Articles: outcome-assessment-health-care.
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There has been increasing interest in the development of performance indicators in primary care, especially since the introduction of the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). Public health and primary care trusts collect a range of data from routine or non-routine sources that may be useful for this purpose. ⋯ QOF and health-inequality data can be used together to measure practice performance and to develop tools to help identify areas for performance development and the sharing of best practice.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2008
Multicenter Study Controlled Clinical TrialTreatment efficacy of neural blockade in specialized palliative care services in Japan: a multicenter audit survey.
More than 85% of cancer-related pain is pharmacologically controllable, but some patients require interventional treatments. Although audit assessment of these interventions is of importance to clarify the types of patients likely to receive benefits, there have been no multicenter studies in Japan. The primary aims of this study were (1) to clarify the frequency of neural blockade in certified palliative care units and palliative care teams, (2) determine the efficacy of interventions, and (3) explore the predictors of successful or unsuccessful intervention. ⋯ There were no significant correlations of changes in pain intensity with the performance status or previous opioid consumption. In conclusion, neural blockade was performed in 3.8% of cancer patients who received specialized palliative care services in Japan. Neural blockade could contribute to the improvement of pain intensity, performance service status, and opioid consumption without unpredictable serious side effects.
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Multicenter Study
Post-trauma ratings of pre-collision pain and psychological distress predict poor outcome following acute whiplash trauma: a 12-month follow-up study.
Patients with acute whiplash trauma were followed to examine if post-trauma ratings of pre-collision pain and psychological distress were associated with reduced work capability and neck pain at 12 months follow-up. The study included 740 consecutive patients (474 females, 266 males) referred from emergency departments or primary care after car accidents in four counties in Denmark. After the collision patients received a questionnaire on psychological distress, unspecified pain and socio-demographics and 12 months later a follow-up on work capability and neck pain was performed. ⋯ In conclusion unspecified as opposed to specified pain (neck pain) before the collision is associated with poor recovery and high accumulation of pre-collision psychological distress is associated with considerable neck pain at follow-up. However, no conclusions on causality can be drawn. Personal characteristics before the collision are important for recovery and attention to pre-collision characteristics may contribute to the prevention of poor recovery after acute whiplash trauma.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Improved oxygen systems for childhood pneumonia: a multihospital effectiveness study in Papua New Guinea.
In rural hospitals of developing countries, oxygen supplies are poor and detection of hypoxaemia is difficult. Oxygen concentrators and pulse oximeters might help to manage the disease; however, use of such technology in developing countries needs comprehensive assessment. We studied the effect of an improved oxygen system on death rate in children with pneumonia in Papua New Guinea. ⋯ The Papua New Guinea National Department of Health; WHO, Papua New Guinea and Western Pacific Regional Office; AirSep corporation, Buffalo, NY, USA; the Ross Trust, VIC, Australia; AusAID; Jacques Gostelli, Switzerland; and a grant from the University of Melbourne.
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Previously, information on cervical corpectomy complication rates has been obtained from retrospective analysis of single-institution data. The aim of this study was to report 30-day mortality and complication rates after cervical corpectomy using multicenter prospective data from the Veterans Affairs National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. ⋯ We have analyzed the morbidity and mortality data on the largest series of corpectomy reported to date. We have demonstrated the impact of age, American Society of Anesthesiologists class, and number of operated levels on complication rates. Type 1 diabetes was established as a strong risk factor for 30-day mortality after cervical corpectomy.