Assessment of HIV-postexposure prophylaxis prescription quality after a training programme and assistance in decisions provided by a computer-based decision program: a cross-over study.

BACKGROUND: Among the tools for preventing HIV transmission, post-exposureprophylaxis (PEP) is an effective means after potential HIV exposure. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate aPEP training program and acomputer-baseddecision program (CBDP) using simulated patients in emergency department (ED) on the quality of PEP prescription. METHODS: This cross-overstudy, carried out from 7January2019 to 28June2019, included 20 ED physicians from 10 tertiary referral hospitals. Intervention consisted of two parts: Period Aassessed physicians' compliance with PEP prescription guidelines before and after atraining program, using 400 post-exposuremedical records (200 occupational and 200 non-occupational). Period Bconsisted of arandomized crossover study involving 40 simulated patients, with physicians using or not using aCBDP. Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of PEP prescription in accordance with the guidelines were assessed. RESULTS: In period A, alpha Cronbach was less than 0.7 whereas it increased after the training to be >0.7. Sensitivity increased, especially for occupational patients ranging from 51.8%-66.6% to 70.4%-90.1%, whereas specificity increased for non-occupationalpatients ranging from 15.5%-51.9% to 52.1%-75.3%. In period B, sensitivity, specificity, and rate of complete assessments significantly increased (p < 0.0001) after the initiation of CBDP. Rate of PEP prescription significantly decreased (p < 0.001) for all subcategories. CONCLUSION: Significant recommendations-discordantprescriptions, mainly overprescription, occurred for patients visiting ED for PEP. Training improved quality of PEP prescription but the reduction was modest. The availability of CBDP improved quality of PEP prescription and allowed for better data collection and reduction of PEP prescription.

Analysis of the Feasibility of a Vaccination Campaign against Influenza Epidemic and COVID-19 Pandemic in French Emergency Departments: A National Survey.

BACKGROUND: Vaccination is one of the most effective ways to fight the influenza epidemic and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which represent a major public issue. The objective was to investigate the adherence of heads of French emergency departments (ED) and nursing departments on a potential vaccination campaign of healthcare workers (HCW) and patients in ED. METHOD: In February 2021, ED and nursing department heads were asked to answer a national survey. It included 24 questions designed to cover some dimensions, including characteristics of the hospital and emergency departments (ED) and questions on vaccination. RESULTS: 414 responses out of 800 questionnaires (51.8%) were collected. Scores out of 10 were, respectively, 7 (6-8) and 8 (6-9) for vaccination against influenza and COVID-19 for HCW and 2 (2-3) and 2 (2-4) for ED patients (H = 989.3; p < 0.0001). Multivariate logistic regression found that the existence of a vaccine program in the hospital and the use of point of care influenza PCR in ED were positively associated with the acceptance of influenza vaccination campaign for HCW (p = 0.003) and patients (p = 0.015). Factors limiting adherence to a vaccination program of HCW and patients were lack of medical staff (p = 0.041 for HCW and p < 0.0001 for patients), overcrowded ED (p < 0.001), and the inability to follow up with patients after the ED visit (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: There have been many missed opportunities for influenza vaccination, and there is pressure to vaccinate against COVID-19 as soon as possible. Vaccination campaigns in ED could help to improve vaccination coverage. ED staff are more likely to vaccinate HCW than patients. There are factors that support the implementation of such programs, which can be grouped into a culture of diagnosis, control, and prevention of viral infectious diseases within the hospital and ED. On the other hand, there are limiting factors, such as overcrowding and lack of personnel.

Unscheduled-return-visits after an emergency department (ED) attendance and clinical link between both visits in patients aged 75 years and over: a prospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: Predictors of unscheduled return visits (URV), best time-frame to evaluate URV rate and clinical relationship between both visits have not yet been determined for the elderly following an ED visit. METHODS: We conducted a prospective-observational study including 11,521 patients aged ≥75-years and discharged from ED (5,368 patients (53.5%)) or hospitalized after ED visit (6,153 patients). Logistic Regression and time-to-failure analyses including Cox proportional model were performed. RESULTS: Mean time to URV was 17 days; 72-hour, 30-day and 90-day URV rates were 1.8%, 6.1% and 10% respectively. Multivariate analysis indicates that care-pathway and final disposition decisions were significantly associated with a 30-day URV. Thus, we evaluated predictors of 30-day URV rates among non-admitted and hospitalized patient groups. By using the Cox model we found that, for non-admitted patients, triage acuity and diagnostic category and, for hospitalized patients, that visit time (day, night) and diagnostic categories were significant predictors (p<0.001). For URV, we found that 25% were due to closely related-clinical conditions. Time lapses between both visits constituted the strongest predictor of closely related-clinical conditions. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that a decision of non-admission in emergency departments is linked with an accrued risk of URV, and that some diagnostic categories are also related for non-admitted and hospitalized subjects alike. Our study also demonstrates that the best time frame to evaluate the URV rate after an ED visit is 30 days, because this is the time period during which most URVs and cases with close clinical relationships between two visits are concentrated. Our results suggest that URV can be used as an indicator or quality.

Emergency orthopaedic surgery under noninvasive ventilation after refusal for general anaesthesia.

In this observation, we report a novel use of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation in the operating room to support ventilation in an acidotic hypercapnic patient with severe acute chronic respiratory failure refuted for general anaesthesia, operated under spinal anaesthesia for a femoral fracture. The feasibility of noninvasive ventilatory assistance during surgery performed under regional anaesthesia is reported here. In selected cases, noninvasive ventilation can be used in the management of patients with acute or chronic respiratory failure requiring an urgent surgical intervention but in whom the respiratory status excluded a general anaesthesia.