Acute Care Hospitals In Japan Research Articles

Hospitalization of patients with Down syndrome in acute care hospitals in Japan

AbstractBackgroundDown syndrome is the most common genetic disorder, and the life expectancy of patients with Down syndrome has increased over the decades. However, the diseases and social problems experienced by patients with Down syndrome remain unknown in Japan. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the disease status of such patients admitted to acute care hospitals in Japan.MethodsThis observational study was conducted using the Diagnosis Procedure Combination data from 2016 to 2021 to evaluate routes of admission, principal diagnoses, comorbidity of dementia, orthopedic surgeries for limb fractures, and discharge destinations of patients with Down syndrome (International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision code: Q90).ResultsOverall, 26,195 individuals with Down syndrome were included, of whom 5195 were ≥20 years of age. As the age increased, the number of admissions from home decreased and that from nursing homes increased. Pneumonia was the most common principal diagnosis, with the incidence of aspiration pneumonia increasing in patients >40 years of age. We observed an increase in the incidence of dementia and surgery for limb fractures after 40 years of age. The number of discharges to home decreased with increasing age, whereas that to nursing homes increased with increasing age.ConclusionsThese results suggest that patients with Down syndrome are often hospitalized because of pneumonia and that the incidence of aspiration pneumonia, dementia, and limb fractures increases after 40 years of age. Therefore, a system to prevent pneumonia, especially aspiration pneumonia, and limb fractures in patients with Down syndrome is needed.

Evaluation of the effects of a team-based systematic prevention and management program for postoperative orthopedic older patients: A retrospective cohort study.

This study aimed to evaluate a team-based systematic prevention and management program for delirium (a multicomponent intervention addressing potentially modifiable risk factors based on the DELirium Team Approach [DELTA]) in older patients undergoing orthopedic surgery within a real-world clinical setting. The DELTA program was initiated at our hospital in January 2019. A retrospective before-after study was conducted during a preintervention period (January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2018) and a postintervention period (January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021) at orthopedic wards of an advanced acute care hospital in Japan. A total of 787 inpatients were evaluated before the preintervention period, and 833 inpatients were evaluated after the postintervention period. After the DELTA program's implementation, a significant decrease in benzodiazepine receptor agonist prescriptions (odds ratio [OR], 0.39; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.29-0.53) and an increase in prescriptions of either melatonin receptor agonists or dual orexin receptor antagonists (OR, 3.83; 95% CI, 2.49-5.88) were observed. However, no significant difference was observed in the incidence of falls, self-extubation, or required level of medical and nursing care, including risky behavior and inability to follow medical or care instructions following the intervention, despite a reduction in the length of hospital stay and institutionalization. Implementing the DELTA program for older patients undergoing orthopedic surgery contributed to optimizing the prescription of hypnotics; however, the impact on other patient outcomes, such as falls, self-extubation, and required level of medical and nursing care was limited.

Association Between IV Contrast Media Exposure and Acute Kidney Injury in Patients Requiring Emergency Admission: A Nationwide Observational Study in Japan.

This study aimed to elucidate the association between IV contrast media CT and acute kidney injury (AKI) and in-hospital mortality among patients requiring emergency admission. In this retrospective observational study, we examined AKI within 48 hours after CT, renal replacement therapy (RRT) dependence at discharge, and in-hospital mortality in patients undergoing contrast-enhanced CT or nonenhanced CT. We performed 1:1 propensity score matching to adjust for confounders in the association between IV contrast media use and outcomes. Subgroup analyses were performed according to age, sex, diagnosis at admission, ICU admission, and preexisting chronic kidney disease (CKD). This study used the Medical Data Vision database between 2008 and 2019. This database is Japan's largest commercially available hospital-based claims database, covering about 45% of acute-care hospitals in Japan, and it also records laboratory results. None. The study included 144,149 patients with (49,057) and without (95,092) contrast media exposure, from which 43,367 propensity score-matched pairs were generated. Between the propensity score-matched groups of overall patients, exposure to contrast media showed no significant risk of AKI (4.6% vs. 5.1%; odds ratio [OR], 0.899; 95% CI, 0.845-0.958) or significant risk of RRT dependence (0.6% vs. 0.4%; OR, 1.297; 95% CI, 1.070-1.574) and significant benefit for in-hospital mortality (5.4% vs. 6.5%; OR, 0.821; 95% CI, 0.775-0.869). In subgroup analyses regarding preexisting CKD, exposure to contrast media was a significant risk for AKI in patients with CKD but not in those without CKD. In this large-scale observational study, IV contrast media was not associated with an increased risk of AKI but concurrently showed beneficial effects on in-hospital mortality among patients requiring emergency admission.

