A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Web-Based Management Support System for Children With Urinary Incontinence: The eADVICE Trial.

PURPOSE: Children referred to specialist outpatient clinics by primary care providers often have long waiting times before being seen. We assessed whether an individualized, web-based, evidence-informed management support for children with urinary incontinence while waiting reduced requests for specialist appointments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A multicenter, waitlisted randomized controlled trial was conducted for children (5-18 years) with urinary incontinence referred to tertiary pediatric continence clinics. Participants were randomized to the web-based eHealth program electronic Advice and Diagnosis Via the Internet following Computerized Evaluation (eADVICE), which used an embodied conversational agent to engage with the child at the time of referral (intervention) or 6 months later (control). The primary outcome was the proportion of participants requesting a clinic appointment at 6 months. Secondary outcomes included persistent incontinence, and the Paediatric incontinence Questionnaire (PinQ) score. RESULTS: From 2018 to 2020, 239 children enrolled, with 120 randomized to eADVICE and 119 to the control arm. At baseline, participants' mean age was 8.8 years (SD 2.2), 62% were males, mean PinQ score was 5.3 (SD 2.2), 36% had daytime incontinence, and 97% had nocturnal enuresis. At 6 months, 78% of eADVICE participants vs 84% of controls requested a clinic visit (relative risk 0.92, 95% CI 0.79, 1.06, P = .3), and 23% eADVICE participants vs 10% controls were completely dry (relative risk 2.23, 95% CI 1.10, 4.50, P = .03). The adjusted mean PinQ score was 3.5 for eADVICE and 3.9 for controls (MD -0.37, 95% CI -0.71, -0.03, P = .03). CONCLUSIONS: The eADVICE eHealth program for children awaiting specialist appointments doubled the proportion who were dry at 6 months and improved quality of life but did not reduce clinic appointment requests.

Transitioning from the Emergency Department to a General Internist Outpatient Clinic for Paracentesis: A Qualitative Inquiry.

BACKGROUND: Repeated paracentesis for ascites can place significant demands on the emergency department (ED). A new general internist-led outpatient procedure clinic to alleviate this demand required ED staff and patients to accept this transition of care. AIM: This qualitative study evaluates barriers and facilitators to implementing the FLuid ASPiration (FLASP) clinic in a safety net hospital. METHODS: The FLASP clinic opened during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2021. From February to April 2022, semi-structured interviews were conducted with: 10 ED physicians and nurses; 5 FLASP clinic patients; and 4 patients receiving paracentesis in the ED. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using a Grounded Theory approach for themes categorized by Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) domains including: attitudes/knowledge; social norms; and logistics. RESULTS: Thematic analysis found that ED staff appreciated reduced demand for paracentesis, but barriers included: lack of knowledge; concerns about unstable patients and patient expectations (norms); and scheduling logistics. FLASP clinic patients had only favorable themes: belief in clinic safety; positive relationship with staff; and clinic efficiency. Patients using the ED for paracentesis expressed only concerns: possible need for testing or hospitalization; care usually in the ED; and unclear clinic scheduling. CONCLUSION: This study reveals challenges to transitioning sites of care for paracentesis including the need for greater ED staff education and standardizing methods to triage patients to appropriate site of care. Greater support and education of ED patients about the benefits of an outpatient procedure clinic may also reduce ED burden for paracentesis.

Comorbidity of behavioral problems and parental acceptance-rejection in children diagnosed with chest discomfort, palpitations, vasovagal syncope, and underlying heart disease: a multiple case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Children who experience chest discomfort, palpitations, vasovagal syncope, and underlying heart disease often present a complex clinical picture. Not only are they dealing with potential cardiac issues, but they may also exhibit behavioral problems that can complicate the diagnostic and treatment process. Moreover, parental acceptance or rejection can significantly influence the child's well-being and medical outcomes in such cases. This study aims to explore the comorbidity of behavioral problems and parental acceptance-rejection in children diagnosed with these cardiac symptoms and underlying heart disease. METHODS: In a case-control study, the Parental Acceptance - Rejection Questionnaire and Parental version of Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was filled by parents of 314 patients from pediatric cardiology clinic. RESULTS: The control group scored substantially lower overall according to SDQ. The vasovagal syncope subgroup was found to have considerably lower scores on the subscale. The group with chest discomfort scored highly in hostility and aggression in the PARQ. In comparison to the other groups, the vasovagal syncope and chest pain group demonstrated higher scores in undifferentiated rejection and total score. CONCLUSION: This study showed a correlation between children's behavioral and emotional problems and cardiac symptoms. This states that children's relationship with their parents has an impact on their symptoms. It will be necessary to conduct further studies to determine a causal association and devise preventative measures.

