With healthcare costs rising and payer reimbursements dwindling, many physicians are focusing even more on collecting outstanding patient balances.

Medical credit cards can be a popular choice to fill this gap because doctors get reimbursed upfront while patients receive special financing offers and the care they seek or need.

But, in recent months, federal officials have questioned whether these arrangements are genuinely win-win or if the cards prey on low-income and vulnerable individuals and warrant tighter regulatory oversight.

In July, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the US Department of Health and Human Services, and the US Department of Treasury announced an inquiry into medical credit cards. The agencies sought public comments from patients and providers to determine how much they are used.

Medical credit cards typically offer 0% or low-interest terms ranging from 6 to 24 months. Minimum monthly payments are required, often as low as $30 and not usually enough to pay the balance by the end of the promotional period.

After the introductory rate, card issuers may charge interest rates approaching 30% — not just on the remaining balance but on the original amount financed, adding considerably to total out-of-pocket costs.

Ophthalmologist Michael A. Brusco, MD, FACS, specializes in laser-assisted in situ keratomileuses and vision correction at his practice in the greater Washington, DC, area. He told this news organization that nearly all his patients are self-paying, and just under half utilize one of two medical credit cards he offers through third-party vendors, CareCredit and Alphaeon Credit.

“We are clear with our patients that it is interest-free only if they make all payments on time, and if they don’t, then the penalties and fees skyrocket,” Dr. Brusco said.

Patients pay no interest if they make the minimum monthly payments and pay the entire balance by the end of the term. Brusco said those who qualify and abide by those conditions can benefit from spreading healthcare expenses over several months and reducing the stress and financial strain associated with a larger, one-time payment.

He acknowledged that deferred interest can be problematic if patients are caught unaware but said his staff has received training from both vendors on clearly explaining the plans to patients. If someone doesn’t think they can pay off the balance in the timeframe, he suggests they pursue an alternative payment method.

Community Catalyst, a nonprofit health advocacy organization, has joined 60 other groups urging the Biden Administration to ban deferred interest medical credit cards.

They say that patients don’t understand what they are signing up for due to comments like these:

“Even though I’ve made monthly automatic payments on my account, as long as I have any balance on my account by [the end of the promotion], I’d be charged a 26.99% interest rate on the whole medical bill of [$2700].”

“I had nearly [$700] of interest that had accumulated within 4 months…based on one [$2000] charge. The employees at medical offices are selling a product they know little about without fully disclosing the terms and conditions to their patients.”

Historically, patients who apply for the cards have tended to use them to finance cosmetic or other lifestyle medicine procedures, but the CFPB said patients increasingly rely on them for routine and emergency care, which may contribute to growing medical debts and collections balances.

Federal authorities have expressed concerns that doctors may direct patients toward these financial arrangements instead of properly screening them for assistance programs or pursuing the sometimes arduous claims process to capture reimbursement from payers.
 

Growth of Medical Credit Card Market

One of the most widely used cards, CareCredit, is owned by Synchrony Bank and accepted at over 260,000 locations. Beyond private practices, the vendor has multiyear deals with over 300 hospitals, including Kaiser Permanente and the Cleveland Clinic.

Despite growing popularity and acceptance within the medical community, the cards may work well for some, but not all, patients.

According to a CFPB report released earlier this year, deferred interest medical credit cards were used to pay nearly $23 billion in healthcare expenses from 2018 to 2020. Individuals unable to stick to the terms paid $1 billion in deferred interest payments during that period. Three quarters of CareCredit consumers pay no interest, the organization reported.

Healthcare costs are likely driving demand for medical credit cards. In a recent survey by the Commonwealth Fund, almost half of respondents said it was very or somewhat difficult to afford care even when having insurance coverage through an employer, individual, or government plan. Consumers in the survey cited the high costs as a reason why they delayed or skipped care and prescription medication in the past year, including 29% of those with employer coverage and 42% with Medicare.

These dynamics can leave doctors between a rock and a hard place, said Alan P. Sager, PhD, a professor of health law, policy, and management at Boston University School of Public Health. He told this news organization that medical credit cards can keep cash flowing for doctors and provide elective and necessary care for patients, but the double-digit interest rates outside of the promotional periods can put patients at risk of bankruptcy. He views them as a short-term solution to a more significant problem.

“What doctors need and deserve is patients who have full coverage so that there are no medical debts and no need for medical credit cards,” said Dr. Sager.
 

Doctor Groups Weigh In

The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), representing more than 15,000 medical groups, said in its public comments that Medicare cuts and staffing and inflation challenges have made running a profitable practice challenging, particularly for rural and less-resourced offices.

The organization said medical credit cards with transparent terms and conditions can help patients afford care and keep practice doors open amid rising operational costs. However, MGMA worries that the CFPB’s inquiry could “perpetuate the notion that it is acceptable for payment not to be rendered immediately after clinical services are provided, and it’s ok that payments are often subject to significant delays.”

Meanwhile, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) has endorsed CareCredit for over 20 years. In response to the CFPB’s request for information, the association said it supports medical credit cards that offer promotional low- or no-interest terms.

Steven Williams, MD, ASPS president, told this news organization that patients appreciate multiple payment options and the flexibility to move forward with care on short notice. Still, he said that it requires due diligence on everyone’s part.

“Lenders have a responsibility to educate their customers, and it’s critical that lending products have full disclosure in plain and clear language. And with any substantial purchase, patients need to analyze how much it adds to the bottom line,” he said.

A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.

With healthcare costs rising and payer reimbursements dwindling, many physicians are focusing even more on collecting outstanding patient balances.

Medical credit cards can be a popular choice to fill this gap because doctors get reimbursed upfront while patients receive special financing offers and the care they seek or need.

But, in recent months, federal officials have questioned whether these arrangements are genuinely win-win or if the cards prey on low-income and vulnerable individuals and warrant tighter regulatory oversight.

In July, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the US Department of Health and Human Services, and the US Department of Treasury announced an inquiry into medical credit cards. The agencies sought public comments from patients and providers to determine how much they are used.

Medical credit cards typically offer 0% or low-interest terms ranging from 6 to 24 months. Minimum monthly payments are required, often as low as $30 and not usually enough to pay the balance by the end of the promotional period.

After the introductory rate, card issuers may charge interest rates approaching 30% — not just on the remaining balance but on the original amount financed, adding considerably to total out-of-pocket costs.

Ophthalmologist Michael A. Brusco, MD, FACS, specializes in laser-assisted in situ keratomileuses and vision correction at his practice in the greater Washington, DC, area. He told this news organization that nearly all his patients are self-paying, and just under half utilize one of two medical credit cards he offers through third-party vendors, CareCredit and Alphaeon Credit.

“We are clear with our patients that it is interest-free only if they make all payments on time, and if they don’t, then the penalties and fees skyrocket,” Dr. Brusco said.

Patients pay no interest if they make the minimum monthly payments and pay the entire balance by the end of the term. Brusco said those who qualify and abide by those conditions can benefit from spreading healthcare expenses over several months and reducing the stress and financial strain associated with a larger, one-time payment.

He acknowledged that deferred interest can be problematic if patients are caught unaware but said his staff has received training from both vendors on clearly explaining the plans to patients. If someone doesn’t think they can pay off the balance in the timeframe, he suggests they pursue an alternative payment method.

Community Catalyst, a nonprofit health advocacy organization, has joined 60 other groups urging the Biden Administration to ban deferred interest medical credit cards.

They say that patients don’t understand what they are signing up for due to comments like these:

“Even though I’ve made monthly automatic payments on my account, as long as I have any balance on my account by [the end of the promotion], I’d be charged a 26.99% interest rate on the whole medical bill of [$2700].”

“I had nearly [$700] of interest that had accumulated within 4 months…based on one [$2000] charge. The employees at medical offices are selling a product they know little about without fully disclosing the terms and conditions to their patients.”

Historically, patients who apply for the cards have tended to use them to finance cosmetic or other lifestyle medicine procedures, but the CFPB said patients increasingly rely on them for routine and emergency care, which may contribute to growing medical debts and collections balances.

Federal authorities have expressed concerns that doctors may direct patients toward these financial arrangements instead of properly screening them for assistance programs or pursuing the sometimes arduous claims process to capture reimbursement from payers.
 

Growth of Medical Credit Card Market

One of the most widely used cards, CareCredit, is owned by Synchrony Bank and accepted at over 260,000 locations. Beyond private practices, the vendor has multiyear deals with over 300 hospitals, including Kaiser Permanente and the Cleveland Clinic.

Despite growing popularity and acceptance within the medical community, the cards may work well for some, but not all, patients.

According to a CFPB report released earlier this year, deferred interest medical credit cards were used to pay nearly $23 billion in healthcare expenses from 2018 to 2020. Individuals unable to stick to the terms paid $1 billion in deferred interest payments during that period. Three quarters of CareCredit consumers pay no interest, the organization reported.

Healthcare costs are likely driving demand for medical credit cards. In a recent survey by the Commonwealth Fund, almost half of respondents said it was very or somewhat difficult to afford care even when having insurance coverage through an employer, individual, or government plan. Consumers in the survey cited the high costs as a reason why they delayed or skipped care and prescription medication in the past year, including 29% of those with employer coverage and 42% with Medicare.

These dynamics can leave doctors between a rock and a hard place, said Alan P. Sager, PhD, a professor of health law, policy, and management at Boston University School of Public Health. He told this news organization that medical credit cards can keep cash flowing for doctors and provide elective and necessary care for patients, but the double-digit interest rates outside of the promotional periods can put patients at risk of bankruptcy. He views them as a short-term solution to a more significant problem.

“What doctors need and deserve is patients who have full coverage so that there are no medical debts and no need for medical credit cards,” said Dr. Sager.
 

Doctor Groups Weigh In

The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), representing more than 15,000 medical groups, said in its public comments that Medicare cuts and staffing and inflation challenges have made running a profitable practice challenging, particularly for rural and less-resourced offices.

The organization said medical credit cards with transparent terms and conditions can help patients afford care and keep practice doors open amid rising operational costs. However, MGMA worries that the CFPB’s inquiry could “perpetuate the notion that it is acceptable for payment not to be rendered immediately after clinical services are provided, and it’s ok that payments are often subject to significant delays.”

Meanwhile, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) has endorsed CareCredit for over 20 years. In response to the CFPB’s request for information, the association said it supports medical credit cards that offer promotional low- or no-interest terms.

Steven Williams, MD, ASPS president, told this news organization that patients appreciate multiple payment options and the flexibility to move forward with care on short notice. Still, he said that it requires due diligence on everyone’s part.

“Lenders have a responsibility to educate their customers, and it’s critical that lending products have full disclosure in plain and clear language. And with any substantial purchase, patients need to analyze how much it adds to the bottom line,” he said.

A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.

With healthcare costs rising and payer reimbursements dwindling, many physicians are focusing even more on collecting outstanding patient balances.

Medical credit cards can be a popular choice to fill this gap because doctors get reimbursed upfront while patients receive special financing offers and the care they seek or need.

But, in recent months, federal officials have questioned whether these arrangements are genuinely win-win or if the cards prey on low-income and vulnerable individuals and warrant tighter regulatory oversight.

In July, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the US Department of Health and Human Services, and the US Department of Treasury announced an inquiry into medical credit cards. The agencies sought public comments from patients and providers to determine how much they are used.

Medical credit cards typically offer 0% or low-interest terms ranging from 6 to 24 months. Minimum monthly payments are required, often as low as $30 and not usually enough to pay the balance by the end of the promotional period.

After the introductory rate, card issuers may charge interest rates approaching 30% — not just on the remaining balance but on the original amount financed, adding considerably to total out-of-pocket costs.

Ophthalmologist Michael A. Brusco, MD, FACS, specializes in laser-assisted in situ keratomileuses and vision correction at his practice in the greater Washington, DC, area. He told this news organization that nearly all his patients are self-paying, and just under half utilize one of two medical credit cards he offers through third-party vendors, CareCredit and Alphaeon Credit.

“We are clear with our patients that it is interest-free only if they make all payments on time, and if they don’t, then the penalties and fees skyrocket,” Dr. Brusco said.

Patients pay no interest if they make the minimum monthly payments and pay the entire balance by the end of the term. Brusco said those who qualify and abide by those conditions can benefit from spreading healthcare expenses over several months and reducing the stress and financial strain associated with a larger, one-time payment.

He acknowledged that deferred interest can be problematic if patients are caught unaware but said his staff has received training from both vendors on clearly explaining the plans to patients. If someone doesn’t think they can pay off the balance in the timeframe, he suggests they pursue an alternative payment method.

Community Catalyst, a nonprofit health advocacy organization, has joined 60 other groups urging the Biden Administration to ban deferred interest medical credit cards.

They say that patients don’t understand what they are signing up for due to comments like these:

“Even though I’ve made monthly automatic payments on my account, as long as I have any balance on my account by [the end of the promotion], I’d be charged a 26.99% interest rate on the whole medical bill of [$2700].”

“I had nearly [$700] of interest that had accumulated within 4 months…based on one [$2000] charge. The employees at medical offices are selling a product they know little about without fully disclosing the terms and conditions to their patients.”

Historically, patients who apply for the cards have tended to use them to finance cosmetic or other lifestyle medicine procedures, but the CFPB said patients increasingly rely on them for routine and emergency care, which may contribute to growing medical debts and collections balances.

Federal authorities have expressed concerns that doctors may direct patients toward these financial arrangements instead of properly screening them for assistance programs or pursuing the sometimes arduous claims process to capture reimbursement from payers.
 

Growth of Medical Credit Card Market

One of the most widely used cards, CareCredit, is owned by Synchrony Bank and accepted at over 260,000 locations. Beyond private practices, the vendor has multiyear deals with over 300 hospitals, including Kaiser Permanente and the Cleveland Clinic.

Despite growing popularity and acceptance within the medical community, the cards may work well for some, but not all, patients.

