A mapping review of interventions to address patients who frequently seek care in the emergency department.

BACKGROUND: The high utilization of acute care services, particularly emergency departments (ED), continues to be a significant concern for healthcare providers. Numerous approaches have been studied to meet the care needs of patients who frequently seek care in the ED; however, there is no comprehensive review of the current literature base. As such, a current understanding of the interventions initiated within the ED to address the needs of frequent users is required. This mapping review had three objectives: identify the characteristics associated with the need to frequently seek care in the ED; identify interventions implemented to address the needs of this population; and identify gaps in the current evidence base. METHODS: A knowledge map was created by scoping the literature to identify characteristics associated with frequent ED use and interventions implemented to address frequent use. Then, a literature search was conducted to determine what has been implemented by EDs to reduce frequent ED use. The literature was searched from 2013 to January 2023. MeSH terms and keywords were used to identify relevant studies. Studies implementing an intervention for those with characteristics associated with frequent ED use and reporting on ED use were included. RESULTS: Twenty-three (23) controlled trials and 35 observational studies were included. The most common populations were older adults, those with chronic conditions, and generic "frequent users". No studies assessed Indigenous Peoples or racial minorities, and few assessed patients with a disability or patients experiencing homelessness. The most common interventions were referrals, care plans, case management, care coordination, and follow-up phone calls. Most studies reported ED revisits, hospitalization, costs, length-of-stay, or outpatient utilization. Few assessed patient or staff perspectives. About one-third of studies (n = 24) reported significant reductions in ED revisits. CONCLUSIONS: Similar interventions, mainly focused on care coordination and planning, have been implemented to address frequent use of the ED. There are still significant gaps in the populations that have been studied. Efforts now must be undertaken to study more diverse populations whose care needs are not being met elsewhere and thus frequent the ED often.

Strategies for improving ED-related outcomes of older adults who seek care in emergency departments: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Despite constituting 14% of the general population, older adults make up almost a quarter of all emergency department (ED) visits. These visits often do not adequately address patient needs, with nearly 80% of older patients discharged from the ED carrying at least one unattended health concern. Many interventions have been implemented and tested in the ED to care for older adults, which have not been recently synthesized. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted to identify interventions initiated in the ED to address the needs of older adults. Embase, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane CENTRAL, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and grey literature were searched from January 2013 to January 18, 2023. Comparative studies assessing interventions for older adults in the ED were included. The quality of controlled trials was assessed with the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials, and the quality of observational studies was assessed with the risk of bias in non-randomized studies of interventions tool. Due to heterogeneity, meta-analysis was not possible. RESULTS: Sixteen studies were included, assessing 12 different types of interventions. Overall study quality was low to moderate: 10 studies had a high risk of bias, 5 had a moderate risk of bias, and only 1 had a low risk of bias. Follow-up telephone calls, referrals, geriatric assessment, pharmacist-led interventions, physical therapy services, care plans, education, case management, home visits, care transition interventions, a geriatric ED, and care coordination were assessed, many of which were combined to create multi-faceted interventions. Care coordination with additional support and early assessment and intervention were the only two interventions that consistently reported improved outcomes. Most studies did not report significant improvements in ED revisits, hospitalization, time spent in the ED, costs, or outpatient utilization. Two studies reported on patient perspectives. CONCLUSION: Few interventions demonstrate promise in reducing ED revisits for older adults, and this review identified significant gaps in understanding other outcomes, patient perspectives, and the effectiveness in addressing underlying health needs. This could suggest, therefore, that most revisits in this population are unavoidable manifestations of frailty and disease trajectory. Efforts to improve older patients' needs should focus on interventions initiated outside the ED.

Social network risk factors and COVID-19 vaccination: A cross-sectional survey study.

