Association between functional performance and executive cognitive functions in an elderly population including patients with low ankle–brachial index

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Ferreira NV

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Naomi Vidal Ferreira,1 Paulo Jannuzzi Cunha,2 Danielle Irigoyen da Costa,3 Fernando dos Santos,1 Fernando Oliveira Costa,1 Fernanda Consolim-Colombo,4 Maria Cláudia Irigoyen1 1Heart Institute, Medical School, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil; 2Neuroimaging in Psychiatry Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Medical School, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil; 3Rio Grande do Sul Cardiology Institute, Fundação Universitária de Cardiologia, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; 4Medical School, Universidade Nove de Julho, São Paulo, SP, Brazil Introduction: Peripheral arterial disease, as measured by the ankle–brachial index (ABI, is prevalent among the elderly, and is associated with functional performance, assessed by the 6-minute walk test (6MWT. Executive cognitive function (ECF impairments are also prevalent in this population, but no existing study has investigated the association between ECF and functional performance in an elderly population including individuals with low ABI.Aim: To investigate the association between functional performance, as measured by the 6MWT, and loss in ECF, in an elderly sample including individuals with low ABI.Method: The ABI group was formed by 26 elderly individuals with low ABI (mean ABI: 0.63±0.19, and the control group was formed by 40 elderly individuals with normal ABI (mean ABI: 1.08±0.07. We analyzed functional performance using the 6MWT, global cognition using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE, and ECF using the Digit Span for assessing attention span and working memory, the Stroop Color Word Test (SCWT for assessing information processing speed and inhibitory control/impulsivity, and the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT for assessing semantic verbal fluency and phonemic verbal fluency. We also used a factor analysis on all of the ECF tests (global ECF.Results: Before adjustment, the ABI group performed worse on global cognition, attention span, working

Medical resource use and expenditure in patients with chronic heart failure: a population-based analysis of 88 195 patients.

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Farré, Nuria; Vela, Emili; Clèries, Montse; Bustins, Montse; Cainzos-Achirica, Miguel; Enjuanes, Cristina; Moliner, Pedro; Ruiz, Sonia; Verdú-Rotellar, Jose Maria; Comín-Colet, Josep

2016-09-01

Heart failure (HF) is one of the diseases with greater healthcare expenditure. However, little is known about the cost of HF at a population level. Hence, our aim was to study the population-level distribution and predictors of healthcare expenditure in patients with HF. This was a population-based longitudinal study including all prevalent HF cases in Catalonia (Spain) on 31 December 2012 (n = 88 195). We evaluated 1-year healthcare resource use and expenditure using the Health Department (CatSalut) surveillance system that collects detailed information on healthcare usage for the entire population. Mean age was 77.4 (12) years; 55% were women. One-year mortality rate was 14%. All-cause emergency department visits and unplanned hospitalizations were required at least once in 53.4% and 30.8% of patients, respectively. During 2013, a total of €536.2 million were spent in the care of HF patients (7.1% of the total healthcare budget). The main source of expenditure was hospitalization (39% of the total) whereas outpatient care represented 20% of the total expenditure. In the general population, outpatient care and hospitalization were the main expenses. In multivariate analysis, younger age, higher presence of co-morbidities, and a recent HF or all-cause hospitalization were independently associated with higher healthcare expenditure. In Catalonia, a large portion of the annual healthcare budget is devoted to HF patients. Unplanned hospitalization represents the main source of healthcare-related expenditure. The knowledge of how expenditure is distributed in a non-selected HF population might allow health providers to plan the distribution of resources in patients with HF. © 2016 The Authors. European Journal of Heart Failure © 2016 European Society of Cardiology.

Autoimmune and immunogenetic profile of patients with optic neuritis in a population-based cohort

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Soelberg, K.; Nilsson, A. C.; Nielsen, C.

2018-01-01

Background: Optic neuritis (ON) is an inflammatory optic neuropathy, where the genetic and autoimmune dependency remains poorly characterized. Objective: To investigate autoimmune and immunogenetic aspects of ON. Method: In a prospective population-based cohort 51 patients with ON were included...... antibodies. Coexisting neural autoantibodies were detected in two patients and in 12 patients other systemic autoantibodies were found. Four (8%) had other autoimmune disorders. A family history of autoimmunity was observed in 12 (24%) and of demyelinating disease in six patients (12%). In MS-ON patients...

Population pharmacokinetic (PK) analysis of laromustine, an emerging alkylating agent, in cancer patients.

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Nassar, Ala F; Wisnewski, Adam V; King, Ivan

2017-05-01

1. Alkylating agents are capable of introducing an alkyl group into nucleophilic sites on DNA or RNA through covalent bond. Laromustine is an active member of a relatively new class of sulfonylhydrazine prodrugs under development as antineoplastic alkylating agents, and displays significant single-agent activity. 2. This is the first report of the population pharmacokinetic analysis of laromustine, 106 patients, 66 with hematologic malignancies and 40 with solid tumors, participated in five clinical trials worldwide. Of these, 104 patients were included in the final NONMEM analysis. 3. The population estimates for total clearance (CL) and volume of distribution of the central compartment (V 1 ) were 96.3 L/h and 45.9 L, associated with high inter-patient variability of 52.9% and 79.8% and inter-occasion variability of 26.7% and 49.3%, respectively. The population estimates for Q and V 2 were 73.2 L/h and 29.9 L, and inter-patient variability in V 2 was 63.1%, respectively. 4. The estimate of V ss (75.8 L) exceeds total body water, indicating that laromustine is distributed to tissues. The half-life is short, less than 1 h, reflecting rapid clearance. Population PK analysis showed laromustine pharmacokinetics to be independent of dose and organ function with no effect on subsequent dosing cycles.

Quality of life among prostate cancer patients: A prospective longitudinal population-based study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaake, Wouter; Groot, Martijn de; Krijnen, Wim P.; Langendijk, Johannes A.; Bergh, Alfons C.M. van den

2013-01-01

Purpose: To investigate the course of quality of life (QoL) among prostate cancer patients treated with external beam radiotherapy and to compare the results with QoL of a normal age-matched reference population. Patients and methods: The study population was composed of 227 prostate cancer patients, treated with radiotherapy. The EORTC QLQ-C30 was used to assess QoL before radiotherapy and six months, one year, two years and three years after completion of radiotherapy. Mixed model analyses were used to investigate longitudinal changes in QoL. QoL of prostate cancer patients was compared to that of a normative cohort using a multivariate analysis of covariance. Results: A significant decline in QoL was observed after radiotherapy (p < 0.001). The addition of hormonal therapy to radiotherapy was associated with a lower level of role functioning. Patients with coronary heart disease and or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma had a significantly worse course in QoL. Although statistically significant, all differences were classified as small or trivial. Conclusion: Prostate cancer patients experience a small worsening of QoL as compared with baseline and as compared with a normal reference population. As co-morbidity modulates patients’ post-treatment QoL, a proper assessment of co-morbidity should be included in future longitudinal analyses on QoL

Mortality Rates in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C and Cirrhosis Compared With the General Population

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hallager, Sofie; Brehm Christensen, Peer; Ladelund, Steen

2017-01-01

Background: Knowledge about mortality rates (MRs) in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) with cirrhosis is limited. This study aimed to estimate all-cause MRs among patients with CHC with or without cirrhosis in Denmark compared with the general population. Methods: Patients registered...... in the Danish Database for Hepatitis B and C with CHC and a liver fibrosis assessment were eligible for inclusion. Liver fibrosis was assessed by means of liver biopsy, transient elastography, and clinical cirrhosis. Up to 20 sex- and age-matched individuals per patient were identified in the general population....... Data were extracted from nationwide registries. Results: A total of 3410 patients with CHC (1014 with cirrhosis), and 67 315 matched individuals were included. Adjusted MR ratios (MRRs) between patients with or without cirrhosis and their comparison cohorts were 5.64 (95% confidence interval [CI], 4...

The population genetics of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from different patient populations exhibits high-level host specificity.

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Rosa van Mansfeld

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To determine whether highly prevalent P. aeruginosa sequence types (ST in Dutch cystic fibrosis (CF patients are specifically linked to CF patients we investigated the population structure of P. aeruginosa from different clinical backgrounds. We first selected the optimal genotyping method by comparing pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE, multilocus sequence typing (MLST and multilocus variable number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA. METHODS: Selected P. aeruginosa isolates (n = 60 were genotyped with PFGE, MLST and MLVA to determine the diversity index (DI and congruence (adjusted Rand and Wallace coefficients. Subsequently, isolates from patients admitted to two different ICUs (n = 205, from CF patients (n = 100 and from non-ICU, non-CF patients (n = 58, of which 19 were community acquired were genotyped with MLVA to determine distribution of genotypes and genetic diversity. RESULTS: Congruence between the typing methods was >79% and DIs were similar and all >0.963. Based on costs, ease, speed and possibilities to compare results between labs an adapted MLVA scheme called MLVA9-Utrecht was selected as the preferred typing method. In 363 clinical isolates 252 different MLVA types (MTs were identified, indicating a highly diverse population (DI  = 0.995; CI  = 0.993-0.997. DI levels were similarly high in the diverse clinical sources (all >0.981 and only eight genotypes were shared. MTs were highly specific (>80% for the different patient populations, even for similar patient groups (ICU patients in two distinct geographic regions, with only three of 142 ICU genotypes detected in both ICUs. The two major CF clones were unique to CF patients. CONCLUSION: The population structure of P. aeruginosa isolates is highly diverse and population specific without evidence for a core lineage in which major CF, hospital or community clones co-cluster. The two genotypes highly prevalent among Dutch CF patients appeared unique to CF patients

Neuropathy-specific alterations in a Mexican population of diabetic patients.

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Carbajal-Ramírez, Angélica; García-Macedo, Rebeca; Díaz-García, Carlos Manlio; Sanchez-Soto, Carmen; Padrón, Araceli Méndez; de la Peña, Jorge Escobedo; Cruz, Miguel; Hiriart, Marcia

2017-08-25

Neuropathy is one of the major complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Our first aim was to determine the clinical characteristics of a population of diabetic patients with different types of neuropathy. Our next goal was to characterize the cytokine profile (IL-6 and IL-10), nerve growth factor (NGF) and circulating cell-adhesion molecules in these patients. Finally, we aimed to compare the renal function among the groups of neuropathic patients. In a cross-sectional study, we included 217 diabetic patients classified in three groups: sensory polyneuropathy with hypoesthesia (DS h P) or hyperesthesia (DS H P), and motor neuropathy (DMN). Two control groups were included: one of 26 diabetic non-neuropathic patients (DNN), and the other of 375 non-diabetic (ND) healthy subjects. The participants were attending to the Mexican Institute of Social Security. The circulating levels of NGF were significantly lower in diabetic patients, compared to healthy subjects. The range of IL-6 and IL-10 levels in neuropathic patients was higher than the control groups; however, several samples yielded null measurements. Neuropathic patients also showed increased circulating levels of the adhesion molecules ICAM, VCAM, and E-Selectin, compared to the ND group. Moreover, neuropathic patients showed reduced glomerular filtration rates compared to healthy subjects (82-103 ml/min per 1.73 m 2 , data as range from 25th-75th percentiles), especially in the group with DMN (45-76 ml/min per 1.73 m 2 ). Some particular alterations in neuropathic patients included -but were not limited to- changes in circulating NGF, cell adhesion molecules, inflammation, and the worsening of the renal function. This study supports the need for further clinical surveillance and interventions considering a neuropathy-related basis.

Patterns of Mortality in Patients Treated with Dental Implants: A Comparison of Patient Age Groups and Corresponding Reference Populations.

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Jemt, Torsten; Kowar, Jan; Nilsson, Mats; Stenport, Victoria

2015-01-01

Little is known about the relationship between implant patient mortality compared to reference populations. The aim of this study was to report the mortality pattern in patients treated with dental implants up to a 15-year period, and to compare this to mortality in reference populations with regard to age at surgery, sex, and degree of tooth loss. Patient cumulative survival rate (CSR) was calculated for a total of 4,231 treated implant patients from a single clinic. Information was based on surgical registers in the clinic and the National Population Register in Sweden. Patients were arranged into age groups of 10 years, and CSR was compared to that of the reference population of comparable age and reported in relation to age at surgery, sex, and type of jaw/dentition. A similar, consistent, general relationship between CSR of different age groups of implant patients and reference populations could be observed for all parameters studied. Completely edentulous patients presented higher mortality than partially edentulous patients (P age groups showed mortality similar to or higher than reference populations, while older patient age groups showed increasingly lower mortality than comparable reference populations for edentulous and partially edentulous patients (P age groups of patients compared to reference populations was observed, indicating higher patient mortality in younger age groups and lower in older groups. The reported pattern is not assumed to be related to implant treatment per se, but is assumed to reflect the variation in general health of a selected subgroup of treated implant patients compared to the reference population in different age groups.

Employment among patients with multiple sclerosis-a population study.

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Hanne Marie Bøe Lunde

Full Text Available To investigate demographic and clinical factors associated with employment in MS.The study included 213 (89.9% of all MS patients in Sogn and Fjordane County, Western Norway at December 31st 2010. The patients underwent clinical evaluation, structured interviews and completed self-reported questionnaires. Demographic and clinical factors were compared between patients being employed versus patients being unemployed and according to disease course of MS. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors independently associated with current employment.After a mean disease duration of almost 19 years, 45% of the population was currently full-time or part- time employed. Patients with relapsing -remitting MS (RRMS had higher employment rate than patients with secondary (SPMS and primary progressive (PPMS. Higher educated MS patients with lower age at onset, shorter disease duration, less severe disability and less fatigue were most likely to be employed.Nearly half of all MS patients were still employed after almost two decades of having MS. Lower age at onset, shorter disease duration, higher education, less fatigue and less disability were independently associated with current employment. These key clinical and demographic factors are important to understand the reasons to work ability in MS. The findings highlight the need for environmental adjustments at the workplace to accommodate individual 's needs in order to improve working ability among MS patients.

Employment among patients with multiple sclerosis-a population study.

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Bøe Lunde, Hanne Marie; Telstad, Wenche; Grytten, Nina; Kyte, Lars; Aarseth, Jan; Myhr, Kjell-Morten; Bø, Lars

2014-01-01

To investigate demographic and clinical factors associated with employment in MS. The study included 213 (89.9%) of all MS patients in Sogn and Fjordane County, Western Norway at December 31st 2010. The patients underwent clinical evaluation, structured interviews and completed self-reported questionnaires. Demographic and clinical factors were compared between patients being employed versus patients being unemployed and according to disease course of MS. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors independently associated with current employment. After a mean disease duration of almost 19 years, 45% of the population was currently full-time or part- time employed. Patients with relapsing -remitting MS (RRMS) had higher employment rate than patients with secondary (SPMS) and primary progressive (PPMS). Higher educated MS patients with lower age at onset, shorter disease duration, less severe disability and less fatigue were most likely to be employed. Nearly half of all MS patients were still employed after almost two decades of having MS. Lower age at onset, shorter disease duration, higher education, less fatigue and less disability were independently associated with current employment. These key clinical and demographic factors are important to understand the reasons to work ability in MS. The findings highlight the need for environmental adjustments at the workplace to accommodate individual 's needs in order to improve working ability among MS patients.

Domestic violence screening of obstetric triage patients in a military population.

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Lutgendorf, M A; Thagard, A; Rockswold, P D; Busch, J M; Magann, E F

2012-10-01

The objective was to estimate the self-reported prevalence of domestic violence in a pregnant military population presenting for emergency care, and to determine the acceptability of domestic violence screening. A prospective observational survey of patients presenting for obstetric emergency care. Women were anonymously screened for domestic violence using the Abuse Assessment Screen. A total of 499 surveys were distributed, with 26 duplicate surveys. After excluding the 12 blank surveys, a total of 461 surveys were included in the final analysis. The lifetime prevalence of domestic violence (including physical, emotional and sexual abuse) was 22.6% (95% CI=19.0 to 26.4) with 4.1% (95% CI=2.3-6.0) of women reporting physical abuse in the past year and 2.8% (95% CI=1.3-4.3) reporting abuse since becoming pregnant. The majority of women 91.8% (95% CI=88.7-94.2) were not offended by domestic violence screening and 88.8% (95% CI=82.0-88.9) felt that patients should be routinely screened. The self-reported prevalence of domestic violence in a pregnant military population presenting for emergency care was 22.6%. Most women are not offended by domestic violence screening and support routine screening.

Burden, Determinants, and Pharmacological Management of Hypertension in HIV-Positive Patients and Populations: A Systematic Narrative Review.

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Nguyen, Kim Anh; Peer, Nasheeta; Mills, Edward J; Kengne, Andre Pascal

2015-01-01

Hypertension among HIV-positive populations has emerged as a new threat to the health and well being of people living with HIV, particularly among those receiving antiretroviral therapy. We reviewed the global evidence on the burden of disease (including prevalence and incidence), determinants of hypertension among HIV-positive populations, and the pharmacological management of hypertension in HIV-positive patients. We systematically searched PubMed-MEDLINE and EMBASE from January 2000 through February 2015 for relevant studies and traced their citations through the ISI Web of Science. We also searched the websites of the World Health Organisation, the International Society of Hypertension, and the International AIDS Society and constructed a narrative data synthesis. Hypertension is common in HIV-positive populations, with prevalence estimates ranging from 4.7 to 54.4% in high-income countries, and from 8.7 to 45.9% in low- and middle-income countries. The role of HIV-specific factors including disease severity, duration of disease, and treatments on the presence of hypertension in HIV-positive patients is reported, but patterns remain unclear. The clinical management of hypertension in HIV-positive patients is similar to those with hypertension in the general population; however, additional considerations should be given to potential drug interactions between antihypertensive agents and antiretroviral drugs to inform the clinician's selection of these therapies. Hypertension is common in HIV-positive populations and remains an important comorbidity affecting mortality outcomes. Further research examining the development of hypertension and its associated care in HIV-positive patients is required to optimize management of the dual conditions.

Incidence of call stone in liver cirrhosis patients: comparison with genera population

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Chul Jjoong; Park, Cheol Min; Park, Seung Chul; Chung, Kyoo Byung; Suh, Won Hyuck

1994-01-01

We investigated the incidence of gallstone detected by ultrasound in cirrhotic patients, and it was compared with that of the general population. One hundred and seventy seven patients with proven or suspected liver cirrhosis were evaluated sonographic ally to determine the presence of gallstone. We classified 177 cirrhotic patients into A,B, and C by Child classification and investigated the incidence of gallstone for each class. The control group was 363 general population with age distribution and sex-ratio similar to cirrhotic patients.Gallstone was visualized by ultrasound in 32(18.1%) of 177 cirrhotic patients. The incidence of gallstone was 13.1% in Child A, 21.0% in child B, and 20.0% in Child C cirrhotic patients. Overall incidence of gallstone was 3.9% in 363 general population. In summary, the incidence of gallstone was significantly higher in cirrhosis patients than in general population(p<0.01). The patients with moderate and severe cirrhosis showed higher incidence of gallstone than the patients with mild cirrhosis(20.5% vs 13.1%)

Environmental factors in a population-based inception cohort of inflammatory bowel disease patients in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Burisch, J; Pedersen, Natalia; Cukovic-Cavka, S

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing in Eastern Europe possibly due to changes in environmental factors towards a more "westernised" standard of living. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in exposure to environmental factors prior ...... and Western European patients differed in environmental factors prior to diagnosis. Eastern European patients exhibited higher occurrences of suspected risk factors for IBD included in the Western lifestyle.......BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing in Eastern Europe possibly due to changes in environmental factors towards a more "westernised" standard of living. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in exposure to environmental factors prior...... to diagnosis in Eastern and Western European IBD patients. METHODS: The EpiCom cohort is a population-based, prospective inception cohort of 1560 unselected IBD patients from 31 European countries covering a background population of 10.1 million. At the time of diagnosis patients were asked to complete an 87...

Trauma patients who present in a delayed fashion: a unique and challenging population.

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Kao, Mary J; Nunez, Hector; Monaghan, Sean F; Heffernan, Daithi S; Adams, Charles A; Lueckel, Stephanie N; Stephen, Andrew H

2017-02-01

A proportion of trauma patients present for evaluation in a delayed fashion after injury, likely due to a variety of medical and nonmedical reasons. There has been little investigation into the characteristics and outcomes of trauma patients who present delayed. We hypothesize that trauma patients who present in a delayed fashion are a unique population at risk of increased trauma-related complications. This was a retrospective review from 2010-2015 at a Level I trauma center. Patients were termed delayed if they presented >24 hours after injury. Patients admitted within 24 hours of their injury were the comparison group. Charts were reviewed for demographics, mechanism, comorbidities, complications and outcomes. A subgroup analysis was done on patients who suffered falls. During the 5-y period, 11,705 patients were admitted. A total of 588 patients (5%) presented >24 h after their injury. Patients in the delayed group were older (65 versus 55 y, P fashion have unique characteristics and are more likely to suffer negative outcomes including substance withdrawal. Future goals will include exploring strategies for early intervention, such as automatic withdrawal monitoring and social work referral for all patients who present in a delayed fashion. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Prevalence of early and late prematurity is similar among pediatric type 1 diabetes patients and the general population.

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Adar, Adi; Shalitin, Shlomit; Eyal, Ori; Loewenthal, Neta; Pinhas-Hamiel, Orit; Levy, Milana; Dally-Gottfried, Orna; Landau, Zohar; Zung, Amnon; Levy-Khademi, Floris; Zangen, David; Tenenbaum-Rakover, Yardena; Rachmiel, Marianna

2018-02-22

The incidence of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) has increased in recent decades, as has the incidence of preterm births (prematurity and early prematurity (prematurity and birth season were compared with the general population birth registry using Pearson Chi-square test. The study population included 1452 T1DM patients, 52.7% males, and 2 138 668 subjects in the general non-T1DM population, 51.2% males. The prevalence of late and early prematurity was similar between groups (6.1% and 2.2% in the T1DM group vs 5.6% and 2.0% in the general non-T1DM group, P = 0.25 and P = 0.38, respectively). OR for prematurity among T1DM patients was 1.15 (0.95-1.39), P = 0.16. No difference in birth season was demonstrated between preterm and term, in T1DM and general non-T1DM populations. Ethiopian descent was more prevalent among T1DM patients compared with the non-T1DM population, in both term and preterm born. This is the largest population-based study, and the first in the Middle East geographical area, indicating that prematurity, including early prematurity, is not associated with T1DM during childhood. The study was registered at https://clinicaltrials.gov/: NCT02929953. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Quality of life in elderly patients with an ostomy - a study from the population-based PROFILES registry.

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Verweij, N M; Bonhof, C S; Schiphorst, A H W; Maas, H A; Mols, F; Pronk, A; Hamaker, M E

2018-04-01

Ostomies are being placed frequently in surgically treated elderly patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). An insight into the (potential) impact of ostomies on quality of life (QoL) could be useful in patient counselling as well as in the challenging shared treatment decision-making. Patients with CRC diagnosed between 2000 and 2009 and registered in the population-based Eindhoven Cancer Registry received a QoL questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) in 2010. In addition, QoL was compared with an age- and sex-matched normative population. The study included 2299 CRC patients, of whom 494 had an ostomy. No differences were found in reported ostomy-related problems between patients aged ≤65, 66-75 and ≥76 years. Ostomy patients aged 66-75 and ≥76 years reported significantly lower physical functioning compared with those without an ostomy. In the elderly (those aged ≥76 years) ostomates reported a worse physical and social functioning compared with the normative population. All these differences were of small clinical relevance. The impact of an ostomy seems to be more prominent in younger (≤75 years old) ostomates, as they experience more functional limitations and a decrease in global health status compared with younger nonostomy patients and the normative population. Although elderly (≥76 years old) patients with an ostomy report significantly more limitations in functioning compared with a normative population and elderly CRC patients without an ostomy, the clinical relevance of this finding is limited. In contrast, the impact of an ostomy is more prominent in younger patients. Thus, age itself is not a reason for withholding an ostomy. Colorectal Disease © 2017 The Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland.

Sharing reference data and including cows in the reference population improve genomic predictions in Danish Jersey.

Science.gov (United States)

Su, G; Ma, P; Nielsen, U S; Aamand, G P; Wiggans, G; Guldbrandtsen, B; Lund, M S

2016-06-01

Small reference populations limit the accuracy of genomic prediction in numerically small breeds, such like Danish Jersey. The objective of this study was to investigate two approaches to improve genomic prediction by increasing size of reference population in Danish Jersey. The first approach was to include North American Jersey bulls in Danish Jersey reference population. The second was to genotype cows and use them as reference animals. The validation of genomic prediction was carried out on bulls and cows, respectively. In validation on bulls, about 300 Danish bulls (depending on traits) born in 2005 and later were used as validation data, and the reference populations were: (1) about 1050 Danish bulls, (2) about 1050 Danish bulls and about 1150 US bulls. In validation on cows, about 3000 Danish cows from 87 young half-sib families were used as validation data, and the reference populations were: (1) about 1250 Danish bulls, (2) about 1250 Danish bulls and about 1150 US bulls, (3) about 1250 Danish bulls and about 4800 cows, (4) about 1250 Danish bulls, 1150 US bulls and 4800 Danish cows. Genomic best linear unbiased prediction model was used to predict breeding values. De-regressed proofs were used as response variables. In the validation on bulls for eight traits, the joint DK-US bull reference population led to higher reliability of genomic prediction than the DK bull reference population for six traits, but not for fertility and longevity. Averaged over the eight traits, the gain was 3 percentage points. In the validation on cows for six traits (fertility and longevity were not available), the gain from inclusion of US bull in reference population was 6.6 percentage points in average over the six traits, and the gain from inclusion of cows was 8.2 percentage points. However, the gains from cows and US bulls were not accumulative. The total gain of including both US bulls and Danish cows was 10.5 percentage points. The results indicate that sharing reference

[Renal patient's diet: Can fish be included?].

