Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index and Charlson Comorbidity Index Predict Mortality, Intensive Care Unit Admission, and Length of Hospital Stay in Patients With Fournier's Gangrene: An Analysis of 264 Consecutive Patients.

Introduction Fournier's gangrene (FG) is a rapidly progressing necrotizing fasciitis. The Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index (FGSI), in conjunction with the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), has been used as a mortality predictor during hospitalization. Patients with diabetes have also been shown to be at an increased risk for the development of FG.

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Marijuana Use Among Individuals Receiving Prescription Opioids for Pain Management.

Objective: Substance use among individuals receiving prescription opioids for pain may be associated with poorer functioning. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the use of substances (ie, alcohol, marijuana, or tobacco) among individuals prescribed opioids for pain management was associated with pain, psychiatric disorders, and opioid misuse.

Methods: Patients with non-cancer pain and a new opioid prescription were recruited from 2 health systems.

Long-term clinical outcomes in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy versus hypertensive heart disease.

Background: For most patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), the clinical course is considered relatively benign, similar to hypertensive heart disease (HHD). We compared the long-term outcomes in patients with HCM versus HHD from a large healthcare system database.

Methods: Data from SSM Virtual Data Warehouse were used to identify patients with a new diagnosis of either HCM or HHD who followed up in our system for at least 6 months.

Neighborhood Characteristics and Walking Behavior Among Adults With Arthritis: A National Health Interview Survey Study.

Objective: This study investigated the association of perceived neighborhood qualities with likelihood of transit walking, leisure walking, neighborhood walking, and meeting physical activity (PA) recommendations among US adults with arthritis.

Methods: This cross-sectional study used 2020 National Health Interview Survey data. Included participants were adults who reported with clinician-diagnosed arthritis and who reported the ability to walk.

Treatment Complications Associated With Hospital Admission in Oropharyngeal Cancer Patients.

Background: Oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) survivorship is a nursing priority because patients are living longer while significant short-term and long-term treatment complications that require nursing care are increasing. Hospital readmission is costly and reflects the quality of care patients receive.

Objectives: This secondary analysis aimed to determine the prevalence of treatment complications resulting in hospital admissions among persons with OPC and examine the relationship between treatment complications resulting in hospital admission among persons with OPC and all other persons with head and neck cancer.

Characteristics of patients with non-cancer pain and long-term prescription opioid use who have used medical versus recreational marijuana.

Objective: Marijuana use is increasingly common among patients with chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) and long-term opioid therapy (LTOT). We determined if lifetime recreational and medical marijuana use were associated with more frequent and higher dose prescription opioid use.

Design: Cross-sectional SUBJECTS: Eligible patients (n=1,037), who had a new period of prescription opioid use lasting 30-90 days, were recruited from two midwestern health care systems to a study of long-term prescription opioid use and mental health outcomes.

Baseline Characteristics From a New Longitudinal Cohort of Patients With Noncancer Pain and Chronic Opioid Use in the United States.

Retrospective cohort studies have consistently observed that long-term prescription opioid use is a risk factor for new major depressive episodes. However, prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings and establish evidence for causation. The Prescription Opioids and Depression Pathways cohort study is designed for this purpose.

Factors Associated With Interest in Engaging in Psychological Interventions for Pain Management.

Objective: Engagement in evidence-based psychological interventions for pain management is low. Identifying characteristics associated with interest in interventions can inform approaches to increase uptake and engagement. The purpose of this study was to examine factors associated with interest in psychological interventions among persons with chronic noncancer pain receiving prescription opioids.

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography outcomes in inflammatory bowel disease patients: a 12-year analysis of a national database.

Background: Despite inflammatory bowel disease's (IBD) association with hepatobiliary disorders and the use of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) for both diagnostic and therapeutic evaluation of these diseases, it remains a poorly studied area within the literature. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of IBD on the occurrence of adverse events (AE) pertaining to ERCP.

Methods: This project utilized the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database, the largest inpatient database in the USA.

A Preliminary Study of Stress, Mental Health, and Pain Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Odds of Persistent Prescription Opioid Use.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with increased opioid prescribing. It is not known if perceived COVID-19 related stress is associated with increased odds of long-term opioid use.

Objective: To determine if greater COVID-19-related stress and worsening pain attributed to the pandemic was associated with LTOT over a 6-month observation period.

Construction of an Administrative Osteoarthritis Severity Index.

Objective: Electronic health record (EHR) databases are a powerful resource to investigate clinical trajectories of osteoarthritis (OA). There are no existing EHR tools to evaluate risk for knee arthroplasty (KA). We developed an OA severity index (OASI) using EHR data and demonstrate the index's association with time to KA.

Disparities Exist in Physical Therapy Utilization and Time to Utilization Between Black and White Patients With Musculoskeletal Pain.

