We conducted the present study to determine whether psychiatric disorders are commonly associated with sleep apnea in Veterans Health Administration beneficiaries. The Veterans Health Administration maintains several centralized databases containing healthcare data for more than 4 million veterans. We reviewed data from 1998 to 2001 and identified patient records having International Classification of Diseases-Ninth Edition-Clinical Modification codes indicating sleep apnea and various psychiatric conditions. Subsequently, we compared age, sex, ethnicity, and prevalence of comorbid psychiatric conditions for Veterans Health Administration beneficiaries with and without sleep apnea. Out of 4,060,504 unique cases, 118,105 were identified as having sleep apnea (estimated prevalence of 2.91%). Mean age at the time of diagnosis was 57.6 years. Psychiatric comorbid diagnoses in the sleep apnea group included depression (21.8%), anxiety (16.7%), posttraumatic stress disorder (11.9%), psychosis (5.1), and bipolar disorders (3.3%). Compared with patients not diagnosed with sleep apnea, a significantly greater prevalence (P < .0001) was found for mood disorders, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, psychosis, and dementia in patients with sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is associated with a higher prevalence of psychiatric comorbid conditions in Veterans Health Administration beneficiaries. This association suggests that patients with psychiatric disorders and coincident symptoms suggesting sleep-disordered breathing should be evaluated for sleep apnea.

Patients not attending to clinic appointments (no-show) significantly affects delivery, cost of care and resource planning. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence, predictors and economic consequences of patient no-shows. This is a retrospective cohort study using administrative databases for fiscal years 1997–2008. We searched administrative databases for no-show frequency and cost at a large medical center. In addition, we estimated no-show rates and costs in another 10 regional hospitals. We studied no-show rates in primary care and various subspecialty settings over a 12-year period, the monthly and seasonal trends of no-shows, the effects of implementing a reminder system and the economic effects of missed appointments. The mean no-show rate was 18.8 % (2.4 %) in 10 main clinics with highest occurring in subspecialist clinics. No-show rate in the women clinic was higher and the no-show rate in geriatric clinic was lower compared to general primary care clinic (PCP). The no-show rate remained at a high level despite its reduction by a centralized phone reminder (from 16.3 % down to 15.8 %). The average cost of no-show per patient was $196 in 2008. Our data indicates that no-show imposed a major burden on this health care system. Further, implementation of a reminder system only modestly reduced the no-show rate.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized physiologically by expiratory flow limitation and pathologically by alveolar destruction and enlargement and small and large airway inflammation and remodeling. An imbalance between protease and antiprotease activity in the lung is proposed as the major mechanism resulting in emphysema. The imbalance is mostly due to an increase in the numbers of alveolar macrophages and neutrophils. Emphysema can also develop from increased alveolar wall cell death and/or failure in alveolar wall maintenance. Chronic inflammation and increased oxidative stress contribute to increased destruction and/or impaired lung maintenance and repair. Genetic factors may play an important role in disease susceptibility because only a minority of smokers develops emphysema. Recent literature implicates surfactant instability, malnutrition, and alveolar cell apoptosis as possible etiologies. Identification of cellular and molecular mechanisms of COPD pathogenesis is an area of active, ongoing research that may help to determine therapeutic targets for emphysema.

Background: The geriatric syndrome of frailty is one of the greatest challenges facing the U.S. aging population. Frailty in older adults is associated with higher adverse outcomes, such as mortality and hospitalization. Identifying precise early indicators of pre-frailty and measures of specific frailty components are of key importance to enable targeted interventions and remediation. We hypothesize that sensor-derived parameters, measured by a pendant accelerometer device in the home setting, are sensitive to identifying pre-frailty. Methods: Using the Fried frailty phenotype criteria, 153 community-dwelling, ambulatory older adults were classified as pre-frail (51%), frail (22%), or non-frail (27%). A pendant sensor was used to monitor the at home physical activity, using a chest acceleration over 48 h. An algorithm was developed to quantify physical activity pattern (PAP), physical activity behavior (PAB), and sleep quality parameters. Statistically significant parameters were selected to discriminate the pre-frail from frail and non-frail adults. Results: The stepping parameters, walking parameters, PAB parameters (sedentary and moderate-to-vigorous activity), and the combined parameters reached and area under the curve of 0.87, 0.85, 0.85, and 0.88, respectively, for identifying pre-frail adults. No sleep parameters discriminated the pre-frail from the rest of the adults. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that a pendant sensor can identify pre-frailty via daily home monitoring. These findings may open new opportunities in order to remotely measure and track frailty via telehealth technologies.

Debate continues as to whether acute bronchodilator responsiveness (BDR) predicts long-term outcomes in COPD. Furthermore, there is no consensus on a threshold for BDR.