Ann Acad Med Singap
-
Ann Acad Med Singap · Jun 2009
ReviewDevelopment of a diabetes registry to improve quality of care in the National Healthcare Group in Singapore.
In Singapore, chronic care is provided by both ambulatory primary care clinics and specialist clinics in hospitals. In 2005, the National Healthcare Group (NHG) embarked to build a diabetes registry to enhance the continuity of care for patients with diabetes and facilitate greater efficiency in outcome measurement. This Chronic Disease Management System (CDMS) links administrative and key clinical data of patients with diabetes mellitus across the healthcare cluster. ⋯ There was gradual improvement in the proportion of patients achieving target level of LDL-c in both primary care clinics and hospitals. Fewer patients at primary care clinics had poorly-controlled HbA1c. As a tool for chronic care delivery, the NHG diabetes registry has made clinical monitoring and outcome management for patients with diabetes mellitus more efficient.
-
Ann Acad Med Singap · Jun 2009
Profiling acute presenting symptoms of geriatric patients attending an urban hospital emergency department.
To study the profile of geriatric patients warded to the emergency department (ED) of an Asian acute care general hospital and determine if they are 'more ill', more likely to have atypical presentations and have a higher utilisation of healthcare resources when compared to a younger group of patients. ⋯ It is crucial that EDs recognise the special needs of elderly patients due to the growing ageing population. Healthcare policy makers when allocating resources should take into account the profile of elderly patients presenting to an ED and their resource utilisation.
-
Ann Acad Med Singap · Jun 2009
Is EQ-5D a valid quality of life instrument in patients with Parkinson's disease? A study in Singapore.
The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the validity of the EQ-5D in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) in Singapore. ⋯ The EQ-5D questionnaire appears valid for measuring quality of life in patients with PD in Singapore. However, the validity of EQ-VAS in Chinese-speaking patients with PD should be further assessed.
-
Venous thromboembolism (VTE), including its most serious clinical subtype, pulmonary embolism (PE), is a potentially preventable disease. While current assessment tools do not include ethnicity as a risk factor, studies suggest that Asians have lower risk of VTE compared to Caucasians. This study aims to describe 2006 in-hospital and projected population based incidence rates of VTE and PE in Singapore. ⋯ As patterns across ethnic groups point to lower VTE rates among Asians compared to Caucasians and Eurasians, analytic studies should be considered to test this hypothesis. There may be a need to develop locally applicable risk assessment tools which can be used to support local guidelines for VTE prophylaxis, thus leading to more acceptable and cost-effective care.
-
Ann Acad Med Singap · Mar 2009
Geographic-time distribution of ambulance calls in Singapore: utility of geographic information system in ambulance deployment (CARE 3).
Pre-hospital ambulance calls are not random events, but occur in patterns and trends that are related to movement patterns of people, as well as the geographical epidemiology of the population. This study describes the geographic-time epidemiology of ambulance calls in a large urban city and conducts a time demand analysis. This will facilitate a Systems Status Plan for the deployment of ambulances based on the most cost effective deployment strategy. ⋯ We found a definite geographical distribution pattern of ambulance calls. This study demonstrates the utility of GIS with despatch demand analysis and has implications for maximising the effectiveness of ambulance deployment.