First name
Heather
Middle name
M
Last name
Griffis

Title

Leveraging EHR Data to Evaluate the Association of Late Recognition of Deterioration With Outcomes.

Year of Publication

2022

Number of Pages

447-460

Date Published

05/2022

ISSN Number

2154-1671

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Emergency transfers (ETs), deterioration events with late recognition requiring ICU interventions within 1 hour of transfer, are associated with adverse outcomes. We leveraged electronic health record (EHR) data to assess the association between ETs and outcomes. We also evaluated the association between intervention timing (urgency) and outcomes.

METHODS: We conducted a propensity-score-matched study of hospitalized children requiring ICU transfer between 2015 and 2019 at a single institution. The primary exposure was ET, automatically classified using Epic Clarity Data stored in our enterprise data warehouse endotracheal tube in lines/drains/airway flowsheet, vasopressor in medication administration record, and/or ≥60 ml/kg intravenous fluids in intake/output flowsheets recorded within 1 hour of transfer. Urgent intervention was defined as interventions within 12 hours of transfer.

RESULTS: Of 2037 index transfers, 129 (6.3%) met ET criteria. In the propensity-score-matched cohort (127 ET, 374 matched controls), ET was associated with higher in-hospital mortality (13% vs 6.1%; odds ratio, 2.47; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.24-4.9, P = .01), longer ICU length of stay (subdistribution hazard ratio of ICU discharge 0.74; 95% CI, 0.61-0.91, P < .01), and longer posttransfer length of stay (SHR of hospital discharge 0.71; 95% CI, 0.56-0.90, P < .01). Increased intervention urgency was associated with increased mortality risk: 4.1% no intervention, 6.4% urgent intervention, and 10% emergent intervention.

CONCLUSIONS: An EHR measure of deterioration with late recognition is associated with increased mortality and length of stay. Mortality risk increased with intervention urgency. Leveraging EHR automation facilitates generalizability, multicenter collaboratives, and metric consistency.

DOI

10.1542/hpeds.2021-006363

Alternate Title

Hosp Pediatr

PMID

35470399
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Title

Sex Differences in Left Ventricular Assist Device-related Emergency Department Encounters in the United States.

Year of Publication

2022

Number of Pages

1445-1455

Date Published

05/2022

ISSN Number

1532-8414

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of data regarding sex differences in the profiles and outcomes of ambulatory patients on left ventricular assist device (LVAD) support who present to the emergency department (ED).

METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed a retrospective analysis of 57,200 LVAD-related ED patient encounters from the 2010 to 2018 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample. International Classification of Diseases Clinical Modification, Ninth Revision and Tenth Revision, codes identified patients aged 18 years or older with LVADs and associated primary and comorbidity diagnoses. Clinical characteristics and outcomes were stratified by sex and compared. Multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate predictors of hospital admission and death. Female patient encounters comprised 27.2% of ED visits and occurred at younger ages and more frequently with obesity and depression (all P < .01). There were no sex differences in presentation for device complication, stroke, infection, or heart failure (all P > .05); however, female patient encounters were more often respiratory- and genitourinary or gynecological related (both P < .01). After adjustment for age group, diabetes, depression, and hypertension, male patient encounters had a 38% increased odds of hospital admission (95% confidence interval 1.20-1.58), but there was no sex difference in the adjusted odds of death (odds ratio 1.11, 95% confidence interval 0.86-1.45).

CONCLUSIONS: Patient encounters of females on LVAD support have significantly different comorbidities and outcomes compared with males. Further inquiry into these sex differences is imperative to improve long-term outcomes.

DOI

10.1016/j.cardfail.2022.05.005

Alternate Title

J Card Fail

PMID

35644307
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Title

Leveraging EHR Data to Evaluate the Association of Late Recognition of Deterioration With Outcomes.