Do video or telephone consultations impact attendance rates in an addiction medicine specialist outpatient clinic?

BACKGROUND: Effective alcohol and other drugs (AODs) treatment has been proven to increase productivity and reduce costs to the community. Telehealth has previously been proven effective at delivering AOD treatment in the right settings. Yet, Australia's current Medicare funding restricts telephone consultations. AIM: We hypothesise that treatment modality influences attendance rates. Specifically, telephone consultations can remove barriers to accessing treatment and, therefore, can increase attendance. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective audit on our addiction medicine specialist outpatient service from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023. A mixed-effects logistic regression model was used to analyse factors associated with attendance rates. RESULTS: There were 576 participants in the study, and 3354 appointments were booked over the 12-month study period. Of these, 2695 were face-to-face, 541 were telephone and 118 were video. The unadjusted raw attendance rate was highest in the telephone group (87.24%), followed by face-to-face (73.02%) and video (44.92%). After adjusting for covariates, telephone consultation was associated with significantly increased odds of attending compared to face-to-face (odds ratio (OR) = 2.60, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.90-3.54, P < 0.001). Video consultation was associated with a 69% reduction in the odds of attending compared to face-to-face (OR = 0.31, 95% CI = 0.019-0.49, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: While physical attendance may be required for specific clinical care, telephone consultations are associated with increased attendance and can form an important adjunct to delivering addiction treatment. Given the substantial costs of substance use disorders, this could inform government policies and funding priorities to further improve access and treatment outcomes.

Identify, screen and treat via electronic pathway: a semiautomated approach to retriaging a liver clinic waitlist.

BACKGROUND: Long specialist outpatient waiting lists are a source of clinical risk. Triage assignment is based on subjective assessment of referrals and fails to account for dynamic changes in disease status while patients await clinical review. AIMS: To pilot an innovative triage method using a trifold approach to conduct noninvasive assessment of fibrosis and to determine the feasibility of reflex hepatitis C virus (HCV) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. METHODS: A total of 1006 patients awaiting an initial liver clinic appointment at a tertiary Australian hospital were sent a short message service (SMS) requesting a blood test be completed. The first 60 patients received an SMS only, and the subsequent 946 patients also received a phone call from a Liver Care Guide (LCG), a nonclinician employed to increase patient engagement. Liver fibrosis assessment through noninvasive testing was performed using an aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI) and fibrosis-4 (FIB4) score. Patients with an APRI ≥1, FIB4 ≥3.25 or positive HCV PCR were retriaged to Category 1. RESULTS: Four hundred ninety (49%) patients completed testing and 40 (4%) were triaged to Category 1. Subanalyses demonstrated increased response rates with LCG input (P = 0.012). Retriaged patients had been on the waitlist for a median of 216 days, exceeding initial category recommendations. CONCLUSION: This study successfully implemented a semiautomated strategy that prioritises patients with probable advanced liver disease or active HCV, demonstrating enhanced patient engagement with LCG support. It highlights the burden of patients referred for specialist care and the need for innovative strategies for monitoring and objective risk stratification.

