Objectives To determine if the lower mortality often observed in teaching-intensive hospitals is due to lower complication rates or lower death rates after complications (failure-to-rescue), and whether the benefits at these hospitals accrue equally to white and black patients, since blacks receive a disproportionate share of their care at teaching-intensive hospitals. Design A retrospective study of patient outcomes and teaching intensity using logistic regression models, with and without adjusting for hospital fixed and random effects. Main Outcome Measures 30-day mortality, in-hospital complications and failure-to-rescue (“FTR”, the probability of death following complications). Setting 3,270 acute care hospitals in the United States. Patients Medicare claims on general, orthopedic and vascular surgery admissions in the U.S. for 2000 – 2005 (N = 4,658,954 unique patients). Results Combining all surgeries, compared to non-teaching hospitals, patients at very major teaching hospitals demonstrated a 15% lower odds of death (P<0.0001), no difference in complications, and a 15% lower odds of death after complications (FTR) (P<0.0001). These relative benefits associated with higher RB ratio were not experienced by black patients, for whom the odds of mortality and FTR are similar at teaching and non-teaching hospitals, a pattern that is significantly different from that of white patients (P<0.0001). Conclusions Survival after surgery is higher at hospitals with higher teaching intensity. Improved survival is due to lower mortality after complications (better FTR), and generally not due to fewer complications. However, this better survival and FTR at teaching intensive hospitals is seen for whites, not for blacks.

ObjectiveElectronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS; including e-cigarettes) are rapidly evolving in the US marketplace. This study reports cross-sectional prevalence and longitudinal pathways of ENDS use across 3 years, among US youth (12–17 years), young adults (18–24 years) and adults 25+ (25 years and older).DesignData were from the first three waves (2013–2016) of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study, a nationally representative, longitudinal cohort study of US youth and adults. Respondents with data at all three waves (youth, n=11 046; young adults, n=6478; adults 25+, n=17 188) were included in longitudinal analyses.ResultsWeighted cross-sectional ever use of ENDS increased at each wave. Across all three waves, young adults had the highest percentages of past 12-month, past 30-day (P30D) and daily P30D ENDS use compared with youth and adults 25+. Only about a quarter of users had persistent P30D ENDS use at each wave. Most ENDS users were polytobacco users. Exclusive Wave 1 ENDS users had a higher proportion of subsequent discontinued any tobacco use compared with polytobacco ENDS users who also used cigarettes.ConclusionsENDS use is most common among young adults compared with youth and adults 25+. However, continued use of ENDS over 2 years is not common for any age group. Health education efforts to reduce the appeal and availability of ENDS products might focus on reducing ENDS experimentation, and on reaching the smaller subgroups of daily ENDS users to better understand their reasons for use.

ACGME duty hour reform was not associated with any consistent improvements or worsening in mortality or failure-to-rescue rates for high risk medical or surgical patients.

ObjectiveThis study reports weighted cross-sectional prevalence of never use of tobacco, and longitudinal past 12-month (P12M), past 30-day (P30D) and frequent P30D any tobacco or specific tobacco product initiation across three 1-year waves. Longitudinal three-wave pathways are examined to outline pathways of exclusive and polytobacco initiation, as well as pathways of new initiators of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) or cigarettes.DesignData were drawn from the first three waves (2013–2016) of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study, a nationally representative, longitudinal cohort study of US youth and adults. Respondents with data at all three waves (youth, N = 11 046; young adults, N = 6478; adults 25+, N = 17 188) were included in longitudinal analyses.ResultsAcross the three age groups, weighted cross-sectional analyses revealed never any tobacco use decreased each year from 2013 to 2016, reflecting overall increases in tobacco initiation in the population during this time. Compared with cigarettes, cigars, hookah and smokeless tobacco, ENDS had the highest proportion of P12M initiation from Wave 1 to Wave 3 (W3) for each age group. Among youth Wave 2 P30D initiators of exclusive ENDS or cigarettes, the most common W3 outcome was not using any tobacco (ENDS: 59.0% (95% CI 48.4 to 68.8); cigarettes: 40.3% (95% CI 28.7 to 53.1)).ConclusionsInitiation rates of ENDS among youth and young adults have increased the number of ever tobacco users in the US prevention strategies across the spectrum of tobacco products which can address youth initiation of tobacco products.

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