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Biomedical subjects

J E Goin

Publications and source records attributed to J E Goin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Diagnostic coding and medical rehabilitation length of stay: their relationship.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if diagnostic information provided in the form of International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes improves rehabilitation length of stay (LOS) prediction when used in combination with the Functional Independence Measure-Function Related Groups (FIM-FRGs) classification system. DESIGN: Various models characterizing diagnostic information using ICD-9-CM codes were created that included individual ICD-9-CM codes and groupings of those codes by organ or etiology involved. Each method was evaluated using linear regression with the natural logarithm of LOS as the dependent variable. Separate validation data sets were held back to quantify the incremental effect of diagnosis when combined with the FIM-FRG classification system. SETTING: Records from 252 rehabilitation facilities and hospital units across the nation. PATIENTS: Analyses were undertaken using 82,646 records from patients discharged in 1992. RESULTS: The addition of ICD-9-CM diagnostic information to the FIM-FRG classification system increased the variance explained by a maximum of 1.9%, from 31.5% to 33.4%. CONCLUSIONS: Refinement of the FIM-FRGs to include ICD-9-CM diagnoses does not appear warranted on the basis of the small increase in the percentage of explained variance in LOS. We believe the lack of improved prediction with the addition of ICD-9-CM codes relates primarily to incomplete coding practices and to the effect of patients' diagnoses being absorbed in variables as already expressed by the FIM-FRG system. Although ICD-9-CM codes, overall, did not greatly improve LOS prediction, they appeared to have some impact in certain impairment categories.

Brain Injuries

Psychometric analysis of the University of Wisconsin Interstitial Cystitis Scale: implications for use in randomized clinical trials.

PURPOSE: A psychometric analysis of the University of Wisconsin Interstitial Cystitis Scale was conducted on 30 females previously enrolled in a phase II double-blind randomized controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of six weekly intravesical instillations of TICE BCG. The analyses were to: (1) evaluate the adequacy of the seven individual IC component items for measuring the range of patient responses; (2) verify the 2-factor (IC versus reference) construct of the scale; (3) evaluate the internal consistency and reliability of the IC items; (4) better define the scale's applicability and limitations; and (5) if possible, make recommendations for improvements in the scale. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Standard psychometric analyses were used to perform the evaluation, and included descriptive analysis of individual items, computing of item-total correlations and Cronbach's internal consistency measures, and the application of factor and Rasch analyses. RESULTS: The original 7-item IC scale was found to have ceiling effects that could limit its use in detecting small therapeutic differences. It was also found that the Pelvic item originally assigned to the reference set of items of the scale should be included as an IC item when used in a comparable IC population. After including this item into the IC scale Cronbach's alpha was 0.84, compared with 0.82. CONCLUSIONS: The UW-IC Scale has psychometric properties similar to other measurement instruments used in clinical research, and appears worthy of further study in well-characterized IC populations. The reference items suggest that IC patients do not indiscriminately report high values for generalized body complaints, but do so on bladder related symptoms as recorded by the IC items of the scale. Although the scale has limitations it appears applicable for use in future IC intervention clinical trials.

Administration, Intravesical

Development and prospective validation of a clinical index to predict survival in ambulatory patients referred for cardiac transplant evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Risk stratification of patients with end-stage congestive heart failure is a critical component of the transplant candidate selection process. Accurate identification of individuals most likely to survive without a transplant would facilitate more efficient use of scarce donor organs. METHODS AND RESULTS: Multivariable proportional hazards survival models were developed with the use of data on 80 clinical characteristics from 268 ambulatory patients with advanced heart failure (derivation sample). Invasive and noninvasive models (with and without catheterization-derived data) were constructed. A prognostic score was determined for each patient from each model. Stratum-specific likelihood ratios were used to develop three prognostic-score risk groups. The models were prospectively validated on 199 similar patients (validation sample) by calculation of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for 1-year event-free survival, the censored c-index for event-free survival, and comparison of event-free survival curves for prognostic-score risk strata. Outcome events were defined as urgent transplant or death without transplant. The noninvasive model performed well in both samples, and increased performance was not attained by the addition of catheterization-derived variables. Prognostic-score risk groups derived from the noninvasive model in the derivation sample effectively stratified the risk of an outcome event in both samples (1-year event-free survival for derivation and validation samples, respectively: low risk, 93% and 88%; medium risk, 72% and 60%; high risk, 43% and 35%). CONCLUSIONS: Selection of candidates for cardiac transplantation may be improved by use of this noninvasive risk-stratification model.

