OBJECTIVES: To analyze the multimorbidity patterns and core diseases among hospitalized patients in different age groups and to explore the impacts of multimorbidity patterns on hospitalization costs. METHODS: Electronic medical records of adult inpatients (aged ≥18 years) from Ningbo Medical Center Lihuili Hospital between January 1, 2018, and June 30, 2023 were collected. The multimorbidity status involving 53 specific diseases was analyzed across different age groups. Association rule mining was used to identify common multimorbidity patterns. Complex network analysis was used to identify core diseases within the multimorbidity networks. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used to analyze the impact of different multimorbidity patterns on hospitalization costs. RESULTS: The prevalence of multimorbidity among the 359 402 adult inpatients was 38.51%, with higher rates observed in males (43.60%) and elderly patients (58.29%). Association rule mining identified 15 common multimorbidity patterns, which exhibited differences across age groups. The most prevalent multimorbidity pattern overall was "diabetes→hypertension" (support=7.04%, confidence=62.17%, lift=2.17). In the young adult group, the most prevalent pattern was "dyslipidemia→chronic liver disease" (support=1.19%, confidence=53.17%, lift=6.04). In the middle-aged group, it was "diabetes→hypertension" (support=4.84%, confidence=50.28%, lift=2.15). In the elderly group, it was "coronary heart disease, diabetes→hypertension" (support=2.38%, confidence=77.43%, lift=1.63). Complex network analysis revealed that the core diseases within multimorbidity networks differed across age groups. The core disease identified in the young adult group was chronic liver disease (degree centrality=50, betweenness centrality=0.055, closeness centrality=0.963). Core diseases in the middle-aged group included hypertension, chronic liver disease, and diabetes (all with degree centrality=52, betweenness centrality=0.022, closeness centrality=1.000). Core diseases in the elderly group comprised hypertension, diabetes, malignant tumors, chronic liver disease, thyroid disease, anemia, and arrhythmia (all with degree centrality=52, betweenness centrality=0.009, closeness centrality=1.000). Generalized estimating equations analysis indicated that, most multimorbidity patterns were significantly associated with increased hospitalization costs. However, the magnitude of cost increase varied across different multimorbidity patterns. Specifically, hospitalization costs for patients with patterns such as "heart failure→hypertension", "stroke→hypertension", "malignant tumor, diabetes→hypertension", "stroke, diabetes→hypertension", and "diabetes, heart failure→hypertension" were more than double those of patients without any target diseases. CONCLUSIONS Multimorbidity patterns and core diseases among hospitalized patients differ significantly across age groups, and different patterns exert varying impacts on hospitalization costs. These findings underscore the necessity for age-stratified and multimorbidity pattern specific management strategies.
Humans ; Multimorbidity ; Male ; Hospitalization/economics* ; Female ; Aged ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Young Adult ; Adolescent ; Diabetes Mellitus/epidemiology* ; Electronic Health Records ; Aged, 80 and over ; Hospital Costs ; China/epidemiology* ; Hypertension/economics* ; Liver Diseases/epidemiology*

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the characteristics of animal-related injuries and summarize the epidemiological features of the affected population using the hospital's emergency department electronic medical record system. METHODS: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted, collecting data on animal-related injuries (dogs, cats, rodents, or other animals) as recorded in the outpatient registration system of the emergency department at Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province from October 8, 2022, to October 30, 2023. The study variables encompassed patient demographic characteristics (gender, age, occupation, residence, etc.), and injury characteristics (date and location of injury, type of animal inflicting the injury, level of exposure, wound site, number of wounds, vaccination history, etc.). Descriptive statistics and univariate analysis were performed on the collected data. RESULTS: From October 8, 2022, to October 30, 2023, a total of 1 266 cases of animal bites were attended to in our hospital's emergency department. A distinct seasonal pattern was observed in the monthly distribution of animal bite patients, with a consistent presence throughout the year and notable fluctuations. There was a higher incidence during the summer and autumn (July to October), and a lower incidence during the winter and spring (December to the following March), marking a relatively quiescent period. The study included 680 female cases (53.7%) and 586 male cases (46.3%), with a median age of 27 years (range 11 months to 88 years). The majority of patients were clerks or workers (50.2%), followed by students (21.6%), laborers (8.5%), and retirees (3.6%). The majority of patients were local residents (90.6%), and the majority had no history of rabies vaccination (76.9%), with only 3 cases (0.2%) having pre-exposure immunization. Among the four types of animal bites, cat bites predominated (64.5%), followed by dog bites (28.7%), rodent bites (4.9%), and bites from other animals (1.9%). The time from injury to consultation was 0 (0-40) days. Most patients experienced a level III exposure (76.3%), with level II exposure being less common (23.2%), and level I exposure being the least frequent (0.5%). The upper limbs were the most common site of injury (72.1%), followed by the lower limbs (21.2%), and the trunk was the least affected (2.6%). The majority of patients had a single wound (75.8%), and the majority of injuries occurred at home (90.2%). The number of patients who self-cleaned their wounds was comparable to those who sought outpatient treatment. When stratified by age and gender, the age of 18 to 39 years group was identified as the high-incidence demographic for all four types of animal bites. In this age group, except for injuries caused by mice, injuries caused by other animals were more common in females than males. CONCLUSIONS The proportion of injuries caused by cats in animal-related incidents in the emergency department of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, is significantly high. The majority of patients lack a history of rabies vaccination and pre-exposure immunization. There is a higher incidence of cases during the summer and autumn months, with a prolonged high-incidence period. The utilization of emergency department data on animal injuries provides a convenient and sustainable method for monitoring animal bites, representing a novel approach to comprehensive surveillance data and serving as a valuable supplement to the existing disease control surveillance system.
Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Animals ; Bites and Stings/epidemiology* ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Emergency Service, Hospital/statistics & numerical data* ; Adult ; Adolescent ; Child ; Aged ; Young Adult ; Child, Preschool ; Electronic Health Records ; Infant ; Cats ; Aged, 80 and over ; Dogs ; China/epidemiology*

