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Aim To identify the absolute risk, causes, and factors associated with rehospitalization within 1 year of discharge with a pulmonary embolism (PE). Methods and results Using the Danish nationwide registries, all patients admitted with a first-time PE between 2000 and 2020 and discharged alive were included. Subsequent hospitalizations were categorized and crude cumulative incidences were used to estimate the absolute risk (AR) of any rehospitalization and specific causes of rehospitalizations. Risk factors for rehospitalization were investigated using cause specific Cox regression models. A total of 55 201 patients were identified. The median age of the study population was 70 years (inter quartile range: 59;79), and the most prevalent comorbidities were cancer (29.3%) and ischemic heart disease (12.7%). The 1-year AR of any rehospitalization after discharge with a PE was 48.6% (95% confidence interval (CI); 48.2%–48.8%). The most common cause for being rehospitalized was due to respiratory disease [1-year AR: 9.5% (95% CI: 9.3%–9.8%)], followed by cardiovascular disease [1-year AR: 6.3% (95% CI: 5.9%–6.5%)], cancer [1-year AR: 6.0% (95% CI: 5.8%–6.4%)], venous thromboembolism [1-year AR: 5.2% (95% CI: 5.0%–5.2%)], and symptom diagnoses [1-year AR: 5.2% (95% CI: 5.0%–5.4%)]. Factors that were associated with an increased risk of rehospitalization were cancer, liver disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, and immobilization. Conclusion Patients with PE have a high risk of rehospitalization, with almost half of patients being rehospitalized within 1 year. Identification of high-risk patients may help target interventions aiming at reducing the risk of rehospitalization., Aim: To identify the absolute risk, causes, and factors associated with rehospitalization within 1 year of discharge with a pulmonary embolism (PE). Methods and results: Using the Danish nationwide registries, all patients admitted with a first-Time PE between 2000 and 2020 and discharged alive were included. Subsequent hospitalizations were categorized and crude cumulative incidences were used to estimate the absolute risk (AR) of any rehospitalization and specific causes of rehospitalizations. Risk factors for rehospitalization were investigated using cause specific Cox regression models. A total of 55 201 patients were identified. The median age of the study population was 70 years (inter quartile range: 59;79), and the most prevalent comorbidities were cancer (29.3%) and ischemic heart disease (12.7%). The 1-year AR of any rehospitalization after discharge with a PE was 48.6% (95% confidence interval (CI); 48.2%-48.8%). The most common cause for being rehospitalized was due to respiratory disease [1-year AR: 9.5% (95% CI: 9.3%-9.8%)], followed by cardiovascular disease [1-year AR: 6.3% (95% CI: 5.9%-6.5%)], cancer [1-year AR: 6.0% (95% CI: 5.8%-6.4%)], venous thromboembolism [1-year AR: 5.2% (95% CI: 5.0%-5.2%)], and symptom diagnoses [1-year AR: 5.2% (95% CI: 5.0%-5.4%)]. Factors that were associated with an increased risk of rehospitalization were cancer, liver disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, and immobilization. Conclusion: Patients with PE have a high risk of rehospitalization, with almost half of patients being rehospitalized within 1 year. Identification of high-risk patients may help target interventions aiming at reducing the risk of rehospitalization.

