No convincing association between post-operative delirium and post-operative cognitive dysfunction: a secondary analysis.

BACKGROUND: Post-operative delirium and post-operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) are both common but it has not been clarified how closely they are associated. We aimed to assess the possible relationship in a secondary analysis of data from the 'Surgery Depth of anaesthesia and Cognitive outcome'- study. METHODS: We included patients aged ≥ 60 years undergoing non-cardiac surgery planned for longer than 60 min. Delirium was assessed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV criteria in the post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) as well as within the first week after surgery. Cognitive function was assessed with a neuropsychological test battery. Multivariable analysis of POCD was performed with consideration of predisposing and precipitating factors. RESULTS: Of 1277 randomized patients, 850 (66.6%) had complete data. Delirium was found in 270 patients (32.9% of 850). We detected POCD in 162 (20.9% of 776) at 1 week and in 52 (9.4% of 553) at 3 months. In multivariable analysis (n = 808), delirium had no overall effect on POCD (P = 0.30). Patients with no delirium in PACU but with postoperative delirium within 7 days had an increased risk of POCD at 3 months (OR = 2.56 (95%-confidence interval: 1.07-6.16), P = 0.035). No significant association was found for the other subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: There is no clear evidence that postoperative delirium is independently associated with POCD up to 3 months.

[Patients with minor injuries in a Berlin inner-city emergency room : substance misuse, residential area, and sociodemographics]. / Leichtverletzte Patienten einer innerstädtischen Rettungsstelle in Berlin : Substanzmissbrauch, Wohnbereich und Sozialstruktur.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this post hoc study was to evaluate the association of substance use disorders (SUD) and residential neighborhood affiliation in a group of patients with minor injuries presenting to an inner-city emergency room (ER) in Berlin. METHODS: A total of 2,716 patients with minor injuries presenting to the ER were evaluated concerning alcohol use disorders (AUDIT, cut-off: males 8 points, females 5 points), smoking status, and illicit drug use in the past year. Information about residential area (zip code) and sociodemographics (paper-pencil questionnaire) were also obtained. RESULTS: With respect to residential area, significant differences concerning SUD were identified: from the perspective of the inner-city ER, living close to the ER was associated with substance misuse. Here, alcohol use disorders (AUD), smokers, and illicit drug use were found more frequently compared to patients living in the periphery of the city. In addition, patients living close to the ER were more often unemployed, had a lower income, or were students. CONCLUSION: There are differences in SUD with respect to residential area. However, in order to be able to draw reliable conclusions, an approach collecting representative data at the city district level as well as using a multicenter approach at the city ER level is necessary.

[Individual social factors and their association with environmental socioeconomic factors--a descriptive small-area analysis in the city of Dortmund]. / Individuelle soziale Faktoren in Abhängigkeit von sozioökonomischen Wohnumfeldindikatoren--eine deskriptive kleinräumige Analyse in der Stadt Dortmund.

Apart from individual resources and individual risk factors, environmental socioeconomic factors are determinants of individual health and illness. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the association of small-area environmental socioeconomic parameters (proportion of 14-year-old and younger population, proportion of married citizens, proportion of unemployed, and the number of private cars per inhabitant) with individual socioeconomic parameters (education, income, unemployment, social class and the country of origin) in Dortmund, a major city in Germany. After splitting the small-area environmental socioeconomic parameters of 62 statistical administration units into quintiles, differences in the distribution of individual social parameters were evaluated using adjusted tests for trend. Overall, 1,312 study participants (mean age 53.6 years, 52.9% women) were included. Independently of age and gender, individual social parameters were unequally distributed across areas with different small-area environmental socioeconomic parameters. A place of birth abroad and social class were significantly associated with all small-area environmental socioeconomic parameters. If the impact of environmental socioeconomic parameters on individual health or illness is determined, the unequal small-area distribution of individual social parameters should be considered.

Emergency department-initiated tobacco control: a randomised controlled trial in an inner city university hospital.

