National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.

anzctr.org.au Identifier: ACTRN12612001120864; slctr.lk Identifier: SLCTR/2015/020.

In a systematic review and meta-analysis Vlado Perkovic and colleagues investigate whether more intensive blood pressure lowering regimens are associated with greater reductions in the risk of major cardiovascular events and end stage kidney disease.

35Background: There is a pressing need for blood pressure control strategies with improved efficacy and 36 tolerability. We examine whether using ultra-low dose quadruple combination therapy provides an 37 approach with greater efficacy and tolerability. 38

Background Process evaluation is increasingly recognized as an important component of effective implementation research and yet, there has been surprisingly little work to understand what constitutes best practice. Researchers use different methodologies describing causal pathways and understanding barriers and facilitators to implementation of interventions in diverse contexts and settings. We report on challenges and lessons learned from undertaking process evaluation of seven hypertension intervention trials funded through the Global Alliance of Chronic Diseases (GACD). Methods Preliminary data collected from the GACD hypertension teams in 2015 were used to inform a template for data collection. Case study themes included: (1) description of the intervention, (2) objectives of the process evaluation, (3) methods including theoretical basis, (4) main findings of the study and the process evaluation, (5) implications for the project, policy and research practice and (6) lessons for future process evaluations. The information was summarized and reported descriptively and narratively and key lessons were identified. Results The case studies were from low- and middle-income countries and Indigenous communities in Canada. They were implementation research projects with intervention arm. Six theoretical approaches were used but most comprised of mixed-methods approaches. Each of the process evaluations generated findings on whether interventions were implemented with fidelity, the extent of capacity building, contextual factors and the extent to which relationships between researchers and community impacted on intervention implementation. The most important learning was that although process evaluation is time consuming, it enhances understanding of factors affecting implementation of complex interventions. The research highlighted the need to initiate process evaluations early on in the project, to help guide design of the intervention; and the importance of effective communication between researchers responsible for trial implementation, process evaluation and outcome evaluation. Conclusion This research demonstrates the important role of process evaluation in understanding implementation process of complex interventions. This can help to highlight a broad range of system requirements such as new policies and capacity building to support implementation. Process evaluation is crucial in understanding contextual factors that may impact intervention implementation which is important in considering whether or not the intervention can be translated to other contexts. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-7261-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundThere is little data surrounding the survival of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who are admitted to the critical care unit with exacerbation of symptoms. We conducted a study to measure the in-hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) outcomes of patients admitted with COPD exacerbation, and identified the related prognostic factors.MethodWe performed a retrospective cohort study of patients who were admitted to the adult ICU between January 2006 and July 2011 for COPD exacerbation in King Abdulaziz National Guard Hospital, Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia.ResultsDuring the study period, a total of 119 patients were admitted to the ICU with acute respiratory failure attributed to COPD exacerbation. The mean age was 72 ± 13 years, and 44 (37%) were females. The main cause of respiratory failure was infection, which occurred in 102 (86%) patients. Thirty-nine (33%) of the admitted patients were mechanically ventilated, and the median duration was 2.6 (1–42) days. The median lengths of the ICU and hospital stays were 3 (1–40) and 9 (2–43) days, respectively. The ICU mortality was 6%, and hospital mortality was 11%. Low Glasgow Coma Scale on admission, intubation, duration of mechanical ventilation, current smoking, tracheostomy, cardiopulmonary arrest, and the development of acute renal failure were associated with higher hospital mortality.ConclusionEarly ICU and hospital mortality is low for COPD patients who have been admitted to the ICU with exacerbation. Low Glasgow Coma Scale scores on admission, intubation, prolonged use of mechanical ventilation, and the development of acute renal failure were identified as risk factors associated with increased hospital mortality.

Biologically plausible associations exist between climatic conditions and stroke risk, but study results are inconsistent. We aimed to summarize current evidence on ambient temperature and overall stroke occurrence, and by age, sex, and variation of temperature. We performed a systematic literature search across MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science, and GEOBASE, from inception to 16 October 2015 to identify all population-based observational studies. Where possible, data were pooled for meta-analysis with Odds ratios (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) by means of the random effects meta-analysis. We included 21 studies with a total of 476,511 patients. The data were varied as indicated by significant heterogeneity across studies for both ischemic stroke (IS) and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Pooled OR (95% CI) in every 1 degree Celsius increase in ambient temperature was significant for ICH 0.97 (0.94–1.00), but not for IS 1.00 (0.99–1.01) and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) 1.00 (0.98–1.01). Meta-analysis was not possible for the pre-specified subgroup analyses by age, sex, and variation of temperature. Change in temperature over the previous 24 h appeared to be more important than absolute temperature in relation to the risk of stroke, especially in relation to the risk of ICH. Older age appeared to increase vulnerability to low temperature for both IS and ICH. To conclude, this review shows that lower mean ambient temperature is significantly associated with the risk of ICH, but not with IS and SAH. Larger temperature changes were associated with higher stroke rates in the elderly.

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