METHODS: A prospective pre- and post-intervention study was conducted among medical inpatients in a Malaysian secondary care hospital. DVT and bleeding risks were stratified using validated Padua Risk Assessment Model (RAM) and International Medical Prevention Registry on Venous Thromboembolism (IMPROVE) Bleeding Risk Assessment Model. Pharmacist-driven DRAT was developed and implemented post-interventional phase. DVT prophylaxis use was determined and its appropriateness was compared between pre and post study using multivariate logistic regression with IBM SPSS software version 21.0.
RESULTS: Overall, 286 patients (n=142 pre-intervention versus n=144 post-intervention) were conveniently recruited. The prevalence of DVT prophylaxis use was 10.8%. Appropriate thromboprophylaxis prescribing increased from 64.8% to 68.1% post-DRAT implementation. Of note, among high DVT risk patients, DRAT intervention was observed to be a significant predictor of appropriate thromboprophylaxis use (14.3% versus 31.3%; adjusted odds ratio=2.80; 95% CI 1.01 to 7.80; p<0.05).
CONCLUSION: The appropriateness of DVT prophylaxis use was suboptimal but doubled after implementation of DRAT intervention. Thus, an integrated risk stratification checklist is an effective approach for the improvement of rational DVT prophylaxis use.
Methods: : We utilized data among 1020 infants from a mother-offspring cohort, who were Singapore citizens or permanent residents of Chinese, Malay or Indian ethnicity with homogeneous parental ethnic backgrounds, and did not receive chemotherapy, psychotropic drugs or have diabetes mellitus. Ethnicity was self-reported at recruitment and later confirmed using genotype analysis. Subject-specific BMI curves were fitted to infant BMI data using natural cubic splines with random coefficients to account for repeated measures in each child. We estimated characteristics of the child's BMI peak [age and magnitude at peak, average pre-peak velocity (aPPV)]. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), BMI, sum of skinfolds (SSF) and fat-mass index (FMI) were measured during a follow-up visit at age 48 months. Weighted multivariable linear regression was used to assess the predictors (maternal BMI, gestational weight gain, ethnicity, infant sex, gestational age, birthweight-for-gestational age and breastfeeding duration) of infant BMI peak and its associations with outcomes at 48 months. Comparisons between ethnicities were tested using Bonferroni post-hoc correction.
Results: : Of 1020 infants, 80.5% were followed up at the 48-month visit. Mean (SD) BMI, SSF and FMI at 48 months were 15.6 (1.8) kg/m 2 , 16.5 (5.3) mm and 3.8 (1.3) kg/m 2 , respectively. Mean (SD) age at peak BMI was 6.0 (1.6) months, with a magnitude of 17.2 (1.4) kg/m 2 and pre-peak velocity of 0.7 (0.3) kg/m 2 /month. Compared with Chinese infants, the peak occurred later in Malay {B [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.64 mo (0.36, 0.92)]} and Indian infants [1.11 mo (0.76, 1.46)] and was lower in magnitude in Indian infants [-0.45 kg/m 2 (-0.69, -0.20)]. Adjusting for maternal education, BMI, gestational weight gain, ethnicity, infant sex, gestational age, birthweight-for-gestational-age and breastfeeding duration, higher peak and aPPV were associated with greater BMI, SSF and FMI at 48 months. Age at peak was positively associated with BMI at 48 months [0.15 units (0.09, 0.22)], whereas peak magnitude was associated with SBP [0.17 units (0.05, 0.30)] and DBP at 48 months [0.10 units (0.01, 0.22)]. Older age and higher magnitude at peak were associated with increased risk of overweight at 48 months [Relative Risk (95% CI): 1.35 (1.12-1.62) for age; 1.89 (1.60-2.24) for magnitude]. The associations of BMI peak with BMI and SSF at 48 months were stronger in Malay and Indian children than in Chinese children.
