James A. G. Crispo

Associations between Anticholinergic Burden and Adverse Health Outcomes in Parkinson Disease

Background Elderly adults should avoid medications with anticholinergic effects since they may increase the risk of adverse events, including falls, delirium, and cognitive impairment. However, data on anticholinergic burden are limited in subpopulations, such as individuals with Parkinson disease (PD). The objective of this study was to determine whether anticholinergic burden was associated with adverse outcomes in a PD inpatient population. Methods Using the Cerner Health Facts® database, we retrospectively examined anticholinergic medication use, diagnoses, and hospital revisits within a cohort of 16,302 PD inpatients admitted to a Cerner hospital between 2000 and 2011. Anticholinergic burden was computed using the Anticholinergic Risk Scale (ARS). Primary outcomes were associations between ARS score and diagnosis of fracture and delirium. Secondary outcomes included associations between ARS score and 30-day hospital revisits. Results Many individuals (57.8%) were prescribed non-PD medications with moderate to very strong anticholinergic potential. Individuals with the greatest ARS score (≥4) were more likely to be diagnosed with fractures (adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 1.56, 95% CI: 1.29–1.88) and delirium (AOR: 1.61, 95% CI: 1.08–2.40) relative to those with no anticholinergic burden. Similarly, inpatients with the greatest ARS score were more likely to visit the emergency department (adjusted hazard ratio (AHR): 1.32, 95% CI: 1.10–1.58) and be readmitted (AHR: 1.16, 95% CI: 1.01–1.33) within 30-days of discharge. Conclusions We found a positive association between increased anticholinergic burden and adverse outcomes among individuals with PD. Additional pharmacovigilance studies are needed to better understand risks associated with anticholinergic medication use in PD.

External validation and comparison of two variants of the Elixhauser comorbidity measures for all-cause mortality

Assessing prevalent comorbidities is a common approach in health research for identifying clinical differences between individuals. The objective of this study was to validate and compare the predictive performance of two variants of the Elixhauser comorbidity measures (ECM) for inhospital mortality at index and at 1-year in the Cerner Health Facts® (HF) U.S. database. We estimated the prevalence of select comorbidities for individuals 18 to 89 years of age who received care at Cerner contributing health facilities between 2002 and 2011 using the AHRQ (version 3.7) and the Quan Enhanced ICD-9-CM ECMs. External validation of the ECMs was assessed with measures of discrimination [c-statistics], calibration [Hosmer–Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test, Brier Score, calibration curves], added predictive ability [Net Reclassification Improvement], and overall model performance [R2]. Of 3,273,298 patients with a mean age of 43.9 years and a female composition of 53.8%, 1.0% died during their index encounter and 1.5% were deceased at 1-year. Calibration measures were equivalent between the two ECMs. Calibration performance was acceptable when predicting inhospital mortality at index, although recalibration is recommended for predicting inhospital mortality at 1 year. Discrimination was marginally better with the Quan ECM compared the AHRQ ECM when predicting inhospital mortality at index (cQuan = 0.887, 95% CI: 0.885–0.889 vs. cAHRQ = 0.880, 95% CI: 0.878–0.882; p < .0001) and at 1-year (cQuan = 0.884, 95% CI: 0.883–0.886 vs. cAHRQ = 0.880, 95% CI: 0.878–0.881, p < .0001). Both the Quan and the AHRQ ECMs demonstrated excellent discrimination for inhospital mortality of all-causes in Cerner Health Facts®, a HIPAA compliant observational research and privacy-protected data warehouse. While differences in discrimination performance between the ECMs were statistically significant, they are not likely clinically meaningful.

Effectiveness of personal protective measures in reducing pandemic influenza transmission: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The goal of this review was to examine the effectiveness of personal protective measures in preventing pandemic influenza transmission in human populations. We collected primary studies from Medline, Embase, PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL and grey literature. Where appropriate, random effects meta-analyses were conducted using inverse variance statistical calculations. Meta-analyses suggest that regular hand hygiene provided a significant protective effect (OR=0.62; 95% CI 0.52-0.73; I2=0%), and facemask use provided a non-significant protective effect (OR=0.53; 95% CI 0.16-1.71; I2=48%) against 2009 pandemic influenza infection. These interventions may therefore be effective at limiting transmission during future pandemics. PROSPERO Registration: 42016039896.

