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- Entezarjou, Artin, et al.
(author)
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Antibiotic Prescription Rates After eVisits Versus Office Visits in Primary Care : Observational Study
- 2021
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In: JMIR Medical Informatics. - : JMIR Publications Inc.. - 2291-9694. ; 9:3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Direct-to-consumer telemedicine is an increasingly used modality to access primary care. Previous research on assessment using synchronous virtual visits showed mixed results regarding antibiotic prescription rates, and research on assessment using asynchronous chat-based eVisits is lacking.OBJECTIVE: The goal of the research was to investigate if eVisit management of sore throat, other respiratory symptoms, or dysuria leads to higher rates of antibiotic prescription compared with usual management using physical office visits.METHODS: Data from 3847 eVisits and 759 office visits for sore throat, dysuria, or respiratory symptoms were acquired from a large private health care provider in Sweden. Data were analyzed to compare antibiotic prescription rates within 3 days, antibiotic type, and diagnoses made. For a subset of sore throat visits (n=160 eVisits, n=125 office visits), Centor criteria data were manually extracted and validated.RESULTS: Antibiotic prescription rates were lower following eVisits compared with office visits for sore throat (169/798, 21.2%, vs 124/312, 39.7%; P<.001) and respiratory symptoms (27/1724, 1.6%, vs 50/251, 19.9%; P<.001), while no significant differences were noted comparing eVisits to office visits for dysuria (1016/1325, 76.7%, vs 143/196, 73.0%; P=.25). Guideline-recommended antibiotics were prescribed similarly following sore throat eVisits and office visits (163/169, 96.4%, vs 117/124, 94.4%; P=.39). eVisits for respiratory symptoms and dysuria were more often prescribed guideline-recommended antibiotics (26/27, 96.3%, vs 37/50, 74.0%; P=.02 and 1009/1016, 99.3%, vs 135/143, 94.4%; P<.001, respectively). Odds ratios of antibiotic prescription following office visits compared with eVisits after adjusting for age and differences in set diagnoses were 2.94 (95% CI 1.99-4.33), 11.57 (95% CI 5.50-24.32), 1.01 (95% CI 0.66-1.53), for sore throat, respiratory symptoms, and dysuria, respectively.CONCLUSIONS: The use of asynchronous eVisits for the management of sore throat, dysuria, and respiratory symptoms is not associated with an inherent overprescription of antibiotics compared with office visits.TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03474887; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03474887.
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| 2. |
- Entezarjou, Artin, et al.
(author)
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Health care utilization following "digi-physical" assessment compared to physical assessment for infectious symptoms in primary care
- 2022
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In: BMC Primary Care. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2731-4553. ; 23
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: The use of chat-based digital visits (eVisits) to assess infectious symptoms in primary care is rapidly increasing. The "digi-physical" model of care uses eVisits as the first line of assessment while assuming a certain proportion of patients will inevitably need to be further assessed through urgent physical examination within 48 h. It is unclear to what extent this approach can mitigate physical visits compared to assessing patients directly using office visits.Methods: This pre-COVID-19-pandemic observational study followed up "digi-physical" eVisit patients (n = 1188) compared to office visit patients (n = 599) with respiratory or urinary symptoms. Index visits occurred between March 30th 2016 and March 29th 2019. The primary outcome was subsequent physical visits to physicians within two weeks using registry data from Skåne county, Sweden (Region Skånes Vårddatabas, RSVD).Results: No significant differences in subsequent physical visits within two weeks (excluding the first 48 h) were noted following "digi-physical" care compared to office visits (179 (18.0%) vs. 102 (17.6%), P = .854). As part of the "digital-physical" concept, a significantly larger proportion of eVisit patients had a physical visit within 48 h compared to corresponding office visit patients (191 (16.1%) vs. 19 (3.2%), P < .001), with 150 (78.5%) of these eVisit patients recommended some form of follow-up by the eVisit physician.Conclusions: Most eVisit patients (68.9%) with respiratory and urinary symptoms have no subsequent physical visits. Beyond an unavoidable portion of patients requiring urgent physical examination within 48 h, "digi-physical" management of respiratory and urinary symptoms results in comparable subsequent health care utilization compared to office visits. eVisit providers may need to optimize use of resources to minimize the proportion of patients being assessed both digitally and physically within 48 h as part of the "digi-physical" concept.Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT03474887.Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12875-021-01618-2.
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| 3. |
- Grzymala-Lubanski, Bartosz, et al.
(author)
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Mechanical heart valve prosthesis and warfarin : treatment quality and prognosis
- 2014
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In: Thrombosis Research. - : Elsevier. - 0049-3848 .- 1879-2472. ; 133:5, s. 795-798
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Introduction: Every year about 2500 patients in Sweden undergo surgery due to heart valve disease. A mechanical heart valve prosthesis causes risk of thromboembolic stroke or thrombus formation in the valve while anticoagulant treatment increases the risk of bleeding. Treatment quality with warfarin is crucial for patients with mechanical valve prostheses. It has previously been shown that poorly controlled warfarin treatment increases mortality in this patient group. TTR (Time in Therapeutic Range) on warfarin has been shown to affect the risk of complications in atrial fibrillation, but has not been studied in patients with mechanical heart valves. Our aim is to evaluate the impact of TTR on the risk of complications in this patient group. Materials and Methods: A non-randomized, prospective study of 534 adults with mechanical heart valve prostheses from Malmo and Sundsvall registered in the Swedish National Quality Registry Auricula between 01.01.2008 and 31.12.2011. Quartiles regarding individual TTR levels were compared regarding risk of complications. Results: The risk of complications was significantly higher at lower TTR levels for all complications (p = 0.005), bleeding (p = 0.01) and death (p = 0.018) but not for thromboembolism. In multivariate analysis the risk was significantly increased at lower TTR levels for bleeding and all complications but not for death or thromboembolism. Conclusion: Patients with a lower warfarin treatment quality measured by TTR have a higher risk of complications such as severe bleeding or death. A TTR of 83% or higher at the individual level should be obtained for best outcome.
