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This paper seeks to provide a cogent outline of the current policies that six separate countries have on Individual Education Plans (IEPs), identifying the key features in each system. The chosen countries are Australia (Queen Island), Canada (British Columbia), New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Saudi Arabia. The aim of the paper was to have greater insights of the globalisation of IEPs at public schools in these above countries. It looked into a set of factors closely associated with each other; such as, to enable the exploration of how IEP policy is implemented at public schools in the same countries. The findings from the literature review showed a number of gaps in the current frameworks. Therefore, this has led the researcher to work further on these frameworks for the purpose of this paper.

Cancer remains a leading cause of death worldwide, placing a significant burden on healthcare systems as well as the global economy. Rare cancers comprise a group of about 200 cancers that individually occur at extremely low frequencies. In the United States (US), their frequency is approximately 15 cases per 100,000 people, and it is even lower in Europe with approximately 6 cases per 100,000 people. However, combined their frequency of occurrence is much higher than any singular cancer. Cancer treatment and management has tremendously improved in the last decade, particularly with the administration of immune-based therapies. The four most prevalent immune-based therapies are (1) the use of immune-checkpoint inhibitors, (2) macrophage therapy, (3) Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, and (4) neoantigen-based therapies. In our review, we discuss these various aproaches and their implementation in the treatment of a variety of rare cancers. Furthermore, we discuss their limitations and potential strategies to overcome them to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of these approaches. Finally, our article presents the future directions and other additional immune therapies that may be incorporated into the treatment of rare cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prescription medication (PM) misuse/abuse has emerged as a national crisis in the United States, and social media has been suggested as a potential resource for performing active monitoring. However, automating a social media-based monitoring system is challenging-requiring advanced natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning methods. In this paper, we describe the development and evaluation of automatic text classification models for detecting self-reports of PM abuse from Twitter.Methods: We experimented with state-of-the-art bi-directional transformer-based language models, which utilize tweet-level representations that enable transfer learning (e.g., BERT, RoBERTa, XLNet, AlBERT, and DistilBERT), proposed fusion-based approaches, and compared the developed models with several traditional machine learning, including deep learning, approaches. Using a public dataset, we evaluated the performances of the classifiers on their abilities to classify the non-majority "abuse/misuse" class.Results: Our proposed fusion-based model performs significantly better than the best traditional model (F1-score [95% CI]: 0.67 [0.64-0.69] vs. 0.45 [0.42-0.48]). We illustrate, via experimentation using varying training set sizes, that the transformer-based models are more stable and require less annotated data compared to the other models. The significant improvements achieved by our best-performing classification model over past approaches makes it suitable for automated continuous monitoring of nonmedical PM use from Twitter.Conclusions: BERT, BERT-like and fusion-based models outperform traditional machine learning and deep learning models, achieving substantial improvements over many years of past research on the topic of prescription medication misuse/abuse classification from social media, which had been shown to be a complex task due to the unique ways in which information about nonmedical use is presented. Several challenges associated with the lack of context and the nature of social media language need to be overcome to further improve BERT and BERT-like models. These experimental driven challenges are represented as potential future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The wide adoption of social media in daily life renders it a rich and effective resource for conducting near real-time assessments of consumers' perceptions of health services. However, its use in these assessments can be challenging because of the vast amount of data and the diversity of content in social media chatter.Objective: This study aims to develop and evaluate an automatic system involving natural language processing and machine learning to automatically characterize user-posted Twitter data about health services using Medicaid, the single largest source of health coverage in the United States, as an example.Methods: We collected data from Twitter in two ways: via the public streaming application programming interface using Medicaid-related keywords (Corpus 1) and by using the website's search option for tweets mentioning agency-specific handles (Corpus 2). We manually labeled a sample of tweets in 5 predetermined categories or other and artificially increased the number of training posts from specific low-frequency categories. Using the manually labeled data, we trained and evaluated several supervised learning algorithms, including support vector machine, random forest (RF), naïve Bayes, shallow neural network (NN), k-nearest neighbor, bidirectional long short-term memory, and bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT). We then applied the best-performing classifier to the collected tweets for postclassification analyses to assess the utility of our methods.Results: We manually annotated 11,379 tweets (Corpus 1: 9179; Corpus 2: 2200) and used 7930 (69.7%) for training, 1449 (12.7%) for validation, and 2000 (17.6%) for testing. A classifier based on BERT obtained the highest accuracies (81.7%, Corpus 1; 80.7%, Corpus 2) and F1 scores on consumer feedback (0.58, Corpus 1; 0.90, Corpus 2), outperforming the second best