Peritoneal Dialysis Technique Survival: A Cohort Study.

Rationale & Objective: Reasons for transfer from peritoneal dialysis (PD) to hemodialysis (HD) remain incompletely understood. Among incident and prevalent patients receiving PD, we evaluated the association of clinical factors, including prior treatment with HD, with PD technique survival.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Serial SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Titers in Vaccinated Dialysis Patients: Prevalence of Unrecognized Infection and Duration of Seroresponse.

Rationale & Objective: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections are likely underdiagnosed, but the degree of underdiagnosis among patients receiving maintenance dialysis is unknown. The durability of the immune response after the third vaccine dose in this population also remains uncertain. This descriptive study tracked antibody levels to (1) assess the rate of undiagnosed infections and (2) characterize seroresponse durability after the third dose.

Improving front-line clinician capacity to address depression and bipolar disorder among perinatal individuals: a longitudinal analysis of the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program (MCPAP) for Moms.

Perinatal mood disorders (PMDs) are common, yet many patients are undertreated. The Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program (MCPAP) for Moms is designed to increase clinicians' willingness to address PMDs. We examined utilization of MCPAP for Moms and associations with PMDs treatment, including the more complex bipolar disorder (BD).

SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Effectiveness and Breakthrough Infections Among Patients Receiving Maintenance Dialysis.

Rationale & Objective: SARS-CoV-2 vaccine effectiveness and immunogenicity threshold associated with protection against COVID-19-related hospitalization or death in the dialysis population are unknown.

Study Design: Retrospective, observational study.

Setting & Participants: Adult patients without COVID-19 history receiving maintenance dialysis through a national dialysis provider and treated between February 1 and December 18, 2021, with follow-up through January 17, 2022.

Seroresponse to Inactivated and Recombinant Influenza Vaccines Among Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients.

Rationale & Objective: High-dose influenza vaccine provides better protection against influenza infection in older adults than standard-dose vaccine. We compared vaccine seroresponse among hemodialysis patients over a period of 4 months after administration of high-dose trivalent inactivated (HD-IIV3), standard-dose quadrivalent inactivated (SD-IIV4), or quadrivalent recombinant quadrivalent (RIV4) influenza vaccine.

Study Design: Prospective observational study.

Association of Social Determinants of Health With Adherence to Second-generation Antipsychotics for People With Bipolar Disorders in a Medicaid Population.

Background: About 7 million people, 2.8% of US adults, have bipolar disorder (BD). While second-generation antipsychotics (SGA) are indicated as acute and maintenance treatments for BD, therapeutic success requires medication adherence and reported nonadherence estimates to range as high as 60%.

Complex Patients Have More Emergency Visits: Don't Punish the Systems That Serve Them.

Importance: Better patient management can reduce emergency department (ED) use. Performance measures should reward plans for reducing utilization by predictably high-use patients, rather than rewarding plans that shun them.

Objective: The objective of this study was to develop a quality measure for ED use for people diagnosed with serious mental illness or substance use disorder, accounting for both medical and social determinants of health (SDH) risks.

Y-Box Binding Protein-1 Promotes Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Sorafenib-Resistant Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common cancer types worldwide. In cases of advanced-stage disease, sorafenib is considered the treatment of choice. However, resistance to sorafenib remains a major obstacle for effective clinical application.

The Role of Limited English Proficiency and Access to Health Insurance and Health Care in the Affordable Care Act Era.

Limited English proficiency adversely impacts people's ability to access health services. This study examines the association between English language proficiency and insurance access and use of a usual care provider after the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Using cross-sectional data from the 2016 Medical Panel Expenditures Survey, we identified 24,099 adults (weighted =240,035,048) and categorized them by self-reported English-language proficiency.

Emergency Department and Primary Care Use in Massachusetts 5 Years After Health Reform.

Objective: Conceptually, access to primary care (through insurance) should reduce emergency department (ED) visits for primary care sensitive (PCS) conditions. We sought to identify characteristics of insured Massachusetts residents associated with PCS ED use, and compare such use for public versus private insurees.

