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Loneliness is associated with several physical and mental health problems, yet its costs to the healthcare system remain unclear.
Aims
The current study aimed to review literature on the health and social care impacts of loneliness, and review economic evaluations of loneliness interventions.
Method
We conducted a systematic review of studies published from 2008 to April 2025 by searching five bibliographic databases, grey literature and reference lists of systematic reviews. Studies estimating health and social care cost/expenditure, and on health resource utilisation, were included to assess the impact of loneliness on the health system. Return on investment, social return on investment and cost-effectiveness evaluations were included to assess the economic impact of loneliness interventions. We conducted quality appraisal and narrative synthesis of results.
Results
We included 53 studies. Eight estimated the healthcare cost/expenditure of loneliness, 33 reported healthcare resource use and 19 were economic evaluations of interventions. Findings relating to the cost/expenditure of loneliness and service use were inconsistent: some studies reported excess costs/expenditure and service use, whereas others found lower costs/expenditure and service use. Economic evaluation studies indicated that loneliness interventions can be cost-effective, but were not consistently cost-saving or effective in reducing loneliness.
Conclusions
Findings on the impact of loneliness on the healthcare system and economic evaluations of loneliness interventions were varied. Therefore, we cannot derive confident conclusions from this review. To address evidence gaps, future research relating to social care, younger populations, direct healthcare costs of loneliness and randomised controlled trials with long-term follow-ups should be prioritised.
Assess the feasibility and effect of Enhanced Barrier Precautions (EBP) on the transmission of Staphylococcus aureus (SA) and carbapenem-resistant organisms (CRO) among residents in nursing home chronic ventilator units (NH-CVU).
Design:
Pre-post interventional study.
Setting:
Two community-based nursing homes with CVUs in Maryland. A total of 56 residents were enrolled in the baseline period and 64 residents were enrolled in the intervention period.
Methods:
During a 3-month baseline and intervention period, residents were swabbed monthly to estimate SA and CRO acquisition. During a 2-month training period, EBP was implemented for residents with chronic wounds, medical devices, or history of multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) colonization. During the subsequent 3-month intervention period, healthcare personnel (HCP) wore gowns and gloves for high-contact care activities when residents were on EBP. Whole genome sequencing assessed resident-to-resident transmission.
Results:
At baseline, NH-CVU1 used gowns and gloves for all direct contact, while NH-CVU2 used EBP only for residents with a history of MDRO colonization. After training, the proportion of NH-CVU2 residents on EBP increased from 65% in the baseline period to 87% in the intervention period. Glove use was high (93–98%) in both NH-CVUs. Gown use increased from 39% to 77% in NH-CVU1 and from 26% to 72% in NH-CVU2. Resident-to-resident transmission of SA or CRO decreased by 25% in NH-CVU1 (p = 0.60) and by 67% in NH-CVU2 (p = 0.05). CRO transmission decreased by 33% in NH-CVU1 (p = 0.54) and by 83% in NH-CVU2 (p = 0.02).
Conclusions:
EBP is feasible and potentially decreases overall and CRO transmission in nursing home CVUs.
Background: Interventions targeting urine culture stewardship can improve diagnostic accuracy for urinary tract infections (UTI) and decrease inappropriate antibiotic treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria. We aimed to determine if a clinical decision support (CDS) tool which provided guidance on and required documentation of the indications would decrease inappropriately ordered urine cultures in an academic healthcare network that already uses conditional (e.g. reflex) urine testing. Methods: In October 2022, four hospitals within one academic healthcare network transitioned to a new electronic health record (EHR). We developed an embedded CDS tool that provided guidance on ordering either a urinalysis (UA) with reflex to urine culture or a non-reflex urine culture (e.g. for pregnant patients) based on the indication for testing (Figure 1). We compared median monthly UA with reflex culture and non-reflex urine culture order rates pre- (8/2017–9/2022) and post- (10/2022–9/2023) intervention using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. We used interrupted time-series analyses allowing a one-month time window for the intervention effect to assess changes in monthly UA with reflex culture, non-reflex urine culture, and total urine culture order rates associated with the intervention. Using SAS 9.4, we generated Durbin-Watson statistics to assess for autocorrelation and adjusted for this using a stepwise autoregressive model. Result: The median monthly UA with reflex culture order rates per 1000 patient-days were similar pre- and post- intervention at 36.7 (interquartile range [IQR]: 31.0–39.7) and 35.4 (IQR: 32.8–37.0), respectively (Figure 2). Non-reflex and total urine culture rates per 1000 patient-days decreased from 8.5 (IQR: 8.1–9.1) to 4.9 (IQR: 4.7–5.1) and from 20.0 (IQR: 18.9–20.7) to 14.4 (IQR: 14.0–14.6) post-intervention, respectively. Interrupted time-series analyses revealed that the intervention was associated with a decrease in the monthly non-reflex urine culture by 4.8 cultures/1000 patient-days (p< 0.001) and in the total urine culture monthly order rates by 5.0 cultures/ 1000 patient-days (p < 0 .001) [Figures 3a and b]. The UA with reflex order rate did not significantly change with the intervention (not pictured). Conclusion: In an academic healthcare network that already employed conditional urine testing, the implementation of an EHR-based diagnostic stewardship tool led to additional decreases in both non-reflex and total urine cultures ordered.
