To quantify the impact of patient- and unit-level risk adjustment on infant hospital-onset bacteremia (HOB) standardized infection ratio (SIR) ranking.

A retrospective, multicenter cohort study.

Infants admitted to 284 neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in the United States between 2016 and 2021.

Expected HOB rates and SIRs were calculated using four adjustment strategies: birthweight (model 1), birthweight and postnatal age (model 2), birthweight and NICU complexity (model 3), and birthweight, postnatal age, and NICU complexity (model 4). Sites were ranked according to the unadjusted HOB rate, and these rankings were compared to rankings based on the four adjusted SIR models.

Compared to unadjusted HOB rate ranking (smallest to largest), the number and proportion of NICUs that left the fourth quartile (worst-performing) following adjustments were as follows: adjusted for birthweight (16, 22.5%), birthweight and postnatal age (19, 26.8%), birthweight and NICU complexity (22, 31.0%), birthweight, postnatal age and NICU complexity (23, 32.4%). Comparing NICUs that moved into the better-performing quartiles after birthweight adjustment to those that remained in the better-performing quartiles regardless of adjustment, the median percentage of low birthweight infants was 17.1% (Interquartile Range (IQR): 15.8, 19.2) vs 8.7% (IQR: 4.8, 12.6); and the median percentage of infants who died was 2.2% (IQR: 1.8, 3.1) vs 0.5% (IQR: 0.01, 12.0), respectively.

Adjusting for patient and unit-level complexity moved one-third of NICUs in the worst-performing quartile into a better-performing quartile. Risk adjustment may allow for a more accurate comparison across units with varying levels of patient acuity and complexity.

COVID-19 changed the epidemiology of community-acquired respiratory viruses. We explored patterns of respiratory viral testing to understand which tests are most clinically useful in the postpandemic era.

We conducted a retrospective observational study of discharge data from PINC-AI (formerly Premier), a large administrative database. Use of multiplex nucleic acid amplification respiratory panels in acute care, including small (2–5 targets), medium (6–11), and large panels (>11), were compared between the early pandemic (03/2020–10/2020), late pandemic (11/2020–4/2021), and prepandemic respiratory season (11/2019 - 02/2020) using ANOVA.

A median of 160.5 facilities contributed testing data per quarter (IQR 155.5–169.5). Prepandemic, facilities averaged 103 respiratory panels monthly (sd 138), including 79 large (sd 126), 7 medium (sd 31), and 16 small panels (sd 73). Relative to prepandemic, utilization decreased during the early pandemic (62 panels monthly/facility; sd 112) but returned to the prepandemic baseline by the late pandemic (107 panels monthly/facility; sd 211). Relative to prepandemic, late pandemic testing involved more small panel use (58 monthly/facility, sd 156) and less large panel use (47 monthly/facility, sd 116). Comparisons among periods demonstrated significant differences in overall testing (P < 0.0001), large panel use (P < 0.0001), and small panel use (P < 0.0001).

Postpandemic, clinical use of respiratory panel testing shifted from predominantly large panels to predominantly small panels. Factors driving this change may include resource availability, costs, and the clinical utility of targeting important pathogenic viruses instead of testing “for everything.”

Although the link between alcohol involvement and behavioral phenotypes (e.g. impulsivity, negative affect, executive function [EF]) is well-established, the directionality of these associations, specificity to stages of alcohol involvement, and extent of shared genetic liability remain unclear. We estimate longitudinal associations between transitions among alcohol milestones, behavioral phenotypes, and indices of genetic risk.

Data came from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (n = 3681; ages 11–36). Alcohol transitions (first: drink, intoxication, alcohol use disorder [AUD] symptom, AUD diagnosis), internalizing, and externalizing phenotypes came from the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism. EF was measured with the Tower of London and Visual Span Tasks. Polygenic scores (PGS) were computed for alcohol-related and behavioral phenotypes. Cox models estimated associations among PGS, behavior, and alcohol milestones.

Externalizing phenotypes (e.g. conduct disorder symptoms) were associated with future initiation and drinking problems (hazard ratio (HR)⩾1.16). Internalizing (e.g. social anxiety) was associated with hazards for progression from first drink to severe AUD (HR⩾1.55). Initiation and AUD were associated with increased hazards for later depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation (HR⩾1.38), and initiation was associated with increased hazards for future conduct symptoms (HR = 1.60). EF was not associated with alcohol transitions. Drinks per week PGS was linked with increased hazards for alcohol transitions (HR⩾1.06). Problematic alcohol use PGS increased hazards for suicidal ideation (HR = 1.20).

