Health-Related Internet Use Among Otolaryngology Patients.

Objective: The association between online health resources use in specific otolaryngology patients is poorly understood. To better understand health-related Internet use by otolaryngology patients, we surveyed first-visit patients at academic and private practice clinics in Iowa.

Methods: Data on socioeconomic status, access, and utilization of online resources were collected.

Screening for Behavioral Health Conditions in Primary Care Settings: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Background: Mounting evidence indicates that early recognition and treatment of behavioral health disorders can prevent complications, improve quality of life, and help reduce health care costs. The aim of this systematic literature review was to identify and evaluate publicly available, psychometrically tested tools that primary care physicians (PCPs) can use to screen adult patients for common mental and substance use disorders such as depression, anxiety, and alcohol use disorders.

Methods: We followed the Institute of Medicine (IOM) systematic review guidelines and searched PubMed, PsycINFO, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Health and Psychosocial Instruments databases to identify literature addressing tools for screening of behavioral health conditions.

Prescribing of benzodiazepines and opioids to individuals with substance use disorders.

Background: Benzodiazepines are recommended for short-term use due to risk of dependence. This study examined characteristics associated with benzodiazepine and opioid dispensing of 7+ days in a Medicaid population with substance use disorder (SUD).

Methods: Using 2014 MarketScan data, we performed zero-inflated negative binomial regression to ascertain characteristics associated with longer-term use of these medications.

Differences in Use of High-quality and Low-quality Hospitals Among Working-age Individuals by Insurance Type.

Background: Research suggests that individuals with Medicaid or no insurance receive fewer evidence-based treatments and have worse outcomes than those with private insurance for a broad range of conditions. These differences may be due to patients' receiving care in hospitals of different quality.

Research Design: We used the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases 2009-2010 data to identify patients aged 18-64 years with private insurance, Medicaid, or no insurance who were hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, pneumonia, stroke, or gastrointestinal hemorrhage.

Weight loss after head and neck cancer: A dynamic relationship with depressive symptoms.

Background: Weight loss and depressive symptoms are critical head and neck cancer outcomes, yet their relation over the illness course is unclear.

Methods: Associations between self-reported depressive symptoms and objective weight loss across the year after head and neck cancer diagnosis were examined using growth curve modeling techniques (n = 564).

Results: A reciprocal covariation pattern emerged-changes in depressive symptoms over time were associated with same-month changes in weight loss (t [1148] = 2.

Influence of body composition on survival in patients with head and neck cancer.

Background: Recent evidence has suggested links between obesity and outcomes for various types of cancer. This study investigates the impact that body composition has on survival in patients with head and neck cancer.

Methods: Data prospectively collected from 578 patients were analyzed using Cox regression models to determine independent associations that pretreatment body mass index (BMI) and 3-month weight change have on observed survival.

Upper aerodigestive tract cancer in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia: incidence, stage, and outcome.

Objective: To compare incidence, stage, and survival of upper aerodigestive tract (UADT) cancers in patients with and without chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Design: Inception cohort.

Setting: National database.

Accuracy of fine-needle aspiration and imaging in the preoperative workup of salivary gland mass lesions treated surgically.

Objectives/hypothesis: Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy and imaging are commonly used in the preoperative assessment of salivary gland mass lesions. The goal of this retrospective study was to clarify the role of FNA and imaging in the workup of salivary gland masses.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Psychological factors associated with head and neck cancer treatment and survivorship: evidence and opportunities for behavioral medicine.

Individuals diagnosed with head and neck cancer (HNC) not only face a potentially life-threatening diagnosis but must endure treatment that often results in significant, highly visible disfigurement and disruptions of essential functioning, such as deficits or complications in eating, swallowing, breathing, and speech. Each year, approximately 650,000 new cases are diagnosed, making HNC the 6th most common type of cancer in the world. Despite this, however, HNC remains understudied in behavioral medicine.

Changing microbiology of pediatric neck abscesses in Iowa 2000-2010.

Objectives/hypothesis: To examine the changing microbiology of pediatric neck abscesses over a 10-year period with particular interest in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections and their associated antibacterial-resistance patterns, including resistance to clindamycin, a frequently used antibiotic for Staphylococcus aureus.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review at a tertiary academic medical center.

