Quality improvement of medical records in a teaching hospital

Introduction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of the MR compilation in some Operative Units of the ?Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria - II Università di Napoli? (AOU- SUN) - Italy, before and after an intervention of quality improve- ment, underlining the potential differences in the behaviour of dif- ferent specialists (physicians vs. surgeons). Methods. Two random samples of 660 MRs were reviewed. A four-step program was developed: 1) first assessment of the MR; 2) implementation of the MR quality, sending a letter with the purpose of the study, the results obtained in the first step from that ward, the guidelines to correctly fill out the MR; 3) follow-up step four months later; 4) comparison of the data before and after the distribution of the guidelines using indicators of completeness of all sections of MR, clarity of handwriting and presence and clar- ity of signature. Results. The main concerns were related to the signature of the duty physician (present in 2.0% and legible in only 15.4%), the presence of the letter of discharge (18.0%) and the clarity of the days of hospital stay (32.0%). After the intervention the improvement of the quality of compilation was modest and regarded mainly medical rather than surgical wards. Discussion and conclusions. The improvement was not satisfying since from a medical and a legal point of view the indicators should reach 100% of clarity and completeness. A further study is being carried out to improve the involvement of health care professional, so that such requirements will be perceived as a common goal, not as mere bureaucratic initiatives

Prevalence and clinical predictors of inappropriate direct oral anticoagulant dosage in octagenarians with atrial fibrillation

Purpose: Older age is associated with inappropriate dose prescription of direct oral anticoagulants. The aim of our study was to describe the prevalence and the clinical predictors of inappropriate DOACs dosage among octogenarians in real-world setting. Methods: Data for this study were sourced from the multicenter prospectively maintained Atrial Fibrillation (AF) Research Database (NCT03760874). Of the AF patients aged ≥ 80 who received DOACs treatment, 253 patients were selected. Participants were categorized as appropriate dosage, overdosage, or underdosage. Underdosage and overdosage were, respectively, defined as administration of a lower or higher DOAC dose than recommended in the EHRA consensus. Results: A total of 178 patients (71%) received appropriate DOACs dose and 75 patients (29%) inappropriate DOACs dose; among them, 19 patients (25.6%) were overdosed and 56 (74.4%) were underdosed. Subgroup analysis demonstrated that underdosage was independently associated with male gender [OR = 3.15 (95% IC; 1.45–6.83); p < 0.001], coronary artery disease [OR = 3.60 (95% IC 1.45–9.10); p < 0.001] and body mass index [OR = 1.27 (1.14–1.41); p < 0.001]. Overdosage was independently associated with diabetes mellitus [OR = 18 (3.36–96); p < 0.001], with age [OR = 0.76 (95% IC; 0.61–0.96; p = 0.045], BMI [OR = 0.77 (95% IC; 0.62–0.97; p = 0.043] and with previous bleedings [OR = 6.40 (0.7; 1.43–28); p = 0.039]. There wasn’t significant difference in thromboembolic, major bleeding events and mortality among different subgroups. Underdosage group showed a significatively lower survival compared with appropriate dose group (p < 0.001). Conclusion: In our analysis, nearly one-third of octogenarians with AF received an inappropriate dose of DOAC. Several clinical factors were associated with DOACs’ overdosage (diabetes mellitus type II, previous bleeding) or underdosage (male gender, coronary artery disease, and higher body mass index). Octogenarians with inappropriate DOACs underdosage showed less survival

Too much medicine? Scientific and ethical issues from a comparison between two conflicting paradigms

Abstract Background The role of medicine in society appears to be focused on two views, which may be summarized as follows: “Doing more means doing better” (paradigm A) and “Doing more does not mean doing better” (paradigm B). Main body I compared paradigms A and B both in terms of a single clinical condition and in the general context of a medical system. For a single clinical condition, I analyzed breast cancer screening. There are at least seven interconnected issues that influence the conflict between paradigms A and B in the debate on breast cancer screening: disconnection between research and practice; scarcity of information given to women; how “political correctness” can influence the choice of a health policy; professional interests; doubts about effectiveness; incommensurability between harms and benefits; and the difficulty in making dichotomous decisions with discrete variables. As a general approach to medicine, the main representative of paradigm A is systems medicine. As representatives of paradigm B, I identified the following approaches or movements: choosing wisely; watchful waiting; the Too Much Medicine campaign; slow medicine; complaints against overdiagnosis; and quaternary prevention. I showed that both as a single condition and as a general approach to medicine, the comparison was entirely reducible to a harm-benefit analysis; moreover, in both cases, the two paradigms are in many respects incommensurable. This transfers the debate to the ethical level; consequently, scientists and the public have equal rights and competence to debate on this subject. Moreover, systems medicine has many ethical problems that could limit its spread. Conclusion I made some hypotheses about scenarios for the future of medicine. I particularly focused on whether systems medicine would become increasingly accessible and widespread in the population or whether it would be downsized because its promises have not been maintained or ethical problems will become unsustainable

Limitations of Western Medicine and Models of Integration between Medical Systems

