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Biomedical subjects

W A Ghali

Publications and source records attributed to W A Ghali.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2001

Clinical assessment of clonidine in the treatment of new-onset rapid atrial fibrillation: a prospective, randomized clinical trial.

PURPOSE: The role of digoxin and verapamil in the control of ventricular response in rapid atrial fibrillation is well established. This study investigates how clonidine compares with these standard therapies in rate control for new-onset rapid atrial fibrillation. We set out to test the hypothesis that clonidine effectively reduces heart rate in patients with new-onset rapid atrial fibrillation. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Forty patients were seen in the emergency department with new-onset (< or =24 hours' duration), stable, rapid atrial fibrillation. Eligible patients were randomized to receive either clonidine, digoxin, or verapamil. Changes in heart rate and blood pressure over 6 hours, as well as frequency of conversion to sinus rhythm were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS: The mean reduction in heart rate over 6 hours was 44.4 beats/min (95% confidence interval [CI] 28.4-60.4 beats/min) in the clonidine group, 52.1 beats/min (95% CI 40.8-63.4 beats/min) in the digoxin group, and 41.8 beats/min (95% CI 22.5-61.0 beats/min) in the verapamil group. Analysis of variance of the heart rate changes in the 3 groups after 6 hours was not significant (P =.55). At 6 hours, 7 of 12 clonidine patients, 8 of 15 digoxin patients, and 7 of 13 verapamil patients remained in atrial fibrillation (P =.962 on chi(2)). CONCLUSION: Clonidine controls ventricular rate in new-onset atrial fibrillation with an efficacy comparable to that of standard agents.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2001

New methods for estimating pretest probability in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism.

The clinical assessment of the probability of pulmonary embolism is a key step in proposed diagnostic strategies for pulmonary embolism, because the interpretation of noninvasive test results is conditional on the pretest probability derived from the presence or absence of clinical factors. The past year has brought important progress in the general area of clinical prediction of pulmonary embolism with the publication of two new simple clinical prediction rules. Each of the prediction rules includes a total of seven clinical variables that, when combined, allow for the categorization of patients into categories of low, intermediate, or high pretest probability of pulmonary embolism. Although these clinical prediction rules are perhaps only slightly better than the estimates of experienced clinicians, they provide an explicit method for estimating the probability of PE as an adjunct to diagnostic testing. Further validation work is now needed to assess how well these new prediction rules perform in settings other than the derivation sites.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2001

Geographic variation in the rate of carotid endarterectomy in Canada.

UNLABELLED: Background and Purpose-- Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) is an important method of stroke prevention, but its usage in Canada is not well known. The indications for CEA have been well informed by the recent clinical trials, but the impact of this information on the rate and regional variation in the rate of CEA is unknown. This study sought to determine the rate and the regional variation in the rate of CEA in Canada, its provinces, and census divisions for 1994-1997. METHODS: Discharge data from all hospitals in Canada except Quebec were obtained from the Canadian Institute for Health Information for 1994-1997 and were searched for CEA by residential site. Rates and variations in rates were calculated. RESULTS: The national age- and sex-adjusted rate per 100 000 people of CEA for those aged >/=40 years rose from 31.7 in 1994 to 40.5 in 1997. Provincial rates in 1997 varied from a low of 25.7 in Saskatchewan to high of 82.8 in Prince Edward Island. The census division rates varied even more, from a low of 0 in several divisions to a high of 179. CONCLUSIONS: The recent slight increase in CEA rates may reflect the release of new efficacy results for CEA, especially for asymptomatic carotid stenosis, but the rates are still far below US levels. The marked regional variation in rates may reflect differing views on the appropriateness of indications such as asymptomatic carotid stenosis for CEA and the inconsistency of published clinical practice guidelines.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

The Southern Alberta Renal Program database: a prototype for patient management and research initiatives.

