PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Vital sign collection based on patient risk for clinical deterioration

2013-07-02
(Press-News.org) Nighttime frequency of vital signs monitoring for low-risk medical inpatients might be reduced, according to a research letter by Jordan C. Yoder, B.A. and colleagues at the University of Chicago.

Overnight vital signs are collected frequently among hospitalized patients regardless of their risk of clinical deterioration and these vital checks may have negative effects on low-risk patients such as patient distress and sleep deprivation, according to the study.

In total, 54,096 patients were included in the study, accounting for 182,828 patient-days and 1,699 adverse events between November 2008 and August 2011. Researchers investigated whether the Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) could identify low-risk patients who might forgo overnight vital sign monitoring.

The median (midpoint) evening MEWS was 2. The adverse event rate increased with higher evening MEWS. However, the frequency of vital sign disruptions was unchanged, with a median of two vital sign checks per patient per night and at least one disruption from vital sign collection 99.3 percent of the nights regardless of MEWS category. Almost half of all nighttime vital sign disruptions (45 percent) occurred in patients with a MEWS of 1 or less.

"Given these findings, further study of approaches to tailor vital sign collection based on risk of clinical deterioration is warranted and may help improve patient experience and safety in hospitals," the study concludes. ### (JAMA Intern Med. Published online July 1, 2013. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.7791. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com.)

Editor's Note: An author made a conflict of interest disclosure. The authors made a variety of funding disclosures. Please see article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Early childhood respiratory infections may be potential risk factor for type 1 diabetes mellitus

2013-07-02
Respiratory infections in early childhood may be a potential risk factor for developing type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D), according to a study published by JAMA Pediatrics, a JAMA Network publication. The incidence of T1D is increasing worldwide, although its etiology is not well understood. Infections have been discussed as an important environmental determinant, according to the study background. Andreas Beyerlein, Ph.D., from the Institute of Diabetes Research, Munich, Germany, and colleagues sought to determine whether early, short-term or cumulative exposures to ...

New generation electronic games boosts kids' physical activity at home

2013-07-02
Most electronic games are no better than watching TV in terms of the body movement and energy expenditure involved, say the authors. Kids in developed countries spend an estimated 38 to 90 minutes a day playing these games. But what has not been clear is whether the newer generation "active" games, such as Sony PlayStation EyeToy and Move, dance mats, and Microsoft Xbox Kinect, are any better. The Australian researchers compared the impact of removing traditional electronic games, involving a game pad, from the home or replacing them with more active newer generation ...

1 in 5 UK NHS staff report bullying by colleagues

2013-07-02
One in five UK NHS staff report bullying by colleagues, with almost half saying they have witnessed bullying, in the past six months, indicates research published in the online journal BMJ Open. Managers are the most common source of bullying, with workload pressures and organisational culture contributory factors, the study reveals. The findings are based on the responses of almost 3000 NHS staff (46% response rate) to a validated questionnaire (NAQ-R), designed to tease out exposure to negative and bullying behaviours. The 12 item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) ...

Long term night shifts linked to doubling of breast cancer risk

2013-07-02
Shift work has been suggested as a risk factor for breast cancer, but there has been some doubt about the strength of the findings, largely because of issues around the assessment of exposure and the failure to capture the diversity of shift work patterns. Several previous studies have also been confined to nurses rather than the general population. In this study, the researchers assessed whether night shifts were linked to an increased risk of breast cancer among 1134 women with breast cancer and 1179 women without the disease, but of the same age, in Vancouver, British ...

Supersense: It's a snap for crocs

2013-07-02
Previously misunderstood multi-sensory organs in the skin of crocodylians are sensitive to touch, heat, cold, and the chemicals in their environment, finds research in BioMed Central's open access journal EvoDevo. These sensors have no equivalent in any other vertebrate. Crocodylians, the group that includes crocodiles, gharials, alligators and caimans, have particularly tough epidermal scales consisting of keratin and bony plates for added protection. On the head, these scales are unusual because they result from cracking of the hardened skin, rather than their shape ...

Treating TB: What needs to be done to improve treatment rates

2013-07-02
People with tuberculosis (TB) in China often delay going to see a doctor for more than two weeks, finds research in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine. Reasons for this include a poor understanding of TB, increasing costs of treatment not covered by health insurance, and using traditional approaches first. Even after going to a clinic there were still delays in treatment, especially in rural areas, due to a lack of qualified medical staff. Worldwide TB remains a leading cause of death, and China has the second largest TB epidemic with the most number of ...

