Surveillance Indicators Research Articles

Accuracy of a faecal immunochemical test in patients under colonoscopy surveillance of colorectal adenoma and cancer.

Surveillance of colorectal neoplasia place great strain on colonoscopy resources, and faecal immunochemical tests (FIT) are under-investigated for this purpose. The aim of this study was to report the outcome of FIT among patients scheduled for post-polypectomy and post-resection colorectal cancer (CRC) surveillance. Patients scheduled for colonoscopy surveillance at five endoscopy units in mid-Sweden in 2016-2020 were eligible. They provided a faecal sample from 2 separate days, which were analysed by iFOBT QuikRead go® (Aidian Oy). Both the colonoscopies, and the FIT analyses were conducted by staff blinded to the other. Out of 216 included patients, 157 (73%) underwent both a complete colonoscopy and had at least one FIT analysed prior to the examination. The indication for surveillance was previous adenoma in 69 (44%) and post-resection CRC in 88 (56%) patients. Two (1%) in the CRC surveillance group were diagnosed with a metachronous CRC, whereas 49 (56%) patients in the CRC surveillance, and 17 (25%) in the adenoma group had no pathology identified at colonscopy (P < 0.001). The proportion of patients diagnosed with adenomas requiring surveillance according to European Society of Gastrointestinal Society (ESGE) guidelines 2020 was 6 (7%) in the post-CRC resection versus 7 (10%) in the adenoma surveillance group (P = 0.4). Based on one FIT and at cut-off 10 µg Hb/g, sensitivity for CRC was 100%, specificity 83% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 77-89), Positive Predictive Value (PPV) 7% (-2 to 16) and Negative Predictive Value (NPV) 100%. All patients with an adenoma requiring surveillance had a FIT below this cut-off. Adding a second FIT decreased the specificity. Larger studies to evaluate the accuracy and consequences of using FIT for surveillance of colorectal neoplasia are needed. FIT may be more interesting for post-resection CRC surveillance than follow-up of adenoma.

Pandemic management: Analysis of availability and relevance of surveillance indicators by COVID-Task-Forces in the German federal state of Lower Saxony

Locally, the introduction of measures during times of a pandemic emergency is embodied in a pandemic containment plan created by the Robert Koch Institute in 2017. In addition to central indicators such as incidence rates and number of deaths, various indicators are used at the local level to assess the pandemic situation. So far, there hasn't been analyses of the availability and perceived relevance of the surveillance indicators used to manage the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic by the local German pandemic task forces. This study examined whether local decision-makers had access to surveillance-related indicators in a way that they could be used to make informed decisions in response to the pandemic situation. A cross sectional study was conducted, using an online questionnaire developed by experts of The Public Health Agency of Lower Saxony and The University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG). All local COVID-19 task forces of the German state of Lower-Saxony were enrolled in the study. The surveillance indicators assessed by survey respondents as most available and relevant are included under the German Infection Protection Act (IfSG). In contrast, the indicators that are not bound by the IfSG have a significantly lower availability and an inconsistent assessment of relevance. Against the background of efficiency, it seems central to be able to reliably provide the highly weighted surveillance indicators. Nevertheless, the relevance assessment gap between the indicators embedded in the IfSG and the ones that are not may be explained by cognitive processes such as anchoring bias. The collection and use of indicators to assess the pandemic situation and to evaluate measures should be the subject of continuous multidisciplinary discussions.

Correlations and Timeliness of COVID-19 Surveillance Data Sources and Indicators - United States, October 1, 2020-March 22, 2023.

When the U.S. COVID-19 public health emergency declaration expires on May 11, 2023, national reporting of certain categories of COVID-19 public health surveillance data will be transitioned to other data sources or will be discontinued; COVID-19 hospitalization data will be the only data source available at the county level (1). In anticipation of the transition, national COVID-19 surveillance data sources and indicators were evaluated for purposes of ongoing monitoring. The timeliness and correlations among surveillance indicators were analyzed to assess the usefulness of COVID-19-associated hospital admission rates as a primary indicator for monitoring COVID-19 trends, as well as the suitability of other replacement data sources. During April 2022-March 2023, COVID-19 hospital admission rates from the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN)† lagged 1 day behind case rates and 4 days behind percentages of positive test results and COVID-19 emergency department (ED) visits from the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP). In the same analysis, National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) trends in the percentage of deaths that were COVID-19-associated, which is tracked by date of death rather than by report date, were observable 13 days earlier than those from aggregate death count data, which will be discontinued (1). During October 2020-March 2023, strong correlations were observed between NVSS and aggregate death data (0.78) and between the percentage of positive SARS-CoV-2 test results from the National Respiratory and Enteric Viruses Surveillance System (NREVSS) and COVID-19 electronic laboratory reporting (CELR) (0.79), which will also be discontinued (1). Weekly COVID-19 Community Levels (CCLs) will be replaced with levels of COVID-19 hospital admission rates (low, medium, or high) which demonstrated >99% concordance by county during February 2022-March 2023. COVID-19-associated hospital admission levels are a suitable primary metric for monitoring COVID-19 trends, the percentage of COVID-19 deaths is a timely disease severity indicator, and the percentages of positive SARS-CoV-2 test results from NREVSS and ED visits serve as early indicators for COVID-19 monitoring. Collectively, these surveillance data sources and indicators can support monitoring of the impact of COVID-19 and related prevention and control strategies as ongoing public health priorities.

COVID-19 Surveillance After Expiration of the Public Health Emergency Declaration - United States, May 11, 2023.

On January 31, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared, under Section 319 of the Public Health Service Act, a U.S. public health emergency because of the emergence of a novel virus, SARS-CoV-2.* After 13 renewals, the public health emergency will expire on May 11, 2023. Authorizations to collect certain public health data will expire on that date as well. Monitoring the impact of COVID-19 and the effectiveness of prevention and control strategies remains a public health priority, and a number of surveillance indicators have been identified to facilitate ongoing monitoring. After expiration of the public health emergency, COVID-19-associated hospital admission levels will be the primary indicator of COVID-19 trends to help guide community and personal decisions related to risk and prevention behaviors; the percentage of COVID-19-associated deaths among all reported deaths, based on provisional death certificate data, will be the primary indicator used to monitor COVID-19 mortality. Emergency department (ED) visits with a COVID-19 diagnosis and the percentage of positive SARS-CoV-2 test results, derived from an established sentinel network, will help detect early changes in trends. National genomic surveillance will continue to be used to estimate SARS-CoV-2 variant proportions; wastewater surveillance and traveler-based genomic surveillance will also continue to be used to monitor SARS-CoV-2 variants. Disease severity and hospitalization-related outcomes are monitored via sentinel surveillance and large health care databases. Monitoring of COVID-19 vaccination coverage, vaccine effectiveness (VE), and vaccine safety will also continue. Integrated strategies for surveillance of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses can further guide prevention efforts. COVID-19-associated hospitalizations and deaths are largely preventable through receipt of updated vaccines and timely administration of therapeutics (1-4).

Design of effective outpatient sentinel surveillance for COVID-19 decision-making: a modeling study

BackgroundDecision-makers impose COVID-19 mitigations based on public health indicators such as reported cases, which are sensitive to fluctuations in supply and demand for diagnostic testing, and hospital admissions, which lag infections by up to two weeks. Imposing mitigations too early has unnecessary economic costs while imposing too late leads to uncontrolled epidemics with unnecessary cases and deaths. Sentinel surveillance of recently-symptomatic individuals in outpatient testing sites may overcome biases and lags in conventional indicators, but the minimal outpatient sentinel surveillance system needed for reliable trend estimation remains unknown.MethodsWe used a stochastic, compartmental transmission model to evaluate the performance of various surveillance indicators at reliably triggering an alarm in response to, but not before, a step increase in transmission of SARS-CoV-2. The surveillance indicators included hospital admissions, hospital occupancy, and sentinel cases with varying levels of sampling effort capturing 5, 10, 20, 50, or 100% of incident mild cases. We tested 3 levels of transmission increase, 3 population sizes, and conditions of either simultaneous transmission increase or lagged increase in the older population. We compared the indicators’ performance at triggering alarm soon after, but not prior, to the transmission increase.ResultsCompared to surveillance based on hospital admissions, outpatient sentinel surveillance that captured at least 20% of incident mild cases could trigger an alarm 2 to 5 days earlier for a mild increase in transmission and 6 days earlier for a moderate or strong increase. Sentinel surveillance triggered fewer false alarms and averted more deaths per day spent in mitigation. When transmission increase in older populations lagged the increase in younger populations by 14 days, sentinel surveillance extended its lead time over hospital admissions by an additional 2 days.ConclusionsSentinel surveillance of mild symptomatic cases can provide more timely and reliable information on changes in transmission to inform decision-makers in an epidemic like COVID-19.

