A Local COVID-19 Support Platform for Nursing Homes: Feedback and Perspectives

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on nursing homes (NHs), which were not prepared to manage infections among their at-risk patient populations. In order to comply with the French government's guidelines, we rapidly set up a local support platform (LSP) to help NHs manage their cases of COVID-19. The LSP comprised multidisciplinary decision support, a specialist phone hotline, mobile geriatric medicine teams, and videoconferences on COVID-19.We first quantified the LSP's interventions in 63 local NHs since the start of the first wave of COVID-19 (March 2020): 9 instances of multidisciplinary decision support, 275 calls to the specialist phone hotline, 84 interventions by mobile geriatric medicine teams, and 16 videoconferences. The LSP had been used during and between the first and second waves of the epidemic, and all had evolved to meet the NHs' needs.     

层次分析法在确定医疗设备维护优先级中的应用研究

目的:运用层次分析法(AHP)确定医疗设备维护中的优先级,增加医疗设备的可用性并降低维护成本。方法:采用AHP对医疗设备标准、子标准和等级进行评定获取其关键评分,基于多标准决策方法确定医疗设备维护的优先级,对选定设备进行评估,以准分子激光器和视力计为例,根据其标准权重、子标准权重和强度计算其总评分,确定维护优先级。结果:医疗设备维护的优先顺序由医疗设备评分的评估结果决定,医疗设备风险是医学技术人员在确定医疗设备维护优先级时的最重要标准。准分子激光器和视力计的关键评分权重分别为0.877和0.373,准分子激光器相比视力计在设备维护方面具有更高的优先级。结论:医疗设备维护优先级评估模型能确定医疗设备维护优先级,根据优先级规模规划医疗设备维护方案,以使资源更多地集中于具有高和中关键度的医疗设备。     

Social tariffs and democratic choice—Do population‐based health state values reflect the will of the people?

In economic evaluations of health technologies, health outcomes are commonly measured in terms of quality‐adjusted life years (QALYs). QALYs are the product of time and health‐related quality of life. Health‐related quality of life, in turn, is determined by a social tariff, which is supposed to reflect the public's preference over health states. This study argues that, because of the tariff's role in the societal decision‐making process, it should not be understood as merely an operational (statistical) definition of health, but as a major instrument of democratic participation. I outline what implications this might have for both the method used to aggregate individual preferences, and the set of individuals whose preferences should count. Alternative tariff specifications and decision rules are explored, and future research directions are proposed.     

Can Machine Learning Methods Produce Accurate and Easy-to-Use Preoperative Prediction Models of One-Year Improvements in Pain and Functioning After Knee Arthroplasty?

BackgroundApproximately 15%-20% of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients do not experience clinically meaningful improvements. We sought to compare the accuracy and parsimony of several machine learning strategies for developing predictive models of failing to experience minimal clinically important differences in patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) 1 year after TKA.MethodsPatients (N = 587) in 3 large Veteran Health Administration facilities completed PROMs before and 1 year after TKA (92% follow-up). Preoperative PROMs and electronic health record data were used to develop and validate models to predict failing to experience at least a minimal clinically important difference in Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) Total, KOOS JR, and KOOS subscales (Pain, Symptoms, Activities of Daily Living, Quality of Life, and recreation). Several machine learning strategies were used for model development. Ten-fold cross-validation and bootstrapping were used to produce measures of overall accuracy (C-statistic, Brier Score). The sensitivity and specificity of various predicted probability cut-points were examined.ResultsThe most accurate models produced were for the Activities of Daily Living, Pain, Symptoms, and Quality of Life subscales of the KOOS (C-statistics 0.76, 0.72, 0.72, and 0.71, respectively). Strategies varied substantially in terms of the numbers of inputs required to achieve similar accuracy, with none being superior for all outcomes.ConclusionModels produced in this project provide estimates of patient-specific improvements in major outcomes 1 year after TKA. Integrating these models into clinical decision support, informed consent and shared decision making could improve patient selection, education, and satisfaction.Level of EvidenceLevel III, diagnostic study.     

