Effect of Preoperative Opioid Use on Adverse Outcomes, Medical Spending, and Persistent Opioid Use Following Elective Total Joint Arthroplasty in the United States: A Large Retrospective Cohort Study of Administrative Claims Data.

OBJECTIVE: Between 17% and 40% of patients undergoing elective arthroplasty are preoperative opioid users. This US study analyzed patients in this population to illustrate the relationship between preoperative opioid use and adverse surgical outcomes. DESIGN: Retrospective study of administrative medical and pharmaceutical claims data. SUBJECTS: Adults (aged 18+) who received elective total knee, hip, or shoulder replacement in 2014-2015. METHODS: A patient was a preoperative opioid user if opioid prescription fills occurred in two periods: 1-30 and 31-90 days presurgery. Zero-truncated Poisson (incidence rate ratio [IRR]), logistic (odds ratio [OR]), Cox (hazard ratio [HR]), and quantile regressions modeled the effects of preoperative opioid use and opioid dose, adjusted for demographics, comorbidities, and utilization. RESULTS: Among 34,792 patients (38% hip, 58% knee, 4% shoulder), 6,043 (17.4%) were preoperative opioid users with a median morphine equivalent daily dose of 32 mg. Preoperative opioid users had increased length of stay (IRR = 1.03, 95% CI = 1.02 to 1.05), nonhome discharge (OR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.00 to 1.21), and 30-day unplanned readmission (OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.17 to 1.74); experienced 35% higher surgical site infection (HR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.14 to 1.59) and 44% higher surgical revision (HR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.21 to 1.71); had a median $1,084 (95% CI = $833 to $1334) increase in medical spend during the 365 days after discharge; and had a 64% lower rate of opioid cessation (HR = 0.34, 95% CI = 0.33 to 0.35) compared with patients not filling two or more prescriptions across periods. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative opioid users had longer length of stay, increased revision rates, higher spend, and persistent opioid use, which worsened with dose. Adverse outcomes after elective joint replacement may be reduced if preoperative opioid risk is managed through increased monitoring or opioid cessation.

Directly observed therapy and risk of unfavourable tuberculosis treatment outcomes among an international cohort of people living with HIV in low- and middle-income countries.

INTRODUCTION: Identification of persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated tuberculosis (TB) at increased risk for unfavourable TB outcomes would inform efforts to improve such outcomes. We sought to identify factors associated with a decreased risk of unfavourable TB treatment outcomes among people living with HIV-infection (PLHIV) in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), with a specific focus on directly observed therapy (DOT) compared with self-administered therapy (SAT) during the continuation phase of anti-TB therapy. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study among adults diagnosed with HIV-associated TB in Africa, Asia and the Americas from 2012 to 2013; data were collected from 2012 to 2016. Unfavourable TB treatment outcomes (death during TB treatment, and TB treatment failure or recurrence) were defined according to World Health Organization criteria. Receipt of DOT was obtained at the site level and defined as ≥5 days of DOT per week. The person administering DOT and treatment location varied by site. Lack of receipt of DOT was defined as SAT. Multivariable logistic regression estimated the adjusted odds of unfavourable TB treatment outcomes. RESULTS: Among 1862 adults with HIV-associated TB included, 252 (13.5%) had unfavourable TB outcomes (226 deaths, 26 recurrences/failures). Overall, 1825 (98%) received DOT in the intensive phase and 1617 (87%) received DOT in the continuation phase. DOT in the continuation phase was not significantly associated with unfavourable TB outcomes (aOR 1.43, 95% CI 0.86 to 2.38) compared to SAT. Body mass index (BMI) change during anti-TB treatment (per 2 units increase, aOR 0.74, 95% CI 0.68 to 0.82) and CD4+ count at TB diagnosis (200 vs. 50  cells/µL, aOR 0.54, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.73) were both independently associated with decreased odds of unfavourable TB treatment outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: In this large, international cohort of people living with HIV-associated TB in LMIC who received intensive phase DOT, DOT during the continuation phase of anti-TB therapy was not associated with a decreased odds of unfavourable TB treatment outcomes compared to SAT. Randomized trials evaluating the effect of continuation-phase DOT on TB outcomes among PLHIV are needed.

Depression among female heads-of-household in rural Mozambique: A cross-sectional population-based survey.

BACKGROUND: An estimated 350 million people live with depression worldwide. In Mozambique, there are no national data quantifying the burden of mental illnesses. With the sixth highest suicide rate in the world, there is strong evidence of an unmet mental health need. We conducted a survey to measure the prevalence of depression among female heads of household and assess individual, social, and cultural risk factors associated with a positive depression screening. METHODS: This survey was conducted across 14 rural districts in central Mozambique in 2014. We gathered information from 3543 female heads of household (100% response rate) on > 500 variables, including a depression screening tool (PHQ-8). Weighted percentages of survey responses are reported. RESULTS: Among female heads of household, 14% screened positive for depression (PHQ-8 score ≥ 10). Our adjusted models show increased odds of depression per additional year of age (aOR: 1.02 [1.01, 1.04]; p = 0.002), additional year of education (aOR: 1.06 [1.02, 1.11]; p = 0.006), and additional kilometer from the nearest clinic (aOR: 1.05 [1.02, 1.07]; p = < 0.001). Experiencing food insecurity (aOR: 1.05 [1.02, 1.08]; p = 0.003) was associated with increased odds of depression. Being single (aOR: 0.42 [0.29, 0.60]) or divorced/widowed/separated (aOR: 0.57 [0.34, 0.98]; p < 0.001) vs. married was protective against depression, as was a perceived "sufficient" household income (aOR: 0.37 [0.19, 0.69]; p = 0.008). LIMITATIONS: Social desirability bias may have led women to underreport feelings of depression. CONCLUSIONS: The association of more education and marriage with increased odds of depression may reflect a frustration with limited opportunity for success experienced by some women in rural Mozambique.

