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Abstract Background A variety of prediction models concerning COVID-19 have been proposed since onset of the pandemic, but to this date no gold standard exists. Mortality rates show a sharp increase with advancing age but with the large heterogeneity of this population in terms of comorbidities, vulnerability and disabilities, identifying risk factors is difficult. Therefore, we aimed to research the multidimensional concept of frailty, measured by the Acute Presenting Older Patient (APOP)-screener, as a risk factor for in-hospital mortality in older COVID-19 patients. Methods All consecutive patients of 70 years or older, with a PCR confirmed COVID-19 infection and a completed APOP-score, presenting at the Emergency Department (ED) of the Jeroen Bosch Hospital, the Netherlands, between February 27th 2020 and February 1st 2021 were retrospectively included. We gathered baseline characteristics and scored the CCI and CFS from patient records. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Results A total of 292 patients met the inclusion criteria. Approximately half of the patients were considered frail by the APOP or CFS. 127 patients (43.5%) scored frail on the CFS, 158 (54.1%) scored high risk on the APOP-screener. 79 patients (27.1%) died during their hospital admission. The APOP-screener showed a significantly elevated risk of in-hospital mortality when patients scored both high risk of functional and evidence of cognitive impairment (OR 2.24, 95% 1.18–4.25). Significant elevation of in-hospital mortality was found for the high CCI-scores (≥ 5)(OR 1.78, 95% 1.02–3.11), but not for the highest CFS category (5–9, frail) (OR 1.35, 95% 0.75–2.47). The discriminatory performance of the APOP, CFS and CCI were comparable (AUC resp. 0.59 (0.52–0.66), 0.54 (0.46–0.62) and 0.58 (0.51–0.65)). Conclusion Although the elevated risk for in-hospital mortality found for the most frail patients as scored by the APOP, this instrument has poor discriminatory value. Additionally, the CFS did not show significance in predicting in-hospital mortality and had a poor discriminatory value as well. Therefore, treatment decisions based on frailty or comorbidities alone should be made with caution. Approaching the heterogeneity of the older population by adding frailty as assessed by the APOP-score to existing prediction models may enhance the predictive value of these models.

Abstract Background Truly patient-centred care needs to be aligned with what patients consider important, and is highly desirable in the first 24 h of an acute admission, as many decisions are made during this period. However, there is limited knowledge on what matters most to patients in this phase of their hospital stay. The objective of this study was to identify what mattered most to patients in acute care and to assess the patient perspective as to whether their treating doctors were aware of this. Methods This was a large-scale, qualitative, flash mob study, conducted simultaneously in sixty-six hospitals in seven countries, starting November 14th 2018, ending 50 h later. One thousand eight hundred fifty adults in the first 24 h of an acute medical admission were interviewed on what mattered most to them, why this mattered and whether they felt the treating doctor was aware of this. Results The most reported answers to “what matters most (and why)?” were ‘getting better or being in good health’ (why: to be with family/friends or pick-up life again), ‘getting home’ (why: more comfortable at home or to take care of someone) and ‘having a diagnosis’ (why: to feel less anxious or insecure). Of all patients, 51.9% felt the treating doctor did not know what mattered most to them. Conclusions The priorities for acutely admitted patients were ostensibly disease- and care-oriented and thus in line with the hospitals’ own priorities. However, answers to why these were important were diverse, more personal, and often related to psychological well-being and relations. A large group of patients felt their treating doctor did not know what mattered most to them. Explicitly asking patients what is important and why, could help healthcare professionals to get to know the person behind the patient, which is essential in delivering patient-centred care. Trial registration NTR (Netherlands Trial Register) NTR7538 .

Abstract Background The demand on Emergency Departments and acute medical services is increasing internationally, creating pressure on health systems and negatively influencing the quality of delivered care. Visible consequences of the increased demand on acute services is crowding and queuing. This manifests as delays in the Emergency Departments, adverse clinical outcomes and poor patient experience. Overview Despite the similarities in the UK’s and Dutch health care systems, such as universal health coverage, there are differences in the number of patients presenting at the Emergency Departments and the burden of crowding between these countries. Given the similarities in funding, this paper explores the similarities and differences in the organisational structure of acute care in the UK and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, less patients are seen at the ED than in England and the admission rate is higher. GPs and so-called GP-posts serve 24/7 as gatekeepers in acute care, but EDs are heterogeneously organised. In the UK, the acute care system has a number of different access points and the accessibility of GPs seems to be suboptimal. Acute ambulatory care may relieve the pressure from EDs and Acute Medical Units. In both countries the ageing population leads to a changing case mix at the ED with an increased amount of multimorbid patients with polypharmacy, requiring generalistic and multidisciplinary care. Conclusion The acute and emergency care in the Netherlands and the UK face similar challenges. We believe that each system has strengths that the other can learn from. The Netherlands may benefit from an acute ambulatory care system and the UK by optimizing the accessibility of GPs 24/7 and improving signposting for urgent care services. In both countries the changing case mix at the ED needs doctors who are superspecialists instead of subspecialists. Finally, to improve the organisation of health care, doctors need to be visible medical leaders and participate in the organisation of care.

