Validation and Improvement of the Saga Fall Risk Model: A Multicenter Retrospective Observational Study.

Purpose: We conducted a pilot study in an acute care hospital and developed the Saga Fall Risk Model 2 (SFRM2), a fall prediction model comprising eight items: Bedriddenness rank, age, sex, emergency admission, admission to the neurosurgery department, history of falls, independence of eating, and use of hypnotics. The external validation results from the two hospitals showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of SFRM2 may be lower in other facilities. This study aimed to validate the accuracy of SFRM2 using data from eight hospitals, including chronic care hospitals, and adjust the coefficients to improve the accuracy of SFRM2 and validate it. Patients and Methods: This study included all patients aged ≥20 years admitted to eight hospitals, including chronic care, acute care, and tertiary hospitals, from April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2021. In-hospital falls were used as the outcome, and the AUC and shrinkage coefficient of SFRM2 were calculated. Additionally, SFRM2.1, which was modified from the coefficients of SFRM2 using logistic regression with the eight items comprising SFRM2, was developed using two-thirds of the data randomly selected from the entire population, and its accuracy was validated using the remaining one-third portion of the data. Results: Of the 124,521 inpatients analyzed, 2,986 (2.4%) experienced falls during hospitalization. The median age of all inpatients was 71 years, and 53.2% were men. The AUC of SFRM2 was 0.687 (95% confidence interval [CI]:0.678-0.697), and the shrinkage coefficient was 0.996. SFRM2.1 was created using 81,790 patients, and its accuracy was validated using the remaining 42,731 patients. The AUC of SFRM2.1 was 0.745 (95% CI: 0.731-0.758). Conclusion: SFRM2 showed good accuracy in predicting falls even on validating in diverse populations with significantly different backgrounds. Furthermore, the accuracy can be improved by adjusting the coefficients while keeping the model's parameters fixed.

Acute abdominal pain due to atypical bilateral adrenal infarction in acute myeloid leukemia with alterations related to myelodysplasia: A case report.

Key Clinical Message: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) can cause acute abdomen following adrenal insufficiency or adrenal infarction. Therefore, when diffusely enlarged adrenal glands and adrenal insufficiency of unknown cause are seen in a patient presenting with acute abdomen, adrenal infarction due to AML, or other hematologic diseases should be ruled out. Abstract: A 49-year-old man developed acute abdominal pain following adrenal insufficiency and was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with myelodysplasia-related changes. Because AML can cause acute abdominal pain due to adrenal infarction following adrenal insufficiency, a patient with these conditions should be ruled out adrenal infarction due to AML or other hematologic diseases.

Helicobacter cinaedi Infection Presenting with Myalgia and Cellulitis.

BACKGROUND Helicobacter cinaedi is a rare bacterium, accounting for only 0.2% of the positive isolates in blood cultures. Previous reports note that patients with H. cinaedi infection often have underlying diseases. H. cinaedi infection is diagnosed by blood culture. However, because of the slow growth of this bacterium in blood culture, the diagnosis can be missed. CASE REPORT A 78-year-old man gradually developed erythema and pain in his left arm, then left shoulder and both lower legs. The patient presented to our hospital on day 17. He was afebrile, but the examination was remarkable for tenderness in both gastrocnemius muscles and erythema from the distal left lower leg to the ankle. We suspected pyomyositis and cellulitis and started oral administration of amoxicillin-clavulanate. On day 22, H. cinaedi was detected in blood cultures. Based on these findings, we diagnosed pyogenic myositis and cellulitis caused by H. cinaedi bacteremia. On day 24, antibiotic therapy was changed to intravenous ampicillin, and symptoms improved. Additional examination did not reveal any underlying immunodeficiency disorder, such as malignancy or HIV infection. CONCLUSIONS H. cinaedi infection can occur in healthy patients. Myalgia can be caused by pyogenic myositis because of bacteremia. In cases of myalgia or cellulitis of unknown etiology, blood cultures can be useful when bacteremia is suspected; blood samples should be monitored over an extended period.

A Simple and Accurate Model for Predicting Fall Injuries in Hospitalized Patients: Insights from a Retrospective Observational Study in Japan.