A Simple Approach to Predict Spleen Volume in Patients with Splenomegaly Due to Portal Hypertension

Background: Splenomegaly and hypersplenism are common presentations of portal hypertension and can result in severe comorbidities. The degree of splenomegaly is associated with disease severity and has been established as a reliable noninvasive indicator for disease surveillance. Objectives: This study aimed to propose a simple and repeatable splenic measurement model to estimate the splenic volume in patients with portal hypertension. Methods: In total, 161 patients with portal hypertension were admitted to our hospital from March 2017 to August 2020, with a final enrollment of 106 subjects. The splenic volume calculated via IQQA-Liver software was used for reference. Radiological data were retrospectively reviewed to measure the height, length, and width of the spleen. Different volume prediction models were constructed based on statistically significant laboratory and radiological parameters. Results: The average spleen volume measured by the IQQA-Liver software was 852.29±362.26cm3. Model 0 was constructed based on hematological and radiological parameters, while Models 1 and 2 were based on radiological parameters alone. Model 1 was superior to the others according to the Bland-Altman scatterplot and correlation analysis. Conclusion: The proposed estimation model is a reliable predictor for splenic volume, providing valuable information in patients with portal hypertension. The simple technique allows for widespread clinical application

Combination of Mucosa-Exposure Device and Computer-Aided Detection for Adenoma Detection During Colonoscopy: A Randomized Trial

Both computer-aided detection (CADe)-assisted and Endocuff-assisted colonoscopy have been found to increase adenoma detection. We investigated the performance of the combination of the 2 tools compared with CADe-assisted colonoscopy alone to detect colorectal neoplasias during colonoscopy in a multicenter randomized trial. Men and women undergoing colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening, polyp surveillance, or clincial indications at 6 centers in Italy and Switzerland were enrolled. Patients were assigned (1:1) to colonoscopy with the combinations of CADe (GI-Genius; Medtronic) and a mucosal exposure device (Endocuff Vision [ECV]; Olympus) or to CADe-assisted colonoscopy alone (control group). All detected lesions were removed and sent to histopathology for diagnosis. The primary outcome was adenoma detection rate (percentage of patients with at least 1 histologically proven adenoma or carcinoma). Secondary outcomes were adenomas detected per colonoscopy, advanced adenomas and serrated lesions detection rate, the rate of unnecessary polypectomies (polyp resection without histologically proven adenomas), and withdrawal time. From July 1, 2021 to May 31, 2022, there were 1316 subjects randomized and eligible for analysis; 660 to the ECV group, 656 to the control group). The adenoma detection rate was significantly higher in the ECV group (49.6%) than in the control group (44.0%) (relative risk, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.00-1.26; P= .04). Adenomas detected per colonoscopy were significantly higher in the ECV group (mean ± SD, 0.94 ± 0.54) than in the control group (0.74 ± 0.21) (incidence rate ratio, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.04-1.54; P= .02). The 2 groups did not differ in term of detection of advanced adenomas and serrated lesions. There was no significant difference between groups in mean ± SD withdrawal time (9.01 ± 2.48 seconds for the ECV group vs 8.96 ± 2.24 seconds for controls; P= .69) or proportion of subjects undergoing unnecessary polypectomies (relative risk, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.69-1.14; P= .38). The combination of CADe and ECV during colonoscopy increases adenoma detection rate and adenomas detected per colonoscopy without increasing withdrawal time compared with CADe alone. gov, Number: NCT04676308.

T cell receptor repertoire as a novel indicator for identification and immune surveillance of patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most prevalent sleep disturbance that affects approximately 936 million people worldwide and leads to extensively increased incidence of cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, neurological disorders, and traffic accidents. Severe OSA patients suffer a significantly higher risk of complications and worse comorbidity outcomes. Notwithstanding, with inadequate access to contact diagnosis based on polysomnography (PSG), numerous patients with severe sleep apnea have not been diagnosed, especially during the pandemic. Moreover, how the T cell immunity is impaired in OSA remains largely unknown. We primarily investigated the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoires of 50 patients with severe OSA, 23 patients with mild-to-moderate OSA, 23 patients without OSA, and 157 healthy individuals, from their peripheral blood. Firstly, we compared the clinical characteristics, blood cell counts, the ratio of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte (PLR), and CD4+/CD8+T cell count between groups. Then, we compared the diversity, clonotypes, unique VJ alleles in patients with different disease severity. Furthermore, by identifying a series of disease-associated amino acid sequences, we employed a repeated hold-out machine learning strategy to explore the optimal algorithm for calculating the TCR repertoire characteristic Index (OSA-TCI). We further confirmed its relation with clinical features by linear regression analysis. Moreover, in followup of severe OSA patients who accepted adherent non-invasive ventilation, we assessed the changes of TCR repertoires, OSA-TCI, ESS, NLR, PLR, and CD4+/CD8+T after therapy. We found an unexpected increase in diversity and clonotypes in the TCR repertoire of OSA patients. Furthermore, we successfully developed a novel indicator termed OSA-TCI to summarize the unique repertoire alteration, which provided 90% of sensitivity and 87% of specificity in distinguishing severe OSA. In rationalization, OSA-TCI was found correlated to AHI, BMI, hemoglobin, N1, N2 percentage of sleep, snoring, smoking and lowest oxygen saturation, but only independently related to AHI (R=0.603) and smoking (R=0.22). Finally, we observed OSA-TCI in the eight severe patients decreased significantly after home noninvasive ventilation for three months during follow-up, consistently in line with the TCR repertoire improvement. In contrast, NLR, PLR, and the ratio of CD4+/CD8+T cell count were found useless to diagnose and therapeutic surveillance of severe OSA. Our study is the first to unveil the TCR repertoire alteration in OSA, indicates possible insidious autoimmune mechanisms underlying OSA, and suggests that TCR repertoires serve as a convenient peripheral blood biomarker for OSA assessment without long-time contact and facility/instrument occupation. It may shed light on future diagnostic, immunological, pathophysiological, and prognostic research on OSA.

