Acute Inpatients Research Articles

Balance recovery and its link to vestibular agnosia in traumatic brain injury: a longitudinal behavioural and neuro-imaging study

BackgroundVestibular dysfunction causing imbalance affects c. 80% of acute hospitalized traumatic brain injury (TBI) cases. Poor balance recovery is linked to worse return-to-work rates and reduced longevity. We previously showed that white matter network disruption, particularly of right inferior longitudinal fasciculus, mediates the overlap between imbalance and impaired vestibular perception of self-motion (i.e., vestibular agnosia) in acute hospitalized TBI. However, there are no prior reports tracking the acute-longitudinal trajectory of objectively measured vestibular function for hospitalized TBI patients. We hypothesized that recovery of vestibular agnosia and imbalance is linked and mediated by overlapping brain networks.MethodsWe screened 918 acute major trauma in-patients, assessed 146, recruited 39 acutely, and retested 34 at 6 months. Inclusion criteria were 18–65-year-old adults hospitalized for TBI with laboratory-confirmed preserved peripheral vestibular function. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and migraine were treated prior to testing. Vestibular agnosia was quantified by participants’ ability to perceive whole-body yaw plane rotations via an automated rotating-chair algorithm. Subjective symptoms of imbalance (via questionnaires) and objective imbalance (via posturography) were also assessed.ResultsAcute vestibular agnosia predicted poor balance recovery at 6 months. Recovery of vestibular agnosia and linked imbalance was mediated by bihemispheric fronto-posterior cortical circuits. Recovery of subjective symptoms of imbalance and objective imbalance were not correlated.ConclusionVestibular agnosia mediates balance recovery post-TBI. The link between subjective dizziness and brain injury recovery, although important, is unclear. Therapeutic trials of vestibular recovery post-TBI should target enhancing bi-hemispheric connectivity and linked objective clinical measures (e.g., posturography).

Predictive Factors and the Predictive Scoring System for Falls in Acute Care Inpatients: Retrospective Cohort Study.

Falls in hospitalized patients are a serious problem, resulting in physical injury, secondary complications, impaired activities of daily living, prolonged hospital stays, and increased medical costs. Establishing a fall prediction scoring system to identify patients most likely to fall can help prevent falls among hospitalized patients. This study aimed to identify predictive factors of falls in acute care hospital patients, develop a scoring system, and evaluate its validity. This single-center, retrospective cohort study involved patients aged 20 years or older admitted to Shizuoka General Hospital between April 2019 and September 2020. Demographic data, candidate predictors at admission, and fall occurrence reports were collected from medical records. The outcome was the time from admission to a fall requiring medical resources. Two-thirds of cases were randomly selected as the training set for analysis, and univariable and multivariable Cox regression analyses were used to identify factors affecting fall risk. We scored the fall risk based on the estimated hazard ratios (HRs) and constructed a fall prediction scoring system. The remaining one-third of cases was used as the test set to evaluate the predictive performance of the new scoring system. A total of 13,725 individuals were included. During the study period, 2.4% (326/13,725) of patients experienced a fall. In the training dataset (n=9150), Cox regression analysis identified sex (male: HR 1.60, 95% CI 1.21-2.13), age (65 to <80 years: HR 2.26, 95% CI 1.48-3.44; ≥80 years: HR 2.50, 95% CI 1.60-3.92 vs 20-<65 years), BMI (18.5 to <25 kg/m²: HR 1.36, 95% CI 0.94-1.97; <18.5 kg/m²: HR 1.57, 95% CI 1.01-2.44 vs ≥25 kg/m²), independence degree of daily living for older adults with disabilities (bedriddenness rank A: HR 1.81, 95% CI 1.26-2.60; rank B: HR 2.03, 95% CI 1.31-3.14; rank C: HR 1.23, 95% CI 0.83-1.83 vs rank J), department (internal medicine: HR 1.23, 95% CI 0.92-1.64; emergency department: HR 1.81, 95% CI 1.26-2.60 vs department of surgery), and history of falls within 1 year (yes: HR 1.66, 95% CI 1.21-2.27) as predictors of falls. Using these factors, we developed a fall prediction scoring system categorizing patients into 3 risk groups: low risk (0-4 points), intermediate risk (5-9 points), and high risk (10-15 points). The c-index indicating predictive performance in the test set (n=4575) was 0.733 (95% CI 0.684-0.782). We developed a new fall prediction scoring system for patients admitted to acute care hospitals by identifying predictors of falls in Japan. This system may be useful for preventive interventions in patient populations with a high likelihood of falling in acute care settings.

