Prevention of road crashes in older adults: perspectives on facilitators, barriers and the role of the family doctor.

BACKGROUND: People over 64 years have a high fatality rate when they are involved in traffic accidents. Besides, older victims of road crashes are expected to rise in the future due to population aging. The purpose of the study was to document their perception on the role of the family doctor, the main facilitating factors, and the perceived barriers to the temporary or permanent restriction of their driving. METHODS: This qualitative study used focus group methodology. A sample of 16 people over 65 years old was obtained through a series of segmentation criteria at an active participation centre for older adults in a small town in Jaén province (Spain). All were invited to participate in a discussion during which they were asked to express their opinions and subjective experiences concerning the role of their family doctor. The group conversation was taped, fully transcribed and analysed, and codes were generated with both deductive and inductive methods. RESULTS: After merging the codes to generate themes, we identified 9 relevant categories: perception of age-related risk, road safety, role of public authorities, driver assessment centre, role of the family doctor, role of the family, proposals for addressing traffic accidents in older adults, consequences of the driving prohibition, and public transport. All categories help to explain the subjective driving and traffic safety experiences of older road users. CONCLUSIONS: Although family doctors do not usually ask their older patients about road driving, they are highly valued by these patients. Thus, family doctors have a great potential to act, along with the family members, for the benefit of older patients' traffic safety, in ways that can prevent their involvement in road crashes and reduce the negative consequences of having to stop driving if necessary.

Clinical Factors, Preventive Behaviours and Temporal Outcomes Associated with COVID-19 Infection in Health Professionals at a Spanish Hospital.

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has quickly spread around the world, with Spain being one of the most severely affected countries. Healthcare professionals are an important risk group given their exposure. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of symptoms, main concerns as patients, preventive behaviours of healthcare professionals, and the different temporal outcomes associated with the negativization of PCR results. A total of 238 professionals were analysed and follow-up was conducted from 11 March to 21 April 2020 through clinical records, in-depth surveys, and telephone interviews. Symptoms, concerns, and preventive measures were documented, and temporal outcomes (start and end of symptoms, first positive PCR, and negativization of PCR) were analysed through survival analyses. A high prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms (especially in women and older professionals), fever, cough, and fatigue were reported. The main concern was contagion in the work and home environment. Professionals (especially men) reported low use of face masks before the pandemic. Our analysis indicates that the median times for the negativization of PCR testing to confirm the resolution of infection is 15 days after the end of symptoms, or 25 days after the first positive PCR test. Our results suggest that these times are longer for women and for professionals aged ≥55 years, therefore follow-up strategies should be optimized in light of both variables. This is the first study we are aware of to report factors associated with the time to negativization of PCR results. We present the first rigorous estimates of time outcomes and hope that these data can be valuable to continue feeding the prediction models that are currently being developed. Similar studies are required to corroborate our results.

Therapeutic agents tested in 238 COVID-19 hospitalized patients and their relationship with mortality.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In the last months great efforts have been developed to evaluate the more efficient therapeutic agents in the management of patients with COVID-19. Currently, no specific drug combination has consistently demonstrated an association with mortality. The aim of this study was to assess the pattern of associations observed between the different in-hospital treatments administered to a series of 238 patients admitted for COVID-19 and their relationship with mortality. METHODS: The electronic medical records of patients that discharged or died from COVID-19 in the Hospital Universitario San Cecilio (Granada, Spain) between March 16 and April 10, 2020 were analysed. From these records, information was obtained on sex, age, comorbidities at admission, clinical information, analytical parameters, imaging tests and empirical treatments used. The outcome variable was the in-hospital mortality. To estimate the associations between the different therapeutic alternatives and the risk of mortality, Hazard Ratios adjusted for age, sex, previous pathologies and severity at discharge were estimated using Cox Regression models. RESULTS: The most frequently used combination of drugs was low molecular weight heparins, hydroxychloroquine, and ritonavir/lopinavir. None of the analysed treatments showed independent association with mortality. The drugs that showed a greater inverse association with mortality were tocilizumab and corticoids. CONCLUSIONS: The observed association patterns are consistent with previous literature. It seems necessary to design randomized controlled clinical trials that evaluate the possible protector effect of tocilizumab and corticoids in the risk of mortality for some subgroups of COVID-19 hospitalized patients.

ANTECEDENTES Y OBJETIVO: En los últimos meses se han realizado grandes esfuerzos para evaluar las terapias más eficaces en el manejo de pacientes con COVID-19. Actualmente ninguna combinación ha demostrado de manera consistente una relación clara con la mortalidad. Nuestro objetivo fue valorar el patrón de asociaciones observado entre los distintos tratamientos intrahospitalarios administrados a 238 pacientes ingresados por COVID-19 y la mortalidad. MATERIALES Y MÉTODOS: Se analizaron las historias clínicas electrónicas de aquellos pacientes dados de alta o que fallecieron por COVID-19 entre el 16 de marzo y el 10 de abril de 2020 en el Hospital Universitario San Cecilio (Granada, España). Se obtuvo información sobre sexo, edad, comorbilidades al ingreso, parámetros clínicos, analíticos, pruebas de imagen y tratamientos empíricos empleados. La variable de desenlace fue la mortalidad intrahospitalaria. Para estimar las asociaciones entre los diferentes tratamientos y el riesgo de mortalidad se estimaron, mediante modelos de regresión de Cox, hazard ratio ajustadas por edad, sexo, patologías previas y gravedad al ingreso. RESULTADOS: La combinación de fármacos más frecuentemente empleada fue la formada por heparinade bajo peso molecular (HBPM), hidroxicloroquina y ritonavir/lopinavir. Ninguno de los tratamientos utilizados mostró una asociación independiente con la mortalidad. Los fármacos que mostraron una asociación inversa de mayor magnitud fueron el tocilizumab y los corticoides. CONCLUSIONES: El patrón se asociaciones obtenido es consistente con lo reportado en la bibliografía. Parece oportuno diseñar ensayos aleatorizados que valoren el posible efecto protector de los corticoides y el tocilizumab sobre el riesgo de muerte en algunos subgrupos de pacientes hospitalizados por COVID-19.

[Therapeutic agents tested in 238 COVID-19 hospitalized patients and their relationship with mortality]. / Agentes terapéuticos utilizados en 238 pacientes hospitalizados por COVID-19 y su relación con la mortalidad.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In the last months great efforts have been developed to evaluate the more efficient therapeutic agents in the management of patients with COVID-19. Currently, no specific drug combination has consistently demonstrated an association with mortality. The aim of this study was to assess the pattern of associations observed between the different in-hospital treatments administered to a series of 238 patients admitted for COVID-19 and their relationship with mortality. METHODS: The electronic medical records of patients that discharged or died from COVID-19 in the Hospital Universitario San Cecilio (Granada, Spain) between March 16 and April 10, 2020 were analysed. From these records, information was obtained on sex, age, comorbidities at admission, clinical information, analytical parameters, imaging tests and empirical treatments used. The outcome variable was the in-hospital mortality. To estimate the associations between the different therapeutic alternatives and the risk of mortality, hazard ratios adjusted for age, sex, previous pathologies and severity at discharge were estimated using Cox regression models. RESULTS: The most frequently used combination of drugs was low molecular weight heparins, hydroxychloroquine, and ritonavir/lopinavir. None of the analysed treatments showed independent association with mortality. The drugs that showed a greater inverse association with mortality were tocilizumab and corticoids. CONCLUSIONS: The observed association patterns are consistent with previous literature. It seems necessary to design randomized controlled clinical trials that evaluate the possible protector effect of tocilizumab and corticoids in the risk of mortality for some subgroups of COVID-19 hospitalized patients.

Sociodemographic, clinical and laboratory factors on admission associated with COVID-19 mortality in hospitalized patients: A retrospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: To identify and quantify associations between baseline characteristics on hospital admission and mortality in patients with COVID-19 at a tertiary hospital in Spain. METHODS AND FINDINGS: This retrospective case series included 238 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 at Hospital Universitario Clínico San Cecilio (Granada, Spain) who were discharged or who died. Electronic medical records were reviewed to obtain information on sex, age, personal antecedents, clinical features, findings on physical examination, and laboratory results for each patient. Associations between mortality and baseline characteristics were estimated as hazard ratios (HR) calculated with Cox regression models. Series mortality was 25.6%. Among patients with dependence for basic activities of daily living, 78.7% died, and among patients residing in retirement homes, 80.8% died. The variables most clearly associated with a greater hazard of death were age (3% HR increase per 1-year increase in age; 95%CI 1-6), diabetes mellitus (HR 2.42, 95%CI 1.43-4.09), SatO2/FiO2 ratio (43% HR reduction per 1-point increase; 95%CI 23-57), SOFA score (19% HR increase per 1-point increase, 95%CI 5-34) and CURB-65 score (76% HR increase per 1-point increase, 95%CI 23-143). CONCLUSIONS: The patients residing in retirement homes showed great vulnerability. The main baseline factors that were independently associated with mortality in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 were older age, diabetes mellitus, low SatO2/FiO2 ratio, and high SOFA and CURB-65 scores.