Risultati per: GPG: Versione 5.7.5 (Novembre 2021)

Objectives
To provide a thorough mapping of the current quality and depth of evidence examining the effectiveness of health interventions in humanitarian settings in low and middle-income countries published in peer-reviewed journals since 2013.

Methods
We searched MEDLINE, Embase and Global Health for English language peer-reviewed literature published from May 2013 through April 2021 to analyse the strength of evidence on health interventions’ effectiveness in humanitarian settings in low and middle-income countries across nine thematic areas. Quality was assessed using standardised criteria and critical appraisal tools based on study design.

Results
A total of 269 publications were included in this review. The volume of publications increased since the first Elrha Humanitarian Health Evidence Review in 2013, but non-communicable diseases and water, sanitation and hygiene remain the areas with the most limited evidence base on intervention effectiveness in addition to injury and rehabilitation. Economic evaluations continued to constitute a small proportion (5%) of studies. Half of studies had unclear risk of bias, while 28% had low, 11% moderate and 11% high risk of bias. Despite increased diversity in studied interventions, variations across and within topics do not necessarily reflect the health issues of greatest concern or barriers to quality service delivery in humanitarian settings.

Conclusions
Despite an increasing evidence base, the challenge of implementing high-quality and well-reported humanitarian health research persists as a critical concern. Improvements in reporting and intervention description are needed as are study designs that allow for attribution, standard indicators and longer term follow-up and outcome measures. There is a clear need to prioritise expansion of cross-cutting topics, namely health service delivery, health systems and cost-effectiveness.

PROSPERO registration number
CRD42021254408.

Migliora dopo il Covid ma 20 milioni hanno saltato almeno 1 dose

Migliora dopo il Covid ma 20 milioni hanno saltato almeno 1 dose

Circulation, Volume 148, Issue 3, Page 229-240, July 18, 2023. BACKGROUND:Systems of care have been developed across the United States to standardize care processes and improve outcomes in patients with ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The effect of contemporary STEMI systems of care on racial and ethnic disparities in achievement of time-to-treatment goals and mortality in STEMI is uncertain.METHODS:We analyzed 178 062 patients with STEMI (52 293 women and 125 769 men) enrolled in the American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines–Coronary Artery Disease registry between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2021. Patients were stratified into and outcomes compared among 3 racial and ethnic groups: non-Hispanic White, Hispanic White, and Black. The primary outcomes were the proportions of patients achieving the following STEMI process metrics: prehospital ECG obtained by emergency medical services; hospital arrival to ECG obtained within 10 minutes for patients not transported by emergency medical services; arrival-to–percutaneous coronary intervention time within 90 minutes; and first medical contact–to-device time within 90 minutes. A secondary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Analyses were performed separately in women and men, and all outcomes were adjusted for age, comorbidities, acuity of presentation, insurance status, and socioeconomic status measured by social vulnerability index based on patients’ county of residence.RESULTS:Compared with non-Hispanic White patients with STEMI, Hispanic White patients and Black patients had lower odds of receiving a prehospital ECG and achieving targets for door-to-ECG, door-to-device, and first medical contact–to-device times. These racial disparities in treatment goals were observed in both women and men, and persisted in most cases after multivariable adjustment. Compared with non-Hispanic White women, Hispanic White women had higher adjusted in-hospital mortality (odds ratio, 1.39 [95% CI, 1.12–1.72]), whereas Black women did not (odds ratio, 0.88 [95% CI, 0.74–1.03]). Compared with non-Hispanic White men, adjusted in-hospital mortality was similar in Hispanic White men (odds ratio, 0.99 [95% CI, 0.82–1.18]) and Black men (odds ratio, 0.96 [95% CI, 0.85–1.09]).CONCLUSIONS:Race- or ethnicity-based disparities persist in STEMI process metrics in both women and men, and mortality differences are observed in Hispanic White compared with non-Hispanic White women. Further research is essential to evolve systems of care to mitigate racial differences in STEMI outcomes.