RISK FACTORS FOR NINE-YEAR MORTALITY OF OLDER PATIENTS WITH COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT AT ADMISSION

Abstract Background Dementia can be a major cause of mortality and morbidity in geriatric patients. So, it would be essential to assess their mental state in the early. Aims: We aim to appraise the impact on mortality and hospital outcomes by revised simplified short-term memory recall test (STMT-R) and collecting clinical data simultaneous. Methods The subjects were 612 acute inpatients ≥65 from December 2014 to September 2015. Following the collection of clinical data, survival was subsequently measured for 8-9years until December 2023. An STMT-R score of ≤4 were considered to indicate cognitive dysfunction. To explore the association between the risk factors and mortality in cognitive impairment subjects, Kaplan-Meier method and Cox’s proportional hazards regression models were used to examine mortality and survival rates. Results The mean age of the subjects was 82.1 (±7.94), and 55.9% were female. Cognitive function was classified into three categories according to severity respectively; Incomplete Testing Group (Incomplete), Cognitive dysfunction (Abnormal) and Non-Cognitive dysfunction Group (Normal). 349 patients (57.0%) died during follow-up. Kaplan-Meier and the log-rank tests showed the negative prognostic effect of cognitive impairment, malnutrition, pneumonia and cancer-bearing state (p &amp;lt; 0.01). After adjustment for potential covariates the Cox regression showed that mortality hazard is increased with “Incomplete” (HR 3.526 CI 95% 2.388-5.206 p&amp;lt; 0.0001) and “Abnormal” (HR 1.676 1.210-2.321 p=0.0019). Conclusion Malnutrition, pneumonia and cancer-bearing state can significantly decrease the survival rate in patients with cognitive impairment at admission. Cognitive impairment also has independently an impact on survival rate in acutely ill geriatric patients.

RISK FACTORS FOR NINE-YEAR MORTALITY OF OLDER PATIENTS WITH COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT AT ADMISSION

Abstract Background Dementia can be a major cause of mortality and morbidity in geriatric patients. So, it would be essential to assess their mental state in the early. Aims: We aim to appraise the impact on mortality and hospital outcomes by revised simplified short-term memory recall test (STMT-R) and collecting clinical data simultaneous. Methods The subjects were 612 acute inpatients ≥65 from December 2014 to September 2015. Following the collection of clinical data, survival was subsequently measured for 8-9years until December 2023. An STMT-R score of ≤4 were considered to indicate cognitive dysfunction. To explore the association between the risk factors and mortality in cognitive impairment subjects, Kaplan-Meier method and Cox’s proportional hazards regression models were used to examine mortality and survival rates. Results The mean age of the subjects was 82.1 (±7.94), and 55.9% were female. Cognitive function was classified into three categories according to severity respectively; Incomplete Testing Group (Incomplete), Cognitive dysfunction (Abnormal) and Non-Cognitive dysfunction Group (Normal). 349 patients (57.0%) died during follow-up. Kaplan-Meier and the log-rank tests showed the negative prognostic effect of cognitive impairment, malnutrition, pneumonia and cancer-bearing state (p&amp;lt; 0.01). After adjustment for potential covariates the Cox regression showed that mortality hazard is increased with “Incomplete” (HR 3.526 CI 95% 2.388-5.206 p&amp;lt; 0.0001) and “Abnormal” (HR 1.676 1.210-2.321 p=0.0019). Conclusion Malnutrition, pneumonia and cancer-bearing state can significantly decrease the survival rate in patients with cognitive impairment at admission. Cognitive impairment also has independently an impact on survival rate in acutely ill geriatric patients.

Multifactorial fall interventions for people over 65 years in the acute hospital setting: pre–post-test design

Background Falls are the most reported patient safety incident for patients >65 years in acute hospital settings worldwide. While multifactorial fall interventions reduce the number of falls in subacute and rehabilitation settings, fall interventions in acute hospital settings are unknown. Aim To evaluate the effectiveness of multifactorial fall interventions on the number of falls using codesigned education targeting staff and the patient and review the environment in acute hospital settings in NSW, Australia for patients over 65 years of age. Method A pre–post-test design with a non-equivalent group was conducted. All acute hospital inpatient falls occurring both pre- and post-intervention within one health district were included in this study. The use of Quality Improvement methodology identified gaps in risk screening and assessment, education and information, communication of risk, and standardised fall prevention equipment. Codesigned interventions to address these gaps were undertaken. Results The number of falls (p = 0.038) and injurious falls (p < 0.001) significantly decreased in the post-intervention group. There was a significant improvement in fall assessments (p < 0.001), delirium risk screening (p < 0.001), the provision of fall information (p < 0.001) and fall risk discussed at shift handover (p < 0.001) in the post-intervention group. Following the intervention, staff were significantly more likely to undertake fall education modules (p < 0.001) and develop a fall management plan (p < 0.001). Conclusion Falls continue to have a significant economic impact on the acute hospital setting. Our findings highlight multifactorial fall interventions that included staff and patients in the development phases reduced the number of falls. Multifactorial fall interventions targeting staff, patients and the environment may influence a reduction in the number of falls and the severity of falls in the acute hospital setting. Impact statement Multifactorial fall interventions reduce injurious falls, minor injuries, and falls resulting in serious injury and death.

