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ABSTRACT: To assess the use of antenatal corticosteroids in clinical circumstances for which both the NIH Guideline and local experts recommend their use and to describe characteristics associated with failure to use recommended antenatal steroids. We convened local experts to adapt the NIH statement by identifying clinical circumstances for which they agree antenatal steroids should always be used. We conducted a retrospective chart review on a cohort study of mothers who delivered premature (24-34 weeks) infants between 2000 and 2002 at three New York City hospitals and investigated the association of failure to treat with antenatal steroids with characteristics of the mother, pregnancy, delivery, and hospital. Twenty percent (101/515) of eligible mothers failed to receive indicated antenatal corticosteroid therapy. Of these, 43% delivered more than 2 h after admission, and 33% delivered more than 4 h after admission, indicating sufficient time to have treated them. Lack of prenatal care, longer gestation, advanced cervical exam, and intact membranes at admission were associated with failure to receive the recommended therapy. Antenatal steroids were under-utilized in our sample. If our results our generalizable, opportunities for quality improvement in the antenatal management of mothers in preterm labor exist.
Maternal and Child Health Journal 07/2009; 14(3):430-6. · 2.24 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: To compare tympanostomy tube insertion for children with otitis media in 2002 with the recommendations of two sets of expert guidelines.
Retrospective cohort study.
New York metropolitan area practices associated with five diverse hospitals.
682 of 1046 children who received tympanostomy tubes in the five hospitals for whom charts from the hospital, primary care physician, and otolaryngologist could be accessed.
The mean age was 3.8 years. On average, children with acute otitis media had fewer than four infections in the year before surgery. Children with otitis media with effusion had less than 30 consecutive days of effusion at the time of surgery. Concordance with recommendations was very low: 30.3% (n=207) of all tympanostomies were concordant with the explicit criteria developed for this study and 7.5% (n=13) with the 1994 guideline from the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Medicine, and American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Children who had previously had tympanostomy tube surgery, who were having a concomitant procedure, or who had "at risk conditions" were more likely to be discordant.
A significant majority of tympanostomy tube insertions in the largest and most populous metropolitan area in the United States were inappropriate according to the explicit criteria and not recommended according to both guidelines. Regardless of whether current practice represents a substantial overuse of surgery or the guidelines are overly restrictive, the persistent discrepancy between guidelines and practice cannot be good for children or for people interested in improving their health care.
BMJ (Clinical research ed.). 02/2008; 337:a1607.
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ABSTRACT: Tympanostomy tube insertion is the most common procedure that requires general anesthesia for children in the United States. We report on the clinical characteristics of a cohort of New York City children who received tympanostomy tubes in 2002.
This retrospective cohort study included all 1046 children who received tubes in 2002 in any of 5 New York City area hospitals. We analyzed clinical data for all 682 (65%) children for whom we were able to abstract data for the preceding year from all of 3 sources: hospital, pediatrician, and otolaryngologist medical charts.
Mean age was 3.8 years, 57% were male, and 74% had private insurance. More than 25% of children had received tubes previously. The stated reason for surgery was otitis media with effusion for 60.4% of children, recurrent acute otitis media for 20.7%, and eustachian tube dysfunction for 10.6%. Children with recurrent acute otitis media averaged 3.1 +/- 0.2 episodes (median: 3.0) in the previous year; those with otitis media with effusion averaged effusions that were 29 +/- 1.7 days long (median: 16 days) at surgery. Twenty-five percent of children had bilateral effusions of >42 days' duration at surgery. Despite a clinical practice guideline for otitis media with effusion that recommends withholding tympanostomy tubes for otherwise healthy children until a bilateral effusion is at least 3 to 4 months old, 50% of children had surgery without having had 3 months of effusion cumulatively during the year before surgery.
The clinical characteristics of children who received tympanostomy tubes varied widely. Many children with otitis media with effusion had shorter durations of effusions than are generally recommended before surgery. The extent of variation in treating this familiar condition with limited treatment options suggests both the importance and the difficulty of managing common practice in accordance with clinical practice guidelines.
PEDIATRICS 01/2008; 121(1):e24-33. · 4.47 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Abstract
Background
A few studies have investigated differences in elective procedure rates across small and medium sized referral regions. The purposes of this study are to investigate differences in revascularizations across 11 entire states and to investigate differences in choice of revascularization procedure (percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) vs. coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery).
Methods
Age-sex adjusted rates per 100,000 population who were 20 or older were calculated for PCI, CABG surgery, and total revascularization for each state. Also, the risk-adjusted proportion of revascularized patients who underwent PCI was calculated for each state and differences were compared.