What Is the Prevalence of Clinically Important Findings Among Incidentally Found Osseous Lesions?

Patients with incidentally found musculoskeletal lesions are regularly referred to orthopaedic oncology. Most orthopaedic oncologists understand that many incidental findings are nonaggressive and can be managed nonoperatively. However, the prevalence of clinically important lesions (defined as those indicated for biopsy or treatment, and those found to be malignant) remains unknown. Missing clinically important lesions can result in harm to patients, but needless surveillance may exacerbate patient anxiety about their diagnosis and accrue low-value costs to the payor. (1) What percentage of patients with incidentally discovered osseous lesions referred to orthopaedic oncology had lesions that were clinically important, defined as those receiving biopsy or treatment or those found to be malignant? (2) Using standardized Medicare reimbursements as a surrogate for payor expense, what is the value of reimbursements accruing to the hospital system for the imaging of incidentally found osseous lesions performed during the initial workup period and during the surveillance period, if indicated? This was a retrospective study of patients referred to orthopaedic oncology for incidentally found osseous lesions at two large academic hospital systems. Medical records were queried for the word "incidental," and matches were confirmed by manual review. Patients evaluated at Indiana University Health between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2020, and those evaluated at University Hospitals between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2020, were included. All patients were evaluated and treated by the two senior authors of this study and no others were included. Our search identified 625 patients. Sixteen percent (97 of 625) of patients were excluded because their lesions were not incidentally found, and 12% (78 of 625) were excluded because the incidental findings were not bone lesions. Another 4% (24 of 625) were excluded because they had received workup or treatment by an outside orthopaedic oncologist, and 2% (10 of 625) were excluded for missing information. A total of 416 patients were available for preliminary analysis. Among these patients, 33% (136 of 416) were indicated for surveillance. The primary indication for surveillance included lesions with a benign appearance on imaging and low clinical suspicion of malignancy or fracture. A total of 33% (45 of 136) of these patients had less than 12 months of follow-up and were excluded from further analysis. No minimum follow-up criteria were applied to patients not indicated for surveillance because this would artificially inflate our estimated rate of clinically important findings. A total of 371 patients were included in the final study group. Notes from all clinical encounters with orthopaedic and nonorthopaedic providers were screened for our endpoints (biopsy, treatment, or malignancy). Indications for biopsy included lesions with aggressive features, lesions with nonspecific imaging characteristics and a clinical picture concerning for malignancy, and lesion changes seen on imaging during the surveillance period. Indications for treatment included lesions with increased risk of fracture or deformity, certain malignancies, and pathologic fracture. Diagnoses were determined using biopsy results if available or the documented opinion of the consulting orthopaedic oncologist. Imaging reimbursements were obtained from the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2022. Because imaging charges vary across institutions and reimbursements vary across payors, this method was chosen to enhance the comparability of our findings across multiple health systems and studies. Seven percent (26 of 371) of incidental findings were determined to be clinically important, as previously defined. Five percent (20 of 371) of lesions underwent tissue biopsy, and 2% (eight of 371) received surgical intervention. Fewer than 2% (six of 371) of lesions were malignant. Serial imaging changed the treatment of 1% (two of 136) of the patients, corresponding to a rate of one in 47 person-years. Median reimbursements to work up the incidental findings analyzed was USD 219 (interquartile range USD 0 to 404), with a range of USD 0 to 890. Among patients indicated for surveillance, the median annual reimbursement was USD 78 (IQR USD 0 to 389), with a range of USD 0 to 2706. The prevalence of clinically important findings among patients referred to orthopaedic oncology for incidentally found osseous lesions is modest. The likelihood of surveillance resulting in a change of management was low, but the median reimbursements associated with following these lesions was also low. We conclude that after appropriate risk stratification by orthopaedic oncology, incidental lesions are rarely clinically important, and judicious follow-up with serial imaging can be performed without incurring high costs. Level III, therapeutic study.

