Publications by authors named "Leslie Douglas"

Background: Most patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy have good seizure control on antiseizure medications. Although idiopathic generalized epilepsy subtypes such as juvenile absence epilepsy and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy have a high risk of relapse, childhood absence epilepsy may have seizure remission. After 2 years of seizure freedom in childhood absence epilepsy, typically antiseizure medications are discontinued, but follow-up protocols are unclear.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To combat the heightened risk of opioid overdose death for individuals with criminal justice involvements, enhanced access to Medicaid remains paramount. This study examines the effect of a 2017 policy change in Pennsylvania that allowed for suspension, rather than termination, of Medicaid coverage while in prison on post-release opioid overdose mortality risk (OOMR) for adults released from Pennsylvania prisons.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study utilizes administrative records from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections for adults ≥18 years diagnosed with opioid use disorder (OUD) released in either 2015 or 2018.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Despite the increasing use of non-invasive imaging, DSA remains the gold standard for cerebrovascular imaging. However, trends in DSA utilization are poorly understood. The goal of this study was to describe DSA utilization in a large claims database in the US over a 13 year period.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To evaluate co-prescribing of sedatives hypnotics and opioids.

Design: Retrospective study evaluating the association of patient characteristics and comorbidities with coprescribing.

Setting And Participants: Using the national Merative MarketScan Database between 2005 and 2018, we identified patients who received an incident sedative prescription with or without subsequent, incident opioid prescriptions within a year of the sedative prescription in the USA.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Multiple studies suggest routine post-operative intensive care unit (ICU) stays after endovascular treatment (EVT) of unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs) is unnecessary, though rates of ICU utilization nationwide are unknown. We aim to evaluate rates and characteristics of ICU utilization in patients undergoing elective endovascular repair of UIAs.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study utilizing a nationwide private-payer database in the United States to evaluate the ICU utilization in patients undergoing elective endovascular repair of UIAs between 2005 and 2019.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic placed extreme burden on hospitals, while opioid overdose is another challenging public health issue. This study aimed to examine the trends and outcomes of opioid overdose hospitalizations in Pennsylvania during 2018 to 2021.

Design: We identified opioid overdose hospitalizations in the state of Pennsylvania using the state-wide hospital discharge database (PHC4) 2018 to 2021.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Previous research has found that policies specifically focused on pregnant people's alcohol use are largely ineffective. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze the relationships between general population policies regulating alcohol physical availability and outcomes related to pregnant people's alcohol use, specifically infant morbidities and injuries.

Methods: Outcome data were obtained from Merative MarketScan, a longitudinal commercial insurance claims data set.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The number of pregnant women with opioid use disorder (OUD) has increased over time. Although effective treatment options exist, little is known about the extent to which women receive treatment during pregnancy and at what stage of pregnancy care is initiated.

Methods: Using a national private health insurance claims database, we identified women aged 13-49 who gave birth in 2006-2019 and had an OUD or nonfatal opioid overdose (NFOO) diagnosis during the year prior to or at delivery.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To examine racial/ethnic differences in emergency department (ED) transfers to public hospitals and factors explaining these differences.

Data Sources And Study Setting: ED and inpatient data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project for Florida (2010-2019); American Hospital Association Annual Survey (2009-2018).

Study Design: Logistic regression examined race/ethnicity and payer on the likelihood of transfer to a public hospital among transferred ED patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Antidepressant medications (AMs) are frequently used in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Many AMs enhance serotonin (5-HT) availability, but this phenomenon may actually worsen IBD. We hypothesized that use of 5-HT-enhancing AMs would be associated with poor clinical outcomes in these disorders.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to investigate the relationship between human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and mental health disorders (MHDs), specifically whether antiretroviral therapy (ART) affects the risk of MHDs among people living with HIV in the U.S. adult population.
  • Using a large claims database, researchers found that individuals with HIV had a significantly higher risk of developing MHDs compared to those without HIV, with the risk being greater for untreated individuals.
  • The findings suggest that while living with HIV increases the likelihood of MHDs, treatment with ART helps reduce this risk, especially among certain demographics like younger men and those without obesity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Recently, the Ultra-Brief Confusion Assessment Method (UB-CAM), designed to help physicians and nurses to recognize delirium, showed high, but imperfect, accuracy compared with Research Reference Standard Delirium Assessments (RRSDAs). The aim of this study is to identify factors associated with disagreement between clinicians' app-based UB-CAM assessments and RRSDAs.