Study examines out-of hospital stroke policy at Chicago hospitals

2013-07-02
Implementing an out-of hospital stroke policy in some Chicago hospitals was associated with significant improvements in emergency medical services use and increased intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) use at primary stroke centers, according to a study published by JAMA Neurology. The study evaluated the relationship between a citywide policy recommending pre-hospital triage of patients with suspected stroke to transport them to the nearest primary stroke center and use of intravenous tPA use. The therapy is used to restore blood flow through blocked arteries ...

Identifying climate impact hotspots across sectors

2013-07-02
It identifies the Amazon region, the Mediterranean and East Africa as regions that might experience severe change in multiple sectors. The article is part of the outcome of the Intersectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP) that will be featured in a special issue of PNAS later this year. "Overlapping impacts of climate change in different sectors have the potential to interact and thus multiply pressure on the livelihoods of people in the affected regions," says lead-author Franziska Piontek of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. "This is ...

Placental cells may prevent viruses from passing from mother to baby, says Pitt/MWRI team

2013-07-02
PITTSBURGH, July 1, 2013 – Cells of the placenta may have a unique ability to prevent viruses from crossing from an expectant mother to her growing baby and can transfer that trait to other kinds of cells, according to researchers at Magee-Womens Research Institute (MWRI) and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Their findings, published in the early online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shed new light on the workings of the placenta and could point to new approaches to combat viral infections during pregnancy. It is imperative ...

Psychology influences markets

2013-07-02
When it comes to economics versus psychology, score one for psychology. Economists argue that markets usually reflect rational behavior—that is, the dominant players in a market, such as the hedge-fund managers who make billions of dollars' worth of trades, almost always make well-informed and objective decisions. Psychologists, on the other hand, say that markets are not immune from human irrationality, whether that irrationality is due to optimism, fear, greed, or other forces. Now, a new analysis published in the XX issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

SwRI-built instruments to monitor, provide advanced warning of space weather events

Breakthrough advances sodium-based battery design

New targeted radiation therapy shows near-complete response in rare sarcoma patients

Does physical frailty contribute to dementia?

Soccer headers and brain health: Study finds changes within folds of the brain

Decoding plants’ language of light

UNC Greensboro study finds ticks carrying Lyme disease moving into western NC

New implant restores blood pressure balance after spinal cord injury

New York City's medical specialist advantage may be an illusion, new NYU Tandon research shows

Could a local anesthetic that doesn’t impair motor function be within reach?

1 in 8 Italian cetacean strandings show evidence of fishery interactions, with bottlenose and striped dolphins most commonly affected, according to analysis across four decades of data and more than 5

In the wild, chimpanzees likely ingest the equivalent of several alcoholic drinks every day

Warming of 2°C intensifies Arctic carbon sink but weakens Alpine sink, study finds

Bronze and Iron Age cultures in the Middle East were committed to wine production

Indian adolescents are mostly starting their periods at an earlier age than 25 years ago

Temporary medical centers in Gaza known as "Medical Points" (MPs) treat an average of 117 people daily with only about 7 staff per MP

Rates of alcohol-induced deaths among the general population nearly doubled from 1999 to 2024

PLOS One study: In adolescent lab animals exposed to cocaine, High-Intensity Interval Training boosts aversion to the drug

Scientists identify four ways our bodies respond to COVID-19 vaccines

Stronger together: A new fusion protein boosts cancer immunotherapy

Hidden brain waves as triggers for post-seizure wandering

Music training can help the brain focus

Researcher develop the first hydride ion prototype battery

MIT researchers find a more precise way to edit the genome

‘Teen’ pachycephalosaur butts into fossil record

Study finds cocoa extract supplement reduced key marker of inflammation and aging

Obesity treatment with bariatric surgery vs GLP-1 receptor agonists

Nicotinamide for skin cancer chemoprevention

Novel way to ‘rev up’ brown fat burns calories, limits obesity in mice

USC Stem Cell-led team makes major advance toward building a synthetic kidney

[Press-News.org] Vital sign collection based on patient risk for clinical deterioration