No abstract available.
Aconitum* ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac* ; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: We investigated the risk of multidrug-resistant, gram-negative bacteria (MDRGNB) in hospitalized elderly patients from non-hospital long-term care facilities (LTCFs) and the antibiotic prescription pattern. METHODS: All clinical cultures obtained within 48 hours of hospitalization from elderly patients of at least 55 years of age arriving at a 623-bed, public teaching hospital in Seoul, Republic of Korea from LTCFs between April 1, 2011 and April 1, 2012 were collected retrospectively. RESULTS: During this period, 365 elderly persons from 13 LTCFs were hospitalized. This study enrolled 135 patients who had cultures performed. In this group, 27.4% harbored MDRGNB at hospitalization. The presence of MDRGNB during prior hospitalization was the only risk factor that predicted harboring it (p = 0.043, odds ratio = 5.00, confidence interval = 1.049-23.834). Combinations of antibiotics or carbapenems were used initially in 35.6% of the patients, and this did not affect the mortality rate in this population. CONCLUSIONS: Hospitalized elderly patients from non-hospital LTCFs need more attention. Judicious antibiotic selection is needed according to the risk factor of harboring MDRGNB for antibiotics stewardship.
Aged ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Carbapenems ; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial ; Gram-Negative Bacteria ; Hospitalization ; Hospitals, Teaching ; Humans ; Long-Term Care ; Mortality ; Odds Ratio ; Prescriptions ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Seoul

BACKGROUND/AIMS: We investigated the risk of multidrug-resistant, gram-negative bacteria (MDRGNB) in hospitalized elderly patients from non-hospital long-term care facilities (LTCFs) and the antibiotic prescription pattern. METHODS: All clinical cultures obtained within 48 hours of hospitalization from elderly patients of at least 55 years of age arriving at a 623-bed, public teaching hospital in Seoul, Republic of Korea from LTCFs between April 1, 2011 and April 1, 2012 were collected retrospectively. RESULTS: During this period, 365 elderly persons from 13 LTCFs were hospitalized. This study enrolled 135 patients who had cultures performed. In this group, 27.4% harbored MDRGNB at hospitalization. The presence of MDRGNB during prior hospitalization was the only risk factor that predicted harboring it (p = 0.043, odds ratio = 5.00, confidence interval = 1.049-23.834). Combinations of antibiotics or carbapenems were used initially in 35.6% of the patients, and this did not affect the mortality rate in this population. CONCLUSIONS Hospitalized elderly patients from non-hospital LTCFs need more attention. Judicious antibiotic selection is needed according to the risk factor of harboring MDRGNB for antibiotics stewardship.

No abstract available.
Aconitum ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

Purpose: To evaluate the applicability of Greulich-Pyle (GP) standards to bone age (BA) assessment in healthy Korean children using manual and deep learning-based methods. Materials and Methods: We collected 485 hand radiographs of healthy children aged 2–17 years (262 boys) between 2008 and 2017. Based on GP method, BA was assessed manually by two radiologists and automatically by two deep learning-based BA assessment (DLBAA), which estimated GP-assigned (original model) and optimal (modified model) BAs. Estimated BA was compared to chronological age (CA) using intraclass correlation (ICC), Bland-Altman analysis, linear regression, mean absolute error, and root mean square error. The proportion of children showing a difference >12 months between the estimated BA and CA was calculated. Results: CA and all estimated BA showed excellent agreement (ICC ≥0.978, p<0.001) and significant positive linear correlations (R2 ≥0.935, p<0.001). The estimated BA of all methods showed systematic bias and tended to be lower than CA in younger patients, and higher than CA in older patients (regression slopes ≤-0.11, p<0.001). The mean absolute error of radiologist 1, radiologist 2, original, and modified DLBAA models were 13.09, 13.12, 11.52, and 11.31 months, respectively. The difference between estimated BA and CA was >12 months in 44.3%, 44.5%, 39.2%, and 36.1% for radiologist 1, radiologist 2, original, and modified DLBAA models, respectively. Conclusion Contemporary healthy Korean children showed different rates of skeletal development than GP standard-BA, and systemic bias should be considered when determining children’s skeletal maturation.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze the temporal change of resuscitation fluid use based on all fluids administered in a surgical intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: The administration of resuscitation fluid to all patients admitted to a surgical ICU of a tertiary referral hospital was investigated from 2008 to 2015. The types and volumes of fluid, and laboratory data taken within 7 days after ICU admission were evaluated. Resuscitation fluids were defined as fluids infused according to stat orders, rather than routine orders. Results: There were a total of 8,885 admissions to the ICU for 7,886 patients. The volumetric proportion of crystalloid to total resuscitation fluids increased significantly over the study period (p < 0.001; 79.6% in 2008; 93.7% in 2015). Although the proportion of 0.9% saline to crystalloids decreased, that of balanced solutions increased (p < 0.001; 29.5% in 2008; 55.6% in 2015). The use of colloids decreased from 20.4% in 2008, to 6.3% in 2015 (p < 0.001). Proportions calculated using the number of individual fluids administered revealed trends similar to those calculated using volumetric data. The amount of infused 0.9% saline was weakly correlated with the lowest blood pH and the highest serum chloride levels (ρ = -0.26 and 0.19, respectively). Conclusion Changes in the trends of fluid resuscitation practice were noted in a single surgical ICU over the 8-year study period. Crystalloid use increased owing to a rise in the utilization of balanced solutions with a downward trend in colloid use.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze the temporal change of resuscitation fluid use based on all fluids administered in a surgical intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: The administration of resuscitation fluid to all patients admitted to a surgical ICU of a tertiary referral hospital was investigated from 2008 to 2015. The types and volumes of fluid, and laboratory data taken within 7 days after ICU admission were evaluated. Resuscitation fluids were defined as fluids infused according to stat orders, rather than routine orders. Results: There were a total of 8,885 admissions to the ICU for 7,886 patients. The volumetric proportion of crystalloid to total resuscitation fluids increased significantly over the study period (p < 0.001; 79.6% in 2008; 93.7% in 2015). Although the proportion of 0.9% saline to crystalloids decreased, that of balanced solutions increased (p < 0.001; 29.5% in 2008; 55.6% in 2015). The use of colloids decreased from 20.4% in 2008, to 6.3% in 2015 (p < 0.001). Proportions calculated using the number of individual fluids administered revealed trends similar to those calculated using volumetric data. The amount of infused 0.9% saline was weakly correlated with the lowest blood pH and the highest serum chloride levels (ρ = -0.26 and 0.19, respectively). Conclusion Changes in the trends of fluid resuscitation practice were noted in a single surgical ICU over the 8-year study period. Crystalloid use increased owing to a rise in the utilization of balanced solutions with a downward trend in colloid use.