Impact of virtual reality on peri-interventional pain, anxiety and distress in a pediatric oncology outpatient clinic: a randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE: Pain and anxiety-inducing interventions have a major impact on pediatric patients. Pain reduction by virtual reality (VR) during port and vein punctures is well studied. This study investigates peri-interventional reduction of pain, anxiety and distress using VR compared to the standard of care (SOC) in a pediatric oncology outpatient clinic. METHODS: In a randomized, controlled cross-over design, patients aged 6-18 years experience potentially painful interventions accompanied by VR. Observational instruments include NRS, FPS-r, BAADS, mYPAS-SF, PedsQL and SSKJ3-8R. All patients undergo two observations: SOC (A) and VR (B) in a randomized order. In addition, parents and staff are interviewed. Specific conditions for VR in an outpatient clinic setting derived from interprofessional focus group discussion are being explored. RESULTS: Between July 2021 and December 2022 57 eligible patients were included and randomized to the orders A/B (n = 28) and B/A (n = 29). Thirty-eight patients completed both observations. Characteristics in both groups did not differ significantly. More than half of the patients had no previous experience with VR, 5% decided to discontinue VR prematurely. Peri-interventional pain, anxiety and distress were significantly reduced by VR compared with SOC. 71% of patients and 76% of parents perceived punctures with VR to be more relaxed than previous ones. 95% of patients perceived fun with VR goggles. Detailed questionnaires on individual stress and anxiety were returned from 26 of 38 patients. Focus group discussion with staff yielded evidence for successful implementation of VR in an outpatient clinic. CONCLUSIONS: The present study shows that VR can be used for peri-interventional reduction of pain, anxiety, and distress in the special environment of a pediatric outpatient clinic. Specific conditions must be met for successful implementation. Further studies are needed to identify particularly susceptible patients and to illuminate alternatives for distraction that are feasible to implement with limited resources. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: (ClinicalTrials.gov ID): NCT06235723; 01/02/2024; retrospectively registered. This study adheres to the standard checklist of CONSORT guidelines.

The neurosurgical outpatient clinic: comparison between accesses in public and private activities.

BACKGROUND: Neurosurgical clinic assesses presence and extent of pathologies of central and peripheral nervous system or disorders affecting the spine, to identify most effective treatment and possible recourse to surgery. The aim of the study is to evaluate the appropriateness of request for a neurosurgical consult both in private and in public outpatient clinics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We collected and analyzed all the reports of outpatient visits of public and private clinic over a period between January and December 2018. RESULTS: There were 0.62% real urgent visits in the public sector and 1.19% in the private sector (p = 0.05). Peripheral pathologies represented 12.53% and 6.21% of pathologies evaluated in public and private sector respectively (p < 0.00001). In addition, 15.76% of visits in public lead to surgery, while they represented 11.45% in private (p = 0.0003). CONCLUSIONS: No study is available comparing accesses of patients in neurosurgical outpatient clinics. In public clinic, visits are booked as urgent on the prescription of the general practitioner: in reality, only 5% of these visits were really confirmed as urgent by the specialist. Peripheral pathologies are more frequent in public clinic, while cranial pathologies are more frequent in private one. Patients with cranial pathologies prefer to choose their surgeon by accessing private clinic.

Partnership-based nursing practice framework for patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and their families-A discursive paper.

AIM: The increase in the number of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the disease burden, has prompted concerted efforts to improve healthcare, particularly outpatient services. In line with these attempts the Partnership-Based Nursing Practice Theoretical Framework for People with COPD was developed to guide outpatient nursing care. The principal approach of the framework is a 'Dialogue' with the patients, which has four components: 'Establishing family involvement', 'Assisting living with symptoms' and 'Facilitating access to healthcare', with the primary goal being 'Enhancement of the health experience'. With new knowledge, research on the framework, and extensive experience in using it, a need arose to modify the framework to maximize its clinical utility. DESIGN: Discursive paper. METHODS: A narrative review and critical reflection was conducted to revise the nursing practice framework via selected literature search from 2012 to 2022, research on the framework, and the authors' reflections on the clinical experience of using the framework. RESULTS: The nursing practice framework highlights capacities and possibilities that lie in the nurse-patient relationship. The overarching dialogue in the revised framework includes both patients and families. The action-related component 'Assisting living with the disease' was added to the framework to underscore the significance of attempting to understand what may lie ahead for patients and families. The other action-related components are as follows: 'Assisting living with symptoms' and 'Facilitating access to healthcare'. The primary goal remains unchanged: enhancing the 'Health experience'. CONCLUSION: Using the revised nursing practice framework in outpatient care may help to enhance the lives of people with COPD and their families, particularly at advanced stages of the disease. It may have transferability to other groups of people living with progressive diseases dealing with complicated health problems, and to reduce the usage of costly healthcare resources such as hospital care. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION AND/OR PATIENT CARE: The partnership-based nursing practice framework assumes an extension of conventional specialized respiratory service and embraces a comprehensive account for that which may influence the patient's health problems. This guidance, which holistically attends to patient-family needs of living with complicated and progressive health predicaments, is fundamental. It contributes to strengthening the disciplinary focus of nursing, interdisciplinary collaboration, person-family-centred quality nursing care and inspires research initiatives. Critical reflections and updates on nursing practice frameworks, such as this revision, are essential to advance nursing and healthcare. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: There is no direct patient- or public contribution.

