Colles’ fractures and osteoporosis—A new role for the Emergency Department

PurposeIn Denmark, guidelines from the Danish Orthopedic Society recommend that patients older than 65 years who sustain a Colles’ fracture should be referred to assessment of underlying osteoporosis. An assessment of referral rates at our hospital during the period October 2010–September 2013 showed that none were referred. Due to this, an automatic out-patient referral system for assessment of underlying osteoporosis was established. With this system, patients are referred directly from the Emergency Department (ED). The purpose of this study was to assess how effective this new referral system was at improving referral rates for assessment of osteoporosis and to evaluate how many more cases of osteoporosis that was identified with this practice during the period October 2013–September 2014.MethodThe automatic referral system for evaluation of osteoporosis in patients 65 years and above without known osteoporosis, living in the catchment area and sustaining a low energy distal forearm fracture was established in October 2013. With the new system, patients were referred directly from the ED for evaluation of osteoporosis at the osteoporosis out-patient department at the hospital. The system was evaluated for the period October 2013–September 2014. For comparison data was collected on the same patient group for the 3 years preceding the system.ResultsBefore the automatic system none were referred for evaluation of osteoporosis and thus none were diagnosed. After introduction of the system 100% were referred, 73.26% were examined and 65.08% of these were found to have osteoporosis. Anti-osteoporotic treatment was initiated in all but 4.88% of the patients.ConclusionThe results show that this type of automatic referral system can be an effective way of increasing the number of patients diagnosed with and treated for osteoporosis. It also shows that involvement of the ED in the screening for osteoporosis can be an effective way of increasing referral rates leading to higher rates of diagnosed osteoporosis. The early identification and initiating of treatment might result in a lower rate of secondary and potentially more severe osteoporotic fractures.     

个性化健康教育对原发性青光眼患者复诊率的影响

目的观察个性化健康教育对原发性青光眼患者复诊率的影响。方法将100例原发性青光眼患者按就诊次序分为对照组和观察组各50例。对照组采用常规护理,观察组在此基础上采取个性化健康教育,比较两组患者出院半年内的复诊率。结果两组患者复诊率比较,观察组优于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P0.01)。结论个性化健康教育增强了原发性青光眼患者的复诊意识,提高了复诊率,有利于及时发现病情变化,挽救视功能。     

Old boys’ network in general practitioners’ referral behavior?

We analyzed the impact of social networks on general practitioners’ (GPs) referral behavior based on administrative panel data from 2,684,273 referrals to specialists made between 1998 and 2007. For the definition of social networks, we used information on the doctors’ place and time of study and their hospital work history. We found that GPs referred more patients to specialists within their personal networks and that patients referred within a social network had fewer follow-up consultations and less inpatient days thereafter. The effects on patient outcomes (e.g. waiting periods, days in hospital) of referrals within personal networks and affinity-based networks differed. Specifically, whereas empirical evidence showed a concentration on high-quality specialists for referrals within the personal network, suggesting that referrals within personal networks overcome information asymmetry with respect to specialists’ abilities, the empirical evidence for affinity-based networks was different and less clear. Same-gender networks tended to refer patients to low-quality specialists.     

压力性损伤居家老年患者医院-社区-家庭三元联动护理实践

总结压力性损伤居家老年患者医院-社区-家庭三元联动护理实践经验。护理要点包括：明确医院及社区职责,成立医院-社区联动护理合作团队,加强组织管理;加强社区医护人员培训,提高伤口管理能力;制订压力性损伤居家老年患者评估记录单,提高社区医护人员伤口评估能力;及时会诊,指导社区医护人员进行伤口管理;建立医院-社区双向转诊,实施分级治疗;加强多学科协作,促进伤口愈合;开展延续性居家护理,提高患者及其照护者配合治疗、护理的依从性。经医院-社区-家庭三元联动护理,30例压力性损伤居家老年患者中,治愈26例,好转4例,治愈率达86.67%。     

Endometriosis in Adolescents

Background and Objectives:

Women with endometriosis often report onset of symptoms during adolescence; however, the diagnosis of endometriosis is often delayed. The aim of this study was to describe the experience of adolescents who underwent laparoscopy for pelvic pain and were diagnosed with endometriosis: specifically, the symptoms, time from onset of symptoms to correct diagnosis, number and type of medical professionals seen, diagnosis, treatment, and postoperative outcomes.

Methods:

We reviewed a series of 25 females ≤21 years of age with endometriosis diagnosed during laparoscopy for pelvic pain over an 8-year period. These patients were followed up for 1 year after surgery.

