Using natural language processing to identify child maltreatment in health systems

BACKGROUND

Rates of child maltreatment (CM) obtained from electronic health records are much lower than national child welfare prevalence rates indicate. There is a need to understand how CM is documented to improve reporting and surveillance.

OBJECTIVES

To examine whether using natural language processing (NLP) in outpatient chart notes can identify cases of CM not documented by ICD diagnosis code, the overlap between the coding of child maltreatment by ICD and NLP, and any differences by age, gender, or race/ethnicity.

METHODS

Outpatient chart notes of children age 0-18 years old within Kaiser Permanente Washington (KPWA) 2018-2020 were used to examine a selected set of maltreatment-related terms categorized into concept unique identifiers (CUI). Manual review of text snippets for each CUI was completed to flag for validated cases and retrain the NLP algorithm.

RESULTS

The NLP results indicated a crude rate of 1.55 % to 2.36 % (2018-2020) of notes with reference to CM. The rate of CM identified by ICD code was 3.32 per 1000 children, whereas the rate identified by NLP was 37.38 per 1000 children. The groups that increased the most in identification of maltreatment from ICD to NLP were adolescents (13-18 yrs. old), females, Native American children, and those on Medicaid. Of note, all subgroups had substantially higher rates of maltreatment when using NLP.

CONCLUSIONS

Use of NLP substantially increased the estimated number of children who have been impacted by CM. Accurately capturing this population will improve identification of vulnerable youth at high risk for mental health symptoms.

Comparing the 5-Year Diabetes Outcomes of Sleeve Gastrectomy and Gastric Bypass: The National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network (PCORNet) Bariatric Study

Question

How do type 2 diabetes (T2DM) outcomes compare across the 2 most common bariatric procedures?

Findings

In this cohort study of 9710 adults with T2DM who underwent bariatric surgery, most patients who had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy experienced T2DM remission at some point over 5 years of follow-up. Patients who had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass showed slightly higher T2DM remission rates, better glycemic control, and fewer T2DM relapse events than patients who had sleeve gastrectomy.

Meaning

Understanding diabetes outcomes of different bariatric procedures will help surgeons and patients with diabetes make informed health care choices.

Importance

Bariatric surgery can lead to substantial improvements in type 2 diabetes (T2DM), but outcomes vary across procedures and populations. It is unclear which bariatric procedure has the most benefits for patients with T2DM.

Objective

To evaluate associations of bariatric surgery with T2DM outcomes.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This cohort study was conducted in 34 US health system sites in the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network Bariatric Study. Adult patients with T2DM who had bariatric surgery between January 1, 2005, and September 30, 2015, were included. Data analysis was conducted from April 2017 to August 2019.

Interventions

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) or sleeve gastrectomy (SG).

Main Outcome and Measures

Type 2 diabetes remission, T2DM relapse, percentage of total weight lost, and change in glycosylated hemoglobin (hemoglobin A_1c).

Results

A total of 9710 patients were included (median [interquartile range] follow-up time, 2.7 [2.9] years; 7051 female patients [72.6%]; mean [SD] age, 49.8 [10.5] years; mean [SD] BMI, 49.0 [8.4]; 6040 white patients [72.2%]). Weight loss was significantly greater with RYGB than SG at 1 year (mean difference, 6.3 [95% CI, 5.8-6.7] percentage points) and 5 years (mean difference, 8.1 [95% CI, 6.6-9.6] percentage points). The T2DM remission rate was approximately 10% higher in patients who had RYGB (hazard ratio, 1.10 [95% CI, 1.04-1.16]) than those who had SG. Estimated adjusted cumulative T2DM remission rates for patients who had RYGB and SG were 59.2% (95% CI, 57.7%-60.7%) and 55.9% (95% CI, 53.9%-57.9%), respectively, at 1 year and 86.1% (95% CI, 84.7%-87.3%) and 83.5% (95% CI, 81.6%-85.1%) at 5 years postsurgery. Among 6141 patients who experienced T2DM remission, the subsequent T2DM relapse rate was lower for those who had RYGB than those who had SG (hazard ratio, 0.75 [95% CI, 0.67-0.84]). Estimated relapse rates for those who had RYGB and SG were 8.4% (95% CI, 7.4%-9.3%) and 11.0% (95% CI, 9.6%-12.4%) at 1 year and 33.1% (95% CI, 29.6%-36.5%) and 41.6% (95% CI, 36.8%-46.1%) at 5 years after surgery. At 5 years, compared with baseline, hemoglobin A_1c was reduced 0.45 (95% CI, 0.27-0.63) percentage points more for patients who had RYGB vs patients who had SG.

Conclusions and Relevance

In this large multicenter study, patients who had RYGB had greater weight loss, a slightly higher T2DM remission rate, less T2DM relapse, and better long-term glycemic control compared with those who had SG. These findings can help inform patient-centered surgical decision-making.

Delivery of cancer screening: how important is the preventive health examination?

BACKGROUND

Patients and physicians strongly endorse the importance of preventive or periodic health examinations (PHEs). However, the extent to which PHEs contribute to the delivery of cancer screening is uncertain.

METHODS

In a retrospective cohort study, we determined the association between receipt of a PHE and cancer testing in a population-based sample of enrollees in a Washington State health plan who were aged 52 to 78 years and eligible for colorectal, breast, or prostate cancer screening in 2002-2003 (N = 64 288). Outcomes included completion of any colorectal cancer testing (fecal occult blood testing, sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, or barium enema), screening mammography, and prostate-specific antigen testing.

RESULTS

More than half (52.4%) of the enrollees received a PHE during the study period. After adjusting for demographics, comorbidity, number of outpatient visits, and historical preventive service use before January 1, 2002, receipt of a PHE was significantly associated with completion of colorectal cancer testing (incidence difference, 40.4% [95% confidence interval (CI), 39.4%-41.3%]; relative incidence, 3.47 [95% CI, 3.34-3.59]), screening mammography [incidence difference, 14.2% [95% CI, 12.7%-15.7%]; relative incidence, 1.23 [95% CI, 1.20-1.25]), and prostate-specific antigen testing (incidence difference, 39.4% [95% CI, 38.3%-40.5%]; relative incidence, 3.06 [95% CI, 2.95-3.18]).

CONCLUSIONS

Among managed care enrollees eligible for cancer screening, PHE receipt is associated with completion of colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer testing. In similar populations, the PHE may serve as a clinically important forum for the promotion of evidence-based colorectal cancer and breast cancer screening and of screening with relatively less empirical support, such as prostate cancer screening.

A computerized system to facilitate medical record abstraction in cancer research (United States)

OBJECTIVE

To implement a computerized system to gather and transmit medical record information from six sites to a centralized database for two cancer prevention studies.

METHODS

Microsoft Access 97 was selected as the application for the system. Sites purchased Access and hardware meeting technical specifications required for the system. A developer worked with the lead investigator and medical record abstractors to develop a 'back-end' database to hold the desired data while maintaining a user-friendly 'front-end' interface. Abstractors trained on a paper version of the abstraction form were then trained to use the system. Meeting minutes and technical notes were used in summarizing the approach and process. Observations were collected through discussions.

RESULTS

We overcame multiple obstacles to develop computerized systems supporting medical record data collection at multiple sites. Although system development slowed implementation of the study, the system produced data for cleaning and analysis immediately. Overall the approach decreased the time from study implementation to manuscript submission. Development time for a second system was substantially reduced.

CONCLUSIONS

Computerized systems for medical record abstraction at multiple sites convey substantial benefit. We present a schematic approach to facilitate development of similar systems in the future.