Advantages of score-based delirium detection compared to a clinical delirium assessment—a retrospective, monocentric cohort study

Purpose Delirium is an underdiagnosed complication on intensive care units (ICU). We hypothesized that a score-based delirium detection using the Nudesc score identifies more patients compared to a traditional diagnosis of delirium by ICU physicians. Methods In this retrospective study, all patients treated on a general medical ICU with 30 beds in a university hospital in 2019 were analyzed. Primary outcome was a documented physician diagnosis of delirium, or a delirium score ≥2 using the Nudesc. Results In 205/943 included patients (21.7%), delirium was diagnosed by ICU physicians compared to 438/943 (46.4%; ratio 2.1) by Nudesc≥2. Both assessments were independent predictors of ICU stay (p<0.01). The physician diagnosis however was no independent predictor of mortality (OR 0.98 (0.57–1.72); p = 0.989), in contrast to the score-based diagnosis (OR 2.31 (1.30–4.10); p = 0.004). Subgroup analysis showed that physicians underdiagnosed delirium in case of hypoactive delirium and delirium in patients with female gender and in patients with an age below 60 years. Conclusion Delirium in patients with hypoactive delirium, female patients and those below 60 years was underdiagnosed by physicians. The score-based delirium diagnosis detected delirium more frequently and correlated with ICU mortality and stay.

Dairy Consumption and 3-Year Risk of Type 2 Diabetes after Myocardial Infarction: A Prospective Analysis in the Alpha Omega Cohort

Population-based studies suggest a role for dairy, especially yogurt, in the prevention of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Whether dairy affects T2D risk after myocardial infarction (MI) is unknown. We examined associations of (types of) dairy with T2D incidence in drug-treated, post-MI patients from the Alpha Omega Cohort. The analysis included 3401 patients (80% men) aged 60–80 y who were free of T2D at baseline (2002–2006). Dairy intakes were assessed using a validated food-frequency questionnaire. Incident T2D was ascertained through self-reported physician diagnosis and/or medication use. Multivariable Cox models were used to calculate Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for T2D with dairy intake in categories and per 1-standard deviation (SD) increment. Most patients consumed dairy, and median intakes were 264 g/d for total dairy, 82 g/d for milk and 41 g/d for yogurt. During 40 months of follow-up (10,714 person-years), 186 patients developed T2D. After adjustment for confounders, including diet, HRs per 1-SD were 1.06 (95% CI 0.91–1.22) for total dairy, 1.02 (0.88–1.18) for milk and 1.04 (0.90–1.20) for yogurt. Associations were also absent for other dairy types and in dairy categories (all p-trend > 0.05). Our findings suggest no major role for dairy consumption in T2D prevention after MI.

Effects of sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors on stroke development in Lebanese patients with atrial fibrillation: a cross-sectional study

Background: Non-communicable diseases, the major cause of death and disability, are susceptible to modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors. Atrial fibrillation (AF) increases the risk of stroke by 4-5 times and can lead to cardiovascular mortality. This study was conducted to assess the effects of different sociodemographic factors on stroke development in patients with AF. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between January and June 2018 on patients recruited from Lebanese community pharmacies. The CHA2DS2-VASc scoring system is utilized as a stroke risk stratification tool in AF patients. Participants with a previous physician diagnosis of AF, documented on medical records, were included in this study. Results: A total of 524 patients were enrolled in the study with a mean age of 58.75 (± SD) ± 13.59 years with hypertension (78.38%) being the most predominant disease. The results showed that obesity (Beta=0.610, p-value =0.011), retirement and unemployment compared to employment (Beta=1.440 and 1.440, p-value=0.001 respectively), divorced/widow compared to married (Beta=1.380, p-value =0.001) were significantly associated with higher CHA2DS2-VASc scores whereas high versus low socio-economic status (Beta=-1.030, p=0.009) and high school education versus primary education level (Beta=-0.490, p-value=0.025) were significantly associated with lower CHA2DS2-VASc scores. Conclusions: The study highlights that the CHA2DS2-VASc score is affected by the presence of various sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics in patients with AF. Thus, screening for those factors may predict the progression of cardiovascular disease and may provide an optimal intervention.

