土井 俊祐

BACKGROUND:  When administering an infusion to a patient, it is necessary to verify that the infusion pump settings are in accordance with the injection orders provided by the physician. However, the infusion rate entered into the infusion pump by the health care provider cannot be automatically reconciled with the injection order information entered into the electronic medical records (EMRs). This is because of the difficulty in linking the infusion rate entered into the infusion pump by the health care provider with the injection order information entered into the EMRs. OBJECTIVES:  This study investigated a data linkage method for reconciling infusion pump settings with injection orders in the EMRs. METHODS:  We devised and implemented a mechanism to convert injection order information into the Health Level 7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR), a new health information exchange standard, and match it with an infusion pump management system in a standard and simple manner using a REpresentational State Transfer (REST) application programming interface (API). The injection order information was extracted from Standardized Structured Medical Record Information Exchange version 2 International Organization for Standardization/technical specification 24289:2021 and was converted to the FHIR format using a commercially supplied FHIR conversion module and our own mapping definition. Data were also sent to the infusion pump management system using the REST Web API. RESULTS:  Information necessary for injection implementation in hospital wards can be transferred to FHIR and linked. The infusion pump management system application screen allowed the confirmation that the two pieces of information matched, and it displayed an error message if they did not. CONCLUSION:  Using FHIR, the data linkage between EMRs and infusion pump management systems can be smoothly implemented. We plan to develop a new mechanism that contributes to medical safety through the actual implementation and verification of this matching system.

AIM: To investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its preventive measures on the glycemic and lipid control in people with diabetes mellitus (DM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted this retrospective cohort study from April 2019 to March 2021; we termed the period from April 2019 to March 2020 as the pre-COVID-19 period, and the period from April 2020 to March 2021 as the COVID-19 period, and divided each of these two periods into four quarters. RESULTS: In the 1st quarter of the COVID period, when the Japanese government declared the first public health emergency, 3,465 people with diabetes mellitus were receiving treatment, which was 10.4% lower than that in the pre-COVID period. The annual mean HbA1c level was significantly elevated in the COVID-19 period. The annual mean total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) levels were also significantly higher in the COVID-19 period. Although there were no significant differences in the glycemic control or annual medication between the two periods in people with type 1 diabetes mellitus, the annual mean HbA1c, TC, and TG levels were significantly higher in the COVID-19 period in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Furthermore, a significant increase in the percentage of prescriptions for glinides, biguanides, sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors, and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists for people with type 2 diabetes mellitus was observed in the COVID period. CONCLUSIONS: It appears from our study that COVID-19 and its preventive measures had a negative impact on the glycemic and lipid control in people with diabetes mellitus.

AIMS/INTRODUCTION: To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the glycemic control, eating habits, and body composition of people with diabetes mellitus; to identify the determinants of worsening glycemic control in people with diabetes mellitus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective, longitudinal observational study was performed in outpatients with diabetes mellitus who visited our hospital between April 2019 and March 2020 (pre-COVID-19 period) and continued for follow up from April 2020 to March 2021 (COVID-19 period). We compared the glycemic control, nutritional intakes, and body composition of people with diabetes mellitus between the two periods. The changes in the HbA1c values (ΔHbA1c) and other study variables were compared between the two periods. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the factors associated with the increase of HbA1c levels. RESULTS: A significant increase of HbA1c was observed during the COVID-19 period. The percent fat mass (FM) also increased, while the percent skeletal muscle mass (SMM) decreased during the COVID-19 period. After adjustments for age and sex, the ΔBMI (OR:2.33), ΔFM (OR:1.45), and ΔSMM (OR:0.51) were identified as being associated with elevated levels of HbA1c. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the glycemic control and body composition of people with diabetes mellitus. The increased body weight and FM and decreased SMM observed during the pandemic were associated with poor glycemic control in people with diabetes mellitus.