The Southern Alberta Renal Program (SARP) database was developed to respond to an urgent need for local information on clinical outcomes, laboratory information, and health care costs, and to enable our local renal program to monitor the implementation of established clinical practice guidelines. The database captures detailed demographic, clinical, and laboratory information and is unique by also capturing comorbidity, health-related quality of life and costing information for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in southern Alberta, storing the information in one common database. By collecting information on patient comorbidity, health outcomes and costs, the SARP database has enabled many quality assurance initiatives as well as research opportunities for projects involving patients with ESRD. Due to the availability of links with other available local clinical and administrative databases, information is collected with a minimal need for manual data entry. This type of database is a method by which health programs could improve the quality of patient care. Programs caring for patients with chronic medical conditions such as ESRD should examine how computer databases could assist in clinical care and improve the efficiency with which that care is delivered to their patients.

Acute Kidney Injury↗
PubMed2000

Why do patients with atrial fibrillation not receive warfarin?

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a growing public health problem associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Numerous randomized controlled trials of warfarin have conclusively demonstrated that long-term anticoagulation therapy can reduce the risk for stroke by approximately 68% per year in patients with nonvalvular AF, and even more in patients with valvular AF. However, available data show that of those patients with AF and no contraindication to warfarin therapy, only 15% to 44% are prescribed warfarin. Our literature review has identified patient-, physician-, and health care system-related barriers to warfarin prescription. However, the relative importance of these specific barriers remains unknown. Further work is needed to understand the discrepancy between the randomized controlled trial evidence and clinical practice patterns.

Anticoagulants↗
PubMed2000

Prognostic significance of diabetes as a predictor of survival after cardiac catheterization. APPROACH Investigators. Alberta Provincial Program for Outcome Assessment in Coronary Heart Disease.

PURPOSE: Diabetes is a recognized risk factor for the development of cardiac disease, but its importance as a prognostic factor among patients with known cardiovascular disease is less clear. We evaluated survival in patients with and without diabetes who underwent cardiac catheterization for presumed coronary artery disease. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We analyzed data from a prospective cohort study that captures detailed clinical information and longitudinal outcomes for all patients who undergo cardiac catheterization in Alberta, Canada. We studied 11,468 patients, 1959 (17%) of whom had diabetes. Logistic regression was used to model predictors of 1-year mortality, and proportional hazards analysis was used to model predictors of survival up to 3 years after cardiac catheterization. RESULTS: One-year mortality was 7.6% for patients with diabetes versus 4.1% for those without diabetes (odds ratio = 1.9, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.6 to 2.3). After adjusting for other characteristics of the patients, including comorbid conditions, previous cardiac history, coronary anatomy, and renal function, the odds ratio for 1-year mortality was 1.1 (95% CI: 0.8 to 1.3). Similarly, the adjusted hazard ratio for longer term mortality was 1. 2 (95% CI: 1.0 to 1.4, mean follow-up of 702 days). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that there is little or no independent association between diabetes and mortality for up to 3 years after cardiac catheterization. Estimates of short- to intermediate-term prognosis for diabetic patients with coronary artery disease should be based on the presence of other prognostic factors associated with diabetes.

Aged↗
PubMed2000

Dealing with missing data in observational health care outcome analyses.

Observational outcome analyses appear frequently in the health research literature. For such analyses, clinical registries are preferred to administrative databases. Missing data are a common problem in any clinical registry, and pose a threat to the validity of observational outcomes analyses. Faced with missing data in a new clinical registry, we compared three possible responses: exclude cases with missing data; assume that the missing data indicated absence of risk; or merge the clinical database with an existing administrative database. The predictive model derived using the merged data showed a higher C statistic (C = 0.770), better model goodness-of-fit as measured in a decile-of-risk analysis, the largest gradient of risk across deciles (46.3), and the largest decrease in deviance (-2 log likelihood = 406.2). The superior performance of the enhanced data model supports the use of this "enhancement" methodology and bears consideration when researchers are faced with nonrandom missing data.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Successful teaching in evidence-based medicine.

