Development and Pilot Analysis of the Nursing Home Health Information Technology Maturity Survey and Staging Model.

The current research includes a psychometric test of a nursing home (NH) health information technology (HIT) maturity survey and staging model. NHs were assembled based on HIT survey scores from a prior study representing NHs with low (20%), medium (60%), and high (20%) HIT scores. Inclusion criteria were NHs that completed at least two annual surveys over 4 years.

Examining Nursing Home Information Technology Maturity and Antibiotic Use Among Long-Term Care Residents.

Objectives: Up to 15% of the 1.4 million US nursing home (NH) residents receive antibiotics daily. Antibiotic use in NHs is often inappropriate, contributing to quality and safety concerns as well as antibiotic resistance.

Protocol for targeting insomnia in school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability: a randomised control trial.

Introduction: Insomnia affects up to 80% of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Negative consequences of insomnia in ASD include decreased quality of life (QOL), impaired learning and cognition, increased stereotypic and challenging behaviours, and increased parental stress. Cognitive behavioural treatment for childhood insomnia (CBT-CI) is a promising treatment for dealing with insomnia and its negative consequences but has not yet been studied in school-aged children with ASD and comorbid insomnia.

Usability Evaluation of a Smartphone Medication Reminder Application in Patients Treated With Short-term Antibiotic.

Medication adherence is poor in persons with chronic disease, especially in those with multiple chronic diseases, one of which is a psychological disorder. Social support, medication education, and external reminders have been identified as facilitators of adherence. Mobile health applications have the potential to enhance adherence; however, it is unknown if publicly available applications are user-friendly and useful.

Sleep and alcohol use among young adult drinkers with Insomnia: A daily process model.

Background: Previous studies examining associations between sleep and alcohol use have done so primarily at the aggregate (between-person) level and primarily among healthy young adults. This study aimed to examine reciprocal, within-person associations between sleep and alcohol use among young adult drinkers with insomnia.

Methods: Young adults who engaged in past-month binge drinking and met diagnostic criteria for insomnia (N = 56) wore wrist actigraphy and completed online daily diaries assessing sleep and drinking for an average of 8.

Daily associations between sleep and opioid use among adults with comorbid symptoms of insomnia and fibromyalgia.

Study Objectives: Disturbed sleep and use of opioid pain medication are common among individuals with chronic pain. Anecdotally, opioids are thought to promote sleep by relieving pain. This study aimed to determine whether opioid use is associated with daily sleep parameters (and vice versa) in adults with comorbid symptoms of insomnia and fibromyalgia.

An evaluation of telehealth expansion in U.S. nursing homes.

Objective: This research brief contains results from a national survey about telehealth use reported in a random sample of U.S. nursing homes.

Foot Care Self-Management in Non-Diabetic Older Adults: A Pilot Controlled Trial.

Self-management can mitigate common foot problems; however, community-dwelling older adults without diabetes rarely receive foot care self-management training. This two-group pilot study examined feasibility and preliminary efficacy of the novel, nurse-led 2 Feet 4 Life intervention. Twenty-nine adults ( age 76 years ± 6.

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia among young adults who are actively drinking: a randomized pilot trial.

Study Objectives: More than half of young adults at risk for alcohol-related harm report symptoms of insomnia. Insomnia symptoms, in turn, have been associated with alcohol-related problems. Yet one of the first-line treatments for insomnia (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia or CBT-I) has not been tested among individuals who are actively drinking.

Telehealth cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia in children with autism spectrum disorder: A pilot examining feasibility, satisfaction, and preliminary findings.

Insomnia is common in children with autism. Cognitive behavioral treatment for childhood insomnia (CBT-CI) may improve sleep and functioning in children with autism and their parents, but typical delivery involving multiple office visits can make it difficult for some children to get this treatment. This pilot study tested telehealth delivery of CBT-CI using computers, which allowed children and their parents to get the treatment at home.

F-FDG PET/CT total lesion glycolysis is associated with circulating tumor cell counts in patients with stage I to IIIA non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: In non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (F-FDG) uptake determined by PET and presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the peripheral blood independently predict outcomes. For F-FDG PET/CT staging interpretation, standardized uptake values (SUV) are routinely used in clinical reporting. The goal was to investigate whether F-FDG uptake measured by SUV, but also measures of metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) (MTV × SUV), are associated with CTCs.

Using Sensor Signals in the Early Detection of Heart Failure: A Case Study.

Early detection of heart failure in older adults will be a significant issue for the foreseeable future. The current article presents a case study to describe how monitoring ballistocardiogram (BCG) waveforms captured non-invasively using sensors placed under a bed mattress can detect early heart failure changes. Heart and respiratory rates obtained from the bed sensor of a female older adult who was hospitalized with acute mixed congestive heart failure, clinic notes, and data from computer simulations reflecting increasing diastolic dysfunction were analyzed.

