BACKGROUND Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in surgery can be challenging to conduct, and trials in the emergency surgical setting when patients have unplanned hospital admissions are particularly difficult. One area of challenge is capturing baseline patient-reported outcome (PRO) data. This study examined the feasibility and optimal methods for the collection of baseline and follow-up PRO ...

BACKGROUND Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) accounts for around 4% of all public hospital annual admissions in Hong Kong. By year 2020, COPD will be ranked fifth among the conditions with the highest burden to the society. This study identifies admission and unplanned readmission of COPD patients, factors affecting unplanned readmission, and estimates its cost burden on the public h...

BACKGROUND Consistent high teenage pregnancy rates in South-western Nigeria are characteristically underpinned by the unmet social needs of the teenagers. OBJECTIVE To elicit intergenerational views on the influence of unmet social needs on teenage pregnancy. METHODS Through a descriptive and cross-sectional design, a total of 174 respondents who were either pregnant teenagers, teenage moth...

ith nearly 100,000 chemicals on the global market and at least a thousand more added every year, the potential for toxic exposures is rising. Exposure may happen quickly, as in a chemical accident, or slowly, through low levels over a long period of time. While all populations are vulnerable, those most affected are the poor and illiterate citizens of developing countries that have little or no...

The development of therapies for acute ischemic stroke has achieved a few notable successes and, unfortunately, many unsuccessful efforts. Many valuable lessons for the future assessment of new acute stroke therapies can be gleaned from the positive and negative prior trials. Phase I and II trials must be carefully designed and implemented to derive relevant, valuable information needed to proc...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Unplanned extubation can be a significant event that places the patient at risk for adverse events. Our goal was to reduce unplanned extubations to <1 unplanned extubation per 100 patient-intubated days. METHODS All unplanned extubations in the NICU beginning in October 2009 were audited. Data collected included time of day, patient weight, and patient care activity ...