Correlates of cognitive functioning in independent elderly patients discharged home from the emergency department after a minor injury.

Background: The objective of this study was to explore correlates of cognitive functioning of older adults visiting the emergency department (ED) after a minor injury.

Methods: These results are derived from a large prospective study in three Canadian EDs. Participants were aged ≥ 65 years and independent in basic activities of daily living, visiting the ED for minor injuries and discharged home within 48 hours (those with known dementia, confusion, and delirium were excluded).

Decline in activities of daily living after a visit to a Canadian emergency department for minor injuries in independent older adults: are frail older adults with cognitive impairment at greater risk?

Objectives: To compare functional decline in activities of daily living (ADLs) of older adults visiting emergency departments (EDs) for minor injuries according to frailty and cognitive status.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Seven Canadian EDs.

Is cognitive function a concern in independent elderly adults discharged home from the emergency department in Canada after a minor injury?

Objectives: To describe the cognitive functioning of independent community-dwelling elderly adults visiting the emergency department (ED) for minor injuries and at 3- and 6-month follow-up assessments and to document the occurrence of falls, return to the ED, and hospital visits over time according to cognitive level.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Three Canadian EDs.

Functional Impact of a Minor Thoracic Injury: An Investigation of Age, Delayed Hemothorax, and Rib Fracture Effects.

Objective: To investigate whether minor thoracic injuries (MTIs) relate to subsequent functional limitations.

Background: Approximately 75% of patients with an MTI are discharged after an emergency department (ED) visit, whereas significant functional limitations can occur in the weeks that follow.

Methods: A 19 months' prospective cohort study with a 90-day follow-up was conducted at 4 university-affiliated EDs.

Evaluation of eligibility and recruitment in breast cancer clinical trials.

Objectives of the study were to measure recruitment rates in clinical trials and to identify patients, physicians or trials characteristics associated with higher recruitment rates. Among patients who had a clinical trial available for their cancer, 83.5% (345/413) met the eligibility criteria to at least one clinical trial.

Risk factors of significant pain syndrome 90 days after minor thoracic injury: trajectory analysis.

Objectives: The objective was to identify the risk factors of clinically significant pain at 90 days in patients with minor thoracic injury (MTI) discharged from the emergency department (ED).

Methods: A prospective, multicenter, cohort study was conducted in four Canadian EDs from November 2006 to November 2010. All consecutive patients aged 16 years or older with MTI were eligible at discharge from EDs.

Cumulative incidence of functional decline after minor injuries in previously independent older Canadian individuals in the emergency department.

Objectives: To estimate the cumulative incidence of functional decline in independent older adults 3 and 6 months after a minor injury treated in the emergency department (ED) and to identify predictors of this functional decline.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Settings: Three Canadian teaching EDs.

Push hard, push fast: quasi-experimental study on the capacity of elementary schoolchildren to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Background: The optimal age to begin CPR training is a matter of debate. This study aims to determine if elementary schoolchildren have the capacity to administer CPR efficiently.

Methods: This quasi-experimental study took place in a Quebec City school.

Eligibility criteria in randomized phase II and III adjuvant and neoadjuvant breast cancer trials: not a significant barrier to enrollment.

Background: Clinical trial recruitment can be impeded by eligibility criteria being too numerous or too restrictive.

Purpose: This study's principal objective was to determine whether a specific category of eligibility criteria could be identified as a major barrier to patient enrollment.

Methods: Nine phase II or III clinical trials, opened between June 2004 and July 2008, were selected.

Association between prodromal pain and the severity of acute herpes zoster and utilization of health care resources.

Background: Herpes zoster results from the reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus, which is often accompanied by a prodrome of dermatomal pain. Little is known about the burden of prodromal pain.

Objectives: (1) Describe the frequency, severity and duration of prodromal pain; (2) determine the relationship between prodromal pain and the characteristics of herpes zoster at recruitment and the utilization of health care resources.

Influence of the family cluster effect on psychosocial variables in families undergoing BRCA1/2 genetic testing for cancer susceptibility.

