Cognitive stimulation for people with dementia in nursing homes: a protocol for a feasibility study examining a new 24/7 approach (CogStim24)

Introduction
Based on the available evidence, cognitive stimulation is recommended as an intervention for people with dementia (PwD). Currently, cognitive stimulation is regularly offered as a group programme in care facilities. However, some residents, such as those who are bedridden, cannot participate. Furthermore, group programmes were not feasible during the pandemic. A concept that accompanies everyday life and enables cognitive stimulation in everyday communication (ie, ‘24/7’) has been missing. Therefore, this feasibility study aims to (1) assess the feasibility of a new continuous 24/7 cognitive stimulation programme (CogStim24) based on a process evaluation and (2) examine the possible effects of CogStim24 on the primary outcome of global cognition in PwD and further PwD-related and staff-related outcomes.

Methods and analysis
The complex CogStim24 programme is developed to be conducted as an everyday intervention during routine care including cognitively stimulating techniques, such as reminiscence therapy, multisensory stimulation and physical activity. In this unblinded single-arm study with pre-assessments and post-assessments, four nursing homes with a total of N=20 nursing and care staff will participate in an 11-week CogStim24 training programme. The intervention will be conducted to N=60 PwD. Neuropsychological assessments will be conducted pre-staff and post-staff training, as well as after a 6-week implementation phase. A process evaluation will be performed.

Ethics and dissemination
Ethics approval was obtained from the ethics committee of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. Although cognitive stimulation is known to be effective for enhancing global cognition and quality of life in PwD, it is currently undersupplied to PwD. Therefore, CogStim24 has the potential to reach many more PwD. This study has the potential to serve as a basis for a large multicentre cluster randomised controlled trial. An interdisciplinarity team and mixed-methods approach will help generate information on the practicality and mechanisms of impact of CogStim24. This is important for the further development of the intervention and for facilitating its implementation. The study results will be disseminated via presentations at scientific conferences and meetings for healthcare professionals and PwD and their relatives. Several manuscripts presenting results of the different study parts will be published in peer-reviewed journals.

Trial registration number
DRKS00024381.

Leggi
Maggio 2024

Clinician and parent views on urine collection in precontinent children in the UK: a qualitative interview study

Objective
To explore the experiences of healthcare professionals (HCPs) and parents of urine collection methods, to identify barriers to successful sampling and what could improve the process.

Design
Qualitative research, using individual semistructured interviews with HCPs and parents. The interviews were audiorecorded, transcribed and thematically analysed.

Setting
UK-based HCPs from primary and secondary care settings and parents with experience with urine collection in primary and/or secondary care settings.

Participants
HCPs who were involved in aiding, supervising or ordering urine samples. Parents who had experience with urine collection in at least one precontinent child.

Results
13 HCPs and 16 parents were interviewed. 2 participating HCPs were general practitioners (GPs), 11 worked in paediatric secondary care settings (8 were nurses and 3 were doctors). Two parents had children with underlying conditions where frequent urine collection was required to rule out infections.
HCPs and parents reported that there were no straightforward methods of urine collection for precontinent children. Each method—‘clean catch’, urine bag and urine pad—had limitations and problems with usage. ‘Clean catch’, regarded as the gold standard by HCPs with a lower risk of contamination, often proved difficult for parents to achieve. Other methods had elevated risk of contamination but were more acceptable to parents because they were less challenging. Many of the parents expressed the need for more information about urine collection.

Conclusions
Current methods of urine collection are challenging to use and may be prone to contamination. A new device is required to assist with urine collection in precontinent children, to simplify and reduce the stress of the situation for those involved. Parents are key partners in the process of urine collection with young children. Meeting their expressed need for more information could be an important way to achieve better-quality samples while awaiting a new device.

Leggi
Aprile 2024

Scaling hypertension treatment in 24 low-income and middle-income countries: economic evaluation of treatment decisions at three blood pressure cut-points

Objective
Estimate the incremental costs and benefits of scaling up hypertension care in adults in 24 select countries, using three different systolic blood pressure (SBP) treatment cut-off points—≥140, ≥150 and ≥160 mm Hg.

Intervention
Strengthening the hypertension care cascade compared with status quo levels, with pharmacological treatment administered at different cut-points depending on the scenario.

Target population
Adults aged 30+ in 24 low-income and middle-income countries spanning all world regions.

Perspective
Societal.

Time horizon
30 years.

Discount rate
4%.

Costing year
2020 USD.

Study design

Data sources
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Epi Visualisations database—country-specific cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence, prevalence and death rates. Mean SBP and prevalence—National surveys and NCD-RisC. Treatment protocols—WHO HEARTS. Treatment impact—academic literature. Costs—national and international databases.

Outcome measures
Health outcomes—averted stroke and myocardial infarction events, deaths and disability-adjusted life-years; economic outcomes—averted health expenditures, value of averted mortality and workplace productivity losses.

Results of analysis
Across 24 countries, over 30 years, incremental scale-up of hypertension care for adults with SBP≥140 mm Hg led to 2.6 million averted CVD events and 1.2 million averted deaths (7% of expected CVD deaths). 68% of benefits resulted from treating those with very high SBP (≥160 mm Hg). 10 of the 12 highest-income countries projected positive net benefits at one or more treatment cut-points, compared with 3 of the 12 lowest-income countries. Treating hypertension at SBP≥160 mm Hg maximised the net economic benefit in the lowest-income countries.

Limitations
The model only included a few hypertension-attributable diseases and did not account for comorbid risk factors. Modelled scenarios assumed ambitious progress on strengthening the care cascade.

Conclusions
In areas where economic considerations might play an outsized role, such as very low-income countries, prioritising treatment to populations with severe hypertension can maximise benefits net of economic costs.

Leggi
Aprile 2024

Development of an enhanced scoring system to predict ICU readmission or in-hospital death within 24 hours using routine patient data from two NHS Foundation Trusts

Rationale
Intensive care units (ICUs) admit the most severely ill patients. Once these patients are discharged from the ICU to a step-down ward, they continue to have their vital signs monitored by nursing staff, with Early Warning Score (EWS) systems being used to identify those at risk of deterioration.

Objectives
We report the development and validation of an enhanced continuous scoring system for predicting adverse events, which combines vital signs measured routinely on acute care wards (as used by most EWS systems) with a risk score of a future adverse event calculated on discharge from the ICU.

Design
A modified Delphi process identified candidate variables commonly available in electronic records as the basis for a ‘static’ score of the patient’s condition immediately after discharge from the ICU. L1-regularised logistic regression was used to estimate the in-hospital risk of future adverse event. We then constructed a model of physiological normality using vital sign data from the day of hospital discharge. This is combined with the static score and used continuously to quantify and update the patient’s risk of deterioration throughout their hospital stay.

Setting
Data from two National Health Service Foundation Trusts (UK) were used to develop and (externally) validate the model.

Participants
A total of 12 394 vital sign measurements were acquired from 273 patients after ICU discharge for the development set, and 4831 from 136 patients in the validation cohort.

Results
Outcome validation of our model yielded an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.724 for predicting ICU readmission or in-hospital death within 24 hours. It showed an improved performance with respect to other competitive risk scoring systems, including the National EWS (0.653).

Conclusions
We showed that a scoring system incorporating data from a patient’s stay in the ICU has better performance than commonly used EWS systems based on vital signs alone.

Trial registration number
ISRCTN32008295.

Leggi
Aprile 2024