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Castro González, M I; Maafs Rodríguez, A G; Galindo Gómez, C

2012-01-01

Medical and nutritional treatment for renal disease, now a major public health issue, is highly complicated. Nutritional therapy must seek to retard renal dysfunction, maintain an optimal nutritional status and prevent the development of underlying pathologies. To analyze ten fish species to identify those that, because of their low phosphorus content, high biological value protein and elevated n-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, could be included in renal patient's diet. The following fish species (Litte tunny, Red drum, Spotted eagleray, Escolar, Swordfish, Big-scale pomfret, Cortez flounder, Largemouth blackbass, Periche mojarra, Florida Pompano) were analyzed according to the AOAC and Keller techniques to determine their protein, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, cholesterol, vitamins D(3) and E, and n-3 EPA+DHA content. These results were used to calculate relations between nutrients. The protein in the analyzed species ranged from 16.5 g/100 g of fillet (Largemouth black bass) to 27.2 g/100 g (Red drum); the lowest phosphorus value was 28.6 mg/100 g (Periche mojarra) and the highest 216.3 mg/100 g (Spotted eagle ray). 80% of the fish presented > 100 mg EPA + DHA in 100 g of fillet. By its Phosphorus/gProtein ratio, Escolar and Swordfish could not be included in the renal diet; Little tunny, Escolar, Big-scale pomfret, Largemouth black-bass, Periche mojarra and Florida Pompano presented a lower Phosphorus/EPA + DHA ratio. Florida pompano is the most recommended specie for renal patients, due to its optimal nutrient relations. However, all analyzed species, except Escolar and Swordfish, could be included in renal diets.

Polycystic kidney disease among 4,436 intracranial aneurysm patients from a defined population.

Science.gov (United States)

Nurmonen, Heidi J; Huttunen, Terhi; Huttunen, Jukka; Kurki, Mitja I; Helin, Katariina; Koivisto, Timo; von Und Zu Fraunberg, Mikael; Jääskeläinen, Juha E; Lindgren, Antti E

2017-10-31

To define the association of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) with the characteristics of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) and unruptured intracranial aneurysm (IA) disease. We fused data from the Kuopio Intracranial Aneurysm database (n = 4,436 IA patients) and Finnish nationwide registries into a population-based series of 53 IA patients with ADPKD to compare the aneurysm- and patient-specific characteristics of IA disease in ADPKD and in the general IA population, and to identify risks for de novo IA formation. In total, there were 33 patients with ADPKD with aSAH and 20 patients with ADPKD with unruptured IAs. The median size of ruptured IAs in ADPKD was significantly smaller than in the general population (6.00 vs 8.00 mm) and the proportion of small ruptured IAs was significantly higher (31% vs 18%). Median age at aSAH was 42.8 years, 10 years younger than in the general IA population. Multiple IAs were present in 45% of patients with ADPKD compared to 28% in the general IA population. Cumulative risk of de novo IA formation was 1.3% per patient-year (vs 0.2% in the general IA population). Hazard for de novo aneurysm formation was significantly elevated in patients with ADPKD (Cox regression hazard ratio 7.7, 95% confidence interval 2.8-20; p IAs in patients with ADPKD and risk for de novo IAs is higher than in the general Eastern Finnish population. ADPKD should be considered as an indicator for long-term angiographic follow-up in patients with diagnosed IAs. © 2017 American Academy of Neurology.

Who to include in palliative care research? Consequences of different population definitions in palliative care epidemiology.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Borgsteede, S.D.; Deliens, L.; Francke, A.L.; Stalman, W.A.B.; Willems, D.L.; Eijk, T.T.M. van; Wal, G. van der

2003-01-01

Object of the study: Epidemiological research into palliative care faces the problem of defining an adequate research population. Subjects in studies are alternately defined as patients receiving 'palliative care' , 'palliative treatment' or 'end of life care'. So far, it is not known how

Population Pharmacokinetics of Gemcitabine and dFdU in Pancreatic Cancer Patients Using an Optimal Design, Sparse Sampling Approach.

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Serdjebi, Cindy; Gattacceca, Florence; Seitz, Jean-François; Fein, Francine; Gagnière, Johan; François, Eric; Abakar-Mahamat, Abakar; Deplanque, Gael; Rachid, Madani; Lacarelle, Bruno; Ciccolini, Joseph; Dahan, Laetitia

2017-06-01

Gemcitabine remains a pillar in pancreatic cancer treatment. However, toxicities are frequently observed. Dose adjustment based on therapeutic drug monitoring might help decrease the occurrence of toxicities. In this context, this work aims at describing the pharmacokinetics (PK) of gemcitabine and its metabolite dFdU in pancreatic cancer patients and at identifying the main sources of their PK variability using a population PK approach, despite a sparse sampled-population and heterogeneous administration and sampling protocols. Data from 38 patients were included in the analysis. The 3 optimal sampling times were determined using KineticPro and the population PK analysis was performed on Monolix. Available patient characteristics, including cytidine deaminase (CDA) status, were tested as covariates. Correlation between PK parameters and occurrence of severe hematological toxicities was also investigated. A two-compartment model best fitted the gemcitabine and dFdU PK data (volume of distribution and clearance for gemcitabine: V1 = 45 L and CL1 = 4.03 L/min; for dFdU: V2 = 36 L and CL2 = 0.226 L/min). Renal function was found to influence gemcitabine clearance, and body surface area to impact the volume of distribution of dFdU. However, neither CDA status nor the occurrence of toxicities was correlated to PK parameters. Despite sparse sampling and heterogeneous administration and sampling protocols, population and individual PK parameters of gemcitabine and dFdU were successfully estimated using Monolix population PK software. The estimated parameters were consistent with previously published results. Surprisingly, CDA activity did not influence gemcitabine PK, which was explained by the absence of CDA-deficient patients enrolled in the study. This work suggests that even sparse data are valuable to estimate population and individual PK parameters in patients, which will be usable to individualize the dose for an optimized benefit to risk ratio.

Moyamoya vasculopathy - Patient demographics and characteristics in the Finnish population.

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Saarela, Marika; Mustanoja, Satu; Pekkola, Johanna; Tyni, Tiina; Hernesniemi, Juha; Kivipelto, Leena; Tatlisumak, Turgut

2017-01-01

Background and purpose Moyamoya vasculopathy, a rare steno-occlusive progressive cerebrovascular disorder, has not been thoroughly studied in Caucasian populations. We established a registry of Finnish patients treated at the Helsinki University Hospital, to collect and report demographic and clinical data. Methods We collected data both retrospectively and prospectively from all the patients with a moyamoya vasculopathy referred to our hospital between January 1987 and December 2014. All patients underwent a neurological outpatient clinic visit. Results We diagnosed 61 patients (50 females, 10 children) with moyamoya vasculopathy. The mean age at the disease-onset was 31.5 ± 17.9 years. The two most common presenting symptoms were ischemic stroke (n = 31) and hemorrhage (n = 8). Forty-four percent underwent revascularization surgery, and 70% were prescribed antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The results support in part the Western phenotype of the disease considering the later presentation and larger female predominance compared to the Asian moyamoya vasculopathy reports. However, the proportion of ischemic strokes and hemorrhagic strokes is closer to Japanese population than German population. The absence of familial cases points to a different genetic profile in the Finnish patients.

Selection Component Analysis of Natural Polymorphisms using Population Samples Including Mother-Offspring Combinations, II

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jarmer, Hanne Østergaard; Christiansen, Freddy Bugge

1981-01-01

Population samples including mother-offspring combinations provide information on the selection components: zygotic selection, sexual selection, gametic seletion and fecundity selection, on the mating pattern, and on the deviation from linkage equilibrium among the loci studied. The theory...

The utility of including pathology reports in improving the computational identification of patients

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Wei Chen

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Celiac disease (CD is a common autoimmune disorder. Efficient identification of patients may improve chronic management of the disease. Prior studies have shown searching International Classification of Diseases-9 (ICD-9 codes alone is inaccurate for identifying patients with CD. In this study, we developed automated classification algorithms leveraging pathology reports and other clinical data in Electronic Health Records (EHRs to refine the subset population preselected using ICD-9 code (579.0. Materials and Methods: EHRs were searched for established ICD-9 code (579.0 suggesting CD, based on which an initial identification of cases was obtained. In addition, laboratory results for tissue transglutaminse were extracted. Using natural language processing we analyzed pathology reports from upper endoscopy. Twelve machine learning classifiers using different combinations of variables related to ICD-9 CD status, laboratory result status, and pathology reports were experimented to find the best possible CD classifier. Ten-fold cross-validation was used to assess the results. Results: A total of 1498 patient records were used including 363 confirmed cases and 1135 false positive cases that served as controls. Logistic model based on both clinical and pathology report features produced the best results: Kappa of 0.78, F1 of 0.92, and area under the curve (AUC of 0.94, whereas in contrast using ICD-9 only generated poor results: Kappa of 0.28, F1 of 0.75, and AUC of 0.63. Conclusion: Our automated classification system presented an efficient and reliable way to improve the performance of CD patient identification.

Incremental healthcare resource utilization and costs in US patients with Cushing's disease compared with diabetes mellitus and population controls.

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Broder, Michael S; Neary, Maureen P; Chang, Eunice; Ludlam, William H

2015-12-01

Resource utilization and costs in Cushing's disease (CD) patients have not been studied extensively. We compared CD patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) patients and population-based controls to characterize differences in utilization and costs. Using 2008-2012 MarketScan® database, we identified three patient groups: (1) CD patients; (2) DM patients; and (3) population-based control patients without CD. DM and control patients were matched to CD patients by age, gender, region, and review year in a 2:1 ratio. Outcomes included annual healthcare resource utilization and costs. There were 1852 CD patients, 3704 DM patients and 3704 controls. Mean age was 42.9 years; 78.2 % were female. CD patients were hospitalized more frequently (19.3 %) than DM patients (11.0 %, p < .001) or controls (5.6 %, p < .001). CD patients visited the ED more frequently (25.4 %) than DM patients (21.1 %, p < .001) or controls (14.3 %, p < .001). CD patients had more office visits than DM patients (19.1 vs. 10.7, p < .001) or controls (7.1, p < .001). CD patients on average filled more prescriptions than DM patients (51.7 vs. 42.7, p < .001) or controls (20.5, p < .001). Mean total healthcare costs for CD patients were $26,269 versus $12,282 for DM patients (p < .001) and $5869 for controls (p < .001). CD patients had significantly higher annual rates of healthcare resource utilization compared to matched DM patients and population controls without CD. CD patient costs were double DM costs and quadruple control costs. This study puts into context the additional burdens of CD over DM, a common, chronic endocrine condition affecting multiple organ systems, and population controls.

Comparison of various risk indicators among patients with chronic and aggressive periodontitis in davangere population

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Vandana, Kharidhi Laxman; Nadkarni, Rahul Dilip; Guddada, Kaveri

2015-01-01

Background: The aim of the present study was to compare various risk indicators of chronic periodontitis (CP) and aggressive periodontitis (AP) among patients of Davangere population. Materials and Methods: Totally, 89 CP and 90 AP patients were selected from outpatient Department of Periodontics, College of Dental Sciences, Davangere. Various clinical parameters proven to be risk indicators were determined for each patient such as age, gender, occupation, oral hygiene habits, personal habits, income, level of education, place of residence, frequency of dental visits, various oral hygiene indices, gingival status, wasting diseases, malocclusion, laboratory investigations, and the results were subjected to statistical analysis. Results: This study demonstrated that AP is manifested early in life in susceptible individuals. Proven risk indicators for AP and CP in the present study population included young age, place of residence, income and education levels, frequency of dental visits. Patients with AP had better oral hygiene habits and oral hygiene index results than patients with CP. Paan chewing and smoking could be considered as risk factors, both in CP and AP cases. The similar association of plaque scores but higher bleeding tendency in AP patients supported the fact of higher susceptibility of AP patients to periodontal breakdown. Malocclusion being present in the majority of cases could also be put forth as a risk factor for AP and CP. Conclusion: This study identifies the different risk indicators for CP and AP and demonstrates the need for constructing nationwide oral health promotion programs to improve the level of oral health awareness and standards in Indian population. PMID:26392693

Are Indian patients with juvenile-onset ankylosing spondylitis taller than reference population ?

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Pulukool Sandhya

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background & objectives: Paucity of growth retardation has been observed by us in patients with juvenile-onset ankylosing spondylitis (JAS in a tertiary care health centre in south India. We, therefore, undertook this pilot study to assess and compare anthropometry of patients with JAS who were 15 yr and older with that of adult onset ankylosing spondylitis (AAS and matching Indian reference population. Methods: Consecutive male patients (December 2009- October 2012 with JAS and AAS fulfilling Modified New York Criteria were selected after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. Demography and anthropometry were noted. Height of both patient groups as well as their parents and siblings were compared with that of the reference population. Mid-parental height and delta height were derived. Those with delta height of >8.5 cm were compared with the remaining. Multivariate logistic regression was done for variables that were found to be significant by chi-square in bivariate analysis. Similar analysis was done for BMI also. Results: There was no significant difference in anthropometric variables between JAS and AAS groups. Twenty eight of the 30 (93.33% JAS patients were taller as compared to the reference population. Twenty six (86.67% AAS patients were taller than the reference population. The mean heights of JAS (170.67 ± 6.94 cm and AAS (168.2 ± 5.94 cm patients were significantly higher than the reference value of 163.11 cm; both p0 <0.001. Logistic regression revealed that tallness in JAS was associated positively with hypermobility (OR=23.46,95%CI 1.2-447.2, p0 =0.036. No significant association was detected for height in AAS and for BMI in both JAS and AAS groups. Interpretation & conclusions: No growth retardation was seen in patients with JAS in our study. Majority of patients with JAS and AAS were taller than reference population. The difference between mean height of JAS and AAS was not significant. Larger studies involving different

National Incidence of Patient Safety Indicators in the Total Hip Arthroplasty Population.

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Tanenbaum, Joseph E; Knapik, Derrick M; Wera, Glenn D; Fitzgerald, Steven J

2017-09-01

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services use the incidence of patient safety indicators (PSIs) to determine health care value and hospital reimbursement. The national incidence of PSI has not been quantified in the total hip arthroplasty (THA) population, and it is unknown if patient insurance status is associated with PSI incidence after THA. All patients in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) who underwent THA in 2013 were identified using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes. The incidence of PSI was determined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, diagnosis code algorithms published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The association of insurance status and the incidence of PSI during the inpatient episode was determined by comparing privately insured and Medicare patients with Medicaid/self-pay patients using a logistic regression model that controlled for patient demographics, patient comorbidities, and hospital characteristics. In 2013, the NIS included 68,644 hospitalizations with primary THA performed during the inpatient episode. During this period, 429 surgically relevant PSI were recorded in the NIS. The estimated national incidence rate of PSI after primary THA was 0.63%. In our secondary analysis, the privately insured cohort had significantly lower odds of experiencing one or more PSIs relative to the Medicaid/self-pay cohort (odds ratio, 0.47; 95% confidence interval, 0.29-0.76). The national incidence of PSI among THA patients is relatively low. However, primary insurance status is associated with the incidence of one or more PSIs after THA. As value-based payment becomes more widely adopted in the United States, quality benchmarks and penalty thresholds need to account for these differences in risk-adjustment models to promote and maintain access to care in the underinsured population. Copyright �

Utilitarian prioritization of radiation oncology patients based on maximization of population tumour control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ebert, M A; Li, W; Kearvell, R; Bydder, S; Jennings, L

2013-01-01

An objective method for establishing patient prioritization in the context of a radiotherapy waiting list is investigated. This is based on a utilitarian objective, being the greatest probability of local tumour control in the population of patients. A numerical simulation is developed and a clinical patient case-mix is used to determine the influence of the characteristics of the patient population on resulting optimal patient scheduling. With the utilitarian objective, large gains in tumour control probability (TCP) can be achieved for individuals or cohorts by prioritizing patients for that fraction of the patient population with relatively small sacrifices in TCP for a smaller fraction of the population. For a waiting list in steady state with five patients per day commencing treatment and leaving the list (and so with five patients per day entering the list), and a mean wait time of 35 days and a maximum of 90 days, optimized wait times ranged from a mean of one day for patients with tumour types with short effective doubling times to a mean of 66.9 days for prostate cancer patients. It is found that, when seeking the optimal daily order of patients on the waiting list in a constrained simulation, the relative rather than absolute value of TCP is the determinant of the resulting optimal waiting times. An increase in the mean waiting time mostly influences (increases) the optimal waiting times of patients with fast-growing tumours. The proportional representation of groups (separated by tumour type) in the patient population has an influence on the resulting distribution of optimal waiting times for patients in those groups, though has only a minor influence on the optimal mean waiting time for each group. (paper)

Utilitarian prioritization of radiation oncology patients based on maximization of population tumour control

Science.gov (United States)

Ebert, M. A.; Li, W.; Jennings, L.; Kearvell, R.; Bydder, S.

2013-06-01

An objective method for establishing patient prioritization in the context of a radiotherapy waiting list is investigated. This is based on a utilitarian objective, being the greatest probability of local tumour control in the population of patients. A numerical simulation is developed and a clinical patient case-mix is used to determine the influence of the characteristics of the patient population on resulting optimal patient scheduling. With the utilitarian objective, large gains in tumour control probability (TCP) can be achieved for individuals or cohorts by prioritizing patients for that fraction of the patient population with relatively small sacrifices in TCP for a smaller fraction of the population. For a waiting list in steady state with five patients per day commencing treatment and leaving the list (and so with five patients per day entering the list), and a mean wait time of 35 days and a maximum of 90 days, optimized wait times ranged from a mean of one day for patients with tumour types with short effective doubling times to a mean of 66.9 days for prostate cancer patients. It is found that, when seeking the optimal daily order of patients on the waiting list in a constrained simulation, the relative rather than absolute value of TCP is the determinant of the resulting optimal waiting times. An increase in the mean waiting time mostly influences (increases) the optimal waiting times of patients with fast-growing tumours. The proportional representation of groups (separated by tumour type) in the patient population has an influence on the resulting distribution of optimal waiting times for patients in those groups, though has only a minor influence on the optimal mean waiting time for each group.

[Incidence of dependence-related lesions in a population of critical patients].

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Roca-Biosca, Alba; Rubio-Rico, Lourdes; de Molina-Fernández, María Inmaculada; Tuset-Garijo, Gemma; Colodrero-Díaz, Encarnación; García-Fernández, Francisco Pedro

2016-01-01

To determine the incidence of various types of dependence-related lesions (DRL) on a population of critically ill patients. Descriptive, longitudinal and prospective study in an Intensive Care Unit from January 2014 to January 2015. Adult patients who did not present DRL at the moment of admission were included. Those with brain death and/or stay at the unit for more than two days were excluded. Patients were studied till they developed DRL, were exitus, discharged or stayed for more than 14 days. Each patient was evaluated daily till DRL did develop or was excluded from the study. If DRL did develop it was photographed and related data were recorded. The comparison between quantitative variables of normal distribution was done with the t de Student. The Mann-Whitney U was used to compare the other variables. Qualitative variables were compared through Pearson's chi square. In both cases p≤.05 was considered significant. 295 patients were included, 27.45% of them developed DRL. The density of incidence was 41 DRL/1,000 days at risk. 50.62% of DRL were categorized as PU. 17.28% were moisture injuries, 13.58% were due to friction and the rest were combined injuries. The risk according to EMINA and Braden scale was significantly different in the group of patients with lesions compared to the group without them. Not all injuries were caused by pressure. Specific prevention strategies based on different causal mechanisms are required. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Related B cell clones populate the meninges and parenchyma of patients with multiple sclerosis.

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Lovato, Laura; Willis, Simon N; Rodig, Scott J; Caron, Tyler; Almendinger, Stefany E; Howell, Owain W; Reynolds, Richard; O'Connor, Kevin C; Hafler, David A

2011-02-01

In the central nervous system of patients with multiple sclerosis, B cell aggregates populate the meninges, raising the central question as to whether these structures relate to the B cell infiltrates found in parenchymal lesions or instead, represent a separate central nervous system immune compartment. We characterized the repertoires derived from meningeal B cell aggregates and the corresponding parenchymal infiltrates from brain tissue derived primarily from patients with progressive multiple sclerosis. The majority of expanded antigen-experienced B cell clones derived from meningeal aggregates were also present in the parenchyma. We extended this investigation to include 20 grey matter specimens containing meninges, 26 inflammatory plaques, 19 areas of normal appearing white matter and cerebral spinal fluid. Analysis of 1833 B cell receptor heavy chain variable region sequences demonstrated that antigen-experienced clones were consistently shared among these distinct compartments. This study establishes a relationship between extraparenchymal lymphoid tissue and parenchymal infiltrates and defines the arrangement of B cell clones that populate the central nervous system of patients with multiple sclerosis.

Safety of iobitridol in the general population and at-risk patients

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vogl, Thomas J. [University Hospital Frankfurt, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, Department of Radiology, Frankfurt (Germany); J. W. Goethe University of Frankfurt, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Frankfurt (Germany); Honold, Elmar [Guerbet GmbH, Sulzbach (Germany); Wolf, Michael [Michael Wolf Information Systems, Puettlingen (Germany); Mohajeri, H.; Hammerstingl, R. [University Hospital Frankfurt, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, Department of Radiology, Frankfurt (Germany)

2006-06-15

The purpose of this study was to review the rate of adverse events after contrast medium administration in the general population and at-risk patients (renal impairment, heart failure (NYHA III or IV), hypotension or hypertension, coronary artery disease, previous reaction to contrast media, asthma and/or allergies, dehydration, diabetes mellitus, poor general condition) under daily practice conditions in a post-marketing surveillance study. Two hundred and ten radiologists conducted various X-ray examinations in 52,057 patients. To document the safety of iobitridol in routine use, all patients undergoing X-ray examinations were included. Exclusion criteria were contraindications listed in the locally approved summary of product characteristics. The adverse event rate was 0.96% (at-risk patients 1.39%); the rate of serious adverse events 0.044% in all patients (at-risk patients 0.057%). Adverse events occurred more often in women than in men (P<0.001). In patients who had previously reacted to a contrast medium, adverse events were reported in 3.43% with mild to moderate symptoms. In 47.76% of these patients, a premedication was administered. There was no difference in the frequency of adverse events and serious adverse events whether premedicated or not (P=0.311 and P=0.295, respectively). Iobitridol was well-tolerated in 99.04% of cases (at-risk patients 98.61%). (orig.)

Population pharmacokinetics of tamsulosin hydrochloride in paediatric patients with neuropathic and non-neuropathic bladder

Science.gov (United States)

Tsuda, Yasuhiro; Tatami, Shinji; Yamamura, Norio; Tadayasu, Yusuke; Sarashina, Akiko; Liesenfeld, Karl-Heinz; Staab, Alexander; Schäfer, Hans-Günter; Ieiri, Ichiro; Higuchi, Shun

2010-01-01

AIMS The main objective of this study was to characterize the population pharmacokinetics of tamsulosin hydrochloride (HCl) in paediatric patients with neuropathic and non-neuropathic bladder. A secondary objective was to compare the pharmacokinetics in paediatric patients and adults. METHODS Tamsulosin HCl plasma concentrations in 1082 plasma samples from 189 paediatric patients (age range 2–16 years) were analyzed with NONMEM, applying a one compartment model with first-order absorption. Based on the principles of allometry, body weight was incorporated in the base model, along with fixed allometric exponents. Covariate analysis was performed by means of a stepwise forward inclusion and backward elimination procedure. Simulations based on the final model were used to compare the pharmacokinetics with those in adults. RESULTS Beside the priori-implemented body weight, only α1-acid glycoprotein had an effect on both apparent clearance and apparent volume of distribution. No other investigated covariates, including gender, age, race, patient population and concomitant therapy with anti-cholinergics, significantly affected the pharmacokinetics of tamsulosin HCl (P tamsulosin HCl in paediatric patients was established and it described the data well. There was no major difference in the pharmacokinetics of tamsulosin HCl between paediatric patients (age range 2–16 years) and adults when the effect of body weight was taken into consideration. PMID:20642551

Views on life and death of physicians, nurses, cancer patients and general population in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Sekiya, Noriyasu; Kuroda, Yujiro; Nakajima, Kasumi; Iwamitsu, Yumi; Kanai, Yoshiaki; Miyashita, Mitsunori; Kotani, Midori; Kitazawa, Yutaka; Yamashita, Hideomi; Nakagawa, Keiichi

2017-01-01

This study aimed to investigate views on life and death among physicians, nurses, cancer patients, and the general population in Japan and examine factors affecting these views. We targeted 3,140 physicians, 470 nurses, 450 cancer patients, and 3,000 individuals from the general population. We used the Death Attitudes Inventory (DAI) to measure attitudes toward life and death. The collection rates were 35% (1,093/3,140), 78% (366/470), 69% (310/450), and 39% (1,180/3,000) for physicians, nurses, patients, and the general population, respectively. We found that age, sex, social role (i.e., physician, nurse, cancer patient, and general population) were significantly correlated with DAI subscales. Compared with general population, attitudes toward death of physicians, nurses and cancer patients differed significantly even after adjusted their age and sex. Our study is the first to analyze differences in views on life and death among physicians, nurses, cancer patients, and the general population in Japan.

[The management of asymptomatic bacteriuria in different patient population].

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Ivanov, M-L; Malinverni, R

2008-11-12

Who should be screened for asymptomatic bacteriuria (AB) and who should be treated? This review updates some aspects of the management of AB in different patient populations. A systematic screening for AB is recommended for pregnant women because of a significant risk of complications. In these cases as well as before any uro-gynecologic surgical procedure treatment of AB is strongly recommended. The management of AB in immunosuppressed or transplanted patients is more controversial. In other populations treating AB is not recommended and the outcome seems to be worse in case of treatment due to possible side effects and selection of resistant organisms. Recent studies have shown a considerable gap between clinical practice and recommendations.

Why patients visit their doctors: assessing the most prevalent conditions in a defined American population.

