From identifying patient safety risks to reporting patient complaints: A grounded theory study on patients' hospital experiences.

AIM: To explore how patients with hospital experience construct patient safety, from the identification of a patient safety risk to the decision to file a complaint. BACKGROUND: Patients play an important role in the prevention of adverse events in hospitals, but the ability of patients to act and influence their own safety is still challenged by multiple factors. Understanding how patients perceive risk and act to prevent harm may shed light on how to enhance patients' opportunities to participate in patient safety. DESIGN: The research design of this study is qualitative and exploratory. METHODS: Twelve participants who had experienced Swedish hospital care were interviewed between June 2022 and July 2023. The method of analysis was constructivist grounded theory, focusing on social processes. The COREQ checklist for qualitative research was followed. RESULTS: Four categories were constructed: (1) defining the boundary between one's own capacity and that of the hospital, (2) acting to minimize the impact on one's safety, (3) finding oneself in the hands of healthcare professionals and (4) exploring the boundaries between normality and abnormality of the situation. This process was captured in the core category of navigating the path of least suffering. This illustrated how the participants constructed meaning about patient safety risks and showed that they prevented multiple adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Provided that participants were able to act independently, they avoided a multitude of adverse events. When they were dependent on healthcare professionals, their safety became more vulnerable. Failure to respond to the participants' concerns could lead to long-term suffering. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: By responding immediately to patients' concerns about their safety, healthcare professionals can help prevent avoidable suffering and exhaustive searching for someone in the healthcare system who will take their needs seriously. PATIENT CONTRIBUTION: A member check was performed with the help of one of the participants who read the findings to confirm familiarity.

Struggling for access to appropriate healthcare services: A qualitative content analysis of patient complaints.

AIM: This study aimed to describe circumstances concerning access for patients and relatives to take part in patient health and safety in a hospital setting. DESIGN: This study used a qualitative descriptive design and was conducted at a Swedish university hospital. METHOD: The 79 complaints reported by patients and relatives included in this study were registered between January 2017 and June 2019. These complaints were classified as concerning access to healthcare services. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: The overarching theme, struggling for access as a human being in the healthcare system, encompassed three themes describing patients' and relatives' needs. The three themes were (1) navigating through the healthcare organization, (2) making sense of self and what is going on and (3) being acknowledged as having needs. CONCLUSION: Patients and relatives continuously participate in various ways in healthcare to promote health and prevent patient harm. Our findings contribute important knowledge about the meaning of access from a broad healthcare system perspective. Access was restricted in terms of appropriateness in how patients' needs were met. This restriction of access risked the deterioration of patient health and safety. IMPACT: Patients and relatives play an active part in patient health and safety, although their attempts are sometimes hindered. Restrictions in the appropriateness of access prevented patients and relatives from taking part in patient health and safety, which appeared to mean that they had to adapt and expend effort to the point that it negatively affected their health and everyday life. These findings concern all patients, relatives and healthcare professionals in hospital-associated settings. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No patient or public contribution.

Development of forecast models for COVID-19 hospital admissions using anonymized and aggregated mobile network data.

Reliable forecast of COVID-19 hospital admissions in near-term horizons can help enable effective resource management which is vital in reducing pressure from healthcare services. The use of mobile network data has come to attention in response to COVID-19 pandemic leveraged on their ability in capturing people social behavior. Crucially, we show that there are latent features in irreversibly anonymized and aggregated mobile network data that carry useful information in relation to the spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus. We describe development of the forecast models using such features for prediction of COVID-19 hospital admissions in near-term horizons (21 days). In a case study, we verified the approach for two hospitals in Sweden, Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Södra Älvsborgs Hospital, working closely with the experts engaged in the hospital resource planning. Importantly, the results of the forecast models were used in year 2021 by logisticians at the hospitals as one of the main inputs for their decisions regarding resource management.

Time-out in prolonged labour: development of a care model to prevent secondary fear of childbirth.

BACKGROUND: During qualitative improvement work, the statistics at the hospital reveal prolonged labour as one of the major causes of secondary fear of childbirth (FOC). The aim of this improvement work was to develop and implement a care process for prolonged labour to prevent secondary FOC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To explore the factors behind secondary FOC among multiparous women, a follow-up of referral reasons for 600 women with severe FOC was made between 2015 and 2017 at a Swedish University Hospital. In the group with the most common factor, namely prolonged labour, 41 women were interviewed. From their answers, further research and existing professional knowledge, a care process to prevent secondary FOC was designed, 'Time-out in prolonged labour' (the Time-out). To improve the quality of the care process, the functional resonance analysis method was used. The findings from the interviews were categorised into three themes: lack of involvement; lack of communication and information; and lack of care plan. The women explained that if these areas had been fulfilled, it may have reduced their FOC. RESULT: To prevent the above-mentioned themes, 'Time-out in prolonged labour' was developed with supporting factors such as gathering the interprofessional team, collecting information, dialogue within the team and the involvement of the women when deciding the care plan. Result after implementation shows a reduction of referral reason due to prolonged labour for women with severe FOC from 28% in 2016 to 8.5% in 2020. CONCLUSIONS: The Time-out is a good model to prevent secondary FOC. Central aspects of the model are to ensure women's involvement, good communication and a documented care plan for women in prolonged labour. The supporting factor of interprofessional teamwork is of importance when using the Time-out in practice.

