Data linkage can reduce the burden and increase the opportunities in the implementation of Value-Based Health Care policy: a study in patients with ulcerative colitis (PROUD-UC Study)

Introduction Healthcare systems face rising demand and unsustainable cost pressures. In response, health policymakers are adopting Value-Based Health Care (VBHC), targeting available resources to achieve the best possible patient outcomes at the lowest possible cost and actively disinvesting in care of low-value. This requires the evaluation of longitudinal clinical and patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) at an individual-level and population-scale, which can create significant data challenges. Achieving this through routinely collected electronic health record (EHR) data-linkage could facilitate the implementation of VBHC without an unacceptable data burden on patients or health systems and release time for higher-value activities. Objectives Our study tested the ability to report an international, patient-centred outcome dataset (ICHOM-IBD) using only anonymised individual-level population-scale linked electronic health record (EHR) data sources, including clinical and patient-reported outcomes, in a cohort of patients with moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis (UC), receiving biopharmaceutical therapies ("biologics") in a single, publicly funded, healthcare system. Results We identified a cohort of 17,632 patients with UC in Wales and a cohort from two Health Boards of 447 patients with UC receiving biologics. 112 of these patients had completed 866 condition-specific PROMs during their biologics treatment. 44 out of 59 (74.6%) items in the ICHOM-IBD could be derived from routinely collected data of which a primary care source was essential for eight items and desirable for 21. Conclusions We demonstrated that it is possible to report most but not all the ICHOM-IBD outcomes using routinely collected data from multiple sources without additional system burden, potentially supporting Value-Based Health Care implementation with population data science. As digital collection of PROMs and use of condition-specific registries grow, greater utility of this approach can be anticipated. We have identified that the availability of longitudinal primary and secondary care data linked with PROMs is essential for this to be possible

Genomic Dissection of Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia, Including 28 Subphenotypes

publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Genomic Dissection of Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia, Including 28 Subphenotypes journaltitle: Cell articlelink: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2018.05.046 content_type: article copyright: © 2018 Elsevier Inc

Effect of remote ischaemic conditioning on clinical outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI): a single-blind randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Remote ischaemic conditioning with transient ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm has been shown to reduce myocardial infarct size in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). We investigated whether remote ischaemic conditioning could reduce the incidence of cardiac death and hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months. METHODS: We did an international investigator-initiated, prospective, single-blind, randomised controlled trial (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI) at 33 centres across the UK, Denmark, Spain, and Serbia. Patients (age >18 years) with suspected STEMI and who were eligible for PPCI were randomly allocated (1:1, stratified by centre with a permuted block method) to receive standard treatment (including a sham simulated remote ischaemic conditioning intervention at UK sites only) or remote ischaemic conditioning treatment (intermittent ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm through four cycles of 5-min inflation and 5-min deflation of an automated cuff device) before PPCI. Investigators responsible for data collection and outcome assessment were masked to treatment allocation. The primary combined endpoint was cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months in the intention-to-treat population. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02342522) and is completed. FINDINGS: Between Nov 6, 2013, and March 31, 2018, 5401 patients were randomly allocated to either the control group (n=2701) or the remote ischaemic conditioning group (n=2700). After exclusion of patients upon hospital arrival or loss to follow-up, 2569 patients in the control group and 2546 in the intervention group were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. At 12 months post-PPCI, the Kaplan-Meier-estimated frequencies of cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure (the primary endpoint) were 220 (8·6%) patients in the control group and 239 (9·4%) in the remote ischaemic conditioning group (hazard ratio 1·10 [95% CI 0·91-1·32], p=0·32 for intervention versus control). No important unexpected adverse events or side effects of remote ischaemic conditioning were observed. INTERPRETATION: Remote ischaemic conditioning does not improve clinical outcomes (cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure) at 12 months in patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI. FUNDING: British Heart Foundation, University College London Hospitals/University College London Biomedical Research Centre, Danish Innovation Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, TrygFonden

Mental disorders detected in an Irish prison sample.

This study reports on a 1-yr study of 235 adult male prisoners in the Republic of Ireland to ascertain the impact of changes in patterns of health service for mental disorders on the prison population. Data were collected on incoming prisoner's level of illness or distress to help with the planning of future prison health services. Experienced psychiatrists conducted unstructured and semistructured clinical interviews and made diagnoses using criteria in the Mental Disorders-III-Revised (DSM-III-R). Rates of major mental illness, mainly functional psychosis, were higher than would be expected for the general population, but it was the prevalence of alcohol and substance misuse that gave rise to the greatest concern about unmet need. Innovations in mental health legislation and new practice approaches for conditions of alcoholism and other substance abuse problems are urgently needed

New interventions are needed to save coral reefs

We anticipate that conventional management approaches will be insufcient to protect coral reefs, even if global warming is limited to 1.5 °C. Emerging technologies are needed to stem the decline of these natural asset

Inappropriate surgical chemoprophylaxis and surgical site infection rate at a tertiary care teaching hospital

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to analyze the pattern of surgical chemoprophylaxis, surgical site infection rate, and to check rationality of surgical chemoprophylaxis based on Kunin's criteria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective, observational study was performed on patients undergoing surgery, in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Data were collected in a pro-forma which included the patients' details, prescriptions from date of admission to discharge or any other outcome and operative notes. Surgical site infection as defined by Centre for Disease Control criteria was recorded. Rationality was assessed based on Kunin's criteria. RESULTS: Total 220 patients were enrolled over a period of one year. Mean hospital stay was 8.67 ± 5.17 days. A total of 2294 drugs were prescribed out of which 840 (36.61%) were antimicrobials. Mean duration for pre-operative intravenous antimicrobial therapy was 0.75 ± 0.45 day and for post-operative intravenous antimicrobial therapy was 3.33 ± 2.24 days while post-operative oral antimicrobial therapy was 4.58 ± 3.34 days. Third generation cephalosporins were prescribed most frequently 64.74% and 64.40% pre-operatively and post-operatively respectively. Antimicrobial prescribing was inappropriate in 52.28%. Total of 19 patients developed surgical site infection. Surgical site infection rate was significantly higher (13.04%) in patients receiving inappropriate chemoprophylaxis (p < 0.01). Surgical site infection adds 9.98 days of hospital stay (p < 0.0001) and 3.57 extra drugs (p < 0.0001) compared to group without surgical site infection. CONCLUSION: Inappropriate use of antimicrobials is highly prevalent in surgical chemoprophylaxis leading to higher surgical site infection rate. Adoption of international standard and formulation of locally feasible guidelines can help overcome this situation