BACKGROUND Hip fracture is the most serious complication of osteoporosis and imposes a significant financial burden on countries' economy. This study aimed to assess the hospitalization costs and length of stay associated with osteoporosis hip fractures and identify the major cost components in a referral hospital in Kermanshah city, Iran. METHODS In a prospective study, from May 21 2007 to M...

background: about half of all patients who undergo mitral valve surgery suffer from atrial fibrillation (af). cox described the surgical cut-and-sew maze procedure, which is an effective surgical method but has some complications. this study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of a substitution method of radiofrequency ablation (rfa) for patients undergoing mitral valve surgery with af. metho...

The Minority Game is a model of interacting agents, who try to choose between two options every day, and those who are in the minority are winners. In an earlier paper, efficient stochastic strategies for this game was analyzed when the number of agents is 3, 5, 7. When the number of agents is large, the behaviour is qualitatively different, and as the discount parameter is varied, there is a s...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the required number of public beds for adults in intensive care units in the state of Rio de Janeiro to meet the existing demand and compare results with recommendations by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. METHODS The study uses a hybrid model combining time series and queuing theory to predict the demand and estimate the number of required beds. Four patient flow scena...

BACKGROUND The implementation of revised surgical resident work hours has led many teaching hospitals to integrate health care extenders into the trauma service. We undertook this review to assess the effectiveness of these individuals in meeting the goals of the work hour restrictions and whether they impact other hospital and patient outcomes. METHODS During the year 2002, we integrated two...

OBJECTIVE [corrected] To evaluate the results of laparoscopic adrenalectomy for adrenal myelolipoma in a single center. METHODS Between November 1999 and February 2006, 226 laparoscopic adrenalectomies were performed at our institution. 19 specimens corresponded with adrenal myelolipomas (8%). Mean patient age was 53.8 years (range 35 to 75) with male-to-female ratio 2:1. Clinical data was pr...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the length of stay, total medical expenditure, cost of antibiotics for nosocomial infections (NIs) and NI fatality rate of elderly patients admitted to Inburi Hospital. MATERIAL AND METHOD A descriptive study, data from analyzing NI surveillance forms of 50 elderly patients admitted to Inburi Hospital with NI from February to May 2002. RESULTS The average length of st...

OBJECTIVE To record the costs of hospital care for HIV-positive and -negative patients in Nairobi, and identify costs paid by patients per admission. DESIGN Cost data were collected on inpatients enrolled in a linked clinical study using standardized costing methods. SETTING Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi's main district hospital. PATIENTS Consecutive adult medical admissions to one ...

BACKGROUND Ventilator-dependent patients represent an increasing clinical logistic and economic burden. An alternative solution might be monitored home care with high-tech ventilatory support systems. OBJECTIVES To explore the implications of such home care management, such as its impact on quality of life and its cost-effectiveness, and to assess the practical feasibility of this mode of hom...