Association between behavioral parameters of men in psychiatric emergency department video recording and subsequent violence in the psychiatric ward

Violence risk is a major challenge among acute psychiatric inpatients. The study aimed to predict violent behavior risk in an acute psychiatric ward using video recordings from the emergency department. 69 videos of the emergency department recording the first ten minutes following patients’ arrivals were included. Psychiatrists watched the videos, completed relevant Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale items and answered intuitive questions about each patient’s risk of violence. Demographic and clinical data were also collected. Motoric mannerisms as rated in the BPRS significantly differed between violent and non-violent patients (p < 0.05). Additionally, we found a significant correlation between intuitive prediction of violence and actual violence (p = 0.008). Violent behavior was predicted in 42.1% of the cases by the intuitive evaluation compared to 11.5% mistakenly evaluated patients. Logistic regression revealed that the intuitive question and the BPRS items regarding tension and motoric mannerism created a successful model for predicting violence with 88.2% sensitivity and 72.5% specificity. We sought to define the factors that most accurately predict violence in the acute psychiatric ward, based solely on behavior in the emergency department. Intuitive impressions of clinicians and motoric mannerisms should be considered when evaluating patients for potential violent behavior.

Level 4 seizure monitoring unit admissions are associated with reduced long-term health care costs.

This study was undertaken to determine whether admission to dedicated seizure monitoring units (SMUs) result in reduced health care use (HCU). This was a retrospective open cohort study covering the years 2010-2018 of patients residing in Alberta, Canada, who were referred to the Calgary Comprehensive Epilepsy Program and admitted to a level 4 SMU. Patients were required to have ≥3 years pre- and postadmission follow-up. The outcome was the change in trajectory of composite HCU (primary care, specialist outpatient visits, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations) for the 3 years prior to and 3 years following SMU admission using the point of admission as the "index date." Secondary outcomes were HCU limited to specific settings. We excluded the first 30 days following the point of admission to mitigate the confounding admission would have on the postadmission HCU trajectory. We used adjusted restricted maximum likelihood linear and nonlinear effects models to determine trajectories expressed as Canadian dollars. A total of 315 of 600 (53%) patients met eligibility criteria. Mean age was 40 years (SD = 17.4), 176 (56%) were female, 220 (70%) had focal epilepsy, and 60 (19%) had functional seizures or physiologic seizure mimics without epilepsy as adjudicated by the attending physician at the point of discharge. Mean per person health care costs increased by CAD$341.28 (95% confidence interval [CI] = -25.17 to 707.74) for each successive 6-month interval prior to SMU admission (p = .07). Following admission, mean per person costs decreased by CAD$802.34 (95% CI = 699.62-905.06, p < .001) for each successive 6-month interval up to 3 years postdischarge. Similar trends were noted for primary and specialist care, emergency department, admitted care, and when nonlinear models were applied. Admission to an SMU is associated with significant and enduring declines in HCU. Each 6-months following discharge overall HCU declined by a mean of CAD$802.34 and acute inpatient, emergency department, and outpatient physician interactions declined by 25%, 26%, and 18% respectively. Comprehensive epilepsy care not only reduces morbidity and mortality but also reduces cost.

Fidelity, acceptability, and feasibility of the revised functional autonomy measurement system for hospitalised people: An implementation study.

