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- Ekerstad, Niklas, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
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A Tentative Consensus-Based Model for Priority Setting : An Example from Elderly Patients with Myocardial Infarction and Multi-morbidity
- 2011
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. - : Sage. - 1403-4948 .- 1651-1905. ; 39:4, s. 345-353
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: In most Western countries the growing gap between available resources and greater potential for medical treatment has brought evidence-based guidelines into focus. However, such guidelines are difficult to use when the evidence base is weak. Priority setting for frail elderly patients with heart disease illustrates this problem. We have outlined a tentative model for priority setting regarding frail elderly heart patients. The model takes cardiovascular risk, frailty, and comorbidity into account. Objective: Our aim is to validate the model’s components. We want to evaluate the inter-rater reliability of the study experts’ rankings regarding each of the model’s categories. Methods: A confidential questionnaire study consisting of 15 authentic and validated cases was conducted to assess the views of purposefully selected cardiology experts (n = 58). They were asked to rank the cases regarding the need for coronary angiography using their individual clinical experience. The response rate was 71%. Responses were analysed with frequencies and descriptive statistics. The inter-rater reliability regarding the experts’ rankings of the cases was estimated via an intra-class correlation test (ICC). Results: The cardiologists considered the clinical cases to be realistic. The intra-class correlation (two-way random, consistency, average measure) was 0.978 (95% CI 0.958–0.991), which denotes a very good inter-rater reliability on the group level. The model’s components were considered relevant regarding complex cases of non-ST elevation myocardial infarction. Comorbidity was considered to be the most relevant component, frailty the second most relevant, followed by cardiovascular risk. Conclusions: A framework taking comorbidity, frailty, and cardiovascular risk into account could constitute a foundation for consensus-based guidelines for frail elderly heart patients. From a priority setting perspective, it is reasonable to believe that the framework is applicable to other groups of elderly patients with acute disease and complex needs.
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| 2. |
- Ekerstad, Niklas, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
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Clinical frailty scale – skörhet ärett sätt att skatta biologisk ålder : [Clinical Frailty Scale - a proxy estimate of biological age]
- 2022
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Ingår i: Läkartidningen. - : Sveriges Läkarforbund. - 0023-7205 .- 1652-7518. ; 119
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The term frailty denotes a multi-dimensional syndrome characterised by reduced physiological reserves and increased vulnerability. Frailty may be used as a marker of biological age, distinct from chronological age. There are several instruments for frailty assessment. The Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) is probably the most commonly used in the acute care context. It is a 9-level scale, derived from the accumulated deficit model of frailty, which combines comorbidity, disability, and cognitive impairment. The CFS assessment is fast and easy to implement in daily clinical practice. The CFS is relevant for risk stratification, and may also be used as a screening instrument to identify frail patients suitable for further geriatric evaluation, i.e. a comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA). By providing information on long-term prognosis, it may improve informed decision-making on an individual basis.
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| 4. |
- Ekerstad, Niklas, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
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Frailty as a Predictor of Short-Term Outcomes for Elderly Patients with non-ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (NSTEMI)
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background – For the large and growing population of elderly patients with cardiovascular disease it is important to identify clinically relevant measures of biological age and their contribution to risk. Frailty is an emerging concept in medicine denoting increased vulnerability and decreased physiologic reserves. We analyzed how the variable frailty predicts short-term outcomes for elderly NSTEMI patients. Methods and Results – Patients, aged 75 years or older, with diagnosed NSTEMI were included at three centers, and clinical data including judgement of frailty were collected prospectively. Frailty was defined according to the Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA) Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS). Of 307 patients, 150 (48.5%) were considered frail. Frail patients were slightly older and presented with a greater burden of comorbidity. By multiple logistic regression, frailty was found to be a strong independent risk factor for inhospital mortality, one-month mortality (OR 3.8, 95% CI 1.3 to 10.8) and the primary composite outcome (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.3 to 3.7). Particularly frail patients with a high comorbidity burden manifested a markedly increased risk for the primary composite outcome. By multiple linear regression, frailty was identified as a strong independent predictor for prolonged hospital care (frail 13.4 bed days, non-frail 7.5 bed days; P<0.0001). Conclusions - Frailty is a strong independent predictor of in-hospital mortality, one-month mortality, prolonged hospital care and the primary composite outcome. The combined use of frailty and comorbidity may constitute an ultimate risk prediction concept regarding cardiovascular patients with complex needs.
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| 5. |
- Ekerstad, Niklas, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
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Is the acute care of frail elderly patients in a comprehensive geriatric assessment unit superior to conventional acute medical care?