Background: Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) and catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) are key healthcare-associated infection (HAI) quality metrics. In this qualitative analysis, we aimed to identify common issues contributing to CLABSIs and CAUTIs occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In an academic healthcare network in Atlanta, GA, four hospitals perform real-time, apparent cause analyses (ACAs) for all CLABSIs and CAUTIs. Contributing factors are entered as free text into an electronic database. We analyzed data from 8/2020–8/2022. We first performed a qualitative open card sort of all reported contributing factors to CLABSI and created a novel framework based on mutually defined critical tasks (e.g., line insertion) and cross-cutting issues (e.g., communication breakdown). Contributing factors could describe ≥1 critical task and/or ≥1 cross-cutting issue. After establishing interrater reliability, a multidisciplinary group applied this framework to classify each contributing factor. For CAUTI, we used the same set of cross-cutting issues but identified new critical tasks via open card sorting. We then used the framework to classify each CAUTI contributing factor. We used descriptive statistics to identify frequent critical tasks and cross-cutting issues. Results: We reviewed 350 CLABSI ACAs with 602 contributing factors and 240 CAUTI ACAs with 405 contributing factors (Figure 1). Our classification framework comprised 11 cross-cutting issues and 9 critical tasks for CLABSI and 7 critical tasks for CAUTI (Figure 2). CLABSI: The critical tasks most often reported were bathing (19%), central line dressing maintenance (15%), and assessing central line indication (8%; Figure 3). Within these tasks, the most frequent issues described for bathing were the task not being performed (20%) and unclear documentation (18%); for dressing maintenance, the task was not performed (15%), not documented (15%), or poorly performed due to lack of competency (15%); and for assessing line indication, there was frequent communication breakdown (33%). CAUTI: The critical tasks most often reported were urinary catheter care (26%) and assessing the indication for urinary catheter (22%; Figure 4). Within these tasks, urinary catheter care was frequently not documented (38%) or not performed (16%); assessing urinary catheter necessity was often not documented (29%) or involved breakdown of communication (19%). Conclusion: We created a novel framework to evaluate common causes of HAIs in an academic healthcare network. This framework can be used to identify and track gaps over time and to develop quality improvement initiatives targeting key tasks and associated factors, such as communication difficulties when assessing device indications.
Braidwood Management, Inc. v. Becerra challenges the Affordable Care Act free preventive coverage guarantee. Community health centers serve over 30 million residents of medically underserved urban and rural communities. Their limited federal grant funding makes them reliant on insurance revenue for their operations, Medicaid and subsidized marketplace coverage in particular, both of which are implicated by the case. To understand these implications, we developed an analytic model that crosswalks the preventive services potentially affected by Braidwood and the preventive care that all health centers must furnish. Of the 193 preventive services now covered under the guarantee, only forty-eight would survive were the Braidwood plaintiffs to prevail. In underserved communities, health centers are a principal source of the nearly 150 affected services, as evidenced by the care they are required to furnish under federal law, the quality metrics they are expected to meet, and the health diagnoses and treatments identified in federal performance reporting requirements. Thus, the impact on access, quality, patient health, and health center finances and care capability will likely be substantial.
Boduch-Grabka and Lev-Ari (2021) showed that so-called “native” British-English speakers judged statements produced by Polish-accented English speakers as less likely to be true than statements produced by “native” speakers and that prior exposure to Polish-accented English speech modulates this effect. Given the real-world consequences of this study, as well as our commitment to assessing and mitigating linguistic biases, we conducted a close replication, extending the work by collecting additional information about participants’ explicit biases towards Polish migrants in the UK. We did not reproduce the original pattern of results, observing no effect of speaker accent or exposure on comprehension or veracity. In addition, the measure of explicit bias did not predict differential veracity ratings for Polish- and British-accented speech. Although the current pattern of results differs from that of the original study, our finding that neither comprehension nor veracity were impacted by accent or exposure condition is not inconsistent with the Boduch-Grabka and Lev-Ari (2021) processing difficulty account of the accent-based veracity judgment effect. We explore possible explanations for the lack of replication and future directions for this work.