classifiers in terms of accuracy (74.6%, RF on Corpus 1; 69.4%, RF on Corpus 2) and F1 score on consumer feedback (0.44, NN on Corpus 1; 0.82, RF on Corpus 2). Postclassification analyses revealed differing intercorpora distributions of tweet categories, with political (400778/628411, 63.78%) and consumer feedback (15073/27337, 55.14%) tweets being the most frequent for Corpus 1 and Corpus 2, respectively.Conclusions: The broad and variable content of Medicaid-related tweets necessitates automatic categorization to identify topic-relevant posts. Our proposed system presents a feasible solution for automatic categorization and can be deployed and generalized for health service programs other than Medicaid. Annotated data and methods are available for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional differences in outcomes after spine surgery are poorly understood. We assessed disability and quality-of-life outcomes by geographic region in the United States using the NeuroPoint Alliance Quality Outcomes Database. We queried the prospective Quality Outcomes Database patient registry to identify patients who underwent elective 1- or 2-level lumbar surgery for grade I degenerative spondylolisthesis from July 2014 through June 2016. Primary outcome measures included Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and EuroQOL-5D (EQ-5D) reported at 24 months postoperatively. Differences in EQ-5D and ODI were compared across geographic regions of the United States (Northeast, Midwest, South, West). We identified 608 patients from 12 centers who underwent surgery. Of these, 517 (85.0%) had ODI data and 492 (80.9%) had EQ-5D data at 24 months. Southern states had the largest representation (304 patients; 5 centers), followed by Northeastern (114 patients; 3 centers), Midwestern (96 patients; 2 centers), and Western (94 patients; 2 centers) states. Baseline ODI scores were significantly different among regions, with the South having the greatest baseline disability burden (Northeast: 40.9 ± 16.9, South: 51.2 ± 15.8, Midwest: 40.9 ± 17.8, West: 45.0 ± 17.1, P < 0.001). The change in ODI at 24 months postoperatively was significantly different among regions, with the South showing the greatest ODI improvement (Northeast: −21.1 ± 18.2, South: −26.5 ± 20.2, Midwest: −18.2 ± 22.9, West: −21.7 ± 19.6, P < 0.001). All regions had ≥60% achievement of the minimum clinically important difference in ODI at 24 months postoperatively. No regional differences were observed for EQ-5D. Significant regional variation exists for disability outcomes, but not quality of life, at 24 months after spinal surgery for grade I degenerative spondylolisthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To compare reduction in intraocular pressure (IOP) and IOP-lowering medication in eyes undergoing excisional goniotomy with Kahook Dual Blade (KDB) vs iStent microbypass implantation, both combined with phacoemulsification, in eyes with mild to moderate open-angle glaucoma (OAG). Setting: Nine practices in the United States. Design: Prospective, randomized, active-controlled, parallel-group clinical trial. Methods: Eyes were randomized to KDB-Phaco or iStent-Phaco group. Demographics, corrected distance visual acuity, IOP, IOP-lowering medications, and adverse events were collected at baseline and at day 1, week 1, and months 1, 3, 6, and 12 postoperatively. The primary outcome measure was the proportion of eyes at 12 months with IOP reduction of 20% or greater or IOP medication reduction of 1 or more compared with baseline. Results: For this study, 164 eyes of 164 patients were analyzed (82 in each group). Mean IOP was reduced at 12 months compared with baseline from 18.5 (standard of error 0.4) to 15.4 (0.4) mm Hg in the KDB-Phaco group and from 18.5 (0.3) to 16.1 (0.4) mm Hg in the iStent-Phaco group (P =.24). Mean IOP-lowering medications were reduced from 1.3 (0.1) to 0.3 (0.1) in the KDB-Phaco group and from 1.4 (0.1) to 0.4 (0.1) in the iStent-Phaco group (P =.17). Among study completers, the primary outcome was attained in 74 (93.7%) of 79 patients of KDB-Phaco eyes and 65 (83.3%) of 78 patients of iStent-Phaco eyes (P =.04). Both procedures had similar safety profiles. Conclusions: Both procedures lowered both IOP and the need for IOP-lowering medications effectively and safely in eyes with mild to moderate OAG and cataract. Significantly, more KDB-Phaco eyes than iStent-Phaco eyes met the primary outcome of 20% or greater IOP reduction or 1 or more medication reduction at 12 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rising cost of spine surgery and the resultant economic burden has attracted the attention of health policy makers. Readmissions constitute a significant economic burden to the health care system. With the introduction of bundled payments leading to a higher financial risk for providers, literature is needed to evaluate the factors that influence the cost of readmissions following spine surgery. We analyzed the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Nationwide Readmissions Database (NRD) to determine the hospital, patient and clinical factors that contribute to cost of 30- and 90-day readmissions after elective anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) for degenerative spine disease. Retrospective study using a national administrative database. Patients undergoing elective ACDF between 2012 and 2015 queried from the Nationwide Readmissions Database (NRD). Cost of 30-day and 90-day readmissions. We queried the NRD for patients undergoing elective ACDF during 2012-2015Q3. The NRD provides national readmissions data collected for all types of payers and the uninsured, as well as across a wide geographic distribution of hospitals in the United States. Multivariable linear regression was performed to establish the factors associated with cost of each 30/90-day readmission episode (REC). We also determined the procedure-related and medical diagnosis at readmission associated with higher cost of hospitalization. A total of 4,792 30-day readmissions from 4,512 patients and 8,156 90-day readmissions from 7,198 patients were included analysis. The average 30-day REC was $11,843 (95% CI: $11,390- $12,297) and the average 90-day REC was $14,353 (95% CI: $13,962 - $14,744). Number