Evolución de la asociación de diabetes y eventos posalta en pacientes con insuficiencia cardíaca crónica descompensada: hallazgos del registro RICA / Changes over time in the association between type 2 diabetes and post-discharge outcomes in decompensated chronic heart failure patients: Findings from the RICA Registry

Objetivos: La insuficiencia cardíaca (IC) y la diabetes son 2procesos fuertemente asociados. El objetivo principal fue analizar la evolución del pronóstico de los pacientes con diabetes que ingresan por IC a lo largo de 2períodos. Métodos: Estudio prospectivo para comparar el pronóstico a un año de seguimiento entre los pacientes con diabetes que ingresan por IC en 2008-2011 y 2018. Los pacientes proceden del Registro Nacional de Insuficiencia Cardíaca (RICA) de la Sociedad Española de Medicina Interna. El objetivo primario fue analizar el desenlace combinado de mortalidad total o ingreso por IC durante 12 meses. Se utilizó una regresión multivariante de Cox para evaluar la fuerza de asociación (hazard ratio [HR]) de la diabetes y los desenlaces entre ambos períodos. resultados: Se incluyó a un total de 936 pacientes en la cohorte de 2018, de los que 446 (48%) tenían diabetes. Las características basales de la población de los 2períodos fueron similares. En los pacientes con diabetes se observó el desenlace combinado en 233 (47,5%) en la cohorte de 2008-2011 y 162 (36%) en la cohorte de 2018 (HR 1,48; intervalo de confianza del 95% [IC95%] 1,18-1,85; p <0,001). La proporción de ingresos (HR 1,39; IC95% 1,07-1,80; p=0,015) y la mortalidad total (HR 1,60; IC95% 1,20-2,14; p <0,001) también fueron significativamente mayores en los pacientes con diabetes de la cohorte de 2008-2011 con respecto a la del 2018. Conclusiones: En 2018 se observa una mejoría del pronóstico de la mortalidad total y los reingresos durante un año de seguimiento en pacientes con diabetes hospitalizados por IC con respecto al período de 2008-2011 (AU)

Aims: Heart failure (HF) and diabetes are 2strongly associated diseases. The main objective of this work was to analyze changes in the prognosis of patients with diabetes who were admitted for heart failure in 2time periods. Methods: This work is a prospective study comparing prognosis at one year of follow-up among patients with diabetes who were hospitalized for HF in either 2008-2011 or 2018. The patients are from the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine's National Heart Failure Registry (RICA, for its initials in Spanish). The primary endpoint was to analyze the composite outcome of total mortality and/or readmission due to HF in 12 months. A multivariate Cox regression model was used to evaluate the strength of association (hazard ratio [HR]) between diabetes and the outcomes between both periods. Results: A total of 936 patients were included in the 2018 cohort, of which 446 (48%) had diabetes. The baseline characteristics of the populations from the 2periods were similar. In patients with diabetes, the composite outcome was observed in 233 (47.5%) in the 2008-2011 cohort and 162 (36%) in the 2018 cohort [HR 1.48; 95% confidence interval (95%CI) 1.18-1.85; p<.001]. The proportion of readmissions (HR 1.39; 95%CI 1.07-1.80; p=.015) and total mortality (HR 1.60; 95%CI 1.20-2.14; p<.001) were also significantly higher in patients with diabetes from the 2008-2011 cohort compared to the 2018 cohort. Conclusions: In 2018, an improvement was observed in the prognosis for all-cause mortality and readmissions over one year of follow-up in patients with diabetes hospitalized for HF compared to the 2008-2011 period (AU)

Changes over time in the association between type 2 diabetes and post-discharge outcomes in decompensated chronic heart failure patients: Findings from the RICA Registry.

