Development of a theory-based intervention to increase cognitively able frail elders' engagement with advance care planning using the behaviour change wheel.

BACKGROUND: Advance care planning (ACP) conversations support people to think about, discuss and document their beliefs, values and preferences regarding future care. This process means that should the person loose capacity in the future, care can be provided, consistent with their personal values and beliefs. The ACP process is particularly relevant for older people living with frailty (frail elders) as they are vulnerable to sudden deterioration. However, ACP is rarely undertaken by frail elders. The aim of this study was to develop an intervention to increase multidisciplinary health and social care professionals' (H&SCPs) engagement of cognitively able, domestic-dwelling frail elders with ACP. METHODS: Intervention development was guided by the Medical Research Council framework for complex interventions and the Behaviour Change Wheel. Multiple methods were used to understand ACP barriers and enablers: a systematic integrative review, a survey (n = 73 H&SCPs), and semi-structured interviews (n = 10 frail elders, n = 8 family members). A conceptual model, developed from the integrative review, underpinned data collection for the survey and interviews. Synthesis of this data, including patient and public involvement, was then used to identify H&SCPs behaviours that needed to change for ACP to be implemented and decide content and implementation for the intervention. RESULTS: Following the Behaviour Change Wheel system, and based on the findings of the review, survey and interviews, the prototype intervention, Conversations on Living and Dying (CLaD), was developed. The CLaD prototype consisted of one 3.5-hour educational skills session for H&SCPs supported by a toolkit. Content focussed on the relevance of ACP for frail elders, experience of ACP by frail elders, and strategies H&SCPs could adopt to encourage frail elders' engagement with ACP. Strategies include recognising the importance of relationships and living well now, preparing frail elders for ACP conversations and starting ACP early. Participants who took part in initial prototype refinement reported that the intervention helped them think differently about ACP and encouraged them to engage with frail elders. CONCLUSIONS: The use of behavioural theory enabled the development of CLaD, an evidence-based, theory-driven, person-centred intervention to support ACP engagement with frail elders. While feasibility testing is required, initial prototype refinement demonstrated that H&SCPs found the intervention to be acceptable, engaging, and clinically valuable in their practice with frail elders and their families.

Mechanisms of Vascular Smooth Muscle Contraction and the Basis for Pharmacologic Treatment of Smooth Muscle Disorders.

The smooth muscle cell directly drives the contraction of the vascular wall and hence regulates the size of the blood vessel lumen. We review here the current understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which agonists, therapeutics, and diseases regulate contractility of the vascular smooth muscle cell and we place this within the context of whole body function. We also discuss the implications for personalized medicine and highlight specific potential target molecules that may provide opportunities for the future development of new therapeutics to regulate vascular function.

Characterization of the adverse effects of nicotine on placental development: in vivo and in vitro studies.

In utero exposure to nicotine is associated with increased risk of numerous adverse fetal and neonatal outcomes, which suggests that it acts directly to affect placental development and the establishment of the fetomaternal circulation (FC). This study used both in vivo [Wistar rats treated with 1 mg/kg nicotine from 2 wk prior to mating until gestational day (GD) 15] and in vitro (RCHO-1 cell line; treated with 10(-9) to 10(-3)M nicotine) models to examine the effects of nicotine on these pathways. At GD 15, control and treated placentas were examined for the impact of nicotine on 1) trophoblast invasion, proliferation, and degree of hypoxia, 2) labyrinth vascularization, 3) expression of key genes of placental development, and 4) expression of placental angiogenic factors. The RCHO-1 cell line was used to determine the direct effects of nicotine on trophoblast differentiation. Our in vivo experiments show that nicotine inhibits trophoblast interstitial invasion, increases placental hypoxia, downregulates labyrinth vascularization as well as key transcription factors Hand1 and GCM1, and decreases local and circulating EG-VEGF, a key placental angiogenic factor. The in vitro experiments confirmed the inhibitory effects of nicotine on the trophoblast migration, invasion, and differentiation processes and demonstrated that those effects are most likely due to a dysregulation in the expression of nicotine receptors and a decrease in MMP9 activity. Taken together, these data suggest that adverse effects of maternal smoking on pregnancy outcome are due in part to direct and endocrine effects of nicotine on the main processes of placental development and establishment of FC.

Alkalinization of chloroprocaine for epidural anesthesia: effects of pCO2 at constant pH.

