Relationship of early intensive- or coronary care unit admission and post-discharge performance of activities of daily living in patients with acute decompensated heart failure

Background

The management of acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) often requires intensive care. However, the effects of early intensive care unit (ICU)/coronary care unit (CCU) admission on activities of daily living (ADL) in ADHF patients have not been precisely evaluated. Thus, we assessed whether early ICU entry can improve post-discharge ADL performance in these patients.

Methods and results

ADHF patients (New York Heart Association I–III) admitted on emergency between April 1, 2014, and December 31, 2018, were selected from the Diagnosis Procedure Combination database and divided into ICU/CCU (ICU) and general ward (GW) groups according to the hospitalization type on admission day 1. The propensity score was calculated to create matched cohorts where treatment assignment (ICU/CCU admission) is independent of measured baseline confounding factors including ADL at admission. The primary outcome was post-ADL defined according to the Barthel index (BI) at discharge. Secondary outcomes included length of stay (LOS) and total hospitalization cost (expense). Overall, 12,231 patients were eligible, and propensity score matching created 2,985 pairs. After matching, post-ADL was significantly higher in the ICU group (GW 71.5±35.3 vs. ICU 78.2±31.2, P<0.001, difference in mean 6.7 (95% CI 5.1–8.4) points). After matching, LOS was significantly shorter and expenses were significantly higher in the ICU group. Subanalyses showed that patients with low ADL at admission (BI<60) mainly benefited from early ICU/CCU entry.

Conclusions

Early ICU/CCU entry was beneficially associated with post-ADL in patients with emergency ADHF admission. ADL at admission might serve as a useful criterion for ICU admission.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: None.

Influence of Acculturation on Emotional Learning and Memory in Spanish and English Speakers

Objective

The Emotional Verbal Learning Test-Spanish (EVLT-S) is a novel list learning test similar in structure to traditional verbal memory tests but contains words from 4 discrete emotional categories. Influence of acculturation on emotional learning was examined on EVLT-S learning trials 1 to 5.

Participants and Method

Participants included 50 bilingual healthy individuals in the Spanish-dominant group (Age M = 20.3years; 72% female) and 27 in the English-dominant group (Age M = 23.4years, 51.9% female). They were administered a battery of tests including the EVLT, a non-emotional verbal list learning test (LLT), Vocabulary (VC), Digit Span (DS), and The Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (SASH) in their dominant language. To examine learning curves a mixed model ANOVA was conducted with test (EVLT-S/EVLT, LLT-S/LLT) and trial as within-subjects variables and group (Spanish, English) as a between-subjects variable.

Results

There were significant main effects (p < .005) for test, trial, and group. The Spanish-dominant group had the lowest overall performance on the EVLT-S (main effect for group). Post hoc comparisons of the Spanish-dominant group’s LLT-S and EVLT-S performance indicated significant differences at each trail (p < .01), with the EVLT-S scores being lower than the LLT-S scores. The ANOVA was repeated with VC, DS, and SASH included as covariates. When controlling for these variables, the main effect for group was no longer significant. A significant trial by acculturation interaction effect emerged (p<.05), with the English-dominant group generally performing better than the Spanish-dominant group.

Conclusions

Results suggest that Spanish and English language group differences were largely accounted for by word knowledge (VC), working memory (DS), and acculturation differences (SASH) between the groups. The role of these variables is discussed further in the context of acculturation.

Factorial Validity of the Emotional Verbal Learning Test-Spanish (EVLT-S)

Objective

The EVLT-S is the Spanish translation of a novel measure of emotional verbal learning and memory. The current study aimed to preliminarily examine the factorial validity of the EVLT-S to determine if its latent structure was similar to that identified for the EVLT by Strauss and Allen (2013) in a sample of 329 English speakers.

Participants and Method

Two principal component analyses (PCAs) were conducted to examine the latent structure of the EVLT-S. The first PCA examined EVLT/EVLT-S performance in a combined sample of English language-dominant participants (n = 52; Age M = 23.1 years; Education M = 13.4 years; 32.7% White non-Hispanic, 36.5% Hispanic, and 30.8 % other; 55.8% female) and Spanish language-dominant participants (n = 50; Age M = 20.3 years; Education M = 12.8 years; 98% Hispanic and 2% other; 72% female). The second PCA was conducted with the Spanish dominant sample alone (n = 50). PCAs were conducted using comparable scores and procedures reported by Strauss and Allen (2013), including scores for the four emotion categories (happiness, sadness, anger, anxiety), varimax rotation, and Kaiser-Guttman criteria to determine the number of components, allowing for direct comparisons between the current results and those previously reported.

