| 1. |
- Berg, Lena M
(författare)
-
Patient safety at emergency departments : challenges with crowding, multitasking and interruptions
- 2018
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Several challenges with patient safety in the emergency department (ED) context have beenpreviously identified, and some commonly mentioned are crowding, multitasking, andinterruptions. The ED is a complex, high-risk work environment where multiple clinicians(physicians, registered nurses [RNs], and licensed practical nurses [LPNs]) are constantlyworking in parallel work processes, in an often crowded ED, while conducting tasksinvolving cognitively demanding decision-making processes. ED crowding has for the past20 years been identified as a problem internationally, resulting in extended ED length of stay(LOS) and increased morbidity and mortality for patients. ED crowding is also considered tohave negative effects on the clinicians' workload and work satisfaction.Both multitasking and interruptions have been identified as risk factors for patient safety byhaving negative effects on a clinician's decision-making processes and thus increasing therisk of forgetting important details and events because of memory overload. However,information has been lacking about what specific work assignments ED clinicians conduct,and thus there is little information about the types of assignments they perform whilemultitasking and being exposed to interruptions. Further, because not all interruptions lead toerrors and because they are not all preventable, a more refined account of interruptions iscalled for. Moreover, it seems that previous studies have not identified which specific factorsinfluence the ED clinicians' perceptions of interruptions. The work environment has beenreferred to as a possible influencing factor, but specific details on the relationship between thework environment and negative effects from interruptions are pending.The overall aim of the thesis was to describe ED crowding, and its influence on EDclinicians' work processes (activities, multitasking, and interruptions) and patient outcomes,from a patient safety perspective. The thesis addressed six research questions: 1) How has EDcharacteristics, patient case mix and occurrence of ED crowding changed over time? 2) Whatwork activities are performed by ED clinicians? 3) What kind of multitasking situations areclinicians exposed to during ED work? 4) What kind of interruptions are clinicians exposedto during ED work? 5) How do ED clinicians perceive interruptions? 6) Is there anassociation between ED crowding and mortality for stable patients without the need for acutehospital care upon departure from the ED?The data in the thesis were generated from two data collections: 1) registry data containingpatient characteristics and measures of ED crowding (ED occupancy ratio [EDOR], ED LOS,and patient/clinician ratios) extracted from the patients' electronic health records (paper I andIV) and 2) observations and interviews with ED clinicians (physicians, RNs, and LPNs)(paper II and III). Nonparametric statistics were used in paper I and III, quantitative and qualitative content analysis were used in paper II and III, and multivariate logistic regressionanalysis was used in paper IV.The main results in the thesis are presented based on Asplin's conceptual model of EDcrowding, from the aspect of input-throughput-output, and how parts of a sub-optimalthroughput influence patient safety through ED clinicians' work processes and patientoutcomes. During 2009 – 2016 there has been a change in patient case mix at the EDs at thestudy hospital, primarily with an increase in unstable patients (input) and a decrease in thenumber of patients admitted to in-hospital care (output). The median for ED LOS over thestudy period increased, and the largest increases occurred among the subgroups of unstablepatients, patients ≥80 years of age, and those admitted to in-hospital care (throughput).Further, an increase in crowding, in terms of median EDOR and median patients per RNratios, was identified, with an increase in EDOR from 0.8 in 2009 to 1.1 in 2016 and anaverage increase of 0.164 patients/RN/year (throughput). The ED clinicians' workassignments consisted of 15 categories of activities, and information exchange was found tobe the most common activity (42.1%). In contrast, the clinicians only spent 9.4% of theiractivities on direct interaction with patients and their families (ED clinicians' workprocesses). The clinicians multitasked during 23% of their total number of performedactivities, and there was an overall interruption rate of 5.1 interruptions per hour. Themajority of the observed multitasking situations and interruptions in the ED clinicians' workoccurred during demanding activities that required focus or concentration (ED clinicians'work processes). Finally, an association was identified between an increase in ED LOS andEDOR and 10-day mortality for stable patients without the need for acute hospital care upondeparture from the ED (patient outcomes).This thesis illustrates how a sub-optimal throughput, affected by conditions in both the inputand output components, negatively influence the ED clinicians' work processes as well aspatient outcomes.
