Exploration of risk factors for high-risk adverse events in elderly patients after discharge and comparison of discharge planning screening tools.

OBJECTIVES: Discharge planning is an effective strategy to prevent adverse health events and reduce medical expenditures. The high-risk target populations of discharged elderly patients and important predictors for the occurrence of adverse events are still not clear. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to examine the validity of discharge planning screening tools in sufficiently identifying high-risk adverse events to health after discharge and to compare two screening tools with our study model. DESIGN: We conducted a prospective study and recruited elderly patients who had had no hospitalization within 3 months before admission to 13 general wards of a medical center in northern Taiwan from November 2018 to May 2020. METHODS: Elderly patients were randomly selected during the study period. Within 24 h of admission, patients were asked to consent to join this study. After the patient was discharged, the patient's health and hospitalization for the next year were tracked by telephone interviews. RESULTS: In total, 300 participants were recruited for this study. Incidences of high-risk adverse events within 30 days, 60 days, and 12 months after discharge were 20.3%, 25.7%, and 48.7% respectively. A logistic regression showed that an increased age, physical or mental disabilities or a major illness, a low body-mass index, and having been hospitalized in the past year were significantly related to the occurrence of high-risk events among elderly discharge patients. The pooled sensitivity of the Pra was 52% and the specificity was 72%; the pooled sensitivity of the LACE index was 67% and the specificity was 36%. The predictive model of this study had a higher discriminatory power than the Pra and LACE index for high-risk events after discharge. CONCLUSIONS: Elderly patients are more vulnerable to high-risk adverse events after discharge. Both the LACE index and Pra are useful discharge planning screening tools to screen for high-risk adverse events after discharge. Elderly patients need more-active and complete continuity of care plans and discharge planning services to ensure that the overall quality of patient care can be improved and readmissions and mortality reduced. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The findings of this study can provide information for discharge planning managers to identify high-risk elderly patients during hospitalization and promptly offer care education or resources to improve care management.

An Integrative Review of Team Nursing and Delegation: Implications for Nurse Staffing during COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, providing care for critically ill patients has been challenging due to the limited number of skilled nurses, rapid transmission of the virus, and increased patient acuity in relation to the virus. These factors have led to the implementation of team nursing as a model of nursing care out of necessity for resource allocation. Nurses can use prior evidence to inform the model of nursing care and reimagine patient care responsibilities during a crisis. PURPOSE: To review the evidence for team nursing as a model of patient care and delegation and determine how it affects patient, nurse, and organizational outcomes. METHODS: We conducted an integrative review of team nursing and delegation using Whittemore and Knafl's (2005) methodology. RESULTS: We identified 22 team nursing articles, 21 delegation articles, and two papers about U.S. nursing laws and scopes of practice for delegation. Overall, team nursing had varied effects on patient, nursing, and organizational outcomes compared with other nursing care models. Education regarding delegation is critical for team nursing, and evidence indicates that it improves nurses' delegation knowledge, decision-making, and competency. LINKING EVIDENCE TO ACTION: Team nursing had both positive and negative outcomes for patients, nurses, and the organization. Delegation education improved team nursing care.

Selecting and tailoring implementation interventions: a concept mapping approach.

BACKGROUND: To improve the uptake of research into practice, knowledge translation frameworks recommend tailoring implementation strategies to address practice barriers. This study reports our experience pairing the Theoretical Domains Framework with information from multiple stakeholder groups to co-develop practice-informed strategies for improving the implementation of an evidence-based outcome measurement tool across a large community health system for preschoolers with communication impairments. METHODS: Concept mapping was used to identify strategies for improving implementation of the Focus on the Outcomes of Communication Under Six (FOCUS) in Ontario Canada's Preschool Speech and Language Program. This work was done in five stages. First, we interviewed 37 speech-language pathologists (clinicians) who identified 90 unique strategies to resolve practice barriers to FOCUS implementation. Second, clinicians (n = 34), policy-makers (n = 3), and members of the FOCUS research team (n = 6) sorted and rated the strategies by importance and feasibility. Third, stakeholders' sorting data were analyzed to generate a two-dimensional concept map. Based on the rating data from stakeholders, we prioritized a list of strategies that were rated as highly important and highly feasible, and summarized the practice barriers addressed by each of the prioritized strategies. Fourth, we validated these findings with stakeholders via an online survey. Fifth, the mechanisms of action of the prioritized list of strategies were considered based on available evidence from the Theoretical Domains Framework and associated behavior change literature. RESULTS: Stakeholders categorized the 90 unique implementation strategies into a six-cluster concept map. Based on stakeholders' ratings, a list of 14 implementation strategies were prioritized. These implementation strategies were reported to resolve barriers within the environmental context and resources and beliefs about consequences domains of the Theoretical Domains Framework. All but one of the prioritized strategies have a demonstrated link in resolving existing barriers according to the behavioral change literature. CONCLUSIONS: Our study contributes to a growing literature that demonstrates the process of tailoring implementation strategies to specific barriers. Practical drawbacks and benefits of using concept mapping as a way to engage stakeholders in implementation research are discussed.

