The perioperative handoff protocol: evaluating impacts on handoff defects and provider satisfaction in adult perianesthesia care units.

Study Objective: To evaluate a new perioperative handoff protocol in the adult perianesthesia care units (PACUs).

Design: Prospective, unblinded cross-sectional study.

Setting: Perianesthesia care unit in a tertiary care facility serving 55,000 patients annually.

Lifetime cigarette smoking and breast cancer prognosis in the After Breast Cancer Pooling Project.

Background: There is controversy on whether former smokers have increased risk for breast cancer recurrence or all-cause mortality, regardless of how much they smoked.

Methods: Data were from three US cohorts in the After Breast Cancer Pooling Project, with detailed information on smoking among 9975 breast cancer survivors. Smoking was assessed an average of 2 years after diagnosis.

Pilot implementation of a perioperative protocol to guide operating room-to-intensive care unit patient handoffs.

Objectives: Perioperative handoffs are a particularly high-risk period given patients' postprocedural physiology, their physical transport through the hospital, and the triad transfer of personnel, information, and technology. The authors piloted a new perioperative handoff process to guide patient transfers from the cardiac operating room (OR) to the cardiac surgical intensive care unit (CSICU). The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of a standardized handoff process on patient care and provider satisfaction.

Predictors of habitual snoring and obstructive sleep apnea risk in patients with asthma.

Background: A high prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) symptoms was reported in patients with asthma. Our goal was to evaluate factors associated with habitual snoring and OSA risk in these patients.

Methods: Patients with asthma were surveyed at specialty clinics with the Sleep Apnea scale of the Sleep Disorders Questionnaire (SA-SDQ) and questions about the frequency of asthma symptoms (National Asthma Education and Prevention Program guidelines), followed by medical record review.

Correlates of daytime sleepiness in patients with asthma.

Background And Purpose: Patients with asthma often complain of daytime sleepiness, which is usually attributed to a direct effect of asthma on nocturnal sleep quality. We investigated this and other potential explanations for daytime sleepiness among asthmatics.

Patients And Methods: One hundred fifteen adult asthmatics were assessed for perceived daytime sleepiness (one question item), subjective sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale score, ESS), obstructive sleep apnea risk (Sleep Apnea scale score within Sleep Disorders Questionnaire, SA-SDQ), asthma severity step, relevant comorbid conditions, and current asthma medications.