Evidence connecting health care expenditures with physical activity and built environment is rare. We examined how detailed urban form relates to mode specific moderate-to-vigorous physical activity ...(MVPA) and health care costs—controlling for transit access, residential choices/preferences, sociodemographic factors. We harness high resolution data for 476 participants in the Rails and Health study on health care costs, mode specific MVPA, parcel-level built environment, and neighborhood perception surveys. To account for dependencies among outcomes, structural equation modeling framework is used. A 1% increase in bike, walk, and transit-related MVPA was associated with lower health care costs by −0.28%, −0.09%, and −0.27% respectively. A one-unit increase in neighborhood walkability index correlates with a 6.48% reduction in health care costs. Indirect associations between residential choices, attitudes, and health outcomes through MVPA were also observed. The results suggest the potential to alter behaviors and lower health care costs through retrofitting neighborhoods.
To report on the 32-week outcome of the Brief Behavioral Therapy (BBT) for Pediatric Anxiety and Depression in Primary Care clinical trial.
A total of 185 youths aged 8 to 17 years with anxiety ...and/or depression identified through 9 pediatric primary care (PPC) settings in San Diego and Pittsburgh were randomized to receive Assisted Referral to Care (ARC) or up to 12 sessions of BBT over 16 weeks. The primary outcome was clinical response across anxiety and depression, defined as a Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement Score of ≤2. Secondary outcomes included interview-rated functioning, depression, and anxiety. Here, we report on outcomes at 32 weeks after randomization. All analyses with primary outcomes are corrected for multiple comparisons using the false discovery rate procedure.
At 32 weeks, BBT was superior to ARC with respect to response (67.5% versus 43.1%, q = 0.03, number needed to treat NNT = 5) and functioning (d = 0.49, q = 0.04). BBT was superior to ARC with respect to its impact on anxiety (f = 0.21) but not depressive symptoms (f = 0.05). These findings persisted after controlling for the number of sessions received. Ethnicity moderated the impact of BBT on outcome (NNT for Hispanic youths = 2), because of a much lower response rate to ARC in Hispanic than in non-Hispanic youths (16.7% versus 49.2%, p = 0.04).
BBT is a promising intervention that can be effectively delivered in PPC and may be particularly effective for Hispanic patients. Further work is indicated to improve its impact on depressive symptoms and to test BBT against other treatments delivered in pediatric primary care.
Brief Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Pediatric Anxiety and Depression in Primary Care; http://clinicaltrials.gov; NCT01147614.
Social needs, such as social isolation and food insecurity, are important individual-level social determinants of health, especially for adults ages 65 years and older. These needs may be associated ...with future health care utilization, but this research area has not been studied extensively. The objective of this study was to examine the
of 5 individual social needs with future (1) emergency department (ED) visits and (2) hospital admissions. This observational study included 9649 Kaiser Permanente Northwest (KPNW) Medicare members who completed the Medicare Total Health Assessment (MTHA) quality improvement survey between August 17, 2020 and January 31, 2022. The 5 social needs assessed by the MTHA, defined as binary measures (yes/no), included (1) financial strain, (2) food insecurity, (3) housing instability, (4) social isolation, and (5) transportation needs. ED utilization (yes/no) and hospitalization (yes/no), the current study outcome measures, were measured in the 12 months after MTHA assessment. In multivariable analyses, 3 of the 5 social needs were significantly associated with higher ED utilization: financial strain (odds ratio OR = 1.40, 95% confidence interval CI = 1.11-1.76,
< 0.05), housing instability (OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.02-1.99,
< 0.05), and social isolation (OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.05-1.34,
< 0.05), and 1, financial strain, was significantly associated with hospital admissions (OR = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.23-2.23,
< 0.05). The study results identified which social needs are most strongly associated with future ED utilization and hospital admissions. Further research is needed to better understand whether addressing social needs is associated with improved patient-level health outcomes over time.
Adolescents with depression identified in primary care settings often have limited treatment options beyond antidepressant (AD) therapy. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of a brief cognitive ...behavioral therapy (CBT) program among depressed adolescents who declined or quickly stopped using ADs.
A total of 212 youth with depression were randomly assigned to treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU plus brief individual CBT. Clinical outcomes included depression-free days (DFDs) and estimated quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). Costs were adjusted to 2008 US dollars. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) comparing CBT to TAU were calculated over 12- and 24-month follow-up periods.
Youth randomly assigned to CBT had 26.8 more DFDs (
= .044) and 0.067 more QALYs (
= .044) on average compared with TAU over 12 months. Total costs were $4976 less (
= .025) by the end of the 24-month follow-up among youth randomly assigned to CBT. Total costs per DFD were -$51 (ICER = -$51; 95% confidence interval CI: -$394 to $9) at 12 months and -$115 (ICER = -$115; 95% CI: -$1090 to -$6) at 24 months. Total costs per QALY were -$20 282 (ICER = -$20 282; 95% CI: -$156 741 to $3617) at 12 months and -$45 792 (ICER = -$45 792; 95% CI: -$440 991 to -$2731) at 24 months.