A75 COLONOSCOPY COLORECTAL CANCER DETECTION - HOW DOES IT VARY BY INDICATION, SETTING AND PATIENT DEMOGRAPHIC?

Abstract Background Because of limited access to gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a need to prioritize procedures to avoid negative health impacts from delays. Ontario Health (OH) has provided guidance to facilities to prioritize colonoscopies in people with an abnormal fecal immunochemical test (FIT) result, based on the high likelihood to detect invasive colorectal cancer (CRC) and recommends FIT for screening people at average risk of CRC and those with prior low-risk adenoma. Purpose To measure the invasive CRC detection rate (CDR) of colonoscopies performed in Ontario by indication, setting, age, and sex over a 31-month period before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method We calculated the CDRs among outpatients ages 18 and over who had colonoscopies performed in a hospital or private clinic setting from June 2019 to December 2021. We identified hospital colonoscopies from OH’s GI Endoscopy Data Submission Portal and clinic colonoscopies from Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) data (OHIP code E749A). Invasive CRC was identified from the Ontario Cancer Registry (OCR) as: ICD-O-3 codes C18.0, C18.2-C18.9, C19.9, C20.9, a morphology indicative of CRC, microscopically confirmed and with a pathology report. CRCs were included if diagnosed 7 days before and up to 183 days after colonoscopy. Colonoscopy volumes and CDRs were stratified by age and sex (all volumes), and, for hospital colonoscopies, by indication. Result(s) During the study period, 984,109 colonoscopies were performed (638,900 in hospitals; 345,209 in clinics). Patients who had their colonoscopies in clinics were younger than those who had them in hospitals (Table 1). In both settings, colonoscopies were evenly distributed by sex. Overall, 12,021 CRCs were detected (CDR: 1.22%); 9,451 CRCs in hospitals (CDR: 1.48%), and 2,570 CRCs in clinics (CDR: 0.74%). CDRs at any age were lower in clinics as compared to hospitals. In hospitals, CDRs by colonoscopy indication were: 5.16% for FIT+, 1.93% in symptomatic patients, 0.52% in surveillance, 0.70% in average-risk screening, and 0.35% in screening due to family history. FIT+ colonoscopies accounted for the smallest proportion of colonoscopies (6.2%) but the 2nd largest proportion of CRCs detected (Figure 1). Hospital-based CDR increased during the period of observation from 1.23% pre-pandemic (June-December 2019) to 1.55% during the pandemic (January-December 2021). Clinic CDR was 0.71% pre-pandemic and 0.75% during the pandemic. Image Conclusion(s) In Ontario, colonoscopy yield (CDR) is highest in FIT+ patients; just over one in 20 colonoscopies will yield a diagnosis of CRC. In contrast, primary screening and surveillance indications have very low CRC yields. The overall yield of colonoscopies in clinics, for all age groups, is lower than in hospital setting. There was a slight increase in CDR during the pandemic compared to before the pandemic, in both settings. Please acknowledge all funding agencies by checking the applicable boxes below Other Please indicate your source of funding; Ontario Health - Cancer Care Ontario Disclosure of Interest None Declared

A retrospective study of colonoscopic surveillance in the elderly.

Aotearoa New Zealand (AoNZ) guidelines suggest surveillance colonoscopy should be carefully considered after age 75. The authors noted a cluster of patients presenting in their 8th and 9th decade of life with a new colorectal cancer (CRC) having previously been declined surveillance colonoscopy. A 7-year retrospective analysis was performed of patients who underwent a colonoscopy aged between 71 and 75 years in the period between 2006 and 2012. Kaplan-Meier graphs were created with survival measured from the time of index colonoscopy. Log rank tests were used to determine any difference in survival distribution. Relative risk (RR) was calculated, and 95% confidence intervals (CI) reported. A total of 623 patients met inclusion criteria; 461 (74%) had no indication for surveillance colonoscopy and 162 (26%) had an indication. Of the 162 patients with an indication, 91 (56.2%) underwent surveillance colonoscopies after the age of 75. Twenty-three (3.7%) patients were diagnosed with a new CRC. Eighteen (78.2%) patients diagnosed with a new CRC underwent surgery. The median survival overall was 12.9 years (95% CI 12.2-13.5). This did not differ between patients with (13.1, 95% CI 12.1-14.1) or without (12.6, 95% CI 11.2-14.0) an indication for surveillance. This study found one quarter of patients who had a colonoscopy between the ages of 71-75 had an indication for surveillance colonoscopy. Most patients with a new CRC underwent surgery. This study suggests it may be appropriate to update the AoNZ guidelines and consider adopting a risk stratification tool to aid decision making.

