Using Technology to Standardize Surgical Site Infection Prevention

Description
Surgical site infections do not need to be a common complication in the healthcare field. They can be avoided through the use of surgical site infection prevention bundles. More specifically, the bundles can be personalized to each patient to offer

Surgical site infections do not need to be a common complication in the healthcare field. They can be avoided through the use of surgical site infection prevention bundles. More specifically, the bundles can be personalized to each patient to offer further infection prevention when the patient presents with a higher comorbidity risk. Hospitals could reduce their surgical site infection rates through the use of artificial intelligence combing electronic health records and calculating the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) scores to ultimately form an automatic operating room checklist. Low-risk patients will have a standard primary checklist of interventions. Higher risk patients have additional secondary and tertiary interventions added to their primary checklists.
Through a combination of literature, expert opinion, and various seminars at the APIC (Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology), I determined an evidence based primary list of SSI prevention strategies that should be standard amongst all patients. I also gained information on interventions that should be included when patients have higher CCI and ASA scores. My presentation will demonstrate the need for standardization of surgical site infection prevention strategies, the ease that would come from using an artificial intelligence robot to derive the exact intervention checklist best suited for the patient and a cost analysis to demonstrate the current spending and potential savings from using such technology.
Date Created
2019-12
Agent

Acculturative Stress and the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in Korean Americans

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Description
The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between acculturative stress and cardiovascular disease risk factors in Korean immigrants residing in the United States. This is a secondary analysis of existing data that was collected for

The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between acculturative stress and cardiovascular disease risk factors in Korean immigrants residing in the United States. This is a secondary analysis of existing data that was collected for a cross-sectional, descriptive study of 104 Korean American adults in a large Southwestern city in the U.S. Descriptive statistics, t-test, and analysis of variance were used to analyze data on demographics, acculturative stress, and biomarkers indicative of cardiovascular risk, such as body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP), and total cholesterol (TC). Most participants were women (66.3%), with a mean age of 53.59 (SD = 10.42), who were married (89.4%), educated at a college level or above (graduate) level (85.6%), employed full/part-time (64.4%), and had an annual household income of $50,000 or more (62.5%). The average length of residence in the U.S. was 22.04 years (SD = 11.89), Half of the study sample were overweight or obese (BMI > 23 kg/m2), 65.4% with high SBP (≥ 120 mmHg), 75.9% with high DBP (≥ 80 mmHg), and 75% with high TC (≥ 170 mg/dL). Acculturative stress was significantly associated with age, length of residence, and family annual income. Cardiovascular risk factors were significantly different by age, gender, marital status, education level, or employment status. However, the relationship between acculturative stress and cardiovascular risk indicators was not statistically significant. The study findings provide useful information about demographic characteristics, acculturative stress, and cardiovascular health of Korean immigrants in the United States. In order to prevent and manage cardiovascular health of the population, healthcare professionals should consider that cardiovascular risk factors may vary according to demographic characteristics in Korean immigrants.
Date Created
2016-05
Agent