Cardiac Output, Low

Discharge motor FIM-function related groups.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a patient classification system that groups patients achieving similar functional outcome scores by discharge from medical rehabilitation. DESIGN: Patient groups were developed using a recursive partitioning algorithm and clinical input. Results were validated in a separate set of patient records. SETTING: Two hundred fifty-two free-standing rehabilitation hospitals and distinct part units that participate in the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation. PATIENTS: The 84,492 rehabilitation inpatients discharged in 1992 were grouped into 20 impairment categories. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Discharge score on the motor subscale of the Functional Independence Measure (FIM). RESULTS: In the Discharge Motor FIM-Function Related Groups (DMF-FRGs) system, patients are first classified into one of 20 impairment categories and then into FRGs by their admission motor FIM scores. Some FRGs are also subdivided on the basis of admission cognitive FIM scores and age. The entire system consists of 139 patient groups that explain 63% of the variation in motor FIM discharge scores in the validation data set. Nontraumatic brain injury and joint replacement DMF-FRGs are provided as examples. CONCLUSION: Clinicians can use the DMF-FRGs to identify groups of patients whose motor FIM scores at discharge are below, within, or above nationally established ranges of values for the purpose of outcomes management, guideline development, and quality improvement. The DMF-FRGs can also be considered in the design of an outcome-based payment system for medical rehabilitation.

Activities of Daily Living

Classifying rehabilitation inpatients by expected functional gain.

OBJECTIVES: To create a more suitable payment system for medical rehabilitation, the authors developed a companion classification system to the original functional independence measure-function-related groups (FIM-FRGs), which classify patients having similar lengths of stay in a rehabilitation hospital or inpatient unit. The companion system presented here groups patients according to their gains in functional status during the rehabilitation stay. METHODS: Data from 84,492 patients discharged from 252 rehabilitation facilities in 1992 were provided by the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation. Classification rules were formed using clinical judgment and a recursive partitioning algorithm. The gain-FRGs system used four predictor variables: (1) diagnosis leading to disability, admission scores on the (2) motor and (3) cognitive subscales of the FIM, and (4) patient age. RESULTS: The gain-FRGs system contained 74 patient groups and explained 21% of the variation in functional gain for patients in a different set of records withheld for validation. CONCLUSIONS: The gain-FRGs system should be considered for prospective payment systems because it gives the provider an incentive to improve patient outcomes, which is missing in a payment system based on FIM-FRGs alone.

Activities of Daily Living

Development of function-related groups version 2.0: a classification system for medical rehabilitation.

OBJECTIVE: To present a new version (2.0) of the Functional Independence Measure-Function Related Group (FIM-FRG) case-mix measure. DATA SOURCE/STUDY SETTING: 85,447 patient discharges from 252 freestanding facilities and hospital units contained in the 1992 Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation. STUDY DESIGN: Patient impairment category, functional status at admission to rehabilitation, and patient age were used to develop groups that were homogeneous with respect to length of stay. Within each impairment category patients were randomly assigned to one data set to create the system (through recursive partitioning) or a second set for validation. Clinical and statistical criteria were used to increase the percentage of patients classified, expand the impairment categories of FIM-FRGs Version 1.1, and evaluate the incremental predictive ability of coexisting medical diagnoses. Predictive stability over time was evaluated using 1990 discharges. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In Version 2.0, the percentage of patients classified was increased to 92 percent. Version 2.0 includes two new impairment categories and separate groups for patients admitted to rehabilitation for evaluation only. Coexisting medical diagnoses did not improve LOS prediction. The system explains 31.7 percent of the variance in the logarithm of LOS in the 1992 validation sample, and 31.0 percent in 1990 discharges. CONCLUSIONS: FIM-FRGs Version 2.0 includes more specific impairment categories, classifies a higher percentage of patient discharges, and appears sufficiently stable over time to form the basis of a payment system for inpatient medical rehabilitation.