Results

Both PCA’s identified five components that accounted for 68.6 – 70.4 percent of the variance and attained simple structure. Based on factor loadings, these components were labeled Anger, Sadness, Happiness, Anxiety, and Short-Term Memory (STM).

Conclusions

The PCA analyses in this study were exploratory in nature but were remarkably consistent with prior results attained in a much larger sample (n = 329) of English speakers. Results provide preliminary support for a stable and generalizable EVLT latent structure in Spanish and English versions. Future studies with larger samples using confirmatory factor analyses are needed to further establish the factorial validity of the EVLT-S.

References

Strauss, G. P., & Allen, D. N. (2013). Emotional Verbal Learning Test: development and psychometric properties. Archives of clinical neuropsychology, 28(5), 435-451.

B-50 Frequency of Sports-Related Concussion in Athletes with Neurodevelopmental Conditions

Objective

Research demonstrates that athletes with neurodevelopmental diagnoses may have a higher frequency of lifetime concussions (Iverson et al., 2016; Alosco, Fedor & Gunstad, 2014) possibly due to underlying attention, processing speed, or reaction time difficulties. The present study investigates concussion history and sports-related concussions between athletes with and without a history of neurodevelopmental disorders in a longitudinal, state-wide sample.

Method

Participants included 39,586 high school athletes (Mage = 15.18; 56.2% males) who were assessed pre and post-concussion with ImPACT between 2008 and 2016. There were 36,880 athletes (55.1% males) who did not report neurodevelopmental disorders and served as the control group and 2,706 athletes (71.4% males) in the clinical group who self-reported diagnosis of ADHD (55.6%), Learning Disability (LD;13.6%), Autism (3.2%), ADHD+LD (4.5%), and athletes in special education but no reported diagnosis (SpEd; 22%). Concussion frequency in each group was analyzed using chi-square analysis.

Results

Athletes were more likely to report prior concussions if they had a self-reported neurodevelopmental diagnosis (17%) compared to the control group (9%, χ2(1) = 112.11, p < .001). Odds ratios indicated that athletes with neurodevelopmental conditions were 1.43 times more likely to have a sports-related concussion.

Conclusions

Consistent with past research, results indicate that neurodevelopmental conditions are associated with greater lifetime risk of concussion, including sport-related concussions. Future studies may expand this research by examining underlaying causes of this increased risk in order to develop specific interventions to help reduce rates of concussion for this population.

B-55 Performance of ImPACT Validity Indices for Athletes with Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Objective

Research demonstrates neurodevelopmental diagnoses may increase likelihood of failing scores on ImPACT embedded validity indicators that flag questionable effort. New criteria have been proposed to enhance sensitivity of these indicators although their utility in athletes with neurodevelopmental diagnosis have not been thoroughly examined. This study investigates the effect of neurodevelopmental history on frequency of invalid performance on the standard and three proposed validity indicators.

Methods

Participants included 41,214 high school athletes (Mage = 15.1; 44.2% female; Meducation = 9.1) who completed baseline ImPACT testing. Athletes included these groups: ADHD (3.7%), Learning Disability (LD; 1.5%), Autism (0.2%), ADHD+LD (0.6%), Autism+ADHD/LD (0.1%), athletes with special education history but no diagnosis reported (SpEd; 2.8%), and healthy athletes (91.1%). Odds ratios were calculated to determine differences in invalid performance by both standard and proposed cutoffs.

Results

Neurodevelopmental disorder was associated with increased invalid performance using standard and proposed cutoffs with odds ratios ranging from 1.32 to 3.25. Invalid performance differed significantly across groups for both standard and two sets of proposed criteria (chi square p < .00001). For standard cutoffs, athletes with ADHD, LD, and ADHD/LD were significantly more likely than healthy athletes to have invalid performance. This pattern remained similar across the two sets of proposed criteria.

Conclusions

Results indicate increased incidence of invalid ImPACT performance based on standard and proposed validity indicators in athletes who self-report neurodevelopmental disorders. Findings indicate current and proposed cutoffs may not accurately capture low effort for neurodevelopmental populations. Future research should examine utility of separate cutoff criteria and expanded norms for athletes with neurodevelopmental history.

