Internal and emergency medicine
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Implementation of a regional sepsis program to improve compliance with sepsis care bundles and optimize septic patient management and outcomes in the Emergency Department (ED). The program included a multifaceted intervention in 8 EDs: creation of a regional sepsis team, meetings, education (yearly 6-h course and site visits) and sepsis alert. Clinical practice was evaluated in each ED during 1 month every year over 3 years. ⋯ Patients referred to ED for infection had a better prognosis compared to those with a non-specific reason (OR = 0.56; 95% CI 0.32-0.97, p = 0.038). A regional sepsis educational program appears to improve compliance with the SSC bundle. Pre-hospital identification of sepsis appears to improve further management.
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The comparative health implications of e-cigarette use versus traditional cigarette smoking remain a critical focus in public health research. This cross-sectional study examined differences in self-rated general health between exclusive e-cigarette users and exclusive cigarette smokers, using data from the 2017-2019 Scottish Health Survey. A total of 2484 adults (aged 16 and above) were included and categorized as exclusive e-cigarette users (n = 565) or exclusive cigarette smokers (n = 1919). ⋯ These findings suggest that prior use is unlikely to explain the observed association between exclusive e-cigarette use and better self-rated health compared to exclusive cigarette smoking. Given the subjective nature of self-rated health, these findings should be interpreted with caution. Future longitudinal studies incorporating objective health measures are essential to assess the long-term impacts of e-cigarette use and inform evidence-based harm reduction policies.