Aged

Sex differences in patient acceptance of cardiac transplant candidacy.

BACKGROUND: The overwhelming majority of cardiac transplant recipients are men. This can be partially explained by the earlier age at which heart failure develops in men. However, an underrepresentation of women also may reflect physician referral or selection biases or differences in patients' access to or acceptance of heart transplantation. METHODS AND RESULTS: We investigated whether sex bias occurred in the transplant candidate selection process at a single cardiac transplant center. We prospectively evaluated 386 individuals < 70 years of age (295 men, 91 women) referred for management of moderate to severe heart failure and/or cardiac transplant evaluation. Age, race, sex, heart failure type, New York Heart Association class, left ventricular ejection fraction, peak exercise oxygen consumption, disease duration, resting hemodynamic measurements, comorbidity index score, health insurance coverage, and estimated household income were recorded. For patients not accepted for transplantation, the reason for rejection was also obtained. Univariable and multivariable (logistic regression) analyses were performed comparing men and women and patients accepted and those not accepted for cardiac transplantation. Female sex was independently associated with rejection for cardiac transplantation (odds ratio, 2.57; P = .01). However, the reason for rejection (odds ratio, 2.57; P = .01). However, the reason for rejection was more likely to be patient self-refusal for women than for men (29% versus 9%), and female sex was independently associated with patient self-refusal (odds ratio, 4.68; P = .003). When patients who refused transplant were reclassified as accepted for transplant, female sex was no longer associated with nonacceptance. However, lower patient income was associated with nonacceptance for transplant. CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence of sex bias in the selection of cardiac transplant recipients at our center. These findings suggest that the underrepresentation of women among cardiac transplant recipients may result, in part, from a sex difference in treatment preference, with a decreased willingness of women to undergo transplantation. The reasons for the difference in acceptance rates between men and women need to be elucidated.

Female

Efficiency pattern analysis for medical rehabilitation.

Efficiency pattern analysis (EPA) is a technique proposed for use in medical rehabilitation that links patient functional gain to resource use, as approximated by length of stay (LOS), after adjusting for initial severity. The Functional Independence Measure version of the Function Relation Groups (FIM-FRGs) is used to adjust for patient severity and to define the efficiency groups. The efficiency groups are based on LOS and functional gain cut point values in the statistical distribution that are above, below, or within the national interquartile range for each of 53 FRGs. Data from 32,494 patients discharged in 1990 from 123 rehabilitation facilities were used. EPA is a simple way to monitor change in functional gain in response to transformations in health care practices and resource availability. The technique could also provide individual facilities with a means to evaluate treatment efficiencies across time and to compare patterns of LOS and functional gain to national norms.

Activities of Daily Living

A case-mix classification system for medical rehabilitation.

Dissatisfaction with Medicare's current system of paying for rehabilitation care has led to proposals for a rehabilitation prospective payment system, but first a classification system for rehabilitation patients must be created. Data for 36,980 patients admitted to and discharged from 125 rehabilitation facilities between January 1, 1990, and April 19, 1991, were provided by the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation. Classification rules were formed using clinical judgment and a recursive partitioning algorithm. The Functional Independence Measure version of the Function Related Groups (FIM-FRGs) uses four predictor variables: diagnosis leading to disability, admission scores for motor and cognitive functional status subscales as measured by the Functional Independence Measure, and patient age. The system contains 53 FRGs and explains 31.3% of the variance in the natural logarithm length of stay for patients in a validation sample. The FIM-FRG classification system is conceptually simple and stable when tested on a validation sample. The classification system contains a manageable number of groups, and may represent a solution to the problem of classifying medical rehabilitation patients for payment, facility planning, and research on the outcomes, quality, and cost of rehabilitation.

