Concerns of older patients and their caregivers in the emergency department.

BACKGROUND: Older emergency department (ED) patients often have complex problems and severe illnesses with a high risk of adverse outcomes. It is likely that these older patients are troubled with concerns, which might reflect their preferences and needs concerning medical care. However, data regarding this topic are lacking. METHODS: This study is a sub study of a prospective, multicenter, observational cohort study among older medical ED patients (≥65 years). Patients or their caregivers were asked about their illness-related concerns during the first stage of the ED visit using a questionnaire. All concerns were categorized into 10 categories, and differences between patients and caregivers, and between age groups were analyzed. Odds Ratios were calculated to determine the association of the concerns for different adverse outcomes. RESULTS: Most of the 594 included patients (or their caregivers) were concerned (88%) about some aspects of their illness or their need for medical care. The most often reported concerns were about the severity of disease (43.6%), functional decline (9.4%) and dying (5.6%). Caregivers were more frequently concerned than patients (p<0.001) especially regarding the severity of disease (50.5 vs 39.6%, p = 0.016) and cognitive decline (10.8 vs. 0.3%, p <0.001). We found no difference between age groups. The concern about dying was associated with 30-day mortality (OR 2.89; 95%CI: 1.24-6.70) and the composite endpoint (intensive- or medium care admission, length of hospital stay >7 days, loss of independent living and unplanned readmission within 30 days) (OR 2.32; 95%CI: 1.12-4.82). In addition, unspecified concerns were associated with mortality (OR 1.88; 95%CI: 1.09-3.22). CONCLUSION: The majority of older patients and especially their caregivers are concerned about their medical condition or need for medical care when they visit the ED. These concerns are associated with adverse outcomes and most likely reflect their needs regarding medical care. More attention should be paid to these concerns because they may offer opportunities to reduce anxiety and provide care that is adjusted to their needs. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was registered on clinicalTriagls.gov (NCT02946398).

Hypertensive organ damage predicts future cognitive performance: A 9-year follow-up study in patients with hypertension.

Hypertension is associated with cognitive deficits, probably caused by cerebral small vessel disease. The authors examined whether additional presence of cardiac and renal organ damages, and their combined presence, are associated with future cognitive performance. In 78 patients with essential hypertension (mean age 51.2 ± 12.0 years), brain damage was determined by MRI features, cardiac damage by left ventricular mass index (LVMI), and renal damage by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and albuminuria. At 9-year follow-up, neuropsychological assessment was performed. LVMI was associated with future lower cognition (P = 0.032), independent of age, sex, premorbid cognition, and brain damage, but eGFR and albuminuria were not. The presence of 2 or 3 types of organ damage compared to none was associated with future lower cognition. Increasing number of hypertensive organ damages, and cardiac damage independently of brain damage, might indicate a more severe hypertensive disease burden and could help to identify patients at risk of cognitive problems.

European Society of Hypertension practice guidelines for ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.

Given the increasing use of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) in both clinical practice and hypertension research, a group of scientists, participating in the European Society of Hypertension Working Group on blood pressure monitoring and cardiovascular variability, in year 2013 published a comprehensive position paper dealing with all aspects of the technique, based on the available scientific evidence for ABPM. The present work represents an updated schematic summary of the most important aspects related to the use of ABPM in daily practice, and is aimed at providing recommendations for proper use of this technique in a clinical setting by both specialists and practicing physicians. The present article details the requirements and the methodological issues to be addressed for using ABPM in clinical practice, The clinical indications for ABPM suggested by the available studies, among which white-coat phenomena, masked hypertension, and nocturnal hypertension, are outlined in detail, and the place of home measurement of blood pressure in relation to ABPM is discussed. The role of ABPM in pharmacological, epidemiological, and clinical research is also briefly mentioned. Finally, the implementation of ABPM in practice is considered in relation to the situation of different countries with regard to the reimbursement and the availability of ABPM in primary care practices, hospital clinics, and pharmacies.