This article analyzes two major limitations of Western medicine: maturity and incompleteness. From this viewpoint, Western medicine is considered an incomplete system for the explanation of living matter. Therefore, through appropriate integration with other medical systems, in particular nonconventional approaches, its knowledge base and interpretations may be widened. This article presents possible models of integration of Western medicine with homeopathy, the latter being viewed as representative of all complementary and alternative medicine. To compare the two, a medical system was classified into three levels through which it is possible to distinguish between different medical systems: epistemological (first level), theoretical (second level), and operational (third level). These levels are based on the characterization of any medical system according to, respectively, a reference paradigm, a theory on the functioning of living matter, and clinical practice. The three levels are consistent and closely consequential in the sense that from epistemology derives theory, and from theory derives clinical practice. Within operational integration, four models were identified: contemporary, alternative, sequential, and opportunistic. Theoretical integration involves an explanation of living systems covering simultaneously the molecular and physical mechanisms of functioning living matter. Epistemological integration provides a more thorough and comprehensive explanation of the epistemic concepts of indeterminism, holism, and vitalism to complement the reductionist approach of Western medicine; concepts much discussed by Western medicine while lacking the epistemologic basis for their emplacement. Epistemologic integration could be reached with or without a true paradigm shift and, in the latter, through a model of fusion or subsumption

PATERNALISMO E MEDICINA PREVENTIVA

In questo articolo si è cercato di chiarire i molti significati ed i molti punti di vista riguardanti il concetto e la giustificazione del paternalismo in medicina preventiva. Data la complessità di questo concetto che, come già sottolineato, presenta implicazioni legislative, etiche, filosofiche e politiche, ne consegue come sia estremamente difficile trovare un accordo sul grado di paternalismo da applicare in sanità pubblica. L’ unico criterio intorno a quale c’è un sostanziale accordo è quello di utilizzare il paternalismo forte, ed es.: quello legale, quando i danni coinvolgono direttamente anche altri soggetti

Un esempio di area a rischio ambientale: i Campi Flegrei

Il tema dell'analisi del rischio ambientale in un'area dalle forti valenze paesaggistiche e dalla accentuata urbanizzazione, viene affrontato in un'ottica multidisciplinare, avviando un percorso virtuoso che vede la rappresentazione grafica interagire fruttuosamente con competenze e linguaggi specialistici

Indagine conoscitiva sui Corsi di Accompagnamento alla nascita in strutture pubbliche della regione Campania

Sono stati intervistati i responsabili dei 70 CAN attivi in regione Campania, con esclusione delle strutture private. I corsi sono seguito dal'8,0% del totale delle partorienti. Il confronto tra i CAN evidenzia l'estrema varietà di modelli per numero di incontri, durata del corso, argomenti trattati e professionalità coinvolte. La promozione dei corsi appare inefficace

Scarce information about breast cancer screening: An Italian websites analysis

Although the public should have complete and correct information about risk/benefit ratio of breast cancer screening, public knowledge appears generally scarce and oriented to overestimate benefits, with little awareness of possible disadvantages of the screening. We evaluated any document specifically addressed to the general female public and posted on internet by Italian public health services. The presence of false positive, false positive after biopsy, false negative, interval cancer, overdiagnosis, lead-time bias, exposure to irradiation, and mortality reduction was analyzed. Of the 255 websites consulted, 136 (53.3%) had sites addressed to the female public. The most commonly reported information points were the false-positive (30.8% of sites) and radiation exposure (29.4%) rates. Only 11 documents mentioned overdiagnosis, 2 mentioned risk of false positive with biopsy, and only 1 mentioned lead-time bias. Moreover, only 15 sites (11.0%) reported quantitative data for any risk variables. Most documents about breast cancer screening published on the web for the female public contained little or no information about risk/benefit ratio and were biased in favor of screening

The informed consent in Southern Italy does not adequately inform parents about infant vaccination

BACKGROUND: Vaccination centres in the Campania Region, southern Italy, vaccinate children with a hexavalent vaccine that contains the mandatory vaccines diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis, and viral Hepatitis B. This vaccine also includes two non-mandatory vaccines, pertussis and Haemophilus influenzae type B. Information about these optional vaccines should be communicated to the parents, and informed consent should be obtained from parents before vaccination. We explored whether informed consent was delivered to the parents, whether they signed the consent form, and whether they read and acquired the information about the vaccination that their child would receive. METHODS: Childhood immunisations are provided at specific public health vaccination centres, "Unità Operative Materno-infantili’s" (UOMIs). We selected four UOMI from the Campania Region where we interviewed 1039 parents bringing their children for the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd doses of hexavalent vaccine. The consent forms were collected from the four vaccination centres and were analysed with respect to clarity and completeness. RESULTS: Most of the respondents (89.5%) were mothers between 20 and 39 years of age (80.4% vs 59.6% of the fathers), they were married (87.2% vs 93.5% of the fathers), and only one-half of them were employed (50.2% vs 92.6% of the fathers). The informed consent form was received from 58.1% of the parents and signed by 52.8%, but read by 35.0% of them. Only 1.5% of parents knew which vaccines were mandatory, and 25.0% of them believed that the entire hexavalent vaccine was mandatory. When we asked the parents which non-mandatory vaccinations were administered to their children, only 0.5% indicated the Haemophilus influenzae type B and none indicated the pertussis vaccine. Thirty-six per cent of the parents replied that their child had not received any non-mandatory vaccines. No parents were informed by the operators that their children would receive non-mandatory vaccines. CONCLUSION: In our study, consent procedures did not allow parents to acquire correct information about vaccine options for their children. Furthermore, not one health care provider informed parents that their child was receiving non-mandatory vaccines. The informed consent process and the individual health care providers did not properly inform parents about the vaccines administered to their children