Mind-body and art therapies impact on emotional regulation in patients with chronic diseases: a pragmatic mixed-methods randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Effective emotional regulation is recognized as essential to a good mental health of people with chronic diseases, and Mind-body and Art Therapies (MBATs) could have a positive effect on emotional regulation skills in this population. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the effect of MBATs on emotional regulation as measured by the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) questionnaire. METHODS: A convergent mixed approach nested in a pragmatic superiority two arms parallel randomized controlled trial was conducted. French speaking adults with one or more chronic somatic illnesses and not suffering from a chronic psychiatric disorder unrelated to one of their chronic somatic illness were included. At inclusion, non-directive interviews were conducted, followed by an initial DERS assessment. The same combination of evaluation was implemented after 6 months of activity (T1). After inclusion, each participant was randomized within either the intervention group (G1) or the control group (G2) following a controlled wait-list design by use of a pregenerated randomization list. Staff and patient were blinded to this list until the initial evaluation was completed, after which the trial was conducted in an open-label fashion. Participants chose 2 mediations: one creativity-focused (art-therapy, writing workshop, theatre of life, vocal workshop) and one mind-body-focused (mindfulness meditation, Pilates, shiatsu, ayurvedic massages). G1 started their mediations immediately after inclusion, while G2 started 6 months later. Primary outcome was the change in means at 6 months in the overall DERS score compared between each group. Non-directive interviews were carried out at the inclusion and after 6 months of MBATs. A continuous inductive analysis was carried out on gathered material in G1 to explore the participants' experiences regarding their disease and their perceived changes associated to the intervention. RESULTS: A total of 150 patients was randomized (75 per groups) at the end of the study. At T1, 133 patients filled out the final questionnaire (67 in G1 vs 66 in G2) and 112 interviews were analysed (54 in G1 vs 58 in G2). All 150 patients were analysed (intention to treat) using a multiple imputation approach. The mean DERS score at T0 was equal to 82.8 ± 21.1 and 85.0 ± 20.2 in G1 and G2 respectively. On average, at T1, the score decreased in the G1 (Δ = -4.8, SD = 21.3) and in G2 (Δ = -0.11, SD = 17.8). The difference in decrease, however, was not statistically significant (p = 0.13). Qualitative analysis underlined some MBATs benefits on emotional regulation, especially on regulation strategies. No harms related to the intervention has been observed. CONCLUSIONS: This study only partially supports benefits on MBAT on emotional regulation skills enhancement in patients with chronic disease receiving MBATs, as measured by the DERS scale. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The protocol was registered on Clinical Trials (NCT02911207).

Impact of two-level filtering on emergency medical communication center triage during the COVID-19 pandemic: an uncontrolled before-after study.

BACKGROUND: Rapid access to emergency medical communication centers (EMCCs) is pivotal to address potentially life-threatening conditions. Maintaining public access to EMCCs without delay is crucial in case of disease outbreak despite the significant increased activity and the difficulties to mobilize extra staff resources. The aim of our study was to assess the impact of two-level filtering on EMCC performance during the COVID-19 outbreak. METHODS: A before-after monocentric prospective study was conducted at the EMCC at the Nantes University Hospital. Using telephone activity data, we compared EMCC performance during 2 periods. In period one (February 27th to March 11th 2020), call takers managed calls as usual, gathering basic information from the caller and giving first aid instructions to a bystander on scene if needed. During period two (March 12th to March 25th 2020), calls were answered by a first-line call taker to identify potentially serious conditions that required immediate dispatch. When a serious condition was excluded, the call was immediately transferred to a second-line call taker who managed the call as usual so the first-line call taker could be rapidly available for other incoming calls. The primary outcome was the quality of service at 20 s (QS20), corresponding to the rate of calls answered within 20 s. We described activity and outcome measures by hourly range. We compared EMCC performance during periods one and two using an interrupted time series analysis. RESULTS: We analyzed 45,451 incoming calls during the two study periods: 21,435 during period 1 and 24,016 during period 2. Between the two study periods, we observed a significant increase in the number of incoming calls per hour, the number of connected call takers and average call duration. A linear regression model, adjusted for these confounding variables, showed a significant increase in the QS20 slope (from - 0.4 to 1.4%, p = 0.01), highlighting the significant impact of two-level filtering on the quality of service. CONCLUSIONS: We found that rapid access to our EMCC was maintained during the COVID-19 pandemic via two-level filtering. This system helped reduce the time gap between call placement and first-line call-taker evaluation of a potentially life-threatening situation. We suggest implementing this system when an EMCC faces significantly increased activity with limited staff resources.

