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PURPOSE: We not only developed a clinical practice program for the assessment and feedback vis-à-vis medical students' medical records but also evaluated the effectiveness of this program via a self-assessment of medical students' competence in writing medical records pre- and post-program. METHODS: In 2022, 74 third-year medical students were divided into four groups and participated in a 2-week program. The students' medical records were graded on a scale ranging from 1 to 3 daily, and the mean scores for 2 weeks were compared. Pre- and post-program, the students' self-assessment survey was conducted. RESULTS: The mean scores increased from 1.30 in the first week to 2.14 in the second week. The mean score of self-assessment showed significant improvements, increasing from 2.43 to 4.00 for medical record, 2.64 to 4.08 for write present illness, 2.08 to 3.89 for initial orders, 2.35 to 4.34 for signature, and 2.38 to 3.97 for consent (all p<0.001). CONCLUSION: We found that providing students with real-time assessment and feedback on their medical records increased their skills and confidence in medical records writing.

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This article explores nursing, patient records, and ideology within the context of the National Socialist "euthanasia" program (Aktion T4) in Germany and Austria from 1939 to 1941, which targeted individuals with mental and physical disabilities for systematic killing. Using Hannah Arendt's concept of the "banality of evil," it examines how ordinary individuals, including nurses, became agents of atrocity by adhering to bureaucratic orders. Jacques Ellul's Ethics of Technology framework is employed to analyze how National Socialist ideology manipulated technological processes to enhance efficiency in genocidal goals. Propaganda was crucial in garnering public support, blurring the lines between technology, ethics, and ideology. Archival research at documentation centers and national archives reveals methods for deciding who was killed, the role of family in medical records, and nurses' involvement in the T4 operation. Three narratives of T4 victims illustrate the personal impacts of these bureaucratic and ideological practices. The article reflects on contemporary nursing, emphasizing the importance of ethical standards and vigilance against data and misuse of technology in health care. This historical examination serves as a reminder of the potential consequences of depersonalization and blind adherence to institutional priorities, underscoring the need for critical engagement with the ethical dimensions of nursing practice.

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As health systems transition to ICD-11, it is essential to gauge the readiness and improve existing transition efforts. Assessing the intention to use ICD-11 and factors influencing it is imperative to encourage the use of ICD-11 among the medical record officers (MROs) and assistant medical record officers (AMROs). This study aims to develop and validate a questionnaire on the factors influencing the intention to use ICD-11 among MROs and AMROs in the Ministry of Health, Malaysia. This study comprised a questionnaire development and validation involving 292 participants nationwide from Ministry of Health Malaysia facilities. The questionnaire was developed based on items adapted from the literature. Forward and backward English-Malay translation was done. Then, the questionnaire was examined for content validity, internal consistency reliability, construct validity, face validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity and confirmatory factor analyses. The final version of the questionnaire consists of eleven domains represented by 50 items. The content validity index and modified kappa were excellent for all domains. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin sampling adequacy value was appropriate, with a value of 0.790. The questionnaire also demonstrated good internal consistency reliability with Cronbach's alpha values between 0.850 and 0.992. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a reasonable fit for this eleven-factor model. In conclusion, this questionnaire provides a reliable tool for investigating the intention to use ICD-11 among MROs and AMROs. Positive findings from the psychometric properties support the validity of the questionnaire. This instrument can potentially support personnel in charge of ICD codification, guide the ICD-11 transition at various levels and facilitate research on support dynamics among the MROs and AMROs.

