Acute inpatient treatment,hospitalization course and direct costs in bipolar patients with intellectual disability

To explore the impacts of intellectual disability (ID) on psychotropic medication use, length of hospital stay (LOS) and direct hospitalization costs during inpatient treatment for acute bipolar episodes, all 17,899 index hospitalizations due to acute bipolar episodes between 1998 and 2007 in Taiwan were identified from a total population health insurance claims database, amongst which 544 subjects had a concomitant diagnosis of ID. Pattern of psychotropic medication use, LOS, discharge outcome and direct costs during hospitalization were compared between bipolar patients with ID and without ID and multivariate models controlling for major cost confounders were used to explore the impacts of ID on LOS, discharge outcome and inpatient costs. The results indicated that, compared to bipolar patients without ID, bipolar patients with ID were younger, had longer LOS and received significantly lower daily equivalent dosages of antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, lithium and benzodiazepines. Significantly more bipolar patients with ID could not be discharged successfully. The longer LOS possibly reflected slower clinical stabilization, conservative use of medications and difficulty in community placement. The lower average daily reimbursements indicated that treatment of bipolar patients with ID were under-funded, whereas the higher total direct costs resulting from prolonged LOS placed greater economic straint on healthcare system. The findings support that bipolar patients with ID are clinically unique but relatively under-supported during acute hospitalization. Modifying current pharmacological intervention, health care resources allocation and community supporting structure is paramount to reducing LOS and improving hospitalization outcome.     

Effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines on preventing symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections and hospitalizations in Southwestern Alaska,January–December 2021

The population in rural southwest Alaska has been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. To assess the benefit of COVID-19 vaccines, we analyzed data from the regional health system. We estimated vaccine effectiveness (VE) during January 16–December 3, 2021, against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection after a primary series or booster dose, and overall VE against hospitalization. VE of a primary series against symptomatic infection among adult residents was 91.3% (95% CI: 85.7, 95.2) during January 16–May 7, 2021, 50.3% (95% CI, 41.1%–58.8%) during July 17–September 24, and 37.0% (95% CI, 27.8–45.0) during September 25–December 3, 2021; VE of a booster dose during September 25–December 3, 2021, was 92.1% (95% CI: 87.2–95.2). During the overall study period, VE against hospitalization was 91.9% (95% CI: 85.4–95.5). COVID-19 vaccination offered strong protection against hospitalization and a booster dose restored protection against symptomatic infection.     

Community-acquired hyperkalemia in elderly patients: risk factors and clinical outcomes

Background: Although the risk and related factors of hyperkalemia developed in the hospital are known in elderly, risk and related factors of community-acquired hyperkalemia (CAH) in this population are not well known. This study was performed to investigate the risk of CAH in elderly and evaluate the related factors and clinical outcomes.

Study design, setting and participants, intervention: Patients (aged ≥65 years) with hyperkalemia were screened. Group 1 (young-old); 65–74 years/old, Group 2 (middle-old); 75–84 years/old, Group 3 (oldest-old); ≥85 years/old, and Group 4 (control group); ≥65 years/old (normal serum potassium levels). The relation between CAH and hospital expenses (HE), the number of comorbid diseases (NCD), and all-cause of mortality rates (MR) were evaluated. We also investigated whether drugs, sex, and NCD are risk factors for the development of CAH.

Results: There was a positive correlation between serum potassium levels and length of hospital stay, MR, HE, and NCD (p?<?0.001). Risk factors for CAH were the use of non-steroidal-anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (Odds Ratio [OR]: 2.679), spironolactone (OR: 2.530), and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) (OR: 2.242), angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) (OR: 2.679), ≥2 comorbid diseases (OR: 2.221), female gender (OR: 2.112), and renal injury (OR: 5.55). CAH risk was found to be increased 30.03 times when any of ACEI, ARB, NSAIDs, or spironolactone is given to a patient with a renal injury.

Conclusion: Use of NSAIDs, ACEI, ARB, spironolactone and increased NCD are all independent risk factors for CAH in the elderly, especially in patients with kidney diseases.     