AIMS: Heart failure (HF) and diabetes are 2 strongly associated diseases. The main objective of this work was to analyze changes in the prognosis of patients with diabetes who were admitted for heart failure in 2 time periods. METHODS: This work is a prospective study comparing prognosis at one year of follow-up among patients with diabetes who were hospitalized for HF in either 2008-2011 or 2018. The patients are from the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine's National Heart Failure Registry (RICA, for its initials in Spanish). The primary endpoint was to analyze the composite outcome of total mortality and/or readmission due to HF in 12 months. A multivariate Cox regression model was used to evaluate the strength of association (hazard ratio [HR]) between diabetes and the outcomes between both periods. RESULTS: A total of 936 patients were included in the 2018 cohort, of which 446 (48%) had diabetes. The baseline characteristics of the populations from the 2 periods were similar. In patients with diabetes, the composite outcome was observed in 233 (47.5%) in the 2008-2011 cohort and 162 (36%) in the 2018 cohort [HR 1.48; 95% confidence interval (95%CI) 1.18-1.85; p < .001]. The proportion of readmissions (HR 1.39; 95%CI 1.07-1.80; p = .015) and total mortality (HR 1.60; 95%CI 1.20-2.14; p < .001) were also significantly higher in patients with diabetes from the 2008-2011 cohort compared to the 2018 cohort. CONCLUSIONS: In 2018, an improvement was observed in the prognosis for all-cause mortality and readmissions over one year of follow-up in patients with diabetes hospitalized for HF compared to the 2008-2011 period.

Factors associated with development of nephrotoxicity in patients treated with vancomycin versus daptomycin for severe Gram-positive infections: A practice-based study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate nephrotoxicity development in patients treated with vancomycin (VAN) and daptomycin (DAP) for proven severe Gram-positive infections in daily practice. METHODS: A practice-based, observational, retrospective study (eight Spanish hospitals) was performed including patients ≥18 years with a baseline glomerular filtration rate (GFR)>30 mL/min and/or serum creatinine level<2 mg/dL treated with DAP or VAN for >48h. Nephrotoxicity was considered as a decrease in baseline GRF to <50 mL/min or decrease of >10 mL/min from a baseline GRF<50 mL/min. Multivariate analyses were performed to determine factors associated with 1) treatment selection, 2) nephrotoxicity development, and 3) nephrotoxicity development within each antibiotic group. RESULTS: A total of 133 patients (62 treated with DAP, 71 with VAN) were included. Twenty-one (15.8%) developed nephrotoxicity: 4/62 (6.3%) patients with DAP and 17/71 (23.3%) with VAN (p=0.006). No differences in concomitant administration of aminoglycosides or other potential nephrotoxic drugs were found between groups. Factors associated with DAP treatment were diabetes mellitus with organ lesion (OR=7.81, 95%CI:1.39-4.35) and basal creatinine ≥0.9 mg/dL (OR=2.53, 95%CI:1.15-4.35). Factors associated with VAN treatment were stroke (OR=7.22, 95%CI:1.50-34.67), acute myocardial infarction (OR=6.59, 95%CI:1.51-28.69) and primary bacteremia (OR=5.18, 95%CI:1.03-25.99). Factors associated with nephrotoxicity (R2=0.142; p=0.001) were creatinine clearance<80 mL/min (OR=9.22, 95%CI:1.98-30.93) and VAN treatment (OR=6.07, 95%CI:1.86-19.93). Factors associated with nephrotoxicity within patients treated with VAN (R2=0.232; p=0.018) were congestive heart failure (OR=4.35, 95%CI:1.23-15.37), endocarditis (OR=7.63, 95%CI:1.02-57.31) and basal creatinine clearance<80 mL/min (OR=7.73, 95%CI:1.20-49.71). CONCLUSIONS: Nephrotoxicity with VAN was significantly higher than with DAP despite poorer basal renal status in the DAP group.

