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This consensus statement by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) and the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (AMDA), the Association for Professionals in Epidemiology and Infection Control (APIC), the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA), the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS), and the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP) recommends that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination should be a condition of employment for all healthcare personnel in facilities in the United States. Exemptions from this policy apply to those with medical contraindications to all COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States and other exemptions as specified by federal or state law. The consensus statement also supports COVID-19 vaccination of nonemployees functioning at a healthcare facility (eg, students, contract workers, volunteers, etc).
The relationship between wisdom and fluid intelligence (Gf) is poorly understood, particularly in older adults. We empirically tested the magnitude of the correlation between wisdom and Gf to help determine the extent of overlap between these two constructs.
Design:
Cross-sectional study with preregistered hypotheses and well-powered analytic plan (https://osf.io/h3pjx).
Setting:
Memory and Aging Center at the University of California San Francisco, located in the USA.
Wisdom was quantified using a well-validated self-report-based scale (San Diego Wisdom Scale or SD-WISE). Gf was assessed via composite measures of processing speed (Gf-PS) and executive functioning (Gf-EF). The relationships of SD-WISE scores to Gf-PS and Gf-EF were tested in bivariate correlational analyses and multiple regression models adjusted for demographics (age, sex, and education). Exploratory analyses evaluated the relationships between SD-WISE and age, episodic memory performance, and dorsolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortical volumes on magnetic resonance imaging.
Results:
Wisdom showed a small, positive association with Gf-EF (r = 0.181 [95% CI 0.016, 0.336], p = .031), which was reduced to nonsignificance upon controlling for demographics, and no association with Gf-PS (r = 0.019 [95% CI −0.179, 0.216], p = .854). Wisdom demonstrated a small, negative correlation with age (r = −0.197 [95% CI −0.351, −0.033], p = .019), but was not significantly related to episodic memory or prefrontal volumes.
Conclusions:
Our findings indicate that most of the variance in wisdom (>95%) is unaccounted for by Gf. The independence of wisdom from cognitive functions that reliably show age-associated declines suggests that it may hold unique potential to bolster decision-making, interpersonal functioning, and other everyday activities in older adults.
ABSTRACT IMPACT: This study is designed to address a critical gap in our understanding of how aging patients and caregivers recognize and respond to clinically important changes in heart failure symptoms during vulnerable transitions. OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Research on family involvement in heart failure (HF) symptom response is limited. Our objective is to examine HF symptom monitoring processes in couples after HF hospitalization, and quantify how coupled symptom assessments predict symptom response, patient clinical events, care strain, and dyad health during the high-risk post-discharge period. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: This is an ongoing T2 translational study that employs an intensive longitudinal design. Adults aged ≥65 years hospitalized for HF and their caregiving spouse/partner are enrolled. The target n is 48 dyads. Over 5 weeks of follow-up, dyads complete daily diaries assessing patient HF symptoms. Clinical biomarkers of HF severity (NTproBNP, ST2) are also collected. Primary study endpoints are dyads’ HF symptom response behaviors and caregiver strain; secondary endpoints are dyads’ health status and patient clinical events. Dyadic dynamics of symptom assessment will first be characterized using dyadic autoregressive time series models. Subsequently, we will extract cross-partner effect parameters from the time series models and test whether dyadic effects predict the trajectories of each of our endpoints. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: This study is currently underway. In line with our study hypotheses, we anticipate that couples who assess patient symptoms similarly (dyadic agreement), and whose symptom assessments accurately reflect clinical severity, will be more likely to respond to symptoms appropriately with lower stress to the caregiving partner, and have better trajectories of health (self-reported and clinical). Characterizing dyadic symptom dynamics will provide important insight into the day-to-day process of symptom recognition in couples. Further, quantifying dyadic symptom dynamics in relation to our endpoints will provide information on the clinical value of dyadic symptom agreement, and whether it might be a target for future interventions to support better symptom response and health outcomes for both dyad members. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: This project innovates on existing paradigms by applying family-level theory and techniques to better understand and support interventions for couples during post-discharge HF transitions - a vulnerable period for older adults that has traditionally been studied almost exclusively at the patient-level, with marginal success.
Hand hygiene adherence has been associated with reductions in nosocomial infection. We assessed the effect of improvements in electronically measured hand hygiene adherence on the incidence of hospital-acquired infections.
Methods:
This quasi-experimental study was conducted in a 555-bed urban safety-net level I trauma center. The preintervention period was January 2015 through June 2016. Baseline electronic hand hygiene data collection took place from April through June 2016. The intervention period was July 2016 through December 2017. An electronic hand hygiene system was installed in 4 locations in our hospital. Performance improvement strategies were implemented that included education, troubleshooting, data dissemination, and feedback. Adherence rates were tracked over time. Rates of hospital-acquired infections were evaluated in the intervention units and in control units selected for comparison. The intervention period was subdivided into the initial and subsequent 9-month periods and were compared to the baseline period.
