INTRODUCTION: Timely detection of dementia enables early access to dementia-specific care services and interventions. Various stakeholders brought together to refine Singapore's dementia care strategy identified a lack of a standardised cognitive screening tool and the absence of a comparative review of existing tools. We hence conducted a rapid review to evaluate the diagnostic performance of brief cognitive screening tools in identifying possible dementia among community-dwelling older adults in Singapore. METHOD: Brief cognitive screening tools were defined as interviews or tests administered in ≤5 minutes. Studies performed in Singapore on older adults ≥60 years, which used locally-validated comparators and reported outcomes of clinician-diagnosed dementia were included. Rapid review methodology was used in study screening and selection. Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies version 2 tool was used for risk-of-bias assessment. A negative likelihood ratio (LR-) of ≤0.2 was defined a priori as having a moderate effect in shifting post-test probability. RESULTS: Fourteen studies were included in qualitative synthesis: 3 studies evaluated self-/informant-based tools only, 4 evaluated performance-based measures only and 7 evaluated combination approaches. Eight-item Informant Interview to Differentiate Aging and Dementia (AD8) was the most studied self-/ informant-based tool. One study found informant AD8 (iAD8) superior to self-rated AD8. Another study found iAD8 superior to Mini-Mental State Examination. Among performance-based measures, Abbreviated Mental Test, Visual Cognitive Assessment Test-Short form version 1 (VCAT-S1), VCAT-S2 and Mini-Cog had LR- <0.2. Minimal improvement of combination approaches compared to iAD8 alone was demonstrated. CONCLUSION Our review suggests the limited utility of dementia screening in communities with low dementia prevalence and supports a case-finding approach instead. With a reliable informant, iAD8 alone has sufficient discriminant ability. Further research is needed to specifically assess the diagnostic ability of performance-based tools in community settings.
Humans ; Singapore ; Dementia/diagnosis* ; Aged ; Independent Living ; Mass Screening/methods* ; Middle Aged ; Aged, 80 and over

INTRODUCTION: Post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) delirium affects 5%-45% of patients after surgery and is associated with postoperative delirium and increased mortality. Up to 40% of PACU delirium is preventable, but it remains under-recognised due to a lack of awareness of its diagnosis. The nursing delirium screening scale (Nu-DESC) has been validated for diagnosing PACU delirium, but is not routinely used locally. This study aimed to use Nu-DESC to establish the incidence and risk factors of PACU delirium in patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery in the surgical population. METHODS: We conducted an audit of eligible patients undergoing major surgery in three public hospitals in Singapore over 1 week. Patients were assessed for delirium 30-60 min following their arrival in PACU using Nu-DESC, with a total score of ≥2 indicative of delirium. RESULTS: A total of 478 patients were assessed. The overall incidence rate of PACU delirium was 18/478 (3.8%), and the incidence was 9/146 (6.2%) in patients aged > 65 years. Post-anaesthesia care unit delirium was more common in females, patients with malignancy and those who underwent longer operations. Logistic regression analysis showed that the use of bispectral index (P < 0.001) and the presence of malignancy (P < 0.001) were significantly associated with a higher incidence of PACU delirium. CONCLUSION In this first local study, the incidence of PACU delirium was 3.8%, increasing to 6.2% in those aged > 65 years. Understanding these risk factors will form the basis for which protocols can be established to optimise resource management and prevent long-term morbidities and mortality in PACU delirium.
Female ; Humans ; Delirium/epidemiology* ; Postoperative Complications/etiology* ; Singapore/epidemiology* ; Prospective Studies ; Anesthesia/adverse effects* ; Risk Factors ; Neoplasms