Effects of early surgery for cervical fracture dislocation on 30-day mortality using the Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination database.

Retrospective study of data abstracted from the Diagnosis Procedure Combination (DPC) database. This study aimed to investigate the effects of surgery in the early phase. The optimal timing of surgery for cervical fracture dislocation (CFD) remains unclear because only a few clinical studies with approximately 100 patients have been published. This study included 4,653 adult patients with a definitive diagnosis of CFD from the DPC database. The database contains nationwide inpatient data collected from >1,000 acute care hospitals in Japan. The DPC database contains information regarding hospitalization, such as diagnosis, treatment, medical history, complications, and hospitalization outcomes. This study identified 460 pairs of patients after one-to-one propensity-score matching (PSM). Treatment outcomes were compared between patients who underwent surgery for CFD within 72 hours (early group) and later (delayed group) after admission. The main outcomes included 30-day mortality, inhospital death, and major complications. The secondary outcomes were improvement in the Barthel index, length of hospital stay, and discharged home rate. After adjusting for PSM, the early group had a significantly higher 30-day mortality rates than the delayed group (3.0% vs. 0.4%, p=0.006). In the multivariate logistic regression analysis after PSM, the early group was associated with an increased risk of 30-day mortality (odds ratio, 8.05; 95% confidence interval, 2.15-5.26; p=0.007). This study indicated that early surgery for CFD resulted in increased 30-day mortality.

Incidence and risk factors for coronavirus disease 2019-associated pulmonary aspergillosis using administrative claims data.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) is one of the noticeable complications of COVID-19 and its incidence varies widely. In Japan, research on the incidence, risk factors and mortality associated with CAPA is limited. This study aimed to explore the incidence and potential risk factors for CAPA in patients with severe or critical COVID-19 and evaluate the relationship between CAPA and mortality of patients with severe or critical COVID-19. We investigated the incidence of CAPA in patients with severe and critical COVID-19 using administrative claims data from acute care hospitals in Japan. We employed multivariable regression models to explore potential risk factors for CAPA and their contribution to mortality in patients with severe and critical COVID-19. The incidence of CAPA was 0.4%-2.7% in 33,136 patients with severe to critical COVID-19. Age, male sex, chronic lung disease, steroids, immunosuppressants, intensive care unit admission, blood transfusion and dialysis were potential risk factors for CAPA in patients with severe to critical COVID-19. CAPA was an independent factor associated with mortality. CAPA is a serious complication in patients with severe and critical COVID-19 and may increase mortality.

Time from admission to the onset of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia in a single acute care hospital in Japan.

The spread of antimicrobial-resistant organisms (AROs) poses a major threat to animal and human health. In Japan, the estimated disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to infections with AROs is 137.9 per 100,000 persons, with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) being the main contributor. The factors that can contribute to DALYs in Japan include younger age and a higher number of deaths in patients with MRSA bacteremia. Moreover, longer hospital stays may contribute to higher rates of MRSA bacteremia in Japan than in Western countries. We reviewed diagnosis procedure combination data collected from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2020, in an acute care hospital in Tokyo, Japan. We found that the median time from admission to MRSA bacteremia onset was 26 days, which is longer than that in Western countries but similar to that in South Korea. Further, our cohort was older than that in the United States and South Korea, potentially contributing to the higher number of years of life lost in Japan. These results underscore the need to develop strategies to reduce hospitalization in Japan. Larger multicenter studies are needed to comprehensively evaluate the economic and health burden of MRSA bacteremia in Japan.

Development and validation of early prediction models for new-onset functional impairment of patients with trauma at hospital discharge.

