Clinical phenotypes of patients with acute stroke: a secondary analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Stroke is a leading cause of mortality worldwide and a major cause of disability having a high burden on patients, society, and caregiving systems. This study was conducted to investigate the presence of clusters of in-hospital patients with acute stroke based on demographic and clinical data. Cluster analysis reveals patterns in patient characteristics without requiring knowledge of a predefined patient category or assumptions about likely groupings within the data. METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of open-access anonymized data from patients with acute stroke admitted to a hospital between December 2019 to June 2021. In total, 216 patients (78; 36.1% men) were included in the analytical dataset with a mean (SD) age of 60.3 (14.4). Many demographic and clinical features were included in the analysis and the Barthel Index on discharge was used for comparing the functional recovery of the identified clusters. RESULTS: Hierarchical clustering based on the principal components identified two clusters of 109 and 107 patients. The clusters were different in the Barthel Index scores on discharge with the mean (SD) of 39.3 (29.3) versus 62.6 (29.4); t (213.87) = -5.818, P <0.001, Cohen's d (95%CI) = -0.80 (-1.07, -0.52). A logistic model showed that age, systolic blood pressure, pulse rate, D-dimer blood level, low-density lipoprotein, hemoglobin, creatinine concentration, the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale value, and the Barthel Index scores on admission were significant predictors of cluster profiles (all P ≤0.029). CONCLUSION: There are two clusters in hospitalized patients with acute stroke with significantly different functional recovery. This allows prognostic grouping of hospitalized acute stroke patients for prioritization of care or resource allocation. The clusters can be recognized using easily measured demographic and clinical features.

Hospital Performance Evaluation Checklist in Context of COVID-19 Pandemic: Design and Validation.

OBJECTIVE: Around the world, pandemics have been considered among the main hazards in the last 2 decades. Hospitals are 1 of the most important organizations responding to pandemics. The aim of this study was to design and develop a valid checklist for evaluating the hospitals' performance in response to COVID-19 pandemic, for the first time. METHODS: This study is a mixed method research design that began in February, 2020 and was conducted in 3 phases: Designing a conceptual model, designing a primary checklist structure, and checklist psychometric evaluation. Known-groups method has been used to evaluate construct validity. Two groups of hospitals were compared: group A (COVID-19 Hospitals) and group B (the other hospitals). RESULTS: The checklist's main structure was designed with 6 main domains, 23 sub-domains, and 152 items. The content validity ratio and index were 0.94 and 0.79 respectively. Eleven items were added, 106 items were removed, and 40 items were edited. Independent t-test showed a significant difference between the scores of the 2 groups of hospitals (P < 0.0001). Pearson correlation coefficient test also showed a high correlation between our checklist and the other. The internal consistency of the checklist was 0.98 according to Cronbach's alpha test. CONCLUSIONS: Evaluating the hospitals' performance and identifying their strengths and weaknesses, can help health system policymakers and hospital managers, and leads to improved performance in response to COVID-19.

Budgeting in Healthcare Systems and Organizations: A Systematic Review.

Background: Budgeting is the process resource allocation to produce the best output according to the revenue levels involved. Among the constraints that healthcare organizations, including hospitals, both in the public and private sectors, grapple with is budgetary constraints. Therefore, cost control and resource management should be considered in healthcare organizations under such circumstances. Methods: We aimed to identify methods of budgeting in healthcare systems and organizations as a systematic review. To extract and analyze the data, a form was designed by the researcher to define budgeting methods proposed in the literature and to identify their strengths, weaknesses, and dimensions. The search was conducted in Google Scholar, Web of science, Pub med and Scopus databases covering the period 1990-2022. Results: Overall, 33 articles were included in the study for extraction and final analysis. The study results were reported in four main themes: healthcare system budgeting, capital budgeting, global budgeting, and performance-based budgeting. Conclusion: Each budgeting approach has its own pros and cons and requires meeting certain requirements. These approaches are selected and implemented depending on each country's infrastructure and conditions as well as its organizations. These infrastructures need to be thoroughly examined before implementing any budgeting method, and then a budgeting method should be selected accordingly.

