Method to develop health care peer groups for quality and financial comparisons across hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and explore the characteristics of a novel "nearest neighbor" methodology for creating peer groups for health care facilities. DATA SOURCES: Data were obtained from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) databases. STATISTICAL METHODS AND FINDINGS: Peer groups are developed by first calculating the multidimensional Euclidean distance between each of 133 VA medical centers based on 16 facility characteristics. Each medical center then serves as the center for its own peer group, and the nearest neighbor facilities in terms of Euclidean distance comprise the peer facilities. We explore the attributes and characteristics of the nearest neighbor peer groupings. In addition, we construct standard cluster analysis-derived peer groups and compare the characteristics of groupings from the two methodologies. CONCLUSIONS: The novel peer group methodology presented here results in groups where each medical center is at the center of its own peer group. Possible advantages over other peer group methodologies are that facilities are never on the "edge" of a group and group size-and thus group dispersion-is determined by the researcher. Peer groups with these characteristics may be more appealing to some researchers and administrators than standard cluster analysis and may thus strengthen organizational buy-in for financial and quality comparisons.

A practical screening tool for anxiety and depression in patients with chronic breathing disorders.

Obstructive lung diseases are associated with high rates of depression and anxiety, yet many patients are never screened or treated. This study evaluated the five-question Depression and Anxiety modules of the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD) Patient Questionnaire as a telephone screen in 1,632 patients with chronic breathing disorders at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Houston, TX. Subsequent testing of 828 patients with the Beck Depression Inventory-II and the Beck Anxiety Inventory showed that the sensitivity and specificity, respectively, of the Depression and Anxiety modules of the PRIME-MD Patient Questionnaire screening were 94.6% and 49.5% (Depression); 93.7% and 32.2% (Anxiety); and 97.7%, and 36.0% (combined screen), with an overall accuracy of 80.7%. In such populations, these two modules of the PRIME-MD Patient Questionnaire may be a useful screening tool.

Geographic variation within the United States in the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Geographic variation in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been previously studied in the United States. Using data collected by the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registries (SEER) and the 1990 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), we analyzed incidence and risk factors for HCC in nine geographic regions in the United States. We identified all individuals with HCC during 1975-1998 in five states (Connecticut, Iowa, Utah, New Mexico, and Hawaii) and four metropolitan areas (Detroit-Metropolitan, San Francisco-Oakland, Seattle-Puget Sound, and Atlanta-Metropolitan). Age-adjusted incidence rates were calculated for each geographic region. The association between HCC incidence and geographic regions were examined in Poisson multivariate regression model controlling for age, gender, race, and year of diagnosis. Hierarchical linear modeling was also used to examine these associations while adjusting for potential clustering of persons with similar characteristics within geographic regions, and to assess the effect of the prevalence of smoking, alcohol use, obesity, and diabetes in the underlying population in these geographical regions. A total of 11,547 persons with HCC were examined. Hawaii had the highest age-adjusted incidence rate (4.6), followed by San Francisco-Oakland (3.2), New Mexico (2.0), Detroit-Metropolitan (1.9), Seattle-Puget Sound (1.8), Atlanta-Metropolitan (1.7), Connecticut (1.6), Iowa (1.1), and Utah (1.0); all rates per 100,000. Whites had an age-adjusted incidence rate of 1.5, Blacks 3.2, and other races "Asian, American Indian, Pacific Islander" 7.0. However, Blacks and "other races" in Seattle-Puget Sound had higher age-adjusted incidence rates (4.4 and 8.2, respectively) than Blacks and other races in any other registry, while Whites in Hawaii had a higher rate (2.5) than Whites in any other registry. In general, men had a two to three times higher age-adjusted incidence rate than women. However, Hawaiian men had significantly higher age-adjusted rates (7.0) than men in other regions, while Utah had the lowest rates of HCC in men (1.5). Adjusting for variations in ethnicity, gender, age, and time of diagnosis, the Poisson regression analysis showed persistent geographic differences in HCC as well as a change in the order with New Mexico having the highest HCC incidence followed San Francisco-Oakland. Hierarchical linear modeling confirmed geographic variations in HCC but failed to show a significant effect for the prevalence of smoking, alcohol use, obesity, and diabetes in the underlying population. Significant geographic variation in HCC incidence exist in the United States. These variations are only partly explained by differences in age, gender, race, and year of diagnosis.