Publications

In May 2009, we investigated a hospital outbreak of pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) infection among healthcare personnel (HCP). Thirteen (65%) of 20 HCP with pH1N1 infection had healthcare-associated cases, which were primarily attributed to transmission among HCP. Eleven (55%) of HCP with pH1N1 infection worked for 1 day or more after the onset of illness. Personnel working with mild illness may have contributed to transmission among HCP.

OBJECTIVE

This essay examines the role state public health agencies could play in the surveillance of emerging workplace hazards including nanotechnology.

METHODS

This essay describes existing state occupational health surveillance programs in order to demonstrate their potential applicability, and limitations, in regards to nanomaterial worker surveillance.

RESULTS

State public health agencies have access to information and an ability to put surveillance information to use in ways that complement those of industry, academia, regulatory agencies, and federal partners.

CONCLUSIONS

Some state public health agencies have significant experience with occupational health surveillance and are therefore valuable partners in the development and implementation of nanotechnology worker surveillance programs. Including states in emerging hazard surveillance enhances surveillance activities and builds state capacity to help workers.

During the past 30 years, major advances have been made in our understanding of HIV/AIDS and Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP), but significant gaps remain. Pneumocystis is classified as a fungus and is host-species specific, but an understanding of its reservoir, mode of transmission, and pathogenesis is incomplete. PCP remains a frequent AIDS-defining diagnosis and is a frequent opportunistic pneumonia in the United States and in Europe, but comparable epidemiologic data from other areas of the world that are burdened with HIV/AIDS are limited. Pneumocystis cannot be cultured, and bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage is the gold standard procedure to diagnose PCP, but noninvasive diagnostic tests and biomarkers show promise that must be validated. Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole is the recommended first-line treatment and prophylaxis regimen, but putative trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole drug resistance is an emerging concern. The International HIV-associated Opportunistic Pneumonias (IHOP) study was established to address these knowledge gaps. This review describes recent advances in the pathogenesis, epidemiology, diagnosis, and management of HIV-associated PCP and ongoing areas of clinical and translational research that are part of the IHOP study and the Longitudinal Studies of HIV-associated Lung Infections and Complications (Lung HIV).

OBJECTIVE

Identifying persons with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) at risk for depression would facilitate the identification and treatment of an important comorbidity conferring additional risk for poor outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of a brief screening measure, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), in detecting mood disorders in persons with SLE.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study examined 150 persons with SLE. Screening cut points were empirically derived using threshold selection methods, and receiver operating characteristic curves were estimated. The empirically derived cut points of the CES-D were used as the screening measures and were compared to other commonly used CES-D cut points in addition to other commonly used methods to screen for depression. Diagnoses of major depressive disorder or other mood disorders were determined using a "gold standard" structured clinical interview.

RESULTS

Of the 150 persons with SLE, 26% of subjects met criteria for any mood disorder and 17% met criteria for major depressive disorder. Optimal threshold estimations suggested a CES-D cut score of 24 and above, which yielded adequate sensitivity and specificity in detecting major depressive disorder (88% and 93%, respectively) and correctly classified 92% of participants. To detect the presence of any mood disorder, a cut score of 20 and above was suggested, yielding sensitivity and specificity of 87% and correctly classifying 87%.

CONCLUSION

These results suggest the CES-D may be a useful screening measure to identify patients at risk for depression.

BACKGROUND

Administrative claims and medical records are important data sources to examine healthcare utilization and outcomes. Little is known about identifying personalized medicine technologies in these sources.

OBJECTIVES

To describe agreement, sensitivity, and specificity of administrative claims compared with medical records for 2 pairs of targeted tests and treatments for breast cancer.

RESEARCH DESIGN

Retrospective analysis of medical records linked to administrative claims from a large health plan. We examined whether agreement varied by factors that facilitate tracking in claims (coding and cost) and that enhance medical record completeness (records from multiple providers).

SUBJECTS

Women (35 to 65 y of age) with incident breast cancer diagnosed in 2006 to 2007 (n=775).

MEASURES

Use of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and gene expression profiling (GEP) testing, trastuzumab, and adjuvant chemotherapy in claims and medical records.

RESULTS

Agreement between claims and records was substantial for GEP, trastuzumab, and chemotherapy, and lowest for HER2 tests. GEP, an expensive test with unique billing codes, had higher agreement (91.6% vs. 75.2%), sensitivity (94.9% vs. 76.7%), and specificity (90.1% vs. 29.2%) than HER2, a test without unique billing codes. Trastuzumab, a treatment with unique billing codes, had slightly higher agreement (95.1% vs. 90%) and sensitivity (98.1% vs. 87.9%) than adjuvant chemotherapy.

CONCLUSIONS

Higher agreement and specificity were associated with services that had unique billing codes and high cost. Administrative claims may be sufficient for examining services with unique billing codes. Medical records provide better data for identifying tests lacking specific codes and for research requiring detailed clinical information.

T(2) -weighted, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (T(2) w CMR) can be used to noninvasively detect and quantify the edematous region that corresponds to the area at risk (AAR) following myocardial infarction (MI). Previously, CMR has been used to examine structure and function in mice, expediting the study of genetic manipulations. To date, CMR has not been applied to imaging of post-MI AAR in mice. We developed a whole-heart, T(2) w CMR sequence to quantify the AAR in mouse models of ischemia and infarction. The ΔB(0) and ΔB(1) environment around the mouse heart at 7 T were measured, and a T(2) -preparation sequence suitable for these conditions was developed. Both in vivo T(2) w and late gadolinium enhanced CMR were performed in mice after 20-min coronary occlusions, resulting in measurements of AAR size of 32.5 ± 3.1 (mean ± SEM)% left ventricular mass, and MI size of 50.1 ± 6.4% AAR size. Excellent interobserver agreement and agreement with histology were also found. This T(2) w imaging method for mice may allow for future investigations of genetic manipulations and novel therapies affecting the AAR and salvaged myocardium following reperfused MI.

BACKGROUND

Medicare established the Physicians Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI, recently renamed the Physicians Quality Reporting System) to increase reporting of quality metrics and promote healthcare quality.

OBJECTIVE

To identify characteristics of PQRI participants and examine their beliefs about its impact.

DESIGN

National survey of 4934 U.S. physicians, conducted June through October 2009.

SETTING

All practice settings.

PARTICIPANTS

Randomly selected physicians categorized as primary care, medical specialists, surgeons, other specialists.

MEASUREMENTS

Beliefs about impact of PQRI reporting on quality.

RESULTS

The response rate was 49.8%. There were no significant differences between respondents and non-respondents by age, gender, specialty, and region. Thirty-eight percent participated in the PQRI, and were more likely than non-participants to be practice owners (69.0% vs. 57.1%, p<.0001) and to receive performance bonuses through their employer or practice (50.4% vs. 37.0%, p<.0001). Half of PQRI participants believed it had no impact on quality. Medical specialists (57.0%) and surgeons (55.1%) were more likely than primary care (40.4%) and other physicians (45.7%) to say that PQRI has no impact on quality (p=.004).

CONCLUSIONS

Most PQRI participants believed it had little if any impact on quality. Medicare should identify the reasons behind physicians' negative views while it works to expand the Physicians Quality Reporting System.