Objective: Black patients are less likely than White patients to receive physical therapy for musculoskeletal pain conditions. Current evidence, however, is limited to self-reported conditions and health services use. The purpose of this study was to use a large electronic health record database to determine whether a race disparity existed in use of physical therapy within 90 days of a new musculoskeletal diagnosis.

Diversity, Inclusion, and Health Equity in Academic Family Medicine.

Background And Objectives: Diversity, inclusion, and health equity (DIHE) are integral to the practice of family medicine. Academic family medicine has been grappling with these issues in recent years, particularly with a focus on racism and health inequity. We studied the current state of DIHE activities in academic family medicine departments and suggest a framework for departments to become more diverse, inclusive, antiracist, and focused on health equity and racial justice.

Continuous conversion of CO/H with Clostridium aceticum in biofilm reactors.

A lab-scale stirred-tank bioreactor was reversibly retrofitted to a packed-bed and a trickle-bed biofilm reactor to study and compare the conversion of CO/H with immobilised Clostridiumaceticum. The biofilm reactors were characterised and their functionality confirmed. Up to 8.

Association of anxiety disorders and depression with incident heart failure.

Objective: Depression has been associated with increased risk of heart failure (HF). Because anxiety is highly comorbid with depression, we sought to establish if anxiety, depression, or their co-occurrence is associated with incident HF.

Methods: A retrospective cohort (N = 236,079) including Veteran's Administration patients (age, 50-80 years) free of cardiovascular disease (CVD) at baseline was followed up between 2001 and 2007.

Prescription opioid analgesics increase the risk of depression.

Background: Prescription opioid analgesic use has quintupled recently. Evidence linking opioid use with depression emanates from animal models and studies of persons with co-occurring substance use and major depression. Little is known about depressogenic effects of opioid use in other populations.

Association between facility characteristics and the process of care delivered to patients with hepatitis C virus infection.

Background: Available data suggest problems in the process of care provided to patients with chronic hepatitis C (HCV). However, the solutions to these problems are less obvious. Healthcare facility factors are potentially modifiable and may enhance process quality in HCV treatment.

Do racial disparities exist in the use of prostate cancer screening and detection tools in veterans?

Objective: To determine whether racial disparities exist in the use of prostate cancer screening and detection tools in veterans.

Methods And Materials: Administrative data were obtained from the Corporate Data Warehouse on a national cohort of 275,831 veterans (21% African American [AA]) between the ages of 40 and 70 years who were free of heart disease, did not have an elevated prostate specific antigen (PSA) level (>4 ng/ml), did not have other clinical signs of prostate cancer, had not been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and had not received treatment for prostate cancer between January 10, 1998 and September 30, 2000. Subjects were followed up until September 30, 2007.

Process of care for hepatitis C infection is linked to treatment outcome and virologic response.

Background & Aims: Process of care-based measures are used commonly to assess the quality of medical care provided to patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. However, the links between these processes and patient outcomes are not clear.

Methods: We conducted a large retrospective cohort study of 34,749 patients with HCV infection identified from the national Veterans Administration HCV Clinical Case Registry between 2003 and 2006.

The performance of process measures in hepatitis C.

Objectives: Previous evaluations regarding the extent to which standard chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) care processes are delivered during routine clinical care are scant and have primarily relied on automated data--the validity of which is unknown.

Methods: We examined adherence to 24 explicit modified Delphi panel-derived HCV-specific process measures in a cohort of 122,744 patients enrolled in the automated Veterans Administration HCV Clinical Case Registry between 2000 and 2006. We reviewed medical charts of 717 patients to compare the agreement between Registry and charts.

Treatment-resistant and insufficiently treated depression and all-cause mortality following myocardial infarction.

Background: Depression is a known risk factor for mortality after an acute myocardial infarction. Patients with treatment-responsive depression may have a better prognosis than those with treatment-resistant depression.

Aims: We sought to determine whether mortality following acute myocardial infarction was associated with treatment-resistant depression.

Mental health disorders and the risk of AIDS-defining illness and death in HIV-infected veterans.

Objective: Mental health comorbidities are common in HIV-infected veterans and can impact clinical outcomes for HIV. We examined the impact of mental health diagnoses on progression to AIDS-defining illness (ADI) and death in a large cohort of HIV-infected veterans who accessed care between 2001 and 2006.

Design: Retrospective cohort study using the national Veterans Health Administration (VHA) HIV Clinical Case Registry.

Increased risk of myocardial infarction in depressed patients with type 2 diabetes.

Objective: To investigate major depressive disorder (MDD), which complicates the course of type 2 diabetes and is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death. This risk may be due to a greater susceptibility for myocardial infarction (MI) in depressed patients with type 2 diabetes compared with nondepressed patients with type 2 diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: Veterans Administration electronic medical records were analyzed to identify a cohort free of cardiovascular disease in fiscal years 1999 and 2000, aged 25 to 80 years.