Acute General Hospital Research Articles

Impact of a medical admissions proforma on the quality of medical admission documentation in a general acute hospital in Ireland.

Impact of a medical admissions proforma on the quality of medical admission documentation in a general acute hospital in Ireland.

Service mix, market competition, and cost efficiency: A longitudinal study of U.S. hospitals

AbstractWe examine the longitudinal impact of service mix on cost efficiency in U.S. acute care general hospitals. We propose two different dimensions of service mix, with the first dimension capturing internal emphasis on specific service lines (i.e., specialization) and the second dimension reflecting the deviation of a hospital from the average level of specialization for hospitals in the same service area (i.e., differentiation). We hypothesize that as the level of a hospital's specialization increases, hospital cost efficiency should improve at a decreasing rate. We also hypothesize that differentiation helps improve cost efficiency in competitive markets. Lastly, we examine whether acute care general hospitals can use service mix as an operational lever to improve cost efficiency when specialty hospitals are present in the same local markets. We find strong empirical support for the hypothesized relationships.

The association between self-declared acute care surgery services and operating room access: Results from a national survey.

Timely access to the operating room (OR) for emergency general surgery (EGS) diseases is key to optimizing outcomes. We conducted a national survey on EGS structures and processes to examine if implementation of acute care surgery (ACS) would improve OR accessibility compared with a traditional general surgeon on call (GSOC) approach. We surveyed 2,811 acute care general hospitals in the United States capable of EGS care. The questionnaire included queries regarding structures and processes related to OR access and on the model of EGS care (ACS vs. GSOC). Associations between the EGS care model and structures and processes to ensure OR access were measured using univariate and multivariate models (adjusted for hospital characteristics). Of 1,690 survey respondents (60.1%), 1,497 reported ACS or GSOC. 272 (18.2%) utilized an ACS model. The ACS hospitals were more likely to have more than 5 days of block time and a tiered system of booking urgent/emergent cases compared with GSOC hospitals (34.2% vs. 7.4% and 85.3% vs. 57.6%, respectively; all p values <0.001). Surgeons at ACS hospitals were more likely to be free of competing clinical duties, be in-house overnight, and cover at a single hospital overnight when covering EGS (40.1% vs. 4.7%, 64.7% vs. 25.6%, and 84.9% vs. 64.9%, respectively; all p values <0.001). The ACS hospitals were more likely to have overnight in-house scrub techs, OR nurses, and recovery room nurses (69.9% vs. 13.8%, 70.6% vs. 13.9%, and 45.6% vs. 5.4%, respectively; all p values <0.001). On multivariable analysis, ACS hospitals had higher odds of all structures and processes that would improve OR access. The ACS implementation is associated with factors that may improve OR access. This finding has implications for potential expansion of EGS care models that ensure prompt OR access for the EGS diseases that warrant emergency surgery. Therapeutic, Level III.

Forecasting hospital pneumonia admissions using influenza surveillance, climate and community data