Unmet needs in Primary Care of older clients with mental health concerns.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the unmet needs of older clients with perceived mental health problems who attend primary healthcare services. DESIGN: Unmet needs were derived from (i) the health concerns and caregiver network availability provided by a General Practitioner (GPs) and from (ii) a qualitative analysis of an open question about needs completed by informal caregivers (ICs) of those clients. PARTICIPANTS: The sample comprised 436 clients with mean age of 75.2 years and 110 ICs with mean age of 56.7 years. SETTING: Primary healthcare centers in the North of Portugal. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The Community Assessment of Risk Instrument-CARI (Clarnette RM, Ryan JP, O'Herlihy E, et al. The community assessment of risk instrument: investigation of inter-rater reliability of an instrument measuring risk of adverse outcomes. J Frailty Aging 2015;4: 80-9; O'Caoimh R, Healy E, Connell EO, et al. The Community Assessment of Risk Tool (CART): investigation of inter-rater reliability for a new instrument measuring risk of adverse outcomes in community dwelling older adults. Irish J Med Sci 2012.) and qualitative data about needs. RESULTS: Several needs were observed in relation to (1) mental state (e.g. cognition, anxiety/depression); (2) functionality (e.g. IADLS, bathing, mobility); (3) medical state (e.g. chronic diseases, vision deficits) and (4) IC ability to meet clients' needs. From the categorical analysis of the ICs' answers, an amount of unmet needs not only health related but also related with referrals and legal issues were found. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows a large number of unmet needs of older people. The evaluation of the clients combined with the evaluation of the testimonials of ICs enables the understanding of difficulties of both clients and caregivers, and which needs should be prioritized.

Characteristics and outcomes of emergency interhospital transfers from subacute to acute care for clinical deterioration.

OBJECTIVE: To describe characteristics and outcomes of emergency interhospital transfers from subacute to acute hospital care and develop an internally validated predictive model to identify features associated with high risk of emergency interhospital transfer. DESIGN: Prospective case-time-control study. SETTING: Acute and subacute healthcare facilities from five health services in Victoria, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: Cases were patients with an emergency interhospital transfer from subacute to acute hospital care. For every case, two inpatients from the same subacute care ward on the same day of emergency transfer were randomly selected as controls. Admission episode was the unit of measurement and data were collected prospectively. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Patient and admission characteristics, transfer characteristics and outcomes (cases), serious adverse events and mortality. RESULTS: Data were collected for 603 transfers in 557 patients and 1160 control patients. Cases were significantly more likely to be male, born in a non-English speaking country, have lower functional independence, more frequent vital sign assessments and experience a serious adverse event during first acute care or subacute care admissions. When adjusted for health service, cases had significantly higher inpatient mortality, were more likely to have unplanned intensive care unit admissions and rapid response team calls during their entire hospital admission. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who require an emergency interhospital transfer from subacute to acute hospital care have hospital admission rates and in-hospital mortality. Clinical instability during the first acute care admission (serious adverse events or increased surveillance) may prompt reassessment of patient suitability for movement to a separate subacute care hospital.

A quantitative systematic review of the association between nurse skill mix and nursing-sensitive patient outcomes in the acute care setting.

