National health registries - a 'goldmine' for studying non-communicable disease occurrence in Norway - the NCDNOR project.

To estimate occurrence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) over the life-course in the Norwegian population, national health registries are a vital source of information since they fully represent the entire non-institutionalised population. However, as they are mainly established for administrative purposes, more knowledge about how NCDs are recorded in the registries is needed. To establish this, we begin by counting the number of individuals registered annually with one or more NCDs in any of the registries.

Hospital variations in failure to rescue after abdominal surgery: a nationwide, retrospective observational study.

Objectives: This study aims to determine hospital variation and intensive care unit characteristics associated with failure to rescue after abdominal surgery in Norway.

Design: A nationwide retrospective observational study.

Setting: All 52 hospitals in Norway performing elective and acute abdominal surgery.

Abdominal surgical trajectories associated with failure to rescue. A nationwide analysis.

Objective: The ability to detect and treat complications of surgery early is essential for optimal patient outcomes. The failure-to-rescue (FTR) rate is defined as the death rate among patients who develop at least one complication after the surgical procedure and may be used to monitor a hospital's quality of surgical care. The aim of this observational study was to explore FTR in Norway and to see if we could identify surgical trajectories associated with high FTR.

Does a Code for Acute Myocardial Infarction Mean the Same in All Norwegian Hospitals? A Likelihood Approach to a Medical Record Review.

Objective: Health registries are important data sources for epidemiology, quality monitoring, and improvement. Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a common, serious condition. Little is known about variation in the positive predictive value (PPV) of a coded AMI diagnosis and its association with hospital quality indicators.

Analysis of Thromboembolic and Thrombocytopenic Events After the AZD1222, BNT162b2, and MRNA-1273 COVID-19 Vaccines in 3 Nordic Countries.

Importance: Vaccinations are paramount to halt the COVID-19 pandemic, and safety data are essential to determine the risk-benefit ratio of each COVID-19 vaccine.

Objective: To evaluate the association between the AZD1222, BNT162b2, and mRNA-1273 vaccines and subsequent thromboembolic and thrombocytopenic events.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This self-controlled case series used individual-level data from national registries in Norway, Finland, and Denmark.

Admissions to Norwegian Hospitals during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: In mid-March 2020, the Norwegian government implemented measures to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and hospitals prepared to handle an unpredictable inflow of patients with COVID-19.

Aim: The study was performed to describe the changes in hospital admissions during the first phase of the pandemic.

Methods: The Norwegian Institute of Public Health established a national preparedness register with daily updates on COVID-19 cases and the use of health services.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency and elective hip surgeries in Norway.

Background and purpose - Many countries implemented strict lockdown policies to control the COVID-19 pandemic during March 2020. The impacts of lockdown policies on joint surgeries are unknown. Therefore, we assessed the effects of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown restrictions on the number of emergency and elective hip joint surgeries, and explored whether these procedures are more/less affected by lockdown restrictions than other hospital care.

Factors associated with hospitalization, invasive mechanical ventilation treatment and death among all confirmed COVID-19 cases in Norway: Prospective cohort study.

For everyone with a positive test for SARS-CoV-2 in Norway, we studied whether age, sex, comorbidity, continent of birth and nursing home residency were risk factors for hospitalization, invasive mechanical ventilation treatment and death. Data for everyone who had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in Norway by end of June 2020 ( = 8569) were linked at the individual level to hospitalization, receipt of invasive mechanical ventilation treatment and death measured to end of July 2020. Underlying comorbidity was proxied by hospital-based in- or outpatient treatment during the two months before the SARS-CoV-2 test.

Comparing Health Outcomes of Privileged US Citizens With Those of Average Residents of Other Developed Countries.

Importance: The average health outcomes in the US are not as good as the average health outcomes in other developed countries. However, whether high-income US citizens have better health outcomes than average individuals in other developed countries is unknown.

Objective: To assess whether the health outcomes of White US citizens living in the 1% and 5% richest counties (hereafter referred to as privileged White US citizens) are better than the health outcomes of average residents in other developed countries.

Hospitalisations for COVID-19 - a comparison of different data sources.

Background: Three different data sources exist for monitoring COVID-19-associated hospitalisations in Norway: The Directorate of Health, the Norwegian Intensive Care and Pandemic Registry (NIPaR), and the linking of the Norwegian Patient Registry (NPR) and the Norwegian Surveillance System for Communicable Diseases (MSIS). A comparison of results from different data sources is important to increase understanding of the data and to further optimise current and future surveillance. We compared results from the three data sources from March to June 2020.

Effects of external inspections on sepsis detection and treatment: a stepped-wedge study with cluster-level randomisation.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of external inspections on (1) hospital emergency departments' clinical processes for detecting and treating sepsis and (2) length of hospital stay and 30-day mortality.

Design: Incomplete cluster-randomised stepped-wedge design using data from patient records and patient registries. We compared care processes and patient outcomes before and after the intervention using regression analysis.

Is the Disease Burden from COPD in Norway Falling off? A Study of Time Trends in Three Different Data Sources.