Introduction
Continuous general practitioner (GP) and patient relations associate with positive health outcomes. Termination of GP practice is unavoidable, while consequences of final breaks in relations are less explored. We will study how an ended GP relation affects patient’s healthcare utilisation and mortality compared with patients with a continuous GP relation.

Methods and analysis
We link national registries data on individual GP affiliation, sociodemographic characteristics, healthcare use and mortality. From 2008 to 2021, we identify patients whose GP stopped practicing and will compare acute and elective, primary and specialist healthcare use and mortality, with patients whose GP did not stop practicing. We match GP–patient pairs on age and sex (both), immigrant status and education (patients), and number of patients and practice period (GPs). We analyse the outcomes before and after an ended GP–patient relation, using Poisson regression with high-dimensional fixed effects.

Ethics and dissemination
This study protocol is part of the approved project Improved Decisions with Causal Inference in Health Services Research, 2016/2159/REK Midt (the Regional Committees for Medical and Health Research Ethics) and does not require consent. HUNT Cloud provides secure data storage and computing. We will report using the STROBE guideline for observational case–control studies and publish in peer-reviewed journals, accessible in NTNU Open and present at scientific conferences. To reach a broader audience, we will summarise articles in the project’s web page, regular and social media, and disseminate to relevant stakeholders.

Objective
To assess the readiness of public and private health facilities (HFs) in delivering services related to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Nepal.

Methods
We analysed data from nationally representative Nepal Health Facility Survey 2021 to determine the readiness of HFs for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), diabetes mellitus (DM), chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) and mental health (MH)-related services using Service Availability and Readiness Assessment Manual of the WHO. Readiness score was measured as the average availability of tracer items in per cent, and HFs were considered ‘ready’ for NCDs management if they scored ≥70 (out of 100). We performed weighted univariate and multivariable logistic regression to determine the association of HFs readiness with province, type of HFs, ecological region, quality assurance activities, external supervision, client’s opinion review and frequency of meetings in HFs.

Results
The overall mean readiness score of HFs offering CRDs, CVDs, DM and MH-related services was 32.6, 38.0, 38.4 and 24.0, respectively. Guidelines and staff training domain had the lowest readiness score, whereas essential equipment and supplies domain had the highest readiness score for each of the NCD-related services. A total of 2.3%, 3.8%, 3.6% and 3.3% HFs were ready to deliver CRDs, CVDs, DM and MH-related services, respectively. HFs managed by local level were less likely to be ready to provide all NCD-related services compared with federal/provincial hospitals. HFs with external supervision were more likely to be ready to provide CRDs and DM-related services and HFs reviewing client’s opinions were more likely to be ready to provide CRDs, CVDs and DM-related services.

Conclusion
Readiness of the HFs managed by local level to provide CVDs, DM, CRDs and MH-related services was relatively poor compared with federal/provincial hospitals. Prioritisation of policies to reduce the gaps in readiness and capacity strengthening of the local HFs is essential for improving their overall readiness to provide NCD-related services.

Ecdc, 75% in Italia, Francia, Spagna e Germania e 704 i decessi

Objective
The objective of this study was to describe the trend in prescribing proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use and expenditure in both secondary and tertiary hospitals in China between 2017 and 2021.

Design
Multicentre cross-sectional survey.

Setting
China, 14 medical centres, January 2017 to December 2021.

Participants
537 284 participants who were treated with PPI in 14 medical centres of China, between January 2017 and December 2021 were included.

Main outcomes and measures
The rate of PPI prescriptions, the defined daily doses (DDDs), DDDs/1000 inhabitants per day (DDDs/TID) and expenditure were analysed and plotted to demonstrate changes in prescription PPI use and expenditure.

