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Abstract Background Patients with head and neck cancers (HNC) experience many transitions in care (TiC), occurring when patients are transferred between healthcare providers and/or settings. TiC can compromise patient safety, decrease patient satisfaction, and increase healthcare costs. The evidence around TiC among patients with HNC is sparse. The objective of this study was to improve our understanding of TiC among patients with HNC to identify ways to improve care. Methods This multimethod study consisted of two phases: Phase I (retrospective population-based cohort study) characterized the number and type of TiC that patients with HNC experienced using deterministically linked, population-based administrative health data in Alberta, Canada (January 1, 2012, to September 1, 2020), and Phase II (qualitative descriptive study) used semi-structured interviews to explore the lived experiences of patients with HNC and their healthcare providers during TiC. Results There were 3,752 patients with HNC; most were male (70.8%) with a mean age at diagnosis of 63.3 years (SD 13.1). Patients underwent an average of 1.6 (SD 0.7) treatments, commonly transitioning from surgery to radiotherapy (21.2%). Many patients with HNC were admitted to the hospital during the study period, averaging 3.3 (SD 3.0) hospital admissions and 7.8 (SD 12.6) emergency department visits per patient over the study period. Visits to healthcare providers were also frequent, with the highest number of physician visits being to general practitioners (average = 70.51 per patient). Analysis of sixteen semi-structured interviews (ten patients with HNC and six healthcare providers) revealed three themes: (1) Navigating the healthcare system including challenges with the complexity of HNC care amongst healthcare system pressures, (2) Relational head and neck cancer care which encompasses patient expectations and relationships, and (3) System and individual impact of transitions in care. Conclusions This study identified challenges faced by both patients with HNC and their healthcare providers amidst the frequent TiC within cancer care, which was perceived to have an impact on quality of care. These findings provide crucial insights that can inform and guide future research or the development of health interventions aiming to improve the quality of TiC within this patient population.

Background:. We recently highlighted shortcomings in the care of pediatric hand fractures in our local context. The Calgary Kids’ Hand Rule (CKHR) was developed to predict hand fractures that require referral to a hand surgeon. The aims of this study were to identify barriers to a new care pathway for pediatric hand fractures, based on the CKHR and to generate tailored strategies to support its implementation. Methods:. We performed a conventional content analysis of transcripts from four focus groups (parents, emergency/urgent care physicians, plastic surgeons, and hand therapists) to identify relevant concepts (facilitators and barriers). These concepts were mapped to two frameworks. Generic strategies to address the barriers were identified, and further discussions with key stakeholders resulted in tailored strategies for implementation. Results:. Five facilitators to implementation of a CKHR-based hand fracture care pathway included established rapport between hand therapists and surgeons, potential for more streamlined care, agreement on identifying another care provider, positive perceptions of hand therapist expertise, and opportunity for patient education. Two individual barriers were concern for poor outcomes and trust. Three systemic barriers were awareness and usability, referral process, and cost and resources. Strategies to address these barriers include pilot-testing of the new care pathway, ensuring closed loop communication, multiple knowledge translation activities, integration of CKHR into the clinical information system, coordinating care and development of parent handouts. Conclusion:. Mapping barriers to established implementation frameworks has informed tailored implementation strategies, bringing us one step closer to successfully implementing a new pediatric hand fracture pathway.

Background:. Pediatric hand fractures are common, and many are referred to hand surgeons despite less than 10% of referrals requiring surgical intervention. We explored healthcare provider and parent perspectives to inform a new care pathway. Methods:. We conducted a qualitative descriptive study using virtual focus groups. Emergency physicians, hand therapists, plastic surgeons, and parents of children treated for hand fractures were asked to discuss their experiences with existing care for pediatric hand fractures, and perceptions surrounding the implementation of a new care pathway. Data were analyzed using directed content analysis with an inductive approach. Results:. Four focus groups included 24 participants: 18 healthcare providers and six parents. Four themes were identified: educating parents throughout the hand fracture journey, streamlining the referral process for simple hand fractures, identifying the most appropriate care provider for simple hand fractures, and maintaining strong multidisciplinary connections to facilitate care. Participants described gaps in the current care, including a need to better inform parents, and elucidated the motivations behind emergency medicine physicians’ existing referral practices. Participants also generally agreed on the need for more efficient management of simple hand fractures that do not require surgical care. Healthcare providers believed the strong preexisting relationship between surgeons and hand therapists would facilitate the changes brought forward by the new care pathway. Conclusion:. These findings highlighted shortcomings of existing care for pediatric hand fractures and will inform the co-development and implementation of a new care pathway to enable more efficient management while preserving good patient outcomes.

