BackgroundTo identify best practices and quality improvement initiatives, we aimed to assess whether the incidence of Periprosthetic Joint Infection (PJI) and treatment strategies differed across patients treated in Australian, European and United States (US) hospitals.MethodsRoutinely collected administrative data for 41397 patients undergoing a primary total hip or knee arthroplasty between July 2007-December 2010 across 22 hospitals were included. Patients were followed for 2 years looking for PJI occurrence, defined as early (within 4 weeks) and late PJI, and surgical treatment during 2.5 years after PJI diagnosis. Logistic and Poisson regression models were used to test for differences in PJI occurrence and treatment strategies across the three geographical regions, adjusted for age, sex, joint and Elixhauser comorbidity groups.ResultsPJI occurrence varied from 1.4% in European to 1.7% in Australian patients, which were significantly higher than US patients after adjustment for patient characteristics (OR 1.24 [1.01–1.52] and 1.40 [1.03–1.91] respectively). Early PJIs varied between 0.3% in European to 0.6% in Australian patients, but adjusted rates were similar. Revision following PJI was significantly lower in Australian than in US patients (OR 0.46 [0.25–0.86]) as were the total number of revisions (RR 0.51 [0.36–0.71]) and number of surgical procedures (RR 0.60 [0.44–0.81]) used to treat PJI.ConclusionThe overall PJI rate was significantly higher in Australian patients, but fewer procedures were needed to treat these PJIs. Future research should reveal whether this reflects PJIs caught earlier or less severe when diagnosed, and whether this is associated with the longer length of stay after primary arthroplasty in Australian hospitals.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12891-017-1569-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Summary Background Social and material deprivation accelerate the development of multimorbidity, yet the mechanisms which drive multimorbidity pathways and trajectories remain unclear. We aimed to examine the association between health inequality, risk factors and accumulation or resolution of LTCs, taking disease sequences into consideration. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort of adults aged 18 years and over, registered between April 2005 and May 2020 in general practices in one inner London borough ( n = 826,936). Thirty-two long term conditions (LTCs) were selected using a consensus process, based on a definition adapted to the demographic characteristics of the local population. sThe development and resolution of these LTCs were examined according to sociodemographic and clinical risk factors (hypertension; moderate obesity (BMI 30·0–39·9 kg/m2), high cholesterol (total cholesterol > 5 mmol/L), smoking, high alcohol consumption (>14 units per week), and psychoactive substance use), through the application of multistate Markov chain models. Findings Participants were followed up for a median of 4.2 years (IQR = 1·8 - 8·4); 631,760 (76%) entered the study with no LTCs, 121,424 (15%) with 1 LTC, 41,720 (5%) with 2 LTCs, and 31,966 (4%) with three or more LTCs. At the end of follow-up, 194,777 (24%) gained one or more LTCs, while 45,017 (5%) had resolved LTCs and 27,021 (3%) died. In multistate models, deprivation (hazard ratio [HR] between 1·30 to 1·64), female sex (HR 1·13 to 1·20), and Black ethnicity (HR 1·20 to 1·30; vs White) were independently associated with increased risk of transition from one to two LTCs, and shorter time spent in a healthy state. Substance use was the strongest risk factor for multimorbidity with an 85% probability of gaining LTCs over the next year. First order Markov chains identified consistent disease sequences including: chronic pain or osteoarthritis followed by anxiety and depression; alcohol and substance dependency followed by HIV, viral hepatitis, and liver disease; and morbid obesity followed by diabetes, hypertension, and chronic pain. Interpretation We examined the relations among 32 LTCs, taking the order of disease occurrence into consideration. Distinctive patterns for the development and accumulation of multimorbidity have emerged, with increased risk of transitioning from no conditions to multimorbidity and mortality related to ethnicity, deprivation and gender. Musculoskeletal disorders, morbid obesity and substance abuse represent common entry points to multimorbidity trajectories.

