scholarly journals Timely access to care for patients with critical burns in India: a prehospital prospective observational study

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 176-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A Newberry ◽  
Corey B Bills ◽  
Elizabeth A Pirrotta ◽  
Michele Barry ◽  
Govindaraju Venkata Ramana Rao ◽  
...  

BackgroundLow/middle-income countries carry a disproportionate burden of the morbidity and mortality from thermal burns. Nearly 70% of burn deaths worldwide are from thermal burns in India. Delays to medical care are commonplace and an important predictor of outcomes. We sought to understand the role of emergency medical services (EMS) as part of the healthcare infrastructure for thermal burns in India.MethodsWe conducted a prospective observational study of patients using EMS for thermal burns across five Indian states from May to August 2015. Our primary outcome was mortality at 2, 7 and 30 days. We compared observed mortality with expected mortality using the revised Baux score. We used Χ2 analysis for categorical variables and Wilcoxon two-sample test for continuous variables. ORs and 95% CIs are reported for all modelled predictor variables.ResultsWe enrolled 439 patients. The 30-day follow-up rate was 85.9% (n=377). The median age was 30 years; 56.7% (n=249) lived in poverty; and 65.6% (n=288) were women. EMS transported 94.3% of patients (n=399) to the hospital within 2 hours of their call. Median total body surface area (TBSA) burned was 60% overall, and 80% in non-accidental burns. Sixty-eight per cent of patients had revised Baux scores greater than 80. Overall 30-day mortality was 64.5%, and highest (90.2%) in women with non-accidental burns. Predictors of mortality by multivariate regression were TBSA (OR 7.9), inhalation injury (OR 5.5), intentionality (OR 4.7) and gender (OR 2.2).DiscussionAlthough EMS rapidly connects critically burned patients to care in India, mortality remains high, with women disproportionally suffering self-inflicted burns. To combat the burn epidemic in India, efforts must focus on rapid medical care and critical care services, and on a burn prevention strategy that includes mental health and gender-based violence support services.

Circulation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 141 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gloria Kim ◽  
Arati A Gangadharan ◽  
Matthew A Corriere

Introduction: Some approaches to frailty screening use diagnostic or laboratory data that may be incomplete. Grip strength can identify weakness, a component of phenotype-based frailty assessment. We compared grip strength as a reductionist, phenotype-based approach to frailty screening with comorbidity and laboratory-based alternatives. Hypothesis: Grip strength and categorical weakness are correlated with the modified frailty index-5 (mFI-5) and lab values associated with frailty. Methods: Weakness based on grip, BMI, and gender was compared with mFI-5 comorbidities and lab values. Patients with at least 3/5 mFI-5 comorbidities were considered frail. Lab data collected within 6 months of grip measurement was assessed. Associations were evaluated using multivariable models and kappa. Methods: 2,597 patients had grip strength measured over 5 months. Mean age was 64.4±14.6, mean BMI was 29.5±6.9;46% were women, and 87% white. Prevalent comorbidities included hypertension (28%), CHF (22%), diabetes (29%), and COPD (26%); 9% were functionally dependent. 34% were weak, but only 13% were frail based on mFI-5. Hemoglobin, creatinine, and CRP differed significantly based on weakness ( Table ). Laboratory data were missing for 36%- 95% of patients. Multivariable models identified significant associations between weakness, hemoglobin, and all MFI-5 comorbidities. Categorical agreement between weakness and frailty was limited (kappa =0.09; 95% CL 0.0641-0.1232). Conclusion: Weakness based on grip strength provides a practical, inexpensive approach to risk assessment, especially when incomplete data excludes other approaches. Comorbidity-based assessment categorizes many weak patients as non-frail. Table. Demographic, laboratory values, and comorbidities by categorical weakness based on grip 20 th percentile. Mean values for continuous variables by weakness adjusted for gender and BMI, p-value for T-test; frequency and total percent for categorical variables, p-value represents chi-square test.


2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 373-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amado Alejandro Báez ◽  
Ediza Giraldez ◽  
Peter L. Lane ◽  
Charles Pozner ◽  
Juan Rodriguez ◽  
...  