Background We sought to determine the prognostic value of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE)-derived right ventricular dysfunction (RVD) in haemodynamically stable and intermediate-risk patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE), evaluate continuous RVD parameters, and assess the literature quality. Methods We searched MEDLINE, Embase and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for studies assessing TTE-derived RVD in haemodynamically stable PE that reported in-hospital adverse events within 30 days. We determined pooled odds ratios (ORs) using a random-effects model, created funnel plots, evaluated the Newcastle–Ottawa scale and performed Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation. Results Based on 55 studies (17 090 patients, 37.8% RVD), RVD was associated with combined adverse events (AEs) (OR 3.29, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.59–4.18), mortality (OR 2.00, CI 1.66–2.40) and PE-related mortality (OR 4.01, CI 2.79–5.78). In intermediate-risk patients, RVD was associated with AEs (OR 1.99, CI 1.17–3.37) and PE-related mortality (OR 6.16, CI 1.33–28.40), but not mortality (OR 1.63, CI 0.76–3.48). Continuous RVD parameters provide a greater spectrum of risk compared to categorical RVD. We identified publication bias, poor methodological quality in 34/55 studies and overall low certainty of evidence. Conclusions RVD is frequent in PE and associated with adverse outcomes. However, data quality and publication bias are limitations of existing evidence.

Objectives In Alberta, Canada, we quantified the rate of potentially inappropriate oral antibiotic prescribing in emergency departments for viral infections or conditions not likely requiring antibiotics from 2010-2020 and assessed the impact of two Choosing Wisely Canada (CWC) campaigns (2015/2016 and 2018) discouraging inappropriate antibiotic prescribing in emergency medicine. Approach We linked emergency department adult and pediatric records from the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System and medication dispensations from community-based pharmacies in the Pharmaceutical Information Network. From January 2010 to February 2020, we identified emergency department visits for 5 conditions that were potentially inappropriately treated using antibiotics per CWC recommendations (bronchitis, asthma, bronchiolitis, pharyngitis, and acute otitis media). We used an interrupted time series design to detect changes in antibiotic prescribing by fitting Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models to account for secular trends and seasonality, allowing for change in slopes to measure the effect of each CWC intervention. Results Antibiotics were commonly prescribed in emergency departments for bronchitis (proportion of visits with antibiotics: 57%) and asthma (22%) in adults; bronchiolitis in children (43%); pharyngitis (39%) and acute otitis media (54%) in adults and children. Based on visual inspection, the proportion of emergency department visits for each condition where antibiotics were dispensed remained relatively consistent. The ARIMA models demonstrated mixed impacts on potentially inappropriate antibiotic prescribing associated with two interruptions: the 2015/2016 CWC recommendations and subsequent 2018 CWC Using Antibiotics Wisely campaign. Following each interruption, antibiotic prescribing was slightly reduced for bronchitis (-1.0%/year,p=0.03; -4.4%/year,p=0.004, respectively) and bronchiolitis (not significant) (-0.7%/year,p=0.57; -2.5%/year,p=0.34), but unchanged for asthma (-0.6%/year,p=0.30; 0.7%/year,p=0.74) and pharyngitis (0.0%/year,p=0.95; -0.2%/year,p=0.93), and slightly increased for acute otitis media (not significant) (1.4%/year,p=0.07; 5.9%/year,p=0.052). Conclusion Rates of potentially inappropriate antibiotic prescribing remained constant over the past 10 years in Alberta. Campaigns to rethink antibiotic use in emergency medicine may have resulted in small decreases in antibiotic use; however, further initiatives building upon existing campaigns are required to substantially reduce rates of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing.

