Mobile phone access and preferences among medical inpatients at an urban Canadian hospital for post-discharge planning: A pre-COVID-19 cross-sectional survey.

Background: Digital health interventions are increasingly used for patient care, yet little data is available on the phone access type and usage preferences amongst medical ward inpatients to inform the most appropriate digital interventions post-discharge.

Methods: To identify mobile phone ownership, internet access, and cellular use preferences among medical inpatients, we conducted a researcher-administered survey of patients admitted to five internal medicine units at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) in January 2020. The survey was administered over 2 days separated by a 2-week period.

Preventability of 28-Day Hospital Readmissions in General Internal Medicine Patients: A Retrospective Analysis at a Quaternary Hospital.

Background: Unplanned hospital readmissions are associated with increased patient mortality and health care costs, yet only a fraction are likely to be preventable. This study's objective was to identify preventable hospital readmissions of general internal medicine patients, and their common causes.

Methods: Patients who were discharged from the general internal medicine teaching service and readmitted to hospital within 28 days for 24 hours or more were recruited to the study; they were identified via the hospital electronic medical record system.

Structured patient handoff on an internal medicine ward: A cluster randomized control trial.

Background: The effect of a multi-faceted handoff strategy in a high volume internal medicine inpatient setting on process and patient outcomes has not been clearly established. We set out to determine if a multi-faceted handoff intervention consisting of education, standardized handoff procedures, including fixed time and location for face-to-face handoff would result in improved rates of handoff compared with usual practice. We also evaluated resident satisfaction, health resource utilization and clinical outcomes.

Early Warning Scores to Predict Noncritical Events Overnight in Hospitalized Medical Patients: A Prospective Case Cohort Study.

Background: Physicians are often called to evaluate patients overnight with varying levels of clinical deterioration. Early warning scores predict critical clinical deterioration in patients; however, it is unknown whether they are able to reliably predict which patients will need to be seen overnight and whether these patients will require further resource use.

Methods: A prospective case cohort study of 522 patient nights in a single tertiary care hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, was conducted to assess the ability of Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) and National Early Warning Score (NEWS) to predict patients who will need to be seen overnight by physicians and will require other healthcare resources.

Unusual sensory variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome.

We describe a 52-year-old woman presenting with acute onset of severe burning paraesthesia in the hands and feet associated with allodynia and antalgic gait. At the time of admission to hospital no motor weakness was present. A diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) was considered when neurophysiological studies were completed showing convincing evidence of demyelination on motor conduction studies and sural sparing on sensory nerve studies.

Who to handover: a case-control study of a novel scoring system to prioritise handover of internal medicine inpatients.

Background: Handover of patients between care providers is a critical event in patient care. There is, however, little evidence to guide the handover process, including determining which patients to handover.

Aim: Compare the ability of gestalt-based handover with two structured scores, the modified early warning score (MEWS) and our novel iHAND clinical decision support system, to predict which patients will be assessed by a physician overnight.

Septic arthritis of the pubic symphysis from Pseudomonas aeruginosa: reconsidering traditional risk factors and symptoms in the elderly patient.

A high-functioning 82-year-old man presented with lower lumbar pain and pubic tenderness. On admission he was afebrile with a normal white count. A grossly elevated C reactive protein was noted.

Knowledge of and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS among school teachers in Belize.

Objectives: Although Belize currently has the highest rate of HIV infection in Central America, HIV/AIDS education is not formally included in the school curriculum. We assessed HIV/AIDS-related knowledge and attitudes of Belizean teachers.

Methods: Ninety-one teachers completed a survey of 55 questions developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, Atlanta, Georgia, USA).