Anne Deutsch

Factors Influencing the Decline in Stroke Mortality A Statement From the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association

Background and Purpose— Stroke mortality has been declining since the early 20th century. The reasons for this are not completely understood, although the decline is welcome. As a result of recent striking and more accelerated decreases in stroke mortality, stroke has fallen from the third to the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. This has prompted a detailed assessment of the factors associated with the change in stroke risk and mortality. This statement considers the evidence for factors that have contributed to the decline and how they can be used in the design of future interventions for this major public health burden. Methods— Writing group members were nominated by the committee chair and co-chair on the basis of their previous work in relevant topic areas and were approved by the American Heart Association Stroke Council’s Scientific Statements Oversight Committee and the American Heart Association Manuscript Oversight Committee. The writers used systematic literature reviews, references to published clinical and epidemiological studies, morbidity and mortality reports, clinical and public health guidelines, authoritative statements, personal files, and expert opinion to summarize evidence and to indicate gaps in current knowledge. All members of the writing group had the opportunity to comment on this document and approved the final version. The document underwent extensive American Heart Association internal peer review, Stroke Council leadership review, and Scientific Statements Oversight Committee review before consideration and approval by the American Heart Association Science Advisory and Coordinating Committee. Results— The decline in stroke mortality over the past decades represents a major improvement in population health and is observed for both sexes and for all racial/ethnic and age groups. In addition to the overall impact on fewer lives lost to stroke, the major decline in stroke mortality seen among people <65 years of age represents a reduction in years of potential life lost. The decline in mortality results from reduced incidence of stroke and lower case-fatality rates. These significant improvements in stroke outcomes are concurrent with cardiovascular risk factor control interventions. Although it is difficult to calculate specific attributable risk estimates, efforts in hypertension control initiated in the 1970s appear to have had the most substantial influence on the accelerated decline in stroke mortality. Although implemented later, diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia control and smoking cessation programs, particularly in combination with treatment of hypertension, also appear to have contributed to the decline in stroke mortality. The potential effects of telemedicine and stroke systems of care appear to be strong but have not been in place long enough to indicate their influence on the decline. Other factors had probable effects, but additional studies are needed to determine their contributions. Conclusions— The decline in stroke mortality is real and represents a major public health and clinical medicine success story. The repositioning of stroke from third to fourth leading cause of death is the result of true mortality decline and not an increase in mortality from chronic lung disease, which is now the third leading cause of death in the United States. There is strong evidence that the decline can be attributed to a combination of interventions and programs based on scientific findings and implemented with the purpose of reducing stroke risks, the most likely being improved control of hypertension. Thus, research studies and the application of their findings in developing intervention programs have improved the health of the population. The continued application of aggressive evidence-based public health programs and clinical interventions is expected to result in further declines in stroke mortality.

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Postacute Rehabilitation Outcomes After Stroke in the United States

Background and Purpose— Incidence, prevalence, and mortality for stroke vary by race and ethnicity with higher rates for blacks compared with non-Hispanic whites. Little information is available regarding differences in postacute care outcomes for racial and ethnic groups after a stroke. Methods— A retrospective analysis was conducted of 161 692 patients from the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation who received inpatient medical rehabilitation after a first stroke in 2002 and 2003. Multivariable models examined the effects of race and ethnicity on length of stay, functional status, rehabilitation efficiency, and discharge setting. Results— The mean age was 70.97 years (SD=12.87), 53% were female, and 76% were non-Hispanic white. Mean length of stay was similar for all groups ranging from 17.39 days (SD=10.86) to 17.93 (SD=10.59). Non-Hispanic white patients had higher admission and discharge functional status ratings compared with patients in the minority groups (P<0.01). Differences in functional status across racial/ethnic groups were related to age (F=20.49, P<0.001); the older the comparison group, the greater the difference in functional status. Non-Hispanic whites were discharged home less often than blacks (OR=0.64, 95% CI=0.62 to 0.66), Hispanics (OR=0.58, 95% CI=0.55 to 0.62), or other minority groups (OR=0.67, 95% CI=0.57 to 0.67). Conclusions— The findings suggest racial and ethnic disparities exist in postacute care outcomes for persons with stroke.

