Sonia Saxena

Preoperative Steroid Use and Risk of Postoperative Complications in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease Undergoing Abdominal Surgery

CONTEXT: Corticosteroids are the mainstay of medical therapies to induce remission in acute episodes of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, evidence suggests that this may increase the risk of postoperative complications among patients with IBD who go on to have abdominal surgery.OBJECTIVE:To estimate the risk of postoperative complications following abdominal surgery in patients with IBD on steroids at the time of abdominal surgery.DESIGN: Meta-analysis of observational studies.METHODS:We searched medical electronic databases for full journal articles published after 1965 reporting on postoperative complications in patients with IBD undergoing abdominal surgery provided they compared patients treated with steroids with those not on steroids. We hand searched the reference lists of all retrieved articles. Two independent reviewers extracted data from studies meeting the inclusion criteria and any discrepancies were resolved by discussion. We carried out fixed effects meta-analysis, funnel plot and sensitivity analyses.RESULTS:A total of seven observational studies involving 1,532 patients met the inclusion criteria for risk of total complications, and five observational studies involving 1,714 patients met the inclusion criteria for risk of infectious complications. Pooled analysis showed an increased risk of all postoperative complications (OR 1.41, 95% confidence interval 1.07–1.87), as well as an increased risk of postoperative infectious complications (OR 1.68, 95% confidence interval 1.24–2.28) among patients on steroids. Patients who received higher doses of perioperative oral steroids (>40 mg) had a higher risk of total complications (OR 2.04 (95% CI 1.28–3.26).CONCLUSIONS:There is an increased risk of total as well as infectious complications following the use of steroids in patients with IBD.

Impact of the seven-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccination (PCV7) programme on childhood hospital admissions for bacterial pneumonia and empyema in England: national time-trends study, 1997–2008

Background Childhood bacterial pneumonia and empyema rates have reportedly increased in recent years in Europe. In September 2006 the seven-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccination (PCV7) was introduced to the childhood national immunisation programme in England following a successful PCV7 campaign in the USA. The aim of this study was to report national time trends in hospital admissions for childhood bacterial pneumonia and empyema in England before and after the introduction of PCV7. Methods A population-based time-trend analysis of Hospital Episode Statistics data of children aged <15 years admitted to all NHS hospitals in England, with a primary diagnosis of bacterial pneumonia and empyema from 1997 to 2008 was performed. Annual crude and age-sex standardised hospital admission rates for bacterial pneumonia and empyema were calculated. Results Admission rates for bacterial pneumonia and empyema increased from 1997 to 2006, then declined to 2008. Bacterial pneumonia rates decreased to 1079 (95% CI 1059 to 1099) per million children and empyema rates decreased to 14 (95% CI 11 to 16) per million children. The RR for bacterial pneumonia admissions was 1.19 (95% CI 1.16 to 1.22) in 2006 compared with 2004 and 0.81 (95% CI 0.79 to 0.83) in 2008 compared with 2006. For empyema, the corresponding RRs were 1.77 (95% CI 1.38 to 2.28) in 2006 compared with 2004 and 0.78 (95% CI 0.62 to 0.98) in 2008 compared with 2006. Conclusion Childhood bacterial pneumonia and empyema admission rates were increasing prior to 2006 and decreased by 19% and 22% respectively between 2006 and 2008, following the introduction of the PCV7 pneumococcal conjugate vaccination to the national childhood immunisation programme.

Socioeconomic and ethnic group differences in self reported health status and use of health services by children and young people in England: cross sectional study

