Patient-related healthcare disparities in the quality of acute hip fracture care:A 10-year nationwide population-based cohort study

OBJECTIVES: To characterise and quantify possible patient-related disparities in hip fracture care including temporal changes. DESIGN: Population-based cohort study. SETTING: All Danish hospitals treating patients with hip fracture. PARTICIPANTS: 60 275 hip fracture patients from 2007 to 2016. INTERVENTIONS: Quality of care was defined as fulfilment of eligible care process measures for the individual patient recommended by an expert panel. Using yearly logistic regression models, we predicted the individual patient’s probability for receiving high-quality care, resulting in a distribution of adjusted probabilities based on age, sex, comorbidity, fracture type, education, family mean income, migration status, cohabitation status, employment status, nursing home residence and type of municipality. Based on the distribution, we identified best-off patients (ie, the 10% of patients with the highest probability) and worst-off patients (ie, the 10% of patients with the lowest probability). We evaluated disparities in quality of care by measuring the distance in fulfilment of outcomes between the best-off and worst-off patients. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was fulfilment of all-or-none, defined as receiving all relevant process measures. Secondary outcomes were fulfilment of the individual process measures including preoperative optimisation, early surgery, early mobilisation, assessment of pain, basic mobility, nutritional risk and need for antiosteoporotic medication, fall prevention and a postdischarge rehabilitation programme. RESULTS: The proportion of patients receiving high-quality care varied over time for both best-off and worst-off patients. The absolute difference in percentage points between the best-off and worst-off patients for receiving all-or-none of the eligible process measures was 12 (95% CI 6 to 18) in 2007 and 23 (95% CI 19 to 28) in 2016. Disparities were consistent for a range of care processes, including assessment of pain, mobilisation within 24 hours, assessment of need for antiosteoporotic medication and nutritional risk assessment. CONCLUSIONS: Disparity of care between best-off and worst-off patients remained substantial over time

Disentangling the contribution of hospitals and municipalities for understanding patient level differences in one-year mortality risk after hip-fracture:A cross-classified multilevel analysis in Sweden

BACKGROUND: One-year mortality after hip-fracture is a widely used outcome measure when comparing hospital care performance. However, traditional analyses do not explicitly consider the referral of patients to municipality care after just a few days of hospitalization. Furthermore, traditional analyses investigates hospital (or municipality) variation in patient outcomes in isolation rather than as a component of the underlying patient variation. We therefore aimed to extend the traditional approach to simultaneously estimate both case-mix adjusted hospital and municipality comparisons in order to disentangle the amount of the total patient variation in clinical outcomes that was attributable to the hospital and municipality level, respectively.METHODS: We determined 1-year mortality risk in patients aged 65 or above with hip fractures registered in Sweden between 2011 and 2014. We performed cross-classified multilevel analysis with 54,999 patients nested within 54 hospitals and 290 municipalities. We adjusted for individual demographic, socioeconomic and clinical characteristics. To quantify the size of the hospital and municipality variation we calculated the variance partition coefficient (VPC) and the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC).RESULTS: The overall 1-year mortality rate was 25.1%. The case-mix adjusted rates varied from 21.7% to 26.5% for the 54 hospitals, and from 18.9% to 29.5% for the 290 municipalities. The VPC was just 0.2% for the hospital and just 0.1% for the municipality level. Patient sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were strong predictors of 1-year mortality (AUC = 0.716), but adding the hospital and municipality levels in the cross-classified model had a minor influence (AUC = 0.718).CONCLUSIONS: Overall in Sweden, one-year mortality after hip-fracture is rather high. However, only a minor part of the patient variation is explained by the hospital and municipality levels. Therefore, a possible intervention should be nation-wide rather than directed to specific hospitals or municipalities

Decreasing trends, and geographical variation in outpatient antibiotic use: a population-based study in Central Denmark

Abstract Background Antimicrobial overuse and misuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics increases the risk for antimicrobial resistance. Investigating unwarranted variation in antibiotic prescription has therefore gained global priority. Methods We examined recent time trends in the utilization of narrow- and broad-spectrum antibiotics as well as the variation in antibiotic use by sex, age, and municipality of residence. Complete individual-level data on all redeemed out-of hospital prescriptions for antibiotics in the entire adult population of Central Denmark (1.3 million inhabitants) was obtained for the period 2006–2015. Results Following an initial increase of 2% between 2006 and 2011, the overall rate of redeemed prescriptions for antibiotics per 1000 person years declined by 17% between 2011 and 2015. Among persons aged over 65 years, the decline in use began later (from 2013) and was less pronounced. Antibiotic use in 2015 remained substantially higher among females (289/1000 person-years) vs. males (182/1000 person-years) and among the very old (520/1000 person-years in >85y old) vs. middle-aged (204/1000 person-years in 45-65y old). A decreasing trend in antibiotic use over time was observed in all municipalities, mainly due to a decrease in narrow-spectrum antibiotics. However, a striking and unexplained 1.6-fold geographical variation in antibiotic use, including tetracyclines, macrolides and fluoroquinolones remained in 2015. Of concern, among females aged ≥65 years and males aged ≥85 years, a continuous increasing trend in broad-spectrum antibiotic use was observed. Conclusions Antibiotic use has decreased almost 20% in Central Denmark after 2011, possibly related to a nationwide antibiotic stewardship program in Denmark. However, substantial geographical variation in antibiotic prescription remains and the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics has increased in adults of older age. Continuous focus on avoiding unnecessary use of broad-spectrum antibiotics is requested