ObjectiveUsing the information that we have available, our primary objective is to explore if there was any cross-correlation between pneumonia admissions and hospital influenza positivity. We then aim to develop a data driven approach to forecast pneumonia admissions using data from our hospital’s weekly surveillance. We also attempted using external sources of information such as national infectious diseases notifications and climate data to see if they were useful for our model.IntroductionInfluenza peaks around June and December in Singapore every year. Facing an ageing population, hospitals in Singapore have been constantly reaching maximum bed occupancy. The ability to be able to make early decisions during peak periods is important. Tan Tock Seng Hospital is the second largest adult acute care general hospital in Singapore. Pneumonia-related emergency department (ED) admissions are a huge burden to the hospital's resources. The number of cases vary year on year as it depends on seasonal vaccine effectiveness and the population’s immunity to the circulating strain. While many pneumonia cases are of unknown origin, they tend to mirror the influenza seasons very closely.MethodsWe used data from epidemiological week (e-week) 1 of 2013 to e-week 34 of August 2017 to train our model, with the next 52 weeks (e-week of 35 of 2017 to e-week 34 of 2018 ) being used as validation cohort. Pneumonia and influenza data were obtained from our hospital’s weekly surveillance. National level acute upper respiratory illness (AURI) was obtained from Ministry of Health’s (MOH) weekly infectious diseases bulletin. Climate data were obtained from the National Environment Agency’s website. Daily rainfall, temperature and wind data from the S20 satellite station were used. Automatic autoregressive (A-ARIMA), non-seasonal and seasonal vector autoregressive models (VAR) were used to either analyse the univariate pneumonia trends or simultaneously model pneumonia, influenza, AURI notification and climatic data. Granger-causality tests were performed to check if these variables were causal of pneumonia admissions. As most of the seasonal variation are seen in older patients, stratified analysis were performed on those that were below and above 65 years old. Forecasts were calculated up to 3 weeks in advance. Mean absolute error (MAE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and root mean squared error (RMSE) were used to validate the model performance. These performance metrics were applied on 3-week ahead forecasts comparing A-ARIMA, VAR, and seasonal-adjusted VAR.ResultsFigure 1 shows that both influenza and pneumonia admissions follow similar trends. We see that the number of influenza cases have reduced as compared to the previous years. The number hospital influenza cases and the number of AURI cases nationwide are strongly cross-correlated with pneumonia admissions. Granger-causality tests confirmed the directionality of the relationships (p &lt;0.01). Climate factors do not strongly affect the number of pneumonia admissions. (Fig 2) Unsurprisingly, the A-ARIMA model showed that the 1-day forecasts were most accurate (MAE: 7.0; MAPE: 12.7; RMSE: 8.7 for elderly subgroup). However, the 3-day ahead forecasts were only slightly less precise (MAE: 7.2 ; MAPE: 13.2; RMSE: 9 for elderly subgroup). Testing for significant lags using the various information criteria suggested that a lag3 model should be used. The non-seasonal and seasonal VAR models showed that historical pneumonia admissions and influenza positivity was the best model. The MAPE for all 3 models hovered between 12-13%, with the A-ARIMA model performing slightly better. This is not surprising as the A-ARIMA takes the latest information at hand to derive the best model. Accounting for seasonality allowed better precision as compared to the non-seasonal VAR but was not better as compared to the A-ARIMA model.ConclusionsHospital surveillance data are the most useful for developing forecast models for hospital pneumonia admissions. Climate data were likely not to be useful as Singapore does not experience much variaton in weather throughout the year. Pneumonia peaks do not follow necessarily fall on the same week every season. Therefore, both the autoregressive and seasonal-adjusted vector autoregressive models can be useful complements to each other for forecasting pneumonia admissions.

Emergency oncology: The situation of acute general hospital in Japan.

e18069 Background: The need for supportive and palliative care services for cancer patients is well established. Our hospital is acute general hospital with 602 beds, 20 ICU beds, radiation unit, chemotherapy unit and with emergency department(ED) 24hours and 365 days open, locates close to one of the national cancer center. In this situation, we have many acutely unwell patients with newly diagnosed cancer in emergency department(emergency oncology). Methods: We reviewed the records of the patients with newly diagnosis of cancer and treated by surgery, radiation and or chemotherapy and of the patients transfered by ambulance at ED in 2017, 2018 and 2019, retrospectively and consecutively. Results: In this three years, we have 1626 patients with first diagnosis of cancer, 268 patients visited after clinic-hour and 130 patients needed ambulance with critical symptoms. Of those, 145 had gastro-intestinal, 34 hepato-billiary, 25 urological, 24 lung, 16 gynecology, 9 breast and 23 other cancer. During this period, total 30027 patients were transported by ambulance to our ED. Conclusions: Although there are many cancer centers in Japan, there are only one unit in Japan.(National Cancer Center Hospital(Tokyo) )that provide urgent care to cancer patients. In this situation, acute hospitals have to have a role for emergency oncology. We need varying models of emergency and acute care development (e.g., acute cancer net-work system, regionalization, education for the physicians and patients, organize the emergency oncology unit in acute hospital or cancer center) with cooperation of oncologist and non-oncology emergency physicians in Japan as they are trying and developing in the USA and UK.