Science.gov (United States)

St Sauver, Jennifer L; Warner, David O; Yawn, Barbara P; Jacobson, Debra J; McGree, Michaela E; Pankratz, Joshua J; Melton, L Joseph; Roger, Véronique L; Ebbert, Jon O; Rocca, Walter A

2013-01-01

To describe the prevalence of nonacute conditions among patients seeking health care in a defined US population, emphasizing age, sex, and ethnic differences. The Rochester Epidemiology Project (REP) medical records linkage system was used to identify all residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, on April 1, 2009, who had consented to review of their medical records for research (142,377 patients). We then electronically extracted all International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes noted in the records of these patients by any health care institution between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2009. We grouped International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes into clinical classification codes and then into 47 broader disease groups associated with health-related quality of life. Age- and sex-specific prevalence was estimated by dividing the number of individuals within each group by the corresponding age- and sex-specific population. Patients within a group who had multiple codes were counted only once. We included a total of 142,377 patients, 75,512 (53%) of whom were female. Skin disorders (42.7%), osteoarthritis and joint disorders (33.6%), back problems (23.9%), disorders of lipid metabolism (22.4%), and upper respiratory tract disease (22.1%, excluding asthma) were the most prevalent disease groups in this population. Ten of the 15 most prevalent disease groups were more common in women in almost all age groups, whereas disorders of lipid metabolism, hypertension, and diabetes were more common in men. Additionally, the prevalence of 7 of the 10 most common groups increased with advancing age. Prevalence also varied across ethnic groups (whites, blacks, and Asians). Our findings suggest areas for focused research that may lead to better health care delivery and improved population health. Copyright © 2013 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Morbidity and medicine prescriptions in a nationwide Danish population of patients diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Glintborg, Dorte; Hass Rubin, Katrine; Nybo, Mads

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVE: The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increased in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), but the prevalence of other diseases is not clarified. We aimed to investigate morbidity and medicine prescriptions in PCOS. DESIGN: A National Register-based study. METHODS: Patients with PCOS (PCOS...... Denmark and an embedded cohort; PCOS Odense University Hospital (OUH)) and one control population. Premenopausal women with PCOS underwent clinical and biochemical examination (PCOS OUH, n=1217). PCOS Denmark (n=19 199) included women with PCOS in the Danish National Patient Register. Three age......-matched controls were included per patient (n=57 483). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Diagnosis codes and filled prescriptions. RESULTS: The mean (range) age of the PCOS Denmark group and controls was 30.6 (12-60) years. Patients in PCOS Denmark had higher Charlson index, higher prevalence of diabetes, dyslipidemia...

HIV-infected mental health patients: characteristics and comparison with HIV-infected patients from the general population and non-infected mental health patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schadé Annemiek

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Objectives HIV-infected patients are at increased risk of developing mental health symptoms, which negatively influence the treatment of the HIV-infection. Mental health problems in HIV-infected patients may affect public health. Psychopathology, including depression and substance abuse, can increase hazardous sexual behaviour and, with it, the chance of spreading HIV. Therefore, it is important to develop an optimal treatment plan for HIV-infected patients with mental health problems. The majority of HIV-infected patients in the Netherlands (almost 60% are homosexual men. The main objectives of this study were to describe the clinical and demographic characteristics of patients with HIV who seek treatment for their mental health symptoms in the Netherlands. Secondly, we tested whether HIV infected and non-infected homosexual patients with a lifetime depressive disorder differed on several mental health symptoms. Methods We compared a cohort of 196 patients who visited the outpatient clinic for HIV and Mental Health with HIV-infected patients in the general population in Amsterdam (ATHENA-study and with non-HIV infected mental health patients (NESDA-study. DSM-IV diagnoses were determined, and several self-report questionnaires were used to assess mental health symptoms. Results Depressive disorders were the most commonly occurring diagnoses in the cohort and frequent drug use was common. HIV-infected homosexual men with a depressive disorder showed no difference in depressive symptoms or sleep disturbance, compared with non-infected depressive men. However, HIV-positive patients did express more symptoms like fear, anger and guilt. Although they showed significantly more suicidal ideation, suicide attempts were not more prevalent among HIV-infected patients. Finally, the HIV-infected depressive patients displayed a considerably higher level of drug use than the HIV-negative group. Conclusion Habitual drug use is a risk factor for

Identification of infectious microbiota from oral cavity environment of various population group patients as a preventive approach to human health risk factors

OpenAIRE

Paweł J. Zawadzki; Konrad Perkowski; Bohdan Starościak; Wanda Baltaza; Marcin Padzik; Krzysztof Pionkowski; Lidia Chomicz

2016-01-01

Introduction and objective This study presents the results of comparative investigations aimed to determine microbiota that can occur in the oral environment in different human populations. The objective of the research was to identify pathogenic oral microbiota, the potential cause of health complications in patients of different population groups. Material and Methods The study included 95 patients requiring dental or surgical treatment; their oral cavity environment microbiota as...

Clinical and economic outcomes among hospitalized patients with acute coronary syndrome: an analysis of a national representative Medicare population.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Shih-Yin; Crivera, Concetta; Stokes, Michael; Boulanger, Luke; Schein, Jeffrey

2013-01-01

To evaluate the clinical and economic burden of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), a common cardiovascular illness, in the Medicare population. Data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey were analyzed. Patients with incident hospitalization for ACS without similar events during the 6 months prior were included. Outcomes evaluated included inpatient mortality, 30-day mortality and readmission, subsequent hospitalization events, and total direct health care costs. Sample population weights were applied, accounting for multistage sampling design to obtain nationally representative estimates for the US Medicare population. Between March 1, 2002 and December 31, 2006, we identified 795 incident ACS patients (mean age 76 years; 49% male) representing 2,542,211 Medicare beneficiaries. The inpatient mortality rate was 9.71% and the 30-day mortality ranged from 10.96% to 13.93%. The 30-day readmission rate for surviving patients was 18.56% for all causes and 17.90% for cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related diagnoses. The incidence of death since admission was 309 cases per 1000 person-years. Among patients discharged alive, the incidence was 197 for death, 847 for CVD-related admission, and 906 for all-cause admission. During the year when the ACS event occurred, mean annual total direct health care costs per person were US$50,458, with more than half attributable to inpatient hospitalization ($27,609). In this national representative Medicare population, we found a substantial clinical and economic burden for ACS. These findings suggest a continuing unmet medical need for more effective management of patients with ACS. The continuous burden underscores the importance of development of new interventions and/or strategies to improve long-term outcomes.

Pregnancy outcomes in liver transplant patients, a population-based study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghazali, Sarah; Czuzoj-Shulman, Nicholas; Spence, Andrea R; Mishkin, Daniel S; Abenhaim, Haim A

2017-02-01

To determine the incidence of pregnancy in liver transplant (LT) patients in a large population-based cohort and to determine the maternal and fetal risks associated with these pregnancies. We conducted an age-matched cohort study using the US Healthcare and Utilization project-Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 2003-2011. We used unconditional logistic regression, adjusted for baseline characteristics, to estimate the likelihood of common obstetric complications in the LT group compared with age-matched nontransplant patients. There were 7 288 712 deliveries and an estimated incidence of 2.1 LTs/100 000 deliveries over the nine-year study period. LT patients had higher rates of maternal complications including hypertensive disorders (OR 6.5, 95% CI: 4.4-9.5), gestational diabetes (OR 1.9, 95% CI: 1.0-3.5), anemia (OR 3.2, 95% CI: 2.1-4.9), thrombocytopenia (OR 27.5, 95% CI: 12.7-59.8) and genitourinary tract infections (OR 4.2, 95% CI: 1.8-9.8). Deliveries among women with LT had higher risks of cesarean section (OR 2.9, 95% CI: 2.0-4.1), postpartum hemorrhage (OR 3.2, 95% CI: 1.7-6.2) and blood transfusion (OR 18.7, 95% CI: 8.5-41.0). Fetal complications in LT patients included preterm delivery (OR 4.7, 95% CI: 3.2-7.0), intrauterine growth restriction (OR 4.1, 95% CI: 2.1-7.7) and congenital anomalies (OR 6.0, 95% CI: 1.1-32.0). Although pregnancies in LT recipients are feasible, they are associated with a high rate of maternal and fetal morbidities. Close antenatal surveillance is recommended.

Morbidity and medicine prescriptions in a nationwide Danish population of patients diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome.

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Glintborg, Dorte; Hass Rubin, Katrine; Nybo, Mads; Abrahamsen, Bo; Andersen, Marianne

2015-05-01

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increased in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), but the prevalence of other diseases is not clarified. We aimed to investigate morbidity and medicine prescriptions in PCOS. A National Register-based study. Patients with PCOS (PCOS Denmark and an embedded cohort; PCOS Odense University Hospital (OUH)) and one control population. Premenopausal women with PCOS underwent clinical and biochemical examination (PCOS OUH, n=1217). PCOS Denmark (n=19 199) included women with PCOS in the Danish National Patient Register. Three age-matched controls were included per patient (n=57 483). Diagnosis codes and filled prescriptions. The mean (range) age of the PCOS Denmark group and controls was 30.6 (12-60) years. Patients in PCOS Denmark had higher Charlson index, higher prevalence of diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension than controls. PCOS was associated with a two times increased risk of stroke and thrombosis, whereas the risk of other cardiovascular diseases was not increased. Thyroid disease, asthma, migraine, and depression were more prevalent in PCOS Denmark vs controls, whereas fractures were rarer. Infertility was increased in patients compared with controls, but the mean number of births was higher in PCOS. Medicine prescriptions within all diagnosis areas were significantly higher in PCOS patients than in controls.In PCOS OUH, polycystic ovaries (PCO) and irregular menses were associated with a more adverse metabolic risk profile, but individual Rotterdam criteria were not associated with cardiometabolic diagnoses. Cardiometabolic and psychiatric morbidity were significantly increased in a Danish population with PCOS. Medical diseases are frequent also in young patients with PCOS. © 2015 European Society of Endocrinology.

The prevalence of mutations in the gene encoding filaggrin in the population of Polish patients with atopic dermatitis

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Magdalena Woźniak

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction : The genetic background of atopic dermatitis (AD is complex, involves many genes and their participation varies in varied populations, and depends on the intensity and course of a disease. Changes in the nucleotide sequence of the FLG gene and a reduced number or a deficit of the functional product of processed profilaggrin can be one of risk factors for atopic dermatitis. Aim : To determine the prevalence of R501X and 2282del4 mutations of the FLG gene in patients with AD. Material and methods : The studied group included 60 patients with clinically diagnosed AD, and the control group included 61 healthy volunteers. The study protocol included collection of biological material for tests, DNA isolation and evaluation of its quality and quantity, and PCR amplification of the isolated genetic material. Results : In the studied group, both changes in the nucleotide sequence of the FLG gene were detected and in the control group no tested mutations were detected. In 18 (30% patients with AD, 22 mutations (4 heterozygous and 1 homozygous ones of R501X and 10 heterozygous and 7 homozygous ones of 2282del4 were detected. Conclusions : A high rate of mutations of the FLG gene in patients with clinically diagnosed AD and pathologically dry skin was observed in the studied population. The 2282del4 mutation occurred more often than R501X.

Impaired visual, working, and verbal memory in first-episode, drug-naive patients with major depressive disorder in a Chinese population.

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Chen, Ce; Jiang, Wen-Hui; Wang, Wei; Ma, Xian-Cang; Li, Ye; Wu, Jin; Hashimoto, Kenji; Gao, Cheng-Ge

2018-01-01

Cognitive impairment has been observed in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, it remains unclear whether the deficits in specific cognitive domains are present in first-episode, drug-naïve patients or medicated patients. In the present study, using the CogState battery (CSB) Chinese language version, we evaluated the visual, working, and verbal memory in first-episode drug-naive patients and medicated patients with MDD in a Chinese population. We measured the cognitive function in first-episode drug-naïve patients (n = 36), medicated MDD patients (n = 71), and age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects (n = 59) in a Chinese population. The CSB composite scores in both first-episode drug-naive patients and medicated patients were significantly poorer than those in the healthy control subjects. The CSB sub-scores, including visual, working, and verbal memory were also significantly poorer in both patient groups than those in the healthy control subjects. In contrast, processing speed, attention/vigilance, executive function, spatial working memory, and social cognition were no different from healthy controls, whereas the executive function was significantly better in the medicated patients than in the healthy control subjects and first-episode drug-naïve patients. These findings suggest an impairment in the visual, working, and verbal memory in first-episode, drug-naive MDD patients in a Chinese population.

Prevalence of duodenal ulcer-promoting gene (dupA) of Helicobacter pylori in patients with duodenal ulcer in North Indian population.

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Arachchi, H S Jayasinghe; Kalra, Vijay; Lal, Banwari; Bhatia, Vikram; Baba, C S; Chakravarthy, S; Rohatgi, S; Sarma, Priyangshu M; Mishra, V; Das, Bimal; Ahuja, Vineet

2007-12-01

The duodenal ulcer (DU)-promoting gene (dupA) of Helicobacter pylori has been identified as a novel virulent marker associated with an increased risk for DU. The presence or absence of dupA gene of H. pylori present in patients with DU and functional dyspepsia in North Indian population was studied by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and hybridization analysis. One hundred and sixty-six patients (96 DU and 70 functional dyspepsia) were included in this study. In addition, sequence diversity of dupA gene of H. pylori found in these patients was analyzed by sequencing the PCR products jhp0917 and jhp0918 on both strands with appropriate primers. PCR and hybridization analyses indicated that dupA gene was present in 37.5% (36/96) of H. pylori strains isolated from DU patients and 22.86% (16/70) of functional dyspepsia patients (p dupA was significantly associated with the cagA-positive genotype (p dupA gene with DU in this population. The dupA gene can be considered as a novel virulent marker for DU in this population.

Population pharmacokinetics of ticagrelor in patients with acute coronary syndromes.

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Li, Jianguo; Tang, Weifeng; Storey, Robert F; Husted, Steen; Teng, Renli

2016-09-01

Ticagrelor is an orally administered antiplatelet agent used to reduce thrombotic events in patients with acute coronary syndromes. Data from two studies in patients with acute coronary syndromes with large amounts of pharmacokinetic (PK) data (phase IIb DISPERSE-2 study (n = 609)); phase III PLATO PK substudy (n = 6,381)), along with non-linear mixed effects modeling software, were used to develop population PK models for ticagrelor and its metabolite, AR-C124910XX, and to evaluate the impact of demographic and clinical factors on the PK of ticagrelor and AR-C124910XX. 32 covariates relating to disease history, biomarkers, clinical chemistry, and concomitant medications were assessed. A one-compartment model with population mean PK parameters of firstorder absorption rate constant (0.67/h), apparent systemic clearance (14 L/h), and apparent volume of distribution (221 L) was shown to best describe the PK profile of ticagrelor. Patients co-administered moderate CYP3A inducers or inhibitors increased (by 110%, 95% confidence interval (CI), 52 - 192%) or decreased (by 64%, 95% CI, 39 - 73%) apparent ticagrelor clearance, respectively, while habitual smoking decreased apparent ticagrelor clearance by 22% (95% CI, 19 - 25%). Ticagrelor bioavailability was 21% (95% CI, 19 - 22%) lower at treatment initiation (visit 1) versus subsequent visits. Compared with Caucasian patients, ticagrelor bioavailability was 39% (95% CI, 33 - 46%) higher in Asian patients and 18% (95% CI, 6 - 28%) lower in Black patients. In the current analyses, the population PK models developed for ticagrelor and AR-C124910XX described the data obtained in the DISPERSE-2 and PLATO studies well, and were consistent with previous phase I PK studies.

Increased incidence of peptic ulcer disease in central serous chorioretinopathy patients: a population-based retrospective cohort study.

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Chen, San-Ni; Lian, Iebin; Chen, Yi-Chiao; Ho, Jau-Der

2015-02-01

To investigate peptic ulcer disease and other possible risk factors in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSR) using a population-based database. In this population-based retrospective cohort study, longitudinal data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database were analyzed. The study cohort comprised 835 patients with CSR and the control cohort comprised 4175 patients without CSR from January 2000 to December 2009. Conditional logistic regression was applied to examine the association of peptic ulcer disease and other possible risk factors for CSR, and stratified Cox regression models were applied to examine whether patients with CSR have an increased chance of peptic ulcer disease and hypertension development. The identifiable risk factors for CSR included peptic ulcer disease (adjusted odd ratio: 1.39, P = 0.001) and higher monthly income (adjusted odd ratio: 1.30, P = 0.006). Patients with CSR also had a significantly higher chance of developing peptic ulcer disease after the diagnosis of CSR (adjusted odd ratio: 1.43, P = 0.009). Peptic ulcer disease and higher monthly income are independent risk factors for CSR. Whereas, patients with CSR also had increased risk for peptic ulcer development.

The CT frequencies of various non-traumatic acute abdominal emergencies in hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis patients and the general population

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ergün, Tarkan; Lakadamyal, Hatice

2012-01-01

Purpose: To investigate the frequency of non-traumatic acute abdominal emergencies in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) (peritoneal dialysis (PD) and haemodialysis (HD)) patients and in the general population as diagnosed by computed tomography (CT) imaging. Methods: The abdominal CT findings of ESRD patients with non-traumatic acute abdominal pain during the years 2001–2010 have been retrospectively evaluated. Thirty-three HD (14 females, 19 males, mean age: 62 ± 10.5) and 22 PD patients (12 females, 10 males, mean age: 59 ± 9.4) with acute abdominal pathology based on their CT scans have been included into the study. In addition, 127 individuals (68 females, 59 males, mean age: 40.7 ± 12.8) with normal renal functions who presented with non-traumatic acute abdominal pain diagnosed with an acute abdominal pathology based on their CT scans have been prospectively evaluated during the years 2009–2010. Results: While the most frequent etiology in PD patients was peritonitis (45.4%), acute pancreatitis (13.6%) and perforation (18.1), and in HD patients it was nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia (18.1%) and spontaneous intraabdominal bleeding (21.2%). The basic causes of acute abdomen in the general population were ureteral stone (34.6%) and appendicitis (18.1%). Conclusions: The causes of acute abdominal pain in ESRD patients is significantly different when compared to the general population. And within this special patient population the etiology of acute abdomen differs depending on the renal replacement therapy modality they are receiving. Thus, the causes of acute abdomen in PD patients are mostly peritonitis, acute pancreatitis, and perforation, while being mostly nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia and spontaneous intraabdominal bleeding in patients receiving HD therapy.

Helicobacter Pylori Associated Antral Gastritis in Peptic Ulcer Disease Patients and Normal Healthy Population of Kashmir, India

OpenAIRE

Gh. Jeelani Romshoo; G. M. Malik; M. Youssuf Bhat; Ab. Rashid rather; Javaid Ahmad Basu; Khursheed Ahmad Qureshi

1998-01-01

Aim: To study the association of Helicobacter pylori infection with chronic antral gastritis in peptic ulcer disease patients and healthy population of Kashmir. Methods: 50 peptic ulcer patients (duodenal ulcer = 46, gastric ulcer = 2 and combined duodenal and gastric ulcer = 2) and 30 asymptomatic healthy volunteers were included in this study. Peptic ulcer was diagnosed on endoscopic examination. 4–6 punch biopsies were taken from gastric antrum in all the individuals and in case of gastric...

Evaluation of a practical expert defined approach to patient population segmentation: a case study in Singapore

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Lian Leng Low

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Segmenting the population into groups that are relatively homogeneous in healthcare characteristics or needs is crucial to facilitate integrated care and resource planning. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of segmenting the population into discrete, non-overlapping groups using a practical expert and literature driven approach. We hypothesized that this approach is feasible utilizing the electronic health record (EHR in SingHealth. Methods In addition to well-defined segments of “Mostly healthy”, “Serious acute illness but curable” and “End of life” segments that are also present in the Ministry of Health Singapore framework, patients with chronic diseases were segmented into “Stable chronic disease”, “Complex chronic diseases without frequent hospital admissions”, and “Complex chronic diseases with frequent hospital admissions”. Using the electronic health record (EHR, we applied this framework to all adult patients who had a healthcare encounter in the Singapore Health Services Regional Health System in 2012. ICD-9, 10 and polyclinic codes were used to define chronic diseases with a comprehensive look-back period of 5 years. Outcomes (hospital admissions, emergency attendances, specialist outpatient clinic attendances and mortality were analyzed for years 2012 to 2015. Results Eight hundred twenty five thousand eight hundred seventy four patients were included in this study with the majority being healthy without chronic diseases. The most common chronic disease was hypertension. Patients with “complex chronic disease” with frequent hospital admissions segment represented 0.6% of the eligible population, but accounted for the highest hospital admissions (4.33 ± 2.12 admissions; p < 0.001 and emergency attendances (ED (3.21 ± 3.16 ED visits; p < 0.001 per patient, and a high mortality rate (16%. Patients with metastatic disease accounted for the highest specialist outpatient

Colorectal cancer screening in patients with spinal cord injury yields similar results to the general population with an effective bowel preparation: a retrospective chart audit.

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Teng, Brandon J; Song, Shawn H; Svircev, Jelena N; Dominitz, Jason A; Burns, Stephen P

2018-03-01

Retrospective chart audit. To compare adequacy of colonoscopy bowel preparation and diagnostic findings between persons with SCI receiving an extended inpatient bowel preparation and the general population. Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Healthcare System, Seattle, WA, USA. We reviewed an electronic database of all colonoscopies performed at a tertiary Veterans Affairs medical center between 7/12/13 and 15/10/15. Patients with SCI received a multi-day bowel preparation with magnesium citrate, and 8-10 liters of polyethylene glycol-3350 and electrolyte colonic lavage solution (PEG-ELS) over two and one half days. The control population received a standard bowel preparation consisting of magnesium citrate and 4 liters of PEG-ELS over 1 day. Two hundred and fifty-five patients were included in the study, including 85 patients with SCI. Average risk screening was a more common colonoscopy indication in patients with SCI vs. the control population (24 vs. 13% p = 0.03). There was no difference in adequacy of bowel preparation (87 vs. 85%, p = 0.73) or adenoma detection rate (55 vs. 51%, p = 0.59) when comparing patients with SCI with the control population. No difference in polyp histopathology was detected (p = 0.748). Our study demonstrated that an extended bowel preparation for patients with SCI produces similar bowel preparation results and diagnostic yield when compared to patients without SCI undergoing colonoscopy.

Suicidal ideation and attempts in patients with stroke: a population-based study.

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Chung, Jae Ho; Kim, Jung Bin; Kim, Ji Hyun

2016-10-01

Stroke is known to be associated with an increase in the risk for suicide. However, there are very few population-based studies investigating the risk of suicidal ideation and attempts in patients with stroke. The purpose of this study was to compare the risk of suicidal ideation and attempts between patients with stroke and population without stroke using nationwide survey data. Individual-level data were obtained from 228,735 participants (4560 with stroke and 224,175 without stroke) of the 2013 Korean Community Health Survey. Demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, physical health status, and mental health status were compared between patients with stroke and population without stroke. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to investigate the independent effects of the stroke on suicidal ideation and attempts. Stroke patients had more depressive mood (12.6 %) than population without stroke (5.7 %, p suicidal ideation (24.4 %) and attempts (1.3 %) than population without stroke (9.8 and 0.4 %, respectively; both p suicidal ideation (OR 1.65, 95 % CI 1.52-1.79) and suicidal attempts (OR 1.64, 95 % CI 1.21-2.22), adjusting for demographics, socioeconomic factors, and physical health and mental health factors. We found that stroke increased the risk for suicidal ideation and attempts, independent of other factors that are known to be associated with suicidality, suggesting that stroke per se may be an independent risk factor for suicidality.

A Population-Based Cohort Study on Peripheral Arterial Disease in Patients with Schizophrenia.

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Wen-Yu Hsu

Full Text Available Peripheral arterial disease (PAD is considered the leading cause of atherosclerotic cardiovascular morbidity. Several risk factors of PAD have been observed in patients with schizophrenia. Therefore, we hypothesize that the incidence of PAD is higher in the schizophrenia population than in the general population.The patients in this population-based cohort study were selected from the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database on the basis of the claims data from 2000 to 2011. We compared the incidence of PAD between schizophrenia and nonschizophrenia cohorts. Cox proportional hazard regression models were employed for analyzing the risk of PAD after adjustment for sex, age, and comorbidities.The adjusted hazard ratio (HR for PAD in the schizophrenia cohort was 1.26-fold higher than that in the nonschizophrenia cohort. Furthermore, patients with schizophrenia using atypical antipsychotics exhibited a high adjusted HR for PAD.Compared with the general population, the risk of PAD is higher among patients with schizophrenia. Early diagnosis and intervention can mitigate complications resulting from cardiovascular diseases and lower mortality.

Increased risk of chronic liver disease in patients with bipolar disorder: A population-based study.

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Hsu, Jer-Hwa; Chien, I-Chia; Lin, Ching-Heng

2016-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and incidence of chronic liver disease in patients with bipolar disorder. We used a random sample of 766,427 subjects aged ≥18 years from the National Health Research Institute database in the year 2005. Subjects with at least one primary diagnosis of bipolar disorder in 2005 were identified. Patients with a primary or secondary diagnosis of chronic liver disease were also defined. We compared the prevalence and associated factors of chronic liver disease between patients with bipolar disorder and the general population in 2005. We also compared the incidence of chronic liver disease in patients with bipolar disorder and the general population from 2006 to 2010. The prevalence of chronic liver disease in patients with bipolar disorder (13.9%) was 2.68 times higher than that of the general population (5.8%) in 2005. The average annual incidence of chronic liver disease in patients with bipolar disorder from 2006 to 2010 was also higher than that of the general population (2.95% vs. 1.73%; risk ratio: 1.71; 95% confidence interval: 1.46-2.01). Patients with bipolar disorder had a significantly higher prevalence and incidence of chronic liver disease than those in the general population, and younger patients with bipolar disorder have a much higher prevalence and incidence than those in the general population. Male sex, second-generation antipsychotic or antidepressant use, and hyperlipidemia were associated factors for chronic liver disease in patients with bipolar disorder. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Variant mannose-binding lectin alleles are not associated with susceptibility to or outcome of invasive pneumococcal infection in randomly included patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kronborg, Gitte; Weis, Nina; Madsen, Hans O

2002-01-01

for pneumococcal infections. To assess the influence of MBL genotypes on the course and outcome of invasive pneumococcal disease, clinical data for 141 adult patients were collected prospectively and their genotypes were determined. All patients included had positive blood cultures for Streptococcus pneumoniae....... The distribution of variant MBL alleles related to low MBL serum concentrations was similar among the patients and healthy individuals, and MBL genotype was not associated with infection outcome. Thus, in a random adult population with invasive pneumococcal infection, MBL does not seem to play a role......Invasive pneumococcal disease is a serious infection that primarily affects very young children and elderly or immunocompromised individuals but also affects previously healthy people. Variant mannose-binding lectin (MBL) alleles are associated with recurrent infections and may be a risk factor...