Results:

The mean age at the time of surgery was 17.2 (2.4) years (range, 10–21). The most common complaints were dysmenorrhea (64%), menorrhagia (44%), abnormal/irregular uterine bleeding (60%), ≥1 gastrointestinal symptoms (56%), and ≥1 genitourinary symptoms (52%). The mean time from the onset of symptoms until diagnosis was 22.8 (31.0) months (range, 1–132). The median number of physicians who evaluated their pain was 3 (2.3) (range, 1–12). The adolescents had stage I (68%), stage II (20%), and stage III (12%) disease. Atypical endometriosis lesions were most commonly observed during laparoscopy. At 1 year, 64% reported resolved pain, 16% improved pain, 12% continued pain, and 8% recurrent pain.

Conclusions:

Timely referral to a gynecologist experienced with laparoscopic diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis is critical to expedite care for adolescents with pelvic pain. Once the disease is diagnosed and treated, these patients have favorable outcomes with hormonal and nonhormonal therapy.     

Surgical assessment: measuring unobserved health

Background

The federal and provincial governments in Canada have invested an enormous amount of resources to measure, report and reduce surgical wait times. Yet these measures under-report the wait period that patients’ actually experience, because they do not capture the length of time a patient spends waiting to see the surgeon for a surgical assessment. This unmeasured time is referred to as the “wait one” (W1). Little is known about W1 and the effects that this has on patients’ health. Similarly, it is not understood whether patients waiting for surgical assessment actually want or need surgery. Existing administrative and clinical dataset do not capture information on health and decision-making while the patient is waiting for care form a specialist. The objective of this proposed study is to understand the impact that W1 for elective surgeries has on the health of patients and to determine whether this time can be reduced.

Methods/Design

A prospective survey design will be used to measure the health of patients waiting for surgical assessment. Working with the support of the surgical specialities in Vancouver Coastal Health, we will survey patients immediately after being referred for surgical assessment, and every four months thereafter, until they are seen by the surgeon.Validated survey instruments will be used, including: generic and condition-specific health status questionnaires, pain and depression assessments. Other factors that will be measured include: patients’ knowledge about their condition, and their desired autonomy in the decision making process. We have piloted data collection in one surgical specialty in order to demonstrate feasibility.

Discussion

The results from this study will be used to quantify changes in patients’ health while they wait for surgical assessment. Based on this, policy- and decision-makers could design care interventions during W1, aimed at mitigating any negative health consequences associated with waiting. The results from this study will also be used to better understand whether there are factors that predict patients’ desire to proceed to surgery. These could be used to guide future research into experimenting with interventions to minimize inappropriate referrals and where they are best targeted.     

2019年 NICE《成人原发性高血压管理指南》解读

高血压是脑卒中、心脏病、慢性肾衰竭等疾病的主要危险因素,高血压的及时治疗和综合管理具有重要意义。2019年8月英国国家卫生与临床优化研究所（NICE）发布了成人高血压诊断和管理指南,这是距2004年NICE高血压诊断和管理指南发布后的第３次更新,既沿用了以往的一些理念,又补充了许多新的内容,新版高血压管理指南在血压测量、高血压诊断、心血管风险、靶器官损害评估、降压治疗、血压监测及哪些患者需要专科医生诊治等方面均进行了全面而详细的阐述,尤其在高血压药物治疗的启动时机、治疗方案的选择及综合管理的治疗理念方面,值得临床医生借鉴与学习。     

Cardiac Rehabilitation Series: Canada

Cardiovascular disease is among the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in Canada. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) has a long robust history here, and there are established clinical practice guidelines. While the effectiveness of CR in the Canadian context is clear, only 34% of eligible patients participate, and strategies to increase access for under-represented groups (e.g., women, ethnic minority groups) are not yet universally applied. Identified CR barriers include lack of referral and physician recommendation, travel and distance, and low perceived need. Indeed there is now a national policy position recommending systematic inpatient referral to CR in Canada. Recent development of 30 CR quality indicators and the burgeoning national CR registry will enable further measurement and improvement of the quality of CR care in Canada. Finally, the Canadian Association of CR is one of the founding members of the International Council of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, to promote CR globally.     

南京市医疗机构HIV检测和转介服务的现况调查

目的了解南京市医疗机构艾滋病病毒（HIV）检测及阳性转介的现状。方法采用统一的电子表格收集11家医疗机构HIV抗体检测相关记录,采用小组访谈法,对4家医疗机构相关医务人员和辖区内疾病预防控制中心的相关医务人员进行访谈。结果共收集203 539例HIV检测者的信息,初筛阳性272例。筛查阳性检出率为0.1%,初筛阳性告知率为92.6%,筛查阳性病例送确认检测的比例为95.2%,确认阳性网络直报比例为86.5%。访谈结果显示,有少量初筛阳性病人流失,主要原因有：病人信息收集不全,病人提供错误信息,病人拒绝二次抽血等。结论医疗机构亟须完善筛查检测和转介服务等环节,促进阳性病例的早发现、早确诊、早告知、早报告和早期随访管理。