Poststroke Rehabilitation: Outcomes and Reimbursement of Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities and Subacute Rehabilitation Programs

Background and Purpose— To assess whether poststroke rehabilitation outcomes and reimbursement for Medicare beneficiaries differ across inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) and skilled nursing facility (SNF) subacute rehabilitation programs. Methods— Clinical data were linked with Medicare claims for 58 724 Medicare beneficiaries with a recent stroke who completed treatment in 1996 or 1997 in IRFs and subacute rehabilitation SNFs that subscribed to the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation. Outcome measures were discharge destination, discharge FIM ratings and Medicare Part A reimbursement during the institutional stay. Results— IRF patients that were more likely to have a community-based discharge, compared with rehabilitation SNF patients, were patients with mild motor disabilities and FIM cognitive ratings of 23 or greater (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=2.19; 95% CI: 1.52 to 3.14), patients with moderate motor disabilities (AOR=1.98; 95% CI: 1.49 to 2.61), patients with significant motor disabilities (AOR=1.26; 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.57) and patients younger than 82 with severe motor disabilities (AOR=1.43; 95% CI: 1.25 to 1.64). IRF patients with significant and severe motor disabilities achieved greater motor function of 2 or more FIM units compared with rehabilitation SNF patients. Medicare Part A payments for IRFs were higher than rehabilitation SNF payments across all subgroups. Conclusions— For most patients, poststroke rehabilitation in the more costly and intensive IRFs resulted in higher functional outcomes compared with care in a SNF-based rehabilitation program. IRF and SNF outcomes were similar for patients with minimal motor disabilities and patients with mild motor disabilities and significant cognitive disabilities. Cost-effectiveness analyses require considering the costs of the full episode of care.

Thirty-Day Hospital Readmission Following Discharge From Postacute Rehabilitation in Fee-for-Service Medicare Patients

IMPORTANCE The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently identified 30-day readmission after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation facilities as a national quality indicator. Research is needed to determine the rates and factors related to readmission in this patient population. OBJECTIVE To determine 30-day readmission rates and factors related to readmission for patients receiving postacute inpatient rehabilitation. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS Retrospective cohort study of records for 736,536 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries (mean age, 78.0 [SD, 7.3] years) discharged from 1365 inpatient rehabilitation facilities to the community in 2006 through 2011. Sixty-three percent of patients were women, and 85.1% were non-Hispanic white. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Thirty-day readmission rates for the 6 largest diagnostic impairment categories receiving inpatient rehabilitation. These included stroke, lower extremity fracture, lower extremity joint replacement, debility, neurologic disorders, and brain dysfunction. RESULTS Mean rehabilitation length of stay was 12.4 (SD, 5.3) days. The overall 30-day readmission rate was 11.8% (95% CI, 11.7%-11.8%). Rates ranged from 5.8% (95% CI, 5.8%-5.9%) for patients with lower extremity joint replacement to 18.8% (95% CI, 18.8%-18.9%). for patients with debility. Rates were highest in men (13.0% [ 95% CI, 12.8%-13.1%], vs 11.0% [95% CI, 11.0%-11.1%] in women), non-Hispanic blacks (13.8% [95% CI, 13.5%-14.1%], vs 11.5% [95% CI, 11.5%-11.6%] in whites, 12.5% [95% CI, 12.1%-12.8%] in Hispanics, and 11.9% [95% CI, 11.4%-12.4%] in other races/ethnicities), beneficiaries with dual eligibility (15.1% [95% CI, 14.9%-15.4%], vs 11.1% [95% CI, 11.0%-11.2%] for no dual eligibility), and in patients with tier 1 comorbidities (25.6% [95% CI, 24.9%-26.3%], vs 18.9% [95% CI, 18.5%-19.3%] for tier 2, 15.1% [95% CI, 14.9%-15.3%] for tier 3, and 9.9% [95% CI, 9.9%-10.0%] for no tier comorbidities). Higher motor and cognitive functional status were associated with lower hospital readmission rates across the 6 impairment categories. Adjusted readmission rates by state ranged from 9.2% to 13.6%. Approximately 50% of patients rehospitalized within the 30-day period were readmitted within 11 days of discharge. Medicare Severity Diagnosis-Related Group codes for heart failure, urinary tract infection, pneumonia, septicemia, nutritional and metabolic disorders, esophagitis, gastroenteritis, and digestive disorders were common reasons for readmission. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Among postacute rehabilitation facilities providing services to Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries, 30-day readmission rates ranged from 5.8% to 18.8% for selected impairment groups. Further research is needed to understand the causes of readmission.