Patient and population doses of x-ray diagnostics in Finland

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Rannikko, S; Karila, K T.K.; Toivonen, M

1997-09-01

Periodic surveys of patient and population doses are important because of the large contribution of x-ray diagnostics to the artificial population dose. Measured entrance surface doses and dose-area products are the main quantities used for monitoring patient doses in hospitals, and most population dose studies have been derived from these quantities and from the frequences of x-ray examinations. This study is based on the radiation, exposure geometry, and patient parameters recorded by experienced radiographers and postgraduated students. The software used in the work (ODS-60 of Rados Technology) suits the determination of effective and organ doses from such detailed data using a human-like patient phantom which can be adapted for sex and size. The program, together with the very detailed input data, made it possible to determine organ equivalent and effective doses for complicated dynamic x-ray examinations and interventions in more detail than in previous studies. Collective organ and effective doses were derived for 50 examination types. The annual collective dose from diagnostic x-ray examinations in 1994 was 0.5 mSv per capita in Finland. The five groups of examinations or examinations that had greatest contributions to the collective dose were CT, barium enema: double contrast, lumbar spine, carotid angiography, and intestinal transit. Together they represented for about 60 % of the total dose. The highest dose-area products (about 2000 Gy cm{sup 2}) were obtained from certain angiographic and interventional examinations. A literature survey showed that Finland patient doses are at the same average level as in other countries of a high standard of health care. (orig.). 125 refs.

Patient and population doses of x-ray diagnostics in Finland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rannikko, S.; Karila, K.T.K.; Toivonen, M.

1997-09-01

Periodic surveys of patient and population doses are important because of the large contribution of x-ray diagnostics to the artificial population dose. Measured entrance surface doses and dose-area products are the main quantities used for monitoring patient doses in hospitals, and most population dose studies have been derived from these quantities and from the frequences of x-ray examinations. This study is based on the radiation, exposure geometry, and patient parameters recorded by experienced radiographers and postgraduated students. The software used in the work (ODS-60 of Rados Technology) suits the determination of effective and organ doses from such detailed data using a human-like patient phantom which can be adapted for sex and size. The program, together with the very detailed input data, made it possible to determine organ equivalent and effective doses for complicated dynamic x-ray examinations and interventions in more detail than in previous studies. Collective organ and effective doses were derived for 50 examination types. The annual collective dose from diagnostic x-ray examinations in 1994 was 0.5 mSv per capita in Finland. The five groups of examinations or examinations that had greatest contributions to the collective dose were CT, barium enema: double contrast, lumbar spine, carotid angiography, and intestinal transit. Together they represented for about 60 % of the total dose. The highest dose-area products (about 2000 Gy cm 2 ) were obtained from certain angiographic and interventional examinations. A literature survey showed that Finland patient doses are at the same average level as in other countries of a high standard of health care. (orig.)

Risk of Periodontal Disease in Patients With Asthma: A Nationwide Population-Based Retrospective Cohort Study.

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Shen, Te-Chun; Chang, Pei-Ying; Lin, Cheng-Li; Wei, Chang-Ching; Tu, Chih-Yen; Hsia, Te-Chun; Shih, Chuen-Ming; Hsu, Wu-Huei; Sung, Fung-Chang; Kao, Chia-Hung

2017-08-01

Studies have reported an association between asthma and oral diseases, including periodontal diseases. The aim of this retrospective study is to investigate risk of periodontal diseases for patients with asthma. Using the claims data of National Health Insurance of Taiwan and patients without a history of periodontal diseases, 19,206 asthmatic patients, who were newly diagnosed from 2000 through 2010, were identified. For each case, four comparison individuals without history of asthma and periodontal disease were randomly selected from the general population and frequency matched (categorical matched) by sex, age, and year of diagnosis (n = 76,824). Both cohorts were followed to the end of 2011 to monitor occurrence of periodontal diseases. Adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) of periodontal disease were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. Overall incidence of periodontal diseases was 1.18-fold greater in the asthma cohort than in the comparison cohort (P periodontal diseases compared with those with a mean of less than one visit. Patients with at least three admissions annually also had a similar aHR (51.8) for periodontal disease. In addition, asthmatic patients on inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) therapy had greater aHRs than non-users (aHR = 1.12; 95% CI = 1.03 to 1.23). In the studied population, asthmatic patients are at an elevated risk of developing periodontal diseases. The risk is much greater for those with emergency medical demands or hospital admissions and those on ICS treatment.

Trend analysis of hospital resource utilization for prolonged mechanical ventilation patients in Taiwan: a population-based study.

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Hung, Tien-Chiung; Lai, Yung-Fa; Tseng, Ching-Wan; Hong, Yong-Han; Shi, Hon-Yi

2013-04-01

The aging Taiwan population is expected to require vast medical resources, including prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV). This study determined the trends in hospital resource utilization and associated factors in PMV patients in Taiwan. All patients who had received mechanical ventilation for > 21 days (International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification codes 518.81-518.89) during 2004-2007 were recruited to the study. Administrative claims data obtained from the Bureau of National Health Insurance of Taiwan were analyzed. The study analyzed 65,181 patients who had received PMV during 2004-2007. The number of PMVs per 100,000 persons was 94.30 in 2004, and it gradually decreased to 89.38 in 2007, which was a change rate of -5.22%. During the study period, stay significantly decreased, from 35.12 days to 31.61 days, whereas hospital treatment costs significantly increased, from $7,933.17 to $8,257.52 (P providers and patients should recognize that attributes of both the patient and the hospital may affect hospital resource utilization. Additionally, these analytical results should be applicable to similar populations in other countries.

Drug utilization in patients with OA: a population-based study.

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Wilson, Nicholas; Sanchez-Riera, Lidia; Morros, Rosa; Diez-Perez, Adolfo; Javaid, M Kassim; Cooper, Cyrus; Arden, Nigel K; Prieto-Alhambra, Daniel

2015-05-01

Patients with OA use different drugs in their search for relief. We aimed to study the prevalence of use and combinations of different medications for OA in a population-based cohort of OA patients in Catalonia, Spain, while characterizing users of each of the drugs available, with a particular focus on cardiovascular risk factors. Data were obtained from the Sistema d'Informació per al Desenvolupament de l'Investigació en Atenció Primària (SIDIAP) database, which includes electronic medical records and pharmacy invoice data for >5 million people from Catalonia. Study participants were those with a clinical diagnosis of OA in 2006-10. Drugs studied included oral and topical NSAIDs, analgesics (paracetamol, metamizole), opioids (tramadol, fentanyl), cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) inhibitors and symptomatic slow-acting drugs in OA. Drug utilization was described using medication possession ratios (MPRs), equivalent to the proportion of days covered with the drug of interest. The annual incidence of new users in the first year after OA diagnosis from 2006 to 2010 was estimated for all studied drugs among newly diagnosed OA patients using Poisson regression. We identified 238 536 study participants. The most common regimen of treatment consisted of at least three drugs (53.9% of patients). The drugs most frequently used regularly (MPR ≥50%) were chondroitin (21.2%), glucosamine (15.8%) and oral NSAIDs (14.4%). The incidence of the use of opioids, COX-2 inhibitors and chondroitin increased over the 5 year period, whereas all others decreased. Drug combinations are common in the treatment of OA patients, who are thus exposed to potential drug interactions, with unknown impacts on their health. The increasing use of opioids and COX-2 inhibitors is noteworthy because of the potential impact on safety and costs. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email

Pharmacokinetics of Antibiotics in Sub-Saharan African Patient Populations: A Systematic Review.

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Bos, Jeannet C; van Hest, Reinier M; Prins, Jan M

2017-08-01

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), severe febrile illness accounts for a large majority of medical admissions. SSA patients may also suffer from cachexia and organ dysfunction resulting from tuberculosis, hepatitis B, and hypertension. It is hard to tell how these conditions influence the pharmacokinetics (PK) of antibiotics in this population. The aim of this systematic review was to summarize antibiotic PK data of SSA adult patient populations to clarify whether inappropriate drug concentrations that may also lead to antimicrobial resistance are likely to occur. An electronic search was conducted in Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, and the African Index Medicus collecting studies from 1946 to May 2016. Reviewers independently selected studies reporting outcome data on volume of distribution (V), clearance, and half-life. Relevant information was abstracted and quality assessed. Twelve studies were selected, addressing 6 antibiotic classes. There were 6 studies on fluoroquinolones and 1 on β-lactam antibiotics. Nine out of 12 originated from South Africa and 6 of those dealt with intensive care unit (ICU) populations. The quality of most studies was low. Studies on amikacin, teicoplanin, and ertapenem (n = 4) displayed a pattern of a large V with low drug concentrations. Fluoroquinolone PK changes were less prominent and more diverse whereas the probability of pharmacodynamic target attainment was low for the treatment of tuberculosis in South Africa. Interindividual variability of V was high for 10/12 studies. Antibiotic PK data of SSA adult patient populations are scarce, but disease-induced inappropriate drug concentrations do occur. Data from non-ICU, severely ill patients, and β-lactam data are particularly lacking, whereas β-lactam antibiotics are commonly used, and typically vulnerable to disease-induced PK changes. Studies investigating the PK and pharmacodynamics of β-lactam antibiotics in severely ill, adult SSA patient populations are needed to improve local

Bridging the gap between goal intentions and actions: a systematic review in patient populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Kersten, Paula; McCambridge, Alana; M Kayes, Nicola; Theadom, Alice; McPherson, Kathryn M

2015-01-01

To evaluate the evidence for the effectiveness of if-then implementation intentions (if-then plans) in adult patient populations. Outcomes of interest included adherence, goal pursuit and physical health outcomes. Keywords were used to search electronic databases without date or language restrictions (up to 30 April 2014). Studies were included if they (1) concerned a patient population; (2) used if-then plans as a sole intervention or as part of treatment, therapy or rehabilitation; (3) if they were randomised controlled trials. The PEDro scale was used to evaluate study quality. Guidance as set out by the Cochrane Collaboration was used. Two reviewers independently extracted data, discrepancies were discussed and if required referred to a third reviewer. In total, 18 of the 2141 articles were identified as potentially relevant and four studies of people with epilepsy, chronic back pain, stroke and obesity met the inclusion criteria. People who form if-then plans achieved better outcomes on epilepsy and stroke medication adherence and physical capacity than controls. Of the four studies that used an if-then plan, only one (people with epilepsy) looked at the intervention as a stand-alone strategy. Further research needs to explore if this simple approach improves rehabilitation outcomes and is a helpful and feasible strategy for people experiencing disabilities. Implications for Rehabilitation Steps involved in achieving goals, such as doing exercises or completing other goal related tasks, can be compromised for people with chronic health conditions particularly resulting from difficulties in self-regulating behaviour. If-then plans are implementation intention tools aimed at supporting people to deal more effectively with self-regulatory problems that might undermine goal striving and goal attainment, and have been found to be effective in health promotion and health behaviour change. This systematic literature review identified four studies completed with

The colostomy impact score: development and validation of a patient reported outcome measure for rectal cancer patients with a permanent colostomy. A population-based study.

Science.gov (United States)

Thyø, A; Emmertsen, K J; Pinkney, T D; Christensen, P; Laurberg, S

2017-01-01

The aim was to develop and validate a simple scoring system evaluating the impact of colostomy dysfunction on quality of life (QOL) in patients with a permanent stoma after rectal cancer treatment. In this population-based study, 610 patients with a permanent colostomy after previous rectal cancer treatment during the period 2001-2007 completed two questionnaires: (i) the basic stoma questionnaire consisting of 22 items about stoma function with one anchor question addressing the overall stoma impact on QOL and (ii) the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ) C30. Answers from half of the cohort were used to develop the score and subsequently validated on the remaining half. Logistic regression analyses identified and selected items for the score and multivariate analysis established the score value allocated to each item. The colostomy impact score includes seven items with a total range from 0 to 38 points. A score of ≥ 10 indicates major colostomy impact (Major CI). The score has a sensitivity of 85.7% for detecting patients with significant stoma impact on QOL. Using the EORTC QLQ scales, patients with Major CI experienced significant impairment in their QOL compared to the Minor CI group. This new scoring system appears valid for the assessment of the impact on QOL from having a permanent colostomy in a Danish rectal cancer population. It requires validation in non-Danish populations prior to its acceptance as a valuable patient-reported outcome measure for patients internationally. Colorectal Disease © 2016 The Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland.

Including patients’ perspectives in patient information leaflets: A polyocular approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fage-Butler, Antoinette Mary

2013-01-01

Existing research reveals that patients’ perspectives are missing from mandatory patient information leaflets (PILs). At the same time, there is overwhelming consensus that they should be included in this genre, and a corresponding need for potential approaches to tackle this problem. This paper ...

Patient safety is not enough: targeting quality improvements to optimize the health of the population.

Science.gov (United States)

Woolf, Steven H

2004-01-06

Ensuring patient safety is essential for better health care, but preoccupation with niches of medicine, such as patient safety, can inadvertently compromise outcomes if it distracts from other problems that pose a greater threat to health. The greatest benefit for the population comes from a comprehensive view of population needs and making improvements in proportion with their potential effect on public health; anything less subjects an excess of people to morbidity and death. Patient safety, in context, is a subset of health problems affecting Americans. Safety is a subcategory of medical errors, which also includes mistakes in health promotion and chronic disease management that cost lives but do not affect "safety." These errors are a subset of lapses in quality, which result not only from errors but also from systemic problems, such as lack of access, inequity, and flawed system designs. Lapses in quality are a subset of deficient caring, which encompasses gaps in therapeutics, respect, and compassion that are undetected by normative quality indicators. These larger problems arguably cost hundreds of thousands more lives than do lapses in safety, and the system redesigns to correct them should receive proportionately greater emphasis. Ensuring such rational prioritization requires policy and medical leaders to eschew parochialism and take a global perspective in gauging health problems. The public's well-being requires policymakers to view the system as a whole and consider the potential effect on overall population health when prioritizing care improvements and system redesigns.

A structural equation model of patient-healthcare provider relationships and HIV-infected patient outcomes in Chinese populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Wei-Ti; Shiu, Chengshi; Yang, Joyce P; Chuang, Peing; Zhang, Lin; Bao, Meijuan; Lu, Hongzhou

2018-03-01

Obtaining maximum antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence is critical for maintaining a high CD4 count and strong immune function in PLWHA. Key factors for achieving optimum adherence include good medication self-efficacy, decreased medication-taking difficulties, and positive patient-healthcare provider (HCP) relationships. Limited studies have analyzed the correlation of these factors and ART adherence in Chinese population. In this paper, structural equation modeling was performed to assess the proposed model of relations between patient-HCP relationships and adherence. Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interview (ACASI) software was used to collect data on ART adherence and patient variables among 227 PLWHA in Shanghai and Taipei. Participants completed a one-time 60-minute ACASI survey that consisted of standardized measures to assess demographics, recent CD4 counts, self-efficacy, patient-HCP relationship, adherence, and medication-taking difficulties. The data shown the relationship between patient-HCP relationships and adherence was significantly consistent with mediation by medication self-efficacy. However, patient-HCP interaction did not directly influence medication-taking difficulties, and medication-taking difficulties did not significantly affect CD4 counts. Furthermore, patient-HCP interactions did not directly impact CD4 counts; rather, the relation was consistent with mediation (by either better medication self-efficacy or better adherence) or by improved adherence alone. Future interventions should be designed to enhance self-management and provide better patient-HCP communication. This improved communication will enhance medication self-efficacy and decrease medication-taking difficulties. This in turn will improve medication adherence and immune function among PLWHA.

Patients undergoing radical prostatectomy have a better survival than the background population

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andreas Røder, Martin; Brasso, Klaus; Drimer Berg, Kasper

2013-01-01

underwent radical prostatectomy. Patients were followed prospectively per protocol. No patients were lost to follow-up. Overall and cause-specific survival were described using Kaplan-Meier plots. Standardized relative survival and mortality ratio were calculated based on expected survival in the age......INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to investigate standardised relative survival and mortality ratio for patients undergoing radical prostatectomy for localized prostate cancer at our institution. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between 1995 and 2010, a total of 1,350 consecutive patients......-matched Danish population using the methods and macros described by Dickmann. The country-specific population mortality rates used for calculation of the expected survival were based on data from The Human Mortality Database. RESULTS: The median follow-up was 3.4 years (range: 0-14.3 years). A total of 59 (4...

Association between insurance status and patient safety in the lumbar spine fusion population.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanenbaum, Joseph E; Alentado, Vincent J; Miller, Jacob A; Lubelski, Daniel; Benzel, Edward C; Mroz, Thomas E

2017-03-01

Lumbar fusion is a common and costly procedure in the United States. Reimbursement for surgical procedures is increasingly tied to care quality and patient safety as part of value-based reimbursement programs. The incidence of adverse quality events among lumbar fusion patients is unknown using the definition of care quality (patient safety indicators [PSI]) used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The association between insurance status and the incidence of PSI is similarly unknown in lumbar fusion patients. This study sought to determine the incidence of PSI in patients undergoing inpatient lumbar fusion and to quantify the association between primary payer status and PSI in this population. A retrospective cohort study was carried out. The sample comprised all adult patients aged 18 years and older who were included in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) that underwent lumbar fusion from 1998 to 2011. The incidence of one or more PSI, a validated and widely used metric of inpatient health-care quality and patient safety, was the primary outcome variable. The NIS data were examined for all cases of inpatient lumbar fusion from 1998 to 2011. The incidence of adverse patient safety events (PSI) was determined using publicly available lists of the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis codes. Logistic regression models were used to determine the association between primary payer status (Medicaid and self-pay relative to private insurance) and the incidence of PSI. A total of 539,172 adult lumbar fusion procedures were recorded in the NIS from 1998 to 2011. Patients were excluded from the secondary analysis if "other" or "missing" was listed for primary insurance status. The national incidence of PSI was calculated to be 2,445 per 100,000 patient years of observation, or approximately 2.5%. In a secondary analysis, after adjusting for patient demographics and hospital characteristics, Medicaid

Clinical and economic outcomes among hospitalized patients with acute coronary syndrome: an analysis of a national representative Medicare population

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen SY

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Shih-Yin Chen,1 Concetta Crivera,2 Michael Stokes,1 Luke Boulanger,1 Jeffrey Schein2 1United BioSource Corporation, Lexington, MA, USA; 2Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC, Raritan, NJ, USA Objective: To evaluate the clinical and economic burden of acute coronary syndrome (ACS, a common cardiovascular illness, in the Medicare population. Methods: Data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey were analyzed. Patients with incident hospitalization for ACS without similar events during the 6 months prior were included. Outcomes evaluated included inpatient mortality, 30-day mortality and readmission, subsequent hospitalization events, and total direct health care costs. Sample population weights were applied, accounting for multistage sampling design to obtain nationally representative estimates for the US Medicare population. Results: Between March 1, 2002 and December 31, 2006, we identified 795 incident ACS patients (mean age 76 years; 49% male representing 2,542,211 Medicare beneficiaries. The inpatient mortality rate was 9.71% and the 30-day mortality ranged from 10.96% to 13.93%. The 30-day readmission rate for surviving patients was 18.56% for all causes and 17.90% for cardiovascular disease (CVD-related diagnoses. The incidence of death since admission was 309 cases per 1000 person–years. Among patients discharged alive, the incidence was 197 for death, 847 for CVD-related admission, and 906 for all-cause admission. During the year when the ACS event occurred, mean annual total direct health care costs per person were US$50,458, with more than half attributable to inpatient hospitalization ($27,609. Conclusion: In this national representative Medicare population, we found a substantial clinical and economic burden for ACS. These findings suggest a continuing unmet medical need for more effective management of patients with ACS. The continuous burden underscores the importance of development of new interventions and/or strategies to

Healthcare resource use, comorbidity, treatment and clinical outcomes for patients with primary intracranial tumors: a Swedish population-based register study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bergqvist, Jenny; Iderberg, Hanna; Mesterton, Johan; Bengtsson, Nils; Wettermark, Björn; Henriksson, Roger

2017-03-01

Primary intracranial tumors are relatively uncommon and heterogeneous, which make them challenging to study. We coupled data from unique Swedish population-based registries in order to deeper analyze the most common intracranical tumor types. Patient characteristics (e.g. comorbidities), care process measures like adherence to national guidelines, healthcare resource use and clinical outcome was evaluated. A register-based study including several population-based registries for all patients living in Stockholm-Gotland, diagnosed with primary intracranial tumor between 2001 and 2013 was performed. Patient characteristics were captured and investigated in relation to survival, healthcare resource use (inpatient-, outpatient- and primary care) and treatment process. High-grade glioma and meningioma were the most common tumor types and most patients (76%) were above the age of 40 in the patient population (n = 3664). Older age, comorbidity (Elixhauser comorbidity index) and type of tumor (high-grade glioma) were associated with lower survival rate and increased use of healthcare resources, analyzed for patients living in Stockholm (n = 3031). The analyses of healthcare use and survival showed no differences between males and females, when stratifying by tumor types. Healthcare processes were not always consistent with existing national treatment recommendations for patients with high-grade gliomas (n = 474) with regard to specified lead times, analyzed in the Swedish Brain Tumor Registry, as also observed at the national level. Age, comorbidity and high-grade gliomas, but not sex, were associated with decreased survival and increased use of healthcare resources. Fewer patients than aimed for in national guidelines received care according to specified lead times. The analysis of comprehensive population-based register data can be used to improve future care processes and outcomes.

Smaller than expected cognitive deficits in schizophrenia patients from the population-representative ABC catchment cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Lennertz, Leonhard; An der Heiden, Wolfram; Kronacher, Regina; Schulze-Rauschenbach, Svenja; Maier, Wolfgang; Häfner, Heinz; Wagner, Michael

2016-08-01

Most neuropsychological studies on schizophrenia suffer from sample selection bias, with male and chronic patients being overrepresented. This probably leads to an overestimation of cognitive impairments. The present study aimed to provide a less biased estimate of cognitive functions in schizophrenia using a population-representative catchment area sample. Schizophrenia patients (N = 89) from the prospective Mannheim ABC cohort were assessed 14 years after disease onset and first diagnosis, using a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery. A healthy control group (N = 90) was carefully matched according to age, gender, and geographic region (city, rural surrounds). The present sample was representative for the initial ABC cohort. In the comprehensive neuropsychological assessment, the schizophrenia patients were only moderately impaired as compared to the healthy control group (d = 0.56 for a general cognitive index, d = 0.42 for verbal memory, d = 0.61 for executive functions, d = 0.69 for attention). Only 33 % of the schizophrenia patients scored one standard deviation unit below the healthy control group in the general cognitive index. Neuropsychological performance did not correlate with measures of the clinical course including age at onset, number of hospital admissions, and time in paid work. Thus, in this population-representative sample of schizophrenia patients, neuropsychological deficits were less pronounced than expected from meta-analyses. In agreement with other epidemiological studies, this suggests a less devastating picture of cognition in schizophrenia.

Epidemiology Characteristics of Constipation for General Population, Pediatric Population, and Elderly Population in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huikuan Chu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. To acquire more data about the epidemiologic characteristics of constipation in different kinds of populations in China. Methods. Using “constipation” and “China” as search terms; relevant papers were searched from January 1995 to April 2014. Data on prevalence, gender, diagnostic criteria, geographical area, educational class, age, race, and physician visit results were extracted and analyzed. Results. 36 trials were included. Prevalence rates of constipation in elderly population (18.1% and pediatric population (18.8% were significantly higher than that in general population (8.2%. Prevalence of constipation defined by non-Rome criteria was higher than that by Rome criteria in general population. Prevalence rates of constipation were different for different geographical area. People with less education were predisposed to constipation. In pediatric population, prevalence of constipation was the lowest in children aged 2–6 years. Prevalence of constipation in ethnic minorities was higher than that in Han people. People with constipation were predisposed to FD, haemorrhoid, and GERD. Only 22.2% patients seek medical advice in general population. Conclusions. In China, prevalence of constipation was lower compared with most of other countries. The factors including female gender, diagnostic criteria, geographical area, age, educational class, and race seemed to have major effects on prevalence of constipation.

Symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder among people presenting for cosmetic dental treatment: a comparative study of cosmetic dental patients and a general population sample

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Jongh, A.; Aartman, I.H.A.; Parvaneh, H.; Ilik, M.