Results
For both outpatient and inpatient settings, the rate of PPI prescribing decreased from 2017 to 2021. In outpatient settings, decreased slightly from 3.4% to 2.8%, however, in inpatient settings, showed a progressive decrease from 26.7% to 14.0%. The overall rate of injectable PPI prescriptions for inpatients decreased significantly from 21.2% to 7.3% between 2017 and 2021. Decreased trends in usage of oral PPI were observed (from 280 750 DDDs to 255 121 DDDs) between 2017 and 2021. However, usage of injectable PPI showed a significantly decrease from 191 451 DDDs to 68 806 DDDs from 2017 to 2021. In terms of DDDs/TID of PPI for inpatients decreased dramatically from 52.3 to 30.2 for the past 5 years. Expenditure on oral PPI decreased slightly from ¥1.98 million (Chinese currency Renminbi ‘yuan’) to ¥1.23 million for the past 5 years, whereas expenditure on injectable PPI showed a marked decrease from ¥2.61 million to ¥0.94 million. There was no statistical difference in both PPI use and expenditure between secondary and tertiary hospitals during the study period.

Conclusions
Decreased PPI use and expenditure were observed among secondary and tertiary hospitals over the past 5 years (2017–2021).

To the Editor We read with interest the recent cross-sectional study by Drs Goldman and Barnett on the gap in physician work hours between men and women, which has gradually narrowed during the past 20 years. We agree with the authors that a lack of information on physician specialty in the Current Population Survey was an important study limitation. In the US, the most influential confounder on physician work hours from 2001 to 2021 was the introduction of the hospitalist workforce. A study in 2022 reported a 50% growth rate of adult hospitalists, defined strictly by the claims pattern in 2012 to 2019. The authors identified 44 037 actively practicing adult hospitalists in 2019, comprising 1 of the top 5 largest physician specialties in the US.

In Reply We thank Drs Chiu, Chiang, and Hsu for their thoughtful letter. They argue that the rapid growth of hospital medicine as a subspecialty may account for the decreasing gender gap in weekly physician work hours that we identified in our study.

Objective
To assess implementation status of public health emergency operations centres (PHEOCs) in all countries in Africa.

Design
Cross-sectional.

Setting
Fifty-four national PHEOC focal points in Africa responded to an online survey between May and November 2021. Included variables aimed to assess capacities for each of the four PHEOC core components. To assess the PHEOCs’ functionality, criteria were defined from among the collected variables by expert consensus based on PHEOC operations’ prioritisation. We report results of the descriptive analysis, including frequencies of proportions.

Results
A total of 51 (93%) African countries responded to the survey. Among these, 41 (80%) have established a PHEOC. Twelve (29%) of these met 80% or more of the minimum requirements and were classified as fully functional. Twelve (29%) and 17 (41%) PHEOCs that met 60%–79% and below 60% the minimum requirements were classified as functional and partially functional, respectively.

Conclusions
Countries in Africa made considerable progress in setting up and improving functioning of PHEOCs. One-third of the responding countries with a PHEOC have one fulfilling at least 80% of the minimum requirements to operate the critical emergency functions. There are still several African countries that either do not have a PHEOC or whose PHEOCs only partially meet these minimal requirements. This calls for significant collaboration across all stakeholders to establish functional PHEOCs in Africa.

Objective
We aimed to provide insight into differences in drug review decisions made by the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) accelerated approval (AA) pathway and the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) conditional marketing authorisation (CMA) pathway, and to add to the current knowledge base of drug approval processes.

Design, setting, participants
This cross-sectional study thoroughly examines novel oncology drugs with dual approval through FDA AA and EMA CMA between 2006 and 2021. Statistical analysis was performed from June to July 2022.

Primary and secondary outcome measures
The study examined the regulatory differences between regions for dually approved novel oncology drugs, including approval decisions, pivotal efficacy clinical trials, speed of review and postmarketing obligations.

Results
During this time period, there was a difference in the use of the FDA AA and the EMA CMA (FDA: EMA: 41.2%: 70.0%, p

Objectives
We aimed to describe population trends in motivation to stop smoking between 2016 and 2021 in Germany. Furthermore, the aim was to estimate to what extent higher ratings on the validated German version of the Motivation To Stop Scale (MTSS) are associated with sociodemographics, nicotine dependence, past quit attempts, and use of e-cigarettes and tobacco product alternatives.

