A surveillance method to identify patients with sepsis from electronic health records in Hong Kong: a single centre retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Currently there are only two population studies on sepsis incidence in Asia. The burden of sepsis in Hong Kong is unknown. We developed a sepsis surveillance method to estimate sepsis incidence from a population electronic health record (EHR) in Hong Kong using objective clinical data. The study objective was to assess our method's performance in identifying sepsis using a retrospective cohort. We compared its accuracy to administrative sepsis surveillance methods such as Angus' and Martin's methods. METHOD: In this single centre retrospective study we applied our sepsis surveillance method on adult patients admitted to a tertiary hospital in Hong Kong. Two clinicians independently reviewed the clinical notes to determine which patients had sepsis. Performance was assessed by sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and area under the curve (AUC) of Angus', Martin's and our surveillance methods using clinical review as "gold standard." RESULTS: Between January 1 and February 28, 2018, our sepsis surveillance method identified 1352 adult patients hospitalised with suspected infection. We found that 38.9% (95%CI 36.3-41.5) of these patients had sepsis. Using a 490 patient validation cohort, two clinicians had good agreement with weighted kappa of 0.75 (95% CI 0.69-0.81) before coming to consensus on diagnosis of uncomplicated infection or sepsis for all patients. Our method had sensitivity 0.93 (95%CI 0.89-0.96), specificity 0.86 (95%CI 0.82-0.90) and an AUC 0.90 (95%CI 0.87-0.92) when validated against clinician review. In contrast, Angus' and Martin's methods had AUCs 0.56 (95%CI 0.53-0.58) and 0.56 (95%CI 0.52-0.59), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: A sepsis surveillance method based on objective data from a population EHR in Hong Kong was more accurate than administrative methods. It may be used to estimate sepsis population incidence and outcomes in Hong Kong. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was retrospectively registered at clinicaltrials.gov on October 3, 2019 ( NCT04114214 ).

The Effect of a Freely Available Flipped Classroom Course on Health Care Worker Patient Safety Culture: A Prospective Controlled Study.

BACKGROUND: Patient safety culture is an integral aspect of good standard of care. A good patient safety culture is believed to be a prerequisite for safe medical care. However, there is little evidence on whether general education can enhance patient safety culture. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to assess the impact of a standardized patient safety course on health care worker patient safety culture. METHODS: Health care workers from Intensive Care Units (ICU) at two hospitals (A and B) in Hong Kong were recruited to compare the changes in safety culture before and after a patient safety course. The BASIC Patient Safety course was administered only to staff from Hospital A ICU. Safety culture was assessed in both units at two time points, one before and one after the course, by using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture questionnaire. Responses were coded according to the Survey User's Guide, and positive response percentages for each patient safety domain were compared to the 2012 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality ICU sample of 36,120 respondents. RESULTS: We distributed 127 questionnaires across the two hospitals with an overall response rate of 74.8% (95 respondents). After the safety course, ICU A significantly improved on teamwork within hospital units (P=.008) and hospital management support for patient safety (P<.001), but decreased in the frequency of reporting mistakes compared to the initial survey (P=.006). Overall, ICU A staff showed significantly greater enhancement in positive responses in five domains than staff from ICU B. Pooled data indicated that patient safety culture was poorer in the two ICUs than the average ICU in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality database, both overall and in every individual domain except hospital management support for patient safety and hospital handoffs and transitions. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that a structured, reproducible short course on patient safety may be associated with an enhancement in several domains in ICU patient safety culture.

Fast-track failure after cardiac surgery: external model validation and implications to ICU bed utilization.

OBJECTIVE: To facilitate the planning of perioperative care pathways, a fast-track failure prediction model has been developed in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. This study externally validated such a fast-track failure risk prediction model and determined the potential clinical consequences to ICU bed utilization. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Cardiothoracic Surgery Department and Intensive Care Unit of Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong. PATIENTS: The St. Mary's Hospital fast-track failure risk prediction model was applied to patients included in an adult cardiac surgery database (January 2006 to June 2011). INTERVENTIONS: The performance of the fast-track failure risk model was assessed by discrimination and calibration methods. The potential clinical consequences of applying the model on ICU bed utilization was assessed using a decision curve analysis. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of the 1,597 patients, 175 (11%) failed fast-track management. The final updated model showed very good discrimination (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.82, 95% confidence interval 0.78-0.86) and adequate calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit statistic, p = 0.80). A decision curve analysis showed that if a threshold probability range of fast-track failure of 5% to 20% is used to determine who should be electively admitted to the ICU and who should be admitted to a fast-track recovery unit, it would lead to a substantial benefit (23%-67%) in terms of effective bed utilization, even after taking into account the negative consequences of unplanned admissions. CONCLUSIONS: As the performance of the final updated fast-track failure model was very good, it can be used to estimate the predicted probability of fast-track failure on individual patients. The clinical consequence of applying the final model appears substantial with regard to the potential increase in effective ICU bed utilization.