The uniform data system for medical rehabilitation: report of patients with stroke discharged from comprehensive medical programs in 2000-2007.

Granger CV, Markello SJ, Graham JE, Deutsch A, Ottenbacher KJ: The Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation: report of patients with stroke discharged from Comprehensive Medical Programs in 2000-2007. Objective:To provide benchmarking information for a large national sample of patients receiving inpatient rehabilitation after a stroke. Design:Analysis of secondary data from 893 medical rehabilitation facilities located in the United States and contributing information to the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation from 2000 to 2007. Results:Variables analyzed included demographic information (age, sex, marital status, race/ethnicity, prehospital living setting, and discharge setting), hospitalization information (length of stay, program interruptions, payer, event onset date, rehabilitation impairment group, International Classification of Diseases-9 codes for the admitting diagnosis, and comorbidities), and functional status information (FIM® instrument [“FIM”] ratings at admission and discharge, FIM efficiency, and FIM gain). Descriptive statistics revealed that the length of stay decreased from a mean of 19.6 (±12.8) days to 16.5 (±9.8) days during the 8-yr study period. FIM instrument admission and discharge ratings also decreased. Mean admission ratings decreased from 62.5 (±20.1) to 55.1 (±19.3), and mean discharge ratings decreased from 86.4 (±23.6) to 79.8 (±24.0). FIM change remained relatively stable; the mean for the entire sample was 23.9 (±14.8). The percent of persons discharged to the community ranged from 75.8% in 2000 to 69.3% in 2007. All results are likely affected by changes in the definition for program interruption and procedures for FIM data collection. Conclusion:Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation data from persons with stroke receiving rehabilitation from 2000 to 2007 indicate patients are showing improvement in functional independence during their rehabilitation stay, and a large percentage are discharged to community settings.

The Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation Report of Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury Discharged from Rehabilitation Programs in 2000 – 2007

Granger CV, Markello SJ, Graham JE, Deutsch A, Reistetter TA, Ottenbacher KJ: The Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation: Report of patients with traumatic brain injury discharged from rehabilitation programs in 2000–2007. Objective:To provide benchmarking information for a large national sample of patients receiving inpatient rehabilitation after traumatic brain injury. Design:Secondary data analysis from 893 medical rehabilitation facilities located in the United States that contributed information to the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation from January 2000 through December 2007. Variables analyzed included demographic information (age, sex, marital status, race or ethnicity, prehospital living setting, and discharge setting), hospitalization information (length of stay, program interruptions, payer, onset date, rehabilitation impairment group, Internation Classification of Diseases–9th revision codes for admitting diagnosis, and co-morbidities), and functional status information (FIM instrument [FIM] ratings at admission and discharge, FIM efficiency, FIM gain). Results:Descriptive statistics from 101,188 patients showed length of stay decreasing from a mean of 22.7 (±20.5) days to 16.6 (±14.8) days during the 8-yr study period. FIM total admission and discharge ratings also decreased. Mean admission ratings decreased from 58.6 (±24.7) to 54.8 (±21.2). Mean discharge ratings decreased from 92.4 (±24.2) to 85.0 (±24.0). Accordingly, mean functional independence measure change decreased from 33.8 (±20.5) to 30.2 (±18.4). The percentage of patients discharged to the community settings ranged from 81.3% in 2000 to 74.1% in 2007. All results are likely influenced by various policy changes affecting classification or documentation processes or both. Conclusions:National rehabilitation data from persons with traumatic brain injury in 2000–2007 indicate that patients are spending less time in an inpatient care setting than in the previous years and are experiencing improvements in functional independence during their stay. In addition, a majority of patients are discharged to community settings after inpatient rehabilitation.