Prenatal Acetaminophen, Adverse Birth Outcomes, and ADHD: Mediation Analysis in a Prospective Cohort

Background Although we previously reported an association of prenatal acetaminophen exposure with more than two-fold increased odds of child ADHD, it is unknown whether prenatal acetaminophen is associated with adverse birth outcomes, and if birth outcomes may mediate the association of prenatal acetaminophen with ADHD. Methods This birth cohort from Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, included 773 live births. Mothers with no thyroid disease enrolled at their first prenatal care visit or delivery. Acetaminophen was measured in meconium for 393 children at delivery. Physician diagnosis of ADHD was determined when children were 6-7 years old. We first tested associations of prenatal acetaminophen with birthweight, preterm birth, gestational age, and small and large for gestational age. Then we assessed whether these birth outcomes mediate the association of prenatal acetaminophen with ADHD. We imputed missing data via multiple imputation and used inverse probability weighting to account for confounding and selection bias. Results Acetaminophen was detected in 222 meconium samples (56.5%). Prenatal acetaminophen exposure was associated with decreased birthweight by 136 grams (beta = -136; 95%CI [-229, -43]), 20% increased weekly hazard of delivery (hazard ratio = 1.20; 95%CI [1.00, 1.43]), and over 60% decreased odds of being born large for gestational age (odds ratio = 0.38; 95%CI [0.20, 0.75]). There was no evidence for adverse birth outcomes mediating the association of prenatal acetaminophen with child ADHD. Conclusions Although unobserved confounding and confounding by indication are possible, these results warrant further investigation into adverse perinatal effects of prenatal acetaminophen exposure.

Abstract P153: Dose-Response Associations Between Physical Activity And All-Cause Mortality Among A Multi-Ethnic Sample With Diabetes: NHANES 1999-2006

Introduction: Emerging evidence has suggested that those identifying as non-Hispanic white (NHW) or non-Hispanic black (NHB) have consistent and similar all-cause mortality risk reductions across dose of aerobic PA. In the same analyses, those identifying as Mexican American (MA) receive no protection from all-cause mortality across dose of aerobic PA. However, a single study has suggested that MAs meeting both the aerobic and muscular strengthening activity (MSA) recommendations have similar all-cause mortality risk reductions compared to NHW and NHB, highlighting the importance of MSA among MA. It is unknown, however, if these results translate to those who have diabetes. Hypothesis: NHW or NHB participants will have similar all-cause mortality risk reductions associated with aerobic PA independent of MSA participation. MA meeting both recommendations will have significant all-cause mortality risk reductions. Methods: The study sample (n=1,999) included adult (≥20 years of age) participants with diabetes from the 1999-2006 NHANES. Diabetes was defined as having one of the following: reported physician diagnosis, reported taking anti-hyperglycemic medication, or HbA1c ≥6.5%. PA was categorized into 6 categories based around the 2018 PA guidelines: category 1 (no aerobic PA and insufficient MSA), category 2 (insufficient aerobic PA and insufficient MSA), category 3 (active and insufficient MSA), category 4 (no aerobic PA and sufficient MSA), category 5 (insufficient aerobic PA and sufficient MSA), and category 6 (meeting both recommendations). Cox-proportional hazard models were used for all analyses. Results: A significant interaction (p<0.001) was found between categories of PA and race. Statistically significant risk reductions were found for categories 2,3 and 6 among NHW, and categories 2 and 3 among NHB; with a non-statistically significant risk reduction of 67% in category 6 (p=0.13) for NHB. A 45% reduction in risk was found among MA for category 6, however the estimate did not attain statistical significance (p=0.17). Conclusions: Similar to previous studies in those without diabetes, aerobic PA of any volume significantly reduced risk for all-cause mortality only among NHW and NHB with diabetes. While the risk reductions were clinically meaningful for both NHB and MA in category 6 compared to category 1, there was a lack of statistical significance. It is probable this may be, in part, influenced by a relatively low sample size within these two race-ethnic groups.