Abstract Background Studies on the reliability of the MTS and its predictive power for hospitalisation and mortality in the older population have demonstrated mixed results. The objective is to evaluate the performance of the Manchester Triage System (MTS) in older patients (≥65 years) by assessing the predictive ability of the MTS for emergency department resource utilisation, emergency department length of stay (ED-LOS), hospitalisation, and in-hospital mortality rate. The secondary goal was to evaluate the performance of the MTS in older surgical versus medical patients. Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted of all emergency department visits by patients ≥65 years between 01 and 09-2011 and 31-08-2012. Performance of the MTS was assessed by comparing the association of the MTS with emergency department resource utilisation, ED-LOS, hospital admission, and in-hospital mortality in older patients and the reference group (18–64 years), and by estimating the area under the receiver operating characteristics curves. Results Data on 7108 emergency department visits by older patients and 13,767 emergency department visits by patients aged 18–64 years were included. In both patient groups, a higher emergency department resource utilisation was associated with a higher MTS urgency. The AUC for the MTS and hospitalisation was 0.74 (95%CI 0.73–0.75) in older patients and 0.76 (95%CI 0.76–0.77) in patients aged 18–64 years. Comparison of the predictive ability of the MTS for in-hospital mortality in older patients with patients aged 18–64 years revealed an AUC of 0.71 (95%CI 0.68–0.74) versus 0.79 (95%CI 0.72–0.85). The majority of older patients (54.8%) were evaluated by a medical specialty and 45.2% by a surgical specialty. The predictive ability of the MTS for hospitalisation and in-hospital mortality was higher in older surgical patients than in medical patients (AUC 0.74, 95%CI 0.72–0.76 and 0.74, 95%CI 0.68–0.81 versus 0.69, 95%CI 0.67–0.71 and 0.66, 95%CI 0.62–0.69). Conclusion The performance of the MTS appeared inferior in older patients than younger patients, illustrated by a worse predictive ability of the MTS for in-hospital mortality in older patients. The MTS demonstrated a better performance in older surgical patients than older medical patients regarding hospitalisation and in-hospital mortality.

Abstract Background Studies investigating different medical conditions and settings have demonstrated mixed results regarding the weekend effect. However, data on the outcome of elderly patients hospitalised on weekends is scarce. The objective was to compare in-hospital and two-day mortality rates between elderly emergency department (ED) patients (≥65 years) admitted on weekends versus weekdays. Methods A retrospective cohort study of emergency department visits of internal medicine patients ≥65 years presenting to the emergency department between 01 and 09-2010 and 31–08-2012 was conducted. The weekend was defined as the period from midnight on Friday to midnight on Sunday. Results Data on 3697 emergency department visits by elderly internal medicine patients (mean age 78.6 years old) were included. In total, 2743 emergency department visits (74.2%) resulted in hospitalisation, of which 22.9% occurred on weekends. Comorbidity and urgency levels were higher in patients admitted on weekends. In-hospital mortality was 11.4% for patients admitted on weekends compared with 8.9% on weekdays (OR 1.3, 95%CI 0.99–1.8). Two-day mortality was 3.2% in patients hospitalised on weekends versus 1.9% on weekdays (OR 1.7, 95%CI 0.99–2.9). Multivariable adjustment for age, comorbidity and triage level demonstrated comparable in-hospital and two-day mortality for weekend and week admission (ORadj 1.2, 95%CI 0.9–1.7 and ORadj 1.5, 95%CI 0.8–2.6, resp.). Conclusion A small weekend effect was observed in elderly internal medicine patients, which was not statistically significant. This effect was partly explained by a higher comorbidity and urgency level in elderly patients hospitalised on weekends than during weekdays. Emergency care for the elderly is not compromised by adjusted logistics during the weekend.

Abstract Background Type 2 diabetes is a major healthcare problem. Glucose-, lipid-, and blood pressure-lowering strategies decrease the risk of micro- and macrovascular complications. However, a substantial residual risk remains. To unravel the etiology of type 2 diabetes and its complications, large-scale, well-phenotyped studies with prospective follow-up are needed. This is the goal of the DiaGene study. In this manuscript, we describe the design and baseline characteristics of the study. Methods The DiaGene study is a multi-centre, prospective, extensively phenotyped type 2 diabetes cohort study with concurrent inclusion of diabetes-free individuals at baseline as controls in the city of Eindhoven, The Netherlands. We collected anthropometry, laboratory measurements, DNA material, and detailed information on medication usage, family history, lifestyle and past medical history. Furthermore, we assessed the prevalence and incidence of retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy, and diabetic feet in cases. Using logistic regression models, we analyzed the association of 11 well known genetic risk variants with type 2 diabetes in our study. Results In total, 1886 patients with type 2 diabetes and 854 controls were included. Cases had worse anthropometric and metabolic profiles than controls. Patients in outpatient clinics had higher prevalence of macrovascular (41.9% vs. 34.8%; P = 0.002) and microvascular disease (63.8% vs. 20.7%) compared to patients from primary care. With the exception of the genetic variant in KCNJ11, all type 2 diabetes susceptibility variants had higher allele frequencies in subjects with type 2 diabetes than in controls. Conclusions In our study population, considerable rates of macrovascular and microvascular complications are present despite treatment. These prevalence rates are comparable to other type 2 diabetes populations. While planning genomics, we describe that 11 well-known type 2 diabetes genetic risk variants (in TCF7L2, PPARG-P12A, KCNJ11, FTO, IGF2BP2, DUSP9, CENTD2, THADA, HHEX, CDKAL1, KCNQ1) showed similar associations compared to literature. This study is well-suited for multiple omics analyses to further elucidate disease pathophysiology. Our overall goal is to increase the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of type 2 diabetes and its complications for developing new prediction, prevention, and treatment strategies.