of procedures at index admission, length of stay at index admission, and days since index admission that the readmission occurred were the top predictors of readmission cost. Other important predictors (p <0.001) included a diagnosis of cervical spondylosis with myelopathy at IA and weekend index admissions. Cervical myelopathy and aspiration pneumonia emerged as the procedure and medical-related readmission diagnoses associated with the highest 30-day readmission costs respectively, whereas device-related mechanical complications and symptom recurrence were the diagnoses associated with the highest cost of 90-day readmission episodes, respectively. In this analysis from a national database, we determined the factors associated with cost of readmissions following elective ACDF. Our results indicate that a significant economic burden of readmissions is due to medical diagnoses, apart from procedure related complications. Our analyses may aid policy makers and stakeholders in designing better reimbursement policies for future in order to drive down costs associated with spinal surgery and its associated sequelae. This abstract does not discuss or include any applicable devices or drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Cancer Database (NCDB) and the SEER (Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results) program are the 2 largest cancer registries in the United States. However, considerable differences exist between them regarding the sampling frame as well as the participating facility characteristics. In this study, NCDB and SEER are compared for primary central nervous system (CNS) tumors with the aims of discussing the implications for researchers and evaluating the generalizability of both databases. Patients with primary CNS (brain and spinal cord) tumors from 2004 to 2013 were identified using the International Classification of Diseases for Oncology, Third Edition topographic codes. Patient demographics, tumor characteristics, and treatment-related variables were compared between the 2 databases using standardized differences, with values >0.1 denoting statistical significance. A total of 588,534 primary brain tumor (NCDB, 416,162; SEER, 172,372) and 34,827 primary spinal cord tumor (NCDB, 26,602; SEER, 8225) cases were identified. We found significant differences regarding age (sd. diff., 0.16 for brain; 0.13 for spinal cord), and Hispanic origin (sd. diff., 0.34 for brain; 0.61 for spinal cord). For NCDB and SEER patients, estimated 5-year overall survival was 59% and 64%, respectively. Analysis of 623,361 patients with primary CNS tumors, which are identified using both the NCDB and SEER databases, showed significant differences in age, histopathologic classification of tumors, tumor behavior, and treatment of tumors between 2 databases. Overall, the differences observed between 2 databases provide helpful points for the researchers who would like to use NCDB or SEER. These observations should be taken into account when researchers design studies using these databases and discuss the generalizability of their findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human monkeypox virus (Mpox) is classified as a member of the Poxviridae family and belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus. Mpox possesses double-stranded DNA, and there are two known genetic clades: those originating in West Africa and the Congo Basin, commonly known as Central African clades. Mpox may be treated with either the vaccinia vaccination or the therapeutics. Modifying the smallpox vaccine for treating and preventing Mpox has shown to be beneficial because of the strong link between smallpox and Mpox viruses and their categorization in the same family. Cross-protection against Mpox is effective with two Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved smallpox vaccines (ACAM2000 and JYNNEOSTM). However, ACAM2000 has the potential for significant adverse effects, such as cardiac issues, whereas JYNNEOS has a lower risk profile. Moreover, Mpox has managed to resurface, although with modified characteristics, due to the discontinuation and cessation of the smallpox vaccine for 40 years. The safety and efficacy of the two leading mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and its many variants have been shown in clinical trials and subsequent data analysis. This first mRNA treatment model involves injecting patients with messenger RNA to produce target proteins and elicit an immunological response. High potency, the possibility of safe administration, low-cost manufacture, and quick development is just a few of the benefits of RNA-based vaccines that pave the way for a viable alternative to conventional vaccines. When protecting against Mpox infection, mRNA vaccines are pretty efficient and may one day replace the present whole-virus vaccines. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to provide a synopsis of the ongoing research, development, and testing of an mRNA vaccine against Mpox., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The first US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for cervical total disc replacement (CTDR) was issued in 2007. Since then, 8 more artificial discs have been granted FDA approval for single-level CTDR. Two of these have also been approved for 2-level CTDR. All devices are indicated for levels C3 to C7 for symptomatic patients with radiculopathy or myelopathy caused by disc herniation or spondylosis unresponsive to conservative management. Trials have shown noninferiority of CTDR compared with anterior cervical decompression and fusion in their overall success. Hybrid surgery and CTDR of 3 or more levels are not FDA approved., Competing Interests: Disclosure None of the authors have any conflict of interest or any other financial disclosures to report., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Spinal procedures are increasingly conducted as outpatient procedures, with a growing proportion conducted in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). To date, studies reporting outcomes and cost analyses for outpatient spinal procedures in the US have not distinguished the various outpatient settings from each other. In this study, the authors used a state-level administrative database