Journal of hospital medicine : an official publication of the Society of Hospital Medicine
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Hip fracture is a common reason for urgent inpatient surgery. In the past few years, several professional societies have identified preoperative echocardiography and stress testing for noncardiac surgeries as low-value diagnostics. ⋯ The rate of echocardiograms was 12.6%, which was higher than other published reports. Our findings emphasize the importance of ensuring that quality improvement efforts are directed toward areas where quality improvement is, in fact, needed.
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Internal Medicine (IM) residency graduates should be able to manage hospital emergencies, but the rare and critical nature of such events poses an educational challenge. IM residents' exposure to inpatient acute clinical events is currently unknown. ⋯ IM residents' confidence in managing inpatient acute events correlated with level of training and clinical exposure. We identified events with low levels of resident exposure and confidence that can serve as targets for future curriculum development.
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Editorial Comment
Transthyretin (Prealbumin) and the Ambiguous Nature of Malnutrition.
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Multicenter Study
Home Smoke Exposure and Health-Related Quality of Life in Children with Acute Respiratory Illness.
This study aims to assess whether secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure has an impact on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in children with acute respiratory illness (ARI). ⋯ Our study demonstrates an association between regular SHS exposure and decreased HRQOL with a dose-dependent response for children with ARI, providing further evidence of the negative impact of SHS.
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Delirium affects more than seven million hospitalized adults in the United States annually. However, its impact on postdischarge healthcare utilization remains unclear. ⋯ Delirium is a significant predictor of hospital readmission, ED visits, and discharge to a location other than home. Delirious patients should be targeted to reduce postdischarge healthcare utilization.