Seeing the whole picture in enrolled and registered nurses’ experiences in recognizing clinical deterioration in general ward patients: A qualitative study

BackgroundThe implementation of early warning scoring systems and medical emergency teams that aim to reduce failure to rescue in general wards is only effective if frontline nurses can recognize and act on clinical deterioration in a timely manner. While much of the research to date has primarily focused on registered nurses as recognizers of clinical deterioration, little research has sought to explore the role of enrolled nurses in recognizing clinical deterioration and to provide a big picture of how enrolled and registered nurses recognize clinical deterioration in general ward patients. ObjectivesTo conduct an exploration of the experiences of enrolled and registered nurses in recognizing clinically deteriorating patients in general wards. DesignA qualitative, descriptive design. SettingGeneral wards at a 1,000-bed acute general hospital in Singapore. ParticipantsA purposive sample of 22 enrolled and registered nurses who had at least 6 months of nursing experience and who were working in the general wards. MethodsIndividual semi-structured interviews were conducted between October 2016 and February 2017. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis. ResultsFour salient themes emerged from the data analysis. The first, ‘Having a sense of knowing’, illustrates how knowing a patient and past experiences facilitated the early recognition of clinical deterioration before the patient turned haemodynamically unstable. The second, ‘Patient assessment practices’, depicts the physical assessment skills that nurses used to detect clinical deterioration. The third, ‘Delegation of routine patient care and assessment to enrolled nurses’, demonstrates that nursing activities were delegated to enrolled nurses with lesser directional and supervisory aspects that “delegation” implies, which can potentially compromise patient safety. The fourth, ‘Missing the big picture’, identifies overwhelming workload and fixation on specific parameters of a patient as reasons for both enrolled and registered nurses missing the big picture of the patient’s deterioration. ConclusionsThis study provides a snapshot of the recognition of clinical deterioration among enrolled and registered nurses in general wards. Our findings illuminate the need to support the roles of enrolled and registered nurses, with an emphasis on patient assessment and strengthening collaborative practices among nurses, to improve early recognition and timely treatment of clinically deteriorating ward patients.

ANALYSIS OF SECONDARY CARE PROVIDED TO TRAUMA VICTIMS WITH THORACIC AND LUMBAR SPINE INJURIES IN A SETTING OF AN URBAN CENTRE FOR ACUTE SPINAL SURGERY

Background.Foundation of specialised centres or units of acute spinal surgery in general acute hospitals is to be considered a tendency of much importance in development of metropolitan systems for management of trauma victims with spinal injuries.Objective. To analyse size and structure of the patient inflow, contents and outcomes of treatment of trauma victims with thoracic and lumbar spine injuries in a setting of a specialised centre for acute spinal surgery located in a major city in our country.Material and methods. 1,760 trauma victims with thoracic and lumbar spine injuries admitted to an urban centre for acute spinal surgery of St. Petersburg in 2010 through 2016: 1,204 (68.4%) – isolated neurologically intact, 410 (23.3%) – isolated with spinal cord injury, 146 (8.3%) – spinal injuries in polytraumatised patients. An analysis of health administrative and clinical data was performed using non-parametric statistics.Results.During the period the centre worked, the number of annually admitted trauma victims increased 3.44 times, while notably, in the annual structure of the inflow, of which a fraction of isolated neurologically intact injuries decreased from 75.4% to 64.5%, there was an increase in fractions of persons with isolated spine and cord injuries (from 20.2 to 25.0%; р=0.2878) and with spinal injuries and polytrauma (from 4.4 to 10.5%; р=0.0718). The surgical rate was observed to increase from 69.3% to 81.9% (р = 0.0036), especially in trauma victims with unstable isolated neurologically intact injuries. In the annual structure of surgical work, a fraction of early procedures constantly increased (from 27.8 to 91.6%; р=0.0001), the increase rate appearing most stable in neurologically intact patients with isolated injuries. The treatment outcomes showed high values by all measures.Conclusion.The setting of a specialised secondary care centre for acute spinal surgery of a major city delivers high effectiveness and favourable outcomes of treatment of trauma victims with spinal injuries owing to the centralisation of their inflow, broad use of modern medical technology, and the tactic of early surgery.

Disparities in Geographic Access to Hospital Outpatient Pulmonary Rehabilitation Programs in the United States

For individuals with COPD, pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) improves outcomes in terms of exercise capacity, severity of dyspnea, and health-related quality of life. However, many US patients with COPD do not use PR services. There has been limited research on geographic access to needed health-care services for individuals who live in rural communities in the United States. This study: (1) examines the geographic distribution of hospital-based outpatient PR programs in the US; and (2) compares the organizational characteristics of hospitals that offer PR programs and those that do not. A multistep process supported the determination of whether a hospital provided PR services and included: program directory data from the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR) website and websites for AACVPR state affiliates and other COPD-relevant organizations; searches of hospital websites; e-mails with state contacts and other state organizations; and phone calls with hospital staff and state contacts. The study population included all Medicare-certified short-term acute care general medical and surgical hospitals. Data were collected and analyzed from January to November 2018. Medicare Provider of Service and American Hospital association data were used to compare the characteristics of hospitals with and without PR programs, using descriptive and bivariate statistics. 1,776 US counties do not have a hospital outpatient PR program located in a short-term acute care general medical or surgical hospital in the county, including 697 counties that do not have a hospital. The availability of a hospital outpatient PR program varies significantly by county type, hospital type and Census region. Hospitals located in a noncore county, designated as a Critical Access Hospital, or located in the South and the West were less likely to have an outpatient PR program. Significant geographic disparities exist in access to hospital outpatient PR. Potential strategies for addressing these disparities include: increasing clinician and patient awareness of the potential benefits of PR; offering staff training and incentives to supervise and provide PR services; improving Medicare reimbursement rates for PR services; replicating PR programs that have success serving rural areas; expanding cardiac rehabilitation programs to include PR; and assessing the use of telehealth technologies to provide PR in isolated areas.

Mind the gap: optimising medical registrar rota provision

To determine if adjustment in the medical registrar weekend cover would reduce the number of rota gaps and subsequent locum spend. As RCP chief registrar at an acute general hospital, I was tasked with assessing the effect of implementing a change to the medical registrar on-call rota; incorporating the general medicine and elderly care weekend registrar cover into a single rota. Previously, medical and elderly care patients had separate registrars for weekend day cover. As …

A call for better doctor–nurse collaboration: A qualitative study of the experiences of junior doctors and nurses in escalating care for deteriorating ward patients

BackgroundDespite the widespread implementation of medical emergency teams (METs) in hospitals to provide immediate interventions to deteriorating ward patients, little is known about how junior doctors and nurses escalate care for deteriorating ward patients in hospitals with established MET services. ObjectivesThe objective of this research study was to explore the experiences of junior doctors and nurses in escalating care for clinically deteriorating patients in general wards. MethodsTwenty-four individual interviews were conducted with 10 junior doctors and 14 registered nurses of a 1000-bed acute general hospital with the most established MET service in Singapore. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using an interpretive thematic analysis approach. FindingsThree salient themes emerged from thematic analysis: (1) MET activations versus the primary team doctors' reviews, (2) challenges in obtaining medical reviews, and (3) unspoken rules of the escalation of care. Participants' decisions to call the MET or to escalate to the primary team doctors not only depended on the severity of a patient's deterioration and their perceptions of the primary team doctors' capacity to manage the patient but also were largely influenced by sociocultural factors that were shaped by the hierarchy of medical professions. Key challenges faced by nurses in obtaining medical reviews from junior doctors for patients with early deterioration included presenting “convincing” evidence of patient deterioration and “packaging” information about patient deterioration. ConclusionsThe decision to call a MET or the primary team doctors is a complex judgement that is greatly influenced by the dynamics of perceived hierarchy between the medicine and nursing professions and within the medicine profession. Educational and organisational changes that enhance doctor–nurse interprofessional and intraprofessional collaboration among all levels of doctors may improve the process of the escalation of care for deteriorating patients and thus improve patient safety for hospitalised patients.