Early identification of individuals at risk of functional impairment after trauma is crucial for the timely clinical decision-making and intervention to improve reintegration into the society. This study aimed to develop and validate models for predicting new-onset functional impairment after trauma using predictors that are routinely collected within 2 days of hospital admission. In this multicenter retrospective cohort study of acute care hospitals in Japan, we identified adult patients with trauma with independence in carrying out activities of daily living before hospitalization, treated in the intensive or high-dependency care unit, and survived for at least 2 days between April 2008 and September 2023. The primary outcome was functional impairment defined as Barthel Index ≤60 at hospital discharge. In the internal validation data set (between April 2008 and August 2022), using the routinely collected 129 candidate predictors within 2 days of admission, we trained and tuned the four conventional and machine learning models with repeated random subsampling cross-validation. We measured the performance of these models in the temporal validation data set (between September 2022 and September 2023). We also computed the importance of each predictor variable in our model. We identified 8,529 eligible patients. Functional impairment at discharge was observed in 41% of the patients (n = 3,506/8,529). In the temporal validation data set, all four models showed moderate discrimination ability, with areas under the curve above 0.79, and extreme gradient boosting showing the best performance (0.83). In the variable importance analyses, age was the most important predictor, followed by consciousness, severity score, cervical spinal cord injury, mild dementia, and serum albumin level at admission. We successfully developed early prediction models for patients with trauma with new-onset functional impairment at discharge that achieved high predictive performance using routinely collected data within 2 days of hospital admission. Prognostic/Epidemiological; Level II.

Predictive biomarker of mortality in children with infectious diseases: a nationwide data analysis.

Biomarkers play a crucial role in the early identification of high-risk children with infectious diseases. Despite their importance, few studies evaluated biomarkers' capabilities in predicting mortality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the biomarkers' predictive capabilities for mortality in children with infectious diseases. From an inpatient database covering ≥200 acute-care hospitals in Japan, we included children who underwent blood culture, and received antimicrobial treatment between 2012 and 2021. Biomarkers' results from the day of the initial blood culture were used. Biomarker discriminative capabilities were assessed using the area under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs). Of 11,365 eligible children with presumed infection, 1,378 (12.1%) required mechanical ventilation or vasoactive agents within 2 days of blood culture, and 100 (0.9%) died during admission. Of all children, 10,348 (91.1%) had community-onset infections and 1,017 (8.9%) had hospital-onset infections. C-reactive protein and white blood cell demonstrated limited discriminatory capabilities with AUCs of 0.44 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.38-0.51] and 0.45 (95% CI: 0.39-0.52). In contrast, pH, prothrombin time-international normalized ratio, and procalcitonin exhibited strong discriminatory capabilities with AUCs of 0.77 (95% CI: 0.65-0.90), 0.77 (95% CI: 0.70-0.84) and 0.76 (95% CI: 0.29-1.00). In conclusions, our real-world data analysis suggested that C-reactive protein and white blood cell may not be reliable indicators for predicting mortality in children with presumed infection. These findings could warrant future studies exploring promising biomarkers, including those from blood gas analyses, coagulation studies and procalcitonin.

Night Physician-Nurse Collaboration: Developing the Scale of Physicians' Difficulties and Exploring Related Factors in Acute Care Hospitals.

Responding to inpatient deterioration is less favorable at night than during the day, and this may be related to barriers in collaboration between physicians and nurses. However, there had been no way to assess the problem. This study aimed to develop a scale for physicians to measure difficulties in nighttime collaboration with nurses in response to deteriorating inpatients and to identify factors associated with the developed scale scores. We developed a draft scale of Nighttime Collaboration Difficulties between Nurses and Physicians for Physicians (NCDNP-P) based on key informant interviews with physicians. Psychometric validations, including structural validity, criterion-related validity, and reliability tests, were conducted among physicians who worked on night duty or on call in acute-care hospitals in Japan using a cross-sectional web-based questionnaire. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed using independent variables including individual backgrounds, style of working at night, and facility characteristics. By performing exploratory factor analysis, we confirmed the structural validity of the NCDNP-P, consisting of seven items and two domains (Domain 1: Dissatisfaction with reporting, Domain 2: Barriers to working with nurses). Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega coefficients were 0.81-0.84 and 0.81-0.89, respectively. The criterion-related validity for interprofessional collaboration was confirmed. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the variables employment status, number of night shifts, frequency of nighttime calls about patients under another physician's charge, and handover between physicians before changing shifts were statistically significantly associated with NCDNP-P scores. We developed the NCDNP-P, confirming its reliability and validity. Identified factors reflect physicians' characteristics and the problems experienced working at night and may be associated with barriers in nighttime collaboration. The NCDNP-P can highlight issues in clinical settings and lead to the consideration of initiatives to address such issues.

