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PubMed2006

Population-based trends in volumes and rates of ambulatory lumbar spine surgery.

STUDY DESIGN: Sequential cross-sectional study. OBJECTIVES: To quantify patterns of outpatient lumbar spine surgery. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Outpatient lumbar spine surgery patterns are undocumented. METHODS: We used CPT-4 and ICD-9-CM diagnosis/procedure codes to identify lumbar spine operations in 20+ year olds. We combined sample volume estimates from the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS), the National Survey of Ambulatory Surgery (NSAS), and the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) with complete case counts from HCUP's State Inpatient Databases (SIDs) and State Ambulatory Surgery Databases (SASDs) for four geographically diverse states. We excluded pregnant patients and those with vertebral fractures, cancer, trauma, or infection. We calculated age- and sex-adjusted rates. RESULTS: Ambulatory cases comprised 4% to 13% of procedures performed from 1994 to 1996 (NHDS/NSAS data), versus 9% to 17% for 1997 to 2000 (SID/SASD data). Discectomies comprised 70% to 90% of outpatient cases. Conversely, proportions of discectomies performed on outpatients rose from 4% in 1994 to 26% in 2000. Outpatient fusions and laminectomies were uncommon. NIS data indicate that nationwide inpatient surgery rates were stable (159 cases/100,000 in 1994 vs. 162/100,000 in 2000). However, combined data from all sources suggest that inpatient and outpatient rates rose from 164 cases/100,000 in 1994 to 201/100,000 in 2000. CONCLUSIONS: While inpatient lumbar surgery rates remained relatively stable for 1994 to 2000, outpatient surgery increased over time.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Facing the challenge: decreasing case fatality rates in severe sepsis despite increasing hospitalizations.

OBJECTIVE: To determine recent trends in severe sepsis-related rates of hospitalization, mortality, and hospital case fatality in a large geographic area and to determine the impact of age, race, and gender on these outcomes. DESIGN: Trend analysis for the period of 1995 to 2002. SETTING: Acute care hospitals in New Jersey. PATIENTS: Subjects > or = 18 yrs of age with severe sepsis who were hospitalized in New Jersey during the period of 1995 to 2002. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We analyzed data from the 1995-2002 New Jersey State Inpatient Databases (SID) developed as part of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), covering all acute care hospitals in the state. On the basis of the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes for septicemia and organ dysfunction, we identified 87,675 patients with severe sepsis. The percentage of patients with severe sepsis among all hospitalized patients with sepsis grew steadily, from 32.7% to 44.7% (p < .0001), during these years. The crude rate of hospitalization with severe sepsis increased 54.2%, from 135.0/100,000 population in 1995 to 208.2/100,000 population in 2002 (p < .0001). Over time, the crude mortality rate rose by 35.8% (p < .0001), whereas the crude case fatality rate (number of deaths/number of cases) fell from 51.0% to 45.0% (p < .0001). For any given year, the rates of hospitalization and mortality were greater among older patients. After adjustment by age, the rates among blacks were greater than among whites, and they were greater among males than females. At the same time, there was no significant difference in the age-adjusted hospital case fatality rates with regard to gender and race. There was a significant increase in age-adjusted gender- and race-specific rates for hospitalization and mortality from 1995 to 2002. Blacks were more likely than whites to be admitted to the intensive care unit: for males, odds ratio = 1.19 (95% confidence interval, 1.13-1.26), and for females, odds ratio = 1.35 (95% confidence interval, 1.29-1.42). However, although case fatality rate was increased among patients admitted to the intensive care unit, this was not reflected in an increased case fatality among blacks. In addition, age-adjusted gender- and race-specific case fatality rates declined during 1995-2002. CONCLUSIONS: In spite of increasing rates of hospitalization and mortality, there is a decreasing case fatality rate for severe sepsis. These data suggest that advances in critical care practice before and during the study period have resulted in improved outcomes for this population.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Value-based medicine and vitreoretinal diseases.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose of the review is to examine the role of value-based medicine and its impact, or potential impact, on vitreoretinal interventions. RECENT FINDINGS: Value-based medicine integrates evidence-based data from clinical trials with the patient-perceived improvement in quality of life conferred by an intervention. Cost-utility analysis, the healthcare economic instrument used to create a value-based medicine database, is being increasingly used to study the cost-effectiveness of vitreoretinal interventions. SUMMARY: Vitreoretinal interventions are generally cost-effective because of the great value they impart to patients. Laser surgical procedures, such as for diabetic retinopathy, threshold retinopathy of prematurity, and exudative macular degeneration appear to be especially cost-effective as a group.

Cost of Illness↗
PubMed2005

Contemporary epidemiology of bladder exstrophy in the United States.

PURPOSE: Although bladder exstrophy is much discussed in the urology literature, there are few population based epidemiological data available for this rare condition. The purpose of this study was to use a large nationwide database to collect contemporary data on the incidence and demographics of bladder exstrophy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample is a 20% sample of nonfederal United States hospitals containing data on 5 million to 7 million inpatient stays per year. The sample was limited to newborns, and International Classification of Disease-9 codes were used to identify cases of bladder exstrophy. We then determined nationally weighted incidence through time, and performed multivariate analyses to identify factors associated with exstrophy. RESULTS: We identified 205 patients with exstrophy among 9,452,110 newborns. The overall weighted incidence of exstrophy was 2.15 per 100,000 live births. The male-to-female ratio was almost even (OR 0.989, 95% CI 0.88 to 1.12). White infants were significantly more likely to present with exstrophy than nonwhites (incidence 2.63 vs 1.54 per 100,000, p <0.0001). Exstrophy incidence also varied by geographic region, socioeconomic status (SES) and insurance status. On multivariate analysis the racial variation in exstrophy incidence persisted even after adjustment for geographic region, SES and insurance status. Conditions such as spina bifida, cleft palate, preterm birth and gastrointestinal anomalies were more common in newborns with exstrophy. CONCLUSIONS: Bladder exstrophy is rare, occurs in equal numbers of live male and female newborns, and is associated with certain co-morbid conditions. Incidence appears to be stable through time. Nonwhite race, uninsured status, high or low SES and Western geographic region are associated with lower exstrophy incidence.

Bladder Exstrophy↗
PubMed2006

Accidental iatrogenic pneumothorax in hospitalized patients.

OBJECTIVE: Iatrogenic pneumothorax (IP) is an inherent risk to patients who undergo procedures that involve the intentional puncturing of the lung. IP also could occur accidentally to patients who do not undergo such procedures; such accidental IP (AIP) is suggestive of lapses in safe care. This study assessed the risk for AIP in patients hospitalized with specific diagnoses who underwent specific procedures. RESEARCH DESIGN: We analyzed 7.5 million discharge abstracts from 994 short-term acute care hospitals across 28 states in 2000 in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample. AHRQ Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) were used to identify AIP. AIP incidences and associated diagnoses and procedures were explored. RESULTS: Patients who were admitted for pleurisy, cancer of the kidney and renal pelvis, or conduction disorders and complications of cardiac devices had the highest rates of developing AIP during hospitalization, with AIP rates at 2.24%, 1.14%, and 0.83% respectively. The procedure-specific rates for AIP varied from 2.68% for patients who underwent thoracentesis to 1.30% for those who underwent nephrectomy, to 0.06% for those who underwent gastrostomy. Thoracentesis appeared to be a high-risk procedure for patients who were admitted for secondary malignancies, pleurisy, or pneumonia, with AIP rates at 3.76%, 3.13%, and 2.28%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Although AIP is most common after thoracentesis, it is a substantial threat to patients undergoing a wide range of procedures.

Hospitals↗
PubMed2007

Does the patient's payer matter in hospital patient safety?: a study of urban hospitals.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have documented that hospitals decrease costs in response to reimbursement cutbacks. However, research concerning how this may affect quality of care has produced mixed results. Until recently, the ability to study changes in patient safety and payment has been limited. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to determine whether changes in 4 hospital patient safety indicator (PSI) rates are related to changes in the generosity of payers over time. DATA AND METHODS: Study data are drawn from 1995-2000 hospital discharges in 11 states in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Database. Following the same organizations over time, we estimate hospital fixed-effects regression models of the association of payer-specific time and post Balanced Budget Act (BBA) payment changes with risk-adjusted hospital PSI rates controlling for patient, organizational, and market characteristics. Four PSIs relevant to a large number of patients and hospitals that reflect general care processes are studied. RESULTS: The time trend during 1995-2000 is consistently significantly positive for private and Medicare hospital PSI rates. Thus, after controlling for patient characteristics and organizational and market factors, performance worsened. The trend is less consistent for Medicaid and does not exist for self-pay hospital PSI rates. After adjusting for multiple comparisons, we also find that the Medicare trend is fairly consistently higher than that of the other payers. In contrast, there is a less consistent BBA effect, especially for Medicare.