Paediatricians play an integral role in the lifelong care of children with CHD, many of whom will undergo cardiac surgery. There is a paucity of literature for the paediatrician regarding the post-operative care of such patients.
Observations:
The aim of this manuscript is to summarise essential principles and pertinent lesion-specific context for the care of patients who have undergone surgery or intervention resulting in a biventricular circulation.
Conclusions and relevance:
Familiarity with common issues following cardiac surgery or intervention, as well as key details regarding specific lesions and surgeries, will aid the paediatrician in providing optimal care for these patients.
Single ventricle CHD affects about 5 out of 100,000 newborns, resulting in complex anatomy often requiring multiple, staged palliative surgeries. Paediatricians are an essential part of the team that cares for children with single ventricle CHD. These patients often encounter their paediatrician first when a complication arises, so it is critical to ensure the paediatrician is knowledgeable of these issues to provide optimal care.
Observations
We reviewed the subtypes of single ventricle heart disease and the various palliative surgeries these patients undergo. We then searched the literature to detail the general paediatrician’s approach to single ventricle patients at different stages of surgical palliation.
Conclusions and relevance
Single ventricle patients undergo staged palliation that drastically changes physiology after each intervention. Coordinated care between their paediatrician and cardiologist is requisite to provide excellent care. This review highlights what to expect when these patients are seen by their paediatrician for either well child visits or additional visits for parental or patient concern.
Upernavik Isstrøm, a marine glacier undergoing rapid retreat, is simulated by forcing a numerical model with ocean-driven melt. A review of processes driving retreat led us to hypothesize that a glacier undergoing rapid retreat may be less sensitive to perturbations in the balance of forces than a glacier that is undergoing moderate changes or a glacier in steady state. Numerical experiments suggest this is not the case, and that a system in rapid retreat is as sensitive to basal traction perturbations as a system that is near to steady state. This result is important when considering other glacier systems experiencing marine-forced retreat. While the ice–ocean interface is of primary importance, additional perturbations from meltwater-forced decoupling of the glacier from its bed continue to feature in glacier dynamics.
This volume of 18 essays shows how leading philosophers address the problems of ancient metaphysics: one and the many, the potential and the actual, the material and immaterial, the divine and the world itself. Includes three original and previously unpublished translations of texts by Gilles Deleuze, Pierre Aubenque and Barbara Cassin.
In recent years, a variety of efforts have been made in political science to enable, encourage, or require scholars to be more open and explicit about the bases of their empirical claims and, in turn, make those claims more readily evaluable by others. While qualitative scholars have long taken an interest in making their research open, reflexive, and systematic, the recent push for overarching transparency norms and requirements has provoked serious concern within qualitative research communities and raised fundamental questions about the meaning, value, costs, and intellectual relevance of transparency for qualitative inquiry. In this Perspectives Reflection, we crystallize the central findings of a three-year deliberative process—the Qualitative Transparency Deliberations (QTD)—involving hundreds of political scientists in a broad discussion of these issues. Following an overview of the process and the key insights that emerged, we present summaries of the QTD Working Groups’ final reports. Drawing on a series of public, online conversations that unfolded at www.qualtd.net, the reports unpack transparency’s promise, practicalities, risks, and limitations in relation to different qualitative methodologies, forms of evidence, and research contexts. Taken as a whole, these reports—the full versions of which can be found in the Supplementary Materials—offer practical guidance to scholars designing and implementing qualitative research, and to editors, reviewers, and funders seeking to develop criteria of evaluation that are appropriate—as understood by relevant research communities—to the forms of inquiry being assessed. We dedicate this Reflection to the memory of our coauthor and QTD working group leader Kendra Koivu.1
To test the feasibility of targeted gown and glove use by healthcare personnel caring for high-risk nursing-home residents to prevent Staphylococcus aureus acquisition in short-stay residents.
Design:
Uncontrolled clinical trial.
Setting:
This study was conducted in 2 community-based nursing homes in Maryland.
Participants:
The study included 322 residents on mixed short- and long-stay units.
Methods:
During a 2-month baseline period, all residents had nose and inguinal fold swabs taken to estimate S. aureus acquisition. The intervention was iteratively developed using a participatory human factors engineering approach. During a 2-month intervention period, healthcare personnel wore gowns and gloves for high-risk care activities while caring for residents with wounds or medical devices, and S. aureus acquisition was measured again. Whole-genome sequencing was used to assess whether the acquisition represented resident-to-resident transmission.
