Ambulatory Care Visits Research Articles

Pneumocystis pneumonia outbreak among renal transplant recipients at a North American transplant center: Risk factors and implications for infection control

Pneumocystis pneumonia is a severe opportunistic fungal infection. Outbreaks among renal transplant recipients have been reported in Europe and Japan, but never in North America. We conducted a retrospective case-control study among adult renal transplant recipients at a Canadian center, using a 3:1 matching scheme. Ten cases and 30 controls were matched based on initial transplantation date, and all patients received prophylaxis with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for 1 year posttransplantation. The median time between transplantation and infection was 10.2 years, and all patients survived. Compared with controls, case patients had statistically lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (29.3 mL/min vs 66.3 mL/min; P = .028) and lymphopenia (0.51 × 10(9)/L vs 1.25 × 10(9)/L; P = .002). Transmission mapping revealed significant overlap in the clinic and laboratory visits among case vs control patients (P = .0002). One hundred percent of patients (4 out of 4) successfully genotyped had the same strain of Pneumocystis jirovecii. Our study demonstrated an outbreak of pneumocystis more than 10 years following initial transplantation, despite using recommended initial prophylaxis. We identified low estimated glomerular filtration rate and lymphopenia as risk factors for infection. Overlapping ambulatory care visits were identified as important potential sources of infection transmission, suggesting that institutions should re-evaluate policy and infrastructure strategies to interrupt transmission of respiratory pathogens.

The non-silent epidemic: low back pain as a primary cause of hospitalisation.

Low back pain (LBP) is the most common cause of pain in adults and the second health condition that prompts patients to seek ambulatory medical care visits. To analyse the impact of LBP on hospitalisations in healthcare facilities within the official subsector in Argentina between 2006 and 2010. Discharges in which the original diagnosis had been either adult LBP or lumbosciatica were assessed. The data comprised age, gender, province of residence, average length of stay (LOS) in the hospital, intra-hospital death, and the Provincial Human Development Index (PHDI). 17,859 discharges had an original diagnosis of LBP and 10,948 of lumbosciatica, which jointly accounted for 18.7 % of all the discharges documented for Diseases of Osteomuscular System and Connective Tissue (DOMS). Hospital discharges of female patients represented 53.7 %. The average age upon admission was 47.7 years in men versus 47.9 in women. The average LOS was slightly higher in men (4.2 vs. 3.8 days, p 0.01). In provinces with a PHDI below the national average, a surgical procedure was performed in 3.1 % of the discharges versus 4.1 % in the provinces with a PHDI above the national average (p < 0.001). LBP was the most frequent cause of hospitalisation due to DOMS. It occurred with a slightly higher frequency in women and prompted short hospitalisations. A surgical procedure was carried out during hospitalisation in very few cases, but the percentage of surgeries during hospitalisation was higher in provinces with a PHDI above the national average.

Complexity of ambulatory care visits of patients with diabetes as reflected by diagnoses per visit

AimsAs the proportion of people with multiple chronic conditions grows, so does the complexity of patient care. Although office-based visits to subspecialists are expected to be intense, due to the focused nature of the visit, the complexity of office-based visits to primary care physicians has yet to be explored in depth. To explore complexity, we looked at diabetes as a case study to determine whether and how the complexity of office-based visits varies by physician specialty type, as measured by the number of diagnoses reported per visits. MethodsThe Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data is used to create a nationally-representative sample of adults who self-report a diabetes diagnosis, the specialty of the treating physician for their care, and the number of diagnoses for each visit. Using cross tabulations, the distribution of office-based visits are analyzed based on a categorization of patients by number of visit diagnoses, number of conditions reported, and type of physician seen. ResultsAlmost 80 percent of visits made by adults with diabetes to subspecialist involved care for that single diagnosis; while 55 percent of visits to primary care involved care for at least one additional diagnosis. Almost 70 percent of visits in which only one diagnosis was reported were to subspecialist physicians. Almost 90 percent of visits in which four diagnoses were reported were to primary care physicians. ConclusionsOffice-based visits to primary care physicians are made increasingly complex by growing population morbidity. Adults with diabetes report more conditions being cared for per visit with primary care physicians than with subspecialty physicians. Future studies into where our results hold for other chronic conditions would be beneficial. As recent United States legislation moves health care payment toward paying for value and population health, encounter complexity should be accommodated.

A diagnostic dilemma: chronic sinusitis diagnosed by non-otolaryngologists.