European Society of Hypertension position paper on ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.

Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is being used increasingly in both clinical practice and hypertension research. Although there are many guidelines that emphasize the indications for ABPM, there is no comprehensive guideline dealing with all aspects of the technique. It was agreed at a consensus meeting on ABPM in Milan in 2011 that the 34 attendees should prepare a comprehensive position paper on the scientific evidence for ABPM.This position paper considers the historical background, the advantages and limitations of ABPM, the threshold levels for practice, and the cost-effectiveness of the technique. It examines the need for selecting an appropriate device, the accuracy of devices, the additional information and indices that ABPM devices may provide, and the software requirements.At a practical level, the paper details the requirements for using ABPM in clinical practice, editing considerations, the number of measurements required, and the circumstances, such as obesity and arrhythmias, when particular care needs to be taken when using ABPM.The clinical indications for ABPM, among which white-coat phenomena, masked hypertension, and nocturnal hypertension appear to be prominent, are outlined in detail along with special considerations that apply in certain clinical circumstances, such as childhood, the elderly and pregnancy, and in cardiovascular illness, examples being stroke and chronic renal disease, and the place of home measurement of blood pressure in relation to ABPM is appraised.The role of ABPM in research circumstances, such as pharmacological trials and in the prediction of outcome in epidemiological studies is examined and finally the implementation of ABPM in practice is considered in relation to the issue of reimbursement in different countries, the provision of the technique by primary care practices, hospital clinics and pharmacies, and the growing role of registries of ABPM in many countries.

Erythrocytapheresis versus phlebotomy in the initial treatment of HFE hemochromatosis patients: results from a randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: Standard treatment of newly diagnosed HFE hemochromatosis patients is phlebotomy. Erythrocytapheresis provides a new therapeutic modality that can remove up to three times more red blood cells per single procedure and could thus have a clinical and economic benefit. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: To compare the number of treatment procedures between erythrocytapheresis and phlebotomy needed to reach the serum ferritin (SF) target level of 50 µg/L, a two-treatment-arms, randomized trial was conducted in which 38 newly diagnosed patients homozygous for C282Y were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to undergo either erythrocytapheresis or phlebotomy. A 50% decrease in the number of treatment procedures for erythrocytapheresis compared to phlebotomy was chosen as the relevant difference to detect. RESULTS: Univariate analysis showed a significantly lower mean number of treatment procedures in the erythrocytapheresis group (9 vs. 27; ratio, 0.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.25-0.45; Mann-Whitney p < 0.001). After adjustments for the two important influential factors initial SF level and body weight, the reduction ratio was still significant (0.43; 95% CI, 0.35-0.52; p < 0.001). Cost analysis showed no significant difference in treatment costs between both procedures. The costs resulting from productivity loss were significantly lower for the erythrocytapheresis group. CONCLUSION: Erythrocytapheresis is highly effective treatment to reduce iron overload and from a societal perspective might potentially also be a cost-saving therapy.

The impact of differences in EQ-5D and SF-6D utility scores on the acceptability of cost-utility ratios: results across five trial-based cost-utility studies.

OBJECTIVE: This article investigates whether differences in utility scores based on the EQ-5D and the SF-6D have impact on the incremental cost-utility ratios in five distinct patient groups. METHODS: We used five empirical data sets of trial-based cost-utility studies that included patients with different disease conditions and severity (musculoskeletal disease, cardiovascular pulmonary disease, and psychological disorders) to calculate differences in quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) based on EQ-5D and SF-6D utility scores. We compared incremental QALYs, incremental cost-utility ratios, and the probability that the incremental cost-utility ratio was acceptable within and across the data sets. RESULTS: We observed small differences in incremental QALYs, but large differences in the incremental cost-utility ratios and in the probability that these ratios were acceptable at a given threshold, in the majority of the presented cost-utility analyses. More specifically, in the patient groups with relatively mild health conditions the probability of acceptance of the incremental cost-utility ratio was considerably larger when using the EQ-5D to estimate utility. While in the patient groups with worse health conditions the probability of acceptance of the incremental cost-utility ratio was considerably larger when using the SF-6D to estimate utility. CONCLUSIONS: Much of the appeal in using QALYs as measure of effectiveness in economic evaluations is in the comparability across conditions and interventions. The incomparability of the results of cost-utility analyses using different instruments to estimate a single index value for health severely undermines this aspect and reduces the credibility of the use of incremental cost-utility ratios for decision-making.