According to a CFPB report released earlier this year, deferred interest medical credit cards were used to pay nearly $23 billion in healthcare expenses from 2018 to 2020. Individuals unable to stick to the terms paid $1 billion in deferred interest payments during that period. Three quarters of CareCredit consumers pay no interest, the organization reported.

Healthcare costs are likely driving demand for medical credit cards. In a recent survey by the Commonwealth Fund, almost half of respondents said it was very or somewhat difficult to afford care even when having insurance coverage through an employer, individual, or government plan. Consumers in the survey cited the high costs as a reason why they delayed or skipped care and prescription medication in the past year, including 29% of those with employer coverage and 42% with Medicare.

These dynamics can leave doctors between a rock and a hard place, said Alan P. Sager, PhD, a professor of health law, policy, and management at Boston University School of Public Health. He told this news organization that medical credit cards can keep cash flowing for doctors and provide elective and necessary care for patients, but the double-digit interest rates outside of the promotional periods can put patients at risk of bankruptcy. He views them as a short-term solution to a more significant problem.

“What doctors need and deserve is patients who have full coverage so that there are no medical debts and no need for medical credit cards,” said Dr. Sager.
 

Doctor Groups Weigh In

The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), representing more than 15,000 medical groups, said in its public comments that Medicare cuts and staffing and inflation challenges have made running a profitable practice challenging, particularly for rural and less-resourced offices.

The organization said medical credit cards with transparent terms and conditions can help patients afford care and keep practice doors open amid rising operational costs. However, MGMA worries that the CFPB’s inquiry could “perpetuate the notion that it is acceptable for payment not to be rendered immediately after clinical services are provided, and it’s ok that payments are often subject to significant delays.”

Meanwhile, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) has endorsed CareCredit for over 20 years. In response to the CFPB’s request for information, the association said it supports medical credit cards that offer promotional low- or no-interest terms.

Steven Williams, MD, ASPS president, told this news organization that patients appreciate multiple payment options and the flexibility to move forward with care on short notice. Still, he said that it requires due diligence on everyone’s part.

“Lenders have a responsibility to educate their customers, and it’s critical that lending products have full disclosure in plain and clear language. And with any substantial purchase, patients need to analyze how much it adds to the bottom line,” he said.

A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.

Harvard Medical School’s Sharon K. Inouye, MD, MPH, is editor in chief of JAMA Internal Medicine and a leading voice in American gerontology. We asked her to choose five of the influential journal’s most impactful studies from 2023 and highlight important take-home messages for internists and their colleagues.
 

Q: One of the studies you chose suggests that the antiviral nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid) can ward off long COVID. Could you recap the findings?

A: Researchers followed a group of more than 280,000 Department of Veterans Affairs patients who were seen in 2022, had a positive COVID test, and had at least one risk factor for severe COVID. They focused on those who survived to 30 days after their COVID infection and compared those who received the drug within the first 5 days of a positive test with an equivalent control group.

They found that 13 long COVID symptoms were all significantly less common (relative risk = 0.74) in those who received nirmatrelvir. This was true no matter whether they’d ever had a COVID vaccination.
 

Q: How should this research affect clinical practice?

A: You can’t generalize from this to everyone because, of course, not everyone was included in this study. But it is highly suggestive that this drug is very effective for preventing long COVID.

Nirmatrelvir was touted as being able to shorten duration of illness and prevent hospitalization. But if you were low risk or you were already well into your COVID course, it wasn’t like rush, rush, rush to the doctor to get it.

This changes that equation because we know long COVID is such a huge issue. The vast majority of doctors who work with COVID patients and know this are now being more aggressive about prescribing it.
 

Q: What about patients whom the CDC considers to be at less risk — people with up-to-date vaccinations who are under 50 with mild-to-moderate COVID and no higher-risk medical conditions? Should they take nirmatrelvir?

A: The evidence is not 100% in yet. A study like this one needs to be repeated and include younger people without any risk factors to see if we see the same thing. So it’s a personal choice, and a personal calculus needs to be done. A lot of people are making that choice [to take the drug], and it can be a rational decision.

Q: You also chose a study that links high thyroid hormone levels to higher rates of dementia. What did it reveal?

A: This study looks at patients who had thyrotoxicosis — a thyroid level that’s too high — from hormone produced endogenously, and exogenously. Researchers tracked almost 66,000 patients aged 65 and older and found that thyrotoxicosis from all causes, whether it was endogenous or exogenous, was linked to an increased risk of dementia in a dose-response relationship (adjusted hazard ratio = 1.39).

Q: Is there a clinical take-home message here?

A: When we start patients on thyroid medication, they don’t always get reassessed on a regular basis. Given this finding, a TSH [thyroid-stimulating hormone] level is indicated during the annual wellness check that patients on Medicare can get every year.

Q: Is TSH measured as part of routine blood tests?

A: No it’s not. It has to be ordered. I think that’s why we’re seeing this problem to begin with — because it’s not something we all have awareness about. I wasn’t aware myself that mildly high levels of thyroid could increase the risk of cognitive impairment. Certainly, I’m going to be much more aware in my practice.

Q: You also picked a study about silicosis in workers who are exposed to dust when they make engineered stone countertops, also known as quartz countertops. What were the findings?

A: Silicosis is a very serious lung condition that develops from exposure to crystalline silica. Essentially, sand gets inhaled into the lungs. Workers can be exposed when they’re making engineered stone countertops, the most popular countertops now in the United States.

This study is based on statewide surveys from 2019 to 2022 that the California Department of Public Health does routinely. They gathered cases of silicosis and found 52 — all men with an average age of 45. All but one were Latino immigrants, and most either had no insurance or very poor insurance.
 

Q: The study found that “diagnosis was delayed in 58%, with 38% presenting with advanced disease (progressive massive fibrosis), and 19% died.” What does that tell you?

A: It’s a very serious condition. Once it gets to the advanced stage, it will just continue to progress, and the person will die. That’s why it’s so important to know that it’s absolutely preventable.

Q: Is there a message here for internists?

A: If you treat a lot of immigrants or work in an area where there are a lot of industrial workers, you’re going to want to have a very high suspicion about it. If you see an atypical pattern on the chest x-ray or via diffusion scoring, have a low threshold for getting a pulmonary function test.

Doctors need to be aware and diagnose this very quickly. When patients present, you can pull them out of that work environment or put mitigation systems into place.
 

Q: California regulators were expected to put emergency rules into place in late December to protect workers. Did this study play a role in focusing attention on the problem?

A: This article, along with a commentary and podcast that we put out, really helped with advocacy to improve health and safety for workers at stone-cutting and fabrication shops.

Q: You were impressed by another study about airborne dangers, this one linking air pollution to dementia. What did researchers discover?

A: [This analysis] of more than 27,000 people in the Health and Retirement Study, a respected and rich database, found that exposure to air pollution was associated with greater rates of dementia — an increase of about 8% a year. Exposure to agricultural emissions and wildfire smoke were most robustly associated with a greater risk of dementia.

Q: How are these findings important, especially in light of the unhealthy air spawned by recent wildfires in the United States and Canada?

A: Studies like this will make it even more compelling that we are better prepared for air quality issues.

I grew up in Los Angeles, where smog and pollution were very big issues. I was constantly hearing about various mitigation strategies that were going into place. But after I moved to the East Coast, I almost never heard about prevention.

Now, I’m hoping we can keep this topic in the national conversation.
 

Q: You also highlighted a systematic review of the use of restraints in the emergency department. Why did you choose this research?

A: At JAMA Internal Medicine, we’re really focused on ways we can address health disparities and raise awareness of potential unconscious bias.

This review looked at 10 studies that included more than 2.5 million patient encounters, including 24,000 incidents of physical restraint use. They found that the overall rate of use of restraints was low at below 1%.

But when they are used, Black patients were 1.3 times more likely to be restrained than White patients.
 

Q: What’s the message here?

A: This is an important start to recognizing these differences and then changing our behavior. Perhaps restraints don’t need to be used as often in light of evidence, for example, of increased rates of misdiagnosis of psychosis in the Black population.

Q: How should physicians change their approach to restraints?

A: Restraints are not to be used to control disruption — wild behavior or verbal outbursts. They’re for when someone is a danger to themselves or others.

Dr. Inouye has no conflicts of interest.

Harvard Medical School’s Sharon K. Inouye, MD, MPH, is editor in chief of JAMA Internal Medicine and a leading voice in American gerontology. We asked her to choose five of the influential journal’s most impactful studies from 2023 and highlight important take-home messages for internists and their colleagues.
 

Q: One of the studies you chose suggests that the antiviral nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid) can ward off long COVID. Could you recap the findings?

A: Researchers followed a group of more than 280,000 Department of Veterans Affairs patients who were seen in 2022, had a positive COVID test, and had at least one risk factor for severe COVID. They focused on those who survived to 30 days after their COVID infection and compared those who received the drug within the first 5 days of a positive test with an equivalent control group.

They found that 13 long COVID symptoms were all significantly less common (relative risk = 0.74) in those who received nirmatrelvir. This was true no matter whether they’d ever had a COVID vaccination.
 

Q: How should this research affect clinical practice?

A: You can’t generalize from this to everyone because, of course, not everyone was included in this study. But it is highly suggestive that this drug is very effective for preventing long COVID.

Nirmatrelvir was touted as being able to shorten duration of illness and prevent hospitalization. But if you were low risk or you were already well into your COVID course, it wasn’t like rush, rush, rush to the doctor to get it.

This changes that equation because we know long COVID is such a huge issue. The vast majority of doctors who work with COVID patients and know this are now being more aggressive about prescribing it.
 

Q: What about patients whom the CDC considers to be at less risk — people with up-to-date vaccinations who are under 50 with mild-to-moderate COVID and no higher-risk medical conditions? Should they take nirmatrelvir?

A: The evidence is not 100% in yet. A study like this one needs to be repeated and include younger people without any risk factors to see if we see the same thing. So it’s a personal choice, and a personal calculus needs to be done. A lot of people are making that choice [to take the drug], and it can be a rational decision.

Q: You also chose a study that links high thyroid hormone levels to higher rates of dementia. What did it reveal?

A: This study looks at patients who had thyrotoxicosis — a thyroid level that’s too high — from hormone produced endogenously, and exogenously. Researchers tracked almost 66,000 patients aged 65 and older and found that thyrotoxicosis from all causes, whether it was endogenous or exogenous, was linked to an increased risk of dementia in a dose-response relationship (adjusted hazard ratio = 1.39).

Q: Is there a clinical take-home message here?

A: When we start patients on thyroid medication, they don’t always get reassessed on a regular basis. Given this finding, a TSH [thyroid-stimulating hormone] level is indicated during the annual wellness check that patients on Medicare can get every year.

Q: Is TSH measured as part of routine blood tests?

A: No it’s not. It has to be ordered. I think that’s why we’re seeing this problem to begin with — because it’s not something we all have awareness about. I wasn’t aware myself that mildly high levels of thyroid could increase the risk of cognitive impairment. Certainly, I’m going to be much more aware in my practice.

Q: You also picked a study about silicosis in workers who are exposed to dust when they make engineered stone countertops, also known as quartz countertops. What were the findings?

A: Silicosis is a very serious lung condition that develops from exposure to crystalline silica. Essentially, sand gets inhaled into the lungs. Workers can be exposed when they’re making engineered stone countertops, the most popular countertops now in the United States.

This study is based on statewide surveys from 2019 to 2022 that the California Department of Public Health does routinely. They gathered cases of silicosis and found 52 — all men with an average age of 45. All but one were Latino immigrants, and most either had no insurance or very poor insurance.
 

Q: The study found that “diagnosis was delayed in 58%, with 38% presenting with advanced disease (progressive massive fibrosis), and 19% died.” What does that tell you?

A: It’s a very serious condition. Once it gets to the advanced stage, it will just continue to progress, and the person will die. That’s why it’s so important to know that it’s absolutely preventable.

Q: Is there a message here for internists?

A: If you treat a lot of immigrants or work in an area where there are a lot of industrial workers, you’re going to want to have a very high suspicion about it. If you see an atypical pattern on the chest x-ray or via diffusion scoring, have a low threshold for getting a pulmonary function test.

Doctors need to be aware and diagnose this very quickly. When patients present, you can pull them out of that work environment or put mitigation systems into place.
 

Q: California regulators were expected to put emergency rules into place in late December to protect workers. Did this study play a role in focusing attention on the problem?

A: This article, along with a commentary and podcast that we put out, really helped with advocacy to improve health and safety for workers at stone-cutting and fabrication shops.

Q: You were impressed by another study about airborne dangers, this one linking air pollution to dementia. What did researchers discover?

A: [This analysis] of more than 27,000 people in the Health and Retirement Study, a respected and rich database, found that exposure to air pollution was associated with greater rates of dementia — an increase of about 8% a year. Exposure to agricultural emissions and wildfire smoke were most robustly associated with a greater risk of dementia.

Q: How are these findings important, especially in light of the unhealthy air spawned by recent wildfires in the United States and Canada?

A: Studies like this will make it even more compelling that we are better prepared for air quality issues.

I grew up in Los Angeles, where smog and pollution were very big issues. I was constantly hearing about various mitigation strategies that were going into place. But after I moved to the East Coast, I almost never heard about prevention.

Now, I’m hoping we can keep this topic in the national conversation.
 

Q: You also highlighted a systematic review of the use of restraints in the emergency department. Why did you choose this research?

A: At JAMA Internal Medicine, we’re really focused on ways we can address health disparities and raise awareness of potential unconscious bias.

This review looked at 10 studies that included more than 2.5 million patient encounters, including 24,000 incidents of physical restraint use. They found that the overall rate of use of restraints was low at below 1%.

But when they are used, Black patients were 1.3 times more likely to be restrained than White patients.
 

Q: What’s the message here?

A: This is an important start to recognizing these differences and then changing our behavior. Perhaps restraints don’t need to be used as often in light of evidence, for example, of increased rates of misdiagnosis of psychosis in the Black population.

Q: How should physicians change their approach to restraints?

A: Restraints are not to be used to control disruption — wild behavior or verbal outbursts. They’re for when someone is a danger to themselves or others.

Dr. Inouye has no conflicts of interest.

Harvard Medical School’s Sharon K. Inouye, MD, MPH, is editor in chief of JAMA Internal Medicine and a leading voice in American gerontology. We asked her to choose five of the influential journal’s most impactful studies from 2023 and highlight important take-home messages for internists and their colleagues.
 

Q: One of the studies you chose suggests that the antiviral nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid) can ward off long COVID. Could you recap the findings?

A: Researchers followed a group of more than 280,000 Department of Veterans Affairs patients who were seen in 2022, had a positive COVID test, and had at least one risk factor for severe COVID. They focused on those who survived to 30 days after their COVID infection and compared those who received the drug within the first 5 days of a positive test with an equivalent control group.

They found that 13 long COVID symptoms were all significantly less common (relative risk = 0.74) in those who received nirmatrelvir. This was true no matter whether they’d ever had a COVID vaccination.
 

Q: How should this research affect clinical practice?

A: You can’t generalize from this to everyone because, of course, not everyone was included in this study. But it is highly suggestive that this drug is very effective for preventing long COVID.

Nirmatrelvir was touted as being able to shorten duration of illness and prevent hospitalization. But if you were low risk or you were already well into your COVID course, it wasn’t like rush, rush, rush to the doctor to get it.

This changes that equation because we know long COVID is such a huge issue. The vast majority of doctors who work with COVID patients and know this are now being more aggressive about prescribing it.
 

Q: What about patients whom the CDC considers to be at less risk — people with up-to-date vaccinations who are under 50 with mild-to-moderate COVID and no higher-risk medical conditions? Should they take nirmatrelvir?

A: The evidence is not 100% in yet. A study like this one needs to be repeated and include younger people without any risk factors to see if we see the same thing. So it’s a personal choice, and a personal calculus needs to be done. A lot of people are making that choice [to take the drug], and it can be a rational decision.

Q: You also chose a study that links high thyroid hormone levels to higher rates of dementia. What did it reveal?

A: This study looks at patients who had thyrotoxicosis — a thyroid level that’s too high — from hormone produced endogenously, and exogenously. Researchers tracked almost 66,000 patients aged 65 and older and found that thyrotoxicosis from all causes, whether it was endogenous or exogenous, was linked to an increased risk of dementia in a dose-response relationship (adjusted hazard ratio = 1.39).

Q: Is there a clinical take-home message here?

A: When we start patients on thyroid medication, they don’t always get reassessed on a regular basis. Given this finding, a TSH [thyroid-stimulating hormone] level is indicated during the annual wellness check that patients on Medicare can get every year.

Q: Is TSH measured as part of routine blood tests?

A: No it’s not. It has to be ordered. I think that’s why we’re seeing this problem to begin with — because it’s not something we all have awareness about. I wasn’t aware myself that mildly high levels of thyroid could increase the risk of cognitive impairment. Certainly, I’m going to be much more aware in my practice.

Q: You also picked a study about silicosis in workers who are exposed to dust when they make engineered stone countertops, also known as quartz countertops. What were the findings?

A: Silicosis is a very serious lung condition that develops from exposure to crystalline silica. Essentially, sand gets inhaled into the lungs. Workers can be exposed when they’re making engineered stone countertops, the most popular countertops now in the United States.

This study is based on statewide surveys from 2019 to 2022 that the California Department of Public Health does routinely. They gathered cases of silicosis and found 52 — all men with an average age of 45. All but one were Latino immigrants, and most either had no insurance or very poor insurance.
 

Q: The study found that “diagnosis was delayed in 58%, with 38% presenting with advanced disease (progressive massive fibrosis), and 19% died.” What does that tell you?

A: It’s a very serious condition. Once it gets to the advanced stage, it will just continue to progress, and the person will die. That’s why it’s so important to know that it’s absolutely preventable.

Q: Is there a message here for internists?

A: If you treat a lot of immigrants or work in an area where there are a lot of industrial workers, you’re going to want to have a very high suspicion about it. If you see an atypical pattern on the chest x-ray or via diffusion scoring, have a low threshold for getting a pulmonary function test.

Doctors need to be aware and diagnose this very quickly. When patients present, you can pull them out of that work environment or put mitigation systems into place.
 

Q: California regulators were expected to put emergency rules into place in late December to protect workers. Did this study play a role in focusing attention on the problem?

A: This article, along with a commentary and podcast that we put out, really helped with advocacy to improve health and safety for workers at stone-cutting and fabrication shops.

Q: You were impressed by another study about airborne dangers, this one linking air pollution to dementia. What did researchers discover?

A: [This analysis] of more than 27,000 people in the Health and Retirement Study, a respected and rich database, found that exposure to air pollution was associated with greater rates of dementia — an increase of about 8% a year. Exposure to agricultural emissions and wildfire smoke were most robustly associated with a greater risk of dementia.

Q: How are these findings important, especially in light of the unhealthy air spawned by recent wildfires in the United States and Canada?

A: Studies like this will make it even more compelling that we are better prepared for air quality issues.

I grew up in Los Angeles, where smog and pollution were very big issues. I was constantly hearing about various mitigation strategies that were going into place. But after I moved to the East Coast, I almost never heard about prevention.

Now, I’m hoping we can keep this topic in the national conversation.
 

Q: You also highlighted a systematic review of the use of restraints in the emergency department. Why did you choose this research?

A: At JAMA Internal Medicine, we’re really focused on ways we can address health disparities and raise awareness of potential unconscious bias.

This review looked at 10 studies that included more than 2.5 million patient encounters, including 24,000 incidents of physical restraint use. They found that the overall rate of use of restraints was low at below 1%.

But when they are used, Black patients were 1.3 times more likely to be restrained than White patients.
 

Q: What’s the message here?

A: This is an important start to recognizing these differences and then changing our behavior. Perhaps restraints don’t need to be used as often in light of evidence, for example, of increased rates of misdiagnosis of psychosis in the Black population.

Q: How should physicians change their approach to restraints?

A: Restraints are not to be used to control disruption — wild behavior or verbal outbursts. They’re for when someone is a danger to themselves or others.

Dr. Inouye has no conflicts of interest.

Weight-loss drugs should be covered by Medicare and by other health insurance, according to a poll of US adults aged 50-80 years.

Among more than 2600 polled, 83% say that health insurance should cover prescription weight-loss drugs that have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and 76% say Medicare should cover such drugs. However, only 30% would be willing to pay higher Medicare premiums to have these medications covered.

Among the 27% of respondents who say they are overweight, 63% are interested in taking such medications, as are 45% of those with diabetes, regardless of weight.

The University of Michigan (U-M) National Poll on Healthy Aging was  published online  on December 13, 2023.

High Awareness

The findings come at a time when injectable glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, and Mounjaro, are receiving a lot of public attention, the university noted.

Overall, 64% of survey respondents had heard of at least one prescription medication used for weight management. 

By brand name, 61% had heard of Ozempic, approved for the treatment of  type 2 diabetes  but prescribed off label for weight loss; 18% had heard of Wegovy; and 13% had heard of the anorexiant drug  phentermine .

Very few respondents (3% for each) had heard of the GLP-1 RA Saxenda, Qsymia (phentermine plus the anticonvulsant  topiramate ), and the opiate antagonist Contrave. 

Zepbound, the  obesity -specific form of the diabetes drug Mounjaro, received FDA approval after the poll was taken and was not included in survey questions.

Among respondents who had heard of at least one prescription medication used for weight management, 58% had heard about them through the news (eg, TV, magazines, newspapers) and 53% had heard about them from an advertisement on TV, the Internet, or radio. Only 11% heard about them from their healthcare providers.

Respondents more likely to be interested in taking a prescription medication for weight management included women, those aged 50-64 years, Black persons, Hispanic persons, those with household incomes of less than $60,000 annually, those with lower levels of education, those in fair or poor physical or mental health, and those with a health problem or disability limiting their daily activities.

Spotty Coverage

The GLP-1 RAs can cost more than $12,000 a year for people who pay out of pocket, the university noted. 

A  Medicare Part D law  passed in 2003 prohibits Medicare from covering medications for weight loss, although currently it can cover such drugs to help people with type 2 diabetes manage their weight. 

Medicaid covers the cost of antiobesity drugs in some states. 

Most private plans and the  Veterans Health Administration  cover them, but with restrictions due to high monthly costs for the newer medications.

The American Medical Association recently  called on insurers  to cover evidence-based weight-loss medications.

The strong demand for these medications, including for off-label purposes by people willing to pay full price, has created major shortages, the university noted. 

“As these medications grow in awareness and use, and insurers make decisions about coverage, it’s crucial for patients who have obesity or diabetes, or who are overweight with other health problems, to talk with their healthcare providers about their options,” said poll director Jeffrey Kullgren, MD, MPH, MS, a primary care physician at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and associate professor of internal medicine at U-M.

Other weight-management strategies that respondents think should be covered by health insurance include sessions with a registered dietitian or nutritionist (85%);  weight-loss surgery  (73%); gym or fitness facility memberships (65%); apps or online programs to track diet, exercise, and/or behavior change (58%); and sessions with a personal trainer (53%).

The randomly selected nationally representative household survey of 2657 adults was conducted from July 17 to August 7, 2023, by NORC at the University of Chicago for the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. The sample was subsequently weighted to reflect population figures from the US Census Bureau. The completion rate was 50% among those contacted to participate. The margin of error is ±1 to 5 percentage points for questions asked of the full sample and higher among subgroups.

The poll is based at the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation and supported by AARP and Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan’s academic medical center.
 

A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.

Weight-loss drugs should be covered by Medicare and by other health insurance, according to a poll of US adults aged 50-80 years.

Among more than 2600 polled, 83% say that health insurance should cover prescription weight-loss drugs that have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and 76% say Medicare should cover such drugs. However, only 30% would be willing to pay higher Medicare premiums to have these medications covered.

Among the 27% of respondents who say they are overweight, 63% are interested in taking such medications, as are 45% of those with diabetes, regardless of weight.

The University of Michigan (U-M) National Poll on Healthy Aging was  published online  on December 13, 2023.

High Awareness

The findings come at a time when injectable glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, and Mounjaro, are receiving a lot of public attention, the university noted.

Overall, 64% of survey respondents had heard of at least one prescription medication used for weight management. 

By brand name, 61% had heard of Ozempic, approved for the treatment of  type 2 diabetes  but prescribed off label for weight loss; 18% had heard of Wegovy; and 13% had heard of the anorexiant drug  phentermine .

Very few respondents (3% for each) had heard of the GLP-1 RA Saxenda, Qsymia (phentermine plus the anticonvulsant  topiramate ), and the opiate antagonist Contrave. 

Zepbound, the  obesity -specific form of the diabetes drug Mounjaro, received FDA approval after the poll was taken and was not included in survey questions.

Among respondents who had heard of at least one prescription medication used for weight management, 58% had heard about them through the news (eg, TV, magazines, newspapers) and 53% had heard about them from an advertisement on TV, the Internet, or radio. Only 11% heard about them from their healthcare providers.

Respondents more likely to be interested in taking a prescription medication for weight management included women, those aged 50-64 years, Black persons, Hispanic persons, those with household incomes of less than $60,000 annually, those with lower levels of education, those in fair or poor physical or mental health, and those with a health problem or disability limiting their daily activities.

Spotty Coverage

The GLP-1 RAs can cost more than $12,000 a year for people who pay out of pocket, the university noted. 

A  Medicare Part D law  passed in 2003 prohibits Medicare from covering medications for weight loss, although currently it can cover such drugs to help people with type 2 diabetes manage their weight. 

Medicaid covers the cost of antiobesity drugs in some states. 

Most private plans and the  Veterans Health Administration  cover them, but with restrictions due to high monthly costs for the newer medications.

The American Medical Association recently  called on insurers  to cover evidence-based weight-loss medications.

The strong demand for these medications, including for off-label purposes by people willing to pay full price, has created major shortages, the university noted. 

“As these medications grow in awareness and use, and insurers make decisions about coverage, it’s crucial for patients who have obesity or diabetes, or who are overweight with other health problems, to talk with their healthcare providers about their options,” said poll director Jeffrey Kullgren, MD, MPH, MS, a primary care physician at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and associate professor of internal medicine at U-M.

Other weight-management strategies that respondents think should be covered by health insurance include sessions with a registered dietitian or nutritionist (85%);  weight-loss surgery  (73%); gym or fitness facility memberships (65%); apps or online programs to track diet, exercise, and/or behavior change (58%); and sessions with a personal trainer (53%).

The randomly selected nationally representative household survey of 2657 adults was conducted from July 17 to August 7, 2023, by NORC at the University of Chicago for the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. The sample was subsequently weighted to reflect population figures from the US Census Bureau. The completion rate was 50% among those contacted to participate. The margin of error is ±1 to 5 percentage points for questions asked of the full sample and higher among subgroups.

The poll is based at the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation and supported by AARP and Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan’s academic medical center.
 

A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.

Weight-loss drugs should be covered by Medicare and by other health insurance, according to a poll of US adults aged 50-80 years.

Among more than 2600 polled, 83% say that health insurance should cover prescription weight-loss drugs that have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and 76% say Medicare should cover such drugs. However, only 30% would be willing to pay higher Medicare premiums to have these medications covered.

Among the 27% of respondents who say they are overweight, 63% are interested in taking such medications, as are 45% of those with diabetes, regardless of weight.

The University of Michigan (U-M) National Poll on Healthy Aging was  published online  on December 13, 2023.