Background Despite advances in heart failure care reducing mortality in clinical trials, it remains unclear whether real-life cohorts have had similar improvements in life expectancy across the age spectrum. We aimed to investigate how mortality trends changed in patients with heart failure over the past 25 years, stratified by age groups. Methods Using Danish nationwide registries, we identified patients with new-onset heart failure aged 18–95 years. The 5-year all-cause mortality risk and the absolute risk difference of mortality between patients with heart failure and age-matched and sex-matched heart failure-free controls were assessed using Kaplan–Meier estimates and multivariable Cox regression models. Mortality trends were analysed across five calendar periods (1996–2000, 2001–05, 2006–10, 2011–15, and 2016–20) and three age groups (<65 years, 65–79 years, and ≥80 years). Findings 194 997 patients with heart failure were included. Mortality significantly decreased from 1996–2000 (66% [95% CI 65·5–66·4]) to 2016–20 (43% [42·1–43·4]), with similar results shown in all age groups (<65 years: 35% [33·9–36·1] to 15% [14·6–16·3]; 65–79 years: 64% [63·1–64·5] to 39% [37·6–39·6]; and ≥80 years: 84% [83·1–84·3] to 73% [71·7–73·9]). Adjusted mortality rates supported these associations. The absolute risk difference declined notably in younger age groups (<65 years: 29·9% [28·8–31·0] to 12·7% [12·0–13·4] and 65–79 years: 41·1% [40·3–41·9] to 25·1% [24·4–25·8]), remaining relatively stable in those aged 80 years or older (30·6% [29·9–31·3] to 28% [27·2–28·8]). Interpretation Over 25 years, there has been a consistent decrease in mortality among patients with heart failure across age groups, albeit less prominently in patients aged 80 years or older. Further insight is needed to identify effective strategies for improving disease burden in older patients with heart failure., Background: Despite advances in heart failure care reducing mortality in clinical trials, it remains unclear whether real-life cohorts have had similar improvements in life expectancy across the age spectrum. We aimed to investigate how mortality trends changed in patients with heart failure over the past 25 years, stratified by age groups. Methods: Using Danish nationwide registries, we identified patients with new-onset heart failure aged 18–95 years. The 5-year all-cause mortality risk and the absolute risk difference of mortality between patients with heart failure and age-matched and sex-matched heart failure-free controls were assessed using Kaplan–Meier estimates and multivariable Cox regression models. Mortality trends were analysed across five calendar periods (1996–2000, 2001–05, 2006–10, 2011–15, and 2016–20) and three age groups (<65 years, 65–79 years, and ≥80 years). Findings: 194 997 patients with heart failure were included. Mortality significantly decreased from 1996–2000 (66% [95% CI 65·5–66·4]) to 2016–20 (43% [42·1–43·4]), with similar results shown in all age groups (<65 years: 35% [33·9–36·1] to 15% [14·6–16·3]; 65–79 years: 64% [63·1–64·5] to 39% [37·6–39·6]; and ≥80 years: 84% [83·1–84·3] to 73% [71·7–73·9]). Adjusted mortality rates supported these associations. The absolute risk difference declined notably in younger age groups (<65 years: 29·9% [28·8–31·0] to 12·7% [12·0–13·4] and 65–79 years: 41·1% [40·3–41·9] to 25·1% [24·4–25·8]), remaining relatively stable in those aged 80 years or older (30·6% [29·9–31·3] to 28% [27·2–28·8]). Interpretation: Over 25 years, there has been a consistent decrease in mortality among patients with heart failure across age groups, albeit less prominently in patients aged 80 years or older. Further insight is needed to identify effective strategies for improving disease burden in older patients with heart failure. Funding: None. Translation: For the Danish translation of the abstract see Suppleme

This essay presents a case study about the development of income levels in the medical sector during Sweden´s period of modernization, 1890-1920, focusing specifically on the five wage groups which comprised the medical staff at Uppsala´s Ulleråker hospitalum (=mental asylum). This institution, though different in it´s stated mission from hospitals and the like, was similarily organized, and staffed with employees belonging to the same categories as regular hospital staff - they shared similar social backgrounds, education levels, work tasks and conditions. This was thanks to the centralized nature of the Swedish medical sector, which was governed mainly by the Medicinal Board, which in turn was influenced by the government on one side, and influential individuals, schools for medical education and employee organisations/unions on the other. The objective of the essay is to establish a timeline of the wage development, and to identify factors which influenced this development. Furthermore, it seeks to identify differences between genders, wherefore the male orderlies and female nursing aides are given special focus throughout. Although the hospitalum has been the subject of previous books, the financial records have never been used in research before. The essay begins with presenting a history of Swedish societal development - and the simultaneous development of the medical sector - before moving on to establish a timeline of the nominal wage data. Using methodology developed by previous historical wage development research, it then calculates the real wages with the help of a converted consumer price index. It also makes use of a separate, in-depth study to try and showcase differences between genders; primarily, it calculates the share of bonuses of total income and what the maximum earning capacity of the male and female staff was. The essay concludes that the wage development was influenced by multiple factors. Primarily, education level was a crucial factor for

Background: Discharge against medical advice (DAMA) is a priority issue for the health system. Little is known about the factors associated with DAMA for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (Aboriginal) children in Australia. Objectives: Investigate the associations between DAMA for hospital admissions and emergency department (ED) presentations and: (i) child, family and episode of service characteristics and (ii) 30-day readmission/ re-presentation. Methods: We conducted a cohort study of Aboriginal children born in Western Australia (2002–2013) who had ≥ 1 hospital admissions (n = 16,931) or ED presentations (n = 26,546) within the first 5 years of life. The outcome of interest was hospital and ED DAMA and adjusted odds ratio were derived using multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression. Results: In the Hospital Cohort, there were 43,149 hospitalisations for 16,931 children, with 684 hospitalisations (1.6%) recorded as DAMA. In the ED Cohort, there were 232,082 ED presentations in 26,546 children, with 10,918 ED presentations (4.7%) recorded as DAMA. DAMA occurring in hospitals between 2014 and 2018, the adjusted odds decreased by 75% compared to the period between 2002 and 2005. The adjusted odds of ED DAMA increased by 46% over the same period. Hospital admissions in regional and remote hospitals were almost seven times the adjusted odds of DAMA compared with hospital admissions in Perth metropolitan hospitals. The adjusted odds of ED DAMA decreased by 12% for ED presentations in regional and remote hospitals compared to those in Perth metropolitan hospitals. There was no evidence of hospital DAMA being associated with hospital readmission within 30 days and limited evidence of ED DAMA being associated with re-presenting to an ED within 30 days. Conclusions: The study identified several important determinants of DAMA, including admission status, triage status, location and calendar year. These findings could inform targeted measures to decrease DAMA, par

