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Objective: To evaluate the effect of a Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) on older patients.
Methods: Retrospective case-control study of patients 65 years and above admitted to the MAU (study group) and the general medical wards (control group) in Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital from 1 October 2008 to 31 March 2009 with four most common Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRG) ('falls and gait disorder', 'chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)', 'other major respiratory diseases and 'cellulitis').
Main Outcome Measures: Length of stay (LOS) in Emergency Department (ED) and in the hospital, mortality, readmissions within 1 month, and discharge destination.
Results: Eighty-nine patients were studied; 47 in the MAU group and 42 in the non-MAU group. The MAU cohort was significantly older (84.1 ± 7.9 years v. 80.4 ± 7.8 years, respectively, P=0.03); and had shorter ED LOS (4.9 ± 3.0h v. 6.5 ± 2.8h, P=0.012). Overall hospital LOS did not differ except for patients with 'cellulitis', (5.7 ± 4.9 days for MAU cohort v. 14.8 ± 6.8 days for non-MAU cohort, P=0.022). There was no significant difference in mortality, readmission rate or discharge destination. Conclusions. The MAU can be an effective service model for older patients. More research is required to confirm this and to define the key elements that are essential for its effectiveness.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/AH11076 | DOI Listing |
JCI Insight
September 2025
Division of Nephrology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, United States of America.
Background: Active vitamin D metabolites, including 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25D) and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25D), have potent immunomodulatory effects that attenuate acute kidney injury (AKI) in animal models.
Methods: We conducted a phase 2, randomized, double-blind, multiple-dose, 3-arm clinical trial comparing oral calcifediol (25D), calcitriol (1,25D), and placebo among 150 critically ill adult patients at high-risk of moderate-to-severe AKI. The primary endpoint was a hierarchical composite of death, kidney replacement therapy (KRT), and kidney injury (baseline-adjusted mean change in serum creatinine), each assessed within 7 days following enrollment using a rank-based procedure.
J Clin Invest
September 2025
The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States of America.
Background: Following SARS-CoV-2 infection, ~10-35% of COVID-19 patients experience long COVID (LC), in which debilitating symptoms persist for at least three months. Elucidating biologic underpinnings of LC could identify therapeutic opportunities.
Methods: We utilized machine learning methods on biologic analytes provided over 12-months after hospital discharge from >500 COVID-19 patients in the IMPACC cohort to identify a multi-omics "recovery factor", trained on patient-reported physical function survey scores.
J Med Internet Res
September 2025
Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health (ISAP), Medical Faculty, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Background: The loss of a loved one is a common yet stressful event in later life. Internet- and mobile-based interventions have been proposed as an effective treatment approach for individuals with prolonged grief.
Objective: The AgE-health study aimed to investigate the efficacy of an eHealth intervention, trauer@ktiv, in reducing prolonged grief symptoms in a sample of older adults.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
September 2025
State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmacodynamic Constituents of Traditional Chinese Medicine and New Drugs Research, International Cooperative Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization and Innovative Drug De
Proliferative retinopathy is a leading cause of irreversible blindness in humans; however, the molecular mechanisms behind the immune cell-mediated retinal angiogenesis remain poorly elucidated. Here, using single-cell RNA sequencing in an oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) model, we identified an enrichment of sorting nexin (SNX)-related pathways, with SNX3, a member of the SNX family that is involved in endosomal sorting and trafficking, being significantly upregulated in the myeloid cell subpopulations of OIR retinas. Immunostaining showed that SNX3 expression is markedly increased in the retinal microglia/macrophages of mice with OIR, which is mainly located within and around the neovascular tufts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
September 2025
Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202.
Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are highly compartmentalized neurons whose long axons serve as the sole connection between the eye and the brain. In both injury and disease, RGC degeneration occurs in a similarly compartmentalized manner, with distinct molecular and cellular responses in the axonal and somatodendritic regions. The goal of this study was to establish a microfluidic-based platform to investigate RGC compartmentalization in both health and disease states.
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