High Awareness

The findings come at a time when injectable glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, and Mounjaro, are receiving a lot of public attention, the university noted.

Overall, 64% of survey respondents had heard of at least one prescription medication used for weight management. 

By brand name, 61% had heard of Ozempic, approved for the treatment of  type 2 diabetes  but prescribed off label for weight loss; 18% had heard of Wegovy; and 13% had heard of the anorexiant drug  phentermine .

Very few respondents (3% for each) had heard of the GLP-1 RA Saxenda, Qsymia (phentermine plus the anticonvulsant  topiramate ), and the opiate antagonist Contrave. 

Zepbound, the  obesity -specific form of the diabetes drug Mounjaro, received FDA approval after the poll was taken and was not included in survey questions.

Among respondents who had heard of at least one prescription medication used for weight management, 58% had heard about them through the news (eg, TV, magazines, newspapers) and 53% had heard about them from an advertisement on TV, the Internet, or radio. Only 11% heard about them from their healthcare providers.

Respondents more likely to be interested in taking a prescription medication for weight management included women, those aged 50-64 years, Black persons, Hispanic persons, those with household incomes of less than $60,000 annually, those with lower levels of education, those in fair or poor physical or mental health, and those with a health problem or disability limiting their daily activities.

Spotty Coverage

The GLP-1 RAs can cost more than $12,000 a year for people who pay out of pocket, the university noted. 

A  Medicare Part D law  passed in 2003 prohibits Medicare from covering medications for weight loss, although currently it can cover such drugs to help people with type 2 diabetes manage their weight. 

Medicaid covers the cost of antiobesity drugs in some states. 

Most private plans and the  Veterans Health Administration  cover them, but with restrictions due to high monthly costs for the newer medications.

The American Medical Association recently  called on insurers  to cover evidence-based weight-loss medications.

The strong demand for these medications, including for off-label purposes by people willing to pay full price, has created major shortages, the university noted. 

“As these medications grow in awareness and use, and insurers make decisions about coverage, it’s crucial for patients who have obesity or diabetes, or who are overweight with other health problems, to talk with their healthcare providers about their options,” said poll director Jeffrey Kullgren, MD, MPH, MS, a primary care physician at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and associate professor of internal medicine at U-M.

Other weight-management strategies that respondents think should be covered by health insurance include sessions with a registered dietitian or nutritionist (85%);  weight-loss surgery  (73%); gym or fitness facility memberships (65%); apps or online programs to track diet, exercise, and/or behavior change (58%); and sessions with a personal trainer (53%).

The randomly selected nationally representative household survey of 2657 adults was conducted from July 17 to August 7, 2023, by NORC at the University of Chicago for the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. The sample was subsequently weighted to reflect population figures from the US Census Bureau. The completion rate was 50% among those contacted to participate. The margin of error is ±1 to 5 percentage points for questions asked of the full sample and higher among subgroups.

The poll is based at the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation and supported by AARP and Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan’s academic medical center.
 

A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.

TOPLINE:

Older adults (aged ≥ 65 years) with diabetes who received insulin may have an increased risk for serious hypoglycemic events in extreme heat.

METHODOLOGY:

• Thermoregulatory response is often compromised in older adults with diabetes, making them vulnerable to extreme heat.
• Researchers evaluated the association between ambient heat and risk for hypoglycemia in about 2 million and about 283,000 patients aged 65-100 years with diabetes from the United States and Taiwan, respectively, who received insulin.
• A serious hypoglycemic event was defined as a primary emergency department (ED) visit or an unplanned inpatient admission for hypoglycemia from June 1 to September 30.
• Medication use was determined by at least one prescription dispensing insulin within 90 days of the index event.
• The average heat index (HI), a combination of ambient temperature and humidity exposure, was calculated by ZIP code and grouped into percentiles: ≥ 99th, 95-98th, 85-94th, 76-84th, 25-74th, and < 25th.

TAKEAWAY:

• Among insulin users overall, 32,461 and 10,162 older adults from the United States and Taiwan, respectively, experienced a hypoglycemic event.
• The risk for a serious hypoglycemic event was about 40% higher among insulin users on days with a HI of ≥ 99th percentile than 25-74th percentile (unadjusted odds ratio, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.28-1.48).
• Conversely, on days with a low HI (< 25th percentile), the risk for hypoglycemia among insulin users decreased.
• No substantial differences were observed in the risk for hypoglycemic events and HI by climate region in either country, such as between the US Northeast and Southwest.

IN PRACTICE:

“Our finding of elevated risk of hypoglycemia-related ED visits in older adults using insulin and exposed to extreme heat underscores the need for patients and providers to be aware and cautious that extreme heat may increase the risk of hypoglycemia,” the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

The study was conducted by first author Aayush Visaria, Department of Medicine, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey, and coauthors. The study was published online on December 7, 2023, in Diabetes Care.

LIMITATIONS:

• The individuals with hypoglycemia were older, were more frequently non-Hispanic Black in the United States, and had more comorbidities, so caution should be used before the results can be generalized to broader populations.
• The authors were unable to capture variables that can alter the risk for serious hypoglycemia, such as outdoor activity, exercise, and diet.
• Prescriptions may not reflect actual insulin use and adherence.

DISCLOSURES:

This study was funded by the US National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.

A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.

TOPLINE:

Older adults (aged ≥ 65 years) with diabetes who received insulin may have an increased risk for serious hypoglycemic events in extreme heat.

METHODOLOGY:

• Thermoregulatory response is often compromised in older adults with diabetes, making them vulnerable to extreme heat.
• Researchers evaluated the association between ambient heat and risk for hypoglycemia in about 2 million and about 283,000 patients aged 65-100 years with diabetes from the United States and Taiwan, respectively, who received insulin.
• A serious hypoglycemic event was defined as a primary emergency department (ED) visit or an unplanned inpatient admission for hypoglycemia from June 1 to September 30.
• Medication use was determined by at least one prescription dispensing insulin within 90 days of the index event.
• The average heat index (HI), a combination of ambient temperature and humidity exposure, was calculated by ZIP code and grouped into percentiles: ≥ 99th, 95-98th, 85-94th, 76-84th, 25-74th, and < 25th.

TAKEAWAY:

• Among insulin users overall, 32,461 and 10,162 older adults from the United States and Taiwan, respectively, experienced a hypoglycemic event.
• The risk for a serious hypoglycemic event was about 40% higher among insulin users on days with a HI of ≥ 99th percentile than 25-74th percentile (unadjusted odds ratio, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.28-1.48).
• Conversely, on days with a low HI (< 25th percentile), the risk for hypoglycemia among insulin users decreased.
• No substantial differences were observed in the risk for hypoglycemic events and HI by climate region in either country, such as between the US Northeast and Southwest.

IN PRACTICE:

“Our finding of elevated risk of hypoglycemia-related ED visits in older adults using insulin and exposed to extreme heat underscores the need for patients and providers to be aware and cautious that extreme heat may increase the risk of hypoglycemia,” the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

The study was conducted by first author Aayush Visaria, Department of Medicine, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey, and coauthors. The study was published online on December 7, 2023, in Diabetes Care.

LIMITATIONS:

• The individuals with hypoglycemia were older, were more frequently non-Hispanic Black in the United States, and had more comorbidities, so caution should be used before the results can be generalized to broader populations.
• The authors were unable to capture variables that can alter the risk for serious hypoglycemia, such as outdoor activity, exercise, and diet.
• Prescriptions may not reflect actual insulin use and adherence.

DISCLOSURES:

This study was funded by the US National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.

A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.

TOPLINE:

Older adults (aged ≥ 65 years) with diabetes who received insulin may have an increased risk for serious hypoglycemic events in extreme heat.

METHODOLOGY:

• Thermoregulatory response is often compromised in older adults with diabetes, making them vulnerable to extreme heat.
• Researchers evaluated the association between ambient heat and risk for hypoglycemia in about 2 million and about 283,000 patients aged 65-100 years with diabetes from the United States and Taiwan, respectively, who received insulin.
• A serious hypoglycemic event was defined as a primary emergency department (ED) visit or an unplanned inpatient admission for hypoglycemia from June 1 to September 30.
• Medication use was determined by at least one prescription dispensing insulin within 90 days of the index event.
• The average heat index (HI), a combination of ambient temperature and humidity exposure, was calculated by ZIP code and grouped into percentiles: ≥ 99th, 95-98th, 85-94th, 76-84th, 25-74th, and < 25th.

TAKEAWAY:

• Among insulin users overall, 32,461 and 10,162 older adults from the United States and Taiwan, respectively, experienced a hypoglycemic event.
• The risk for a serious hypoglycemic event was about 40% higher among insulin users on days with a HI of ≥ 99th percentile than 25-74th percentile (unadjusted odds ratio, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.28-1.48).
• Conversely, on days with a low HI (< 25th percentile), the risk for hypoglycemia among insulin users decreased.
• No substantial differences were observed in the risk for hypoglycemic events and HI by climate region in either country, such as between the US Northeast and Southwest.

IN PRACTICE:

“Our finding of elevated risk of hypoglycemia-related ED visits in older adults using insulin and exposed to extreme heat underscores the need for patients and providers to be aware and cautious that extreme heat may increase the risk of hypoglycemia,” the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

The study was conducted by first author Aayush Visaria, Department of Medicine, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey, and coauthors. The study was published online on December 7, 2023, in Diabetes Care.

LIMITATIONS:

• The individuals with hypoglycemia were older, were more frequently non-Hispanic Black in the United States, and had more comorbidities, so caution should be used before the results can be generalized to broader populations.
• The authors were unable to capture variables that can alter the risk for serious hypoglycemia, such as outdoor activity, exercise, and diet.
• Prescriptions may not reflect actual insulin use and adherence.

DISCLOSURES:

This study was funded by the US National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.

A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.

TOPLINE:

Daily consumption of up to half of a standard US drink (7.4 gram/day) does not appear to increase mortality risk in adults with steatotic liver disease (SLD) who have low risk for advanced fibrosis.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (1988-1994) to elucidate the dose-dependent association of alcohol use with SLD progression.
• They identified 2834 adults with confirmed SLD (51.8% male, 34.2% non-Hispanic White), including 591 (20.8%) with intermediate or high risk for advanced fibrosis, defined as a Fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4) score of 1.3 or higher.
• Multivariable Cox regression with restricted cubic spines was used to investigate nonlinear associations between alcohol use and mortality.

TAKEAWAY:

• During median follow-up of 26 years, the mortality rate per 100,000 persons was 4342 in the group with intermediate and high risk for advanced fibrosis versus 1099 in the low-risk group.
• After adjustment for demographics and metabolic variables, there was a nonlinear association between alcohol intake and mortality in the low-risk group (P = .001 for nonlinearity).
• In the low-risk group, the mortality risk threshold was < 7.4 gram/day, which equals half a 12-ounce beer or half a glass of wine. Each additional gram above this level led to a higher death rate.
• No safe alcohol limit was evident in the intermediate- and high-risk group; their mortality risk rose with any alcohol intake.

IN PRACTICE:

“Individuals with SLD should be advised to maintain regular health monitoring and lifestyle management. Recent guidelines have recommended the FIB-4 score as a first-line assessment tool given its low cost, high accuracy, and noninvasiveness,” the authors write. “In this cohort study, we proposed using the FIB-4 score to guide clinicians in advising patients with SLD who choose not to abstain completely from alcohol.”

SOURCE:

The study, with the first author Yee Hui Yeo, MD, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, was published online on December 14, 2023, in JAMA Network Open.

LIMITATIONS:

The study relied on self-reported alcohol intake and lacked data on drinking patterns. All variables were only available at baseline, with no tracking of alcohol intake changes during follow-up. Individual risks may vary and require case-by-case discussion as the data are population based.

DISCLOSURES:

The study did not list funding. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.

TOPLINE:

Daily consumption of up to half of a standard US drink (7.4 gram/day) does not appear to increase mortality risk in adults with steatotic liver disease (SLD) who have low risk for advanced fibrosis.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (1988-1994) to elucidate the dose-dependent association of alcohol use with SLD progression.
• They identified 2834 adults with confirmed SLD (51.8% male, 34.2% non-Hispanic White), including 591 (20.8%) with intermediate or high risk for advanced fibrosis, defined as a Fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4) score of 1.3 or higher.
• Multivariable Cox regression with restricted cubic spines was used to investigate nonlinear associations between alcohol use and mortality.

TAKEAWAY:

• During median follow-up of 26 years, the mortality rate per 100,000 persons was 4342 in the group with intermediate and high risk for advanced fibrosis versus 1099 in the low-risk group.
• After adjustment for demographics and metabolic variables, there was a nonlinear association between alcohol intake and mortality in the low-risk group (P = .001 for nonlinearity).
• In the low-risk group, the mortality risk threshold was < 7.4 gram/day, which equals half a 12-ounce beer or half a glass of wine. Each additional gram above this level led to a higher death rate.
• No safe alcohol limit was evident in the intermediate- and high-risk group; their mortality risk rose with any alcohol intake.

IN PRACTICE:

“Individuals with SLD should be advised to maintain regular health monitoring and lifestyle management. Recent guidelines have recommended the FIB-4 score as a first-line assessment tool given its low cost, high accuracy, and noninvasiveness,” the authors write. “In this cohort study, we proposed using the FIB-4 score to guide clinicians in advising patients with SLD who choose not to abstain completely from alcohol.”

SOURCE:

The study, with the first author Yee Hui Yeo, MD, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, was published online on December 14, 2023, in JAMA Network Open.

LIMITATIONS:

The study relied on self-reported alcohol intake and lacked data on drinking patterns. All variables were only available at baseline, with no tracking of alcohol intake changes during follow-up. Individual risks may vary and require case-by-case discussion as the data are population based.

DISCLOSURES:

The study did not list funding. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.

