Association of daily coffee consumption with cardiovascular health – results from the UK Biobank

Background

There are conflicting reports on the association of coffee consumption with cardiovascular (CV) health. The UK Biobank is a prospective cohort study including data for half a million middle-aged individuals.

Purpose

We studied the association of daily coffee consumption with all-cause and CV mortality, and incidence of the major CV diseases in the UK Biobank. In a subgroup of participants who underwent cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), we evaluated the association between regular coffee intake and cardiac structure and function parameters.

Methods

UK Biobank cohort of participants without clinically manifested heart disease at the time of recruitment were included. Regular coffee intake was categorized into 3 groups: zero, light-to-moderate (0.5–3 cups/day) and high (>3 cups/day) coffee drinkers. We estimated association of daily coffee consumption with incident outcomes using multivariable Cox-regression models (median follow-up of 11 years) and, in the subset with CMR data, with left and right ventricular (LV, RV) end-systolic and end-diastolic volumes, LV mass, and LV/RV stroke volume using multivariable linear regression. Models were adjusted for potential confounders and mediators, including: age, sex, non-European ethnicities, body mass index, smoking, physical activity, Townsend deprivation index, alcohol, meat, fruit and vegetable intake, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and cholesterol level.

Results

We included 468,629 individuals (mean age 56.2±8.1 years, 44.2% male). Among them, 22.1% did not consume coffee on a regular basis, 58.4% had 0.5–3 cups per day and 19.5% had >3 cups per day. After adjustment for potential confounders and mediators, compared to non-coffee drinkers, light-to-moderate coffee drinking was associated with lower risk of all-cause mortality (HR=0.88, p<0.001), CV mortality (HR=0.83, p=0.006), and incident stroke (HR=0.79; p=0.037). CMR data were available in 30,650 participants. In multivariable analysis, compared to non-coffee drinkers, both the light-to-moderate and high coffee consuming categories, were associated with significantly increased LV and RV ventricular end-systolic (β=0.91 and 1.64 for LV and 1.10 and 1.72 for RV), end-diastolic (β=2.21 and 3.28 for LV and 2.24 and 3.35 for RV) and stroke volumes (β=1.31 and 1.64 for LV and 1.15 and 1.63 for RV), as well as greater LV mass (β=0.78 and 1.64; all p<0.001).

Conclusion

In this large study of the UK Biobank population, regular coffee consumption of up to 3 cups per day was associated with favorable cardiovascular outcomes, in particular, decreased all-cause and CV mortality and stroke incidence. Regular coffee consumption was also associated with a pattern of CMR metrics in keeping with the reverse of age-related cardiac alterations.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: None.

Left atrial appendage size is a marker of atrial fibrillation recurrence after radiofrequency catheter ablation in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation

Background

Catheter ablation is an established therapy for rhythm control in patients with drug-refractory atrial fibrillation (AF), however, recurrence is frequent particularly in persistent AF. There are no consistently confirmed predictors of AF recurrence after catheter ablation. The left atrial appendage (LAA) potentially plays an important role in AF recurrence, although the exact mechanism and pathophysiology are still unclear.

Purpose

We aimed to study whether LAA volume (LAAV) and function influence the long-term recurrence of AF after point-by-point radiofrequency catheter ablation, depending on AF type.

Methods

AF patients who underwent point-by-point radiofrequency catheter ablation after preprocedural cardiac computed tomography (CT) and transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) were included in this retrospective analysis. LAAV and LAA orifice area were measured by CT and LAA flow velocity assessed by TEE and was used as a surrogate marker of LAA function. Uni- and multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression models were performed to determine the predictors of AF recurrence.

Results

In total, 561 AF patients (61.9±10.2 years, 34.9% females) were included in the study. Recurrence of AF was detected in 40.8% of the cases (34.6% in patients with paroxysmal and 53.5% in those with persistent AF) with a median recurrence-free time of 22.7 [9.3–43.1] months. Patients with AF recurrence had significantly higher body surface area-indexed left atrial volume (iLAV), LAAV and LAA orifice area, as compared to those without recurrence. Moreover, patients with persistent AF had significantly higher iLAV, LAAV, LAA orifice area and lower LAA flow velocity, than those with paroxysmal AF. After adjustment for the main cardiovascular risk factors and comorbidities left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) <50% (HR=2.17; 95% CI=1.38–3.43; p<0.001) and LAAV (HR=1.06; 95% CI=1.01–1.12; p=0.029) were independently associated with AF recurrence in persistent AF, while no independent predictors could be identified in paroxysmal AF.

