Incomplete Ascertainment of Mortality in a Nationally Representative Longitudinal Study of Community-Living Older Americans.

Background: In longitudinal studies of older persons, complete ascertainment of mortality is needed to minimize potential biases. To ascertain mortality in the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), investigators are advised to use its Sensitive files, which include month and year of death on most decedents who had not dropped out of the study. Because losses to follow-up are not insubstantial, ascertainment of mortality is likely incomplete.

Neighborhood Disadvantage in a Nationally Representative Sample of Community-Living Older US Adults.

Importance: Although neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage has become the standard for evaluating contextual socioeconomic deprivation at the Census-block level, little is known about its prevalence or association with long-term mortality in nationally representative samples of older persons.

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of neighborhood disadvantage among a nationally representative sample of community-living older adults; to identify how prevalence estimates differ based on relevant demographic, socioeconomic, geographic, clinical, and geriatric characteristics; and to evaluate the association between neighborhood disadvantage and all-cause mortality.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study analyzed linked data of community-living persons aged 65 years or older in the contiguous US participating in the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) from 2011 to 2021.

Population-based estimates of major forms of housing insecurity among community-living older Americans.

Objectives: The number of older adults struggling to maintain adequate housing is growing. Prior studies have used various criteria to measure housing insecurity; however, no standardized definition exists to date. Using a multidimensional approach, our study sought to calculate population-based estimates of various forms of housing insecurity among community-living older Americans and determine how these estimates differ across key characteristics.

Changes in neighborhood disadvantage over the course of 22 years among community-living older persons.

Background: Among older persons, neighborhood disadvantage is a granular and increasingly used social determinant of health and functional well-being. The frequency of transitions into or out of a disadvantaged neighborhood over time is not known. These transitions may occur when a person moves from one location to another or when the Neighborhood Atlas, the data source for the area deprivation index (ADI) that is used to identify disadvantaged neighborhoods at the census-block level, is updated.

Association Between Cognitive Trajectories and Subsequent Health Status, Depressive Symptoms, and Mortality Among Older Adults in the United States: Findings From a Nationally Representative Study.

Background: Cognitive decline may be an early indicator of major health issues in older adults, though research using population-based data is lacking. Researchers objective was to assess the relationships between distinct cognitive trajectories and subsequent health outcomes, including health status, depressive symptoms, and mortality, using a nationally representative cohort.

Methods: Data were drawn from the National Health and Aging Trends Study.

National Estimates of Short- and Longer-Term Hospital Readmissions After Major Surgery Among Community-Living Older Adults.

Importance: Nationally representative estimates of hospital readmissions within 30 and 180 days after major surgery, including both fee-for-service and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries, are lacking.

Objectives: To provide population-based estimates of hospital readmission within 30 and 180 days after major surgery in community-living older US residents and examine whether these estimates differ according to key demographic, surgical, and geriatric characteristics.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A prospective longitudinal cohort study of National Health and Aging Trends Study data (calendar years 2011-2018), linked to records from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Current use of the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program surgical risk calculator in academic surgery: a mixed-methods study.

Background: This study aims to quantitatively assess use of the NSQIP surgical risk calculator (NSRC) in contemporary surgical practice and to identify barriers to use and potential interventions that might increase use.

Materials And Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of surgeons at seven institutions. The primary outcomes were self-reported application of the calculator in general clinical practice and specific clinical scenarios as well as reported barriers to use.

A systematic review of cancer risk among users of smokeless tobacco (Swedish snus) exclusively, compared with no use of tobacco.

The main objective of this systematic review was to assess cancer risk, and mortality after cancer diagnosis, for exclusive users of Swedish snus, compared with non-users of tobacco. We followed international standards for systematic reviews and graded our confidence in the risk estimates using the GRADE approach. Our search gave 2450 articles, of which 67 were assessed in full text against our inclusion criteria.

Relationship Between Distressing Symptoms and Changes in Disability After Major Surgery Among Community-living Older Persons.

Objectives: To evaluate the relationship between distressing symptoms and changes in disability after major surgery and to determine whether this relationship differs according to the timing of surgery (nonelective vs elective), sex, multimorbidity, and socioeconomic disadvantage.

Background: Major surgery is a common and serious health event that has pronounced deleterious effects on both distressing symptoms and functional outcomes in older persons.

Methods: From a cohort of 754 community-living persons, aged 70 or older, 392 admissions for major surgery were identified from 283 participants who were discharged from the hospital.

Routine post-operative labs and healthcare system burden in acute appendicitis.