BACKGROUND: Guidelines recommend that patients with myocardial infarction (MI) receive equal care regardless of age. However, withholding treatment may be justified in elderly and frail patients. This study aimed to investigate trends in treatments and outcomes of older patients with MI according to frailty. METHODS AND RESULTS: All patients aged ≥75 years with first-time MI during 2002 to 2021 were identified through Danish nationwide registries. Frailty was categorized using the Hospital Frailty Risk Score. One-year risk and hazard ratios (HRs) for days 0 to 28 and 29 to 365 were calculated for all-cause death. A total of 51 022 patients with MI were included (median, 82 years; 50.2% women). Intermediate/high frailty increased from 26.7% in 2002 to 2006 to 37.1% in 2017 to 2021. Use of treatment increased substantially regardless of frailty: for example, 28.1% to 48.0% (statins), 21.8% to 33.7% (dual antiplatelet therapy), and 7.6% to 28.0% (percutaneous coronary intervention) for high frailty (all P-trend <0.001). One-year death decreased for low frailty (35.1%–17.9%), intermediate frailty (49.8%–31.0%), and high frailty (62.8%–45.6%), all P-trend <0.001. Age-and sex-adjusted 29-to 365-day HRs (2017–2021 versus 2002–2006) were 0.53 (0.48–0.59), 0.62 (0.55–0.70), and 0.62 (0.46–0.83) for low, intermediate, and high frailty, respectively (P-interaction=0.23). When additionally adjusted for treatment, HRs attenu-ated to 0.74 (0.67–0.83), 0.83 (0.74–0.94), and 0.78 (0.58–1.05), respectively, indicating that increased use of treatment may account partially for the observed improvements. CONCLUSIONS: Use of guideline-based treatments and outcomes improved concomitantly in older patients with MI, irrespective of frailty. These results indicate that guideline-based management of MI may be reasonable in the elderly and frail.

BACKGROUND: For frail patients with limited life expectancy, time in hospital following transcatheter aortic valve replacement is an important measure of quality of life; however, data remain scarce. Thus, we aimed to investigate frailty and its relation to time in hospital during the first year after transcatheter aortic valve replacement. METHODS AND RESULTS: From 2008 to 2020, all Danish patients who underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement and were alive at discharge were included. Using the validated Hospital Frailty Risk Score, patients were categorized in the low, in-termediate, and high frailty groups. Time in hospital and mortality up to 1 year are reported according to frailty groups. In total, 3437 (57.6%), 2277 (38.1%), and 257 (4.3%) were categorized in the low, intermediate, and high frailty groups, respectively. Median age was ≈81 years. Female sex and comorbidity burden were incrementally higher across frailty groups (low frailty: heart failure, 24.1%; stroke, 7.2%; and chronic kidney disease, 4.5%; versus high frailty: heart failure, 42.8%; stroke, 34.2%; and chronic kidney disease, 29.2%). In the low frailty group, 50.5% survived 1 year without a hospital admission, 10.8% were hospitalized >15 days, and 5.8% of patients died. By contrast, 26.1% of patients in the high frailty group survived 1 year without a hospital admission, 26.4% were hospitalized >15 days, and 15.6% died within 1 year. Differences persisted in models adjusted for sex, age, frailty, and comor-bidity burden (excluding overlapping comorbidities). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement, frailty is strongly associated with time in hospital and mortality. Prevention strategies for frail patients to reduce hospitalization burden could be beneficial.

Background Influenza vaccination protects against morbidity and mortality in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). We aimed to describe influenza vaccine uptake in patients with CVD in a universal-access healthcare system. Methods Using nationwide Danish registries, we included all patients with prevalent CVD, defined as heart failure (HF), atrial fibrillation (AF), ischemic heart disease (IHD), or stroke during three consecutive influenza seasons (October-December 2017-2019). The outcome was relative frequency of influenza vaccination across strata of patient characteristics. Results There was an average of 397 346 patients with CVD yearly during 2017-2019. Vaccine uptake was 45.6% for the whole population and ranged from 55.0% in AF to 61.8% in HF among patients aged >= 65 years. Among patients aged