JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Conflicting results have been reported concerning the association between body weight and longevity. The shape of the curve relating weight to all-cause mortality has been variously described as linear, J-shaped, and even U-shaped. ⋯ The presence of these biases leads to a systematic underestimate of the impact of obesity on premature mortality. Although these biases preclude a valid assessment of optimal weight from existing data, available evidence suggests that minimum mortality occurs at relative weights at least 10% below the US average.
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To determine whether basing payments on diagnosis related groups (DRGs) results in mispayment for certain classes of patients, we examined the relation between total Medicare charges per hospitalization and eight beneficiary characteristics (including admission from a nursing home, extreme age, Medicaid enrollment, and disability). We controlled for the hospital in which care was given and the DRG to which the discharge was assigned. ⋯ Because these differences are very small compared with the average variation within DRGs, we conclude that using these beneficiary characteristics in the DRG classification system would only slightly improve DRGs. Medicare's DRG-based payments seem to be substantially equitable with regard to these beneficiary characteristics.
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Case Reports
Surreptitious insulin administration in adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.
Six adolescents, 12 to 15 years old, with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus were discovered to be secretively taking extra insulin, not with the intent of improving metabolic control. Large discrepancies between reported and observed insulin requirements were noted. Psychosocial problems antedated the discovery of surreptitious insulin administration in all. ⋯ In two patients surreptitious insulin administration was believed to represent suicidal behavior. In others, it appeared to represent symptom substitution when use of other health-threatening behaviors such as recurrent ketoacidosis was made increasingly difficult through appropriate intervention. Surreptitious insulin administration may be one symptom of serious underlying psychiatric dysfunction in adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes.