Background: Although COVID-19 morbidity is significantly lower in pediatrics than in adults, the risk of severe COVID-19 may still pose substantial health care resource burden. This study aimed to describe health care resource utilization (HCRU) and costs associated with COVID-19 in pediatrics 1-17 years old in England.
Methods: A population-based retrospective cohort study of pediatrics with COVID-19 using Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD Aurum) primary care data and, where available, linked Hospital Episode Statistics Admitted Patient Care secondary care data.
Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential real-world application of a machine learning (ML) algorithm, developed and trained on heart failure (HF) cohorts in the USA, to detect patients with undiagnosed wild type cardiac amyloidosis (ATTRwt) in the UK.
Design: In this retrospective observational study, anonymised, linked primary and secondary care data (Clinical Practice Research Datalink GOLD and Hospital Episode Statistics, respectively, were used to identify patients diagnosed with HF between 2009 and 2018 in the UK. International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 clinical modification codes were matched to equivalent Read (primary care) and ICD-10 WHO (secondary care) diagnosis codes used in the UK.
Background: Autistic people are vulnerable to developing mental health problems due to their difficulties in managing social situations and interpersonal relationships. The popular online social media (OSM) can be a potential solution to these concerns for their social lives as it allows non-face-to-face social interactions, however it remained unclear how this group is using these online platforms. This study explored their experiences of using online social media, and their perceived benefits and risks associated with this use.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To develop a core outcome set for international burn research.
Design: Development and international consensus, from April 2017 to November 2019.
Methods: Candidate outcomes were identified from systematic reviews and stakeholder interviews.
Aims: The aim of the PULsE-AI trial was to assess the effectiveness of a machine learning risk-prediction algorithm in conjunction with diagnostic testing for identifying undiagnosed atrial fibrillation (AF) in primary care in England.
Methods And Results: Eligible participants (aged ≥30 years without AF diagnosis; = 23 745) from six general practices in England were randomized into intervention and control arms. Intervention arm participants, identified by the algorithm as high risk of undiagnosed AF ( = 944), were invited for diagnostic testing ( = 256 consented); those who did not accept the invitation, and all control arm participants, were managed routinely.
Background: Hyperkalaemia is an electrolyte abnormality associated with adverse clinical outcomes; however, few studies have investigated the relationship with patterns of hyperkalaemia over time. This study explored the impact of time spent in a hyperkalaemic state and variability of serum potassium (sK) on major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and all-cause mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), resistant hypertension, heart failure and diabetes.
Methods: Cohorts comprised adult patients diagnosed with CKD stage 3+, resistant hypertension, heart failure or diabetes, and/or renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitor prescription, between 1 January 2003 and 30 June 2018, from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink.
Background: Mobile technology has become a necessity in the lives of people in many countries. Its characteristics and advantages also make it a potential medium of intervention for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Objective: The objective of this review was to evaluate previous evidence, obtained in randomized controlled trials (RCTs), on the effectiveness of using mobile devices as the medium of intervention targeting social and cognitive skills among individuals with ASD.
Aims: To evaluate the ability of a machine learning algorithm to identify patients at high risk of atrial fibrillation in primary care.
Methods: A retrospective cohort study was undertaken using the DISCOVER registry to validate an algorithm developed using a Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) dataset. The validation dataset included primary care patients in London, England aged ≥30 years from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2013, without a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation in the prior 5 years.
Objectives: Studies that use national datasets to evaluate the management of older women with breast cancer are often constrained by a lack of information on patient fitness. This study constructed a frailty index for use with secondary care administrative records and evaluated its ability to improve models of treatment patterns and overall survival in women with breast cancer.
Design: Retrospective cohort study.
Objectives: To examine key methodological considerations for using a placebo intervention in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating invasive procedures, including surgery.
Study Design And Setting: RCTs comparing an invasive procedure with a placebo were included in this systematic review. Articles published from database inception to December 31, 2017, were retrieved from Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE and CENTRAL electronic databases, by handsearching references and expert knowledge.
