Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on non-COVID-19 emergency department visits in Eastern France: Reduced risk or avoidance behavior?

Objective: To study the impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on avoided emergency department visits and consequent hospitalizations.

Study Design: An observational retrospective design was used to investigate avoided visits and hospitalizations of an departmental emergency department combined with a clustering approach on multimorbidity patterns.

Methods: A multimorbidity clustering technique was applied on the emergency department diagnostics to segment the population in diseases clusters.

Motivations of French Physicians to Perform Teleconsultations During COVID-19: A Mixed-Method Study.

Teleconsultations have been an indispensable part of the public health armamentarium during the COVID-19 crisis. Many physicians replaced face-to-face consultations with teleconsultations for the very first time. This study aimed to understand telemedicine uses by physicians during the lockdown period and explain the changes in their teleconsultation practices after the reopening of an outpatient department.

Comment on: Predicting In-Hospital Mortality in COVID-19 Older Patients with Specifically Developed Scores.

See the Reply by De Matteis et al.

Being useful among persons aged over 65: social representations from a cross-sectional European study.

Background: There is a compelling need to prepare our societies and healthcare systems to deal with the oncoming wave of population ageing. The majority of older persons maintain a desire to be valued and useful members of society and of their social networks.

Aims: We sought to investigate the perception of usefulness among persons aged 65 years and over in four European countries.

Absence of Anti-Glomerular Basement Membrane Antibodies in 200 Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus With or Without Lupus Nephritis: Results of the GOODLUPUS Study.

Introduction: Anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) antibodies are pathogenic antibodies first detected in renal-limited anti-GBM disease and in Goodpasture disease, the latter characterized by rapidly progressive crescentic glomerulonephritis combined with intra-alveolar hemorrhage. Studies have suggested that anti-GBM antibody positivity may be of interest in lupus nephritis (LN). Moreover, severe anti-GBM vasculitis cases in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have been described in the literature, but few studies have assessed the incidence of anti-GBM antibodies in SLE patients.

[Complications of coronary invasive procedures in nonagenarians: A case-control study].

Introduction: Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in nonagenarians, whose numbers have doubled in twenty years. In the absence of recommendations, the place of coronary invasive strategy in this population remains a therapeutic challenge and its interest as well as its risks are poorly established. The aim of our study was to evaluate the safety of coronary invasive practice in the nonagenarian population for all indications.

No impact of a prescription booklet on medication consumption in nursing home residents from 2011 to 2014: a controlled before-after study.

Background: Older persons are particularly exposed to adverse events from medication. Among the various strategies to reduce polypharmacy, educational approaches have shown promising results. We aimed to evaluate the impact on medication consumption, of a booklet designed to aid physicians with prescriptions for elderly nursing home residents.

Influence of trends in hospital volume over time on patient outcomes for high-risk surgery.

Background: The "practice makes perfect" concept considers the more frequent a hospital performs a procedure, the better the outcome of the procedure. We aimed to study this concept by investigating whether patient outcomes improve in hospitals with a significantly increased volume of high-risk surgery over time and whether a learning effect existed at the individual hospital level.

Methods: We included all patients who underwent one of 10 digestive, cardiovascular and orthopaedic procedures between 2010 and 2014 from the French nationwide hospitals database.

[Representation of Female speakers at French psychiatry conferences].

Objectives: First, the main objective was to describe the evolution of the representation of women at the two main conferences of psychiatry in France-Encephale and French Congress of Psychiatry-from 2009 to 2018, and to compare it to the evolution of the representation of women among French psychiatrists. Second, we aimed to describe this evolution within the themes of general psychiatry, child psychiatry and addictology and compare it to the evolution of the number of adult psychiatrists, child psychiatrists and addictologists in France, and likewise to describe this evolution within the organizing and scientific committees, chairpersons and symposia of pharmaceutical companies at these conferences. We hypothesized that women are underrepresented at French speaking psychiatry conferences and sought to quantify this.

[Impact of animal-assisted interventions on the resident].

Animal-assisted interventions are designed for personal well-being. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions in the context of residential facilities for dependent elderly people. Animal-assisted therapy, which can be delivered by trained staff, could be a tool to helpinstitutionalised elderly people cope with loneliness.

Congenital syphilis: A prospective study of 22 cases diagnosed by PCR.

Unlabelled: Congenital syphilis (CS) is caused by Treponema pallidum infection in utero. There is a need to develop new tools to diagnose CS: the diagnostic value of PCR is difficult to assess. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical and laboratory characteristics of mothers and infants with CS as diagnosed by PCR tests on various maternal and neonatal samples.