Contributions of asthma, rhinitis, and IgE to exhaled nitric oxide in adolescents

Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is an indicator of allergic airway inflammation. However, it is unknown how asthma, allergic rhinitis (AR) and allergic sensitisation relate to FeNO, particularly among adolescents and in overlapping conditions. We sought to determine the associations between asthma, AR, and aeroallergen IgE and FeNO in adolescents.We measured FeNO among 929 adolescents (11–16 years) in Project Viva, an unselected prebirth cohort in Massachusetts. We defined asthma as ever asthma physician diagnosis plus wheezing in the past year or taking asthma medications in the past month; AR as a physician diagnosis of hay fever or AR; and aeroallergen IgE as any IgE>0.35 IU·mL−1 among 592 participants who provided blood samples. We examined associations of asthma, AR, and IgE with percent difference in FeNO in linear regression models adjusted for sex, race/ethnicity, age and height; maternal education and smoking during pregnancy; and household/neighborhood demographics.Asthma (14%) was associated with 97% higher FeNO (95%CI 70, 128%), AR (21%) with 45% higher FeNO (95%CI 28, 65%), and aeroallergen IgE (58%) with 102% higher FeNO (95%CI 80, 126%) compared to those without each condition, respectively. In the absence of asthma or AR, aeroallergen IgE was associated with 75% higher FeNO (95%CI 52, 101), while asthma and AR were not associated with FeNO in the absence of IgE.The link between asthma and AR with FeNO is limited to those with IgE-mediated phenotypes. FeNO may be elevated in those with allergic sensitisation alone, even in the absence of asthma or AR.

Machine learning for patient risk stratification: standing on, or looking over, the shoulders of clinicians?

Machine learning can help clinicians to make individualized patient predictions only if researchers demonstrate models that contribute novel insights, rather than learning the most likely next step in a set of actions a clinician will take. We trained deep learning models using only clinician-initiated, administrative data for 42.9 million admissions using three subsets of data: demographic data only, demographic data and information available at admission, and the previous data plus charges recorded during the first day of admission. Models trained on charges during the first day of admission achieve performance close to published full EMR-based benchmarks for inpatient outcomes: inhospital mortality (0.89 AUC), prolonged length of stay (0.82 AUC), and 30-day readmission rate (0.71 AUC). Similar performance between models trained with only clinician-initiated data and those trained with full EMR data purporting to include information about patient state and physiology should raise concern in the deployment of these models. Furthermore, these models exhibited significant declines in performance when evaluated over only myocardial infarction (MI) patients relative to models trained over MI patients alone, highlighting the importance of physician diagnosis in the prognostic performance of these models. These results provide a benchmark for predictive accuracy trained only on prior clinical actions and indicate that models with similar performance may derive their signal by looking over clinician’s shoulders—using clinical behavior as the expression of preexisting intuition and suspicion to generate a prediction. For models to guide clinicians in individual decisions, performance exceeding these benchmarks is necessary.

Effect of depression on health service utilisation in men: a prospective cohort study of Australian men aged 35 to 80 years