AbstractIntroduction:Prehospital emergency services are a vital public service, and consumer access to the system is an important factor in their use. The Dominican Republic recently experienced “the epidemiological transition” leading to increased morbidity and mortality secondary to traumatic and cardiac conditions—thus, increasing the need for prompt and adequate delivery of emergency medical care.Methods:A survey was administered to 90 subjects from diverse backgrounds, all living in Santo Domingo. Survey items included questions on emergency medical services (EMS) systems knowledge (i.e., access numbers), confidence in the system, first-aid education and prior experience with the EMS system. Chi-square was used to measure statistical significance for categorical variables and Student's t-test for continuous variables (JMP 2.0 software was used for statistical processing).Results:A total of 90 subjects were surveyed. The average age of respondents was 36 ± 12 years SD. More than one-fifth (22.2%) of respondents did not know the established universal emergency number (9-1-1), and 37.8% responded that they would access a different telephone number in case of a medical emergency.Conclusions:Important deficiencies and access-to-care concerns were interpreted from the results. An adequate understanding of the current state of prehospital care could lead to creation of policies by system administrators to further improve the delivery of emergency medical care. This study will assist system administrators in future design and policy issues.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Sheenam Gazala ◽  
Mohmad Saleem Chesti ◽  
Syed Mushfiq

Background: Current study aimed at s to delineate the etiology and clinical parameters associated with AUFI presenting to emergency department in a tertiary care hospital.Methods: This was a prospective hospital based study carried out at emergency medicine, SKIMS hospital, Soura Kashmir, India July 2017 to august 2018. Patients with acute undifferentiated fever were enrolled. Descriptive statistics were calculated in terms of mean±SD for continuous variables like age of the patients and duration of fever, Frequency and percentage were used to analyse categorical variables such as causes of fever and gender, while as descriptive analysis was calculated in terms of mean±SD for continuous variables like age of the patients and duration of fever.Results: Total numbers of patients included were 174, among these 112 (64.3%) were males and 62 (35.6%) were females. Most patients were diagnosed enteric fever (N=59, 33.9%) followed by UTI (N=25, 14.3%) dengue (N=12, 6.8%) and malaria (N=8, 4.5%) while rest of cases were associated with other viral illnesses (N=70, 40.5%) based on clinical basis and inconclusive laboratory results.Conclusions: Enteric fever was found to be the most common cause of acute undifferentiated fever followed by dengue and other viral illnesses, although causes and clinic spectrum of AUFI is varied.


Objective: Our research article aimed to determine if six-month mortality amongst hepatitis B and C patients undergoing cardiac surgery varied according to gender, post-operatively. Secondarily, we highlighted the significant differences among the two genders in their pre-operative, operative, and post-operative characteristics and deduced significant predictors of mortality. Methods: We obtained approval from the International Review Board of the Dow University of Health Sciences, and conducted a retrospective study targeting hepatitis B and C patients who had undergone cardiac surgery between January 2013 to October 2018 at the Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (Version 20.0). The population was divided into two groups, based on gender. Chi-squared test was used to compare categorical variables and odd ratios with 95% confidence interval were also computed. Differences in continuous variables were assessed using independent T-test or Mann-Whitney U test. Results: There was no significant difference in six-month mortality between the genders, with a 22.5% mortality in males and 20.0% mortality in females. Post-operatively, males had higher creatinine (p=0.003) levels but females tended to have a longer ward stay (p=0.032). On multivariate logistic regression, duration of intubation (aOR=1.131, 95% CI: 1.002-1.275), cardiopulmonary bypass time (aOR=1.030, 95% CI: 1.002-1.059) and duration of ward stay (aOR=1.100, 95% CI: 1.031-1.175) were found to be significant predictors of mortality. Conclusion: There is no association between six-month mortality and gender among hepatitis B and C patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Additionally, duration of intubation, cardiopulmonary bypass time and duration of ward stay are significant predictors of six-month mortality.


2014 ◽  
Vol 58 (9) ◽  
pp. 1086-1092 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. STAGELUND ◽  
Ø. JANS ◽  
K. NIELSEN ◽  
H. JANS ◽  
K. WILDGAARD

2021 ◽  
pp. 000313482110257
Author(s):  
John Kepros ◽  
Susan Haag ◽  
Karen Lewandowski ◽  
Frank Bauer ◽  
Hirra Ali ◽  
...  

Background Work hour restrictions have been imposed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education since 2003 for medical trainees. Many acute care surgeons currently work longer shifts but their preferred shift length is not known. Methods The purpose of this study was to characterize the distribution of the current shift length among trauma and acute care surgeons and to identify the surgeons’ preference for shift length. Data collection included a questionnaire with a national administration. Frequencies and percentages are reported for categorical variables and medians and means with SDs are reported for continuous variables. A chi-square test of independence was performed to examine the relation between call shift choice and trauma center level (level 1 and level II), age, and gender. Results Data from 301 surgeons in 42 states included high-level trauma centers. Assuming the number of trauma surgeons in the United States is 4129, a sample of 301 gives the survey a 5% margin of error. The median age was 43 years (M = 46, SD = 9.44) and 33% were female. Currently, only 23.3% of acute care surgeons work a 12-hour shift, although 72% prefer the shorter shift. The preference for shorter shifts was statistically significant. There was no significant difference between call shift length preference and trauma center level, age, or gender. Conclusion Most surgeons currently work longer than 12-hour shifts. Yet, there was a preference for 12-hour shifts indicating there is a gap between current and preferred shift length. These findings have the potential to substantially impact staffing models.