PURPOSE: Isolated iliac artery aneurysm (IIAA) is uncommon. It is frequently treated by endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). This study was to evaluate treatment results of IIAA and survey aortic diameter after EVAR. METHODS: Patients treated for IIAA in Seoul St. Mary's Hospital and Bundang Seoul National University from 2005 to April 2016 were retrospectively enrolled. The inclusion criteria of IIAA was >30 mm of iliac artery aneurysm without abdominal aortic aneurysm, which was treated by open surgical repair (OSR) or EVAR. Patients' clinical characteristics, treatment results, and mortality were obtained from electronic medical records. Diameters of aorta and iliac arteries were measured periodically with scheduled interval based on CT scans. RESULTS: Forty-nine patients (40 males; mean age, 71.9 ± 11.1 years) were enrolled. Five ruptured IIAAs were treated with EVAR (n = 1) or hybrid methods (n = 4). The diameter of ruptured IIAAs was 65 ± 31.4 mm, which was not significantly different from that of elective (44.3 ± 17.0 mm). Forty-four elective IIAA underwent 9 OSR, 31 EVARs, and 3 hybrid treatments (15 bifurcated and 12 straight stent-grafts). Treatment success rate was 93.8% without hospital mortality. There were 4 type I endoleak, 1 type II endoleak, and 1 type III endoleak without aneurysm-related mortality during follow-up. However, the aortic diameter was increased over time though there was no change or decrease in common iliac artery's diameter. CONCLUSION: Treatment of IIAA included various endovascular modalities as well as open surgery. Regular surveillance is still needed due to aortic dilatation after its treatment.
Aneurysm ; Aorta ; Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal ; Dilatation ; Electronic Health Records ; Endoleak ; Endovascular Procedures ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Iliac Aneurysm ; Iliac Artery ; Male ; Mortality ; Retrospective Studies ; Seoul ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

PURPOSE: To evaluate superiority of a night float (NF) system in comparison to a traditional night on-call (NO) system for surgical residents at a single institution in terms of efficacy, safety, and satisfaction. METHODS: A NF system was implemented from March to September 2017 and big data analysis from electronic medical records was performed for all patients admitted for surgery or contacted from the emergency room (ER). Parameters including vital signs, mortality, and morbidity rates, as well as promptness of response to ER calls, were compared against a comparable period (March to September 2016) during which a NO system was in effect. A survey was also performed for physicians and nurses who had experienced both systems. RESULTS: A total of 150,000 clinical data were analyzed. Under the NO and NF systems, a total of 3,900 and 3,726 patients were admitted for surgery. Mortality rates were similar but postoperative bleeding was significantly higher in the NO system (0.5% vs. 0.2%, P = 0.031). From the 1,462 and 1,354 patients under the NO and NF systems respectively, that required surgical consultation from the ER, the time to response was significantly shorter in the NF system (54.5 ± 70.7 minutes vs. 66.8 ± 83.8 minutes, P < 0.001). Both physicians (90.4%) and nurses (91.4%) agreed that the NF system was more beneficial. CONCLUSION: This is the first report of a NF system using big data analysis in Korea, and potential benefits of this new system were observed in both ward and ER patient management.
Electronic Health Records ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Internship and Residency ; Korea ; Medical Staff ; Mortality ; Statistics as Topic ; Vital Signs