Behavioral markers of addiction vulnerability precede and follow alcohol transitions, highlighting dynamic, bidirectional relationships between behavior and emerging addiction.

Unsupervised remote digital cognitive assessment makes frequent testing feasible and allows for measurement of learning across days on participants’ own devices. More rapid detection of diminished learning may provide a potentially valuable metric that is sensitive to cognitive change over short intervals. In this study we examine feasibility and predictive validity of a novel digital assessment that measures learning of the same material over 7 days in older adults.

The Boston Remote Assessment for Neurocognitive Health (BRANCH) (Papp et al., 2021) is a web-based assessment administered over 7 consecutive days repeating the same stimuli each day to capture multi-day-learning slopes. The assessment includes Face-Name (verbal-visual associative memory), Groceries-Prices (numeric-visual associative memory), and Digits-Signs (speeded processing of numeric-visual associations). Our sample consisted of200 cognitively unimpaired older adults enrolled in ongoing observational studies (mean age=74.5, 63% female, 87% Caucasian, mean education=16.6) who completed the tasks daily, at home, on their own digital devices. Participants had previously completed in-clinic paper-and-pencil tests to compute a Preclinical Alzheimer’s Cognitive Composite (PACC-5). Mixed-effects models controlling for age, sex, and education were used to observe the associations between PACC-5 scores and both initial performance and multi-day learning on the three BRANCH measures.

Adherence was high with 96% of participants completing all seven days of consecutive assessment; demographic factors were not associated with differences in adherence. Younger participants had higher Day 1 scores all three measures, and learning slopes on Digit-Sign. Female participants performed better on Face-Name (T=3.35, p<.001) and Groceries-Prices (T=2.00, p=0.04) on Day 1 but no sex differences were seen in learning slopes; there were no sex differences on Digit-Sign. Black participants had lower Day 1 scores on Face-Name (T=-3.34, p=0.003) and Digit Sign (T=3.44, p=0.002), but no racial differences were seen on learning slopes for any measure. Education was not associated with any measure. First day performance on Face-Name (B=0.39, p<.001), but not learning slope B=0.008, p=0.302) was associated with the PACC5. For Groceries-Prices, both Day 1 (B=0.27, p<.001) and learning slope (B=0.02, p=0.03) were associated with PACC-5. The Digit-Sign scores at Day 1 (B=0.31, p<.001) and learning slope (B=0.06, p<.001) were also both associated with PACC-5.

Seven days of remote, brief cognitive assessment was feasible in a sample of cognitively unimpaired older adults. Although various demographic factors were associated with initial performance on the tests, multi-day-learning slopes were largely unrelated to demographics, signaling the possibility of its utility in diverse samples. Both initial performance and learning scores on an associative memory and processing speed test were independently related to baseline cognition indicating that these tests’ initial performance and learning metrics are convergent but unique in their contributions. The findings signal the value of measuring differences in learning across days as a means towards sensitively identifying differences in cognitive function before signs of frank impairment are observed. Next steps will involve identifying the optimal way to model multi-day learning on these subtests to evaluate their potential associations with Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers.

The gold standard for hand hygiene (HH) while wearing gloves requires removing gloves, performing HH, and donning new gloves between WHO moments. The novel strategy of applying alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR) directly to gloved hands might be effective and efficient.

A mixed-method, multicenter, 3-arm, randomized trial.

Adult and pediatric medical-surgical, intermediate, and intensive care units at 4 hospitals.

Healthcare personnel (HCP).

HCP were randomized to 3 groups: ABHR applied directly to gloved hands, the current standard, or usual care.

Gloved hands were sampled via direct imprint. Gold-standard and usual-care arms were compared with the ABHR intervention.

Bacteria were identified on gloved hands after 432 (67.4%) of 641 observations in the gold-standard arm versus 548 (82.8%) of 662 observations in the intervention arm (P < .01). HH required a mean of 14 seconds in the intervention and a mean of 28.7 seconds in the gold-standard arm (P < .01). Bacteria were identified on gloved hands after 133 (98.5%) of 135 observations in the usual-care arm versus 173 (76.6%) of 226 observations in the intervention arm (P < .01). Of 331 gloves tested 6 (1.8%) were found to have microperforations; all were identified in the intervention arm [6 (2.9%) of 205].