The revised functional autonomy measurement system (SMAF-R) is an outcome measure of activity performance and resource needs. This study aimed to measure the implementability of the SMAF-R as a routine outcome measure in acute and subacute inpatients. This was a mixed-methods implementation study. Occupational therapists were asked to complete the SMAF-R in hospitalised people with an anticipated length of stay greater than 48 hours over a 12-month period (n= 13,348). A baseline audit of SMAF-R completion rates was conducted, and behaviour change interventions were delivered over 12 months. The Implementability of Healthcare Interventions conceptual framework was used to evaluate fidelity (completion rates), acceptability (staff survey with quantitative and qualitative responses), and feasibility (change in SMAF-R scores from admission to discharge). Quantitative and qualitative (analysed thematically) data were integrated. Occupational therapists and other staff working to improve outcome measure completion within the electronic medical record and other allied health teams were consulted when developing and delivering behaviour change interventions. Peak completion of the SMAF-R did not meet an 80% fidelity success rate (admission: 32% in acute and 66% in subacute; discharge: 12% in acute and 48% in subacute). Two thirds of occupational therapists reported the SMAF-R was an acceptable measure to use, but only 38% liked using it. Thematic analysis revealed three themes: (1) A greater understanding of the relevance of the SMAF-R influenced acceptability; (2) using the SMAF-R within an electronic medical record may facilitate completion; and (3) it takes more time to complete SMAF. Patients made clinically significant improvements in SMAF-R scores during their hospital stay (median difference 16.5 [6.5-27.0], p< 0.001, n= 764). Although most occupational therapists reported the SMAF-R was acceptable, there were mixed opinions regarding the relevance of the SMAF-R in this setting, which may have impacted fidelity. Additional prompting and training (especially regarding understanding SMAF-R relevance to practice) may assist with improving SMAF-R completion. Further research is required to assess the psychometric properties of the SMAF-R in the hospital environment. The revised functional autonomy measurement system (SMAF-R) is an assessment tool used to measure performance in everyday activities (such as showering) and the resources needed to complete these tasks (e.g., a shower chair or someone's help). Occupational therapists can use it at the start of a patient admission and again at the end in different hospital settings to assess patients' needs and see if they improve. This study aimed to measure (1) how often occupational therapists use the SMAF-R with patients in hospital, (2) how acceptable occupational therapists find the SMAF-R, and (3) whether the SMAF-R shows changes in patients' abilities during their hospital stay. Before the study, usual completion of the SMAF-R was measured, and it was found to be completed in less than 1% of patients. Strategies were introduced to improve SMAF-R completion over 12 months. After this, completion of the SMAF-R improved to between 9% and 38% in different hospital settings. Changes in SMAF-R scores showed that patients improved during their time in hospital. Most occupational therapists reported the SMAF-R was an acceptable measure, but less than half liked using it. The low completion rates suggested that either the SMAF-R was not fit for purpose in this setting or that more support is needed to increase completion.

Algorithm for forming hospital care episodes by combining attendance contacts in the Danish National Patient Register: A methodological consensus-driven study.

Studying complete hospital care episodes from register data, for instance when assessing length of stay, discharges and readmissions, can cause methodological difficulties due to the lack of a contact linkage identifier. We aimed to develop an algorithm combining sequential attendance contacts in the Danish National Patient Register (DNPR) into hospital care episodes, spanning the entire duration and all contacts from hospital arrival to departure. The algorithm was developed under the consensus of experts from research institutions across Denmark. It reads in second and third version DNPR data, deletes contacts without attendance, duplicates elective outpatient contacts corresponding to attendance dates and modifies contact types (e.g. repeated acute contacts), among others. Thereafter, sequential contacts within 4 h are marked as the same hospital care episode, consisting of one or more DNPR contact. We tested the algorithm in a data set of adults living in Denmark during 2013-2021 and compared different hourly cut-offs. For the demonstration, we included 120.2 m contacts from 5.7 m persons, combined into 105.9 m hospital care episodes. Of the hospital care episodes, 6.4% were acute inpatients, 8.3% were acute outpatients, 2.0% were elective inpatients and 83.3% were elective outpatients. Using 4 h as our recommendation, 3-h, 5-h and 6-h cut-offs for contact combining revealed only minor differences in the number of hospital care episodes (<0.4%), whereas 12-h (<1.7%) and 24-h cut-offs (<43.1%) had a larger impact. The algorithm automates data reading, modification and linkage of sequential attendance contacts. The algorithm can be initiated as a SAS macro and is available from an online repository.

Traversing the boundaries in landscapes of practice: A mixed methods study of interprofessional education centered on inpatients in an acute hospital setting

Healthcare requires practitioners to successfully negotiate boundaries between communities of practice (CoP) in a clinical landscape of practice (LoP), with development of interprofessional identity important in promoting successful interprofessional collaboration. Interprofessional education (IPE) centered around acute hospital inpatients offers a potential pathway to encourage boundary negotiation and interprofessional identity development. This study aimed to explore interprofessional student teams and their interactions with patients in an acute hospital setting, while investigating if such interactions encouraged interprofessional collaboration and the development of an interprofessional identity. Pivoting around acute hospital inpatients, four interprofessional workshops occurred involving senior medicine, nursing and physiotherapy students. We utilized a concurrent mixed methods design, with qualitative predominating. Qualitative reflexive thematic analysis of post-workshop semi-structured focus groups was supported by quantitative investigation using a validated pre-test post-test international socialisation and valuing scale. Using the landscapes of practice theory lens, we noted that the central role of acute hospital inpatients in the IPE workshops enabled healthcare students to develop knowledgeability of the clinical LoP, in line with the three modes of identification of LoP, namely Engagement, Imagination and Alignment. Following the IPE workshops, where acute inpatients played the pivotal role, students demonstrated a statistically significant increase in interprofessional collaborative practice in terms of the overall interprofessional socialisation and valuing scale and its subscales of value, ability, and comfort in working with each other. Our findings indicate that IPE centered around acute hospital inpatients is a beneficial and effective way to successfully implement IPE in the undergraduate curriculum.

