Racial, ethnic and neighborhood socioeconomic differences in incidence of dementia: A regional retrospective cohort study.

Background: Evidence on the effects of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage on dementia risk in racially and ethically diverse populations is limited. Our objective was to evaluate the relative extent to which neighborhood disadvantage accounts for racial/ethnic variation in dementia incidence rates. Secondarily, we evaluated the spatial relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and dementia risk.

Evaluating and Modeling Neighborhood Diversity and Health Using Electronic Health Records.

Background: Electronic health records (EHRs) provide researchers with abundant sample sizes, detailed clinical data, and other advantages for performing high-quality observational health research on diverse populations. We review and demonstrate strategies for the design and analysis of cohort studies on neighborhood diversity and health, including evaluation of the effects of race, ethnicity, and neighborhood socioeconomic position on disease prevalence and health outcomes, using localized EHR data.

Methods: Design strategies include integrating and harmonizing EHR data across multiple local health systems and defining the population(s) of interest and cohort extraction procedures for a given analysis based on the goal(s) of the study.

Mechanisms of socioeconomic differences in COVID-19 screening and hospitalizations.

Background: Social and ecological differences in early SARS-CoV-2 pandemic screening and outcomes have been documented, but the means by which these differences have arisen are not well understood.

Objective: To characterize socioeconomic and chronic disease-related mechanisms underlying these differences.

Design: Observational cohort study.

Opportunities, Pitfalls, and Alternatives in Adapting Electronic Health Records for Health Services Research.

Electronic health records (EHRs) offer the potential to study large numbers of patients but are designed for clinical practice, not research. Despite the increasing availability of EHR data, their use in research comes with its own set of challenges. In this article, we describe some important considerations and potential solutions for commonly encountered problems when working with large-scale, EHR-derived data for health services and community-relevant health research.

Failure of Traditional Risk Factors to Adequately Predict Cardiovascular Events in Older Populations.

Background: Accurate assessment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk across heterogeneous populations is needed for effective primary prevention. Little is known about the performance of standard cardiovascular risk factors in older adults.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Pooled Cohort Equations (PCE) risk model, as well as the underlying cardiovascular risk factors, among adults older than 65 years.

A Scoping Review of Medications Studied in Pediatric Polypharmacy Research.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe medications most commonly studied in pediatric polypharmacy research by pharmacologic classes and disease using a scoping review methodology.

Methods: A search of electronic databases was conducted in July 2019 that included Ovid Medline, PubMed, Elsevier Embase, and EBSCO CINAHL. Primary observational studies were selected if they evaluated polypharmacy as an aim, outcome, predictor, or covariate in children 0-21 years of age.

Risk-period-cohort approach for averting identification problems in longitudinal models.

In epidemiology, gerontology, human development and the social sciences, age-period-cohort (APC) models are used to study the variability in trajectories of change over time. A well-known issue exists in simultaneously identifying age, period and birth cohort effects, namely that the three characteristics comprise a perfectly collinear system. That is, since age = period-cohort, only two of these effects are estimable at a time.

Variation of the prevalence of pediatric polypharmacy: A scoping review.

Purpose: To examine the range of prevalence of pediatric polypharmacy in literature through a scoping review, focusing on factors that contribute to its heterogeneity in order to improve the design and reporting of quality improvement, pharmacovigilance, and research studies.

Methods: We searched Ovid Medline, PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Ovid PsycINFO, Cochrane CENTRAL, and Web of Science Core Collection databases for studies with concepts of children and polypharmacy, along with a hand search of the bibliographies of six reviews and 30 included studies. We extracted information regarding study design, disease conditions, and prevalence of polypharmacy.

Race analysis in an African American sample with serious mental illness and comorbid diabetes.

Objectives: Targeted Training in Illness Management (TTIM) focuses on enhancing care engagement for people living with serious mental illness and diabetes. This secondary analysis from a 60-week, randomized controlled trial of TTIM versus treatment as usual evaluated racial subgroup outcomes.