Conclusions

The current study demonstrates that beyond left ventricular systolic dysfunction, LAA enlargement is associated with higher rate of AF recurrence after catheter ablation in persistent AF, but not in patients with paroxysmal AF. Our results suggest that preprocedural assessment of LVEF and LAAV might contribute to optimal patient selection and aid to improve long-term results of ablation procedures in patients with persistent AF.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: None.

Adverse coronary plaque characteristics are more common in patients with diabetes

Introduction

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, there is a lack of data about the prevalence of adverse coronary artery plaques characteristics in patients with DM.

Purpose

In our study we aimed to compare the prevalence of adverse atherosclerotic coronary artery plaque characteristics between patients with and without DM.

Methods

We have analyzed the data of patients who underwent coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) between October 2012 and December 2020. Our exclusion criteria were coronary anomaly, congenital or other structural heart disease, previous revascularization or heart transplantation, non-diagnostic image quality and no available data on the presence of DM. Patients were divided into two groups based on the presence of DM.

Results

In total, 11,357 patients were included in our study. Prevalence of DM was 14.5%. There were significant differences in age (63.2±9.5 vs 58.1±12.2 years, p<0.001) and major cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, dyslipidemia and smoking between the two groups (all p<0.05). We have measured higher coronary artery calcium score in patients with DM vs. without DM (424.3±744.0 vs 174.2±794.6, p<0.001). Obstructive coronary artery disease (stenosis >70%) was more frequent in the DM group (24.6% vs 10.5%, p<0.001). While 29.6% of patients without DM had at least one plaque with adverse characteristics, this rate was 38.9% in those with DM (positive remodeling: 19.6% vs 26.1%, low attenuation: 7.6% vs 10.2%, spotty calcium: 16.9% vs 21.6%, napkin-ring sign: 1.7% vs 2.6%, all p<0.05).

Conclusions

The prevalence of severe coronary artery stenosis and coronary plaques with adverse characteristics was higher in patients with DM. Multivariate analysis is needed to further explore this association.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: None.

The presence of adverse atherosclerotic coronary plaque features is associated with diabetes

Funding Acknowledgements

Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): The grant was given to the Bioimaging field of Semmelweis University by the Excellence Program of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology in Hungary.

On Behalf of

Cardiovascular Imaging Research Group (CIRG)

Introduction

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, there is a lack of data about the prevalence of high-risk coronary artery plaques in patients with DM.

Purpose

In our study we aimed to compare the prevalence of adverse atherosclerotic coronary artery plaque features between patients with and without DM.

Methods

We have analyzed the data of patients who underwent coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) between October 2012 and December 2020. Our exclusion criteria were coronary anomaly, congenital or other structural heart disease, previous revascularization or heart transplantation, non-diagnostic image quality and no available data on the presence of DM. Patients were divided into two groups based on the presence of DM.

Results

In total, 11357 patients (47.6% men) were included in our study. Prevalence of DM was 14.5%. There were significant differences in age (63.2 ± 9.5 vs 58.1 ± 12.2 years, p < 0.001) and major cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, dyslipidemia and smoking between the two groups (all p < 0.05). We have measured higher coronary artery calcium score in patients with DM vs. without DM  (424.3 ± 744.0 vs 174.2 ± 794.6, p < 0.001). Luminal stenosis >70% was more frequent in the DM group (24.6% vs 10.5%, p < 0.001). While 29.6% of patients without DM had at least one high risk plaque, this rate was 38.9% in those with DM (positive remodeling: 19.6% vs 26.1%, low attenuation: 7.6% vs 10.2%, spotty calcium: 16.9% vs 21.6%, napkin-ring sign: 1.7% vs 2.6%, all p < 0.05).

Conclusions

The prevalence of severe coronary artery stenosis and coronary plaques with adverse characteristics was higher in patients with DM.

Orientation of the right superior pulmonary vein affects outcome after pulmonary vein isolation

Funding Acknowledgements

Type of funding sources: None.

Aims

Controversial results have been published regarding the influence of pulmonary vein (PV) anatomical variations on outcomes after pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). However, no data is available on the impact of PV orientation on the long-term success rates of point-by-point PVI. We sought to determine the impact of PV anatomy and orientation on atrial fibrillation (AF)-free survival in patients undergoing PVI using the radiofrequency point-by-point technique.

