Centralized placement process solution for patient flow management

The article presents a case study of implementing a new solution for patient placement in the South Karelia District of Social and Health Services (Eksote). Eksote is a forerunner in the development of health and social care services in Finland, as it combines primary and secondary health care, elderly care and social care in a totally new way, covering eight municipalities that worked independently earlier.The paper describes a new operating model and a supporting information system for the patient placement process. The focus is on the short term patient placement process which covers the placement of patients from specialized health care wards to rehabilitation wards. The article describes empirical experiences gained about the actual usage of the solution in daily operations. At annual level, thousands of patients are placed by using the developed solution, which has proved to improve both the efficiency and the effectiveness of the patient flow management process significantly

A Natural History of Erectile Dysfunction in Elderly Men: A Population-Based, Twelve-Year Prospective Study

There is a wide variation in the development and course of erectile dysfunction (ED) in men, which confirms the need for prospective studies. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis among the general male population at the baseline (n = 359) and in a follow-up survey (n = 218) 12 years later. The prospective 12-year study included 189 men. ED was assessed using the International Index of Erectile Function questionnaire. The mean age of the participants was 62.0 years at the baseline, while at the 12-year follow-up it was 71.6 years. The crude prevalence of ED was 61.6% at the baseline and 78.9% at the follow-up, and the prevalence tended to increase with age. All of the men aged 75 years or more had at least mild ED. The incidence of ED in every thousand person years was 53.5. A total of 54.5% of the men experienced ED progression, while 39.2% reported no changes in erectile function, and 6.3% experienced ED regression during the 12-year study. The likelihood of ED progression was higher in the older compared with younger age group (odds ratio, OR 5.2 (95% CI: 1.1–26.2)), and the likelihood of ED regression was lower among men with increased depression symptoms (OR 0.3 (95% CI: 0.1–0.6)) and among men with a decreased interest in their sexual life (OR 0.1 (95% CI: 0.0–0.6)). Lifestyle factors such as the consumption of alcohol and smoking were not significantly associated with ED

A Natural History of Erectile Dysfunction in Elderly Men: A Population-Based, Twelve-Year Prospective Study

There is a wide variation in the development and course of erectile dysfunction (ED) in men, which confirms the need for prospective studies. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis among the general male population at the baseline (n = 359) and in a follow-up survey (n = 218) 12 years later. The prospective 12-year study included 189 men. ED was assessed using the International Index of Erectile Function questionnaire. The mean age of the participants was 62.0 years at the baseline, while at the 12-year follow-up it was 71.6 years. The crude prevalence of ED was 61.6% at the baseline and 78.9% at the follow-up, and the prevalence tended to increase with age. All of the men aged 75 years or more had at least mild ED. The incidence of ED in every thousand person years was 53.5. A total of 54.5% of the men experienced ED progression, while 39.2% reported no changes in erectile function, and 6.3% experienced ED regression during the 12-year study. The likelihood of ED progression was higher in the older compared with younger age group (odds ratio, OR 5.2 (95% CI: 1.1–26.2)), and the likelihood of ED regression was lower among men with increased depression symptoms (OR 0.3 (95% CI: 0.1–0.6)) and among men with a decreased interest in their sexual life (OR 0.1 (95% CI: 0.0–0.6)). Lifestyle factors such as the consumption of alcohol and smoking were not significantly associated with ED

Elevated One-Hour Post-Load Glucose Is Independently Associated with Albuminuria: A Cross-Sectional Population Study

The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the associations between albuminuria and fasting (FPG), 1 h post-load (1 h PG) and 2 h post-load plasma glucose (2 h PG) in an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). A total of 496 people free of known diabetes (mean age 72 years) participated in the examinations including the OGTT with plasma glucose measurements at 0, 1, and 2 h and levels of HbA1c. Albuminuria was determined by the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio and was defined as ≥3.0 mg/mmol. Compared with those without albuminuria, participants with albuminuria had significantly higher 1 h PG and 2 h PG levels, but not FPG or HbA1c levels. An elevated 1 h PG increased the estimated odds ratio of albuminuria more than three times in people with prediabetic 1 h PG (8.6–11.5 mmol/L: OR 3.60; 95% CI 1.70–7.64) and diabetic 1 h PG (≥11.6 mmol/L: OR 3.05; 95% CI 1.29–7.23). After adjusting for blood pressure and age, the association of elevated 1 h PG with albuminuria remained significant. Prediabetic or diabetic FPG, 2 h PG, or HbA1c did not have a statistically significant association with albuminuria. These findings suggest that 1 h PG seems to be the best glycemic parameter and is useful in recognizing persons with an elevated risk of early kidney disease due to hyperglycemia

Elevated One-Hour Post-Load Glucose Is Independently Associated with Albuminuria: A Cross-Sectional Population Study

The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the associations between albuminuria and fasting (FPG), 1 h post-load (1 h PG) and 2 h post-load plasma glucose (2 h PG) in an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). A total of 496 people free of known diabetes (mean age 72 years) participated in the examinations including the OGTT with plasma glucose measurements at 0, 1, and 2 h and levels of HbA1c. Albuminuria was determined by the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio and was defined as ≥3.0 mg/mmol. Compared with those without albuminuria, participants with albuminuria had significantly higher 1 h PG and 2 h PG levels, but not FPG or HbA1c levels. An elevated 1 h PG increased the estimated odds ratio of albuminuria more than three times in people with prediabetic 1 h PG (8.6–11.5 mmol/L: OR 3.60; 95% CI 1.70–7.64) and diabetic 1 h PG (≥11.6 mmol/L: OR 3.05; 95% CI 1.29–7.23). After adjusting for blood pressure and age, the association of elevated 1 h PG with albuminuria remained significant. Prediabetic or diabetic FPG, 2 h PG, or HbA1c did not have a statistically significant association with albuminuria. These findings suggest that 1 h PG seems to be the best glycemic parameter and is useful in recognizing persons with an elevated risk of early kidney disease due to hyperglycemia

