Biomedical subjects

C I Kiefe

Publications and source records attributed to C I Kiefe.

46 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMed1996

Delayed tuberculin reactivity in persons of Indochinese origin: implications for preventive therapy.

OBJECTIVES: To 1) study a variant delayed reaction to tuberculin testing as a way to enhance screening for tuberculosis among high-risk persons and 2) correlate the delayed reaction with lymphocyte blastogenesis. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: 2 public health department clinics in North Carolina. PARTICIPANTS: 121 adults who had recently emigrated from Vietnam to North Carolina and who were ethnic Vietnamese and ethnic Dega, a minority population group from the central highlands region of Vietnam. MEASUREMENTS: Medical history, physical examination, laboratory evaluation, and standard purified protein derivative (PPD) testing (Mantoux method). Skin test results were read at 72 hours and again at 6 days. Variant reactivity was defined as induration of less than 10 mm at 72 hours that, when reassessed at 6 days, had increased in size to 10 mm or greater. Persons with negative (n=54) and variant (n=32) PPD results also had booster testing at 10 to 12 weeks. Serum samples were obtained from 57 participants for lymphocyte blastogenesis studies. RESULTS: 26% of participants had variant tuberculin reactivity. Variant reactivity was strongly associated with booster positivity: Sixty-five percent of persons with variant PPD results had booster positivity compared with 16% of persons with negative PPD results (P<0.001). The lymphocyte blastogenesis response of persons with variant PPD results was between the response of persons with negative PPD results and that of persons with positive PPD results. CONCLUSION: Variant reactivity in this high-risk group was a predictor of booster positivity. Together with the blastogenic response pattern, this association strongly suggests that variant reactivity has a high positive predictive value for tuberculous infection. Clinicians should incorporate these findings into their approach for choosing candidates for preventive therapy.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Do public clinic systems provide health care access for the urban poor? A cross-sectional survey.

The purpose of this study was to describe the health care access provided to a low-income urban population by a system of county run public clinics. We conducted a cross-sectional interview survey of a random sample of subjects applying for or renewing eligibility to use the public system. The setting was a public system consisting of inner-city community health centers and hospital-based clinics delivering primary care. We interviewed 547 adult nonpregnant subjects; mean age was 41 years; 55% were women, 54% were Hispanic and 28% were non-Hispanic Blacks; 78% had household income below $15,000 per year, and 75% had no health insurance. Access to health care was measured in three ways: physician contact during year prior to survey; and answers to two separate questions concerning delaying needed medical care because it cost too much, and delaying care because it would take too long to be seen. Although 80% of subjects had seen a physician at least once, 46% had stayed away sometime during the year due to financial reasons and 24% had stayed away because of waiting time. Surprisingly, 35% reported private sector use. These rates varied significantly with insurance status. Hispanics had significantly less access by all three measures, even after multivariable adjustment for potential confounders such as sex, age, chronic disease and insurance status. We conclude that this study demonstrates financial barriers to access, while showing substantial private sector contact, even by low-income subjects already using the public sector.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Racial differences in the medical treatment of elderly Medicare patients with acute myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the use of medications in African-American and Caucasian elderly Medicare patients hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in Alabama. DESIGN: Retrospective medical record review. SETTING: All acute care hospitals in Alabama. PATIENTS: All Medicare patients with a principal discharge diagnosis of AMI from June 1992 through February 1993. We excluded those patients less than 65 years of age and those of ethnicity other than African-American or Caucasian (N = 4,052). MEASUREMENTS: We first performed a crude analysis using all cases to compare by race the use of thrombolysis, beta-adrenergic blockade, and aspirin in the setting of AMI. In addition, we developed a multivariable model with receipt of therapy as the outcome and demographics, severity of illness, comorbidity, and algorithm-determined candidacy for therapy as covariates. The algorithms, developed as part of the Cooperative Cardiovascular Project, were designed to identify an "ideal" pool of candidates for each therapy. MAIN RESULTS: For all cases, 9.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 6.8, 12.1) of African Americans received thrombolysis compared with 17.3% (95% CI 16.0, 18.6) of Caucasians. Approximately 16.4% of patients received beta-adrenergic blockade, and 45.1% received aspirin, both with no racial difference. By multivariate analysis, the adjusted odds ratio for African Americans receiving thrombolysis was 0.55 (95% CI 0.41, 0.76). The corresponding odds ratio was 1.25 (95% CI 0.99, 1.59) for beta-adrenergic blockade and 1.13 (95% CI 0.96, 1.37) for aspirin. African Americans presented later after the onset of chest pain, but the refusal rate of thrombolytic therapy did not differ. CONCLUSIONS: According to this analysis, Alabama physicians used beta-adrenergic blockade and aspirin equivalently in African Americans and Caucasians. African Americans received thrombolysis less often according to the crude analysis. The multivariable analysis suggests less use of thrombolytics, even after adjusting for several covariates including indication by clinical algorithm. However, the small number of African-American patients deemed ideal candidates for thrombolysis attenuates the precision of this finding.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗

PubMed1996

Body mass index in young adults: Associations with parental body size and education in the CARDIA Study.

