Bruce Rogers

Implementation of the ACC/AHA Guidelines for Preoperative Cardiac Risk Assessment in a General Medicine Preoperative Clinic: Improving Efficiency and Preserving Outcomes

Background: The American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) publishes recommendations for cardiac assessment of patients undergoing noncardiac surgery with the intent of promoting evidence-based, efficient preoperative screening and management. We sought to study the impact of guideline implementation for cardiac risk assessment in a general internal medicine preoperative clinic. Methods: The study was an observational cohort study of consecutive patients being evaluated in an outpatient preoperative evaluation clinic before and after implementation of the ACC/AHA guideline. Data was gathered by retrospective abstraction of hospital and clinic charts using standard definitions. 299 patients were reviewed prior to guideline implementation and their care compared to 339 consecutive patients after the guideline was implemented in the clinic. Results: Guideline implementation led to a reduction in exercise stress testing (30.8% before, 16.2% after; p < 0.001) and hospital length of stay (6.5 days before, 5.6 days after; p = 0.055). β-Blocker therapy increased after the intervention (15.7% before; 34.5% after; p < 0.001) and preoperative test appropriateness improved (86% before to 94.1% after; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Implementation of the ACC/AHA guidelines for cardiac risk assessment prior to noncardiac surgery in an internal medicine preoperative assessment clinic led to a more appropriate use of preoperative stress testing and β-blocker therapy while preserving a low rate of cardiac complications.

Understanding childhood obesity in America: Linkages between household income, community resources, and children's behaviors

BACKGROUND Understanding childhood obesitys root causes is critical to the creation of strategies to improve our childrens health. We sought to define the association between childhood obesity and household income and how household income and childhood behaviors promote childhood obesity. METHODS We assessed body mass index in 109,634 Massachusetts children, identifying the percentage of children who were overweight/obese versus the percentage of children in each community residing in low-income homes. We compared activity patterns and diet in 999 sixth graders residing in 4 Michigan communities with varying annual household income. RESULTS In Massachusetts, percentage of overweight/obese by community varied from 9.6% to 42.8%. As household income dropped, percentage of overweight/obese children rose. In Michigan sixth graders, as household income goes down, frequency of fried food consumption per day doubles from 0.23 to 0.54 (P < .002), and daily TV/video time triples from 0.55 to 2.00 hours (P < .001), whereas vegetable consumption and moderate/vigorous exercise go down. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of overweight/obese children rises in communities with lower household income. Children residing in lower income communities exhibit poorer dietary and physical activity behaviors, which affect obesity.

Health status and behavior among middle-school children in a midwest community: What are the underpinnings of childhood obesity?

BACKGROUND Childhood obesity is one of the nations foremost health challenges. How much of this is due to lifestyle choices? The objective of the study was to determine health behaviors that contribute to obesity in sixth-grade children. METHODS To assess which health habits contribute to childhood obesity, we studied body mass index, blood pressure, lipid profile, glucose, and heart rate recovery after a 3-minute step test among sixth-grade children enrolled in a school-based intervention study from 2004 to 2009, comparing health behaviors and physiologic markers in obese versus nonobese children. Univariate associations with obesity (P values≤.10) were entered into a stepwise logistic regression to identify independent predictors. RESULTS Among 1,003 sixth graders (55% white, 15% African American; average age 11.5 years), 150 (15%) were obese. Obese students had higher levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, and recovery heart rates. They consumed more regular soda and school lunches but were less likely to engage in physical activities. Obese students were more likely to watch TV≥2 hours per day. Independent predictors were watching TV or video games (odds ratio [OR] 1.19, 95% CI 1.06-1.33) and school lunch consumption (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.02-1.64); moderate exercise was protective (OR 0.89, 95% CI 0.82-0.98). CONCLUSIONS Obesity is present in 15% of our sixth graders and is associated with major differences in cardiovascular risk factors. Opportunities to improve childhood health should emphasize programs that increase physical activity, reduce recreational screen time, and improve nutritional value of school lunches. Whether genetic or not, childhood obesity can be attacked.

The University of Michigan Honest Broker: a Web-based service for clinical and translational research and practice.

For the success of clinical and translational science, a seamless interoperation is required between clinical and research information technology. Addressing this need, the Michigan Clinical Research Collaboratory (MCRC) was created. The MCRC employed a standards-driven Web Services architecture to create the U-M Honest Broker, which enabled sharing of clinical and research data among medical disciplines and separate institutions. Design objectives were to facilitate sharing of data, maintain a master patient index (MPI), deidentification of data, and routing data to preauthorized destination systems for use in clinical care, research, or both. This article describes the architecture and design of the U-M HB system and the successful demonstration project. Seventy percent of eligible patients were recruited for a prospective study examining the correlation between interventional cardiac catheterizations and depression. The U-M Honest Broker delivered on the promise of using structured clinical knowledge shared among providers to help clinical and translational research.

Childhood obesity: A comparison of health habits of middle-school students from two communities

Objective: To assess whether children’s diet and physical activity patterns differ between neighboring communities with differing resources. Study design and setting: We compared the health behaviors of middle-school students in two Michigan communities; Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti; median household income of US

Project Healthy Schools Positively Impacts Middle School Students' Lifestyles

46,299 and 28,610, respectively. Self-reported diet and physical activity habits were collected. Participants: A total of 733 middle-school students from two neighboring communities (five Ann Arbor and two Ypsilanti middle schools) participated in the study. Measures: Data on age, gender, and racial/ethnic factors were collected as part of the baseline assessment. Students were also measured for height and weight. Body mass index was calculated. Information on diet and physical activity in addition to amounts and types of sedentary activities was assessed via questionnaires. Results: More Ypsilanti schoolchildren were obese compared to the Ann Arbor schoolchildren (22.2% vs 12.6%; P = 0.01). The Ypsilanti schoolchildren reported higher consumption of fried meats (7.5% vs 3.2%; P = 0.02), French fries or chips (14.3% vs 7.9%; P = 0.02), punch or sports drinks (24.1% vs 12.2%; P = 0.001) and soda (18% vs 7.9%; P < 0.001) compared to the Ann Arbor children. School-based activities including physical education classes (58.6% vs 89.7%; P < 0.001) and sports teams (34.6% vs 62.8%; P < 0.001) differed for Ypsilanti schoolchildren vs Ann Arbor children. Sedentary behaviors were higher in the Ypsilanti children. Conclusions: Differences in diet and physical activity habits among children from two neighboring communities with varying resources suggests a need for school-based interventions to promote healthy behaviors among middle-school students.