Results:
Among short-stay residents, the methicillin-resistant S. aureus acquisition rate decreased from 11.9% during the baseline period to 3.6% during the intervention period (odds ratio [OR], 0.28; 95% CI, 0.08–0.92; P = .026). The methicillin-susceptible S. aureus acquisition rate went from 9.1% during the baseline period to 4.0% during the intervention period (OR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.12–1.42; P = .15). The S. aureus resident-to-resident transmission rate decreased from 5.9% during the baseline period to 0.8% during the intervention period.
Conclusions:
Targeted gown and glove use by healthcare personnel for high-risk care activities while caring for residents with wounds or medical devices, regardless of their S. aureus colonization status, is feasible and potentially decreases S. aureus acquisition and transmission in short-stay community-based nursing-home residents.
Elective surgical patients routinely bathe with chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) at home days prior to their procedures. However, the impact of home CHG bathing on surgical site CHG concentration is unclear. We examined 3 different methods of applying CHG and hypothesized that different application methods would impact resulting CHG skin concentration.
The prospect of autonomous vehicles and associated technologies has disrupted traditional modes of vehicle operation and ownership. This requires automotive designers to shift their focus from designing vehicle form to consider the design of transport experiences. As such, there is a need to explore how best to support automotive designers in communicating user experiences (UX) alongside the physical design of vehicles. This paper presents an industry case study conducted with Ford Design Asia Pacific to assess the embodiment of UX in early concepts. Attributes of generalised model for UX are mapped to designers' storyboard illustration for the experience of an advanced concept for an autonomous vehicle interior. Results show how a mix of captions, sketches of users and contextual features illustrate different attributes of user experience. From findings we conclude firstly, the need to develop a toolkit to help designers communicate descriptions of as yet designed interactions. We also conclude that sketching contextual features of experience can provide a starting point to develop aspects of UX that can be used to differentiate and identify the Ford brand.
Background: Cervical sponylotic myelopathy (CSM) may present with neck and arm pain. This study investiagtes the change in neck/arm pain post-operatively in CSM. Methods: This ambispective study llocated 402 patients through the Canadian Spine Outcomes and Research Network. Outcome measures were the visual analogue scales for neck and arm pain (VAS-NP and VAS-AP) and the neck disability index (NDI). The thresholds for minimum clinically important differences (MCIDs) for VAS-NP and VAS-AP were determined to be 2.6 and 4.1. Results: VAS-NP improved from mean of 5.6±2.9 to 3.8±2.7 at 12 months (P<0.001). VAS-AP improved from 5.8±2.9 to 3.5±3.0 at 12 months (P<0.001). The MCIDs for VAS-NP and VAS-AP were also reached at 12 months. Based on the NDI, patients were grouped into those with mild pain/no pain (33%) versus moderate/severe pain (67%). At 3 months, a significantly high proportion of patients with moderate/severe pain (45.8%) demonstrated an improvement into mild/no pain, whereas 27.2% with mild/no pain demonstrated worsening into moderate/severe pain (P <0.001). At 12 months, 17.4% with mild/no pain experienced worsening of their NDI (P<0.001). Conclusions: This study suggests that neck and arm pain responds to surgical decompression in patients with CSM and reaches the MCIDs for VAS-AP and VAS-NP at 12 months.
Background: Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) is the leading cause of spinal cord impairment. In a public healthcare system, wait times to see spine specialists and eventually access surgical treatment for CSM can be substantial. The goals of this study were to determine consultation wait times (CWT) and surgical wait times (SWT), and identify predictors of wait time length. Methods: Consecutive patients enrolled in the Canadian Spine Outcomes and Research Network (CSORN) prospective and observational CSM study from March 2015 to July 2017 were included. A data-splitting technique was used to develop and internally validate multivariable models of potential predictors. Results: A CSORN query returned 264 CSM patients for CWT. The median was 46 days. There were 31% mild, 35% moderate, and 33% severe CSM. There was a statistically significant difference in median CWT between moderate and severe groups; 207 patients underwent surgical treatment. Median SWT was 42 days. There was a statistically significant difference in SWT between mild/moderate and severe groups. Short symptom duration, less pain, lower BMI, and lower physical component score of SF-12 were predictive of shorter CWT. Only baseline pain and medication duration were predictive of SWT. Both CWT and SWT were shorter compared to a concurrent cohort of lumbar stenosis patients (p <0.001). Conclusions: Patients with shorter duration (either symptoms or medication) and less neck pain waited less to see a spine specialist in Canada and to undergo surgical treatment. This study highlights some of the obstacles to overcome in expedited care for this patient population.