OBJECTIVES: Associations of parental education, parental body size, and offspring's education with body mass index and 7-year change in body mass index were examined among participants in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study. METHODS: CARDIA is a study of coronary artery disease risk factors in 5115 Black and White persons aged 18 to 30 at baseline. Analyses of covariance were carried out with body mass index and change in body mass index as the dependent variables, and with parental education, parental body size, and participant education as the major independent variables. RESULTS: Father's body size was positively associated with participant's baseline body mass index among Black men, White men, and White women. Mother's body size was positively associated with baseline body mass index among all race-sex groups, and with change in body mass index among White women. Father's education was inversely associated with baseline body mass index among Black men and White women, and with change among White women. CONCLUSIONS: Parental education may influence body mass index and changes in young adulthood, especially among White women. Such associations may be both genetic and environmental and may be important for obesity prevention efforts.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1995

Impact of father's education and parental smoking status on smoking behavior in young adults. The CARDIA study. Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults.

Associations of parents' education and smoking with young adults' smoking were examined in participants aged 18-30 years at baseline (1985-1986) in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study. Significant (p < 0.05) inverse age-adjusted associations of father's education with participant smoking status among black men, white men, and white women disappeared after adjustment for participant's education. Parental smoking status was directly related to participant smoking status for all race/sex groups. Participant education was strongly inversely related to participant smoking. Public health campaigns should consider influences of parental behaviors on children's behaviors and associations of limited education with adverse lifestyles.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1994

Is cost a barrier to screening mammography for low-income women receiving Medicare benefits? A randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: In 1991, Medicare began covering screening mammograms subject to copayment and deductible. This study evaluated the effectiveness of Medicare in removing financial barriers to screening mammography among low-income older women. METHODS: In an inner-city public hospital's General Medicine Clinic, 119 consecutive, eligible, and consenting Medicare-enrolled women without known risk factors for breast cancer other than age, and no mammogram in the previous 2 years, were entered into a randomized controlled trial with follow-up after 2 months. The mean age was 71 years; 77% were black, 92% had an annual income below $10,000, and 52% had had a previous mammogram. All patients were counseled concerning indications for screening mammograms and Medicare coverage, and all were referred to a low-cost mammography facility. Sixty-one subjects were randomly assigned a voucher for a free screening mammogram at the referral facility. Obtaining a mammogram within 60 days of study entry was the main outcome measure. RESULTS: Of the women given vouchers, 27 (44%) obtained screening mammograms, compared with six (10%) of those without vouchers (P < .001). Adjustment by multiple logistic regression confirmed this association, yielding an adjusted odds ratio of 7.4 (95% confidence interval, 2.5 to 21.4). Knowledge concerning mammography and breast cancer increased significantly overall (and within randomization groups) between initial interview and follow-up; fear did not change. For women without the voucher, the main reason for not obtaining a mammogram was financial; the main reason for women with the voucher was transportation. CONCLUSION: In a low-income, inner-city population of older women, financial barriers to screening mammography persist despite Medicare coverage.

Aged↗

PubMed1993

The incidence of perioperative myocardial infarction in men undergoing noncardiac surgery.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the incidence of and risk factors for perioperative myocardial infarction with noncardiac surgery and to test the accuracy of a risk stratification system. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: A large urban Veterans Affairs hospital. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1487 men older than 40 years undergoing major, nonemergent, noncardiac operations. MEASUREMENTS: Infarction was established by at least two of the following: development of new Q waves, typical change in creatine kinase MB, and positive technetium pyrophosphate scintigraphy. Patients were stratified preoperatively into high-, intermediate-, low-, and negligible-risk strata based on clinical markers corresponding to different levels of coronary artery disease prevalence. MAIN RESULTS: Patients with coronary disease (high-risk stratum) had a 4.1% incidence of infarction (13 of 319; 95% CI, 1.8% to 6.4%); patients with peripheral vascular disease but no evidence of coronary disease (intermediate-risk stratum) had a 0.8% incidence (2 of 260, upper bound of CI, 2.0%); patients with high atherogenic risk factor profiles but no clinical atherosclerosis (low-risk stratum) had a 0% incidence (0 of 256, upper bound of CI, 1.2%). No cardiac deaths occurred in 652 men who had no atherosclerosis and low atherogenic risk factor profiles (the negligible-risk stratum). Factors independently associated with infarction included age more than 75 years (adjusted odds ratio, 4.77; CI, 1.17 to 19.41), signs of heart failure on the preoperative examination (adjusted odds ratio, 3.31; CI, 0.96 to 11.38), coronary disease (adjusted odds ratio, 10.39; CI, 2.27 to 47.46), and a planned vascular operation (adjusted odds ratio, 3.72; CI, 1.12 to 12.37). CONCLUSIONS: Coronary artery disease is the major risk factor for perioperative infarction. The stratification scheme identifies subsets of patients with different risks, and finer within-stratum distinctions can be made using additional variables.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Post-hospitalization followup appointment-keeping among the medically indigent.