Assessing data availability of NCD prevention and control in six ASEAN countries based on WHO global monitoring framework and the progress monitor indicators

BackgroundTo tackle noncommunicable disease (NCD) burden globally, two sets of NCD surveillance indicators were established by the World Health Organization: 25 Global Monitoring Framework (GMF) indicators and 10 Progress Monitoring Indicators (PMI). This study aims to assess the data availability of these two sets of indicators in six ASEAN countries: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.MethodsAs data on policy indicators were straightforward and fully available, we focused on studying 25 non-policy indicators: 23 GMFs and 2 PMIs. Gathering data availability of the target indicators was conducted among NCD surveillance experts from the six selected countries during May-June 2020. Our research team found information regarding whether the country had no data at all, was using WHO estimates, was providing ‘expert judgement’ for the data, or had actual data available for each target indicator. We triangulated their answers with several WHO data sources, including the WHO Health Observatory Database and various WHO Global Reports on health behaviours (tobacco, alcohol, diet, and physical activity) and NCDs. We calculated the percentages of the indicators that need improvement by both indicator category and country.ResultsFor all six studied countries, the health-service indicators, based on responses to the facility survey, are the most lacking in data availability (100% of this category’s indicators), followed by the health-service indicators, based on the population survey responses (57%), the mortality and morbidity indicators (50%), the behavioural risk indicators (30%), and the biological risk indicators (7%). The countries that need to improve their NCD surveillance data availability the most are Cambodia (56% of all indicators) and Lao PDR (56%), followed by Malaysia (36%), Vietnam (36%), Myanmar (32%), and Thailand (28%).ConclusionSome of the non-policy GMF and PMI indicators lacked data among the six studied countries. To achieve the global NCDs targets, in the long run, the six countries should collect their own data for all indicators and begin to invest in and implement the facility survey and the population survey to track NCDs-related health services improvements once they have implemented the behavioural and biological Health Risks Population Survey in their countries.

Post-endoscopy colorectal cancer after colectomy in inflammatory bowel disease patients: a population-based register study.

Long-standing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) colitis is an indication for endoscopic surveillance. Postcolonoscopy colorectal cancer (PCCRC), cancer detected after a negative colonoscopy, is a quality indicator for colonoscopy. In analogy with PCCRC, we aimed to assess postendoscopy CRC (PECRC) in individuals with IBD who had undergone colectomy. This register study included Swedish adults with an IBD diagnosis who had undergone colectomy and later were examined by either colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy during 2001-2012. The final study population had a CRC diagnosis within 36 months of the index examination. Poisson regression was used to assess the relative risks (RR) of PECRC. A total of 33 individuals, 12 with an ileorectal anastomosis and 21 with a rectal remnant, had a CRC diagnosis within 36 months of the index endoscopy. Eleven cancers were detected as CRCs, and 22 (67%) were PECRCs. Compared with individuals aged >70 years, individuals aged <30 years had an RR of 3.1 (P = 0.054) and individuals aged 30-50 years had a RR of 2.6 (P = 0.030). A longer interval between colectomy and index endoscopy (>10 vs. <10 years) was associated with a lower risk of PCCRC (RR = 0.5; P = 0.007). There was no significant difference between the risk for Crohn's disease vs. ulcerative colitis, or between ileorectal anastomosis and rectal remnant risks. Continuous surveillance of IBD patients after colectomy is important. In the postcolectomy context, PECRC may be used as a quality indicator.

