OBJECTIVESubarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a devastating cerebrovascular condition, not only due to the effect of initial hemorrhage, but also due to the complication of delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI). While hypertension facilitated by vasopressors is often initiated to prevent DCI, which vasopressor is most effective in improving outcomes is not known. The objective of this study was to determine associations between initial vasopressor choice and mortality in patients with nontraumatic SAH.METHODSThe authors conducted a retrospective cohort study using a large, national electronic medical record data set from 2000–2014 to identify patients with a new diagnosis of nontraumatic SAH (based on ICD-9 codes) who were treated with the vasopressors dopamine, phenylephrine, or norepinephrine. The relationship between the initial choice of vasopressor therapy and the primary outcome, which was defined as in-hospital death or discharge to hospice care, was examined.RESULTSIn total, 2634 patients were identified with nontraumatic SAH who were treated with a vasopressor. In this cohort, the average age was 56.5 years, 63.9% were female, and 36.5% of patients developed the primary outcome. The incidence of the primary outcome was higher in those initially treated with either norepinephrine (47.6%) or dopamine (50.6%) than with phenylephrine (24.5%). After adjusting for possible confounders using propensity score methods, the adjusted OR of the primary outcome was higher with dopamine (OR 2.19, 95% CI 1.70–2.81) and norepinephrine (OR 2.24, 95% CI 1.80–2.80) compared with phenylephrine. Sensitivity analyses using different variable selection procedures, causal inference models, and machine-learning methods confirmed the main findings.CONCLUSIONSIn patients with nontraumatic SAH, phenylephrine was significantly associated with reduced mortality in SAH patients compared to dopamine or norepinephrine. Prospective randomized clinical studies are warranted to confirm this finding.
Objective:
To determine clinically meaningful subgroups of persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who have failed performance validity testing.
Method:
Study participants were selected from a cohort of 674 participants with definitive medical evidence of TBI. Participants were those who failed performance validity testing (the Word Memory Test, using the standard cutoffs). Participants were administered cognitive tests and self-report questionnaires. Test and questionnaire results were summarized as 12 dimension scores. Cluster analysis using the k-means method was performed.
Results:
Cluster analysis for the 143 retained participants indicated three subgroups. These subgroups differed on patterns of scores. Subgroup 1 was impaired for memory and had no excessive complaints. Subgroup 2 had impaired memory and processing speed as well as concern regarding cognition function. Subgroup 3 showed impairment on all cognitive tests and excess complaints in multiple areas.
Conclusions:
These results provide a preliminary basis for improved understanding of poor performance validity.
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