Publications

BACKGROUND

Electronic health record (EHR) adoption is a national priority in the USA, and well-designed EHRs have the potential to improve quality and safety. However, physicians are reluctant to implement EHRs due to financial constraints, usability concerns, and apprehension about unintended consequences, including the introduction of medical errors related to EHR use. The goal of this study was to characterize and describe physicians' attitudes towards three consequences of EHR implementation: (1) the potential for EHRs to introduce new errors; (2) improvements in healthcare quality; and (3) changes in overall physician satisfaction.

METHODS

Using data from a 2007 statewide survey of Massachusetts physicians, we conducted multivariate regression analysis to examine relationships between practice characteristics, perceptions of EHR-related errors, perceptions of healthcare quality, and overall physician satisfaction.

RESULTS

30% of physicians agreed that EHRs create new opportunities for error, but only 2% believed their EHR has created more errors than it prevented. With respect to perceptions of quality, there was no significant association between perceptions of EHR-associated errors and perceptions of EHR-associated changes in healthcare quality. Finally, physicians who believed that EHRs created new opportunities for error were less likely be satisfied with their practice situation (adjusted OR 0.49, p=0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Almost one third of physicians perceived that EHRs create new opportunities for error. This perception was associated with lower levels of physician satisfaction.

BACKGROUND

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) reduce mortality in heart failure (HF). In patients requiring a ventricular assist device (VAD), the benefit from ICD therapy is not well established. The aim of this study was to define the impact of ICD on outcomes in VAD-supported patients.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We reviewed data for consecutive adult HF patients receiving VAD as a bridge to transplantation from 1996 to 2003. The primary outcome was survival to transplantation. A total of 144 VADs were implanted [85 left ventricular (LVAD), 59 biventricular (BIVAD), mean age 50 ± 12 years, 77% male, left ventricular ejection fraction 18 ± 9%, 54% ischemic]. Mean length of support was 119 days (range 1-670); 103 patients (72%) survived to transplantation. Forty-five patients had an ICD (33 LVAD, 12 BIVAD). More LVAD patients had an appropriate ICD shock before implantation than after (16 vs 7; P = .02). There was a trend toward higher shock frequency before LVAD implant than after (3.3 ± 5.2 vs 1.1 ± 3.8 shocks/y; P = .06). Mean time to first shock after VAD implant was 129 ± 109 days. LVAD-supported patients with an ICD were significantly more likely to survive to transplantation [1-y actuarial survival to transplantation: LVAD: 91% with ICD vs 57% without ICD (log-rank P = .01); BIVAD: 54% vs 47% (log-rank P = NS)]. An ICD was associated with significantly increased survival in a multivariate model controlling for confounding variables (odds ratio 2.54, 95% confidence interval 1.04-6.21; P = .04).

CONCLUSIONS

Shock frequency decreases after VAD implantation, likely owing to ventricular unloading, but appropriate ICD shocks still occur in 21% of patients. An ICD is associated with improved survival in LVAD-supported HF patients.

INTRODUCTION

Latin America has the highest prevalence of tobacco use by youth. Higher media literacy, defined as the ability to analyze and evaluate media messages, has been associated with lower smoking among youth in the United States. The objective of this study was to determine whether media literacy related to smoking is independently associated with current smoking and susceptibility to future smoking in a sample of mostly indigenous youth in Jujuy, Argentina.

METHODS

In 2006, a self-administered survey was conducted among 10th grade students sampled from 27 randomly selected urban and rural schools in Jujuy. Survey items measured smoking behavior (ever, never, and current), susceptibility to future smoking among never-smokers (definitely not accept a cigarette from a friend or to smoke in the future), 5 items assessing smoking media literacy (SML), and risk factors for smoking.

RESULTS

Of the 3,470 respondents, 1,170 (34%) reported having smoked in the previous 30 days (current). Of the 1,430 students who had never smoked, 912 (64%) were susceptible to future smoking. High media literacy was present in 38%. Using multiple logistic regression, fully adjusted models showed that high media literacy was significantly associated as a protective factor of being a current smoker (odds ratio [OR] = 0.81; 95% CI = 0.67-0.97) and of being susceptible to future smoking (OR = 0.73; 95% CI = 0.58-0.92) among those who had never smoked.

CONCLUSIONS

Among youth in Jujuy, higher SML was significantly associated with both lower current smoking and susceptibility to future smoking. Teaching SML may be a valuable component in a prevention intervention in this population.

Although synovial fluid lipids were found to absorb in ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) total joint implants in vivo, their effect on the oxidation of the polymer was not known. Current understanding of the oxidation and oxidative stability of UHMWPE joint implants is focused on the presence or elimination of radiation-induced free radicals, which are long-lived and can react with oxygen over the long term. Recently, we found unexplained oxidation in irradiated and melted UHMWPE components that were exposed to bodily fluids then stored on the shelf despite being free of detectable free radicals at the time of implantation. Thus, we hypothesized that lipids absorbed from the synovial fluid in vivo could initiate and accelerate oxidation of UHMWPE even in the absence of detectable residual free radicals. We found that squalene, a precursor in cholesterol synthesis and a synovial fluid lipid with unsaturated bonds, accelerated oxidation in irradiated and melted UHMWPE under in vitro accelerated aging conditions. This result represents a paradigm shift in our understanding of oxidative stability of UHMWPE and prompts further investigation of in vivo oxidation mechanisms as well as the development of relevant in vitro aging models.