Analysis of weekend effect on mortality by medical specialty in Helsinki University Hospital over a 14-year period

BackgroundThe weekend effect, the phenomenon of patients admitted at the weekend having a higher mortality risk, has been widely investigated and documented in both elective and emergency patients. Research on the issue is scarce in Europe, with the exception of the United Kingdom. We examined the situation in Helsinki University Hospital over a 14-year period from a specialty-specific approach.Materials and methodsWe collected the data for all patient visits for 2000–2013, selecting patients with in-hospital care in the university hospital and extracting patients that died during their hospital stay or within 30 days of discharge. These patients were categorized according to urgency of care and specialty.ResultsA total of 1,542,230 in-patients (853,268 emergency patients) met the study criteria, with 47,122 deaths in-hospital or within 30 days of discharge. Of 12 specialties, we found a statistically significant weekend effect for in-hospital mortality in 7 specialties (emergency admissions) and 4 specialties (elective admissions); for 30-day post-discharge mortality in 1 specialty (emergency admissions) and 2 specialties (elective admissions). Surgery, internal medicine, neurology, and gynecology and obstetrics were most sensitive to the weekend effect.ConclusionsThe study confirms a weekend effect for both elective and emergency admissions in most specialties. Reducing the number of weekend elective procedures may be necessary. More disease-specific research is needed to find the diagnoses most susceptible.     

Association of Red Meat Intake with the Risk of Cardiovascular Mortality in General Japanese Stratified by Kidney Function: NIPPON DATA80

The consumption of red meat has been recommended for individuals with reduced kidney function. However, red meat intake was recently suspected to increase cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. We evaluated the association of red meat intake with CVD mortality risk in Japanese with/without reduced kidney function. Overall, 9112 participants of a Japanese national survey in 1980, aged ≥30 years, were followed for 29 years. Red meat intake was assessed using weighed dietary record. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) of CVD mortality according to sex-specific tertiles of red meat intake. We also performed stratified analyses with/without reduced kidney function defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m². Red meat intake was not associated with CVD mortality risk in men and women. In stratified analyses, the HR of the highest compared with the lowest tertile of red meat intake was lower only in women with reduced kidney function (0.67, 95% confidence interval 0.46–0.98). In conclusion, there were no clear associations between red meat intake and CVD mortality risk in Japanese population; however, a higher intake of red meat was associated with lower risk of future CVD mortality in women with reduced kidney function.     

强化降压治疗对2型糖尿病患者病死率及心血管和肾脏预后影响的荟萃分析

 目的 探讨强化降压治疗对2型糖尿病患者病死率及心血管和肾脏预后的影响,并阐明其疗效。方法 通过搜索PubMed、EMBASE、科学引文索引和Cochrane图书馆数据库,以确定符合研究纳入标准的随机对照试验(RCT)。两名调查人员独立提取并汇总纳入试验的相关数据,并采用随机效应模型计算所有效应指标的估计值。结果 纳入16项随机对照试验。Meta分析显示,强化降压治疗与非强化降压治疗相比,可显著降低全因死亡风险[相对危险度(RR),0.82;95%CI,0.70~0.96]、主要心血管事件(RR,0.82;95%CI,0.73~0.92,心肌梗死(RR,0.86;95%CI,0.77~0.96)、卒中(RR,0.72;95%CI,0.60~0.88,心血管死亡事件(RR,0.73;95%CI,0.58~0.92)和蛋白尿进展(RR,0.91,95%CI,0.84~0.98)。然而,强化降压治疗对非心血管死亡(RR,0.97;95%CI,0.79~1.20)、心力衰竭(HF)(RR,0.88;95%CI,0.71~1.08)和终末期肾病(ESKD)(RR,1.00;95%CI,0.75~1.33)没有明显影响。亚组分析显示,在大多数患者组中,全因病死率的降低都是一致的,即使在收缩压低于140 mmHg的患者中,强化降压治疗也有明显益处。结论 对2型糖尿病而言,强化降压治疗好处较多,但还需要进一步研究,以评估低于目前推荐的强化降压治疗血压值的益处和危害。     

Prognostic value of red blood cell distribution width in patients with acute pulmonary embolism: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Background:Prior reports have suggested that the red blood cell distribution width (RDW) parameter could be measured as a prognostic indicator in pulmonary embolism (PE) patients, thereby helping to guide their care. However, no systematic analyses on this topic have been completed to date, and the exact relationship between RDW and PE remains to be fully clarified. We will therefore conduct a systematic literature review with the goal of defining the correlation between RDW and mortality in acute PE cases.Methods:The EMBASE, Web of Knowledge, PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Cochrane Library databases will be searched for all relevant studies published from inception through March 2021 using the following search strategy: (“red blood cell distribution width”) AND (“pulmonary embolism”). Two authors will independently identify eligible studies and extract data. The Q and I² statistics will be used to judge heterogeneity among studies.Results:This study will establish the relative efficacy of RDW as a metric for predicting PE patient mortality.Conclusions:This study will offer a reliable, evidence-based foundation for the clinical utilization of RDW as a tool for gauging mortality risk in acute PE patients.Ethics and dissemination:As this is a protocol for a systematic review of previously published data, no ethical approval is required. Electronic dissemination of study results will be done through a peer-review publication or represented at a related conference.