Methods: One hundred and twenty-two consecutive pediatric patients managed between January 2000 and June 2010 with incision and drainage of a proven neck abscess.

Long-term health-related quality of life in survivors of head and neck cancer.

Objective: To examine health-related quality of life (HRQOL) reported by 5-year head and neck cancer survivors and factors that predicted these long-term scores.

Design: Prospective, observational outcomes study.

Setting: Tertiary care institution.

Association between severity of dysphagia and survival in patients with head and neck cancer.

Background: This study examined risk factors for dysphagia, a common and serious condition in patients with head and neck cancer, and the association between severity of dysphagia and survival.

Methods: Chart reviews were performed on patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer between January 2001 and April 2003, who had dysphagia diagnoses or swallowing evaluations. Regression analyses determined factors associated with dysphagia and the association between observed survival and severity of dysphagia.

Factors associated with mortality in 2-year survivors of head and neck cancer.

Objectives: To determine conditional survival rates of 2-year survivors of head and neck cancer and to identify risk factors of increased mortality.

Design: Prospective, observational study conducted from September 1, 2001, through September 31, 2008.

Setting: Tertiary care institution.

Outcomes after the use of gastrostomy tubes in patients whose head and neck cancer was managed with radiation therapy.

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of continued oral intake and duration of gastrostomy tube placement on posttreatment nutritional outcomes in patients being irradiated for head and neck cancer.

Methods: Factors associated with continued oral intake and its association with posttreatment outcomes were analyzed.

Results: Patients with no oral intake (39.

Degrees of dysplasia and the use of cidofovir in patients with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis.

Objectives/hypothesis: Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) is a benign disease characterized by recurrent lesions in the airway. The prevalence and degree of dysplasia that is present in the natural course of RRP is not well established. Adjuvant therapies, such as cidofovir, have been tried with the goal of decreasing the interval between repeat surgical treatments, the mainstay of therapy.

Health-related quality of life in head and neck cancer survivors: impact of pretreatment depressive symptoms.

Objective: Symptoms of depression are common in those with cancer. The authors investigated whether depressive symptoms assessed before the initiation of cancer treatment predicted diminished health-related quality of life (HRQOL) at follow-up.

Design: As part of a large, prospective study of oncologic outcomes, 306 patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) were assessed on several clinical and psychosocial characteristics during a pretreatment clinic visit and then at 3- and 12-month follow-up appointments.

Adverse events associated with concurrent chemoradiation therapy in patients with head and neck cancer.

Objective: To assess toxicities, functional outcomes, and health-related quality of life associated with concurrent chemoradiation therapy (CRT) in patients with head and neck cancer.

Design: Prospective and retrospective outcomes study.

Setting: Tertiary care institution.

Continued alcohol use in patients with head and neck cancer.

Background: The effect of posttreatment alcohol consumption on health-related quality of life (QOL) and factors predicting overall QOL and continued alcohol consumption were examined in patients with head and neck cancer.

Methods: Self-reported alcohol use and abuse 1 year after diagnosis was analyzed.

Results: Although current drinkers (44.

Endoscopic approach for pituitary surgery improves rhinologic outcomes.

Objectives: We hypothesized that the endoscopic approach to pituitary surgery improves rhinology-specific quality of life and has satisfactory tumor outcomes compared with the open approach.

Methods: Cases of pituitary surgery from the Department of Neurosurgery database included an inception cohort of all patients who had endoscopic procedures and consecutive patients who had open procedures between January 1998 and February 2008. The Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-22 was mailed.

The role of pain in head and neck cancer recurrence and survivorship.

Objective: To examine pain, a common symptom in patients with head and neck cancer, and its relationship to recurrence and survivorship.

Design: Prospective, observational study.

Setting: Tertiary care institution.

Middle ear cancer: a population-based study.

Objectives/hypothesis: Primary carcinoma of the middle ear is a rare clinical entity, best suited for evaluation using a population-based database. The objective of this study was to utilize the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database to determine the incidence, treatment, and survival of middle ear carcinoma.

Study Design: Analysis of national cancer database.

First-year trends in self-reported general health predict survival in patients with head and neck cancer.

Objective: To demonstrate that first-year trends in a self-reported subjective general health assessment tool can provide prognostic information and help predict long-term survival in patients with head and neck cancer.

Design: Prospective observational cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary care center.