ECLIPSES: Early initiation of sodium glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors for cardiovascular protection in patients with type 2 diabetes following acute coronary syndrome and subsequent coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Introduction: There is a paucity of data evaluating early initiation of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) in patients with diabetes following acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG).

Objectives: To describe the efficacy and safety of SGLT2i initiated early after CABG in patients with type 2 diabetes who experienced ACS.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) who experienced ACS and subsequent CABG with follow up at 3 and 12 months.

Pregnancy Outcomes in Living Kidney Donors: Protocol of a Population-Based Cohort Study in Three Canadian Provinces.

Background: A substantial proportion of living kidney donors are women of childbearing age. Some prior studies report a higher risk of gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia in living kidney donors compared with nondonors. Further research is needed to better quantify the risk of adverse maternal, fetal/infant, and neonatal outcomes attributable to living kidney donation.

Antihypertensive deprescribing in frail long-term care residents (OptimizeBP): protocol for a prospective, randomised, open-label pragmatic trial.

Introduction: Although antihypertensive medication use is common among frail older adults, observational studies in this population suggest blood pressure (BP) lowering may convey limited benefit and perhaps even harm. This protocol describes an antihypertensive deprescribing trial in frail older adults powered for mortality and morbidity outcomes.

Methods And Analysis: Prospective, parallel, randomised, open-label pragmatic trial.

Assessing agreement between population-level administrative pharmaceutical databases and patient-reported medication dispensation in cardiac rehabilitation patients.

Background: Pharmacoepidemiology has emerged as a crucial field in evaluating the use and effects of medications in large populations to ensure their safe and effective use. This study aimed to assess the agreement of cardiac medication use between a provincial medication database, the Pharmaceutical Information Network (PIN), and reconciled medication data from confirmation through patient interviews for patients referred to cardiac rehabilitation.

Methods: The study included data from patients referred to the TotalCardiology Rehabilitation CR program, and medication data was available in both TotalCardiology Rehabilitation charts and PIN.

Stroke Risk Reduction in Atrial Fibrillation Through Pharmacist Prescribing: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Major gaps in the delivery of appropriate oral anticoagulation therapy (OAC) exist, leaving a large proportion of persons with atrial fibrillation (AF) unnecessarily at risk for stroke and its sequalae.

Objective: To investigate whether pharmacist-led OAC prescription can increase the delivery of stroke risk reduction therapy in individuals with AF.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This prospective, open-label, patient-level randomized clinical trial of early vs delayed pharmacist intervention from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2022, was performed in 27 community pharmacies in Alberta, Canada.

Uptake of SGLT2i and Outcomes in Patients with Diabetes and Heart Failure: A Population-Based Cohort and a Specialized Clinic Cohort.

Background: Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are effective in adults with diabetes mellitus (DM) and heart failure (HF) based on randomized clinical trials. We compared SGLT2 inhibitor uptake and outcomes in two cohorts: a population-based cohort of all adults with DM and HF in Alberta, Canada and a specialized heart function clinic (HFC) cohort.

Methods: The population-based cohort was derived from linked provincial healthcare datasets.

Individual and Geospatial Determinants of Health Associated With School-Based Human Papillomavirus Immunization in Alberta: Population-Based Cohort Study.

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection causes nearly all cervical cancer cases and is a cause of anogenital and oropharyngeal cancers. The incidence of HPV-associated cancers is inequitable, with an increased burden on marginalized groups in high-income countries. Understanding how immunization status varies by material and social deprivation, health system, and geospatial factors is valuable for prioritizing and planning HPV immunization interventions.

Health data governance for research use in Alberta.

Alberta has rich clinical and health services data held under the custodianship of Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services (AHS), which is not only used for clinical and administrative purposes but also disease surveillance and epidemiological research. Alberta is the largest province in Canada with a single payer centralised health system, AHS, and a consolidated data and analytics team supporting researchers across the province. This paper describes Alberta's data custodians, data governance mechanisms, and streamlined processes followed for research data access.

Comparison of outcomes after appendectomy in First Nations and non-First Nations patients in Northern Alberta.

Background: Internationally, Indigenous Peoples experience worse surgical outcomes than non-Indigenous patients, but equity of surgical care is less well studied in Canada. This study compares outcomes after appendectomy in First Nations and non-First Nations patients.

Methods: In this population-based study, we reviewed administrative data of patients who underwent appendectomy between Apr.

Sex differences in post-operative outcomes following non-cardiac surgery.

It is uncertain whether sex is an independent risk factor for poor outcomes after non-cardiac surgery. We examined sex differences in short- and long-term mortality and morbidity in patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery in Alberta, Canada. Using linked administrative databases, we identified patients undergoing one of 45 different non-cardiac surgeries who were hospitalized between 2008 and 2019.

The COVID-19 pandemic did not negatively impact frequency or continuity of outpatient care in Alberta, Canada.

