Prevalencia y caracterización de la sobrecarga del cuidador primario de pacientes al final de la vida / Prevalence and characterization of overload of the primary caregiver of patients at the end of life

Introducción: El objetivo del presente estudio fue determinar la prevalencia de la sobrecarga del cuidador primario de pacientes al final de la vida que acuden al servicio de urgencias de este hospital y determinar sus características sociodemográficas. Pacientes y métodos: Se realizó un estudio de tipo observacional, descriptivo y prospectivo; se incluyeron 264 cuidadores principales de pacientes que se encontraban en la fase final de la vida, quienes recibieron atención médica por complicaciones de su patología de base en el servicio de urgencias del Hospital General de México “Dr. Eduardo Liceaga”, en un periodo de 6 meses, del 1 de abril de 2021 al 31 de septiembre de 2021, con los siguientes criterios de inclusión: ser el cuidador principal, tener un lazo familiar con un enfermo, con participación voluntaria, tener más de 18 años de edad. Los participantes, previa firma del consentimiento informado, contestaron los cuestionarios de datos demográficos, escala de Zarit abreviada, escala de Katz. Dentro de la valoración multidimensional del paciente con enfermedad terminal, la valoración biológica es fundamentada por la situación funcional del enfermo; para valorar la dependencia para las actividades de la vida diaria se puede emplear el índice de Katz. Resultados: Se incluyeron 264 cuidadores primarios, 187 (70,8 %) fueron del género femenino y 77 (29,2 %) del género masculino; la edad mínima fue de 18 años y máxima de 80 años, con una mediana de 44 años. Del total de cuidadores analizados 219 (83 %) presentaban sobrecarga del cuidador en el momento de la entrevista. De los sujetos estudiados, 138 (52,3 %) eran cuidadores únicos, de los cuales más de la mitad (57 %) padecían sobrecarga del cuidador. (AU)

Introduction: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of overload among the primary caregivers of patients at the end of life who attended the emergency department of this hospital, and to determine their sociodemographic characteristics. Patients and methods: An observational, descriptive and prospective study was carried out, including 264 main caregivers of patients who were in the final phase of life, who received medical care for complications of their underlying condition in the emergency department of the General Hospital of Mexico “Dr. Eduardo Liceaga” over a period of 6 months, from April 1, 2021 to September 31, 2021, with the following inclusion criteria: being the main caregiver, having a family relationship with the patient, voluntary participation, being more than 18 years old. The participants, after signing an informed consent, completed the demographic data questionnaires, the abbreviated Zarit scale, and the Katz scale. Within the multidimensional assessment of the terminally ill patient, the biological assessment is based on the patient’s functional status; to assess dependence on activities of daily living, the Katz index can be used. Results: A total of 264 primary caregivers were included, 187 (70,8%) were female and 77 (29,2%) were male; the minimum age was 18 years and the maximum age was 80 years, with a median of 44 years. Of the total number of caregivers analyzed, 219 (83%) presented caregiver collapse syndrome at the time of the interview. Of the subjects studied, 138 (52,3%) were sole caregivers, of which more than half (57%) suffered from caregiver collapse syndrome. (AU)

The Age-AST-D Dimer (AAD) Regression Model Predicts Severe COVID-19 Disease.

AIM: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) ranges from mild clinical phenotypes to life-threatening conditions like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). It has been suggested that early liver injury in these patients could be a risk factor for poor outcome. We aimed to identify early biochemical predictive factors related to severe disease development with intensive care requirements in patients with COVID-19. METHODS: Data from COVID-19 patients were collected at admission time to our hospital. Differential biochemical factors were identified between seriously ill patients requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission (ICU patients) versus stable patients without the need for ICU admission (non-ICU patients). Multiple linear regression was applied, then a predictive model of severity called Age-AST-D dimer (AAD) was constructed (n = 166) and validated (n = 170). RESULTS: Derivation cohort: from 166 patients included, there were 27 (16.3%) ICU patients that showed higher levels of liver injury markers (P < 0.01) compared with non-ICU patients: alanine aminotrasnferase (ALT) 225.4 ± 341.2 vs. 41.3 ± 41.1, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) 325.3 ± 382.4 vs. 52.8 ± 47.1, lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) 764.6 ± 401.9 vs. 461.0 ± 185.6, D-dimer (DD) 7765 ± 9109 vs. 1871 ± 4146, and age 58.6 ± 12.7 vs. 49.1 ± 12.8. With these finding, a model called Age-AST-DD (AAD), with a cut-point of <2.75 (sensitivity = 0.797 and specificity = 0.391, c - statistic = 0.74; 95%IC: 0.62-0.86, P < 0.001), to predict the risk of need admission to ICU (OR = 5.8; 95% CI: 2.2-15.4, P = 0.001), was constructed. Validation cohort: in 170 different patients, the AAD model < 2.75 (c - statistic = 0.80 (95% CI: 0.70-0.91, P < 0.001) adequately predicted the risk (OR = 8.8, 95% CI: 3.4-22.6, P < 0.001) to be admitted in the ICU (27 patients, 15.95%). CONCLUSIONS: The elevation of AST (a possible marker of early liver injury) along with DD and age efficiently predict early (at admission time) probability of ICU admission during the clinical course of COVID-19. The AAD model can improve the comprehensive management of COVID-19 patients, and it could be useful as a triage tool to early classify patients with a high risk of developing a severe clinical course of the disease.

Impact of liver enzymes on SARS-CoV-2 infection and the severity of clinical course of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for the current pandemic, can have multi-organ impact. Recent studies show that liver injury could be a manifestation of the disease, and that liver disease could also be related to a worse prognosis. Our aim was to compare the characteristics of patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to SARS-CoV-2 who required intubation versus stable hospitalized patients to identify the early biochemical predictive factors of a severe course of COVID-19 and subsequent requirement for intubation, specifically in Mexican. METHODS: This was an observational case-control study nested in a cohort study. Complete medical records of patients admitted for confirmed COVID-19 at a tertiary level center in Mexico City were reviewed. Clinical and biochemical data were collected, and the characteristics of patients who required invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) (cases) were compared with stable hospitalized patients without ventilation (controls). RESULTS: We evaluated 166 patients with COVID-19 due to SARS-CoV-2 infection; 114 (68.7%) were men, the mean age was 50.6 ± 13.3 years, and 27 (16.3%) required IMV. The comparative analysis between cases and controls showed (respectively) significantly lower blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) (73.5 ± 12.0% vs. 83.0 ± 6.8%, P < 0.0001) and elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (128 (14-1123) IU/L vs. 33 (8-453) IU/L, P = 0.003), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (214 (17-1247) vs. 44 (12-498) IU/L, P = 0.001), lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) (764.6 ± 401.9 IU/L vs. 461.0 ± 185.6 IU/L, P = 0.001), and D-dimer (3463 (524-34,227) ng/mL vs. 829 (152-41,923) ng/mL, P = 0.003) concentrations. Patients in the cases group were older (58.6 ± 12.7 years vs. 49.1 ± 12.8 years, P=0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that important factors at admission predicting the requirement for IMV during hospitalization for COVID-19 were AST ≥250 IU/L (odds ratio (OR) = 64.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 7.5-560.3, P < 0.0001) and D-dimer ≥ 3500 ng/mL (OR = 4.1, 95% CI 1.2-13.7, P=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms the importance of monitoring liver enzymes in hospitalized patients with COVID-19; seriously ill patients have significantly elevated AST and D-dimer concentrations, which have prognostic implications in the SARS-CoV-2 disease course.