BACKGROUND: Emergencies in dentistry can be classified as medical and dental. Medical emergencies occur mainly during dental treatment in patients with a systemic disease. Dental emergency departments are largely divided into dental emergency rooms located in dental college hospitals and medical emergency rooms located in medical institutions. This study aimed to analyze the characteristics of and provide help to dental emergency patients in a dental hospital. METHODS: Overall, 1806 patients admitted to a dental emergency room at Yonsei University Dental Hospital for 1 year were included. The data collection period was from October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015. An investigator reviewed medical records from the electronic medical record (EMR) system and radiographs. RESULTS: The patients were 1,070 men and 736 women. The sex ratio was 1.45:1. The commonest age group was of 0–9 years, including 451 (25.0%) patients, followed by 20–29 years, including 353 (19.5%) patients, and 30–39 years, including 277 (15.3%) patients. Of the 108 patients transferred to the Severance emergency department, 81 had trauma, 19 were in pain, 4 were bleeding, and 4 had other complaints. Among chief complaints, 1,079 patients (60.3%) had trauma, 564 (31.5%) had pain, and 75 (4.2%) had bleeding. Twenty-three cases (1.3%) were caused by temporomandibular disorder (TMD). CONCLUSION: Dentists should be able to adequately assess patients in a dental emergency room and treat trauma, pain, and bleeding.
Data Collection ; Dentistry ; Dentists ; Electronic Health Records ; Emergencies ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Female ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Male ; Medical Records ; Research Personnel ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Ratio ; Temporomandibular Joint Disorders

OBJECTIVES: Most of the studies on the effect of heat stress on preterm birth (PTB) are conducted in temperate climates. Evidence on this effect in hot and arid countries with low and middle income is limited. This paper describes the short-term effect of exposure to the hot and cold environment on a daily number of PTB in Iran. METHODS: The daily number of PTB was obtained from all hospitals of the city. Meteorological and air pollution data from 2011 to 2017 were obtained from a metrological station in the city. A semi-parametric generalized additive model following a quasi-Poisson distribution with the distributed lag non-linear model was selected as a modeling framework for time-series analysis to simultaneously model the short-term and lagged effect of heat stress on PTB in the Sabzevar city. RESULTS: The minimum and maximum daily temperature were - 11.2 and 45.4 °C respectively. The highest risk estimate at extreme cold temperature was found for apparent temperature (relative risk (RR) 1.83; 95% CI 1.61: 2.09). This pattern was seen for both models. For extreme hot temperatures, the model with mean temperature showed the highest risk increase for both the main model and air pollution adjusted model (RR 1.36; 95% CI 1.25: 1.49). The lowest risk estimate in extremely cold conditions was found in the model with mean temperature. However, for extremely hot temperature conditions, the lowest risk estimate was found for both maximum and apparent temperature. CONCLUSION Obstetricians working in semi-arid areas should be aware of the influence of environmental extreme temperature on the incidence of PTB.
Air Pollutants ; analysis ; Climate ; Cold Temperature ; adverse effects ; Environmental Exposure ; adverse effects ; Environmental Monitoring ; methods ; Female ; Hospital Records ; Hot Temperature ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Iran ; epidemiology ; Poisson Distribution ; Pregnancy ; Premature Birth ; etiology ; Risk Factors

PURPOSE: Various publications on the use of sedation and anesthesia for diagnostic procedures in children have demonstrated that no ideal agent is available. Although propofol has been widely used for sedation during esophagogastroduodenoscopy in children, adverse events including hypoxia and hypotension, are concerns in propofol-based sedation. Propofol is used in combination with other sedatives in order to reduce potential complications. We aimed to analyze whether the administration of midazolam would improve the safety and efficacy of propofol-based sedation in diagnostic esophagogastroduodenoscopies in children. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the hospital records of children who underwent diagnostic esophagogastroduodenoscopies during a 30-month period. Demographic characteristics, vital signs, medication dosages, induction times, sedation times, recovery times, and any complications observed, were examined. RESULTS: Baseline characteristics did not differ between the midazolam-propofol and propofol alone groups. No differences were observed between the two groups in terms of induction times, sedation times, recovery times, or the proportion of satisfactory endoscopist responses. No major procedural complications, such as cardiac arrest, apnea, or laryngospasm, occurred in any case. However, minor complications developed in 22 patients (10.7%), 17 (16.2%) in the midazolam-propofol group and five (5.0%) in the propofol alone group (p=0.010). CONCLUSION: The sedation protocol with propofol was safe and efficient. The administration of midazolam provided no additional benefit in propofol-based sedation.
Anesthesia ; Anoxia ; Apnea ; Child ; Conscious Sedation ; Endoscopy ; Endoscopy, Digestive System ; Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal ; Heart Arrest ; Hospital Records ; Humans ; Hypnotics and Sedatives ; Hypotension ; Laryngismus ; Midazolam ; Propofol ; Retrospective Studies ; Vital Signs