AIMS: To examine the association between nurse skill mix (the proportion of total hours provided by Registered Nurses) and patient outcomes in acute care hospitals. DESIGN: A quantitative systematic review included studies published in English between January 2000 - September 2018. DATA SOURCES: Cochrane Library, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science and Joanna Briggs Institute were searched. Observational and experimental study designs were included. Mix-methods designs were included if the quantitative component met the criteria. REVIEW METHODS: The Systematic Review guidelines of the Joanna Briggs Institute and its critical appraisal instrument were used. An inverse association was determined when seventy-five percent or more of studies with significant results found this association. RESULTS: Sixty-three articles were included. Twelve patient outcomes were inversely associated with nursing skill mix (i.e., higher nursing skill mix was significantly associated with improved patient outcomes). These were length of stay; ulcer, gastritis and upper gastrointestinal bleeds; acute myocardial infarction; restraint use; failure-to-rescue; pneumonia; sepsis; urinary tract infection; mortality/30-day mortality; pressure injury; infections and shock/cardiac arrest/heart failure. CONCLUSION: Nursing skill mix affected 12 patient outcomes. However, further investigation using experimental or longitudinal study designs are required to establish causal relationships. Consensus on the definition of skill mix is required to enable more robust evaluation of the impact of changes in skill mix on patient outcomes. IMPACT: Skill mix is perhaps more important than the number of nurses in reducing adverse patient outcomes such as mortality and failure to rescue, albeit the optimal staffing profile remains elusive in workforce planning.

RECALMIN: The association between management of Spanish National Health Service Internal Medical Units and health outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between management of Internal Medical Units (IMUs) with outcomes (mortality and length of stay) within the Spanish National Health Service. DESIGN: Data on management were obtained from a descriptive transversal study performed among IMUs of the acute hospitals. Outcome indicators were taken from an administrative database of all hospital discharges from the IMUs. SETTING: Spanish National Health Service. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred and twenty-four acute general hospitals with available data of management and outcomes (401 424 discharges). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: IMU risk standardized mortality rates were calculated using a multilevel model adjusted by Charlson Index. Risk standardized myocardial infarction and heart failure mortality rates were calculated using specific multilevel models. Length of stay was adjusted by complexity. RESULTS: Greater hospital complexity was associated with longer average length of stays (r: 0.42; P < 0.001). Crude in-hospital mortality rates were higher at larger hospitals, but no significant differences were found when mortality was risk adjusted. There was an association between nurse workload with mortality rate for selected conditions (r: 0.25; P = 0.009). Safety committee and multidisciplinary ward rounds were also associated with outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: We have not found any association between complexity and intra-hospital mortality. There is an association between some management indicators with intra-hospital mortality and the length of stay. Better disease-specific outcomes adjustments and a larger number of IMUs in the sample may provide more insights about the association between management of IMUs with healthcare outcomes.

Dutch surgeons' views on the volume-outcome mechanism in surgery: A qualitative interview study.

OBJECTIVE: To contribute to a better understanding of volume-outcome relationships in surgery by exploring Dutch surgeons' views on the underlying mechanism. DESIGN: A qualitative study based on face-to-face semi structured interviews and an inductive content analysis approach. SETTING: Interviews were conducted in eight hospitals in the Netherlands (2 university, 4 teaching and 2 general). PARTICIPANTS: Twenty surgeons (gastrointestinal, vascular and trauma). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Dutch surgeons' views on volume-outcome relationships in surgery and the underlying mechanism. RESULTS: The majority of surgeons believed volume is related to outcomes after surgery. Interviewees highlighted the importance of both focus and skills when describing the underlying mechanism. Focus was visible on three levels: hospital, surgeon and team. Focus on a hospital level referred to investing in specific infrastructure and dedicated personnel. Surgeons described both the benefits and downsides of surgeons' increased focus to a certain surgical subspeciality. And their experiences on the importance of working with fixed, procedure-specific teams. The positive influence of caseload on technical and nontechnical skills was acknowledged, as well as the benefits of combining skills by operating together. Although a basic skill set should be maintained, this does not necessarily require high volume. CONCLUSIONS: Focus and skills are important explanatory factors in volume-outcome relationships according to Dutch surgeons. This suggests that both high- and low-volume providers should enable specialized, fixed teams for complex surgeries and focus on maintenance of both their technical and nontechnical skills. By uncovering the underlying mechanism, imperfect quality indicators such as volume can be supplemented or replaced.

Compliance with hospital accreditation and patient mortality: a Danish nationwide population-based study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between compliance with hospital accreditation and 30-day mortality. DESIGN: A nationwide population-based, follow-up study with data from national, public registries. SETTING: Public, non-psychiatric Danish hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: In-patients diagnosed with one of the 80 primary diagnoses. INTERVENTION: Accreditation by the first version of The Danish Healthcare Quality Programme for hospitals from 2010 to 2012. Compliance were assessed by surveyors on an on-site survey and awarded the hospital as a whole; fully (n = 11) or partially accredited (n = 20). A follow-up activity was requested for partially accredited hospitals; submitting additional documentation (n = 11) or by having a return-visit (n = 9). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: All-cause mortality within 30-days after admission. Multivariable logistic regression was used to compute odds ratios (ORs) for 30-day mortality adjusted for six confounding factors and for cluster effect at hospital level. RESULTS: A total of 276 980 in-patients were identified. Thirty-day mortality risk for in-patients at fully (n = 76 518) and partially accredited hospitals (n = 200 462) was 4.14% (95% confidence interval (CI):4.00-4.28) and 4.28% (95% CI: 4.20-4.37), respectively. In-patients at fully accredited hospitals had a lower risk of dying within 30-days after admission than in-patients at partially accredited hospitals (adjusted OR of 0.83; 95% CI: 0.72-0.96). A lower risk of 30-day mortality was observed among in-patients at partially accredited hospitals required to submit additional documentation compared with in-patients at partially accredited hospitals requiring a return-visit (adjusted OR 0.83; 95% CI: 0.67-1.02). CONCLUSION: Admissions at fully accredited hospitals were associated with a lower 30-day mortality risk than admissions at partially accredited hospitals.

The impact of clinicians' personality and their interpersonal behaviors on the quality of patient care: a systematic review.

PURPOSE: To review systematically the impact of clinicians' personality and observed interpersonal behaviors on the quality of their patient care. DATA SOURCES: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE and PsycINFO from inception through January 2014, using both free text words and subject headings, without language restriction. Additional hand-searching was performed. STUDY SELECTION: The PRISMA framework guided (the reporting of) study selection and data extraction. Eligible articles were selected by title, abstract and full text review subsequently. DATA EXTRACTION: Data on study setting, participants, personality traits or interpersonal behaviors, outcome measures and limitations were extracted in a systematic way. RESULTS OF DATA SYNTHESIS: Our systematic search yielded 10 476 unique hits. Ultimately, 85 studies met all inclusion criteria, 4 on clinicians' personality and 81 on their interpersonal behaviors. The studies on interpersonal behaviors reported instrumental (n = 45) and affective (n = 59) verbal behaviors or nonverbal behaviors (n = 20). Outcome measures in the studies were quality of processes of care (n = 68) and patient health outcomes (n = 35). The above categories were non-exclusive. The majority of the studies found little or no effect of clinicians' personality traits and their interpersonal behaviors on the quality of patient care. The few studies that found an effect were mostly observational studies that did not address possible uncontrolled confounding. CONCLUSIONS: There is no strong empirical evidence that specific interpersonal behaviors will lead to enhanced quality of care. These findings could imply that clinicians can adapt their interactions toward patients' needs and preferences instead of displaying certain specific behaviors per se.

