Association between primary caregiver type and mortality among Chinese older adults with disability: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Socio-demographic transitions have dramatically changed the traditional family care settings in China, caused unmet care needs among older adults. However, whether different primary caregiver types have different influences on disabled older adults' health outcomes remain poorly understood. We aimed to examine the association between the type of primary caregiver (e.g., spouse and children) and death among community-dwelling Chinese older adults disabled in activities of daily living. METHODS: We used data from Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. The analytic sample comprised 4278 eligible adults aged ≥ 80 years. We classified primary caregiver type into five categories: spouse, son/daughter-in-law, daughter/son-in-law, grandchildren, and domestic helper. We used Cox regression model to examine the association between primary caregiver type and all-cause mortality. Covariates included age, sex, residence, years of education, co-residence status, financial independence, whether living with children, number of ADL disability, number of chronic conditions, and self-reported health, cognitive impairment, and caregiving quality. RESULTS: Married older adults whose primary caregivers were son/daughter-in-law had a 38% higher hazard of death than those who had spouse as the primary caregiver. Married men who received care primarily from son/daughter-in-law or daughter/son-in-law had a 64 and 68% higher hazard of death, respectively, than those whose primary caregiver was spouse. The association between primary caregiver type and mortality among widowed older adults differed between urban and rural areas. Urban residents who had domestic helpers as the primary caregiver had an 16% lower hazard of death, while those living in rural areas had a 50% higher hazard of death, than those having son/daughter-in-law as the primary caregiver. CONCLUSIONS: The quality of care of the primary caregiver may be a risk factor for mortality of disabled older adults in China. Interventions are necessary for reducing unmet needs and managing care burden.

Evaluation of the effects of applying the ventricular care bundle (VCB) method for reducing ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in the intensive care unit of a general Chinese tertiary hospital.

BACKGROUND: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a severe complication that occurs within patients who must use ventilators in the intensive care unit (ICU). Ventilator care bundles (VCB) have been applied across many developed regions and have produced positive results in controlling VAP. In this study, we report on the implementation and effects of using VCBs to manage VAP in a general tertiary hospital in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. METHODS: A targeted surveillance method was used to survey all the patients (n=4,716) in the ICU from June 1, 2017 to May 31, 2019. Patients from June 1, 2017 to May 31, 2018, and June 1, 2018, to May 31, 2019, were respectively divided into 2 groups: the control group (2,029 patients) and intervention group (2,687 patients). These dates were selected because VCB was implemented from June 1, 2018, in our institution. The variables that were associated with VCB and observed were the head-of-bed elevation, oral care, maintenance of the pressure for the cuff of the endotracheal tube, aspiration of subglottic secretion, daily sedation vacation protocol, daily extubation assessment results, and hand hygiene. After collecting the data, the compliance of VCB, ventilator use ratio, and the incidence rate of VAP in these 2 groups were compared. RESULTS: We observed that compliance with all of the intervention measures for VCB improved results in the intervention group compared to the control. Furthermore, the compliance rate of hand hygiene increased from 71.99% to 91.97%, and the head-of-bed elevation of 30°-45° increased from 62.02% to 85.96%. All differences between these two groups were statistically significant, according to the χ 2 -test. The ventilator use ratio was statistically and significantly lower in the intervention group (34.86%) compared to the control group (40.29%) (χ 2 =95.513, P<0.001). The incidence rate of VAP was statistically and significantly lower in the intervention group (13.70‰) compared to the control group (18.85‰) (χ 2 =5.471, P=0.019). CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that VCB prevents VAP. Therefore, personnel training, clinical supervision, and surveillance feedback could promote a reduction in intervention measures.

Drug resistance of healthcare-associated pathogenic bacteria and carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii homology in the general intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to understand the distribution and drug resistance of healthcare-associated infection (HAI) pathogens in an intensive care unit (ICU) of a general tertiary hospital in Inner Mongolia, and to classify carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CR-AB) in ICU patients and environmental samples. Additionally, this study aimed to provide scientific evidence for the use of clinical antibiotics and effective prevention and control measures for CR-AB outbreak. METHODS: The distribution and drug resistance of pathogens isolated from patient's samples in the ICU of 12 Hospitals from January to May 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Meanwhile, CR-AB isolated from patients and environmental samples were collected and classified by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). RESULTS: The pathogens isolated from ICU samples, mainly Gram-negative bacteria (63.07%), were CR-AB, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa; the main Gram-positive bacteria (22.13%) were Enterococcus faecium and Staphylococcus aureus; and fungi accounted for the remaining (14.80%). The samples mainly came from sputum (41.09%). Among non-fermenting bacteria, the resistance rates of CRAB to piperacillin, piperacillin/tazobactam, and other treatments were higher than those of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P<0.05). Meanwhile, the resistance rates to ampicillin/sulbactam and compound sulfamethoxazole were lower than those of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P<0.05). The resistance rates of Klebsiella pneumoniae to piperacillin/tazobactam, ceftazidime, and others were higher than those of Escherichia coli (P<0.05). Among Gram-positive bacteria, the resistance rates of Enterococcus faecium to erythromycin, clindamycin, and other treatment were higher than those of Staphylococcus aureus (P<0.05). A total of 62 bands were obtained from 63 strains of CR-AB by electrophoresis. Also, 16 clusters (A-P) were obtained with a 74% similarity coefficient, among which K, L, and N types (more than 9 strains) were more common. CONCLUSIONS: Gram-negative bacteria were the primary pathogens of HAI in the ICU, and their drug resistance was serious. There is homology in the PFGE typing of CR-AB. Therefore, hospitals should strengthen the surveillance of drug-resistant pathogenic bacteria. Additionally, further cleaning and disinfection measures are needed to improve environmental hygiene and prevent outbreaks of HAI.

