General practitioners' perspectives on management of early-stage chronic kidney disease: a focus group study.

BACKGROUND: Guideline adherence in chronic kidney disease management is low, despite guideline implementation initiatives. Knowing general practitioners' (GPs') perspectives of management of early-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the applicability of the national interdisciplinary guideline could support strategies to improve quality of care. METHOD: Qualitative focus group study with 27 GPs in the Netherlands. Three analysts open-coded and comparatively analysed the data. Mind-mapping sessions were performed after data-saturation. RESULTS: Five themes emerged: defining CKD, knowledge and awareness, patient-physician interaction, organisation of CKD care and value of the guideline. A key finding was the abstractness of the CKD concept. The GPs expressed various perspectives about defining CKD and interpreting estimated glomerular filtration rates. Views about clinical relevance influenced the decision-making, although factual knowledge seems lacking. Striving to inform well enough without creating anxiety and to explain suitably for the intellectual ability of the patient caused tension in the patient-physician interaction. Integration with cardiovascular disease-management programmes was mentioned as a way of implementing CKD care in the future. The guideline was perceived as a rough guide rather than a leading document. CONCLUSION: CKD is perceived as an abstract rather than a clinical concept. Abstractness plays a role in all formulated themes. Management of CKD patients in primary care is complex and is influenced by physician-bound considerations related to individual knowledge and perception of the importance of CKD. Strategies are needed to improve GPs' understanding of the concept of CKD by education, a holistic approach to guidelines, and integration of CKD care into cardiovascular programmes. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Not applicable.

Web-based consultation between general practitioners and nephrologists: a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: Consultation of a nephrologist is important in aligning care for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) at the primary-secondary care interface. However, current consultation methods come with practical difficulties that can lead to postponed consultation or patient referral instead. Objective: This study aimed to investigate whether a web-based consultation platform, telenephrology, led to a lower referral rate of indicated patients. Furthermore, we assessed consultation rate, quality of care, costs and general practitioner (GPs') experiences with telenephrology. Methods: Cluster randomized controlled trial with 47 general practices in the Netherlands was randomized to access to telenephrology or to enhanced usual care. A total of 3004 CKD patients aged 18 years or older who were under primary care were included (intervention group n = 1277, control group n = 1727) and 2693 completed the trial. All practices participated in a CKD management course and were given an overview of their CKD patients. Results: The referral rates amounted to 2.3% (n = 29) in the intervention group and 3.0% (n = 52) in the control group, which was a non-significant difference, OR 0.61; 95% CI 0.31 to 1.23. The intervention group's consultation rate was 6.3% (n = 81) against 5.0% (n = 87) (OR 2.00; 95% CI 0.75-5.33). We found no difference in quality of care or costs. The majority of GPs had a positive opinion about telenephrology. Conclusion: The data in our study do not allow for conclusions on the effect of telenephrology on the rate of patient referrals and provider-to-provider consultations, compared to conventional methods. It was positively evaluated by GPs and was non-inferior in terms of quality of care and costs.

Adherence to chronic kidney disease guidelines in primary care patients is associated with comorbidity.

Background: GPs insufficiently follow guidelines regarding consultation and referral for chronic kidney disease (CKD). Objective: To identify patient characteristics and quality of care (QoC) in CKD patients with whom consultation and referral recommendations were not followed. Method: A 14 month prospective observational cohort study of primary care patients with CKD stage 3-5. 47 practices participated, serving 207469 people. 2547 CKD patients fulfilled consultation criteria, 225 fulfilled referral criteria. We compared characteristics of patients managed by GPs with patients receiving nephrologist co-management. We assessed QoC as adherence to monitoring criteria, CKD recognition and achievement of blood pressure (BP) targets. Results: Patients treated in primary care despite a consultation recommendation (94%) had higher eGFR values (OR 1.07; 95% CI: 1.05-1.09), were less often monitored for renal function (OR 0.42; 95% CI: 0.24-0.74) and potassium (OR 0.56; 95% CI: 0.35-0.92) and CKD was less frequently recognised (OR 0.46; 95% CI: 0.31-0.68) than in patients with nephrologist co-management. Patients treated in primary care despite referral recommendation (70%) were older (OR 1.03; 95% CI:1.01-1.06) and had less cardiovascular disease (OR 0.37; 95% CI: 0.19-0.73). Overall, in patients solely managed by GPs, CKD recognition was 50%, monitoring disease progression in 36% and metabolic parameters in 3%, BP targets were achieved in 51%. Monitoring of renal function and BP was positively associated with diabetes (OR 3.10; 95% CI: 2.47-3.88 and OR 7.78; 95% CI: 3.21-18.87) and hypertension (OR 3.19; 95% CI: 2.67-3.82 and OR 3.35; 95% CI: 1.45-7.77). Conclusion: Patients remaining in primary care despite nephrologists' co-management recommendations were inadequately monitored, and BP targets were insufficiently met. CKD patients without cardiovascular comorbidity or diabetes require extra attention to guarantee adequate monitoring of renal function and BP.

Adapted ECMO criteria for newborns with persistent pulmonary hypertension after inhaled nitric oxide and/or high-frequency oscillatory ventilation.

PURPOSE: Early prediction of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) requirement in term newborns with persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN), partially responding to inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) and/or high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV), based on oxygenation parameters. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study in 53 partial responders from among 133 term newborns with PPHN born between 2002 and 2007. Alveolar-to-arterial oxygen gradient (AaDO2) values were determined in these 53 partial responders during the initial 72 h of iNO and/or HFOV treatment and compared between newborns who ultimately did (n = 11) and did not (n = 42) need ECMO. RESULTS: Over 72 h, partial responders not requiring ECMO showed a more profound AaDO2 decrease than those who needed ECMO (median decline 242.5 mmHg, IQR 144 to 353 mmHg, vs. 35 mmHg, IQR -15 to 123 mmHg; p = 0.0007). A decline of <123 mmHg over 72 h predicted the need for ECMO (sensitivity 82 %, specificity 79 %). At 72 h, AaDO2 was significantly lower in partial responders without the need for ECMO than in those who did need ECMO (median 369 mmHg, IQR 258 to 478 mmHg, vs. 570 mmHg IQR 455 to 590 mmHg; p = 0.0008). An AaDO2 >561 mmHg at 72 h predicted the need for ECMO (sensitivity 64 %, specificity 95 %, positive predictive value 78 %). CONCLUSIONS: In term newborns with PPHN partially responding to iNO and/or HFOV, oxygenation-based prediction of the need for ECMO appears to be possible after 72 h. ECMO centers are encouraged to develop their own prediction model in order to prevent both lung damage and unnecessary ECMO runs.

Foreign adopted children are a source of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus transmission to countries with low prevalence.

We report a 13.0% prevalence rate of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriers in foreign adopted children, who are frequently hospitalized within the first year after arrival. Hospitalization in the country of origin and special need status are no significant risk factors for MRSA colonization. Healthcare workers are overrepresented among their adoptive parents. These children represent a potential source of MRSA transmission into the healthcare system.