INTRODUCTION: In Singapore, non-anaesthesiologists generally administer sedation during gastrointestinal endoscopy. The drugs used for sedation in hospital endoscopy centres now include propofol in addition to benzodiazepines and opiates. The requirements for peri-procedural monitoring and discharge protocols have also evolved. There is a need to develop an evidence-based clinical guideline on the safe and effective use of sedation by non-anaesthesiologists during gastrointestinal endoscopy in the hospital setting. METHODS: The Academy of Medicine, Singapore appointed an expert workgroup comprising 18 gastroenterologists, general surgeons and anaesthesiologists to develop guidelines on the use of sedation during gastrointestinal endoscopy. The workgroup formulated clinical questions related to different aspects of endoscopic sedation, conducted a relevant literature search, adopted Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology and developed recommendations by consensus using a modified Delphi process. RESULTS: The workgroup made 16 recommendations encompassing 7 areas: (1) purpose of sedation, benefits and disadvantages of sedation during gastrointestinal endoscopy; (2) pre-procedural assessment, preparation and consent taking for sedation; (3) Efficacy and safety of drugs used in sedation; (4) the role of anaesthesiologist administered sedation during gastrointestinal endoscopy; (5) performance of sedation; (6) post-sedation care and discharge after sedation; and (7) training in sedation for gastrointestinal endoscopy for non-anaesthesiologists. CONCLUSION These recommendations serve to guide clinical practice during sedation for gastrointestinal endoscopy by non-anaesthesiologists in the hospital setting.
Conscious Sedation ; Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal ; Hospitals ; Humans ; Hypnotics and Sedatives ; Singapore

INTRODUCTION: Post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) delirium is a potentially preventable condition that results in a significant long-term effect. In a multicentre prospective cohort study, we investigate the incidence and risk factors of postoperative delirium in elderly patients undergoing major non-cardiac surgery. METHODS: Patients were consented and recruited from 4 major hospitals in Singapore. Research ethics approval was obtained. Patients older than 65 years undergoing non-cardiac surgery >2 hours were recruited. Baseline perioperative data were collected. Preoperative baseline cognition was obtained. Patients were assessed in the post-anaesthesia care unit for delirium 30-60 minutes after arrival using the Nursing Delirium Screening Scale (Nu-DESC). RESULTS Ninety-eight patients completed the study. Eleven patients (11.2%) had postoperative delirium. Patients who had PACU delirium were older (74.6±3.2 versus 70.6±4.4 years, P=0.005). Univariate analysis showed those who had PACU delirium are more likely to be ASA 3 (63.6% vs 31.0%, P=0.019), had estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of >60mL/min/1.73m2 (36.4% vs 10.6%, P=0.013), higher HbA1C value (7.8±1.2 vs 6.6±0.9, P=0.011), raised random blood glucose (10.0±5.0mmol/L vs 6.5±2.4mmol/L, P=0.0066), and moderate-severe depression (18.2% vs 1.1%, P=0.033). They are more likely to stay longer in hospital (median 8 days [range 4-18] vs 4 days [range 2-8], P=0.049). Raised random blood glucose is independently associated with increased PACU delirium on multivariate analysis.
Aged ; Anesthesia ; Anesthesia Recovery Period ; Delirium/etiology* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Postoperative Complications/etiology* ; Prospective Studies ; Risk Factors

INTRODUCTION: Treatment of pain is an important component of prehospital care. Inhalational analgesia agents have attractive strengths, but there is a paucity of studies comparing these with more conventional agents. We aimed to compare inhalational methoxyflurane and intramuscular (IM) tramadol as first-contact analgesia in the Singapore national ambulance service. METHODS: Ambulances were randomised to carry either methoxyflurane or IM tramadol for the first six months and crossed over to the other arm after six months. Patients aged ≥ 16 years, with acute pain arising from musculoskeletal trauma with Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) score ≥ 3 were enrolled. Variables included NRS reduction, time variables, adverse effects, Ramsay Sedation Scores, and patient and paramedic satisfaction scores on a Likert scale. RESULTS: A total of 369 patients were enrolled into this study, but 26 patients were excluded due to missing data. The methoxyflurane arm had a shorter median time taken from arrival at the scene to drug administration (9.0 [interquartile range 6.0-14.0] minutes vs. 11.0 [interquartile range 8.0-15.0] minutes). For patients who achieved reduction in NRS ≥ 3 within 20 minutes, those in the methoxyflurane arm took a shorter time. However, the methoxyflurane (46.7%) arm experienced lower proportion of patients not achieving NRS reduction ≥ 3 when compared to the tramadol (71.6%) arm after over 20 minutes. The methoxyflurane arm had significantly higher paramedic and patient satisfaction scores. CONCLUSION For the doses of medication used in this implementation study, methoxyflurane was superior in efficacy, speed of onset and administration, but had more minor adverse effects when compared to IM tramadol.