Various studies have documented variation in the management of older patients with breast cancer, and some of this variation stems from different approaches to balancing the expected benefit of different treatments, with the ability of patients to tolerate them. Frailty is an emerging concept that can help to make clinical decisions for older patients more consistent, not least by providing a measure of 'biological' ageing. This would reduce reliance on 'chronological' age, which is not a reliable guide for decisions on the appropriate breast cancer care for older patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There is little clinical evidence to guide treatment decisions for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in older women. This study evaluated how the management of DCIS in women aged 70 or more compared with women aged 50-69 in England and Wales.
Method: The study identified women aged ≥50 years with new unilateral DCIS diagnosed between 2014 and 2016 from linked cancer registration and routine hospital datasets for England and Wales.
Objective: to describe differences in care and 30-day mortality of patients admitted with hip fracture on weekends (Saturday-Sunday) compared to weekdays (Monday-Friday), and their relationship to the organisation of care.
Methods: data came from the National Hip Fracture Database (NHFD) linked to ONS mortality data on 52,599 patients presenting to 162 units in England between 1 January and 31 December 2014. This was combined with information on geriatrician staffing and major trauma centre (MTC) status.
Objectives: to describe the increase in orthogeriatrician involvement in hip fracture care in England and its association with improvements in time to surgery and mortality.
Study Design: analysis of Hospital Episode Statistics for 196,401 patients presenting with hip fracture to 150 hospitals in England between 1 April 2010 and 28 February 2014, combined with data on orthogeriatrician hours from a national organisational survey.
Methods: we examined changes in the average number of hours worked by orthogeriatricians in orthopaedic departments per patient with hip fracture, and their potential effect on mortality within 30 days of presentation.
Background: Hip fracture is the most common serious injury of older people. The UK National Hip Fracture Database (NHFD) was launched in 2007 as a national collaborative, clinician-led audit initiative to improve the quality of hip fracture care, but has not yet been externally evaluated.
Methods: We used routinely collected data on 471,590 older people (aged 60 years and older) admitted with a hip fracture to National Health Service (NHS) hospitals in England between 2003 and 2011.
Background: More accurate and recent estimates of adverse events in primary care are necessary to assign resources for improvement of patient safety, while predictors must be identified to ameliorate patient risk.
Aim: To determine the incidence of recorded iatrogenic harm in general practice and identify risk factors for these adverse events.
Design And Setting: Cross-sectional sample of 74,763 patients at 457 English general practices between 1 January 1999 and 31 December 2008, obtained from the General Practice Research Database.
Background: Patients diagnosed with cancer by the emergency route often have more advanced diseases and poorer outcomes. Rates of cancer diagnosed through unplanned admissions vary within and between countries, suggesting potential inconsistencies in the quality of care. To reduce diagnoses by this route and improve patient outcomes, high risk patient groups must be identified.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To gauge the opinions of doctors working, or interested, in general practice on monitoring patient safety using administrative data. The findings will inform the development of routinely collected data-based patient safety indicators in general practice and elsewhere in primary care.
Design: Non-systematic participant recruitment, using personal contacts and colleagues' recommendations.
The literature on patient safety measures derived from routinely collected hospital data was reviewed to inform indicator development. MEDLINE and Embase databases and Web sites were searched. Of 1738 citations, 124 studies describing the application, evaluation, or validation of hospital-based medical error or complication of care measures were reviewed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Existing patient-level data can be used to measure and monitor patient safety. Data from sources including electronic patient records are routinely collected in primary care and may be suitable for adverse event screening, such as patient safety indicators. To inform the feasibility of developing primary care measures of patient harm, information about routinely collected data is needed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Although the majority of patient contact within the UK's National Health Service (NHS) occurs in primary care, relatively little is known about the safety of care in this setting compared to the safety of hospital care. Measurement methods to detect iatrogenic diseases in primary care require extensive development. Routinely collected data have been successfully applied to develop patient safety indicators in secondary care.
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