Safety Factors and Patterns of Bicycle Trauma in a Tertiary Level 1 Trauma Center in Boston, Massachusetts: A Retrospective Review and Survey Study.

Objectives: Increasing bicycle ridership is accompanied by ongoing bicycle-related accidents in many urban cities. There is a need for improved understanding of patterns and risks of urban bicycle usage. We describe the injuries and outcomes of bicycle-related trauma in Boston, Massachusetts, and determine accident-related factors and behaviors associated with injury severity.

Patient care transitions from the emergency department to the medicine ward: evaluation of a standardized electronic signout tool.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of a new electronic handoff tool for emergency department to medicine ward patient transfers over a 1-year period.

Design: Prospective mixed-methods analysis of data submitted by medicine residents following admitting shifts before and after eSignout implementation.

Setting: University-based, tertiary-care hospital.

Bicycle helmet laws are associated with a lower fatality rate from bicycle-motor vehicle collisions.

Objective: To assess the association between bicycle helmet legislation and bicycle-related deaths sustained by children involved in bicycle-motor vehicle collisions.

Study Design: We conducted a cross-sectional study of all bicyclists aged 0-16 years included in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System who died between January 1999 and December 2010. We compared fatality rates in age-specific state populations between states with helmet laws and those without helmet laws.

Prevalence of bicycle helmet use by users of public bikeshare programs.

Study Objective: Public bikeshare programs are becoming increasingly common in the United States and around the world. These programs make bicycles accessible for hourly rental to the general public. We seek to describe the prevalence of helmet use among adult users of bikeshare programs and users of personal bicycles in 2 cities with recently introduced bikeshare programs (Boston, MA, and Washington, DC).

Absolute lymphocyte count in the emergency department predicts a low CD4 count in admitted HIV-positive patients.

Objectives: This study sought to determine if the automated absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) predicts a "low" (<200 × 10(6) cells/μL) CD4 count in patients with known human immunodeficiency virus (HIV+) who are admitted to the hospital from the emergency department (ED).

Methods: This retrospective cohort study over an 8-year period was performed in a single, urban academic tertiary care hospital with over 85,000 annual ED visits. Included were patients who were known to be HIV+ and admitted from the ED, who had an ALC measured in the ED and a CD4 count measured within 24 hours of admission.

Abnormal coagulation tests obtained in the emergency department are associated with mortality in patients with suspected infection.

Background: Early recognition of acute organ dysfunction in emergency department (ED) patients with suspected infection may help select patients at increased risk of mortality. The hematologic system is often overlooked in the evaluation and management of patients with infection because it is poorly circumscribed and serves a multitude of functions.

Study Objectives: We examine the hypothesis that abnormalities in commonly and easily obtained markers of coagulation function (international normalized ratio [INR], partial thromboplastin time [PTT], and platelet count [PLT]) are associated with mortality in ED patients admitted to the hospital with suspected infection.

Risk factors for death in elderly emergency department patients with suspected infection.

Objectives: To identify independent risk factors for death in elderly emergency department (ED) patients admitted for infection and to derive and validate a mortality-prediction rule for such patients.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary hospital ED with 55,000 annual visits.