title: Health-related outcomes associated with patterns of risk factors in primary care patients.
abstract: It is important to find ways to identify prevalent co-occurring health risk factors to help facilitate treatment programming. One method is to use electronic medical record (EMR) data. Funderburk et al. (J Behav Med 31:525-535, 2008) used such data and latent class analysis to identify three classes of individuals based on standard health screens administered in Veterans Affairs primary care clinics. The present study extended these results by examining the health-related outcomes for each of these identified classes. Follow-up data were collected from a subgroup of the original sample (N = 4,132). Analyses showed that class assignment predicted number of diagnoses associated with the diseases that the health screens target and number of primary care behavioral health, and emergency room encounters. The findings illustrate one way an EMR can be used to identify clusters of individuals presenting with multiple health risk factors and where the healthcare system comes in contact with them.
authors.affiliation: VA Center for Integrated Healthcare, Syracuse Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 800 Irving Ave., (116C), Syracuse, NY, 13210, USA, Jennifer.Funderburk@va.gov.
authors.forename: Jennifer S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Funderburk
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Maisto
authors.forename: Allison K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Labbe
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D015984:Causality; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs; D014728:Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data