Monitoring Immobilized Elderly Patients Using a Public Provider Online System for Pressure Ulcer Information and Registration (SIRUPP): Protocol for a Health Care Impact Study

BACKGROUND

Pressure ulcers represent a major challenge to patient safety in the health care context, presenting high incidence (from 7% to 14% in Spain) and increased financial costs (€400-600 million/year) in medical treatment. Moreover, they are a significant predictor of mortality. The prevention of pressure ulcers in long-term care centers and patients' own homes is proposed as a priority indicator of health care quality. Early stage risk assessment and database recording are both crucial aspects of prevention, classification, diagnosis, and treatment.

OBJECTIVE

This project proposes a 3-year study of immobilized patients residing in the Granada-Metropolitan Primary Healthcare District (DSGM) and monitored via the Pressure Ulcer Information and Registration System (SIRUPP, Spanish initials). The project aims to estimate the incidence of PUs among immobilized elderly patients, analyze the health-related quality of life of these patients by using the Pressure Ulcer Quality of Life (PU-QoL) instrument in a sample of 250 patients, determine the average time to complete wound healing, estimate the rate of pressure ulcers-associated mortality, and assess the predictive value of the Braden and Mini Nutritional Assessment risk measurement scales in a sample of 1700 patients.

METHODS

The DSGM runs SIRUPP, which is linked to patients' electronic health records. Currently, 17,104 immobilized patients are monitored under this system. Health-related quality of life will be measured by patient self-reports using the Spanish Pressure Ulcer Quality of Life questionnaire, following cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric validation with respect to the English-language version.

RESULTS

The project commenced in June 2017 and is expected to conclude in April 2020.

CONCLUSIONS

This study addresses two main health outcomes-the time needed for wound healing and the mortality associated with pressure ulcers-both of which might be accounted for by variations in clinical practice and the health-related quality of life of patients with pressure ulcers.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

DERR1-10.2196/13701.

[Use of anamnesis and immunological techniques in the diagnosis of anisakidosis in patients with acute abdomen]

INTRODUCTION

Anisakis simplex can be a cause of digestive symptoms. Our aim was to evaluate the epidemiological antecedents and immunological data available for a differentiation between patients with anisakidosis and those with other acute abdominal problems.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

this is a prospective cohort study involving 134 patients with acute abdominal problems: 52 patients were diagnosed with anisakidosis by means of surgical and pathological findings and/or specific IgE seroconversion against Anisakis simplex (group A), and in 82 patients anisakidosis had been ruled out (group NA: non-anisakidosis). We evaluated the antecedent of raw fish ingestion, the skin prick test, and IgE immunoblotting as diagnostic tools.

RESULTS

patients in groups A and NA differ in terms of prior raw fish ingestion (p < 0.0001) and positive SPT (p < 0.0001), with their respective negative predictive values (NPV) being 98.39% (95%CI: 90.17-99.92) and 95.56% (95%CI: 83.64-99.23). Regarding immunoblotting, in 86.2% of patients in group A a band of 60 kDa was detected, which was also detected in 19.2% of patients in group NA.

CONCLUSIONS

a negative answer to the question about raw or undercooked fish ingestion has very high sensitivity and NPV (98.39%), and is thus reasonably reliable to rule out anisakidosis. The absence of cutaneous sensitization to crude A. simplex extract gives a high probability (95.56%) that the illness is absent. The presence of a band of about 60 kDa in immunoblotting would be useful for diagnosis.