Citations

Background Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) improves peak oxygen uptake (VO 2 peak) and body composition in patients with cardiovascular disease. However, improvement in VO 2 peak is not observed in all patients following a CR program, and whether VO 2 peak non-responders also demonstrate limited changes in body composition remains unclear. This study aimed to examine the association between changes in VO 2 peak and body composition in patients undergoing a CR program. Methods Retrospective analysis of patients who completed CR between 2015 and 2022 at Mayo Clinic. The study included 143 patients who completed cardiopulmonary exercise testing and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry pre- and post-CR. Patients were grouped by the change in relative VO 2 peak response to CR (responders= Δ>0 vs non-responders=Δ ≤0 mL/kg/min). Two-way repeated ANOVA was used to compare groups, and regression models were used to examine the associations between baseline body composition and changes in body composition with VO 2 peak change. Results Among the cohort, 26% were classified as non-responders based on relative VO 2 peak measurements. Both groups exhibited a significant improvement in most body composition variables including body fat mass, body fat percentage, body lean percentage, and fat mass index (all p<0.001), with no differences in the percentage of change in body composition variables between groups (p>0.05). Regression models demonstrated that neither baseline body composition nor changes in body composition were significantly associated with changes in VO 2 peak. Conclusion Our data suggest that baseline and change in body composition were not significantly associated with changes in VO 2 peak in patients undergoing the CR program.

Outcomes of kidney-alone transplantation (KAT) in former simultaneous liver-kidney (SLK) transplant candidates after liver waitlist delisting are not well defined. Using Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) data, we identified adult recipients who underwent KAT between 2005 and 2025 after prior SLK listing (RLD-KAT), which was matched 1:5 to primary KAT recipients without liver disease by age, transplant year, and diabetes status. Patient and graft survival were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method and multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. We identified 163 RLD-KAT recipients matched to 815 controls. Unadjusted Kaplan-Meier analyses demonstrated lower patient survival in RLD-KAT (p = 0.020), whereas death-censored and overall graft survival were similar (p > 0.05). In multivariable models, death-censored graft survival (HR 0.89; 95% CI 0.51–1.53), overall graft survival (HR 1.00; 95% CI 0.73–1.36), and patient survival (HR 1.07; 95% CI 0.76–1.5) did not differ significantly. Six RLD-KAT recipients (3.7%) subsequently underwent liver transplantation. Kidney-alone transplantation in prior SLK candidates was associated with acceptable patient and graft outcomes and a low incidence of subsequent liver transplantation.

Objective: Health care delivery has undergone a shift from in-person visits to more remote consultations via telehealth. Despite the increasing adoption of telehealth for tertiary medical centers’ new patient visits, its impact on subsequent in-person health care utilization has not been widely studied. Our objective was to examine differences in health care services used by patients who established care in-person versus those who initiated care remotely via telehealth. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of all patients who established care at one of our three main Mayo Clinic campuses through either an in-person or telemedicine visit between September 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024. We analyzed aggregate data related to downstream in-person services encompassing diagnostic studies, outpatient procedures, surgical procedures (referred to as “surgical yield”), specialist consultations, and follow-up appointments. Results: This study evaluated 252,356 new patient visits, of which 14,915 (5.9%) were performed remotely via telemedicine. Patients who established care in-person had an average of 10.47 subsequent in-person visits. Among patients who initiated care via telemedicine, 62.7% (9,351) later received in-person services, with an average of 16 in-person visits per patient. Surgical yield was higher for patients who started remotely via telehealth and then came on-site, at 29% compared to 16% for those who started with an on-site visit. States bordering the clinic locations had increased percentages of in-person visits compared to states that required patients to travel longer distances. Conclusions: Patients who established care through an initial telemedicine appointment and then came on-site had more downstream encounters and surgical procedures than those who began in-person. This may be due to the ability to efficiently coordinate multiple appointments within a condensed timeframe, optimizing the planning of on-site visits. Additionally, both patients and providers may selectively utilize telemedicine to identify individuals who would derive the greatest benefit from in-person care.