2009-01-01

Objectives:  To determine appearance concerns of patients presenting for cosmetic treatment. Methods:  This cross-sectional comparative study included consecutive patients of six different cosmetic clinics (n = 170), and a sample of the general population (n = 878). A study-specific self-report

Diabetic vitrectomy in a large type 1 diabetes patient population

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ostri, Christoffer; la Cour, Morten; Lund-Andersen, Henrik

2014-01-01

1996 and 2010. Surgical history was obtained from The Danish National Patient Register. RESULTS: The population consisted of 3980 patients with type 1 diabetes. Median follow-up was 10.0 years. In total, 106 patients underwent diabetic vitrectomy in the observation period. Surgery indications were...... nonclearing vitreous haemorrhage (43%) or tractional retinal detachment (57%). The cumulative incidence rates of diabetic vitrectomy were 1.6% after 5 years and 2.9% after 10 years. When excluding patients with no or mild diabetic retinopathy, the corresponding rates were higher; 3.7% and 6.4%, respectively...... (p diabetic vitrectomy increased in patients experiencing glycosylated haemoglobin A1c > 75 mmol/mol in the observation period (p

Invasive Candidiasis in Various Patient Populations: Incorporating Non-Culture Diagnostic Tests into Rational Management Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Clancy, Cornelius J.; Shields, Ryan K.; Nguyen, M. Hong

2016-01-01

Mortality rates due to invasive candidiasis remain unacceptably high, in part because the poor sensitivity and slow turn-around time of cultures delay the initiation of antifungal treatment. β-d-glucan (Fungitell) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based (T2Candida) assays are FDA-approved adjuncts to cultures for diagnosing invasive candidiasis, but their clinical roles are unclear. We propose a Bayesian framework for interpreting non-culture test results and developing rational patient management strategies, which considers test performance and types of invasive candidiasis that are most common in various patient populations. β-d-glucan sensitivity/specificity for candidemia and intra-abdominal candidiasis is ~80%/80% and ~60%/75%, respectively. In settings with 1%–10% likelihood of candidemia, anticipated β-d-glucan positive and negative predictive values are ~4%–31% and ≥97%, respectively. Corresponding values in settings with 3%–30% likelihood of intra-abdominal candidiasis are ~7%–51% and ~78%–98%. β-d-glucan is predicted to be useful in guiding antifungal treatment for wide ranges of populations at-risk for candidemia (incidence ~5%–40%) or intra-abdominal candidiasis (~7%–20%). Validated PCR-based assays should broaden windows to include populations at lower-risk for candidemia (incidence ≥~2%) and higher-risk for intra-abdominal candidiasis (up to ~40%). In the management of individual patients, non-culture tests may also have value outside of these windows. The proposals we put forth are not definitive treatment guidelines, but rather represent starting points for clinical trial design and debate by the infectious diseases community. The principles presented here will be applicable to other assays as they enter the clinic, and to existing assays as more data become available from different populations. PMID:29376927

Invasive Candidiasis in Various Patient Populations: Incorporating Non-Culture Diagnostic Tests into Rational Management Strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cornelius J. Clancy

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Mortality rates due to invasive candidiasis remain unacceptably high, in part because the poor sensitivity and slow turn-around time of cultures delay the initiation of antifungal treatment. β-d-glucan (Fungitell and polymerase chain reaction (PCR-based (T2Candida assays are FDA-approved adjuncts to cultures for diagnosing invasive candidiasis, but their clinical roles are unclear. We propose a Bayesian framework for interpreting non-culture test results and developing rational patient management strategies, which considers test performance and types of invasive candidiasis that are most common in various patient populations. β-d-glucan sensitivity/specificity for candidemia and intra-abdominal candidiasis is ~80%/80% and ~60%/75%, respectively. In settings with 1%–10% likelihood of candidemia, anticipated β-d-glucan positive and negative predictive values are ~4%–31% and ≥97%, respectively. Corresponding values in settings with 3%–30% likelihood of intra-abdominal candidiasis are ~7%–51% and ~78%–98%. β-d-glucan is predicted to be useful in guiding antifungal treatment for wide ranges of populations at-risk for candidemia (incidence ~5%–40% or intra-abdominal candidiasis (~7%–20%. Validated PCR-based assays should broaden windows to include populations at lower-risk for candidemia (incidence ≥~2% and higher-risk for intra-abdominal candidiasis (up to ~40%. In the management of individual patients, non-culture tests may also have value outside of these windows. The proposals we put forth are not definitive treatment guidelines, but rather represent starting points for clinical trial design and debate by the infectious diseases community. The principles presented here will be applicable to other assays as they enter the clinic, and to existing assays as more data become available from different populations.

Incidence of fractures among epilepsy patients: a population-based retrospective cohort study in the General Practice Research Database.

Science.gov (United States)

Souverein, Patrick C; Webb, David J; Petri, Hans; Weil, John; Van Staa, Tjeerd P; Egberts, Toine

2005-02-01

To compare the incidence of various fractures in a cohort of patients with epilepsy with a reference cohort of patients not having epilepsy. Patients were included in the epilepsy cohort if they had at least one diagnosis of epilepsy in their medical history and had sufficient evidence of "active" epilepsy (use of antiepileptic drugs, diagnoses) after the practice was included in the General Practice Research Database (GPRD). Two reference patients were sampled for each patient with epilepsy from the same practice. Primary outcome was the occurrence of any fracture during follow-up. Poisson regression analysis was used to estimate incidence density ratios (IDRs). The study population comprised 40,485 and 80,970 patients in the epilepsy and reference cohorts, respectively. The median duration of follow-up was approximately 3 years. The overall incidence rate in the epilepsy cohort was 241.9 per 10,000 person-years. This rate was about twice as high as that in reference cohort: age- and sex-adjusted IDR, 1.89 (95% CI, 1.81-1.98). When comparing IDRs among the different groups of fractures, the highest relative-risk estimate was found for hip and femur fractures (adjusted IDR, 2.79; 95% CI, 2.41-3.24). IDRs were consistently elevated across age and sex groups and across fracture subtypes. The overall risk of fractures was nearly twice as high among patients with epilepsy compared with the general population. The relative fracture risk was highest for hip and femur. Further study is necessary to elucidate whether this elevated risk is due to the disease, the use of antiepileptic drugs, or both.

Who are medical marijuana patients? Population characteristics from nine California assessment clinics.

Science.gov (United States)

Reinarman, Craig; Nunberg, Helen; Lanthier, Fran; Heddleston, Tom

2011-01-01

Marijuana is a currently illegal psychoactive drug that many physicians believe has substantial therapeutic uses. The medical literature contains a growing number of studies on cannabinoids as well as case studies and anecdotal reports suggesting therapeutic potential. Fifteen states have passed medical marijuana laws, but little is known about the growing population of patients who use marijuana medicinally. This article reports on a sample of 1,746 patients from a network of nine medical marijuana evaluation clinics in California. Patients completed a standardized medical history form; evaluating physicians completed standardized evaluation forms. From this data we describe patient characteristics, self-reported presenting symptoms, physician evaluations, other treatments tried, other drug use, and medical marijuana use practices. Pain, insomnia, and anxiety were the most common conditions for which evaluating physicians recommended medical marijuana. Shifts in the medical marijuana patient population over time, the need for further research, and the issue of diversion are discussed.

Insurance problems among inflammatory bowel disease patients: results of a Dutch population based study.

Science.gov (United States)

Russel, M G V M; Ryan, B M; Dagnelie, P C; de Rooij, M; Sijbrandij, J; Feleus, A; Hesselink, M; Muris, J W; Stockbrugger, R

2003-03-01

The majority of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have a normal life expectancy and therefore should not be weighted when applying for life assurance. There is scant literature on this topic. In this study our aim was to document and compare the incidence of difficulties in application for life and medical insurance in a population based cohort of IBD patients and matched population controls. A population based case control study of 1126 IBD patients and 1723 controls. Based on a detailed questionnaire, the frequency and type of difficulties encountered when applying for life and medical insurance in matched IBD and control populations were appraised. In comparison with controls, IBD patients had an 87-fold increased risk of encountering difficulties when applying for life assurance (odds ratio (OR) 87 (95% confidence interval (CI) 31-246)), with a heavily weighted premium being the most common problem. Patients of high educational status, with continuous disease activity, and who smoked had the highest odds of encountering such problems. Medical insurance difficulties were fivefold more common in IBD patients compared with controls (OR 5.4 (95% CI 2.3-13)) although no specific disease or patient characteristics were identified as associated with such difficulties. This is the first detailed case control study that has investigated insurance difficulties among IBD patients. Acquiring life and medical insurance constituted a major problem for IBD patients in this study. These results are likely to be more widely representative given that most insurance companies use international guidelines for risk assessment. In view of the recent advances in therapy and promising survival data on IBD patients, evidence based guidelines for risk assessment of IBD patients by insurance companies should be drawn up to prevent possible discriminatory practices.

Dendritic cell populations in patients with self-reported food hypersensitivity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lied GA

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Gülen A Lied1,3,4,*, Petra Vogelsang2,*, Arnold Berstad1,4, Silke Appel2 1Institute of Medicine, 2Broegelmann Research Laboratory, The Gade Institute, University of Bergen, Norway; 3Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine; 4Section of Clinical Allergology, Department of Occupational Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway *These authors contributed equally to this workAbstract: Self-reported hypersensitivity to food is a common condition and many of these patients have indications of intestinal immune activation. Dendritic cells (DCs are recognized as the most potent antigen-presenting cells involved in both initiating immune responses and maintaining tolerance. The aims of this study were to evaluate the DC populations with their phenotype and T cell stimulatory capacity in patients with food hypersensitivity and to study its relationship with atopic disease. Blood samples from 10 patients with self-reported food hypersensitivity, divided into atopic and nonatopic subgroups, and 10 gender- and age-matched healthy controls were analyzed by flow cytometry using the Miltenyi Blood Dendritic cells kit. Monocyte-derived DCs (moDCs were evaluated concerning their phenotype and T cell stimulatory capacity. DC populations and cell surface markers were not significantly different between patients and healthy controls, but moDCs from atopic patients expressed significantly more CD38 compared to moDCs from nonatopic patients. Moreover, lipopolysaccharide stimulated moDCs from atopic patients produced significantly more interleukin-10 compared to nonatopic patients. CD38 expression was correlated to total serum immunoglobulin E levels. These findings support the notion of immune activation in some patients with self-reported food hypersensitivity. They need to be confirmed in a larger cohort.Keywords: food hypersensitivity, atopy, dendritic cells, CD38

The incidence of cerebrovascular accidents and second brain tumors in patients with pituitary adenoma: a population-based study.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Paul D; Blanchard, Miran; Jethwa, Krishan; Flemming, Kelly D; Brown, Cerise A; Kline, Robert W; Jacobson, Debra J; St Sauver, Jennifer; Pollock, Bruce E; Garces, Yolanda I; Stafford, Scott L; Link, Michael J; Erickson, Dana; Foote, Robert L; Laack, Nadia N I

2014-03-01

To assess the risk of cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs) and second brain tumors (SBTs) in patients with pituitary adenoma after surgery or radiotherapy. A cohort of 143 people from Olmsted County, who were diagnosed with pituitary adenoma between 1933 and 2000, was studied. Only patients from Olmsted County were included because of the unique nature of medical care in Olmsted County, which allows the ascertainment of virtually all cases of pituitary adenoma for this community's residents and comparisons to the general population in the county. Surgical resection was performed in 76 patients, 29 patients underwent radiotherapy (with 21 undergoing both surgery and radiotherapy), 5 patients were reirradiated, and 59 patients were managed conservatively and observed. Median follow-up was 15.5 years. There was no difference in CVA-free survival between treatment groups. On univariate analysis age > 60 years (hazard ratio [HR], 11.93; 95% CI, 6.26-23.03; P 60 years was associated with worse CVA-free survival. Compared with the general population, there was a 4-fold increase in the rate of CVAs in pituitary adenoma patients (HR, 4.2; 95% CI, 2.8-6.1). Two patients developed SBT (an irradiated patient and a surgically managed patient). CVA is a significant risk for patients with pituitary tumors, but treatment does not seem to impact the risk. Even with long-term follow-up, SBTs are a rare event regardless of treatment modality.

Genetic diversity of the Ethiopian Grevy's zebra (Equus grevyi) populations that includes a unique population of the Alledeghi Plain.

Science.gov (United States)

Kebede, Fanuel; Rosenbom, Sonia; Khalatbari, Leili; Moehlman, Patricia D; Beja-Pereira, Albano; Bekele, Afework

2016-01-01

The endangered Grevy's Zebra (Equus grevyi) is confined to the Horn of Africa, specifically Ethiopia and Kenya. It is threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation due to human encroachment of historic range. Knowledge of population genetics is essential for the development of appropriate conservation actions and management. The focus of this study was to assess the heterogeneity and genetic distinctiveness of the two Grevy's zebra populations in Ethiopia. Non-invasive fecal samples (N = 120) were collected during 2009-2010 from Grevy's zebra populations in the Alledeghi Wildlife Reserve and the Sarite area, Ethiopia. Analyses of a 329 bp of the mtDNA control region of 47 sequences, revealed the existence of two unreported haplotypes in the northern population of Alledeghi, that were not shared with the southern population of Sarite. The Sarite population is contiguous with the Grevy's zebra population in Kenya. The nucleotide diversity levels found in both the populations are extremely low.

Increased migraine risk in osteoporosis patients: a nationwide population-based study

OpenAIRE

Wu, Chieh-Hsin; Zhang, Zi-Hao; Wu, Ming-Kung; Wang, Chiu-Huan; Lu, Ying-Yi; Lin, Chih-Lung

2016-01-01

Background Osteoporosis and migraine are both important public health problems and may have overlapping pathophysiological mechanisms. The aim of this study was to use a Taiwanese population-based dataset to assess migraine risk in osteoporosis patients. Methods The Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database was used to analyse data for 40,672 patients aged ?20?years who had been diagnosed with osteoporosis during 1996?2010. An additional 40,672 age-matched patients without osteoporos...

Risk of second non-breast cancer among patients treated with and without postoperative radiotherapy for primary breast cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based studies including 522,739 patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grantzau, Trine; Overgaard, Jens

2016-01-01

-irradiated women. Irradiated patients had an overall increased risk of second non-breast cancer, with a SIR of 1.23 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.12-1.36). For non-irradiated patients the SIR was 1.08 (95% CI, 1.03-1.13). For irradiated patients the incidence of second cancers including the lung, esophagus......, thyroid and connective tissues progressively increased over time, peaking at 10-15years following breast cancer diagnosis. Summary estimates at ⩾15years after breast cancer irradiation were 1.91 for lung, 2.71 for esophagus, 3.15 for thyroid and 6.54 at ⩾10years for second sarcomas. Non......-irradiated patients had no increased risk of second lung or esophagus cancer, neither overall nor over time. For non-irradiated patients' risk of second thyroid cancer (SIR 1.21) and sarcomas (SIR 1.42) were increased overall, but with no remaining risk ⩾10 after breast cancer. CONCLUSION: Radiotherapy for breast...

Preliminary Investigations Showing Venous Thromboembolism Recurrence in Patients with Residual Venous Obstruction in Singaporean Population.

Science.gov (United States)

Sule, Ashish Anil; Er, Chaozer; Chong, Claudia Y X; Chin, Han Xin; Chin, Tay Jam

2017-12-01

This study aims to determine the association of residual venous obstruction (RVO) with recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE). A retrospective cohort study was conducted determining if RVO on ultrasonography is associated with recurrent VTE in a Singaporean population. The subjects were identified from the Vascular Diagnostic Laboratory patients' record of Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), Singapore between 2008 and 2013. All the patients included had RVO after 3 months of anticoagulation. Data such as age, gender, race, thrombus location, etiology, history of malignancy, thrombophilia screen, treatment duration, and follow-up were recorded for analysis. Statistical analysis was performed using Stata/SE 13.1 (StataCorp LLC). The study was approved by the National Healthcare Group Domain Specific Review Board (DSRB), Singapore. Out of the 34 patients who had RVO, 6 (17.6%) developed VTE recurrence. Patients were treated with anticoagulation for a mean time of 24.5 months. The mean follow-up time for VTE recurrence was 25.4 months. Out of the six patients who had VTE recurrence, one had common iliac vein involvement, four had superficial femoral vein and common femoral vein involvement, zero had popliteal vein involvement, and one had calf veins involvement. There was a significant association between thrombophilia ( p  = 0.0195) and malignancy ( p  = 0.020) at inclusion with the risk of recurrent VTE. The presence of RVO after 3 months of anticoagulation is likely to increase the risk of VTE recurrence. Larger studies with RVO are needed to evaluate if there is an increased risk of VTE recurrence in the Asian population.

PROMIS Physical Function Correlation With NDI and mJOA in the Surgical Cervical Myelopathy Patient Population.

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Owen, Robert J; Zebala, Lukas P; Peters, Colleen; McAnany, Steven

2018-04-15

Retrospective review. To determine the correlation of Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) physical function with Neck Disability Index (NDI) and Modified Japanese Orthopedic Association (mJOA) scores in the surgical cervical myelopathy patient population. Outcome measures such as NDI and mJOA are essential for analyzing treatments for cervical myelopathy. Administrative burdens impose limits on completion of these measures. The PROMIS group developed an outcome measure to improve reporting of patient symptoms and function and to reduce administrative burden. Despite early success, NDI and mJOA have not been compared with PROMIS in patients with cervical myelopathy. This study determines the correlation of NDI and mJOA with PROMIS in surgical patients with cervical myelopathy. A total of 60 patients with cervical myelopathy undergoing surgery were included. PROMIS, NDI, and mJOA were collected preoperatively, and in the first 6 months postoperatively. Correlations between NDI, mJOA, and PROMIS were quantified using Pearson correlation coefficients. Students t tests were used to test significance. All 60 (100%) of patients completed preoperative questionnaires. Fifty-five (92%) of patients completed initial follow-up questionnaires within the first 6 months. PROMIS physical function and NDI demonstrated a strong negative correlation at baseline and in initial follow-up (R = -0.69, -0.76). PROMIS and mJOA demonstrated a strong positive correlation at baseline and in initial follow-up (R = 0.61, 0.72). PROMIS physical function has a strong negative correlation with NDI and a strong positive correlation with mJOA at baseline and in the early postoperative course in patients undergoing surgery for cervical myelopathy. Surgeons may factor these outcomes into the delivery and interpretation of patient-reported outcome measures in this population. Use of PROMIS may improve completion of outcome measures in the office and reduce

A consumer register: an acceptable and cost-effective alternative for accessing patient populations

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Jamie Bryant

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Population-based registries are increasingly used to recruit patient samples for research, however, they have several limitations including low consent and participation rates, and potential selection bias. To improve access to samples for research, the utility of a new model of recruitment termed the ‘Consumer Register’, that allows for direct patient recruitment from hospitals, was examined. This paper reports: (i consent rates onto the register; (ii preferred methods and frequency of contact; and (iii the feasibility of establishing the register, including: (a cost per person recruited to the register; (b the differential cost and consent rates of volunteer versus paid data collectors; and (c participant completion rates. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted in five outpatient clinics in Australia. Patients were approached by volunteers or paid data collectors and asked to complete a touch-screen electronic survey. Consenting individuals were asked to indicate their willingness and preferences for enrolment onto a research register. Descriptive statistics were used to examine patient preferences and linear regression used to model the success of volunteer versus paid data collectors. The opportunity and financial costs of establishing the register were calculated. Results A total of 1947 patients (80.6 % consented to complete the survey, of which, 1486 (76.3 % completed the questionnaire. Of the completers, the majority (69.4 %, or 1032 participants were willing to be listed on the register and preferred to be contacted by email (50.3 %. Almost 39 % of completers were willing to be contacted three or more times in a 12 month period. The annual opportunity cost of resources consumed by the register was valued at $37,187, giving an opportunity cost per person recruited to the register of $36. After amortising fixed costs, the annual financial outlay was $23,004 or $22 per person recruited to the

Impaired quality of life in patients with systemic sclerosis compared to the general population and chronic dermatoses.

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Bretterklieber, Agnes; Painsi, Clemens; Avian, Alexander; Wutte, Nora; Aberer, Elisabeth

2014-09-02

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare and potentially life threatening autoimmune disorder. The burden of disease compared to other dermatoses is unknown. The purpose of this study was to assess both the quality of life in patients with SSc and the variables that are associated with poor quality of life. Forty-one patients with systemic sclerosis (29 limited, 2 diffuse, 10 undifferentiated forms) were assessed with respect to their health status and compared to published data for the normal population, SSc patients from other studies, and patients with chronic skin diseases. For the most part, our SSc patients had better outcomes in all 8 dimensions of the SF-36 than SSc patients from other studies, and poorer scores than the healthy population and those with occupational contact dermatitis, ichthyosis, non-melanoma skin cancer, contact dermatitis, atopic eczema, chronic nail disease, vitiligo, health care workers with work-related disease, and those with other chronic skin diseases, but significantly better scores for mental health than those with nail disease, vitiligo, and health-care workers. Patients with atopic dermatitis, psoriasis and pemphigus had significantly poorer mean scores in social function and mental health than SSc patients. Patients with pemphigus were also significantly impaired in their physical and emotional roles. Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) had the significantly poorest mean scores for QoL in all 8 domains except bodily pain and emotional role. Besides SLE, SSc is one of the most severe chronic dermatologic diseases in terms of reduced QoL. Since SSc cannot be cured, treatment strategies should include therapeutic interventions such as psychotherapy, social support, physiotherapy, and spiritual care. Their beneficial effects could be studied in future.

International collaboration including patients is essential to develop new therapies for patients with myositis.

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Lundberg, Ingrid E; Vencovsky, Jiri

2017-05-01

To discuss the needs for international collaborations between investigators in different disciplines working with myositis and with patients with myositis. Recent advances in detection of several myositis-specific autoantibodies that are associated with distinct clinical phenotypes, will enable studies in new well defined clinically homogenous subgroups of myositis This is likely to lead to development of new information on molecular pathogenesis that might be different in different myositis subgroups. Subgrouping patients according to autoantibody profile may also be important to assess outcome, to identify prognostic biomarkers and in clinical trials. As these are rare disorders international collaboration is essential to enrol large enough cohorts of the subgroups. To facilitate such collaboration we have developed a web-based international myositis register, www.euromyositis.eu, which includes validated outcome measures and patient reported outcome measures. This register is to support research but also to support decision-making in the clinic. We welcome investigators to join the Euromyositis register. Myositis is a heterogeneous disorder with varying treatment response and outcome. There is a high unmet need for new therapies which can only be achieved by increased knowledge on molecular disease mechanisms. Subgrouping patients according to autoantibody profile may be a new way forward to get a better understanding on disease mechanisms and to develop novel therapies.

Survey of HFE Gene C282Y Mutation in Turkish Beta-Thalassemia Patients and Healthy Population: A Preliminary Study

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Selma Ünal

2014-09-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: This study was planned in order to determine the effect of C282Y mutation in development of secondary hemochromatosis in beta-thalassemia patients and to determine the prevalence and allele frequency of this mutation in a healthy control group. METHODS: Eighty-seven children and young adults (46 males and 41 females; mean age: 15.6±6.1 years, range: 3-30 years with beta-thalassemia major (BTM and 13 beta-thalassemia intermedia (BTI patients (6 males and 7 females; mean age: 19.6±3.5 years, range: 13-26 years were included in the study. The control group comprised 100 healthy blood donors. RESULTS: Neither heterozygous nor homozygous HFE gene C282Y mutation was detected in patients with BTM or BTI, or in control group. CONCLUSION: The C282Y mutation, which is supposed to be responsible for the majority of hereditary hemochromatosis, was not found to have a role in the development of hemochromatosis in beta-thalassemia patients and was not detected in a healthy Turkish population. However, research on larger cohorts of individuals is required in order to determine the exact prevalence of the HFE gene mutation in Turkish populations from diverse ethnic origins and whether it would have an impact on iron loading in thalassemic populations.

Patient loyalty in a mature IDS market: is population health management worth it?

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Carlin, Caroline S

2014-06-01

To understand patient loyalty to providers over time, informing effective population health management. Patient care-seeking patterns over a 6-year timeframe in Minnesota, where care systems have a significant portion of their revenue generated by shared-saving contracts with public and private payers. Weibull duration and probit models were used to examine patterns of patient attribution to a care system and the continuity of patient affiliation with a care system. Clustering of errors within family unit was used to account for within-family correlation in unobserved characteristics that affect patient loyalty. The payer provided data from health plan administrative files, matched to U.S. Census-based characteristics of the patient's neighborhood. Patients were retrospectively attributed to health care systems based on patterns of primary care. I find significant patient loyalty, with past loyalty a very strong predictor of future relationship. Relationships were shorter when the patient's health status was complex and when the patient's care system was smaller. Population health management can be beneficial to the care system making this investment, particularly for patients exhibiting prior continuity in care system choice. The results suggest that co-located primary and specialty services are important in maintaining primary care loyalty. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

Symptom presentations and other characteristics of colorectal cancer patients and the diagnostic performance of the Auckland Regional Grading Criteria for Suspected Colorectal Cancer in the South Auckland population.

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Hsiang, John C; Bai, Wayne; Lal, Dinesh

2013-09-13

This study reviews the presenting symptoms of colorectal cancer in the ethnically diverse Middlemore Hospital referral population of South Auckland, New Zealand. The performance of the newly introduced Auckland Regional Grading Criteria as prediction tool for selecting colorectal cancer cases referred from primary care was evaluated in this group. Retrospective review of all colorectal cancer (CRC) cases diagnosed between January 2006 and January 2011. Information extracted from case note review was used to grade patients using the Auckland Regional Grading Criteria. A total of 799 patients were included. The commonest symptoms were: rectal bleeding (25.5-42.3%) and change in bowel habit (20.6-26.8%). Low-risk symptoms including abdominal pain (16.3-46.8%) and weight loss (18.4-26.1%) were not uncommon. 64.4% of Maori and 64.9% of Pacific patients had stage III or IV cancers. Pacific patients had more stage IV disease, 37.7% (pAuckland Regional Grading Criteria would miss 24.7% of the patients with CRC in the referral population. While rectal bleeding and change in bowel habit are frequent presenting symptoms, low-risk atypical symptoms including constipation, weight loss and abdominal pain were not uncommon. Significant proportion of Pacific patients present with late-stage disease. The current Auckland Regional grading criteria would miss significant proportion of our study population with colorectal cancer.

Multidisciplinary team-based approach for comprehensive preoperative pulmonary rehabilitation including intensive nutritional support for lung cancer patients.

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Harada, Hiroaki; Yamashita, Yoshinori; Misumi, Keizo; Tsubokawa, Norifumi; Nakao, Junichi; Matsutani, Junko; Yamasaki, Miyako; Ohkawachi, Tomomi; Taniyama, Kiyomi

2013-01-01

To decrease the risk of postoperative complication, improving general and pulmonary conditioning preoperatively should be considered essential for patients scheduled to undergo lung surgery. The aim of this study is to develop a short-term beneficial program of preoperative pulmonary rehabilitation for lung cancer patients. From June 2009, comprehensive preoperative pulmonary rehabilitation (CHPR) including intensive nutritional support was performed prospectively using a multidisciplinary team-based approach. Postoperative complication rate and the transitions of pulmonary function in CHPR were compared with historical data of conventional preoperative pulmonary rehabilitation (CVPR) conducted since June 2006. The study population was limited to patients who underwent standard lobectomy. Postoperative complication rate in the CVPR (n = 29) and CHPR (n = 21) were 48.3% and 28.6% (p = 0.2428), respectively. Those in patients with Charlson Comorbidity Index scores ≥2 were 68.8% (n = 16) and 27.3% (n = 11), respectively (p = 0.0341) and those in patients with preoperative risk score in Estimation of Physiologic Ability and Surgical Stress scores >0.3 were 57.9% (n = 19) and 21.4% (n = 14), respectively (p = 0.0362). Vital capacities of pre- and post intervention before surgery in the CHPR group were 2.63±0.65 L and 2.75±0.63 L (p = 0.0043), respectively; however, their transition in the CVPR group was not statistically significant (p = 0.6815). Forced expiratory volumes in one second of pre- and post intervention before surgery in the CHPR group were 1.73±0.46 L and 1.87±0.46 L (p = 0.0012), respectively; however, their transition in the CVPR group was not statistically significant (p = 0.6424). CHPR appeared to be a beneficial and effective short-term preoperative rehabilitation protocol, especially in patients with poor preoperative conditions.