OBJECTIVES: Several published articles have described the importance of exposing medical trainees to the 'new paradigm' of evidence-based medicine (EBM). Recognizing this, we sought to develop and objectively evaluate a mini-course in EBM for third-year medical students. DESIGN: We developed a mini-course consisting of four sessions in which students learn to derive sequentially focused questions, search MEDLINE, review articles critically and apply information from the literature to specific clinical questions. To evaluate the teaching intervention, we performed a controlled educational study. Students at the intervention site (n=34) attended the EBM mini-course, while students at the control site (n=26) received more 'traditional' didactic teaching on various clinical topics. Intervention and control students were surveyed immediately before and after the mini-course to assess changes in reading and literature searching skills, as well as a tendency to use the literature to answer clinical questions. SETTING: Boston University School of Medicine. SUBJECTS: Third-year medical students. RESULTS: The intervention was associated with significant changes in students' self-assessed skills and attitudes. MEDLINE and critical appraisal skills increased significantly in the intervention group relative to the control group (significance of between group differences: P=0.002 for MEDLINE and P=0.0002 for critical appraisal), as did students' tendency to use MEDLINE and original research articles to solve clinical problems (significance of between group differences: P=0.002 and P=0.0008, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that this brief teaching intervention in EBM has had a positive impact on student skills and attitudes at our medical school. We believe that the key elements of this intervention are (1) active student involvement, (2), clinical relevance of exercises and (3) integrated teaching targeting each of the component skills of EBM.

Education, Medical, Undergraduate↗
PubMed2000

The impact of leaving against medical advice on hospital resource utilization.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of hospital discharge against medical advice (AMA) on the interpretation of charges and length of stay attributable to alcoholism. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort. Three analytic strategies assessed the effect of having an alcohol-related diagnosis (ARD) on risk-adjusted utilization in multivariate regressions. Strategy 1 did not adjust for leaving AMA, strategy 2 adjusted for leaving AMA, and strategy 3 restricted the sample by excluding AMA discharges. SETTING: Acute care hospitals. PATIENTS: We studied 23,198 pneumonia hospitalizations in a statewide administrative database. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Among these admissions, 3.6% had an ARD, and 1.2% left AMA. In strategy 1 an ARD accounted for a $1,293 increase in risk-adjusted charges for a hospitalization compared with cases without an ARD ( p =.012). ARD-attributable increases of $1,659 ( p =.002) and $1,664 ( p =. 002) in strategies 2 and 3 respectively, represent significant 28% and 29% increases compared with strategy 1. Similarly, using strategy 1 an ARD accounted for a 0.6-day increase in risk-adjusted length of stay over cases without an ARD ( p =.188). An increase of 1 day was seen using both strategies 2 and 3 ( p =.044 and p =.027, respectively), representing significant 67% increases attributable to ARDs compared with strategy 1. CONCLUSIONS: Discharge AMA affects the interpretation of the relation between alcoholism and utilization. The ARD-attributable utilization was greater when analyses adjusted for or excluded AMA cases. Not accounting for leaving AMA resulted in an underestimation of the impact of alcoholism on resource utilization.

Aged↗
PubMed2000

A Canadian comparison of data sources for coronary artery bypass surgery outcome "report cards".