GeriNOT in the Surgical Inpatient Setting.

The guideline of the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) on quality assessment measures for the care of patients with hip fracture makes it mandatory for hospitals to use an appropriate geriatric screening instrument in the context of acute inpatient care. After systematic application of GeriNOT and data collection in the admission process with integration into the Hospital Information System (HIS), it is possible to identify potential risks in geriatric patients with other diagnoses as well.With the integration of GeriNOT into the acute inpatient admission process, it was examined whether vulnerable geriatric patients with other diagnoses could benefit from the early initiation of risk identification.The data base for the present study was a retrospective bicentric collection of electronic case records (May 2014 to April 2015, n=3,443). From this primary data set, the subgroup of inpatient acute admissions (n=821) in the orthopaedic/trauma surgery of a study centre was analysed and evaluated with respect to the endpoints "utilisation of needs-based post-inpatient care services" and "new admission to inpatient permanent/short-term care". The predictive power and classification accuracy of GeriNOT of these patients who were 70 years and older to the endpoints were assessed for several groups: total acute admissions, total fractures, hip fracture, and spinal disorders including spinal fractures.A total of 821 patients were admitted as acute inpatients during the study period. The mean age of the patients was 81.4±6.8 years (n=821; 68.1% women, 31.9% men). The following subgroups were formed and analysed: total fractures (n=490), spinal disorders (n=265) including spinal fractures (n=174), and hip fracture (n=108). Both in the overall group (n=821; M=4.279; SD=2.180) and in the subgroups, the mean GeriNOT score was above the threshold ≥4. The highest score was found in the hip fracture group (M=4.852; SD=2.022), and the lowest in the spine fracture group (M=4.177; SD=2.171). At admission, if the terms of variables for requiring treatment were "polypharmacy" and "nursing services already used as needed", there were only slight differences in the diagnostic groups. Admissions from short-term and long-term care occurred in the total group in 16.44% of cases, most frequently with 31.48% in the group of hip fractures, compared to spinal diseases with 6.79%. For this group, GeriNOT detected an elevated risk with respect to the defined endpoints. However, only 4.26% of all patients with identified geriatric risk potential received further geriatric care.The results showed increased geriatric risk in all analysed groups, but most pronouncedly within the group of spinal diseases. The HIS-supported use of GeriNOT offers the possibility of systematic risk identification in acute inpatient admission management. The continuous visualisation of results at HIS workstations throughout the workflow could be used as a starting point for the subsequent application of standardized assessment tools and risk-adjusted treatment pathways. These findings could potentially improve outcomes.

The impact of COVID-19 on time toxicity in patients with advanced cancer.

267 Background: The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the rapid adoption of telemedicine but little is known about whether the changes in care delivery has led to differences in time toxicity for patients with advanced cancer. This study examines the impact of the pandemic on time toxicity, defined as the time burden of interacting with the healthcare system, by comparing healthcare contact days between pre-COVID and post-COVID periods. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed on patients with advanced (stage 4) cancer who died within one year of diagnosis at Kaiser Permanente Northern California between January 1, 2015 and June 30, 2023. Time toxicity was defined as the percentage of healthcare contact days over the course of survival period between cancer diagnosis and death (contact days/survival days). We included outpatient days (imaging, labs, treatment, provider visits), inpatient stays (emergency department, acute inpatient, non-acute institutional stays), and in-home days (in-home care, virtual care, home hospice). Differences between pre-COVID (diagnosed and died before March 1, 2020) and post-COVID (diagnosed after March 1, 2020) periods were analyzed using Wilcoxon tests. Results: The cohort included 9643 patients, with 6558 pre-COVID and 3085 post-COVID. Median age at diagnosis was 74 years, and the cohort was 46.9% female, largely white (64.5%), with a high comorbidity score (median Elixhauser score: 4). Post-COVID, there was an increase in institutional stay (8.7% vs. 9.3%) and outpatient service (imaging and labs) (4.4% vs. 3.1%), while in-person outpatient visits decreased (5.9% vs. 8.7%, p&lt;0.0001). Additionally, in-home days increased (25.0% vs. 20.8%), with a significant rise in in-home virtual care (3.9% vs. 1.8%, all p&lt;0.01). Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic led to notable shifts in healthcare utilization for patients with advanced cancer in the last year of life. The increase in telehealth and in-home services in the post-COVID era was accompanied by a slight increase in emergency and ancillary services. Further understanding patient experiences around these shifts is crucial for optimizing care and managing time toxicity in the evolving healthcare landscape. Description of outcomes pre and post-COVID-19 pandemic. Total Pre-COVID Post-COVID P-value Survival Days, median 86.0 84.0 89.0 0.02 Percentage of Contact, median (interquartile range) Comprehensive Contact 63.3 (41.0-92.0) 62.5 (40.7-91.0) 65.2 (41.7-94.1) 0.01 Institutional stay 9.0 (2.7-26.2) 8.7 (2.7-25.9) 9.3 (2.9-26.8) 0.11 Outpatient 12.4 (5.3-19.8) 12.9 (5.6-20.6) 11.2 (4.8-18.1) &lt;.001 Outpatient visit 7.7 (2.8-13.4) 8.7 (3.5-14.6) 5.9 (1.6-10.7) &lt;.0001 Outpatient service 3.5 (0.8-6.3) 3.1 (0.4-5.8) 4.4 (1.5-7.1) &lt;.0001 In-home 22.2 (7.4-50.0) 20.8 (6.0-48.4) 25.0 (10.4-51.7) &lt;.001 In-home care 18.1 (1.7-46.6) 17.4 (1.2-46.2) 19.2 (2.4-47.2) 0.03 In-home virtual care 2.2 (0.0-4.8) 1.8 (0.0-3.8) 3.9 (0.7-7.0) &lt;.0001