Activities of Daily Living

A comparison of low- with high-osmolality contrast agents in cardiac angiography. Identification of criteria for selective use.

BACKGROUND: Controversy exists as to whether low-osmolality radiographic contrast agents, which have less detrimental pharmacological effects but are considerably more expensive than high-osmolality agents, should be used universally or only for selected high-risk patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: A randomized, double-blind study was used to compare the frequency and severity of adverse events in 2245 consecutive patients undergoing diagnostic cardiac angiography. Two thousand one hundred sixty-six patients were successfully randomized to either iohexol, a low-osmolality contrast agent, or diatrizoate (as Hypaque 76), a high-osmolality agent. The end point event included clinically important adverse events (which jeopardized the patient or required aggressive treatment), contrast agent-related procedure abbreviations, and conversion to open-label contrast agent. Clinically important end point events were associated with increased age, New York Heart Association functional class, left ventricular end-diastolic pressure, arteriovenous oxygen difference, severity of coronary artery disease, and history of a previous reaction to contrast agent. End point events were less frequent in patients receiving iohexol (2.6% versus 4.6%; adjusted odds ratio, 1.59; 95% confidence interval, 0.97-2.60; P = .07). The difference in event frequency between iohexol and diatrizoate was confined to the highest-risk quartile of the patient population. An algorithm was developed to classify patients as being at high or low risk for an event based on patient age, New York Heart Association class, history of a prior contrast reaction, and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure. Application of this algorithm for selective use of low-osmolality agents only for high-risk patients to a theoretical population of 1000 patients reduced contrast agent costs 66% without increasing the frequency of contrast agent-related adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: The advantages of low-osmolality contrast agents are clinically important in patients with severe heart disease but are not in less ill patients. Universal use of low-osmolality agents for cardiac angiography in an unselected population is not necessary. Appropriately guided selective use of low-osmolality contrast agents is feasible and has the potential to reduce cost substantially without compromising safety or effectiveness.

Algorithms

Radiographic resolution of community-acquired pneumonia.

Clinicians are frequently faced with patients in whom the radiographic resolution of community-acquired pneumonia seems delayed. Previous studies of radiographic resolution of the disease have yielded conflicting results. We prospectively assessed the radiographic resolution of pneumonia in 81 non-immuno-compromised patients, presenting to the emergency room and ambulatory clinics of a large university hospital, who met clinical and radiographic criteria for pneumonia. Serial chest radiographs were obtained every 2 wk for an initial period of 8 wk, and then every 4 wk until 24 wk had passed, or until all radiographic abnormalities had cleared. Forty-one of the 81 patients (50.6%) demonstrated complete clearance after 2 wk. Fifty of the 75 patients (66.7%) followed to 4 wk demonstrated complete clearance. The rate of clearance was inversely correlated with age (p < 0.001) and involvement of single versus multiple lobes (p < 0.0001) (log-rank test). Clearance was faster in those patients treated as outpatients (3.8 wk versus 9.1 wk, p = 0.03) and in patients who were nonsmokers (4.5 wk versus 8.4 wk, p = 0.05) (log-rank test). Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that only age (relative risk for clearance, +0.79 per decade) and single versus multiple lobes involved (relative risk for clearance, 0.55 for more than one lobe) had independent predictive value (Cox proportional hazards regression model). The radiographic resolution of pneumonia occurs more rapidly in younger patients and in those with only a single lobe involved.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult

Energy expenditure and genotype of children with cystic fibrosis.