Methods and results

We retrospectively included 448 patients who underwent initial point-by-point radiofrequency ablation for AF at our department. Left atrial CT-angiography (CTA) was performed before each procedure. PV anatomical variations, ostial parameters (area, effective diameter and eccentricity), orientation and their associations with 24-month AF-free survival were analyzed. PV anatomical variations and ostial parameters were not predictive for AF-free survival (all p > 0.05). Univariate analysis showed that female sex (p = 0.025) was associated with higher rates of AF recurrence, ventral-caudal (p = 0.002), dorsal-cranial (p = 0.034) and dorsal-caudal (p = 0.042) orientation of the right superior PV (RSPV), on the other hand, showed an association with lower rates of AF recurrence, as compared to the reference ventral-cranial orientation. On multivariate analysis, both female sex [odds ratio(OR) 1.83, 95% CI 1.15-2.93, p = 0.011] and ventral-caudal RSPV orientation, compared with ventral-cranial orientation, proved to be independent predictors of 24-month AF recurrence (OR 0.37, 95% CI 0.19-0.71, p = 0.003).

Conclusion

  Female sex and ventral-caudal RSPV orientation have an impact on long-term arrhythmia-free survival. Assessment of PV orientation may be a useful tool in predicting AF-free survival and may contribute to a more personalized management of AF.

Abutting left atrial appendage and left superior pulmonary vein predicts recurrence of atrial fibrillation after point-by-point pulmonary vein isolation

Funding Acknowledgements

Type of funding sources: None.

Background

Catheter ablation is the cornerstone for rhythm control in patients with drug-refractory atrial fibrillation (AF). Baseline predictors of AF recurrence after catheter ablation are well established, such as female gender and left atrial enlargement. The role of the spatial relationship between the left superior pulmonary vein (LSPV) and left atrial appendage (LAA) is unknown.

Purpose

We sought to evaluate whether juxtaposed LSPV and LAA plays a role in AF recurrence after catheter ablation for paroxysmal AF.

Methods

Consecutive patients, who underwent point-by-point radiofrequency catheter ablation for paroxysmal AF at our hospital between January of 2014 and December of 2017, were enrolled in the study. All patients underwent pre-procedural cardiac CT-angiography (CTA) for the assessment of left atrial (LA) and pulmonary vein (PV) anatomy. Abutting LAA-LSPV was defined as cases when LSPV touched the posterior aspect of LAA (distance less than 2 mm).

Results

We included 428 patients (60.7 ± 10.8 years, 35.5% female). AF recurrence rate was 33.4% with a median recurrence-free time of 21.2 (IQR = 8.8-43.0) months. In the univariate analysis, female sex (HR = 1.45; 95%CI = 1.04-2.01; p = 0.028), LA volume (HR = 1.01; 95%CI = 1.00-1.01; p = 0.042), and cases when LSPV touched the posterior wall of LAA (HR = 1.53; 95%CI = 1.09-2.14; p = 0.013) were associated with AF recurrence. In the multivariate analysis, female sex (adjusted HR = 1.55; 95%CI = 1.06-2.28; p = 0.024), LA volume (adjusted HR = 1.01; 95%CI = 1.00-1.02; p = 0.028), and abutting LAA-LSPV (adjusted HR = 1.60; 95%CI = 1.13-2.50; p = 0.008) remained significant predictors of AF recurrence.

Conclusion

Female gender, higher LA volume, and abutting LSPV and LAA predispose patients to have a higher chance for arrhythmia recurrence after catheter ablation for paroxysmal AF.

Impact of Fast-Acting Insulin Aspart on Glycemic Control in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Using Intermittent-Scanning Continuous Glucose Monitoring Within a Real-World Setting: The GoBolus Study

