Modeling Adolescent Disposition Development: Age-Related Changes in Psychosocial Processes Correlated with Substance Use.

Purpose: A model is proposed in which longitudinal changes in adolescents' dispositions increase age-related risk for the onset of substance use.

Method: Pooled surveys from 25 longitudinal studies were examined. Disposition was calculated from eight variables: use intentions; refusal intentions; attitudes; positive consequence beliefs; beliefs about negative consequences; descriptive peer normative beliefs; injunctive peer normative beliefs; and lifestyle incongruence.

Heart Failure Hospitalization Risk associated with Iron Status in Veterans with CKD.

Background And Objectives: CKD is an independent risk factor for heart failure. Iron dysmetabolism potentially contributes to heart failure, but this relationship has not been well characterized in CKD.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: We performed a historical cohort study using data from the Veterans Affairs Corporate Data Warehouse to evaluate the relationship between iron status and heart failure hospitalization.

Peri-implantation intercourse does not lower fecundability.

Study Question: Does sexual intercourse in the implantation time window (5-9 days after ovulation) reduce fecundability?

Summary Answer: After adjustment for intercourse in the fecund window and clustering by couple, there was no association between intercourse in the implantation time window and fecundity.

What Is Known Already: Previous research has suggested an association between intercourse in the peri-implantation time window (5-9 days after estimated ovulation) and reduced fecundability.

Study Design, Size, Duration: We used data from the FERTILI study, a prospective observational study conducted in five European countries, with data collected from 1992 to 1996.

Real-world management of hyperkalemia with patiromer among United States Veterans.

: Patiromer is a sodium-free, non-absorbed, potassium (K) binder approved for the treatment of hyperkalemia (HK). Among US Veterans with HK, this retrospective, observational cohort study evaluated patiromer utilization, RAASi continuation, and K concentration change following patiromer initiation.: Using data from the Veterans Affairs Corporate Data Warehouse, Veterans with HK (K ≥5.

An increased mortality risk is associated with abnormal iron status in diabetic and non-diabetic Veterans with predialysis chronic kidney disease.

Iron parameters have not been well characterized in pre-dialysis patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), and it remains unclear if abnormal iron balance is associated with increased mortality. Therefore, we performed a historical cohort study using data from the Veterans Affairs Corporate Data Warehouse to evaluate the relationship between iron status and mortality. We identified a pre-dialysis CKD cohort with at least one set of iron indices between 2006-2015.

Validation of Algorithms Used to Identify Red Blood Cell Transfusion Related Admissions in Veteran Patients with End Stage Renal Disease.

Background: The goal of this study was to compare the performance of several database algorithms designed to identify red blood cell (RBC) Transfusion Related hospital Admissions (TRAs) in Veterans with end stage renal disease (ESRD).

Methods: Hospitalizations in Veterans with ESRD and evidence of dialysis between 01/01/2008 and 12/31/2013 were screened for TRAs using a clinical algorithm (CA) and four variations of claims-based algorithms (CBA 1-4). Criteria were implemented to exclude patients with non-ESRD-related anemia (e.

Identification of Axial Spondyloarthritis Patients in a Large Dataset: The Development and Validation of Novel Methods.

Objective: Observational axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) research in large datasets has been limited by a lack of adequate methods for identifying patients with axSpA, because there are no billing codes in the United States for most subtypes of axSpA. The objective of this study was to develop methods to accurately identify patients with axSpA in a large dataset.

Methods: The study population included 600 chart-reviewed veterans, with and without axSpA, in the Veterans Health Administration between January 1, 2005, and June 30, 2015.

Using Attitudes, Age and Gender to Estimate an Adolescent's Substance Use Risk.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a strategy for estimating an individual's risk of alcohol, cigarette and cannabis use that relies on an assessment of an adolescent's age, gender and attitude.

Methodology: The authors assembled surveys from 35,987 11 through 17 year-olds assembled from 36 databases were analysed to examine the relationship between attitude and behaviour.

Findings: Attitudes were strongly correlated with concurrent use of alcohol, drunkenness, smoking, and cannabis, with point biserial correlations of -0.