Increased energy expenditure, poor dietary intake, and fat malabsorption in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) frequently lead to growth failure and malnutrition, which are associated with pulmonary failure and decreased survival. The study purpose was to understand better the energy expenditure and requirements in the mild pulmonary disease state in children. Resting and total energy expenditure were measured in 6- to 9-yr-old, pancreatic-insufficient children with CF (n = 25) and control children (n = 25) of similar age, gender, and weight. The effect of the most common genotype, homozygous delta F508, on energy expenditure was also investigated. Dietary intake, degree of fat malabsorption, body composition, physical activity, and clinical status were determined. The CF group had a 9% increase in resting energy expenditure, which was not related to genotype or severity of lung disease. Both CF genotype subgroups (delta F508 homozygous and all others) had a similar, modest resting energy expenditure increase. Total energy expenditure was increased by 12% in the entire CF group and by 23% in the delta F508 homozygous CF subgroup compared with controls. The total energy expenditure increase in delta F508 homozygous children may be related to increased voluntary physical activity, reflecting no activity reduction associated with lung disease, or to an unidentified genotype-related mechanism. The clinical implication is that a detailed physical activity assessment should be evaluated along with resting energy expenditure, either measured or estimated by equations, when daily energy needs are being determined for children with CF.

Anthropometry

Four methods for characterizing disability in the formation of function related groups.

The Functional Independence Measure-Function Related Groups (FIM-FRGs) were developed to classify medical rehabilitation inpatients into homogeneous groups based on length of stay (LOS). Patients are first grouped into clinically relevant rehabilitation impairment categories, then by functional status, as expressed by the FIM, and in certain cases by patient age. The statistical approach used to form the final groupings was a recursive partitioning algorithm applied to the FIM scores and patient age within impairment category. This analysis compares four FIM-FRG classification schemes developed from four scale sets that combine FIM items differently: (1) use of the 18 FIM items as separate variables, (2) the combination of FIM items into six clinical subscales, (3) the combination of the six clinical subscales into motor and cognitive subscales, and (4) the combination of all FIM items into a single scale. The FIM-FRG schemes explain similar amounts of variance in the logarithm of LOS and contain approximately equal numbers of FRGs. The motor and cognitive subscale scheme is recommended for use in payment, however, this scheme and the other schemes have additional uses. Each FRG scheme provides different insight into the clinical relationship between disability and LOS.

Activities of Daily Living

Patterns of authorship among chairmen of departments of medicine.

BACKGROUND: This study examines changes in the authorship patterns of chairmen of medicine departments from 1979 through 1990, a time when criteria for authorship were widely debated among medical journal editors. Chairmen were selected to be studied because, due to their leadership position and stature, they are likely to "set the example" for many scholars in the academic medicine community. METHOD: Computerized literature searches were conducted for all 233 persons who were chairmen during at least one year of the 12-year study period (1979-1990) to determine the average number of publications per chairman per year, the average number of coauthors per article published, the location of the chairman on the published list of authors, and other pertinent data required for a thorough analysis of authorship practices. Statistical methods included repeated-measure analysis, sensitivity analyses, and the use of linear models to analyze trends over time. RESULTS: Among all the chairmen, there was no statistically significant decrease in the average number of articles per year for which the chairmen were last authors, and there was a significant increase in the average number of coauthors per year on published articles. However, factors such as length of chairmanship, frequency of publication, and academic position (i.e., chair, pre-chair, or post-chair) were found to influence patterns of authorship; for example, the 61 individuals who were chairmen for ten years or more had a significant decrease in the number of last-author articles, whereas the 172 individuals who were chairmen for fewer than ten years had a significant increase. CONCLUSION: Changes in the definition of authorship by medical journal editors did not seem to be important influences on the authorship patterns of the chairmen, since the chairmen did not significantly decrease the number of articles for which they were the last authors, and they significantly increased the number of coauthors of their articles.