Outpatient care patterns have changed markedly during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this population-based retrospective cohort study, we compared the frequency of outpatient care (whether in-person or virtual) and continuity of care for all community-dwelling adults in Alberta between March 1, 2019 and February 29, 2020 (pre-pandemic) versus March 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021 (pandemic). We calculated provider continuity using Breslau's Usual Provider Continuity (UPC) for patients with at least 2 outpatient encounters.

Bedtime versus morning use of antihypertensives in frail continuing care residents (BedMed-Frail): protocol for a prospective, randomised, open-label, blinded end-point pragmatic trial.

Introduction: BedMed-Frail explores risks and benefits of switching antihypertensives from morning to bedtime in a frail population at greater risk of hypotensive adverse effects.

Methods And Analysis: : Prospective parallel randomised, open-label, blinded end-point trial.: Hypertensive continuing care residents, in either long-term care or supportive living, who are free from glaucoma, and using ≥1 once daily antihypertensive.

Myocardial Injury After Noncardiac Surgery in Major General Surgical Patients a Prospective Observational Cohort Study.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the prognostic relevance, clinical characteristics, and 30-day outcomes associated with myocardial injury after noncardiac surgery (MINS) in major general surgery patients.

Background: MINS has been independently associated with 30-day mortality after noncardiac surgery. The characteristics and prognostic importance of MINS in major general surgical patients have not been described.

Outcomes Among Patients Hospitalized With Non-COVID-19 Conditions Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Alberta and Ontario, Canada.

Importance: The association of inpatient COVID-19 caseloads with outcomes in patients hospitalized with non-COVID-19 conditions is unclear.

Objective: To determine whether 30-day mortality and length of stay (LOS) for patients hospitalized with non-COVID-19 medical conditions differed (1) before and during the pandemic and (2) across COVID-19 caseloads.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective cohort study compared patient hospitalizations between April 1, 2018, and September 30, 2019 (prepandemic), vs between April 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021 (during the pandemic), in 235 acute care hospitals in Alberta and Ontario, Canada.

Association Between Vaccination Status and Outcomes in Patients Admitted to the ICU With COVID-19.

Objectives: Although COVID-19 vaccines can reduce the need for intensive care unit admission in COVID-19, their effect on outcomes in critical illness remains unclear. We evaluated outcomes in vaccinated patients admitted to the ICU with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections and the association between vaccination and booster status on clinical outcomes.

Design: Retrospective cohort.

Direct oral anticoagulants for atrial fibrillation in early postoperative valve repair or bioprosthetic replacement.

Objective: Despite increased use of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), limited evidence guides their use in the early postoperative period after bioprosthetic valve implantation in patients with atrial fibrillation. Our objective was to describe the efficacy and safety of DOACs and warfarin in the first 3 months after surgical bioprosthetic valve replacement or repair in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Methods: This was a retrospective, registry-informed cohort study of surgical patients who underwent bioprosthetic valve replacement or repair, had concomitant atrial fibrillation and received oral anticoagulation at discharge.

Comparative Risk of Harm Associated with Zopiclone or Trazodone Use in Nursing Home Residents: a Retrospective Cohort Study in Alberta, Canada.

Background: There is growing evidence of harm associated with trazodone and nonbenzodiazepine sedative hypnotics (e.g., zopiclone); however, their comparative risk of harm is unknown.

Older persons living with dementia and their use of acute care services over 2 years in Alberta.

Objective: To characterize transitions to acute and residential care and identify variables associated with specific transitions among community-based persons living with dementia (PLWD).

Design: Retrospective cohort study using primary care electronic medical record data linked with health administrative data.

Setting: Alberta.

Time to Triple Therapy in Patients With de Novo Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction: a Population-Based Study.

Background: Quadruple therapy is recommended for the management of patients with heart failure (HF) and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). In order to provide background and identify barriers to quadruple therapy, in this study, the aim was to explore the time to initiation of triple therapy in a population-based cohort of patients with de novo HF.

Methods: Adult patients with de novo hospital or emergency department (ED) diagnosis of HF between April 1, 2008, and March 31, 2018, in Alberta, Canada, were included and were linked to echocardiography data to identify patients with HFrEF (EF ≤ 40%).

Thrombolysis in Stroke Mimics: Comprehensive Stroke Centers vs Telestroke Sites.

Background: Hyperacute treatment of acute stroke may lead to thrombolysis in stroke mimics (SM). Our aim was to determine the frequency of thrombolysis in SM in primary stroke centers (PSC) dependent on telestroke versus comprehensive stroke centers (CSC).

Method: Retrospective review of prospectively collected data from the Quality improvement and Clinical Research (QuICR) registry, the Discharge Abstract Database (DAD), and The National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NACRS) of consecutive patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke in Alberta (Canada) from April 2016 to March 2021.