impact of Noona, an electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePRO) platform, for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated in a community oncology setting. Adults with advanced NSCLC, ECOG performance status of 0-2, who received first-line (1L) pembrolizumab (monotherapy or with chemotherapy) were eligible. Those initiating pembrolizumab from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2019, identified retrospectively (historical cohort), were compared with those initiating pembrolizumab from 1 October 2019 to 30 September 2021 who were prospectively offered Noona (standard of care [SoC] cohort).

Pregnancies in Women With Kidney Failure on Home Dialysis in the United States.

Introduction: Women with kidney failure have impaired fertility and are at a higher risk of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Little is known about pregnancies in women receiving maintenance home dialysis in the United States.

Methods: Using data from the United States Renal Data System (USRDS), a cohort of 26,387 women aged 15 to 49 years with kidney failure receiving maintenance home dialysis from 2005 to 2018 was examined.

A clinical score to predict recovery in end-stage kidney disease due to acute kidney injury.

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a major contributor to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). About one-third of patients with ESKD due to AKI recover kidney function. However, the inability to accurately predict recovery leads to improper triage of clinical monitoring and impacts the quality of care in ESKD.

Sex Differences in Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients With Kidney Failure.

Background: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in patients with kidney failure, and their risk of cardiovascular events is 10 to 20 times higher as compared with the general population.

Methods And Results: We evaluated 508 822 patients who initiated dialysis between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2014 using the United States Renal Data System with linked Medicare claims. We determined hospitalization rates for cardiovascular events, defined by acute coronary syndrome, heart failure, and stroke.

Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients on Home Hemodialysis and Peritoneal Dialysis.

Key Points: Home hemodialysis is associated with decreased risk of stroke and acute coronary syndrome relative to peritoneal dialysis. Home hemodialysis is associated with decreased risk of cardiovascular death and all-cause death relative to peritoneal dialysis.

Background: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with ESKD.

Prediction of angiographic coronary disease and mortality with a cadmium-zinc-telluride camera: a comparison of upright and supine ejection fractions and left ventricular volumes.

Introduction: Perfusion imaging strongly predicts coronary artery disease (CAD), whereas cardiac volumes and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) strongly predict mortality. Compared to conventional Anger single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) cameras, cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) cameras provide higher resolution, resulting in different left ventricular volumes. The cadmium-zinc-telluride D-SPECT camera is commonly used to image in the upright position, which introduces changes in left ventricular loading conditions and potentially alters left ventricular volumes.

Sex and Racial/Ethnic Differences in Home Hemodialysis Mortality.

Key Points: Women on home hemodialysis have higher 1-year mortality than men, and women and men have comparable survival on long-term follow-up. Compared with White patients on home hemodialysis, there was no difference in all-cause mortality for Black patients, Hispanics, or Native Americans. Among patients undergoing home hemodialysis, Asians had a lower risk of all-cause mortality than White patients.

Contraceptive use among women with kidney transplants in the United States.

Background: Kidney transplant improves reproductive function in women with end-stage kidney disease. Little is known about contraceptive use in women with history of kidney transplants.

Methods: Using data from the United States Renal Data System, we evaluated for each calendar year women with kidney transplantation between 1/1/2005 and 12/31/2013 who were aged 15-44 years with Medicare as the primary payer and linked data from the United Network for Organ Sharing, for up to three entire years after the date of transplantation.

Work-Related Risk Factors for Rotator Cuff Syndrome in a Prospective Study of Manufacturing and Healthcare Workers.

Objective: This prospective study assessed the risk of developing rotator cuff syndrome (RCS) with separate or specific combinations of biomechanical exposures measures, controlling for individual confounders.

Background: Compared with other musculoskeletal disorders, rates of work-related shoulder musculoskeletal disorders have been declining more slowly.

Method: We conducted up to 2 years of individual, annual assessments of covariates, exposures, and health outcomes for 393 U.

Contraceptive Use Among Women With End-Stage Kidney Disease on Dialysis in the United States.

Rationale & Objective: Although end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) adversely affects fertility, pregnancies can occur among women receiving dialysis. ESKD increases the risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes and little is known about contraceptive use in women undergoing dialysis.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Mortality and Recovery Associated with Kidney Failure due to Acute Kidney Injury.

Background And Objectives: AKI requiring dialysis is a contributor to the growing burden of kidney failure, yet little is known about the frequency and patterns of recovery of AKI and its effect on outcomes in patients on incident dialysis.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: Using the US Renal Data System, we evaluated a cohort of 1,045,540 patients on incident dialysis from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2014, retrospectively. We examined the association of kidney failure due to AKI with the outcome of all-cause mortality and the associations of sex and race with kidney recovery.

Pregnancy-Related Acute Kidney Injury in the United States: Clinical Outcomes and Health Care Utilization.

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) during pregnancy is a public health problem and is associated with maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Clinical outcomes and health care utilization in pregnancy-related AKI, especially in women with diabetes, are not well studied.

Methods: Using data from the 2006 to 2015 Nationwide Inpatient Sample, we identified 42,190,790 pregnancy-related hospitalizations in women aged 15-49 years.

Association of Prescription Opioid Exposure and Patient Factors With Prolonged Postoperative Opioid Use in Opioid-Naïve Patients.

The purpose of this research study was to identify factors associated with prolonged postoperative opioid use in opioid-naïve patients in 2 domains: specific patient characteristics and exposure through postoperative opioid prescriptions. A retrospective analysis was conducted of electronic medical records of opioid-naïve adult orthopedic surgical patients at a large academic medical center from January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2017. In this cohort, 4% continued to refill opioid prescriptions more than 90 days after their surgical procedure.