功能锻炼决策辅助对单侧全膝关节置换恐动症患者的影响

目的探讨决策辅助对单侧全膝关节置换恐动症患者术后功能锻炼依从性的影响。方法按照住院时间将单侧全膝关节置换术后恐动症患者143例分为对照组72例和干预组71例。对照组给予常规治疗和护理,干预组在循证基础上,通过专家会议,构建并实施功能锻炼决策辅助方案。比较两组患者出院时、术后1个月和3个月功能锻炼依从性、恐动症和膝关节功能评分。结果干预后两组功能锻炼依从性、恐动症和膝关节功能评分的时间效应、组间效应和交互效应显著(P<0.05,P<0.01)。结论决策辅助有利于提高单侧全膝关节置换恐动症患者术后功能锻炼依从性,降低恐动水平,改善其膝关节功能。     

妇科肿瘤患者PICC知情同意移动医疗决策辅助程序的设计与实施

目的设计并实施PICC知情同意移动医疗决策辅助程序,增强患者决策参与意愿。方法将妇科肿瘤科行PICC化疗的86例患者随机分为观察组和对照组各43例,对照组采用常规PICC知情同意,观察组在对照组基础上,利用移动护理信息系统,构建并实施妇科肿瘤患者PICC知情同意移动医疗决策辅助程序。结果观察组焦虑抑郁状态评分显著低于对照组,患者的决策实际参与程度显著高于对照组,患者决策参与满意度总分及各维度得分显著高于对照组(P<0.05,P<0.01)。结论PICC知情同意移动医疗决策辅助程序为妇科肿瘤患者提供精准化的决策辅助,缓解了患者置管时的焦虑抑郁情绪,提高了患者决策实际参与程度及满意度。     

When is the right time to take an emergency surgery decision in Mechanical Intestinal Obstruction?

Background/Objective: Ischemia is a leading cause of morbidity in Mechanical Intestinal Obstruction (MIO) in which the timing of decisions of whether to proceed to surgical or conservative treatment is critical in emergency departments (ED). While advanced technological options are available, patients may be negatively affected by the application of contrast agents or radiation. The use of ultrasound is limited because of the air in the intestines does not allow a good field of vision. While biomarkers can be considered as a good alternative option at this point. In the present study we examine the effect of hemogram and blood gas parameters on early surgical decision-making in MIO patients.MethodInvolved in this observational prospective study were 264 patients diagnosed with MIO who presented to the Department of Emergency Medicine, Ataturk Research and Training Hospital, Katip Celebi University between February 2018 and February 2019. Contrast-enhanced tomography (CECT) and laboratory results of the patients were recorded. Pathology reports of the patients who underwent surgery were collected. Laboratory data were analyzed by comparing CECT and pathology reports.ResultsIn a ROC analysis of the laboratory values of the patients who were diagnosed with ileus, the sensitivity was calculated as 80% and the specificity was 57.7 in values above WBC>10.75 (10⁹/L), 96.6%, and the specificity was 31.1% in N/L > 2.9. For intestinal ischemia, the cut-off values were WBC> 12.6 and N/L > 3.2, Lactate >2.8 mmol/L and B.E < -3.6 mmol/L.ConclusionDiagnoses of ileus are based on the results examinations and imaging methods. More data are needed to support decisions on the timing of surgery in ED. WBC, N/L, Lactate and Base Excess indicate an ischemic segment. When the parameters are evaluated together, they strongly support early surgical decision-making regarding the treatment of intestinal ischemia.     

Transcriptomic and Immunophenotypic Characterization of Tumor Immune Microenvironment in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Oral Tongue

The tumor immune microenvironment of oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma may be accountable for differences in clinical behavior, particularly between different age groups. We performed RNA expression profiling and evaluated tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and their T-cell subsets in order to assess the functional status of oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma tumor microenvironment and detect potentially clinically useful associations. Archival surgical pathology material from sixteen oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma patients was microscopically evaluated for TIL densities. RNA was extracted from macrodissected whole tumor sections and normal controls and RNA expression profiling was performed by the NanoString PanCancer IO 360 Gene Expression Panel. Immunostains for CD4, CD8 and FOXP3 were evaluated manually and by digital image analysis. Oral tongue squamous cell carcinomas had increased TIL densities, numerically dominated by CD4 + T cells, followed by CD8 + and FOXP3 + T cells. RNA expression profiling of tumors versus normal controls showed tumor signature upregulation in inhibitory immune signaling (CTLA4, TIGIT and PD-L2), followed by inhibitory tumor mechanisms (IDO1, TGF-β, B7-H3 and PD-L1). Patients older than 44 years showed a tumor microenvironment with increased Tregs and CTLA4 expression. Immunohistochemically assessed CD8% correlated well with molecular signatures related to CD8 + cytotoxic T-cell functions. FOXP3% correlated significantly with CTLA4 upregulation. CTLA4 molecular signature could be predicted by FOXP3% assessed by immunohistochemistry (R² = 0.619, p = 0.026). Oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma hosts a complex inhibitory immune microenvironment, partially reflected in immunohistochemically quantified CD8 + and FOXP3 + T-cell subsets. Immunohistochemistry can be a useful screening tool for detecting tumors with upregulated expression of the targetable molecule CTLA4.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s12105-020-01229-w) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.