This review of the effect of toothbrushing and chlorhexidine on the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in patients on mechanical ventilation included 7 RCTs. The findings showed that toothbrushing and chlorhexidine reduced VAP,length of stay and duration of ventilation. However the findings should be interpreted cautiously because of study quality.
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In her debut blog, Natasha Chilman blogs about a Swedish cohort study of 1.3 million people, which finds that migrants with first episode psychosis are more likely to receive inpatient care.
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In her debut blog, Sophia Pillai looks at a recent retrospective case-cohort study on patient and service-level factors affecting the length of inpatient stay in an acute mental health service.
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This Cochrane review updated assessing the impact of oral health measures on the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) in critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation in intensive care includes 40 RCTs and suggests that Chlorhexidine mouthwash or gel, as part of oral health measures, probably reduces the incidence of developing VAP.
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Gemma Shields reports on a recent longitudinal retrospective controlled study of the economic impact of early intervention in psychosis services in England.
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Laura Hemming reviews two recent studies that investigate whether patients admitted to a psychiatric hospital at the weekend had worse clinical outcomes, as well as the specific weekend versus weekday incidences of suicide in very high-risk mental health patients.
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Clarissa Giebel presents the findings of a small RCT that evaluates the impact of a social work care coordination intervention on hospital readmissions in older adults.
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Our resident Elf Economist Chris Sampson summarises a recent report from Monitor (England’s health services regulator), which looks at how NHS providers can improve productivity in elective care.
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In this blog, Alison Turner looks at a set of guides aims to explore the challenges and benefits of designing and delivering care closer to home.
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17 RCTs were included in this review of oral care to reduce ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP). Evidence suggests it can reduce prevalence but not ICU mortality, length of ICU stay or duration of mechanical ventilation.
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