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The 2009 US Preventive Services Task Force breast cancer screening update recommended against routine screening mammography for women aged 40-49; confusion and release of conflicting guidelines followed. We examined the impact of the USPSTF update on population-level screening mammography rates in women ages 40-49. We conducted a retrospective, interrupted time-series analysis using a nationally representative, privately-insured population from 1/1/2006-12/31/2011. Women ages 40-64 enrolled for ≥ 1 month were included. The primary outcome was receipt of screening mammography, identified using administrative claims-based algorithms. Time-series regression models were estimated to determine the effect of the guideline change on screening mammography rates. 5.5 million women ages 40-64 were included. A 1.8 per 1,000 women (p = 0.003) decrease in monthly screening mammography rates for 40-49 year-old women was observed two months following the guideline change; no initial effect was seen for 50-64 year-old women. However, two years following the guideline change, a slight increase in screening mammography rates above expected was observed in both age groups. We detected a modest initial drop in screening mammography rates in women ages 40-49 immediately after the 2009 USPSTF guideline followed by an increase in screening rates. Unfavorable public reactions and release of conflicting statements may have tempered the initial impact. Renewal of the screening debate may have brought mammography to the forefront of women's minds, contributing to the observed increase in mammography rates two years after the guideline change. This pattern is unlikely to reflect informed choice and underscores the need for improved translation of evidence-based care and guidelines into practice.

To establish the prevalence of self-reported hypoglycemia among ambulatory patients with diabetes and assess its impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This study was a cross-sectional analysis of a postal survey disbursed during the first quarter of 2010 to 875 adults with type 1 or 2 diabetes identified on the basis of an index clinical encounter for diabetes management between August 1, 2005 and June 30, 2006. The survey included questions regarding hypoglycemia, self-rating of health, and questions adapted from Confidence in Diabetes Self-Care, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, EuroQol5-D, and the Hypoglycemic Fear Survey. Data were analyzed using a two-sample t test for continuous variables and a chi-square test for categorical variables, with multivariate analysis to adjust for age, gender, diabetes duration, and Charlson comorbidity index. The survey was completed by 418 patients (47.8% response rate). Of the respondents, 26 of 92 (28.3%) with type 1 and 55 of 326 (16.9%) with type 2 diabetes reported at least one episode of severe hypoglycemia within the previous 6 months. Fear of hypoglycemia, including engagement in anticipatory avoidance behaviors, was highest in patients with type 2 diabetes reporting severe hypoglycemia and all patients with type 1 diabetes (P<.001). HRQoL was lower in patients with type 2 (but not type 1) diabetes reporting severe hypoglycemia (P<.01). Clinicians and health systems should incorporate screening for hypoglycemia into the routine health assessment of all patients with diabetes. Fear of hypoglycemia places patients at risk for counterproductive behaviors, impairs HRQoL, and should be considered in individualizing glycemic goals.

Hypoglycemia is a cause of significant morbidity among patients with diabetes and may be associated with greater risk of death. We conducted a retrospective study to determine whether patient self-report of severe hypoglycemia is associated with increased mortality. Adult patients (N = 1,020) seen in a specialty diabetes clinic between August 2005 and July 2006 were questioned about frequency of hypoglycemia during a preencounter interview; 7 were lost to follow-up and excluded from analysis. Mild hypoglycemia was defined as symptoms managed without assistance, and severe hypoglycemia was defined as symptoms requiring external assistance. Mortality data, demographics, clinical characteristics, and Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) were obtained from the electronic medical record after 5 years. Patients were stratified by self-report of hypoglycemia at baseline, demographics were compared using the two-sample t test, and risk of death was expressed as odds ratio (95% CI). Associations were controlled for age, sex, diabetes type and duration, CCI, HbA(1c), and report of severe hypoglycemia. In total, 1,013 patients with type 1 (21.3%) and type 2 (78.7%) diabetes were questioned about hypoglycemia. Among these, 625 (61.7%) reported any hypoglycemia, and 76 (7.5%) reported severe hypoglycemia. After 5 years, patients who reported severe hypoglycemia had 3.4-fold higher mortality (95% CI 1.5-7.4; P = 0.005) compared with those who reported mild/no hypoglycemia. Self-report of severe hypoglycemia is associated with 3.4-fold increased risk of death. Patient-reported outcomes, including patient-reported hypoglycemia, may therefore augment risk stratification and disease management of patients with diabetes.