Usage and limitations of medical consultation with patients’ families using online video calls: a prospective cohort study

BackgroundFew studies have been conducted on the usage of telehealth focusing on consultations between patients’ families and physicians. This study aimed to identify the usage and limitations of online medical consultations with patients’ families compared to the traditional in-person consultations.MethodsWe conducted a prospective cohort study from April 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021, at an educational acute-care hospital in Japan. The study included hospitalized patients aged 20 years or older and their family members for whom an online or in-person medical consultation between the family member and physician was conducted during the hospitalization period. The primary endpoints assessed were three topics pertaining to medical consultation: medical conditions and treatment plans, policies for life-threatening events, and post-discharge support. The secondary endpoint was the number of consultations required.ResultsOnline consultations and traditional in-person consultations were provided to 58 and 53 patients’ families, respectively. Of the patients in the online consultation group who underwent multiple consultations, 46 (79%) also underwent in-person consultations. Regarding the topics, all the patients’ families in both consultation groups had consultations on medical conditions and treatment plans; regarding the policy for life-threatening events, 47% of patient families in the online consultation group were consulted compared to 53% of those in the in-person group. Regarding post-discharge support, 59% of patient families in the online group were consulted compared to 40% in the in-person group. In the online consultation group of 58 patients’ families, 188 consultations were conducted, including 95 online and 93 in-person consultations. Consultations on policy for life-threatening events were significantly more frequent in in-person consultations than in online consultations (p < 0.05). Regarding post-discharge support, online consultations were significantly more frequent than in-person consultations (p < 0.05). The number of family members who attended online consultations was significantly higher than those who attended in-person consultations (p < 0.05).ConclusionsOnline consultation between the physician and patient’s family may be an alternative to in-person consultation for explaining medical conditions and treatment plans. However, in-person consultation still plays an important role in sensitive topics, such as policy consultation for life-threatening events.

Impact of Collaborative Leadership, Workplace Social Capital, and Interprofessional Collaboration Practice on Patient Safety Climate.

Patient safety climate is an important factor in promoting patient safety for healthcare organizations. This study investigated the relationship between collaborative leadership and patient safety climate, the mediation effect of workplace social capital, or interprofessional collaboration practice. A web-based cross-sectional questionnaire survey was administered between May 2021 and May 2022, to employees of three acute care hospitals in Japan. The relationship between variables was verified by structural equation modeling. A total of 1,276 staff members participated in the study. Collaborative leadership affected the workplace social capital (β = .734) and interprofessional collaboration (β = .561), which were positively associated with patient safety climate (β = .403 and .405, respectively), verifying the mediating relationship of workplace social capital and interprofessional collaboration between collaborative leadership and patient safety climate. Collaborative leadership enhances the reciprocity and interprofessional practices of the healthcare team. The interaction among interprofessional team members fosters a patient safety climate. The results of this survey suggest that the development of collaborative leadership, which encourages interprofessional collaboration and fosters workplace social capital, is inherently crucial for cultivating a patient safety climate.

Effects of a dementia educational programme using virtual reality on nurses in an acute care hospital: A pre-post comparative study.

Poor awareness of dementia care by healthcare professionals affects the quality of care for people living with dementia in acute care settings. This study examined the effectiveness of a virtual reality-based educational programme for dementia for nurses working in acute care hospitals in Japan. A dementia education programme for nurses was designed. The programme comprised short movies, virtual reality videos based on the short movies, a lecture, discussions and role-playing based on the experimental learning model. Virtual reality video content was created to promote empathy for people living with dementia through a first-person experience of dementia. The educational programme involved nurses working in an acute care hospital in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. Before and after the programme, we employed structured questionnaires using validated instruments to assess participants' attitudes towards people living with dementia, their intentions of helping behaviour and their confidence in providing dementia care. Seventy-six nurses participated in and completed the pre- and post-tests. The mean age was 34.9 ± 9.2 years, and 90.8% of the participants were female. A paired t-test showed significant before-after improvement in the participants' attitudes towards people living with dementia (41.9 ± 5.1 vs. 44.5 ± 4.8), intentions of helping behaviour towards people living with dementia (10.8 ± 2.5 vs. 12.8 ± 2.1) and confidence in providing dementia care (25.9 ± 6.7 vs. 29.2 ± 6.0). The programme effectively improved nurses' attitudes towards people living with dementia and confidence in providing dementia care in acute care settings. Future research is important to explore the long-term effects of this programme and its effects on actual dementia care. The dementia education programme may promote person-centred care in acute hospitals. Future studies should consider the provision of more flexible programs so that nurses can more easily participate in them.

