In-Hospital Depressed Level of Consciousness and Long-Term Functional Outcomes in ICU Survivors.

Objectives: Among critically ill patients, acutely depressed level of consciousness is associated with mortality, but its relationship to long-term outcomes such as disability and physical function is unknown. We investigated the relationship of level of consciousness during hospitalization with long-term disability and physical function in ICU survivors.

Design: Multi-center observational cohort study.

Nutritional Risk at intensive care unit admission and outcomes in survivors of critical illness.

Background And Aims: Risk factors for poor outcomes after critical illness are incompletely understood. While nutritional risk is associated with mortality in critically ill patients, its association with disability, cognitive, and health-related quality of life is unclear in survivors of critical illness. This study's objective was to determine whether greater nutritional risk at ICU admission is associated with greater disability, worse cognition, and worse HRQOL at 3 and 12-month follow-up.

Prevention and Management of Delirium in the Intensive Care Unit.

Delirium is a debilitating form of brain dysfunction frequently encountered in the intensive care unit (ICU). It is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, longer lengths of stay, higher hospital costs, and cognitive impairment that persists long after hospital discharge. Predisposing factors include smoking, hypertension, cardiac disease, sepsis, and premorbid dementia.

Numeracy, Health Literacy, Cognition, and 30-Day Readmissions among Patients with Heart Failure.

Background: Numeracy, health literacy, and cognition are important for chronic disease management. Prior studies have found them to be associated with poorer selfcare and worse clinical outcomes, but limited data exists in the context of heart failure (HF), a condition that requires patients to monitor their weight, fluid intake, and dietary salt, especially in the posthospitalization period.

Objective: To examine the relationship between numeracy, health literacy, and cognition with 30-day readmissions among patients hospitalized for acute decompensated HF (ADHF).

Low Health Literacy Is Associated with Increased Transitional Care Needs in Hospitalized Patients.

Objective: To examine the association of health literacy with the number and type of transitional care needs (TCN) among patients being discharged to home.

Design, Setting, Participants: A cross-sectional analysis of patients admitted to an academic medical center.

Measurements: Nurses administered the Brief Health Literacy Screen and documented TCNs along 10 domains: caregiver support, transportation, healthcare utilization, high-risk medical comorbidities, medication management, medical devices, functional status, mental health comorbidities, communication, and financial resources.

Development of a multivariable model to predict vulnerability in older American patients hospitalised with cardiovascular disease.

Objectives: To identify vulnerable cardiovascular patients in the hospital using a self-reported function-based screening tool.

Participants: Prospective observational cohort study of 445 individuals aged ≥ 65 years admitted to a university medical centre hospital within the USA with acute coronary syndrome and/or decompensated heart failure.

Methods: Participants completed an inperson interview during hospitalisation, which included vulnerable functional status using the Vulnerable Elders Survey (VES-13), sociodemographic, healthcare utilisation practices and clinical patient-specific measures.

Effect of patient- and medication-related factors on inpatient medication reconciliation errors.

Background: Little research has examined the incidence, clinical relevance, and predictors of medication reconciliation errors at hospital admission and discharge.

Objective: To identify patient- and medication-related factors that contribute to pre-admission medication list (PAML) errors and admission order errors, and to test whether such errors persist in the discharge medication list.

Design, Participants: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 423 adults with acute coronary syndromes or acute decompensated heart failure admitted to two academic hospitals who received pharmacist-assisted medication reconciliation during the Pharmacist Intervention for Low Literacy in Cardiovascular Disease (PILL-CVD) Study.