The amount of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater relates to the development of the pandemic and its burden on the health system.

Virus surveillance in wastewater can be a useful indicator of the development of the COVID-19 pandemic in communities. However, knowledge about how the amount of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater relates to different data on the burden on the health system is still limited. Herein, we monitored the amount of SARS-CoV-2 RNA and the spectrum of virus variants in weekly pooled wastewater samples for two years from mid-February 2020 and compared them with several clinical data. The two-year monitoring showed the weekly changes in the amount of viral RNA in wastewater preceded the hospital care needs for COVID-19 and the number of acute calls on adult acute respiratory distress by 1-2 weeks during the first three waves of COVID-19. Our study demonstrates that virus surveillance in wastewater can predict the development of a pandemic and its burden on the health system, regardless of society's test capacity and possibility of tracking infected cases.

Coexisting service-related factors preceding suicide: a network analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The overall objective was to analyse service-related factors involved in the complex processes that precede suicide in order to identify potential targets for intervention. DESIGN AND SETTING: Explorative network analysis study of post-suicide root cause analysis data from Swedish primary and secondary healthcare. PARTICIPANTS: 217 suicide cases reported to the Swedish national root cause analysis database between 2012 and 2017. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: A total of 961 reported incidents were included. Demographic data and frequencies of reported deficiencies were registered. Topology, centrality indices and communities were explored for three networks. All networks have been tested for robustness and accuracy. RESULTS: Lack of follow-up, evaluations and insufficient documentation issues emerged as central in the network of major themes, as did the contributing factors representing organisational problems, failing procedures and miscommunication. When analysing the subthemes of deficiencies more closely, disrupted treatments and staffing issues emerged as prominent features. The network covering the subthemes of contributing factors also highlighted discontinuity, fragile work structures, inadequate routines, and lack of resources and relevant competence as potential triggers. However, as the correlation stability coefficients for this network were low, the results need further investigation. Four communities were detected covering nodes for follow-up, evaluation, cooperation, and procedures; communication, documentation and organisation; assessments of suicide risk and psychiatric status; and staffing, missed appointments and declined treatment. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that healthcare providers may improve patient safety in suicide preventive pathways by taking active measures to provide regular follow-ups to patients with elevated suicide risk. In some cases, declined or cancelled appointments could be a warning sign. Tentative results show organisational instability, in terms of work structure, resources and staffing, as a potential target for intervention, although this must be more extensively explored in the future.

Predicting regional COVID-19 hospital admissions in Sweden using mobility data.

The transmission of COVID-19 is dependent on social mixing, the basic rate of which varies with sociodemographic, cultural, and geographic factors. Alterations in social mixing and subsequent changes in transmission dynamics eventually affect hospital admissions. We employ these observations to model and predict regional hospital admissions in Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic. We use an SEIR-model for each region in Sweden in which the social mixing is assumed to depend on mobility data from public transport utilisation and locations for mobile phone usage. The results show that the model could capture the timing of the first and beginning of the second wave of the pandemic 3 weeks in advance without any additional assumptions about seasonality. Further, we show that for two major regions of Sweden, models with public transport data outperform models using mobile phone usage. We conclude that a model based on routinely collected mobility data makes it possible to predict future hospital admissions for COVID-19 3 weeks in advance.

Surveillance of wastewater revealed peaks of SARS-CoV-2 preceding those of hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

SARS-CoV-2 was discovered among humans in Wuhan, China in late 2019, and then spread rapidly, causing a global pandemic. The virus was found to be transmitted mainly by respiratory droplets from infected persons or by direct contact. It was also shown to be excreted in feces, why we investigated whether the virus could be detected in wastewater and if so, to which extent its levels reflects its spread in society. Samples of wastewater from the city of Gothenburg, and surrounding municipalities in Sweden were collected daily from mid-February until June 2020 at the Rya wastewater treatment plant. Flow proportional samples of wastewater were collected to ensure that comparable amounts were obtained for analysis. Daily samples were pooled into weekly samples. Virus was concentrated on a filter and analyzed by RT-qPCR. The amount of SARS-CoV-2 varied with peaks approximately every four week, preceding variations in number of newly hospitalized patients by 19-21 days. At that time virus testing for COVID-19 was limited to patients with severe symptoms. Local differences in viral spread was shown by analyzing weekly composite samples of wastewater from five sampling sites for four weeks. The highest amount of virus was found from the central, eastern, and northern parts of the city. SARS-CoV-2 was also found in the treated effluent wastewater from the WWTP discharged into the recipient, the Göta River, although with a reduction of 4-log10. The viral peaks with regular temporal intervals indicated that SARS-CoV-2 may have a cluster spread, probably reflecting that the majority of infected persons only spread the disease during a few days. Our results are important for both the planning of hospital care and to rapidly identify and intervene against local spread of the virus.

CD4+ CD25high regulatory T cells reduce T cell transendothelial migration in cancer patients.

Cell-mediated immunity is thought to be the main mechanism of anti-tumour responses of the host, but it is not known if cancer disease affects T cell recruitment from blood to tissues. Therefore, we compared Heliobacter pylori-induced T cell transendothelial migration (TEM) in H. pylori-infected gastric carcinoma patients, colon and lung carcinoma patients and healthy volunteers. H. pylori induced significant T cell migration from all groups. However, there was a dramatic reduction of T cell TEM in gastric carcinoma patients (80%) compared to healthy individuals. A similarly reduced transmigration was also seen in colon and lung carcinoma patients. We found significantly increased frequencies of T(reg) cells in the blood of gastric carcinoma patients compared to healthy individuals, and depletion of T(reg) cells from the blood of these patients prior to TEM restored T cell migration. The effect of T(reg) cells was largely dependent on cell-cell contact, but not on IL-10 or TGF-beta. In addition, the presence of T(reg) cells led to reduced T cell attachment to endothelium and decreased production of T cell-recruiting chemokines during TEM. In conclusion, T(reg) cell-mediated reduction of T cell TEM may reduce T cell recruitment in patients with epithelial malignancies, thereby hampering anti-tumour responses.

Expression of epithelial-cell adhesion molecule (Ep-CAM) in small cell lung cancer as defined by monoclonal antibodies 17-1A and BerEP4.

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) comprises 15-20% of all lung cancer. Despite high initial response to chemotherapy chemoresistance at relapse leads to a less than 5% five-year survival rate. Adjuvant treatment with monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) against SCLC antigens may offer a therapeutic option. Mab 17-1A directed against the epithelial-cell adhesion molecule (Ep-CAM) has been extensively tested for therapy in patients with colorectal carcinoma. Expression of Ep-CAM in SCLC has been earlier described. However, reactivity of Mab 17-1A and another Ep-CAM-binding Mab BerEP4 has not yet been described for SCLC. Using immunohistology first with BerEP4 and confirmatory with 17-1A a homogenous and strong expression of Ep-CAM was seen in all SCLC specimens tested (n = 10). For comparison, heterogenous expression was seen in the non-SCLC tumors tested (n = 15). These findings strongly suggest that Mab 17-1A can be useful for adjuvant immunotherapy in patients with SCLC. For detection of Ep-CAM in tumor tissue in patients that might be considered for immunotherapy with Mab 17-1A, Mab BerEP4 appears to be preferred.

Gangliosides as therapeutic targets for cancer.

Gangliosides, sialic acid-containing glycosphingolipids, have engendered great interest for more than 20 years in the search for target molecules of relevance for tumour growth and formation of metastases and as potential targets for immunotherapy. These molecules show large quantitative and structural variability, which is related to cell type and developmental stage. Their potential role in the formation of tumour metastases was suggested from data supporting that they are involved in cell growth regulation and in cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion. Moreover, gangliosides are expressed on the cell surface and thereby are accessible for antibodies or other ganglioside-binding molecules to induce cell death, inhibit cell growth and/or inhibit formation of tumour metastasis. All tumours exhibit aberrant ganglioside expression. This includes overexpression of normal ganglioside constituents, which appears to be common among various tumours, and expression of gangliosides not found in normal adult tissue but often found during fetal development. The ganglioside composition of melanoma cells has been found to correlate with their metastatic potential and also to be selectively expressed in cells of a tumour mass and invading tumour cells. Passive immunotherapy using murine or murine/human chimeric monoclonal antiganglioside antibodies in their native form or combined with various effector molecules has been investigated. However, the vaccination strategy using native or structurally modified tumour-associated gangliosides in combination with adjuvants is currently the dominant method in clinical trials. The outcomes reported so far vary between type of tumour and treatment strategies. However, we believe that targeting gangliosides is as promising as any other immune therapeutic strategy, and basic research as well as clinical trials utilising new aspects is encouraged.