Linking quality of healthcare and health-related quality of life of patients with type 2 diabetes: an evaluative study in Mexican family practice.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between quality of care and health-related quality of life among type 2 diabetes patients. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study assessing the association between quality of care and quality of life using multiple linear regression analysis. SETTING: Family medicine clinics (FMC) (n = 39) of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) in Mexico City. PARTICIPANTS: Type 2 diabetes patients (n = 312), older than 19 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Health-related quality of life was measured using the MOS Short-Form-12 (SF-12); quality of healthcare was measured as the percentage of recommended care received under each of four domains: early detection of diabetes complications, non-pharmacological treatment, pharmacological treatment and health outcomes. RESULTS: The average quality of life score was 41.4 points on the physical component and 47.9 points on the mental component. Assessment of the quality of care revealed deficiencies. The average percentages of recommended care received were 21.9 for health outcomes and 56.6 for early detection of diabetes complications and pharmacological treatment; for every 10 percent additional points on the pharmacological treatment component, quality of life improved by 0.4 points on the physical component (coefficient 0.04, 95% confidence intervals 0.01-0.07). CONCLUSIONS: There was a positive association between the quality of pharmacological care and the physical component of quality of life. The quality of healthcare for type 2 diabetes patients in FMC of the IMSS in Mexico City is not optimal.

Utilization of non-US educated nurses in US hospitals: implications for hospital mortality.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether, and under what circumstance, US hospital employment of non-US-educated nurses is associated with patient outcomes. DESIGN: Observational study of primary data from 2006 to 2007 surveys of hospital nurses in four states (California, Florida, New Jersey and Pennsylvania). The direct and interacting effects of hospital nurse staffing and the percentage of non-US-educated nurses on 30-day surgical patient mortality and failure-to-rescue were estimated before and after controlling for patient and hospital characteristics. PARTICIPANTS: Data from registered nurse respondents practicing in 665 hospitals were pooled with patient discharge data from state agencies. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURE(S): Thirty-day surgical patient mortality and failure-to-rescue. RESULTS: The effect of non-US-educated nurses on both mortality and failure-to-rescue is nil in hospitals with lower than average patient to nurse ratios, but pronounced in hospitals with average and poor nurse to patient ratios. In hospitals in which patient-to-nurse ratios are 5:1 or higher, mortality is higher when 25% or more nurses are educated outside of the USA than when <25% of nurses are non-US-educated. Moreover, the effect of having >25% non-US-educated nurses becomes increasingly deleterious as patient-to-nurse ratios increase beyond 5:1. CONCLUSIONS: Employing non-US-educated nurses has a negative impact on patient mortality except where patient-to-nurse ratios are lower than average. Thus, US hospitals should give priority to achieving adequate nurse staffing levels, and be wary of hiring large percentages of non-US-educated nurses unless patient-to-nurse ratios are low.

A clinician-to-clinician universal electronic consultation programme at the cardiology department of a Galician healthcare area improves healthcare accessibility and outcomes in elderly patients.

Aims: We aimed to assess longer-term results (accessibility, hospital admissions, and mortality) in elderly patients referred to a cardiology department (CD) from primary care using e-consultation in outpatient care. Methods and results: We included 9963 patients >80 years from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2019. Until 2012, all patients attended an in-person consultation (2010-2012). In 2013, we instituted an e-consult programme (2013-2019) for all primary care referrals to cardiologists that preceded a patient's in-person consultation when considered. We used an interrupted time series (ITS) regression approach to investigate the impact of e-consultation on (i) cardiovascular hospital admissions and mortality. We also analysed (ii) the total number and referral rate (population-adjusted referred rate) in both periods, and (iii) the accessibility was measured as the number of consultations and variation according to the distance from the municipality and reference hospital. During e-consultation, the demand for care increased (12.8 ± 4.3% vs. 25.5 ± 11.1% per 1000 inhabitants, P < 0.001) and referrals from different areas were equalized. After the implementation of e-consultation, we observed that the increase in hospital admissions and mortality were stabilized [incidence rate ratio (iRR): 1.351 (95% CI, 0.787, 2.317), P = 0.874] and [iRR: 1.925 (95% CI: 0.889, 4.168), P = 0.096], respectively. The geographic variabilities in hospital admissions and mortality seen during the in-person consultation were stabilized after e-consultation implementation. Conclusions: Implementation of a clinician-to-clinician e-consultation programme in outpatient care was associated with improved accessibility to cardiology healthcare in elderly patients. After e-consultations were implemented, hospital admissions and mortality were stabilized.

Multidimensional visualization and analysis of chronic pain variables of patients who attended a chronic pain program.