- 2017
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Ingår i: Clinical Interventions in Aging. - : DOVE MEDICAL PRESS LTD. - 1178-1998 .- 1176-9092. ; 12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the acute care of frail elderly patients in a comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) unit is superior to the care in a conventional acute medical care unit. Design: This is a clinical, prospective, randomized, controlled, one-center intervention study. Setting: This study was conducted in a large county hospital in western Sweden. Participants: The study included 408 frail elderly patients, aged ≥75 years, in need of acute in-hospital treatment. The patients were allocated to the intervention group (n=206) or control group (n=202). Mean age of the patients was 85.7 years, and 56% were female. Intervention: This organizational form of care is characterized by a structured, systematic interdisciplinary CGA-based care at an acute elderly care unit. Measurements: The primary outcome was the change in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) 3 months after discharge from hospital, measured by the Health Utilities Index-3 (HUI-3). Secondary outcomes were all-cause mortality, rehospitalizations, and hospital care costs. Results: After adjustment by regression analysis, patients in the intervention group were less likely to present with decline in HRQoL after 3 months for the following dimensions: vision (odds ratio [OR] =0.33, 95% confidence interval [CI] =0.14–0.79), ambulation (OR =0.19, 95% CI =0.1–0.37), dexterity (OR =0.38, 95% CI =0.19–0.75), emotion (OR =0.43, 95% CI =0.22–0.84), cognition (OR = 0.076, 95% CI =0.033–0.18) and pain (OR =0.28, 95% CI =0.15–0.50). Treatment in a CGA unit was independently associated with lower 3-month mortality adjusted by Cox regression analysis (hazard ratio [HR] =0.55, 95% CI =0.32–0.96), and the two groups did not differ significantly in terms of hospital care costs (P>0.05). Conclusion: Patients in an acute CGA unit were less likely to present with decline in HRQoL after 3 months, and the care in a CGA unit was also independently associated with lower mortality, at no higher cost.
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| 7. |
- Ekerstad, Niklas, 1969-
(författare)
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Micro Level Priority Setting for Elderly Patients with Acute Cardiovascular Disease and Complex Needs : Practice What We Preach or Preach What We Practice?
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Demographic trends and other factors are expected to continue widening the gap between health care demands and available resources, especially in elder services. This growing imbalance signals a need for priority setting in health care. The literature has previously described problems in constructing useable means of priority setting, particularly when evidence is sparse, when patient groups are not satisfactorily defined, when interpretation of the term patient need is unclear, and when uncertainty prevails on how to weigh different ethical values. The chosen study object illustrates these problems. Moreover, the Swedish Government recently stated that care for elderly persons with complex health care needs remains underfunded. The general aim of this thesis is: to study micro-level priority setting for elderly heart patients with complex needs, as illustrated by those with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI); to relate the findings to evidence-based priority setting, e.g. guidelines for heart disease; and to analyse how complex needs could be appropriately categorised from a perspective of evidence-based priority setting.Paper I presents a register study that uses data from the Patient Register to describe inpatient care utilization, costs, and characteristics of elderly patients with multiple diseases. Paper II presents a confidential survey study from a random sample of 400 Swedish cardiologists. Paper III presents a prospective, clinical, observational multicentre-study of elderly patients with myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). Paper IV presents a questionnaire study from a purposeful, stratified sample of Swedish cardiologists.The results from Paper I show that elderly patients with multiple diseases have extensive and complex needs, frequently manifesting chronic and intermittently acute disease and consuming health care at various levels. A large majority have manifested cardiovascular disease. Results from Paper II indicate that although 81% of cardiologists reported extensive use of national guidelines in their clinical decision-making generally, the individual clinician’s personal clinical experience and the patient’s views were used to a greater extent than national guidelines, when making decisions about elderly multiple-diseased patients. Many elderly heart disease patients with complex needs manifest severe, acute or chronic, comorbid conditions that constitute exclusion criteria in evidence-generating studies, thereby limiting the generalisability of evidence and applicability of guidelines for these patients. This was indicated in papers I-IV. Paper III reports that frailty is a strong independent risk factor for adverse, short-term, clinical outcomes, e.g. one-month mortality for elderly NSTEMI patients. Particularly frail patients with a high comorbidity burden manifested a markedly increased risk.In the future, prospective clinical studies and registries with few exclusion criteria should be conducted. Consensus-based judgments based on a framework for priority setting as regards elderly patients with complex needs may offer an alternative, estimating the benefitrisk ratio of an intervention and the time-frame of expected benefits in relation to expected life-time. Such a framework, which is tentatively outlined in this thesis, should take into account comorbidity, frailty, and disease-specific risk.