Population And Setting: People under age 65 in the Massachusetts All-Payer Claims Data, 2011-2012.

Association of Smoking Status With Mortality and Hospitalization in Hemodialysis Patients.

Rationale & Objective: The relationship between tobacco smoking and comorbid condition outcomes in hemodialysis (HD) patients is not well understood. This study examined the association of tobacco smoking status with hospitalization and mortality in HD patients.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Quantifying Risk Factors for Long-Term Sleep Problems After Burn Injury in Young Adults.

Restorative sleep is an important component of quality of life. Disturbances in sleep after burn injury were reported but all based on uncontrolled or nonstandardized data. The occurrence and the effect of long-term sleep problems in young adult burn survivors have not been well defined.

Recovery Curves for Pediatric Burn Survivors: Advances in Patient-Oriented Outcomes.

Importance: Patient-reported outcomes serving as benchmarks for recovery of pediatric burn survivors are lacking, and new approaches using longitudinal cohorts for monitoring their expected recovery based on statistical models are needed for patient management during the early years following the burn.

Objective: To describe multidimensional patient-reported outcomes among pediatric burn survivors younger than 5 years to establish benchmarks using recovery curve methods.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Prospective cohort study of pediatric burn survivors younger than 5 years at 12 burn centers.

Change in quality of life and one-year mortality risk in maintenance dialysis patients.

Background: Quality of life (QOL) is an important metric of high-quality dialysis care. QOL is commonly measured by the Short Form 36 Questionnaire (SF-36), which provides two summary scores: a mental component score (MCS) and a physical component score (PCS). Poor QOL is associated with mortality in dialysis patients.

Catheter-related bacteremia and mortality in frequent nocturnal home hemodialysis.

Frequent nightly home hemodialysis (NHHD) has emerged as an attractive alternative to thrice weekly in-center hemodialysis, albeit with preponderant long-term hemodialysis catheter used. Sixty-three NHHD patients from University of Virginia Lynchburg Dialysis Facility were matched 1:2 with 121 conventional hemodialysis patients admitted to Fresenius Medical Care North America facilities from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2010. Matching considered age (± 5 years), gender, race, dialysis vintage, and diabetes.

Associates of cardiopulmonary arrest in the perihemodialytic period.

Cardiopulmonary arrest during and proximate to hemodialysis is rare but highly fatal. Studies have examined peridialytic sudden cardiac event risk factors, but no study has considered associates of cardiopulmonary arrests (fatal and nonfatal events including cardiac and respiratory causes). This study was designed to elucidate patient and procedural factors associated with peridialytic cardiopulmonary arrest.

Depressive affect and hospitalization risk in incident hemodialysis patients.

Background And Objectives: Recent studies demonstrated an association between depressive affect and higher mortality risk in incident hemodialysis patients. This study sought to determine whether an association also exists with hospitalization risk.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: All 8776 adult incident hemodialysis patients with Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 survey results treated in Fresenius Medical Care North America facilities in 2006 were followed for 1 year from the date of survey, and all hospitalization events lasting >24 hours were tracked.

First-year outcomes of incident peritoneal dialysis patients in the United States.

Background: Patterns of early outcomes in peritoneal dialysis (PD) are not well studied and dialysis providers need to establish a baseline of key outcomes for continuous quality improvement initiatives.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting & Participants: Incident PD patients from Fresenius Medical Care, North America from January 1 through December 31, 2009.

Long-term posttraumatic stress symptoms vary inversely with early opiate dosing in children recovering from serious burns: effects durable at 4 years.

Background: Children surviving serious burns are at risk for developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a function both of the injury and of its treatment. Short-term studies in such children have demonstrated reduced PTSD symptoms with intensive early pain control. However, the long-term impact of early pain control strategies on posttraumatic stress symptoms in children recovering from serious burn injuries has not been examined.