Nathan Stall

In 2021, #Ontario mandated air conditioning (A/C) in all nursing homes—increasing A/C coverage from 45% to 99% of homes.

Our new @JAMAInternalMed study led by @GabrielleMKatz estimates that Ontario’s A/C mandate averted 33 resident deaths on extreme heat days from 2021 to 2023.

Our new @JAMAInternalMed Viewpoint on addressing the health impacts of climate change in older adults.

This work was led by superstar @uoftmedicine student @GabrielleMKatz in collaboration with Danielle Arigoni and @MaryRice_LungDr.

Our new @AGSJournal study detailing the annual prevalence and disparities in tube feeding among Canadian nursing home residents with advanced dementia: agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jg…

Overall, the prevalence was low and declined between 2006 and 2022.

There was a higher prevalence among men, non-English and non-French language-speaking individuals, and residents of larger nursing homes situated in urban areas and lower-income neighborhoods.

Great collaboration with @luketurcotte, @JPHirdes, @darstar_01, @kieranlquinn, @ChristinaReppas, John Morris, and Susan Mitchell.

New @JAMAInternalMed systematic review and meta-analysis involving 16 studies and 11 ,811 patients, reporting with moderate-certainty evidence that slow correction of severe hyponatremia in-hospital was associated with an increased risk of mortality.

jamanetwork.com/journals/jamai…

New @JAMAInternalMed study by @angsuen, @AlexSmithMD, @AshwinKotwalMD and colleagues reports that social isolation in US adults with COPD was independently associated with increased mortality: jamanetwork.com/journals/jamai…

Key points:
· 23.6% of study participants with COPD reported social isolation.

· Participants with COPD and social isolation had a 35% increased hazard for death compared to those without social isolation—the absolute 5-year mortality difference was 8.3%!

· The mortality impact of social isolation in COPD is comparable with those for hospitalization for critical illness, severe heart failure, and stroke.

· The authors hypothesize that social isolation may increase mortality by limiting access to necessary support and resources for managing symptoms, functional limitations, and complex medical regimens.

· Expanded efforts to target social isolation may complement current disease-directed treatments.