Faculty Bibliography

PURPOSE/UNASSIGNED:Fertility discussions are an integral part of comprehensive care for pediatric, adolescent, and young adult patients newly diagnosed with cancer and are supported by national guidelines. Current institutional practices are poorly understood. METHODS/UNASSIGNED:A cross-sectional survey was distributed to 220 Children's Oncology Group member institutions regarding fertility discussion practices. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all variables. The association between specific practices and selected outcomes on the basis of sex was examined via multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:< .001). Program characteristics associated with fertility discussions included reproductive endocrinology and infertility on site (females odds ratio [OR], 2.1; 95% CI, 1.0 to 4.3), discussion documentation mandate (females OR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.0 to 5.5; males OR, 3.5; 95% CI, 1.4 to 8.7), and cumulative institution-based FP infrastructure (which included [1] routine practice of documentation, [2] template for documentation, [3] mandate for documentation, and [4] availability of FP navigation; females OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.1 to 2.3; males OR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.6 to 3.4). Utilization of practices unsupported by guidelines included offering sperm banking after treatment initiation (39/135 programs; 28.9%), gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs for ovarian suppression/FP (75/144 programs; 52.1%), ovarian tissue cryopreservation at diagnosis for patients with leukemia (19/64 programs; 29.7%), and testicular tissue cryopreservation (23/138 programs; 16.7%) not part of a clinical trial. CONCLUSION/UNASSIGNED:Despite recommended guidelines, fertility discussions with patients/families before treatment initiation are not routine at Children's Oncology Group institutions. Standard criteria to determine which options should be offered to patients are more common for males than females.

PURPOSE/UNASSIGNED:As the largest integrated health care system in the United States, the Veterans Health Administration (VA) is a leader in telehealth-delivered care. All 10 million Veterans cared for within the VA are eligible for telehealth. The VA cares for approximately 46,000 Veteran patients with newly diagnosed cancer and an estimated 400,000 prevalent cases annually. With nearly 38% of VA health care system users residing in rural areas and only 44% of rural counties having an oncologist, many Veterans lack local access to specialized cancer services. METHODS/UNASSIGNED:We describe the VA's National TeleOncology (NTO) Service. NTO was established to provide Veterans with the opportunity for specialized treatment regardless of geographical location. Designed as a hub-and-spoke model, VA oncologists from across the country can provide care to patients at spoke sites. Spoke sites are smaller and rural VA medical centers that are less able to independently provide the full range of services available at larger facilities. In addition to smaller rural spoke sites, NTO also provides subspecialized oncology care to Veterans located in larger VA medical facilities that do not have subspecialties available or that have limited capacity. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:As of fiscal year 2021, 23 clinics are served by or engaged in planning for delivery of NTO and there are 24 physicians providing care through the NTO virtual hub. Most NTO physicians continue to provide patient care in separate traditional in-person clinics. Approximately 4,300 unique Veterans have used NTO services. Approximately half (52%) of Veterans using NTO lived in rural areas. Most of these Veterans had more than one remote visit through NTO. CONCLUSION/UNASSIGNED:NTO is a state-of-the-art model that has the potential to revolutionize the way cancer care is delivered, which should improve the experience of Veterans receiving cancer care.

BACKGROUND:Health status is increasingly recognized as an important patient-centered outcome after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Yet drivers of decline in health status after AMI remain largely unknown in older adults. We sought to develop and validate a predictive risk model for health status decline among older adult survivors of AMI. METHODS:Using data from a prospective cohort study conducted from 2013 to 2017 of 3041 patients age ≥75 years hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction at 94 U.S. hospitals, we examined a broad array of demographic, clinical, functional, and psychosocial variables for their association with health status decline, defined as a decrease of ≥5 points in the Short Form-12 (SF-12) physical component score from hospitalization to 6 months post-discharge. Model selection was performed in logistic regression models of 20 imputed datasets to yield a parsimonious risk prediction model. Model discrimination and calibration were evaluated using c-statistics and calibration plots, respectively. RESULTS:Of the 2571 participants included in the main analyses, 30% of patients experienced health status decline from hospitalization to 6 months post-discharge. The risk model contained 14 factors, 10 associated with higher risk of health status decline (age, pre-existing AMI, pre-existing cancer, pre-existing COPD, pre-existing diabetes, history of falls, presenting Killip class, acute kidney injury, baseline health status, and mobility impairment) and four associated with lower risk of health status decline (male sex, higher hemoglobin, receipt of revascularization, and arrhythmia during hospitalization). The model displayed good discrimination (c-statistic = 0.74 in validation cohort) and calibration (p > 0.05) in both development and validation cohorts. CONCLUSIONS:We used split sampling to develop and validate a risk model for health status decline in older adults after hospitalization for AMI and identified several risk factors that may be modifiable to mitigate the threat of this important patient-centered outcome. External validation of this risk model is warranted.