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BACKGROUND: The Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale allows to detect the presence of dementia and to assess its severity, however its evaluation requires a significant time (45 min). We evaluated the agreement between two methods of collection of the CDR: face-to-face interview or based on the information available in the patient's medical record. METHODS: The CLIMER study was conducted among patients attending a memory center. The CDR scale was evaluated during face-to-face interviews between neuropsychologists and patients and their caregivers and based on blind analysis of the information of the patients' medical record by neuropsychologists. The agreement of the CDR sum of boxes (CDR-SB), the 5-point scale CDR and the different domains of the CDR evaluated between the different methods was measured using intraclass correlation (ICC) coefficient, Bland and Altman method, and linearly weighted Kappa. RESULTS: The study included 139 patients (means ± SD age 80.1 ± 6, 58.3% women, 71.9% with dementia). The ICC for the CDR-SB score assessed by face-to-face and with all the information available in the patient's medical record was 0.95 (95% CI: 0.93-0.97). The mean difference between the CDR-SB score assessed by face-to-face and with the medical record was 0.098 ± 1.036, and 92.4% of the patients lay within the 95% limits of agreement. The ICC for the 5-point scale CDR assessed by face-to-face and with the patient's medical record was 0.92 (95% CI: 0.88-0.95) when all the available information of the patient's medical record was used. The linear weighted Kappa coefficients was 0.79 (95% CI: 0.68-0.91) for the 5-point scale CDR comparison between the two evaluation methods. The analysis by domain of the CDR showed ICC ranging from 0.65 to 0.91 depending of the domains and the methods of evaluation. CONCLUSION: This study showed an excellent level of agreement of the evaluation of the CDR- SB and the 5-point scale CDR when using all the information of the patient's medical record compared to the face-to-face interview. TRIAL REGISTRATION: https//clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04763941 Registration Date 02/17/2021.

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Only a few physicians are willing to comprehensively concern themselves with how a legally watertight treatment documentation should be structured, in addition to their practical activities; however, the importance of the documentation cannot be emphasized enough, not only for a potential case of liability but also for the medical (further) treatment. This article therefore illustrates the legal foundations of the mandatory documentation and the most important questions associated with it for the practice, in particular on the content of the documentation, the timing of the documentation, the preservation of treatment documents and on the conduct in cases of an impending incident.

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OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether patients with hard-to-heal ulcers in Sweden were treated according to an aetiological diagnosis and to explore ulcer healing, treatment time, ulcer-related pain and the prescription of analgesics and antibiotics. DESIGN: A national mapping of data from the patients' medical records, between April 2021 and March 2023. SETTING: Data from medical records for patients with hard-to-heal ulcers from a randomised clustered sample of two units per level of care and region. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with hard-to-heal ulcers treated in primary, community and specialist care, public or private, within units covering all 21 regions in Sweden. OUTCOME MEASURES: Descriptive analysis of data from the patients' medical records. RESULTS: A total of 2470 patients from 168 units were included, of which 39% were treated in primary care, 24% in community care and 37% in specialist care. A total of 49% of patients were treated without an aetiological diagnosis. Healing occurred in 37% of patients and ulcer-related pain was experienced by 1224 patients (50%). Antibiotics were given to 56% of the patients. Amputation occurred in 5% and 11% were deceased. CONCLUSION: Only 51% of patients with hard-to-heal ulcers had a documented aetiological ulcer diagnosis, which means that approximately 20 000 patients in Sweden might receive suboptimal treatment. Future research needs to explore why so many patients are undiagnosed and how to improve diagnosis, which could lead to faster healing and shorter treatment times.

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This case commentary considers unique features of medical-legal partnerships (MLPs) in the Veterans Health Administration that may potentially mediate and minimize ethical tensions that may arise in MLP collaborations involving diagnosing and documenting disability.

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BACKGROUND: Low back pain (LBP) is ranked in the top 10 conditions presenting to emergency departments (ED) in Australia. We aimed to investigate ED re-presentation rates and length of stay (LOS) of patients with LBP, including associated factors. METHODS: We reviewed medical records of three EDs in Sydney, Australia from January 2016 to October 2021. The primary outcome was the proportion of episodes of non-serious LBP with at least one re-presentation within 12 months. Secondary outcomes were re-presentation rates within 3-days, 1-week, 1-month, 3-months, 6-months, and mean LOS. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the associated factors with re-presentation and prolonged stay (>4 h) and reported as adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). RESULTS: Of 8289 episodes of non-serious LBP, 7.7% included at least one re-presentation within 12 months. There were only 14 re-presentations (0.2%) where the diagnosis changed from non-serious LBP at the index visit to serious spinal pathology at the repeat visit. The overall mean LOS was 4.1 h, and 26.9% of patients stayed in the ED for >4 h. Those who received opioids (aOR: 1.31; 95% CI: 1.08-1.59) were more likely to re-present. In contrast, patients receiving imaging were less likely to re-present (aOR: 0.78, 95% CI: 0.65-0.94). Receiving imaging (aOR: 2.83; 95% CI: 2.56-3.13) and opioids (aOR: 1.64; 95% CI: 1.47-1.82) increased the odds of prolonged stay. CONCLUSION: A re-presentation within 12 months occurs in 7.7% of episodes of LBP in ED. Over one-quarter of patients stayed longer than 4 h.