IntroductionCurrent diabetes quality measures are agnostic to patient clinical complexity and type of treatment required to achieve it. Our objective was to introduce a patient-centered indicator of appropriate diabetes therapy indicator (ADTI), designed for patients with type 2 diabetes, which is based on hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) but is also contextualized by patient complexity and treatment intensity.Research design and methodsA draft indicator was iteratively refined by a multidisciplinary Delphi panel using existing quality measures, guidelines, and published literature. ADTI performance was then assessed using OptumLabs Data Warehouse data for 2015. Included adults (n=206 279) with type 2 diabetes were categorized as clinically complex based on comorbidities, then categorized as treated appropriately, overtreated, or undertreated based on a matrix of clinical complexity, HbA1c level, and medications used. Associations between ADTI and emergency department/hospital visits for hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia were assessed by calculating event rates for each treatment intensity subset.ResultsOverall, 7.4% of patients with type 2 diabetes were overtreated and 21.1% were undertreated. Patients with high complexity were more likely to be overtreated (OR 5.60, 95% CI 5.37 to 5.83) and less likely to be undertreated (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.62 to 0.68) than patients with low complexity. Overtreated patients had higher rates of hypoglycemia than appropriately treated patients (22.0 vs 6.2 per 1000 people/year), whereas undertreated patients had higher rates of hyperglycemia (8.4 vs 1.9 per 1000 people/year).ConclusionsThe ADTI may facilitate timely, patient-centered treatment intensification/deintensification with the goal of achieving safer evidence-based care.

Severe hypoglycemia is a serious and potentially preventable complication of diabetes, with some of the most severe episodes requiring emergency department (ED) care or hospitalization. A variety of health conditions increase the risk of hypoglycemia. People with diabetes often have multiple comorbidities, and the association of such multimorbidity with hypoglycemia risk in the context of other risk factors is uncertain. To examine the associations of age, cumulative multimorbidity, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level, and use of glucose level-lowering medication with hypoglycemia-related ED visits and hospitalizations. Cohort study of claims and laboratory data from OptumLabs Data Warehouse, an administrative claims database of commercially insured and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries in the United States. Participants were adults (aged ≥18 years) with diabetes who had an available HbA1c level result in 2015. Data from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2016, were analyzed. Final analyses were conducted from December 2017 to September 2018. This study calculated rates of hypoglycemia-related ED visits and hospitalizations during the year after the index HbA1c level was obtained, stratified by patient demographic characteristics, diabetes type, comorbidities (from 16 guideline-specified high-risk conditions), index HbA1c level, and glucose level-lowering medication use. The association of each variable with hypoglycemia-related ED and hospital care was examined using multivariable Poisson regression analysis overall and by diabetes type. The study cohort was composed of 201 705 adults with diabetes (mean [SD] age, 65.8 [12.1] years; 102 668 [50.9%] women; 118 804 [58.9%] white; mean [SD] index HbA1c level, 7.2% [1.5%]). Overall, there were 9.06 (95% CI, 8.64-9.47) hypoglycemia-related ED visits and hospitalizations per 1000 persons per year. The risk of hypoglycemia-related ED visits and hospitalizations was increased by age 75 years or older (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.56 [95% CI, 1.23-2.02] vs 18-44 years), black race/ethnicity (IRR, 1.30 [95% CI, 1.16-1.46] vs white race/ethnicity), lower annual household income (IRR, 0.63 [95% CI, 0.53-0.74] for ≥$100 000 vs <$40 000), number of comorbidities (increasing from IRR of 1.66 [95% CI, 1.42-1.95] in the presence of 2 comorbidities to IRR of 4.12 [95% CI, 3.07-5.51] with ≥8 comorbidities compared with ≤1), prior hypoglycemia-related ED visit or hospitalization (IRR, 6.60 [95% CI, 5.77-7.56]), and glucose level-lowering treatment regimen (IRR, 6.73 [95% CI, 4.93-9.22] for sulfonylurea; 12.53 [95% CI, 8.90-17.64] for basal insulin; and 27.65 [95% CI, 20.32-37.63] for basal plus bolus insulin compared with other medications). Independent of these factors, having type 1 diabetes was associated with a 34% increase in the risk of hypoglycemia-related ED visits or hospitalizations (IRR, 1.34 [95% CI, 1.15-1.55]). The index HbA1c level was associated with hypoglycemia-related ED visits and hospitalizations when both low (IRR, 1.45 [95% CI, 1.12-1.87] for HbA1c level ≤5.6% vs 6.5%-6.9%) and high (IRR, 1.24 [95% CI, 1.02-1.50] for HbA1c level ≥10%). In this cohort study of adults with diabetes, the risk of an ED visit or hospitalization for hypoglycemia appeared to be highest among patients with type 1 diabetes, multiple comorbidities, prior severe hypoglycemia, and sulfonylurea and/or insulin use. At-risk patients may benefit from individualized treatment regimens to decrease their risk of hypoglycemia.