BACKGROUND: Social networks have an important impact on our health behaviours, including vaccination. People's vaccination beliefs tend to mirror those of their social network. As social networks are homogenous in many ways, we sought to determine in the context of COVID-19 which factors were most predictive of belonging to a mostly vaccinated or unvaccinated social group. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among Canadian residents in November and December 2021. Participants were asked about the vaccination status of their social networks their beliefs relating to COVID-19, and various sociodemographic factors. Respondents were split into three groups based on social network vaccination: low-, medium-, and high-risk. Chi-squared tests tested associations between factors and risk groups, and an ordinal logistic model was created to determine their direction and strength. RESULTS: Most respondents (81.1 %) were classified as low risk (i.e., a mostly vaccinated social network) and few respondents (3.7 %) were classified as high-risk (i.e., an unvaccinated social group). Both the chi-square test (29.2 % difference between the low- and high- risk groups [1.8 % vs. 31.0 %], p < 0.001) and the ordinal logistic model (odds ratio between the low- and high-risk groups: 14.45, p < 0.01) found that respondents' perceptions of COVID-19 as a "not at all serious" risk to Canadians was the most powerful predictor of belonging to a predominantly unvaccinated social circle. The model also found that those in mostly unvaccinated social circles also more often reported severe COVID-19 symptoms (odds ratio between the low- and high-risk groups: 2.26, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Perception of COVID-19 as a threat to others may signal communities with lower vaccination coverage and higher risk of severe outcomes. This may have implications for strategies to improve public outreach, messaging, and planning for downstream consequences of low intervention uptake.

COVID-19 Vaccine's Speed to Market and Vaccine Hesitancy: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study.

Background: This paper aims to assess the extent to which the COVID-19 vaccine's speed to market affected Canadian residents' decision to remain unvaccinated. Method: A cross-sectional survey conducted in late 2021 asked participants whether they had received the vaccine and their reasons for abstaining. Results: Of the 2,712 participants who completed the survey, 8.9% remained unvaccinated. Unvaccinated respondents who selected "They made the vaccine too fast" (59.8%), were significantly more likely to identify as white, believe that the COVID-19 pandemic was not serious and have an unvaccinated social circle. Conclusion: Should the COVID-19 vaccine rapid regulatory process be expanded, more patients may refuse treatment than if traditional timelines are followed.

Effectiveness of Neurostimulation Technologies for the Management of Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the state of the literature for clinical effectiveness of neurostimulation used for the management of chronic pain. METHODS: A systematic review of spinal cord stimulation (SCS), peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS), peripheral nerve field stimulation (PNFS), and supraorbital transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in patients with cancer and noncancer chronic pain was conducted. MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and the Cochrane CENTRAL Register of Controlled Trials were searched, using terms like "electrical stimulation therapy" and "pain management." Direction of effect, consistency across studies, and strength of evidence for effects of neurostimulation on chronic pain were narratively synthesized. RESULTS: A total of 15 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining SCS, 7 RCTs examining PNS/PNFS, and 1 nonrandomized trial examining supraorbital transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) were included. In nine SCS studies, neurostimulation had positive effects on pain. In three studies, neurostimulation did not significantly reduce pain. For PNS/PNFS, five studies found improvements in pain offered by neurostimulation; pain outcomes were not reported in two studies. In the TENS study, neurostimulation reduced headaches per month and medication consumption. Overall, 21 studies were of low or unclear risk of bias, 4 were high risk of bias, and the TENS study was not appropriate for assessment using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. CONCLUSIONS: A robust body of evidence examining SCS and PNS was identified. Only one study for PNFS and TENS was identified; both reported pain reductions. Generally, neurostimulation improved pain control. Future studies should examine the effectiveness of neurostimulation offered early in the trajectory of chronic pain.

Palliative care in the home: a scoping review of study quality, primary outcomes, and thematic component analysis.

BACKGROUND: The aim of palliative care is to improve the quality of life of patients and families through the prevention and relief of suffering. Frequently, patients may choose to receive palliative care in the home. The objective of this paper is to summarize the quality and primary outcomes measured within the palliative care in the home literature. This will synthesize the current state of the literature and inform future work. METHODS: A scoping review was completed using PRISMA guidelines. PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, EconLit, PsycINFO, Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, and National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database were searched from inception to August 2016. Inclusion criteria included: 1) care was provided in the "home of the patient" as defined by the study, 2) outcomes were reported, and 3) reported original data. Thematic component analysis was completed to categorize interventions. RESULTS: Fifty-three studies formed the final data set. The literature varied extensively. Five themes were identified: accessibility of healthcare, caregiver support, individualized patient centered care, multidisciplinary care provision, and quality improvement. Primary outcomes were resource use, symptom burden, quality of life, satisfaction, caregiver distress, place of death, cost analysis, or described experiences. The majority of studies were of moderate or unclear quality. CONCLUSIONS: There is robust literature of varying quality, assessing different components of palliative care in the home interventions, and measuring different outcomes. To be meaningful to patients, these interventions need to be consistently evaluated with outcomes that matter to patients. Future research could focus on reaching a consensus for outcomes to evaluate palliative care in the home interventions.