Year of Publication

2022

Number of Pages

447-460

Date Published

2022 May 01

ISSN Number

2154-1671

Abstract

<p><strong>OBJECTIVES: </strong>Emergency transfers (ETs), deterioration events with late recognition requiring ICU interventions within 1 hour of transfer, are associated with adverse outcomes. We leveraged electronic health record (EHR) data to assess the association between ETs and outcomes. We also evaluated the association between intervention timing (urgency) and outcomes.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>We conducted a propensity-score-matched study of hospitalized children requiring ICU transfer between 2015 and 2019 at a single institution. The primary exposure was ET, automatically classified using Epic Clarity Data stored in our enterprise data warehouse endotracheal tube in lines/drains/airway flowsheet, vasopressor in medication administration record, and/or ≥60 ml/kg intravenous fluids in intake/output flowsheets recorded within 1 hour of transfer. Urgent intervention was defined as interventions within 12 hours of transfer.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Of 2037 index transfers, 129 (6.3%) met ET criteria. In the propensity-score-matched cohort (127 ET, 374 matched controls), ET was associated with higher in-hospital mortality (13% vs 6.1%; odds ratio, 2.47; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.24-4.9, P = .01), longer ICU length of stay (subdistribution hazard ratio of ICU discharge 0.74; 95% CI, 0.61-0.91, P &lt; .01), and longer posttransfer length of stay (SHR of hospital discharge 0.71; 95% CI, 0.56-0.90, P &lt; .01). Increased intervention urgency was associated with increased mortality risk: 4.1% no intervention, 6.4% urgent intervention, and 10% emergent intervention.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>An EHR measure of deterioration with late recognition is associated with increased mortality and length of stay. Mortality risk increased with intervention urgency. Leveraging EHR automation facilitates generalizability, multicenter collaboratives, and metric consistency.</p>

DOI

10.1542/hpeds.2021-006363

Alternate Title

Hosp Pediatr

PMID

35470399
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Title

The Design of a Data Management System for a Multicenter Palliative Care Cohort Study.

Year of Publication

2022

Number of Pages

Date Published

2022 Mar 23

ISSN Number

1873-6513

Abstract

<p><strong>CONTEXT: </strong>Prospective cohort studies of individuals with serious illness and their family members, such as children receiving palliative care and their parents, pose challenges regarding data management.</p>

<p><strong>OBJECTIVE: </strong>To describe the design and lessons learned regarding the data management system for the Pediatric Palliative Care Research Network's SHAred Data and REsearch (SHARE) project, a multicenter prospective cohort study of children receiving pediatric palliative care (PPC) and their parents, and to describe important attributes of this system, with specific considerations for the design of future studies.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>The SHARE study consists of 643 PPC patients and up to two of their parents who enrolled from April 2017 to December 2020 at 7 children's hospitals across the United States. Data regarding demographics, patient symptoms, goals of care, and other characteristics were collected directly from parents or patients at 6 timepoints over a 24-month follow-up period and stored electronically in a centralized location. Using medical record numbers, primary collected data was linked to administrative hospitalization data containing diagnostic and procedure codes and other data elements. Important attributes of the data infrastructure include linkage of primary and administrative data; centralized availability of multilingual questionnaires; electronic data collection and storage system; time-stamping of instrument completion; and a separate but connected study administrative database used to track enrollment.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>Investigators planning future multicenter prospective cohort studies can consider attributes of the data infrastructure we describe when designing their data management system.</p>

DOI

10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2022.03.006

Alternate Title

J Pain Symptom Manage

PMID

35339611
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Title

Novel Risk Model to Predict Emergency Department Associated Mortality for Patients Supported With a Ventricular Assist Device: The Emergency Department-Ventricular Assist Device Risk Score.

Year of Publication

2022

Number of Pages

e020942

Date Published

2022 Jan 13

ISSN Number

2047-9980

Abstract

<p><strong>Background</strong> The past decade has seen tremendous growth in patients with ambulatory ventricular assist devices. We sought to identify patients that present to the emergency department (ED) at the highest risk of death. <strong>Methods and Results</strong> This retrospective analysis of ED encounters from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample includes 2010 to 2017. Using a random sampling of patient encounters, 80% were assigned to development and 20% to validation cohorts. A risk model was derived from independent predictors of mortality. Each patient encounter was assigned to 1 of 3 groups based on risk score. A total of 44&nbsp;042 ED ventricular assist device patient encounters were included. The majority of patients were male (73.6%), &lt;65&nbsp;years old (60.1%), and 29% presented with bleeding, stroke, or device complication. Independent predictors of mortality during the ED visit or subsequent admission included age ≥65&nbsp;years (odds ratio [OR], 1.8; 95% CI, 1.3-4.6), primary diagnoses (stroke [OR, 19.4; 95% CI, 13.1-28.8], device complication [OR, 10.1; 95% CI, 6.5-16.7], cardiac [OR, 4.0; 95% CI, 2.7-6.1], infection [OR, 5.8; 95% CI, 3.5-8.9]), and blood transfusion (OR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.8-4.0), whereas history of hypertension was protective (OR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.5-0.9). The risk score predicted mortality areas under the curve of 0.78 and 0.71 for development and validation. Encounters in the highest risk score strata had a 16-fold higher mortality compared with the lowest risk group (15.8% versus 1.0%). <strong>Conclusions</strong> We present a novel risk score and its validation for predicting mortality of patients with ED ventricular assist devices, a high-risk, and growing, population.</p>

DOI

10.1161/JAHA.121.020942

Alternate Title

J Am Heart Assoc

PMID

35023355
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Title

Center Variation in Indication and Short-Term Outcomes after Pediatric Heart Transplantation: Analysis of a Merged United Network for Organ Sharing - Pediatric Health Information System Cohort.