Circulating Giant Tumor-Macrophage Fusion Cells Are Independent Prognosticators in Patients With NSCLC.

Introduction: Various subtypes of circulating cancer-associated cells in the blood are described. A unique circulating, large, and polymorphonuclear cell with a dual epithelial and myeloid phenotype has been suggested as a tumor-macrophage fusion cell (TMF). The goal of the study was to identify the impact of distinct TMFs on survival among patients with NSCLC.

Excluding Pulmonary Embolism with End-tidal Carbon Dioxide: Accuracy, Cost, and Harm Avoidance.

A non-randomized single center prospective, descriptive, correlational design was used to determine what end-tidal carbon dioxide (EtCO) level provided the best sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive value to exclude pulmonary embolism (PE) diagnosis in hemodynamically stable hospitalized adults ( = 111). The financial impact and harm avoidance of adding EtCO to the PE diagnostic process also were examined. PE diagnosis was determined by computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA).

Health Data Sharing in US Nursing Homes: A Mixed Methods Study.

Objectives: (1) To understand the extent to which nursing homes have the capability for data sharing and (2) to explore nursing home leaders' perceptions of data sharing with other health care facilities and with residents and family members.

Design: Exploratory, mixed-methods.

Setting And Participants: We conducted a secondary analysis of data from a national survey of nursing home administrative leaders (n = 815) representing every state in the United States.

Exploring Resident Care Information Technology Use and Nursing Home Quality.

A wide array of sophisticated information technology (IT) systems are being used in nursing home (NH) resident care to improve quality. The purpose of the current study was to explore differences in NH IT sophistication, a comprehensive measure of adoption, used in resident care processes based on facility characteristics over 4 consecutive years and to examine the impact on select long-stay NH quality measures. Results indicate IT systems used in resident care are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Body mass index trends and quality of life from breast cancer diagnosis through seven years' survivorship.

Background: Weight gain is a potential negative outcome of breast-cancer treatment, occurring in 50%-to-96% of breast-cancer patients, although the amount of weight gain is inconsistently reported in the literature. Research has also shown a relationship between overweight/obesity and breast-cancer mortality. Correspondingly, weight management is a self-care approach known to benefit quality of life (QOL).

Cognitive behavioral treatment of insomnia in school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder: A pilot feasibility study.

Insomnia is common in autism and associated with challenging behavior and worse parent sleep. Cognitive behavioral treatment for childhood insomnia (CBT-CI) is efficacious in typically developing children, but not yet tested in school-aged children with autism. This single arm pilot tested 8-session CBT-CI in 17 children with autism and insomnia (M age = 8.

Factors associated with acute exacerbations of myasthenia gravis.

Introduction: The etiology of acute exacerbations of myasthenia gravis (MG) is not well understood and further characterization can lead to improved preventative measures. This study aims to characterize factors contributing to MG exacerbations.

Methods: A total of 127 MG patient charts were reviewed retrospectively (2011-2016) to obtain demographics, immunizations, pharmaceutical records, contributing factors of each MG exacerbation, emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, and duration.

Adherence to Short-course Pharmacotherapy in Adults with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), characterized by abdominal pain and bowel dysfunction, treatment focuses on alleviating symptoms. Adherence is crucial for pharmacologic management success. We examined 73 adult's objective adherence to rifaximin using the taxonomy for adherence.

Ternary Trends in Nursing Home Information Technology and Quality Measures in the United States.

Nursing home information technology (NH IT) adoption trends are not measured regularly. Evidence indicates digital footprints are growing, but gaps about NH IT adoption and quality impacts remain. We hypothesize as NH IT adoption grows, quality improves.

PD-L1 Expression with Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition of Circulating Tumor Cells Is Associated with Poor Survival in Curatively Resected Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

In addition to the FDA-approved definition of a circulating tumor cell (CTC), various CTC phenotypes have been discovered. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of cancer cells is directly linked to PD-L1 upregulation. The goal of the study was to investigate PD-L1 expression and EMT in CTCs of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, and perform an outcome analysis.

Building consensus toward a national nursing home information technology maturity model.

Objectives: We describe the development of a nursing home information technology (IT) maturity model designed to capture stages of IT maturity.

Materials And Methods: This study had 2 phases. The purpose of phase I was to develop a preliminary nursing home IT maturity model.

Early Maturity as the New Normal: A Century-long Study of Bone Age.

Background: Epiphyseal fusion (EF) marks the completion of longitudinal bone growth, a critical milestone monitored during treatment of skeletal growth and/or developmental disorders. Recently, a trend toward accelerated skeletal maturation in children has been documented. Because current methods for assessing skeletal maturation include children in their reference populations born as early as the 1930s, the timing of EF events in contemporary patients may differ substantially from those standards.