Increasing the pH of 2% chloroprocaine (CP) with sodium bicarbonate to pH 7.7 hastens the onset of epidural analgesia. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of pCO2 on the onset of epidural analgesia with CP buffered to a constant pH 7.7. Four groups consisting of ten patients each were studied: C, control, commercial CP (pH 4.35); B, CP buffered with sodium bicarbonate (pH 7.7); T, CP buffered with tromethamine (pH 7.7), and BT, CP buffered with sodium bicarbonate and tromethamine (pH 7.7). All epidural catheters were placed at the L2-3 or L3-4 interspace using a loss-of-resistance technique with air with each patient in a sitting position. The pH and pCO2 of each local anesthetic solution were measured as well as the onset and duration of analgesia. The study groups did not differ with respect to demography or entry characteristics. There were intergroup differences in the pCO2 values of the study solutions as follows: Group 1 (C), 11.8 +/- 1.5 mmHg; 2 (B), 113.0 +/- 1.4 mmHg; 3 (T), 3.0 +/- 0.3 mmHg, and 4 (BT), 74.1 +/- 1.0 mmHg, respectively. The time to the onset of analgesia was significantly faster in Group 2 (B; 2.7 +/- 0.8 minute), while the onset of analgesia was significantly slower for Group 3 (T; 5.4 +/- 0.4 minute) than either Group 1 (C; 4.2 +/- 0.8 minute) or Group 4 (BT; 3.4 +/- 0.3 minute). Regression analysis revealed that the onset times of the buffered solutions were significantly related to pCO2 (r2 = 0.81).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The effect of pH and PCO2 on epidural analgesia with 2% 2-chloroprocaine.

Increasing the pH of local anesthetics with sodium bicarbonate has been reported to hasten their onset of action. The purpose of this study was to compare the onset and duration of epidural analgesia with the use of sodium bicarbonate and tromethamine to increase the pH of 2% chloroprocaine (2CP). Five groups of patients were studied: Group I received 2CP; Group II received 2CP buffered to a pH of 7.1 with tromethamine; Group III received 2CP buffered to a pH of 7.1 with sodium bicarbonate; Group IV received 2CP buffered to a pH of 7.7 with tromethamine; and Group V received 2CP buffered to a pH of 7.7 with sodium bicarbonate. The final pH and PCO2 of each solution were measured. Time to onset of analgesia was significantly delayed with either of the tromethamine buffered groups (II [5.6 +/- 1.0 minutes] and IV [5.4 +/- 0.4 minutes]) when compared with data from the unbuffered control (I [4.4 +/- 0.1 minutes]) and the sodium bicarbonate buffered (III [4.5 +/- 0.8 minutes] groups and Group V [2.7 +/- 0.9 minutes]). Only when sodium bicarbonate buffer adjusted to pH 7.7 (Group IV) was onset significantly more rapid than the unbuffered 2CP (I) and tromethamine buffered 2CP (II and IV). Multiple regression analysis revealed that onset times were significantly related to both pH and PCO2. The coefficient of determination for this model was 0.5156.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The effect of pH-adjusted 2-chloroprocaine on the onset of epidural analgesia in pregnant patients in the lying and sitting position during the first stage of labor.

The purpose of this prospective, randomized, double-blind study was to compare the epidural onset time of 2% 2-chloroprocaine with pH-adjusted 2-chloroprocaine administered in either the sitting or supine position in pregnant patients during the first stage of labor. Patients in Groups I and III received the control solution in the sitting and supine position, respectively. Patients in Groups II and IV received the buffered solution in the sitting and supine position, respectively. The pH and pCO2 of the control and buffered solutions differed significantly. The pH and pCO2 of the control and buffered solutions were 4.38 +/- 0.01, 18.4 +/- 2.2 mm Hg and 7.70 +/- 0.04, 114.9 +/- 3.0 mmHg, respectively. A statistically significant reduction in the time of onset of analgesia in the pH-adjusted groups was noted. Groups I and II had onset times of 4 +/- 1.2 and 4.3 +/- 1.0, whereas Groups II and IV had onset times of 2.6 +/- 0.9 and 2.7 +/- 0.6 min., respectively. There were no intergroup differences in the cephalad spread of analgesia or duration of analgesia. Position had no effect on the onset of analgesia at the S2-3 dermatomes nor on the bilateral cephalad spread of the epidural study solutions. Our results indicate that a pregnant patient may be dosed in the lateral supine position without adversely affecting the caudad or cephalad spread of plain or pH-adjusted 2% 2-chloroprocaine, which is clinically important because the incidence of aortocaval compression is increased in the supine position when compared with the lateral supine position.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)