to compare rates of overnight stays and nonroutine discharges as well as index admission charges and cumulative 7-, 30-, and 90-day charges for patients undergoing outpatient lumbar decompression in freestanding ASCs and hospital outpatient (HO) settings., Methods: For this project, the authors used the Florida State Ambulatory Surgery Database (SASD), offered by the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), for the years 2013 and 2014. Patients undergoing outpatient lumbar decompression for degenerative diseases were identified using CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) and ICD-9 codes. Outcomes of interest included rates of overnight stays, rate of nonroutine discharges, index admission charges, and subsequent admission cumulative charges at 7, 30, and 90 days. Multivariable analysis was performed to assess the impact of outpatient type on index admission charges. Marginal effect analysis was employed to study the difference in predicted dollar margins between ASCs and HOs for each insurance type., Results: A total of 25,486 patients were identified; of these, 7067 patients (27.7%) underwent lumbar decompression in a freestanding ASC and 18,419 (72.3%) in an HO. No patient in the ASC group required an overnight stay compared to 9.2% (n = 1691) in the HO group (p < 0.001). No clinically significant difference in the rate of nonroutine discharge was observed between the two groups. The mean index admission charge for the ASC group was found to be significantly higher than that for the HO group ($35,017.28 ± $14,335.60 vs $33,881.50 ± $15,023.70; p < 0.001). Patients in ASCs were also found to have higher mean 7-day (p < 0.001), 30-day (p < 0.001), and 90-day (p = 0.001) readmission charges. ASC procedures were associated with increased charges compared to HO procedures for patients on Medicare or Medicaid (mean index admission charge increase $4049.27, 95% CI $2577.87-$5520.67, p < 0.001) and for patients on private insurance ($4775.72, 95% CI $4171.06-$5380.38, p < 0.001). For patients on self-pay or no charge, a lumbar decompression procedure at an ASC was associated with a decrease in index admission charge of -$10,995.38 (95% CI -$12124.76 to -$9866.01, p < 0.001) compared to a lumbar decompression procedure at an HO., Conclusions: These "real-world" results from an all-payer statewide database indicate that for outpatient spine surgery, ASCs may be associated with higher index admission and subsequent 7-, 30-, and 90-day charges. Given that ASCs are touted to have lower overall costs for patients and better profit margins for physicians, these analyses warrant further investigation into whether this cost benefit is applicable to outpatient spine procedures.

Objective: Neurosurgeons generate an enormous amount of data daily. Within these data lie rigorous, valid, and reproducible evidence. Such evidence can facilitate healthcare reform and improve quality of care. To measure the quality of care provided objectively, evaluating the safety and efficacy of clinical activities should occur in real time. Registries must be constructed and collected data analyzed with the precision akin to that of randomized clinical trials to accomplish this goal., Methods: The Quality Outcomes Database (QOD) Tumor Registry was launched in February 2019 with 8 sites in its initial 1-year pilot phase. The Tumor Registry was proposed by the AANS/CNS Tumor Section and approved by the QOD Scientific Committee in the fall of 2018. The initial pilot phase aimed to assess the feasibility of collecting outcomes data from 8 academic practices across the United States; these outcomes included length of stay, discharge disposition, and inpatient complications., Results: As of November 2019, 923 eligible patients have been entered, with the following subsets: intracranial metastasis (17.3%, n = 160), high-grade glioma (18.5%, n = 171), low-grade glioma (6%, n = 55), meningioma (20%, n = 184), pituitary tumor (14.3%, n = 132), and other intracranial tumor (24%, n = 221)., Conclusions: The authors have demonstrated here, as a pilot study, the feasibility of documenting demographic, clinical, operative, and patient-reported outcome characteristics longitudinally for 6 common intracranial tumor types.

Background: The outbreak of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by a novel coronavirus (named SARS-CoV-2) has gained attention globally and has been recognized as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) by the World Health Organization (WHO) due to the rapidly increasing number of deaths and confirmed cases. Health care workers (HCWs) are vulnerable to this crisis as they are the first frontline to receive and manage COVID-19 patients. In this multicenter multinational survey, we aim to assess the level of awareness and preparedness of hospital staff regarding COVID-19 all over the world. Methods: From February to March 2020, the web-based or paper-based survey to gather information about the hospital staff's awareness and preparedness in the participants' countries will be carried out using a structured questionnaire based on the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) checklist and delivered to participants by the local collaborators for each hospital. As of March 2020, we recruited 374 hospitals from 58 countries that could adhere to this protocol as approved by their Institutional Review Boards (IRB) or Ethics Committees (EC). Discussion: The awareness and preparedness of HCWs against COVID-19 are of utmost importance not only to protect themselves from infection, but also to control the virus transmission in healthcare facilities and to manage the disease, especially in the context of manpower lacking and hospital overload during the pandemic. The results of this survey can be used to inform hospitals about the awareness and preparedness of their health staff regarding COVID-19, so appropriate policies and practice guidelines can be implemented to improve their capabilities of facing this crisis and other future pandemic-prone diseases., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Qarawi, Ng, Gad, Luu, AL-Ahdal, Sharma, Huan, Vuong, Tawfik, Hashan, Dumre, Ghozy, Shaikhkhalil, Mahmoud, Alhady, Nam, Islam, Smith, Lee, Chico, Cox, Hirayama and Huy.)