Background: The GoBolus study investigated the real-world effectiveness of faster aspart in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) using intermittent-scanning continuous glucose monitoring (iscCGM) systems. Methods: This 24-week, multicenter, single-arm, noninterventional study investigated adults with T1D (HbA_1c, 7.5%-9.5%) receiving multiple daily injections (MDI) of insulin and using iscCGM within local healthcare settings for ≥6 months before switching to faster aspart at study start (week 0; baseline). Primary endpoint was HbA_1c change from baseline to week 24. Exploratory endpoint was change in iscCGM metrics from baseline to week 24. Results: Overall, 243 patients were included (55.6% male), with mean age/diabetes duration, 49.9/18.8 years; mean HbA_1c, 8.1%. By week 24, HbA_1c had decreased by 0.19% (-2.1 mmol/mol, P < 0.0001) with no mean change in insulin doses or basal/bolus insulin ratios. For patients with sufficient available iscCGM data (n = 92): "time in range" (TIR; 3.9-10.0 mmol/L) increased from 46.9% to 50.1% (P = 0.01), corresponding to an increase of 46.1 min/day; time in hyperglycemia decreased from 49.1% to 46.1% (>10.0 mmol/L, P = 0.026) and 20.4% to 17.9% (>13.9 mmol/L, P = 0.013), corresponding to 43.5 (P = 0.024) and 35.6 (P = 0.015) fewer minutes per day on average spent in these ranges, respectively; no change for time in hypoglycemia (<3.9 and <3.0 mmol/L). Mean interstitial and postprandial glucose improved from 10.4 to 10.1 mmol/L (P = 0.035) and 11.9 to 11.0 mmol/L (P = 0.002), respectively. Conclusion: Real-world switching to faster aspart in adults with T1D on MDI improved HbA_1c, increased TIR, and decreased time in hyperglycemia without affecting time in hypoglycemia. The GoBolus study: NCT03450863.

Sequence analysis and specificity of distinct types of menaquinone methyltransferases indicate the widespread potential of methylmenaquinone production in bacteria and archaea

Menaquinone (MK) serves as an essential membranous redox mediator in various electron transport chains of aerobic and anaerobic respiration. In addition, the composition of the quinone/quinol pool has been widely used as a biomarker in microbial taxonomy. The HemN-like class C radical SAM methyltransferases (RSMTs) MqnK, MenK and MenK2 have recently been shown to facilitate specific menaquinone methylation reactions at position C-8 (MqnK/MenK) or C-7 (MenK2) to synthesize 8-methylmenaquinone, 7-methylmenaquinone and 7,8-dimethylmenaquinone. However, the vast majority of protein sequences from the MqnK/MenK/MenK2 family belong to organisms, whose capacity to produce methylated menaquinones has not been investigated biochemically. Here, representative putative menK and menK2 genes from Collinsella tanakaei and Ferrimonas marina were individually expressed in Escherichia coli (wild-type or ubiE deletion mutant) and the corresponding cells were found to produce methylated derivatives of the endogenous MK and 2-demethylmenaquinone. Cluster and phylogenetic analyses of 828 (methyl)menaquinone methyltransferase sequences revealed signature motifs that allowed to discriminate enzymes of the MqnK/MenK/MenK2 family from other radical SAM enzymes and to identify C-7-specific menaquinone methyltransferases of the MenK2 subfamily. This study will help to predict the methylation status of the quinone/quinol pool of a microbial species (or even a microbial community) from its (meta)genome and contribute to the future design of microbial quinone/quinol pools in a Synthetic Biology approach.

(Pharmaco)economic evaluations for mental health related services: the PECUNIA project

Background

Mental health disorders affect large proportions of the general public resulting in serious cost consequences even beyond the health care sector. The PECUNIA project (EU H2020 grant agreement No 779292) aims to establish standardised costing and outcome assessment measures for optimised healthcare provision in the EU for multi-sectoral, multi-national and multi-person (pharmaco)economic evaluations using selected mental health disorders as illustrative examples.

Methods

Harmonised Identification, Definition, Measurement and Valuation of service costs in multiple sectors (health care, social care, criminal justice, education, productivity, patient, family). Reviews and surveys of mental health related services and other resource use in six European countries (AT, DE, ES, HU, NL, UK) to develop a new harmonised costing concept and related tools.

Results

We identified many taxonomical and conceptual discrepancies which currently hinder harmonized costing efforts and comparability of economic evaluations/HTAs across countries and sectors. The 'PECUNIA care atom', a new multi-sectoral costing concept forms the basis of resource item classification and international coding of mental health related services using the DESDE-PECUNIA system. Linked, harmonized tools such as the PECUNIA-European Resource Use Measurement instrument and the PECUNIA-European Reference Unit Costing Templates have been developed and are currently deployed in six countries to establish a PECUNIA-European Unit Cost Compendium alongside pan-European outcome evaluation methods.

Conclusions

The PECUNIA tools will lead to better understanding of the variations in costs and outcomes of mental health services/interventions within and across countries, and improve the feasibility, quality, comparability and transferability of (pharmaco)economic evaluations and HTAs in Europe. They also allow the harmonized measurement of broader economic and societal impacts of mental health services.