Abstract Objectives: To examine whether self reported health status and use of health services varies in children of different social class and ethnic group. Design: Cross sectional study from the 1999 health survey for England. Subjects: 6648 children and young adults aged 2-20 years. Setting: Private households in England. Main outcome measures: Proportion of children (or their parents) reporting episodes of acute illness in the preceding fortnight and prevalence of self reported longstanding illness. Proportion reporting specific illnesses. Proportion reporting that they had consulted a general practitioner in the preceding fortnight, attended hospital outpatient departments in the three preceding months, or been admitted to hospital in the preceding year. Results: Large socioeconomic differences were observed between ethnic subgroups; a higher proportion of Afro-Caribbean, Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi children belonged to lower social classes than the general population. The proportion of children and young adults reporting acute illnesses in the preceding two weeks was lower in Bangladeshi and Chinese subgroups (odds ratio 0.41, 95% confidence interval 0.27 to 0.61 and 0.46, 0.28 to 0.77, respectively) than in the general population. Longstanding illnesses was less common in Bangladeshi and Pakistani children (0.52, 0.40 to 0.67 and 0.57, 0.46 to 0.70) than in the general population. Irish and Afro-Caribbean children reported the highest prevalence of asthma (19.5% and 17.7%) and Bangladeshi children the lowest (8.2%). A higher proportion of Afro-Caribbean children reported major injuiries than the general population (11.0% v 10.0%), and children from all Asian subgroups reported fewer major and minor injuries than the general population. Indian and Pakistani children were more likely to have consulted their general practitioner in the preceding fortnight than the general population (1.86, 1.35 to 2.57 and 1.51, 1.13 to 2.01, respectively). Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Chinese children were less likely to have attended outpatient departments in the preceding three months. No significant differences were found between ethnic groups in the admission of inpatients to hospitals. Acute and chronic illness were the best predictors of childrens use of health services. Social classes did not differ in self reported prevalence of treated infections, major injuries, or minor injuries, and no socioeconomic differences were seen in the use of primary and secondary healthcare services. Conclusions: Childrens use of health services reflected health status rather than ethnic group or socioeconomic status, implying that equity of access has been partly achieved, although reasons why children from ethnic minority groups are able to access primary care but receive less secondary care need to be investigated.

Socioeconomic differences in childhood consultation rates in general practice in England and Wales: prospective cohort study.

Abstract Objective:To establish how consultation rates in children for episodes of illness, preventive activities, and home visits vary by social class. Design:Analysis of prospectively collected data from the fourth national survey of morbidity in general practice, carried out between September 1991 and August 1992. Setting:60 general practices in England and Wales. Subjects:106 102 children aged 0 to 15 years registered with the participating practices. Main outcome measures:Mean overall consultation rates for any reason, illness by severity of underlying disease, preventive episodes, home visits, and specific diagnostic category (infections, asthma, and injuries). Results:Overall consultation rates increased from registrar generals social classes I-II to classes IV-V in a linear pattern (for IV-V v I-II rate ratio 1.18; 95% confidence interval 1.14 to 1.22). Children from social classes IV-V consulted more frequently than children from classes I-II for illnesses (rate ratio 1.23; 1.15 to 1.30), including infections, asthma, and injuries and poisonings. They also had significantly higher consultation rates for minor, moderate, and serious illnesses and higher home visiting rates (rate ratio 2.00; 1.81 to 2.18). Consultations for preventive activities were lower in children from social classes IV-V than in children from social classes I-II (rate ratio 0.95; 0.86 to 1.05). Conclusions:Childhood consultation rates for episodes of illness increase from social classes I-II through to classes IV-V. The findings on severity of underlying illness suggest the health of children from lower social classes is worse than that of children from higher social classes. These results reinforce the need to identify and target children for preventive health care in their socioeconomic context. Key messages Childhood consultation rates for episodes of illness, including infections, asthma, and injuries, increase from social classes I-II through to social classes IV-V Children from lower socioeconomic groups make more use of home visits and consult more often for minor and serious illnesses Consultation rates for preventive care are slightly lower in children from social classes IV-V than in children from classes I-II Members of the primary healthcare team should be aware of socioeconomic factors when children are targeted for preventive activities and when health services are planned

Effect of Antibiotics for Otitis Media on Mastoiditis in Children: A Retrospective Cohort Study Using the United Kingdom General Practice Research Database

BACKGROUND. Information is needed on whether mastoiditis has increased in association with the decline in antibiotics prescribed to children by primary care physicians in the United Kingdom. OBJECTIVE. To determine time trends in mastoiditis incidence, the frequency of antecedent otitis media, and the effect of antibiotics for otitis media on the risk of mastoiditis in children. PATIENTS AND METHODS. We conducted a retrospective cohort study by using the UK General Practice Research Database. Children aged 3 months to 15 years between 1990 and 2006 were included. Risk of mastoiditis within 3 months after otitis media diagnosis and the protective effect of antibiotics were determined. RESULTS. There were 2 622 348 children within the General Practice Research Database; 854 had mastoiditis, only one third of whom (35.7%) had antecedent otitis media. Mastoiditis incidence remained stable between 1990 and 2006 (∼1.2 per 10 000 child-years). Risk of mastoiditis, after otitis media, was 1.8 per 10 000 episodes (139 of 792 623) after antibiotics compared with 3.8 per 10 000 (149 of 389 649) without antibiotics, and increased with age. Antibiotics halved the risk of mastoiditis. General practitioners would need to treat 4831 otitis media episodes with antibiotics to prevent 1 child from developing mastoiditis. If antibiotics were no longer prescribed for otitis media, an extra 255 cases of childhood mastoiditis would occur, but there would be 738 775 fewer antibiotic prescriptions per year in the United Kingdom. CONCLUSIONS. Most children with mastoiditis have not seen their general practitioner for otitis media. Antibiotics halve the risk of mastoiditis, but the high number of episodes needing treatment to prevent 1 case precludes the treatment of otitis media as a strategy for preventing mastoiditis. Although mastoiditis is a serious disease, most children make an uncomplicated recovery after mastoidectomy or intravenous antibiotics. Treating these additional otitis media episodes could pose a larger public health problem in terms of antibiotic resistance.