Osteoporosis Choice, an encounter decision aid, can engage patients and clinicians in shared decision making about osteoporosis treatment. Its effectiveness compared to the routine provision to clinicians of the patient's estimated risk of fracture using the FRAX calculator is unknown. Patient-level, randomized, three-arm trial enrolling women over 50 with osteopenia or osteoporosis eligible for treatment with bisphosphonates, where the use of Osteoporosis Choice was compared to FRAX only and to usual care to determine impact on patient knowledge, decisional conflict, involvement in the decision-making process, decision to start and adherence to bisphosphonates. We enrolled 79 women in the three arms. Because FRAX estimation alone and usual care produced similar results, we grouped them for analysis. Compared to these, use of Osteoporosis Choice increased patient knowledge (median score 6 vs. 4, p = .01), improved understanding of fracture risk and risk reduction with bisphosphonates (p = .01 and p<.0001, respectively), had no effect on decision conflict, and increased patient engagement in the decision making process (OPTION scores 57% vs. 43%, p = .001). Encounters with the decision aid were 0.8 minutes longer (range: 33 minutes shorter to 3.0 minutes longer). There were twice as many patients receiving and filling prescriptions in the decision aid arm (83% vs. 40%, p = .07); medication adherence at 6 months was no different across arms. Supporting both patients and clinicians during the clinical encounter with the Osteoporosis Choice decision aid efficiently improves treatment decision making when compared to usual care with or without clinical decision support with FRAX results. clinical trials.gov NCT00949611.

