Daniel Vail

Moving Toward Patient-Centered Care in Africa: A Discrete Choice Experiment of Preferences for Delivery Care among 3,003 Tanzanian Women

Objective In order to develop patient-centered care we need to know what patients want and how changing socio-demographic factors shape their preferences. Methods We fielded a structured questionnaire that included a discrete choice experiment to investigate women’s preferences for place of delivery care in four rural districts of Pwani Region, Tanzania. The discrete choice experiment consisted of six attributes: kind treatment by the health worker, health worker medical knowledge, modern equipment and medicines, facility privacy, facility cleanliness, and cost of visit. Each woman received eight choice questions. The influence of potential supply- and demand- side factors on patient preferences was evaluated using mixed logit models. Results 3,003 women participated in the discrete choice experiment (93% response rate) completing 23,947 choice tasks. The greatest predictor of health facility preference was kind treatment by doctor (β = 1.13, p<0.001), followed by having a doctor with excellent medical knowledge (β = 0.89 p<0.001) and modern medical equipment and drugs (β = 0.66 p<0.001). Preferences for all attributes except kindness and cost were changed with changes to education, primiparity, media exposure and distance to nearest hospital. Conclusions Care quality, both technical and interpersonal, was more important than clinic inputs such as equipment and cleanliness. These results suggest that while basic clinic infrastructure is necessary, it is not sufficient for provision of high quality, patient-centered care. There is an urgent need to build an adequate, competent, and kind health workforce to raise facility delivery and promote patient-centered care.

Who is left behind on the road to universal facility delivery? A cross-sectional multilevel analysis in rural Tanzania.

To examine factors associated with home delivery among women in Pwani Region, Tanzania, which has experienced a rapid rise in facility delivery coverage.

Beyond utilization: measuring effective coverage of obstetric care along the quality cascade

Objective To determine the effective coverage of obstetric care in a rural Tanzanian region and to assess differences in effective coverage by wealth. Design Cross-sectional structured interviews. Setting Pwani Region, Tanzania. Participants The study includes 24 rural, government-managed, primary healthcare clinics and their catchment populations. From January-April 2016, we conducted a household survey of a census of women with recent deliveries, health worker knowledge surveys and facility audits. Main Outcome Measures We explored the proportion of women receiving quality care through the cascade and conducted an equity analysis by wealth. Results In total, 2,910 of 3,564 women (81.6%) reported delivering their most recent child in a health facility, 1,096 of whom delivered in a study facility. Using a minimum threshold of quality, the effective coverage of obstetric care was 25%. Quality was lowest in the emergency care dimensions, with the average score on the provider knowledge tests at 47% and the average provision of basic emergency obstetric services below 50%. The wealthiest 20% of women were 4.1 times as likely to deliver in facilities offering at least the minimum threshold of quality care through the cascade compared to the poorest 80% of women (95% confidence interval: 1.5-11.3). Conclusions Effective coverage of delivery care is very low, particularly among poorer women. Health worker knowledge caused the sharpest decline in effective coverage. Measures of effective coverage are a better performance measure of under-resourced health systems than utilization. Equity analyses can further identify important discrepancies in quality across socio-economic levels. Trial Registration ISRCTN 17107760.

Life After the Neurosurgical Ward in Sub-Saharan Africa: Neurosurgical Treatment and Outpatient Outcomes in Uganda

BACKGROUND In the past decade, neurosurgery in Uganda experienced increasing surgical volume and a new residency training program. Although research has examined surgical capacity, minimal data exist on the patient population treated by neurosurgery and their eventual outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS Patients admitted to Mulago National Referral Hospital neurosurgical ward over 2 years (2014 and 2015) were documented in a prospective database. In total, 1167 were discharged with documented phone numbers and thus eligible for follow-up. Phone surveys were developed and conducted in the participants language to assess mortality, neurologic outcomes, and follow-up health care. RESULTS During the study period, 2032 patients were admitted to the neurosurgical ward, 80% for traumatic brain injury. A total of 7.8% received surgical intervention. The in-hospital mortality rate was 18%. A total of 870 patients were reached for phone follow-up, a 75% response rate, and 30-day and 1-year mortality were 4% and 8%, respectively. Almost one-half of patients had not had subsequent health care after the initial encounter. Most patients had Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended scores consistent with good recovery and mild disability, with patients experiencing trauma faring best and patients with tumor faring worst. A total of 85% felt they returned to baseline work performance, and 76% of guardians felt that children returned to baseline school performance. CONCLUSIONS The neurosurgical service provided health care to a large proportion of nonoperative patients. Phone surveys captured data on patients in whom nearly one-half would be lost to subsequent health care. Although mortality during initial hospitalization was high, more than 90% of those discharged survived at 1-year follow up, and the vast majority returned to work and school.