Practice size, caseload, deprivation and quality of care of patients with coronary heart disease, hypertension and stroke in primary care: national cross-sectional study

BackgroundReports of higher quality care by higher-volume secondary care providers have fuelled a shift of services from smaller provider units to larger hospitals and units. In the United Kingdom, most patients are managed in primary care. Hence if larger practices provide better quality of care; this would have important implications for the future organization of primary care services. We examined the association between quality of primary care for cardiovascular disease achieved by general practices in England and Scotland by general practice caseload, practice size and area based deprivation measures, using data from the New General Practitioner (GP) Contract.MethodsWe analyzed data from 8,970 general practices with a total registered population of 55,522,778 patients in England and Scotland. We measured practice performance against 26 cardiovascular disease (coronary heart disease, left ventricular disease, and stroke) Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) indicators for patients on cardiovascular disease registers and linked this with data on practice characteristics and census data.ResultsDespite wide variations in practice list sizes and deprivation, the prevalence of was remarkably consistent, (coronary heart disease, left ventricular dysfunction, hypertension and cerebrovascular disease was 3.7%; 0.45%; 11.4% and 1.5% respectively). Achievement in quality of care for cardiovascular disease, as measured by QOF, was consistently high regardless of caseload or size with a few notable exceptions: practices with larger list sizes, higher cardiovascular disease caseloads and those in affluent areas had higher achievement of indicators requiring referral for further investigation. For example, small practices achieved lower scores 71.4% than large practices 88.6% (P < 0.0001) for referral for exercise testing and specialist assessment of patients with newly diagnosed angina.ConclusionThe volume-outcome relationship found in hospital settings is not seen between practices in the UK in management of cardiovascular disorders in primary care. Further work is warranted to explain apparently poorer quality achievement in some aspects of cardiovascular management relating to initial diagnosis and management among practices in deprived areas, smaller practices and those with a smaller caseload.

Impact of a pay-for-performance incentive on support for smoking cessation and on smoking prevalence among people with diabetes

Background: Many people with diabetes continue to smoke despite being at high risk of cardiovascular disease. We examined the impact of a pay-for-performance incentive in the United Kingdom introduced in 2004 as part of the new general practitioner contract to improve support for smoking cessation and to reduce the prevalence of smoking among people with chronic diseases such as diabetes. Methods: We performed a population-based longitudinal study of the recorded delivery of cessation advice and the prevalence of smoking using electronic records of patients with diabetes obtained from participating general practices. The survey was carried out in an ethnically diverse part of southwest London before (June–October 2003) and after (November 2005–January 2006) the introduction of a pay-for-performance incentive. Results: Significantly more patients with diabetes had their smoking status ever recorded in 2005 than in 2003 (98.8% v. 90.0%, p <0.001). The proportion of patients with documented smoking cessation advice also increased significantly over this period, from 48.0% to 83.5% (p < 0.001). The prevalence of smoking decreased significantly from 20.0% to 16.2% (p < 0.001). The reduction over the study period was lower among women (adjusted odds ratio 0.71, 95% confidence interval 0.53–0.95) but was not significantly different in the most and least affluent groups. In 2005, smoking rates continued to differ significantly with age (10.6%–25.1%), sex (women, 11.5%; men, 20.6%) and ethnic background (4.9%–24.9%). Interpretation: The introduction of a pay-for-performance incentive in the United Kingdom increased the provision of support for smoking cessation and was associated with a reduction in smoking prevalence among patients with diabetes in primary health care settings. Health care planners in other countries may wish to consider introducing similar incentive schemes for primary care physicians.

Changes in clinical indications for community antibiotic prescribing for children in the UK from 1996 to 2006: will the new NICE prescribing guidance on upper respiratory tract infections just be ignored?

Objective: To analyse changes in clinical indications for community antibiotic prescribing for children in the UK between 1996 and 2006 and relate these findings to the new NICE guidelines for the treatment of upper respiratory tract infections in children. Study design: Retrospective cohort study. Method: The IMS Health Mediplus database was used to obtain annual antibiotic prescribing rates and associated clinical indications in 0–18-year-old patients between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 2006 in the UK. Results: Antibiotic prescribing declined by 24% between 1996 and 2000 but increased again by 10% during 2003–2006. Respiratory tract infection was the most common indication for which an antibiotic was prescribed, followed by “abnormal signs and symptoms”, ear and skin infections. Antibiotic prescriptions for respiratory tract infections have decreased by 31% (p<0.01) mainly because of reduced prescribing for lower respiratory tract infections (56% decline, p<0.001) and specific upper respiratory tract infections including tonsillitis/pharyngitis (48% decline, p<0.001) and otitis (46% decline, p<0.001). Prescribing for non-specific upper respiratory tract infection increased fourfold (p<0.001). Prescribing for “abnormal signs and symptoms” increased significantly since 2001 (40% increase, p<0.001). Conclusion: There has been a marked decrease in community antibiotic prescribing linked to lower respiratory tract infection, tonsillitis, pharyngitis and otitis. Overall prescribing is now increasing again but is associated with non-specific upper respiratory tract infection diagnoses. General practitioners may be avoiding using diagnoses where formal guidance suggests antibiotic prescribing is not indicated. The new NICE guidance on upper respiratory tract infections is at risk of being ignored.

Impact of Pay for Performance on Ethnic Disparities in Intermediate Outcomes for Diabetes: A Longitudinal Study

OBJECTIVE—The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a major pay for performance incentive on trends in the quality of diabetes care in white, black, and South Asian ethnic groups in an urban setting in the U.K. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—We developed longitudinal models examining the quality of diabetes care in a cohort of ethnically diverse patients in Southwest London using electronic family practice records. Outcome measures were mean blood pressure and A1C values between 2000 and 2005. RESULTS—The introduction of pay for performance was associated with reductions in mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure, which were significantly greater than those predicted by the underlying trend in the white (−5.8 and −4.2 mmHg), black (−2.5 and −2.4 mmHg), and South Asian (−5.5 and −3.3 mmHg) groups. Reductions in A1C levels were significantly greater than those predicted by the underlying trend in the white group (−0.5%) but not in the black (−0.3%) or South Asian (−0.4%) groups. Ethnic group disparities in annual measurement of blood pressure and A1C were abolished before the introduction of pay for performance. CONCLUSIONS—The introduction of a pay for performance incentive in U.K. primary care was associated with improvements in the intermediate outcomes of diabetes care for all ethnic groups. However, the magnitude of improvement appeared to differ between ethnic groups, thus potentially widening existing disparities in care. Policy makers should consider the potential impacts of pay for performance incentives on health disparities when designing and evaluating such programs.

Risk Factors for Hospital Admission with RSV Bronchiolitis in England: A Population-Based Birth Cohort Study

Objective To examine the timing and duration of RSV bronchiolitis hospital admission among term and preterm infants in England and to identify risk factors for bronchiolitis admission. Design A population-based birth cohort with follow-up to age 1 year, using the Hospital Episode Statistics database. Setting 71 hospitals across England. Participants We identified 296618 individual birth records from 2007/08 and linked to subsequent hospital admission records during the first year of life. Results In our cohort there were 7189 hospital admissions with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis, 24.2 admissions per 1000 infants under 1 year (95%CI 23.7–24.8), of which 15% (1050/7189) were born preterm (47.3 bronchiolitis admissions per 1000 preterm infants (95% CI 44.4–50.2)). The peak age group for bronchiolitis admissions was infants aged 1 month and the median was age 120 days (IQR = 61–209 days). The median length of stay was 1 day (IQR = 0–3). The relative risk (RR) of a bronchiolitis admission was higher among infants with known risk factors for severe RSV infection, including those born preterm (RR = 1.9, 95% CI 1.8–2.0) compared with infants born at term. Other conditions also significantly increased risk of bronchiolitis admission, including Downs syndrome (RR = 2.5, 95% CI 1.7–3.7) and cerebral palsy (RR = 2.4, 95% CI 1.5–4.0). Conclusions Most (85%) of the infants who are admitted to hospital with bronchiolitis in England are born at term, with no known predisposing risk factors for severe RSV infection, although risk of admission is higher in known risk groups. The early age of bronchiolitis admissions has important implications for the potential impact and timing of future active and passive immunisations. More research is needed to explain why babies born with Downs syndrome and cerebral palsy are also at higher risk of hospital admission with RSV bronchiolitis.