Glucagonlike peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA), sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i), and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4i) are associated with low rates of hypoglycemia, and postmarketing trials of GLP-1RA and SGLT2i demonstrated that these medications improved cardiovascular and kidney outcomes. To compare trends in initiation of treatment with GLP-1RA, SGLT2i, and DPP-4i by older adults with type 2 diabetes insured by Medicare Advantage vs commercial health plans. This retrospective cohort study used administrative claims data from a deidentified database of commercially insured and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries. Adults aged 58 to 66 years with type 2 diabetes who filled any medication prescription to lower glucose levels from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2019, were compared between groups. Enrollment in a Medicare Advantage or commercial health insurance plan. The odds of initiating GLP-1RA, SGLT2i, and DPP-4i treatment were examined for Medicare Advantage vs commercial insurance beneficiaries using 3 separate logistic regression models adjusted for year and demographic and clinical factors. These models were used to calculate adjusted annual rates of medication initiation by health plan. A total of 382 574 adults with pharmacologically treated type 2 diabetes (52.9% men; mean [SD] age, 62.4 [2.7] years) were identified, including 172 180 Medicare Advantage and 210 394 commercial beneficiaries. From 2016 to 2019, adjusted rates of initiation of GLP-1RA, SGLT2i, and DPP-4i treatment increased among all beneficiaries, from 2.14% to 20.02% for GLP-1RA among commercial insurance beneficiaries and from 1.50% to 11.44% among Medicare Advantage beneficiaries; from 2.74% to 18.15% for SGLT2i among commercial insurance beneficiaries and from 1.57% to 8.51% among Medicare Advantage beneficiaries; and from 3.30% to 11.71% for DPP-4i among commercial insurance beneficiaries and from 2.44% to 7.68% among Medicare Advantage beneficiaries. Initiation rates for all 3 drug classes were consistently lower among Medicare Advantage than among commercial insurance beneficiaries. Within each calendar year, the odds of initiating GLP-1RA treatment ranged from 0.28 (95% CI, 0.26-0.29) to 0.70 (95% CI, 0.65-0.75) for Medicare Advantage and commercial insurance beneficiaries, respectively; SGLT2i, from 0.21 (95% CI, 0.20-0.22) to 0.57 (95% CI, 0.53-0.61), respectively; and DPP-4i, from 0.37 (95% CI, 0.34-0.39) to 0.73 (95% CI, 0.69-0.78), respectively (P < .001 for all). The odds of starting GLP-1RA and SGLT2i increased with income; for an income of $200 000 and higher vs less than $40 000, the odds ratio for GLP-1RA was 1.23 (95% CI, 1.15-1.32) and for SGLT2i was 1.16 (95% CI, 1.09-1.24). These findings suggest that Medicare Advantage beneficiaries may be less likely than commercially insured beneficiaries to be treated with newer medications to lower glucose levels, with greater disparities among lower-income patients. Better understanding of nonclinical factors contributing to treatment decisions and efforts to promote greater equity in diabetes management appear to be needed.

Study question What is the extent and effect of excessive testing for glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) among adults with controlled type 2 diabetes?Methods A retrospective analysis of data from a national administrative claims database included commercially insured individuals in the USA, 2001-13. Study patients were aged 18 years or older, had type 2 diabetes with stable glycemic control (two consecutive tests showing HbA1c<7.0% within 24 months), did not use insulin, had no history of severe hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia, and were not pregnant. HbA1c testing frequency was measured within 24 months after the second (index) HbA1c test, and classified as guideline recommended (≤2 times/year), frequent (3-4 times/year), and excessive (≥5 times/year). Changes in treatment regimen were ascertained within three months of the index test. Study answer and limitations Of 31 545 patients in the study cohort (mean age 58 years; mean index HbA1c 6.2%), HbA1c testing frequency was excessive in 6% and frequent in 55%. Despite good glycemic control at baseline, treatment was further intensified by addition of glucose lowering drugs or insulin in 8.4% of patients (comprising 13%, 9%, and 7% of those tested excessively, frequently, and per guidelines, respectively; P<0.001). Compared with guideline recommended testing, excessive testing was associated with treatment intensification (odds ratio 1.35 (95% confidence interval 1.22 to 1.50)). Excessive testing rates remained unchanged in 2001-08, but fell significantly after 2009. The odds of excessive testing was 46% lower in 2011 than in 2001-02. The study population is not representative of all US patients with type 2 diabetes because it was restricted to commercially insured adults with stable and controlled diabetes not receiving insulin treatment. The study design did not capture the underuse of HbA1c testing.What this study adds In this US cohort of adults with stable and controlled type 2 diabetes, more than 60% received too many HbA1c tests, a practice associated with potential overtreatment with hypoglycemic drugs. Excessive testing contributes to the growing problem of waste in healthcare and increased patient burden in diabetes management.Funding, competing interests, data sharing NDS and RGM are funded partly by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (R18HS18339) and AcademyHealth Delivery System Science Fellowship (2013), respectively. No competing interests declared. Additional data are available from mccoy.rozalina@mayo.edu.