Brief primary care CBT among youth declining AD therapy is cost-effective by widely accepted standards in depression treatment. CBT becomes dominant over TAU over time, as revealed by a statistically significant cost offset at the end of the 2-year follow-up.
The health impacts of community design have been studied extensively over the past two decades. In particular, public transportation use is associated with more walking between transit stops and ...shops, work, home and other destinations. Change in transit access has been linked with physical activity and obesity but seldom to health outcomes and associated costs, especially within a causal framework. Health related fiscal impacts of transit investment should be a key consideration in major transit investment decisions.
The Rails & Health study is a natural experiment evaluating changes in clinical measures, health care utilization and health care costs among Kaiser Permanente Northwest (KPNW) members following the opening of a new light rail transit (LRT) line in Portland, Oregon. The study is prospectively following 3036 adults exposed to the new LRT line and a similar cohort of 4386 adults who do not live close to the new line. Individual-level outcomes and covariates are extracted from the electronic medical record at KPNW, including member demographics and comorbidities, blood pressure, body mass index, lipids, glycosylated hemoglobin, and health care utilization and costs. In addition, participants are surveyed about additional demographics, travel patterns, physical activity (PA), and perceived neighborhood walkability. In a subsample of the study population, we are collecting direct measures of travel-related behavior-physical activity (accelerometry), global positioning system (GPS) tracking, and travel diaries-to document mechanisms responsible for observed changes in health outcomes and cost. Comprehensive measures of the built environment at baseline and after rail construction are also collected. Statistical analyses will (1) examine the effects of opening a new LRT line on chronic disease indicators, health care utilization, and health care costs and (2) evaluate the degree to which observed effects of the LRT line on health measures and costs are mediated by changes in total and transportation-associated PA.
The results of the Rails & Health study will provide urban planners, transportation engineers, health practitioners, developers, and decision makers with critical information needed to document how transit investments impact population health and related costs.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
•Nealy 30% of older patients seeking dental care had 1 or more social needs.•Those with 1 social need were more likely to close care gaps than those with no social needs.•No significant difference ...was found between patients with 2 or more social needs and care gap closure.
The authors of this study sought to (1) describe the prevalence of social needs and (2) determine whether social needs were associated with closure of care gaps among patients aged ≥65 years seeking dental care.
In this retrospective cross-sectional study, the authors identified 754 Kaiser Permanente Northwest patients aged ≥65 years who completed an index dental visit; had at least 1 of 23 preventive care gaps (e.g., flu vaccination) or disease management care gaps (e.g., diabetes HbA1c screening test) documented in their medical record; and had completed a social needs assessment through survey evaluating financial strain, food insecurity, housing needs, social isolation, and transportation needs. The authors described the prevalence of social needs at the index visit and then used logistic regression to evaluate the association between the number of social needs (0, 1, ≥2) and closure of all care gaps over the following 60 days (yes versus no), adjusting for patient characteristics. Identification and closure of care gap were assessed through Kaiser Permanente Northwest's Panel Support Tool.
Approximately 28% of patients reported ≥1 social needs. The prevalence of social needs was as follows: social isolation, 13.7%; financial strain, 11.3%; food insecurity, 7.7%; transportation needs, 5.4%; and housing needs, 3.3%. Those with 1 social need were more likely to close care gaps than those with no social needs (OR=1.82, 95% CI=1.17, 2.85). No significant association was found with care gap closure among those with ≥2 versus zero social needs.
The prevalence of social needs was nearly 30% among patients aged ≥65 years with dental and medical coverage. Patients with 1 social need were more likely than those with no social needs to close all care gaps after their visit.
Cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain (CBT-CP) is an effective but underused treatment for high-impact chronic pain. Increased access to CBT-CP services for pain is of critical public health ...importance, particularly for rural and medically underserved populations who have limited access due to these services being concentrated in urban and high income areas. Making CBT-CP widely available and more affordable could reduce barriers to CBT-CP use.
As part of the National Institutes of Health Helping to End Addiction Long-term® (NIH HEAL) initiative, we designed and implemented a comparative effectiveness, 3-arm randomized control trial comparing remotely delivered telephonic/video and online CBT-CP-based services to usual care for patients with high-impact chronic pain. The RESOLVE trial is being conducted in 4 large integrated healthcare systems located in Minnesota, Georgia, Oregon, and Washington state and includes demographically diverse populations residing in urban and rural areas. The trial compares (1) an 8-session, one-on-one, professionally delivered telephonic/video CBT-CP program; and (2) a previously developed and tested 8-session online CBT-CP-based program (painTRAINER) to (3) usual care augmented by a written guide for chronic pain management. Participants are followed for 1 year post-allocation and are assessed at baseline, and 3, 6, and 12 months post-allocation. The primary outcome is minimal clinically important difference (MCID; ≥ 30% reduction) in pain severity (composite of pain intensity and pain-related interference) assessed by a modified 11-item version of the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form at 3 months. Secondary outcomes include pain severity, pain intensity, and pain-related interference scores, quality of life measures, and patient global impression of change at 3, 6, and 12 months. Cost-effectiveness is assessed by incremental cost per additional patient with MCID in primary outcome and by cost per quality-adjusted life year achieved. Outcome assessment is blinded to group assignment.
