Prognostic implications of a one-item health literacy screen on health status outcomes among heart failure patients with depression.

Background: Health literacy (HL) is the degree to which individuals can obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services. Although low HL portends greater risk for clinical events, its association with heart failure (HF)-specific health status- patients' symptoms, function and quality of life- is poorly understood. We thus explored the association of low HL with health status outcomes in depressed patients with HF, for whom treatment regimens can be complex. Methods: Participants with HF with reduced ejection fraction and depression, from the Hopeful Heart trial, were categorized as having low or adequate HL at baseline using a validated, 1-item HL screen. HF-specific health status was measured at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months using the 12-item Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ-12). Using serial risk-adjusted linear regression models, we assessed the association of HL with baseline, 12-month and 12-month change in the KCCQ Overall Summary (OS) scores (range 0-100; lower scores = worse health status). Results: Among 629 participants, 35 % had low HL. Those with low HL had lower health status at all time points, including at 12 months after discharge (-9.8 points, 95%CI [-14.3, -5.3], p < 0.001), with poorer improvements in KCCQ-OS scores after accounting for baseline health status (-6.4 points, 95%CI [-10.5, -2.3], p = 0.002). Conclusions: In those with HF and depression, low HL was common and associated with worse HF-specific health status and poorer improvement over time. A brief HL screen can identify patients at risk for poorer health status outcomes and for whom additional interventions may be warranted.

The Relationship Between Objectively Measured Step Count, Clinical Characteristics, and Quality of Life Among Depressed Patients Recently Hospitalized With Systolic Heart Failure.

OBJECTIVE: Physical activity (PA) can improve symptoms of both depression and heart failure (HF), but objective activity data among recently hospitalized HF patients with comorbid depression are lacking. We examined PA and the relationship between daily step counts and mood, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and heart health among patients enrolled in a clinical trial treating HF and comorbid depression. METHODS: We screened hospitalized patients with systolic HF (left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF] ≤45%) and New York Heart Association class II-IV symptoms for depression using the two-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) and telephoned screen-positive patients to administer the PHQ-9 2 weeks after discharge. If the patient scored PHQ-9 ≥10 and agreed to continue in our study, we administered our baseline assessment and mailed them an armband accelerometer. We instructed patients to wear the armbands for 7 days before returning them and classified their data as "usable" if they wore it ≥10 hours per day on ≥4 separate days. RESULTS: We mailed accelerometers to 531 depressed HF patients, and 222 (42%) returned them with usable data. Their median age was 64 years, 54% were women, 23% were non-White, and they walked a median of 1170 steps daily. Higher median daily step counts were associated with lower New York Heart Association class and better physical- and HF-specific HRQoL, but not mood symptoms, mental HRQoL, or LVEF. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with HF and comorbid depression are generally sedentary after hospital discharge. Although mood symptoms and LVEF were unrelated to objective PA, patients with higher step counts self-reported better HRQoL.Trial Registration:ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02044211.

Efficacy of Blended Collaborative Care for Patients With Heart Failure and Comorbid Depression: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Depression is often comorbid in patients with heart failure (HF) and is associated with worse clinical outcomes. However, depression generally goes unrecognized and untreated in this population. Objective: To determine whether a blended collaborative care program for treating both HF and depression can improve clinical outcomes more than collaborative care for HF only and physicians' usual care (UC). Design, Setting, and Participants: This 3-arm, single-blind, randomized effectiveness trial recruited 756 participants with HF with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (<45%) from 8 university-based and community hospitals in southwestern Pennsylvania between March 2014 and October 2017 and observed them until November 2018. Participants included 629 who screened positive for depression during hospitalization and 2 weeks postdischarge and 127 randomly sampled participants without depression to facilitate further comparisons. Key analyses were performed November 2018 to March 2019. Interventions: Separate physician-supervised nurse teams provided either 12 months of collaborative care for HF and depression ("blended" care) or collaborative care for HF only (enhanced UC [eUC]). Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was mental health-related quality of life (mHRQOL) as measured by the Mental Component Summary of the 12-item Short Form Health Survey (MCS-12). Secondary outcomes included mood, physical function, HF pharmacotherapy use, rehospitalizations, and mortality. Results: Of the 756 participants (mean [SD] age, 64.0 [13.0] years; 425 [56%] male), those with depression reported worse mHRQOL, mood, and physical function but were otherwise similar to those without depression (eg, mean left ventricular ejection fraction, 28%). At 12 months, blended care participants reported a 4.47-point improvement on the MCS-12 vs UC (95% CI, 1.65 to 7.28; P = .002), but similar scores as the eUC arm (1.12; 95% CI, -1.15 to 3.40; P = .33). Blended care participants also reported better mood than UC participants (Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System-Depression effect size, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.28 to 0.67) and eUC participants (0.24; 95% CI, 0.07 to 0.41), but physical function, HF pharmacotherapy use, rehospitalizations, and mortality were similar by both baseline depression and randomization status. Conclusions and Relevance: In this randomized clinical trial of patients with HF and depression, telephone-delivered blended collaborative care produced modest improvements in mHRQOL, the primary outcome, on the MCS-12 vs UC but not eUC. Although blended care did not differentially affect rehospitalization and mortality, it improved mood better than eUC and UC and thus may enable organized health care systems to provide effective first-line depression care to medically complex patients. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02044211.

