PCD News Summary for July 27, 2017

About the Journal: Published every Thursday, Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) is a peer-reviewed online journal established by CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. The News Media Branch prepares press summary packets each week. To receive these press summaries on an embargoed basis, send an e-mail to media@cdc.gov. Please note that this e-mail list is for credentialed journalists only. All others, please visit Hookup to Health to sign up for e-mail updates.

Notice to News Media – PCD Release Time and Embargo Policy:
CDC’s News Media Branch releases to reporters the PCD media packet every Tuesday afternoon between 12 and 2 pm.

Embargoed until Thursday, July 27, at 12:00 PM ET

Implementing a Quality Improvement Collaborative to Improve Hypertension Control and Advance Million Hearts among Low-Income Californians, 2014–2015

Melissa Newton
mnewton@cdc.gov
404-718-6281

Health plans that collaborated to share strategies on how to best reach and treat patients diagnosed with hypertension saw significant improvement in keeping high blood pressure under control. The California Department of Health Care Services, which administers California’s Medicaid program, conducted a quality improvement collaborative (QIC) with nine Medi-Cal managed care plans (MCPs) aimed at improving hypertension control, consistent with CDC’s Million Hearts initiative. The QIC included quarterly webinars and links to local, state, and national resources. Control rates improved significantly in seven of nine MCPs. Participating MCPs demonstrated an average increase of 5.0 percentage points in their rates of controlled hypertension; the highest improvement was an increase of 14.6 percentage points. These results suggest that learning collaboratives can advance health care quality metrics with a moderate investment of resources.

Comorbid Arthritis Is Associated with Lower Health-Related Quality of Life in Older Adults with Other Chronic Conditions, United States, 2013–2014

Melissa Newton
mnewton@cdc.gov
404-718-6281

A study of Medicare Advantage patients with arthritis reported lower health-related quality of life and greater activity limitations than patients without arthritis. Researchers also found an association between comorbid arthritis and even lower health-related quality of life among people with five common chronic conditions. Adults ages 65 years or older with Medicare Advantage coverage in November or December 2014 who responded to a health-related quality of life survey were identified. Of the 58,975 survey respondents, 44 percent had arthritis diagnosed through claims. Respondents with arthritis reported significantly more physical, mental, and total unhealthy days than those without. Older adults with arthritis and either congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, or hypertension reported significantly more unhealthy days than older adults without arthritis but with the same chronic conditions.

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Note: Not all articles published in PCD represent work done at CDC. In your stories, please clarify whether a study was conducted by CDC (“a CDC study”) or by another institution (“a study published by CDC”). The opinions expressed by authors contributing to PCD do not necessarily reflect the opinions of CDC or the institutions with which the authors are affiliated. PCD requests that, when possible, you include a live link to the article in your stories. 

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