Effect of a rehabilitation-based chronic disease management program targeting severe COPD exacerbations on readmission patterns.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is recommended after a severe COPD exacerbation, but its short- and long-term effects on health care utilization have not been fully established. AIMS: The aims of this study were to evaluate patient compliance with a chronic disease management (CDM) program incorporating home-based exercise training as the main component after a severe COPD exacerbation and to determine its effects on health care utilization in the following year. MATERIALS AND METHODS: COPD patients with a severe exacerbation were included in a case-cohort study at admission. An intervention group participated in a nurse-supervised CDM program during the 2 months after discharge, comprising of home-based PR with exercise components directly supervised by a physiotherapist, while the remaining patients followed usual care. RESULTS: Nineteen of the twenty-one participants (90.5%) were compliant with the CDM program and were compared with 29 usual-care patients. Compliance with the program was associated with statistically significant reductions in admissions due to respiratory disease in the following year (median [interquartile range]: 0 [0-1] vs 1 [0-2.5]; P=0.022) and in days of admission (0 [0-7] vs 7 [0-12]; P=0.034), and multiple linear regression analysis confirmed the protective effect of the CDM program (ß coefficient -0.785, P=0.014, and R2=0.219). CONCLUSION: A CDM program incorporating exercise training for COPD patients without limiting comorbidities after a severe exacerbation achieves high compliance and reduces admissions in the year following after the intervention.

Comentarios al artículo: «Influencia de las unidades de corta estancia en la calidad de atención hospitalaria en España. Revisión sistemática» / Comments on the article: «Influence of short-stay units on the quality of health care in Spain. A systematic review»

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En plena crisis económica: coste y efectividad de las unidades de estancia corta hospitalarias / Economic crisis: cost and effectiveness of short stay hospital units

Fundamento. La duración de la estancia es el principal determinante del coste de una hospitalización, por lo que se deben implementar estrategias para reducir la estancia hospitalaria convencional manteniéndose los niveles de calidad. Las Unidades de Estancia Corta (UEC) nacen con el objetivo de disminuir la estancia hospitalaria en un grupo de patologias y pacientes determinados. El objetivo de este original es evaluar la bibliografía existentes obre la evidencia de la disminución del periodo de estancia, eficiencia, reconsultas en los servicios de urgencias, coste-efectividad, y mortalidad de estas unidades. Método. Se realizó una revisión sistemática de las publicaciones que aparecen en la literatura, utilizando los términos MeSH "Observation Unit", "Short-Stay Ward", "Monday to Friday Clinic", "Monaday to Friday Surgery Ward", "Short Stay Hospitalization", "Alternative to Convencional Hospitalization", "Alternative Admissions" en la base de datos MEDLINE, Web of Knowledgey la Cochrane Library desde el 1 de enero de 1960 al 1de enero del 2012. Los estudios revisados se seleccionaron según la US Preventive Services Task Force Protocol. Resultados. Las UEC permiten en grupos determinados de pacientes, disminuir el periodo de estancia, mantenerla eficiencia, no mostrando incrementos de los reingresos por urgencias, ni la mortalidad. Conclusiones. Las UEC pueden ser un instrumento para disminuir el coste del proceso sanitario en un grupo de patologias determinadas(AU)

Background. Length of stay is the main determinant of the cost of hospitalization, which is why strategies must be implemented to reduce conventional hospital stays while maintaining quality levels. Short Stay Units (SSU) were created with the aim of reducing hospital stays ina certain group of patients and pathologies. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the literature on the evidence of decreased length of stay, efficiency, readmissions in the emergency department, cost-effectiveness, and mortality of these units. Methods. We made a systematic review of the literature, using the Me SH terms "Observation Unit", "Short-Stay Ward", "Monday to Friday Clinic", "Monday to Friday Surgery Ward", "Short Stay Hospitalization", "Alternative to Conventional Hospitalization", "Alternative Admissions" in the MEDLINE database, Web of Knowledge and the Cochrane Library from January 11960 to January 1 2012. The studies reviewed were selected according to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Protocol. Results. The SSU made it possible in certain groups of patients to reduce the period of stay and maintain efficiency, showing no increases in emergency readmissions or mortality. Conclusions. The SSU can be an instrument to reduce the cost of the health process in a certain group of pathologies(AU)

Sistema de ayuda a la toma de decisiones para servicios de urgencias hospitalarios diseñado mediante técnicas de modelado orientado a individuos / Agent-based emergency decision-making aid for hospital emergency departments