BACKGROUND While several predictive models for falls have been reported such as we reported in 2020, those for fall "injury" have been unreported. This study was designed to develop a model to predict fall injuries in adult inpatients using simple predictors available immediately after hospitalization. MATERIAL AND METHODS This was a single-center, retrospective cohort study. We enrolled inpatients aged ≥20 years admitted to an acute care hospital from April 2012 to March 2018. The variables routinely obtained in clinical practice were compared between the patients with fall injury and the patients without fall itself or fall injury. Multivariable analysis was performed using covariables available on admission. A predictive model was constructed using only variables showing significant association in prior multivariable analysis. RESULTS During hospitalization of 17 062 patients, 646 (3.8%) had falls and 113 (0.7%) had fall injuries. Multivariable analysis showed 6 variables that were significantly associated with fall injuries during hospitalization: age (P=0.001), sex (P=0.001), emergency transport (P<0.001), medical referral letter (P=0.041), history of falls (P=0.012), and abnormal bedriddenness ranks (all P≤0.001). The area under the curve of this predictive model was 0.794 and the shrinkage coefficient was 0.955 using the same data set given above. CONCLUSIONS We developed a predictive model for fall injuries during hospitalization using 6 predictors, including bedriddenness ranks from official Activities of Daily Living indicators in Japan, which were all easily available on admission. The model showed good discrimination by internal validation and promises to be a useful tool to assess the risk of fall injuries.

High inter-rater reliability of Japanese bedriddenness ranks and cognitive function scores: a hospital-based prospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: The statistical validities of the official Japanese classifications of activities of daily living (ADLs), including bedriddenness ranks (BR) and cognitive function scores (CFS), have yet to be assessed. To this aim, we evaluated the ability of BR and CFS to assess ADLs using inter-rater reliability and criterion-related validity. METHODS: New inpatients aged ≥75 years were enrolled in this hospital-based prospective observational study. BR and CFS were assessed once by an attending nurse, and then by a social worker/medical clerk. We evaluated inter-rater reliability between different professions by calculating the concordance rate, kappa coefficient, Cronbach's α, and intraclass correlation coefficient. We also estimated the relationship of the Barthel Index and Katz Index with the BR and CFS using Spearman's correlation coefficients. RESULTS: For the 271 patients enrolled, BR at the first assessment revealed 66 normal, 10 of J1, 15 of J2, 18 of A1, 31 of A2, 37 of B1, 35 of B2, 22 of C1, and 32 of C2. The concordance rate between the two BR assessments was 68.6%, with a kappa coefficient of 0.61, Cronbach's α of 0.91, and an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.83, thus showing good inter-rater reliability. BR was negatively correlated with the Barthel Index (r = - 0.848, p < 0.001) and Katz Index (r = - 0.820, p < 0.001), showing justifiable criterion-related validity. Meanwhile, CFS at the first assessment revealed 92 normal, 47 of 1, 19 of 2a, 30 of 2b, 60 of 3a, 8 of 3b, 8 of 4, and 0 of M. The concordance rate between the two CFS assessments was 70.1%, with a kappa coefficient of 0.62, Cronbach's α of 0.87, and an intraclass correlation coefficient 0.78, thus also showing good inter-rater reliability. CFS was negatively correlated with the Barthel Index (r = - 0.667, p < 0.001) and Katz Index (r = - 0.661, p < 0.001), showing justifiable criterion-related validity. CONCLUSIONS: BR and CFS could be reliable and easy-to-use grading scales of ADLs in acute clinical practice or large-scale screening, with high inter-rater reliabilities among different professions and significant correlations with well-established, though complicated to use, instruments to assess ADLs. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UMIN000041051 (2020/7/10).

Relapse of acute myocarditis associated with Campylobacter jejuni enterocolitis.

Chest pain in a patient with Campylobacter jejuni infection may be caused by acute myocarditis associated with C jejuni infection. Because the myocarditis associated with C jejuni infection can recur, careful follow-up is required even after the improvement of chest pain and electrocardiography abnormalities.