Psychologically-based chronic pain variables measure multiple domains of the pain experience such as anxiety, depression, catastrophizing, acceptance and stages of change. These variables measure specific areas such as emotional and cognitive states towards chronic pain and its management, acceptance towards the chronic pain condition, and an individual's readiness to move towards self-management methods. Conceptually, these variables appear to be interrelated to each other, and also form groupings of similar underlying themes. Groupings that have been previously discussed for these variables include positive and negative affect, and improved and poor adjustment. Psychological experience of chronic pain as a whole is mostly understood through conceptually consolidating individual scores across different measures covering multiple domains. A map of these variables in relation to each other can offer an overview for further understanding and exploration. We hereby visualize highlights of relationships among 11 psychosocial chronic pain variables including measures examining physical and somatic aspects, using three-dimensional biplots. Variables roughly form two groupings, with one grouping consisting of items of negative affect, cognition, and physical state ratings, and the other grouping consisting of items of acceptance and the later three stages of change (contemplation, action, maintenance). Also, we follow up with canonical correlation as a complement to further identify key relationships between bimodal groupings. Key variables linking bimodal relationships consist of catastrophizing, depression and anxiety in one grouping and activity engagement in the other. Results are discussed in the context of existing literature.

Effect of Pharmaceutical Intervention in Pharmacologically Treated Hypertensive Patients-A Cluster-Randomized Clinical Trial: AFPRES-CLM Study.

BACKGROUND: Evaluate the effect of a community pharmaceutical intervention on the control of blood pressure in hypertensive patients treated pharmacologically. METHODS: A cluster-randomized clinical trial of 6 months was carried out. It was conducted in the Autonomous Community of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). Sixty-three community pharmacies and 347 patients completed the study. Intervention patients received the community pharmaceutical intervention based on a protocol that addresses the individual needs of each patient related to the control of their blood pressure, which included Health Education, Pharmacotherapy Follow-up and 24 h Ambulatory Blood Pressure Measurement. Control patients received usual care in the community pharmacy. RESULTS: The pharmaceutical intervention resulted in better control of blood pressure (85.8% vs. 66.3% p < 0.001), lower use of emergencies (p = 0.002) and improvement trends in the physical components of quality of life, measured by SF-36 questionnaire, after 6 months of pharmaceutical intervention. No significant changes were observed for any of these variables in the control group. There were also detected 354 negative medication-related outcomes that were satisfactorily resolved in a 74.9% of the cases and 330 healthcare education interventions and 29 Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitorings were performed in order to increase adherence to pharmacological treatment and minimize Negative Outcomes associated with Medication and prevent medication-related problems. CONCLUSIONS: Community pharmaceutical intervention can increase hypertensive patients with controlled blood pressure, after 6 months, compared with usual care.

Phenotype and outcomes of very early onset and early onset inflammatory bowel diseases in a Montreal pediatric cohort.

Objectives: The incidence of very-early-onset inflammatory bowel disease (VEO-IBD) and early-onset IBD (EO-IBD) is increasing. Here, we report their phenotype and outcomes in a Montreal pediatric cohort. Methods: We analyzed data from patients diagnosed with IBD between January 2014 and December 2018 from the CHU Sainte-Justine. The primary endpoint was to compare the phenotypes of VEO-IBD and EO-IBD. The secondary endpoints involved comparing outcomes and rates of steroid-free clinical remission (SFCR) at 12 (±2) months (m) post-diagnosis and at last follow-up. Results: 28 (14 males) and 67 (34 males) patients were diagnosed with VEO-IBD and EO-IBD, respectively. Crohn's disease (CD) was more prevalent in EO-IBD (64.2% vs. 39.3%), whereas unclassified colitis (IBD-U) was diagnosed in 28.6% of VEO-IBD vs. 10.4% of EO-IBD (p < 0.03). Ulcerative colitis (UC) and IBD-U predominantly presented as pancolitis in both groups (VEO-IBD: 76.5% vs. EO-IBD: 70.8%). Combining all disease subtypes, histological upper GI lesions were found in 57.2% of VEO-IBD vs. 83.6% of EO-IBD (p < 0.009). In each subtype, no differential histological signature (activity, eosinophils, apoptotic bodies, granulomas) was observed between both groups. At 12 m post-diagnosis, 60.8% of VEO-IBD and 62.7% of EO-IBD patients were in SFCR. At a median follow-up of 56 m, SFCR was observed in 85.7% of VEO-IBD vs. 85.0% of EO-IBD patients. Conclusion: The rate of patients in SFCR at 1-year post-diagnosis and at the end of follow-up did not significantly differ between both groups.