Does Future Diabetes Risk Impair Current Quality of Life? A Cross-Sectional Study of Health-Related Quality of Life in Relation to the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC)

Objectives Present study examines the relationship between the estimated risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We quantify the association between Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) and HRQoL, and examine the potential use of FINDRISC as tool to evaluate HRQoL indirectly. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study comprising 707 Finnish people without a diagnosis of T2D between the ages of 51 and 75 years. The risk of developing T2D was assessed using the validated and widely used FINDRISC (range 0-26 points), and quality of life was measured using two preference-based HRQoL instruments (15D and SF-6D) and one health profile instrument (SF-36). Effects of the individual FINDRISC items and demographic and clinical characteristics, such as co-morbidities, on HRQoL were studied using multivariable Tobit regression models. Results Low HRQoL was significantly and directly associated with the estimated risk of developing T2D. An approximate 4-5 point change in FINDRISC score was observed to be associated with clinically noticeable changes in the preference-based instrument HRQoL index scores. The association between HRQoL and the risk of developing T2D was also observed for most dimensions of HRQoL in all applied HRQoL instruments. Overall, old age, lack of physical activity, obesity, and history of high blood glucose were the FINDRISC factors most prominently associated with lower HRQoL. Conclusions The findings may help the health care professionals to substantiate the possible improvement in glucose metabolism and HRQoL potentially achieved by lifestyle changes, and better convince people at high risk of T2D to take action towards healthier lifestyle habits. FINDRISC may also provide an accurate proxy for HRQoL, and thus by estimating the risk of T2D with the FINDRISC, information about patients' HRQoL may also be obtained indirectly, when it is not feasible to use HRQoL instruments.Peer reviewe

Kuntoutuskeskuksen kehitystyö opetti pitkäjänteisyyttä ja johtamista

Prosessien sujuvoittaminen, hukan poistaminen ja valmentava johtaminen mahdollistivat kuntoutujalle enemmän toimintakykyä edistävää toimintaa. Kuntoutuksen kehittäminen Lean-ajattelun keinoin toi Armilan kuntoutuskeskukselle Lääkäriliiton laatupalkinnon 2015

Interactions between genetic variation and cellular environment in skeletal muscle gene expression

From whole organisms to individual cells, responses to environmental conditions are influenced by genetic makeup, where the effect of genetic variation on a trait depends on the environmental context. RNA-sequencing quantifies gene expression as a molecular trait, and is capable of capturing both genetic and environmental effects. In this study, we explore opportunities of using allele-specific expression (ASE) to discover cis-acting genotype-environment interactions (GxE)-genetic effects on gene expression that depend on an environmental condition. Treating 17 common, clinical traits as approximations of the cellular environment of 267 skeletal muscle biopsies, we identify 10 candidate environmental response expression quantitative trait loci (reQTLs) across 6 traits (12 unique gene-environment trait pairs; 10% FDR per trait) including sex, systolic blood pressure, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Although using ASE is in principle a promising approach to detect GxE effects, replication of such signals can be challenging as validation requires harmonization of environmental traits across cohorts and a sufficient sampling of heterozygotes for a transcribed SNP. Comprehensive discovery and replication will require large human transcriptome datasets, or the integration of multiple transcribed SNPs, coupled with standardized clinical phenotyping.Peer reviewe

Integrative analysis of gene expression, DNA methylation, physiological traits, and genetic variation in human skeletal muscle

We integrate comeasured gene expression and DNA methylation (DNAme) in 265 human skeletal muscle biopsies from the FUSION study with >7 million genetic variants and eight physiological traits: height, waist, weight, waist-hip ratio, body mass index, fasting serum insulin, fasting plasma glucose, and type 2 diabetes. We find hundreds of genes and DNAme sites associated with fasting insulin, waist, and body mass index, as well as thousands of DNAme sites associated with gene expression (eQTM). We find that controlling for heterogeneity in tissue/muscle fiber type reduces the number of physiological trait associations, and that long-range eQTMs (>1 Mb) are reduced when controlling for tissue/muscle fiber type or latent factors. We map genetic regulators (quantitative trait loci; QTLs) of expression (eQTLs) and DNAme (mQTLs). Using Mendelian randomization (MR) and mediation techniques, we leverage these genetic maps to predict 213 causal relationships between expression and DNAme, approximately two-thirds of which predict methylation to causally influence expression. We use MR to integrate FUSION mQTLs, FUSION eQTLs, and GTEx eQTLs for 48 tissues with genetic associations for 534 diseases and quantitative traits. We identify hundreds of genes and thousands of DNAme sites that may drive the reported disease/quantitative trait genetic associations. We identify 300 gene expression MR associations that are present in both FUSION and GTEx skeletal muscle and that show stronger evidence of MR association in skeletal muscle than other tissues, which may partially reflect differences in power across tissues. As one example, we find that increased RXRA muscle expression may decrease lean tissue mass.Peer reviewe