Using Preanesthesia Clinic Visits to Improve Advance Directives Completion: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Advance directives documentation can increase the likelihood that patient's wishes are respected if they become incapacitated. Unfortunately, completion rates are suboptimal overall, and disparities may exist, especially for vulnerable groups. We assessed whether implementing an initiative to standardize advance directives discussions during preanesthesia visits was associated with changes in rates of advance directives completion over time, and whether the association depends on race, insurance type, or income. METHODS: We conducted a before-after interrupted time series evaluation between January 1, 2015 and June 30, 2019 in a single-center, outpatient preanesthesia clinic. Participants were adults who visited the preanesthesia clinic at Cleveland Clinic and had >1 comorbidity before a noncardiac surgery of either medium or high risk. The intervention in March of 2017 consisted of training staff to help patients complete and witness advance directives documents during visits. We measured advance directives completion, by race, payor, and income (using the 2019 Federal Poverty Line). We assessed the confounder-adjusted association between intervention (pre versus post) and proportion of patients completing advanced directives over time using segmented regression to compare slopes between periods and assess changes at start of the intervention. We used similar models to assess whether changes depended on race, insurance type, or income level. RESULTS: We included 26,368 visits from 22,430 patients. We analyzed financial status for 16,788 visits from 14,274 patients who had address data. There were 11,242 (43%) visits preintervention and 15,126 (57%) visits postintervention. Crude completion rates for advance directives increased from 29% to 78%, with odds of completion an estimated 18 times higher than preintervention (odds ratio [95% CI] of 18 [16-21]; P < 0.001). Regarding race, Black patients had lower completion rates preintervention than White patients, although the gap steadily closed after the intervention ( P = .001). Postintervention, both race groups immediately increased, with no difference in amount of increase ( P = .17) or postintervention change in slope difference ( P = .17). Regarding insurance, patients with Medicaid had lower preintervention completion rates than those with private. Intervention was associated with increases in both groups, but the difference in slopes ( P = .43) or proportions ( P = .23) between the groups did not change after intervention. Regarding the Federal Poverty Line, the completion rate gap between those below (<100%) and above (139%-400%) narrowed by approximately half (0.51: 95% CI, 0.27-0.98; P = .04). CONCLUSIONS: Standardizing advance directives discussions during preanesthesia visits was associated with more patients completing advance directives, particularly in vulnerable patient groups.

Dyspnea in Chronic Low Ventricular Preload States.

Dyspnea in low-preload states is an underrecognized but growing diagnosis in patients with unexplained dyspnea. Patients can often experience debilitating symptoms at rest and with exertion, as low measured preload often leads to decreased cardiac output and ultimately dyspnea. In the present article, we performed a review of the literature and a multidisciplinary evaluation to understand the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of dyspnea in low-preload states. We explored selected etiologies and suggested an algorithm to approach unexplained dyspnea. The mainstay of diagnosis remains as invasive cardiopulmonary exercise testing. We concluded with a variety of nonpharmacological and pharmacological therapies, highlighting that a multifactorial approach may lead to the best results.

Is There Value in Repeating Inhaled Nitric Oxide Vasoreactivity Tests in Patients with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension?

BACKGROUND: In patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), it remains unknown if the response to the acute pulmonary vasoreactivity test changes over time and determines prognosis. METHODS: We included PAH patients who underwent two right heart catheterizations (RHC) with acute vasoreactivity challenge using inhaled nitric oxide (NO). The hemodynamic response was assessed by absolute or percentage change in mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) or pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR). RESULTS: We included 54 patients, age 51 ± 17 years, and 44 (82%) female. The median (IQR) time between the two RHC was 24.5 months (14.8-42 months). The percentage drop in mPAP was less pronounced in the second RHC (- 8.6 ± 8.1 versus - 12.3 ± 13.8 mmHg, p = 0.02). A total of 8 (14%) patients met criteria for a positive vasodilatory test during the first RHC but only 1 during the second. Patients with increased vasoreactivity at second RHC were more likely to receive (a) treatment with phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE5-inh) at first RHC (56% versus 27%, p = 0.04) and (b) more PAH-specific medications by second RHC (2.3 ± 0.8 versus 1.8 ± 0.9, p = 0.03). Cox survival analysis showed that change in mPAP or PVR during vasodilatory challenge at or between the first and second RHC had no impact on survival. CONCLUSIONS: Pulmonary vascular reactivity to inhaled NO might decrease over time; however, there is great variability among patients. The use of PDE5-inh at first RHC and number of PAH-specific treatments by the second RHC were associated with an improvement in pulmonary vasoreactivity over time.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention preferences among young adult African American men who have sex with men.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is effective in preventing HIV infections among men who have sex with men (MSM). PrEP uptake and adherence remain low and product preferences are unknown, especially among young African American MSM who are most at-risk. We conducted 26 qualitative interviews from 2014-2016 among young adult HIV-negative African American MSM regarding PrEP product preferences in Missouri. While the pill and injectable were most liked of all modalities, about a quarter preferred rectal products or patches. Most participants preferred a long-acting injectable (LAI) to daily oral pills due to better medication adherence and a dislike for taking pills. Many participants preferred daily oral pills to on-demand oral PrEP due to the inability to predict sex and the perception that insufficient time or medication would not achieve HIV protection with on-demand. A fear of needles and the perception that there would not be therapeutic levels for a long duration were concerns with injectable PrEP. Study findings highlight the need for a range of prevention options for African American MSM and can inform PrEP product development as well as dissemination and implementation efforts.

Lower hemoglobin levels in first time mothers from Cebu, Philippines.

OBJECTIVES: The association between parity and hemoglobin status in mothers is unclear. Closely spaced pregnancies may predict decreased hemoglobin in women, as these shorter intervals may limit the time available for iron repletion, or maternal age may be associated with general declines in hemoglobin. This study investigated the association between parity and hemoglobin status in a 1-year birth cohort of mothers from Cebu, Philippines, with variable parities. It was hypothesized that maternal parity would be inversely associated with hemoglobin status and that among multiparous mothers, interbirth interval, and prior breastfeeding duration would be positively associated with hemoglobin level. METHODS: The study design was cross-section with participants (n = 125) recruited from the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey; all mothers were 24-25 years of age at the time of the study and currently breastfeeding infants less than 3 years of age. Hemoglobin was measured using B-Hemocue Analyzer. Detailed dietary information, health recalls, anthropometrics, and reproductive histories were available on all mothers. RESULTS: Maternal parity ranged from 1 to 6 with an average of 2.2 (1.0) births. In this cross section of parity among similarly aged women, hemoglobin levels were significantly lower for primiparous (12.1 ± 1.8) compared to multiparous mothers (13.2 ± 1.5; P = 0.03), despite similar antianemic usage during gestation. There was no significant association between prior interbirth interval, prior, or current breastfeeding duration and hemoglobin in multiparas. CONCLUSIONS: Low hemoglobin levels of primiparous women in this sample might indicate increased nutritional stress associated with first pregnancy.