Conclusions: : Ethnic-specific differences in BMI peak characteristics, and associations of BMI peak with early childhood cardio-metabolic markers, suggest an important impact of early BMI development on later metabolic outcomes in Asian populations.
METHODS: During a period when the 1999 WHO GDM criteria were in effect, pregnant women were universally screened using a one-step 75 g 2-h oral glucose tolerance test at 26-28 weeks' gestation. Women were retrospectively reclassified according to the 2013 criteria, but without the 1-h glycaemia measurement. Pregnancy outcomes and glucose tolerance at 4-5 years post-delivery were compared for women with GDM classified by the 1999 criteria alone, GDM by the 2013 criteria alone, GDM by both criteria and without GDM by both sets of criteria.
RESULTS: Of 1092 women, 204 (18.7%) and 142 (13.0%) were diagnosed with GDM by the 1999 and 2013 WHO criteria, respectively, with 27 (2.5%) reclassified to GDM and 89 (8.2%) reclassified to non-GDM when shifting from the 1999 to 2013 criteria. Compared to women without GDM by both criteria, cases reclassified to GDM by the 2013 criteria had an increased risk of neonatal jaundice requiring phototherapy (relative risk (RR) = 2.78, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.32, 5.86); despite receiving treatment for GDM, cases reclassified to non-GDM by the 2013 criteria had higher risks of prematurity (RR = 2.17, 95% CI 1.12, 4.24), neonatal hypoglycaemia (RR = 3.42, 95% CI 1.04, 11.29), jaundice requiring phototherapy (RR = 1.71, 95% CI 1.04, 2.82), and a higher rate of abnormal glucose tolerance at 4-5 years post-delivery (RR = 3.39, 95% CI 2.30, 5.00).
CONCLUSIONS: Adoption of the 2013 WHO criteria, without the 1-h glycaemia measurement, reduced the GDM rate. Lowering the fasting glucose threshold identified women who might benefit from treatment, but raising the 2-h threshold may fail to identify women at increased risk of adverse pregnancy and future metabolic outcomes.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01174875 . Registered 1 July 2010 (retrospectively registered).
METHODS: Using data from a multi-ethnic Asian cohort study, namely the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO), dietary intakes were measured using Food Frequency Questionnaires in children at 18 months, 5 and 7 years of age. Maternal feeding practices were assessed using validated questionnaires at 15 months, 3 and 5 years of age. Principal component analysis was used to derive 2 major DPs at all time-points as well as patterns of maternal feeding practices. Group-based trajectory modelling was used to identify trajectory groups for the derived DPs. Multivariable logistic regression examined associations between patterns of maternal feeding practices and DP trajectory groups.
RESULTS: Two DPs, namely the 'healthy' and 'less healthy' were consistently derived at 18 months, 5 and 7 years of age. From each DP, 2 stable DP trajectory groups were further identified between 18 months and 7 years of age. For the 'healthy' DP trajectory, majority of the children (Group 1) formed a consistent average adherence trajectory group (91.8%) while the remaining children (Group 2) showed a higher but decreasing adherence (8.2%) to this DP. For the 'less healthy' DP trajectory, most children (Group 1) formed a consistent average adherence trajectory (95.5%), while the remainder (Group 2) showed consistent higher adherence to this 'less healthy' DP (4.5%). Two patterns of maternal feeding practices were derived and labelled as 'structured with autonomy support' and 'coercive control', respectively, at ages 15 months, 3 and 5 years. Children whose mothers showed high adherence to the structured with autonomy support feeding practices at age 5 years were significantly more likely to be associated with the higher but decreasing 'healthy' DP trajectory group [OR = 3.62 (95% CI: 1.64, 7.99)].
CONCLUSIONS: A small number of children in this multi-ethnic study showed high adherence to the 'healthy' or 'less healthy' DP trajectory groups, respectively, while the majority showed average adherence to either of these trajectories. The positive association between structured with autonomy support maternal feeding practices and higher z-scores for the healthy DP trajectory highlights the importance of guiding parents on appropriate feeding practices.