Authorship

Quinidine-related mortality in the short-to-medium-term treatment of ventricular arrhythmias. A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The interim results of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Suppression Trial requires physicians to use a higher threshold for employing antiarrhythmic agents in the treatment of benign or potentially lethal ventricular arrhythmias. Many have managed patients by switching to the traditional class I quinidine despite its known proarrhythmic tendency. METHODS AND RESULTS: To evaluate the relation between quinidine therapy and mortality in patients with benign or potentially lethal ventricular arrhythmias, we performed a meta-analysis on four randomized double-blind active controlled parallel trials evaluating 1,009 patients in which quinidine (n = 502) was compared to flecainide (n = 141), mexiletine (n = 246), tocainide (n = 67), and propafenone (n = 53). All four trials had similar patient selection, protocols, and methodology (e.g., placebo lead-in and Holter monitoring) but varying lengths of drug exposure. A total of 12 deaths were reported on quinidine and four deaths on the other drugs: two on mexiletine, one on flecainide, and one on tocainide. The statistical analysis of the mortality rates was based on techniques for combining data across separate strata. Based on maximum likelihood estimation, the combined risk of dying on quinidine was statistically significantly higher compared to the other four drugs with a risk difference of 1.6%. The 95% confidence interval was 0-3.1% (p = 0.05). The likelihood ratio test for uniformity of the risk difference across strata showed the trials to be homogeneous (p = 0.88). There was one death recorded for the placebo lead-in period (2 weeks' exposure for 624 patients and 1 week for 385 patients), and seven deaths were reported within 2 weeks on active drug treatment--six on quinidine and one on mexiletine. Furthermore, proarrhythmia was reported in 20 patients on quinidine versus 11 patients on the four other drugs (p = 0.09). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that quinidine may have an adverse effect on mortality as compared to other class I antiarrhythmic agents and that individualized patient selection for the use of this agent be carefully weighed relative to its potential for harm and benefit.

Anti-Arrhythmia Agents

The "intelligent workstation" for cell-surface phenotyping based on principles of pattern recognition and image analysis.

Technical advancements in computer hardware and the associated computerized architectures allow the design and fabrication of dedicated, modestly expensive computerized workstations to aid humans in complex decision-making tasks. We refer to these as "Intelligent Workstations" because they accommodate the hypothesis-driven reasoning ability of the user into the system. Concomitant with the rapid developments in computers, diagnostic and therapeutic technologies related to cell analysis have undergone growth. Combining these technologies requires careful formulation and analysis of the diagnostic model involving image cytometry. Here we present a model of the intelligent workstation for image cytometry and illustrate its advantages in cell-surface phenotyping. Combining cell morphology with cell-surface phenotyping has clear diagnostic utility that no other widely available methods can supply. Although the reported results are based on samples of peripheral blood, cell suspensions of disaggregated cells can also be analyzed.

Aged

Analysis of mammography: a blind interpretation of BCDDP radiographs.

An ROC curve analysis of mammography is presented. This study is based on a blind interpretation of radiographs of patients who underwent screening during the Oklahoma Breast Cancer Detection Demonstration Project (BCDDP). In particular, we evaluated the accuracy of mammography based on 38 incidence cancer cases. Incidence cases are those that develop in a patient after an initial visit and at least one additional annual visit before a biopsy is performed. Using 40 normal subjects, a sensitivity of 72% was attained at a 28% false positive rate. We also evaluated the contribution of viewing radiographs of both breasts (right and left) simultaneously as compared with viewing radiographs of the individual breasts singly. In cases on the threshold of detectability, the breast that did not result in the cancer diagnosis was occasionally identified as the most suspicious for cancer. When mammograms of the two breasts were compared, the false positive rate was lower. These results can be used to assess various screening strategies and to yield a more realistic accuracy estimate of mammography on a rescreened population than is currently available.

Biopsy