Cognitive impairment is independently associated with mortality, extended hospital stays and early readmission of older people with emergency hospital admissions: A retrospective cohort study

BackgroundOlder adults admitted to hospital are often cognitively impaired. It is not clear whether the presence of cognitive impairment conveys an additional risk for poor hospital outcomes in this patient population. ObjectivesTo determine whether cognitive impairment in hospitalised older adults is independently associated with poor outcomes. DesignRetrospective cohort study using electronic, routinely collected data from linked clinical and administrative databases. SettingLarge, acute district general hospital in England. Participants21,399 incident emergency admissions of people aged ≥75, screened for cognitive impairment, categorised to 3 groups: (i) cognitive impairment with a diagnosis of dementia, (ii) cognitive impairment with no dementia diagnosis, (iii) no cognitive impairment. MethodsMultivariable logistic regression and Fine and Gray competing risks survival models were employed to explore associations between cognitive impairment and mortality (in-hospital alone, and in-hospital plus up to 30 days after discharge), time to hospital discharge, and hospital readmission within 30 days of discharge. Covariates included age, severity of illness, main diagnosis, comorbidities and nutritional risk. ResultsTwenty-seven percent of patients had cognitive impairment; of these, 61.5% had a diagnosis of dementia and 38.5% did not. Patients with cognitive impairment and no diagnosis of dementia were most likely to die in hospital or be readmitted, they also had the longest hospital stays. Cognitive impairment was independently associated with mortality in hospital (Odds Ratio 1.34 [1.17–1.55] with dementia; Odds Ratio 1.78 [1.52–2.07] without), mortality in hospital or within 30 days of discharge (Odds Ratio 1.66 [1.48–1.86]; Odds Ratio 1.67 [1.46–1.90]); readmission (Odds Ratio 1.21 [1.04–1.40]; Odds Ratio 1.47 [1.25–1.73]), and increased time until discharge (sub-hazard ratio 0.80 [0.76–0.83]; sub-hazard ratio 0.66 [0.63–0.69]). ConclusionsCognitive impairment is associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes in hospitalised older people with an unscheduled admission, by increasing hospital mortality, extending hospital stays and increasing frequency of readmissions. Future research should focus on understanding the mechanisms contributing to poorer outcomes in this population.

John Grimley Evans

Professor Sir John Grimley Evans broke ground in medicine for the elderly in the later 20th century. His greatest achievement was driving the integration of older adults into acute general...

Early intervention service for first episode psychosis in Modena, Northern Italy: The first hundred cases.

To report on the development of an early intervention service in Modena, Italy, with information relevant to the first 4 years of implementation. The 2-year service was offered to people aged 18-35 with psychotic manifestations, within 2 years from psychosis onset/or naïve to antipsychotics, by teams placed within community mental health Centres, according to a "specialist within generalist" model. Treatment included pharmacological consultation, psychoeducation and social inclusion programs. Health of the Nation Outcome Scale was administered at baseline and every 6 months. One hundred cases accepted the treatment from 1 March 2013 to 31 December 2016. Of these, 71% were male with a median age of 23. Ninety percent were diagnosed with non-affective psychosis, yielding an estimated treated incidence of 19.1/105 . General practitioners (GPs)represented the most frequent referrers to the program (38%), followed by referrals from acute general and psychiatric hospital units (22%) and self-referrals (14%). Meaningful clinical improvement was observed, 6 months after enrolment. An early intervention service for psychosis was successfully implemented within existing community outpatient services. GPs represented the main referrals, providing some validation of the "specialist within generalist" model of care. A promising clinical improvement and trend of reduction in duration of untreated psychosis was found, supporting the variety of early detection efforts in the community. The high median age and lack of information about pathways to care underline possible barriers to access for younger patients. These findings will inform refinement of treatments and service models for the Region.

Five-year rehospitalization experience of a state-wide cohort of persons with schizophrenia.

