Point-of-care lung ultrasound (LUS) can assist in diagnosing acute respiratory diseases for its high accuracy and immediate availability at the bedside, including older patients with frailty. Delirium represents a frequent complication of hospitalisation in this setting, frequently triggered by acute respiratory diseases. LUS may therefore help identify individuals at risk of delirium, but the association between LUS abnormalities and delirium remains unexplored.
This study is a prospective, observational, multicentre study, with the main objective of assessing the correlation between LUS abnormalities and incident delirium during hospitalisation (primary outcome). The secondary objectives are to assess correlations between lung and diaphragm ultrasound parameters and clinical outcomes including duration of delirium, severity of respiratory failure and mortality. 480 patients aged ≥65 years old, urgently hospitalised after an emergency department visit for acute respiratory complaints, will be recruited in eleven acute geriatric wards located in eight teaching hospitals across Italy. LUS examinations will be performed by skilled clinicians prior to treatment whenever feasible, and in any case within 48 hours from admission. They will also undergo comprehensive geriatric assessment, and daily delirium assessment through the 4-AT tool. The association between LUS abnormalities, related parameters (LUS score, Pleural Effusion Score) and outcomes will be assessed by linear and logistic regression models.
Ethics Committee approval of the coordinating centre (Comitato Etico Territoriale Lombardia 3, reference ID 4369_20.03.2024_M) and collaborative centres has been obtained. All participants will provide written informed consent. Study results will be publicly available following peer-reviewed publication in international scientific journals.
To measure the perceived autonomy level in managing lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) among paediatric residents and to compare perceived autonomy with the assessments by tutors who directly supervise and evaluate residents
A survey on managing LRTIs was distributed among all Italian paediatric residents and tutors via Google Forms between January 1 and 31, 2024.
Participants, residents and tutors were classified according to their training year and clinical setting: primary care paediatrics (PCP), emergency department (ED) and hospital ward (HW).
Perceived autonomy of paediatric residents in managing LRTI in different settings; overall perceived autonomy and interest in employment.
A total of 391 questionnaires were returned, with 273 completed by residents and 118 by tutors. Among residents, 3% in their first year felt fully capable of managing LRTIs without supervision in both ED and HW settings. This percentage remained below 25% until the third year and increased to 72% in ED and 83% in HW by the fifth year. In PCP settings, autonomy ranged from 15% in the first year to 96% in the final year. No differences were found between residents’ self-evaluations and tutors’ assessments. Confidence in skills showed no regional differences across Italy.
Most residents did not feel ready to manage winter respiratory infections in children without supervision, especially in the ED compared with the HW; however, self-confidence was higher in the PCP setting. Tutors shared similar perceptions. The location did not affect the response pattern. These findings caution against employing residents to work autonomously, particularly in emergency settings.
The New York City (NYC) HIV Care Coordination Programme (CCP) is designed to help people with HIV (PWH) overcome barriers to care and treatment engagement. We assessed preferences for CCP components among programme enrollees (’clients’) and providers. Our objective is to compare client and provider preferences, which were previously analysed separately.
We used a discrete choice experiment to assess preferences for four CCP features (‘attributes’): Help with Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), Help with Primary Care Appointments, Help with Issues other than Primary Care and Where Programme Visits Happen. Each of these attributes had 3–4 variants (‘levels’). In the original surveys, levels within Where Programme Visits Happen varied by participant type (client vs provider). We recoded the levels by visit location (VL) or by travel time (TT) to make them comparable and report results from both approaches.
25 Ryan White Part A-funded NYC CCPs participated.
152 providers and 181 clients completed the survey.
Preferences were quantified using the relative importance of the attributes and utility of the levels.
From January 2020 to March 2021, 152 providers and 181 clients completed the survey. Most of the providers (52%) were
Client and provider preferences clearly diverged regarding CCP service intensity: in the aggregate, clients tended to prefer lower-intensity services, whereas providers endorsed higher-intensity services. These results highlight the importance of engaging clients as partners in decisions about programme services to facilitate alignment with client values.