Quality Indicators, Health Care

IJCS

Original Article

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction Care Indicators at a Public Hospital in Brazil

Túlio Torres Vargas et al. Lucas Yuji Sonoda Maria da Graça Lepre Hawerroth Stefania de Figueiredo Coutinho … Gabriela Gonçalves Ferreira Mariane da Mata Morato Mendes Marilene Ribeiro Almeida Costa André Schmidt Antonio Pazin Filho

Abstract

Background

International publications have shown that the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the indicators of care for ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI), with a potential increase in morbidity and mortality.

Objectives

To compare mortality, time from symptom onset to primary angioplasty (total delay [TD]), time from symptom onset to initial medical contact (patient delay [PD]), and time from initial medical contact to guidewire insertion in the hemodynamics laboratory (system delay [SD]) among patients admitted for STEMI at the Hemodynamics Service of Santa Casa de Passos, Minas Gerais, Brazil before and after the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic by the World Health Organization, assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on STEMI care indicators.

Methods

This is a before-and-after study involving patients hospitalized with STEMI undergoing primary angioplasty. Data were collected retrospectively through medical record review. Clinical and demographic profiles and outcomes between the pre-pandemic and pandemic groups were compared using the chi-square test for categorical variables or Student’s t-test for continuous variables. A significance level of p < 0.05 was adopted.

Results

There were no differences in TD (pre-pandemic: 300 min [± 159 min], 95% CI 277.1 to 322.6; pandemic: 300 min [± 148 min], 95% CI 274.3 to 326.6, p = 0.97). However, there was an increase in SD (pre-pandemic: 145 min [± 97 min], 95% CI 122.7 to 167.9; pandemic: 178 min [± 96 min], 95% CI 157.4 to 197.9, p = 0.037). There was no increase in PD (pre-pandemic: 145 min ± 133 min; pandemic: 130 min ± 117 min, p = 0.44), and no differences in mortality were observed (pre-pandemic: 9.7%; pandemic: 12%, p = 0.49).

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic increased SD in the management of STEMI in the region of Passos, Minas Gerais. There were no differences in PD, TD, and in-hospital mortality.

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Original Article

Satisfaction of Emergency Physicians with the Care Provided to Patients with Cardiovascular Diseases in the Northern Region of Minas Gerais

Milena Soriano Marcolino et al. João Antonio de Queiroz Oliveira Grace Kelly Matos e Silva Thatiane Dantas Dias … Barbara Campos Abreu Marino André Pires Antunes Antonio Luiz Ribeiro Clareci Silva Cardoso

Abstract

Background:

The dissatisfaction of health professionals in emergency services has a negative influence on both the quality of care provided for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients and the retention of those professionals.

Objective:

To assess physicians’ satisfaction with the structure of care and diagnosis at the emergency services in the Northern Region of Minas Gerais before the implementation of the AMI system of care.

Methods:

This cross-sectional study included physicians from the emergency units of the ambulance service (SAMU) and level II, III and IV regional hospitals. Satisfaction was assessed by using the CARDIOSATIS-Team scale. The median score for each item, the overall scale and the domains were calculated and then compared by groups using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test. Correlation between time since graduation and satisfaction level was assessed using Spearman correlation. A p value < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results:

Of the 137 physicians included in the study, 46% worked at SAMU. Most of the interviewees showed overall dissatisfaction with the structure of care, and the median score for the overall scale was 2.0 [interquartile range (IQR) 2.0-4.0]. Most SAMU physicians expressed their dissatisfaction with the care provided (54%), the structure for managing cardiovascular diseases (52%), and the technology available for diagnosis (54%). The evaluation of the overall satisfaction evidenced that the dissatisfaction of SAMU physicians was lower when compared to that of hospital emergency physicians. Level III/IV hospital physicians expressed greater overall satisfaction when compared to level II hospital physicians.

Conclusion:

This study showed the overall dissatisfaction of the emergency physicians in the region assessed with the structure of care for cardiovascular emergencies.