An update on research priorities in hydrocephalus: overview of the third National Institutes of Health-sponsored symposium "Opportunities for Hydrocephalus Research: Pathways to Better Outcomes".

Building on previous National Institutes of Health-sponsored symposia on hydrocephalus research, "Opportunities for Hydrocephalus Research: Pathways to Better Outcomes" was held in Seattle, Washington, July 9-11, 2012. Plenary sessions were organized into four major themes, each with two subtopics: Causes of Hydrocephalus (Genetics and Pathophysiological Modifications); Diagnosis of Hydrocephalus (Biomarkers and Neuroimaging); Treatment of Hydrocephalus (Bioengineering Advances and Surgical Treatments); and Outcome in Hydrocephalus (Neuropsychological and Neurological). International experts gave plenary talks, and extensive group discussions were held for each of the major themes. The conference emphasized patient-centered care and translational research, with the main objective to arrive at a consensus on priorities in hydrocephalus that have the potential to impact patient care in the next 5 years. The current state of hydrocephalus research and treatment was presented, and the following priorities for research were recommended for each theme. 1) Causes of Hydrocephalus-CSF absorption, production, and related drug therapies; pathogenesis of human hydrocephalus; improved animal and in vitro models of hydrocephalus; developmental and macromolecular transport mechanisms; biomechanical changes in hydrocephalus; and age-dependent mechanisms in the development of hydrocephalus. 2) Diagnosis of Hydrocephalus-implementation of a standardized set of protocols and a shared repository of technical information; prospective studies of multimodal techniques including MRI and CSF biomarkers to test potential pharmacological treatments; and quantitative and cost-effective CSF assessment techniques. 3) Treatment of Hydrocephalus-improved bioengineering efforts to reduce proximal catheter and overall shunt failure; external or implantable diagnostics and support for the biological infrastructure research that informs these efforts; and evidence-based surgical standardization with longitudinal metrics to validate or refute implemented practices, procedures, or tests. 4) Outcome in Hydrocephalus-development of specific, reliable batteries with metrics focused on the hydrocephalic patient; measurements of neurocognitive outcome and quality-of-life measures that are adaptable, trackable across the growth spectrum, and applicable cross-culturally; development of comparison metrics against normal aging and sensitive screening tools to diagnose idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus against appropriate normative age-based data; better understanding of the incidence and prevalence of hydrocephalus within both pediatric and adult populations; and comparisons of aging patterns in adults with hydrocephalus against normal aging patterns.

Psychopathology, psychosocial, gender and cognitive outcomes in patients with cloacal exstrophy.

PURPOSE: Psychological functioning, as reflected in psychopathology, psychosocial functioning, gender identity, gender role and cognitive abilities, was examined in a sample of patients with cloacal exstrophy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nine participants 11 to 37 years old completed the evaluation. Standardized measures were used and participant responses were compared to the norms of the various instruments. Gender reassigned participants with cloacal exstrophy were compared with nonassigned participants with cloacal exstrophy. Mean differences between the 2 groups were calculated using the t test. RESULTS: Overall the participants with cloacal exstrophy reported good psychological functioning. Significant differences between reassigned and nonassigned participants were found in the area of depression. All participants had a stable gender identity. XY females showed more male-typical gender roles. There were no significant group differences on cognitive assessments. Reassigned and nonassigned participants did not differ in IQ. CONCLUSIONS: Although being born with cloacal exstrophy puts patients at risk for psychopathology and psychosocial problems, it does not necessarily mean that these problems will develop. With the appropriate support these patients can have remarkably well adjusted lives.