Uniform format for disclosure of competing interests in ICMJE journals.

Introducing a new disclosure form for member journals of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.

The influence of six cardiovascular polymorphisms on a first event of ischemic heart disease is modified by sex and age.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the contribution of six cardiovascular polymorphisms to the occurrence of a first event of ischemic heart disease (IHD) in a primary care population with a high prevalence of hypertension. Furthermore, we specified the data for sex and age. METHODS: In this cross sectional case-control study, patients with a first event of IHD (157) and event-free controls (571) were studied. Both the groups were genotyped for the angiotensin II type 1 receptor (A1166C), angiotensinogen (M235 T), angiotensin converting enzyme (4656rpt), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (E298D), G-protein beta3 subunit (C825 T), and alpha-adducin (G460W) polymorphisms. Univariate and multivariate odds ratios (ORs) were calculated to assess the association between a first ischemic event and these polymorphisms. Sliding mean analyses were performed to show age-specific associations. RESULTS: Multivariate ORs indicated a protective association for the carrier status of the T-allele of AGT, overall [OR = 0.69 (0.34-0.90)] and for males [OR = 0.58 (0.27-0.89)]. Sliding mean analyses showed a continuous protective association with IHD of the T-allele of AGT with increasing age in males, whereas in females an increased risk for IHD was observed with a maximum OR of 1.6 at the age of 56 years. CONCLUSION: In this population the T-allele of the AGT polymorphism is protective for a first event of IHD in males.

Rheos Baroreflex Hypertension Therapy System to treat resistant hypertension.

Resistant hypertension has a high prevalence and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. The Rheos Baroreflex Hypertension Therapy System is an implantable device that offers a completely new approach to treating patients with resistant hypertension by electrically activating the carotid baroreflex. Preliminary results from current feasibility clinical trials have shown sustained decreases in blood pressure after 1 year. The pivotal trial for US FDA approval and market release is currently ongoing. This article profiles the Rheos System and evaluates the treatment of resistant hypertension in general.

Prevalence and persistence of masked hypertension in treated hypertensive patients.

BACKGROUND: Masked hypertension (MH) is defined as a normal blood pressure in the physician's office and an elevated blood pressure when measured out-of-office. The cause of MH may be termed the masked hypertension effect (MHE), and is not restricted to blood-pressure (BP) values around the thresholds for normal BP. We investigated the prevalence and persistence of MH and MHE in patients who were being treated for high BP and who had been followed for a period of 1 year. METHODS: One hundred and sixty-one treated hypertensive patients underwent office blood-pressure measurements (OBPMs) at seven visits and self-performed blood-pressure measurements (SBPMs) for 1 week before each visit over a period of 1 year. All measurements were performed with the same type of automatic device. At each visit, MH was determined according to the European Society of Hypertension definition (OBPM, <140/90 mm Hg; SBPM, >/=135 mm Hg or 85 mm Hg). In addition, we determined prevalences of MHE at 5/3 mm Hg (SBPM exceeds OBPM by 5 mm Hg systolic and 3 mm Hg diastolic), and MHE at 10/6 mm Hg (SBPM exceeds OBPM by 10 mm Hg systolic and 6 mm Hg diastolic), respectively. RESULTS: During the entire study, 50% of the patients had MH, and 40% had MHE at 5/3 mm Hg at least once. At four sequential OBPM visits, 2% consistently had MH, and 3% had MHE at 5/3 mm Hg or MHE at 10/6 mm Hg. The prevalence of MH increased with lower OBPM levels but remained rather constant for MHE at 5/3 mm Hg and MHE at 10/6 mm Hg. The persistence of MH and the MHE over time in individual patients was low. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that MH and MHE at 5/3 mm Hg and MHE at 10/6 mm Hg commonly occur in treated patients, but are not persistent phenomena and probably result from an accidentally low OBPM value on one particular occasion.

Self-measurement of blood pressure at home reduces the need for antihypertensive drugs: a randomized, controlled trial.

It is still uncertain whether one can safely base treatment decisions on self-measurement of blood pressure. In the present study, we investigated whether antihypertensive treatment based on self-measurement of blood pressure leads to the use of less medication without the loss of blood pressure control. We randomly assigned 430 hypertensive patients to receive treatment either on the basis of self-measured pressures (n=216) or office pressures (OPs; n=214). During 1-year follow-up, blood pressure was measured by office measurement (10 visits), ambulatory monitoring (start and end), and self-measurement (8 times, self-pressure group only). In addition, drug use, associated costs, and degree of target organ damage (echocardiography and microalbuminuria) were assessed. The self-pressure group used less medication than the OP group (1.47 versus 2.48 drug steps; P<0.001) with lower costs ($3222 versus $4420 per 100 patients per month; P<0.001) but without significant differences in systolic and diastolic OP values (1.6/1.0 mm Hg; P=0.25/0.20), in changes in left ventricular mass index (-6.5 g/m(2) versus -5.6 g/m(2); P=0.72), or in median urinary microalbumin concentration (-1.7 versus -1.5 mg per 24 hours; P=0.87). Nevertheless, 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure values at the end of the trial were higher in the self-pressure than in the OP group: 125.9 versus 123.8 mm Hg (P<0.05) for systolic and 77.2 versus 76.1 mm Hg (P<0.05) for diastolic blood pressure. These data show that self-measurement leads to less medication use than office blood pressure measurement without leading to significant differences in OP values or target organ damage. Ambulatory values, however, remain slightly elevated for the self-pressure group.

Renal artery stenosis: cost-effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment.

PURPOSE: To use a decision analytic model to determine the cost-effectiveness of performing diagnostic digital subtraction angiography (DSA), computed tomographic (CT) angiography, or magnetic resonance (MR) angiography or proceeding immediately to tentative percutaneous revascularization in patients suspected of having renovascular hypertension. MATERIALS AND METHODS: With use of a Markov-Monte Carlo decision model, cost-effectiveness analysis was performed from a societal perspective. Data were derived from the Renal Artery Diagnostic Imaging Study in Hypertension and from published literature. The base-case analyses were used to evaluate a 50-year-old patient with a diastolic blood pressure higher than 95 mm Hg and one or more clinical clues suggestive of renovascular hypertension. Outcome measures were quality-adjusted life-year (QALY), lifetime costs, and incremental cost-effectiveness. RESULTS: For a 50-year-old male patient, immediate tentative revascularization was the least costly (euro54 415) and most effective (12.265 QALYs) strategy. For the other strategies, costs and QALYs, respectively, were euro55 570 and 12.195 for DSA, euro55 191 and 12.163 for CT angiography, and euro56 890 and 12.088 for MR angiography. For a 50-year-old female patient, costs and QALYs, respectively, were euro66 731 and 13.731 for MR angiography, euro63 970 and 13.749 for CT angiography, and euro63 079 and 13.902 for DSA. Immediate tentative revascularization yielded more QALYs (13.937) and was more costly (euro63 329) than DSA. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was euro7143 per QALY. As the prior probability increased, use of a more invasive diagnostic imaging strategy became justified. Also, the sensitivities of CT angiography and MR angiography and the costs of DSA influenced the results. CONCLUSION: Given currently accepted incremental cost-effectiveness ratios, immediate tentative percutaneous revascularization is a cost-effective strategy for the diagnosis of renal artery stenosis. Management decisions should be conditional on the prior probability.