军队医院军人医疗经费系统动力学模型初建

目的：探索系统动力学（ SD）方法在军队医院军人医疗经费系统中的应用。方法依据SD原理,筛选模型主要变量,确立主要函数关系式,建立军队医院军人医疗经费的系统仿真模型。结果与结论 SD模型应用于军队医院军人医疗经费系统研究的效果良好,可为后期军队医疗系统改革提供理论依据。     

某三甲医院城乡居民2013年住院患者疾病构成及费用分析

目的 比较某三甲医院参加城镇居民医保(简称居民医保)和参加新型农村合作医疗(简称新农合)住院患者疾病构成及住院医疗费用,分析其现状和影响因素。方法 选择该医院2013年所有住院的城乡居民患者的病例资料,比较居民医保和新农合住院患者的疾病构成、科室分布、住院费用构成、医疗费用。结果 居民医保和新农合住院患者的疾病类型和科室分布各有特点;新农合患者平均住院总医疗费13855.25元、平均统筹支付费用6086.17元及平均个人支付费用7769.08元均较居民医保的11676.42元、5394.95元及6216.06元要高,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05);药费、材料及其他费用均占两类患者总住院费用的70%。结论 居民医保患者住院费用较新农合患者低。降低住院费用要控制药费、材料和其他费用尤其高值耗材使用,完善城乡统一医疗保障、实施分级诊疗等综合措施。     

临床路径对医疗资源使用的效益——以腹腔镜胆囊切除手术患者为例

目的:应用医院病例数据评价临床路径对腹腔镜胆囊切除手术患者医疗资源使用的管理效果。方法:采集深圳市7家公立医院2015年12月—2016年9月的病案首页,研究对象为第一诊断是胆囊结石伴慢性胆囊炎(ICD10:K80. 1)且行腹腔镜胆囊切除手术(ICD-9-CM:51. 23)。统计分析方法采用独立t检验、卡方检验以及广义线性回归分析。结果:共有932例符合研究对象的定义,其中路径组696例,平均住院天日7. 15天,住院费用15 181. 5元;非路径组236例,平均住院天日9. 42天,住院费用19 774. 8元。校正其他影响因素后,路径组的住院天日比非路径组少1. 51天(P 0. 001),住院费用少3 818元(P 0. 001)。结论:患者的疾病状况虽然是影响住院天日与住院费用的重要因素,但本研究发现临床路径实施对腹腔镜胆囊切除患者的医疗质量与医疗资源管理具有影响,建议未来有更多实证研究检验临床路径效果,以供相关政策参考。     

Rotavirus diarrhoea hospitalizations among children under 5 years of age in Nigeria, 2011–2016

BackgroundThe high burden of rotavirus acute gastroenteritis (AGE) is well documented among children under 5 years of age, with the majority of mortality occurring in developing countries. Nigeria ranked second worldwide in the number of rotavirus deaths in 2013. As Nigeria plans to introduce rotavirus vaccine soon, a pre-vaccine documentation of rotavirus disease burden is necessary to determine vaccine impact.MethodsRoutine rotavirus surveillance was conducted during 2011–2016 in 3 sentinel sites in Nigeria using the standard WHO protocol. Children under 5 years of age hospitalized for acute gastroenteritis were enrolled and demographic, clinical and outcome data were collected. A stool sample was subsequently obtained and tested for human rotavirus antigen using the Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results2694 children with acute gastroenteritis were enrolled during January 2011 to December 2016; of these, 1242 (46%) tested positive for rotavirus. Among the rotavirus positive cases, 66% and 94% were younger than 12 months and 24 months respectively. Marked peaks in rotavirus positivity were seen in January of each year. Vomiting, and use of oral and intravenous fluids occurred more often in rotavirus positive cases as compared to rotavirus negative cases.ConclusionThe high prevalence of rotavirus disease highlights the need for urgent introduction of rotavirus vaccine in Nigeria. Additionally, this study provides pre-vaccine introduction disease-burden data that will serve as a baseline for rotavirus vaccine impact-assessment once vaccine has been introduced in the national immunization program.     

Impact of pentavalent rotavirus vaccine against severe rotavirus diarrhoea in The Gambia