Method: Demographics, clinical characteristics, and diabetes status were evaluated for those self-identifying as non-Hispanic White, African American, and Hispanic.

Functional health status of adults with serious mental illness and diabetes mellitus: A latent profile analysis.

Objective: Adults with serious mental illness are at increased risk for diabetes mellitus and diabetes-related complications. This article classifies subgroups among people with serious mental illness and comorbid diabetes with respect to functional status and examines differences among those groups.

Methods: This analysis used a baseline sample of 157 adults with serious mental illness and diabetes mellitus enrolled in a National Institute of Health-funded research study.

Predicting Outcomes in Patients With AsymptomaticModerate to Severe Aortic Stenosis.

Outcomes in asymptomatic patients with aortic stenosis (AS) have been reported primarily from tertiary centers. Whether observations from a community hospital cohort would be similar or if clinical variables would assume a more important role remains uncertain. This retrospective cohort study from one community hospital followed asymptomatic patients with moderate to severe AS for 3 years following an index echocardiogram.

What Works in a Nurse Led Self-Management Program for Patients with Serious Mental Illness (SMI) and Diabetes (DM).

Objective: To develop a deeper understanding of "how" a nurse led self-management intervention in a successful randomized controlled trial (RCT) for individuals with both serious mental illness (SMI) and diabetes (DM) influenced health outcomes and the lives of the participants.

Methods: In depth interviews, were conducted with a sample of 10 participants who received the self-management intervention in the RCT. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using content analysis, with an emphasis on dominant themes.

Associations among comorbid anxiety, psychiatric symptomatology, and diabetic control in a population with serious mental illness and diabetes: Findings from an interventional randomized controlled trial.

Objective Serious mental illness and type II diabetes mellitus have a high comorbidity, and both have a higher prevalence of anxiety disorders compared to the general population. Targeted Training in Illness Management is a group-based self-management training approach which targets serious mental illness and type II diabetes mellitus concurrently. This analysis examines data from a randomized controlled trial of Targeted Training in Illness Management intervention to examine the impact of comorbid anxiety on baseline psychiatric symptomatology and diabetic control, and on longitudinal treatment outcomes.

Clinic Appointment Attendance in Adults with Serious Mental Illness and Diabetes.

Objectives: We assessed characteristics that may predict outpatient appointment attendance in outpatient medical clinics among patients comorbid for serious mental illness (SMI) and type 2 diabetes (DM).

Methods: Baseline covariate data from 200 individuals with SMI-DM enrolled in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) were used to examine characteristics associated with electronic health record-identified clinic appointment attendance using a generalized estimating equations approach. The analyses evaluated the relationship between clinic attendance and potentially modifiable factors including disease knowledge, self-efficacy, social support, physical health, and mental health, as well as demographic information.

Accuracy of Cardiovascular Risk Prediction Varies by Neighborhood Socioeconomic Position: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: Inequality in health outcomes in relation to Americans' socioeconomic position is rising.

Objective: First, to evaluate the spatial relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and major atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD)-related events; second, to evaluate the relative extent to which neighborhood disadvantage and physiologic risk account for neighborhood-level variation in ASCVD event rates.

Design: Observational cohort analysis of geocoded longitudinal electronic health records.

Recruiting and Retaining Individuals with Serious Mental Illness and Diabetes in Clinical Research: Lessons Learned from a Randomized, Controlled Trial.

Recruitment and retention of individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) and comorbid diabetes mellitus (DM) in research studies can be challenging with major impediments being difficulties reaching participants via telephone contact, logistic difficulties due to lack of transportation, ongoing psychiatric symptoms, and significant medical complications. Research staff directly involved in recruitment and retention processes of this study reviewed their experiences. The largest barriers at the macro, mediator, and micro levels identified in this study were inclement weather, transportation difficulties, and intermittent and inaccessible telephone contact.

A 60-Week Prospective RCT of a Self-Management Intervention for Individuals With Serious Mental Illness and Diabetes Mellitus.