Intraoperative costs of video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy can be dramatically reduced without compromising outcomes

Objective: To determine whether surgeon selection of instrumentation and other supplies during video‐assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy (VATSL) can safely reduce intraoperative costs. Methods: In this retrospective, cost‐focused review of all video‐assisted thoracoscopic surgery anatomic lung resections performed by 2 surgeons at a single institution between 2010 and 2014, we compared VATSL hospital costs and perioperative outcomes between the surgeons, as well as costs of VATSL compared with thoracotomy lobectomy (THORL). Results: A total of 100 VATSLs were performed by surgeon A, and 70 were performed by surgeon B. The preoperative risk factors did not differ significantly between the 2 groups of surgeries. Mean VATSL total hospital costs per case were 24% percent greater for surgeon A compared with surgeon B (P = .0026). Intraoperative supply costs accounted for most of this cost difference and were 85% greater for surgeon A compared with surgeon B (P < .0001). The use of nonstapler supplies, including energy devices, sealants, and disposables, drove intraoperative costs, accounting for 55% of the difference in intraoperative supply costs between the surgeons. Operative time was 25% longer for surgeon A compared with surgeon B (P < .0001), but this accounted for only 11% of the difference in total cost. Surgeon As overall VATSL costs per case were similar to those of THORLs (n = 100) performed over the same time period, whereas surgeon Bs VATSL costs per case were 24% less than those of THORLs. On adjusted analysis, there was no difference in VATSL perioperative outcomes between the 2 surgeons. Conclusions: The costs of VATSL differ substantially among surgeons and are heavily influenced by the use of disposable equipment/devices. Surgeons can substantially reduce the costs of VATSL to far lower than those of THORL without compromising surgical outcomes through prudent use of costly instruments and technologies.

Preoperative depression, lumbar fusion, and opioid use: an assessment of postoperative prescription, quality, and economic outcomes

OBJECTIVE Preoperative depression has been linked to a variety of adverse outcomes following lumbar fusion, including increased pain, disability, and 30-day readmission rates. The goal of the present study was to determine whether preoperative depression is associated with increased narcotic use following lumbar fusion. Moreover, the authors examined the association between preoperative depression and a variety of secondary quality indicator and economic outcomes, including complications, 30-day readmissions, revision surgeries, likelihood of discharge home, and 1- and 2-year costs. METHODS A retrospective analysis was conducted using a national longitudinal administrative database (MarketScan) containing diagnostic and reimbursement data on patients with a variety of private insurance providers and Medicare for the period from 2007 to 2014. Multivariable logistic and negative binomial regressions were performed to assess the relationship between preoperative depression and the primary postoperative opioid use outcomes while controlling for demographic, comorbidity, and preoperative prescription drug-use variables. Logistic and log-linear regressions were also used to evaluate the association between depression and the secondary outcomes of complications, 30-day readmissions, revisions, likelihood of discharge home, and 1- and 2-year costs. RESULTS The authors identified 60,597 patients who had undergone lumbar fusion and met the study inclusion criteria, 4985 of whom also had a preoperative diagnosis of depression and 21,905 of whom had a diagnosis of spondylolisthesis at the time of surgery. A preoperative depression diagnosis was associated with increased cumulative opioid use (β = 0.25, p < 0.001), an increased risk of chronic use (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.17-1.40), and a decreased probability of opioid cessation (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.95-0.98) following lumbar fusion. In terms of secondary outcomes, preoperative depression was also associated with a slightly increased risk of complications (OR 1.14, 95% CI 1.03-1.25), revision fusions (OR 1.15, 95% CI 1.05-1.26), and 30-day readmissions (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.04-1.36), although it was not significantly associated with the probability of discharge to home (OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.84-1.01). Preoperative depression also resulted in increased costs at 1 (β = 0.06, p < 0.001) and 2 (β = 0.09, p < 0.001) years postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS Although these findings must be interpreted in the context of the limitations inherent to retrospective studies utilizing administrative data, they provide additional evidence for the link between a preoperative diagnosis of depression and adverse outcomes, particularly increased opioid use, following lumbar fusion.

The effects of New York City’s coordinated public health programmes on mortality through 2011

Background In 2003, New York City (NYC) implemented a series of coordinated policies designed to reduce non-communicable disease. Methods We used coarsened exact matching (CEM) of individuals living inside and outside NYC between the years of 1992-2000 and 2002-10 to estimate difference-in-difference survival time models, a quasi-experimental approach. We also fitted age-period-cohort (APC) models to explore mortality impacts by gender, race, age, borough and cause of death over this same time period. Results Both CEM and APC models show that survival gains were large in the pre-2003 era of health policy reform relative to the rest of the USA, but small afterwards. There is no clear link between any policy and changes in mortality by age, gender, ethnicity, borough, or cause of death. Conclusions NYCs gains in survival relative to the rest of the nation were not linked to the citys innovative and coordinated health policy efforts.

Geographic variation in the surgical management of lumbar spondylolisthesis: characterizing practice patterns and outcomes

BACKGROUND CONTEXT The role of arthrodesis in the surgical management of lumbar spondylolisthesis remains controversial. We hypothesized that practice patterns and outcomes for this patient population may vary widely. PURPOSE This study aimed to characterize geographic variation in surgical practices and outcomes for patients with lumbar spondylolisthesis. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING A retrospective analysis on a national longitudinal database between 2007 and 2014 was carried out. METHODS We calculated arthrodesis rates, inpatient and long-term costs, and key quality indicators (eg, reoperation rates). Using linear and logistic regression models, we then calculated expected quality indicator values, adjusting for patient-level demographic factors, and compared these values with the observed values, to assess quality variation apart from differences in patient populations. RESULTS We identified a cohort of 67,077 patients (60.7% female, mean age of 59.8 years (standard deviation, 12.0) with lumbar spondylolisthesis who received either laminectomy or laminectomy with arthrodesis. The majority of patients received arthrodesis (91.8%). Actual rates of arthrodesis varied from 97.5% in South Dakota to 81.5% in Oregon. Geography remained a significant predictor of arthrodesis even after adjusting for demographic factors (p<.001). Marked geographic variation was also observed in initial costs (

Ineffective insurance in lower and middle income countries is an obstacle to universal health coverage

32,485 in Alabama to

Thyroid cancer risk in airline cockpit and cabin crew: a meta-analysis

78,433 in Colorado), 2-year postoperative costs (