Evaluation of a web-based tool for labelling potential hospital outbreaks: a mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: Labelling outbreaks in surveillance data is necessary to train advanced analytical methods for outbreak detection, but there is a lack of software tools dedicated to this task. AIM: To evaluate the usability of a web-based tool by infection control practitioners for labelling potential outbreaks. METHODS: A mixed methods design was used to evaluate how 25 experts from France and Canada interacted with a web-based application to identify potential outbreaks. Each expert used the application to retrospectively review 11-12 1-year incidence time series from 23 different types of micro-organism. The interactions between the users and the application were recorded and analysed using mixed effect models. The users' comments were analysed via qualitative methods. FINDINGS: From the 240 reviews completed, 439 potential outbreaks were labelled, approximately half with a high probability. Significant heterogeneity was observed between users regarding their answers and behaviours (evaluation time, usage of the different options). A significant learning effect was also observed for the experts' interactions with the tool, but this did not seem to impact their answers. The content analysis of the comments highlighted the difficulty of early outbreak identification for practitioners, but also the potential utility of web applications such as that evaluated for routine surveillance. CONCLUSION: The interactive web application was both usable and useful for infection control practitioners. Its implementation in routine practice could help professionals to identify potential outbreaks while creating data to train automated detection algorithms.

Prognostic performance of early absence of pupillary light reaction after recovery of out of hospital cardiac arrest.

INTRODUCTION: Loss of pupillary light reactivity (PLR) three days after a cardiorespiratory arrest is a prognostic factor. Its predictive value upon hospital admission remains unclear. Our objective was to determine the prognostic value of the absence of PLR upon hospital admission in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. METHODS: We prospectively included all out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occurring between July 2011 and July 2017 treated by a mobile medical team (MMT) based on data from a French cardiac arrest registry database. PLR was evaluated upon hospital admission and the outcome on day 30. The prognosis was classified as good for Cerebral Performance Category (CPC) 1 or 2, and poor for CPC 3-5 or in case of death. RESULTS: Data from 10151 patients was analysed. The sensitivity and specificity of the absence of PLR for a poor outcome were 72.2% (71.2-73.2) and 68.8% (66.7-70.1), respectively. We identified several variables modifying the sensitivity values and the false positive fraction of a factor, ranging from 0.49 (0.35-0.69) for the Glasgow Coma Scale to 2.17 (1.09-2.48) for pupillary asymmetry. Among those living with CPC 1 or 2 on day 30 (n = 1990; 19.6%), 621 (31.2% (29.2-33.3)) had no PLR upon hospital admission. In the multivariate analysis, loss of PLR was associated with a poor outcome (OR = 3.1 (2.7-3.5)). CONCLUSIONS: Loss of pupillary light reactivity upon hospital admission is predictive of a poor outcome after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. However, it does not have sufficient accuracy to determine prognosis and decision making.

Inpatient satisfaction with medical information received from caregivers: an observational study on the effect of social deprivation.

BACKGROUND: The main objective of this study was to explore the relationships between inpatients' social differentiation and satisfaction with the medical information delivered by caregivers. METHODS: In four departments of a teaching hospital, patients were enrolled as well as their attending physician and one of the nurses assigned to them. Structured survey questionnaires were administered face-to-face to patients and caregivers. Patients were asked to rate their satisfaction with the medical information received, the quality and duration of the interactions with the caregivers, and their experience regarding their involvement in medical decision-making. Caregivers were asked to rate their perception of the patients' social position and involvement in medical decision-making. Social deprivation was assessed using the EPICES score in particular. The statistical analysis was mainly descriptive and completed by a structural equation model. RESULTS: A sample of 255 patients, 221 pairs of patient-physician and 235 pairs of patient-nurse were considered. One third of the patients (32.7%) were identified as socially deprived. They were significantly less satisfied with the information they received on their health status or their treatment; 56.7% of patients thought that they received sufficient explanations without having to ask. This proportion was significantly lower in socially deprived patients (42.3%) compared to not deprived patients (63.6%, p < 0.01). Patients' reported involvement in medical decision-making was significantly lower for socially deprived patients (75.0% vs 89.0%, p < 0.001). The structural equation model showed that the main determinant of patients' satisfaction regarding medical information was their perceived involvement in informed medical decision-making (CFI = 0.998, RMSEA = 0.022). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that physicians and nurses need training on communication targeted towards vulnerable patients, in order to improve the accessibility of medical information, and thus to reduce health inequalities.

Epidemiology and prevention of surgical site infections after cardiac surgery.

Deep sternal wound infection is the major infectious complication in patients undergoing cardiac surgery, associated with a high morbidity and mortality rate, and a longer hospital stay. The most common causative pathogen involved is Staphylococcus spp. The management of post sternotomy mediastinitis associates surgical revision and antimicrobial therapy with bactericidal activity in blood, soft tissues, and the sternum. The pre-, per-, and postoperative prevention strategies associate controlling the patient's risk factors (diabetes, obesity, respiratory insufficiency), preparing the patient's skin (body hair, preoperative showering, operating site antiseptic treatment), antimicrobial prophylaxis, environmental control of the operating room and medical devices, indications and adequacy of surgical techniques. Recently published scientific data prove the significant impact of decolonization in patients carrying nasal Staphylococcus aureus, on surgical site infection rate, after cardiac surgery.