Objectives: A 60-week randomized controlled trial assessed the effects of targeted training in illness management (TTIM) versus treatment as usual among 200 individuals with serious mental illness and diabetes mellitus.

Methods: The study used the Clinical Global Impression (CGI), the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) to assess psychiatric symptoms; the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) and the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS) to assess functioning; the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) to assess general health, and serum glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) to assess diabetes control.

Results: Participants' mean±SD age was 52.

Rethinking A1C targets for patients with mental illness?

The American Diabetes Association (ADA)'s "Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes" recognizes that hemoglobin A1C targets for patients should be individualized.² We consider it important to discuss challenges and limitations with each patient.

Practice Variation Among Hospitals in Revascularization Therapy and Its Association With Procedure-related Mortality.

Background: While substantial practice variation in coronary revascularization has been described and deviation from clinical practice guidelines has been associated with worse outcomes, the degree to which this is driven by flawed decision making and/or appropriate deviation associated with comorbid conditions is unknown. We evaluated heterogeneity in procedure use, and the extent to which hospital-level practice variation is related to surgical mortality.

Methods: We analyzed data on 554,563 inpatients undergoing either percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass grafting at 391 centers in 6 states.

Barriers to Self-management of Serious Mental Illness and Diabetes.

Objectives: Individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) (major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia), and diabetes (DM), face significant challenges in managing their physical and mental health. The objective of this study was to assess perceived barriers to self-management among patients with both SMI and DM in order to inform healthcare delivery practices.

Methods: We conducted 20 in-depth interviews with persons who had diagnoses of both SMI and DM.

A Nursing Approach to Self-Management Education for Individuals With Mental Illness and Diabetes.

Patients with serious mental illness (SMI) and diabetes often seek care in primary care settings and have worse health outcomes than patients who have either illness alone. Individual, provider, and system-level barriers present challenges to addressing both psychiatric and medical comorbidities. This article describes the feasibility, acceptability, and implementation of Targeted Training and Illness Management (TTIM), a self-management intervention delivered by trained nurse educators and peer educators to groups of individuals with SMI and diabetes to improve self-management of both diseases.

Associations between comorbid anxiety, diabetes control, and overall medical burden in patients with serious mental illness and diabetes.

Objective: While previous work has demonstrated elevation of both comorbid anxiety disorders and diabetes mellitus type II in individuals with serious mental illness, little is known regarding the impact of comorbid anxiety on diabetes mellitus type II outcomes in serious mental illness populations. We analyzed baseline data from patients with serious mental illness and diabetes mellitus type II to examine relationships between comorbid anxiety, glucose control as measured by hemoglobin A1c score, and overall illness burden.

Methods: Using baseline data from an ongoing prospective treatment study involving 157 individuals with serious mental illness and diabetes mellitus type II, we compared individuals with and without a comorbid anxiety disorder and compared hemoglobin A1c levels between these groups to assess the relationship between anxiety and management of diabetes mellitus type II.

Risk tolerance to MS therapies: Survey results from the NARCOMS registry.

Background: There is little information about risk acceptance of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients to various MS therapies.

Objective: To determine MS patients׳ tolerance to risky therapies and identify associated characteristics.

Methods: MS patients from the North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS) Registry׳s online cohort were invited to complete questionnaires on decision making and risk tolerance (RT) to two therapeutic scenarios: a theoretical cure for MS [CureMS], with permanent reversal of all MS symptoms but a risk of immediate painless death; and natalizumab [NAT], a real-life scenario with benefits and risks as defined by Phase III trial results.

Empirical Treatment Effectiveness Models for Binary Outcomes.

Randomized trials provide strong evidence regarding efficacy of interventions but are limited in their capacity to address potential heterogeneity in effectiveness within broad clinical populations. For example, a treatment that on average is superior may be distinctly worse in certain patients. We propose a technique for using large electronic health registries to develop and validate decision models that measure-for distinct combinations of covariate values-the difference in predicted outcomes among 2 alternative treatments.