TOPLINE:

Daily consumption of up to half of a standard US drink (7.4 gram/day) does not appear to increase mortality risk in adults with steatotic liver disease (SLD) who have low risk for advanced fibrosis.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (1988-1994) to elucidate the dose-dependent association of alcohol use with SLD progression.
• They identified 2834 adults with confirmed SLD (51.8% male, 34.2% non-Hispanic White), including 591 (20.8%) with intermediate or high risk for advanced fibrosis, defined as a Fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4) score of 1.3 or higher.
• Multivariable Cox regression with restricted cubic spines was used to investigate nonlinear associations between alcohol use and mortality.

TAKEAWAY:

• During median follow-up of 26 years, the mortality rate per 100,000 persons was 4342 in the group with intermediate and high risk for advanced fibrosis versus 1099 in the low-risk group.
• After adjustment for demographics and metabolic variables, there was a nonlinear association between alcohol intake and mortality in the low-risk group (P = .001 for nonlinearity).
• In the low-risk group, the mortality risk threshold was < 7.4 gram/day, which equals half a 12-ounce beer or half a glass of wine. Each additional gram above this level led to a higher death rate.
• No safe alcohol limit was evident in the intermediate- and high-risk group; their mortality risk rose with any alcohol intake.

IN PRACTICE:

“Individuals with SLD should be advised to maintain regular health monitoring and lifestyle management. Recent guidelines have recommended the FIB-4 score as a first-line assessment tool given its low cost, high accuracy, and noninvasiveness,” the authors write. “In this cohort study, we proposed using the FIB-4 score to guide clinicians in advising patients with SLD who choose not to abstain completely from alcohol.”

SOURCE:

The study, with the first author Yee Hui Yeo, MD, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, was published online on December 14, 2023, in JAMA Network Open.

LIMITATIONS:

The study relied on self-reported alcohol intake and lacked data on drinking patterns. All variables were only available at baseline, with no tracking of alcohol intake changes during follow-up. Individual risks may vary and require case-by-case discussion as the data are population based.

DISCLOSURES:

The study did not list funding. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.

A new study that incorporated optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) has identified significant differences in retinal perfusion and macular anatomy during migraine attacks. Together, these changes could one day represent migraine biomarkers, authors say. The study was published online in Headache.

“We’re always looking for a biological marker for migraine,” said Alan M. Rapoport, MD, a clinical professor of neurology in the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles and past president of the International Headache Society. Researchers have identified many parameters that make people more likely to experience migraine, he said, but there remains no smoking gun. “We do not yet have a diagnostic test.”

Investigators have long been examining ocular vascular supply, added Dr. Rapoport, who was not involved with the study, because the eyes, visual system of the brain, and migraine are closely related. “But no one has ever figured out that one could use anything related to the eye as a definitive diagnostic test. This study was interesting because researchers used a very advanced technique to see if there are changes in the vascular supply to the eyeball during migraine.”
 

During Attacks

Study investigators prospectively enrolled 37 patients diagnosed with migraine with aura (MA), 30 with migraine without aura (MO), and 20 healthy controls. All subjects underwent macular OCTA for interictal analysis. A total of 20 patients with migraine (12 with MA and 8 with MO) underwent repeat scans during migraine attacks, and 5 control patients had repeat scans.

Compared with interictal measurements, significant parafoveal reductions in vessel flux index, an indicator of retinal perfusion, occurred in both the MA and MO groups during migraine attacks: –7% (95% CI, –10% to –4%; P = .006) and –7% (95% CI, –10% to –3%; P = .016), respectively, versus controls (2%, 95% CI, –3% to 7%).

The fact that migraine attacks resulted in reduced blood supply to the retinal region responsible for central vision is intriguing, said Dr. Rapoport, because sufficient reductions in blood supply there could result in blurred vision or other visual difficulties that might be mistaken for a true aura. “Many patients describe blurred vision related to their migraine headaches which do not usually qualify for an aura diagnosis,” he said.

Diagnostic criteria for MA, which afflicts around one third of people with migraine, include visual aberrations lasting at least 5 minutes and no more than 60 minutes. Visual aberrations average about 20-25 minutes, said Dr. Rapoport. “And we don’t usually accept blurred vision.” For most people who experience ictal blurred vision, he added, the phenomenon only lasts a short time and is not considered an aura.

More typical visual manifestations of MA include zigzag lines in an overall crescent shape that may blink, have bright edges, grow and shrink in size, and/or move across the visual field; patients also may have blind spots or distortions (e.g. far away vision, smaller or larger vision, or kaleidoscopic fractured vision). Nevertheless, said Dr. Rapoport, the study may shed light on why some people experiencing a migraine attack may suffer a brief bout of blurred vision and mistakenly report experiencing an aura.
 

Between Attacks

Comparing the two migraine groups interictally showed statistically significant differences in macular structure and function. Compared with the MO cohort, the MA cohort had higher circularity (mean [SD] 0.686 [0.088] vs. 0.629 [0.120] MO, P = .004), as well as a 13% (SD ± 10%, P = .003) lower foveal vessel flux index. “Not only is perfusion lower in both types of migraine during the attack,” said Dr. Rapoport, “but between attacks, people with MA had a lower blood supply to the retina than those who had MO.”

Unilateral Migraine

In a subset of patients (14 with MA and 12 with MO) whose headaches occurred unilaterally, investigators found retinal vascular parameters consistent with greater perfusion in the ipsilateral eye versus the contralateral eye. The significance of these findings remains unclear, Dr. Rapoport said, because circulatory findings revealed by CAT or MRI scans of patients with unilateral headaches are often normal or involve complex changes or mild edema on the side of the headache. The visual cortex on either side receives input from both eyes, he added.

Study Limitations

Authors acknowledged several study shortcomings. Most notably, COVID-19 restrictions resulted in a small sample size, and several patients (excluded from analysis) failed to return for repeat scans during migraine attacks. The study included patients with migraine attacks of varying frequency, and a handful of patients used acute rescue medications before undergoing ictal scans.

“If a future study corrected all these shortcomings,” Dr. Rapoport said, “the results might be more impressive and even more significant.” Based on these results alone, he said, it would be premature to pronounce OCTA-derived measurements of retinal perfusion and related parameters as future migraine biomarkers.

“But it’s a good start. If this hasn’t been done before, in quite this way, this is a very interesting study which, when repeated, should lead to even more significant findings.”

For now, the paper should remind practicing neurologists to dig deeper when patients complain of visual problems during migraine attacks. “It might be blurred vision for just 3 minutes,” he said. “Some patients may be calling it an aura, or the doctor may be thinking it is an aura because they’re not digging for further information in the history. We may now have a window into decreased retinal perfusion during a migraine attack and why some patients have blurred vision.”

The study was funded by the Amgen and the Baldwin Foundation. Dr. Rapoport is editor-in-chief of Neurology Reviews but reports no relevant relationships with the funders of this research.

A new study that incorporated optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) has identified significant differences in retinal perfusion and macular anatomy during migraine attacks. Together, these changes could one day represent migraine biomarkers, authors say. The study was published online in Headache.

“We’re always looking for a biological marker for migraine,” said Alan M. Rapoport, MD, a clinical professor of neurology in the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles and past president of the International Headache Society. Researchers have identified many parameters that make people more likely to experience migraine, he said, but there remains no smoking gun. “We do not yet have a diagnostic test.”

Investigators have long been examining ocular vascular supply, added Dr. Rapoport, who was not involved with the study, because the eyes, visual system of the brain, and migraine are closely related. “But no one has ever figured out that one could use anything related to the eye as a definitive diagnostic test. This study was interesting because researchers used a very advanced technique to see if there are changes in the vascular supply to the eyeball during migraine.”
 

During Attacks

Study investigators prospectively enrolled 37 patients diagnosed with migraine with aura (MA), 30 with migraine without aura (MO), and 20 healthy controls. All subjects underwent macular OCTA for interictal analysis. A total of 20 patients with migraine (12 with MA and 8 with MO) underwent repeat scans during migraine attacks, and 5 control patients had repeat scans.

Compared with interictal measurements, significant parafoveal reductions in vessel flux index, an indicator of retinal perfusion, occurred in both the MA and MO groups during migraine attacks: –7% (95% CI, –10% to –4%; P = .006) and –7% (95% CI, –10% to –3%; P = .016), respectively, versus controls (2%, 95% CI, –3% to 7%).

The fact that migraine attacks resulted in reduced blood supply to the retinal region responsible for central vision is intriguing, said Dr. Rapoport, because sufficient reductions in blood supply there could result in blurred vision or other visual difficulties that might be mistaken for a true aura. “Many patients describe blurred vision related to their migraine headaches which do not usually qualify for an aura diagnosis,” he said.

Diagnostic criteria for MA, which afflicts around one third of people with migraine, include visual aberrations lasting at least 5 minutes and no more than 60 minutes. Visual aberrations average about 20-25 minutes, said Dr. Rapoport. “And we don’t usually accept blurred vision.” For most people who experience ictal blurred vision, he added, the phenomenon only lasts a short time and is not considered an aura.

More typical visual manifestations of MA include zigzag lines in an overall crescent shape that may blink, have bright edges, grow and shrink in size, and/or move across the visual field; patients also may have blind spots or distortions (e.g. far away vision, smaller or larger vision, or kaleidoscopic fractured vision). Nevertheless, said Dr. Rapoport, the study may shed light on why some people experiencing a migraine attack may suffer a brief bout of blurred vision and mistakenly report experiencing an aura.
 

Between Attacks

Comparing the two migraine groups interictally showed statistically significant differences in macular structure and function. Compared with the MO cohort, the MA cohort had higher circularity (mean [SD] 0.686 [0.088] vs. 0.629 [0.120] MO, P = .004), as well as a 13% (SD ± 10%, P = .003) lower foveal vessel flux index. “Not only is perfusion lower in both types of migraine during the attack,” said Dr. Rapoport, “but between attacks, people with MA had a lower blood supply to the retina than those who had MO.”

Unilateral Migraine

In a subset of patients (14 with MA and 12 with MO) whose headaches occurred unilaterally, investigators found retinal vascular parameters consistent with greater perfusion in the ipsilateral eye versus the contralateral eye. The significance of these findings remains unclear, Dr. Rapoport said, because circulatory findings revealed by CAT or MRI scans of patients with unilateral headaches are often normal or involve complex changes or mild edema on the side of the headache. The visual cortex on either side receives input from both eyes, he added.

Study Limitations

Authors acknowledged several study shortcomings. Most notably, COVID-19 restrictions resulted in a small sample size, and several patients (excluded from analysis) failed to return for repeat scans during migraine attacks. The study included patients with migraine attacks of varying frequency, and a handful of patients used acute rescue medications before undergoing ictal scans.

“If a future study corrected all these shortcomings,” Dr. Rapoport said, “the results might be more impressive and even more significant.” Based on these results alone, he said, it would be premature to pronounce OCTA-derived measurements of retinal perfusion and related parameters as future migraine biomarkers.

“But it’s a good start. If this hasn’t been done before, in quite this way, this is a very interesting study which, when repeated, should lead to even more significant findings.”

For now, the paper should remind practicing neurologists to dig deeper when patients complain of visual problems during migraine attacks. “It might be blurred vision for just 3 minutes,” he said. “Some patients may be calling it an aura, or the doctor may be thinking it is an aura because they’re not digging for further information in the history. We may now have a window into decreased retinal perfusion during a migraine attack and why some patients have blurred vision.”

The study was funded by the Amgen and the Baldwin Foundation. Dr. Rapoport is editor-in-chief of Neurology Reviews but reports no relevant relationships with the funders of this research.

A new study that incorporated optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) has identified significant differences in retinal perfusion and macular anatomy during migraine attacks. Together, these changes could one day represent migraine biomarkers, authors say. The study was published online in Headache.

“We’re always looking for a biological marker for migraine,” said Alan M. Rapoport, MD, a clinical professor of neurology in the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles and past president of the International Headache Society. Researchers have identified many parameters that make people more likely to experience migraine, he said, but there remains no smoking gun. “We do not yet have a diagnostic test.”

Investigators have long been examining ocular vascular supply, added Dr. Rapoport, who was not involved with the study, because the eyes, visual system of the brain, and migraine are closely related. “But no one has ever figured out that one could use anything related to the eye as a definitive diagnostic test. This study was interesting because researchers used a very advanced technique to see if there are changes in the vascular supply to the eyeball during migraine.”
 

During Attacks

Study investigators prospectively enrolled 37 patients diagnosed with migraine with aura (MA), 30 with migraine without aura (MO), and 20 healthy controls. All subjects underwent macular OCTA for interictal analysis. A total of 20 patients with migraine (12 with MA and 8 with MO) underwent repeat scans during migraine attacks, and 5 control patients had repeat scans.

Compared with interictal measurements, significant parafoveal reductions in vessel flux index, an indicator of retinal perfusion, occurred in both the MA and MO groups during migraine attacks: –7% (95% CI, –10% to –4%; P = .006) and –7% (95% CI, –10% to –3%; P = .016), respectively, versus controls (2%, 95% CI, –3% to 7%).

The fact that migraine attacks resulted in reduced blood supply to the retinal region responsible for central vision is intriguing, said Dr. Rapoport, because sufficient reductions in blood supply there could result in blurred vision or other visual difficulties that might be mistaken for a true aura. “Many patients describe blurred vision related to their migraine headaches which do not usually qualify for an aura diagnosis,” he said.

Diagnostic criteria for MA, which afflicts around one third of people with migraine, include visual aberrations lasting at least 5 minutes and no more than 60 minutes. Visual aberrations average about 20-25 minutes, said Dr. Rapoport. “And we don’t usually accept blurred vision.” For most people who experience ictal blurred vision, he added, the phenomenon only lasts a short time and is not considered an aura.