Healthcare-associated infection prevention and control management in a tertiary hospital and an overall evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare-associated infection (HAI) is a crucial factor influencing medical quality. Studies about HAI management situations are rare, especially for the Inner Mongolia region of China. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate management procedures and the overall evaluation of HAI in order to inform HAI management improvement more scientifically. METHODS: A questionnaire was used to investigate HAI-related prevention and control indicators in tertiary hospitals in the Inner Mongolia region from July 2018 to June 2019. RESULTS: The survey showed that the mean incidence rate of HAI was 3.79%. The mean rate of hand hygiene compliance of healthcare workers (HCWs), inpatient's antibiotics-use rate, and the detection of the antibiotic ratio before therapy was 54.34%, 34.33%, and 25.40%, respectively. The mean of the surgical site infection (SSI) rate of the level I incision and the preventive antibiotics-use ratio of the level I incision was 1.31% and 28.89%, respectively. The mean of the multi-drug resistant organism (MDRO) infection rate was 0.40% and the mean of the MDRO detection rate was 18.55%. The mean of the central line-associated bloodstream infection rate was 2.24%, the ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) rate was 11.17%, and the catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) rate was 1.95‰. As for the overall evaluation, 19 (35.85%) hospitals had a bad grade, 18 (33.96%) hospitals had a medium grade, and 16 (30.19%) hospitals had a good grade. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence rate of HAI in tertiary hospitals in the Inner Mongolia region is higher than the national level. Also, the overall evaluation of bad-grade hospitals and their deficiencies should be used as an example to improve the HAI management level.

Active surveillance of ventilator-associated pneumonia in the intensive care unit and establishment of the risk grading system and effect evaluation.

BACKGROUND: To discuss ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) patient's clinical characteristic and related factors in the intensive care unit (ICU), and to establish a risk grading system for VAP patients in the ICU in order to provide a reference for VAP prevention. METHODS: A total of 1,513 patients in eight ICUs who received mechanical ventilation between June 2015 and June 2018 were randomized and into two groups, with 908 patients in the model group and 605 patients in the verification group. The model group was used to analyze the influencing factors of VAP and establish a risk grading system, while the verification group was used to verify the risk grading system. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the predictive effect of the grading system. RESULTS: During the 3-year study period, of the 1,513 total patients, 188 patients were infected with VAP, leading to an incidence rate of 12.43% (188/1,513) and an infection rate of 15.23‰ (188/12,347). ICU length of stay, mechanical ventilation days, frequency of oral care, unused subglottic secretion drainage, tracheotomy, APACHE II score, and combined antibiotics use were risk factors of VAP infection for patients who received mechanical ventilation in the modeling group (P<0.05). In a VAP risk-grading system established based on risk factors, the high, medium and low-grade patients had a statistically significantly different VAP infection rate in the model group, and patients with a high grade had a higher risk of VAP infection. Patients' data in the model and verification groups were used to draw a ROC curve which showed a good predictive effect. CONCLUSIONS: This study establishes and verifies the VAP risk grading system for patients who receive mechanical ventilation. It is helpful in high-risk patient surveillance and in reducing and preventing VAP infection.

Reference values of T lymphocyte subsets among health adults in Inner Mongolia Region.

Estimation of T-lymphocyte subsets continues to be an important aspect for monitoring HIV disease progression and response to antiretroviral therapy. Most of the diagnostic laboratories often rely on studies from western for CD4+T-lymphocyte reference values, which could, often be unreliable for usage in local settings. To establish the normal reference values of T lymphocyte subsets from healthy people of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, flow cytometry was performed to determine the reference ranges for lymphocyte subsets (CD3 and CD4 cells) in 400 healthy multiracial adult population from 12 League Cities in Inner Mongolia Region, China. The basic information including age, gender, nationality and history was collected. There were significant differences in the absolute counting, percentage of CD3+T lymphocytes, and CD4+T lymphocyte percentage counting among different age groups. There were significant differences in CD3+, CD4+T lymphocyte percentage in the groups with different genders. There were significant differences in CD3+T lymphocyte percentage count, absolute count of CD4+T lymphocytes and CD4+T lymphocyte percentage counting in the group with ages of 16-20. There were dramatic differences in CD3+T lymphocyte percentage count and CD4+T lymphocyte percentage counting in the group with ages of 31-40. There were significant differences in CD4+T lymphocyte percentage counting. By this study, age, gender and ethnic specific lymphocyte subset reference ranges have been locally established in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.