Wu, Chaorong

Introduction: It is unknown how comorbid diagnoses affect patients’ disease-specific knowledge or how patients’ health literacy or numeracy affects this relationship. In patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), comorbidities can be quantified by the CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc score. We explore the association of AF/stroke knowledge with CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc score, health literacy, and numeracy for usual care participants in the multi-center Randomized Evaluation of Decision Support Interventions for Atrial Fibrillation (RED-AF) trial evaluating decision aids to initiate (initiation cohort) or continue (monitor cohort) oral anticoagulation (OAC) in AF patients. Methods: This study was conducted at six academic medical centers in the United States. Participants were aged ≥18, diagnosed with non-valvular AF, and at risk for stroke (CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc ≥1 for men, ≥2 for women). Patient demographics were obtained via questionnaires after a baseline clinical encounter; knowledge was evaluated by patient responses to 7 questions about OAC and AF. Health literacy was measured by a validated self-reported screening tool; numeracy by a validated subjective numeracy scale; CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc was calculated from medical records. We applied generalized estimating equations for a binomial outcome to jointly relate patient knowledge to CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc score, health literacy and numeracy, controlling for 5 additional patient factors and accounting for clustering by clinician. Results: We report on 306 patients randomized to the usual care group across six participating sites. Average age 68.7 9, 61.6% male, mean CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc 2 1.5. Patient knowledge was independently associated with numeracy (5% higher odds of correct response per 1 unit increase in numeracy, 95% CI 0-10%, p=0.05) and membership in the monitor cohort (40% odds of correct response, 4-89%, p=0.03) but not health literacy or increased stroke risk. Conclusion: In the RED-AF study , although health literacy and increasing stroke risk were not independently associated with patient knowledge about AF, numeracy had a minimal positive association. Those already on OAC had greater disease knowledge than patients newly starting OAC. These results suggest a need to broadly increase patient education regardless of baseline comorbidity burden and degree of health literacy. Future studies should be performed to better understand other factors that drive patient knowledge regarding AF and stroke.

Abstract Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of multiple decision aid strategies in promoting high quality shared decision making for prevention of stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation. Design Cluster randomized controlled trial. Setting Six academic medical centers in the United States. Participants Patient participants were aged ≥18 with a diagnosis of non-valvular atrial fibrillation, at risk for stroke (CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc ≥1 for men, ≥2 for women), and scheduled for a clinical appointment to discuss stroke prevention strategies. Participating clinicians were those who manage stroke prevention strategies for participating patients. Intervention Patients were randomized to use a patient decision aid or usual care; clinicians were randomized to use an encounter decision aid or usual care with all participating patients. Main outcome measures Primary outcome measures were quality of shared decision making measured by OPTION12, knowledge of atrial fibrillation and its management, and decisional conflict. Results 1117 participants across six sites were included in the analysis. Compared with usual care, the combined use of both the patient decision aid and the encounter decision aid improved the quality of shared decision making (adjusted mean difference 12.1 (95% confidence interval (CI) 8.0 to 16.2; P<0.001), improved patients’ knowledge (odds ratio 1.68 (95% CI 1.35 to 2.09; P<0.001), and reduced patients’ decisional conflict (adjusted mean difference −6.3 (95% CI −9.6 to −3.1; P<0.001). Statistically significant improvements were also observed with the encounter decision aid alone versus usual care for all three outcomes and with the patient decision aid alone versus usual care for quality of shared decision making and knowledge. No important differences were observed in treatment choices for stroke prevention or in participants’ satisfaction. No statistically significant difference in the length of visit across study groups was detected. Conclusion Patients who received any decision aid (encounter decision aid, patient decision aid, or both) had lower decisional conflict, better shared decision making, and greater knowledge than those receiving no decision aid, except for the effect of the patient decision aid on decisional conflict, which did not reach statistical significance. The study establishes that use of either pre-visit or in-visit decision aids individually or in combination is advantageous compared with usual care. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04357288 .

Objectives: Thrombocytopenia is common in critically ill patients treated with continuous renal replacement therapy and decreases in platelets following continuous renal replacement therapy initiation have been associated with increased mortality. Platelets play a role in innate and adaptive immunity, making it plausible that decreases in platelets following continuous renal replacement therapy initiation predispose patients to development of infection. Our objective was to determine if greater decreases in platelets following continuous renal replacement therapy correlate with increased rates of secondary infection. Design: Retrospective cohort analysis. Setting: This study uses a continuous renal replacement therapy database from Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN), a tertiary academic center. Participants: Adult patients who survived until ICU discharge and were on continuous renal replacement therapy for less than 30 days were included. A subgroup analysis was also performed in patients with thrombocytopenia (platelets < 100 × 103/µL) at continuous renal replacement therapy initiation. Measurements and Main Results: The primary predictor variable was a decrease in platelets from precontinuous renal replacement therapy levels of greater than 40% or less than or equal to 40%, although multiple cut points were analyzed. The primary outcome was infection after ICU discharge, and secondary endpoints included post-ICU septic shock and post-ICU mortality. Univariable, multivariable, and propensity-adjusted analyses were used to determine associations between the predictor variable and the outcomes. Results: Among 797 eligible patients, 253 had thrombocytopenia at continuous renal replacement therapy initiation. A greater than 40% decrease in platelets after continuous renal replacement therapy initiation was associated in the multivariable-adjusted models with increased odds of post-ICU infection in the full cohort (odds ratio, 1.49; CI, 1.02–2.16) and in the thrombocytopenia cohort (odds ratio, 2.63; CI, 1.35–5.15) cohorts. Conclusions: Platelet count drop by greater than 40% following continuous renal replacement therapy initiation is associated with an increased risk of secondary infection, particularly in patients with thrombocytopenia at the time of continuous renal replacement therapy initiation. Further research is needed to evaluate the impact of both continuous renal replacement therapy and platelet loss on subsequent infection risk.