Arch Intern Med
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While previous studies have demonstrated the increased mortality risk associated with delirium, little is known about the mortality time course. The objective of this study is to estimate the fraction of a year of life lost associated with delirium at 1-year follow-up. ⋯ Patients who experienced delirium during hospitalization had a 62% increased risk of mortality and lost an average of 13% of a year of life compared with patients without delirium. Although delirium is an acute condition, it is associated with multiple long-term sequelae that extend beyond the hospital setting, including premature mortality.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Adherence to heart failure quality-of-care indicators in US hospitals: analysis of the ADHERE Registry.
Quality-of-care indicators have been developed for patients hospitalized with heart failure. However, little is known about current rates of conformity with these indicators or their variability across hospitals. ⋯ Among hospitals providing care for patients with heart failure, there is significant individual variability in conformity to quality-of-care indicators and clinical outcomes and a substantial gap in overall performance. Establishing educational initiatives and quality improvement systems to reduce this variability and eliminate this gap would be expected to substantially improve the care of these patients.
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The goal of this study was to determine the relative contribution of system-related and cognitive components to diagnostic error and to develop a comprehensive working taxonomy. ⋯ Diagnostic error is commonly multifactorial in origin, typically involving both system-related and cognitive factors. The results identify the dominant problems that should be targeted for additional research and early reduction; they also further the development of a comprehensive taxonomy for classifying diagnostic errors.
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Blood pressure (BP) level is a major determinant of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in individuals with diabetes mellitus. Several guidelines recommend lower BP goals and specific drug classes for these patients. The overviews reported herein were performed to formally compare the effects on cardiovascular events and death of different BP-lowering regimens in individuals with and without diabetes. ⋯ These overviews showed that the short- to-medium-term effects on major cardiovascular events of the BP-lowering regimens studied were broadly comparable for patients with and without diabetes. Different effects of regimens on intermediate renal outcomes not evaluated in these overviews may still provide a rationale for using specific drug classes in patients with diabetes.