Introduction: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) has been increasingly employed to treat patients with intracranial metastasis, both as a salvage treatment after failed whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) and as an initial treatment. "Several studies have shown that SRS may be as effective as WBRT with the added benefit of preserving neuro-cognition". However, some patients may have local failure following SRS for intracranial metastasis, defined as increase in total lesion volume by 25% after at least 3 months of follow up., Methods: The SRS registry, established by the Neuro point alliance (NPA) under the auspices of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), was queried for patients with intracranial metastasis receiving SRS at the participating sites. Demographic, clinical symptoms, tumor, and treatment characteristics as well as follow up status were summarized for the cohort. A multivariable explanatory cox- regression was performed to evaluate the impact of each of the factors on time to local failure.at last follow-up., Results: A total of 441 patients with 1255 intracranial metastatic lesions undergoing SRS were identified. The most common primary cancer histology was non-small cell lung cancer (43.8%, n = 193). More than half of the cohort had more than 1 metastatic lesion (2-3 lesions: 29.5%, n = 130; more than 3 lesions: 25.2% (n = 111). The average duration of follow-up for the cohort was found to be 8.4 months (SD = 7.61). The mean clinical treatment volume (CTV), after adding together the volume of each lesion for each patient was 5.39 cc (SD = 7.6) at baseline. A total of 20.2% (n = 89) had local failure (increase in volume by  > 25%) with a mean time to progression of 7.719 months (SD = 6.09). The progression free survival (PFS) for the cohort at 3, 6 and 12 months were found to be 94.9%, 84.3%, and 69.4%, respectively. On multivariable cox regression analysis, factors associated with increased hazard of local failure included male gender (HR 1.65, 95% CI 1.03-2.66, p = 0.037), chemotherapy at or before SRS (HR = 2.39, 95% CI 1.41-4.05, p = 0.001), WBRT at or before SRS (HR = 2.21, 95% CI 1.16- 4.22, p = 0.017), while surgical resection (HR 0.45, 95% CI 0.21-0. 97, p = 0.04) and immunotherapy (0.34, 95% CI 0.16-0.50, p = 0.014) were associated with lower hazard of local failure., Conclusion: Factors found to be predictive of local failure included higher RPA score and those receiving chemotherapy, while patients undergoing surgical resection and those with occipital lobe lesions were less likely to experience local failure. Our analyses not only corroborate those previously reported but also demonstrate the utility of a multi-institutional registry to advance real-world SRS research for patients with intracranial metastatic lesions.

Background: Elective lumbar fusion is a commonly employed procedure for degenerative lumbar spine disease. With healthcare costs rising reimbursement for procedures may be restricted by payers. Additionally, patients may undergo elective fusion once deductibles are covered, typically in the fourth quarter in a given year. The objective of this study was to analyze the trends in utilization for posterior lumbar fusion (PLF) earlier in the year (Q1-Q3) as compared to the end of the year(Q4). Variations in this proposed trend by insurance type were also studied as a primary outcome., Methods: We queried the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project-National Inpatient Sample (HCUP-NIS) between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2014 for patients diagnosed with lumbar disc degenerative disease (DDD). Outcomes of interest included utilization and frequency of PLF., Results: 221,466 patients hospitalized with Lumbar DDD between 2012 and 2014 were identified. Of these, 67,343(30.4 %) underwent a PLF procedure. The likelihood of lumbar fusion in patients hospitalized with DDD was significantly higher in the 4th quarter, compared to 1st quarter (OR1.13, p < 0.001). Marginal effect analysis indicated that Medicare patients were 1.0 % more likely to undergo PLF in quarter 4 compared to quarters 1-3 (p = 0.003), while privately insured patients were 2.5 % more likely to undergo PLF in quarter 4 compared to quarters 1-3(p < 0.001)., Conclusion: These results indicate that utilization of PLF is higher at the end of the year relative to the beginning, especially for patients with private insurance. This may be due to deductibles that have previously been paid off, lowering out-of-pocket expenses., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Over the past 2 decades, management of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) has evolved significantly. In the current study, we sought to evaluate the national prevalence and management trends of iNPH in the United States using a national database., Methods: The National Inpatient Sample was queried for patients with an International Classification of Diseases diagnosis code for iNPH from 2007 to 2017. Trends in prevalence and procedure type were evaluated per 100,000 discharges and as a percentage of discharges, using weighted discharges. Utilization of procedure type across U.S. regions and hospital types was also compared., Results: From 2007 to 2017, 302,460 weighted discharges with any diagnosis code for iNPH, aged ≥60 years, were identified. Prevalence ranged from 0.04% to 0.20% (41/100,000 to 202/100,000) among admitted patients ≥60 years old, giving an average prevalence during the study duration of 0.18% (179/100,000). Of 66,759 weighted discharges with a primary diagnosis code of iNPH undergoing surgical management, ventriculoperitoneal shunt (72.0% of discharges, n = 48,977) was most commonly used; of these, 9.3% (n = 4567) were performed laparoscopically. This result was followed by lumbar peritoneal shunt (15.1% of discharges, n = 10,441). Up to 15.1% (n = 9990) of discharges reported only a lumbar puncture, assumed to be only diagnostic, for screening, or part of serial cerebrospinal fluid removal procedures. Significant discrepancies in procedure utilization were also identified among hospitals in the Western, Southern, Northeast and Midwest regions, as well as between urban and rural hospitals (P < 0.05)., Conclusions: We have summarized the national prevalence of iNPH, trends in its management over the previous decade and trends by region and hospital type., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To evaluate whether a digital surveillance model using Google Trends is feasible for