More typical visual manifestations of MA include zigzag lines in an overall crescent shape that may blink, have bright edges, grow and shrink in size, and/or move across the visual field; patients also may have blind spots or distortions (e.g. far away vision, smaller or larger vision, or kaleidoscopic fractured vision). Nevertheless, said Dr. Rapoport, the study may shed light on why some people experiencing a migraine attack may suffer a brief bout of blurred vision and mistakenly report experiencing an aura.
 

Between Attacks

Comparing the two migraine groups interictally showed statistically significant differences in macular structure and function. Compared with the MO cohort, the MA cohort had higher circularity (mean [SD] 0.686 [0.088] vs. 0.629 [0.120] MO, P = .004), as well as a 13% (SD ± 10%, P = .003) lower foveal vessel flux index. “Not only is perfusion lower in both types of migraine during the attack,” said Dr. Rapoport, “but between attacks, people with MA had a lower blood supply to the retina than those who had MO.”

Unilateral Migraine

In a subset of patients (14 with MA and 12 with MO) whose headaches occurred unilaterally, investigators found retinal vascular parameters consistent with greater perfusion in the ipsilateral eye versus the contralateral eye. The significance of these findings remains unclear, Dr. Rapoport said, because circulatory findings revealed by CAT or MRI scans of patients with unilateral headaches are often normal or involve complex changes or mild edema on the side of the headache. The visual cortex on either side receives input from both eyes, he added.

Study Limitations

Authors acknowledged several study shortcomings. Most notably, COVID-19 restrictions resulted in a small sample size, and several patients (excluded from analysis) failed to return for repeat scans during migraine attacks. The study included patients with migraine attacks of varying frequency, and a handful of patients used acute rescue medications before undergoing ictal scans.

“If a future study corrected all these shortcomings,” Dr. Rapoport said, “the results might be more impressive and even more significant.” Based on these results alone, he said, it would be premature to pronounce OCTA-derived measurements of retinal perfusion and related parameters as future migraine biomarkers.

“But it’s a good start. If this hasn’t been done before, in quite this way, this is a very interesting study which, when repeated, should lead to even more significant findings.”

For now, the paper should remind practicing neurologists to dig deeper when patients complain of visual problems during migraine attacks. “It might be blurred vision for just 3 minutes,” he said. “Some patients may be calling it an aura, or the doctor may be thinking it is an aura because they’re not digging for further information in the history. We may now have a window into decreased retinal perfusion during a migraine attack and why some patients have blurred vision.”

The study was funded by the Amgen and the Baldwin Foundation. Dr. Rapoport is editor-in-chief of Neurology Reviews but reports no relevant relationships with the funders of this research.

Christmas, like New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving, birthdays, and anniversaries, is one of those times that we use to mark where we were and how far we’ve come.

I’m in a mixed marriage, so we celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas. Twenty-five years ago I was a newly minted attending neurologist, not even 6 months out of fellowship.

My wife was pregnant with our first child and had invited my Jewish family over for Christmas dinner. This was our first December in our first house and she wanted to do something special for them.

Being the low person on the totem pole, it was my first Christmas on call, covering for myself and two other neurologists.

So I was driving. A lot. My wife was on her own to get things ready, and I was hoping to be home for dinner.

It was, as always seems to be the case with holidays, quite busy. I was up long before dawn to start, driving a circular route to cover four hospitals scattered around Phoenix. At least the roads were empty.

At some point the planned pattern breaks down as new consults and urgent patient status changes happen. You try to start by going from A to B to C to D for rounds, but within a few hours I was going from A to B to C, then back to A, then D, then B, then A again, and so on. All the while I was returning patient calls. Wash, rinse, repeat.

At some point I dialed my wife to see how she was doing and she gave me a list of last-minute things she needed picked up (which included some dairy products and more Christmas lights for her tree). I found a small store that was still open. For the rest of my day on call a grocery bag full of dairy products was carried from hospital to hospital with me, being put in the doctor’s lounge refrigerator with my name on it (this is Phoenix, even in winter you can’t leave it in the car). This added another trip from C back to A when I realized I’d left the groceries there.

I got home a few minutes before my family came over, after 14-15 hours of driving between hospitals. I was putting up the new lights when they came in. Fortunately I wasn’t called back in that night, and turned things over to my call partners in the morning.

Now? Since early 2020 my hospital days are behind me. My kids have their own lives, jobs, and school, but still all came over to see us.

I didn’t have to leave the house. I spent most of the day in a robe and pajamas, working at my desk on this and that, sometimes wandering to another table to futz with my current jigsaw puzzle or chat with my kids or go soak in my hot tub.

In 1998 I weighed 50 pounds less (still working on losing it), had no kids, or dogs. Now I’m in another house, have three grown kids, and in the interim have enjoyed seven awesome dogs (currently only one). My wife still invited my family over for Christmas dinner, but now it’s my mom and uncle. My dad and aunt are gone.

The changes are mostly good, though, as with all passages of time there is sadness and loss. When all is said and done I wouldn’t have done much differently even if I could.

I’m lucky, and I know it. Regardless of what you celebrate, it’s a good time to take stock of your blessings. To quote Sheryl Crow, “It’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got.”

Happy New Year to all.
 

Dr. Block has a solo neurology practice in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Christmas, like New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving, birthdays, and anniversaries, is one of those times that we use to mark where we were and how far we’ve come.

I’m in a mixed marriage, so we celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas. Twenty-five years ago I was a newly minted attending neurologist, not even 6 months out of fellowship.

My wife was pregnant with our first child and had invited my Jewish family over for Christmas dinner. This was our first December in our first house and she wanted to do something special for them.

Being the low person on the totem pole, it was my first Christmas on call, covering for myself and two other neurologists.

So I was driving. A lot. My wife was on her own to get things ready, and I was hoping to be home for dinner.

It was, as always seems to be the case with holidays, quite busy. I was up long before dawn to start, driving a circular route to cover four hospitals scattered around Phoenix. At least the roads were empty.

At some point the planned pattern breaks down as new consults and urgent patient status changes happen. You try to start by going from A to B to C to D for rounds, but within a few hours I was going from A to B to C, then back to A, then D, then B, then A again, and so on. All the while I was returning patient calls. Wash, rinse, repeat.

At some point I dialed my wife to see how she was doing and she gave me a list of last-minute things she needed picked up (which included some dairy products and more Christmas lights for her tree). I found a small store that was still open. For the rest of my day on call a grocery bag full of dairy products was carried from hospital to hospital with me, being put in the doctor’s lounge refrigerator with my name on it (this is Phoenix, even in winter you can’t leave it in the car). This added another trip from C back to A when I realized I’d left the groceries there.

I got home a few minutes before my family came over, after 14-15 hours of driving between hospitals. I was putting up the new lights when they came in. Fortunately I wasn’t called back in that night, and turned things over to my call partners in the morning.

Now? Since early 2020 my hospital days are behind me. My kids have their own lives, jobs, and school, but still all came over to see us.

I didn’t have to leave the house. I spent most of the day in a robe and pajamas, working at my desk on this and that, sometimes wandering to another table to futz with my current jigsaw puzzle or chat with my kids or go soak in my hot tub.

In 1998 I weighed 50 pounds less (still working on losing it), had no kids, or dogs. Now I’m in another house, have three grown kids, and in the interim have enjoyed seven awesome dogs (currently only one). My wife still invited my family over for Christmas dinner, but now it’s my mom and uncle. My dad and aunt are gone.

The changes are mostly good, though, as with all passages of time there is sadness and loss. When all is said and done I wouldn’t have done much differently even if I could.

I’m lucky, and I know it. Regardless of what you celebrate, it’s a good time to take stock of your blessings. To quote Sheryl Crow, “It’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got.”

Happy New Year to all.
 

Dr. Block has a solo neurology practice in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Christmas, like New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving, birthdays, and anniversaries, is one of those times that we use to mark where we were and how far we’ve come.

I’m in a mixed marriage, so we celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas. Twenty-five years ago I was a newly minted attending neurologist, not even 6 months out of fellowship.

My wife was pregnant with our first child and had invited my Jewish family over for Christmas dinner. This was our first December in our first house and she wanted to do something special for them.

Being the low person on the totem pole, it was my first Christmas on call, covering for myself and two other neurologists.

So I was driving. A lot. My wife was on her own to get things ready, and I was hoping to be home for dinner.

It was, as always seems to be the case with holidays, quite busy. I was up long before dawn to start, driving a circular route to cover four hospitals scattered around Phoenix. At least the roads were empty.

At some point the planned pattern breaks down as new consults and urgent patient status changes happen. You try to start by going from A to B to C to D for rounds, but within a few hours I was going from A to B to C, then back to A, then D, then B, then A again, and so on. All the while I was returning patient calls. Wash, rinse, repeat.

At some point I dialed my wife to see how she was doing and she gave me a list of last-minute things she needed picked up (which included some dairy products and more Christmas lights for her tree). I found a small store that was still open. For the rest of my day on call a grocery bag full of dairy products was carried from hospital to hospital with me, being put in the doctor’s lounge refrigerator with my name on it (this is Phoenix, even in winter you can’t leave it in the car). This added another trip from C back to A when I realized I’d left the groceries there.

I got home a few minutes before my family came over, after 14-15 hours of driving between hospitals. I was putting up the new lights when they came in. Fortunately I wasn’t called back in that night, and turned things over to my call partners in the morning.

Now? Since early 2020 my hospital days are behind me. My kids have their own lives, jobs, and school, but still all came over to see us.

I didn’t have to leave the house. I spent most of the day in a robe and pajamas, working at my desk on this and that, sometimes wandering to another table to futz with my current jigsaw puzzle or chat with my kids or go soak in my hot tub.

In 1998 I weighed 50 pounds less (still working on losing it), had no kids, or dogs. Now I’m in another house, have three grown kids, and in the interim have enjoyed seven awesome dogs (currently only one). My wife still invited my family over for Christmas dinner, but now it’s my mom and uncle. My dad and aunt are gone.

The changes are mostly good, though, as with all passages of time there is sadness and loss. When all is said and done I wouldn’t have done much differently even if I could.

I’m lucky, and I know it. Regardless of what you celebrate, it’s a good time to take stock of your blessings. To quote Sheryl Crow, “It’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got.”

Happy New Year to all.
 

Dr. Block has a solo neurology practice in Scottsdale, Ariz.

People are surprised when they learn I was an art history major in college. Most folks assume I had majored in biology or chemistry. Their assumption was based on strong odds. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that nearly half of all physicians practicing in this country were biology majors.

I headed off to college clueless about my future. I was hoping to succeed as a walk-on to the football team and beyond that I figured someone or something would guide me toward a career. Had you asked me, “physician” it would have been a definite “Never.”

I flirted with a psychology major, but after a semester I realized that the department was more interested in the behavior of rats rather than humans. I got an “easy A” in the intro to art history and that was the open door I was looking for.

By my senior year I was applying for fellowships to study in faraway places. However, the world situation in 1965 was unsettling for a young man in this country. I had had a strong high school science education and had continued to take a some science courses. Fortunately, I had banked just enough credits so that I could apply to medical school, again without really planning to become a physician.

Even during the sharpest turns in my circuitous path to becoming a small town pediatrician, including a year doing research in exercise physiology in Denmark, I never once regretted my years spent studying art history. I credit them with making me a more sensitive observer.

You can probably understand why I was intrigued by an article I recently read that described a program in which the radiology residents that the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston take a year-long course in art history using the Art Museum at Harvard University as a resource. Titled “Seeing in Art and Medical Imaging,” the program is now 6 years old. Hyewon Hyun, MD, a radiologist and one of its cofounders, observes that “art is the starting point for in-depth conversations about medicine, humanity, and different ways of seeing the world.”

Radiology and dermatology are obviously the two specialties in which the physician relies most heavily on his or her powers of observation. However, every doctor can benefit from learning to really “see” what they are looking at. Looking and seeing are two very different activities. There is obviously the forest-from the-trees phenomenon. Can the physician in a hurried clinical situation muster up the discipline to shift focus back and forth from the lesion or painful body part to the entire patient and beyond? How is the parent responding to the child’s discomfort? How are they dressed? Does this wider view suggest some additional questions to ask that may help you understand how this patient or family will be able to cope with diagnosis or follow up with your treatment plan?

The art historian sees every object in its historical context. What has come before? How have the societal conditions influenced the artist choice of subject and use of materials? How has his or her emotions at the time of creation influenced his or her style? The astute physician must likewise see the patients and their complaints in the broader context of their emotional health and socioeconomic situation. This requires sensitive listening and careful observation.

One doesn’t have to major in art history or spend years roaming through the sometimes dark and dusty halls of the world’s museums to progress from being one who simply looks to a person who really sees the environment and its inhabitants. It is really a state of mind and a commitment to improvement.

As physicians, we often complain or sometimes brag about how many patients we “see” in a day. I fear that too often we mean “looked at.” How frequently did we make the effort to really see the patient?

Dr. Wilkoff practiced primary care pediatrics in Brunswick, Maine, for nearly 40 years. He has authored several books on behavioral pediatrics, including “How to Say No to Your Toddler.” Other than a Littman stethoscope he accepted as a first-year medical student in 1966, Dr. Wilkoff reports having nothing to disclose. Email him at pdnews@mdedge.com.

People are surprised when they learn I was an art history major in college. Most folks assume I had majored in biology or chemistry. Their assumption was based on strong odds. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that nearly half of all physicians practicing in this country were biology majors.

I headed off to college clueless about my future. I was hoping to succeed as a walk-on to the football team and beyond that I figured someone or something would guide me toward a career. Had you asked me, “physician” it would have been a definite “Never.”

I flirted with a psychology major, but after a semester I realized that the department was more interested in the behavior of rats rather than humans. I got an “easy A” in the intro to art history and that was the open door I was looking for.

By my senior year I was applying for fellowships to study in faraway places. However, the world situation in 1965 was unsettling for a young man in this country. I had had a strong high school science education and had continued to take a some science courses. Fortunately, I had banked just enough credits so that I could apply to medical school, again without really planning to become a physician.