Background: Data from the National Health Expenditure Accounts have shown a steady increase in healthcare cost paralleled by availability of laboratory tests. Resource utilization is a top priority for reducing health care costs. We hypothesized that routine post-operative laboratory utilization unnecessarily increases costs and healthcare system burden in acute appendicitis (AA) management.

Hepatopancreatobiliary malignancies: time to treatment matters.

Background: Initiation of oncologic care is often delayed, yet little is known about delays in hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) cancers or their impact. This retrospective cohort study describes trends in time to treatment initiation (TTI), assesses the association between TTI and survival, and identifies predictors of TTI in HPB cancers.

Methods: The National Cancer Database was queried for patients with cancers of the pancreas, liver, and bile ducts between 2004 and 2017.

Alcohol withdrawal syndrome in trauma patients: a study using the Trauma Quality Program Participant User File.

Objective: To identify the rates and possible predictors of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) among adult trauma patients.

Methods: This is a retrospective review of all adult patients (18 years or older) included in the 2017 and 2018 American College of Surgeons Trauma Quality Program Participant User File (PUF). The main outcomes were rates and predictors of AWS.

Silver release from dentine treated with combinations of silver diamine fluoride, potassium iodide and etching.

For individuals with very high to extremely high caries activity and poor control of daily oral hygiene, a simple treatment for arresting their caries activity is necessary. Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) has become increasingly common for this purpose due to its efficacy and ease of application. To avoid or reduce tooth discoloration after SDF treatment potassium iodide (KI) may be applied.

Impact of nonmalignant ascites on outcomes of open inguinal hernia repair in the USA.

Purpose: Studies on inguinal hernia repair in patients with ascites are limited, small, and inconsistent, exacerbating a challenging clinical dilemma for surgeons. To fill this gap in the literature, this retrospective cohort study used a national US database to examine the impact of ascites on the outcomes of open inguinal herniorrhaphy.

Methods: Patients who underwent open inguinal herniorrhaphy between 2005 and 2019 were identified in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database.

Distressing symptoms after major surgery among community-living older persons.

Background: Relatively little is known about how distressing symptoms change among older persons in the setting of major surgery. Our objective was to evaluate changes in distressing symptoms after major surgery and determine whether these changes differ according to the timing of surgery (nonelective vs. elective), sex, multimorbidity, and socioeconomic disadvantage.

Use of Swedish smokeless tobacco during pregnancy: A systematic review of pregnancy and early life health risk.

Background And Aims: Smokeless tobacco is a heterogeneous product group with diverse composition and prevalence globally. Tobacco use during pregnancy is concerning due to the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes and effects on child health. Nicotine may mediate several of these effects.

Population-Based Estimates of 1-Year Mortality After Major Surgery Among Community-Living Older US Adults.

Importance: Despite their importance to guiding public health decision-making and policies and to establishing programs aimed at improving surgical care, contemporary nationally representative mortality data for geriatric surgery are lacking.

Objective: To calculate population-based estimates of mortality after major surgery in community-living older US adults and to determine how these estimates differ according to key demographic, surgical, and geriatric characteristics.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Prospective longitudinal cohort study with 1 year of follow-up in the continental US from 2011 to 2018.

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on community violence in Connecticut.

Introduction: Natural disasters may lead to increases in community violence due to broad social disruption, economic hardship, and large-scale morbidity and mortality. The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on community violence is unknown.

Methods: Using trauma registry data on all violence-related patient presentations in Connecticut from 2018 to 2021, we compared the pattern of violence-related trauma from pre-COVID and COVID pandemic using an interrupted time series linear regression model.

Factors Associated With Days Away From Home in the Year After Major Surgery Among Community-living Older Persons.

Objective: To identify the factors associated with days away from home in the year after hospital discharge for major surgery.

Background: Relatively little is known about which older persons are susceptible to spending a disproportionate amount of time in hospitals and other health care facilities after major surgery.

Methods: From a cohort of 754 community-living persons, aged 70+ years, 394 admissions for major surgery were identified from 289 participants who were discharged from the hospital.

Geriatric vulnerability and the burden of disability after major surgery.

Background: Strong epidemiologic evidence linking indicators of geriatric vulnerability to long-term functional outcomes after major surgery is lacking. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between geriatric vulnerability and the burden of disability after hospital discharge for major surgery.

Methods: From a prospective longitudinal study of 754 nondisabled community-living persons, aged 70 years or older, 327 admissions for major surgery were identified from 247 participants who were discharged from the hospital from March 1997 to December 2017.