Journal of general internal medicine
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Review
Health-Related Quality of Life Scores and Values as Predictors of Mortality: A Scoping Review.
Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) can be assessed through measures that can be generic or disease specific, encompass several independent scales, or employ holistic assessment (i.e., the derivation of composite scores). HRQoL measures may identify patients with differential risk profiles. However, the usefulness of generic and holistic HRQoL measures in identifying patients at higher risk of death is unclear. ⋯ HRQoL was found to be associated with mortality in the general population and clinical sub-populations with physical health conditions. Whether this relationship holds in people with mental health conditions is not known. HRQoL assessment may be useful for screening and/or monitoring purposes to understand how people perceive their health and well-being and as an indicator of mortality risk, encouraging better-quality and timely patient care to support and maximize what may be a patient's only modifiable outcome.
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Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is the most prevalent substance use disorder, but evidence-based medications to treat AUD (MAUD), including naltrexone and acamprosate, are substantially underutilized. Hospitalization provides an opportunity to start MAUD for patients who may not otherwise seek treatment. Addiction consultation services (ACSs) have been increasingly utilized to ensure appropriate treatment. There is little research examining the effect of an ACS on health outcomes among patients with AUD. ⋯ ACS was associated with a large increase in provision of new inpatient MAUD and new MAUD at discharge when compared to propensity-matched historical controls.
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Methods to accurately predict the risk of in-hospital mortality are important for applications including quality assessment of healthcare institutions and research. ⋯ An update to the KP method accurately predicted in-hospital mortality for general medicine inpatients in 28 hospitals in Ontario, Canada. This updated method can be implemented in a wider range of settings using common open-source tools.
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Fentanyl is a pressing concern in the current drug supply. Social media data can provide access to near real-time understanding of drug trends that may complement official mortality data. ⋯ Fentanyl-related posts on Reddit trended upward, with the fastest rate of change for multi-substance and stimulant subreddits. Beyond opioids, harm reduction and public health messaging should ensure inclusion of individuals who use other drugs.
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The high prevalence of chronic diseases, including congestive heart failure (CHF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and diabetes mellitus (DM), accounts for a large burden of cost and poor health outcomes in US hospitals, and home telehealth (HT) monitoring has been proposed to improve outcomes. ⋯ The initiation of HT was associated with increased ED visits, no change in hospitalizations, and lower all-cause mortality in patients with CHF or DM, while those with COPD had both higher healthcare utilization and all-cause mortality.