|
|
| 2. |
- Wijkman, Magnus
(författare)
-
Acute, ambulatory and central blood pressure measurements in diabetes
- 2012
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: In patients with diabetes, high blood pressure is an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The aim of this thesis was to explore the associations between blood pressure levels measured with different techniques and during different circumstances, and the degree of cardiovascular organ damage and subsequent prognosis in patients with diabetes.Methods: We analysed baseline data from patients with type 2 diabetes who participated in the observational cohort study CARDIPP (Cardiovascular Risk factors in Patients with Diabetes – a Prospective study in Primary care), and longitudinal data from patients registered in the Swedish national quality registry RIKS-HIA (Register of Information and Knowledge about Swedish Heart Intensive care Admissions). Patients in CARDIPP underwent nurse-recorded, 24-hour ambulatory and non-invasive central blood pressure measurements. Patients in RIKS-HIA had their systolic blood pressure measured upon hospitalisation for acute chest pain.Results: In CARDIPP, nearly one in three patients with office normotension (<130/80 mmHg) were hypertensive during the night (≥120/70 mmHg). This phenomenon, masked nocturnal hypertension, was significantly associated with increased arterial stiffness and increased central blood pressure. Furthermore, nearly one in five CARDIPP patients with office normotension had high central pulse pressure (≥50 mmHg), and there was a significant association between high central pulse pressure and increased carotid intima-media thickness and increased arterial stiffness. Among CARDIPP patients who used at least one antihypertensive drug, those who used beta blockers had significantly higher central pulse pressure than those who used other antihypertensive drugs, but there were no significant between-group differences concerning office or ambulatory pulse pressures. In CARDIPP patients with or without antihypertensive treatment, ambulatory systolic blood pressure levels were significantly associated with left ventricular mass, independently of central systolic blood pressure levels. When RIKS-HIA patients, admitted to hospital for chest pain, were stratified in quartiles according to admission systolic blood pressure levels, the risk for all-cause one-year mortality was significantly lower in patients with admission systolic blood pressure in the highest quartile (≥163 mmHg) than in patients with admission systolic blood pressure in the reference quartile (128-144 mmHg). This finding remained unaltered when the analysis was restricted to include only patients with previously known diabetes.Conclusions: In patients with type 2 diabetes, ambulatory or central blood pressure measurements identified patients with residual risk factors despite excellent office blood pressure control or despite ongoing antihypertensive treatment. Ambulatory systolic blood pressure predicted left ventricular mass independently of central systolic blood pressure. In patients with previously known diabetes who were hospitalised for acute chest pain, there was an inverse relationship between systolic blood pressure measured at admission and the risk for one-year all-cause mortality.
|
|
| 3. |
- Nerpin, Elisabet, 1962-
(författare)
-
The Kidney in Different Stages of the Cardiovascular Continuum
- 2013
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Patients with chronic kidney disease are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease. The complex, interaction between the kidney and the cardiovascular system is incompletely understood, particularly at the early stages of the cardiovascular continuum.The overall aim of this thesis was to clarify novel aspects of the interplay between the kidney and the cardiovascular system at different stages of the cardiovascular continuum; from risk factors such as insulin resistance, inflammation and oxidative stress, via sub-clinical cardiovascular damage such as endothelial dysfunction and left ventricular dysfunction, to overt cardiovascular death.This thesis is based on two community-based cohorts of elderly, Uppsala Longitudinal Study of Adult Men (ULSAM) and Prospective Investigation of the Vasculature in Uppsala Seniors (PIVUS).The first study, show that higher insulin sensitivity, measured with euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp technique was associated to improve estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in participants with normal fasting plasma glucose, normal glucose tolerance and normal eGFR. In longitudinal analyses, higher insulin sensitivity at baseline was associated with lower risk of impaired renal function during follow-up. In the second study, eGFR was inversely associated with different inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, serum amyloid A) and positively associated with a marker of oxidative stress (urinary F2-isoprostanes). In line with this, the urinary albumin/creatinine ratio was positively associated with these inflammatory markers, and negatively associated with oxidative stress.In study three, higher eGFR was associated with better endothelial function as assessed by the invasive forearm model. Further, in study four, higher eGFR was significantly associated with higher left ventricular systolic function (ejection fraction). The 5th study of the thesis shows that higher urinary albumin excretion rate (UAER) and lower eGFR was independently associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular mortality. Analyses of global model fit, discrimination, calibration, and reclassification suggest that UAER and eGFR add relevant prognostic information beyond established cardiovascular risk factors in participants without prevalent cardiovascular disease.Conclusion: this thesis show that the interaction between the kidney and the cardiovascular system plays an important role in the development of cardiovascular disease and that this interplay begins at an early asymptomatic stage of the disease process.
|
|
| 4. |
- Byhamre, Marja Lisa, et al.
(författare)
-
Swedish snus use is associated with mortality : a pooled analysis of eight prospective studies
- 2020
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press. - 0300-5771 .- 1464-3685. ; 49:6, s. 2041-2050
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The health consequences of the use of Swedish snus, including its relationship with mortality, have not been fully established. We investigated the relationship between snus use and all-cause and cause-specific mortality (death due to cardiovascular diseases, cancer diseases and all other reasons, respectively) in a nationwide collaborative pooling project.METHODS: We followed 169 103 never-smoking men from eight Swedish cohort studies, recruited in 1978-2010. Shared frailty models with random effects at the study level were used in order to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of mortality associated with snus use.RESULTS: Exclusive current snus users had an increased risk of all-cause mortality (aHR 1.28, 95% CI 1.20-1.35), cardiovascular mortality (aHR 1.27, 95% CI 1.15-1.41) and other cause mortality (aHR 1.37, 95% CI 1.24-1.52) compared with never-users of tobacco. The risk of cancer mortality was also increased (aHR 1.12, 95% CI 1.00-1.26). These mortality risks increased with duration of snus use, but not with weekly amount.CONCLUSIONS: Snus use among men is associated with increased all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, with death from other causes and possibly with increased cancer mortality.
|
|