Survival of mechanically ventilated ward patients and association with organisational factors: a multicentre prospective study.

OBJECTIVES: Determine 90-day mortality of mechanically ventilated ward patients outside the intensive care unit (ICU) and its association with organisational factors. DESIGN: Multicentre prospective observational study of mechanically ventilated ward patients. Modified Poisson regression was used to assess association between nurse to patient ratio (NPR) and 90-day mortality, adjusted for designated medical team, Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) triage priority and centre effect. NPR was divided into low (1:9.6 to 1:10), medium (1:6 to 1:8) and high (1:2.6). Sensitivity analysis was conducted for pneumonia with or without acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) to assess magnitude of association. SETTING: 7 acute public hospitals in Hong Kong. PARTICIPANTS: All 485 mechanically ventilated patients in wards from participating hospitals between 18 January 2016 and 17 April 2016 were recruited. Three hundred patients were included after excluding patients with limitation of therapy within 24 hours of intubation. MAIN OUTCOMES: 90-day mortality, Mortality Prediction Model III Standardised mortality ratio (MPMIII0 SMR). RESULTS: 201 patients died within 90 days after intubation (67.0%, 95% CI 61.5% to 72.1%), with MPMIII0 SMR 1.88, 95% CI 1.63 to 2.17. Compared with high NPR, medium and low NPRs were associated with higher risk of 90-day mortality (adjusted relative risk (RRadj) 1.84, 95% CI 1.70 to 1.99 and 1.64, 95% CI 1.47 to 1.83, respectively). For 114 patients with pneumonia with or without ARDS, low to medium NPR, too sick to benefit from ICU (SCCM priority 4b), no ICU consultation and designated medical team were associated with risk of 90-day mortality (RRadj 1.49, 95% CI 1.40 to 1.58; RRadj 1.60, 95% CI 1.49 to 1.72; RRadj 1.34, 95% CI 1.27 to 1.40; RRadj 0.85, 95% CI 0.78 to 0.93, respectively). CONCLUSION: The 90-day mortality rates of mechanically ventilated ward patients were high. NPR was an independent predictor of survival for mechanically ventilated ward patients.

Effect of preoperative education and ICU tour on patient and family satisfaction and anxiety in the intensive care unit after elective cardiac surgery: a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Preoperative education may help participants to psychologically prepare themselves for surgery, but the outcomes of such preparation have rarely been assessed in patients requiring postoperative care in the intensive care unit (ICU) as well as in family members. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of a preoperative multifaceted education intervention on patient and family satisfaction levels in the ICU and measures of perioperative patients' anxiety and depression. TRIAL DESIGN: Single-centre, two-armed, parallel, superiority, randomised controlled trial. Healthcare professionals in ICU and outcome assessor were blinded to treatment allocation. PARTICIPANTS: 100 elective coronary artery bypass grafting±valve surgery patients and their family members. INTERVENTIONS: Preoperative education comprising of a video and ICU tour in addition to standard care (treatment), versus standard care (control). OUTCOMES: Patient and family satisfaction levels with ICU using validated PS-ICU23 and FS-ICU24 questionnaires (0-100), respectively; change in perioperative anxiety and depression scores between 1 day presurgery and 3 days postsurgery. RESULTS: Among 100 (50 treatment, 50 control) patients and 98 (49 treatment, 49 control) family members, 94 (48 treatment, 46 control) patients and 94 (47 treatment, 47 control) family members completed the trial. Preoperative education was associated with higher overall patient (mean difference (MD) 6.7, 95% CI 0.2 to 13.2) and family (MD 10.0, 95% CI 3.8 to 16.3) satisfaction scores. There was a weak association between preoperative education and a reduction in patient's anxiety scores over time (MD -1.7, 95% CI -3.5 to 0.0). However, there was no evidence of a treatment effect on patient's depression scores over time (MD -0.6, 95% CI -2.3 to 1.2). CONCLUSION: Providing comprehensive preoperative information about ICU to elective cardiac surgical patients improved patient and family satisfaction levels and may decrease patients' anxiety levels. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR-IOR-15006971.