Current Clinical Practice of Laboratory Testing of the Hemostasis and Coagulation System in Patients with Sepsis: A Nationwide Observational Study in Japan.

The clinical benefit of hemostasis molecular indicators such as thrombin-antithrombin complex (TAT), soluble fibrin (SF), and prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 (F1+2) for the diagnosis of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is reported. Recently, novel DIC diagnostic criteria that adopt them were proposed in Japan. Despite the theoretical understanding of their function, the practical use of these markers remains unclear. The present study aimed to provide a descriptive overview of current clinical practice regarding the measurement of hemostasis markers in sepsis management in Japan. This retrospective observational analysis used the Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination inpatient database containing data from more than 1500 acute-care hospitals in Japan. We identified adult patients hospitalized for sepsis between April 2018 and March 2021. Descriptive statistics for measuring several hemostasis laboratory markers were summarized using patient disease characteristics, hospital characteristic, and geographical location. This study included 153,474 adult sepsis patients. Crude in-hospital mortality was 30.0%. Frequency of measurement of fibrinogen, fibrin degradation products (FDP), and D-dimer in sepsis patients on admission was 43.2%, 36.1%, and 46.4%, respectively. Novel and specific hemostasis molecular markers such as TAT, SF, and F1+2 were seldom measured (1.9%, 1.7%, and 0.02%, respectively). Hemostasis molecular markers were more frequently measured with progression of thrombocytopenia. Measurement of these clinically favorite hemostasis markers was influenced not only by disease characteristics but also hospital characteristic or geographical location. Hemostasis molecular markers such as TAT, SF, and F1+2 were rarely measured in clinical settings. Although adopted by several DIC scoring systems, neither fibrinogen, FDP, nor D-dimer was routinely measured.

High versus low chloride load in adult hyperglycemic emergencies with acute kidney injury: a multicenter retrospective cohort study.

Hyperglycemic emergencies frequently lead to acute kidney injury (AKI) and require treatment with large amount of intravenous fluids. However, the effects of chloride loading on this population have not yet been investigated. We conducted a multicenter, retrospective, cohort study in 21 acute-care hospitals in Japan. The study included hospitalized adult patients with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and hyperosmolar hyperglycemic syndrome (HHS) who had AKI upon arrival. The patients were classified into high and low chloride groups based on the amount of chloride administered within the first 48h of their arrival. The primary outcome was recovery from AKI; secondary outcome was major adverse kidney events within 30days (MAKE30), including mortality and prolonged renal failure. A total of 390 patients with AKI, including 268 (69%) with DKA and 122 (31%) with HHS, were included in the study. Using the criteria of Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes, the severity of AKI in the patients was Stage 1 (n = 159, 41%), Stage 2 (n = 121, 31%), and Stage 3 (n = 110, 28%). The analysis showed no significant difference between the two groups in recovery from AKI (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.96; 95% CI 0.72-1.28; P = 0.78) and in MAKE30 (adjusted odds ratio, 0.91; 95% CI 0.45-1.76; P = 0.80). Chloride loading with fluid administration had no significant impact on recovery from AKI in patients with hyperglycemic emergencies.Trial Registration This study was registered in the UMIN clinical trial registration system (UMIN000025393, registered December 23, 2016).

Impact of physical build on serum vancomycin concentrations of patients undergoing hemodialysis: A retrospective cohort study at an acute care hospital

