Racial/Ethnic Differences in the Risk of Surgical Complications and Posthysterectomy Hospitalization among Women Undergoing Hysterectomy for Benign Conditions.

Study Objective: Evaluate whether 30- and 90-day surgical complication and postoperative hospitalization rates after hysterectomy for benign conditions differ by race/ethnicity and whether the differences remain after controlling for patient, hospital, and surgical characteristics.

Design: Retrospective cohort study using administrative data. The exposure was race/ethnicity.

Association between delivering live-born twins and acute psychiatric illness within 1 year of delivery.

Background: Having twins is associated with more depressive symptoms than having singletons. However, the association between having twins and psychiatric morbidity requiring emergency department visit or inpatient hospitalization is less well known.

Objective: This study aimed to determine whether women have higher risk of having a psychiatric diagnosis at an emergency department visit or inpatient admission in the year after having twins vs singletons.

Inpatient Versus Outpatient Management of Negative Pressure Wound Therapy in Pediatric Patients.

Background: Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is commonly used to manage complex wounds in the pediatric population. With recently developed portable NPWT devices, providers have the opportunity to transition NPWT to the outpatient setting. However, there are no studies describing outpatient NPWT in pediatric patients.

Association Between Stillbirth at 23 Weeks of Gestation or Greater and Severe Maternal Morbidity.

Objective: To estimate whether stillbirth at 23 weeks of gestation or more is associated with increased risk of severe maternal morbidity compared with live birth, when stratified by maternal comorbidities.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study used International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) diagnosis and procedure codes within the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's Florida State Inpatient Database. The first delivery of female Florida residents aged 13-54 years old from 2005 to 2014 was included.

Association Between Severe Maternal Morbidity and Psychiatric Illness Within 1 Year of Hospital Discharge After Delivery.

Objective: To estimate whether severe maternal morbidity is associated with increased risk of psychiatric illness in the year after delivery hospital discharge.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study used International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes within Florida's Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's databases. The first liveborn singleton delivery from 2005 to 2015 was included; women with ICD-9-CM codes for psychiatric illness or substance use disorder during pregnancy were excluded.

Association between stillbirth ≥23 weeks gestation and acute psychiatric illness within 1 year of delivery.

Background: Stillbirth has been associated with emotional and psychologic symptoms. The association between stillbirth and diagnosed postpartum psychiatric illness is less well-known.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether women have a higher risk of experiencing clinician-diagnosed psychiatric morbidity in the year after stillbirth vs livebirth.

Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy in Infants and Children: A Population-Based Study.

Background: Although the safety and benefits of negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT) have been clearly demonstrated in the adult population, studies evaluating the safety and describing the use of NPWT in the pediatric population have been limited. Given this paucity, the goals of this study were to (1) evaluate the literature dedicated to NPWT use in infants and children and (2) leverage a population-level analysis to describe the experience of NPWT use in the pediatric population.

Materials And Methods: We performed a literature review and analyzed the Truven Health Analytics MarketScan Commercial Claims Databases from 2006 to 2014 to identify infants and children treated with NPWT.

Development of an Algorithm to Distinguish Smoldering Versus Symptomatic Multiple Myeloma in Claims-Based Data Sets.

Purpose: The distinction of patients with symptomatic multiple myeloma (MM) from those with smoldering MM poses a challenge for researchers who use administrative databases. Historically, researchers either have included all patients or used treatment receipt as the distinguishing factor; both methods have drawbacks. We present an algorithm for distinguishing between symptomatic and smoldering MM using ICD-9-CM (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification) codes for the classic defining events of symptomatic MM commonly referred to as the CRAB criteria (hypercalcemia, renal impairment, anemia, and bone lesions).

Public education strategies to increase awareness of stroke warning signs and the need to call 911.

Rapid identification and treatment of ischemic stroke can lead to improved patient outcomes. We implemented a 20-week public education campaign to increase community awareness of warning signs for stroke and the need to call 911. Telephone surveys were conducted in adults aged 45 years and older before and after the intervention to evaluate its impact.