This large-scale trial provides a unique opportunity to rigorously evaluate and compare the clinical and cost-effectiveness of 2 relatively low-cost and scalable modalities for providing CBT-CP-based treatments to persons with high-impact chronic pain, including those residing in rural and other medically underserved areas with limited access to these services.
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04523714. This trial was registered on 24 August 2020.
Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other chronic health conditions often face exceptional caregiving demands that can lead to challenges related to maintaining and succeeding ...in employment. Detailed information on the specific ways in which these health conditions impact parent employment could aid in designing equitable, effective policies to support families. The r‐Kids study used electronic health records to identify three groups of children: those with ASD, asthma, or neither condition (control), from several health care systems. We oversampled racial and ethnic minorities and matched the asthma and control groups to the age and sex distribution of the ASD group. Parents completed three online surveys over the course of a year to measure annual employment outcomes. Surveys included the Family Economic Impact Inventory (measuring employment impacts) and measures of quality of life and symptom severity. All materials were provided in English and Spanish. The study enrolled 1461 families (564 ASD, 468 asthma, 429 control). Youth were 3–16.5 years old and predominantly male (79%). The sample was diverse (43% non‐Hispanic White; 35% non‐Hispanic Asian, Black, Native Hawaiian, or Other; and 21% Hispanic ethnicity). Parents of children with ASD were significantly less likely to be employed than parents of youth with asthma and control combined (OR: 14.2, p < 0.001), and were more likely to have other difficulties with employment and productivity while at work. Public and employer policies to help mitigate these impacts could aid families in managing care for youth with ASD.
Lay Summary
Caring for a child with a chronic health condition such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can interfere with parental employment in a number of ways. We found that parents of children with ASD are less likely to be employed, and when they are employed, many face challenges in managing productivity and caregiving. A detailed understanding of these impacts can guide clinical and employment policies to help families navigate the financial implications of a child's health condition.
The integration of medical and dental care in the dental setting offers a unique opportunity to close medical care gaps, such as providing immunizations and laboratory-based tests, compared with ...traditional nonintegrated settings.
We used a matched cohort study design among patients 65 years or older (n = 2,578) with an index dental visit to the Kaiser Permanente Northwest medical-dental integration (MDI) program from June 1, 2018, through December 31, 2019. MDI patients were matched 1:1 to non-MDI controls (n = 2,578) on 14 characteristics. The Kaiser Permanente Northwest MDI program focuses on closing 23 preventive (for example, flu vaccines) and disease management care gaps (for example, glycated hemoglobin testing) within the dental setting. The closure of all care gaps (yes versus no) was the outcome for the analysis. Multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between exposure to the MDI program and level of office integration (least, moderate, and most integration) with closure of care gaps. All data were obtained through Kaiser Permanente Northwest's electronic health record.
MDI patients had significantly higher odds (odds ratio OR, 1.46, 95% confidence interval CI, 1.29 to 1.65) of closing all medical care gaps than non-MDI patients. Greater MDI integration was associated with significantly higher odds of gap closure compared with non-MDI (least integration: OR, 1.18, 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.37; moderate integration: OR, 1.70, 95% CI, 1.36 to 2.12; most integration: OR, 2.08, 95% CI, 1.73 to 2.50).
Patients receiving dental care in an MDI program had higher odds of closing medical care gaps compared with similar patients receiving dental care in a non-MDI program.
MDI is effective at facilitating delivery of preventive and disease management medical services.
Emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs) may co-occur with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and impair children's functioning beyond autism symptomatology. We compared the prevalence of EBPs in youths ...with or without ASD and evaluated their unique contribution to impairment in ASD.
We surveyed 1267 children (79.4% boys, mean age: 9.2 years, range: 3-17) recruited at 3 sites in Kaiser Permanente and OCHIN primary care clinical networks, with confirmed International Classification of Diseases-10th ed. diagnosis of ASD (N = 564), asthma (N = 468), or neither (N = 429). Children from the 2 comparison groups were age-matched and sex-matched to the ASD group. EBPs and impairment were measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and autism symptomatology by the Social Responsiveness Scale in the ASD group only.
EBPs and impairment mean scores were significantly (p < 0.001) higher in participants with ASD compared with children from the 2 comparison groups, across sexes and age groups, with no significant difference between the asthma and control groups. Among children with ASD, both EBPs and autistic symptoms were significantly correlated with impairment (r = 0.64 and r = 0.65, respectively) and explained a significant proportion of impairment variance (R2 = 0.525; p < 0.001) in multiple linear regression. In the relative importance analysis, EBPs and autistic symptoms explained comparable proportions of impairment variance (46% and 52%, respectively) with no significant difference between their relative weights (mean difference: 0.03; 95% confidence interval: -0.049 to 0.114).
Among youth with ASD, high levels of EBPs impair daily functioning as much as autistic symptoms. Systematic detection and management of EBPs may improve functioning and outcomes in youth with ASD.