Background Despite advances in cervical cancer screening, cervical cancer rates have been increasing in the last decade. Hispanic women have higher cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates compared to non-Hispanic women in the United States. These disparities are primarily due to language barriers experienced in this Spanish-preferred population. Our study aims to improve cervical cancer screening rates among Spanish-preferred patients through a Spanish-language multimedia presentation on cervical cancer screening. Methods In patients not adherent to U.S. cervical cancer screening guidelines, we conducted a non-randomized study comparing standard care in Family Medicine (FM) to standard care plus a multimedia presentation with Spanish voiceover intervention in Internal Medicine (IM). We evaluated whether baseline characteristics differed between the two study arms using the Wilcoxon rank sum test and either the Chi-Square test or Fisher’s exact test. For the primary goal, we examined whether there was a difference in screening scheduling rates between the intervention and standard care groups using the Chi-Square test. Using descriptive statistics, we investigated whether there was a difference in characteristics for those who scheduled screening and those who did not. Results We had 52 patients in IM and 58 in FM, differing in age and insurance status, with median ages of 45.5 and 40.0, and percent insured of 65.4% and 82.8%. Post-study, 25.0% (13/52) in IM and 15.5% (9/58) in FM scheduled cervical screening appointments, which was not significantly different, p=0.21. Patients who scheduled screening had higher rates of insurance coverage, at 95.5% compared to 69.3%. Conclusion No statistically significant difference in scheduling rates among Spanish-preferred patients was observed in this study. Further efforts should include larger samples and randomization.

Abstract Background Existing formal feedback systems in graduate medical education often rely heavily on intangible Likert Scales linked to ACGME milestones as an end-of-rotation summative assessment. However, more frequent, actionable, formative feedback based on observations is essential to personal growth. Objective To evaluate the impact of changing from a milestone-based evaluation form to a brief narrative-based feedback form in a Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine (PCCM) fellowship as an exploratory pilot project. Our aim was to describe change in perception of feedback quality and the impact on Clinical Competency Committee (CCC) decisions. Methods We compared the quality of written rotation feedback before and after implementing a shorter feedback form on January 1, 2024 for 15 PCCM fellows at a single large academic institution using the Quality of Assessment for Learning (QuAL) score, (July 2023-December 2023 compared to January 2024-July 2024), fellow pre- and post-surveys (December 2023 and June 2024) and a CCC focus group (June 2024). Results Overall QuAL score improved significantly after narrative-based feedback form implementation (2.71 pre [n = 75] vs 3.70 post [n = 85], p < 0.001). Surveys had 13/14 (92.8%) fellows respond pre-intervention and 8/14 (57.1%) post-intervention. There was significant improvement in the number of fellows indicating they could identify new learning goals based on written feedback after implementation of the new form (23.1% pre vs 75.0% post, p = 0.03). The CCC focus group with 5 of 8 eligible faculty participating described milestone decisions were better supported by more detailed narratives. Conclusions Implementing a brief narrative-based form improved feedback quality and the number of trainees able to create learning goals. The CCC identified that the new form provided better details to support milestone recommendations.

Abstract Objectives This study used both researcher and patient perspectives to identify high-priority research questions related to clinical reasoning. Methods This study integrates findings from two previously published research prioritization exercises aimed at advancing the science of diagnostic safety, focusing on questions relevant to clinical reasoning. In Study 1 (April 2019), 97 researchers submitted 177 unique research questions that could be useful “to reduce patient harm in the diagnosis process”. In Study 2 (November 2019), 41 patients/caregivers/advocates submitted 84 unique research questions on the same topic. In an in-person meeting, a subset of these participants identified 81 of these questions as high-priority (51 from Study 1; 30 from Study 2). For the current study, five investigators identified questions that focused on clinical reasoning, first independently and then by consensus. They then categorized the clinical reasoning questions into inductively identified themes. Results Twenty-nine of the 81 high-priority research questions addressed clinical reasoning and were categorized into 5 themes: understanding clinical reasoning and cognition (12 questions), decision support/technology (6 questions), team-based decision making (5 questions), how to learn from cases/scenarios (3 questions), and patient engagement (3 questions). Questions addressed a range of basic/foundational science and clinical applications, and involved individuals, teams, and/or systems. Conclusions Identification of high-priority clinical reasoning research questions can help medical educators, clinicians, researchers, and funders catalyze research and discovery of interventions to improve clinical reasoning and ultimately improve patient outcomes.