Ambulatory care visits for chronic sinusitis outnumber visits for acute sinusitis. The majority of these visits are with non-otolaryngologists. In order to better understand patients diagnosed with chronic sinusitis by non-otolaryngologists, we sought to determine if incident cases of chronic sinusitis diagnosed by primary care (PC) or emergency medicine (EM) providers meet diagnostic criteria. This was a retrospective cohort study. Patients were identified using administrative data from 2005 to 2006. The dataset was then clinically annotated based on chart review. We excluded prevalent cases. We identified 114 patients with newly diagnosed chronic sinusitis in EM (75) or PC settings (39). Rhinorrhea (EM 61%, PC 59%) and nasal obstruction (EM 67%, PC 64%) were common in both settings but facial fullness (EM 80%, PC 39%) and pain (EM 40%, PC 18%) were more common in the EM setting. Few patients reported symptoms of 90 days or longer (EM 6.0%, PC 24%) and no patient had evidence of inflammation on physical examination. A minority of patients received a sinus computed tomography (CT) scan (22.8%) or nasal endoscopy (1.8%). In total, only 1 patient diagnosed with chronic sinusitis met the diagnostic criteria. Most patients diagnosed with chronic sinusitis by non-otolaryngologists do not have the condition. Caution should be used in studying chronic sinusitis using administrative data from non-otolaryngology providers because a large proportion of the patients may not actually have the disease.

How Compliance Measures, Behavior Modification, and Continuous Quality Improvement Led to Routine HIV Screening in an Emergency Department in Brooklyn, New York.

New York State adopted a new HIV testing law in 2010 requiring medical providers to offer an HIV test to all eligible patients aged 13-64 years during emergency room or ambulatory care visits. Since then, Wyckoff Heights Medical Center (WHMC) in Brooklyn, New York, began implementing routine HIV screening organization-wide using a compliance, behavior-modification, and continuous quality-improvement process. WHMC first implemented HIV screening in the emergency department (ED) and evaluated progress with the following monthly indicators: HIV tests offered, HIV tests accepted, HIV tests ordered (starting in December 2013), HIV tests administered, positive HIV tests, and linkage to HIV care. Compliance with the delivery of HIV testing was determined by the proportion of patients who, after accepting a test, received one. During August 2013 through July 2014, of 57,852 eligible patients seen in the WHMC ED, a total of 31,423 (54.3%) were offered an HIV test. Of those, 8,229 (26.2%) patients accepted a test. Of those, 6,114 (74.3%) underwent a test. A total of 26 of the 6,114 patients tested (0.4%) had a positive test, and 24 of the 26 HIV-positive patients were linked to HIV medical care. By July 2014, the monthly proportion of patients offered a test was 62%; the proportion of those offered a test who had a test ordered was 98%, and the proportion of those with a test ordered who were tested was 81%. Testing compliance increased substantially at the WHMC ED, from 77% in December 2013 to >98% in July 2014. Using compliance-monitoring, behavior-modification, and continuous quality-improvement processes produced substantial increases in offers and HIV test completion. WHMC is replicating this approach across departments, and other hospitals implementing routine HIV screening programs should consider this approach as well.

Effects of Visiting Nursing Services in Long-term Care Insurance on Utilization of Health Care

Purpose: This is a comparative study using secondary data from the Korean national long term care (LTC) insurance. Methods: Visiting nursing (VN) service users (n=666) and non-users (n=4,375) were extracted and compared in terms of medical expenditures, length of hospitalization, and annual number of ambulatory care visits to investigate effects of VN services in LTC. Results: Total health care expenditures were compared between the two groups and it was found that VN service users spent about $ 1700 than non-users for their medical costs between 2009 and 2011. The average length of in-hospital stay for VN service users was 19.4 days shorter than that of non-users. However, using VN services did not significantly influence the annual number of ambulatory care visits. Conclusion: The study has found that VN services are effective ways of providing community-based LTC services. We recommend LTC policy makers to further utilize VN services to deliver cost effective health care services.