A Comparison of Discharge Functional Status After Rehabilitation in Skilled Nursing, Home Health, and Medical Rehabilitation Settings for Patients After Lower-Extremity Joint Replacement Surgery

OBJECTIVE To examine differences in outcomes of patients after lower-extremity joint replacement across 3 post-acute care (PAC) rehabilitation settings. DESIGN Prospective observational cohort study. SETTING Skilled nursing facilities (SNFs; n=5), inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs; n=4), and home health agencies (HHAs; n=6) from 11 states. PARTICIPANTS Patients with total knee (n=146) or total hip replacement (n=84) not related to traumatic injury. INTERVENTIONS None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Self-care and mobility status at PAC discharge measured by using the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Patient Assessment Instrument. RESULTS Based on our study sample, HHA patients were significantly less dependent than SNF and IRF patients at admission and discharge in self-care and mobility. IRF and SNF patients had similar mobility levels at admission and discharge and similar self-care at admission, but SNF patients were more independent in self-care at discharge. After controlling for differences in patient severity and length of stay in multivariate analyses, HHA setting was not a significant predictor of self-care discharge status, suggesting that HHA patients were less medically complex than SNF and IRF patients. IRF patients were more dependent in discharge self-care even after controlling for severity. For the full discharge mobility regression model, urinary incontinence was the only significant covariate. CONCLUSIONS For the patients in our U.S.-based study, direct discharge to home with home care was the optimal strategy for patients after total joint replacement surgery who were healthy and had social support. For sicker patients, availability of 24-hour medical and nursing care may be needed, but intensive therapy services did not seem to provide additional improvement in functional recovery in these patients.

The Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation report of patients discharged from comprehensive medical rehabilitation programs in 1999.

Deutsch A, Fiedler RC, Granger CV, Russell CF: The Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation report of patients discharged from comprehensive medical rehabilitation programs in 1999. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2002;81:133–142.This is the 10th annual report describing patients discharged from comprehensive medical rehabilitation programs in the United States that subscribe to the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation. The analysis included 298,973 complete records of first admission cases discharged alive from 676 facilities in 1999. The data show that patients receiving care in comprehensive rehabilitation programs show measurable functional improvement and that a high percentage of patients are discharged to community-based settings.

Outcomes and reimbursement of inpatient rehabilitation facilities and subacute rehabilitation programs for Medicare beneficiaries with hip fracture.

Objective:We sought to assess whether outcomes and reimbursement differ for Medicare beneficiaries with hip fracture when treated in an inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) compared with a skilled nursing facility (SNF) subacute rehabilitation program. Participants:Clinical data were linked with Medicare claims for 29,793 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries with a recent hip fracture who completed treatment in 1996 or 1997 in rehabilitation facilities that subscribed to the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation. Outcome Measures:We measured discharge destination, change in motor FIM™ rating, and Medicare Part A reimbursement. Results:For patients with moderate-to-severe and severe disabilities, case mix groups (CMGs) 704 and 705, the percentage of patients discharged to the community from IRFs was lower than for patients treated in subacute rehabilitation SNFs, after controlling for covariates. Adjusted odds ratios were 0.71 (95% confidence interval 0.55–0.92) for CMG 704 and 0.72 (95% confidence interval 0.63–0.83) for CMG 705. For patients in the 3 other CMGs, no significant differences were detected. Improvement in motor functional status was roughly equivalent for patients treated in IRFs and those treated in the subacute rehabilitation programs across all 5 CMGs, after controlling for covariates. Medicare Part A payments for IRFs were significantly higher than SNF payments across all CMGs. Conclusion:SNF-based subacute rehabilitation was less costly and outcomes were in most, but not all, instances similar or better than IRF-based rehabilitation for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries who had a recent hip fracture.

Diabetes Comorbidity and Age Influence Rehabilitation Outcomes After Hip Fracture

OBJECTIVE To examine the influence of diabetes on length of stay (LOS), functional status, and discharge setting in individuals with hip fracture. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS This work included secondary analyses of 79,526 individuals from 915 rehabilitation facilities in the U.S. Patients were classified into three groups using the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services comorbidity structure: individuals without diabetes (77.0%), individuals with non-tier diabetes (18.3%), and individuals with tier diabetes (4.7%). RESULTS Mean age was 79.4 years (SD 9.6), and mean LOS was 13.3 days (SD 5.3). Tier diabetes was associated with longer LOS, lower functional status ratings, and reduced odds of discharge home when compared with individuals with no diabetes and non-tier diabetes. Statistically significant interactions (P < 0.05) were found between age and diabetes classification for LOS, functional status, and discharge setting. CONCLUSIONS The impact of diabetes on recovery after hip fracture is moderated by age.