Financing, Personal↗
PubMed2004

Hospital-reported medical errors in premature neonates.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the national rate of hospital-reported medical errors in premature neonates and describe the patient and organizational characteristics associated with their occurrence. DESIGN: Nonconcurrent, cohort study. SETTING: The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) contains discharge data collected at community hospitals sited in >20 states. PATIENTS: All neonatal discharges from the 1997 edition of HCUP were included in these analyses. The definition of prematurity included any hospitalized neonate with a birth weight <2500 g, which corresponds to approximately 37 wks gestation. Medical error was defined as an International Classification of Diseases-9 discharge diagnosis of 996-999 in any of the diagnosis fields associated with the discharge. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The national rate of hospital-reported medical errors in premature neonates is 1.2 per 100 discharges. There was a significant linear increase in the rate of medical errors based on birth weight (Cochran-Armitage test for trend, p <.001). After we controlled for case mix and organizational characteristics using a logistic regression model, medical errors continued to be associated with birth weight, gender, insurance status, and hospital characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of hospital-reported medical errors in premature neonates is lower than that reported in both the adult and pediatric populations. Specific patient and organizational characteristics are associated with an increased risk of medical errors. These characteristics may help to identify opportunities to improve patient safety efforts in this vulnerable population.

Child, Hospitalized↗
PubMed2004

Hospital factors associated with splenectomy for splenic injury: a national perspective.

BACKGROUND: The management of patients with splenic injury has shifted from routine splenectomy to attempts at splenic salvage. Using the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's National Inpatient Sample (HCUP-NIS), we assessed the patterns of care for splenic trauma. We hypothesized that the processes of care in urban and rural hospitals would differ. METHODS: Generalized estimating equations were used to identify predictor variables associated with laparotomy and splenectomy from a national, population-based sample of inpatients (HCUP-NIS). Fourteen thousand nine hundred one patients with an International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification discharge diagnosis code of 865 were selected from the 1998 to 2000 HCUP-NIS data. Exclusion criteria included age greater than 80 years. Analyses were compared using all patients and excluding patients who died during the first 2 hospital days. RESULTS: Eight thousand five hundred fifty-three patients were treated in urban teaching hospitals. Forty percent underwent a laparotomy and 28% underwent a splenectomy at that time. Another 4,461 patients were cared for in urban nonteaching hospitals. Of these, 46% had a laparotomy and 35% underwent a splenectomy. The remaining 1,887 patients were seen in rural hospitals. Forty-six percent had a laparotomy and 36% had a splenectomy. Patients in urban teaching hospitals had lower risk-adjusted odds of splenectomy in multivariate models controlling for confounders including overall injury severity. Overall splenic salvage increased from 1998 to 2000, primarily because of increased salvage rates among urban teaching hospitals. CONCLUSION: The management of patients with splenic injury differs among urban teaching, urban nonteaching, and rural hospitals. Surgeons at urban teaching hospitals appear more willing to attempt splenic salvage by means of nonoperative management.

Abdominal Injuries↗
PubMed2003

Market reform in New Jersey and the effect on mortality from acute myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether mortality rates for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) changed in New Jersey after implementation of the Health Care Reform Act, which reduced subsidies for hospital care for the uninsured and changed hospital payment to price competition from a rate-setting system based on hospital cost. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Patient discharge data from hospitals in New Jersey and New York from 1990 through 1996 and the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS). STUDY DESIGN: A comparison between states over time of unadjusted and risk-adjusted mortality and cardiac procedure rates. DATA COLLECTION: Discharge data were obtained for 286,640 patients with the primary diagnosis of AMI admitted to hospitals in New Jersey or New York from 1990 through 1996. Records of 364,273 NIS patients were used to corroborate time trends. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: There were no significant differences in AMI mortality among insured patients in New Jersey relative to New York or the NIS. However, there was a relative increase in mortality of 41 to 57 percent among uninsured New Jersey patients post-reform, and their rates of expensive cardiac procedures decreased concomitantly. CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of hospital price competition and reductions in subsidies for hospital care of the uninsured were associated with an increased mortality rate among uninsured New Jersey AMI patients. A relative decrease in the use of cardiac procedures in New Jersey may partly explain this finding. Additional studies should be done to identify whether other market reforms have been associated with changes in the quality of care.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

