Internal medicine journal
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Internal medicine journal · Feb 2022
ReviewMachine Learning in the Prediction of Medical Inpatient Length of Stay.
Length of stay (LOS) estimates are important for patients, doctors and hospital administrators. However, making accurate estimates of LOS can be difficult for medical patients. This review was conducted with the aim of identifying and assessing previous studies on the application of machine learning to the prediction of total hospital inpatient LOS for medical patients. ⋯ The variable performance reported by the studies identified in this review supports the need for further research of the utility of machine learning in the prediction of total inpatient LOS in medical patients. Future studies should follow and report a more standardised methodology to better assess performance and to allow replication and validation. In particular, prospective validation studies and studies assessing the clinical impact of such machine learning models would be beneficial.
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Internal medicine journal · Feb 2022
No Fever, No Worries? A Retrospective Audit of Bacteraemic Patients in the Emergency Department.
Early identification and treatment of serious infections improve clinical outcomes. Previous studies have found that septic patients without fever are more likely to die than those with fever, due to delay in antibiotic administration. ⋯ There was no significant difference in receipt of antibiotics within 4 h or 24 h ED arrival between the febrile and afebrile groups. However, afebrile patients experienced higher 30-day mortality. While most bacteraemic patients received antibiotics within 24 h, only half received antibiotics within 4 h, representing a key area for improvement.
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Social distancing was the predominant strategy used to mitigate the spread of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ The incidences of streptococcal bacteraemia and bacteraemia of organisms transmitted through respiratory secretions were lower when there were social distancing restrictions. Adopting measures of social distancing may decrease the morbidity from bacteraemia caused by oropharynx and respiratory bacteria.