Trends in psychological distress and alcoholism after The Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011

AIMS

Many studies have shown that natural disasters affect mental health; however, longitudinal data on post-disaster mental health problems are scarce. The aims of our study were to investigate the trend in psychological distress and alcoholism after The Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in north eastern Japan, in March 2011.

METHODS

A longitudinal study was conducted using annual health check data for the general population, in the city of Higashi-Matsushima, which was affected by the high impact of tsunami. In 2012 and 2013, the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale and the CAGE questionnaire (for screening for alcoholism) were used to assess psychological distress and prevalence of alcoholism.

RESULTS

Of 11,855 total eligible residents, 2192 received the annual check in 2012 and 2013. The prevalence of mental illness and the mean score of alcoholism tendency increased during the follow-up period. The majority of respondents (43.8%) with baseline serious mental illness (SMI) continued to have SMI at follow-up; only 16.7% reported recovering. Older age, female sex, and severity of home damage predicted higher psychological distress, while male sex was a risk factor for alcoholism at follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

Psychological distress deteriorated 2 years after the huge natural disaster, compared with 1 year after the disaster. Long-term mental health care is needed for those affected by natural disasters, particularly those who have suffered loss.

Intestinal amoebiasis in a patient with acute graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation successfully treated by metronidazole

Amoebiasis has rarely been reported in patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, although it is a world-wide infection and extremely common. We present a case of intestinal amoebiasis unexpectedly revealed by colonoscopy after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation from a human leukocyte antigen-mismatched unrelated donor for acute myeloid leukemia arising from chronic myelomonocytic leukemia and successfully treated by metronidazole.

Oxytocin's neurochemical effects in the medial prefrontal cortex underlie recovery of task-specific brain activity in autism: a randomized controlled trial

The neuropeptide oxytocin may be an effective therapeutic strategy for the currently untreatable social and communication deficits associated with autism. Our recent paper reported that oxytocin mitigated autistic behavioral deficits through the restoration of activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), as demonstrated with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a socio-communication task. However, it is unknown whether oxytocin exhibited effects at the neuronal level, which was outside of the specific task examined. In the same randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject cross-over clinical trial in which a single dose of intranasal oxytocin (24 IU) was administered to 40 men with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (UMIN000002241/000004393), we measured N-acetylaspartate (NAA) levels, a marker for neuronal energy demand, in the vmPFC using (1)H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS). The differences in the NAA levels between the oxytocin and placebo sessions were associated with oxytocin-induced fMRI signal changes in the vmPFC. The oxytocin-induced increases in the fMRI signal could be predicted by the NAA differences between the oxytocin and placebo sessions (P=0.002), an effect that remained after controlling for variability in the time between the fMRI and (1)H-MRS scans (P=0.006) and the order of administration of oxytocin and placebo (P=0.001). Furthermore, path analysis showed that the NAA differences in the vmPFC triggered increases in the task-dependent fMRI signals in the vmPFC, which consequently led to improvements in the socio-communication difficulties associated with autism. The present study suggests that the beneficial effects of oxytocin are not limited to the autistic behavior elicited by our psychological task, but may generalize to other autistic behavioral problems associated with the vmPFC.

Quantitative autistic traits ascertained in a national survey of 22 529 Japanese schoolchildren

OBJECTIVE

Recent epidemiologic studies worldwide have documented a rise in prevalence rates for autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Broadening of diagnostic criteria for ASD may be a major contributor to the rise in prevalence, particularly if superimposed on an underlying continuous distribution of autistic traits. This study sought to determine the nature of the population distribution of autistic traits using a quantitative trait measure in a large national population sample of children.

METHOD

The Japanese version of the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) was completed by parents on a nationally representative sample of 22 529 children, age 6-15.

RESULTS

Social Responsiveness Scale scores exhibited a skewed normal distribution in the Japanese population with a single-factor structure and no significant relation to IQ within the normal intellectual range. There was no evidence of a natural 'cutoff' that would differentiate populations of categorically affected children from unaffected children.

CONCLUSION

This study provides evidence of the continuous nature of autistic symptoms measured by the SRS, a validated quantitative trait measure. The findings reveal how paradigms for diagnosis that rest on arbitrarily imposed categorical cutoffs can result in substantial variation in prevalence estimation, especially when measurements used for case assignment are not standardized for a given population.