[Impact of a Home Return Assistance Service (PRADO-IC) on the re-hospitalisation rate for heart failure patients].

Background: Heart failure is a public health problem. Since 2013, the National Insurance has been offering the PRADO-IC service for the return home of patients hospitalised for cardiac decompensation. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of PRADO on the rate of re-hospitalisation of patients with heart failure at the centre hospitalier de Troyes (CHT).

An Efficient Simulation-Based Optimization Approach for Improving Emergency Department Performance.

In recent years, health care organizations, in particular emergency department (ED), have come under increasing pressure to provide quality care. In this context, human resources are a central aspect: a good utilization of health worker could improve quality of care. In this paper, a simulation model is proposed.

Impact of the implementation of a fast-track on emergency department length of stay and quality of care indicators in the Champagne-Ardenne region: a before-after study.

Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the effect of the implementation of a fast-track on emergency department (ED) length of stay (LOS) and quality of care indicators.

Design: Adjusted before-after analysis.

Setting: A large hospital in the Champagne-Ardenne region, France.

Electrocardiographic modifications induced by breast implants.

Background: Echocardiography realization can be challenging in the presence of breasts implants (BI). It is less known if electrocardiograms (ECG) may be modified in the presence of BI.

Methods: ECG from women with BI (and without any known cardiac structural disease) were sent and analyzed by two experienced electrophysiologists (EP1 and EP2) who were blinded and completely unaware of the context of the patients (Group 1).

Evidence of slight improvement in five-year survival in non-small-cell lung cancer over the last 10 years: Results of the French KBP-CPHG real-world studies.

Background: Although improved during the last decades, the prognosis of lung cancer is poor. In 2000, the French College of general hospital respiratory physicians, conducted KBP-2000-CPHG, a prospective multicenter epidemiological study including all volunteer adult patients diagnosed for primary lung cancer; with the five-year survival as primary endpoint. The primary objective of KBP-2010-CPHG was to compare overall five-year survival data with KBP-2000-CPHG ones.

In-home physical frailty monitoring: relevance with respect to clinical tests.

Background: Frailty detection and remote monitoring are of major importance for slowing down, and/or even stopping the frailty process in home-dwelling older people. Taking the Fried's criteria as a reference, this work aims to compare the results produced by a technological set (ARPEGE Pack) with those obtained by usual clinical tests, as well as to discuss the ability of the Pack to be used for long-run frailty remote monitoring.

Methods: 194 participants were given a number of geriatric tests and asked to make use of the ARPEGE technological tools as well as reference clinical tools to feed Fried's indicators.

[Non-pharmacological therapies and neuropsychological disorders in institutions].

Non-pharmacological therapies are now used in many nursing homes often with residents presenting a risk of behavioural disorders. They include music therapy, animal-assisted therapy, physical activity as well as other approaches such as light therapy or aromatherapy. It requires rigorous assessment, the permanent involvement and engagement of residents as well as the staff as part of a compassionate and participative approach.

Factors influencing the use of the "not for generic substitution" mention for prescriptions in primary care: a survey with general practitioners.

Background: Generic drug substitution is a public health policy challenge with high economic potential. Generic drugs are generally cheaper than brand-name drugs. Drugs are a significant part of the total health expenditure, especially in ambulatory care.

Reduction of radiation exposure associated with renewal of the radiologic systems in coronary interventions.

Purpose: Interventional coronary procedures are an important source of radiation. This study sought to evaluate the effect of the renewal of the radiologic system on patient exposure during diagnostic coronary angiography (DCA) and percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs).

Methods: DCA and PCIs were obtained from three centres, which renewed their radiologic systems during their participation in the multicentre prospective observational RAY'ACT-2 study.

Coxiella burnetii: A Hidden Pathogen in Interstitial Lung Disease?

We report 7 patients with interstitial lung disease seen at computed tomographic scan review. Coxiella burnetii infection was diagnosed in situ in 1 lung biopsy specimen. Q fever may be a cofactor of interstitial lung disease, especially in endemic areas.

[The suitability of sending nursing home residents over 75 to emergency departments].

The care provided to elderly people aged over 75 must be specific and multidisciplinary. An emergency department, which is seeing increasing numbers of patients passing through its doors, notably with the provision of an ambulatory care service, would not appear to be a suitable place for this fragile population, often with multiple pathologies. A study is looking at the suitability of the emergency department for nursing home residents, who have regular access to medical care, unlike elderly people living at home.