Thoughts about Person-Centered Care for the Adult Population with Multimorbidity

Patients with multimorbidity are becoming the norm rather than the exception. The management of patients with several chronic diseases is now the most important challenge facing health care systems in developed countries. Based on the actual medical records of ambulatory care visits, this study investigated the prevalence and patterns of multimorbidity in 55 and older population. Among a cohort comprised of 300,000 beneficiaries selected randomly from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan in 2001, 42,441 were eligible. These were followed longitudinally 10 years. The prevalence of chronic disease rose from 62.3% to 79.8% and multimorbidity rose from 57.4% to 75.7%. Multimorbidity patterns were found fell in-to four clusters: metabolic diseases, cardiac diseases, mental joints and gastrointestinal tract disorders. Hypertension and diabetes mellitus, as well as hyperplasia of the prostate in men, were the most common chronic diseases. The prevalence of chronic disease increased with age, especially high at age 75 - 79. Thought about the health care system for an ageing society is necessary. Applying the concept of customer experience and strengthening people-centered management in an integrated model of health care, enhancing knowledge and skills in the long-term management of chronic disease, revising clinical guidelines and training professionals in caring for the elderly, reinforcing preventive health services, especially in men’s health, modifying the materials for health education, and planning for health manpower resources will provide a better model to ensure the health care for people with multimorbidity.

Application of three different sets of explicit criteria for assessing inappropriate prescribing in older patients: a nationwide prevalence study of ambulatory care visits in Taiwan

ObjectiveTo investigate the national prevalence of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) prescribed in ambulatory care clinics in Taiwan according to three different sets of regional criteria and the correlates of PIM...

Potentially inappropriate medication use at ambulatory care visits by elderly patients covered by National Health Insurance in Korea.

Potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use is an important and preventable safety concern in the care of elderly patients and has been associated with adverse drug reactions, hospitalization, and mortality. Although PIM use for the elderly is a common and serious public health issue worldwide, there are few studies examining PIM use in the ambulatory care setting in Korea. To examine the prevalence and risk factors of PIM use from ambulatory care visits by elderly patients covered by National Health Insurance (NHI) in Korea, the nationwide prescription claims data of elderly patients' ambulatory care visits in 2006 were analyzed. Potentially inappropriate prescriptions were identified using extensive criteria that included Beers', Zhan's, and Canadian criteria. In 2006, 3,770,978 elderly patients received 40,995,267 prescriptions. 36.7% of the total prescriptions for elderly patients who visited ambulatory care clinics were identified as PIM use. Findings in this study indicated that the strongest risk factors for PIM prescriptions were the number of drugs prescribed and visit characteristics. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the explicit criteria of PIM prescription in Korea that can be included in the Drug Utilization Review (DUR) system, which is expected to lead to more appropriate and judicious prescribing.

Risk of Hand Syndromes in Patients With Diabetes Mellitus: A Population-Based Cohort Study in Taiwan.

The aim of this study was to assess the overall and cause-specific incidences of diabetic hand syndromes (DHS) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) by using age and sex stratifications.The DM and control cohorts comprised 606,152 patients with DM and 609,970 age- and sex-matched subjects, respectively, who were followed up from 2000 to 2008. We estimated the incidence densities (IDs) of overall and cause-specific DHS, namely carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), stenosing flexor tenosynovitis (SFT), limited joint mobility (LJM), and Dupuytren disease (DD), and calculated the hazard ratios (HRs) of DHS in relation to DM by using a Cox proportional hazards model with adjustment for potential confounders.Over a 9-year period, 51,207 patients with DM (8.45%) and 39,153 matched controls (6.42%) sought ambulatory care visits for various DHS, with an ID of 117.7 and 80.7 per 10,000 person-years, respectively. The highest cause-specific ID was observed for CTS, followed by SFT, LJM, and DD, regardless of the diabetic status. After adjustment for potential confounders, patients with DM had a significantly high HR of overall DHS (1.51, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.48-1.53). Men and women aged <35 years had the highest HR (2.64, 95% CI = 2.15-3.24 and 2.99, 95% CI = 2.55-3.50, respectively). Cause-specific analyses revealed that DM was more strongly associated with SFT (HR = 1.90, 95% CI = 1.86-1.95) and DD (HR = 1.83, 95% CI = 1.39-2.39) than with CTS (HR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.28-1.34) and LJM (HR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.13-1.35).Men and younger patients with DM have the highest risk of DHS. Certain hand syndromes, such as SFT and DD, were more strongly associated with DM than with other syndromes and require the attention of clinicians.

Assessing the Functional Status of Older Cancer Patients in an Ambulatory Care Visit.

Functional status assessment is a useful and essential component of the complete history and physical exam of the older patient diagnosed with cancer. Functional status is the ability to conduct activities that are necessary for independence and more executive activities, such as money management, cooking, and transportation. Assessment of functional status creates a portal into interpreting the health of in older persons. Understanding limitations and physical abilities can help in developing cancer treatment strategies, patient/family teaching needs, and in-home services that enhance patient/family care. This article will review the benefits of functional assessment, instruments that can be used during an ambulatory care visit, and interventions that can address potential limitations.