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Original Article

Epidemiological Profile and Quality Indicators in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome in Northern Minas Gerais – Minas Telecardio 2 Project

Bárbara Campos Abreu Marino et al. Milena Soriano Marcolino Rasível dos Santos Reis Júnior Ana Luiza Nunes França … Priscilla Fortes de Oliveira Passos Thais Ribeiro Lemos Izabella de Oliveira Antunes Camila Gonçalves Ferreira André Pires Antunes Antonio Luiz Pinho Ribeiro

Abstract

Background:

Coronary artery disease is the main cause of death in Brazil. In the Brazilian public health system, the in-hospital mortality associated with acute myocardial infarction is high. The Minas Telecardio 2 Project (Projeto Minas Telecardio 2) aims at implementing a myocardial infarction system of care in the Northern Region of Minas Gerais (MG) to decrease hospital morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to describe the profile of the patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) cared for in the period that preceded the implementation of the system of care.

Methods:

Observational, prospective study of patients with ACS admitted between June 2013 and March 2014 to six emergency departments in Montes Claros, MG, and followed up until hospital discharge.

Results:

During the study period, 593 patients were admitted with a diagnosis of ACS (mean age 63 ± 12 years, 67.6% men), including 306 (51.6%) cases of unstable angina, 214 (36.0%) of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), and 73 (12.3%) of non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). The total STEMI mortality was 21%, and the in-hospital mortality was 17.2%. In the STEMI patients, 46,0% underwent reperfusion therapy, including primary angioplasty in 88 and thrombolysis in six. Overall, aspirin was administered to 95.1% of the patients within 24 hours and to 93.5% at discharge, a P2Y₁₂ inhibitor was administered to 88.7% participants within 24 hours and to 75.1% at discharge. A total of 73.1% patients received heparin within 24 hours.

Conclusion:

We observed a low reperfusion rate in patients with STEMI and limited adherence to the recommended ACS treatment in the Northern Region of MG. These observations enable opportunities to improve health care.

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Original Article

Analysis Treatment Guideline versus Clinical Practice Protocol in Patients Hospitalized due to Heart Failure

Alessandra da Graça Corrêa et al. Marcia Makdisse Marcelo Katz Thamires Campos Santana … Paula Kiyomi Onaga Yokota Tatiana de Fatima Gonçalves Galvão Fernando Bacal

Background:

Despite the availability of guidelines for treatment of heart failure (HF), only a few studies have assessed how hospitals adhere to the recommended therapies.

Objectives:

Compare the rates of adherence to the prescription of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ACEI/ARB) at hospital discharge, which is considered a quality indicator by the Joint Commission International, and to the prescription of beta-blockers at hospital discharge, which is recommended by national and international guidelines, in a hospital with a case management program to supervise the implementation of a clinical practice protocol (HCP) and another hospital that follows treatment guidelines (HCG).

Methods:

Prospective observational study that evaluated patients consecutively admitted to both hospitals due to decompensated HF between August 1st, 2006, and December 31st, 2008. We used as comparing parameters the prescription rates of beta-blockers and ACEI/ARB at hospital discharge and in-hospital mortality.

Results:

We analyzed 1,052 patients (30% female, mean age 70.6 ± 14.1 years), 381 (36%) of whom were seen at HCG and 781 (64%) at HCP. The prescription rates of beta-blockers at discharge at HCG and HCP were both 69% (p = 0.458), whereas those of ACEI/ARB were 83% and 86%, respectively (p = 0.162). In-hospital mortality rates were 16.5% at HCP and 27.8% at HCG (p < 0.001).

Conclusion:

There was no difference in prescription rates of beta-blocker and ACEI/ARB at hospital discharge between the institutions, but HCP had lower in-hospital mortality. This difference in mortality may be attributed to different clinical characteristics of the patients in both hospitals.

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Artigo Original

Time of Exercise as Indicator of Quality Control in Ergometry Services

Romeu Sergio Meneghelo et al. Samira Saady Morhy Paola Zucchi

Background:

The search for quality requires assessment tools in the various subdivisions of a health complex. In diagnostic medicine, they are scarce and in ergometry suggestions of indicators were not found.

Objective:

To establish indicator for quality control on ergometry based on III Guidelines of the Brazilian Cardiology Society About Ergometric Test; to verify the percentage of tests that have presented the indicator within the compliance in two services of the same institution before and after the publication of the document.

Methods:

A critical analysis of the guidelines in the search for indicator that would present: accuracy, reliability, simplicity, validity, sensitivity and ability to quantitatively measure the variations in the behavior of quality criteria and that would be applicable to all tests. The indicator was applied in tests of 2010 and 2011 prior to the publication, and after it was adopted by two services of the same institution.