There has been an increasing uptake of transcatheter left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) for stroke reduction in atrial fibrillation. To investigate the perceptions and approaches among a nationally representative sample of physicians. Using the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile, we selected a random sample of 500 physicians from each of the specialties: general cardiologists, interventional cardiologists, electrophysiologists, and vascular neurologists. The participants received the survey by mail up to three times from November 9, 2021 to January 14, 2022. In addition to the questions about experiences, perceptions, and approaches, physicians were randomly assigned to 1 of the 4 versions of a patient vignette: white man, white woman, black man, and black woman, to investigate potential bias in decision-making. The top three reasons for considering LAAO were: a history of intracranial bleeding (94.3%), a history of major extracranial bleeding (91.8%), and gastrointestinal lesions (59.0%), whereas the top three reasons for withholding LAAO were: other indications for long-term oral anticoagulation (87.7%), a low bleeding risk (77.0%), and a low stroke risk (65.6%). For the reasons limiting recommendations for LAAO, 59.8% mentioned procedural risks, 42.6% mentioned “limiting efficacy data comparing LAAO to NOAC” and 32.8% mentioned “limited safety data comparing LAAO to NOAC.” There was no difference in physicians’ decision-making by patients’ race, gender, or the concordance between patients’ and physicians’ race or gender. In the first U.S. national physician survey of LAAO, individual physicians’ perspectives varied greatly, which provided information that will help customize future educational activities for different audiences. Although diverse practice patterns of LAAO have been documented, little is known about the reasoning or perceptions that drive these variations. Unlike prior surveys that were directed to Centers that performed LAAO, the current survey obtained insights from individual physicians, not only those who perform the procedures (interventional cardiologists and electrophysiologists) but also those who are closely involved in the decision-making and referral process (general cardiologists and vascular neurologists). The findings identify key evidence gaps and help prioritize future studies to establish a consistent and evidence-based best practice for AF stroke prevention.

BACKGROUND:Individualized diabetes management would benefit from prospectively identifying well-controlled patients at risk of losing glycemic control. OBJECTIVES:To identify patterns of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) change among patients with stable controlled diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN:Cohort study using OptumLabs Data Warehouse, 2001–2013. We develop and apply a machine learning framework that uses a Bayesian estimation of the mixture of generalized linear mixed effect models to discover glycemic trajectories, and a random forest feature contribution method to identify patient characteristics predictive of their future glycemic trajectories. SUBJECTS:The study cohort consisted of 27,005 US adults with type 2 diabetes, age 18 years and older, and stable index HbA1c <7.0%. MEASURES:HbA1c values during 24 months of observation. RESULTS:We compared models with k=1, 2, 3, 4, 5 trajectories and baseline variables including patient age, sex, race/ethnicity, comorbidities, medications, and HbA1c. The k=3 model had the best fit, reflecting 3 distinct trajectories of glycemic change(T1) rapidly deteriorating HbA1c among 302 (1.1%) youngest (mean, 55.2 y) patients with lowest mean baseline HbA1c, 6.05%; (T2) gradually deteriorating HbA1c among 902 (3.3%) patients (mean, 56.5 y) with highest mean baseline HbA1c, 6.53%; and (T3) stable glycemic control among 25,800 (95.5%) oldest (mean, 58.5 y) patients with mean baseline HbA1c 6.21%. After 24 months, HbA1c rose to 8.75% in T1 and 8.40% in T2, but remained stable at 6.56% in T3. CONCLUSIONS:Patients with controlled type 2 diabetes follow 3 distinct trajectories of glycemic control. This novel application of advanced analytic methods can facilitate individualized and population diabetes care by proactively identifying high risk patients.