Interventions to reduce wait times for primary care appointments: a systematic review

BackgroundAccessibility and availability are important characteristics of efficient and effective primary healthcare systems. Currently, timely access to a family physician is a concern in Canada. Adverse outcomes are associated with longer wait times for primary care appointments and often leave individuals to rely on urgent care. When wait times for appointments are too long patients may experience worse health outcomes and are often left to use emergency department resources. The primary objective of our study was to systematically review the literature to identify interventions designed to reduce wait times for primary care appointments. Secondary objectives were to assess patient satisfaction and reduction of no-show rates.MethodsWe searched multiple databases, including: Medline via Ovid SP (1947 to present), Embase (from 1980 to present), PsychINFO (from 1806 to present), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; all dates), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL; 1937 to present), and Pubmed (all dates) to identify studies that reported outcomes associated with interventions designed to reduce wait times for primary care appointments. Two independent reviewers assessed all identified studies for inclusion using pre-defined inclusion/exclusion criteria and a multi-level screening approach. Our study methods were guided by the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions.ResultsOur search identified 3,960 articles that were eligible for inclusion, eleven of which satisfied all inclusion/exclusion criteria. Data abstraction of included studies revealed that open access scheduling is the most commonly used intervention to reduce wait times for primary care appointments. Additionally, included studies demonstrated that dedicated telephone calls for follow-up consultation, presence of nurse practitioners on staff, nurse and general practitioner triage, and email consultations were effective at reducing wait times.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the first study to systematically review and identify interventions designed to reduce wait times for primary care appointments. Our findings suggest that open access scheduling and other patient-centred interventions may reduce wait times for primary care appointments. Our review may inform policy makers and family healthcare providers about interventions that are effective in offering timely access to primary healthcare.

Trends in concomitant clopidogrel and proton pump inhibitor treatment among ACS inpatients, 2000–2016

PurposeThe US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued three safety announcements between January 2009 and October 2010 warning against concomitant use of clopidogrel and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) due to a potential drug-drug interaction that may attenuate clopidogrel’s antiplatelet activity. This primary objective of this study was to examine trends in concomitant clopidogrel/PPI use among acute coronary syndrome (ACS) inpatients in the US between 2000 and 2016, in relation to the FDA safety communications.MethodsAdult inpatients with a primary diagnosis of ACS were identified from the Cerner Health Facts® database. The standardized (age, sex, race, and census region) prevalence of clopidogrel use with PPIs was calculated yearly and quarterly. Findings were stratified by PPIs’ potential to inhibit clopidogrel’s activity and by age.ResultsA total of 204,533 inpatients were identified. In 2008, the prevalence of concomitant clopidogrel and PPI treatment was 34.9%, decreasing to 24.4 and 16.4% in 2009 and 2010, respectively, with the decline being similar across age groups. Treatment with inhibiting PPIs (omeprazole and esomeprazole) and clopidogrel has continued to decrease since 2010, with a prevalence of 0.8% in 2016. A similar reduction was not observed with clopidogrel and non-inhibiting PPIs (pantoprazole, lansoprazole, rabeprazole, and dexlansoprazole). During the FDA warning period, the combined treatment with clopidogrel and H2 receptor antagonists, an alternative to PPIs suggested by the FDA, temporarily increased from 7.8% in 2008 to 12.8 and 14.5% in 2009 and 2010, respectively.ConclusionsFindings suggest that clinical practice recommendations made by the FDA were followed. Further research is needed to determine how changes in drug labels and the availability of new drugs may have influenced the observed trends.

Optimal look back period and summary method for Elixhauser comorbidity measures in a US population-based electronic health record database

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Associations Between Cardiovascular Events and Nonergot Dopamine Agonists in Parkinson's Disease

Knowledge of possible cardiovascular risks from Parkinsons disease (PD) medications is critical to informing safe and effective treatment decisions. The objective of our study was to determine whether PD patients treated with nonergot dopamine agonists (DAs) are at increased risk of adverse cardiovascular or cerebrovascular outcomes, relative to PD patients receiving other treatments.