IntroductionEstimating the serum vancomycin (VCM) concentrations of lean and patients with obesity is challenging. Additionally, VCM dosing for Japanese patients undergoing hemodialysis remains particularly unclear. This study aimed to determine the impact of the physical build on serum VCM concentrations of Japanese patients undergoing hemodialysis. MethodsThis retrospective cohort study included hospitalized patients undergoing hemodialysis, who received treatment with VCM between May 1, 2019, and December 31, 2021, at Kansai Rosai Hospital, which is a 642-bed acute care hospital in Japan. Patients were divided into the following three groups based on their body mass index (BMI): lean group (≤18.5 kg/m2), normal group (18.5–25 kg/m2), and obese group (≥25 kg/m2). The VCM dose and predialysis serum VCM concentration (PVC) were compared. ResultsThis study included 191 patients. There were 50 patients in the lean group, 85 in the normal group, and 56 in the obese group. The median loading doses per body weight were 24.0, 22.1, and 21.2 mg/kg for the lean, normal, and obese groups, respectively. The VCM dose per body weight decreased significantly with increasing BMI. The median PVCs of the lean and normal groups were approximately 15 mg/L (not significantly different). However, the median PVC of the obese group was 18.3 mg/L, which was significantly higher (P < 0.001). ConclusionsThe VCM dose per body weight for Japanese patients undergoing hemodialysis should be adjusted based on the BMI.

Impact of Advance Care Planning Support on Patients Treated in the Intensive Care Unit After High-Risk Surgery.

Efforts to enhance support for advancecare planning (ACP) in patients requiring emergency and intensive care are currently being explored. In addition, few studies have reported the effects and impact of support for these patients and their families. The researcher developed a patient decision aid to initiate support for ACP for patients who plan to enter the intensive care unit after surgery and their families. This study aimed to provide ACP support to patients before high-risk surgery and to determine its impact. The study design was qualitative. The participants included 10 patients who were scheduled to be admitted to the intensive care unit after high-risk surgery at an acute-care hospital in Japan, and the patients' families. The researcher used decision aids to implement ACP support before the patients were admitted. Participants were interviewed in a semi-structured manner regarding their experiences and the impact of receiving ACP support after discharge. Interviews were recorded using an integrated circuit recorder, followed by verbatim transcripts. The analysis was performed in a qualitative descriptive manner. ACP support prior to treatment initiation led patients to think about life-sustaining treatments and consider ideal living. By understanding the risks of treatment, patients can calmly assume complications and discuss their mortality and life after surgery. Patients perceived receiving ACP support as a valuable benefit prior to undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit. After discharge, they wanted to promote shared decision-making among their physicians. On the other hand, family members were more anxious about ACP topics than patients. In addition, the patients and their families felt that it was difficult to discuss their thoughts and wishes regarding ACP before surgery. It is suggested that pretreatment ACP support could serve as an introductory phase for patients anticipating the need for intensive care, allowing them to contemplate their preferences regarding life-sustaining treatment. However, it is difficult for patients and their family members to openly discuss their thoughts on life-sustaining treatment, even if they are aware of the risk of a sudden crisis. Therefore, when patients and their families discuss ACP, the inclusion of healthcare coaching and counseling may be more effective. These measures of ACP support could add to increased family discussions, concordance, and shared decision-making with physicians.

Multiple risk factors for unplanned readmissions within 1 month of hospital discharge in acute care hospitals in Japan.

The aim of this study is to analyse the risk factors for unplanned readmissions within 1 month after hospital discharge to develop a seamless support system from discharge to home care. With shorter hospital stay lengths, understanding the characteristics of patients with multiple risk factors is important to prevent rehospitalization. This is a single-centre retrospective descriptive study. Logistic regression and decision tree analyses were performed using eight items from the records of 3117 patients discharged from a university hospital between April-September 2017 as risk factors. Unplanned readmission risk was significantly associated with emergency hospitalization (odds ratio [OR]: 3.12, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.04-4.77), malignancy (OR: 2.16, 95% CI: 1.44-3.24), non-surgical admission (OR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.07-2.88), hospital stay of ≥ 15 days (OR: 1.66, 95% CI: 1.14-2.43) and decline in activities of daily living owing to hospitalization (OR: 1.68, 95% CI: 1.06-2.64). The highest risk combinations for rehospitalization were as follows: emergency hospitalization and malignancy; emergency admission, non-malignancy and a hospital stay of ≥15 days; and scheduled hospitalization, no surgery and a hospital stay of ≥15 days. Patients with multiple risks for unplanned readmission should be accurately screened and provided with optimal home care.

Treatment sequencing after failure to alectinib in patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive non-small-cell lung cancer.