Digital health interventions for remote follow-up after mild traumatic brain injury.

BACKGROUND: After a mild traumatic brain injury (mild TBI,) a significant number of patients may experience persistent symptoms and disabilities for months to years. Early identification and timely management of persistent symptoms may help to reduce the long-term impacts of mild TBIs. There is currently no formalised method for identifying patients with persistent symptoms after mild TBI once they are discharged from emergency department. OBJECTIVE: Assess the feasibility of a remote monitoring tool for early identification of persistent symptoms after mild TBI in the outpatient setting using digital tools. METHODS: Electronic surveys were sent to patients with mild TBI who presented to the emergency department at a Major Trauma Centre in England. The surveys were completed at three different timepoints (within days of injury (S1), 1 month (S2), and 3 months (S3) after injury). The indicators used to assess feasibility were engagement, number of eligible patients for follow-up evidence of need for the intervention, and consistency with the literature. Feedback was sought from participants. RESULTS: Of the 200 people invited to participate, 134 (67.0%) completed S1, 115 (57.5%) completed S2, and 95 (47.5%) completed S3. The rates of persistent symptoms ranged from 17.9%-62.6% depending on the criteria used, and we found a significant proportion of the participants experienced morbidity 1 and 3 months after injury. The electronic follow-up tool was deemed an acceptable and user-friendly method for service delivery by participants. CONCLUSION: Using digital tools to monitor and screen mild TBI patients for persistent symptoms is feasible. This could be a scalable, cost-effective, and convenient solution which could improve access to healthcare and reduce healthcare inequalities. This could enable early identification of patients with further medical needs and facilitate timely intervention to improve the clinical workflows, patient satisfaction, and health outcomes for people with persistent morbidities after mild TBIs.

An interdisciplinary integrated specialized one-stop outpatient clinic for idiopathic intracranial hypertension - an assessment of sick leave, presenteeism, and health care utilization.

BACKGROUND: Management of idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is complex requiring contributions from multiple specialized disciplines. In practice, this creates considerable organizational and communicational challenges. To meet those challenges, we established an interdisciplinary integrated outpatient clinic for IIH with a central coordination and a one-stop- concept. Here, we aimed to evaluate effects of this concept on sick leave, presenteeism, and health care utilization. METHODS: In a retrospective cohort study, we compared the one-stop era with integrated care (IC, 1-JUL-2021 to 31-DEC-2022) to a reference group receiving standard care (SC, 1-JUL-2018 to 31-DEC-2019) regarding economic outcome parameters assessed over 6 months. Multivariate binary logistic regression models were used to adjust for confounders. RESULTS: Baseline characteristics of the IC group (n = 85) and SC group (n = 81) were comparable (female: 90.6% vs. 90.1%; mean age: 33.6 vs. 32.8 years, educational level: ≥9 years of education 60.0% vs. 59.3%; located in Vienna 75.3% vs. 76.5%). Compared to SC, the IC group showed significantly fewer days with sick leave or presenteeism (-5 days/month), fewer unscheduled contacts for IIH-specific problems (-2.3/month), and fewer physician or hospital contacts in general (-4.1 contacts/month). Subgroup analyses of patients with migration background and language barrier consistently indicated stronger effects of the IC concept in these groups. CONCLUSIONS: Interdisciplinary integrated management significantly improves the burden of IIH in terms of sick leave, presenteeism and healthcare consultations - particularly in socioeconomically underprivileged patient groups.

An interdisciplinary integrated specialized one-stop outpatient clinic for idiopathic intracranial hypertension - a comprehensive assessment of patient satisfaction.

BACKGROUND: Management of idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is complex requiring contributions from multiple specialized disciplines. In practice, this creates considerable organizational and communicational challenges. To meet those challenges, we established an interdisciplinary integrated outpatient clinic for IIH with a central coordination and a one-stop concept. Here, we aimed to evaluate effects of this one-stop concept on subjective patient satisfaction and economic outcome in patients with IIH. METHODS: In a retrospective cohort study, we compared the one-stop era with integrated care (IC, 1-JUL-2021 to 31-DEC-2022) to a reference group receiving standard care (SC, 1-JUL-2018 to 31-DEC-2019) regarding subjective patient satisfaction (assessed by the Vienna Patient Inventory). Multivariable binary linear regression models were used to adjust for confounders. RESULTS: Baseline characteristics of the IC group (n = 85) and SC group (n = 81) were comparable (female: 90.6% vs. 90.1%; mean age: 33.6 vs. 32.8 years, educational level: ≥9 years of education 60.0% vs. 59.3%; located in Vienna 75.3% vs. 76.5%). Compared to SC, management within IC concept was associated with statistically significantly higher subjective patient satisfaction (beta = 0.93; p < 0.001) with the strongest effects observed in satisfaction with treatment accessibility and availability (beta = 2.05; p < 0.001). Subgroup analyses of patients with migration background and language barrier consistently indicated stronger effects of IC in these groups. CONCLUSIONS: Interdisciplinary integrated management of IIH statistically significantly and clinically meaningfully improves patient satisfaction - particularly in socioeconomically underprivileged patient groups. Providing structured central coordination to facilitate and improve access to interdisciplinary management provides means to further improve outcome.

[Diagnostic Options for Suspected Cases of Emotional Maltreatment - Presentation of the Interdisciplinary Perspective of a Child Protection Outpatient Clinic]. / Möglichkeiten der Diagnostik bei Verdachtsfällen von Emotionaler Gewalt ­ Darstellung der interdisziplinären Perspektive einer Kinderschutzambulanz.

Compared to sexual and physical violence, cases of emotional abuse are often more difficult to detect. An increasingly advocated approach involves regular assessments within social and healthcare structures tto proactively identify affected children and adolescents at an early stage. This enables the prompt initiation of appropriate interventions. Following, interdisciplinary institutions such as a child protection outpatient clinic can play an important role for professionals in the clarification of suspected child endangerment.This article aims to show possible courses of action for the early detection of emotional abuse based on a child protection outpatient clinic. In addition to the description of the interdisciplinary diagnostic procedure a selection of psychometric questionnaires and interviews is presented, which inquire about emotional abuse. When looking at the total number of 1,388 cases seen at the child protection outpatient clinic, it is noticeable that only 117 cases (8.4 %) were assigned with a suspicion of emotional abuse.This contrasts with 477 cases (34.3 %) in which confirmed indications for emotional abuse were found after the clarification process. An intersection of emotional abuse with other forms of child maltreatment was given in 341 cases (71.4 %). Psychometric questionnaires and interviews can facilitate a regular recording in health and social service institutions. Emotional abuse often goes unnoticed despite its frequency. Itsmanifestations are diverse and significantly overlap with other forms of maltreatment, necessitating a nuanced evaluation process. Specific diagnostic tools and interdisciplinary collaboration can contribute to better recognition of emotional abuse.

Mobile primary healthcare for post-COVID patients in rural areas: a proof-of-concept study.

INTRODUCTION: Post-COVID syndrome is increasingly recognized as a new clinical entity after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients living in rural areas may have to travel long with subjectively great effort to be examined using all necessary interdisciplinary tools. This problem could be addressed with mobile outpatient clinics. METHODS: In this prospective observational study, we investigated physical fitness, fatigue, depression, cognitive dysfunction, and dyspnea in patients with post-COVID syndrome in a mobile interdisciplinary post-COVID outpatient clinic. Upon referral from their primary care physician, patients were offered an appointment at a mobile post-COVID outpatient clinic close to their home. RESULTS: We studied 125 patients (female, n = 79; 63.2%) in our mobile unit. All patients reported symptoms lasting for more than 12 weeks after acute infection. 88.3% and 64.1% of patients reported significant impairment in physical and mental quality of life. Patients reported a median of three symptoms. The most frequently reported symptoms were fatigue (86.4%), cognitive dysfunction (85.6%), and dyspnea (37.6%). 56.0% of patients performed at < 2.5th percentile at the 1 min sit-to-stand test compared to age- and sex-matched healthy controls, and 25 patients (20.0%) exhibited a drop in oxygen saturation. A questionnaire given to each patient regarding the mobile unit revealed a very high level of patient satisfaction. CONCLUSION: There is an increasing need for high-quality and locally available care for patients with post-COVID syndrome. A mobile post-COVID outpatient clinic is a new concept that may be particularly suitable for use in rural regions. Patients' satisfaction following visits in such units is very high.

Growing relevance of reports of adolescent cyberbullying victimization among adult outpatients.

In the general population, prevalence rates of cyberbullying victimization have continuously increased over the past decades. However, the extent to which these increasing numbers affect clinical populations seeking treatment in outpatient services remains an open question. The present study sought to examine whether the increase of cyberbullying victimization is also reflected by increased reports of cyberbullying victimization in a clinical outpatient population. In addition, we assessed the incremental contribution of experiences of cyberbullying in the prediction of psychological symptoms when controlling for histories of childhood maltreatment and offline peer victimization. For this purpose, we analyzed routine data from N = 827 outpatients who had sought treatment at a University outpatient clinic for psychotherapy between 2012 and 2021 in a cross-sectional study design. Analyses showed that 8.3% of the patients born in the years 1980 to 2002 indicated the experience of cyberbullying victimization in their adolescence. The rate of reported cyberbullying victimization increased from 1 to 3% in patients born in the years 1980 to 1987 to 24% in patients born in the year 2000. A logistic regression revealed that patients born in the years 1995-2002 were up to nineteen times as likely to report cyberbullying victimization as patients born in the years 1980-1982. In addition, hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that cyberbullying victimization significantly accounted for an incremental proportion of variance (1%) in the prediction of psychological symptom distress after controlling for child maltreatment and offline peer victimization. In conclusion, this retrospective survey indicates an increase of the clinical relevance of cyberbullying victimization both in frequency of and potential contribution to etiology. Raising attention to cyberbullying in clinical care and research seems to be justified and warranted.

External validation of deep learning-based automated detection algorithm for chest radiograph: practical issues in outpatient clinic.

BACKGROUND: There have been no reports on diagnostic performance of deep learning-based automated detection (DLAD) for thoracic diseases in real-world outpatient clinic. PURPOSE: To validate DLAD for use at an outpatient clinic and analyze the interpretation time for chest radiographs. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is a retrospective single-center study. From 18 January 2021 to 18 February 2021, 205 chest radiographs with DLAD and paired chest CT from 205 individuals (107 men and 98 women; mean ± SD age: 63 ± 8 years) from an outpatient clinic were analyzed for external validation and observer performance. Two radiologists independently reviewed the chest radiographs by referring to the paired chest CT and made reference standards. Two pulmonologists and two thoracic radiologists participated in observer performance tests, and the total amount of time taken during the test was measured. RESULTS: The performance of DLAD (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC] = 0.920) was significantly higher than that of pulmonologists (AUC = 0.756) and radiologists (AUC = 0.782) without assistance of DLAD. With help of DLAD, the AUCs were significantly higher for both groups (pulmonologists AUC = 0.853; radiologists AUC = 0.854). A greater than 50% decrease in mean interpretation time was observed in the pulmonologist group with assistance of DLAD compared to mean reading time without aid of DLAD (from 67 s per case to 30 s per case). No significant difference was observed in the radiologist group (from 61 s per case to 61 s per case). CONCLUSION: DLAD demonstrated good performance in interpreting chest radiographs of patients at an outpatient clinic, and was especially helpful for pulmonologists in improving performance.

Patient's punctuality in an outpatient clinic: the role of age, medical branch and geographical factors.

BACKGROUND: The efficiency of the management of an outpatient clinic largely depends on the administration of patient flows and waiting times increase costs and affect clinical quality. In this study, we verify if the visit acceptance times are influenced by demographic or geographical factors in a large cohort of patients referred to a city and suburban private outpatient multidisciplinary clinic. METHODS: We included all scheduled visits of patients aged from 18 to 75 years who arrived in 2021, 2022 and 2023 in our private outpatient clinics, consisting of 34 medical clinics scattered in Milan metropolitan city and hinterland. The variables collected were age, visit time, check-in time, address of the medical clinic and its distance from the closest underground station, patient typology (new business vs. follow-up patient), and the medical branch of the visit. Outcome is'punctuality', defined as check-in time minus visit time (in minutes). RESULTS: We considered a sample of 410.808 visits from January 2021 to April 2023. The majority of patients check-in early (84.4%) and we found that the percentage of punctual patients increases linearly with age. Earlier hours in the morning show the worst punctuality pattern as well as Blood Draws in the analysis of different medical branches. We also observed that patients who already had some activity recorded in our systems show the worst pattern of punctuality. No particular differences emerged considering the geographical location of the clinics. CONCLUSIONS: Younger patients have worse punctuality than older patients. Moreover, earlier hour slots are the most disadvantaged and the medical specialty has an influence on the arrival habits. This data should be considered for better clinical quality and efficiency.

Non-hospital healthcare center's preparedness assessment toolbar for providing basic emergency care: a sequential exploratory mixed-method study.

BACKGROUND: Basic emergency management in urban and rural areas is a critical challenge, which can affect the pre-hospital mortality rate. Therefore, Non-hospital Healthcare Center (NHHC) must be prepared to manage such emergency cases that may occur in the geographic area where these centers act. The main aim of the study was to develop and validate an toolbar for NHHCs' preparedness to provide initial emergency care. METHODS: This study was designed based on a sequential exploratory mixed- method in two phases, in each of which there are three steps. In the phase I, the literature systematic review and qualitative methods (Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Semi-Structured Interviews (SSIs)) were applied to identify the domains and items. In the phase II, content validity, feasibility, and reliability of the toolbar were performed. Content validity was assessed using a modified Kappa coefficient based on clarity and relevance criteria. Feasibility of the toolbar was randomly assessed through its implementation in 10 centers in Tabriz. Reliability was randomly assessed in a pilot on 30 centers. Reliability was assessed by measuring internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and inter-rater agreement. The main statistical methods for assessing reliability include Cronbach's alpha, Intra-class Correlation Coefficient, and Kendal's Tau-b. All the statistical analyses were performed using Stata 14. RESULTS: In the phase I, primary version of the toolbar containing 134 items related to assessing the preparedness of NHHCs was generated. In the phase II, item reduction was applied and the final version of the toolbar was developed containing 126 items, respectively. These items were classified in 9 domains which include: "Environmental Infrastructures of Centers", "Protocols, Guidelines and Policies", "Medical Supplies and Equipment", "Emergency Medicines", "Human Resources", "Clinical Interventions", "Maintenance of equipment", "Medicine Storage Capability", and "Management Process". The toolbar had acceptable validity and reliability. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided a standard and valid toolbar that can be used to assess the preparedness of NHHCs to deliver initial emergency care.

Depression and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD) Risk Estimator in Women.

INTRODUCTION: Cardiovascular disease remains a major cause of morbidity and premature mortality worldwide. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk estimator with depression in women undergoing cardiological evaluation. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Three hundred women undergoing cardiological evaluation completed the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZSDS) questionnaire which included women's characteristics. RESULTS: A percentage of 57.4% of our participants exhibited ASCVD risk <5%; while the 18.3% had ASCVD risk between 5% and 7.4%, the 18.3% between 7.5% and 20%, and the remaining 6% > 20%. In terms of depression, 50% of the women had a score of less than 38 (median), according to Zung scale and mean score was 38.4. In addition, 25% of women had a score below 32. These scores indicate low levels of depression in women. Statistically significant higher rates of depression were found in women who were not involved with physical activities (p = 0.030). CONCLUSIONS: The negative impact of depression on the ASCVD risk could potentially be prevented by modifying individuals' behavior with regard to their engagement in physical activity.

Barriers and facilitators for healthcare professionals to the implementation of Multidisciplinary Timely Undertaken Advance Care Planning conversations at the outpatient clinic (the MUTUAL intervention): a sequential exploratory mixed-methods study.

BACKGROUND: Advance Care Planning (ACP) enables patients to define and discuss their goals and preferences for future medical treatment and care. However, the structural implementation of ACP interventions remains challenging. The Multidisciplinary Timely Undertaken Advance Care Planning (MUTUAL) intervention has recently been developed which takes into account existing barriers and facilitators. We aimed to evaluate the MUTUAL intervention and identify the barriers and facilitators healthcare professionals experience in the implementation of the MUTUAL intervention and also to identify suggestions for improvement. METHODS: We performed a sequential exploratory mixed-methods study at five outpatient clinics of one, 300-bed, non-academic hospital. Firstly, semi-structured interviews were performed with a purposive sample of healthcare professionals. The content of these interviews was used to specify the Measurement Instrument for Determinants of Innovations (MIDI). The MIDI was sent to all healthcare professionals. The interviews and questionnaires were used to clarify the results. RESULTS: Eleven healthcare professionals participated in the interviews and 37 responded to the questionnaire. Eight barriers and 20 facilitators were identified. Healthcare professionals agreed that the elements of the MUTUAL intervention are clear, correct, complete, and simple - and the intervention is relevant for patients and their proxies. The main barriers are found within the user and the organisational domain. Barriers related to the organisation include: inadequate replacement of staff, insufficient staff, and insufficient time to introduce and invite patients. Several suggestions for improvement were made. CONCLUSION: Our results show that healthcare professionals positively evaluate the MUTUAL intervention and are very receptive to implementing the MUTUAL intervention. Taking into account the suggestions for improvement may enhance further implementation.

Mobility Rehab visual feedback system for gait rehabilitation in older adults.

BACKGROUND: Gait and balance impairments are among the main causes of falls in older adults. The feasibility and effectiveness of adding sensor-based feedback to physical therapy (PT) in an outpatient PT setting is unknown. We evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of PT intervention combined with a therapist-assisted visual feedback system, called Mobility Rehab, (PT + MR) in older adults. METHODS: Twenty-eight older adults with and without neurological diseases were assigned either PT + MR (n = 22) or PT alone (n = 6). Both groups performed 8 sessions (individualized) of 45 min long (30 min for gait training and 15 min for endurance, strength, and balance exercises) in an outpatient clinic. Mobility Rehab uses unobtrusive, inertial sensors on both wrists and feet, and at the sternum level with real-time algorithms to provide real-time feedback on five gait metrics (step duration, stride length, elevation at mid-swing, arm swing range-of-motion [ROM], and trunk coronal ROM), which are displayed on a tablet. The primary outcome was the Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale (ABC). The secondary outcome was gait speed measured with wearable inertial sensors during 2 min of walking. RESULTS: There were no between-group differences at baseline for any variable (P > 0.05). Neither PT + MR nor PT alone showed significant changes on the ABC scores. PT + MR, but not PT alone, showed significant improvements in gait speed and arm swing ROM. The system was evaluated as 'easy to use' by the PT. CONCLUSIONS: Our preliminary results show that PT + MR improves gait speed in older adults with and without neurological diseases in an outpatient clinic. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: www. CLINICALTRIALS: gov , identifier: NCT03869879.