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND:The presentation, risk factors, and etiologies of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in people exposed to repetitive head impacts are unknown. We examined the burden and distribution of WMH, and their association with years of play, age of first exposure, and clinical function in former American football players. METHODS:A total of 149 former football players and 53 asymptomatic unexposed participants (all men, 45-74 years) completed fluid-attenuated inversion recovery magnetic resonance imaging, neuropsychological testing, and self-report neuropsychiatric measures. Lesion Segmentation Toolbox estimated WMH. Analyses were performed in the total sample and stratified by age 60. RESULTS:In older but not younger participants, former football players had greater total, frontal, temporal, and parietal log-WMH compared to asymptomatic unexposed men. In older but not younger former football players, greater log-WMH was associated with younger age of first exposure to football and worse executive function. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS:In older former football players, WMH may have unique presentations, risk factors, and etiologies. HIGHLIGHTS/CONCLUSIONS:Older but not younger former football players had greater total, frontal, temporal, and parietal lobe white matter hyperintensities (WMH) compared to same-age asymptomatic unexposed men. Younger age of first exposure to football was associated with greater WMH in older but not younger former American football players. In former football players, greater WMH was associated with worse executive function and verbal memory.

BACKGROUND:Surgery is a potent motivator to help people quit smoking to reduce the risk of complications. Many patients who smoke receive tobacco cessation counseling prior to surgery and are able to quit, but do not receive the same resources after surgery and often resume smoking. METHODS:We present a case study describing the recruitment process, study components, and lessons learned from StayQuit, a comprehensive relapse prevention program designed to prevent relapse after arthroplasty. Lessons learned were examined post hoc to determine challenges related to program implementation, using existing study procedures and information collected. RESULTS:While a comprehensive postoperative relapse prevention program may be beneficial to patients, implementation of StayQuit is unlikely to be feasible under current circumstances. The primary challenges to successful implementation of StayQuit focused on themes of lack of engagement in the preoperative Orthopedic Surgery Quit Smoking Program (OSQSP) and an environment unfavorable to in-person enrollment on the day of surgery. CONCLUSIONS:Postoperative relapse prevention programs may be beneficial for patients who quit smoking prior to elective surgery. To help guide implementation, it is important to consider surgeon behavior, the collaboration of clinical and non-clinical teams, and best practices for study enrollment in surgical settings.

OBJECTIVES/OBJECTIVE:Broadband access is an essential social determinant of health, the importance of which was made apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to understand disparities in broadband access within cities and identify potential solutions to increase urban access. STUDY DESIGN/METHODS:This was a descriptive secondary analysis using multi-year cross-sectional survey data. METHODS:Data were obtained from the City Health Dashboard and American Community Survey. We studied broadband access in 905 large US cities, stratifying neighborhood broadband access by neighborhood median household income and racial/ethnic composition. RESULTS:In 2017, 30% of urban households across 905 large US cities did not have access to high-speed broadband internet. After controlling for median household income, broadband access in majority Black and Hispanic neighborhoods was 10-15% lower than in majority White or Asian neighborhoods. Over time, lack of broadband access in urban households decreased from 30% in 2017 to 24% in 2021, but racial and income disparities persisted. CONCLUSIONS:As an emerging social determinant, broadband access impacts health across the life course, affecting students' ability to learn and adults' ability to find and retain jobs. Resolving lack of broadband access remains an urban priority. City policymakers can harness recent infrastructure funding opportunities to reduce broadband access disparities.

Fostering diverse, equitable, and inclusive collaborative research networks is important for advancing the field of aging research. Despite sizeable investment in research consortia and career development programs, there has been only moderate progress toward diversifying the research workforce studying aging. Without critically examining what works and what does not, continuing to place more resources into these same strategies may not result in a substantial improvement in diversity or the creation of collaborative networks. Using meta-research to rigorously evaluate potential strategies to promote diversity and collaboration may yield important insights that can be used to improve upon current efforts. For this reason, we sought to describe meta-research and highlight how its principles can be used to achieve the aging research community's collaboration and diversity goals.

BACKGROUND:Potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use is an important public health problem, particularly among older adults who may need multiple pharmacologic therapies for various chronic conditions. As socioeconomic status (SES) affects the quality of healthcare that individuals receive, SES may be associated with the use of PIM in older adults. This study aimed to determine whether low SES is associated with increased use of PIM. METHODS:We studied 4927 participants (aged 66-90 years) who were on at least one medication at visit five (2011-2013) of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. We created a cumulative SES score categorized as high (7-9), middle (3-6), and low (0-2) based on education, income, and area deprivation index. We use multivariable logistic regression to examine the associations between SES and use of two or more PIM for older adults, defined by the 2019 Beers Criteria. RESULTS:A total of 31.0% and 6.9% of the participants used one or more PIM and two or more PIM, respectively. After adjusting for demographic characteristics and insurance type, low cumulative SES score was associated with significantly greater use of two or more PIM (odds ratio [OR] = 1.83 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.18-2.86]), as was middle cumulative SES score (OR = 1.40 [95% CI 1.06-1.83]), compared to high cumulative SES score. The results remained significant after further adjusting for comorbidities and medication burden for low cumulative SES score (OR = 1.66 [95%CI 1.02-2.71]). CONCLUSIONS:We found that lower SES was associated with greater use of PIM among older adults independent of their medication burden and comorbidities, suggesting socioeconomic disparities in quality of medication management. Focused efforts targeting older adults with low SES to reduce PIM use may be needed to prevent adverse drug events.