Background: Despite the increasing importance of rehabilitation for critically ill patients, there is little information regarding how rehabilitation therapy is utilized in clinical practice. Our objectives were to evaluate the implementation rate of rehabilitation therapy in the intensive care unit (ICU) survivors and to investigate the effects of rehabilitation therapy on outcomes. Methods: A retrospective nationwide cohort study with including > 18 years of ages admitted to ICU between January 2008 and May 2015 (n = 1,465,776). The analyzed outcomes were readmission to ICU readmission and emergency room (ER) visit. Results: During the study period, 249,918 (17.1%) patients received rehabilitation therapy. The percentage of patients receiving any rehabilitation therapy increased annually from 14% in 2008 to 20% in 2014, and the percentages for each type of therapy also increased over time. The most common type of rehabilitation was physical therapy (91.9%), followed by neuromuscular electrical stimulation (29.6%), occupational (28.6%), respiratory, (11.6%) and swallowing (10.3%) therapies. After adjusting for confounding variables, the risk of 30-day ICU readmission was lower in patients who received rehabilitation therapy than in those who did not (P < 0.001; hazard ratio [HR], 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.65–0.75). And, the risk of 30-day ER visit was also lower in patients who received rehabilitation therapy (P < 0.001; HR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.77–0.88). Conclusion In this nationwide cohort study in Korea, only 17% of all ICU patients received rehabilitation therapy. However, rehabilitation is associated with a significant reduction in the risk of 30-day ICU readmission and ER visit.

Objective: To develop a deep-learning-based bone age prediction model optimized for Korean children and adolescents and evaluate its feasibility by comparing it with a Greulich-Pyle-based deep-learning model. Materials and Methods: A convolutional neural network was trained to predict age according to the bone development shown on a hand radiograph (bone age) using 21036 hand radiographs of Korean children and adolescents without known bone development-affecting diseases/conditions obtained between 1998 and 2019 (median age [interquartile range {IQR}], 9 [7–12] years; male:female, 11794:9242) and their chronological ages as labels (Korean model). We constructed 2 separate external datasets consisting of Korean children and adolescents with healthy bone development (Institution 1: n = 343;median age [IQR], 10 [4–15] years; male: female, 183:160; Institution 2: n = 321; median age [IQR], 9 [5–14] years; male:female, 164:157) to test the model performance. The mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), and proportions of bone age predictions within 6, 12, 18, and 24 months of the reference age (chronological age) were compared between the Korean model and a commercial model (VUNO Med-BoneAge version 1.1; VUNO) trained with Greulich-Pyle-based age as the label (GP-based model). Results: Compared with the GP-based model, the Korean model showed a lower RMSE (11.2 vs. 13.8 months; P = 0.004) and MAE (8.2 vs. 10.5 months; P = 0.002), a higher proportion of bone age predictions within 18 months of chronological age (88.3% vs. 82.2%; P = 0.031) for Institution 1, and a lower MAE (9.5 vs. 11.0 months; P = 0.022) and higher proportion of bone age predictions within 6 months (44.5% vs. 36.4%; P = 0.044) for Institution 2. Conclusion The Korean model trained using the chronological ages of Korean children and adolescents without known bone development-affecting diseases/conditions as labels performed better in bone age assessment than the GP-based model in the Korean pediatric population. Further validation is required to confirm its accuracy.

BACKGROUND: Understanding the burden of disease is important to establish cost-effective treatment strategies and to allocate healthcare resources appropriately. However, little reliable information is available regarding the overall economic burden imposed by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Korea. METHODS: This study is a multicenter observational research on the COPD burden in Korea. Total COPD costs were comprised of three categories: direct medical, direct non-medical, and indirect costs. For direct medical costs, institutional investigation was performed at 13 medical facilities mainly based on the claims data. For direct non-medical and indirect costs, site-based surveys were administered to the COPD patients during routine visits. Total costs were estimated using the COPD population defined in the recent report. RESULTS: The estimated total costs were approximately 1,245 million US dollar (1,408 billion Korean won). Direct medical costs comprised approximately 20% of the total estimated costs. Of these, formal medical costs held more than 80%. As direct non-medical costs, nursing costs made up the largest percentage (39%) of the total estimated costs. Costs for COPD-related loss of productivity formed four fifths of indirect costs, and accounted for up to 33% of the total costs. CONCLUSION: This study shows for the first time the direct and indirect costs of COPD in Korea. The total costs were enormous, and the costs of nursing and lost productivity comprised approximately 70% of total costs. The results provide insight for an effective allocation of healthcare resources and to inform establishment of strategies to reduce national burden of COPD.
Delivery of Health Care ; Efficiency ; Health Care Costs ; Humans ; Korea* ; Nursing ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive*