Chronic obstructive airway diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, rhinitis, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are amongst the most common treatable and preventable ...chronic conditions with high morbidity burden and mortality risk. We aimed to explore the existence of multimorbidity clusters in patients with such diseases and to estimate their prevalence and impact on mortality. We conducted an observational retrospective study in the EpiChron Cohort (Aragon, Spain), selecting all patients with a diagnosis of allergic rhinitis, asthma, COPD, and/or OSA. The study population was stratified by age (i.e., 15-44, 45-64, and ≥ 65 years) and gender. We performed cluster analysis, including all chronic conditions recorded in primary care electronic health records and hospital discharge reports. More than 75% of the patients had multimorbidity (co-existence of two or more chronic conditions). We identified associations of dermatologic diseases with musculoskeletal disorders and anxiety, cardiometabolic diseases with mental health problems, and substance use disorders with neurologic diseases and neoplasms, amongst others. The number and complexity of the multimorbidity clusters increased with age in both genders. The cluster with the highest likelihood of mortality was identified in men aged 45 to 64 years and included associations between substance use disorder, neurologic conditions, and cancer. Large-scale epidemiological studies like ours could be useful when planning healthcare interventions targeting patients with chronic obstructive airway diseases and multimorbidity.
Whether immunosuppressed (IS) patients have a worse prognosis of COVID-19 compared to non-IS patients is not known. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcome of ...IS patients hospitalized with COVID-19 compared to non-IS patients. We designed a retrospective cohort study. We included all patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 from the SEMI-COVID-19 Registry, a large multicentre national cohort in Spain, from March 27.sup.th until June 19.sup.th, 2020. We used multivariable logistic regression to assess the adjusted odds ratios (aOR) of in-hospital death among IS compared to non-IS patients. Among 13 206 included patients, 2 111 (16.0%) were IS. A total of 166 (1.3%) patients had solid organ (SO) transplant, 1081 (8.2%) had SO neoplasia, 332 (2.5%) had hematologic neoplasia, and 570 (4.3%), 183 (1.4%) and 394 (3.0%) were receiving systemic steroids, biological treatments, and immunosuppressors, respectively. Compared to non-IS patients, the aOR (95% CI) for in-hospital death was 1.60 (1.43-1.79) for all IS patients, 1.39 (1.18-1.63) for patients with SO cancer, 2.31 (1.76-3.03) for patients with haematological cancer and 3.12 (2.23-4.36) for patients with SO transplant. The aOR (95% CI) for death for patients who were receiving systemic steroids, biological treatments and immunosuppressors compared to non-IS patients were 2.16 (1.80-2.61), 1.97 (1.33-2.91) and 2.06 (1.64-2.60), respectively. IS patients had a higher odds than non-IS patients of in-hospital acute respiratory distress syndrome, heart failure, myocarditis, thromboembolic disease and multiorgan failure. IS patients hospitalized with COVID-19 have a higher odds of in-hospital complications and death compared to non-IS patients.
Aim
To create a tool to identify drugs and clinical situations that offers an opportunity of deprescribing in patients with multimorbidity.
Methods
A literature review completed with electronic ...brainstorming, and subsequently, a panel of experts using the Delphi methodology were applied. The experts assessed the criteria identified in the literature and brainstorming as possible situations for deprescribing. They were also asked to assess the influence of life prognosis in each criterion. A tool was composed of the most appropriate criteria according to the strength of their evidence, usefulness in patients with multimorbidity and applicability in clinical practice.
Results
Out of a total of 100, 27 criteria were selected to be included in the final list. It was named the LESS‐CHRON criteria (List of Evidence‐baSed depreScribing for CHRONic patients), and was organized by the anatomical group of the Anatomical, Therapeutic, Chemical (ATC) classification system of the drug to be deprescribed. Each criterion contains: drug indication for which it is prescribed, clinical situation that offers an opportunity to deprescribe, clinical variable to be monitored and the minimum time to follow up the patient after deprescribing.
Conclusions
The “LESS‐CHRON criteria” are the result of a comprehensive and standardized methodology to identify clinical situations for deprescribing drugs in chronic patients with multimorbidity. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 2200–2207.