Abstract P068: A hybrid modelling approach for abstracting CT imaging indications by integrating natural language processing from radiology reports with structured data from electronic health records

Abstract Background: Real-world evidence (RWE) studies for surveillance patterns following lung cancer (LC) diagnosis can inform optimizing recommendations on surveillance and practice. One major obstacle in RWE studies for LC surveillance is the lack of radiologic imaging indication for surveillance vs. other reasons (e.g., symptoms). To enable RWE studies for surveillance to detect second primary lung cancer among LC survivors, we developed a hybrid modelling approach that integrates structured data from electronic health records (EHRs) with natural language processing (NLP) from radiology reports for abstracting computed tomography (CT) imaging indications in LC survivors. Methods: We manually reviewed and abstracted CT imaging indications, i.e., surveillance vs. others (e.g., symptoms and metastatic disease follow-up) to create a gold standard from 200 randomly selected radiology reports among 1,952 LC patients (i) who were diagnosed in 2000-2017 at Stanford Health Care (SHC) and (ii) survived ≧5 years after the diagnosis. We abstracted medically relevant key-phrases using the part-of-speech grammar and PageRank algorithms. Hierarchical clustering identified context-specific key-phrase clusters as follows: “surveillance”, “stable”, “nodule”, “symptom”, and “metastasis”. The text-based radiology reports were vectorized to generate NLP features using phrase occurrence frequencies. The structured variables from EHRs included: (i) diagnosis of lung diseases or chest symptoms in previous 6 months, (ii) ordering provider-type (oncology vs. others [e.g. emergency and internal medicine]), and (iii) time from previous CT (≧6 months). A hybrid model was then fitted using logistic regression including both structured and NLP features and validated using a 10-fold cross-validation. The model’s performance was compared to those solely based on NLP or structured data. Results: The dataset of 200 radiology reports included 141 LC survivors (49% White, 72% adenocarcinoma). The proposed hybrid model showed high discrimination (AUC: 0.92), outperforming those based solely on NLP (AUC: 0.88) or structured data (AUC: 0.87). The proposed model demonstrated higher sensitivity (SN: 0.73) and specificity (SP: 0.96) versus those solely based on NLP (SN: 0.53; SP: 0.96) or structured data (SN: 0.53; SP: 0.90). The hybrid model showed that the following variables were positively associated with a higher likelihood that the given CT imaging indication is “surveillance”: (i) a longer time interval (≧6 months) from the previous CT (odds ratio [OR]: 4.63; p=0.01) and key-phrases of (ii) “nodule” (OR: 1.55; p=0.004) and (iii) “stable” (OR: 1.37; p=0.03). On the other hand, the following were negatively associated with the likelihood of surveillance: the key-phrases of “symptom” (OR: 0.17; p=0.02) and “metastasis” (OR: 0.26; p=0.02). Conclusion: A hybrid modeling approach combining text-based NLP and structured EHRs has the potential for abstracting CT imaging indications for LC surveillance. Future directions include validation using other EHR systems and extension using larger data. Citation Format: Aparajita Khan, Julie Wu, Eunji Choi, Anna Graber-Naidich, Solomon Henry, Heather A. Wakelee, Allison W. Kurian, Su-Ying Liang, Ann Leung, Curtis Langlotz, Leah M. Backhus, Summer S. Han. A hybrid modelling approach for abstracting CT imaging indications by integrating natural language processing from radiology reports with structured data from electronic health records. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Precision Prevention, Early Detection, and Interception of Cancer; 2022 Nov 17-19; Austin, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2023;16(1 Suppl): Abstract nr P068.

Adherence to Quality Indicators for Diagnosis and Surveillance of Barrett's Esophagus: A Comparative Study of Barrett's Experts and Nonexperts

Background and AimsThere is considerable variability in adherence to endoscopic quality indicators (QIs) for Barrett's esophagus (BE). The aims of this study were to (1) assess adherence to published Qis for diagnosis and surveillance of BE, (2) compare adherence between BE experts and nonexperts, and (3) identify factors associated with adherence. MethodsWe identified all patients with BE on esophagogastroduodenoscopy between 2010 and 2018. QIs evaluated included inspection using high-definition white light endoscopy, use of the Prague Classification, identification of endoscopic landmarks, use of the Seattle Protocol, and guideline-adherent recommendations for surveillance or endoscopic eradication therapy. BE experts and nonexperts were compared using logistic mixed-effects models. ResultsA total of 467 patients were identified, with BE experts performing fewer overall esophagogastroduodenoscopies (n = 162, 34.7% vs n = 305, 65.3%). Whereas BE experts were more likely to document Prague Classification (52.5% vs 41.3%; P = 0.017) and landmarks (43.2% vs 22.6%; P = 0.036), there was no significant difference between experts and nonexperts in use of high-definition white light endoscopy (8.6% vs 3.3%; P = 0.123), Seattle Protocol (48.1% vs 40.3%; P = 0.313), or guideline-adherent surveillance or treatment recommendations (71.0% vs 67.5%; P = 0.509). Patient enrollment in a BE surveillance program was the only factor associated with improved QI adherence, specifically adherence to Prague Classification documentation (OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.08-3.14; P = 0.025), Seattle Protocol (1.28, 95% CI 1.16-1.50; P < 0.001), and follow-up recommendations (OR 2.64, 95% CI 1.55-4.48; P < 0.001). ConclusionPatterns of adherence to published QIs for endoscopy in patients with BE are mostly independent of expertise. Further training initiatives are needed to standardize the performance of endoscopic practice in patients with BE.