Background Inverse association between hospital case-volume and case-fatality has been observed for various nonsurgical interventions and surgical procedures. Aims To study the impact of hospital case-volume on outcome after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Methods We included aSAH patients who underwent aneurysm coiling or clipping from tertiary care medical centers across three continents using the Dr Foster Stroke GOAL database 2007-2014. Hospitals were categorized by annual case-volume (low volume: <41/year; intermediate: 41-70/year; high: >70/year). Primary outcome was 14-day in-hospital case-fatality. We calculated proportions, and used multiple logistic regression to adjust for age, sex, differences in comorbidity or disease severity, aneurysm treatment modality, and hospital. Results We included 8525 patients (2363 treated in low volume hospitals, 3563 treated in intermediate volume hospitals, and 2599 in high-volume hospitals). Crude 14-day case-fatality for hospitals with low case-volume was 10.4% (95% confidence interval (CI) 9.2-11.7%), for intermediate volume 7.0% (95% CI 6.2-7.9%; adjusted odds ratio (OR) 0.63 (95%CI 0.47-0.85)) and for high volume 5.4% (95% CI 4.6-6.3%; adjusted OR 0.50 (95% CI 0.33-0.74)). In patients with clipped aneurysms, adjusted OR for 14-day case-fatality was 0.46 (95% CI 0.30-0.71) for hospitals with intermediate case-volume and 0.42 (95% CI 0.25-0.72) with high case-volume. In patients with coiled aneurysms, adjusted OR was 0.77 (95% CI 0.55-1.07) for hospitals with intermediate case-volume and 0.56 (95% CI 0.36-0.87) with high case-volume. Conclusions Even within a subset of large, tertiary care centers, intermediate and high hospital case-volume is associated with lower case-fatality after aSAH regardless of treatment modality, supporting centralization to higher volume centers.

Background Defining multimorbidity has proved elusive in spite of attempts to standardise definitions. For national studies, a broad definition is required to capture national diversity. For locally based studies, the definition may need to reflect demographic and morbidity patterns. We aimed to define multimorbidity for an inner city, multi-ethnic, deprived, young age community typical of many large cities. Methods We used a scoping literature review to identify the international literature, standards and guidelines on Long Term Condition (LTC) definitions for inclusion in our multimorbidity definition. Consensus was categorised into high, medium or low consensus, depending on the number of literature sources citing each LTC. Findings were presented to a workshop consisting of local health service stakeholders who were asked to select LTCs for inclusion in a second stage review. In the second stage, each LTC was tested against seven evaluation domains: prevalence, impact, preventability, treatment burden, progression to multiple LTCs, impact on younger people, data quality. These domains were used to create 12 target criteria. LTC rankings according to consensus group and target criteria scores were presented to a second workshop for a final decision about LTC inclusion. Results The literature review identified 18 literature sources citing 86 LTCs: 11 were excluded because they were LTC clusters. The remainder were allocated into consensus groupings: 13 LTCs were ‘high consensus’ (cited by ≥ 11 sources); 15 were ‘medium consensus’ (cited by 5–10 sources); 47 were ‘low consensus’ (cited by < 5 sources). The first workshop excluded 31 LTCs. The remaining 44 LTCs consisted of: 13 high consensus LTCs, all with high target score (score 6–12); 15 medium consensus LTCs, 11 with high target scores; 16 low consensus LTCs, 6 with high target scores. The final workshop selected the 12 high consensus conditions, 12 medium consensus LTCs (10 with high target scores) and 8 low consensus LTCs (3 with high target scores), producing a final selection of 32 LTCs. Conclusions Redefining multimorbidity for an urban context ensures local relevance but may diminish national generalisability. We describe a detailed LTC selection process which should be generalisable to other contexts, both local and national.

SummaryProstitution in Sheffield, a city with over half a million population, has been reviewed in its legal, social work, and medical aspects. The years studied were 1960-73. The medical studies were confined to the years 1968-72.Prosecutions for soliciting increased steadily during the study period. The trend was more marked locally than nationally and was associated both with increased police activity and, more recently, with the pursuit of a socially-aware sentencing, probationary, and social work policy.During the 5-year medical study, sixty prostitutes were seen. Using gonorrhoea as an index they were found to hazard the health of both themselves and others. Recurrent infection was the rule amongst them and 40 per cent. suffered salpingitis. In epidemiological terms our findings show that the vector role of prostitutes continues undiminished. The alleged decline in their role is relative only and not real. They accounted for one in six of locally acquired gonococcal infections in heterosexual men.The study indicates the need for the regular monitoring ofthe social phenomenon ofprostitution and for the detailed study of all its aspects on a national basis.