Even during the sharpest turns in my circuitous path to becoming a small town pediatrician, including a year doing research in exercise physiology in Denmark, I never once regretted my years spent studying art history. I credit them with making me a more sensitive observer.

You can probably understand why I was intrigued by an article I recently read that described a program in which the radiology residents that the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston take a year-long course in art history using the Art Museum at Harvard University as a resource. Titled “Seeing in Art and Medical Imaging,” the program is now 6 years old. Hyewon Hyun, MD, a radiologist and one of its cofounders, observes that “art is the starting point for in-depth conversations about medicine, humanity, and different ways of seeing the world.”

Radiology and dermatology are obviously the two specialties in which the physician relies most heavily on his or her powers of observation. However, every doctor can benefit from learning to really “see” what they are looking at. Looking and seeing are two very different activities. There is obviously the forest-from the-trees phenomenon. Can the physician in a hurried clinical situation muster up the discipline to shift focus back and forth from the lesion or painful body part to the entire patient and beyond? How is the parent responding to the child’s discomfort? How are they dressed? Does this wider view suggest some additional questions to ask that may help you understand how this patient or family will be able to cope with diagnosis or follow up with your treatment plan?

The art historian sees every object in its historical context. What has come before? How have the societal conditions influenced the artist choice of subject and use of materials? How has his or her emotions at the time of creation influenced his or her style? The astute physician must likewise see the patients and their complaints in the broader context of their emotional health and socioeconomic situation. This requires sensitive listening and careful observation.

One doesn’t have to major in art history or spend years roaming through the sometimes dark and dusty halls of the world’s museums to progress from being one who simply looks to a person who really sees the environment and its inhabitants. It is really a state of mind and a commitment to improvement.

As physicians, we often complain or sometimes brag about how many patients we “see” in a day. I fear that too often we mean “looked at.” How frequently did we make the effort to really see the patient?

Dr. Wilkoff practiced primary care pediatrics in Brunswick, Maine, for nearly 40 years. He has authored several books on behavioral pediatrics, including “How to Say No to Your Toddler.” Other than a Littman stethoscope he accepted as a first-year medical student in 1966, Dr. Wilkoff reports having nothing to disclose. Email him at pdnews@mdedge.com.

People are surprised when they learn I was an art history major in college. Most folks assume I had majored in biology or chemistry. Their assumption was based on strong odds. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that nearly half of all physicians practicing in this country were biology majors.

I headed off to college clueless about my future. I was hoping to succeed as a walk-on to the football team and beyond that I figured someone or something would guide me toward a career. Had you asked me, “physician” it would have been a definite “Never.”

I flirted with a psychology major, but after a semester I realized that the department was more interested in the behavior of rats rather than humans. I got an “easy A” in the intro to art history and that was the open door I was looking for.

By my senior year I was applying for fellowships to study in faraway places. However, the world situation in 1965 was unsettling for a young man in this country. I had had a strong high school science education and had continued to take a some science courses. Fortunately, I had banked just enough credits so that I could apply to medical school, again without really planning to become a physician.

Even during the sharpest turns in my circuitous path to becoming a small town pediatrician, including a year doing research in exercise physiology in Denmark, I never once regretted my years spent studying art history. I credit them with making me a more sensitive observer.

You can probably understand why I was intrigued by an article I recently read that described a program in which the radiology residents that the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston take a year-long course in art history using the Art Museum at Harvard University as a resource. Titled “Seeing in Art and Medical Imaging,” the program is now 6 years old. Hyewon Hyun, MD, a radiologist and one of its cofounders, observes that “art is the starting point for in-depth conversations about medicine, humanity, and different ways of seeing the world.”

Radiology and dermatology are obviously the two specialties in which the physician relies most heavily on his or her powers of observation. However, every doctor can benefit from learning to really “see” what they are looking at. Looking and seeing are two very different activities. There is obviously the forest-from the-trees phenomenon. Can the physician in a hurried clinical situation muster up the discipline to shift focus back and forth from the lesion or painful body part to the entire patient and beyond? How is the parent responding to the child’s discomfort? How are they dressed? Does this wider view suggest some additional questions to ask that may help you understand how this patient or family will be able to cope with diagnosis or follow up with your treatment plan?

The art historian sees every object in its historical context. What has come before? How have the societal conditions influenced the artist choice of subject and use of materials? How has his or her emotions at the time of creation influenced his or her style? The astute physician must likewise see the patients and their complaints in the broader context of their emotional health and socioeconomic situation. This requires sensitive listening and careful observation.

One doesn’t have to major in art history or spend years roaming through the sometimes dark and dusty halls of the world’s museums to progress from being one who simply looks to a person who really sees the environment and its inhabitants. It is really a state of mind and a commitment to improvement.

As physicians, we often complain or sometimes brag about how many patients we “see” in a day. I fear that too often we mean “looked at.” How frequently did we make the effort to really see the patient?

Dr. Wilkoff practiced primary care pediatrics in Brunswick, Maine, for nearly 40 years. He has authored several books on behavioral pediatrics, including “How to Say No to Your Toddler.” Other than a Littman stethoscope he accepted as a first-year medical student in 1966, Dr. Wilkoff reports having nothing to disclose. Email him at pdnews@mdedge.com.

Healthcare costs for patients undergoing common surgical procedures are significantly higher when the surgery is performed by a male surgeon rather than a female surgeon, data suggested.

A retrospective, population-based cohort study that included more than 1 million adults undergoing any of 25 common surgical procedures found that total healthcare costs assessed at 1 year following surgery were more than $6000 higher when the surgery was performed by a male surgeon. Costs were also higher at 30 and 90 days for patients treated by male surgeons.

“As a male surgeon, I think our results should cause me and my colleagues to pause and consider why this may be,” said lead author Christopher J. D. Wallis, MD, PhD, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Toronto.

“None of us believe that the presence of a Y chromosome in surgeons means there are worse outcomes, it’s just that generally speaking, men and women, as we have known for decades, practice medicine a little differently. Things like communication style, time they spend with their patients, and even things like guideline adherence are different, and understanding how those differences translate into patient outcomes is the goal of this whole body of work,” said Wallis.

The study was published online November 29 in JAMA Surgery.

Explanation Is Elusive

In earlier work, Dr. Wallis and his team reported that patients treated by female surgeons had a small but statistically significant decrease in 30-day mortality, were less likely to be readmitted to the hospital, and had fewer complications than those treated by male surgeons. In another study, they found worse outcomes among female patients treated by male surgeons.

In the current study, the researchers examined the association between surgeon sex and healthcare costs among patients undergoing various surgical procedures, including coronary artery bypass grafting, appendectomy, hysterectomy, anterior spinal decompression, and knee replacement. They included all adult patients who underwent these procedures at hospitals in Ontario, Canada, between January 2007 and December 2019 in their analysis.

The study sample included 1,165,711 patients. Of this group, 151,054 patients were treated by a female surgeon, and 1,014,657 were treated by a male surgeon.

After adjusting for patient-, surgeon-, anesthesiologist-, and hospital-related factors, they found that 1-year total healthcare costs were $24,882 for patients treated by male surgeons vs $18,517 for patients treated by female surgeons. Healthcare costs were also higher at 30 days (adjusted absolute difference, $3115) and at 90 days (adjusted absolute difference, $4228).

“This translates into a 9%-10% higher risk of costs with male surgeons compared with women surgeons at these time points,” said Dr. Wallis.

“This study cannot provide a specific answer as to why these differences are occurring,” Dr. Wallis said.

“We are currently undertaking more research to better understand the reasons. Our previous studies have shown that patients treated by male physicians have higher rates of death, readmission, and complications. Managing these adverse postoperative events is costly and likely contributes to these differences. Given the size of our study and similar training pathways, we do not think there are technical differences between male and female surgeons. Rather, we are hypothesizing that there may be differences in how physicians practice, make decisions, and consult with patients,” he said.

Ultimately, Dr. Wallis said he would like his research to prompt “a moment of introspection” among his surgical colleagues.

“Hopefully, these data will provide the impetus for further efforts to make surgery, and medicine in general, a field that is welcoming to women,” he said.

Potential Confounding Factors

This study expands the evidence suggesting significant practice differences between male and female surgeons, Ursula Adams, MD, a resident; Caprice C. Greenberg, MD, MPH, chair; and Jared Gallaher, MD, MPH, adjunct assistant professor, all from the Department of Surgery at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, wrote in an accompanying editorial.

They cautioned, however, that “there are many potential confounding factors and possible explanatory mechanisms associated with surgeon sex that make it challenging to untangle influences on costs. Sex may be an easily captured data point, but is understanding the mechanism by which it affects cost the right next step? Surgeons control how and where they practice; they do not have control over their own demographics.”

The editorialists added that while recruiting and retaining women in surgery is important, it is not a solution to controlling costs.

“We must provide surgeons with better data to understand how practice approach and decisions affect cost and support for practice improvement. Only with these insights will we ensure patients of male surgeons receive care that is just as cost-effective as that provided by female surgeons, while also helping to bend the cost curve and improve the quality of surgical care,” they concluded.

‘Admirable’ Data Use

Commenting on the findings, Oluwadamilola “Lola” Fayanju, MD, chief of breast surgery at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, said, “It is interesting that the study was performed in Canada with its different healthcare system.” Dr. Fayanju did not participate in the study.

“They used administrative data from a national database, and it is admirable that they were able to do that. These data allow us to make large-scale geographical assessments, although they are subject to errors and unmeasured confounders,” said Dr. Fayanju.

Women surgeons may do things that result in better outcomes, she suggested. “In this study, the women were younger and so perhaps were more up to date. They might have optimized management of their patients in the pre-op phase, including better patient selection, which led to better costs. Or in the post-op phase, they might have made themselves readily accessible. For instance, I remove all barriers about getting in touch with me, and I tell my students to make sure the patient can reach you easily,” said Dr. Fayanju.

The study was supported by ICES, which is funded by an annual grant from the Ontario Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Long-Term Care, and the Data Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto. Dr. Wallis, Dr. Adams, Dr. Greenberg, Dr. Gallaher, and Dr. Fayanju reported no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.

Healthcare costs for patients undergoing common surgical procedures are significantly higher when the surgery is performed by a male surgeon rather than a female surgeon, data suggested.

A retrospective, population-based cohort study that included more than 1 million adults undergoing any of 25 common surgical procedures found that total healthcare costs assessed at 1 year following surgery were more than $6000 higher when the surgery was performed by a male surgeon. Costs were also higher at 30 and 90 days for patients treated by male surgeons.

“As a male surgeon, I think our results should cause me and my colleagues to pause and consider why this may be,” said lead author Christopher J. D. Wallis, MD, PhD, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Toronto.

“None of us believe that the presence of a Y chromosome in surgeons means there are worse outcomes, it’s just that generally speaking, men and women, as we have known for decades, practice medicine a little differently. Things like communication style, time they spend with their patients, and even things like guideline adherence are different, and understanding how those differences translate into patient outcomes is the goal of this whole body of work,” said Wallis.

The study was published online November 29 in JAMA Surgery.

Explanation Is Elusive

In earlier work, Dr. Wallis and his team reported that patients treated by female surgeons had a small but statistically significant decrease in 30-day mortality, were less likely to be readmitted to the hospital, and had fewer complications than those treated by male surgeons. In another study, they found worse outcomes among female patients treated by male surgeons.

In the current study, the researchers examined the association between surgeon sex and healthcare costs among patients undergoing various surgical procedures, including coronary artery bypass grafting, appendectomy, hysterectomy, anterior spinal decompression, and knee replacement. They included all adult patients who underwent these procedures at hospitals in Ontario, Canada, between January 2007 and December 2019 in their analysis.

The study sample included 1,165,711 patients. Of this group, 151,054 patients were treated by a female surgeon, and 1,014,657 were treated by a male surgeon.

After adjusting for patient-, surgeon-, anesthesiologist-, and hospital-related factors, they found that 1-year total healthcare costs were $24,882 for patients treated by male surgeons vs $18,517 for patients treated by female surgeons. Healthcare costs were also higher at 30 days (adjusted absolute difference, $3115) and at 90 days (adjusted absolute difference, $4228).

“This translates into a 9%-10% higher risk of costs with male surgeons compared with women surgeons at these time points,” said Dr. Wallis.

“This study cannot provide a specific answer as to why these differences are occurring,” Dr. Wallis said.

“We are currently undertaking more research to better understand the reasons. Our previous studies have shown that patients treated by male physicians have higher rates of death, readmission, and complications. Managing these adverse postoperative events is costly and likely contributes to these differences. Given the size of our study and similar training pathways, we do not think there are technical differences between male and female surgeons. Rather, we are hypothesizing that there may be differences in how physicians practice, make decisions, and consult with patients,” he said.

Ultimately, Dr. Wallis said he would like his research to prompt “a moment of introspection” among his surgical colleagues.

“Hopefully, these data will provide the impetus for further efforts to make surgery, and medicine in general, a field that is welcoming to women,” he said.

Potential Confounding Factors

This study expands the evidence suggesting significant practice differences between male and female surgeons, Ursula Adams, MD, a resident; Caprice C. Greenberg, MD, MPH, chair; and Jared Gallaher, MD, MPH, adjunct assistant professor, all from the Department of Surgery at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, wrote in an accompanying editorial.

They cautioned, however, that “there are many potential confounding factors and possible explanatory mechanisms associated with surgeon sex that make it challenging to untangle influences on costs. Sex may be an easily captured data point, but is understanding the mechanism by which it affects cost the right next step? Surgeons control how and where they practice; they do not have control over their own demographics.”

The editorialists added that while recruiting and retaining women in surgery is important, it is not a solution to controlling costs.