Objective: This study evaluated the influence of the family cluster effect on behavioral and psychological variables among individuals undergoing BRCA1/2 genetic testing for cancer susceptibility.

Methods: French-Canadian women (n = 552) and men (n = 104) from 140 different families undergoing BRCA1/2 testing between years 1998 and 2004 completed a self-administered questionnaire on a wide range of behavioral and psychological variables. The impact of the family cluster effect on 29 variables was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) as computed from multilevel random-effect models.

Evaluation of factors associated with recruitment in hematological clinical trials: a retrospective cohort study.

The objectives of this study were to measure the recruitment, to study characteristics associated with recruitment, and to explore reasons for non-recruitment in clinical trials for malignant hematological diseases. Trials opened between 2002 and 2008 were selected. If the patient fulfilled the main criteria of the protocol, all eligibility criteria of the protocol were assessed.

A prospective study of the herpes zoster severity of illness.

Objective: MASTER, a multicenter prospective study, was conducted to provide a thorough understanding of the burden of herpes zoster (HZ) and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). Objectives are to: (1) describe the herpes zoster severity-of-illness (HZSOI), a composite measure of pain duration and severity; and (2) to identify the characteristics at recruitment predictive of greater HZSOI at the different phases of HZ.

Methods: From October, 2005 to July, 2006, 261 outpatients with HZ, aged more than equal to 50 years, were recruited within 14 days of rash onset across Canada.

Predictors of postherpetic neuralgia among patients with herpes zoster: a prospective study.

Unlabelled: Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is the most common complication of herpes zoster (HZ). The main objectives of this study were to: 1) estimate the severity and duration of PHN; and 2) identify the predictors of PHN. From October, 2005 to July, 2006, 261 outpatients with HZ, aged ≥ 50, were recruited within 14 days of rash onset during the routine clinical practice of 83 physicians across Canada.

Evaluation of the Prehospital Index, presence of high-velocity impact and judgment of emergency medical technicians as criteria for trauma triage.

Objective: We sought to evaluate the performance of the Prehospital Index (PHI), the high velocity impact (HVI) criterion and emergency medical technician (EMT) judgment for the prehospital triage of injured patients.

Methods: The study population included all prehospital trauma patients transported by an emergency medical service to 2 level I trauma centres for adults. All prehospital run sheets were linked to trauma registry data.

Identification of cancer care and protocol characteristics associated with recruitment in breast cancer clinical trials.

Purpose: It is estimated that only 5% of patients with cancer participate in a clinical trial. Barriers to participation may relate to available protocols, physicians, and patients, but few data exist on barriers related to cancer care environments and protocol characteristics.

Methods: The primary objective was to identify characteristics of cancer care environments and clinical trial protocols associated with a low recruitment into breast cancer clinical trials.

Health behaviors and psychological distress in women initiating BRCA1/2 genetic testing: comparison with control population.

The study objective was to compare breast cancer screening practices, lifestyle behaviors and psychological distress among 640 women initiating BRCA1/2 testing to those among 9,498 similarly-aged women from the general population. Health behaviors and psychological distress were reported in a self-administered questionnaire at pre-test genetic counseling. Regression analyses indicate that high-risk women were more frequently performing breast cancer screening and, in the case of those previously diagnosed with cancer, were more likely to be non-smokers and physically active than women from general population.

The potential cost-effectiveness of vaccination against herpes zoster and post-herpetic neuralgia.

A clinical trial has shown that a live-attenuated varicella-zoster virus vaccine is effective against herpes zoster (HZ) and post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN). The aim of this study was to examine the cost-effectiveness of vaccination against HZ and PHN in Canada. A cohort model was developed to estimate the burden of HZ and the cost-effectiveness of HZ vaccination, using Canadian population-based data.

Statistical validation of the Glasgow Coma Score.

Background: To validate the predictive value of the Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) and find the best way to model the score in a logistic regression model predicting mortality.

Methods: Analyses were based on 20,494 patients from the trauma registries of three urban Level I trauma centers in the province of Quebec, Canada. The predictive value of the GCS and its components was evaluated in logistic regression models predicting in-hospital mortality with measures of discrimination and calibration.