Whole body MRI, including diffusion-weighted imaging in follow-up of patients with testicular cancer.

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Mosavi, Firas; Laurell, Anna; Ahlström, Håkan

2015-11-01

Whole body (WB) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) has become increasingly utilized in cancer imaging, yet the clinical utility of these techniques in follow-up of testicular cancer patients has not been evaluated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of WB MRI with continuous table movement (CTM) technique, including multistep DWI in follow-up of patients with testicular cancer. WB MRI including DWI was performed in follow-up of 71 consecutive patients (median age, 37 years; range 19-84) with histologically confirmed testicular cancer. WB MRI protocol included axial T1-Dixon and T2-BLADE sequences using CTM technique. Furthermore, multi-step DWI was performed using b-value 50 and 1000 s/mm(2). One criterion for feasibility was patient tolerance and satisfactory image quality. Another criterion was the accuracy in detection of any pathological mass, compared to standard of reference. Signal intensity in DWI was used for evaluation of residual mass activity. Clinical, laboratory and imaging follow-up were applied as standard of reference for the evaluation of WB MRI. WB MRI was tolerated in nearly all patients (69/71 patients, 97%) and the image quality was satisfactory. Metal artifacts deteriorated the image quality in six patients, but it did not influence the overall results. No case of clinical relapse was observed during the follow-up time. There was a good agreement between conventional WB MRI and standard of reference in all patients. Three patients showed residual masses and DWI signal was not restricted in these patients. Furthermore, DWI showed abnormally high signal intensity in a normal-sized retroperitoneal lymph node indicating metastasis. The subsequent (18)F-FDG PET/CT could verify the finding. WB MRI with CTM technique including multi-step DWI is feasible in follow-up of patients with testicular cancer. DWI may contribute to important added-value data to conventional MRI sequences

Multistate matrix population model to assess the contributions and impacts on population abundance of domestic cats in urban areas including owned cats, unowned cats, and cats in shelters.

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Flockhart, D T Tyler; Coe, Jason B

2018-01-01

Concerns over cat homelessness, over-taxed animal shelters, public health risks, and environmental impacts has raised attention on urban-cat populations. To truly understand cat population dynamics, the collective population of owned cats, unowned cats, and cats in the shelter system must be considered simultaneously because each subpopulation contributes differently to the overall population of cats in a community (e.g., differences in neuter rates, differences in impacts on wildlife) and cats move among categories through human interventions (e.g., adoption, abandonment). To assess this complex socio-ecological system, we developed a multistate matrix model of cats in urban areas that include owned cats, unowned cats (free-roaming and feral), and cats that move through the shelter system. Our model requires three inputs-location, number of human dwellings, and urban area-to provide testable predictions of cat abundance for any city in North America. Model-predicted population size of unowned cats in seven Canadian cities were not significantly different than published estimates (p = 0.23). Model-predicted proportions of sterile feral cats did not match observed sterile cat proportions for six USA cities (p = 0.001). Using a case study from Guelph, Ontario, Canada, we compared model-predicted to empirical estimates of cat abundance in each subpopulation and used perturbation analysis to calculate relative sensitivity of vital rates to cat abundance to demonstrate how management or mismanagement in one portion of the population could have repercussions across all portions of the network. Our study provides a general framework to consider cat population abundance in urban areas and, with refinement that includes city-specific parameter estimates and modeling, could provide a better understanding of population dynamics of cats in our communities.

Multistate matrix population model to assess the contributions and impacts on population abundance of domestic cats in urban areas including owned cats, unowned cats, and cats in shelters

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Coe, Jason B.

2018-01-01

Concerns over cat homelessness, over-taxed animal shelters, public health risks, and environmental impacts has raised attention on urban-cat populations. To truly understand cat population dynamics, the collective population of owned cats, unowned cats, and cats in the shelter system must be considered simultaneously because each subpopulation contributes differently to the overall population of cats in a community (e.g., differences in neuter rates, differences in impacts on wildlife) and cats move among categories through human interventions (e.g., adoption, abandonment). To assess this complex socio-ecological system, we developed a multistate matrix model of cats in urban areas that include owned cats, unowned cats (free-roaming and feral), and cats that move through the shelter system. Our model requires three inputs—location, number of human dwellings, and urban area—to provide testable predictions of cat abundance for any city in North America. Model-predicted population size of unowned cats in seven Canadian cities were not significantly different than published estimates (p = 0.23). Model-predicted proportions of sterile feral cats did not match observed sterile cat proportions for six USA cities (p = 0.001). Using a case study from Guelph, Ontario, Canada, we compared model-predicted to empirical estimates of cat abundance in each subpopulation and used perturbation analysis to calculate relative sensitivity of vital rates to cat abundance to demonstrate how management or mismanagement in one portion of the population could have repercussions across all portions of the network. Our study provides a general framework to consider cat population abundance in urban areas and, with refinement that includes city-specific parameter estimates and modeling, could provide a better understanding of population dynamics of cats in our communities. PMID:29489854

Do Class III patients have a different growth spurt than the general population?

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Lee, Yun-Sik; Lee, Shin-Jae; An, Hongseok; Donatelli, Richard E; Kim, Soo-Hwan

2012-11-01

Understanding the timing and length of the growth spurt of Class III prognathic patients is fundamental to the strategy of interceptive orthopedic orthodontics as well as to the timing of orthognathic surgery. Consequently, this study was undertaken to determine whether there are any significant differences in the stature growth pattern of Class III subjects compared with non-Class III subjects and the general population. Twelve-year longitudinal stature growth data were collected for 402 randomly selected adolescents in the general population, 55 Class III mandibular prognathic patients, and 37 non-Class III patients. The growth data were analyzed by using the traditional linear interpolation method and nonlinear growth functions. The 6 stature growth parameters were measured: age at takeoff, stature at takeoff, velocity at takeoff, age at peak height velocity, stature at peak height velocity, and velocity at peak height velocity. Comparisons in the stature growth parameters and 15 cephalometric variables among the general population, Class III subjects, and non-Class III subjects were made with multivariate analysis. Patients with Class III prognathism did not have different growth parameters compared with Class II subjects or the general population. This study does not allow meaningful conclusions with regard to the relationship of mandibular size and stature growth pattern. The application of nonlinear growth curves vs the traditional linear interpolation method was also discussed. Copyright © 2012 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Increased risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in patients with bipolar disorder: A population-based study.

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Hsu, Jer-Hwa; Chien, I-Chia; Lin, Ching-Heng

2017-10-01

We conducted this nationwide study to examine the prevalence and incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among patients with bipolar disorder in Taiwan. We used a random sample of 766,427 subjects who were aged ≥18 years in 2005. Patients with at least one primary diagnosis of bipolar disorder were identified. Study participants with one primary or secondary diagnosis of COPD for either ambulatory or inpatient care were also identified. We compared the prevalence of COPD in patients with bipolar disorder and the general population in 2005. In addition, we further investigated this cohort from 2006 to 2010 to detect incident cases of COPD in patients with bipolar disorder compared with the general population. The factors associated with COPD among patients with bipolar disorder were also analyzed. The prevalence of COPD in patients with bipolar disorder was higher than in the general population in 2005 (5.68% vs. 2.88%, odds ratio 2.03; 95% confidence interval, 1.53-2.67). The average annual incidence of COPD in patients with bipolar disorder was also higher than in the general population (2.03% vs. 1.03%, risk ratio 1.94; 95% confidence interval, 1.65-2.29) from 2006 to 2010. Some risk factors for COPD such as substance use, obesity, or lifestyle pattern were not available in this study. Patients with bipolar disorder had a higher prevalence and incidence of COPD compared with the general population. Higher prevalence of COPD among bipolar patients was associated with increased age, males, hypertension, and second-generation antidepressant use. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Postoperative adverse outcomes in intellectually disabled surgical patients: a nationwide population-based study.

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Jui-An Lin

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Intellectually disabled patients have various comorbidities, but their risks of adverse surgical outcomes have not been examined. This study assesses pre-existing comorbidities, adjusted risks of postoperative major morbidities and mortality in intellectually disabled surgical patients. METHODS: A nationwide population-based study was conducted in patients who underwent inpatient major surgery in Taiwan between 2004 and 2007. Four controls for each patient were randomly selected from the National Health Insurance Research Database. Preoperative major comorbidities, postoperative major complications and 30-day in-hospital mortality were compared between patients with and without intellectual disability. Use of medical services also was analyzed. Adjusted odds ratios using multivariate logistic regression analyses with 95% confidence intervals were applied to verify intellectual disability's impact. RESULTS: Controls were compared with 3983 surgical patients with intellectual disability. Risks for postoperative major complications were increased in patients with intellectual disability, including acute renal failure (odds ratio 3.81, 95% confidence interval 2.28 to 6.37, pneumonia (odds ratio 2.01, 1.61 to 2.49, postoperative bleeding (odds ratio 1.35, 1.09 to 1.68 and septicemia (odds ratio 2.43, 1.85 to 3.21 without significant differences in overall mortality. Disability severity was positively correlated with postoperative septicemia risk. Medical service use was also significantly higher in surgical patients with intellectual disability. CONCLUSION: Intellectual disability significantly increases the risk of overall major complications after major surgery. Our findings show a need for integrated and revised protocols for postoperative management to improve care for intellectually disabled surgical patients.

Bringing Value-Based Perspectives to Care: Including Patient and Family Members in Decision-Making Processes

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Graeme Kohler

2017-11-01

Full Text Available n a gap in consistent application of system-level strategies that can effectively translate organizational policies around patient and family engagement into practice. Methods The broad objective of this initiative was to develop a system-level implementation strategy to include patient and family advisors (PFAs at decision-making points in primary healthcare (PHC based on wellestablished evidence and literature. In this opportunity sponsored by the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement (CFHI a co-design methodology, also well-established was applied in identifying and developing a suitable implementation strategy to engage PFAs as members of quality teams in PHC. Diabetes management centres (DMCs was selected as the pilot site to develop the strategy. Key steps in the process included review of evidence, review of the current state in PHC through engagement of key stakeholders and a co-design approach. Results The project team included a diverse representation of members from the PHC system including patient advisors, DMC team members, system leads, providers, Public Engagement team members and CFHI improvement coaches. Key outcomes of this 18-month long initiative included development of a working definition of patient and family engagement, development of a Patient and Family Engagement Resource Guide and evaluation of the resource guide. Conclusion This novel initiative provided us an opportunity to develop a supportive system-wide implementation plan and a strategy to include PFAs in decision-making processes in PHC. The well-established co-design methodology further allowed us to include value-based (customer driven quality and experience of care perspectives of several important stakeholders including patient advisors. The next step will be to implement the strategy within DMCs, spread the strategy PHC, both locally and provincially with a focus on sustainability.

The relationship of quality of life and distress in prostate cancer patients compared to the general population.

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Zenger, Markus; Lehmann-Laue, Antje; Stolzenburg, Jens-Uwe; Schwalenberg, Thilo; Ried, Alexander; Hinz, Andreas

2010-06-30

The aim of this study is two-fold. The first part compares quality of life (QoL) data of prostate cancer patients with those of a representative and age-specific sample of the general population and analyzes the influence of cancer related as well as socio-demographic parameters on QoL. Secondly, differences in QoL depending on the experienced psychological distress will be shown both in prostate cancer patients and in the general population. A sample of 265 prostate cancer patients completed both the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) during their stay in the hospital. A total HADS cut off score of 15 was used to indicate psychological distress and significant emotional concerns in patients and men of the general population. The results of the patients were compared with those of the general population (N=444). Prostate cancer patients reported significantly worse levels of social and emotional functioning as well as more symptoms like insomnia, constipation and diarrhea compared to the general population. Patients and men of the general population with a total HADS score >/=15 reported lower QoL in all sub-scales except for diarrhea in comparison to people without distress. Psychological distress is accompanied by lower QoL and therefore should be taken into consideration when QoL is assessed. Furthermore, clinicians should be trained by professionals to detect distress in their patients and to pay more attention to their emotional concerns, which are strongly associated with the patients' well-being and QoL during their stay in hospital.

Patient-Reported Barriers to the Prekidney Transplant Evaluation in an At-Risk Population in the United States.

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Lockwood, Mark B; Saunders, Milda R; Nass, Rachel; McGivern, Claire L; Cunningham, Patrick N; Chon, W James; Josephson, Michelle A; Becker, Yolanda T; Lee, Christopher S

2017-06-01

Despite our knowledge of barriers to the early stages of the transplant process, we have limited insight into patient-reported barriers to the prekidney transplant medical evaluation in populations largely at-risk for evaluation failure. One-hundred consecutive adults were enrolled at an urban, Midwestern transplant center. Demographic, clinical, and quality of life data were collected prior to patients visit with a transplant surgeon/nephrologist (evaluation begins). Patient-reported barriers to evaluation completion were collected using the Subjective Barriers Questionnaire 90-days after the initial medical evaluation appointment (evaluation ends), our center targeted goal for transplant work-up completion. At 90 days, 40% of participants had not completed the transplant evaluation. Five barrier categories were created from the 85 responses to the Subjective Barriers Questionnaire. Patient-reported barriers included poor communication, physical health, socioeconomics, psychosocial influences, and access to care. In addition, determinants for successful evaluation completion included being of white race, higher income, free of dialysis, a lower comorbid burden, and reporting higher scores on the Kidney Disease Quality of Life subscale role-emotional. Poor communication between patients and providers, and among providers, was the most prominent patient-reported barrier identified. Barriers were more prominent in marginalized groups such as ethnic minorities and people with low income. Understanding the prevalence of patient-reported barriers may aid in the development of patient-centered interventions to improve completion rates.

Phase I dose-escalation study of the c-Met tyrosine kinase inhibitor SAR125844 in Asian patients with advanced solid tumors, including patients with MET-amplified gastric cancer.

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Shitara, Kohei; Kim, Tae Min; Yokota, Tomoya; Goto, Masahiro; Satoh, Taroh; Ahn, Jin-Hee; Kim, Hyo Song; Assadourian, Sylvie; Gomez, Corinne; Harnois, Marzia; Hamauchi, Satoshi; Kudo, Toshihiro; Doi, Toshihido; Bang, Yung-Jue

2017-10-03

SAR125844 is a potent and selective inhibitor of the c-Met kinase receptor. This was an open-label, phase I, multicenter, dose-escalation, and dose-expansion trial of SAR125844 in Asian patients with solid tumors, a subgroup of whom had gastric cancer and MET amplification (NCT01657214). SAR125844 was administered by intravenous infusion (260-570 mg/m 2 ) on days 1, 8, 15, and 22 of each 28-day cycle. Objectives were to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and to evaluate SAR125844 safety and pharmacokinetic profile. Antitumor activity was also assessed. Of 38 patients enrolled (median age 64.0 years), 22 had gastric cancer, including 14 with MET amplification. In the dose-escalation cohort ( N = 19; unselected population, including three patients with MET -amplification [two with gastric cancer and one with lung cancer]), the MTD was not reached, and the recommended dose was established at 570 mg/m 2 . Most frequent treatment-emergent adverse events (AEs) were nausea (36.8%), vomiting (34.2%), decreased appetite (28.9%), and fatigue or asthenia, constipation, and abdominal pains (each 21.1%); none appeared to be dose-dependent. Grade ≥ 3 AEs were observed in 39.5% of patients and considered drug-related in 7.9%. SAR125844 exposure increased slightly more than expected by dose proportionality; dose had no significant effect on clearance. No objective responses were observed in the dose-escalation cohort, with seven patients (three gastric cancer, two colorectal cancer, one breast cancer, and one with cancer of unknown primary origin) having stable disease. Modest antitumor activity was observed at 570 mg/m 2 in the dose-expansion cohort, comprising patients with MET -amplified tumors ( N = 19). Two gastric cancer patients had partial responses, seven patients had stable disease (six gastric cancer and one kidney cancer), and 10 patients had progressive disease. Single-agent SAR125844 administered up to 570 mg/m 2 has acceptable tolerability and modest

Patient-Facing Mobile Apps to Treat High-Need, High-Cost Populations: A Scoping Review.

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Singh, Karandeep; Drouin, Kaitlin; Newmark, Lisa P; Filkins, Malina; Silvers, Elizabeth; Bain, Paul A; Zulman, Donna M; Lee, Jae-Ho; Rozenblum, Ronen; Pabo, Erika; Landman, Adam; Klinger, Elissa V; Bates, David W

2016-12-19

Self-management is essential to caring for high-need, high-cost (HNHC) populations. Advances in mobile phone technology coupled with increased availability and adoption of health-focused mobile apps have made self-management more achievable, but the extent and quality of the literature supporting their use is not well defined. The purpose of this review was to assess the breadth, quality, bias, and types of outcomes measured in the literature supporting the use of apps targeting HNHC populations. Data sources included articles in PubMed and MEDLINE (National Center for Biotechnology Information), EMBASE (Elsevier), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (EBSCO), Web of Science (Thomson Reuters), and the NTIS (National Technical Information Service) Bibliographic Database (EBSCO) published since 2008. We selected studies involving use of patient-facing iOS or Android mobile health apps. Extraction was performed by 1 reviewer; 40 randomly selected articles were evaluated by 2 reviewers to assess agreement. Our final analysis included 175 studies. The populations most commonly targeted by apps included patients with obesity, physical handicaps, diabetes, older age, and dementia. Only 30.3% (53/175) of the apps studied in the reviewed literature were identifiable and available to the public through app stores. Many of the studies were cross-sectional analyses (42.9%, 75/175), small (median number of participants=31, interquartile range 11.0-207.2, maximum 11,690), or performed by an app's developers (61.1%, 107/175). Of the 175 studies, only 36 (20.6%, 36/175) studies evaluated a clinical outcome. Most apps described in the literature could not be located on the iOS or Android app stores, and existing research does not robustly evaluate the potential of mobile apps. Whereas apps may be useful in patients with chronic conditions, data do not support this yet. Although we had 2-3 reviewers to screen and assess abstract eligibility, only 1 reviewer abstracted

Individualizing pharmacotherapy in patients with renal impairment: the validity of the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease formula in specific patient populations with a glomerular filtration rate below 60 ml/min. A systematic review.

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Willemijn L Eppenga

Full Text Available The Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD formula is widely used in clinical practice to assess the correct drug dose. This formula is based on serum creatinine levels which might be influenced by chronic diseases itself or the effects of the chronic diseases. We conducted a systematic review to determine the validity of the MDRD formula in specific patient populations with renal impairment: elderly, hospitalized and obese patients, patients with cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes mellitus, liver cirrhosis and human immunodeficiency virus.We searched for articles in Pubmed published from January 1999 through January 2014. Selection criteria were (1 patients with a glomerular filtration rate (GFR < 60 ml/min (/1.73 m2, (2 MDRD formula compared with a gold standard and (3 statistical analysis focused on bias, precision and/or accuracy. Data extraction was done by the first author and checked by a second author. A bias of 20% or less, a precision of 30% or less and an accuracy expressed as P30% of 80% or higher were indicators of the validity of the MDRD formula. In total we included 27 studies. The number of patients included ranged from 8 to 1831. The gold standard and measurement method used varied across the studies. For none of the specific patient populations the studies provided sufficient evidence of validity of the MDRD formula regarding the three parameters. For patients with diabetes mellitus and liver cirrhosis, hospitalized patients and elderly with moderate to severe renal impairment we concluded that the MDRD formula is not valid. Limitations of the review are the lack of considering the method of measuring serum creatinine levels and the type of gold standard used.In several specific patient populations with renal impairment the use of the MDRD formula is not valid or has uncertain validity.

Increased risk of dialysis and end-stage renal disease among HIV patients in Denmark compared with the background population

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasch, Magnus G; Helleberg, Marie; Feldt-Rasmussen, Bo

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: HIV patients have increased risk of impaired renal function. We aimed to estimate the incidence of any renal replacement therapy (aRRT) and start of chronic renal replacement therapy (cRRT) among HIV patients compared with population controls. METHODS: In a nationwide, population......-based cohort study we analysed incidence rates (IR), incidence rate ratios (IRR) and risk factors for aRRT and cRRT among HIV patients compared with an age- and gender-matched population control cohort using Poisson regression. RESULTS: We identified 5300 HIV patients and 53 000 population controls. The IRs...

Patient Populations, Clinical Associations, and System Efficiency in Healthcare Delivery System

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Liu, Yazhuo

The efforts to improve health care delivery usually involve studies and analysis of patient populations and healthcare systems. In this dissertation, I present the research conducted in the following areas: identifying patient groups, improving treatments for specific conditions by using statistical as well as data mining techniques, and developing new operation research models to increase system efficiency from the health institutes' perspective. The results provide better understanding of high risk patient groups, more accuracy in detecting disease' correlations and practical scheduling tools that consider uncertain operation durations and real-life constraints.

Molecular analysis of fungal populations in patients with oral candidiasis using internal transcribed spacer region.

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Ieda, Shinsuke; Moriyama, Masafumi; Takeshita, Toru; Takashita, Toru; Maehara, Takashi; Imabayashi, Yumi; Shinozaki, Shoichi; Tanaka, Akihiko; Hayashida, Jun-Nosuke; Furukawa, Sachiko; Ohta, Miho; Yamashita, Yoshihisa; Nakamura, Seiji

2014-01-01

Oral candidiasis is closely associated with changes in the oral fungal flora and is caused primarily by Candida albicans. Conventional methods of fungal culture are time-consuming and not always conclusive. However, molecular genetic analysis of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of fungal rRNA is rapid, reproducible and simple to perform. In this study we examined the fungal flora in patients with oral candidiasis and investigated changes in the flora after antifungal treatment using length heterogeneity-polymerization chain reaction (LH-PCR) analysis of ITS regions. Fifty-two patients with pseudomembranous oral candidiasis (POC) and 30 healthy controls were included in the study. Fungal DNA from oral rinse was examined for fungal species diversity by LH-PCR. Fungal populations were quantified by real-time PCR and previously-unidentified signals were confirmed by nucleotide sequencing. Relationships between the oral fungal flora and treatment-resistant factors were also examined. POC patients showed significantly more fungal species and a greater density of fungi than control individuals. Sixteen fungi were newly identified. The fungal populations from both groups were composed predominantly of C. albicans, though the ratio of C. dubliniensis was significantly higher in POC patients than in controls. The diversity and density of fungi were significantly reduced after treatment. Furthermore, fungal diversity and the proportion of C. dubliniensis were positively correlated with treatment duration. These results suggest that C. dubliniensis and high fungal flora diversity might be involved in the pathogenesis of oral candidiasis. We therefore conclude that LH-PCR is a useful technique for diagnosing and assessing the severity of oral candidal infection.

Family physicians' ability to perform population management is associated with adoption of other aspects of the patient-centered medical home.

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Ottmar, Jessica; Blackburn, Brenna; Phillips, Robert L; Peterson, Lars E; Jaén, Carlos Roberto

2015-04-01

The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model is considered a promising approach to improving population health, but how elements of these advanced practice models relate to population health capability is unknown. To measure associations between family physicians' performance of population management with PCMH components, a cross-sectional survey was conducted with physicians accessing the American Board of Family Medicine Web site in 2011. Bivariate analysis and logistic regression tested associations between physician and practice demographics and specific PCMH features. The primary outcome was performance of population management. The final sample included 3855 physicians, 37.3% of whom reported performing population management. Demographic characteristics significantly associated with greater use of population management were female sex and graduation from an international medical school. PCMH components that remained associated with population management after adjustment were access to clinical case managers (odds ratio [OR]=2.01, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 1.69, 2.39), behavioral health collaboration (OR=1.49, 95% CI: 1.26, 1.77), having an electronic health record that supports meaningful use (OR=1.47, 95% CI: 1.25, 1.74), recent participation in a quality improvement project (OR=2.47, 95% CI: 2.12, 2.89), and routine measurement of patient difficulty securing an appointment (OR=2.87, 95% CI: 2.45, 3.37). Performance of population management was associated with several PCMH elements and resources not present in traditional primary care offices. Attention to these elements likely will enhance delivery of population management services in primary care.

Marital status and survival in patients with rectal cancer: A population-based STROBE cohort study.

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Li, Zhuyue; Wang, Kang; Zhang, Xuemei; Wen, Jin

2018-05-01

To examine the impact of marital status on overall survival (OS) and rectal cancer-specific survival (RCSS) for aged patients.We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database to identify aged patients (>65 years) with early stage rectal cancer (RC) (T1-T4, N0, M0) in the United States from 2004 to 2010. Propensity score matching was conducted to avoid potential confounding factors with ratio at 1:1. We used Kaplan-Meier to compare OS and RCSS between the married patients and the unmarried, respectively. We used cox proportion hazard regressions to obtain hazard rates for OS, and proportional subdistribution hazard model was performed to calculate hazard rates for RCSS.Totally, 5196 patients were included. The married (2598 [50%]) aged patients had better crude 5-year overall survival rate (64.2% vs 57.3%, P vs 75.9%, P unmarried (2598 (50%)), respectively. In multivariate analyses, married patients had significantly lower overall death than unmarried patients (HR = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.71-0.83, P married patients had no cancer-specific survival benefit versus the unmarried aged patients (HR = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.81-1.04, P = .17).Among old population, married patients with early stage RC had better OS than the unmarried, while current evidence showed that marital status might have no protective effect on cancer-specific survival.

Low Frequencies of Autoimmunity-Associated PTPN22 Polymorphisms in MODY Patients, Including Those Transiently Expressing Islet Cell Autoantibodies.