This study has the objective of assessing the psychiatric rehospitalization experience of a large cohort of persons with schizophrenia and modeling the effects of personal and systemic conditions on rehospitalization risk. The study employs a secondary analysis of US data from Massachusetts' casemix database of all patients discharged from acute general hospital units. It focuses on 11,291 patients during 1994-2000 who were discharged from acute adult psychiatric units. Predictors used include basic demographics, length of stay, continuity of care with doctors and facilities, diagnoses, discharge referral, type of insurance, and distance to and selected socioeconomic characteristics of the patient's home zip code. Data are analyzed with descriptive statistics and modeled with the Cox proportional hazard model. The model was assessed through split-half reliability testing, the generalized R2, and Harrell's Concordance Index. Overall, 13.4% of patients were rehospitalized within 1month; 38.9% within 1year; and 64.1% within 5years. Predictors that are most strongly associated with lower rehospitalization rates include continuity of care, discharge to a chronic hospital, and density of home zipcode, whereas discharge to another acute psychiatric unit had the greatest effect on increasing risk of rehospitalization. Overall the Cox model has generalized R2 of 0.343 and a Concordance Index of 0.734. The results highlight the need to enhance the continuity of the relationships with providers, whether these are with the assigned psychiatrists or other therapists and case managers, as well as workplace issues involving staff turnover and hospital assignment and admitting policies.

A Comprehensive Analysis of Traumatic Rib Fractures in an Acute General Hospital in Singapore.

Background:Rib fractures are common sequelae after blunt chest wall trauma. They can occur in isolation or association with life-threatening injuries to the head, thorax, and abdomen and may be complicated by hemothorax, pneumothorax, or lung contusions. Contiguous rib fractures can result in flail chest, which is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. This study aims to compare the risk factors, treatment modalities, and outcomes between patients with flail chest and nonflail chest postblunt trauma.Patients and Methods:Data were retrospectively collected from all patients admitted with rib fractures from January 2016 to December 2016 to the Department of General Surgery, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Singapore. The outcomes identified were mortality, pain scores on injury day 1, 3, 5, and 7, injury severity score, duration of mechanical ventilation, worst partial pressure arterial oxygen/fraction of inspired oxygen (PaO2/FiO2) ratio, length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay, and pulmonary complications.Results:Motor vehicle accident was the most common cause of rib fractures (63.1%, n = 123). Patients with flail chest had more associated pneumothorax (53.8% vs. 35.2%) and lung contusions (53.8% vs. 30.2%) compared to those without flail chest and underwent more investigations such as inpatient-computed tomography scans (76.9% vs. 59.3%), interventions such as chest tube insertion (61.5% vs. 19.8%), and ICU admission (46.1 vs. 13.7%). Patients also had higher pain scores, used more analgesic modalities, and had increased inpatient mortality (30.8% vs. 4.4%).Conclusion:Flail chest is associated with higher morbidity and mortality. Proactive management from a multidisciplinary team such as identification of high-risk patients in particular patients with flail chest, early admission to critical care, and protocols including multimodal pain management, respiratory support, and rehabilitation should be instituted.

Strategic Differentiation of High-Tech Services in Local Hospital Markets.

This study assesses organizational and market factors related to high-tech service differentiation in local hospital markets. The sample includes 1704 nonfederal, general acute hospitals in urban counties in the United States. We relate organizational and market factors in 2011 to service differentiation in 2013, using ordinary least squares regression. Data are compiled from the American Hospital Association Annual Survey of Hospitals, Area Resource File, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Results show that hospitals differentiate more services relative to market rivals if they are larger than the rival and if the hospitals are further apart geographically. Hospitals differentiate more services if they are large, teaching, and nonprofit or public and if they face more market competition. Hospitals differentiate fewer services from rivals if they belong to multihospital systems. The findings underscore the pressures that urban hospitals face to offer high-tech services despite the potential of high-tech services to drive hospital costs upward.

Length of stay and odds of MRSA acquisition: a dose-response relationship?

The association between methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonisation and/or infection with increased morbidity and mortality among hospital patients has long been recognised. We sought to build on previous studies to identify modifiable risk factors associated with the acquisition of MRSA colonisation and infection by conducting a retrospective cohort study on patients admitted through the Emergency Department of an acute tertiary-care general hospital in Singapore which implemented universal on-admission MRSA screening. Patients were assigned to the acquisition or non-acquisition group depending on whether they acquired MRSA during their admission. We used logistic regression models with a patient being in the acquisition group as the binary outcome to identify factors associated with MRSA acquisition. A total of 1302 acquisition and 37 949 non-acquisition group patients were analysed. Fifteen variables were included in the multivariate model. A dose-response relationship between length of stay and odds of MRSA acquisition was observed, with a length of stay 3 weeks or more (Adj OR 11.78-57.36, all P &lt; 0.001) being the single biggest predictor of MRSA acquisition. Other variables significantly associated with MRSA acquisition were: male gender, age 65 or greater, previous MRSA colonisation or infection, exposure to certain antibiotics and surgery, and history of diabetes.

