Human ; Philippines ; Patients ; Vaccines ; Covid‐19

Human ; Male ; Child: 6-12 Yrs Old ; Linear Iga Bullous Dermatosis ; Immunoglobulin A ; Skin Diseases

Costs And Cost Analysis ; Delivery Of Health Care

BACKGROUND

Pediatric Early Warning Scores (PEWS) help identify children at risk of clinical deterioration, but their accuracy across diverse settings, populations, interventions, and outcomes remains unexplored.

To determine the accuracy of PEWS in detecting clinical deterioration events (CDE) among pediatric patients seen at the emergency department (ED).

Retrospective cohort study.

Pediatric patients aged 1 month to 18 years seen at the ED.

Southern Philippines Medical Center Emergency Department, Davao City, Philippines from January 2021 to December 2022.

Area under the curve (AUC) of PEWS in detecting CDE; Brighton PEWS optimal cut-off and its sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), positive likelihood ratio (+LR), and negative likelihood ratio (-LR).

Among the 345 patients, 56 experienced CDE and 289 did not. Patients with CDE had significantly lower median age (1.00 year vs 5.00 years; p < 0.001), oxygen saturation (93.00% vs 98.00%; p < 0.001), and pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale scores (8.00 vs 15.00; p < 0.0001) compared to those without CDE. Heart rate (135.00 vs 111.00 beats per minute; p < 0.001), and respiratory rate (32.50 vs 24.00 breaths per minute; p < 0.001) were significantly higher in patients with CDE. The two groups also differed significantly in terms of comorbidity distribution (p < 0.001) and diagnosis (p < 0.001). The AUC of Brighton PEWS was 0.9064 (95% CI 0.8716 to 0.9357), with an optimal cut-off score of ≥4.00. This threshold yielded 76.79% sensitivity, 88.58% specificity, 56.60% PPV, 95.20% NPV, 6.72 LR+, and 0.26 LR-.

The Brighton PEWS demonstrates strong diagnostic accuracy in predicting CDE among pediatric patients. A cut-off score of ≥4.00 offers a balanced combination of sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratios for ED application.

Human ; Male ; Adult: 25-44 Yrs Old ; Madura Foot ; Mycetoma

Human ; Infant, Newborn ; Mass Screening ; Neonatal Screening ; Censuses

Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest ; Heart Arrest ; Policy ; Covid-19 ; Pandemics

Infant, Newborn ; Mass Screening ; Neonatal Screening

Patient feedback is a crucial component of health care improvement. It is recognized globally, with client satisfaction rate being one of the impact indicators of the 8-point agenda of the Philippine Department of Health (DOH).1 At the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), we value patient feedback. We conduct regular surveys to gather feedback on our various services. Our Public Assistance and Complaints Desk not only handles patient complaints about facilities and services but also facilitates actions based on this feedback. SPMC hosts patient groups, typically composed of individuals battling chronic conditions like diabetes, asthma, and hypertension. These groups meet regularly, providing invaluable suggestions on how we can enhance the services they receive. Today’s patients are more conscious than ever about the quality of public services and their right to access them. They seek not just medical outcomes, but a satisfying experience that includes safe and comfortable facilities, efficient services, and pleasant interactions with health care personnel. Patients today are quick to voice their complaints about services, facilities, and health care personnel, often turning to social media. While this platform offers little chance for health care institutions to defend themselves, it provides an opportunity to listen, learn, and improve. Health care institutions should engage patients in advisory boards or patient panels to translate feedback into service improvements. We must use feedback channels, including social media and apps, to refine our services. While patient satisfaction is important, our goal is to improve patient outcomes. Patients should be informed about these efforts to reinforce the patient-centric nature of our services. Patient feedback ensures our health care system meets patients’ needs. It is the most valuable measure of our success. It is essential in the health care industry as it helps us shape a better health care system. It drives us to improve for the sake of every patient who walks through our doors.
Patient Satisfaction

Background: Establishing clinic-specific normative data for auditory brainstem response (ABR) tests is important due to variability in stimulus parameters and equipment. Objective: To establish normative values for ABR measurements in infants aged 3 to 6 months. Design: Descriptive study. Participants: 12 normal-hearing male and female infants, aged 3 to 6 months, who underwent ABR tests. Setting: Audiology Unit, Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Southern Philippines Medical Center, Davao City, January 2021 to December 2022. Main outcome measures: Absolute latency readings for waves I, III, and V, and interpeak latencies for waves I-III, III-V, and I-V using Interacoustics Eclipse EP15 apparatus with a RadioEar IP30 Insert Earphone transducer at a stimulus intensity of 60-90 dBnHL and a rate of 45.1 clicks/sec. Main results: All normative ABR ranges were computed with a threshold of ± 2 SD from the means. The computed means (normative ranges) for absolute latencies for waves I, III, and V were 1.49 ± 0.15 (1.19-1.78) msec, 4.45 ± 0.32 (3.81-5.10) msec, and 6.65 ± 0.26 (6.12-7.17) msec, respectively. The computed normative values for interpeak latencies for waves I-III, III-V, and I-V were 2.80 ± 0.22 (2.36-3.23) msec, 2.19 ± 0.21 (1.78-2.61) msec, and 4.99 ± 0.29 (4.41-5.57) msec, respectively. Conclusion In our study, we have established normative values for ABR test measurements for infants aged 3 to 6 months.
Hearing Loss ; Audiology