Are hip fracture patients with high or low body mass index at higher risk of missed care? A cohort study

Abstract Aim To examine whether patients' body mass index is associated with missed hip fracture care consistent with national guideline‐recommended care. Design A nationwide, population‐based cohort study using prospectively collected data from the Danish Multidisciplinary Hip Fracture Registry. Methods The study population consisted of 39,835 patients ≥65 years admitted with a hip fracture and discharged between 1st of January 2012 and 29th of November 2017. National guideline‐recommended care consists of preoperative optimization, early surgery, mobilization within 24 h, basic mobility assessment, nutrition screening, post‐discharge rehabilitation program, and osteoporotic and fall prophylaxis. We used binomial regression to estimate the relative risk for the fulfilment of the individual measures with 95% confidence interval. Multiple imputation method was applied to handle missing values of body mass index. Results The overall fulfilment of the individual measures ranged from 43% for pre‐operative optimization to 95% for receiving a post‐discharge rehabilitation program. The obese patients had a lower fulfilment of surgery within 36 h compared to patients with normal weight. No differences in fulfilment of the other measures were found. However, patients with missing data on body mass index had the highest risk of missed care. In conclusion, patients with missing BMI values had the highest risk of missed care. The obese patients had a slightly higher risk of long waiting times for surgery than normal‐weighted patients. No Patient or Public Contribution This study was done based on population‐based data from medical registries and data was analysed by the authors only

Short-term results after arthroscopic resection of synovial plicae in the radiohumeral joint: a case series of 64 procedures

Introduction: Painful Synovial Plicae (SP) in the posterolateral corner of the radiohumeral joint may be confused with lateral epicondylitis. The SP may impinge between the radial head and the humeral capitellum causing pain and snapping. The aim of this study was to evaluate the short-term results after arthroscopic plica resection of the elbow. Methods: In this case series, we included a consecutive series of 64 arthroscopies (60 patients) with arthroscopic plica resection of the elbow. Inclusion criteria were six months of lateral elbow pain and unsuccessful conservative treatment. Patients had either ultrasonography verified plicae or pain on palpation of the plica. Patients were evaluated with an Oxford Elbow Score (OES) preoperatively, after three months and after mean 22 months (range: 12–31) of follow-up. Furthermore, baseline characteristics were recorded including, gender, age, body mass index (BMI), occupation, smoking and cartilage damage. Results: The mean age was 44 years (range: 18–66). In 13 elbows, International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) grade 1 lesions were present in association with the plica. Preoperatively the mean OES was 19 (95% CI: 17–20). At three and 22 month follow-up the OES increased to 33 (95% CI: 30–36) and 35 (95% CI: 32–38), respectively (p < 0.001). Cartilage injury and gender did not affect the outcome. We reported no complications. Discussion: Arthroscopic plica resection of the elbow indicates an improved OES after three and 22 months. A randomized prospective trial is needed to validate the effect of arthroscopic treatment of synovial elbow plicae

No dislocations after primary hip arthroplasty with the dual mobility cup in displaced femoral neck fracture in patients with dementia. A one-year follow-up in 20 patients

Purpose: The aim of this study was to describe the dislocation rates, reoperation rates and mortality 30 day and one year following THA with AVANTAGE® dual mobility cup among dementia patients with an acute displaced intracapsular femoral neck fracture. Patients and methods: From 2010 to 2014 we identified 20 hip fracture patients with dementia, who have had total hip arthroplasty with the AVANTAGE® dual mobility cup. The primary outcome was dislocation. Secondary outcomes were revision surgery, 30 days and one year mortality, time to surgery and length of hospital stay. Results: Follow-up time was one year. None of the patients experienced dislocation or received revision surgery in the follow-up period. The 30-days mortality rate was 25% (confidence interval (CI) 95%; 4–46%) and the one year mortality was 45% (CI 95%; 21–69). Mean time to surgery was 27 h (CI 95%; 20–37 h) and mean length of hospital stay was 5.5 days (CI 95%; 4, 0–7, 6 days). Conclusion: THA with the dual-mobility cup seems favourable in the treatment of patients with a displaced femoral neck fracture and patients with dementia. Correct placement of the cup is pivotal and technically demanding. Not all orthopedic surgeons perform total hip arthroplasty while challenges regarding the logistics can be encountered since time to surgery is known to affect the mortality negatively