Douglas K. Miller

Self-Rated Health: Changes, Trajectories, and Their Antecedents Among African Americans

Objective: Little is known about changes in self-rated health (SRH) among African Americans. Method: We examined SRH changes and trajectories among 998 African Americans 49 to 65 years old who we reinterviewed annually for 4 years, using multinomial logistic regression and mixed effect models. Results: Fifty-five percent had the same SRH at baseline and 4 years later, 25% improved, and 20% declined. Over time, men were more likely to report lower SRH levels, individuals with hypertension were less likely to report lower SRH levels, and those with congestive heart failure at baseline were more likely to report higher SRH levels. Lower SRH trajectory intercepts were observed for those with lower socioeconomic status, poorer health habits, disease history, and worse functional status. Those with better cognitive status had higher SRH trajectory intercepts. Discussion: The decline in SRH levels among 49- to 65-year-old African Americans is comparable to that of Whites.

Prevalence and Causes of Undernutrition in Medical Outpatients

PURPOSE To assess the prevalence, common causes, and frequency of recognition and treatment of undernutrition in older and younger medical outpatients using a cross-sectional survey design with 2-year follow-up of undernourished subjects. PATIENTS AND METHODS Charts of 1017 adult patients attending a hospital outpatient department were reviewed for the presence of undernutrition, and 85 patients meeting inclusion criteria for undernutrition were evaluated and followed for 2 years. An initial evaluation focused on nutritional, cognitive, and affective status and on nutritional attitudes using two subscales of the EAT-26 eating disorder inventory. After 2 years, initial data plus outpatient records were evaluated by 2 independent reviewers to determine a primary cause of undernutrition and to assess the recognition and treatment of undernutrition by the primary physician. RESULTS Undernutrition was identified in 46 (11%) and 44 (7%) of older and younger subjects respectively; odds ratio (OR) (95% [confidence interval (CI)]) for older versus younger=1.65 (1.06 to 2.51). The primary cause of undernutrition differed between age groups but was deemed treatable in nearly 90% of all subjects. Undernutrition was recognized in 19 (43%) older subjects and 5 (12%) younger subjects (OR=5.47 [1.87 to 16.0]), and appropriate intervention(s) were instituted in 6 (14%) and 2 (5%) of older and younger subjects, respectively (OR=3.08 [0.668 to 14.21]). Older subjects scored higher on the EAT-26 oral control subscale than did younger subjects (4.7 versus 2.5, P=0.004) but similarly on the EAT-26 dieting subscale (5.2 versus 6.3, P=0.332); these relationships did not change with control for potentially confounding variables. CONCLUSIONS In this study, undernutrition was relatively common, usually amenable to treatment, but frequently undetected and undertreated in both older and younger medical outpatients. Older undernourished subjects exhibited higher oral control needs than younger persons, which may have implications for the pathophysiology and treatment of their malnutrition. Further improvement in detection and intervention is warranted in both younger and older age groups.

Controlled Trial of a Geriatric Case-Finding and Liaison Service in an Emergency Department

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of a program of case‐finding and liaison service for older patients visiting the emergency department.

Clinically Relevant Levels of Depressive Symptoms in Community‐Dwelling Middle‐Aged African Americans

Objectives: To identify the prevalence of and potentially modifiable risk factors for clinically relevant levels of depressive symptoms in a population‐based sample of community‐dwelling African Americans and the prevalence of treatment by prescription and alternative medications.

Body composition and age in african-american and caucasian women: Relationship to plasma leptin levels