BACKGROUND: Prior comparisons of administrative versus clinical data for creating coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery outcome "report cards" are all from the United States and yield inconsistent conclusions regarding the validity of administrative data report cards. In this study, we compared 2 CABG surgery outcome report cards for Ontario, Canada: one derived from clinical data from the Cardiac Care Network of Ontario and one derived from administrative data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information. METHODS: Data from 4 fiscal years, 1992-93 through 1995-96, were used. The Canadian Institute for Health Information report card was derived from administrative data only. The Cardiac Care Network report card drew on prospectively collected clinical information that included variables such as left ventricular ejection fraction but also required linkages to the Canadian Institute for Health Information data for ascertainment of selected comorbidities and in-hospital mortality rates. Logistic regression models were used to calculate risk-adjusted death rates for each of the 9 hospitals performing CABG surgery in Ontario. RESULTS: The risk-adjusted death rates were quite similar between data sources for 7 of the 9 hospitals. For 2 hospitals, rather large absolute differences in adjusted death rates of 0.58% and 0.64% were seen between report cards. There was a strong correlation between data sources for risk-adjusted hospital death rates (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.927, P <.001) and for rankings of adjusted hospital death rates (Spearman correlation coefficient = 0.828, P =.02). CONCLUSION: These results from Ontario, Canada, reveal general similarities between administrative and clinical data report cards for CABG surgery. However, clinical data are likely needed if individual hospitals are to be publicly scrutinized in outcome report cards.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Physicians' attitudes towards prevention: importance of intervention-specific barriers and physicians' health habits.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have explored physicians' attitudes towards prevention and barriers to the delivery of preventive health interventions. However, the relative importance of these previously identified barriers, both in general terms and in the context of a number of specific preventive interventions, has not been identified. Certain barriers may only pertain to a subset of preventive interventions. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to determine the relative importance of identified barriers to preventive interventions and to explore the association between physicians' characteristics and their attitudes towards prevention. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 496 of the 686 (72.3% response rate) generalist physicians from three Swiss cantons through a questionnaire asking physicians to rate the general importance of eight preventive health strategies and the relative importance of seven commonly cited barriers in relation to each specific preventive health strategy. RESULTS: The proportion of physicians rating each preventive intervention as being important varied from 76% for colorectal cancer screening to 100% for blood pressure control. Lack of time and lack of patient interest were generally considered to be important barriers by 41% and 44% of physicians, respectively, but the importance of these two barriers tended to be specifically higher for counselling-based interventions. Lack of training was most notably a barrier to counselling about alcohol and nutrition. Four characteristics of physicians predicted negative attitudes toward alcohol and smoking counselling: consumption of more than three alcoholic drinks per day [odds ratio (OR) = 8.4], sedentary lifestyle (OR = 3.4), lack of national certification (OR = 2.2) and lack of awareness of their own blood pressure (OR = 2.0). CONCLUSIONS: The relative importance of specific barriers varies across preventive interventions. This points to a need for tailored practice interventions targeting the specific barriers that impede a given preventive service. The negative influence of physicians' own health behaviours indicates a need for associated population-based interventions that reduce the prevalence of high-risk behaviours in the population as a whole.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2000

Physicians' recommendations for patients who undergo noncardiac surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate how consulting physicians attempt to modify perioperative cardiac risk for patients who undergo noncardiac surgery by comparing the preoperative cardiac recommendations of consulting physicians in 2 university centres. DESIGN: Retrospective cross-sectional analysis. SETTING: Five hospitals affiliated with 2 Canadian universities. PATIENTS: Three hundred and eight preoperative consultations were evaluated in 297 patients who were 40 years of age or older and scheduled for noncardiac surgery. OUTCOME MEASURES: Cardiac drug recommendations at the preoperative consultation [corrected]; overall recommendations and practice variation between the 2 centres. RESULTS: The greatest changes in drug management suggested by consultants were the initiation of nitrates in 13% of the patients and a decrease in acetylsalicylic acid administration from 27% to 17%. Centre A physicians recommended adding an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor 11% of the time, whereas centre B physicians recommended such an inhibitor in only 1% of the patients (p = 0.001). In patients taking acetylsalicylic acid at the preoperative consultation, Centres A and B physicians recommended withholding the drug 47% and 22% of the time, respectively (p = 0.03). These differences persisted between the 2 centres after controlling for physician estimates of risk. CONCLUSIONS: Consultants frequently recommended perioperative changes in the use of cardiac medications, and there were differences in practice patterns between the 2 centres. These differences may be affecting patient outcomes and highlight the need for randomized clinical trials to determine the impact of perioperative drug administration on bleeding, myocardial infarction and death.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗
PubMed2000

Overview of the Alberta Provincial Project for Outcome Assessment in Coronary Heart Disease. On behalf of the APPROACH investigators.