ObjectivesTo examine the relationship between depression burden, health service utilisation and depression diagnosis in community-based men.DesignProspective cohort study.SettingCommunity-based.ParticipantsMen aged 35–80 years at recruitment (2002–2005), randomly selected from the northern and western suburbs of Adelaide, Australia, without depression at baseline, who attended follow-up visits (2007–2010) (n=1464).Primary and secondary outcome measuresDepression symptoms were categorised into high burden (total score of ≥13 for the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) or ≥10 for the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) or low burden (<13 for the BDI or <10 for the CES-D). Diagnosed depression was determined by patient-reported physician diagnosis. Frequent general practitioner (GP) visits were those occurring 5+ times over the preceding year. Use of national medical and prescription services (Medicare Benefit Schedule and Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme; MBS and PBS) was assessed through data linkage.ResultsFrequent attendance and depression diagnosis was more common in men with a high than low burden of depression symptoms (45.9% vs 29.3%–18.7% vs 1.9%, p<0.001). Depression diagnoses were also more common in frequent GP attenders compared with low-average attenders (5.1% vs 2.2%, p<0.001). Among men with high burden of symptoms, there was no age-adjusted or multi-adjusted difference for likelihood of depression diagnosis between non-regular and frequent GP attenders. Annualised MBS and PBS expenditure was highest for men with undiagnosed depression.ConclusionsMen with a high burden of depression symptoms have commensurate use of health services when compared with those with a low burden, but only half report a physician diagnosis of depression. Undiagnosed depression led to a higher usage of medical and prescription services.

Prevalence and Risk Factors of COVID-19 Symptoms among U.S. Adults with Allergies

Background: This study sought to evaluate COVID-19 associated physical and mental health symptoms among adults with allergies compared to the general U.S. adult population. Methods: Data for these analyses were obtained from the publicly available COVID-19 Household Impact Survey, which provides national and regional statistics about physical health, mental health, economic security, and social dynamics among U.S. adults (ages 18 and older). Data from 20–26 April 2020; 4–10 May 2020; and 30 May–8 June 2020 were included. Our primary outcomes for this analysis were physical and mental health symptoms experienced in the last seven days. The primary predictor was participants’ self-report of a physician diagnosis of an allergy. Results/Discussion: This study included 10,760 participants, of whom 44% self-reported having allergies. Adults with allergies were more likely to report physical symptoms compared to adults without allergies including fever (aOR 1.7, 95% CI 1.44–1.99), cough (aOR 1.9, 95% CI 1.60–2.26), shortness of breath (aOR 2.04, 95% CI 1.71–2.43), and loss of taste or sense of smell (aOR 1.9, 95% CI 1.58–2.28). Adults with allergies were more likely to report feeling nervous (cOR 1.34, 95% CI 1.13, 1.60), depressed (cOR 1.32, 95% CI 1.11–1.57), lonely (cOR 1.23, 95% CI 1.04–1.47), hopeless (cOR 1.44, 95% CI 1.21–1.72), or having physical reactions when thinking about COVID-19 pandemic (cOR 2.01, 95% CI 1.44–2.82), compared to those without allergies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, adults with allergies are more likely to report physical and mental health symptoms compared to individuals without allergies. These findings have important implications for diagnostic and treatment challenges for allergy physicians.

Diagnostic Delay in Psoriatic Arthritis: A Population Based Study

Objective To examine demographic and clinical characteristics associated with diagnostic delay in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Methods We characterized a retrospective, population-based cohort of incident adult (≥18 years) PsA patients from Olmsted County, MN from 2000-17. All patients met classification criteria. Diagnostic delay was defined as the time from any patient-reported PsA-related joint symptom to a physician diagnosis of PsA. Factors associated with delay in PsA diagnosis were identified through logistic regression models. Results Of the 164 incident PsA cases from 2000-17, 162 had a physician or rheumatologist diagnosis. Mean (SD) age was 41.5 (12.6) and 46% were females. Median time from symptom onset to physician diagnosis was 2.5 years (interquartile range: 0.5 to 7.3). By six months, 38 (23%) received a diagnosis of PsA, 56 (35%) by one year and 73 (45%) by two years after symptom onset. No significant trend in diagnostic delay was observed over calendar time. Earlier age at onset of PsA symptoms, higher body mass index, and enthesitis were associated with a diagnostic delay of >2 years, while sebopsoriasis was associated with a lower likelihood of delay. Conclusion In our study, more than half of PsA patients had a diagnostic delay of >2 years, and no significant improvement in time to diagnosis was noted between 2000-17. Patients with younger age at PsA symptom onset, higher BMI, or enthesitis before diagnosis were more likely to have a diagnostic delay of >2 year while patients with sebopsoriasis were less likely to have a diagnostic delay.