Correlations and Timeliness of National Covid-19 Surveillance Data Sources and Indicators

Correlations and Timeliness of National Covid-19 Surveillance Data Sources and Indicators

Strategies for Complex Reoperative Aortic Arch Reconstruction in Patients With Congenital Heart Disease.

Aortic dilation is common in patients with congenital heart disease including those with a bicuspid aortic valve, connective tissue disease, coarctation of the aorta, and conotruncal defects. In addition, neo-aortic dilation has been described in patients after aortic reconstruction including the Norwood procedure, the arterial switch operation, and the Ross procedure. Although aortic catastrophe is rare in patients with congenital heart disease, common pathologic endpoints in these patients likely manifest with similar aortic tissue behavior. A lifelong care model with similar indications for surveillance and prophylactic repair to other more common aortopathies is therefore warranted. Still, reoperative aortic arch reconstruction in these patients is often a complex and high-risk endeavor, and in all cases, a tailored and adaptable plan ensuring adequate myocardial and cerebral protection with appropriate rescue measures is paramount. A surgical team taking on these challenging cases should possess an armamentarium of open, hybrid, and endovascular techniques which can be individualized to a patient's unique anatomy, surgical history, and concomitant lesions as well as the team's measured outcomes and experience.

Experience and findings from surveillance peer review in Nigeria, August 2017-May 2019.

acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance is the gold standard of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) for detecting cases of poliomyelitis and tracking poliovirus transmission. Nigeria's AFP surveillance performance indicators are among the highest in countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region. The primary AFP surveillance performance indicators are the rate of non-polio AFP among children and the proportion of timely, adequate specimen collection. The surveillance working group of the National Emergency Operations Centre assessed the quality of AFP surveillance data in some reportedly high-performing states. we conducted a retrospective review of AFP surveillance performance indicators in Nigeria for 2010-2019. We also reviewed data in reports from four groups of surveillance peer reviews and validation visits (conducted by in-country GPEI partners) during August 2017-May 2019 in 16 states with high primary AFP surveillance indicators; the validation visits reviewed clinical information and the dates of specimen collection and onset of paralysis with caretakers. there were consistently increasing AFP surveillance primary performance indicators during 2010-2016, followed by declines during 2017-2019. From the data for 16 states with peer reviews conducted from August 2017-May 2019, overall concordance of reported and "true" (validated) AFP indicator data in peer review investigations was highly variable. True AFP concordance ranged from 58%-100%, and stool timeliness concordance ranged from 56%-95%. The most common clinical causes of reported AFP cases that were not true AFP were spastic paralysis, malaria, sickle cell disease, and malnutrition. All the states that participated in peer reviews developed surveillance improvement plans based on the gaps identified. Nigeria has highly sensitive AFP surveillance according to reported primary AFP performance indicators. The findings of peer reviews indicate that the AFP surveillance system needs to be strengthened and well-supervised to enhance data quality.

Potential Impact of Extending Surveillance Intervals for Patients With 1-2 Low-Risk Adenomas.

Potential Impact of Extending Surveillance Intervals for Patients With 1-2 Low-Risk Adenomas.

Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic response on GI infection surveillance trends in England, January 2020-April 2022.

Stepwise non-pharmaceutical interventions and health system changes implemented as part of the COVID-19 response have had implications on the incidence, diagnosis, and reporting of other communicable diseases. Here, we established the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak response on gastrointestinal (GI) infection trends using routinely collected surveillance data from six national English laboratory, outbreak, and syndromic surveillance systems using key dates of governmental policy to assign phases for comparison between pandemic and historic data. Following decreases across all indicators during the first lockdown (March-May 2020), bacterial and parasitic pathogens associated with foodborne or environmental transmission routes recovered rapidly between June and September 2020, while those associated with travel and/or person-to-person transmission remained lower than expected for 2021. High out-of-season norovirus activity was observed with the easing of lockdown measures between June and October 2021, with this trend reflected in laboratory and outbreak systems and syndromic surveillance indicators. Above expected increases in emergency department (ED) attendances may have reflected changes in health-seeking behaviour and provision. Differential reductions across specific GI pathogens are indicative of the underlying routes of transmission. These results provide further insight into the drivers for transmission, which can help inform control measures for GI infections.