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Heneberg, Petr; Malá, Milena; Yorifuji, Tohru; Gat-Yablonski, Galia; Lebenthal, Yael; Tajima, Toshihiro; Nogaroto, Viviane; Rypáčková, Blanka; Kocková, Lucie; Urbanová, Jana; Anděl, Michal

2015-01-01

The protein tyrosine phosphatase nonreceptor type 22 (PTPN22) gene encodes lymphoid tyrosine phosphatase (LYP), which is expressed primarily in lymphoid tissues. The functional but geographically highly variable PTPN22 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), particularly c.1858C>T, contribute to the onset and progression of autoimmunity-associated diseases and facilitate the expression of disease-associated autoantibodies. In Central Europe, 17-25% of patients with monogenic diabetes (maturity-onset diabetes of the young, MODY) transiently express islet cell autoantibodies. We addressed the links between the functional and geographically variable PTPN22 SNPs with MODY manifestation and the expression of islet cell autoantibodies in 276 MODY patients who originated from four regions (the Czech Republic, Israel, Japan and Brazil). The frequency of PTPN22 polymorphisms in the MODY patients was similar to those in geographically matched healthy populations, with the exception of c.788G>A, the minor allele frequency of which was significantly elevated in the Czech hepatocyte nuclear factor 1-α (HNF1A) MODY patients [odds ratio (OR) 4.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.2-10.7] and the Brazilian MODY patients (OR 8.4, 95% CI 1.8-39.1). A barely significant increase in the c.788G>A minor allele was also detected in the islet cell autoantibody-positive Czech MODY patients. However, c.788A behaves as a loss-of-function mutant in T cells, and thus protects against autoimmunity. MODY patients (including islet cell autoantibody-positive cases) do not display any increase in autoimmunity-associated PTPN22 alleles. The absence of autoimmunity-associated PTPN22 alleles was also demonstrated in latent autoimmune diabetes in adults, which suggests that the slow kinetics of the onset of autoantibodies is subject to a regulation that is different from that experienced in type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune disorders. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Risk of thyroid cancer in patients with thyroiditis: a population-based cohort study.

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Liu, Chien-Liang; Cheng, Shih-Ping; Lin, Hui-Wen; Lai, Yuen-Liang

2014-03-01

The causative relationship between autoimmune thyroiditis and thyroid cancer remains a controversial issue. The aim of this population-based study was to investigate the risk of thyroid cancer in patients with thyroiditis. From the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2005 (LHID2005) of Taiwan, we identified adult patients newly diagnosed with thyroiditis between 2004 and 2009 (n = 1,654). The comparison cohort (n = 8,270) included five randomly selected age- and sex-matched controls for each patient in the study cohort. All patients were followed up from the date of cohort entry until they developed thyroid cancer or to the end of 2010. Multivariate Cox regression was used to assess the risk of developing thyroid cancer. A total of 1,000 bootstrap replicates were created for internal validation. A total of 35 patients developed thyroid cancer during the study period, of whom 24 were from the thyroiditis cohort and 11 were from the comparison cohort (incidence 353 and 22 per 100,000 person-years, respectively). After adjusting for potential confounding factors, the hazard ratio (HR) for thyroid cancer in patients with thyroiditis was 13.24 (95 % CI 6.40-27.39). Excluding cancers occurring within 1 year of follow-up, the HR remained significantly increased (6.64; 95 % CI 2.35-18.75). Hypothyroidism was not an independent factor associated with the occurrence of thyroid cancer. We found an increased risk for the development of thyroid cancer after a diagnosis of thyroiditis, independent of comorbidities.

Lipid profile of type 2 diabetic and hypertensive patients in the Jamaican population

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Lorenzo Gordon

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Aims : Previous studies have shown that diabetes mellitus (DM increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases in females to a greater extent than in males. In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated the lipid profiles of type 2 diabetic males and females. Materials and Methods : The study included 107 type 2 diabetic patients (41 males and 66 females, and 122 hypertensive type 2 diabetic patients (39 males and 83 females, aged 15 years and older. Total cholesterol (TC, triglycerides (TG, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C, very low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (VLDL-C and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C concentrations were assayed for each group using standard biochemical methods. Results : The mean TC, TG, VLDL-C, HDL-C and LDL-C concentrations, TG/HDL and LDL/HDL ratios were higher in type 2 diabetic and hypertensive type 2 diabetic patients compared with non-diabetic, and hypertensive non-diabetic control subjects, although these were not significant (P > 0.05. Hypertensive type 2 diabetic females had significantly higher serum TC (7.42 ± 1.63 mmol/L than hypertensive non-diabetic males (5.76±1.57 mmol/L; P 0.05. Conclusion : This study demonstrated that dyslipidemia exists in our type 2 diabetic population with greater TC in hypertensive type 2 diabetic females compared with hypertensive type 2 diabetic males. This suggests that hypertensive type 2 diabetic females are exposed more profoundly to risk factors including atherogenic dyslipidemia compared with males.

Long-term oxygen therapy in COPD patients: population-based cohort study on mortality.

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Pavlov, Nikolay; Haynes, Alan Gary; Stucki, Armin; Jüni, Peter; Ott, Sebastian Robert

2018-01-01

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide and is associated with a growing and substantial socioeconomic burden. Long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT), recommended by current treatment guidelines for COPD patients with severe chronic hypoxemia, has shown to reduce mortality in this population. The aim of our study was to assess the standardized mortality ratios of incident and prevalent LTOT users and to identify predictors of mortality. We conducted a 2-year follow-up population-based cohort study comprising all COPD patients receiving LTOT in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. Comparing age- and sex-adjusted standardized mortality ratios, we examined associations between all-cause mortality and patient characteristics at baseline. To avoid immortal time bias, data for incident (receiving LTOT <6 months) and prevalent users were analyzed separately. At baseline, 475 patients (20% incident users, n=93) were receiving LTOT because of COPD (48/100,000 inhabitants). Mortality of incident and prevalent LTOT users was 41% versus 27%, respectively, p <0.007, and standardized mortality ratios were 8.02 (95% CI: 5.64-11.41) versus 5.90 (95% CI: 4.79-7.25), respectively. Type 2 respiratory failure was associated with higher standardized mortality ratios among incident LTOT users (60.57, 95% CI: 11.82-310.45, p =0.038). Two-year mortality rate of COPD patients on incident LTOT was somewhat lower in our study than in older cohorts but remained high compared to the general population, especially in younger patients receiving LTOT <6 months. Type 2 respiratory failure was associated with mortality.

Population Pharmacokinetics of Cladribine in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis.

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Savic, Radojka M; Novakovic, Ana M; Ekblom, Marianne; Munafo, Alain; Karlsson, Mats O

2017-10-01

The aims of this study were to characterize the concentration-time course of cladribine (CdA) and its main metabolite 2-chloroadenine (CAde), estimate interindividual variability in pharmacokinetics (PK), and identify covariates explaining variability in the PK of CdA. This population PK analysis was based on the combined dataset from four clinical studies in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS): three phase I studies, including one food and one drug-drug interaction study, and one phase III clinical study. Plasma and urine concentration data of CdA and CAde were modeled simultaneously. The analysis comprised a total of 2619 CdA and CAde plasma and urine concentration observations from 173 patients with MS who received an intravenous infusion or oral tablet doses of CdA as a single agent or in combination with interferon (IFN) β-1a. CdA PK data were best described by a three-compartment model, while a one-compartment model best described the PK of CAde. CdA renal clearance (CL R ) was correlated with creatinine clearance (CL CR ), predicting a decrease in the total clearance of 19%, 30% and 40% for patients with mild (CL CR  = 65 ml/min), moderate (CL CR  = 40 ml/min) and severe (CL CR  = 20 ml/min) renal impairment, respectively. Food decreased the extent of CdA absorption by 11.2% and caused an absorption delay. Coadministration with IFNβ-1a was found to increase non-CL R (CL NR ) by 21%, resulting in an increase of 11% in total clearance. Both CdA and CAde displayed linear PK after intravenous and oral administration of CdA, with CdA renal function depending on CL CR . Trial registration number for study 25643: NCT00213135.

Preoperative fasting in the day care patient population at a tertiary care, teaching institute: A prospective, cross-sectional study

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Merlin Shalini Ruth

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Context: Patients are fasting for inappropriately long duration preoperatively despite the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA recommendations for liberal fasting guidelines. There is paucity of data on preoperative fasting duration in the day care patient population from India; hence, we studied the preoperative fasting status in the day care patient population. Aims: This study aims to study the preoperative fasting duration for solids and clear fluids and to compare the fasting times in the patients posted for the morning slot and the afternoon slot. Settings and Design: This was a prospective, observational, cross-sectional study at a tertiary care, teaching institute. Subjects and Methods: All Consenting adults, ASA grade 1 or 2, of either gender, presenting for day care surgery were included in the study. Data collected included the demographic profile, duration of fasting for solids, and clear fluids. The patients rated their hunger and thirst on a ten point numeric rating scale. We compared the fasting durations for solids and clear fluids in the patients presenting for the morning slot and afternoon slot for surgery. Statistical Analysis Used: T-test was used for analysis of continuous data with normal distribution and Mann–Whitney U-test for data with nonnormal distribution. Chi-square test was performed for categorical variables. Differences were considered significant at P < 0.05. Results: The mean duration of preoperative fasting for solids was 12.58 ± 2.70 h and for clear fluids was 9.02 ± 3.73 h. The mean fasting duration for solids in the patients presenting for the afternoon slot was significantly longer (P < 0.0001 than those presenting for the morning slot. The mean preoperative fasting duration for clear fluids was comparable among these patient groups (P = 0.0741. Conclusions: Patients are following inappropriately prolonged fasting routines, and there is a need to enforce liberal preoperative fasting guidelines

Development of a scale to assess cancer stigma in the non-patient population

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2014-01-01

Background Illness-related stigma has attracted considerable research interest, but few studies have specifically examined stigmatisation of cancer in the non-patient population. The present study developed and validated a Cancer Stigma Scale (CASS) for use in the general population. Methods An item pool was developed on the basis of previous research into illness-related stigma in the general population and patients with cancer. Two studies were carried out. The first study used Exploratory factor analysis to explore the structure of items in a sample of 462 postgraduate students recruited through a London university. The second study used Confirmatory factor analysis to confirm the structure among 238 adults recruited through an online market research panel. Internal reliability, test-retest reliability and construct validity were also assessed. Results Exploratory factor analysis suggested six subscales, representing: Awkwardness, Severity, Avoidance, Policy Opposition, Personal Responsibility and Financial Discrimination. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed this structure with a 25-item scale. All subscales showed adequate to good internal and test-retest reliability in both samples. Construct validity was also good, with mean scores for each subscale varying in the expected directions by age, gender, experience of cancer, awareness of lifestyle risk factors for cancer, and social desirability. Means for the subscales were consistent across the two samples. Conclusions These findings highlight the complexity of cancer stigma and provide the Cancer Stigma Scale (CASS) which can be used to compare populations, types of cancer and evaluate the effects of interventions designed to reduce cancer stigma in non-patient populations. PMID:24758482

Development of a scale to assess cancer stigma in the non-patient population.

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Marlow, Laura A V; Wardle, Jane

2014-04-23

Illness-related stigma has attracted considerable research interest, but few studies have specifically examined stigmatisation of cancer in the non-patient population. The present study developed and validated a Cancer Stigma Scale (CASS) for use in the general population. An item pool was developed on the basis of previous research into illness-related stigma in the general population and patients with cancer. Two studies were carried out. The first study used Exploratory factor analysis to explore the structure of items in a sample of 462 postgraduate students recruited through a London university. The second study used Confirmatory factor analysis to confirm the structure among 238 adults recruited through an online market research panel. Internal reliability, test-retest reliability and construct validity were also assessed. Exploratory factor analysis suggested six subscales, representing: Awkwardness, Severity, Avoidance, Policy Opposition, Personal Responsibility and Financial Discrimination. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed this structure with a 25-item scale. All subscales showed adequate to good internal and test-retest reliability in both samples. Construct validity was also good, with mean scores for each subscale varying in the expected directions by age, gender, experience of cancer, awareness of lifestyle risk factors for cancer, and social desirability. Means for the subscales were consistent across the two samples. These findings highlight the complexity of cancer stigma and provide the Cancer Stigma Scale (CASS) which can be used to compare populations, types of cancer and evaluate the effects of interventions designed to reduce cancer stigma in non-patient populations.

Depression, Hopelessness and Social Support among Breast Cancer Patients: in Highly Endogamous Population

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Bener, Abdulbari; Alsulaiman, Reem; Doodson, Lisa; Agathangelou, Tony

2017-07-27

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between different demographic variables, hopelessness, depression and social support of Breast cancer patients in Qatari’s population. Design: This is an observational cohort hospital based study. Subjects and Methods: The study included 678 breast cancer patients. The questionnaires included a demographic questionnaire, the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), Back Depression Scale (BDS) and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). The demographic questionnaire was used to assess patients’ basic information including gender, age, marital status, education, family size, and place of residence. Medical information regarding cancer stage, the time passed since diagnosis, treatment, and duration of disease were recorded. Results: The mean age of the studied women was 47.7±10.2 years. Among the studied patients, 34.7% were Qataris and 65.3% were Arab expatriates. Nearly 39.2% of the patients were in pre-menopausal status and 60.8% in post-menopausal status. 86.1% of women were married. 14.6% were illiterate women, 20.9% were university graduates and 37.2% were housewives. Smoking habit was less common in studied Arab women (9.1%), but, sheesha smoking was more common, 17.7%. Daily physical activity indicated 25.7% were walking 30 minutes per-day and 14% were walking 60 minutes per day. 30.4% of them had consanguineous parents. Breast feeding was practiced among 67.7% of women and over 73% were considered overweight and obese. Furthermore, over 75% of breast cancer women were at the Stage 3 (40.9%) and Stage 4 (35.8%) of cancer. The percentage of patients who underwent mastectomy and lumpectomy were 49.3 % and 50.7%, respectively. It was observed that 27.7% of BDI patients had moderate depression and 19.5% of the BDI patients had severe depression and with mean and standard deviation 25.1±7.7. Also, the mean and SD of BDI for consanguineous has showed statistically significant 28.4±5.7 than

The relationship of quality of life and distress in prostate cancer patients compared to the general population

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Zenger, Markus; Lehmann-Laue, Antje; Stolzenburg, Jens-Uwe; Schwalenberg, Thilo; Ried, Alexander; Hinz, Andreas

2010-01-01

Background: The aim of this study is two-fold. The first part compares quality of life (QoL) data of prostate cancer patients with those of a representative and age-specific sample of the general population and analyzes the influence of cancer related as well as socio-demographic parameters on QoL. Secondly, differences in QoL depending on the experienced psychological distress will be shown both in prostate cancer patients and in the general population. Material and Methods: A sample of 265 prostate cancer patients completed both the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) during their stay in the hospital. A total HADS cut off score of 15 was used to indicate psychological distress and significant emotional concerns in patients and men of the general population. The results of the patients were compared with those of the general population (N=444). Results: Prostate cancer patients reported significantly worse levels of social and emotional functioning as well as more symptoms like insomnia, constipation and diarrhea compared to the general population. Patients and men of the general population with a total HADS score ≥15 reported lower QoL in all sub-scales except for diarrhea in comparison to people without distress. Discussion: Psychological distress is accompanied by lower QoL and therefore should be taken into consideration when QoL is assessed. Furthermore, clinicians should be trained by professionals to detect distress in their patients and to pay more attention to their emotional concerns, which are strongly associated with the patients’ well-being and QoL during their stay in hospital. PMID:20628652

Clinical research in small genomically stratified patient populations.

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Martin-Liberal, J; Rodon, J

2017-07-01

The paradigm of early drug development in cancer is shifting from 'histology-oriented' to 'molecularly oriented' clinical trials. This change can be attributed to the vast amount of tumour biology knowledge generated by large international research initiatives such as The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the use of next generation sequencing (NGS) techniques developed in recent years. However, targeting infrequent molecular alterations entails a series of special challenges. The optimal molecular profiling method, the lack of standardised biological thresholds, inter- and intra-tumor heterogeneity, availability of enough tumour material, correct clinical trials design, attrition rate, logistics or costs are only some of the issues that need to be taken into consideration in clinical research in small genomically stratified patient populations. This article examines the most relevant challenges inherent to clinical research in these populations. Moreover, perspectives from the Academia point of view are reviewed as well as initiatives to be taken in forthcoming years. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparing the Incidence of Falls/Fractures in Parkinson's Disease Patients in the US Population.

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Linda Kalilani

Full Text Available Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD may experience falls and/or fractures as a result of disease symptoms. There are limited data available from long-term studies estimating the incidence of falls/fractures in patients with PD. The objective was to compare the incidence rate of falls/fractures in PD patients with non-PD patients in a US population. This was a retrospective study using a US-based claims database (Truven Health MarketScan® that compared the incidence rate of falls/fractures in PD subjects with non-PD subjects. The study period included the 12 months prior to index date (defined as earliest PD diagnosis [International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification code 332.0] and a postindex period to the end of data availability. Fractures were defined by inpatient/outpatient claims as a principal or secondary diagnosis and accompanying procedure codes during the postindex period. Incidence rates and 95% CIs for falls/fractures were calculated as the number of events per 10,000 person-years of follow-up using negative binomial or Poisson regression models. Twenty-eight thousand two hundred and eighty PD subjects were matched to non-PD subjects for the analysis (mean [SD] age, 71.4 [11.8] years; 53% male. A higher incidence rate (adjusted for comorbidities and medications of all fall/fracture cases and by fall and fracture types was observed for PD subjects versus non-PD subjects; the overall adjusted incidence rate ratio comparing PD to non-PD subjects was 2.05; 95% CI, 1.88-2.24. The incidence rate of falls/fractures was significantly higher in subjects with PD compared with non-PD subjects in a US population.

Identification of infectious microbiota from oral cavity environment of various population group patients as a preventive approach to human health risk factors.

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Zawadzki, Paweł J; Perkowski, Konrad; Starościak, Bohdan; Baltaza, Wanda; Padzik, Marcin; Pionkowski, Krzysztof; Chomicz, Lidia

2016-12-23

This study presents the results of comparative investigations aimed to determine microbiota that can occur in the oral environment in different human populations. The objective of the research was to identify pathogenic oral microbiota, the potential cause of health complications in patients of different population groups. The study included 95 patients requiring dental or surgical treatment; their oral cavity environment microbiota as risk factors of local and general infections were assessed. In clinical assessment, differences occurred in oral cavity conditions between patients with malformations of the masticatory system, kidney allograft recipients and individuals without indications for surgical procedures. The presence of various pathogenic and opportunistic bacterial strains in oral cavities were revealed by direct microscopic and in vitro culture techniques. Colonization of oral cavities of patients requiring surgical treatment by the potentially pathogenic bacteria constitutes the threat of their spread, and development of general infections. Assessment of oral cavity infectious microbiota should be performed as a preventive measure against peri-surgical complications.

The risk of lymphoma and immunomodulators in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases: results from a population-based cohort in Eastern Europe.

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Lakatos, Peter L; Lovasz, Barbara D; David, Gyula; Pandur, Tunde; Erdelyi, Zsuzsanna; Mester, Gabor; Balogh, Mihaly; Szipocs, Istvan; Molnar, Csaba; Komaromi, Erzsebet; Golovics, Petra A; Vegh, Zsuzsanna; Mandel, Michael; Horvath, Agnes; Szathmari, Miklos; Kiss, Lajos S; Lakatos, Laszlo

2013-06-01

Prior studies suggest a small but significantly increased risk of lymphoma in adults with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), especially in patients treated with thiopurines. No data was available from Eastern Europe. The aim of this study was to analyze the incidence of lymphomas as related to drug exposure, in a population-based Veszprem province database, which included incident cases diagnosed between January 1, 1977 and December 31, 2008. Data from 1420 incident patients were analyzed (UC: 914, age at diagnosis: 36.5 years; CD: 506, age at diagnosis: 28.5.5 years). Both in- and outpatient records were collected and comprehensively reviewed. The rate of lymphoma was calculated as patient-years of exposure per medication class, of medications utilized in IBD. Of the 1420 patients, we identified three patients who developed lymphoma (one CLL, two low-grade B-cell NHL including one rectal case), during 19,293 patient-years of follow-up (median follow-up: 13 years). All three patients were male. None had received azathioprine or biologicals. The absolute incidence rate of lymphoma was 1.55 per 10,000 patient-years, with 3 cases observed vs. 2.18 expected, with a standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of 1.37 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.44-4.26). No cases have been exposed to either azathioprine or biologicals. The overall risk of lymphoma in IBD was not increased; only three cases were seen in this population-based incident cohort over a 30-year period. An association with thiopurine exposure was not found. Copyright © 2012 European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fever in trauma patients: evaluation of risk factors, including traumatic brain injury.

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Bengualid, Victoria; Talari, Goutham; Rubin, David; Albaeni, Aiham; Ciubotaru, Ronald L; Berger, Judith

2015-03-01

The role of fever in trauma patients remains unclear. Fever occurs as a response to release of cytokines and prostaglandins by white blood cells. Many factors, including trauma, can trigger release of these factors. To determine whether (1) fever in the first 48 hours is related to a favorable outcome in trauma patients and (2) fever is more common in patients with head trauma. Retrospective study of trauma patients admitted to the intensive care unit for at least 2 days. Data were analyzed by using multivariate analysis. Of 162 patients studied, 40% had fever during the first 48 hours. Febrile patients had higher mortality rates than did afebrile patients. When adjusted for severity of injuries, fever did not correlate with mortality. Neither the incidence of fever in the first 48 hours after admission to the intensive care unit nor the number of days febrile in the unit differed between patients with and patients without head trauma (traumatic brain injury). About 70% of febrile patients did not have a source found for their fever. Febrile patients without an identified source of infection had lower peak white blood cell counts, lower maximum body temperature, and higher minimum platelet counts than did febrile patients who had an infectious source identified. The most common infection was pneumonia. No relationship was found between the presence of fever during the first 48 hours and mortality. Patients with traumatic brain injury did not have a higher incidence of fever than did patients without traumatic brain injury. About 30% of febrile patients had an identifiable source of infection. Further studies are needed to understand the origin and role of fever in trauma patients. ©2015 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

Some Chronic Rhinosinusitis Patients Have Significantly Elevated Populations of Seven Fungi in their Sinuses

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Abstract: Objectives/Hypothesis: To measure the populations of 36 fungi in the homes and sinuses of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and non-CRS patients. Study Design: Single-blind cross-sectional study. Methods: Populations of 36 fungi were measured in sinus samples and in the home...

Bringing Value-Based Perspectives to Care: Including Patient and Family Members in Decision-Making Processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Kohler, Graeme; Sampalli, Tara; Ryer, Ashley; Porter, Judy; Wood, Les; Bedford, Lisa; Higgins-Bowser, Irene; Edwards, Lynn; Christian, Erin; Dunn, Susan; Gibson, Rick; Ryan Carson, Shannon; Vallis, Michael; Zed, Joanna; Tugwell, Barna; Van Zoost, Colin; Canfield, Carolyn; Rivoire, Eleanor

2017-03-06

Recent evidence shows that patient engagement is an important strategy in achieving a high performing healthcare system. While there is considerable evidence of implementation initiatives in direct care context, there is limited investigation of implementation initiatives in decision-making context as it relates to program planning, service delivery and developing policies. Research has also shown a gap in consistent application of system-level strategies that can effectively translate organizational policies around patient and family engagement into practice. The broad objective of this initiative was to develop a system-level implementation strategy to include patient and family advisors (PFAs) at decision-making points in primary healthcare (PHC) based on wellestablished evidence and literature. In this opportunity sponsored by the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement (CFHI) a co-design methodology, also well-established was applied in identifying and developing a suitable implementation strategy to engage PFAs as members of quality teams in PHC. Diabetes management centres (DMCs) was selected as the pilot site to develop the strategy. Key steps in the process included review of evidence, review of the current state in PHC through engagement of key stakeholders and a co-design approach. The project team included a diverse representation of members from the PHC system including patient advisors, DMC team members, system leads, providers, Public Engagement team members and CFHI improvement coaches. Key outcomes of this 18-month long initiative included development of a working definition of patient and family engagement, development of a Patient and Family Engagement Resource Guide and evaluation of the resource guide. This novel initiative provided us an opportunity to develop a supportive system-wide implementation plan and a strategy to include PFAs in decision-making processes in PHC. The well-established co-design methodology further allowed us to

The collaborative edge: patient empowerment for vulnerable populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Safran, Charles

2003-03-01

The problems with access to care and the special needs for educational outreach for disadvantage or vulnerable populations of patients require innovation. This paper describes Baby CareLink use of information technology to support communication, consultation, and collaboration among colleagues as well as with patients, their families, and community resources. In response to the educational, emotional and communication needs of parents of premature infants and the clinicians who care for the infants and support the families, we developed Baby CareLink, a secure collaborative environment. Baby CareLink provides a nurturing environment where parents, even though remote from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, can actively participate in decisions surrounding their baby's care. In a southeastern hospital serving a mostly Medicaid population in a rural setting, more than 300 parents have used Baby CareLink more than 11000 times during the past year. Despite the common wisdom that Medicaid families do not have access to the Internet, approximately 85% of the parents access Baby CareLink from home, at work, from the library or other public access point. The median use of Baby CareLinks from outside the hospital by parents is 17 separate sessions. In a city hospital in the midwestern US which exclusively serves a Medicaid population, experience has been equally encouraging. More than 70 parents have initiated more than 600 secure sessions with Baby CareLink. In contrast to the rural hospital, only 35% of sessions have been initiated outside the hospital. Experience with Baby CareLink suggests that families from all walks of life will use and benefit from collaborative tools that keep them informed and involved in the care of their children. The most significant barrier to wider deployment is bandwidth limitations into the homes of most families. The care of premature infants is a great example of an area where medical knowledge and ability has grown dramatically, and where

Adult CHD patients under clinical follow-up have a similar quality of life to the general population in Malta.