OBJECTIVES: Emergency department (ED) patients show high smoking rates. The effects of ED-initiated tobacco control (ETC) on 7-day abstinence at 12 months were investigated. METHODS: A randomised controlled intention-to-treat trial (trials registry no.: ISRCTN41527831) was conducted with 1044 patients in an urban ED. ETC consisted of on-site counselling plus up to four telephone booster sessions. Controls received usual care. Analysis was by logistic regression. RESULTS: In all, 630 (60.7%) participants were males, the median age was 30 years (range 18-81) and the median smoking intensity was 15 (range 1-60) cigarettes per day. Overall, 580 study participants (55.6%) were unmotivated, 331 (31.7%) were ambivalent and 133 (12.7%) were motivated smokers. ETC (median time 30 (range 1-99) min) was administered to 472 (91.7% out of 515) randomised study participants. At follow-up, 685 study participants (65.6% of 1044) could be contacted. In the ETC group, 73 out of 515 (14.2%) in the ETC group were abstinent, whereas 60 out of 529 (11.3%) controls were abstinent (OR adjusted for age and gender = 1.31 (95% CI 0.91 to 1.89, p = 0.15). Stratified for motivation to change behaviour, the adjusted ORs for ETC versus usual care were OR = 1.00 (95% CI 0.57 to 1.76) in unmotivated smokers, respectively OR = 1.37 (95% CI 0.73 to 2.58) in ambivalent smokers and OR = 2.19 (95% CI 0.98 to 4.89) in motivated smokers, p for trend = 0.29. CONCLUSIONS: ETC, in the form of on-site counselling with up to four telephone booster sessions, showed no overall effect on tobacco abstinence after 12 months. A non-significant trend for a better performance of ETC in more motivated smokers was observed.

Motivation of trauma patients to stop smoking after admission to the emergency department.

Every smoker should be offered smoking cessation treatment when they present for clinical care. The Readiness to Change-Smokers (RTC-S) questionnaire and the Heidelberg Smoking History (HSH) are brief questionnaires that divide patients into three stages. The purpose of this study was to prospectively compare the performance of each questionnaire at identifying patients who will successfully quit smoking within one year of Emergency Department (ED) discharge. Out of 1292 injured ED patients nearly half (n = 599, 46.4%) were identified as current smokers. Both questionnaires were given to all 599 subjects, and used to divide patients into three stages. At 12-months postdischarge 306 patients (51.1%) were contacted to determine smoking status. Patients were similarly classified by both tests in only 36% of cases. Concordance between tests was poor (kappa = 0.33). The RTC-S classified fewer patients as ready to quit (A = 13% vs. 22.2%). At 12 month follow-up, 55 patients (17.9%) had stopped smoking. The HSH was more successful to predict quitters. Multivariate logistic regression with respect to smoking cessation resulted in significant impact of HSH (p = 0.024).

Trauma patients' desire for autonomy in medical decision making is impaired by smoking and hazardous alcohol consumption--a bi-national study.

This cross-sectional investigation studied the association between substance use and patients' desire for autonomy in medical decision making (MDM) in two trauma settings. A total of 102 patients (age 42.7 +/- 17.4 years, 70.6% male) admitted to an orthopaedic service in Warsaw, Poland, and 1009 injured patients (age 34.6 +/- 12.8 years, 62.3% male) treated in an emergency department in Berlin, Germany, were enrolled. Patients' desire for autonomy in MDM was evaluated with the Decision Making Preference Scale of the Autonomy Preference Index. Substance use (hazardous alcohol consumption and/or tobacco use) and educational level were measured. Linear regression techniques were used to determine the association between substance use and desire for autonomy in MDM. Substance use was found to be independently associated with a reduced desire by the patient for autonomy in medical decision making. No differences in patients' desire for autonomy were observed between the study sites. Empowerment strategies that encourage smokers or patients with hazardous alcohol consumption to participate in MDM may increase the effectiveness of health promotion and injury prevention efforts in this population.

Preferences for shared decision making in chronic pain patients compared with patients during a premedication visit.

BACKGROUND: There is some evidence that patients' outcomes improve if they are involved in shared decision making (SDM). A chronic pain clinic or premedication visit could be adequate settings for the implementation of SDM. So far, the patients' preference for involvement in decision making and their desire for information have not been tested in anesthesiological settings. METHODS: A group of chronic pain patients was compared with a group of patients in the premedication visit with respect to SDM, the desire for information and perceived involvement in care. The autonomy preference index (API, measuring preference for involvement and desire for information) and the perceived involvement in care scale (PICS, measuring patients' perception of easier involvement by doctors and information exchange) were administered. RESULTS: In total, 190 chronic pain patients and 151 patients of premedication were included in this study. Patient of the premedication visit had significantly higher SDM scores. Desire for information was high, but there were no differences between groups. Younger patients [B (estimate) =- 0.3; 95% CI (-0.4) - (-0.1)], women (B = 10.9; 95% CI 6.3-15.4) and patients with higher educational level (B = 10.1; 95% CI 5.6-14.6) had more desire for SDM. PICS scores were basically influenced by groups: chronic pain patients felt more facilitated by doctors [B =- 0.185; 95% CI (-0.4) - (-0.1)] and had more information exchange [B =- 19.5; 95% CI (-15.8) - (-2.4)] than patients in the premedication visit. CONCLUSION: In both anesthesiological settings, the desire for information was high, but patients in the premedication visit had higher SDM scores, especially young female patients with higher educational level. Real patient-physician interaction showed that premedication patients felt less involved by doctors and had less information exchange compared with the chronic pain patients. Therefore, premedication visits should be focussed more on adequate information exchange and involvement of the patient in the shared decision making process.