Alectinib is the first-line therapy for anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive non-small-cell lung cancer. Although some guidelines have recommended using other anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibitors after alectinib failure, evidence for such regimens in patients who fail to respond to alectinib is limited. This study involved using administrative claims data from acute care hospitals in Japan. We extracted the data of 634 patients diagnosed with lung cancer between September 1, 2014, and January 31, 2023, who received alectinib treatment before treatment with another anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibitor. We assessed distributions of patients according to their treatment sequencing and prognosis among three periods defined based on the initial marketing dates of lorlatinib and brigatinib. The type of anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibitors after alectinib failure changed over time. In the most recent period, lorlatinib (58%) and brigatinib (40%) became predominant. Two-year overall survival improved over time (47%-84%), accompanied by an increased 2-year proportion of patients who continuously used anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibitors after alectinib failure (13%-44%). The times to treatment discontinuation of the regimen between patients treated with lorlatinib and brigatinib were similar, with a hazard ratio of 1.02 (95% confidence interval, 0.64-1.64) in the period after marketing brigatinib. This study provides insights into the evolving treatment landscape for patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive non-small-cell lung cancer who experience failed alectinib treatment and highlights the need for further studies and data accumulation to determine the optimal treatment strategy.

Non-infectious diseases in infectious disease consultation: A descriptive study in a tertiary care teaching hospital

In this retrospective study, we aimed to investigate the frequency, trend, and nature of non-infectious diseases (non-IDs) as the final diagnosis for patients during an infectious disease (ID) consultation in an acute care hospital in Japan. This study included adult inpatients who underwent ID consultations between October 2016 and March 2018. The demographic data, clinical manifestations, and final non-ID diagnoses of cases were explored. Among the 502 patients who underwent ID consultations, 45 (9.0%) were diagnosed with non-IDs. The most common diagnoses were tumors (22.2%, n = 10), connective tissue and collagen vascular diseases (13.3%, n = 6), other inflammatory diseases (8.9%, n = 4), and drug-induced fever (8.9%, n = 4). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the presence of consultations for diagnosis (odds ratio [OR], 22.0; 95% confidence interval [CI], 10.1–48.2; p&lt;0.01), consultations from the internal medicine department (OR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.2–5.2; p = 0.02), and non-bacteremia cases (OR, 5.2; 95% CI, 1.4–19.3; p = 0.01) were independently associated with diagnosed non-IDs. Non-IDs after ID consultations were mainly tumor-related, inflammatory diseases, and drug fever. The presence of consultations for diagnosis, consultations from the internal medicine department and non-bacteremia cases were related to non-IDs among ID consultations. Further research is needed to explore the frequency and pattern of non-IDs to improve the quality of ID consultations in daily practice.

Patient and Therapeutic Profiles of Pulmonary Hypertension in Chronic Lung Diseases in Japan: A Cohort Study Using a Claims Database.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is often complicated by chronic lung diseases (CLDs) such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and interstitial lung disease (ILD). Differentiating between PH associated with CLD (group3 PH) and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in CLD is often difficult and reporting on the efficacy of PAH-specific therapies is inconsistent as a result of the lack of understanding of the heterogeneity of patients with PH. A retrospective observational cohort study was conducted to understand the baseline characteristics, comorbidities, and treatment profiles of patients with PH in CLD in a real-world setting using a large-scale claims database (Medical Data Vision). Administrative and clinical data for patients admitted to acute-care hospitals in Japan between April 2008 and January 2021 were analyzed. A total of 115,921 patients with CLD (109,578 with COPD and 6343 with ILD, of whom 569 and 176 had PH, respectively) were analyzed. This study found lower PH diagnosis rates among patients with COPD and patients with ILD than in previous studies. The majority of PH with CLDpatients were elderly (mean age 75.7years) and male (80.81%). Among patients with CLD prescribed PAH-specific therapies (105 patients with COPD; 64 patients with ILD), most received these as monotherapy (COPD, 84.76%; ILD, 75.56%); the most common were phosphodiesterase5 inhibitors (COPD, 42.70%; ILD, 18.37%), prostacyclins (oral; COPD, 48.31%; ILD, 24.49%), and endothelin receptor antagonists (ERA) (COPD, 8.99%; ILD, 18.37%). Comorbidities (e.g., pulmonary, cardiac, kidney), home oxygen therapy (HOT), and echocardiography (ECHO) were factors associated with the diagnosis of PH. This is the first study using an administrative database that provides real-world data on patients with PH in CLD in Japan. Our results indicate that PH may be misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed in Japan which may lead to suboptimal treatment for patients, and supports the need for further evidence to guide appropriate treatment.