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PURPOSE: To evaluate two-year mortality predictors in all subtypes of fragility fractures. METHODS: Medical records review, single-center study with Portuguese patients with fragility fractures; A univariate analysis, with chi-square for categorical variables and parametric t-student and non-parametric Wilcoxon tests for continuous variables, was performed. Posteriorly, a survival analysis, with subsequent Cox regression was conducted to establish independent risk factors/ predictors of two-year mortality in fragility fractures. RESULTS: 758 patients were enrolled in the study. We found a total of 151 deaths within the first two years post-fracture. On Cox regression, older age [OR1.10 CI (1.05-1.11)], male sex [OR1.85 CI(1.24-2.75)], anemia at baseline [OR2.44 CI(1.67-3.57)], malignancy [OR4.68 CI (2.13-10.27)], and multimorbidity [OR1.78 CI(1.11-2.87)] were found as independent predictors for two-year post-fracture mortality. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that male sex, older age, anemia, malignancy, and multimorbidity are mortality predictors in the first two years after fragility fractures, reinforcing the importance of comorbidity management in preventing or, at least, minimizing adverse outcomes following fragility fractures.

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INTRODUCTION: Frailty is an age-related condition with increased risk for adverse health outcomes. Assessing frailty according to the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) based on data from medical records is useful for previously unassessed patients, but the validity of such scores in exclusively geriatric populations and in patients with dementia is relatively unknown. METHODS: Patients admitted for the first time to one of two geriatric wards at Örebro University hospital between January 1st - December 31st, 2021, were included in this study if they had been appointed a CFS-score by anamnestic interview (CFSI) at admission. CFS scores based on medical records (CFSR) were appointed by a single medical student, who was blinded to the CFSI score. Score-agreement was evaluated with quadratic weighted Cohen's kappa (κ). RESULTS: In total, 145 patients between the age of 55-101 were included in the study. The CFSR and CFSI scores agreed perfectly in 102 cases (0.7, 95% CI 0.65-0.77). There was no significant difference regarding age, sex, comorbidity, or number of patients diagnosed with dementia between the patients with complete agreement and the patients whose scores did not agree. Agreement between the scores was substantial, κ = 0.66, 95% CI 0.53-0.80. CONCLUSIONS: CFS scores based on information from medical records can be generated with substantial agreement to CFS scores based on in-person anamnestic interviews. A dementia diagnosis does not influence the agreement between the scores. Therefore, these scores are a useful tool for assessing frailty in geriatric patients who previously lack a frailty assessment, both in clinical practice and future research. The results support previous findings, but larger studies are warranted.

