Reducing health care costs for dementia patients: estimating savings from a caregiver support program.

Objective: Estimating cost savings based on limited health care events within a short time span for a dementia care program.

Method: Data on health care utilization of persons with dementia (PWDs) and caregivers were gathered in the Dementia Care Services Program in North Dakota from January 2010 to January 2012. Data were aggregated into 3-month intervals and compared to 3 months before program intervention.

Physical activity and cervical cancer testing among American Indian women.

Purpose: Studies have shown that women who engage in high levels of physical activity have higher rates of cancer screening, including Papanicalaou (Pap) tests. Because American Indian (AI) women are at high risk for cervical cancer morbidity and mortality, we examined Pap screening prevalence and assessed whether physical activity was associated with screening adherence among AI women from 2 culturally distinct regions in the Northern Plains and the Southwest.

Methods: A total of 1,979 AI women at least 18 years of age participating in a cross-sectional cohort study reported whether they received a Pap test within the previous 3 years.

Deciding when to put grandma in the nursing home: measuring inclinations to place persons with dementia.

For caregivers of persons with dementia, estimating when that person should be placed in long-term care is difficult. Health care providers also find it hard to give an exact time as to when the person should be placed. Using data from 197 caregivers working with the Dementia Care Services Project in North Dakota, we show that asking the caregiver about their inclination to place can be equated to asking them for a specific time to place (κ = .

In-hospital mortality among rural Medicare patients with acute myocardial infarction: the influence of demographics, transfer, and health factors.

Unlabelled: CONTEXT/PURPOSE: Most rural hospitals can provide medical care to acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients, but a need for advanced cardiac care requires timely transfer to a tertiary hospital. There is little information on AMI in-hospital mortality predictors among rural transfer patients.

Methods: Cross-sectional retrospective analyses on 2003-2005 Medicare hospital inpatient data from 5 states were conducted to compare predictors of in-hospital AMI mortality between rural hospital transferred and nontransferred patients.

Effect of post-discharge follow-up care on re-admissions among US veterans with congestive heart failure: a rural-urban comparison.

Introduction: Hospital re-admissions for patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) are relatively common and costly occurrences within the US health infrastructure, including the Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system. Little is known about CHF re-admissions among rural veteran patients, including the effects of socio-demographics and follow-up outpatient visits on these re-admissions.

Purpose: To examine socio-demographics of US veterans with CHF who had 30 day potentially preventable re-admissions and compare the effect of 30 day VA post-discharge service use on these re-admissions for rural- and urban-dwelling veterans.

Body mass index and cancer screening in older American Indian and Alaska Native men.

Context: Regular screenings are important for reducing cancer morbidity and mortality. There are several barriers to receiving timely cancer screening, including overweight/obesity. No study has examined the relationship between overweight/obesity and cancer screening among American Indian/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs).

Factors associated with incidence of "inappropriate" ambulance transport in rural areas in cases of moderate to severe head injury in children.

Context: Ambulance transport of pediatric trauma patients to designated trauma centers in cases of moderate and severe injury is not always performed, which has been shown to result in poor treatment outcomes. Determination of factors involved in inappropriate patient transport, especially in rural areas, remains an important avenue of research.

Purpose: To identify factors involved in ambulance transport of pediatric patients sustaining moderate-to-severe head injury to nondesignated trauma centers in rural North Dakota.