Drug induced liver injury (DILI) may be different in the East compared to the West due to differing disease prevalence, prescribing patterns and pharmacogenetic profiles. To review existing literature on causative agents of DILI in the East compared to the West, a comprehensive literature search was performed on electronic databases: MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and China National Knowledge Infrastructure without language restrictions. Studies which involve patients having DILI and reported the frequency of causative agents were included. A random effects model was applied to synthesize the current evidence using prevalence of class-specific and agent-specific causative drugs with 95% confidence intervals. Of 6,914 articles found, 12 showed the distribution of drugs implicated in DILI in the East with a total of 33,294 patients and 16 in the West with a total of 26,069 DILI cases. In the East, the most common agents by class were anti-tuberculosis drugs (26.6%), herbal and alternative medications (25.3%), and antibiotics (15.7%), while in the West, antibiotics (34.9%), cardiovascular agents (17.3%), and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (12.5%) were the commonest. For individual agents, the most common agents in the East were isoniazid-rifampicin-pyrazinamide (25.4%), phenytoin (3.5%), and cephalosporin (2.9%) while in the West, amoxicillin-potassium clavulanate combination acid (11.3%), nimesulide (6.3%), and ibuprofen (6.1%) were the commonest. There was significant heterogeneity due to variability in single-centre compared to multi-centre studies. Differences in DILI in the East versus the West both in drug classes and individual agents are important for clinicians to recognize.

Introduction: This study aims to describe the content of several pre-independence medical journals published in British Malaya. Methods: The content of five journals were retrieved from National Library of Singapore e-resources and print collection of the Reference Library, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The content of these journals was classified and descriptive analysis performed. Results: The five journals identified were Journal of the Straits Medical Association, Journal of the Malaya Branch of the British Medical Association, Malaya Medical Journal, Malayan Medical Journal and Journal of the Malaya Branch of the British Medical Association (new series). A total of 81 issues with 873 articles were retrieved. Almost one-third of articles were concerned with these topics: malaria, mosquito control, beri-beri, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, helminthiasis, leprosy and cholera. One-fifth of the articles were case reports and 95% of the articles were written by single authors. Discussion The content of these journals is a good resource for those who are interested in the history of medicine – it provided substantial details on the state of public health and chronicled the medical writings of medical workers in British Malaya. It illustrates well the introduction of Western medicine to tackle health problems that arose from the interplay of immigration, poor environmental sanitation and economic exploitation.
History of Medicine

Purpose: There are relatively few student-led medical conferences worldwide. A group of medical and nursing students from Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, organized an annual student-led faculty-supported inter-professional Student Medical-Nursing Education Conference (SMEC), which consisted of plenary talks, lectures and workshops, and a scientific competition. This research focused on the evaluation of workshops conducted during the 8th SMEC 2012. Method: The authors used various process variables to survey the conference participants on the educational value of the 4 plenary lectures and 20 workshops, half of which were run by experienced healthcare professionals and the other half by current seniors or recent graduates. Results: A total of 270 medical and nursing students completed the survey. Good to excellent educational value was reported for most of the workshops. Higher educational value was associated with use of props (correlation coefficient, r=0.733 and 0.568), adherence to workshop topic/focus (r=0.608 and 0.815) and openness of presenter to questions (r=0.555 and 0.453). Conclusion: A student-led, faculty-supported interprofessional conference organized by medical and nursing students had good to excellent self-reported education value in helping their fellow medical and nursing students learn about various healthcare disciplines and prepare for medical and nursing school.