Leptin is a recently isolated peptide hormone released from adipocytes that has been postulated to play a role in appetite regulation and energy metabolism. Aging affects both food intake and body composition. Body composition is also affected by ethnicity. We have evaluated the relationships between serum leptin levels, age, body composition (by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry), and hormonal parameters in a cross-sectional study of 94 women, 53 African-American (AAF) and 41 Caucasian (CF). Our hypotheses were as follows: (1) changes in body composition would be related to age in a sinusoidal pattern, (2) changes in serum leptin would parallel changes in body fat, (3) serum leptin levels would be influenced by body fat distribution, and (4) serum leptin would be related to serum concentrations of sex hormones. Serum leptin paralleled changes in body fat and body mass index (BMI) with age. In the entire group, serum leptin correlated closely with measures of body fat, including BMI and total fat mass, and there was no difference in leptin levels between the two ethnic groups. In simple regression analysis, serum leptin was related to both serum estradiol and testosterone. The relationship between serum leptin and trunk fat was linear in both groups, but significantly different in AAF and CF (P = .014). Serum leptin was associated with the trunk to lower-extremity fat ratio in CF (r = .67, P = .001) but not in AAF. Body fat was increased with advancing age until about 65 years and then declined. Measures of lean body mass declined linearly with age in the entire group, as well as both subgroups. In the entire group, total lean body mass and lean body mass corrected for BMI (lean body mass/BMI) were inversely related to age. In subjects aged less than 60 years AAF were stronger (P < .05) and had both a larger BMI and fat mass (P < .05) than CF. However, the patterns of age-related changes in fat body mass, lean body mass, and BMI were similar in both groups. In the entire group, multiple regression analysis indicated that the age, free thyroxine index (FTI), and leptin concentration were predictors of the body composition and distribution of trunk to lower-body fat. These observations indicate that there is a sinusoidal relationship between body fat and age, with a decline in body fat in extreme old age in both AAF and CF, and that serum leptin concentrations are more closely related to body fat and BMI than to age or ethnicity.

The effect of medication compliance on the control of hypertension

The effect of medication-taking patterns on blood pressure was investigated in 24 hypertensive outpatients being treated with once-daily doses of hydrochlorothiazide or chlorthalidone. Medication-taking patterns were measured with a small pill dispenser that electronically records the time of medication removal. Blood pressure reduction was found to correlate better with the total number of doses the patient removed from the pill pack during a month than with any of four other compliance measures that were based on the timing of dose removal. Analysis also suggested that blood pressure is improved if patients ingest omitted doses to “catch up” to the prescribed regimen. It is concluded that a simple pill count may be the most clinically relevant definition of compliance for patients with hypertension being treated with only hydrochlorothiazide or chlorthalidone, and that such patients should ingest all prescribed doses, regardless of the time interval between doses.

Nutritional Risk in Inner‐City‐Dwelling Older Black Americans

OBJECTIVE: To define the degree of nutritional risk in older inner‐city black Americans and to identify important underlying factors associated with high nutritional risk.

Achieving consensus on withdrawing or withholding care for critically ill patients

Objective:To examine the decision-making process to withhold of stop life support.Design:Survey.Setting:Medical intensive care unit of a tertiary care center.Participants:Physicians and families of 15 critically ill patients; in seven cases patients also participated.Measurements:Meetings between physicians and family members concerning a decision to withhold or stop treatment of a critically ill family member were tape-recorded. Transcriptions of the meetings were analyzed for 1) process: how the physician introducedthe need for a decision, framedthe likely outcomes of options, and closedon a decision; 2) what decision was made; and 3) the outcome; died, discharged home, or discharged to another institution.Results:The concept of “patient’s wishes” was a central orientation point for the negotiation of consensus regarding withholding or withdrawing therapy even when the patient was not a participant. Physicians tended to provide a direct and unambiguous introduction, give equal weights to options during decision framing, but narrow the options during decision closure to correspond to their judgments. Not every decision was consistent with the physician’s judgment.Conclusions:Decision making to withhold or withdraw life-support therapy from critically ill persons involves complex, difficult processes. Successful management of the tension among life extension, quality of life, patient autonomy, and social justice requires better understanding of these processes.

Inner-city older blacks have high levels of functional disability.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the frequency and severity of functional problems in two groups of noninstitutionalized inner‐city blacks aged 70 years and older contrasted with results from appropriate groups of white and black older adults and with the goals of the Healthy People 2000 program.

Reproducibility of Physical Performance and Physiologic Assessments

We evaluate the test-retest stability of physical performance and physiologic assessments used in epidemiologic research. Method: Eighty subjects aged 50 to 65 were randomly selected from a probability sample of African Americans for test-retest assessments 5 to 45 days after baseline. Physical performance assessments included grip strength, chair stands, gait speed, and four standing-balance measures. Physiologic assessments included systolic and diastolic blood pressure, height, weight, body fat, and peak expiratory flow. Results: Intraclass correlations coefficients (ICCs) were .81 for grip strength, .72 for chair stands, .56 for gait speed, .60 for one-leg stand, .52 for semitandem stand, .58 for tandem stand with eyes closed, and .27 for tandem stand with eyes open. Except for blood pressure (ICCs of .51 and .55 for systolic and diastolic), the physiologic assessments had ICCs > .89. Discussion: Additional interviewer training may improve the reproducibility of the tandem stand with eyes open.