Are high nurse workload/staffing ratios associated with decreased survival in critically ill patients? A cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Despite the central role of nurses in intensive care, a relationship between intensive care nurse workload/staffing ratios and survival has not been clearly established. We determined whether there is a threshold workload/staffing ratio above which the probability of hospital survival is reduced and then modeled the relationship between exposure to inadequate staffing at any stage of a patient's ICU stay and risk-adjusted hospital survival. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from a cohort of adult patients admitted to two multi-disciplinary Intensive Care Units was performed. The nursing workload [measured using the Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System (TISS-76)] for all patients in the ICU during each day to average number of bedside nurses per shift on that day (workload/nurse) ratio, severity of illness (using Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation III) and hospital survival were analysed using net-benefit regression methodology and logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 894 separate admissions, representing 845 patients, were analysed. Our analysis shows that there was a 95% probability that survival to hospital discharge was more likely to occur when the maximum workload-to-nurse ratio was <40 and a more than 95% chance that death was more likely to occur when the ratio was >52. Patients exposed to a high workload/nurse ratio (≥52) for ≥1 day during their ICU stay had lower risk-adjusted odds of survival to hospital discharge compared to patients never exposed to a high ratio (odds ratio 0.35, 95% CI 0.16-0.79). CONCLUSIONS: Exposing critically ill patients to high workload/staffing ratios is associated with a substantial reduction in the odds of survival.

Patient and family satisfaction levels in the intensive care unit after elective cardiac surgery: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of a preoperative patient education intervention.

INTRODUCTION: Patients and their families are understandably anxious about the risk of complications and unfamiliar experiences following cardiac surgery. Providing information about postoperative care in the intensive care unit (ICU) to patients and families may lead to lower anxiety levels, and increased satisfaction with healthcare. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the effectiveness of preoperative patient education provided for patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: 100 patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass graft, with or without valve replacement surgery, will be recruited into a 2-group, parallel, superiority, double-blinded randomised controlled trial. Participants will be randomised to either preoperative patient education comprising of a video and ICU tour with standard care (intervention) or standard education (control). The primary outcome measures are the satisfaction levels of patients and family members with ICU care and decision-making in the ICU. The secondary outcome measures are patient anxiety and depression levels before and after surgery. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval has been obtained from the Joint Chinese University of Hong Kong-New Territories East Cluster Clinical Research Ethics Committee (reference number CREC 2015.308). The findings will be presented at conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals. Study participants will receive a 1-page plain language summary of results. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR-IOR-15006971.

Factors associated with failure of enhanced recovery protocol in patients undergoing major hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery: a retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the risk factors associated with failure of enhanced recovery protocol after major hepatobiliary and pancreatic (HBP) surgery. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A retrospective cohort of 194 adult patients undergoing major HBP surgery at a university hospital in Hong Kong was followed up for 30 days. The patients were from a larger cohort study of 736 consecutive adults with preoperative urinary cotinine concentration to examine the association between passive smoking and risk of perioperative respiratory complications and postoperative morbidities. OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was failure of enhanced recovery protocol. This was defined as a composite measure of the following events: intensive care unit (ICU) stay more than 24 h after surgery, unplanned admission to ICU within 30 days after surgery, hospital readmission, reoperation and mortality. RESULTS: There were 25 failures of enhanced recovery after HBP surgery (12.9%, 95% CI 8.5% to 18.4%). After adjusting for elective ICU admission, smokers (relative risk (RR ) 2.21, 95% CI 1.10 to 4.46), high preoperative alanine transaminase/glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (RR 3.55,95% CI 1.68 to 7.49) and postoperative morbidities (RR 2.69, 95% CI 1.30 to 5.56) were associated with failures of enhanced recovery in the generalised estimating equation risk model. Compared with those managed successfully, failures stayed longer in ICU (median 19 vs 25 h, p<0.001) and in hospital for postoperative care (median 7 vs 13 days, p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Smokers and patients having high preoperative alanine transaminase/glutamic-pyruvic transaminase concentration or have a high risk of postoperative morbidities are likely to fail enhanced recovery protocol in HBP surgery programmes.