Long-Term Health Outcomes of Infantile Spasms Following Prednisolone vs. Adrenocorticotropic Hormone Treatment Characterized Using Phenome-Wide Association Study.

Objective: To determine differences in long-term health and neurological outcomes following infantile spasms (IS) in patients treated with adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) vs. prednisolone/prednisone (PRED). Methods: A retrospective, case-control study of patients with an International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modifications (ICD-9) diagnosis of IS, identified over a 10-year period from a national administrative database, was conducted. IS patients treated with ACTH or PRED were determined and cohorts established by propensity score matching. Outcomes, defined by hospital discharge ICD codes, were followed for each patient for 5 years. Related ICD codes were analyzed jointly as phenotype codes (phecodes). Analysis of phecodes between cohorts was performed including phenome-wide association analysis. Results: A total of 5,955 IS patients were identified, and analyses were subsequently performed for 493 propensity score matched patients, each in the ACTH and PRED cohorts. Following Bonferroni correction, no phecode was more common in either cohort (p < 0.001). However, assuming an a priori difference, one phecode, abnormal findings on study of brain or nervous system (a category of abnormal neurodiagnostic tests), was more common in the PRED cohort (p <0.05), and was robust to sensitivity analysis. Variability in outcomes was noted between hospitals. Significance: We found that long-term outcomes for IS patients following ACTH or PRED treatment were very similar, including for both neurological and non-neurological outcomes. In the PRED-treated cohort there was a higher incidence of abnormal neurodiagnostic tests, assuming an a priori statistical model. Future studies can evaluate whether variability in outcomes between hospitals may be affected by post-treatment differences in care models.

Efficiency Quality Index (EQI)-Implementing a Novel Metric That Delivers Overall Institutional Excellence and Value for Patients.

In the last decade, healthcare systems have shifted their focus from increased volume of patients and procedures to improving patient outcomes and quality. While there are many societies and companies that have surrogate measures of excellence, these metrics are determined by those who do not directly participate and fully understand the best measurements of quality. In order to better assess quality and value, the Efficiency Quality Index (EQI) was created. The novel aspect of the EQI is the determination of metrics by the physicians who actually perform the procedures, in order to create an accurate and fair measurement of performance and outcomes. In this article, we describe how to create and implement the EQI, as well as outline its benefits.

Mental Health Outcomes Amongst Health Care Workers During COVID 19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia.

Objectives: The study aimed to assess the mental health outcomes and associated factors among health care workers during COVID 19 in Saudi Arabia. Design, Setting, and Participants: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of health care workers from tertiary care and ministry of health Centers across the Central, Eastern, and Western regions of Saudi Arabia. There were 1,130 participants in the survey, and we collected demographic and mental health measurements from the participants. Primary Outcomes and Measures: The magnitude of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and insomnia was measured using the original version of 9-item patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9), the 7-item generalized anxiety disorder scale (GAD-7), and 7-item insomnia severity index (ISI). We use the multiple logistic regression analysis to identify the associated risk factors of individual outcomes. Results: The scores on the PHQ-9 showed that the largest proportion of health care workers (76.93%) experienced only normal to mild depression (50.83 and 26.1%, respectively). The scores on the GAD-7 showed that the largest proportion of health care workers (78.88%) experienced minimal to mild anxiety (50.41 and 28.47%, respectively). The scores on the ISI showed that the largest proportion of health care workers (85.83%) experienced absence to subthreshold insomnia (57.08 and 28.75%, respectively). The risk factors for depression in health care workers were Saudi, living with family, working from an isolated room at home and frontline worker. For anxiety, being female was risk factor and for insomnia, being frontline worker was risk factor. Conclusion: It was observed that the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and insomnia were reported in a lower proportion of health care workers in our study. The participants who were female, frontline workers, Saudi, living with family, and working from home in isolated rooms were predisposed to developing psychological disorders.