New Way to Predict Early Death or Readmission to Hospital

A new tool can help physicians predict the likelihood of death or readmission to hospital for patients within 30 days of discharge from hospital, according to a new study in CMAJ.

A new tool can help physicians predict the likelihood of death or readmission to hospital for patients within 30 days of discharge from hospital, according to a new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj091117.pdf.

The tool, called the LACE index, was developed by researchers at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Institute for Clinical Evaluation Sciences, University of Toronto, University of Ottawa and University of Calgary. It was developed to help quantify the risk of early death or unplanned readmission after discharge from hospital to the community and can be useful in focusing post-discharge support on patients at highest risk of poor outcomes.

Socioeconomic Stresses Invite Early Death
A Virginia Commonwealth University researcher has said that individuals who live in areas with lower household incomes are much more likely to die because of their household characteristics

"We have derived and validated an easy-to-use index that is moderately discriminative and very accurate for predicting the risk of early death or unplanned readmission after discharge from hospital to the community," write Dr. Carl Van Walraven, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and coauthors.

The study followed 4812 patients admitted to 11 Ontario hospitals between October 2002 and July 2006. The participants were middle-aged, almost 95% were independent in daily living routines and most were free of comorbidities. None of the participants were residents of nursing homes. The most common reasons for hospitalization were acute coronary syndromes, cancer diagnoses and complications and heart failure.

During the first 30 days after discharge from hospital, 8% (385) patients died or were urgently readmitted. Of this number, 9.4% (36) died and 90.4% (349) had unplanned readmissions.

30 Minutes of Jogging or Cycling Cuts Early Death from Heart Disease
Just 30 minutes of jogging or cycling can significantly reduce the risk early death from heart disease, say researchers.

Key factors associated with these events were length of stay ("L"), acuity of admission ("A"), patient comorbidity ("C") and number of visits to the emergency room ("E"). Called the LACE index for easy recall, the index has a potential score of 0 to 19. While easy to use, the system will be difficult to memorize and will need a computational aid.

"We believe that the LACE index can be used by clinicians, researchers and administrators to predict the risk of early death or unplanned readmission of cognitively intact medical or surgical patients after discharge from the hospital to the community," they conclude. Further research is needed to determine if identifying the risk of poor death or readmissions changes patient care or outcomes.

Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar, Obesity Could Be Killer Combo For Early Death
People having obesity, high blood pressure and high blood sugar simultaneously are twice likely to have a heart attack and three times more likely to die earlier than the general population.

Source-Eurekalert
SAV

Anticipation of Early Death Lead Youngsters to Commit Crimes
Anticipation of dying early is inspiring youngsters to commit crimes, a new study suggests.