Results:

The indicator that has met the criteria was the percentage of ergometric tests with exercise duration between 8 and 12 minutes. In the years 2010 and 2011, respectively, the percentage of ergometric tests within compliance were 85.5% and 86.1% (p = 0.068) at the General Hospital, and 81.5% and 85.7% (p <0.001) the Service of Periodic Health Assessment.

Conclusion:

The exercise time between 8 and 12 minutes can be used as a quality criterion in ergometric and services where it was applied, at least 80% of the ergometric tests were compliant.

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Artigo Original

Evidence of healthcare quality improvement in acute myocardial infarction

Antônio Sérgio Cordeiro da Rocha et al. Mônica Peres de Araújo André Volscham Luiz Antonio Ferreira Carvalho … Ary Ribeiro Evandro Tinoco Mesquita

BACKGROUND: The monitoring of healthcare quality indicators (HCQI) is a process of utmost importance in patient healthcare services. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether the monitoring of HCQI and the root-cause analysis improve the healthcare quality in acute myocardial infarction (AMI). METHODS: A cross-sectional and comparative analysis of HCQI was performed in patients with AMI in the years 2006 and 2007. Of the 1,461 patients admitted with chest pain, 172 (11.7%) had a diagnosis of AMI and were included in the analysis. RESULTS: The rate of primary angioplasty was 8.47% higher in 2007 (97.3%) when compared to that in 2006 (89.7%), but this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.35). Moreover, there was no difference regarding the time of hospitalization (4 vs 5 days, p = 0.15) and the in-hospital mortality (7.8% vs 5.1%, p = 0.67) between 2007 and 2006, respectively. However, the time to the first troponin level was 27% shorter in 2007 (69 min.; 95%CI = 44-94 min.) when compared to 2006 (95 min.; 53-136 min.) (p = 0.025). The door-to-balloon time was 12% shorter (72 ± 29 min. vs 109 ± 85 min.; p = 0.03), the rate of ASA prescription at hospital discharge was 35% higher (94.7% vs 70.3%; p = 0.002) and the rate of PCA shorter than 90 minutes was 52% higher (78.3 vs 51.4%; p = 0.03) in 2007, when compared to 2006. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the strategy of monitoring the HCQI and the implementation of the root-cause analysis methodology can improve the healthcare process in patients with AMI.

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Artigo Original

Indicators of healthcare quality in isolated coronary artery bypass graft surgery performed at a tertiary cardiology center

Evandro Tinoco Mesquita et al. Ary Ribeiro Mônica Peres de Araújo Luiz Antonio de Almeida Campos … Marco Aurélio Fernandes Alexandre Siciliano Colafranceschi Celso Garcia da Silveira Edson Nunes Antônio Sérgio Cordeiro da Rocha

BACKGROUND: Quality indicators (QI) for cardiac surgery are important instruments for measuring healthcare quality in hospital centers and allow comparison with high-quality healthcare centers. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate QIs in isolated myocardial revascularization procedures (CABG) performed at a tertiary cardiology center. METHODS: One hundred and forty-four consecutive patients who had undergone isolated CABG were evaluated between October 2005 and March 2007. One hundred and eight patients were men (75%), the mean age was 65±11, and the EuroSCORE was 4±3. The following QIs were measured: time elapsed between the surgery date-setting appointment and the actual day of the CABG (TDC); surgery cancellation rate (SCR) due to problems in hospital infrastructure; length of hospital stay (LOS); operative mortality (OM) and rate of readmission (RHR) for infection in the surgical wound. RESULTS: The TDC (n=98) was 4±3 days (median: 4 days) and the SCR was zero. The OM recorded of 4.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.2 – 9.87%) was lower than the expected OM of 5.1% (95% CI = 1.4% to 14.37%), but with no statistical significance (p=0.65). The area under the ROC curve of the EuroSCORE for the OM was 0.702 (95% CI = 0.485 – 0.919). LOS was 11±9 days. The area under the ROC curve of the EuroSCORE for the LOS was 0.764 (95% CI = 0.675 – 0.852). The RHR recorded was 2.1%. CONCLUSION: The measurement of the QIs showed that, in a medical center with a low annual volume of CABG, the results were compatible with the risk profile of the population involved.

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