Elena Torrente

Auditoría clínica de los pacientes que ingresan en el hospital por agudización de EPOC. Estudio MAG-1

UNLABELLED Hospitalizations for acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) generate high consumption of health resources, frequent readmissions and high mortality. The MAG -1 study aims to identify critical points to improve the care process of severe AECOPD requiring hospitalization. METHODS Observational study, with review of clinical records of patients admitted to hospitals of the Catalan public network for AECOPD. The centers were classified into 3 groups according to the number of discharges/year. Demographic and descriptive data of the previous year, pharmacological treatment, care during hospitalization and discharge process and follow-up, mortality and readmission at 30 and 90 days were analyzed. RESULTS A total of 910 patients (83% male) with a mean age of 74.3 (+10.1) years and a response rate of 70% were included. Smoking habit was determined in only 45% of cases, of which 9% were active smokers. In 31% of cases, no previous lung function data were available. Median hospital stay was 7 days (IQR 4-10), increasing according the complexity of the hospital. Mortality from admission to 90 days was 12.4% with a readmission rate of 49%. An inverse relationship between length of hospital stay and readmission within 90 days was observed. CONCLUSIONS In a large number of medical records, smoking habit and lung function tests were not appropriately reported. Average hospital stay increases with the complexity of the hospital, but longer stays appear to be associated with lower mortality at follow-up.

Variabilidad en la prescripción de la ventilación mecánica a domicilio

INTRODUCTION Few studies have analyzed the prevalence and accessibility of home mechanical ventilation (HMV). The aim of this study was to characterize the prevalence of HMV and variability in prescriptions from administrative data. METHODS Prescribing rates of HMV in the 37 healthcare sectors of the Catalan Health Service were compared from billing data from 2008 to 2011. Crude accumulated activity rates (per 100,000 population) were calculated using systematic component of variation (SCV) and empirical Bayes (EB) methods. Standardized activity ratios (SAR) were described using a map of healthcare sectors. RESULTS A crude rate of 23 HMV prescriptions per 100,000 population was observed. Rates increase with age and have increased by 39%. Statistics measuring variation not due to chance show a high variation in women (CSV=0.20 and EB=0.30) and in men (CSV=0.21 and EB=0.40), and were constant over time. In a multilevel Poisson model, hospitals with a chest unit were associated with a greater number of cases (beta=0.68, P<.0001). CONCLUSIONS High variability in prescribing HMV can be explained, in part, by the attitude of professionals towards treatment and accessibility to specialist centers with a chest unit. Analysis of administrative data and variability mapping help identify unexplained variations and, in the absence of systematic records, are a feasible way of tracking treatment.

Accesibilidad y utilización de la espirometría en los centros de atención primaria de Cataluña

OBJECTIVE Examine the accessibility and use of forced spirometry (FS) in public primary care facilities centers in Catalonia. DESIGN Cross-sectional study using a survey. PARTICIPANTS Three hundred sixty-six Primary Care Teams (PCT) in Catalonia. Third quarter of 2010. MEASUREMENTS Survey with information on spirometers, training, interpretation and quality control, and the priority that the quality of spirometry had for the team. Indicators FS/100 inhabitants/year, FS/month/PCT; FS/month/10,000 inhabitants. MAIN RESULTS Response rate: 75%. 97.5% of PCT had spirometer and made an average of 2.01 spirometries/100 inhabitants (34.68 spirometry/PCT/month). 83% have trained professionals.>50% centers perform formal training but no information is available on the quality. 70% performed some sort of calibration. Interpretation was made by the family physician in 87.3% of cases. In 68% of cases not performed any quality control of exploration. 2/3 typed data manually into the computerized medical record.>50% recognized a high priority strategies for improving the quality. CONCLUSION Despite the accessibility of EF efforts should be made to standardize training, increasing the number of scans test and promote systematic quality control.Resumen Objetivo Conocer la accesibilidad y la utilización de la espirometría forzada (EF) en los dispositivos públicos de atención primaria en Cataluña. Diseño Estudio transversal mediante encuesta. Participantes Trescientos sesenta y seis equipos de atención primaria (EAP) de Cataluña. Tercer trimestre de 2010. Mediciones Encuesta con información relativa a los espirómetros, la formación, la interpretación y el control de calidad, y el grado de prioridad que la calidad de la espirometría tenía para el equipo. Se analizaron: media de EF/100 habitantes/año; índice de EF/mes/EAP; índice de EF/mes/10.000 habitantes. Resultados principales Porcentaje de respuesta: 75%. El 97,5% de los EAP dispone de espirómetro y realiza una media de 2,01 espirometrías/100 habitantes (34,68 espirometrías/EAP/mes). El 83% dispone de profesionales formados y más del 50% de los centros realizan formación reglada, pero no se dispone de información sobre la calidad de la misma. En el 70% se hace algún tipo de calibración. La interpretación la realiza el médico de familia en el 87,3% de los casos. En el 68% de los casos no se lleva a cabo ningún tipo de control de calidad de la exploración. En dos tercios de los casos se introducen manualmente los datos en la historia clínica informatiza. Más del 50% se atribuye una prioridad alta para las estrategias de mejora de la calidad de la EF. Conclusiones A pesar de la accesibilidad a la EF deben realizarse esfuerzos para estandarizar la formación, incrementar el número de exploraciones y promover el control de calidad sistemático.