Changes in the Firmicutes to Bacteriodetes ratio in the gut microbiome in individuals with anorexia nervosa following inpatient treatment: A systematic review and a case series.

Anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate among psychiatric illnesses. Current treatments remain ineffective for a large fraction of patients. This may be due to unclear mechanisms behind its development and maintenance. Studies exploring the role of the gut microbiome have revealed inconsistent evidence of dysbiosis. This article aims to investigate changes in the gut microbiome, particularly, mean differences in the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio, in adolescent and adult individuals with anorexia nervosa following inpatient treatment. Longitudinal studies investigating gut microbiome composition in inpatient populations of anorexia nervosa before and after treatment were systematically reviewed. Additionally, gut microbiome compositions were characterized in three acute anorexia nervosa inpatients early after admission and after 4-12weeks of treatment. Review results indicated an increase in the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio in individuals with anorexia nervosa after treatment. These however did not match values of their healthy counterparts. In the case-series samples, the reverse occurred with samples taken 4weeks after treatment. In the patient who provided an extra sample 12weeks after treatment, similar results to the studies included in the review were observed. Furthermore, Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio values in the case-series samples were notably higher in the two patients who had chronic anorexia nervosa. Differences in methodologies, small sample sizes, and insufficient data limited the generalizability of the outcomes of the reviewed studies. Results suggest a potentially unique microbiome signature in individuals with chronic anorexia nervosa, which may explain different outcomes in this group of patients.

Cognitive Function in Patients with Psychotic and Affective Disorders: Effects of Combining Pharmacotherapy with Cognitive Remediation.

Background: Cognitive impairment is a relevant problem in psychiatry and can be well assessed with a cross-diagnostic test such as the Screen for Cognitive Impairment in Psychiatry (SCIP). The aim of our pilot study is to assess cognitive impairment in acute psychiatric inpatients diagnosed with psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder and depression using the German version of the SCIP (SCIP-G). We also investigate whether cognitive dysfunction improves over the course of the inpatient treatment, where patients are offered a combination of pharmacological treatment and cognitive remediation. Methods: A total of 143 adult inpatients were included in the study. Cognitive testing was performed using two different forms of the SCIP-G. All patients received state-of-the-art pharmacotherapy and cognitive remediation using the COGPACK® software package version 6.06. Results: Based on the ICD-10 Criteria for Research, 54 patients were given an F2 diagnosis (schizophrenia and schizotypal and delusional disorders). Thirty-nine patients met the criteria for bipolar disorder (F30 and F31) and fifty for depression (F32 and F33). At baseline, a significant difference was observed between the SCIP total scores of the F2 and F32/33 patients (p < 0.001) and between the F2 and F30/31 groups (p = 0.022). At the second measurement time point, the SCIP total score showed significant improvement in all three groups (p < 0.001), and there was no statistically significant interaction between SCIP total score and diagnostic groups (p = 0.860). Conclusions: Cognitive dysfunction is present in psychiatric disorders and can be easily assessed during an inpatient hospital stay. In our sample, patients with a psychotic disorder were more cognitively impaired at baseline than patients with an affective disorder. Inpatient treatment, consisting of pharmacotherapy and cognitive remediation, improved cognitive deficits. Patients with psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder and depression showed similar improvements in cognitive performance.