Abstract Background Polypharmacy, often defined as the concomitant use of ≥ 5 medications, has been identified as a significant global public health threat. Aging and multimorbidity are key drivers of polypharmacy and have been linked to a broad range of adverse health outcomes and mortality. Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are particularly at high risk of polypharmacy and use of potentially inappropriate medications given the numerous risk factors and complications associated with CKD. The aim of this systematic review will be to assess the prevalence of polypharmacy among adult patients with CKD, and the potential association between polypharmacy and adverse health outcomes within this population. Methods/design We will search empirical databases such as MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Web of Science, and PsycINFO and grey literature from inception onwards (with no language restrictions) for observational studies (e.g., cross-sectional or cohort studies) reporting the prevalence of polypharmacy in adult patients with CKD (all stages including dialysis). Two reviewers will independently screen all citations, full-text articles, and extract data. Potential conflicts will be resolved through discussion. The study methodological quality will be appraised using an appropriate tool. The primary outcome will be the prevalence of polypharmacy. Secondary outcomes will include any adverse health outcomes (e.g., worsening kidney function) in association with polypharmacy. If appropriate, we will conduct random effects meta-analysis of observational data to summarize the pooled prevalence of polypharmacy and the associations between polypharmacy and adverse outcomes. Statistical heterogeneity will be estimated using Cochran’s Q and I2 index. Additional analyses will be conducted to explore the potential sources of heterogeneity (e.g., sex, kidney replacement therapy, multimorbidity). Discussion Given that polypharmacy is a major and a growing public health issue, our findings will highlight the prevalence of polypharmacy, hazards associated with it, and medication thresholds associated with adverse outcomes in patients with CKD. Our study will also draw attention to the prognostic importance of improving medication practices as a key priority area to help minimize the use of inappropriate medications in patients with CKD. Systematic review registration PROSPERO registration number: [ CRD42020206514 ].

Les gouvernements du monde entier cherchent des moyens de permettre les voyages internationaux en toute sécurité tout en atténuant la propagation du coronavirus du syndrome respiratoire aigu sévère 2 (SRAS-CoV-2) et de la maladie à coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) qui lui est associée. Cependant, peu de données décrivent l’impact de la vaccination sur l’importation de la COVID-19. Nous avons profité de l’introduction séquentielle de deux politiques gouvernementales au Canada pour évaluer les preuves réelles de l’efficacité du vaccin chez 30 361 voyageurs internationaux arrivant par avion en Alberta, au Canada. La proportion de résultats positifs au test de dépistage de COVID-19 chez les voyageurs entièrement vaccinés ou partiellement vaccinés était de 0,02 % (95 % IC : 0,00–0,10) (soit un cas positif sur 5 817 voyageurs). En revanche, 1,42 % (95 % IC : 1,27–1,58) des voyageurs non vaccinés ont reçu un résultat de test positif pour le SRAS-CoV-2 (341 cas parmi 24 034 voyageurs). Ces résultats suggèrent que les vaccins contre la COVID-19 approuvés au Canada, ont considérablement réduit le risque d’importation de la COVID-19 lié aux voyages lorsqu’ils sont associés à d’autres mesures de santé publique. Le faible taux absolu d’infection chez les voyageurs internationaux entièrement vaccinés ou partiellement vaccinés peut éclairer les exigences de quarantaine dans cette population.

Governments worldwide are looking for ways to safely enable international travel while mitigating the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and the associated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, few data describe the impact of vaccination on importation of COVID-19. We took advantage of the sequential introduction of two government policies in Canada to evaluate the real-world evidence of vaccine effectiveness among 30,361 international travellers arriving by air in Alberta, Canada. The proportion of COVID-19-positive results for travellers who were either fully vaccinated or partially vaccinated was 0.02% (95% CI: 0.00–0.10) (i.e. one positive case among 5,817 travellers). In contrast, 1.42% (95% CI: 1.27–1.58) of unvaccinated travellers tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (341 cases among 24,034 travellers). These findings suggest that COVID-19 vaccinations approved in Canada, substantially reduced the risk of travel-related importation of COVID-19 when combined with other public health measures. The low absolute rate of infection among fully vaccinated or partially vaccinated international travellers may inform quarantine requirements in this population.

Background Health state utility values are commonly used to provide summary measures of health‐related quality of life in studies of stroke. Contemporaneous summaries are needed as a benchmark to contextualize future observational studies and inform the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving post‐stroke quality of life. Methods and Results We conducted a systematic search of the literature using Medline, EMBASE, and Web of Science from January 1995 until October 2020 using search terms for stroke, health‐related quality of life, and indirect health utility metrics. We calculated pooled estimates of health utility values for EQ‐5D‐3L, EQ‐5D‐5L, AQoL, HUI2, HUI3, 15D, and SF‐6D using random effects models. For the EQ‐5D‐3L we conducted stratified meta‐analyses and meta‐regression by key subgroups. We screened 14 251 abstracts and 111 studies met our inclusion criteria (sample size range 11 to 12 447). EQ‐5D‐3L was reported in 78% of studies (study n=87; patient n=56 976). The pooled estimate for EQ‐5D‐3L at ≥3 months following stroke was 0.65 (95% CI, 0.63–0.67), which was ≈20% below population norms. There was high heterogeneity (I2>90%) between studies, and estimates differed by study size, case definition of stroke, and country of study. Women, older individuals, those with hemorrhagic stroke, and patients prior to discharge had lower pooled EQ‐5D‐3L estimates. Conclusions Pooled estimates of health utility for stroke survivors were substantially below population averages. We provide reference values for health utility in stroke to support future clinical and economic studies and identify subgroups with lower healthy utility. Registration URL: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/. Unique Identifier: CRD42020215942.

Introduction Frailty is a medical syndrome, commonly affecting people aged 65 years and over and is characterized by a greater risk of adverse outcomes following illness or injury. Electronic medical records contain a large amount of longitudinal data that can be used for primary care research. Machine learning can fully utilize this wide breadth of data for the detection of diseases and syndromes. The creation of a frailty case definition using machine learning may facilitate early intervention, inform advanced screening tests, and allow for surveillance. Objectives The objective of this study was to develop a validated case definition of frailty for the primary care context, using machine learning. Methods Physicians participating in the Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network across Canada were asked to retrospectively identify the level of frailty present in a sample of their own patients (total n = 5,466), collected from 2015-2019. Frailty levels were dichotomized using a cut-off of 5. Extracted features included previously prescribed medications, billing codes, and other routinely collected primary care data. We used eight supervised machine learning algorithms, with performance assessed using a hold-out test set. A balanced training dataset was also created by oversampling. Sensitivity analyses considered two alternative dichotomization cut-offs. Model performance was evaluated using area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve, F1, accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value and positive predictive value. Results The prevalence of frailty within our sample was 18.4%. Of the eight models developed to identify frail patients, an XGBoost model achieved the highest sensitivity (78.14%) and specificity (74.41%). The balanced training dataset did not improve classification performance. Sensitivity analyses did not show improved performance for cut-offs other than 5. Conclusion Supervised machine learning was able to create well performing classification models for frailty. Future research is needed to assess frailty inter-rater reliability, and link multiple data sources for frailty identification.

Following publication of the original manuscript [1], the authors noted several errors in Table 1. Details of the requested corrections are shown below:

Background: Prior studies report high hospitalization rates among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and approximately 10% to 20.9% of hospitalizations are potentially preventable. Objective: To determine the rate, proportion, and cost of potentially preventable hospitalizations and whether this varied by CKD category. Design: Retrospective cohort study using population-based data. Setting: Alberta, Canada. Patients: All adults with an outpatient serum creatinine measurement between January 1 and December 31, 2017 in the Alberta Kidney Disease Network data repository. Measurements: CKD risk categories were based on measures of proteinuria (where available), eGFR, and use of dialysis. Patients were linked to administrative data to capture frequency and cost of hospital encounters and followed until death or end of study (December 31, 2018). The outcomes of interest were the rate and cost of potentially preventable hospitalizations, as identified using the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)-defined ambulatory care sensitive condition (ACSC) algorithm and a CKD-related ACSC algorithm. Methods: Unadjusted and adjusted rates per 1000-patient years, proportions, and cost attributable to preventable hospitalizations were identified for the cohort as a whole and for patients within each CKD risk category. Results: Of the 1,110,895 adults with eGFR and proteinuria measurements, 181,422 had CKD. During a median follow-up of 1 year, there were 62,023 hospitalizations among patients with CKD resulting in a total cost of $946 million CAD; 6907 (11.1%) of these hospitalizations were for CIHI-defined ACSCs while 4323 (7.0%) were for CKD-related ACSCs. Adjusted rates of hospitalization for ACSCs increased with CKD risk category and were highest among patients treated with dialysis. Among CKD patients, the total cost of potentially preventable hospitalizations was $79 million and $58 million CAD for CIHI-defined and CKD-related ACSCs (8.4% and 6.2% of total hospitalization cost, respectively). Limitations: Based on the ACSC construct, we were unable to determine if these hospitalizations were truly preventable. Conclusions: Potentially preventable hospitalizations have a substantial cost and burden on the health care system among people with CKD. Effective strategies that reduce preventable admissions among CKD patients may lead to significant cost savings. Trial registration: Not applicable—observational study design