Association of Glasgow coma scale and endotracheal intubation in predicting mortality among patients admitted to the intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND: We assessed predictors of mortality in the intensive care unit (ICU) and investigated if Glasgow coma scale (GCS) is associated with mortality in patients undergoing endotracheal intubation (EI). METHODS: From February 2020, we performed a 1-year study on 2,055 adult patients admitted to the ICU of two teaching hospitals. The outcome was mortality during ICU stay and the predictors were patients' demographic, clinical, and laboratory features. RESULTS: EI was associated with a decreased risk for mortality compared with similar patients (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.32; P=0.030). This shows that EI had been performed correctly with proper indications. Increasing age (AOR, 1.04; P<0.001) or blood pressure (AOR, 1.01; P<0.001), respiratory problems (AOR, 3.24; P<0.001), nosocomial infection (AOR, 1.64; P=0.014), diabetes (AOR, 5.69; P<0.001), history of myocardial infarction (AOR, 2.52; P<0.001), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AOR, 3.93; P<0.001), immunosuppression (AOR, 3.15; P<0.001), and the use of anesthetics/sedatives/hypnotics for reasons other than EI (AOR, 4.60; P<0.001) were directly; and GCS (AOR, 0.84; P<0.001) was inversely related to mortality. In patients with trauma surgeries (AOR, 0.62; P=0.014) or other surgical categories (AOR, 0.61; P=0.024) undergoing EI, GCS had an inverse relation with mortality (accuracy=82.6%, area under the receiver operator characteristic curve=0.81). CONCLUSIONS: A variety of features affected the risk for mortality in patients admitted to the ICU. Considering GCS score for EI had the potential of affecting prognosis in subgroups of patients such as those with trauma surgeries or other surgical categories.

Managerial competencies of head nurses: a model and assessment tool.

Head nurses' performance plays an important role in the successful operation of hospitals. Identification and prioritisation of managerial competencies required for these supervisors and evaluation of their performance on this basis are necessary. This study aimed to provide a valid tool for assessing managerial competencies of hospital department head nurses. First, through literature review, Delphi technique and expert panel, a competency model was developed. Then using the analytic hierarchy process, competencies were weighted and prioritised. Finally, based on the model, an instrument was designed to measure the competencies of head nurses. Validity and reliability of the instrument was also checked. The proposed framework included 27 competencies categorised by four main managerial tasks: planning, organising, leadership and control. Findings revealed that the highest priority was given to strategic thinking (0.1221) and the lowest priority was given to evidence-based decision making (0.007). Based on impact score and content validity ratio results, the content validity of all questions has been proved. Furthermore through the use of a content validity index, 11 questions were omitted or modified. The study presents a valid and comprehensive model for assessing managerial competencies of hospital department head nurses in order to take an important step towards improving their performance.

The extent of inappropriate use of magnetic resonance imaging in low back pain and its contributory factors.

BACKGROUND: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an expensive and commonly used technology with a variety of indications in patient diagnosis and treatments. The aim of this study is to identify a comprehensive list of indications and contraindications for MRI in patients with low back pain (LBP) and to determine the appropriateness of using this technology in these patients on the basis of this list. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in four radiographic centers in Tehran, Iran. A list of MRI indications and contraindications for LBP was developed by review of documents and expert panel. A pre structured checklist was designed and incorporated into a structured form. All 100 consecutive patients referring to four radiographic centers for performing MRI regarding LBP completed the questionnaire. Chi-square, Fisher's Exact Test and logistic Regression were used to assess statistical significance. RESULTS: In this study, 187 patients (46.7%) had an indication for MRI, but 186 patients (46.5%) had no indication, 18 patients (4.5%) had indication and contraindication at the same time and nine patients (2.3%) had contraindication. Moreover, 71 patients (17.8%) underwent MRI for LBP during the past 2 years, of which 14 (19.7%) had normal results. Patients with complementary private insurance had a history of previous MRI about 20% more than other patients (P = 0.018). There was a statistically significant relationship between complementary private insurance coverage and number of MRI performed (P = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: About half of the patients referring to radiographic centers with LBP for MRI had no indication for this test.