Automated Extraction of Mortality Information From Publicly Available Sources Using Large Language Models: Development and Evaluation Study.

Background: Mortality is a critical variable in health care research, especially for evaluating medical product safety and effectiveness. However, inconsistencies in the availability and timeliness of death date and cause of death (CoD) information present significant challenges. Conventional sources such as the National Death Index and electronic health records often experience data lags, missing fields, or incomplete coverage, limiting their utility in time-sensitive or large-scale studies.

Association of Individual and Community Factors With Hepatitis C Infections Among Pregnant People and Newborns.

Importance: The opioid crisis has increasingly affected pregnant people and infants. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, a known complication of opioid use, grew in parallel with opioid-related complications; however, the literature informing individual and community risks associated with maternal HCV infection is sparse.

Objectives: To determine (1) individual and county-level factors associated with HCV among pregnant people and their newborn infants, and (2) how county-level factors influence individual risk among the highest risk individuals.

A Cross-Sectional Study of Disparities in Screening Guideline Concordance Within a Student-Run Clinic.

Examination of screening guideline concordance can help clinics and institutions identify and understand disparities within their own practices. We conducted a study to examine whether screening completion rates within a student-run free clinic (SRFC) reflected, exacerbated, or narrowed population-level disparities in outcomes by race/ethnicity and primary language. We compared completion rates for cervical cancer (n = 114), diabetic retinopathy (n = 91), colorectal cancer (n = 114), and breast cancer (n = 63) by race/ethnicity (Black, n = 37; Hispanic, n = 133; white, n = 54; other, n = 29) and primary language (English, n = 106; Spanish, n = 136; other, n = 11) among patients at Shade tree clinic (STC), an SFRC in Nashville, TN.

Ensemble learning to predict opioid-related overdose using statewide prescription drug monitoring program and hospital discharge data in the state of Tennessee.

Objective: To develop and validate algorithms for predicting 30-day fatal and nonfatal opioid-related overdose using statewide data sources including prescription drug monitoring program data, Hospital Discharge Data System data, and Tennessee (TN) vital records. Current overdose prevention efforts in TN rely on descriptive and retrospective analyses without prognostication.

Materials And Methods: Study data included 3 041 668 TN patients with 71 479 191 controlled substance prescriptions from 2012 to 2017.

Phenotyping coronavirus disease 2019 during a global health pandemic: Lessons learned from the characterization of an early cohort.

From the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, researchers have looked to electronic health record (EHR) data as a way to study possible risk factors and outcomes. To ensure the validity and accuracy of research using these data, investigators need to be confident that the phenotypes they construct are reliable and accurate, reflecting the healthcare settings from which they are ascertained. We developed a COVID-19 registry at a single academic medical center and used data from March 1 to June 5, 2020 to assess differences in population-level characteristics in pandemic and non-pandemic years respectively.

What the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic Has Reinforced: The Need for Accurate Data.

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the United States’ existing national public health informatics infrastructure. This report details the factors that have contributed to COVID-19 data inaccuracies and reporting delays and their effect on the modeling and monitoring of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The effect of an opioid prescription days' supply limit on patients receiving long-term opioid treatment.

Background: Since 2016, an increasing number of states have passed laws restricting the days' supply for opioid prescriptions, yet little is known about how these laws affect patients. This study evaluates the effect of the Tennessee Prescription Regulatory Act, which was implemented on Oct. 1st, 2013 and restricted the maximum days' supply that could be dispensed for any opioid prescription by any prescriber to 30 days, on patients receiving long-term opioid treatment.

Prescribing patterns before and after a non-fatal drug overdose using Tennessee's controlled substance monitoring database linked to hospital discharge data.

We performed a statewide evaluation of prescribing patterns of controlled substances (CS) before and after an overdose, using Tennessee's Hospital Discharge Data System and the Controlled Substance Monitoring Database (CSMD). Adults' first non-fatal overdose discharges either from the emergency department (ED) or inpatient (IP) stay occurring between 2013 and 2016 were linked to prescriptions in the CSMD. The difference in the proportion of patients filling a prescription before versus after an overdose was calculated.

Record Linkage Approaches Using Prescription Drug Monitoring Program and Mortality Data for Public Health Analyses and Epidemiologic Studies.