A major risk factor of COVID-19 severity is the patient's health status at the time of the infection. Numerous studies focused on specific chronic diseases and identified conditions, mainly ...cardiovascular ones, associated with poor prognosis. However, chronic diseases tend to cluster into patterns, each with its particular repercussions on the clinical outcome of infected patients. Network analysis in our population revealed that not all cardiovascular patterns have the same risk of COVID-19 hospitalization or mortality and that this risk depends on the pattern of multimorbidity, besides age and sex. We evidenced that negative outcomes were strongly related to patterns in which diabetes and obesity stood out in older women and men, respectively. In younger adults, anxiety was another disease that increased the risk of severity, most notably when combined with menstrual disorders in women or atopic dermatitis in men. These results have relevant implications for organizational, preventive, and clinical actions to help meet the needs of COVID-19 patients.
Abstract Context Efforts in developing useful tools to properly identify the end-of-life trajectory of patients with advanced medical diseases have been made, but the calibration and/or ...discriminative power of these tools has not been optimal. Objectives Our objective was to develop a new, reliable prognostic tool to identify the probability of death within six months in patients with chronic medical diseases. Methods This was a multicenter, prospective, observational study in 41 Spanish hospitals, which included 1778 patients with one or more of the following: advanced conditions such as heart failure, respiratory failure, chronic renal failure, chronic liver disease, and/or chronic neurological disease. All patients were followed over six months. Each factor independently associated with death in the derivation cohort (884 patients from eastern areas of Spain) was assigned a prognostic weight, and the score was calculated by summing up the factors. The score's accuracy in the validation cohort (894 patients from western areas of Spain) was assessed by analyzing its calibration and discriminative power; we also calculated sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values. Results Mortality in the derivation/validation cohorts was 37.6%/37.7%, respectively. We identified six independent predictors of mortality (≥85 years, three points; New York Heart Association Class IV/Stage 4 dyspnea on the modified Medical Research Council, 3.5 points; anorexia, 3.5 points; presence of pressure ulcer(s), three points; Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status of three or more, four points; and albuminemia ≤2.5 g/dL, four points). Mortality in the derivation/validation cohorts according to risk group was 20%/21.5% for patients with zero points; 33%/30.5% for those with 3–3.5 points; 46.3%/43% for those with four to seven points; and 67%/61% for those who reached 7.5 or more points, respectively. The calibration was good (Hosmer-Lemeshow test, P = 0.39), as was the discriminative power (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.69 0.66–0.72). The sensitivity (85%), specificity (86%), positive and negative predictive values (64% and 80%, respectively) at 180 days were high. Conclusion The PALIAR score is a precise and reliable tool for identifying the end-of-life trajectory in patients with advanced medical diseases.
The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of cognitive impairment (CogI) in patients hospitalized for congestive heart failure, and the influence of CogI on mortality and hospital ...readmission. This is a multicenter cohort study of patients hospitalized for congestive heart failure enrolled in the RICA registry. The patients were divided into 3 groups according to their Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire score: 0–3 errors (no CogI or mild CogI), 4–7 (moderate CogI) and 8–10 (severe CogI). A total of 3845 patients with a mean (SD) age of 79 (8.6) years were included; 2038 (53%) were women. A total of 550 (14%) patients had moderate CogI and 76 (2%) had severe CogI. Factors independently associated with severe CogI were age (OR 1.09, 95% CI 1.05–1.14
p
< 0.001), male sex (OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.34–0.95,
p
= 0.031), heart rate (OR 1.01, 95% CI 1.00–1.02,
p
= 0.004), Charlson index (OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.06–1.27,
p
= 0.002), and history of stroke (OR 2.67, 95% CI 1.60–4.44,
p
< 0.001). Severe CogI was associated with higher mortality after one year (HR 3.05, 95% CI 2.25–4.14,
p
< 0.001). The composite variable of death/hospital readmission was higher in patients with CogI (log rank
p
< 0.001). Patients with heart failure and severe CogI are older and have a higher comorbidity burden, lower survival, and a higher rate of death or readmission at 1 year, compared to patients with no CogI.
