Publications by authors named "James L Rudolph"

Purpose: Heterotopic ossification (HO) is a benign disorder characterized by ectopic bone formation in soft tissues that can lead to functional loss in patients. We conducted a systematic review of the evidence on the use of radiation therapy (RT) for the prevention or treatment of HO.

Methods And Materials: Literature searches were conducted using Medline (via PubMed), Embase, and ClinicalTrials.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study examines the connection between cerebrovascular disease (CVD) biomarkers and amyloid beta (Aβ) in Alzheimer's disease (AD), finding that certain MRI-based biomarkers like white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) and superficial cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) are positively linked to Aβ positivity on PET scans.
  • - Using data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), the researchers found that after adjustments, both WMHs and superficial CMBs significantly predicted Aβ-PET positivity, while deep CMBs and lacunes showed mixed results depending on cognitive subgroups.
  • - The research supports the use of CVD biomarkers for diagnosing AD and suggests the need for further investigation into
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Background: Hypertension is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease among patients living with HIV (PLWH). Understanding the predictors and patterns of antihypertensive medication prescription and blood pressure (BP) control among PLWH with hypertension (HTN) is important to improve the primary prevention efforts for this high-risk population. We sought to assess important patient-level correlates (eg, race) and inter-facility variations in antihypertension medication prescriptions and BP control among Veterans living with HIV (VLWH) and HTN.

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Context: Concurrent care allows patients to receive hospice while continuing disease-directed therapies. This treatment model is available in the Veterans Administration (VA) medical system, but its use in Veterans with heart failure (HF) is unexplored.

Objective: To compare use of advanced HF therapies 30 days posthospitalization in Veterans on hospice versus not on hospice following admission for HF exacerbation.

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  • Older adults with heart failure are at increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia, potentially influenced by insomnia and depression.
  • This study analyzed data from over 203,000 Veterans to determine how insomnia and depressive episodes affect the timing of dementia diagnosis.
  • Findings showed that patients with both insomnia and depression had the quickest progression to dementia, highlighting the need for screening these conditions to improve early detection and intervention.
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Objectives: (1) To estimate the association of social risk factors with unplanned readmission and emergency care after a hospital stay. (2) To create a social risk scoring index.

Data Sources And Setting: We analyzed administrative data from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Corporate Data Warehouse.

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Objectives: Examine physical function change and physical therapy (PT) use in short-stay and long-stay residents not infected by CoVID-19 within Veterans Affairs (VA) Community Living Centers (CLCs).

Design: Retrospective cohort study using Minimum Data Set (MDS) 3.0 assessments.

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Objective: Wandering behavior in nursing home (NH) residents could increase risk of infection. The objective of this study was to assess the association of wandering behavior with SARS-CoV-2 infection in Veterans Affairs (VA) Community Living Center (CLC) residents.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

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Objective: To evaluate the impact on rural Veterans' access to social work services of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) national program to increase social work staffing, by Veterans' rurality, race, and complex care needs.

Data Sources And Study Setting: Data obtained from VA Corporate Data Warehouse, including sites that participated in the social work program between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2021.

Study Design: The study outcome was monthly number of Veterans per 1000 individuals with 1+ social work encounters.

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Background: Bivalent SARS-CoV-2 vaccines were developed to counter increasing susceptibility to emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. We evaluated the durability of immunity and protection following first bivalent vaccination among nursing home residents.

Methods: We evaluated anti-spike and neutralization titers from blood in 653 community nursing home residents before and after each monovalent booster, and a bivalent vaccine.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the link between cerebrovascular disease (CVD) and amyloid-β (Aβ) in Alzheimer's disease using MRI-based CVD biomarkers.
  • It analyzed data from 1,352 participants in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) and found that white matter hyperintensities and superficial cerebral microbleeds correlated positively with Aβ-PET positivity.
  • The findings suggest that CVD biomarkers could enhance the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, highlighting a need for further research in this area.
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Importance: Clinical outcomes after acute coronary syndromes (ACS) or percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) in people living with HIV have not been characterized in sufficient detail, and extant data have not been synthesized adequately.

Objective: To better characterize clinical outcomes and postdischarge treatment of patients living with HIV after ACS or PCIs compared with patients in an HIV-negative control group.

Data Sources: Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science were searched for all available longitudinal studies of patients living with HIV after ACS or PCIs from inception until August 2023.

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Heart failure (HF) is a progressive, life-limiting illness for which palliative care (PC) is considered standard of care. Among patients that do receive PC, consultation tends to occur late in the illness course. Our primary aim was to examine patient factors associated with receiving PC in HF.

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We plotted trends in social work telehealth use among Veterans in a U.S. national social work staffing program and examined the relationship between geographic factors (rurality and neighborhood disadvantage) and telehealth use (audio and video) using linear probability models.

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Medical comorbidity, particularly cardiovascular diseases, contributes to high rates of hospital admission and early mortality in people with schizophrenia. The 30 days following hospital discharge represents a critical period for mitigating adverse outcomes. This study examined the odds of successful community discharge among Veterans with schizophrenia compared to those with major affective disorders and those without serious mental illness (SMI) after a heart failure hospital admission.

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Objective: Adults with serious mental illness (SMI) have high rates of cardiovascular disease, particularly heart failure, which contribute to premature mortality. The aims were to examine 90- and 365-day all-cause medical or surgical hospital readmission in Veterans with SMI discharged from a heart failure hospitalization. The exploratory aim was to evaluate 180-day post-discharge engagement in cardiac rehabilitation, an effective intervention for heart failure.

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Importance: Homelessness is a persistent and growing problem. What role health systems should play and how that role is incorporated into larger strategic efforts are not well-defined.

Objective: To compare homelessness among veterans with that in the general population during a 16-year study period before and after implementation of the Ending Veteran Homelessness Initiative, a program to rehouse veterans experiencing homelessness.

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Background: Despite research demonstrating the risks of using feeding tubes in persons with advanced dementia, they continue to be placed. The natural history of dysphagia among patients with advanced dementia has not been examined. We conducted a secondary analysis of a national cohort of persons with advanced dementia staying at a nursing home stay before hospitalization to examine (1) pre-hospitalization dysphagia prevalence and (2) risk of feeding tube placement during hospitalization based on preexisting dysphagia.

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Background: Specialist-level palliative care in the final days does not allow time to alleviate symptoms and suffering. This analysis examined the change in the time from initial specialty-level palliative care to death among Veterans with heart failure.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study examined Veterans with a diagnosis of heart failure (HF) who died between 2011 and 2021.

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Objectives: We conducted 2 trials of a music intervention for managing behaviors in nursing home (NH) residents with dementia, before (2019) and during (2021) the pandemic. In this report, we compare adherence fidelity across the trials using the Framework for Implementation Fidelity (FIF).

Design: Cross-sectional, descriptive implementation comparison.

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