Objetivo: Diseñar y desarrollar un modelo y un simulador que puedan ser usados por los responsables de servicios de urgencias hospitalarios (SUH) como sistema de ayuda a la toma de decisiones (DSS) para gestionar de forma óptima los recursos humanos y técnicos del servicio y determinar la configuración de recursos que permita atender una pandemia previsible Método: Se utilizó una metodología de desarrollo en espiral organizada en iteraciones divididas en 5 etapas (análisis del sistema; diseño del modelo; diseño/implementación del simulador; verificación funcional del simulador; validación/sintonización del simulador con el SUH real). Completada cada iteración se identificaban mejoras a introducir en la siguiente, repitiéndose el proceso hasta que el modelo y el simulador recogían el comportamiento del sistema real. La información necesaria fue obtenida de 2 hospitales, uno terciario y otro secundario, a través de visitas al SUH y entrevistas con directores, responsables y otro personal del servicio. Resultados: El modelo obtenido describe la dinámica compleja del SUH, cuyo comportamiento emerge de las acciones-interacciones mantenidas por los diferentes agentes (pacientes, médicos, personal de enfermería, administrativos, etc.), por lo que se tuvo que modelar el comportamiento individual de cada tipo de agente. Para la verificación funcional se implementó en el simulador un SUH sencillo que fue utilizado para analizar los efectos de cambios en cantidad y nivel de experiencia que los equipos del servicio provocan sobre el rendimiento del SUH. Conclusiones: Los resultados obtenidos muestran la utilidad del simulador como DSS, y permite identificar la configuración óptima del equipo humano del SUH para atender una determinada llegada de pacientes (AU)

Objective: To design a model and a simulation tool that hospital emergency department directors can use as a decision making aid for managing human and material resources and for planning the strategic deployment of resources during an expected pandemic. Methods: We used an iterative spiral approach to developing the model in 5 phases (systems analysis, model building, design and implementation of the simulation tool, verifying the simulator’s functionality, and validation of the simulator against real emergency department data). After each iteration, we identified improvements to make before the next phase. The process was repeated until the model and the simulation tool behaved similarly to the real system. The data necessary to develop the model were obtained from 2 hospitals, one a tertiary care facility and the other a secondary one; the centers were visited and interviews were conducted with the directors, supervisors and other staff. Results: The model describes the complex dynamics of a hospital emergency department whose behavior results from the actions and interactions of agents (patients, physicians, nurses, managers and other staff); therefore the behavior of each type of agent had to be reflected in the model. The functioning of the model was verified for a simple department, with analysis of the effects that changes in emergency staff deployment and levels of experience would have on the department’s output. Conclusion: The simulation tool proved useful as a decision-making aid, allowing the user to identify the optimal deployment of human resources for attending a specific number of patients (AU)

[Economic crisis: cost and effectiveness of short stay hospital units]. / En plena crisis económica: coste y efectividad de las unidades de estancia corta hospitalarias.

BACKGROUND: Length of stay is the main determinant of the cost of hospitalization, which is why strategies must be implemented to reduce conventional hospital stays while maintaining quality levels. Short Stay Units (SSU) were created with the aim of reducing hospital stays in a certain group of patients and pathologies. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the literature on the evidence of decreased length of stay, efficiency, readmissions in the emergency department, cost-effectiveness, and mortality of these units. METHODS: We made a systematic review of the literature, using the MeSH terms "Observation Unit", "Short-Stay Ward", "Monday to Friday Clinic" , "Monday to Friday Surgery Ward", "Short Stay Hospitalization", "Alternative to Conventional Hospitalization", "Alternative Admissions" in the MEDLINE database, Web of Knowledge and the Cochrane Library from January 1 1960 to January 1 2012. The studies reviewed were selected according to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Protocol. RESULTS: The SSU made it possible in certain groups of patients to reduce the period of stay and maintain efficiency, showing no increases in emergency readmissions or mortality. CONCLUSIONS: The SSU can be an instrument to reduce the cost of the health process in a certain group of pathologies.