Ambulatory medical services utilization for menstrual disorders among female personnel of different medical professions in Taiwan: a nationwide retrospective cohort study.

BackgroundMenstrual disorders and their adverse symptoms can have a deleterious effect on both the private and working lives of women. Previous studies indicated that female nurses have elevated risk of menstrual disorders. Moreover, female nurses showed a higher incidence of ambulatory care visit for genitourinary diseases compared with other female medical personnel. However, little is known whether the medical services utilization for menstrual disorders were different among personnel from various medical professions. Therefore, the present study compared the ambulatory medical services utilization for menstrual disorders among personnel of six different medical professions in Taiwan using a nationwide, population-based health claim research database.MethodsThe National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) was used to identify female medical professionals, aged 18 to 45 years, who obtained their licenses during January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2012. Personnel from six different medical professions were examined and they included (1) medical technologists and therapists, (2) registered nurses, (3) physicians, (4) doctors of Chinese medicine, (5) dentists, and (6) pharmacists. Diagnoses of menstrual disorders, based on International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes, were obtained from the ambulatory medical services utilization that occurred after their license date. Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess the hazards of medical services utilization for menstrual disorders using medical technologists and therapists as the reference category.ResultsA total of 7653 medical personnel were included in the analysis. Using the group containing medical technologists and therapists as the reference category, registered nurses (adjusted hazards ratio [AHR] = 1.13, p = 0.018) and doctors of Chinese medicine (AHR = 2.52, p < 0.001) showed a significant increased risk of medical services utilization for menstrual disorders. Conversely, physicians showed a significant decreased risk of medical services utilization for menstrual disorders (AHR = 0.58, p < 0.001). Regarding the nine specific menstrual disorders observed in this study, registered nurses and doctors of Chinese medicine showed an increased risk in six and four of them, respectively. Pharmacists showed an increased risk only in menorrhagia (AHR = 1.64, p = 0.020) and dentists showed no significant differences in any of the nine specific menstrual disorders compared with medical technologists and therapists. Physicians showed a significant decreased risk all specific menstrual disorders except menorrhagia and dysfunctional uterine bleeding.ConclusionsFindings from this population-based cohort study revealed that, compared with medical technologists and therapists, registered nurses and doctors of Chinese medicine exhibited significant increased risks in medical services utilization for menstrual disorders whereas physicians showed a significant decreased risk in menstrual disorders. Further studies should be conducted to delineate whether the differences in the medical services utilization is an indicator of risk of menstrual disorders or the results of varying patterns of health care seeking behavior among women of different medical professions.

Social Determinants of Risk and Outcomes for Cardiovascular Disease: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.

An Institute of Medicine report titled U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health documents the decline in the health status of Americans relative to people in other high-income countries, concluding that “Americans are dying and suffering from illness and injury at rates that are demonstrably unnecessary.”1 The report blames many factors, “adverse economic and social conditions” among them. In an editorial in Science discussing the findings of the Institute of Medicine report, Bayer et al2 call for a national commission on health “to address the social causes that have put the USA last among comparable nations.” Although mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the United States has been on a linear decline since the 1970s, the burden remains high. It accounted for 31.9% of deaths in 2010.3 There is general agreement that the decline is the result, in equal measure, of advances in prevention and advances in treatment. These advances in turn rest on dramatic successes in efforts to understand the biology of CVD that began in the late 1940s.4,5 It has been assumed that the steady downward trend in mortality will continue into the future as further breakthroughs in biological science lead to further advances in prevention and treatment. This view of the future may not be warranted. The prevalence of CVD in the United States is expected to rise 10% between 2010 and 2030.6 This change in the trajectory of cardiovascular burden is the result not only of an aging population but also of a dramatic rise over the past 25 years in obesity and the hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and physical inactivity that accompany weight gain. Although there is no consensus on the precise causes of the obesity epidemic, a dramatic change in the underlying biology of Americans is …

Federally Qualified Health Center Use Among Dual Eligibles: Rates Of Hospitalizations And Emergency Department Visits.