Results
We found variations in procedures performed per capita of 1.83-fold for PCI, 1.54-fold for CABG surgery, and 1.54-fold for total revascularization. For patients undergoing revascularization of two or more vessels, the age/sex adjusted maximum rate of 224 per 100,000 population over 20 years old in Florida was 53% higher than the minimum rate of 146 in Colorado. Higher catheterization rates per 1,000 Medicare enrollees and higher percent of white patients were significant predictors of higher revascularization rates, and density of specialists was a significant predictor of catheterization rate. The risk-adjusted percentage of revascularized patients with two or more arteries attempted who underwent PCI ranged from 10.4% in Oregon to 29.0% in Iowa.
Conclusion
There are reasonably large differences among states in total revascularization rates and in type of revascularization among revascularization. These differences appear to be related to practice pattern differences. Future effort should be devoted to understanding the reason for these differences and the impact on patients' health and survival.
BMC Health Services Research. 01/2006;
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ABSTRACT: We compared the health statuses of the indigenous populations of New Zealand and the United States with those of the numerically dominant populations of these countries.
Health indicators compared included health outcome measures, preventive care measures, modifiable risk factor prevalence, and treatment measures.
In the case of nearly every health status indicator assessed, disparities (both absolute and relative) were more pronounced for Maoris than for American Indians/Alaska Natives. Both indigenous populations suffered from disparities across a range of health indicators. However, no disparities were observed for American Indians/Alaska Natives in regard to immunization coverage.
Ethnic health disparities appear to be more pronounced in New Zealand than in the United States. These disparities are not necessarily intractable. Although differences in national health sector responses exist, New Zealand may be well placed in the future to evaluate the effectiveness of new strategies to reduce these disparities given the extent and quality of Maori-specific health information available.
American Journal of Public Health 06/2005; 95(5):844-50. · 3.93 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: To compare the disease-specific mortality rates of the indigenous populations of New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United States with the non-indigenous populations in each country.
For New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United States, we compiled and calculated (from crude data) ethnic-specific mortality rates by primary cause of death in 1999 for the indigenous and non-indigenous populations in each country. We calculated age-adjusted mortality rates, using direct standardisation and weights based on the World Health Organization world population.
Australia experienced the largest relative and absolute disparities in life expectancy between indigenous and non-indigenous populations. For specific causes of death, New Zealand Maori, and Australian Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders experienced the highest levels of disparities when compared to their respective non-indigenous population group. Large disparities exist for indigenous peoples in all four countries for diabetes mortality. CONCLUSION The indigenous peoples of New Zealand and Australia suffer from high disease-specific mortality rates. The relative size of indigenous/non-indigenous mortality disparities are highest in New Zealand and Australia. There appears to be a number of common issues that adversely affect the quality of the mortality data that is available in the four countries. Action is required to address indigenous health disparities and to improve the quality of indigenous mortality data.
The New Zealand medical journal 01/2005; 117(1207):U1215.
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ABSTRACT: Underuse of effective stroke prevention measures has been demonstrated in the general population. Blacks and Hispanics are at increased risk of recurrent stroke relative to white non-Hispanics. More profound underuse of prevention measures may contribute to this disparity. In this study we attempted to compare the degree of underuse of diagnostic and treatment strategies in patients of these racial/ethnic groups with recent ischemic stroke.
At 4 participating urban hospitals, patient charts were reviewed with regard to the completeness of the diagnostic evaluation, discharge treatment regimen, and stroke risk factor and antithrombotic medication use at 6 months postdischarge.
Of 501 patients hospitalized with acute ischemic stroke, almost all received electrocardiograms and brain imaging, 75% had carotid artery evaluations, and 70% had serum lipid determinations. Blacks and women were less likely to have complete evaluations. At discharge, 88% of patients received antithrombotic medications and 89% of patients were prescribed antihypertensive medications appropriately, but only 65% were prescribed lipid-lowering medications appropriately, with blacks least likely to receive appropriate prescriptions. At 6 months poststroke, of the 200 patients with data available for evaluation, 72% exhibited underuse of at least one stroke prevention measure. Blacks (81.6%) were more likely to experience underuse than Hispanics (62.5%) or whites (66.7%). Women were more likely to receive incomplete inhospital evaluations and discharge regimens.
There is clinically important underuse of effective diagnostic and prevention measures in each of the groups studied, especially among blacks.
Journal of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases: the official journal of National Stroke Association 17(4):226-34.
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Mark Chassin
Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine A Journal of Translational and Personalized Medicine 75(1):5-6. · 2.00 Impact Factor
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