OBJECTIVE To adapt the Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (AEP) to the specific settings of health care in China and to validate the Chinese version AEP (C-AEP). METHODS Forward and backward translations were carried out to the original criteria. Twenty experts participated in the consultancy to form a preliminary version of the C-AEP. To ensure applicability, tests of reliability and validi...

OBJECTIVES To estimate the incidence, duration and cost of futile treatment for end-of-life hospital admissions. DESIGN Retrospective multicentre cohort study involving a clinical audit of hospital admissions. SETTING Three Australian public-sector tertiary hospitals. PARTICIPANTS Adult patients who died while admitted to one of the study hospitals over a 6-month period in 2012. MAIN OU...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the amount of variation in in-hospital mortality and length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay that can be accounted for by clinical data available at ICU admission. DESIGN Inception cohort study. SETTING Forty-two ICUs in 40 hospitals, including 26 hospitals that were randomly selected and 14 large tertiary care hospitals that volunteered for the study. PARTICIPANTS ...

OBJECTIVE For many patients with addiction and other substance problems, the emergency department (ED) is the sole provider of medical care. This study sought to determine the prevalence and characteristics of substance-related medical problems in ED patients, as defined by documentation in the medical record. We also sought to compare the ED resource use (length of ED stay and number of revisi...

BACKGROUND The association between mortality and time of admission to ICU has been extensively studied but remains controversial. We revaluate the impact of time of admission on ICU mortality by retrospectively investigating a recent (2006-2014) and large ICU cohort with on-site intensivist coverage. PATIENTS AND METHODS All adults (≥ 18 years) admitted to a tertiary care medical ICU were inc...

OBJECTIVE To provide reasons for admission, comorbidities, physical and psychosocial characteristics, and outcome of older patients admitted to hospital in Sri Lanka, and to assess adequacy of routine assessment. DESIGN Descriptive study. SETTING University Medical Unit, National Hospital of Sri Lanka during 10 weeks commencing August 2003. PATIENTS All > or = 65 years admitted to the uni...

OBJECTIVE Vital sign trends are used in clinical practice to assess treatment response and aid in disposition, yet quantitative data to support this practice are lacking. This study aimed to determine the prognostic value of vital sign normalization. METHODS Secondary analysis of a prospective cohort of adult emergency department (ED) patients admitted a single urban tertiary care hospital. A...

The profile of admissions staying less than 24 hours admitted to the paediatric wards of University Malaya Medical Center, Kuala Lumpur, over a period of six weeks was reviewed to ascertain the need of a short-stay ward. Ninety-three (22%) of the 428 admissions admitted during the study period were discharged within 24 hours, 56 (60%) were discharged within 12 hours. Major categories of admissi...

BACKGROUND Epidemiological data on stroke in Zimbabwe are scarce and few clinical studies have been performed to date. METHODS A retrospective review of the medical records of patients admitted for stroke during the year 2012 was performed at three tertiary hospitals. Sociodemographic data were recorded alongside with comorbidities and outcomes. Scoping over a period of one year using records...

BACKGROUND It has been postulated that patients admitted on weekends or after office hours may experience delays in clinical management and consequently have longer length of stay (LOS). We investigated if day and time of admission is associated with LOS in Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), a 1,400 bed acute care tertiary hospital serving the central and northern regions of Singapore. METHODS Th...