obtaining accurate data on coronavirus disease 2019 and whether accurate predictions can be made regarding new cases., Methods: Data on total and daily new cases in each US state were collected from January 22, 2020, to April 6, 2020. Information regarding 10 keywords was collected from Google Trends, and correlation analyses were performed for individual states as well as for the United States overall., Results: Among the 10 keywords analyzed from Google Trends, face mask, Lysol, and COVID stimulus check had the strongest correlations when looking at the United States as a whole, with R values of 0.88, 0.82, and 0.79, respectively. Lag and lead Pearson correlations were assessed for every state and all 10 keywords from 16 days before the first case in each state to 16 days after the first case. Strong correlations were seen up to 16 days prior to the first reported cases in some states., Conclusion: This study documents the feasibility of syndromic surveillance of internet search terms to monitor new infectious diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019. This information could enable better preparation and planning of health care systems., (Copyright © 2020 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Characterizing disparities that exist at safety-net hospitals is crucial for crafting national healthcare reform policies. Healthcare disparities in performing elective neurosurgical procedures like anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) at safety-net hospitals have not yet been examined., Objective: We use the National Inpatient Sample (NIS), a national all-payer healthcare database of inpatient admissions, to determine whether safety-net hospitals can provide equitable care after elective ACDF., Methods: The NIS from 2002 to 2011 was queried for patients who received ACDF in the context of degenerative spine disease. Hospital safety-net burden was designated as low (LBH), medium (MBH), or high (HBH) based on the proportion of inpatient admissions that were billed as Medicaid, self-pay, or charity care. Significance was set at p < 0.001., Results: A total of 219,433 admissions were included in this analysis. HBHs were more likely than LBHs to treat patients who were Black, Hispanic, on Medicaid, or had myelopathy (p < 0.001). After adjusting for patient, hospital, and clinical factors, treatment at an HBH was associated with greater in-patient inflation-adjusted log cost (p < 0.001), but not with greater length of stay (LOS) (p = 0.04) or odds of an inpatient adverse event like death, incidental durotomy, surgical site infections, deep vein thromboses and others (OR 95 % CI = 0.86-1.42, p = 0.43) compared to LBHs., Discussion: Safety net hospitals had greater inpatient costs, but no greater LOS or odds of inpatient adverse events after elective ACDF. These results demonstrate a need for policies that reduce the cost of performing ACDFs at SNHs., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Outpatient spine surgery has been increasingly used recently owing to its perceived cost benefits and its ability to offset the volume from the inpatient setting. However, the 30-day outcomes of outpatient posterior lumbar fusion (PLF) for low-risk patients have not been extensively studied. In the present study, we assessed the 30-day outcomes of outpatient PLF surgery for low-risk patients using a national surgical quality registry., Methods: For the present study, we queried the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program for patients who had undergone PLF from 2009 to 2016. Only patients with an American Society of Anesthesiologists grade of 1-2 were included. The 30-day outcomes, including any complications, readmissions, and reoperations, were studied using multivariable logistic regression after adjustment for an array of patient-specific factors., Results: A total of 29,830 cases were identified. Of these 29,830 cases, 1016 (3.4%) had been performed as outpatient cases and 28,814 (96.6%) as inpatient. After adjusting for an array of patient-specific factors, we did not find any significant association between the procedure setting and complication rate (odds ratio [OR], 0.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.6-1.1; P = 0.15) or 30-day readmission rate (OR, 0.9; 95% CI, 0.6-1.4; P = 0.76). Patients undergoing outpatient PLF were more likely to have required a 30-day reoperation (OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.1-2.4; P = 0.02)., Conclusion: Our results have demonstrated that the 30-day outcomes of patients who have undergone outpatient PLF might be comparable to those of patients who have undergone PLF in an inpatient setting. However, outpatient surgery might be associated with a greater overall reoperation rate., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Patients with a comorbid mental illness have been observed to have worse outcomes following surgery. However, little is known about the effects of mental disorders on patient outcomes following spinal surgery. In the current study, we sought to investigate the characteristics of patients with mental illness, particularly anxiety, major depressive disorder, concurrent anxiety and schizophrenia, and the impact of these comorbid conditions on outcomes of patients undergoing anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) using a national administrative database., Patients and Methods: The National Readmissions Database (NRD) was queried for patients undergoing an ACDF between 2012 and September 30th, 2015. The presence of anxiety, major depressive disorder, concurrent anxiety and schizophrenia were captured using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes. Multivariable logistic regression was used to establish an association between a mental comorbidity and risk of 30- and 90- day readmission., Results: A total of 139,877 patients undergoing elective ACDF between 2012-2015 were identified, of which 15,927 (11.39 %) had anxiety, 514 (0.38 %) had major depressive disorder, 248 (0.18 %) had concurrent anxiety and major depressive disorder, and 287 (0.21 %) had schizophrenia. Upon multivariable analysis of procedural related readmissions, adjusting for an array of patient and hospital related factors, patients with schizophrenia, compared to controls, had a significantly higher risk of 30-day readmission (OR 2.62, 95 %CI 1.42-4.84, p = 0.002); moreover, schizophrenia (OR = 1.92, 95 % CI 1.13-3.25, p = 0.016) anxiety (OR = 1.13, 95 %CI 1.02-1.26, p = 0.023) were also associated with significantly higher risk of 90-day