Association of Medicaid expansion with health insurance, unmet need for medical care and substance use disorder treatment among people who inject drugs in 13 US states.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Impoverished people who inject drugs (PWID) are at the epicenter of US drug-related epidemics. Medicaid expansion is designed to reduce cost-related barriers to care by expanding Medicaid coverage to all US adults living at or below 138% of the federal poverty line. This study aimed to measure whether Medicaid expansion is (1) positively associated with the probability that participants are currently insured; (2) inversely related to the probability of reporting unmet need for medical care due to cost in the past year; and (3) positively associated with the probability that they report receiving substance use disorder (SUD) treatment in the past year, among PWID subsisting at ≤ 138% of the federal poverty line. DESIGN: A two-way fixed-effects model was used to analyze serial cross-sectional observational data. SETTING: Seventeen metro areas in 13 US states took part in the study. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were PWID who took part in any of the three waves (2012, 2015, 2018) of data gathered in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS), were aged ≤ 64 years and had incomes ≤ 138% of the federal poverty line. For SUD treatment analyses, the sample was further limited to PWID who used drugs daily, a proxy for SUD. MEASUREMENTS: State-level Medicaid expansion was measured using Kaiser Family Foundation data. Individual-level self-report measures were drawn from the NHBS surveys (e.g. health insurance coverage, unmet need for medical care because of its cost, SUD treatment program participation). FINDINGS: The sample for the insurance and unmet need analyses consisted of 19 946 impoverished PWID across 13 US states and 3 years. Approximately two-thirds were unhoused in the past year; 41.6% reported annual household incomes < $5000. In multivariable models, expansion was associated with a 19.0 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 9.0, 30.0] percentage-point increase in the probability of insurance coverage, and a 9.0 (95% CI = -15.0, -0.2) percentage-point reduction in the probability of unmet need. Expansion was unrelated to SUD treatment among PWID who used daily (n = 17 584). CONCLUSIONS: US Medicaid expansion may curb drug-related epidemics among impoverished people who inject drugs by increasing health insurance coverage and reducing unmet need for care. Persisting non-financial barriers may undermine expansion's impact upon substance use disorder treatment in this sample.

Investigating Defects of Esophageal Motility in Lung Transplant Recipients.

Background: Lung transplant patients are at risk of developing chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) of which bronchitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) is the most common. These patients also are noted to develop gastrointestinal (GI) disease. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is implicated in BOS, and diagnosis and treatment of GERD may help to decrease incidence of BOS. Methods: A total of 131 lung transplant recipients with post-transplant evaluation between 2012 and 2019 were studied. Of 60 post-transplant evaluations with at least 6 months of post-transplant follow-up that included impedance testing, high-resolution manometry (HRM), and pH testing, procedures were performed according to recognized standards. Results: Of 60 patients, 56 (93%) were alive at 1-year post-transplant. The patients were found to have high rates of GI motility diseases: 37 patients (62%) had abnormal impedance testing, 50 patients (83%) had abnormal HRM results, 22 patients (37%) had abnormal pH test results. There was associated high rejection rates in patients with abnormal esophageal motility. There were 37 patients that had abnormal impedance test results and of those 25 patients (67%) developed rejection. Fifty patients had abnormal post-transplant HRM studies, 33 (66%) had an acute cellular rejection episode. Twenty-two patients had abnormal pH results, with 14 (63%) having an acute cellular rejection. Conclusions: Patients undergoing lung transplantation were found to have increased incidence of abnormal GI motility studies of the esophagus. These patients were further found to have increased rejection rates and BOS which has been associated with worsened mortality. Developing a formalized pre- and post-transplant motility study process, using evolving technologies for these patients, may provide guidance of at-risk patients for CLAD and early treatment to prevent CLAD.

Knee flexor strength after ACL reconstruction: comparison between hamstring autograft, tibialis anterior allograft, and non-injured controls.

Hamstring muscle group dysfunction following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACL) using a semitendinosus-gracilis autograft is a growing concern. This study compared the mean peak isometric knee flexor torque of the following three groups: subjects 2 years following ACL reconstruction using semitendinosus-gracilis autografts (Group 1), subjects 2 years following ACL reconstruction using tibialis anterior allografts (Group 2), and a non-injured, activity-level-matched control group (Group 3). We hypothesized that Group 1 would have greater mean involved lower extremity peak isometric knee flexor torque deficits than the other groups. Handheld dynamometry with subjects in prone and the test knee at 90 degrees flexion was used to determine bilateral peak isometric knee flexor torque. Group 1 (86.4 +/- 11) and Group 2 (80.5 +/- 13) had similar 2000 IKDC Subjective Knee Evaluation Form scores (P = NS). Group 1 had a mean involved lower extremity peak isometric knee flexor torque deficit of -17.0 +/- 14 Nm. Group 2 had a mean involved lower extremity peak isometric knee flexor torque deficit of -0.8 +/- 9 Nm. Group 3 (control) had a mean left and right lower extremity peak isometric knee flexor torque difference of -0.7 +/- 14 Nm. Group 1 had decreased involved lower extremity peak isometric knee flexor torque compared to Groups 2 and 3 (two-way ANOVA; group x side interaction P < 0.05, Tukey HSD = 0.008). Long-term knee flexor strength deficits exist following hamstring autograft use for ACL reconstruction that does not occur when a tibialis anterior allograft is used. Early identification of impaired knee flexor strength among this group and modified rehabilitation may reduce these deficits. Adding quantitative biomechanical testing of sprinting and sudden directional change movements to the standard physical therapy evaluation will better elucidate the clinical and functional significance of the observed knee flexor strength impairments and aid in determining sport specific activity training readiness.

Anatomic double bundle ACL reconstruction: a literature review.

With the abundance of anatomic double bundle ACL reconstruction techniques that currently exist and limited patient outcome data, one has to ask whether or not they should be used and if so, which one, and what is the learning curve for the average knee surgeon to become competent with the technique that they select? The purpose of this literature review is to summarize existing anatomic double bundle ACL reconstruction surgical and rehabilitation techniques and the clinical and biomechanical study evidence that currently exists. In choosing to perform anatomic double bundle ACL reconstruction we suggest that the knee surgeon should look for evidence of: (1) control of the pivot shift phenomenon, (2) improved transverse plane rotatory knee control during the performance of sports type movements, (3) a decreased likelihood of revision procedures either for ACL reconstruction or for treatment of associated primary or recurrent meniscal injuries, (4) improved patient self-reports of perceived function, satisfaction, and quality of life, and (5) radiographic evidence of a lower incidence and/or magnitude of osteoarthritic changes compared to conventional single bundle ACL reconstruction.