Objective To determine whether patient mortality after surgery differs between surgeries performed on surgeons’ birthdays compared with other days of the year.
Design Retrospective observational study.
Setting US acute care and critical access hospitals.
Participants 100% fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 to 99 years who underwent one of 17 common emergency surgical procedures in 2011-14.
Main outcome measures Patient postoperative 30 day mortality, defined as death within 30 days after surgery, with adjustment for patient characteristics and surgeon fixed effects.
Results 980 876 procedures performed by 47 489 surgeons were analyzed. 2064 (0.2%) of the procedures were performed on surgeons’ birthdays. Patient characteristics, including severity of illness, were similar between patients who underwent surgery on a surgeon’s birthday and those who underwent surgery on other days. The overall unadjusted 30 day mortality on the operating surgeon’s birthday was
Objective To study the relation between rainfall and outpatient visits for joint or back pain in a large patient population.
Design Observational study.
Setting US Medicare insurance claims data linked to rainfall data from US weather stations.
Participants 1 552 842 adults aged ≥65 years attending a total of 11 673 392 outpatient visits with a general internist during 2008-12.
Main outcome measures The proportion of outpatient visits for joint or back pain related conditions (rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, spondylosis, intervertebral disc disorders, and other non-traumatic joint disorders) was compared between rainy days and non-rainy days, adjusting for patient characteristics, chronic conditions, and geographic fixed effects (thereby comparing rates of joint or back pain related outpatient visits on rainy days versus non-rainy days within the same area).
Results Of the 11 673 392 outpatient visits by Medicare beneficiaries, 2 095 761 (18.0%) occurred on
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