Background: The use of Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) data has greatly increased in recent years as these data have accumulated as part of the response to the opioid epidemic in the United States. We evaluated the accuracy of record linkage approaches using the Controlled Substance Monitoring Database (Tennessee's [TN] PDMP, 2012-2016) and mortality data on all drug overdose decedents in Tennessee (2013-2016).

Methods: We compared total, missed, and false positive (FP) matches (with manual verification of all FPs) across approaches that included a variety of data cleaning and matching methods (probabilistic/fuzzy vs.

Prevalence and Risk Factors Associated With Long-term Opioid Use After Injury Among Previously Opioid-Free Workers.

Importance: Using opioids for acute pain can lead to long-term use and associated morbidity and mortality. Injury has been documented as a gateway to long-term opioid use in some populations, but data are limited for injured workers.

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of long-term opioid use after injury among workers in Tennessee who were opioid free at the time of injury.

Maintaining automated measurement of Choosing Wisely adherence across the ICD 9 to 10 transition.

Background: It remains unclear how to incorporate terminology changes, such as the International Classification of Disease (ICD) transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10, into established automated healthcare quality metrics.

Objective: To evaluate whether general equivalence mapping (GEM) can apply ICD-9 based metrics to ICD-10 patient data. To develop and validate novel ICD-10 reference codesets.

Prescription opioid use by injured workers in Tennessee: a descriptive study using linked statewide databases.

Purpose: This is the first study in Tennessee to measure opioid use in injured workers and among the first nationally to use a prescription drug monitoring program to do so. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to evaluate the prevalence of opioid use after injury and associated characteristics among workers reporting one injury to Tennessee Workers' Compensation.

Methods: Injured workers identified in Workers' Compensation records 2013-2015 were linked to their prescription history in Tennessee's prescription drug monitoring database.

Sociodemographic factors, prescription history and opioid overdose deaths: a statewide analysis using linked PDMP and mortality data.

Background: Opioid overdose deaths have continued to rise in Tennessee (TN) with fentanyl emerging as a major contributor. Current data are needed to identify at-risk populations to guide prevention strategies. We conducted a large statewide observational study among TN adult decedents (2013-2016) to evaluate the association of sociodemographic factors and prescribing patterns with opioid overdose deaths.

Tennessee's In-state Vulnerability Assessment for a "Rapid Dissemination of Human Immunodeficiency Virus or Hepatitis C Virus Infection" Event Utilizing Data About the Opioid Epidemic.

Background: Knowing which factors contribute to county-level vulnerability to a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/hepatitis C virus (HCV) outbreak, and which counties are most vulnerable, guides public health and clinical interventions. We therefore examined the impact of locally available indicators related to the opioid epidemic on prior national models of HIV/HCV outbreak vulnerability.

Methods: Tennessee's 95 counties were the study sample.

AHRQ series on complex intervention systematic reviews-paper 4: selecting analytic approaches.

Background: Systematic reviews of complex interventions can vary widely in purpose, data availability and heterogeneity, and stakeholder expectations.

Rationale: This article addresses the uncertainty that systematic reviewers face in selecting methods for reviews of complex interventions. Specifically, it lays out parameters for systematic reviewers to consider when selecting analytic approaches that best answer the questions at hand and suggests analytic techniques that may be appropriate in different circumstances.

Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Upper Airway-Related Dyspnea: A Systematic Review.

Importance: Patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures address the need for patient-centered data and are now used in diverse clinical, research, and policy pursuits. They are important in conditions causing upper airway-related dyspnea in which the patient's reported experience and physiological data can be discrepant.

Objectives: To perform a systematic review of the literature on upper airway dyspnea-related PRO measures and to rigorously evaluate each measure's developmental properties, validation, and applicability.

Interventions Targeting Sensory Challenges in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review.

Context: Sensory challenges are common among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of interventions targeting sensory challenges in ASD.

Data Sources: Databases, including Medline and PsycINFO.

Nutritional and Dietary Interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review.

Context: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently use special diets or receive nutritional supplements to treat ASD symptoms.

Objectives: Our objective was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of dietary interventions or nutritional supplements in ASD.

Data Sources: Databases, including Medline and PsycINFO.