De-escalating aggression in acute inpatient mental health settings: a behaviour change theory-informed, secondary qualitative analysis of staff and patient perspectives

BackgroundDe-escalation is often advocated to reduce harm associated with violence and use of restrictive interventions, but there is insufficient understanding of factors that influence de-escalation behaviour in practice. For the first time, using behaviour change and implementation science methodology, this paper aims to identify the drivers that will enhance de-escalation in acute inpatient and psychiatric intensive care mental health settings.MethodsSecondary analysis of 46 qualitative interviews with ward staff (n = 20) and patients (n = 26) informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework.ResultsCapabilities for de-escalation included knowledge (impact of trauma on memory and self-regulation and the aetiology and experience of voice hearing) and skills (emotional self-regulation, distress validation, reducing social distance, confirming autonomy, setting limits and problem-solving). Opportunities for de-escalation were limited by dysfunctional risk management cultures/ relationships between ward staff and clinical leadership, and a lack of patient involvement in safety maintenance. Motivation to engage in de-escalation was limited by negative emotion associated with moral formulations of patients and internal attributions for behaviour.ConclusionIn addition to training that enhances knowledge and skills, interventions to enhance de-escalation should target ward and organisational cultures, as well as making fundamental changes to the social and physical structure of inpatient mental health wards. Psychological interventions targeting negative emotion in staff are needed to increase motivation. This paper provides a new evidence-based framework of indicative changes that will enhance de-escalation in adult acute mental health inpatient and PICU settings.

Associations between readmission and patient-reported measures in acute psychiatric inpatients: a multicenter prospective longitudinal study.

This study examined whether patient-reported measures (PRMs) addressing quality of life, personal agency, functional impairment, and treatment satisfaction at hospital discharge were associated with future readmission during a 12-month follow-up period. The study also examined whether readmission influenced changes in the same measures. A multicenter prospective cohort study was conducted at 21 psychiatric hospitals in Japan. Participants completed the EuroQol-five-dimensions-five-level (EQ-5D), the Five-item Subjective Personal Agency Scale, and the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS) at the time of index admission (T1), discharge from index admission (T2), and 6months (T3) and 12months (T4) after discharge. Inpatient treatment satisfaction was assessed at T2. Readmission and variables potentially associated with hospitalization and PRMs were evaluated using mixed-effects logistic regression models and mixed models for repeated measures. A total of 491 participants were followed for 12months (attrition rate: 19.4%), and 480 were included in the EQ-5D analysis. The most common diagnoses were schizophrenia (59%), depression (14%), and bipolar disorder (13%). No patient-reported measures were significantly associated with readmission over the follow-up period. Interaction of readmission and time did not significantly affect changes in EQ-5D. Readmission did significantly influence SDS score changes between T2 and T3 (B = 1.78, 95% CI = 0.30-3.25, p = 0.018) and between T3 and T4 (B = 1.43, 95% CI = 0.14-2.72, p = 0.029).The same influence of readmission on SDS score changes was not observed in the model which adjusted for all potential covariates. Readmission was potentially associated with changes in self-reported functional impairment. Findings highlight the potential role of intensive post-discharge services in preventing readmission, rather than relying on time-of-discharge PRMs in order to predict readmission risk. This study was registered in UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN000034220).

Prioritising deteriorating patients using time-to-event analysis: prediction model development and internal–external validation

BackgroundBinary classification models are frequently used to predict clinical deterioration, however they ignore information on the timing of events. An alternative is to apply time-to-event models, augmenting clinical workflows by ranking patients by predicted risks. This study examines how and why time-to-event modelling of vital signs data can help prioritise deterioration assessments using lift curves, and develops a prediction model to stratify acute care inpatients by risk of clinical deterioration.MethodsWe developed and validated a Cox regression for time to in-hospital mortality. The model used time-varying covariates to estimate the risk of clinical deterioration. Adult inpatient medical records from 5 Australian hospitals between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2020 were used for model development and validation. Model discrimination and calibration were assessed using internal–external cross validation. A discrete-time logistic regression model predicting death within 24 h with the same covariates was used as a comparator to the Cox regression model to estimate differences in predictive performance between the binary and time-to-event outcome modelling approaches.ResultsOur data contained 150,342 admissions and 1016 deaths. Model discrimination was higher for Cox regression than for discrete-time logistic regression, with cross-validated AUCs of 0.96 and 0.93, respectively, for mortality predictions within 24 h, declining to 0.93 and 0.88, respectively, for mortality predictions within 1 week. Calibration plots showed that calibration varied by hospital, but this can be mitigated by ranking patients by predicted risks.ConclusionTime-varying covariate Cox models can be powerful tools for triaging patients, which may lead to more efficient and effective care in time-poor environments when the times between observations are highly variable.

Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on inpatient health care in Switzerland 2020-2021-A descriptive retrospective study using admission data of all Swiss hospitals.

As part of the Covid-19-restrictions in Switzerland, a federal ban on non-urgent examinations and treatments was applied to all hospitals during six weeks in spring 2020 ("spring lockdown"). The aim of this study was to comprehensively investigate the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on Swiss inpatient admissions based on data of all hospitals, focusing on selected procedures of different medical urgency. The study includes all acute care inpatient cases (including Covid-19 cases, excluding cases in psychiatry and rehabilitation) according to the Swiss Medical Statistics of Hospitals. Besides the total number of admissions, subdivided by regions, hospital types and age groups, we focused on selected procedures representing different medical urgency: elective surgeries, cancer surgeries, and emergencies. Procedures were selected based on expert interviews. We compared the number of admissions during spring lockdown and for the whole years 2020 and 2021 in absolute numbers and in percentage changes to the corresponding periods in 2019 (baseline year). During spring lockdown, the number of admissions decreased by 47,156 (32.2%) without catch-up effect by the end of 2020 (-72,817 admissions/-5.8%). With procedure-specific decreases of up to 86%, the decline in admissions was largest for elective surgery, a decline that was only fully reversed in the case of a few procedures, such as joint arthroplasty. Strikingly, admissions due to emergencies also substantially decreased during spring lockdown (stroke -14%; acute myocardial infarction STEMI: -9%, NSTEMI: -26%). Results for the selected procedures in cancer surgery showed no consistent pattern. In 2021, admission numbers for most procedures reached or even exceeded those in 2019. The substantial reduction in admissions, particularly in elective procedures, may reflect the impact of the triage in favor of anticipated Covid-19-cases during spring lockdown. By the end of 2020, admissions were still at lower levels relative to the previous, pre-pandemic year. The numbers in 2021 reached the same levels as those in 2019, which suggests that the Covid-19 pandemic only temporarily impacted inpatient health care in Switzerland. Long-term consequences of the observed reduction in admissions for emergencies and cancer surgery need to be investigated at the individual level.

Brief transdiagnostic group Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for acute inpatients with complex mental health conditions: A randomised pilot study using an active social control

ObjectivesThe present study examined the feasibility and acceptability of a brief transdiagnostic group-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Valued Living Program, VLP) versus an active social control condition (Social Discussion Group, SDG) for inpatients admitted for acute mental health conditions. MethodParticipants were group randomised to three sessions of the VLP (n = 17) or the SDG (n = 19) plus treatment-as-usual (TAU). The primary outcomes were service use data (emergency department presentations and inpatient admissions). Participants were assessed at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and at 4 and 12-months post-discharge on quantitative and qualitative secondary outcomes of psychological and behavioural functioning. ResultsBoth interventions were rated as acceptable and useful. Primary and secondary outcomes demonstrated a longitudinal pattern of improvement for the VLP condition relative to the SDG condition. Longitudinal drop-out was high, which reduced the reliability of quantitative secondary outcomes. ConclusionsThe VLP appears acceptable to inpatients experiencing acute mental health conditions. Positive initial outcomes support further investigation into the VLP's effectiveness. However, the feasibility of evaluating the VLP via RCT was limited by poor participant retention which might be improved with additional study resources. Further investigation into protocol engagement is also warranted prior to proceeding with a larger RCT.

Health in a Virtual Environment (HIVE): A Novel Continuous Remote Monitoring Service for Inpatient Management.

The aim of this study was to describe the implementation of a novel 50-bed continuous remote monitoring service for high-risk acute inpatients treated in non-critical wards, known as Health in a Virtual Environment (HIVE). We report the initial results, presenting the number and type of patients connected to the service, and assess key outcomes from this cohort. This was a prospective, observational study of characteristics and outcomes of patients connected to the HIVE continuous monitoring service at a major tertiary hospital and a smaller public hospital in Western Australia between January 2021 and June 2023. In the first two and a half years following implementation, 7541 patients were connected to HIVE for a total of 331,118 h. Overall, these patients had a median length of stay of 5 days (IQR 2, 10), 11.0% (n = 833) had an intensive care unit admission, 22.4% (n = 1691) had an all-cause emergency readmission within 28 days from hospital discharge, and 2.2% (n = 167) died in hospital. Conclusions: Our initial results show promise, demonstrating that this innovative approach to inpatient care can be successfully implemented to monitor high-risk patients in medical and surgical wards. Future studies will investigate the effectiveness of the program by comparing patients receiving HIVE supported care to comparable patients receiving routine care.