Issues on The Hospital Side for general acute Hospitals Offering Short-Stay Services to Patients with Severe Motor and Intellectual Disabilities who Require Medical Care.

Issues on The Hospital Side for general acute Hospitals Offering Short-Stay Services to Patients with Severe Motor and Intellectual Disabilities who Require Medical Care.

RECALSEEN. La atención al paciente en las unidades de Endocrinología y Nutrición del Sistema Nacional de Salud

ObjectivesTo elaborate a diagnosis of the situation regarding the assistance in the Services and Units of Endocrinology and Nutrition (S°EyN) of the National Health System of Spain (SNHS) and to develop, based on the results obtained, proposals for improvement policies in the S°EyN. Material and methodsCross-sectional descriptive study of the patients treated in the S°EyN departments of acute general hospitals of the SNHS in 2016. Data were obtained through RECALSEEN 2017, an “ad hoc” survey designed specifically for this purpose, and the Minimum Basic Data Set of discharges given by the S°EN of the SNHS (2015). Results88 responses of S°EyN have been obtained forma total of 125 acute general hospitals of more than 200 beds installed in the SNHS (70% answers). 47% of the S°EyN respondents were services and 31% sections. The average of endocrinologists by S°EyN was 7.4±4.4, and the average rate of endocrinologists per 100,000 inhabitants was 2.3±1. The most relevant care activities were the consultation (average of 12.3 first consultations per thousand inhabitants and year), day hospital (median of 2,000 sessions/year) and in-hospital consultations (median of 900 in-hospital consultations/year). 83% of S°EyNhad a Clinical Nutrition Unit. The number of dietitians, nutrition technicians and nutritionists in the Clinical Nutrition Unit was low. In relation to quality management, a large margin for improvement was detected; only 35% of S°EyN had a responsible of quality and 38% had implemented process management for those most frequent processes in the unit. There were notable differences in structure, resources and activity of S°EyN between Autonomous Communities. ConclusionsRECALSEEN 2017 survey is a useful tool for the analysis of S°EyN. The remarkable variability found in the structure, activity and management indicators probably indicates significant differences and, therefore, a wide margin for improvement.

The Prevalence and Prognosis of Sarcopenic Dysphagia in Patients Who Require Dysphagia Rehabilitation.

The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and prognosis of sarcopenic dysphagia in patients who require dysphagia rehabilitation. Prospective cohort study. Tertiary-care acute general hospital. One hundred and eight patients referred to the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine for dysphagia rehabilitation. The Food Intake Level Scale (FILS), a 5-step diagnostic algorithm for sarcopenic dysphagia. The study included 72 males and 36 females (mean age, 76±7 years). Comorbid diseases included brain and nervous system disease (36%), cardiovascular disease (25%), respiratory disease (14%), and cancer (11%). Median energy intake was 1159 kcal (interquartile range: 648, 1502). Median FILS at admission and discharge was 4 (interquartile range: 2, 7) and 8 (interquartile range: 5, 8), respectively. Sarcopenic dysphagia was observed in 35 patients (32%). Sarcopenic dysphagia was associated with lower FILS at referral and discharge, lower calf circumference, lower handgrip strength, lower body mass index, lower serum albumin, and higher C-reactive protein at referral. Tongue pressure, energy intake, and Barthel index did not differ significantly between patients with or without sarcopenic dysphagia. Ordered logistic regression analysis of the FILS at discharge adjusted for presence of sarcopenic dysphagia, age, sex, and the FILS at admission revealed that presence of sarcopenic dysphagia (β=-1.603, 95% confidence intervals= -2.609, -0.597, p=0.002), sex, and the FILS at admission were independently associated with the FILS at discharge. The prevalence of sarcopenic dysphagia in patients who require dysphagia rehabilitation was quite high. Sarcopenic dysphagia was independently associated with poor swallowing function at discharge.