ObjectivesCommunication breakdown is one of the main causes of adverse events in clinical routine, particularly in handover situations. The communication tool SBAR (situation, background, assessment and recommendation) was developed to increase handover quality and is widely assumed to increase patient safety. The objective of this review is to summarise the impact of the implementation of SBAR on patient safety.DesignA systematic review of articles published on SBAR was performed in PUBMED, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library and PsycINFO in January 2017. All original research articles on SBAR fulfilling the following eligibility criteria were included: (1) SBAR was implemented into clinical routine, (2) the investigation of SBAR was the primary objective and (3) at least one patient outcome was reported.SettingA wide range of settings within primary and secondary care and nursing homes.ParticipantsA variety of heath professionals including nurses and physicians.Primary and secondary outcome measuresAspects of patient safety (patient outcomes) defined as the occurrence or incidence of adverse events.ResultsEight studies with a before–after design and three controlled clinical trials performed in different clinical settings met the inclusion criteria. The objectives of the studies were to improve team communication, patient hand-offs and communication in telephone calls from nurses to physicians. The studies were heterogeneous with regard to study characteristics, especially patient outcomes. In total, 26 different patient outcomes were measured, of which eight were reported to be significantly improved. Eleven were described as improved but no further statistical tests were reported, and six outcomes did not change significantly. Only one study reported a descriptive reduction in patient outcomes.ConclusionsThis review found moderate evidence for improved patient safety through SBAR implementation, especially when used to structure communication over the phone. However, there is a lack of high-quality research on this widely used communication tool.Trial registrationnone

Vertigo and dizziness count among the most frequent symptoms in outpatient practices. Although most vestibular disorders are manageable, they are often under- and misdiagnosed in primary care. This may result in prolonged absence from work, increased resource use and, potentially, in chronification. Reliable information on health services utilization of patients with vertigo in primary care is scarce. Retrospective cohort study in patients referred to a tertiary care balance clinic. Included patients had a confirmed diagnosis of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), Menière's disease (MD), vestibular paroxysmia (VP), bilateral vestibulopathy (BVP), vestibular migraine (VM), or psychogenic vertigo (PSY). All previous diagnostic and therapeutic measures prior to the first visit to the clinic were recorded. 2,374 patients were included (19.7 % BPPV, 12.7 % MD, 5.8 % VP, 7.2 % BVP, 14.1 % VM, 40.6 % PSY), 61.3 % with more than two consultations. Most frequent diagnostic measures were magnetic resonance imaging (MRI, 76.2 %, 71 % in BPPV) and electrocardiography (53.5 %). Most frequent therapies were medication (61.0 %) and physical therapy (41.3 %). 37.3 % had received homoeopathic medication (39 % in BPPV), and 25.9 % were treated with betahistine (20 % in BPPV). Patients had undergone on average 3.2 (median 3.0, maximum 6) diagnostic measures, had received 1.8 (median 2.0, maximum 8) therapies and 1.8 (median 1.0, maximum 17) different drugs. Diagnostic subgroups differed significantly regarding number of diagnostic measures, therapies and drugs. The results emphasize the need for establishing systematic training to improve oto-neurological skills in primary care services not specialized on the treatment of dizzy patients.

The assessment of vasomotor reactivity by transcranial Doppler ultrasound correlates with cerebral blood flow changes even when different vasodilatory stimuli are used. In cooperative patients the breath-holding maneuver as vasodilatory stimulus seems clinically useful for a first estimation of cerebral vasomotor reactivity.

The presence of an ophthalmic artery pathway may provide the first evidence of disturbed vasomotor reactivity. The use of cerebral angiography to evaluate collateral pathways must be considered carefully since transcranial Doppler ultrasound is a reliable noninvasive alternative.

Transfer function analysis (TFA) is a frequently used method to assess dynamic cerebral autoregulation (CA) using spontaneous oscillations in blood pressure (BP) and cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV). However, controversies and variations exist in how research groups utilise TFA, causing high variability in interpretation. The objective of this study was to evaluate between-centre variability in TFA outcome metrics. 15 centres analysed the same 70 BP and CBFV datasets from healthy subjects (n = 50 rest; n = 20 during hypercapnia); 10 additional datasets were computer-generated. Each centre used their in-house TFA methods; however, certain parameters were specified to reduce a priori between-centre variability. Hypercapnia was used to assess discriminatory performance and synthetic data to evaluate effects of parameter settings. Results were analysed using the Mann–Whitney test and logistic regression. A large non-homogeneous variation was found in TFA outcome metrics between the centres. Logistic regression demonstrated that 11 centres were able to distinguish between normal and impaired CA with an AUC > 0.85. Further analysis identified TFA settings that are associated with large variation in outcome measures. These results indicate the need for standardisation of TFA settings in order to reduce between-centre variability and to allow accurate comparison between studies. Suggestions on optimal signal processing methods are proposed.

BackgroundToday industrialized countries face a burgeoning aged population. Thus, there is increasing attention on the functioning and disabilities of aged adults as potential determinants of autonomy and independent living. However, there are few representative findings on the prevalence and determinants of disability in aged persons in the German population.The objective of our study is to examine the frequency, distribution and determinants of functioning and disability in aged persons and to assess the contribution of diseases to the prevalence of disability.MethodsData originate from the MONICA/KORA study, a population-based epidemiological cohort. Survivors of the original cohorts who were 65 and older were examined by telephone interview in 2009. Disability was assessed with the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI). Minimal disability was defined as HAQ-DI > 0. Logistic regression was used to adjust for potential confounders and additive regression to estimate the contribution of diseases to disability prevalence.ResultsWe analyzed a total of 4117 persons (51.2% female) with a mean age of 73.6 years (SD = 6.1). Minimal disability was present in 44.7% of all participants. Adjusted for age and diseases, disability was positively associated with female sex, BMI, low income, marital status, physical inactivity and poor nutritional status, but not with smoking and education. Problems with joint functions and eye diseases contributed most to disability prevalence in all age groups.ConclusionsIn conclusion, this study could show that there are vulnerable subgroups of aged adults who should receive increased attention, specifically women, those with low income, those over 80, and persons with joint or eye diseases. Physical activity, obesity and malnutrition were identified as modifiable factors for future targeted interventions.

Psychometric deficits are frequent after bacterial meningitis, and their relation with neurologic and psychopathologic symptoms is loose. The pattern of neuropsychologic impairment accentuates psychomotor slowing combined with memory disturbances, and resembles features observed in subcortical cognitive impairment.

Stenoses of the intracranial arteries occur frequently in bacterial meningitis and are associated with a complicated course of the disease.