Abstract Background Breast cancer is etiologically heterogeneous, but which risk factors differ in their associations across tumor subtypes remains unclear. We conducted a large, pooled analysis to evaluate independent, dose-response associations between breast cancer risk factors and quantitative tumor features. Methods Analyses of 15,731 invasive breast cancers from 24 studies evaluated associations (p-trend) between reproductive and hormonal factors, body mass index (BMI), alcohol, smoking, and family history in relation to quantitative immunohistochemistry measures on tissue microarrays (ER, PR, HER2, KI67, TP53) and tumor grade. Analyses in a subset of 10 population-based studies estimated subtype-specific odds ratios (ORs) comparing cases to controls. A Bayesian False Discovery Probability (BFDP) <0.2 was used to identify associations with strong statistical evidence. Results Nulliparity and later age at menopause were associated with higher ER-positivity (p-trend=0.021 and 0.001, respectively), with corresponding OR[ER+] (95% CI) = 1.49 (1.16-1.90) for nulliparous vs. parous and 1.07 (1.03-1.11) per 5 years. Current combined menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) use was associated with lower grade (p-trend<0.001), with OR [grade1] = 3.37 (2.69-4.21) for current vs. never users. Higher BMI was associated with lower ER-positivity and higher grade in premenopausal women (p-trend<0.001 and <0.001), with OR[ER+] = 0.80 (0.74-0.87) and OR[grade1] = 0.75 (0.63-0.88) per 5 units, and with higher PR-positivity and higher grade in postmenopausal women (p-trend<0.001 and <0.001), with OR[PR+] = 1.08 (1.03-1.14) and OR[grade 3] = 1.10 (1.04-1.17) per 5 units. Conclusion This pooled analysis of 15,731 cases showed that nulliparity, age at menopause, MHT, and BMI have independent, dose-response associations with ER, PR, and grade, clarifying patterns of etiologic heterogeneity. Associations with HER2, KI67 and TP53, or other risk factors did not meet our threshold for strong evidence.

Background Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) leads to increased exercise capacity (VO 2 peak) and risk reduction of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs). Women exhibit blunted VO 2 peak improvements following CR. The purpose was to examine sex differences in the clinical predictors of VO 2 peak improvement and odds of MACEs following CR. Methods From 1999 to 2017, all consecutive patients undergoing cardiopulmonary exercise testing before and after CR were included. Sex differences in peak exercise metrics in response to CR were compared. Multiple logistic regression models were fit to assess clinical predictors of VO 2 peak improvement (defined as >0% from pre‐CR) and MACEs following CR for men and women. Results A total of 513 men and 158 women were included. Men had greater increases in VO 2 peak than women following CR ( P =0.001). For men, independent predictors of VO 2 peak improvement following CR included higher CR session attendance (odds ratio [OR], 1.04 [95% CI, 1.02–1.06]), peripheral artery disease (OR, 0.47 [95% CI, 0.25–0.86]), and pre‐CR VO 2 peak (OR, 0.98 [95% CI, 0.97–0.99]) (all, P <0.02). Independent predictors of lower odds of MACEs following CR in men included higher number of CR sessions (OR, 0.97 [95% CI, 0.95–0.99]), pre‐CR VO 2 peak (OR, 0.98 [95% CI, 0.97–0.99]), surgical CR indication (OR, 0.34 [95% CI, 0.18–0.68]), and no history of peripheral artery disease (OR, 2.94 [95% CI, 1.60–5.38]) (all, P <0.02). For women, the selected clinical characteristics were not statistically significant independent predictors of VO 2 peak improvement or odds of MACEs (except for diabetes) following CR. Conclusions These findings suggest that clinical predictors of VO 2 peak improvement and odds of MACEs following CR are sex specific.