A collaborative project in different areas of Spain and Portugal was designed to find out the variables that influence the mortality after discharge and develop a prognostic model adapted to the ...current healthcare needs of chronic patients in an internal medicine ward. Inclusion criteria were being admitted to an Internal Medicine department and at least one chronic disease. Patients' physical dependence was measured through Barthel index (BI). Pfeiffer test (PT) was used to establish cognitive status. We conducted logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard models to analyze the influence of those variables on one-year mortality. We also developed an external validation once decided the variables included in the index. We enrolled 1406 patients. Mean age was 79.5 (SD = 11.5) and females were 56.5%. After the follow-up period, 514 patients (36.6%) died. Five variables were identified as significantly associated with 1 year mortality: age, being male, lower BI punctuation, neoplasia and atrial fibrillation. A model with such variables was created to estimate one-year mortality risk, leading to the CHRONIBERIA. A ROC curve was made to determine the reliability of this index when applied to the global sample. An AUC of 0.72 (0.7-0.75) was obtained. The external validation of the index was successful and showed an AUC of 0.73 (0.67-0.79). Atrial fibrillation along with an advanced age, being male, low BI score, or an active neoplasia in chronic patients could be critical to identify high risk multiple chronic conditions patients. Together, these variables constitute the new CHRONIBERIA index.
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to determine whether excessive polypharmacy is associated with a higher survival rate in polypathological patients.
Patients and methods
An observational, ...prospective, and multicenter study was carried out on those polypathological patients admitted to the internal medicine and acute geriatrics departments between March 1 and June 30, 2011. For each patient, data concerning age, sex, comorbidity, Barthel and Lawton-Brody indexes, Pfeiffer’s questionnaire, socio-familial Gijon scale, delirium, number of drugs, and number of admissions during the previous year were gathered, and the PROFUND index was calculated. Polypharmacy was defined as the use of ≥5 drugs and excessive polypharmacy as the use of ≥10. A 1-year long follow-up was carried out. A logistic regression model was performed to analyze the association of variables with excessive polypharmacy and a Cox proportional hazard model to determine the association between polypharmacy and survival.
Results
We included 457 polypathological patients. Mean age was 81.0 (8.8) years and 54.5 % were women. The mean number of drugs used was 8.2 (3.4). Excessive polypharmacy was directly associated with heart disease hazard ratio (HR) 2.33 95 % CI 1.40–3.87;
p
= 0.001, respiratory disease HR 1.87 95 % CI 1.13–3.09;
p
= 0.01, peripheral artery disease/diabetes with retinopathy and/or neuropathy HR 2.02 95 % CI 1.17–3.50;
p
= 0.01, and the number of admissions during the previous year HR 1.21 96 %CI 1.01–1.44;
p
= 0.04. It was inversely associated with delirium HR 0.48 95 % CI 0.25–0.91;
p
= 0.02. There were no statistical differences regarding the probability of 1-year survival between patients with no polypharmacy, with simple polypharmacy, and with excessive polypharmacy (0.66, 0.60, and 0.57, respectively,
p
= 0.12).
Conclusions
A greater use of drugs may not be harmful but is also not associated with a higher probability of survival in polypathological patients.
In patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cardiovascular comorbidities are highly prevalent and associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. This coincidence is ...increasingly seen in the context of a "cardiopulmonary continuum" rather than being simply attributed to shared risk factors, in particular, cigarette smoking. Both disease entities are centrally linked to systemic inflammation as well as aging, arterial stiffness, and several common biomarkers that led to the development of pulmonary hypertension, left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, atherosclerosis, and reduced physical activity and exercise capacity. For these reasons, COPD should be considered an independent factor of high cardiovascular risk, and efforts should be directed to early identification of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in COPD patients. Assessment of the overall cardiovascular risk is especially important in patients with severe exacerbation episodes, and the same therapeutic target levels for glycosylated hemoglobin, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), or blood pressure than those recommended by clinical practice guidelines for patients at high cardiovascular risk, should be achieved. In this review, we will discuss the most recent evidence of the role of COPD as a critical cardiovascular risk factor and try to find new insights and potential prevention strategies for this disease.
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