Results:
Electronically measured hand hygiene rates improved significantly from baseline to intervention, from 47% 77% adherence. Rates >70% continued to be measured 18 months after the intervention. Interrupted time series analysis indicated a significant effect of hand hygiene on healthcare facility-onset Clostridioides difficile infection rates during the first 9 months of the intervention. This trend continued during the final 9 months of the intervention but was nonsignificant. No effects were observed for other hospital-acquired infection rates.
Conclusions:
Implementation of electronic hand hygiene monitoring and performance improvement interventions resulted in reductions in hospital-onset Clostridioides difficile infection rates.
We surveyed emergency department and urgent care clinicians to assess patterns of use and perceived usefulness of a local antibiotic stewardship application to deliver institution-specific prescribing guidance. Among 114 eligible respondents, the application was widely utilized, and it was perceived to be a useful clinical resource that improved prescribing.
We implemented a cleaning process for mobile patient equipment (MPE) and determined its success using adenosine trisphosphate (ATP) monitoring and data feedback. Following education for staff and ATP data feedback, the data suggest that the MPE cleaning program we implemented was successful.
Depictions of eye images and messages encouraging compliance with social norms have successfully motivated behavioral change in a variety of experimental and applied settings. We studied the effect of these 2 visual cues on hand hygiene adherence in a cohort of hospital-based healthcare providers participating in an electronic monitoring and feedback program.
Methods:
Prospective, quasi-experimental study utilizing an interrupted time-series design. Intervention placards depicting an image of eyes, a social norms message, or a control placard were placed near soap and alcohol-based hand-rub dispensers on 2 hospital units. Placards were alternated every 10 days. Hand hygiene opportunities and adherence rates were assessed electronically via the CenTrak Hand Hygiene Compliance Solution.
Results:
A total of 166 nurses and certified nursing assistants (74 on a medical-surgical unit and 92 on a progressive care unit) were monitored electronically over the 4-month study period. In total, 184,172 electronic observations were collected (110,903 on a medical-surgical unit and 73,269 on a progressive care unit). The median daily number of electronic observations was 1,471 (interquartile range, 1,337–1,584). The preintervention baseline hand hygiene adherence rate was 70%. No statistically significant increase in hand hygiene adherence was observed as a result of either intervention.
Conclusion:
Displaying eye images or a social norms message in the hospital environment did not result in measurable improvements in HH adherence in a cohort of healthcare providers participating in an electronic monitoring and feedback program.
Smartphones are increasingly used to access clinical decision support, and many medical applications provide antimicrobial prescribing guidance. However, these applications do not account for local antibiotic resistance patterns and formularies. We implemented an institution-specific antimicrobial stewardship smartphone application and studied patterns of use over a 1-year period.
We evaluated the appropriateness of antibiotic prescriptions for acute sinusitis and pharyngitis. Overall, 81% of antibiotic prescriptions for acute sinusitis were inappropriate and 48% of antibiotic prescriptions for pharyngitis were inappropriate. Types of prescribing errors differed between the 2 infections, including lack of an indication for antibiotics and excessive duration in ~50% of sinusitis cases and incorrect antibiotic dose in ~33% of pharyngitis cases.
UK Biobank is an open access prospective cohort of 500 000 men and women. Information on the frequency of consumption of main foods was collected at recruitment with a touchscreen questionnaire; prior to examining the associations between diet and disease, it is essential to evaluate the performance of the dietary touchscreen questionnaire. The objectives of the present paper are to: describe the repeatability of the touchscreen questionnaire in participants (n 20 348) who repeated the assessment centre visit approximately 4 years after recruitment, and compare the dietary touchscreen variables with mean intakes from participants (n 140 080) who completed at least one of the four web-based 24-h dietary assessments post-recruitment. For fish and meat items, 90 % or more of participants reported the same or adjacent category of intake at the repeat assessment visit; for vegetables and fruit, and for a derived partial fibre score (in fifths), 70 % or more of participants were classified into the same or adjacent category of intake (κweighted > 0·50 for all). Participants were also categorised based on their responses to the dietary touchscreen questionnaire at recruitment, and within each category the group mean intake of the same food group or nutrient from participants who had completed at least one web-based 24-h dietary assessment was calculated. The comparison showed that the dietary touchscreen variables, available on the full cohort, reliably rank participants according to intakes of the main food groups.
For most common infections requiring hospitalization, antibiotic treatment is completed after hospital discharge. Postdischarge therapy is often unnecessarily broad spectrum and prolonged. We developed an intervention to improve antibiotic selection and shorten treatment durations.
DESIGN
Single center, quasi-experimental retrospective cohort study
METHODS
Patients prescribed oral antibiotics at hospital discharge before (July 2012–June 2013) and after (October 2014–February 2015) an intervention consisting of (1) institutional guidance for oral step-down antibiotic selection and duration of therapy and (2) pharmacy audit of discharge prescriptions with real-time prescribing recommendations to providers. The primary outcomes measured were total prescribed duration of therapy and use of antibiotics with broad gram-negative activity (ie, fluoroquinolones or amoxicillin-clavulanate).