BACKGROUND: Delirium is a serious complication for elderly patients after orthopedic surgery. The purpose of this study was to assess the etiology and related factors of delirium after orthopedic surgery in Korea. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 3,611 patients over 50 years who had orthopedic surgery. The age of patients (50s, 60s, 70s, and > 80s), type of anesthesia (general, spinal, and local), operation time (more than 2 hours vs. less than 2 hours), surgical site (spine, hip, knee, or others), and etiology (trauma or disease) were compared to determine possible risk factors of delirium after orthopedic surgery. RESULTS: Of 3,611 patients, 172 (4.76%) were diagnosed with delirium after orthopedic surgery. Postoperative delirium occurred in 1.18% in their 50s, 3.86% in their 60s, 8.49% in their 70s, and 13.04% in > 80s (p < 0.001). According to anesthesia type, 6.50% of postoperative delirium occurred after general anesthesia, 0.77% after spinal anesthesia, and 0.47% after local anesthesia (p < 0.001). More than 2 hours of operation was associated with higher occurrence of delirium than less than 2 hours was (5.88% vs. 4.13%, p = 0.017). For the etiology, 8.17% were trauma cases and 3.02% were disease (p < 0.001). Postoperative delirium occurred in 22 of 493 patients (4.46%) after spine surgery, 18 of 355 patients (5.07%) after hip surgery, 17 of 394 patients (4.31%) after knee surgery, and 15 of 1,145 patients (1.31%) after surgery at other sites (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Postoperative delirium was more common in older patients who had surgery under general anesthesia, whose surgery took more than 2 hours, and who were hospitalized through the emergency room.
Aged ; Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General ; Anesthesia, Local ; Anesthesia, Spinal ; Delirium ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Hip ; Humans ; Knee ; Korea ; Medical Records ; Orthopedics ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Spine

OBJECTIVES: Vitamin D is regarded as one of the major nutrients that significantly influence bone metabolism. This study aims to look at the effect of supplementary vitamin D on bone mineral density (BMD) in female osteoporosis patients. METHODS: The retrospective hospital record review was performed on 282 patients who were diagnosed with osteoporosis and treated with selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) between January 2015 and December 2016. Of these patients, 151 were treated with SERMs only while 131 were treated using both SERMs and vitamin D supplements. The BMD and any occurrence of osteoporotic fracture episode were investigated after one year. The result of two groups was compared to find the significance of vitamin D. RESULTS: Overall, improvement in BMD score was observed in 76% of the patients. The BMD of the SERMs only group improved by 3% in spine and 1% in the hip while that of the SERMs with vitamin D group improved by 6% and 1% respectively. Statistical significance was noticed in the spine only. One distal radius fracture and one single level vertebral fracture occurred in patients of SERMs group while two distal radius fractures occurred in SERMs with vitamin D group. There was no occurrence of around hip fracture in both groups. CONCLUSION: The result of the current study suggests that additional vitamin D may have some additive effect on improving BMD of the spine. Further study with the larger study population and the extended study period is recommended.
Bone Density ; Female ; Hip ; Hospital Records ; Humans ; Metabolism ; Osteoporosis ; Osteoporotic Fractures ; Radius Fractures ; Retrospective Studies ; Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators ; Spine ; Vitamin D ; Vitamins

Transfusion-associated circulatory overload (TACO) is recently becoming more important than transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) in terms of the number of patients with definite diagnosis as well as its prognosis. In order to diagnose TACO, it is helpful to recognize early the symptoms suspicious of transfusion reaction through electronic medical record system and computer network, and this will be of help for obtaining samples for brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) measurement before and after the onset of transfusion reaction. We report a case in which a transfusion reaction was diagnosed as TACO. A 62-year-old woman was admitted to the emergency room due to bleeding tendency. Two fresh frozen plasma units and one unit of leukocyte-reduced red blood cells were transfused. Blood pressure increased during transfusion, and the chest X-ray showed findings suggestive of newly developed pulmonary edema. N-terminal prohormone of BNP (NT-proBNP) test was carried out using the specimens in refrigerated storage. Compared with the NT-proBNP level measured 12 hours before the transfusion, that measured 6 hours after the transfusion was markedly increased (>48 fold of pre-transfusion level). As a result, this case was diagnosed with TACO.
Acute Lung Injury ; Blood Pressure ; Diagnosis ; Electronic Health Records ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Erythrocytes ; Female ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain ; Plasma ; Prognosis ; Pulmonary Edema ; Thorax ; Transfusion Reaction