Multiple chronic conditions: the need for integrated secondary care.

Current hospital-level care is "mostly disease-specific and monodisciplinary-oriented". These three case reports show different journeys that patients with multiple chronic conditions experienced in Dutch secondary outpatient care, and aim to demonstrate why an integrated care approach might be beneficial for this group of patients.

[Not every delirium protocol in Dutch hospitals is up-to-date: evaluation of the implementation of the new delirium guideline]. / Niet elk delierprotocol in ziekenhuizen is up-to-date.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the extent to which the essential changes in the new Dutch delirium guideline for adults and the elderly, published in April 2014, have been incorporated in local hospital protocols, so as to estimate the consequences this could have for patients. DESIGN: Quantitative study. METHOD: Dutch hospital protocols were collected for two periods: before (September to December 2012) and after publication of the guideline (March to July 2015). Protocols were compared with respect to basic delirium care (screening, diagnostic approach, therapy and follow-up care) and organisation of care. RESULTS: Of the 80 Dutch hospitals approached, we were able to include 57 (71%) protocols in this study. 16 hospitals (28%) had adapted their protocols to the new guideline. Screening for the risk of delirium using the questions from the Dutch safety management system (Veiligheidsmanagementsysteem) was described in 29 (51%) of the protocols. Use of the Delirium Observation Screening Scale was reported in 52 (91%) protocols. A policy of moderation regarding antipsychotic therapy was described in 12 of 53 (23%) protocols, but in 21/53 (40%) the haloperidol dosages were higher than advised by the guideline. Follow-up care is described in 40 (70%) of the protocols. Organisation of delirium care, for example restriction of consultation of an expert to complex cases, was advised in 33/57 (58%) protocols. CONCLUSION: 15 months after publication, only just over a quarter of the protocols incorporated the guideline. In terms of the treatment of patients with delirium, this may have led to unnecessary treatment with antipsychotics. Furthermore, basic delirium care is apparently still not considered as the responsibility of every medical specialist in the hospital.

Electrocardiographic abnormalities in patients admitted for hip fracture.

BACKGROUND: Several risk factors for falls and hip fractures have been recognised, but controversy still exists regarding the importance of rhythm and conduction abnormalities as potentially modifiable risk factors for recurrent falls. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of clinically relevant ECG abnormalities in patients with a hip fracture versus controls. METHODS: The study was designed as a case-control study within consecutive hip surgery patients in an academic hospital. CASES: patients with traumatic hip fractures. CONTROLS: patients undergoing planned hip surgery (non-traumatic). CASES and controls were 1:1 matched for age and gender. INCLUSION CRITERIA: age ≥ 50 years. EXCLUSION CRITERIA: high-energy trauma, pathological and÷or previous hip fracture. ECGs were scored using predefined categories. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to calculate odds ratios (OR) and to correct for confounders. RESULTS: We included 888 patients (444 cases). Mean age was 70.9 years (SD 9.3), 70% were female. After correction for potential confounders we found the following associations between clinically relevant ECG abnormalities and hip fractures: atrial fibrillation OR 2.7 (95% CI 1.2-6.1), abnormal QTc prolongation OR 3.9 (2.2-6.8), sinus tachycardia OR 5.0 (2.1-11.8) and sinus bradycardia OR 0.3 (0.1-0.5). Univariately, several markers for decreased cardiac function were also associated with hip fractures. CONCLUSIONS: Hip fracture patients are at higher risk for ECG abnormalities than matched patients undergoing hip surgery for other indications. To potentially reduce the risk of future (injurious) falls, increased awareness of these ECG abnormalities is warranted to assess the need for further cardiovascular fall risk assessment.

[Comparing case management care models for people with dementia and their caregivers: the design of the COMPAS study]. / Implementatie, effecten en kosten van casemanagement voor mensen met dementie en hun mantelzorgers: beschrijving van de COMPAS studie.

BACKGROUND: Dementia care in The Netherlands is shifting from fragmented, ad hoc care to more coordinated and personalized care. Case management contributes to this shift. The linkage model and a combination of intensive case management and joint agency care models were selected based on their emerging prominence in The Netherlands. It is unclear if these different forms of case management are more effective than usual care in improving or preserving the functioning and well-being at the patient and caregiver level and at the societal cost. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article is to describe the design of a study comparing these two case management care models against usual care. Clinical and cost outcomes are investigated while care processes and the facilitators and barriers for implementation of these models are considered. DESIGN: Mixed methods include a prospective, observational, controlled, cohort study among persons with dementia and their primary informal caregiver in regions of The Netherlands with and without case management including a qualitative process evaluation. Community-dwelling individuals with a dementia diagnosis with an informal caregiver are included. The primary outcome measure is the Neuropsychiatric Inventory for the people with dementia and the General Health Questionnaire for their caregivers. Costs are measured from a societal perspective. Semi-structured interviews with stakeholders based on the theoretical model of adaptive implementation are planned. RESULTS: 521 pairs of persons with dementia and their primary informal caregiver were included and are followed over two years. In the linked model substantially more impeding factors for implementation were identified compared with the model. DISCUSSION: This article describes the design of an evaluation study of two case management models along with clinical and economic data from persons with dementia and caregivers. The impeding and facilitating factors differed substantially between the two models. Further results on cost-effectiveness are expected by the beginning of 2015. This is a Dutch adaptation of MacNeil Vroomen et al., Comparing Dutch case management care models for people with dementia and their caregivers: The design of the COMPAS study.

[Admission of elderly patients to intensive care]. / Opname van oudere patiënten op de intensive care.

Elderly patients have an increased probability of dying after treatment in an intensive care unit (ICU), compared with younger patients. The risk of dying is largely determined by the admission type (patients with planned admissions have a better prognosis than those with unplanned admissions), severity of illness and functional status prior to admission. Elderly patients surviving ICU often experience a decline in functional status. No data are available on the factors that predict functional outcome. Elderly patients do not necessarily prefer life-sustaining treatment to palliative care. The willingness to undergo ICU treatment depends on the likelihood of survival and beneficial functional outcome. New prognostic models should be developed specifically to predict both survival and functional outcome in individual elderly patients after admission to ICU.

[Diagnosis of vitamin B12 deficiency revised]. / De diagnostiek van vitamine-B12-deficiëntie herzien.

Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) deficiency is a common disorder with potential irreversible haematological and neurological consequences. Currently used diagnostic tests such as the evaluation of serum vitamin B12 and the Schilling test are insufficient, e.g. the positive predictive value of a low serum vitamin B12 level for actual vitamin B12 deficiency (i.e. tissue deficiency) is low. Insufficient availability of vitamin B12 will lead to the accumulation of methylmalonic acid and homocysteine in the body. Nearly all patients with vitamin B12 deficiency also have substantially increased levels of methylmalonic acid and homocysteine. New tests of serum methylmalonic acid and homocysteine are highly sensitive for vitamin B12 deficiency and may obviate the need for the somewhat cumbersome Schilling test.