A longitudinal examination of hospital registered nurse staffing and quality of care.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate previous research findings of the relationship between nurse staffing and quality of care by examining the effects of change in registered nurse staffing on change in quality of care. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Secondary data from the American Hospital Association (AHA)(nurse staffing, hospital characteristics), InterStudy and Area Resource Files (ARF) (market characteristics), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) (financial performance), and Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) (quality measures-in-hospital mortality ratio and the complication ratios for decubitus ulcers, pneumonia, and urinary tract infection, which were risk-adjusted using the Medstat disease staging algorithm). STUDY DESIGN: Data from a longitudinal cohort of 422 hospitals were analyzed from 1990-1995 to examine the relationships between nurse staffing and quality of care. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: A generalized method of moments estimator for dynamic panel data was used to analyze the data. Principal Findings. Increasing registered nurse staffing had a diminishing marginal effect on reducing mortality ratio, but had no consistent effect on any of the complications. Selected hospital characteristics, market characteristics, and financial performance had other independent effects on quality measures. CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide limited support for the prevailing notion that improving registered nurse (RN) staffing unconditionally improves quality of care.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S.↗
PubMed2004

Updated variable-radius measures of hospital competition.

OBJECTIVE: To calculate variable-radius measures of hospital market size and create measures of competition for hospitals' markets. DATA SOURCES: Discharge abstracts from the 1997 State Inpatient Databases of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) linked with the American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey, Area Resource File (ARF), InterStudy Regional Market Analysis database, and Medicare's Prospective Payment System Impact Files. STUDY DESIGN: Hospital radii capturing 75 and 90 percent of hospital admissions regressed against hospital and health care market characteristics and other local area characteristics, where the specification was designed to maximize predictive ability. The number of competing hospitals and the Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI) of competition were calculated for each hospital's market. DATA COLLECTION METHODS: Discharge abstracts were used to create actual radii for hospitals in nine states. These data were linked with other data describing hospital, health care market, and other characteristics. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We explained 44.7 and 9.6 percent of the variation among urban and rural hospitals, respectively, in radii that capture 90 percent of patients, and slightly less of the variation in radii that capture 75 percent of patients. Population density; number of other hospitals in the local area; and hospital characteristics such as medical school affiliation, percentage of admissions that are Medicaid, case mix, and service offerings are important correlates of a hospital's market size. CONCLUSIONS: Predicted radii and associated competition measures were created (matched to AHA hospital identifiers) for all nonfederal, short-term, general medical/surgical hospitals in the continental United States for which complete data were available in 1997 (N=4,806) and are available from the authors.

Catchment Area, Health↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Assessing the direct costs of treating nonvalvular atrial fibrillation in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the health-care resource use and costs attributable to treating atrial fibrillation (AF) in the United States. METHODS: Retrospective analyses of three federally funded US databases (2001 data): 1) hospital inpatient stays (the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project [HCUP]); 2) physician office visits (the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey [NAMCS]); and 3) emergency department (ED) and hospital outpatient department visits (OPD) (the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey [NHAMCS]). Identification of AF medical encounters was based on occurrence of AF-specific International Classification of Diseases (9th Edition)--Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) diagnosis code 427.31 (principal discharge diagnosis for inpatient setting; any diagnosis field for other settings). For the 10 most common principal discharge diagnoses in the inpatient setting, case-control comparison analyses were performed to estimate annual incremental costs of AF as a comorbid discharge diagnosis for hospital stays. Regression models were used to assess the impact of AF on hospitalization costs. Costs were estimated in year 2005 US dollars. RESULTS: Approximately 350,000 hospitalizations, 5.0 million office visits, 276,000 ED visits, and 234,000 OPD were attributable to AF annually within the United States. Total annual costs for treatment of AF were estimated at $6.65 billion, including $2.93 billion (44%) for hospitalizations with a principal discharge diagnosis of AF, $1.95 billion (29%) for the incremental inpatient cost of AF as a comorbid diagnosis, $1.53 billion (23%) for outpatient treatment of AF, and $235 million (4%) for prescription drugs. In all regressions, AF was a significant contributor to hospital cost. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of AF represents a significant health-care burden with the costs of treating AF in the inpatient setting outweighing the costs of treating AF in the office, emergency room or hospital outpatient settings. Further research is needed to fully capture the costs of treating AF.

Aged↗
PubMed2005

Cost analysis of nursing home registered nurse staffing times.

OBJECTIVES: To examine potential cost savings from decreased adverse resident outcomes versus additional wages of nurses when nursing homes have adequate staffing. DESIGN: A retrospective cost study using differences in adverse outcome rates of pressure ulcers (PUs), urinary tract infections (UTIs), and hospitalizations per resident per day from low staffing and adequate staffing nursing homes. Cost savings from reductions in these events are calculated in dollars and compared with costs of increasing nurse staffing. SETTING: Eighty-two nursing homes throughout the United States. PARTICIPANTS: One thousand three hundred seventy-six frail elderly long-term care residents at risk of PU development. MEASUREMENTS: Event rates are from the National Pressure Ulcer Long-Term Care Study. Hospital costs are estimated from Medicare statistics and from charges in the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. UTI costs and PU costs are from cost-identification studies. Time horizon is 1 year; perspectives are societal and institutional. RESULTS: Analyses showed an annual net societal benefit of 3,191 dollars per resident per year in a high-risk, long-stay nursing home unit that employs sufficient nurses to achieve 30 to 40 minutes of registered nurse direct care time per resident per day versus nursing homes that have nursing time of less than 10 minutes. Sensitivity analyses revealed a robust set of estimates, with no single or paired elements reaching the cost/benefit equality threshold. CONCLUSION: Increasing nurse staffing in nursing homes may create significant societal cost savings from reduction in adverse outcomes. Challenges in increasing nurse staffing are discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

What would be the effect of referral to high-volume hospitals in a largely rural state?

CONTEXT: Volume of certain surgical procedures has been linked to patient outcomes. The Leapfrog Group and others have recommended evidence-based referral using specific volume thresholds for nonemergent cases. The literature is limited on the effect of such referral on hospitals, especially in rural areas. PURPOSE: To examine the impact of evidence-based referral by volume standard for 5 hospital procedures (abdominal aortic artery repair, coronary angioplasty, coronary artery bypass graft, esophageal cancer surgery, and pancreatic resection) in a largely rural state. METHODS: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Iowa State Inpatient Dataset was analyzed to identify hospitals meeting the volume standard versus those not meeting the standard. FINDINGS: Relatively few hospitals perform these procedures in Iowa. Hospitals performing the procedures at a volume above the threshold standard set by the Leapfrog Group tend to be larger, receive more transfers from other hospitals for these procedures, and perform fewer of these procedures on an emergency basis. In Iowa, hospitals that met the volume standard did not differ from hospitals that did not meet the volume standard in risk-adjusted mortality rates. The impact of evidence-based referral would be substantial in terms of travel time for some procedures (ie, coronary artery bypass graft, pancreatic resection, and esophageal cancer surgery) and produce considerable lost revenue for some hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence-based referral would be associated with substantial burden for some patients and hospitals in Iowa. This negative impact does not appear to be offset by improvement in in-hospital mortality rates. These initial findings suggest that there are a number of issues that need to be considered, especially in a rural state, before evidence-based referral is embraced as a means to enhance patient outcomes.

Evidence-Based Medicine↗
PubMed2006

Completeness of cause of injury coding in healthcare administrative databases in the United States, 2001.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the completeness of external cause of injury coding (E-coding) within healthcare administrative databases in the United States and to identify factors that contribute to variations in E-code reporting across states. DESIGN: Cross sectional analysis of the 2001 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), including 33 State Inpatient Databases (SID), a Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), and nine State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD). To assess state reporting practices, structured telephone interviews were conducted with the data organizations that participate in HCUP. RESULTS: The percent of injury records with an injury E-code was 86% in HCUP's nationally representative database, the NIS. For the 33 states represented in the SID, completeness averaged 87%, with more than half of the states reporting E-codes on at least 90% of injuries. In the nine states also represented in the SEDD, completeness averaged 93%. Twenty two states had mandates for E-code reporting, but only eight had provisions for enforcing the mandates. These eight states had the highest rates of E-code completeness. CONCLUSIONS: E-code reporting in administrative databases is relatively complete, but there is significant variation in completeness across the states. States with mandates for the collection of E-codes and with a mechanism to enforce those mandates had the highest rates of E-code reporting. Nine statewide ED data systems demonstrate consistently high E-coding completeness.