RESULTS
Overall, 300 cases from the preintervention period and 200 cases from the intervention period were included. Compared with the preintervention period, the use of antibiotics with broad gram-negative activity decreased during the intervention (51% vs 40%; P=.02), particularly fluoroquinolones (38% vs 25%; P=.002). The total duration of therapy decreased from a median of 10 days (interquartile range [IQR], 7–13 days) to 9 days (IQR, 6–13 days) but did not reach statistical significance (P=.13). However, the duration prescribed at discharge declined from 6 days (IQR, 4–10 days) to 5 days (IQR, 3–7 days) (P=.003). During the intervention, there was a nonsignificant increase in the overall appropriateness of discharge prescriptions from 52% to 66% (P=.15).
CONCLUSIONS
A multifaceted intervention to optimize antibiotic prescribing at hospital discharge was associated with less frequent use of antibiotics with broad gram-negative activity and shorter postdischarge treatment durations.
Observational studies compare outcomes among subjects with and without an exposure of interest, without intervention from study investigators. Observational studies can be designed as a prospective or retrospective cohort study or as a case-control study. In healthcare epidemiology, these observational studies often take advantage of existing healthcare databases, making them more cost-effective than clinical trials and allowing analyses of rare outcomes. This paper addresses the importance of selecting a well-defined study population, highlights key considerations for study design, and offers potential solutions including biostatistical tools that are applicable to observational study designs.
Although dietary intake over a single 24-h period may be atypical of an individual’s habitual pattern, multiple 24-h dietary assessments can be representative of habitual intake and help in assessing seasonal variation. Web-based questionnaires are convenient for the participant and result in automatic data capture for study investigators. This study reports on the acceptability of repeated web-based administration of the Oxford WebQ – a 24-h recall of frequency from a set food list suitable for self-completion from which energy and nutrient values can be automatically generated. As part of the UK Biobank study, four invitations to complete the Oxford WebQ were sent by email over a 16-month period. Overall, 176 012 (53 % of those invited) participants completed the online version of the Oxford WebQ at least once and 66 % completed it more than once, although only 16 % completed it on all four occasions. The response rate for any one round of invitations varied between 34 and 26 %. On most occasions, the Oxford WebQ was completed on the same day that they received the invitation, although this was less likely if sent on a weekend. Participants who completed the Oxford WebQ tended to be white, female, slightly older, less deprived and more educated, which is typical of health-conscious volunteer-based studies. These findings provide preliminary evidence to suggest that repeated 24-h dietary assessment via the Internet is acceptable to the public and a feasible strategy for large population-based studies.
To design better antimicrobial stewardship programs, detailed data on the primary drivers and patterns of antibiotic use are needed.
OBJECTIVE
To characterize the indications for antibiotic therapy, agents used, duration, combinations, and microbiological justification in 6 acute-care US facilities with varied location, size, and type of antimicrobial stewardship programs.
DESIGN, PARTICIPANTS, AND SETTING
Retrospective medical chart review was performed on a random cross-sectional sample of 1,200 adult inpatients, hospitalized (>24 hrs) in 6 hospitals, and receiving at least 1 antibiotic dose on 4 index dates chosen at equal intervals through a 1-year study period (October 1, 2009–September 30, 2010).
METHODS
Infectious disease specialists recorded patient demographic characteristics, comorbidities, microbiological and radiological testing, and agents used, dose, duration, and indication for antibiotic prescriptions.
RESULTS
On the index dates 4,119 (60.5%) of 6,812 inpatients were receiving antibiotics. The random sample of 1,200 case patients was receiving 2,527 antibiotics (average: 2.1 per patient); 540 (21.4%) were prophylactic and 1,987 (78.6%) were therapeutic, of which 372 (18.7%) were pathogen-directed at start. Of the 1,615 empirical starts, 382 (23.7%) were subsequently pathogen-directed and 1,231 (76.2%) remained empirical. Use was primarily for respiratory (27.6% of prescriptions) followed by gastrointestinal (13.1%) infections. Fluoroquinolones, vancomycin, and antipseudomonal penicillins together accounted for 47.1% of therapy-days.
CONCLUSIONS
Use of broad-spectrum empirical therapy was prevalent in 6 US acute care facilities and in most instances was not subsequently pathogen directed. Fluoroquinolones, vancomycin, and antipseudomonal penicillins were the most frequently used antibiotics, particularly for respiratory indications.
Surgical site infection (SSI) surveillance methods vary among infection preventionists. An online survey regarding SSI surveillance technique was administered to infection preventionists and linked to superficial and complex colon SSI rates. Higher superficial but not complex SSI rates were reported when more SSI surveillance techniques were used (P <.0001).
Surgical site infection (SSI) surveillance techniques for colon surgery and hysterectomy among Colorado infection preventionists were characterized through an online survey. Considerable variation was found in SSI surveillance practices, specifically varying use of triggers for SSI review, including laboratory values, healthcare personnel communication, and postoperative visits.
Skin preparation products contribute to surgical site infection (SSI) prevention. In a case-control study, diabetes was associated with increased SSI (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 5.74 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.22–27.0]), while the use of chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) plus isopropyl alcohol versus CHG alone was found to be protective (adjusted OR, 2.64 [95% CI, 1.12–6.20]).
Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2014;35(12):1535–1538