Background: Oral corticosteroids (OCS) in the home management of asthma exacerbations have been recommended in the NIH/NHLBI guidelines since 1991. As a routine component of written action plans, OCS treatment at home is associated with reduced emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations as well as decreased mortality.
Methods: A literature search of English language journals from 1991 to 2009 was performed using several databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, and SCOPUS. We assessed studies that evaluated adherence to national guidelines for home management of asthma exacerbations.
Results: Our review of the literature found that several studies reveal that a small percentage (<3-26%) of patients are receiving OCS at home to manage asthma exacerbations prior to an ED visit. Additional studies were found showing very low use of written action plans, strongly suggesting lack of OCS for home management of asthma exacerbations.
Conclusions: Despite evidence of reduced ED visits and hospitalizations and the recommendations of national and international guidelines, the home use of OCS in managing asthma exacerbations remains unacceptably low. New strategies are needed to ensure home use of OCS as part of written action plans to prevent ED visits and hospitalizations for asthma exacerbations.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/02770903.2010.514641 | DOI Listing |
JAMA
January 2025
Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis.
Importance: Care management benefits community-dwelling patients with dementia, but studies include few patients with moderate to severe dementia or from racial and ethnic minority populations, lack palliative care, and seldom reduce health care utilization.
Objective: To determine whether integrated dementia palliative care reduces dementia symptoms, caregiver depression and distress, and emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations compared with usual care in moderate to severe dementia.
Design, Setting, And Participants: A randomized clinical trial of community-dwelling patients with moderate to severe dementia and their caregivers enrolled from March 2019 to December 2020 from 2 sites in central Indiana (2-year follow-up completed on January 7, 2023).
JAMA Netw Open
January 2025
Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.
Importance: Multiple organ dysfunction (MOD) is a leading cause of in-hospital child mortality. For survivors, posthospitalization health care resource use and costs are unknown.
Objective: To evaluate longitudinal health care resource use and costs after hospitalization with MOD in infants (aged <1 year) and children (aged 1-18 years).
JAMA Netw Open
January 2025
Department of Emergency Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
Importance: There is a clear benefit to body armor against firearms; however, it remains unclear how these vests may influence day-to-day patient encounters when worn by emergency medical services (EMS).
Objective: To determine the association of ballistic vests worn by EMS clinicians with workplace violence (WPV) and disparities in care among racial and/or ethnic minority patients.
Design, Setting, And Participants: Prospective cohort study of a volunteer-based sample of EMS clinicians at a large, multistate EMS agency encompassing 15 ground sites across the Midwest from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024.
QJM
January 2025
Department of Emergency General Medicine, Mimihara General Hospital.
Infection
January 2025
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine II, Medical Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, University of Freiburg, Hugstetter Str. 55, 79106, Freiburg, Germany.
Objectives: This study aimed to reassess the long-term impact of a Health Action Process Approach (HAPA)-informed intervention on guideline adherence among asplenic patients and their physicians, three years post-intervention.
Methods: This follow-up study was conducted within the framework of the interventional PrePSS (Prevention of Postsplenectomy Sepsis Score) study. Patients aged 18 or older with anatomical asplenia were in enrolled in a prospective controlled, two-armed historical control group design.
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