A Pragmatic Approach for Reproducible Research With Sensitive Data.

Reproducible research is important for assessing the integrity of findings and disseminating methods, but it requires making original study data sets publicly available. This requirement is difficult to meet in settings with sensitive data, which can mean that resulting studies are not reproducible. For studies in which data cannot be shared, we propose a pragmatic approach to make research quasi-reproducible. On a publicly available website without restriction, researchers should post 1) analysis code used in the published study, 2) simulated data, and 3) results obtained by applying the analysis code used in the published study to the simulated data. Although it is not a perfect solution, such an approach makes analyses transparent for critical evaluation and dissemination and is therefore a significant improvement over current practice.

Prevalence and determinants of malaria among children in Zambézia Province, Mozambique.

BACKGROUND: Malaria is the leading cause of death among children in Mozambique. Prevalence and factors associated with malaria are not well studied among children in rural Zambézia Province. Whether prevalence of malaria varies across diverse districts within the province is unknown. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of female heads of household was conducted during April and May 2014, a period of peak malaria transmission. Data were collected on up to two randomly selected children aged 6-59 months per household. The outcome of interest was self-report of symptomatic malaria confirmed by diagnostic test in the past 30 days. Analyses accounted for the two-stage cluster sample design. Prevalence of symptomatic malaria was calculated for the province and three over-sampled focus districts-Alto Molócuè, Morrumbala, and Namacurra. Multivariable logistic regression of symptomatic malaria diagnosis included: district, age, sex, education, bed net use, urban setting, distance to health facility, income, roofing material, and pig farming. RESULTS: Data were collected on 2540 children. Fifty percent were female, and the median age was 24 months. Sixty percent of children slept under bed nets the night prior to the survey, but utilization varied between districts (range 49-89%; p < 0.001). Forty-three percent of children reported fever in the past 30 days, 91% of those sought care at a health facility, 67% of those had either a malaria rapid diagnostic test or blood smear, and 67% of those had a positive test result and therefore met our case definition of self-reported symptomatic malaria. There were significant differences in prevalence of fever (p < 0.001), health-seeking (p < 0.001), and diagnostic testing (p = 0.003) between focus districts. Province-wide prevalence of symptomatic malaria was 13% and among focus districts ranged from 14% in Morrumbala to 17% in Namacurra (p < 0.001). Higher female caregiver education (OR 1.88; 95% CI 1.31-2.70), having fewer young children in the household (OR 1.25; 95% CI 1.01-1.56), and higher income (OR 1.56; 95% CI 1.11-2.22) were independently associated with having a child with symptomatic malaria. CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported symptomatic malaria is highly prevalent among children in Zambézia Province, Mozambique and varies significantly between diverse districts. Factors facilitating access to health services are associated with symptomatic malaria diagnosis. These findings should inform resource allocation in the fight against malaria in Mozambique.

Tuberculosis Treatment Outcomes Among HIV/TB-Coinfected Children in the International Epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA) Network.

INTRODUCTION: Management of tuberculosis (TB) is challenging in HIV/TB-coinfected children. The World Health Organization recommends nucleic acid amplification tests for TB diagnosis, a 4-drug regimen including ethambutol during intensive phase (IP) of treatment, and initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) within 8 weeks of TB diagnosis. We investigated TB treatment outcomes by diagnostic modality, IP regimen, and ART status. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study among HIV/TB-coinfected children enrolled at the International Epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS treatment sites from 2012 to 2014. We modeled TB outcome using multivariable logistic regression including diagnostic modality, IP regimen, and ART status. RESULTS: Among the 386 HIV-infected children diagnosed with TB, 20% had microbiologic confirmation of TB, and 20% had unfavorable TB outcomes. During IP, 78% were treated with a 4-drug regimen. Thirty-one percent were receiving ART at the time of TB diagnosis, and 32% were started on ART within 8 weeks of TB diagnosis. Incidence of ART initiation within 8 weeks of TB diagnosis was higher for those with favorable TB outcomes (64%) compared with those with unfavorable outcomes (40%) (P = 0.04). Neither diagnostic modality (odds ratio 1.77; 95% confidence interval: 0.86 to 3.65) nor IP regimen (odds ratio 0.88; 95% confidence interval: 0.43 to 1.80) was associated with TB outcome. DISCUSSION: In this multinational study of HIV/TB-coinfected children, many were not managed as per World Health Organization guidelines. Children with favorable TB outcomes initiated ART sooner than children with unfavorable outcomes. These findings highlight the importance of early ART for children with HIV/TB coinfection, and reinforce the need for implementation research to improve pediatric TB management.