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a prospective diagnostic test study.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study analyzed opioid and non-opioid medication usage among pediatric cancer patients in the U.S. from 2005 to 2019.
  • Over 71% of the 4,174 patients examined were prescribed opioids, with notable increases in the use of anticonvulsants, NSAIDs, and muscle relaxants over time.
  • The research found a decrease in opioid prescriptions after 2012, suggesting a shift towards non-opioid treatments for managing pain in these young patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: In the years immediately following the Affordable Care Act (ACA)'s contraceptive coverage requirement, out-of-pocket costs fell for all Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive methods and use of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) increased. This analysis examines whether these trends have continued through 2020 for privately insured women.

Methods: Using 2006-2020 MarketScan data, we examined trends in prescription contraceptive use and out-of-pocket costs among women 13 to 49 years old.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Objectives: Hospitalized persons living with dementia are at risk for functional decline, behavioral symptoms of distress, and delirium, all persisting in the postacute period. In turn, family care partners (FCPs) experience increased anxiety and lack of preparedness for caregiving, compounding existing strain and burden. Family-centered Function-focused Care (Fam-FFC) purposefully engages FCPs in assessment, decision-making, care delivery, and evaluation of function-focused care during and after hospitalization (within 48 hours of discharge, weekly telephone calls for a total of 7 additional weeks, then monthly for 4 months).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: Research has found associations of pregnancy-specific alcohol policies with increased low birth weight and preterm birth, but associations with other infant outcomes are unknown.

Objective: To examine the associations of pregnancy-specific alcohol policies with infant morbidities and maltreatment.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective cohort study used outcome data from Merative MarketScan, a national database of private insurance claims.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), an effective treatment for bipolar and major depressive disorder, is underused. Little information is available on use of ECT in potentially less costly outpatient settings, possibly reducing cost barriers.

Methods: Insurance claims from the 2008 to 2017 MarketScan Commercial Database for patients diagnosed with mood disorders were used to compare 4 groups of ECT users in each year: those receiving (1) exclusively outpatient ECT, (2) first inpatient and subsequently outpatient, (3) outpatient and subsequently inpatient, and (4) exclusively inpatient ECT.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Objectives: Laws liberalizing access to medical marijuana are associated with reduced opioid analgesic use among adults, but little is known about the impact of such policies on adolescents and young adults.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study used 2005 to 2014 claims from MarketScan® Commercial database, which covers all 50 states and Washington D.C.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a pediatric-onset condition needing timely, effective treatment. Medications for AUD are part of nationally recommended treatments for youth. This study measured receipt of medications and behavioral health services for AUD and subsequent retention in care.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Bariatric surgery (BS) can lead to postoperative nutritional deficiencies (NDs) due to restrictive and malabsorptive mechanisms, but there is limited literature quantifying NDs' prevalence over time and their predictors among patients undergoing BS.

Objective: To characterize time trends and predictors of postoperative NDs.

Setting: This retrospective cohort study used the U.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Current pay-for-performance policies neglect the impact of hospital transfers in emergency care, potentially increasing health disparities.
  • A new conceptual framework, the hospital transfer network equity-quality model (NET-EQUITY), aims to analyze how transfer networks affect population health and equity in emergency situations.
  • The NET-EQUITY framework integrates various research perspectives and highlights that internal and external factors, including regulatory and sociocultural elements, significantly influence the structure of hospital transfer networks and patient outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Diffuse Low-grade gliomas (DLGG, WHO Grade II) are a heterogenous group of tumors comprising 13-16% of glial tumors. While maximal safe resection is endorsed as the best approach to DLGG, compared to more conservative interventions like stereotactic biopsy, the added costs and risks have not been systematically evaluated. The purpose of this study was to better understand the complication rates and costs associated with each intervention.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Postpartum depression (PPD), is underdiagnosed and undertreated. In 2015, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommended that women be screened for PPD at least once during the perinatal period. The effect of the recommendation on PPD diagnosis is unknown.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: This study analyzed the association between the implementation of the Tennessee Fetal Assault Law (TFAL), which allowed prosecutors to incarcerate people who used substances during pregnancy, and out-of-state births among residents of Tennessee.

Methods: The main data source is vital records on singleton births in hospitals to people aged 15-44 years during the period January 2010 to June 2016. We include data from 33 states and the District of Columbia where birth certificate data are comparable over this time period.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF