The Significance of Depression for Short-term Readmission and Mortality After a Pneumonia Admission.

BACKGROUND: Depression is highly prevalent among hospitalized patients with pneumonia. At discharge, these patients transfer to a less care-intensive home-based setting. Nevertheless, little is known on the prognosis in the postdischarge period. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of depression on 30-day mortality and readmission in persons discharged after a pneumonia admission. DESIGN: This was a population-based cohort study using the Danish registries. SUBJECTS: All persons aged 50+ years with a pneumonia admission in 2000-2016 in Denmark. MEASURES: Mortality rate ratios for 30-day mortality and incidence rate ratios for 30-day readmission in pneumonia patients with versus without depression. RESULTS: We identified 379,265 pneumonia admissions, hereof 83,257 (22.0%) with depression. The overall adjusted mortality rate ratio was 1.29 (95% confidence interval: 1.25-1.33), and the overall adjusted incidence rate ratio was 1.07 (95% confidence interval: 1.05-1.08). The mortality risk was higher for all ages and throughout the 30-day period in persons with versus without depression. This risk was modified by sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics (excluding sex and education), admission-related factors, comorbidities, and use of benzodiazepines, opioids, or antipsychotics. The readmission risk was higher until age 90 and tended to be higher throughout the 30-day period. This risk was modified by age, cohabitation, residency, admission-related factors, comorbidities, and use of opioids or antipsychotics. For both outcomes, the relative effect of depression was highest among the youngest, among those with a short hospital stay and among those with few comorbidities. CONCLUSION: Depression is an independent risk factor for 30-day mortality and readmission in persons who transfer from hospital care to home-based care.

Use of single-bed rooms may decrease the incidence of hospital-acquired infections in geriatric patients: A retrospective cohort study in Central Denmark region.

OBJECTIVE: Patients accommodated in single-bed rooms may have a reduced risk of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) compared to those in multi-bed rooms. This study aimed to examine the effect of single-bed accommodation on HAIs in older patients admitted to a geriatric ward. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of patients admitted to geriatric wards in a university hospital in Central Denmark Region linked to a move to a newly built hospital, involving all consecutively admitted patients aged 65 years and over from 15 September to 19 December 2016 and a similar cohort admitted in the same three months in 2017. We compared the incidence of HAIs in patients in single-bed accommodation to those in multi-bed accommodation using retrospective review of electronic patient records, with all infections verified microbiologically or by X-ray with onset between 48 hours after admission to 48 hours after discharge from hospital. RESULTS: In total 446 patients were included. The incidence of HAIs in multi-bed accommodation was 30% compared to 20% in single-bed accommodation. The hazard ratio was 0.62 (95% Confidence Interval 0.43-0.91, p = 0.01) for single-bed accommodation. This finding remained robust after adjustment for age, sex, infection at admission, risk of sepsis, use of catheter, treatment with prednisone or methotrexate, and comorbidity index. CONCLUSION: Accommodation in single-bed rooms appeared to reduce HAIs compared to multi-bed rooms in two geriatric wards. This finding should be considered as hypothesis-generating and be examined further using an experimental design.

Clinical presentation and outcomes of COVID-19 in older hospitalised patients assessed by the record-based multidimensional prognostic index, a cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE: Older people are the most frequently hospital admitted patients with COVID-19. We aimed to describe the clinical presentation of COVID-19 among frail and nonfrail older hospitalised patients and to evaluate the potential association between frailty and clinical course, decision of treatment level with outcomes change in functional capacity and survival. METHODS: We performed a multi-center, retrospective cross-sectional cohort study examining data on clinical presentation and frailty-related domains for hospitalised people aged 75 + years with a positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) test. Frailty was assessed at admission using record-based MPI (rMPI) and Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS). Decision on treatment level about invasive ventilation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), change in CFS-score from admission to discharge, changed need of home care, and in-hospital, 30-day and 90-day mortality were registered. RESULTS: 100 patients (median age 82 years (IQR 78-86), 56% female) with COVID-19 were included. 54 patients were assessed moderately or severely frail (rMPI-score = 2 or 3) and compared to non-frail (rMPI-score = 1). At admission, frail patients presented more frequently with confusion. At discharge, functional decline measured by change in CFS and increased home care was more prevalent among frail than the non-frail. Decisions about no invasive ventilation or CPR were more prevalent among frail older patients with COVID-19 than non-frail. Ninety-day mortality was 70% among frail patients versus 15% in non-frail. CONCLUSION: Frailty seems to be associated with confusion, more frequent decisions about treatment level, larger functional decline at discharge and a higher mortality rate among older patients with COVID-19.

Factors Associated With 30-Day Rehospitalization and Mortality in Older Patients After a Pneumonia Admission.

OBJECTIVES: Short-term rehospitalization and mortality are common events in older patients after a pneumonia admission, yet little knowledge exists on how to identify the patients at risk of these events. This knowledge is needed to ensure that health care attention is given to those with the highest needs. We therefore aimed to identify factors of importance for short-term rehospitalization and mortality in older patients after admission for pneumonia. DESIGN: Population-based cohort study. SETTING: The Danish nationwide registries. PARTICIPANTS: In total, 246,245 individuals aged 65-99 years who experienced 298,564 admissions for pneumonia from 2000 to 2016. METHODS: The explored factors in patients were demographic characteristics, health-seeking behavior, comorbidity, and medication use. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) for 30-day rehospitalization and 30-day mortality with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: Of the 298,564 admissions for pneumonia, 23.0% were rehospitalized and 8.1% died within 30 days of follow-up. Most of the investigated factors were significantly associated with these 2 outcomes. The HRs for rehospitalization ranged from 0.80 (95% CI 0.75-0.85) for old vs young age to 4.29 (95% CI 4.05-4.54) for many vs no prior admissions, whereas the HRs for mortality ranged from 0.87 (95% CI 0.83-0.91) for any vs no practical home care to 5.47 (95% CI 5.08-5.88) for old vs young age. Number of comorbidities, medications, and prior contacts to the health care system were associated with higher risk of both rehospitalization and mortality in a dose-response manner. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: This study identified several potential factors of importance for short-term rehospitalization and mortality in older patients discharged after pneumonia. This knowledge can help physicians identify the patients with the highest need of care after admission for pneumonia, thus enabling efficient discharge planning and high-quality provision of care in primary care settings.

[Thalidomide therapy for gastrointestinal angiodysplasia]. / Thalidomidbehandling af gastrointestinal angiodysplasi.

Patients with obscure recurrent intestinal bleeding refractory to standard treatment are a major clinical challenge. The bleeding is often a result of angiodysplasia. Most patients undergo numerous diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. In this article we present two cases with no response to standard treatment, but who were successfully treated with Thalidomide.