No abstract

A postal questionnaire survey was sent to Royal College of Anaesthetists' tutors in Great Britain and Northern Ireland to gain insight into current practice with regard to information and consent for anaesthesia. Details of consent practice in three specific areas were requested: anaesthesia in general, teaching medical students during anaesthesia and obstetric anaesthesia. Replies were received from 218 tutors (77%). Of these, 72% of departments had a policy on consent for anaesthesia that was in accordance with The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland guidelines oǹ Information and Consent for Anaesthesia'. We identified three areas of concern. Firstly, almost a third of departments (27%) had no policy on consent for anaesthesia. Second, only 18% of relevant departments obtain specific consent for the teaching of medical students on anaesthetised patients. Third, 1 year after publication of the guidelines, 17% of obstetric anaesthetic units, despite stating an intention to alter their departmental policy based on the Association's recommendations, had not yet implemented any changes.

IntroductionQuitting smoking has been proven to benefit smokers with diabetes. However, among older patients with diabetes, the evidence regarding an association between smoking status and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus–related emergency department (ED) visits has not been well investigated.MethodsA retrospective cohort study was performed by using the Louisiana State University Health Care Services Division electronic health records from 2009 to 2011. Patients aged 65 years or older with type 2 diabetes and smoking status recorded at least twice in 2010 were selected. Selected patients with diabetes were classified into nonsmokers, former smokers, continuing smokers, and relapsed smokers. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate the adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 1-year type 2 diabetes–related ED visits for each group compared with nonsmokers.ResultsThere were 174 (8.2%) continuing smokers and 77 (3.6%) relapsed smokers in 2,114 patients with diabetes who were studied. Rates of type 2 diabetes–related ED visits were highest in relapsed smokers (28.6%). Compared with nonsmokers, relapsed smokers had a significantly higher risk of type 2 diabetes–related ED visits (aHR = 1.62; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04–2.50). After stratifying by sex, a significantly increased risk of type 2 diabetes–related ED visits was shown only in male relapsed smokers (aHR = 2.05; 95% CI, 1.13–3.71) and female continuing smokers (aHR = 1.65; 95% CI, 1.10–2.47) compared with nonsmokers.ConclusionOlder men with diabetes who were relapsed smokers had a higher risk of type 2 diabetes–related ED visits. Future research and clinical practice should focus on these patients and create more effective interventions for smoking cessation and diabetes management.

No abstract