Background: Less smoking should lead to fewer COPD cases. We aimed at estimating time trends in the prevalence and burden of COPD in Norway from 2001 to 2017.

Methods: We used pre-bronchodilator spirometry and other health data from persons aged 40-84 years in three surveys of the Tromsø Study, 2001-2002, 2007-2008 and 2015-2016.

Lumbar spine surgery across 15 years: trends, complications and reoperations in a longitudinal observational study from Norway.

Background: Studies from different Western countries have reported a rapid increase in spinal surgery rates, an increase that exceeds by far the growing incidence rates of spinal disorders in the general population. There are few studies covering all lumbar spine surgery and no previous studies from Norway.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate trends in all lumbar spine surgery in Norway over 15 years, including length of hospital stay, and rates of complications and reoperations.

Hospital Variation in 30-Day Mortality for Patients With Stroke; The Impact of Individual and Municipal Socio-Demographic Status.

Background Thirty-day mortality after hospitalization for stroke is commonly reported as a quality indicator. However, the impact of adjustment for individual and/or neighborhood sociodemographic status ( SDS ) has not been well documented. This study aims to evaluate the role of individual and contextual sociodemographic determinants in explaining the variation across hospitals in Norway and determine the impact when testing for hospitals with low or high mortality.

Response probabilities and response-mode preferences in a self-administered survey.

Objective: Response rates in surveys continue to fall, and electronic online versions are increasingly replacing paper questionnaires in order to save costs and time. This can influence the composition of the respondent group in surveys. Using data from a national survey of patient experiences with maternity care, we aimed to (1) classify all of the women invited to participate in the study according to their different probabilities of responding, based on registry data, and (2) classify all of the respondents according to different probabilities of choosing a paper questionnaire when an online alternative was available, based on registry and self-reported data.

Patient experiences with interdisciplinary treatment for substance dependence: an assessment of quality indicators based on two national surveys in Norway.

The quality of health care is often measured using quality indicators, which can be utilized to compare the performance of health-care providers. Conducting comparisons in a meaningful and fair way requires the quality indicators to be adjusted for patient characteristics and other individual-level factors. The aims of the study were to develop and test a case-mix adjustment model for quality indicators based on patient-experience surveys among inpatients receiving interdisciplinary treatment for substance dependence, and to establish whether the quality indicators discriminate between health care providers.

Postoperative wound dehiscence after laparotomy: a useful healthcare quality indicator? A cohort study based on Norwegian hospital administrative data.

Objectives: Postoperative wound dehiscence (PWD) is a serious complication to laparotomy, leading to higher mortality, readmissions and cost. The aims of the present study are to investigate whether risk adjusted PWD rates could reliably differentiate between Norwegian hospitals, and whether PWD rates were associated with hospital characteristics such as hospital type and laparotomy volume.

Design: Observational study using patient administrative data from all Norwegian hospitals, obtained from the Norwegian Patient Registry, for the period 2011-2015, and linked using the unique person identification number.

The Rates of LSS Surgery in Norwegian Public Hospitals: A Threefold Increase From 1999 to 2013.

Study Design: Retrospective administrative database study.

Objective: To assess temporal and regional trends, and length of hospital stay, in lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) surgery in Norwegian public hospitals from 1999 to 2013.

Summary Of Background Data: Studies from several countries have reported increasing rates of LSS surgery over the last decades.

Observed to expected or logistic regression to identify hospitals with high or low 30-day mortality?

Introduction: A common quality indicator for monitoring and comparing hospitals is based on death within 30 days of admission. An important use is to determine whether a hospital has higher or lower mortality than other hospitals. Thus, the ability to identify such outliers correctly is essential.

Effects of external inspection on sepsis detection and treatment: a study protocol for a quasiexperimental study with a stepped-wedge design.

Introduction: Inspections are widely used in health care as a means to improve the health services delivered to patients. Despite their widespread use, there is little evidence of their effect. The mechanisms for how inspections can promote change are poorly understood.

Nurses' reports of staffing adequacy and surgical site infections: A cross-sectional multi-centre study.

Background: It is indicated that healthcare personnel's perceptions of the work environment may reflect the clinical outcomes for the patients they care for. However, the body of evidence is inconsistent when it comes to the association between work environment and surgical site infection.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to examine the associations between nurse-reported characteristics of the work environment and incidence of surgical site infections after total hip arthroplasty.

Variation between Hospitals with Regard to Diagnostic Practice, Coding Accuracy, and Case-Mix. A Retrospective Validation Study of Administrative Data versus Medical Records for Estimating 30-Day Mortality after Hip Fracture.

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the validity of patient administrative data (PAS) for calculating 30-day mortality after hip fracture as a quality indicator, by a retrospective study of medical records.

Methods: We used PAS data from all Norwegian hospitals (2005-2009), merged with vital status from the National Registry, to calculate 30-day case-mix adjusted mortality for each hospital (n = 51). We used stratified sampling to establish a representative sample of both hospitals and cases.