The Alberta Provincial Project for Outcome Assessment in Coronary Heart Disease (APPROACH) is an ongoing prospective data collection initiative that began in January 1995. The cohort for the initiative is all patients undergoing cardiac catheterization in Alberta. Patients are followed longitudinally for the determination of short and long term clinical, economic and quality of life outcomes. The project is producing valuable information on the processes and outcomes of cardiac care in Alberta, and is now being implemented in British Columbia as well. This paper provides an overview of APPROACH with specific attention to the project's general objectives, salient features, database structure and technical specifications. Examples of applied research projects based on APPROACH data are also provided.

Aged↗
PubMed1999

CABG in Canada.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Canada↗
PubMed1999

Missed opportunities for prevention in general internal medicine.

BACKGROUND: According to the Canadian Society of Internal Medicine, the Canadian general internist is in the ideal position to promote patient health through disease prevention. To explore the general internist's contribution to disease prevention, the authors quantified the extent to which opportunities for prevention were addressed by the general internal medicine (GIM) service in an acute care teaching hospital in Calgary. METHODS: The authors interviewed 100 adult patients before discharge from the hospital's GIM service between May 14, 1997, and Dec. 2, 1997. The number of potential opportunities for preventive intervention were identified for each patient from 10 possible interventions recommended by the Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination (now the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care): breast cancer screening, Papanicolaou smear for cervical cancer, counselling on menopausal hormone replacement therapy, digital rectal examination for prostate cancer, smoking cessation counselling, cholesterol measurement, therapy or monitoring for hypertension, influenza vaccination, pneumococcal vaccination and colorectal cancer screening. The authors determined which interventions the patient had undergone before the current admission to hospital and, using patient recall and postdischarge medical chart review, which opportunities for intervention were addressed by the GIM service during the current admission. An opportunity for preventive intervention was considered as addressed by the GIM service if it was performed during the current admission or if the general internist informed the patient or the patient's family physician of the need for such intervention in the near future. RESULTS: Among the 10 preventive interventions considered, a mean of 3.8 potential opportunities for prevention were identified for each patient. Of these, 46.5% had been addressed before the current admission, and 8.7% were addressed by the GIM service during the admission. Therefore, at the time of discharge, a mean of 55.2% of opportunities had been addressed. Among the opportunities not previously addressed, the GIM service most frequently addressed digital rectal examination for prostate cancer and cholesterol measurement. INTERPRETATION: General internists are discharging patients without sufficiently addressing opportunities for disease prevention. Preventive care protocols may be needed to limit the frequency of missed opportunities for prevention in patients admitted to tertiary care GIM services.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1999

Physician estimates of perioperative cardiac risk in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery.

BACKGROUND: We know little about how physicians assess perioperative cardiac risk in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate preoperative medical consultations and determine the extent to which consultants used validated cardiac risk indices and specialized noninvasive cardiac tests, and to assess agreement between physician ratings of cardiac risk (low, moderate, or high) and risk estimates derived using validated cardiac risk indices or, in the case of vascular surgery, a risk index. METHODS: This observational study was conducted at 5 Canadian teaching hospitals affiliated with 2 universities. We retrospectively evaluated 308 preoperative consultations performed in 297 patients and examined the frequency with which consultants recorded the use of validated cardiac risk indices. We used K statistics to quantify the extent to which physician ratings of cardiac risk agreed with risk estimates derived using validated cardiac risk indices. RESULTS: Physicians recorded use of a risk index in 31% of the consultations, but the index used was almost always the suboptimal classification of the American Society of Anesthesiologists. The agreement between physician estimates of cardiac risk and the validated cardiac risk indices was only fair, with a weighted K of 0.38 (95% confidence interval, 0.28-0.49). Overestimation and underestimation of cardiac risk occurred in 16% and 13% of the consultations, respectively. Consultants did not order dipyridamole thallium imaging or dobutamine stress echocardiography for any moderate-risk patients undergoing vascular surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians underuse validated cardiac risk indices, and the agreement between the cardiac risk estimates and risk as determined by validated cardiac indices is suboptimal. Physicians are also underusing dipyridamole thallium imaging and dobutamine stress echocardiography for moderate-risk patients undergoing vascular surgery.

Alberta↗