Development and first validation of the shared decision-making questionnaire (SDM-Q).

OBJECTIVE: Due to a lack of valid German instruments measuring shared decision-making (SDM), a theory-driven questionnaire (SDM-Q) to measure the process of SDM was developed and validated. METHODS: As a theoretical basis steps of the SDM process were defined in an expert panel. Item formulation was then conducted according to the Delphi method. For the first validation on a mixed sample Rasch analysis was used to eliminate items not fitting the construct thus receiving a unidimensional scale. RESULTS: After eliminating 4 items the remaining 11 form a unidimensional scale with an acceptable reliability for person measures (0.77) and very good reliability for item difficulties (0.95). Analysis of subgroups revealed a different use of items in different conditions. Furthermore the scale showed high ceiling effects. CONCLUSION: A new theory-driven instrument to measure the process of SDM has been developed and validated by use of a rigorous method revealing first promising results. Yet the ceiling effects require the addition of more discriminating items, and the different use of items in different conditions demands an in depth analysis. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: While the concept of SDM is constantly receiving more attention in medical practice, its valid and reliable measurement remains challenging.

[Effects of a shared decision making model in psychiatric and neurologic practice]. / Partizipative Entscheidungsfindung. Implikationen des "shared decision making" für Psychiatrie und Neurologie.

Involving patients in medical decisions is increasingly being advocated in medical fields other than psychiatry and neurology. A model of shared decision making might prove to be an ideal way of bridging the gap between patient-centred and evidence-based medicine. This report provides a survey of this shared decision making model and a discussion of its implications in the fields of mental health and neurology.

[Development and validation of assessment instruments for shared decision making]. / Entwicklung eines Fragebogens zur Partizipativen Entscheidungsfindung.

The German Ministry for Health and Social Security is funding ten projects to introduce shared decision making into clinical practice. The medical problems the projects are focussing on were chosen from among various diseases (e. g. depression, multiple sclerosis, cancer). The ten projects achieved consensus on a core set of instruments for the measurement of process and outcome of the shared decision making. Instruments developed in German-speaking countries are currently not available. Thus, linguistic and cultural validation had to be performed for the core set instruments. The results of the data analysis as well as patient interviews demonstrate the need for improving these instruments. Therefore, the members of the methodological working group concentrated on the integration of these results in a new instrument. In a first step the construct of "shared decision making" was defined, followed by a definition of the process elements characterising shared decision making. Thereafter, items were developed on the basis of the process elements. The new instrument will now be validated for different diseases.

Intercurrent complications in chronic alcoholic men admitted to the intensive care unit following trauma.

OBJECTIVE: A chronic alcoholic group following trauma was investigated to determine whether their ICU stay was longer than that of a non-alcoholic group and whether their intercurrent complication rate was increased. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: An intensive care unit. PATIENTS: A total of 102 polytraumatized patients were transferred to the ICU after admission to the emergency room and after surgical treatment. Of these patients 69 were chronic alcoholics and 33 were allocated to the non-alcoholic group. The chronic-alcoholic group. met the DSM-III-R and ICD-10 criteria for alcohol dependence or chronic alcohol abuse/harmful use. The daily ethanol intake in these patients was > or = 60 g. Diagnostic indicators included an alcoholism-related questionnaire (CAGE), conventional laboratory markers and carbohydrate-deficient transferrin. MEASUREMENT AND RESULTS: Major intercurrent complications such as alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS), pneumonia, cardiac complications and bleeding disorders were documented and defined according to internationally accepted criteria. Patients did not differ significantly between groups regarding age, TRISS and APACHE score on admission. The rate of major intercurrent complications was 196% in the chronic alcoholic vs 70% in the non-alcoholic group (p = 0.0001). Because of the increased intercurrent complication rate, the ICU stay was significantly prolonged in the chronic-alcoholic group by a median period of 9 days. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic alcoholics are reported to have an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. However, to our knowledge, nothing is known about the morbidity and mortality of chronic alcoholics in intensive care units following trauma. Since chronic alcoholics in the ICU develop more major complications with a significantly prolonged ICU stay following trauma than non-alcoholics, it seems reasonable to intensify research to identify chronic alcoholics and to prevent alcohol-related complications.