People who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid, known as "dual eligibles," disproportionately are members of racial or ethnic minority groups. They face barriers accessing primary care, which in turn increase the risk of potentially preventable hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions. Federally qualified health centers provide services known to address barriers to primary care. We analyzed 2008-10 Medicare data for elderly and nonelderly disabled dual eligibles residing in Primary Care Service Areas with nearby federally qualified health centers. Among our findings: There were fewer hospitalizations for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions among blacks and Hispanics who used these health centers than among their counterparts who did not use them (16 percent and 13 percent fewer, respectively). Use of the health centers was also associated with 3 percent and 12 percent fewer hospitalizations for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions among nonelderly disabled blacks and Hispanics, respectively. These findings suggest that federally qualified health centers can reduce disparities in preventable hospitalizations for some dual eligibles. However, further efforts are needed to reduce preventable ED visits among dual eligibles receiving care in the health centers.

Accuracy of Self-Reported Health Care Use in a Population-Based Sample of Homeless Adults.

To assess the accuracy of self-reported ambulatory care visits, emergency department (ED) encounters, and overnight hospitalizations in a population-based sample of homeless adults. Self-report survey data and administrative health care utilization databases. Self-reported health care use in the past 12months was compared to administrative encounter records among 1,163 homeless adults recruited in 2004-2005 from shelters and meal programs in Toronto, Ontario. Self-reported health care use was assessed using a structured face-to-face survey. Each participant was linked to administrative databases using a unique personal health number or their first name, last name, sex, and date of birth. The sensitivity of self-report for ambulatory care visits, ED encounters, and overnight hospitalizations was 89, 80, and 73 percent, respectively; specificity was 37, 83, and 91 percent. The mean difference between self-reported and documented number of encounters in the past 12months was +1.6 for ambulatory care visits (95 percent CI=0.4, 2.8), -0.6 for ED encounters (95 percent CI=-0.8, -0.4), and 0.0 for hospitalizations (95 percent CI=0.0, 0.1). Adults experiencing homelessness are quite accurate reporters of their use of health care, especially for ED encounters and hospitalizations.

Differences in Treatment of Chlamydia trachomatis by Ambulatory Care Setting.

Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) is the most commonly reported sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the US and timely, correct treatment can reduce CT transmission and sequelae. Emergency departments (ED) are an important location for diagnosing STIs. This study compared recommended treatment of CT in EDs to treatment in physician offices. Five years of data (2006-2010) were analyzed from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys (NHAMCS), including the Outpatient survey (NHAMCS-OPD) and Emergency Department survey (NHAMCS-ED). All visits with a CT diagnosis and those with a diagnosis of unspecified venereal disease were selected for analysis. Differences in receipt of recommended treatments were compared between visits to physician offices and emergency departments using Chi square tests and logistic regression models. During the 5 year period, approximately 3.2 million ambulatory care visits had diagnosed CT or an unspecified venereal disease. A greater proportion of visits to EDs received the recommended treatment for CT compared to visits to physician offices (66.1 vs. 44.9 %, p < .01). When controlling for patients' age, sex and race/ethnicity, those presenting to the ED with CT were more likely to receive the recommended antibiotic treatment than patients presenting to a physician's office (OR 2.16; 95 % CI 1.04-4.48). This effect was attenuated when further controlling for patients' expected source of payment. These analyses demonstrate differences in the treatment of CT by ambulatory care setting as well as opportunities for increasing use of recommended treatments for diagnosed cases of this important STI.

PHS131 - Out-of-pocket Healthcare Expenditures among patients with Chronic obstructive Pulmonary disease

To describe out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditures for hospitalizations, ambulatory care visits and prescription medications and to determine if there is the difference in OOP expenditures by insurance status among subjects with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Data for this study were drawn from the 2012 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). The sample included adults (≥18 years) with a COPD diagnosis (ICD-9 codes 491, 492, and 496) who received COPD services at least once in 2012. The dependent variable was annual OOP expenditures and the independent variable was health insurance type (private, public, or no insurance). Descriptive statistics and inferential tests were conducted using SAS ProcSurvey for complex sampling design. Study subjects’ (N=587 unweighted; N=5,982,925 weighted) total mean±SE OOP COPD expenditures were $236.2±45.1 per person. Subjects with no insurance had total OOP expenditures ($621.3±385.9) that were 2.8 to 4.0 times higher than those who were privately ($221.4±22.6) or publicly ($156.9±22.9) insured. Inpatient expenditures (N=31 unweighted; N=332,414 weighted) were significantly higher for subjects with no insurance ($4,631.7±0), and lower for subjects with private ($186.9±1.9) and public insurance ($105.6±4.7). Ambulatory care visit (N=385 unweighted; N=3,831,325 weighted) OOP expenditures for subjects with no insurance ($77.9±14.0) were over 2 times higher than OOP expenditures for those privately or publicly insured ($35.0±5.3; $28.2±5.6, respectively). Of those who had prescription expenditures (N=468 unweighted; N=4,906,191 weighted), patients with private and those with no insurance paid similar OOP amounts ($222.1±24.8; $224.8±61.4, respectively), while those with public insurance had lower OOP expenditures ($162.5±24.4). When compared to subjects with private or public insurance, those with no insurance had higher OOP expenditures for COPD-related total, inpatient and ambulatory care services and lower OOP expenditures for prescriptions. Increasing the use of appropriate COPD medications among the uninsured may result in cost-savings due to reduced hospitalizations.

