Association of invitation to lung cancer screening and tobacco use outcomes in a VA demonstration project.

A potential unintended consequence of lung cancer screening (LCS) is an adverse effect on smoking behaviors. This has been difficult to assess in previous randomized clinical trials. Our goal was to determine whether cessation and relapse behaviors differ between Veterans directly invited (DI) to participate in LCS compared to usual care (UC).

Initial results of a lung cancer screening demonstration project: a local program evaluation.

Objectives: To describe participation rates, results, and lessons learned from a lung cancer screening (LCS) demonstration project.

Study Design: Prospective observational study at 1 of 8 centers participating in a national Veterans Health Administration LCS demonstration project.

Methods: An electronic health record (EHR) algorithm and tobacco pack-year (TPY) information prompt identified patients potentially eligible for LCS.

Does need for cognitive closure explain individual differences in lung cancer screening? A brief report.

The need for cognitive closure describes the extent to which a person, faced with a decision, prefers any answer in lieu of continued uncertainty. This construct may be relevant in lung cancer screening, which can both reduce and increase uncertainty. We examined whether individual differences in need for cognitive closure are associated with Veterans' completion of lung cancer screening using a self-administered survey ( = 361).

Quality of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease-Related Health Care in Rural and Urban Veterans Affairs Clinics.

Only minor disparities were found between patients at rural and urban clinics in this examination of the differences in the quality of health care for patients with COPD.

What factors do patients consider most important in making lung cancer screening decisions? Findings from a demonstration project conducted in the Veterans Health Administration.

Introduction: The National Lung Screening Trial recently reported that annual low-dose computed tomography screening is associated with decreased lung cancer mortality in high-risk smokers. This study sought to identify the factors patients consider important in making lung cancer screening (LCS) decisions, and explore variations by patient characteristics and LCS participation.

Material And Methods: This observational survey study evaluated the Minneapolis VA LCS Clinical Demonstration Project in which LCS-eligible Veterans (N=1388) were randomized to either Direct LCS Invitation (mailed with decision aid, N=926) or Usual Care (provider referral, N=462).

Implementation of Lung Cancer Screening in the Veterans Health Administration.

Importance: The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends annual lung cancer screening (LCS) with low-dose computed tomography for current and former heavy smokers aged 55 to 80 years. There is little published experience regarding implementing this recommendation in clinical practice.

Objectives: To describe organizational- and patient-level experiences with implementing an LCS program in selected Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospitals and to estimate the number of VHA patients who may be candidates for LCS.

Do self-management interventions in COPD patients work and which patients benefit most? An individual patient data meta-analysis.

Background: Self-management interventions are considered effective in patients with COPD, but trials have shown inconsistent results and it is unknown which patients benefit most. This study aimed to summarize the evidence on effectiveness of self-management interventions and identify subgroups of COPD patients who benefit most.

Methods: Randomized trials of self-management interventions between 1985 and 2013 were identified through a systematic literature search.

Characteristics of effective self-management interventions in patients with COPD: individual patient data meta-analysis.

It is unknown whether heterogeneity in effects of self-management interventions in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can be explained by differences in programme characteristics. This study aimed to identify which characteristics of COPD self-management interventions are most effective.Systematic search in electronic databases identified randomised trials on self-management interventions conducted between 1985 and 2013.

Definition of a COPD self-management intervention: International Expert Group consensus.

There is an urgent need for consensus on what defines a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) self-management intervention. We aimed to obtain consensus regarding the conceptual definition of a COPD self-management intervention by engaging an international panel of COPD self-management experts using Delphi technique features and an additional group meeting.In each consensus round the experts were asked to provide feedback on the proposed definition and to score their level of agreement (1=totally disagree; 5=totally agree).

Order Set to Improve the Care of Patients Hospitalized for an Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Rationale: Physicians' adherence to prescribing evidence-based inpatient and outpatient therapies for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is low, and there is a paucity of information about the utility of admission order sets for patients with COPD exacerbations.

Objectives: To determine if implementation of a locally designed, evidence-based, multidisciplinary computer physician order entry set in the electronic health record improves the quality of physician pharmacologic prescribing for patients hospitalized for COPD exacerbations.

Methods: This study was performed before and after implementation of a computerized order set for patients hospitalized for COPD exacerbations.

Randomized trial of pragmatic education for low-risk COPD patients: impact on hospitalizations and emergency department visits.

Background: Most interventions aimed at reducing hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have employed resource-intense programs in high-risk individuals. Although COPD is a progressive disease, little is known about the effectiveness of proactive interventions aimed at preventing hospitalizations and ED visits in the much larger population of low-risk (no known COPD-related hospitalizations or ED visits in the prior year) patients, some of whom will eventually become high-risk.

