Background Septic shock is a common and life-threatening condition that requires intensive care. Intensive care units (ICUs) in Japan are classified into ICUs and high-dependency care units (HDUs), depending on presence of full-time certified intensivists and the number of assigned nurses. Compared with other developed countries, there are fewer intensive care beds and certified intensivists in Japan; therefore, non-intensivists often treat patients with septic shock in HDUs. It is unknown where we should treat patients with septic shock because no studies have compared the clinical outcomes between ICU and HDU treatment. This study aimed to elucidate which units should admit patients with septic shock by comparing mortality data and resource use between ICU and HDU admissions. Methods In this retrospective cohort study, we used a nationwide Japanese administrative database to identify adult patients with septic shock who were admitted to ICUs or HDUs between January 2010 and February 2021. The patients were divided into two groups, based on admittance to ICU or HDU on the day of hospitalization. The primary outcome was 30-day all-cause mortality adjusted for covariates using Cox regression analyses; the secondary outcomes were the length of ICU or HDU stay and length of hospital stay. Results Of the 10,818 eligible hospitalizations for septic shock, 6584 were in the ICU group, and 4234 were in the HDU group. Cox regression analyses revealed that patients admitted to the ICUs had lower 30-day mortality (adjusted hazard ratio: 0.89; 95% confidence interval: 0.83–0.96; P = 0.005). Linear regression analyses showed no significant difference in hospital length of stay or ICU or HDU length of stay. Conclusions An association was observed between ICU admission and lower 30-day mortality in patients with septic shock. These findings could provide essential insights for building a more appropriate treatment system.

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Objectives/Hypothesis This study aimed to investigate the risk of postoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis (RLNP) with and without the use of intraoperative nerve monitoring (IONM) during thyroid cancer surgery. Study Design Retrospective cohort study. Methods This study utilized a nationwide claims database in Japan. Patients who underwent thyroid cancer surgery with and without IONM were included, and postoperative RLNP incidence was compared. Results The study included 5,804 patients. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that use of IONM was not associated with increased RLNP risk (odds ratio: 1.15; 95% confidence interval: 0.67‐1.96). There was no significant effect on RLNP prevention when stratified by tumor or nodal classification. Rather, the patients who had T4 or N1b classifications who received IONM had higher incidences of RLNP. Conclusions Use of IONM did not significantly reduce the risk of RLNP. The results for the T4 and N1b populations may be explained by indication bias or unmeasured confounders. Level of Evidence NALaryngoscope, 129:1954–1960, 2019

ObjectiveTo examine the incidence of and indications for paediatric tracheotomy to clarify the disease burden relevant to tracheotomy in a population-based context.DesignA descriptive analysis of a retrospective cohort.SettingThis study utilised a nationwide claims database in Japan constructed by JMDC (Tokyo, Japan). The database includes claims data for approximately 3.75 million insured persons (approximately 3.1% of the population of Japan) comprising mainly company employees and their family members.ParticipantsWe identified children registered to have undergone tracheotomy from 2005 to 2017 among about 1.2 million children aged 0–15 years.Main outcome measuresThe characteristics of the study population, and indications for tracheotomy, duration of hospital stay, duration of mechanical ventilation, duration of tracheotomy dependence, complications related to tracheotomy and death were assessed. When there were multiple indications, classification for a child into multiple groups was allowed.ResultsThe study included 215 children (120 males, 56%). The median age at tracheotomy was 0.8 years. The most common age at tracheotomy was less than 12 months (n=127, 59.1%). The most common indications for tracheotomy were chronic lung disease (n=79, 36.7%), followed by neuromuscular disease (n=77, 35.8%), cardiovascular disease (n=53, 24.3%), upper airway obstruction (n=43, 20%), premature birth and related conditions (n=34, 15.8%), trauma (n=16, 7.4%), prolonged ventilation due to other causes (n=12, 5.6%) and malignancy (n=9, 4.2%). The median duration of tracheotomy dependence was 17.2 months. During the follow-up period, decannulation was achieved in 84 children (39.1%), and the median time from tracheotomy to decannulation was 12.0 months.ConclusionsMost paediatric tracheotomies were performed due to chronic underlying diseases, and the mean duration of tracheotomy dependence was nearly 1-½ years. The long-term duration of tracheotomy dependence might have some impacts on patients’ physical and mental development and the quality of life.

Background: Early detection of cognitive decline allows timely intervention to delay progression of dementia. However, current cognitive evaluation tools often include items delivered via verbal forms of instruction, which can cause poor performance in patients with hearing loss. Objective: To develop and validate a cognitive screening battery, the Reading Cognitive Test Kyoto (ReaCT Kyoto), comprising test items given through non-verbal instruction. Methods: A cross-sectional and multi-center study was conducted in the three medical institutes. ReaCT Kyoto was designed to evaluate domains of "registration," "repetition," "delayed recall," "visuospatial recognition," "orientation in time and place," and "executive function." The Japanese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination Test (MMSE-J) and ReaCT Kyoto were applied by experienced psychotherapists. Concurrent validity was evaluated between the ReaCT Kyoto Test and MMSE-J and between the ReaCT Kyoto Test and physician-diagnosed dementia. Results: ReaCT Kyoto was validated in a sample of 115 participants. The mean age of subjects was 81.0 ± 6.4 years, and the sample comprised 53.0% females. The area under the receiver operating curves was 0.95 for detecting physician-diagnosed dementia. When classifying patients in accordance with presence or absence of hearing loss, the AUCs were 0.93 and 0.97 for those with and without hearing loss, respectively. With a cutoff score of < 29 points for suspected dementia, ReaCT Kyoto correctly classified 90.4% of the subjects as belonging to the group with or without physician-diagnosed dementia. Conclusion: ReaCT Kyoto provides an appropriate solution for detection of cognitive impairment in persons with or without hearing loss.

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Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) relieves menopausal syndromes but concerns regarding certain cancer risks remain. This study aimed to investigate cancer risks in perimenopausal women using HRT. Methods: Using a health care database in Japan, we compared breast cancer and other cancer risks in perimenopausal women who started HRT between January 2011 and October 2021 at age 45-54 years with that of women who did not use HRT. Women in the control group were selected by 1:4 exact matching on birth year, and followed from the same index time as their counterparts. Results: Data from 12 207 women in the exposure group and 48 828 age-matched women in the control group were analyzed. The median HRT duration was 16.1 (interquartile range, 9.9-28.0) months. Breast cancer risk was lower in the HRT group (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.54-0.82). When stratified by age, breast cancer risk was lower in the HRT group who started HRT at age 45-49 years (adjusted HR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.40-0.72). Estrogen-major HRT accounted for approximately one-third of HRT and uterine corpus cancer risk was increased in estrogen-major HRT (adjusted HR, 2.44; 95% CI, 1.56-3.81). Conclusions: Breast cancer risk in women starting HRT between 45 and 49 years is lower than that in the average population; this finding might be susceptible to unmeasured factors such as early menopause among HRT recipients. Unopposed estrogen therapy accounts for considerable proportion of HRT in Japan and it increases uterine corpus cancer.

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