Chest
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Several characteristics distinguish lung cancer in female patients from that in male patients, with adenocarcinoma being more prevalent in female patients and occurring more frequently in female patients who do not smoke. Uncertainty surrounds the relationship between female-specific reproductive factors and lung cancer risk. ⋯ Early age at menopause, a shortened reproductive life span, and early age at first birth were associated with higher risks of lung cancer, particularly of lung adenocarcinoma, in a subpopulation with higher genetic susceptibility and detrimental behaviors. The evidence provided by this study emphasizes the significance of screening for multiple reproductive factors to prevent lung cancer among female individuals.
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Despite effective vaccines against influenza, pneumococcus, and COVID-19, uptake has been suboptimal. ⋯ This high-risk population is undervaccinated against preventable respiratory diseases, especially influenza and pneumococcus. Although national data reported improvement of disparities in COVID-19 vaccination uptake observed early in the pandemic, our data demonstrated gaps related to race, education level, SES, and age that widened with booster vaccines. Communities with high social vulnerabilities often show increased risk of severe disease outcomes, yet demonstrate lower uptake of preventive services. This highlights the need to understand better vaccine compliance and access in rural, lower SES, less-educated, Black, Hispanic, and younger populations, each of which were associated independently with decreased vaccination.
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Critical care survivors experience multiple care transitions, with no formal follow-up care pathway. ⋯ Practical solutions to enhance the quality of survivorship for critical care survivors and their caregivers were identified. These themes are mapped to a novel conceptual model that includes key feedback loops for health system improvements and foci for future interventional trials to improve ICU survivorship outcomes.
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Death is common in the ICU and often occurs after a decision to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining therapies. Care of the dying is a core skill for ICU clinicians, requiring expert communication, primarily with family of critically ill patients. ⋯ After a decision had been made to discontinue life-sustaining therapies, family members need to be given a clear description of comfort measures only and provided with additional detail about what it entails, including therapies or interventions to be discontinued, monitoring during the dying process, and common features of the dying process. Order sets can be a valuable resource for ensuring that adequate analgesia and sedation are available and the care plan is enacted properly. To achieve a good death for patients, a collaborative effort among members of the care team is essential.
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Multicenter Study
Anaerobic antibiotic coverage in aspiration pneumonia and the associated benefits and harms: A retrospective cohort study.
Antibiotics with extended anaerobic coverage are used commonly to treat aspiration pneumonia, which is not recommended by current guidelines. ⋯ We found that extended anaerobic coverage likely is unnecessary in aspiration pneumonia because it was associated with no additional mortality benefit, only an increased risk of C difficile colitis.