Racial Differences and Factors Associated with Pregnancy in ESKD Patients on Dialysis in the United States.

Background: Pregnancy in women with ESKD undergoing dialysis is uncommon due to impaired fertility. Data on pregnancy in women on dialysis in the United States is scarce.

Methods: We evaluated a retrospective cohort of 47,555 women aged 15-44 years on dialysis between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2013 using data from the United States Renal Data System with Medicare as primary payer.

Racial disparities and factors associated with pregnancy in kidney transplant recipients in the United States.

Background: Although kidney transplant improves reproductive function in women with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD), pregnancy in kidney transplant recipients' remains challenging due to the risk of adverse maternal and fetal outcomes.

Methods: We evaluated a retrospective cohort of 7,966 women who were aged 15-45 years and received a kidney transplant between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2011 from the United States Renal Data System with Medicare as the primary payer for the entire three years after the date of transplantation. Unadjusted and adjusted rates of pregnancy in the first three post-transplant years were calculated, using Poisson regression for the adjustment.

Assessment of spray polyurethane foam worker exposure to organophosphate flame retardants through measures in air, hand wipes, and urine.

Tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCPP, also referenced as TCIPP), a flame retardant used in spray polyurethane foam insulation, increases cell toxicity and affects fetal development. Spray polyurethane foam workers have the potential to be exposed to TCPP during application. In this study, we determined exposure to TCPP and concentrations of the urinary biomarker bis(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (BCPP) among 29 spray polyurethane foam workers over 2 work days.

Temporal Trends in Incident Mortality in Dialysis Patients: Focus on Sex and Racial Disparities.

Background: Racial minorities and women constitute substantial portions of the incident and prevalent end-stage renal disease (ESRD) population in the United States. Although ESRD is characterized by high mortality, temporal trends, and race and sex differences in mortality have not been studied.

Methods: We evaluated 944,650 adult patients who initiated dialysis between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2014, using the United States Renal Data System, for sex-related and race-related trends in mortality.

Pre-dialysis acute care hospitalizations and clinical outcomes in dialysis patients.

Background: Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), a precursor of end stage renal disease (ESRD), face an increasing burden of hospitalizations. Although mortality on dialysis is highest during the first year, the impact of pre-dialysis acute hospitalizations on clinical outcomes in dialysis patients remains unknown.

Methods: We evaluated 170,897 adult patients who initiated dialysis between 1/1/2010 and 12/31/2014 with linked Medicare claims from the United States Renal Data System.

Gender and Racial Disparities in Initial Hemodialysis Access and Outcomes in Incident End-Stage Renal Disease Patients.

Background: Arteriovenous (AV) access confers survival benefits over central venous catheters (CVC) in hemodialysis patients. Although chronic kidney disease disproportionately affects women and racial minorities, disparities in the -utilization of hemodialysis access across Asians, Native Americans, Hispanics, blacks, and whites among males and females after accounting for pre-dialysis health are not well studied.

Methods: We evaluated 885,699 patients with end-stage renal disease who initiated hemodialysis between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2014 using the US Renal Data System.

An Evaluation of the Relationship among Urine, Air, and Hand Measures of Exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA) in US Manufacturing Workers.

Background: Exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) can be assessed using external and internal exposure measures. We examined the relationship between two measures of external BPA exposure (air and hand-wipe samples) and one of internal exposure (total BPA in urine) for a group of US manufacturing workers.

Methods: During 2013-2014, we recruited 78 workers from six US companies that made BPA or made products with BPA.

Melanoma, thyroid cancer, and gynecologic cancers in a cohort of female flight attendants.

Background: Flight attendants may have an increased risk of some cancers from occupational exposure to cosmic radiation and circadian disruption.

Methods: The incidence of thyroid, ovarian, and uterine cancer among ∼6000 female flight attendants compared to the US population was evaluated via life table analyses. Associations of these cancers, melanoma, and cervical cancer with cumulative cosmic radiation dose and metrics of circadian disruption were evaluated using Cox regression.

Air, hand wipe, and surface wipe sampling for Bisphenol A (BPA) among workers in industries that manufacture and use BPA in the United States.

For decades, bisphenol A (BPA) has been used in making polycarbonate, epoxy, and phenolic resins and certain investment casting waxes, yet published exposure data are lacking for U.S. manufacturing workers.

Urinary Bisphenol A (BPA) Concentrations among Workers in Industries that Manufacture and Use BPA in the USA.

Background: Bisphenol A (BPA) toxicity and exposure risk to humans has been the subject of considerable scientific debate; however, published occupational exposure data for BPA are limited.

Methods: In 2013-2014, 77 workers at six US companies making BPA, BPA-based resins, or BPA-filled wax provided seven urine samples over two consecutive work days (151 worker-days, 525 samples). Participant information included industry, job, tasks, personal protective equipment used, hygiene behaviors, and canned food/beverage consumption.

Degree of Acute Kidney Injury before Dialysis Initiation and Hospital Mortality in Critically Ill Patients.

In a multicenter observational cohort of patients-admitted to intensive care units (ICU), we assessed whether creatinine elevation prior to dialysis initiation in acute kidney injury (AKI-D) further discriminates risk-adjusted mortality. AKI-D was categorized into four groups (Grp) based on creatinine elevation after ICU admission but before dialysis initiation: Grp I  > 0.3 mg/dL to <2-fold increase, Grp II ≥2 times but <3 times increase, Grp III ≥3-fold increase in creatinine, and Grp IV none or <0.