Key messages

The PECUNIA project developed compatible European multi-sectoral, multi-national and multi-person costing and outcome assessment tools. Methods & tools allow the harmonised measurement of broader economic & societal impacts of mental health related services, and improve the transferability & comparability of economic evaluations/HTAs.

Major complications of post-chemotherapy retroperitoneal lymph node dissection in a contemporary cohort of patients with testicular cancer and a review of the literature

Background

Post-chemotherapy retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (pc-RPLND) is one cornerstone in the clinical management of patients with nonseminomatous testicular germ cell tumours (GCT). A wide range of complication rates in this type of surgery is reported so far. We retrospectively evaluated the frequency of major complications by using the Clavien-Dindo classification and analysed the influence of various clinical factors on complication rates in pc-RPLND.

Methods

We retrospectively analysed 146 GCT patients undergoing pc-RPLND. Complications of grade III–V according to the Clavien-Dindo classification occurring within 30 days after surgery were registered along with the following clinical factors: age, body mass index (BMI), duration of surgery, number of anatomic fields resected, side of primary tumour, histology of surgical specimen, histology of primary tumour, and total dose of cisplatin applied prior to surgery. For comparison, we also evaluated 35 chemotherapy-naïve patients with primary RPLND and 19 with laparoscopic RPLND. We analysed types and frequencies of the various complications as well as associations with clinical factors using descriptive statistical methods.

Results

A total of 14.4% grade III–IV complications were observed in pc-RPLND, and 8.6% and 5.3% in primary and in laparoscopic RPLND, respectively. There was no perioperative mortality. Lymphocele was the most frequent adverse event (16% of grade III–IV complications). Operation time > 270 min (p = 0.001) and vital cancer in the resected specimen (p = 0.02) were significantly associated with higher complication rates. Left-sided resection fields involved two-fold higher complication rates, barely missing statistical significance (p = 0.06).

Conclusions

Pc-RPLND involves a grade III–V complication rate of 14.4%. Prolonged operation time and vital cancer in the residual mass are significantly associated with higher complication rates. The Clavien-Dindo classification system may allow inter-observer variation in rating complication grades, which may represent one reason for the wide range of reported RPLND complication rates. RPLND represents major surgery and surgeons active in this field must be competent to manage adverse events.

Is the EU ready for a generic set of indicators for health system performance? A qualitative study

Background

As part of the EU funded BRIDGE Health project, 23 headline indicators for assessing and comparing the performance of public health systems were proposed. They were shortlisted out of the currently existing and often overlapping pool of over 2000 health system performance assessment (HSPA) indicators. In this qualitative study, we explored their validity and perceived national-level utility for policy making and factors affecting the potential uptake of an indicator hierarchy (headline, operational & explanatory levels) at Member States' and EU levels.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 24 policy makers and senior policy advisors from 15 EU Member States and one candidate country were performed between July and November 2018. All interviews were transcribed and coded using summative and directed content analysis to generate thematic categories in MAXQDA.

Results

Preliminary results suggest that experts positively perceived the overall balance of the shortlist across performance domains reflecting most of the important policy areas. However, some further amendments to the generic set of indicators were recommended to increase their policy relevance and measurement validity while keeping the size manageable. The concept and usage of headline HSPA indicators is mostly viewed as a communication tool whereas more granular information at explanatory levels is perceived to be more appropriate for data driven policymaking and cross-country learning.

Conclusions

Interviews showed a considerable heterogeneity in the feasibility of applying a generic HSPA framework in an EU-wide health strategy as a compass for improvement through comparisons of health systems. Factors such as flexibility in adaptation to the national context, improvement in building knowledge capacity, potential misinterpretation in the 'European Semester' context, as well as lack of appropriately defined benchmarks were recurrent themes in hindering its uptake.

Key messages

Policy makers assess explanatory level indicators to be more actionable than headline level indicators. To facilitate the use of headline indicators at EU-level as a navigation tool for health systems, the list has to be stable to create trends and sufficiently flexible in adapting to new priorities.

Reducing the knowledge to action gap in hospital nutrition care - Developing and implementing nutritionDay 2.0

BACKGROUND & AIMS

In hospital nutrition care the difficulty of translating knowledge to action often leads to inadequate management of patients with malnutrition. nutritionDay, an annual cross-sectional survey has been assessing nutrition care in healthcare institutions in 66 countries since 2006. While initial efforts led to increased awareness of malnutrition, specific local remedial actions rarely followed. Thus, reducing the Knowledge-to-action (KTA) gap in nutrition care requires more robust and focused strategies. This study describes the strategy, methods, instruments and experience of developing and implementing nutritionDay 2.0, an audit and feedback intervention that uses quality and economic indicators, feedback, benchmarking and self-defined action strategies to reduce the KTA gap in hospital nutrition care.