Year of Publication

2021

Number of Pages

Date Published

2021 Nov 15

ISSN Number

1432-1971

Abstract

<p>The relationship between center-specific variation in indication for pediatric heart transplantation and short-term outcomes after heart transplantation is not well described. We used merged patient- and hospital-level data from the United Network for Organ Sharing and the Pediatric Health Information Systems to analyze outcomes according to transplant indication for a cohort of children (≤ 21&nbsp;years old) who underwent heart transplantation between 2004 and 2015. Outcomes included 30-day mortality, transplant hospital admission mortality, and hospital length of stay, with multivariable adjustment performed according to patient and center characteristics. The merged cohort reflected 2169 heart transplants at 20 U.S. centers. The median number of transplants annually at each center was 11.6, but ranged from 3.5 to 22.6 transplants/year. Congenital heart disease was the indication in the plurality of cases (49.2%), with cardiomyopathy (46%) and myocarditis (4.8%) accounting for the remainder. There was significant center-to-center variability in congenital heart disease as the principal indication, ranging from 15% to 66% (P &lt; 0.0001). After adjustment, neither center volume nor proportion of indications for transplantation were associated with 30-day or transplant hospital admission mortality. In this large, merged pediatric cohort, variation was observed at center level in annual transplant volume and prevalence of indications for heart transplantation. Despite this variability, center volume and proportion of indications represented at a given center did not appear to impact short-term outcomes.</p>

DOI

10.1007/s00246-021-02768-x

Alternate Title

Pediatr Cardiol

PMID

34779880
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Title

Impact of Age on Emergency Resource Utilization and Outcomes in Pediatric and Young Adult Patients Supported with a Ventricular Assist Device.

Year of Publication

2021

Number of Pages

Date Published

2021 Nov 03

ISSN Number

1538-943X

Abstract

<p>There are minimal data describing outcomes in ambulatory pediatric and young adult ventricular assist device (VAD)-supported patient populations. We performed a retrospective analysis of encounter-level data from 2006 to 2017 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) to compare emergency department (ED) resource utilization and outcomes for pediatric (≤18 years, n = 494) to young adult (19-29 years, n = 2,074) VAD-supported patient encounters. Pediatric encounters were more likely to have a history of congenital heart disease (11.3% vs. 4.8%). However, Pediatric encounters had lower admission/transfer rates (37.8% vs. 57.8%) and median charges ($3,334 (IQR $1,473-$19,818) vs. $13,673 ($3,331-$45,884)) (all p &lt; 0.05). Multivariable logistic regression modeling revealed that age itself was not a predictor of admission, instead high acuity primary diagnoses and medical complexity were: (adjusted odds ratio; 95% confidence intervals): cardiac (3.0; 1.6-5.4), infection (3.4; 1.7-6.5), bleeding (3.9; 1.7-8.8), device complication (7.2; 2.7-18.9), and ≥1 chronic comorbidity (4.1; 2.5-6.7). In this largest study to date describing ED resource use and outcomes for pediatric and young adult VAD-supported patients, we found that, rather than age, high acuity presentations and comorbidities were primary drivers of clinical outcomes. Thus, reducing morbidity in this population should target comorbidities and early recognition of VAD-related complications.</p>

DOI

10.1097/MAT.0000000000001603

Alternate Title

ASAIO J

PMID

34743138
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Title

Compression-Only Versus Rescue-Breathing Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation After Pediatric Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest.

Year of Publication

2021

Number of Pages

1042-1052

Date Published

2021 Sep 07

ISSN Number

1558-3597

Abstract

<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>There are conflicting data regarding the benefit of compression-only bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CO-CPR) compared with CPR with rescue breathing (RB-CPR) after pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).</p>

<p><strong>OBJECTIVES: </strong>This study sought to test the hypothesis that RB-CPR is associated with improved neurologically favorable survival compared with CO-CPR following pediatric OHCA, and to characterize age-stratified outcomes with CPR type compared with no bystander CPR (NO-CPR).</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>Analysis of the CARES registry (Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival) for nontraumatic pediatric OHCAs (patients aged&nbsp;≤18 years) from 2013-2019 was performed. Age groups included infants (&lt;1 year), children (1 to 11 years), and adolescents (≥12 years). The primary outcome was neurologically favorable survival at hospital discharge.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Of 13,060 pediatric OHCAs, 46.5% received bystander CPR. CO-CPR was the most common bystander CPR type. In the overall cohort, neurologically favorable survival was associated with RB-CPR (adjusted OR: 2.16; 95%&nbsp;CI: 1.78-2.62) and CO-CPR (adjusted OR: 1.61; 95%&nbsp;CI: 1.34-1.94) compared with NO-CPR. RB-CPR was associated with a higher odds of neurologically favorable survival compared with CO-CPR (adjusted OR: 1.36; 95%&nbsp;CI: 1.10-1.68). In age-stratified analysis, RB-CPR was associated with better neurologically favorable survival versus NO-CPR in all age groups. CO-CPR was associated with better neurologically favorable survival compared with NO-CPR in children and adolescents, but not in infants.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>CO-CPR was the most common type of bystander CPR in pediatric OHCA. RB-CPR was associated with better outcomes compared with CO-CPR. These results support present guidelines for RB-CPR as the preferred CPR modality for pediatric OHCA.</p>