Methods
We used data from the German Study on Tobacco Use: an ongoing repeated cross-sectional face-to-face household survey collecting representative data of the German population every other month since 2016. We analysed data from 18 969 adult current smokers with multivariable ordinal regression and described MTSS scores between 2016 and 2021 (scores 1–7=lowest to highest level of motivation).

Results
The mean MTSS score was 2.04 (SD=1.37) and showed a slight downward trend over time. Younger age, higher level of education, fewer cigarettes per day, more time spent with urges to smoke, a recent quit attempt, no previous waterpipe use and current or past e-cigarette use were associated with higher MTSS scores. The largest effect estimates were observed for at least one quit attempt 0–6 months ago versus no attempt in the past year (OR=7.54; 95% CI 6.78 to 8.40), at least one quit attempt 7–12 months ago versus no attempt in the past year (OR=4.00; 95% CI 3.59 to 4.45) and for current versus never use of e-cigarettes (OR=1.71; 95% CI 1.48 to 1.99).

Conclusions
Recent quit attempts and current use of e-cigarettes were associated with higher motivation to stop smoking in the German population. Actions to boost the general motivation to stop smoking are required.

Objectives
Temporary doctors, known as locum doctors, play an important role in the delivery of care in the National Health Service (NHS); however, little is known about the extent of locum use in NHS trusts. This study aimed to quantify and describe locum use for all NHS trusts in England in 2019–2021.

Setting
Descriptive analyses of data on locum shifts from all NHS trusts in England in 2019–2021. Weekly data were available for the number of shifts filled by agency and bank staff and the number of shifts requested by each trust. Negative binomial models were used to investigate the association between the proportion of medical staffing provided by locums and NHS trust characteristics.

Results
In 2019, on average 4.4% of total medical staffing was provided by locums, but this varied substantially across trusts (25th–75th centile=2.2%–6.2%). Over time, on average two-thirds of locum shifts were filled by locum agencies and a third by trusts’ staff banks. On average, 11.3% of shifts requested were left unfilled. In 2019–2021, the mean number of weekly shifts per trust increased by 19% (175.2–208.6) and the mean number of weekly unfilled shifts per trust increased by 54% (32.7 to 50.4). Trusts rated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as inadequate or requiring improvement (incidence rate ratio=1.495; 95% CI 1.191 to 1.877), and smaller trusts had a higher use of locums. Large variability was observed across regions for use of locums, proportion of shifts filled by locum agencies and unfilled shifts.

Conclusions
There were large variations in the demand for and use of locum doctors in NHS trusts. Trusts with poor CQC ratings and smaller trusts appear to use locum doctors more intensively compared with other trust types. Unfilled shifts were at a 3-year high at the end of 2021 suggesting increased demand which may result from growing workforce shortages in NHS trusts.

More than 2.5 million cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) were reported in 2021, according to surveillance data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Objectives
Identify factors (demographic and clinical) associated with a non-suppressed viral load (VL) of people living with HIV (PLHIV) on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Nigeria.

Design
Cross-sectional study.

Setting
Sixteen US Agency for International Development supported states in Nigeria.

Participants
585 632 PLHIV on ART.

Primary outcome measures
VL non-suppression (defined as having a VL of at least 1000 HIV RNA copies per mL of plasma). 2 testing and multivariable modified Poisson regression with robust variance estimates were conducted on routinely collected ART programme data.

Results
Sixty-six per cent of the study population were females. The largest age groups were 25–34 and 35–44, accounting for 32.1% and 31.1%, respectively. Males had a 9% greater likelihood (adjusted prevalence ratio, APR=1.09) of being non-suppressed. The age groups below 60+ (APR=0.67) had a higher likelihood of a non-suppressed VL, with the highest in the 0–14 age group (APR=2.38). Clients enrolled at tertiary and secondary level facilities had the greatest likelihood of a non-suppressed VL. Clients who started ART between 2010 and 2015 had the greatest likelihood of viral non-suppression (APR=6.19). A shorter time on ART (