Background. The recommended therapy for patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC), genotype 1, who have cirrhosis and have failed prior therapy is 12 weeks of sofosbuvir (SOF), ledipasvir (LDV), and ribavirin (RBV). This recommendation is based on expert opinion, and the efficacy of 12 weeks of SOF/LDV compared to SOF/LDV/RBV in this patient population has not yet been established. Methods. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis. Two investigators independently searched electronic databases and relevant conference proceedings for randomized controlled trials comparing rates of sustained virologic response 12 weeks after therapy (SVR12) when using 12 weeks of SOF/LDV versus 12 weeks of SOF/LDV/RBV in patients with CHC, genotype 1, who have cirrhosis and failed previous therapy. Results. Our search strategy yielded 596 studies of which four met criteria for inclusion. The pooled RR of not achieving SVR12 with SOF/LDV versus SOF/LDV/RBV was 1.21 (95% CI: 0.42–3.48). Adverse events were lower in the SOF/LDV compared to the SOF/LDV/RBV arms (pooled RR: 0.11, 95% CI: 0.04–0.29). Conclusions. Our findings suggest that 12 weeks of SOF/LDV cannot be considered noninferior to 12 weeks of SOF/LDV/RBV to achieve SVR12 in patients with CHC who have cirrhosis and failed prior therapy.

Background: Health behaviour change is an important component of management for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD); however, the optimal method to promote health behaviour change for self-management of CKD is unknown. The See Kidney Disease (SeeKD) targeted screening programme screened Canadians at risk for CKD and promoted health behaviour change through individual counselling and goal setting. Objectives: The objectives of this study are to determine the effectiveness of individual counselling sessions for eliciting behaviour change and to describe participant characteristics associated with behaviour change. Design: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive study. Setting: The study setting is the National SeeKD targeted screening programme. Patients: The participants are all ‘at risk’ patients who were screened for CKD and returned a follow-up health behaviour survey ( n = 1129). Measurements: Health behaviour change was defined as a self-reported change in lifestyle, including dietary changes or medication adherence. Methods: An individual counselling session was provided to participants by allied healthcare professionals to promote health behaviour change. A survey was mailed to all participants at risk of CKD within 2-4 weeks following the screening event to determine if behaviour changes had been initiated. Descriptive statistics were used to describe respondent characteristics and self-reported behaviour change following screening events. Results were stratified by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (< 60 and >60 mL/min/1.73 m 2 ). Log binomial regression analysis was used to determine the predictors of behaviour change. Results: Of the 1129 respondents, the majority (89.8 %) reported making a health behaviour change after the screening event. Respondents who were overweight (body mass index [BMI] 25-29.9 kg/m 2 ) or obese (BMi ≥ 30.0 kg/m 2 ) were more likely to report a behaviour change (prevalence rate ratio (PRR) 0.66, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.44-0.99 and PRR 0.49, 95 % CI 0.30-0.80, respectively). Further, participants with a prior intent to change their behaviour were more likely to make a behaviour change (PRR 0.58, 95 % CI 0.35-0.96). Results did not vary by eGFR category. Limitations: We are unable to determine the effectiveness of the behaviour change intervention given the lack of a control group. Potential response bias and social desirability bias must also be considered when interpreting the study findings. Conclusions: Individual counselling and goal setting provided at screening events may stimulate behaviour change amongst individuals at risk for CKD. However, further research is required to determine if this behaviour change is sustained and the impact on CKD progression and outcomes.