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| 4. |
- Heijl, Caroline, et al.
(author)
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Lungultraljud – en uppseglande metod vid dyspné och hjärtsvikt
- 2021
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In: Lakartidningen. - 0023-7205. ; 118
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Ultrasound plays an important role in several medical fields. The heart was the first organ for which ultrasound gained clinical utility, followed by obstetric and gynecological applications. Shortly thereafter, abdominal organs and blood vessels became targets for ultrasound examination. The lung was long considered inaccessible for ultrasound due to its high air content. Work since the 1990s has however established a role for lung ultrasound, in leveraging several technical artefacts generated in the normal lung and in conditions with reduced air content, to allow rapid diagnosis of interstitial fluid accumulation, pneumothorax, pneumonia among others. In this article, we provide an overview of the potential of lung ultrasound, particularly as a promising method for assessment of patients presenting with acute dyspnea in the emergency department and for monitoring residual fluid in patients with decompensated heart failure. We also discuss limitations and caveats of the method.
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| 8. |
- Labaf, Ashkan, et al.
(author)
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Incidence and risk factors for thromboembolism and major bleeding in patients with mechanical valve prosthesis: A nationwide population-based study
- 2016
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In: American Heart Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0002-8703 .- 1097-6744. ; 181, s. 1-9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Risk factors of stroke/thromboembolism (TE) and major bleeding, and incidence of these events in specific age categories in warfarin-treated patients with mechanical heart valves (MHV) are uncertain. Our objective was to calculate event rates in specific age categories and identify risk factors for adverse events. Methods and results We identified 4,810 treatment periods with MHV between January 2006 and December 2011 in the Auricula and Swedish Web system for Enhancement and Development of Evidence-based care in Heart disease Evaluated According to Recommended Therapies registries. There were 3,751 treatment periods with aortic valve replacements (AVR) and 866 with mitral valve replacements (MVR). Median follow-up time was 4.5 years (IQR, 1.5-6.0). Time in therapeutic range with warfarin for patients with AVR was 74.2% for international normalized ratio of 2.0 to 3.0, with 72% of the patients having this target range. Rate of stroke/TE for AVR and MVR was 1.3 and 1.6 per 100 patient years, respectively (P=.20). The rate of first major bleeding was 2.6 and 3.9 per 100 patient years with AVR and MVR, respectively (P<.001). By multivariate analysis for AVR, age (hazard ratio [HR], 1.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.03 per year) and previous stroke (HR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.7-3.5) emerged as independent risk factors for stroke/TE. Heart failure (HR, 0.9; 95% CI, 0.6-1.4) and atrial fibrillation (HR, 1.0; 95% CI, 0.7-1.4) were not associated to stroke/TE. For major bleeding events, age (HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.03 per year) and previous major bleeding (HR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.9-3.3) emerged as independent risk factors for AVR. Conclusions In a nationwide cohort study with MHV and high time in therapeutic range, heart failure and atrial fibrillation did not appear as risk factors of stroke/TE. © 2016
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| 9. |
- Labaf, Ashkan, et al.
(author)
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INR variability and outcomes in patients with mechanical heart valve prosthesis
- 2015
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In: Thrombosis Research. - : Elsevier. - 0049-3848 .- 1879-2472. ; 136:6, s. 1211-1215
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The quality of treatment with warfarin is mainly assessed by the time in therapeutic range (TTR) in patients with mechanical heart valve prosthesis (MHV). Our aim was to evaluate if International Normalized Ratio (INR) variability predicted a combined endpoint of thromboembolism, major bleeding and death better than TTR.METHODS AND RESULTS: We included 394 patients at one center with MHV during 2008-2011 with adverse events and death followed prospectively. TTR 2.0-4.0 and log-transformed INR variability was calculated for all patients. In order to make comparisons between the measures, the gradient of the risk per one standard deviation (SD) was assessed. INR variability performed equal as TTR 2.0-4.0 per one SD unit adjusted for covariates, hazard ratio (HR) 1.30 (95% CI 1.1-1.5) and 0.71 (95% CI 0.6-0.8) respectively for the combined endpoint, and performed better for mortality HR 1.47 (95% CI 1.1-1.9) and 0.70 (95% CI 0.6-0.8). INR variability was categorized into high and low group and TTR into tertiles. High variability within the low and high TTR, had a HR 2.0 (95% CI 1.7-3.6) and 2.2 (95% CI 1.1-4.1) respectively, of the combined endpoint compared to the low variability/high TTR group. INR values <2.0 greatly increased the rate of thromboembolism whereas the rate of major bleeding increased moderately between INR 3.0 and 4.0 and increased substantially after INR >4.0.CONCLUSION: The INR variability is an equal predictor as TTR of the combined endpoint of thromboembolism, major bleeding and death, and adds important information on top of TTR in patients with MHV.
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