Journal of hospital medicine : an official publication of the Society of Hospital Medicine
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Pain is a frequent symptom among patients in the hospital. Pain management is a key quality indicator for hospitals, and hospitalists are encouraged to frequently assess and treat pain. Optimal opioid prescribing, described as safe, patient-centered, and informed opioid prescribing, may be at odds with the priorities of current hospital care, which focuses on patient-reported pain control rather than the potential long-term consequences of opioid use. ⋯ Strategies to provide adequate pain relief to hospitalized patients, which allow hospitalists to safely and optimally prescribe opioids while maintaining current standards of efficiency, are urgently needed. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2016;11:536-542. © 2016 Society of Hospital Medicine.
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Although antipsychotics are used for treatment of delirium/agitation in hospitalized patients, their scope of use has not been investigated in a large, multicenter cohort. ⋯ Antipsychotic medication exposure is common in nonpsychiatric admissions to US hospitals. The observed variation in antipsychotic prescribing was not fully explained by measured patient characteristics, suggesting the possibility of differing hospital prescribing cultures. Additional research and guidelines are necessary to define appropriate use of these potentially harmful medications in the hospital setting. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2016;11:543-549. © 2016 Society of Hospital Medicine.
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Comparative Study
Comparing three different measures of frailty in medical inpatients: Multicenter prospective cohort study examining 30-day risk of readmission or death.
Multiple tools are used to identify frailty. ⋯ Frailty has a significant impact on postdischarge outcomes, and the CFS is the most useful of the frequently used frailty tools for predicting poor outcomes after discharge. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2016;11:556-562. © 2016 Society of Hospital Medicine.