2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S27-S28
Author(s):  
George M Taylor ◽  
Jeffrey E Carter ◽  
Charles T Tuggle ◽  
Scott Barnett ◽  
Herb A Phelan

Abstract Introduction Our group has previously reported our experience with autologous skin cell suspension (ASCS) in the treatment of all subjects with hand burns regardless of the total body surface area (TBSA) involved. In order to better address the confounder of TBSA on burn outcomes, we sought to analyze our experience in a cohort of subjects whose TBSA totaled 20% or less. We hypothesized that the use of ASCS in conjunction with a 2:1 meshed autograft would provide comparable outcomes to hand burns treated with smaller meshed autograft alone. Methods A retrospective review was conducted for deep 2nd and 3rd degree hand burns treated with split thickness autograft (STAG) at our urban verified burn center between April 2018 to September 2020. Exclusion criterion was a TBSA greater than 20%. The cohorts were those subjects treated with ASCS in combination with STAG (ASCS(+)) versus those treated with STAG alone (ASCS(-)). All ASCS(+) subjects were treated with 2:1 meshed STAG and ASCS overspray while all ASCS(-) subjects had 1:1 or piecrust mesh only. Outcomes included demographics, proportion returning to work (RTW), length of time for RTW, and time to wound closure. Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparisons of continuous variables, and Fishers Exact test for categorical variables. Values are reported as median and interquartile range. Results Fifty-one subjects fit the study criteria (ASCS(+) n=31, ASCS(-) n=20). The ASCS(+) group was significantly older than the ASCS(-) cohort (44 yrs. [32, 54] vs 32 [27.5, 37], p=0.009) with larger %TBSA burns (15% [9.5, 17] vs 2% [1, 4], p < 0.0001), and larger size hand burns (190 cm2 [120, 349.5] vs 126 cm2 [73.5, 182], p=0.015). Comparable results were seen between ASCS(+) and ASCS(-), respectively, for time to wound closure (9 days [7, 13] vs 11.5 [6.75, 14], p=0.63), proportion RTW (61% vs 70%, p=0.56), and days for RTW among those returning (35 [28.5, 57] vs 33 [20.25, 59], p=0.52). The ASCS(+) group had two graft infections with no reoperations, while ASCS(-) had one infection with one reoperation. No subjects in either group had a dermal substitute placed. Conclusions Despite being significantly older, having larger hand wounds, and larger overall wounds within the parameters of the study criteria, patients with 20% TBSA burns or smaller whose hand burns were treated with 2:1 mesh and ASCS overspray had comparable time to wound closure and return to work as subjects treated with 1:1 or pie-crust meshed STAG. Our group plans to follow this work with scar assessments for a more granular picture of pliability and reconstructive needs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Farhana Irfan ◽  
Eiad Al Faris ◽  
Nasr Al Maflehi ◽  
Syed Irfan Karim ◽  
Gominda Ponnamperuma ◽  
...  

Background and Objectives: Learning is an interplay between cognition and environmental factors. Any learning environment, that fulfills the intrinsic and extrinsic needs of the students will probably lead to better and more promising learning outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the student perceptions of Learning Environment (LE) in four health schools of a large university and compare between schools, years of study, and gender. Methods: Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire and a socio-demographic questionnaire were completed by 1185 undergraduate students enrolled in the school of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing and Applied Medical Sciences (AMS) of a large university during the academic year 2012-2013. Chi-square test was used to compare categorical variables. Independent student t-test or ANOVA (with Tukey post-hoc test) was used for continuous variables at a significance level of p ≤ 0.05. Results: The mean total DREEM score was 89.23±33.3. The total DREEM mean scores for Dentistry (120.54±23.45) and Medicine (110.72±19.33) were higher compared with AMS (63.48±21.36) and Nursing (57.48±22.80) (p=0.000) (Post hoc Tukey p=0.000). First year students gave significantly higher positive perceptions ratings than the rest of the years (p=0.000). Total scores were significantly higher for male (92.78±33.86) than female students (84.70±32.25) p=0.000. Conclusion: The LE significantly differed by year and gender. The students from non-integrated curricula (nursing and AMS) perceived the LE less positively than their integrated curriculum counterparts (medicine and dentistry). A qualitative study is needed to investigate the variation in the perception of LE among these groups. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.3.712 How to cite this:Irfan F, Al-Faris E, Al-Maflehi N, Karim SI, Ponnamperuma G, Saad H, et al. The learning environment of four undergraduate health professional schools: Lessons learned. Pak J Med Sci. 2019;35(3):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.3.712 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document