DOI

10.1016/j.jacc.2021.06.042

Alternate Title

J Am Coll Cardiol

PMID

34474737
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Title

Improving Care Management in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: An RCT.

Year of Publication

2021

Number of Pages

Date Published

2021 Jul 19

ISSN Number

1098-4275

Abstract

<p><strong>OBJECTIVES: </strong>To compare the effectiveness of care management combined with a patient portal versus a portal alone for communication among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>Randomized controlled trial conducted at 11 primary care practices. Children aged 5 to 12 years old with ADHD were randomly assigned to care management + portal or portal alone. The portal included parent-reported treatment preferences and goals, medication side effects, and parent- and teacher-reported ADHD symptom scales. Care managers provided education to families; communicated quarterly with parents, teachers, and clinicians; and coordinated care. The main outcome, changes in the Vanderbilt Parent Rating Scale (VPRS) score as a measure of ADHD symptoms, was assessed using intention-to-treat analysis.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>A total of 303 eligible children (69% male; 46% Black) were randomly assigned, and 273 (90%) completed the study. During the 9-month study, parents in the care management + portal arm communicated inconsistently with care managers (mean 2.2; range 0-6) but similarly used the portal (mean 2.3 vs 2.2) as parents in the portal alone arm. In multivariate models, VPRS scores decreased over time (Adjusted β = -.015; 95% confidence interval -0.023 to -0.07) in both groups, but there were no intervention-by-time effects (Adjusted β = .000; 95% confidence interval -0.011 to 0.012) between groups. Children who received ≥2 care management sessions had greater reductions in VPRS scores than those with fewer sessions.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>Results did not provide evidence that care management combined with a patient portal was different from portal use alone among children with ADHD. Both groups demonstrated similar reductions in ADHD symptoms. Those families with greater care management engagement demonstrated greater reductions than those with less engagement.</p>

DOI

10.1542/peds.2020-031518

Alternate Title

Pediatrics

PMID

34281997
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The influence of mechanical Circulatory support on post-transplant outcomes in pediatric patients: A multicenter study from the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) Registry.

Year of Publication

2021

Number of Pages

Date Published

2021 Jun 11

ISSN Number

1557-3117

Abstract

<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>Mechanical circulatory support (MCS) is increasingly being used as a bridge to transplant in pediatric patients. We compare outcomes in pediatric patients bridged to transplant with MCS from an international cohort.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>This retrospective cohort study of heart-transplant patients reported to the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) registry from 2005-2017 includes 5,095 patients &lt;18 years. Pretransplant MCS exposure and anatomic diagnosis were derived. Outcomes included mortality, renal failure, and stroke.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>26% of patients received MCS prior to transplant: 240 (4.7%) on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), 1,030 (20.2%) on ventricular assist device (VAD), and 54 (1%) both. 29% of patients were &lt;1 year, and 43.8% had congenital heart disease (CHD). After adjusting for clinical characteristics, compared to no-MCS and VAD, ECMO had higher mortality during their transplant hospitalization [OR 3.97 &amp; 2.55; 95% CI 2.43-6.49 &amp; 1.42-4.60] while VAD mortality was similar [OR 1.55; CI 0.99-2.45]. Outcomes of ECMO+VAD were similar to ECMO alone, including increased mortality during transplant hospitalization compared to no-MCS [OR 4.74; CI 1.81-12.36]. Patients with CHD on ECMO had increased 1 year, and 10 year mortality [HR 2.36; CI 1.65-3.39], [HR 1.82; CI 1.33-2.49]; there was no difference in survival in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients based on pretransplant MCS status.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>Survival in CHD and DCM is similar in patients with no MCS or VAD prior to transplant, while pretransplant ECMO use is strongly associated with mortality after transplant particularly in children with CHD. In children with DCM, long term survival was equivalent regardless of MCS status.</p>

DOI

10.1016/j.healun.2021.06.003

Alternate Title

J Heart Lung Transplant

PMID

34253457
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