“We must provide surgeons with better data to understand how practice approach and decisions affect cost and support for practice improvement. Only with these insights will we ensure patients of male surgeons receive care that is just as cost-effective as that provided by female surgeons, while also helping to bend the cost curve and improve the quality of surgical care,” they concluded.

‘Admirable’ Data Use

Commenting on the findings, Oluwadamilola “Lola” Fayanju, MD, chief of breast surgery at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, said, “It is interesting that the study was performed in Canada with its different healthcare system.” Dr. Fayanju did not participate in the study.

“They used administrative data from a national database, and it is admirable that they were able to do that. These data allow us to make large-scale geographical assessments, although they are subject to errors and unmeasured confounders,” said Dr. Fayanju.

Women surgeons may do things that result in better outcomes, she suggested. “In this study, the women were younger and so perhaps were more up to date. They might have optimized management of their patients in the pre-op phase, including better patient selection, which led to better costs. Or in the post-op phase, they might have made themselves readily accessible. For instance, I remove all barriers about getting in touch with me, and I tell my students to make sure the patient can reach you easily,” said Dr. Fayanju.

The study was supported by ICES, which is funded by an annual grant from the Ontario Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Long-Term Care, and the Data Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto. Dr. Wallis, Dr. Adams, Dr. Greenberg, Dr. Gallaher, and Dr. Fayanju reported no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.

Healthcare costs for patients undergoing common surgical procedures are significantly higher when the surgery is performed by a male surgeon rather than a female surgeon, data suggested.

A retrospective, population-based cohort study that included more than 1 million adults undergoing any of 25 common surgical procedures found that total healthcare costs assessed at 1 year following surgery were more than $6000 higher when the surgery was performed by a male surgeon. Costs were also higher at 30 and 90 days for patients treated by male surgeons.

“As a male surgeon, I think our results should cause me and my colleagues to pause and consider why this may be,” said lead author Christopher J. D. Wallis, MD, PhD, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Toronto.

“None of us believe that the presence of a Y chromosome in surgeons means there are worse outcomes, it’s just that generally speaking, men and women, as we have known for decades, practice medicine a little differently. Things like communication style, time they spend with their patients, and even things like guideline adherence are different, and understanding how those differences translate into patient outcomes is the goal of this whole body of work,” said Wallis.

The study was published online November 29 in JAMA Surgery.

Explanation Is Elusive

In earlier work, Dr. Wallis and his team reported that patients treated by female surgeons had a small but statistically significant decrease in 30-day mortality, were less likely to be readmitted to the hospital, and had fewer complications than those treated by male surgeons. In another study, they found worse outcomes among female patients treated by male surgeons.

In the current study, the researchers examined the association between surgeon sex and healthcare costs among patients undergoing various surgical procedures, including coronary artery bypass grafting, appendectomy, hysterectomy, anterior spinal decompression, and knee replacement. They included all adult patients who underwent these procedures at hospitals in Ontario, Canada, between January 2007 and December 2019 in their analysis.

The study sample included 1,165,711 patients. Of this group, 151,054 patients were treated by a female surgeon, and 1,014,657 were treated by a male surgeon.

After adjusting for patient-, surgeon-, anesthesiologist-, and hospital-related factors, they found that 1-year total healthcare costs were $24,882 for patients treated by male surgeons vs $18,517 for patients treated by female surgeons. Healthcare costs were also higher at 30 days (adjusted absolute difference, $3115) and at 90 days (adjusted absolute difference, $4228).

“This translates into a 9%-10% higher risk of costs with male surgeons compared with women surgeons at these time points,” said Dr. Wallis.

“This study cannot provide a specific answer as to why these differences are occurring,” Dr. Wallis said.

“We are currently undertaking more research to better understand the reasons. Our previous studies have shown that patients treated by male physicians have higher rates of death, readmission, and complications. Managing these adverse postoperative events is costly and likely contributes to these differences. Given the size of our study and similar training pathways, we do not think there are technical differences between male and female surgeons. Rather, we are hypothesizing that there may be differences in how physicians practice, make decisions, and consult with patients,” he said.

Ultimately, Dr. Wallis said he would like his research to prompt “a moment of introspection” among his surgical colleagues.

“Hopefully, these data will provide the impetus for further efforts to make surgery, and medicine in general, a field that is welcoming to women,” he said.

Potential Confounding Factors

This study expands the evidence suggesting significant practice differences between male and female surgeons, Ursula Adams, MD, a resident; Caprice C. Greenberg, MD, MPH, chair; and Jared Gallaher, MD, MPH, adjunct assistant professor, all from the Department of Surgery at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, wrote in an accompanying editorial.

They cautioned, however, that “there are many potential confounding factors and possible explanatory mechanisms associated with surgeon sex that make it challenging to untangle influences on costs. Sex may be an easily captured data point, but is understanding the mechanism by which it affects cost the right next step? Surgeons control how and where they practice; they do not have control over their own demographics.”

The editorialists added that while recruiting and retaining women in surgery is important, it is not a solution to controlling costs.

“We must provide surgeons with better data to understand how practice approach and decisions affect cost and support for practice improvement. Only with these insights will we ensure patients of male surgeons receive care that is just as cost-effective as that provided by female surgeons, while also helping to bend the cost curve and improve the quality of surgical care,” they concluded.

‘Admirable’ Data Use

Commenting on the findings, Oluwadamilola “Lola” Fayanju, MD, chief of breast surgery at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, said, “It is interesting that the study was performed in Canada with its different healthcare system.” Dr. Fayanju did not participate in the study.

“They used administrative data from a national database, and it is admirable that they were able to do that. These data allow us to make large-scale geographical assessments, although they are subject to errors and unmeasured confounders,” said Dr. Fayanju.

Women surgeons may do things that result in better outcomes, she suggested. “In this study, the women were younger and so perhaps were more up to date. They might have optimized management of their patients in the pre-op phase, including better patient selection, which led to better costs. Or in the post-op phase, they might have made themselves readily accessible. For instance, I remove all barriers about getting in touch with me, and I tell my students to make sure the patient can reach you easily,” said Dr. Fayanju.

The study was supported by ICES, which is funded by an annual grant from the Ontario Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Long-Term Care, and the Data Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto. Dr. Wallis, Dr. Adams, Dr. Greenberg, Dr. Gallaher, and Dr. Fayanju reported no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.

TOPLINE:

Hypochondriasis is linked to an 84% higher risk for death for those with the disorder and a fourfold increased risk for suicide, new population-based data show. These findings, investigators noted, suggest the need for more clinical screening and treatment of hypochondriasis, also known as health anxiety disorder.

METHODOLOGY:

• Investigators used several Swedish population-based registers to identify people who received a diagnosis of hypochondriasis between January 1997 and December 2020.
• Each individual diagnosed with hypochondriasis (n = 4129; 2342 women; median 34.5 years at diagnosis) was age- and sex-matched with 10 individuals without the disorder (n = 41,290).
• For those who died during the study period, cause of death was categorized as natural (neoplasms; diseases of the nervous system, circulatory system, or respiratory system) or unnatural (primarily suicide).
• Investigators age- and sex-matched 4129 individuals with hypochondriasis to 41,290 individuals without hypochondriasis.

TAKEAWAY:

• Individuals with hypochondriasis had an 84% higher risk for all-cause mortality during the study period than those without it (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.84; 95% CI, 1.60-2.10), including a higher risk for both natural (aHR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.38-1.85) and unnatural death (aHR, 2.43; 95% CI, 1.61-3.68).
• The majority of individuals with hypochondriasis were diagnosed with at least one additional psychiatric disorder (primarily anxiety-related and depressive disorders) vs the group without hypochondriasis (86% vs 20%, respectively; P < .001).
• The risk for suicide — the most common unnatural cause of death — was four times higher in those with hypochondriasis (aHR, 4.14; 95% CI, 2.44-7.03).
• When investigators limited analyses to include only psychiatric comorbidities recorded before the first diagnosis of hypochondriasis, suicide risk was attenuated but remained statistically significant.

IN PRACTICE:

“Taken together, these findings illustrate a paradox, whereby individuals with hypochondriasis have an increased risk for death despite their pervasive fears of illness and death. In this study, most deaths could be classified as potentially preventable. Dismissing these individuals’ somatic symptoms as imaginary may have dire consequences,” the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

David Mataix-Cols, PhD, of the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, led the study, which was published online on December 13, 2023, in JAMA Psychiatry.

LIMITATIONS:

Hypochondriasis is thought to be underdiagnosed in Sweden, with only approximately 4000 cases registered within two decades. Study investigators also noted that they did not obtain data from primary care, the setting where the majority of hypochondriasis cases are diagnosed.

DISCLOSURES:

The study was funded by the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, Stockholm; the Swedish Society of Medicine, Stockholm; and Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm. Dr. Mataix-Cols reported receiving personal fees from UpToDate Inc. Author disclosures can be found in the original article.

A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.

TOPLINE:

Hypochondriasis is linked to an 84% higher risk for death for those with the disorder and a fourfold increased risk for suicide, new population-based data show. These findings, investigators noted, suggest the need for more clinical screening and treatment of hypochondriasis, also known as health anxiety disorder.

METHODOLOGY:

• Investigators used several Swedish population-based registers to identify people who received a diagnosis of hypochondriasis between January 1997 and December 2020.
• Each individual diagnosed with hypochondriasis (n = 4129; 2342 women; median 34.5 years at diagnosis) was age- and sex-matched with 10 individuals without the disorder (n = 41,290).
• For those who died during the study period, cause of death was categorized as natural (neoplasms; diseases of the nervous system, circulatory system, or respiratory system) or unnatural (primarily suicide).
• Investigators age- and sex-matched 4129 individuals with hypochondriasis to 41,290 individuals without hypochondriasis.

TAKEAWAY:

• Individuals with hypochondriasis had an 84% higher risk for all-cause mortality during the study period than those without it (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.84; 95% CI, 1.60-2.10), including a higher risk for both natural (aHR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.38-1.85) and unnatural death (aHR, 2.43; 95% CI, 1.61-3.68).
• The majority of individuals with hypochondriasis were diagnosed with at least one additional psychiatric disorder (primarily anxiety-related and depressive disorders) vs the group without hypochondriasis (86% vs 20%, respectively; P < .001).
• The risk for suicide — the most common unnatural cause of death — was four times higher in those with hypochondriasis (aHR, 4.14; 95% CI, 2.44-7.03).
• When investigators limited analyses to include only psychiatric comorbidities recorded before the first diagnosis of hypochondriasis, suicide risk was attenuated but remained statistically significant.

IN PRACTICE:

“Taken together, these findings illustrate a paradox, whereby individuals with hypochondriasis have an increased risk for death despite their pervasive fears of illness and death. In this study, most deaths could be classified as potentially preventable. Dismissing these individuals’ somatic symptoms as imaginary may have dire consequences,” the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

David Mataix-Cols, PhD, of the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, led the study, which was published online on December 13, 2023, in JAMA Psychiatry.

LIMITATIONS:

Hypochondriasis is thought to be underdiagnosed in Sweden, with only approximately 4000 cases registered within two decades. Study investigators also noted that they did not obtain data from primary care, the setting where the majority of hypochondriasis cases are diagnosed.

DISCLOSURES:

The study was funded by the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, Stockholm; the Swedish Society of Medicine, Stockholm; and Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm. Dr. Mataix-Cols reported receiving personal fees from UpToDate Inc. Author disclosures can be found in the original article.

A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.

TOPLINE:

Hypochondriasis is linked to an 84% higher risk for death for those with the disorder and a fourfold increased risk for suicide, new population-based data show. These findings, investigators noted, suggest the need for more clinical screening and treatment of hypochondriasis, also known as health anxiety disorder.

METHODOLOGY:

• Investigators used several Swedish population-based registers to identify people who received a diagnosis of hypochondriasis between January 1997 and December 2020.
• Each individual diagnosed with hypochondriasis (n = 4129; 2342 women; median 34.5 years at diagnosis) was age- and sex-matched with 10 individuals without the disorder (n = 41,290).
• For those who died during the study period, cause of death was categorized as natural (neoplasms; diseases of the nervous system, circulatory system, or respiratory system) or unnatural (primarily suicide).
• Investigators age- and sex-matched 4129 individuals with hypochondriasis to 41,290 individuals without hypochondriasis.

TAKEAWAY:

• Individuals with hypochondriasis had an 84% higher risk for all-cause mortality during the study period than those without it (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.84; 95% CI, 1.60-2.10), including a higher risk for both natural (aHR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.38-1.85) and unnatural death (aHR, 2.43; 95% CI, 1.61-3.68).
• The majority of individuals with hypochondriasis were diagnosed with at least one additional psychiatric disorder (primarily anxiety-related and depressive disorders) vs the group without hypochondriasis (86% vs 20%, respectively; P < .001).
• The risk for suicide — the most common unnatural cause of death — was four times higher in those with hypochondriasis (aHR, 4.14; 95% CI, 2.44-7.03).
• When investigators limited analyses to include only psychiatric comorbidities recorded before the first diagnosis of hypochondriasis, suicide risk was attenuated but remained statistically significant.

IN PRACTICE:

“Taken together, these findings illustrate a paradox, whereby individuals with hypochondriasis have an increased risk for death despite their pervasive fears of illness and death. In this study, most deaths could be classified as potentially preventable. Dismissing these individuals’ somatic symptoms as imaginary may have dire consequences,” the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

David Mataix-Cols, PhD, of the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, led the study, which was published online on December 13, 2023, in JAMA Psychiatry.

LIMITATIONS:

Hypochondriasis is thought to be underdiagnosed in Sweden, with only approximately 4000 cases registered within two decades. Study investigators also noted that they did not obtain data from primary care, the setting where the majority of hypochondriasis cases are diagnosed.

DISCLOSURES:

The study was funded by the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, Stockholm; the Swedish Society of Medicine, Stockholm; and Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm. Dr. Mataix-Cols reported receiving personal fees from UpToDate Inc. Author disclosures can be found in the original article.

A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.