Background Worldwide, smoking tobacco causes 7 million deaths annually, and this toll is expected to increase, especially in low-income and middle-income countries. In Latin America, smoking is a leading risk factor for death and disability, contributes to poverty, and imposes an economic burden on health systems. Despite being one of the most effective measures to reduce smoking, tobacco taxation is underused and cigarettes are more affordable in Latin America than in other regions. Our aim was to estimate the tobacco-attributable burden on mortality, disease incidence, quality of life lost, and medical costs in 12 Latin American countries, and the expected health and economic effects of increasing tobacco taxes.Methods In this modelling study, we developed a Markov probabilistic microsimulation economic model of the natural history, medical costs, and quality-of-life losses associated with the most common tobacco-related diseases in 12 countries in Latin America. Data inputs were obtained through a literature review, vital statistics, and hospital databases from each country: Argentina,

BackgroundMedication errors are preventable events that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the healthcare professional or patient. Medication errors in hospitalised adults may cause harm, additional costs, and even death. ObjectivesTo determine the e ectiveness of interventions to reduce medication errors in adults in hospital settings. Search methodsWe searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, five other databases and two trials registers on 16 January 2020. Selection criteriaWe included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and interrupted time series (ITS) studies investigating interventions aimed at reducing medication errors in hospitalised adults, compared with usual care or other interventions. Outcome measures included adverse drug events (ADEs), potential ADEs, preventable ADEs, medication errors, mortality, morbidity, length of stay, quality of life and identified/ solved discrepancies. We included any hospital setting, such as inpatient care units, outpatient care settings, and accident and emergency departments. Data collection and analysisWe followed the standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane and the E ective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) Group. Where necessary, we extracted and reanalysed ITS study data using piecewise linear regression, corrected for autocorrelation and seasonality, where possible.

Objective:To describe and compare the work of breathing (WOB) during spontaneous breathing under four conditions: (1) breathing through a tracheostomy tube with an inflated cuff, (2) breathing through the upper airway (UA) with a deflated cuff and occluded tube, (3) breathing through the UA with an occluded cuffless tube, and (4) postdecannulation.Patients and Methods:Patients who tolerated an occluded cuffless tube were included. Ventilatory variables and esophageal pressure were recorded. The pressure-time product (PTP), PTP/min, and PTP/min/tidal volume (PTP/min/VT) were measured. Each condition was measured for 5 min with a 15 min time interval between evaluations. Quantitative data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Single-factor analysis of variance was used, and the Games-Howell test was used for post hoc analysis of comparisons between group means (P ≤ 0.05).Results:Eight patients were studied under each of the four conditions described above. Statistically significant differences were found for PTP, PTP/min, and PTP/min/VT. In the post hoc analysis for PTP, significant differences among all conditions were found. For PTP/min, there was no significant difference between Conditions 2 and 4 (P = 0.138), and for PTP/min/VT, there was no significant difference between Conditions 1 and 2 (P = 0.072) or between Conditions 2 and 3 (P = 0.106). A trend toward a higher PTP, PTP/min, and PTP/min/VT was observed when breathing through a cuffless tracheostomy tube.Conclusion:The four conditions differed with respect to WOB. Cuff inflation could result in a reduced WOB because there is less dead space. Cuffless tracheostomy tubes generate increased WOB, perhaps due to the material deformity caused by body temperature.

Background: Our aim was to summarize and compare relevant recommendations from evidence-based CPGs (EB-CPGs). Methods: Systematic review of clinical practice guidelines. Data sources: PubMed, EMBase, Cochrane Library, LILACS, Tripdatabase, and additional sources. In July 2017, we searched CPGs that were published in the last 10 years, without language restrictions, in electronic databases, and also searched specific CPG sources, reference lists, and consulted experts. Pairs of independent reviewers selected EB-CPGs and rated their methodological quality using the AGREE-II instrument. We summarized recommendations, its supporting evidence, and strength of recommendations according to the GRADE methodology. Results: We included 16 EB-CPGs out of 2262 references identified. Only nine of them had searches within the last 5 years and seven used GRADE. The median (percentile 25-75) AGREE-II scores for rigor of development was 49% (35-76%) and the domain "applicability" obtained the worst score 16% (9-31%). We summarized 31 risk stratification recommendations, 21.6% of which were supported by high/moderate quality of evidence (41% of them were strong recommendations), and 16 therapeutic/preventive recommendations, 59% of which were supported by high/moderate quality of evidence (75.7% strong). We found inconsistency in ratings of evidence level. "Guidelines' applicability" and "monitoring" were the most deficient domains. Only half of the EB-CPGs were updated in the past 5 years. Conclusions: We present many strong recommendations that are ready to be considered for implementation as well as others to be interrupted, and we reveal opportunities to improve guidelines' quality.