IntroductionRotavirus vaccines protect against the leading cause of severe childhood diarrhoea, and have been introduced in many low-income African countries. The Gambia introducedRotateq® (RV5) into their national immunization program in 2013. We revieweddata from an active rotavirus sentinel surveillancesitefor early evidence of vaccine impact.MethodsWe compared rotavirus prevalence in diarrhoeal stool in children< 5 years of age admittedat the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital sentinel surveillance site before (2013) andafterRV5 introduction (2015–2016) in the Gambia. The rotavirus-percent positive was separately compared for all diarrhoealhospitalizations and for hospitalizations with severe symptoms. Rotavirus prevalence was compared annually for the pre-vaccine year of 2013 with post-vaccine years of 2015 and 2016 using chi-square or Fisher’s exact tests and the p-value to establish significant relationship was set at p < 0.05. All analyses were completed in SAS 9.3 (SAS Analytics, North Carolina).ResultsRotavirus prevalence among all diarrhoeahospitalizations decreased from 22% in 2013 to 11% in 2015 (p = 0.04), while remaining unchanged in 2016 (18%, p = 0.56). For hospitalizations that were clinically severe and/or treated with intravenous fluids (mean of 46 per year), the rotavirus prevalence decreased from 33% in 2013 to 8% in 2015 (p = 0.04), and to 15% in 2016 (p = 0.08). The children with age <1 year accounted for 45% the population infected with rotavirus in both pre and post rotavirus vaccination periods.ConclusionsRotavirus vaccine introduction in the Gambia could be among factors resulting in decreased diarrhea hospitalizations among children at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, particularly those with severe disease. These results support the continuation of rotavirus vaccine and additional monitoring of rotavirus hospitalization trends in the country.     

Influenza vaccine effectiveness to prevent influenza-related hospitalizations and serious outcomes in Canadian adults over the 2011/12 through 2013/14 influenza seasons: A pooled analysis from the Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN) Serious Outcomes Surveillance (SOS Network)

BackgroundOngoing assessment of influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) is critical to inform public health policy. This study aimed to determine the VE of trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV) for preventing influenza-related hospitalizations and other serious outcomes over three consecutive influenza seasons.MethodsThe Serious Outcomes Surveillance (SOS) Network of the Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN) conducted active surveillance for influenza in adults ≥16 years (y) of age during the 2011/2012, 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 seasons in hospitals across Canada. A test-negative design was employed: cases were polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-positive for influenza; controls were PCR-negative for influenza and were matched to cases by date, admission site, and age (≥65 y or <65 y). All cases and controls had demographic and clinical characteristics (including influenza immunization status) obtained from the medical record. VE was estimated as 1-OR (odds ratio) in vaccinated vs. unvaccinated patients × 100%. The primary outcome was VE of TIV for preventing laboratory-confirmed influenza-related hospitalization; secondary outcomes included VE of TIV for preventing influenza-related intensive care unit (ICU) admission/mechanical ventilation, and influenza-related death.ResultsOverall, 3394 cases and 4560 controls were enrolled; 2078 (61.2%) cases and 2939 (64.5%) controls were ≥65 y. Overall matched, adjusted VE was 41.7% (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 34.4–48.3%); corresponding VE in adults ≥65 y was 39.3% (95% CI: 29.4–47.8%) and 48.0% (95% CI: 37.5–56.7%) in adults <65 y, respectively. VE for preventing influenza-related ICU admission/mechanical ventilation in all ages was 54.1% (95% CI: 39.8–65.0%); in adults ≥65 y, VE for preventing influenza-related death was 74.5% (95% CI: 44.0–88.4%).ConclusionsWhile effectiveness of TIV to prevent serious outcomes varies year to year, we demonstrate a statistically significant and clinically important TIV VE for preventing hospitalization and other serious outcomes over three seasons. Public health messaging should highlight the overall benefit of influenza vaccines over time while acknowledging year to year variability.ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01517191.     

低位小切口与传统甲状腺手术治疗甲状腺良性结节的临床疗效对比研究

目的对比低位小切口与传统甲状腺手术治疗甲状腺良性结节的临床疗效。方法86例甲状腺良性结节患者为研究对象,依据随机抽签法分为观察组与对照组,各43例。对照组采用传统甲状腺手术治疗,观察组采用低位小切口手术治疗。对比两组临床指标、术后并发症发生情况及手术效果。结果观察组手术时间、住院时间、切口长度分别为(42.2±6.7)min、(3.2±0.5)d、(3.4±0.7)cm,均短于对照组的(60.1±4.7)min、(5.9±1.9)d、(5.7±1.3)cm,术中出血量(8.1±2.3)ml少于对照组的(36.2±6.1)ml,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。观察组术后并发症发生率11.63%低于对照组的34.88%,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。两组手术治疗总有效率对比,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。结论与传统甲状腺手术相比低位小切口手术治疗甲状腺良性结节的安全性及美观度更高,相比传统甲状腺手术治疗的效果更加显著,对于无手术禁忌的患者来说,可首选低位小切口手术治疗。