Arch Intern Med
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Human observations have shown different mortality rates between men and women with various pathological conditions, but this issue has not been widely studied in a heterogeneous population of critically ill patients. ⋯ In a mixed medical-surgical ICU, older women have a higher mortality rate than men. This difference is not apparent for patients staying longer in the ICU.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Coaching patients On Achieving Cardiovascular Health (COACH): a multicenter randomized trial in patients with coronary heart disease.
Disease management programs in which drugs are prescribed by dietitians or nurses have been shown to improve the coronary risk factor profile in patients with coronary heart disease. However, those disease management programs in which drugs are not prescribed by allied health professionals have not improved coronary risk factor status. The objective of the Coaching patients On Achieving Cardiovascular Health (COACH) study was to determine whether dietitians or nurses who did not prescribe medications could coach patients with coronary heart disease to work with their physicians to achieve the target levels for their total cholesterol (TC) and other risk factors. ⋯ Coaching, delivered as The COACH Program, is a highly effective strategy in reducing TC and many other coronary risk factors in patients with coronary heart disease. Coaching has potential effectiveness in the whole area of chronic disease management.
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This report addresses the difficult situation in which a patient or surrogate decision maker wishes cardiopulmonary resuscitation to be attempted even though the physician believes that resuscitation efforts would be futile. It also reviews current controversies surrounding the subject of do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders and medical futility, discusses the complex medical, legal, and ethical considerations involved, and then offers recommendations as a guide to clinicians and ethics committees in resolving these difficult issues. Conflicts over DNR orders and medical futility should not be resolved through a policy that attempts to define futility in the abstract, but rather through a predefined and fair process that addresses specific cases and includes multiple safeguards. ⋯ The VHA National Ethics Committee recommends that VHA policy be changed to reflect the opinions expressed in this report. The National Ethics Committee, which is composed of VHA clinicians and leaders, as well as veterans advocates, creates reports that analyze ethical issues affecting the health and care of veterans treated in the VHA, the largest integrated health care system in the United States. This report does not change or modify VHA policy.