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OBJECTIVES: Individuals who die by suicide often consult their general practitioners (GPs) in their final weeks of life. The aim of this study was to gain a deeper knowledge of the clinical characteristics and GP assessments and treatments among individuals who consulted their GPs during the month preceding suicide. Further, we compared these features in those with and without contact with psychiatric services (PC and NPC, respectively) during the two years that preceded the suicide. DESIGN: A nationwide retrospective explorative study investigating medical records. SETTING: Primary care in Sweden. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals who died by suicide in Sweden in 2015 with a GP visit within 30 days of death. RESULTS: The study cohort corresponds to one fifth (n = 238) of all suicides that occurred in Sweden in 2015 (n = 1179), representing all those with available primary care records showing contact with a GP during the final 30 days of life (NPC: n = 125; PC: n = 113). The mean age was 58 years ± 19. Patients in the NPC group were older (NPC: 63 years ± 19 vs. PC: 53 years ± 18, p < 0.0001) and presented psychiatric symptoms less often (NPC: 50% vs. PC: 67%, p < 0.006). Somatic symptoms were as common as psychiatric symptoms for the whole sample, being present in more than half of individuals. Suicide risk was noted in only 6% of all individuals. Referral to psychiatric services occurred in 14%, less commonly for the NPC group (NPC: 6% vs. PC: 22%, p < 0.001). Cardiovascular or respiratory symptoms were noted in 19%, more often in the NPC group (NPC: 30% vs. PC: 6%, p < 0.001), as were diagnoses involving the circulatory system (all 10%, NPC:14% vs. PC: 5%, p < 0.020). CONCLUSION: A high level of somatic symptoms was observed in primary care patients both with and without psychiatric contact, and this might have influenced GPs' management decisions. Psychiatric symptoms were noted in two thirds of those with psychiatric contact but only half of those without. While GPs noted psychiatric symptoms in over half of all individuals included in the study, they seldom noted suicide risk. These findings highlight the need for increased attention to psychiatric symptoms and suicide risk assessment, particularly among middle-aged and older individuals presenting with somatic symptoms. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDY: The National Cause of Death Register has excellent coverage of suicide deaths and access to medical records was very good. The medical record review provided detailed information regarding primary care utilization before death by suicide. Because of the lack of statistical power, due to the limited number of persons with GP contact during the last month of life, we chose not to correct for multiple comparisons. Our study approach did not capture the reasons behind GPs' documentation of elevated suicide risk. No systematic inter-rater reliability (IRR) testing was made, however, reviewers received training and continuous support from the research group.

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A patient-authored medical record (PAMR) is a narrative-based prescription that is written by a psychiatric patient with help from a nurse. It is a tool specifically designed and developed for psychiatric nursing. We have reported its notable therapeutic effects for Japanese patients and found that the patients had accurate views of how to improve their illness. The present paper, which broadens the scope of this examination, includes the entire process of using this tool, including both patient-authored medical records and follow-up dialogue. We aim to demonstrate how a patient's potentials are leveraged and expanded through the interpretation of such texts through dialogue, in which interpretation takes the form of a conversational question based on not-knowing. Follow-up meetings facilitate the therapeutic process and team collaboration for patients, medical staff, and families. We also reaffirm the soundness and legitimacy of psychiatric patients writing their own prescription with help from a nurse.

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Background Gonorrhoea notifications have increased substantially in Australia over the past decade. Neisseria gonorrhoeae is already highly resistant to several antibiotics and so, alternatives to first-line treatment are generally strongly discouraged. The penicillin allergy label (AL) on patient medical records has previously been shown to influence prescribing practices, to the detriment of best-practice management and antimicrobial stewardship. This study aimed to understand how the penicillin AL influences antibiotic selection for gonorrhoea treatment at Canberra Sexual Health Centre. Methods A retrospective chart audit of gonorrhoea cases treated at Canberra Sexual Health Centre between January 2020 and October 2023 (n =619 patients, n =728 cases). Antibiotic selection was assessed according to penicillin AL status. Ceftriaxone selection was assessed according to penicillin allergy severity reported in the medical records and as determined using a validated antibiotic allergy assessment tool. Results Cases with a penicillin AL were more likely to receive antibiotics other than ceftriaxone (n =7/41, 17.1%) than cases without the label (n =8/687, 1.2%, P n =28/41, 68.3%) to apply the assessment tool. Those reported as low-severity in the records were more likely to receive ceftriaxone (n =21/22, 95.5%) than those reported as moderate-high (n =7/11, 63.6%) or unreported (n =6/8, 0.75%). Conclusions Treatment of gonorrhoea in outpatient settings requires an understanding of penicillin allergy, and the ability to quickly and accurately identify penicillin-AL patients who can safely tolerate ceftriaxone. Institutionally endorsed penicillin allergy de-labelling protocols and access to easy-to-navigate prescribing advice within national sexually transmitted infection management guidelines would support this.

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