A series of ${\left\hbox[ {{{\left\hbox( {{\rm{SnSe}}} \right\hbox)}_{1 \hbox+ \delta }}} \right\hbox]_m}{\left\hbox[ {{\rm{TiS}}{{\rm{e}}_2}} \right\hbox]_2}$ heterostructure thin films built up from repeating units of m bilayers of SnSe and two layers of TiSe2 were synthesized from designed precursors. The electronic structure of the films was investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for samples with m = 1, 2, 3, and 7 and compared to binary samples of TiSe2 and SnSe. The observed binding energies of core levels and valence bands of the heterostructures are largely independent of m. For the SnSe layers, we can observe a rigid band shift in the heterostructures compared to the binary, which can be explained by electron transfer from SnSe to TiSe2. The electronic structure of the TiSe2 layers shows a more complicated behavior, as a small shift can be observed in the valence band and Se3d spectra, but the Ti2p core level remains at a constant energy. Complementary UV photoemission spectroscopy measurements confirm a charge transfer mechanism where the SnSe layers donate electrons into empty Ti3d states at the Fermi energy.
OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: To respond to the need for a simple tool to answer individual researchers questions: Exactly what training do I need to complete for my study and my role? Where can we go to find a comprehensive record of my research training? METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Identify the factors that determine what training is required for each role (i.e., PI, coordinator, biostatistician) at the University, their role on the research study, type of funding, population being studied and responsibilities/duties on the research team. Develop an inventory of training required according to federal and local regulations and guidelines. Identify other related factors that ensure ongoing compliance for research professionals (i.e., medical licenses, CVs, immunizations, and credentials). Collaborate with programming professionals to explore and confirm the feasibility of such a Web site. Incorporate formal usability and pilot testing as part of the programming design process. Develop User Guide and Marketing and Launch plan for users and supervisors. Implement phased launch of the site with Google analytics, and evaluate the experience of phase I users. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Three months user data and evaluation results demonstrated: 149 users created Training Roadmaps on the site. Users were from 67 different department codes, with the Department of Psychiatry the primary user. 20 users responded to a survey three months after launch. Research coordinators were the primary focus for phase I and represented almost half of the users. Survey respondents rated the site ease of use and clarity of the site as its greatest benefit. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: In September 2017, CTSI launched a new web-based training tool exclusively for University of Minnesota clinical research professionals who work with human participants, and their supervisors. The Human Research Training Web site is a free, easy-to-use tool to help identify and maintain the appropriate training, certification, credentials, and immunizations needed to perform University of Minnesota research with human participants. The Web site offers the University’s first systematic way to identify which research training is necessary for each research professional, and a system to track and maintain training compliance. Training records and information from the University of Minnesota’s central databases are securely integrated into this tool. Our Web site tool enhances research compliance. Any given study team member’s training requirements vary based on several criteria such as: role at the University, role on the research study, type of funding, population being studied and responsibilities/duties on the research study. The research training Web site generates required and optional training based on individuals’ responses to these questions. This Web site also links to the training, which decreases error in taking the wrong training. Furthermore, it provides completion data for research training and is a repository for vital study information such as: medical licenses, CVs, and credentials. Supervisors are able to view training and credentials. They are alerted when one of their employee’s licenses or certificates are about to expire. Uses-to-date and evaluation feedback have informed the need for a second phase of Web site enhancements. This site will reside in both the CTSI Web site and the HRPP Web site. A link will be sent to all new University research employees upon hiring. The Human Research Training Web site will likely have applicability to other universities in addition to the University of Minnesota.
In this volume of 18 essays, leading philosophers address the varied, volatile and novel encounters between contemporary and antique thought. They reconceive and redeploy the problems of ancient metaphysics: one and the many, the potential and the actual, the material and immaterial, the divine and the world itself. Alongside these essays are three original and previously unpublished translations of texts by Gilles Deleuze, Pierre Aubenque and Barbara Cassin.
This study uses an experiment where ferry passengers are sold hotel room “views” to evaluate the impact of wind turbines views on tourists’ vacation experience. Participants purchase a chance for a weekend hotel stay. Information about the hotel rooms was limited to the quality of the hotel and its distance from a large wind turbine, as well as whether or not a particular room would have a view of the turbine. While there was generally a negative effect of turbine views, this did not hold across all participants, and did not seem to be effected by distance or hotel quality.