Until the first part of the 20th century, health was defined as the absence of disease and was measured in terms of morbidity and mortality. This simple definition of health was rejected in 1948 with the expansion of the concept of health by the World Health Organization (WHO), defining it as “a state …

The consequences of cardiovascular diseases are substantial and include increasing numbers of morbidity and mortality. With a population getting more and more inactive and having a sedentary lifestyle, the risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes rises. This dissertation reports on people …

To reduce unintentional and avoidable adverse events in patients in hospitals in the Netherlands, a patient safety agency (VMS) programme was launched in 2008. Among the VMS topics, the programme optimal therapy in severe sepsis, according to the international Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC), aims to …

Background Overhydration in chronic renal insufficiency may lead to an increased risk of mortality. In dialysis patients bio-impedance analysis is used to determine volume status, whereas, in pre-dialysis patients volume status is mostly determined on „clinical assessment‟. In this study comparison between …

Apart from that this approximation does not alter the fact that at Sphinx, certainly after the departure of Petrus Regout and the transfer of the management to his sons in 1870, the social abuses of the industrial revolution continued in all vehemence. These abuses were especially put forward in the …

Background Breech presentation occurs in 3 to 4% of all term pregnancies. External cephalic version (ECV) is proven effective to prevent vaginal breech deliveries and therefore it is recommended by clinical guidelines of the Royal Dutch Organisation for Midwives (KNOV) and the Dutch Society for Obstetrics …

Patients with poststroke aphasia have higher mortality rates and worse functional outcome than patients without aphasia. Nurses are well aware of aphasia and the associated problems for patients with stroke because they have daily contact with them. The challenge is to provide evidence-based care directed …

Predictive models, such as acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE-II), are widely used in intensive care units (ICUs) to estimate mortality. Although the presence of delirium is associated with a higher mortality in ICU patients, delirium is not part of the APACHE-II model. The aim …

It may be true (but confirmation is required) that adding delirium to a measurement such as the APACHE score is not of value. Clinicians and hospital quality officers should continue to consider early detection of delirium and ongoing delirium detection as an important prognostic tool. Despite shortcomings …

BACKGROUND: Patients with peripheral arterial disease constitute a high-risk population. Guideline-recommended medical therapy use is therefore of utmost importance. The aims of our study were to establish the patterns of guideline-recommended medication use in patients with PAD at the time of vascular …