The purpose of this study was to measure followup appointment-keeping in patients discharged from a General Medicine Inpatient Service and to identify possible predictors of compliance. Patients were interviewed on hospital admission and all charts were reviewed on discharge. A subset of patients were interviewed by telephone an average of one month after first followup appointment date. The study was conducted in an urban public teaching hospital with hospital-based and community clinics. A convenience sample of 209 patients were selected from admissions to the General Medicine Inpatient Service over a three month period. Followup appointment-keeping was recorded on all 195 patients discharged alive. Seventy-five percent of patients had no medical insurance, public or private. A compliance rate of 60% (95% confidence interval: 53% to 67%) with first followup appointment was found. Variables associated with compliance and which retained independence on multiple logistic regression analysis, followed by adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) were: no copayment requirement, odds ratio 3.2 (1.6 to 6.3), single followup appointment 2.9 (1.4 to 5.9), apartment dwelling 3.2 (1.4 to 7.3) and non-primary care clinic appointment 2.3 (1.1 to 4.8). We conclude that health-care-delivery related factors such as no copayment requirements are strongly associated with appointment-keeping in a public hospital population.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

The frequency and significance of ECG changes after transurethral prostate resection.

Although many clinicians routinely recommend a base-line preoperative electrocardiogram (ECG) and obtain frequent postoperative ECGs to screen for myocardial infarction or ischemia, the diagnostic utility of screening perioperative ECGs is unknown. The present analysis evaluates the sensitivity and specificity of the perioperative ECG and examines its value as a predictor of early postoperative cardiac events and outcomes during the postoperative year. ECGs obtained preoperatively and on the first 3 postoperative days in 206 men undergoing transurethral prostate resection were analyzed using the Minnesota Code. The occurrence of cardiac events during the operative stay was assessed by measurement of the cardiospecific MB creatine kinase isoenzyme on the first 3 postoperative days and review of the entire clinical course. Twenty-one percent of patients developed postoperative ECG changes, mostly involving the T wave; none had cardiac symptoms or sustained creatine kinase MB elevation. Changes were not significantly more common in men known to have coronary disease. The single patient who had a perioperative myocardial infarction confirmed by enzymes had no codable ECG changes. The specificity of any ECG change for perioperative infarction was 78%; of ST segment changes only, 95%. Only one of the patients (2%) who had postoperative ECG changes had a cardiac event in the year after surgery. Routine perioperative ECGs is of little diagnostic/predictive utility in situations in which the incidence of perioperative myocardial infarction is low.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The association of physician attitudes about uncertainty and risk taking with resource use in a Medicare HMO.

PURPOSE: To explore the association between the attitudes of primary care physicians toward uncertainty and risk taking, as measured by a validated survey, with resource use in a Medicare HMO. DESIGN: All primary-care internists (n=20) in a large, multi-specialty clinic were surveyed to measure their attitudes about uncertainty and risk taking using three previously developed scales. Results were linked with administrative data for 792 consecutive patients in a recently created Medicare HMO. The patients' index visits occurred between April 1, 1995, and November 30, 1995. ANALYSIS: Charges stemming from several claim types (primary care and subspecialty physician, laboratory, radiology, and ambulatory procedures) in the 30 days following the index visit were summed. The physician scales were dichotomized at the median to seek unadjusted associations with charges. Generalized estimation equations were used to account for the correlation of charges resulting from patients' being nested within physicians and adjusted for physician characteristics (age, sex, years in practice) and patient characteristics (age, sex, comorbidity). MAIN RESULTS: The physician response rate was 90%. Most physicians (90%) were male. The mean age of the patients was 74 years, and 69% were female. The mean cost (+/-SD) per patient was $621.61+/-1,737.31. From the unadjusted analysis, high "anxiety due to uncertainty" was associated with higher patient charges ($197.85 vs $158.21, p=0.01). From the multivariable analysis, each standard deviation increase in "anxiety due to uncertainty" (3.5 points) corresponded to a 17% increase in mean charges (p < 0.01) and each similar increase in "reluctance to disclose uncertainty to patients" (1.92 points) corresponded to a 12% increase (p=0.03). However, increasing "reluctance to disclose mistakes to physicians" and increasing physician risk-taking propensity were associated with decreased total charges [-10% per standard deviation (1.34 points), p=0.02, and -8% per standard deviation (3.26 points), p=0.02, respectively]. CONCLUSION: Physician attitudes toward uncertainty were significantly associated with patient charges. Further investigation may improve prediction of patient-care charges, offer insight into the medical decision-making process, and perhaps clarify the relationship between cost, uncertainty, and quality of care.

Aged↗