Internal and emergency medicine
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Heart failure (HF) is a major cause of death among the elderly. Its prevalence increases dramatically with age. The prevalence of malnourished subjects is high in hospitalized elderly patients. We aimed to investigate the prognostic role of malnutrition, assessed by controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score, on adverse clinical outcomes in the elderly admitted for acute HF. ⋯ Malnutrition, assessed by the CONUT score, is common among elderly patients admitted for acute HF and is strongly related to increased long-term risk of all-cause death and re-hospitalizations.
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Diabetes is an increasing global health burden with the highest prevalence (24.0%) observed in elderly people. Older diabetic adults have a greater risk of hospitalization and several geriatric syndromes than older nondiabetic adults. For these conditions, special care is required in prescribing therapies including anti- diabetes drugs. ⋯ At discharge, the inappropriateness of metformin therapy decreased (10.2%, P < 0.0001). According to Beers criteria, the inappropriate prescriptions of sulfonylureas raised to 29% both at admission and at discharge. This study shows a poor adherence to current guidelines on diabetes management in hospitalized elderly people with a high prevalence of inappropriate use of sulfonylureas according to the Beers criteria.
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Short stay unit (SSU) is an alternative to conventional hospitalization in patients with acute heart failure (AHF), but the prognosis is not known compared to direct discharge from the emergency department (ED). To determine whether direct discharge from the ED of patients diagnosed with AHF is associated with early adverse outcomes versus hospitalization in SSU. Endpoints, defined as 30-day all-cause mortality or post-discharge adverse events, were evaluated in patients diagnosed with AHF in 17 Spanish EDs with an SSU, and compared by ED discharge vs. ⋯ After adjustment, there were no differences in the 30-day risk of mortality of discharged patients (adjusted HR 0.846, 95% CI 0.637-1.107) or adverse events (1.035, 0.914-1.173). In 337 pairs of PS-matched patients, there were no differences in mortality or risk of adverse event between patients directly discharged or admitted to an SSU (0.753, 0.409-1.397; and 0.858, 0.645-1.142; respectively). Direct ED discharge of patients diagnosed with AHF provides similar outcomes compared to patients with similar characteristics and hospitalized in a SSU.
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We aimed to evaluate the characteristics, resource use and outcomes of critically ill patients with cancer according to appropriateness of ICU admission. This was a retrospective cohort study of patients with cancer admitted to ICU from January 2017 to December 2018. Patients were classified as appropriate, potentially inappropriate, or inappropriate for ICU admission according to the Society of Critical Care Medicine guidelines. ⋯ Among patients with appropriate, potentially inappropriate, and inappropriate ICU admissions, ICU mortality was 4.8%, 32.6% and 35.0%, and in-hospital mortality was 12.2%, 71.6% and 81.3%, respectively (p < 0.01). Use of organ support was more common and longer among patients with potentially inappropriate ICU admission. The findings of our study suggest that inappropriateness for ICU admission among patients with cancer was associated with higher resource use in ICU and higher one-year mortality among ICU survivors.