Methods: We tested the effect of a simple educational and self-efficacy intervention (n = 2243) versus usual care (n = 2182) on COPD/breathing-related ED visits and hospitalizations in a randomized study of low-risk patients at three Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers in the upper Midwest.

AccuO2 oximetry-driven oxygen-conserving device versus fixed-dose oxygen devices in stable COPD patients.

Background: Because standard home oxygen (O2) systems deliver O2 at fixed rates, these systems are not designed to ensure optimal oxygen delivery based on physiologic need. We tested the ability of the AccuO2 (OptiSat Medical, Minneapolis, Minnesota), a portable, closed-loop, oximetry-driven, O2-conserving device to maintain SpO2 at ≥ 90%, compared to continuous-flow oxygen and a standard O2-conserving device (CR-50, Puritan-Bennett, Pleasanton, California).

Methods: We randomly assigned 28 patients who were on continuous home O2 for COPD to use each of 3 O2 delivery systems (continuous-flow O2, CR-50, and AccuO2) for 8 hours a day, for 2 consecutive days, at home, at their current O2 prescription.

Economic evaluation of a disease management program for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: The data on cost savings with disease management (DM) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is limited. A multicomponent DM program in COPD has recently shown in a large randomized controlled trial to reduce hospitalizations and emergency department visits compared to usual care (UC). The objectives of this study were to determine the cost of implementing the DM program and its impact on healthcare resource utilization costs compared to UC in high-risk COPD patients.

Disease management program for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a randomized controlled trial.

Rationale: The effect of disease management for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is not well established.

Objectives: To determine whether a simplified disease management program reduces hospital admissions and emergency department (ED) visits due to COPD.

Methods: We performed a randomized, adjudicator-blinded, controlled, 1-year trial at five Veterans Affairs medical centers of 743 patients with severe COPD and one or more of the following during the previous year: hospital admission or ED visit for COPD, chronic home oxygen use, or course of systemic corticosteroids for COPD.

Exhaled nitric oxide, systemic inflammation, and the spirometric response to inhaled fluticasone propionate in severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a prospective study.

Background: A subset of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may respond more favorably to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), but no simple method is currently utilized to predict the presence or absence of ICS responses in patients with COPD.We evaluated the ability of exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) and serum inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein [CRP], interleukin-6 [IL-6], and interleukin-8 [IL-8]) to independently predict spirometric responses to ICS in patients with COPD.

Methods: Among 60 ex-smokers with severe COPD (mean FEV1 1.

Responses to tiotropium in African-American and Caucasian patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Sparse information exists about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) outcomes among different ethnic groups. To determine whether the effect of tiotropium on COPD exacerbation differs between African Americans and Caucasians, we performed a post hoc analysis of African-American (n = 150) and Caucasian (n = 1670) subgroups from a previously reported 6-month trial of tiotropium in patients with moderate-to-very-severe COPD. Compared with placebo, tiotropium reduced the likelihood of having at least 1 exacerbation in the entire group (RR, 0.

Role of tiotropium in the treatment of COPD.

Tiotropium is a potent, long-acting, selective anticholinergic bronchodilator. Treatment with tiotropium produces sustained improvements in lung function, particularly FEV1 (peak, trough, average, and area under the curve) compared with either placebo or ipratropium in patients with moderate to severe COPD. Preliminary evidence suggests that treatment with tiotropium may slow the rate of decline in FEV1, but this finding awaits confirmation.

Management of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the elderly : an appraisal of published evidence.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a debilitating disease with rising worldwide prevalence. Exacerbations of COPD cause significant morbidity and become more common with advancing age. Healthcare providers caring for elderly patients should therefore be familiar with effective treatments for exacerbations of COPD.

Symptom-driven lorazepam protocol for treatment of severe alcohol withdrawal delirium in the intensive care unit.

Study Objective: To compare outcomes of treating alcohol withdrawal delirium (AWD) with a symptom-driven benzodiazepine protocol versus nonprotocol benzodiazepine infusions in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Design: Retrospective observational study of a quality improvement project.

Setting: Medical intensive care unit at a Veterans Affairs medical center.

Efficacy trial of live, cold-adapted and inactivated influenza virus vaccines in older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a VA cooperative study.

We assessed whether trivalent live, cold-adapted influenza virus (CAIV-T) vaccine provides added protection when co-administered with trivalent inactivated influenza virus vaccine (TVV) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Subjects (N=2215) were randomly assigned to receive either TVV intramuscularly (IM) and CAIV-T intranasally (TC), or TVV and placebo (TP). The vaccines were well-tolerated.