Cross-Sectional Studies↗
PubMed1999

Incidence and occurrence of total (first-ever and recurrent) stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: It has recently been hypothesized that the figure of approximately half a million strokes substantially underestimates the actual annual stroke burden for the United States. The majority of previously reported studies on the epidemiology of stroke used relatively small and homogeneous population-based stroke registries. This study was designed to estimate the occurrence, incidence, and characteristics of total (first-ever and recurrent) stroke by using a large administrative claims database representative of all 1995 US inpatient discharges. METHODS: We used the Nationwide Inpatient Sample of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, release 4, which contains approximately 20% of all 1995 US inpatient discharges. Because the accuracy of International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) coding is suboptimal, we performed a literature review of ICD-9-CM 430 to 438 validation studies. The pooled results from the literature review were used to make appropriate adjustments in the analysis to correct for some of the inaccuracies of the diagnostic codes. RESULTS: There were 682 000 occurrences of stroke with hospitalization (95% CI 660 000 to 704 000) and an estimated 68 000 occurrences of stroke without hospitalization. The overall incidence rate for occurrence of total stroke (first-ever and recurrent) was 259 per 100 000 population (age- and sex-adjusted to 1995 US population). Incidence rates increased exponentially with age and were consistently higher for males than for females. CONCLUSIONS: We conservatively estimate that there were 750 000 first-ever or recurrent strokes in the United States during 1995. This new figure emphasizes the importance of preventive measures for a disease that has identifiable and modifiable risk factors and for the development of new and improved treatment strategies and infrastructures that can reduce the consequences of stroke.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Risk factors for peripartum and postpartum stroke and intracranial venous thrombosis.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The study goal was to identify potential risk factors for peripartum or postpartum stroke and intracranial venous thrombosis. METHODS: Data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project were analyzed for the years 1993 and 1994. Observed values were weighted with poststratification discharge weights to project to the universe of all discharges from community hospitals located in the United States. Nationally representative estimates of risk were calculated on the basis of age, race, mode of delivery, income, third-party payer, hospital size, hospital ownership, hospital location (rural versus urban), hospital teaching status, census region, and presence of specific complications. Multivariate models were developed with the use of logistic regression. RESULTS: Among 1 408 015 sampled deliveries, there were 183 observed cases of peripartum stroke and 170 cases of peripartum intracranial venous thrombosis in 17 states in the United States in 1993 and 1994. There were an estimated 975 cases of stroke and 864 cases of intracranial venous thrombosis during pregnancy and the puerperium in the United States among 7 463 712 deliveries during 1993 and 1994, for estimated risks of 13.1 cases of peripartum stroke and 11.6 cases of peripartum intracranial venous thrombosis per 100 000 deliveries. Multivariate analysis showed that the following were strongly and significantly associated with both peripartum and postpartum stroke: cesarean delivery; fluid, electrolyte, and acid-base disorders; and hypertension. Covariates that were strongly and significantly associated with both peripartum and postpartum intracranial venous thrombosis included cesarean delivery, hypertension, and infections other than pneumonia and influenza. CONCLUSIONS: Pregnancy-related hypertension and cesarean delivery are important risk factors for both stroke or intracranial venous thrombosis.

Acid-Base Imbalance↗
PubMed1998

Use of ECT for the inpatient treatment of recurrent major depression.

OBJECTIVE: The authors' goals were to determine the frequency and distribution of ECT for general hospital inpatients with recurrent major depression and to estimate the effects of prompt ECT on the length and cost of inpatient care. METHOD: Data from the 1993 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project were analyzed to determine the rate of ECT use for adult inpatients with a principal discharge diagnosis of major depression, recurrent. Associations between prompt initial use of ECT (in the first 5 hospital days) and length and cost of inpatient care were examined before and after control for sociodemographic, diagnostic, and hospital organizational characteristics. RESULTS: An estimated 9.4% of general hospital adult inpatients with a principal diagnosis of recurrent major depression received ECT in the survey year. A majority (59.2%) of these received their initial ECT session within the first 5 days after hospital admission. In univariate analyses, the likelihood of receiving ECT was greater for older patients, whites, privately insured individuals, and patients who lived in more affluent areas. Patients who received ECT tended to have relatively long and costly admissions. After control for several demographic, diagnostic, and hospital organizational characteristics, prompt ECT (as compared with delayed ECT or none) was associated with significantly shorter and less costly inpatient care. CONCLUSIONS: The longer stays and higher treatment costs associated with ECT may be a consequence of patient selection. When patient selection is taken into account, prompt administration of ECT is associated with shorter and less costly hospital stays. Nonetheless, economically disadvantaged patients are relatively unlikely to receive this treatment.

Adolescent↗