Compared with usual care, contamination of gloved hands was significantly reduced by applying ABHR directly to gloved hands but statistically higher than the gold standard. Given time savings and microbiological benefit over usual care and lack of feasibility of adhering to the gold standard, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization should consider advising HCP to decontaminate gloved hands with ABHR when HH moments arise during single-patient encounters.

Trial Registration: NCT03445676.

Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) respiratory panels are rapid, highly sensitive tests for viral and bacterial pathogens that cause respiratory infections. In this study, we (1) described best practices in the implementation of respiratory panels based on expert perspectives and (2) identified tools for diagnostic stewardship to enhance the usefulness of testing.

We conducted a survey of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Research Network to explore current and future approaches to diagnostic stewardship of multiplex PCR respiratory panels.

In total, 41 sites completed the survey (response rate, 50%). Multiplex PCR respiratory panels were perceived as supporting accurate diagnoses at 35 sites (85%), supporting more efficient patient care at 33 sites (80%), and improving patient outcomes at 23 sites (56%). Thirteen sites (32%) reported that testing may support diagnosis or patient care without improving patient outcomes. Furthermore, 24 sites (58%) had implemented diagnostic stewardship, with a median of 3 interventions (interquartile range, 1–4) per site. The interventions most frequently reported as effective were structured order sets to guide test ordering (4 sites), restrictions on test ordering based on clinician or patient characteristics (3 sites), and structured communication of results (2 sites). Education was reported as “helpful” but with limitations (3 sites).

Many hospital epidemiologists and experts in infectious diseases perceive multiplex PCR respiratory panels as useful tests that can improve diagnosis, patient care, and patient outcomes. However, institutions frequently employ diagnostic stewardship to enhance the usefulness of testing, including most commonly clinical decision support to guide test ordering.

Reward processing has been proposed to underpin the atypical social feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, previous neuroimaging studies have yielded inconsistent results regarding the specificity of atypicalities for social reward processing in ASD.

Utilising a large sample, we aimed to assess reward processing in response to reward type (social, monetary) and reward phase (anticipation, delivery) in ASD.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging during social and monetary reward anticipation and delivery was performed in 212 individuals with ASD (7.6–30.6 years of age) and 181 typically developing participants (7.6–30.8 years of age).

Across social and monetary reward anticipation, whole-brain analyses showed hypoactivation of the right ventral striatum in participants with ASD compared with typically developing participants. Further, region of interest analysis across both reward types yielded ASD-related hypoactivation in both the left and right ventral striatum. Across delivery of social and monetary reward, hyperactivation of the ventral striatum in individuals with ASD did not survive correction for multiple comparisons. Dimensional analyses of autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) scores were not significant. In categorical analyses, post hoc comparisons showed that ASD effects were most pronounced in participants with ASD without co-occurring ADHD.

Our results do not support current theories linking atypical social interaction in ASD to specific alterations in social reward processing. Instead, they point towards a generalised hypoactivity of ventral striatum in ASD during anticipation of both social and monetary rewards. We suggest this indicates attenuated reward seeking in ASD independent of social content and that elevated ADHD symptoms may attenuate altered reward seeking in ASD.

In the UK, acute mental healthcare is provided by in-patient wards and crisis resolution teams. Readmission to acute care following discharge is common. Acute day units (ADUs) are also provided in some areas.

To assess predictors of readmission to acute mental healthcare following discharge in England, including availability of ADUs.

We enrolled a national cohort of adults discharged from acute mental healthcare in the English National Health Service (NHS) between 2013 and 2015, determined the risk of readmission to either in-patient or crisis teams, and used multivariable, multilevel logistic models to evaluate predictors of readmission.

Of a total of 231 998 eligible individuals discharged from acute mental healthcare, 49 547 (21.4%) were readmitted within 6 months, with a median time to readmission of 34 days (interquartile range 10–88 days). Most variation in readmission (98%) was attributable to individual patient-level rather than provider (trust)-level effects (2.0%). Risk of readmission was not associated with local availability of ADUs (adjusted odds ratio 0.96, 95% CI 0.80–1.15). Statistically significant elevated risks were identified for participants who were female, older, single, from Black or mixed ethnic groups, or from more deprived areas. Clinical predictors included shorter index admission, psychosis and being an in-patient at baseline.

Relapse and readmission to acute mental healthcare are common following discharge and occur early. Readmission was not influenced significantly by trust-level variables including availability of ADUs. More support for relapse prevention and symptom management may be required following discharge from acute mental healthcare.