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| 9. |
- Ekerstad, Niklas, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
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Prioritering av multisjuka äldre inom kardiologi : en medicinsk, etisk och hälsoekonomisk utmaning
- 2008
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- I Sverige har ett förväntat ökande gap mellan tillgängliga resurser och ökade behandlingsmöjligheter satt fokus på evidensbaserad prioritering. Problem har emellertid konstaterats inom områden med svag evidensgrund och oklar eller kontroversiell värdegrund. Vårt mål har varit att definiera, beskriva och kvantifiera ett typfall, som illustrerar denna problematik, nämligen populationen multisjuka äldre patienter i svensk slutenvård, särskilt de med hjärtkärlsjukdom, samt att diskutera implikationerna för prioriteringsarbete.Är det t ex möjligt att utarbeta konsensusbaserade riktlinjer, grundade på befintlig evidens- och värdegrund? Vi vill underbygga denna strategi för multisjuka äldre patienter med kardiovaskulär sjukdom genom att:• definiera, beskriva och kvantifiera de multisjuka äldre patienterna i svensk sjukvård, i synnerhet de med hjärtkärlsjukdom• uppskatta slutenvårdskostnaden för de multisjuka äldre patienterna• på populationsnivå skapa förutsättningar för kategorisering och prioritering av multisjuka äldre med kardiovaskulär sjukdom, företrädesvis på basen av kliniskt relevant komorbiditetDetta studeras med hjälp av en litteraturöversikt och en sammanställning av registerdata från Patientregistret för sluten vård och KPP-databasen (Kostnad Per Patient). Dessa källor har använts för att beskriva patientkaraktäristika, särskilt komorbiditet, samt vårdkonsumtion. De multisjuka äldres slutenvårdskonsumtion har uppskattats grovt.Resultatet visar att det inte finns någon allmänt vedertagen definition av multisjuka äldre. Socialstyrelsens definition framstår, ur epidemiologisk synvinkel, som den lämpligaste. Den lyder:"Personer 75 år eller äldre som under de senaste 12 månaderna har varit inneliggande tre eller flera gånger inom slutenvården och med tre eller flera diagnoser i tre eller flera skilda diagnosgrupper enligt klassifikationssystemet ICD 10."Bland alla människor i Sverige som är 75 år och äldre utgör de multisjuka äldre ungefär 7 procent. Av alla sjukhusvårdade patienter 75 år och äldre utgör de multisjuka äldre 25 procent men de konsumerar 47 procent av sjukhusdagarna i detta åldersintervall. Andelen multisjuka äldre växer på sjukhusen och sannolikt i samhället. Kostnaden för slutenvård av multisjuka äldre uppgår idag till 11.5 miljarder kronor per år. De multisjuka äldres slutenvårdskonsumtion betingar därmed 19 procent av de totala svenska slutenvårdskostnaderna. De vårdas inom olika specialiteter, men den klart dominerande specialiteten är internmedicin, inom vilken 81 procent av de multisjuka har vårdats. 71 procent av slutenvården av de multisjuka äldre sker på små och medelstora sjukhus.De multisjuka äldre, som vårdas på sjukhus, är i genomsnitt 83 år gamla samt har stora, multipla och komplexa vårdbehov. I de äldsta åldersstrata dominerar kvinnor numerärt. Hjärtkärlsjukdomar dominerar och många vårdtillfällen orsakas av akutisering av kronisk hjärtkärlsjukdom. Till de vanligaste, prioriteringsmässigt relevanta, komorbida tillstånden vid slutenvårdskrävande hjärtkärlsjukdom hos multisjuka äldre hör: tumörsjukdomar, tillstånd efter stroke, njursvikt, demens/betydande kognitiv rubbning, kroniskt obstruktiv lungsjukdom och kronisk värk. Några patientfall från kliniken relateras för att ge konkretion åt framställningen.För att kunna kategorisera de multisjuka äldre och för att kunna rangordna de aktuella prioriteringskategorierna krävs ytterligare kunskap om populationens komorbiditet. Med tanke på patientgruppens komplexa behov krävs emellertid en kompletterande behovsinriktad (snarare än enbart diagnosinriktad) klassifikation. Vidare skulle en prognostisk markör, kopplad till patientens totala sjukdomsbild, vara av värde vid prioritering.
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