readmission., Conclusion: Our analysis indicates that mental illness comorbidities may be associated with increased rates of procedure related readmission and longer length of stay following elective ACDF., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest No funding sources or conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The Quality Outcomes Database (QOD), formerly known as the National Neurosurgery Quality Outcomes Database (N2QOD), was established by the NeuroPoint Alliance (NPA) in collaboration with relevant national stakeholders and experts. The overarching goal of this project was to develop a centralized, nationally coordinated effort to allow individual surgeons and practice groups to collect, measure, and analyze practice patterns and neurosurgical outcomes. Specific objectives of this registry program were as follows: "1) to establish risk-adjusted national benchmarks for both the safety and effectiveness of neurosurgical procedures, 2) to allow practice groups and hospitals to analyze their individual morbidity and clinical outcomes in real time, 3) to generate both quality and efficiency data to support claims made to public and private payers and objectively demonstrate the value of care to other stakeholders, 4) to demonstrate the comparative effectiveness of neurosurgical and spine procedures, 5) to develop sophisticated 'risk models' to determine which subpopulations of patients are most likely to benefit from specific surgical interventions, and 6) to facilitate essential multicenter trials and other cooperative clinical studies." The NPA has launched several neurosurgical specialty modules in the QOD program in the 7 years since its inception including lumbar spine, cervical spine, and spinal deformity and cerebrovascular and intracranial tumor. The QOD Spine modules, which are the primary subject of this paper, have evolved into the largest North American spine registries yet created and have resulted in unprecedented cooperative activities within our specialty and among affiliated spine care practitioners. Herein, the authors discuss the experience of QOD Spine programs to date, with a brief description of their inception, some of the key achievements and milestones, as well as the recent transition of the spine modules to the American Spine Registry (ASR), a collaboration between the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).

Background: Preoperative laboratory tests are varied in their administration among physicians, and previous studies have published conflicting reports on their utility. Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is a commonly performed spine surgery, and patients often undergo preoperative testing. We sought to assess the relationship between preoperative laboratory values and risk for adverse postoperative outcomes after ACDF., Methods: The American College of Surgeons-National Surgical Quality Improvement Program was queried from 2012 to 2017 to identify patients undergoing elective ACDF. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to assess the association between abnormal laboratory test values and adverse 30-day outcomes. Relative predictor importance was determined using an importance metric defined as Wald χ 2 penalized by degrees of freedom., Results: A total of 47,111 patients were included. On multivariable analysis, high creatinine (P = 0.030), anemia (P < 0.001), hyponatremia (P = 0.034), and leukocytosis (P < 0.001) were found to be significantly associated with any 30-day complications. Anemia (P < 0.001), hypernatremia (P = 0.028), hyponatremia (P = 0.016), and leukocytosis (P < 0.001) were found to be significantly associated with serious 30-day complications. High creatinine (P = 0.027), anemia (P < 0.001), hyponatremia (P = 0.047), and leukocytosis (P = 0.004) were found to be significantly associated with 30-day unplanned readmissions. High blood urea nitrogen (P = 0.007), high creatinine (P = 0.028), anemia (P < 0.001), low platelet count (P < 0.001), hyponatremia (P < 0.001), and leukocytosis (P < 0.001) were found to be significantly associated with nonhome discharge. Predictor importance analysis revealed that abnormal preoperative laboratory values were important determinants in predicting these 30-day outcomes., Conclusions: Our analyses indicate that abnormal preoperative laboratory values are associated with increased risk for adverse outcomes after elective ACDF and can be used in predictive analyses of outcomes., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The nature of the volume-outcome relationship in cases with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains unclear, with considerable interhospital variation in patient outcomes. The objective of this study was to understand the state of the volume-outcome relationship at different levels of trauma centers in the United States., Methods: The authors queried the National Trauma Data Bank for the years 2007-2014 for patients with severe TBI. Case volumes for each level of trauma center organized into quintiles (Q1-Q5) served as the primary predictor. Analyzed outcomes included in-hospital mortality, total hospital length of stay (LOS), and intensive care unit (ICU) stay. Multivariable regression models were performed for in-hospital mortality, overall complications, and total hospital and ICU LOSs to adjust for possible confounders. The analysis was stratified by level designation of the trauma center. Statistical significance was established at p < 0.001 to avoid a type I error due to a large sample size., Results: A total of 122,445 patients were included. Adjusted analysis did not demonstrate a significant relationship between increasing hospital volume of severe TBI cases and in-hospital mortality, complications, and nonhome hospital discharge disposition among level I-IV trauma centers. However, among level II trauma centers, hospital LOS was longer for the highest volume quintile (adjusted mean difference [MD] for Q5: 2.83 days, 95% CI 1.40-4.26 days, p < 0.001, reference = Q1). For level III and IV trauma centers, both hospital LOS and ICU LOS were longer for the highest volume quintile (adjusted MD for Q5: LOS 4.6 days, 95% CI 2.3-7.0 days, p < 0.001; ICU LOS 3.2 days, 95% CI 1.6-4.8 days, p < 0.001)., Conclusions: Higher volumes of severe TBI cases at a lower level of trauma center may be associated with a longer LOS. These results may assist policymakers with target interventions for resource allocation and point to the need for careful prehospital decision-making in patients with severe TBI.