Pharmacist-led medication management program within a patient-centered medical home.

The impact of a clinical pharmacist-led medication management program (MMP) within a patient-centered medical home (PCMH) was evaluated. This retrospective analysis included patients in Sutter Health's electronic health records who (1) were seen by the MMP clinical pharmacist within the PCMH (MMP cohort), (2) were within the PCMH but were not referred to the MMP pharmacist (PCMH cohort), or (3) received usual care at two non-PCMH primary care clinics (usual care cohort). Patients were matched on their propensity for receiving medication management. The primary outcome measure was healthcare resource use (i.e., ambulatory care visits, emergency department [ED] visits, and hospitalizations). MMP patients had a higher percentage of ambulatory care visits relative to PCMH patients (p = 0.004) but a lower rate of hospitalizations (p = 0.003). The MMP group had a lower frequency of hospitalizations (p < 0.001) and ED visits (p = 0.014) relative to patients in the usual care group. No differences in healthcare resource use were observed between the PCMH and usual care cohorts. Glycosylated hemoglobin, blood pressure, or low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol at goal did not significantly differ among the three cohorts. Patients in a pharmacist-led MMP had a significantly higher estimated rate of ambulatory care visits but a lower rate of hospitalizations than did patients who attended the same clinic but were not in the MMP. MMP patients had a similar rate of ambulatory care visits but significantly lower rates of hospitalizations and ED visits than patients receiving usual care.

Health Care Use by a Population-Based Cohort of Children With Inflammatory Bowel Disease

There have been few population-based studies of health care used by children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We identified all children with IBD in the population-based University of Manitoba IBD Epidemiology Database; 651 children with IBD were matched for age, sex, and area of residence with 5950 children without IBD (controls), and followed up for a total of 6419 and 53,875 person-years, respectively. We extracted and analyzed data on IBD type (Crohn's disease vs ulcerative colitis), diagnosis before or after 2002 (era of diagnosis), age, sex, ambulatory care visits and hospitalizations before and after diagnosis, comorbidities, exposure to IBD drugs, and surgeries. Children with IBD were more likely to have visits for gastrointestinal symptoms in each of the 4 years before IBD diagnosis than controls, with no significant effect of era of diagnosis. Children with IBD had more physician encounters for psychosocial diagnoses in the 6 months before or after the IBD diagnosis, as well as in the second year after IBD diagnosis, than controls; 56% of children with IBD were exposed to corticosteroids within the year after their diagnosis, with no decrease over eras of follow-up evaluation. Among children diagnosed from 2002 through 2010, the 8-year actuarial rate of colectomy for those with ulcerative colitis was 8%, and the rate of resective surgery for Crohn's disease was 10%; both of these values were lower than for children diagnosed from 1987 through 2001. In a population-based study from Canada, children with IBD were more likely to have visits for gastrointestinal symptoms in each of the 4 years before IBD diagnosis than children without IBD, indicating a potential delay in diagnosis of this disease. Rates of surgery are decreasing among children with IBD.

Mental Illness and Medical Co-morbidity Using Automated Surveillance Data: BioSense 2008 – 2011

Background: Recent national surveys indicate that 5% of ambulatory care visits involved patients with mental disorder diagnosis. Objective: The objective of this study is to demonstrate the use of automated surveillance data for describing the burden of co-morbidity among patients with mental illness. Methods: We used Emergency Department (ED) visits data from over 650 non-federal hospitals that participated in BioSense from 2008-2011. The variables used in this descriptive analysis are age, gender, and syndromes as defined by BioSense program. The study included only ED visits from people of ≥ 18 years old and with the discharge diagnosis ICD-9-CM codes of mental illness (290 – 312). Co-morbidity was defined broadly as the co-occurrence of other medical condition