Effects of water-pipe smoking on lung function: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Although common in many Middle Eastern countries, water-pipe tobacco smoking, commonly known as water-pipe smoking (WPS), is increasingly popular in Western cultures. The primary objective of this study was to systematically review the effects of WPS on lung function. The secondary objective was to compare the effects of WPS and cigarette smoking on lung function. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review using the approach of the Cochrane Collaboration to search for, select, and abstract studies. We conducted two separate meta-analyses comparing water-pipe smokers with nonsmokers, and water-pipe smokers with cigarette smokers for each of three spirometric measurements (FEV1, FVC, and FEV1/ FVC). We used the standardized mean difference (SMD) to pool the results. RESULTS: Six cross-sectional studies were eligible for this review. Compared with no smoking, WPS was associated with a statistically significant reduction in FEV1 (SMD = -0.43; 95% CI, -0.58 to -0.29; equivalent to a 4.04% lower FEV1%), a trend toward lower FVC (SMD = -0.15; 95% CI, -0.34 to 0.04; equivalent to a 1.38% reduction in FVC%), and lower FEV1/ FVC (SMD = -0.46; 95% CI, -0.93 to 0.01; equivalent to a 3.08% lower FEV1/ FVC). Comparing WPS with cigarette smoking, there was no statistically significant difference in FEV1, FVC, and FEV1/ FVC. The six studies suffered from methodologic limitations. CONCLUSIONS: WPS negatively affects lung function and may be as harmful as cigarette smoking. WPS, therefore, is likely to be a cause of COPD.

Survey instruments used in clinical and epidemiological research on waterpipe tobacco smoking: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The primary objective was to systematically review the medical literature for instruments validated for use in epidemiological and clinical research on waterpipe smoking. METHODS: We searched the following databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and ISI the Web of Science. We selected studies using a two-stage duplicate and independent screening process. We included papers reporting on the development and/or validation of survey instruments to measure waterpipe tobacco consumption or related concepts. Two reviewers used a standardized and pilot tested data abstraction form to collect data from each eligible study using a duplicate and independent screening process. We also determined the percentage of observational studies assessing the health effects of waterpipe tobacco smoking and the percentage of studies of prevalence of waterpipe tobacco smoking that have used validated survey instruments. RESULTS: We identified a total of five survey instruments. One instrument was designed to measure knowledge, attitudes, and waterpipe use among pregnant women and was shown to have internal consistency and content validity. Three instruments were designed to measure waterpipe tobacco consumption, two of which were reported to have face validity. The fifth instrument was designed to measure waterpipe dependence and was rigorously developed and validated. One of the studies of prevalence and none of the studies of health effects of waterpipe smoking used validated instruments. CONCLUSIONS: A number of instruments for measuring the use of and dependence on waterpipe smoking exist. Future research should study content validity and cross cultural adaptation of these instruments.

Validity of severity scores in hospitalized patients with nursing home-acquired pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: Several severity scores have been advanced to predict a patient's outcome from community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). The purpose of this study is to compare the accuracy of confusion, urea, respiratory rate, BP (CURB); CURB plus age ≥ 65 years (CURB-65); CURB-65 minus urea (CRB-65); and systolic BP, oxygenation, age, and respiratory rate (SOAR) scoring systems in predicting 30-day mortality and ICU admission in patients with nursing home-acquired pneumonia (NHAP). METHODS: A retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected database of 457 nursing home residents hospitalized with pneumonia at two university-affiliated tertiary care facilities. Clinical and laboratory features were used to compute severity scores using the British Thoracic Society severity rules and the SOAR criteria. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were compared for need for ICU admission and 30-day mortality. RESULTS: The overall 30-day mortality and ICU admission rates were 23% and 25%, respectively. CURB, CURB-65, and CRB-65 performed similarly in predicting mortality with areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) of 0.605 (95% CI, 0.559-0.650), 0.593 (95% CI, 0.546-0.638), and 0.592 (95% CI, 0.546-0.638), respectively, whereas SOAR showed superior accuracy with an AUC of 0.765 (95% CI, 0.724-0.803) (P < .001). The need for ICU care was also better identified with the SOAR model compared with the other scoring rules. CONCLUSIONS: All three British Thoracic Society rules had lower performance accuracy in predicting 30-day mortality of hospitalized NHAP than SOAR. SOAR is also a superior alternative for better identification of severe NHAP. An improved rule for severity assessment of hospitalized NHAP is needed.

Bicarbonate therapy in the treatment of septic shock: a second look.

The use of supplemental sodium bicarbonate for the treatment of patients with septic shock and elevated blood lactate levels remains a controversial therapy. We conducted a retrospective study between March 2004 and February 2009 of 36 consecutive patients diagnosed with septic shock who received continuous infusion of bicarbonate therapy. A control group was matched 1:1 for age, site of infection, and predicted mortality by APACHE II. All patients were managed according to standard protocols. The median time until reversal of shock did not achieve statistical significance between the bicarbonate group (44.5 h [95% confidence interval [CI] 34-54] and the control group (55.0 h [95% CI 39-60] (p = 0.09). The median time to liberation of mechanical ventilation was significantly reduced in the bicarbonate group (10 days [95% CI 5.0-13.0] compared to the control group (14 days [95% CI 9.0-19.0], p = 0.02). The length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay was also shorter in the surviving patients who received bicarbonate compared to controls (median 11.5 days (95% CI 6.0-16.0) vs. 16.0 days (95% CI 13.5-19.0), respectively; p = 0.01). However, there was no difference in 28-day mortality between the two study groups (28%; 95% CI 14-45% vs. 33%; 95% CI 19-51%, respectively; p = 0.79). Infusion of sodium bicarbonate in septic patients with arterial hyperlactatemia may facilitate weaning from mechanical ventilation and reduce length of ICU stay.