Background: Use of large databases such as the American College of Surgeons-National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) has become increasingly common in neurosurgical research., Objective: To perform a critical appraisal and evaluation of the methodological reporting for studies in neurosurgical literature that utilize the ACS-NSQIP database., Methods: We queried Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PubMed databases for all neurosurgical studies utilizing the ACS-NSQIP. We assessed each study according to number of criteria fulfilled with respect to Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) Statement, REporting of studies Conducted using Observational Routinely-collected Health Data (RECORD) Statement, and Journal of American Medical Association-Surgical Section (JAMA-Surgery) Checklist. A separate analysis was conducted among papers published in core and noncore journals in neurosurgery according to Bradford's law., Results: A total of 117 studies were included. Median (interquartile range [IQR]) scores for number of fulfilled criteria for STROBE Statement, RECORD Statement, and JAMA-Surgery Checklist were 20 (IQR:19-21), 9 (IQR:8-9), and 6 (IQR:5-6), respectively. For STROBE Statement, RECORD Statement, and JAMA-Surgery Checklist, item 9 (potential sources of bias), item 13 (supplemental information), and item 9 (missing data/sensitivity analysis) had the highest number of studies with no fulfillment among all studies (56, 68, 50%), respectively. When comparing core journals vs noncore journals, no significant difference was found (STROBE, P = .94; RECORD, P = .24; JAMA-Surgery checklist, P = .60)., Conclusion: While we observed an overall satisfactory reporting of methodology, most studies lacked mention of potential sources of bias, data cleaning methods, supplemental information, and external validity. Given the pervasive role of national databases and registries for research and health care policy, the surgical community needs to ensure the credibility and quality of such studies that ultimately aim to improve the value of surgical care delivery to patients., (Copyright © 2019 by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.)

Background: In the modern, increasingly pay-for-performance era, unplanned return to the operating room (ROR) is gaining attention as a surgical quality metric. However, large-scale data on the appropriateness and usefulness of this measure in neurosurgery are scarce., Objective: To provide a comprehensive description of all RORs after neurosurgical procedures in a national surgical registry and identify factors associated with ROR., Methods: We queried the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program multicenter database for patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures during 2012-2016. Multivariable logistic regression was conducted to identify factors associated with 30-day unplanned ROR after the 3 most common inpatient cranial and spinal operations: craniotomy for intra-axial neoplasm, convexity/falx meningioma, or skull base tumors; anterior cervical discectomy and fusion; and posterior lumbar decompression and posterior lumbar fusion., Results: A total of 193,459 cases were identified, of which 7067 (3.7%) had at least 1 unplanned ROR within 30 days after the index procedure (inpatient, 4.3%; outpatient, 1.5%). Overall, the most common reasons were wound complication/surgical site infection (0.7%), hematoma evacuation (0.6%), and repeat surgery (0.5%). On multivariable analysis, the relative amount of variation in reoperation risk was found to be 1%-24% for demographics, 1%-19% for comorbidities, 1%-6% for preoperative laboratory values, and 4%-58% for operative characteristics., Conclusions: These findings may inform stakeholders on the optimal parameters that need to be taken into account when crafting, endorsing, and implementing quality metrics for neurosurgery that aim to assess surgical performance and reward or penalize hospitals and providers., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The effect of marital status and living arrangements on health through modified health behaviors and social networks has been well-established in reported studies, with many experts claiming a "protective" effect from married life for individuals. We sought to study the effect of marital and socioeconomic status (SES) on the outcomes of patients with spinal cord tumors., Methods: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program was queried for patients with spinal cord tumors from 2004 to 2014. Patients were separated into 4 groups according to their marital status: single/never married, married/living together, divorced/separated, and widowed. SES was calculated using a validated method. Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariable logistic and Cox regression analyses were used to investigate the relationship between marital status and SES and the mortality rate of patients with available follow-up information., Results: Of the 1188 patients identified (683 women [57.5%] and 505 men [42.5%]), 241 (20.3%) were in the single group, 732 (61.6%) in the married/living together, 109 (9.2%) in the divorced/separated, and 106 (8.9%) in the widowed group. Compared with married patients, divorced/separated and widowed patients had a greater mortality rate (hazard ratio [HR], 1.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1-2.9; P = 0.02; HR, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.3-3.1; P = 0.001, respectively). Male sex compared with female was associated with lower survival (HR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.03-1.9; P = 0.03). Patients with greater SES had a lower mortality rate (HR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.55-1.08; P = 0.143)., Conclusion: Unmarried and widowed status, lower SES, and male sex resulted in a greater risk of mortality. These factors should be considered when tailoring the treatment plan for such patients., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)