The Medical journal of Australia
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Overcrowding occurs when emergency department (ED) function is impeded, primarily by overwhelming of ED staff resources and physical capacity by excessive numbers of patients needing or receiving care. Access block occurs when there is excessive delay in access to appropriate inpatient beds (> 8 hours total time in the ED). Access block for admitted patients is the principal cause of overcrowding, and is mainly the result of a systemic lack of capacity throughout health systems, and not of inappropriate presentations by patients who should have attended a general practitioner. ⋯ They are also rapidly overwhelmed by increasing access block. The causes of overcrowding, and hence the solutions, lie outside the ED. Solutions will mainly be found in managing hospital bedstock and systemic capacity (including the use of step-down and community resources) so that appropriate inpatient beds remain available for acutely sick patients.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The influence of depression and anxiety on outcomes after an intervention for prediabetes.
To conduct initial analyses and examine ways in which depression and anxiety are associated with outcomes after participation in the Healthy Living Course (HLC), an early-intervention diabetes prevention program for adults with prediabetes. ⋯ Our findings highlight the importance of assessing mood factors in prediabetes, and the need to develop theoretical models of change mechanisms for mood in health outcomes.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
The psychological aftermath of prostate cancer treatment choices: a comparison of depression, anxiety and quality of life outcomes over the 12 months following diagnosis.
To assess the psychological impact of the different treatments for localised prostate cancer (PCA). ⋯ Compared with the other active treatments for localised PCA, HT appears to be associated with poorer HRQOL and greater psychological distress 12 months after commencing treatment.