METHODS

We used an evidence based multi-professional mixed-methods approach to develop and implement nutritionDay 2.0 This audit and feedback intervention is driven by a Knowledge-to-Action framework complemented with robust stakeholder analysis. Further evidence was synthesized from the literature, online surveys, a pilot study, World Cafés and individual expert feedback involving international health care professionals, nutrition care scientists and patients.

RESULTS

The process of developing and implementing nutritionDay 2.0 over three years resulted in a new audit questionnaire based on 36 nutrition care quality and economic indicators at hospital, unit and patient levels, a new action-oriented feedback and benchmarking report and a unit-level personalizable action plan template. The evaluation of nutritionDay 2.0 is ongoing and will include satisfaction and utility of nutritionDay 2.0 tools and short-, mid- and long-term effects on the KTA gap.

CONCLUSION

In clinical practice, nutritionDay 2.0 has the potential to promote behavioural and practice changes and improve hospital nutrition care outcomes. In research, the data generated advances knowledge about institutional malnutrition and quality of hospital nutrition care. The ongoing evaluation of the initiative will reveal how far the KTA gap in hospital nutrition care was addressed and facilitate the understanding of the mechanisms needed for successful audit and feedback.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Registration in clinicaltrials.gov: Identifier: NCT02820246.

Duplicate Prescriptions of Inhaled Medications for Obstructive Lung Diseases

INTRODUCTION

 Inhalative treatments with metered dose aerosols and dry powder inhalers are the backbone of the pharmacotherapy for asthma and COPD. In the last decade many new and generic inhalative bronchodilators were launched at the German market, both monotherapies and fixed dose double bronchodilator (LABA/LAMA, beta adrenergic and antimuscarinic) or LABA and inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and triple (LABA/LAMA/ICS) combinations. According to two surveys in 2015 among respiratory physicians we expected a high proportion of patients receiving duplicate prescriptions, e. g. a fixed dose new LABA/LAMA combination in addition to an existing ICS/LABA fixed dose combination.

METHODOLOGY

 We searched the database of a large mail order pharmacy (DocMorris) to identify duplicate prescriptions of inhalative drugs for a patient by the same or by two or more different physicians during a 3 months period.

RESULTS

 Unexpectedly, we found as little as around 1 % duplicate prescriptions for the same patient. Duplicate prescriptions involving combination products were found to be much more common than duplicate prescriptions of different mono-products. Irrespective the low percentage number of all prescriptions we saw in just one large mail order pharmacy several thousands of erroneous prescriptions.

CONCLUSION

 At least in the setting of this mail order pharmacy duplicate (i. e. contraindicated and potentially dangerous) prescriptions are relatively rare. Prescribers and pharmacists should be aware of the issue of duplicates - especially when prescribing or filling prescriptions with combination products.

The emerging specialty of perioperative medicine: a UK survey of the attitudes and behaviours of anaesthetists

Background

In 2014, the Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA) launched the Perioperative Medicine Programme to facilitate the delivery of best preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative care through implementation of evidence-based medicine to reduce variation and improve postoperative outcomes. However, variation exists in the establishment of perioperative medicine services in the UK. This survey explored attitudes and behaviours of anaesthetists towards perioperative medicine, described current anaesthetic-led perioperative medicine services across the UK and explored barriers to anaesthetic involvement in perioperative medicine.

Methods

Survey content based on the RCoA vision document was refined and validated using an expert panel. An anonymous electronic survey was then sent by email to the members of the RCoA.

Results

Seven hundred fifty-eight UK anaesthetists (4.5% of the RCoA mailing list) responded to the survey. Of these, 64% considered themselves a perioperative doctor, with 65% having changed local services in response to the RCoA vision. Barriers to developing perioperative medicine included insufficient time (75%) and inadequate training (51%). Three quarters of respondents advocate anaesthetists leading the development of perioperative medicine.

Conclusions

Despite evidence of emerging services, this survey describes barriers to ongoing development of perioperative medicine. Facilitators may include increased clinical exposure, targeted education and training and collaborative working with other specialties.