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Caruana, Maryanne; Grech, Victor

2017-08-01

The improved survival of patients born with CHD has led to increasing interest in research on quality of life of adult survivors. We report the findings of the first study in Malta carried out to investigate quality of life in adults with CHD under follow-up. A self-reporting questionnaire modelled on the basis of the European Health Interview Survey 2008, including questions on mental health and vitality, was administered to consecutive adult CHD outpatients, aged 16 years and over, between May, 2013 and May, 2014. Foreigners and patients with learning difficulties or cognitive impairment were excluded. Quality-of-life data were compared with that from 371 age- and sex-matched 2008 survey responders - general population cohort. The impact of congenital lesion complexity, hospitalisation in the preceding 12 months, arrhythmias, co-morbidities, and cardiac medication use on quality of life of the CHD cohort was also investigated. There were a total of 120 patient responders (63 males; mean age 30.53, SD 12.77 years). Overall, there were no significant differences in mental health and vitality between patient and general population cohorts, although older patients had better mental health scores compared with age-matched controls. Within the adult CHD cohort, hospitalisation in the preceding 12 months was the only factor associated with a poorer quality of life. Overall, CHD has no negative impact on mental health and vitality in Maltese adult patients under follow-up. Patients needing frequent hospitalisations might warrant closer attention by clinical psychologists.

[A comparison of stroke patients' characteristics between a sub-Saharan Africa population (Abidjan) and a French stroke unit (Amiens): An observational study].

Science.gov (United States)

Bugnicourt, J-M; Tchouata-Ngandjouc, L; Beugre, K; Chillon, J-M; Godefroy, O

2013-03-01

Stroke characteristics in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) differ from developed countries. However, SSA subjects undergo epidemiological and demographic transition and it appears that the prevalence of vascular risk factors (RF) increases in this population. Here we aimed to compare stroke patients' characteristics between a SSA hospital (Cocody University Hospital, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire) and a French stroke unit (Amiens University Hospital, Amiens, France). This retrospective study included all consecutive stroke patients admitted between January and May 2008 (Cocody University Hospital, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire) and between October and December 2008 (Amiens University Hospital, Amiens, France). We assessed each patient's demographic details, RF, and CT confirmed pathological stroke type. The glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was estimated using the four-component Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation and CKD was defined as a GFR less than 60ml/min/1.73 m(2). One hundred and ninety five patients were included (Amiens: 92; Abidjan: 103) with a mean age of 63±14 years. Patients in Amiens had more known vascular RF than African patients, whereas African patients had more RF discovered during hospitalisation. Furthermore, CKD was significantly more common in SSA patients (43% vs 24%, P=0.001). More African than European patients had cerebral hemorrhage (34% vs 8%, Pstroke mortality and treatments at hospital discharge were similar between the two hospitals. Finally, a high proportion of patients in Abidjan suffered from cervical atherosclerosis, although it was significantly lower than patients in Amiens (37% vs 67%, Pstroke patients. These findings could partly explain the high prevalence of cervical atherosclerosis found in this population. These results warrant confirmation in prospective studies. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Hand hygiene compliance in patients under contact precautions and in the general hospital population.

Science.gov (United States)

Almaguer-Leyva, Martín; Mendoza-Flores, Lidia; Medina-Torres, Ana Gabriela; Salinas-Caballero, Ana Gabriela; Vidaña-Amaro, Jose Antonio; Garza-Gonzalez, Elvira; Camacho-Ortiz, Adrián

2013-11-01

Hand hygiene (HH) is the single most important intervention for preventing hospital-acquired infections. Contact precautions are a series of actions that infection control units take to reduce the transmission of nosocomial pathogens. We conducted an observational study of HH compliance. Observations were stratified as opportunities in patients under contact precautions and in the general hospital population. Trained infection control personnel performed all direct evaluations. A total of 3,270 opportunities were recorded. HH compliance was statistically higher in patients on contact precautions than in the overall population (70.3% vs 60.4%; P = .0001). Critical care areas had higher HH compliance when patients were isolated by contact precautions. Medical wards were statistically lower in HH when patients were under contact precautions. Respiratory technicians had the highest HH compliance in both overall performance and in patients under contact precautions. Medical students had a lower HH compliance in both evaluations (P Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Multidisciplinary team-based approach for comprehensive preoperative pulmonary rehabilitation including intensive nutritional support for lung cancer patients.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hiroaki Harada

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: To decrease the risk of postoperative complication, improving general and pulmonary conditioning preoperatively should be considered essential for patients scheduled to undergo lung surgery. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to develop a short-term beneficial program of preoperative pulmonary rehabilitation for lung cancer patients. METHODS: From June 2009, comprehensive preoperative pulmonary rehabilitation (CHPR including intensive nutritional support was performed prospectively using a multidisciplinary team-based approach. Postoperative complication rate and the transitions of pulmonary function in CHPR were compared with historical data of conventional preoperative pulmonary rehabilitation (CVPR conducted since June 2006. The study population was limited to patients who underwent standard lobectomy. RESULTS: Postoperative complication rate in the CVPR (n = 29 and CHPR (n = 21 were 48.3% and 28.6% (p = 0.2428, respectively. Those in patients with Charlson Comorbidity Index scores ≥2 were 68.8% (n = 16 and 27.3% (n = 11, respectively (p = 0.0341 and those in patients with preoperative risk score in Estimation of Physiologic Ability and Surgical Stress scores >0.3 were 57.9% (n = 19 and 21.4% (n = 14, respectively (p = 0.0362. Vital capacities of pre- and post intervention before surgery in the CHPR group were 2.63±0.65 L and 2.75±0.63 L (p = 0.0043, respectively; however, their transition in the CVPR group was not statistically significant (p = 0.6815. Forced expiratory volumes in one second of pre- and post intervention before surgery in the CHPR group were 1.73±0.46 L and 1.87±0.46 L (p = 0.0012, respectively; however, their transition in the CVPR group was not statistically significant (p = 0.6424. CONCLUSIONS: CHPR appeared to be a beneficial and effective short-term preoperative rehabilitation protocol, especially in patients with poor preoperative conditions.

Efficacy and Safety of Fingolimod in an Unselected Patient Population.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Rasenack

Full Text Available Fingolimod is a first in class oral compound approved for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RR-MS. The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical and neuroradiological responses to fingolimod as well as the safety and tolerability in RR-MS patients in clinical practice. In addition, a panel of pro-inflammatory serum cytokines was explored as potential biomarker for treatment response.We conducted a retrospective, non-randomized, open-label, observational study in 105 patients with RR-MS and measured cytokines in longitudinal serum samples.Compared to the year before fingolimod start the annualized relapse rate was reduced by 44%. Also, the percentage of patients with a worsening of the EDSS decreased. Accordingly, the fraction of patients with no evidence of disease activity (no relapse, stable EDSS, no new active lesions in MRI increased from 11% to 38%. The efficacy and safety were comparable between highly active patients or patients with relevant comorbidities and our general patient population.The efficacy in reducing relapses was comparable to that observed in the phase III trials. In our cohort fingolimod was safe and efficacious irrespective of comorbidities and previous treatment.

Bladder cancer in cancer patients: population-based estimates from a large Swedish study

OpenAIRE

Bermejo, J Lorenzo; Sundquist, J; Hemminki, K

2009-01-01

Background: This study quantified the risk of urinary bladder neoplasms in cancer patients taking into account the age at first diagnosis, the gender of the patients and the lead time between diagnoses. Methods: We used standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) to compare the incidence of bladder tumours in 967?767 cancer patients with the incidence rate in the general Swedish population. A total of 3324 male and 1560 female patients developed bladder tumours at least 1 year after first cancer dia...

Population pharmacokinetics of olmesartan following oral administration of its prodrug, olmesartan medoxomil: in healthy volunteers and hypertensive patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshihara, Kazutaka; Gao, Yuying; Shiga, Hiroshi; Wada, D Russell; Hisaoka, Masafumi

2005-01-01

Olmesartan medoxomil (CS-866) is a new orally active angiotensin II receptor antagonist that is highly selective for the AT1 receptor subtype. To develop a population pharmacokinetic model for olmesartan (RNH-6270), the active metabolite of olmesartan medoxomil, in healthy volunteers and hypertensive patients, and to evaluate effects of covariates on the apparent oral clearance (CL/F), with particular emphasis on the effect of race. Retrospective analysis of data from 12 phase I-III trials in the US, Europe and Japan. Eighty-nine healthy volunteers and 383 hypertensive patients. Nonlinear mixed-effects modelling was used to evaluate 7911 olmesartan plasma sample concentrations. The covariates included age, bodyweight, sex, race (Westerners [including Caucasians and Hispanics] versus Japanese), patient status (hypertensive patients versus healthy volunteers), serum creatinine level as an index of renal function and serum chemistry data as indices of hepatic function. The pharmacokinetic data of olmesartan were well described by a two-compartment linear model with first-order absorption and an absorption lag-time, parameterised in terms of CL/F (6.66 L/h for a typical male Western hypertensive patient), absorption rate constant (1.46h-1), elimination rate constant (0.193h-1), rate constant from the central to peripheral compartment (0.061h-1), rate constant from the peripheral to central compartment (0.079h-1) and absorption lag-time (0.427h). Analysis of covariates showed that age, bodyweight, sex, patient status and renal function were factors influencing the clearance of olmesartan. The population pharmacokinetic analysis of olmesartan showed that: (i) severe renal impairment (serum creatinine >265 micromol/L [approximately 3 mg/dL]) could cause a clearance decrease of > or =30%; (ii) older age, lower bodyweight and being female were determinants of lower clearance but their effects on olmesartan clearance were within 20%; (iii) no statistically significant

Reflective Practice and Competencies in Global Health Training: Lesson for Serving Diverse Patient Populations

Science.gov (United States)

Castillo, Jonathan; Goldenhar, Linda M.; Baker, Raymond C.; Kahn, Robert S.; DeWitt, Thomas G.

2010-01-01

Background Resident interest in global health care training is growing and has been shown to have a positive effect on participants' clinical skills and cultural competency. In addition, it is associated with career choices in primary care, public health, and in the service of underserved populations. The purpose of this study was to explore, through reflective practice, how participation in a formal global health training program influences pediatric residents' perspectives when caring for diverse patient populations. Methods Thirteen pediatric and combined-program residents enrolled in a year-long Global Health Scholars Program at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center during the 2007–2008 academic year. Educational interventions included a written curriculum, a lecture series, one-on-one mentoring sessions, an experience abroad, and reflective journaling assignments. The American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene global health competencies were used as an a priori coding framework to qualitatively analyze the reflective journal entries of the residents. Results Four themes emerged from the coded journal passages from all 13 residents: (1) the burden of global disease, as a heightened awareness of the diseases that affect humans worldwide; (2) immigrant/underserved health, reflected in a desire to apply lessons learned abroad at home to provide more culturally effective care to immigrant patients in the United States; (3) parenting, or observed parental, longing to assure that their children receive health care; and (4) humanitarianism, expressed as the desire to volunteer in future humanitarian health efforts in the United States and abroad. Conclusions Our findings suggest that participating in a global health training program helped residents begin to acquire competence in the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene competency domains. Such training also may strengthen residents' acquisition of professional skills, including the

Hemocromatosis gene (HFE) mutations in patients with type 2 diabetes and their control group in an Iranian population

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharifi, F.; Esmaeilzadeh, A.; Zali, M.

2008-01-01

Objective was to assess the frequency of 2 different forms of hemochromatosis HFE gene mutations c282y and H63D mutations in a normal population in comparison with type 2 diabetic patients. This case control study was undertaken in Zanjan Diabetic Care Center, Zanjan, western Tehran, in 2005. Two hundred and two individuals were included in this study: 101 type 2 diabetes mellitus T2DM patients and 101 age and gender-matched controls. The patients were examined for mutations in the HFE gene. Nucleotide 845 C282Y and 187 H63D alleles were amplified by polymerase chain reaction PCR with lymphocyte deoxyribonucleic acid. The PCR products were analyzed by restriction enzyme digestion. Chi-square students test and Fisher's exact tests were used for comparison and odds ratio was calculated. Two hundred and two individuals were studied. The frequency of wild /C28Y alleles was 68.3/31.7% in diabetics p=0.08 and 73.4/26.3% in control subjects p=0.08. The distribution of genotypes was not statistically different. Based on our data, HFE mutations were not found in excess in patients with T2DM and there was no evidence that a population-based search for an excess of these alleles in type 2 diabetes was indicated. (author)

The stigma of mental illness in Southern Ghana: attitudes of the urban population and patients' views.

Science.gov (United States)

Barke, Antonia; Nyarko, Seth; Klecha, Dorothee

2011-11-01

Stigma is a frequent accompaniment of mental illness leading to a number of detrimental consequences. Most research into the stigma connected to mental illness was conducted in the developed world. So far, few data exist on countries in sub-Saharan Africa and no data have been published on population attitudes towards mental illness in Ghana. Even less is known about the stigma actually perceived by the mentally ill persons themselves. A convenience sample of 403 participants (210 men, mean age 32.4±12.3 years) from urban regions in Accra, Cape Coast and Pantang filled in the Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill (CAMI) questionnaire. In addition, 105 patients (75 men, mean age 35.9±11.0 years) of Ghana's three psychiatric hospitals (Accra Psychiatry Hospital, Ankaful Hospital, Pantang Hospital) answered the Perceived Stigma and Discrimination Scale. High levels of stigma prevailed in the population as shown by high proportions of assent to items expressing authoritarian and socially restrictive views, coexisting with agreement with more benevolent attitudes. A higher level of education was associated with more positive attitudes on all subscales (Authoritarianism, Social Restrictiveness, Benevolence and Acceptance of Community Based Mental Health Services). The patients reported a high degree of experienced stigma with secrecy concerning the illness as a widespread coping strategy. Perceived stigma was not associated with sex or age. The extent of stigmatising attitudes within the urban population of Southern Ghana is in line with the scant research in other countries in sub-Saharan Africa and mirrored by the experienced stigma reported by the patients. These results have to be seen in the context of the extreme scarcity of resources within the Ghanaian psychiatric system. Anti-stigma efforts should include interventions for mentally ill persons themselves and not exclusively focus on public attitudes.

Employment among patients with multiple sclerosis - A population study

OpenAIRE

Lunde, Hanne Marie; Telstad, Wenche; Torkildsen, Nina Agnethe Grytten; Kyte, Lars; Aarseth, Jan; Myhr, Kjell-Morten; Bø, Lars

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To investigate demographic and clinical factors associated with employment in MS. METHODS: The study included 213 (89.9%) of all MS patients in Sogn and Fjordane County, Western Norway at December 31st 2010. The patients underwent clinical evaluation, structured interviews and completed self-reported questionnaires. Demographic and clinical factors were compared between patients being employed versus patients being unemployed and according to disease course of MS. Logist...

[Predominant polarity in type-I bipolar patients: Study in an isolated population with a high prevalence of mood disorders].

Science.gov (United States)

Obando, Antonio Carlos Toro; García, Ángela María Agudelo; Rodríguez, María Aurora Gallo; Palacio, Tomás Felipe Restrepo; Ontoso, Miguel Soto; Tamayo, Alejandra; Jaramillo, Carlos Alberto López

2012-12-01

Recent studies have shown that the predominant description of polarity has effects upon early detection and the timely beginning of treatment in patients with bipolar affective disorder (BAD). Cross sectional cut and descriptive study in 101 BAD patients coming from a genetically isolated population from the Colombian Region of Antioquia. The study covered a population of 101 patients with type-I BAD diagnosis, out of which 57,4% met the criteria for maniac polarity (MP), 10,1% exhibited depressive polarity (DP) and 25,7% were classified with Indefinite Polarity (IP). In comparison, MP patients have a lower education level and less starting age, including a greater number of single people. The MP group showed the greatest prevalence of suicide and greater use of cannabinoids and cocaine. Within the DP group there was a strong tendency to cigarette and alcohol consumption. With respect to pharmaceutical drugs consumed by the study patients during their lives, antipsychotics were the most widely used group, followed by lithium and anti-convulsivants. There is high percentage of MP patients who have used antidepressants during their lives. The polarity of the first episode of the disease seems to be a valid predictive parameter concerning the polarity of subsequent episodes; therefore, it works indirectly as a valid predictor of the disease's course. Copyright © 2012 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

Diabetes mellitus in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in an aging population in Shanghai, China: Prevalence, clinical characteristics and outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Zheyuan; Guo, Juntao; Huang, Ying; Cai, Enmao; Zhang, Xia; Pan, Qichao; Yuan, Zheng'an; Shen, Xin

2016-03-01

To determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus among pulmonary tuberculosis patients and the difference of clinical characteristics and outcomes between pulmonary tuberculosis patients with and without diabetes mellitus in an aging population in Shanghai, China. This is a retrospective population-based study. 201 newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Changning District, Shanghai during 2007-2008 were included. Clinical characteristics and outcomes were collected. Determination of diabetes mellitus was based on the medical records before pulmonary tuberculosis was diagnosed. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus among pulmonary tuberculosis patients was 19.9% (40/201). Pulmonary tuberculosis patients with diabetes mellitus were more likely to be old (≥50, OR=5.23, 95% CI=2.07-13.25), to have pulmonary cavities (OR=3.02, 95% CI=1.31-6.98), to be sputum smear positive (OR=2.90, 95% CI=1.12-7.51), and to have extension of anti-tuberculosis treatment duration (OR=2.68, 95% CI 1.17-6.14). Besides, they had a higher 2nd month sputum smear positive proportion (OR=2.97, 95% CI 1.22-7.22) and a higher 5-year recurrence rate (OR=5.87, 95% CI 1.26-27.40). High prevalence, severe clinical characteristics and poor outcomes of pulmonary tuberculosis patients with diabetes mellitus highlight the necessity of early bi-directional screening and co-management of these two diseases in Shanghai, China. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Patient and population exposure from clinic nuclear medicine in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Liangan; Chang Hexin; Zhang Wenyi; Sun Kai

1993-01-01

In the work, a method of epidemiological stratified sampling was adopted. The sampling covers 200 hospitals throughout 24 provinces. The patient doses were estimated by MIRD method. The survey data were statistic analysis by a computer, and main results of the annual frequencies, patient dose and collective dose were reported. The annual frequency of clinic nuclear medicine in China was 0.62 cases per 1000 inhabitant. The highest frequency was found in thyroid uptake procedure, it is 0.26 cases per 1000 population. The patient dose per examination is changed with various radiopharmaceuticals administered mainly. In nuclear medical examination, the highest effective dose per examination was found in the procedure of thyroid scintigraphy, it is about 93.8 mGy lexam with 131 I, and this is 312 times as that with 99m Tc. In hyperthyroidism, the patient dose is very high, the effective dose is 2.6 Gy lexam, the thyroid dose is 86.0 Gy lexam. (5 tabs.)

Analysis of the genetic ancestry of patients with oral clefts from South American admixed populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Vieira-Machado, Camilla D; de Carvalho, Flavia M; Santana da Silva, Luiz C; Dos Santos, Sidney E; Martins, Claudia; Poletta, Fernando A; Mereb, Juan C; Vieira, Alexandre R; Castilla, Eduardo E; Orioli, Iêda M

2016-08-01

Increased susceptibility to cleft lip, with or without cleft palate (CL±P) has been observed in South America, as related to Amerindian ancestry, using epidemiological data, uniparental markers, and blood groups. In this study, it was evaluated whether this increased risk remains when Amerindian ancestry is estimated using autosomal markers and considered in the predictive model. Ancestry was estimated through genotyping 62 insertion and deletion (INDEL) markers in sample sets of patients with CL±P, patients with cleft palate (CP), and controls, from Patagonia in southern Argentina and Belém in northern Brazil. The Amerindian ancestry in patients from Patagonia with CL±P was greater than in controls although it did not reach statistical significance. The European ancestry in patients with CL±P from Belém and in patients with CP from Belém and Patagonia was higher than in controls and statistically significant for patients with CP who were from Belém. This high contribution of European genetic ancestry among patients with CP who were from Belém has not been previously observed in American populations. Our results do not corroborate the currently accepted risks for CL±P and CP estimated by epidemiological studies in the North American populations and probably reflect the higher admixture found in South American ethnic groups when compared with the same ethnic groups from the North American populations. © 2016 Eur J Oral Sci.

Subsolid pulmonary nodule morphology and associated patient characteristics in a routine clinical population

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Mets, Onno M.; Jong, Pim A. de [University Medical Center Utrecht, Radiology, Utrecht (Netherlands); Scholten, Ernst T.; Chung, Kaman; Ginneken, Bram van [Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Diagnostic Imaging Analysis Group, Nijmegen (Netherlands); Schaefer-Prokop, Cornelia M. [Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Diagnostic Imaging Analysis Group, Nijmegen (Netherlands); Meander Medical Center, Radiology, Amersfoort (Netherlands)

2017-02-15

To determine the presence and morphology of subsolid pulmonary nodules (SSNs) in a non-screening setting and relate them to clinical and patient characteristics. A total of 16,890 reports of clinically obtained chest CT (06/2011 to 11/2014, single-centre) were searched describing an SSN. Subjects with a visually confirmed SSN and at least two thin-slice CTs were included. Nodule volumes were measured. Progression was defined as volume increase exceeding the software interscan variation. Nodule morphology, location, and patient characteristics were evaluated. Fifteen transient and 74 persistent SSNs were included (median follow-up 19.6 [8.3-36.8] months). Subjects with an SSN were slightly older than those without (62 vs. 58 years; p = 0.01), but no gender predilection was found. SSNs were mostly located in the upper lobes. Women showed significantly more often persistent lesions than men (94 % vs. 69 %; p = 0.002). Part-solid lesions were larger (1638 vs. 383 mm{sup 3}; p < 0.001) and more often progressive (68 % vs. 38 %; p = 0.02), compared to pure ground-glass nodules. Progressive SSNs were rare under the age of 50 years. Logistic regression analysis did not identify additional nodule parameters of future progression, apart from part-solid nature. This study confirms previously reported characteristics of SSNs and associated factors in a European, routine clinical population. (orig.)

Subsolid pulmonary nodule morphology and associated patient characteristics in a routine clinical population

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mets, Onno M.; Jong, Pim A. de; Scholten, Ernst T.; Chung, Kaman; Ginneken, Bram van; Schaefer-Prokop, Cornelia M.

2017-01-01

To determine the presence and morphology of subsolid pulmonary nodules (SSNs) in a non-screening setting and relate them to clinical and patient characteristics. A total of 16,890 reports of clinically obtained chest CT (06/2011 to 11/2014, single-centre) were searched describing an SSN. Subjects with a visually confirmed SSN and at least two thin-slice CTs were included. Nodule volumes were measured. Progression was defined as volume increase exceeding the software interscan variation. Nodule morphology, location, and patient characteristics were evaluated. Fifteen transient and 74 persistent SSNs were included (median follow-up 19.6 [8.3-36.8] months). Subjects with an SSN were slightly older than those without (62 vs. 58 years; p = 0.01), but no gender predilection was found. SSNs were mostly located in the upper lobes. Women showed significantly more often persistent lesions than men (94 % vs. 69 %; p = 0.002). Part-solid lesions were larger (1638 vs. 383 mm"3; p < 0.001) and more often progressive (68 % vs. 38 %; p = 0.02), compared to pure ground-glass nodules. Progressive SSNs were rare under the age of 50 years. Logistic regression analysis did not identify additional nodule parameters of future progression, apart from part-solid nature. This study confirms previously reported characteristics of SSNs and associated factors in a European, routine clinical population. (orig.)

Assessing the impact of heart failure specialist services on patient populations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lyratzopoulos Georgios

2004-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The assessment of the impact of healthcare interventions may help commissioners of healthcare services to make optimal decisions. This can be particularly the case if the impact assessment relates to specific patient populations and uses timely local data. We examined the potential impact on readmissions and mortality of specialist heart failure services capable of delivering treatments such as b-blockers and Nurse-Led Educational Intervention (N-LEI. Methods Statistical modelling of prevented or postponed events among previously hospitalised patients, using estimates of: treatment uptake and contraindications (based on local audit data; treatment effectiveness and intolerance (based on literature; and annual number of hospitalization per patient and annual risk of death (based on routine data. Results Optimal treatment uptake among eligible but untreated patients would over one year prevent or postpone 11% of all expected readmissions and 18% of all expected deaths for spironolactone, 13% of all expected readmisisons and 22% of all expected deaths for b-blockers (carvedilol and 20% of all expected readmissions and an uncertain number of deaths for N-LEI. Optimal combined treatment uptake for all three interventions during one year among all eligible but untreated patients would prevent or postpone 37% of all expected readmissions and a minimum of 36% of all expected deaths. Conclusion In a population of previously hospitalised patients with low previous uptake of b-blockers and no uptake of N-LEI, optimal combined uptake of interventions through specialist heart failure services can potentially help prevent or postpone approximately four times as many readmissions and a minimum of twice as many deaths compared with simply optimising uptake of spironolactone (not necessarily requiring specialist services. Examination of the impact of different heart failure interventions can inform rational planning of relevant healthcare

Assessing the impact of heart failure specialist services on patient populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Lyratzopoulos, Georgios; Cook, Gary A; McElduff, Patrick; Havely, Daniel; Edwards, Richard; Heller, Richard F

2004-05-24

The assessment of the impact of healthcare interventions may help commissioners of healthcare services to make optimal decisions. This can be particularly the case if the impact assessment relates to specific patient populations and uses timely local data. We examined the potential impact on readmissions and mortality of specialist heart failure services capable of delivering treatments such as b-blockers and Nurse-Led Educational Intervention (N-LEI). Statistical modelling of prevented or postponed events among previously hospitalised patients, using estimates of: treatment uptake and contraindications (based on local audit data); treatment effectiveness and intolerance (based on literature); and annual number of hospitalization per patient and annual risk of death (based on routine data). Optimal treatment uptake among eligible but untreated patients would over one year prevent or postpone 11% of all expected readmissions and 18% of all expected deaths for spironolactone, 13% of all expected readmisisons and 22% of all expected deaths for b-blockers (carvedilol) and 20% of all expected readmissions and an uncertain number of deaths for N-LEI. Optimal combined treatment uptake for all three interventions during one year among all eligible but untreated patients would prevent or postpone 37% of all expected readmissions and a minimum of 36% of all expected deaths. In a population of previously hospitalised patients with low previous uptake of b-blockers and no uptake of N-LEI, optimal combined uptake of interventions through specialist heart failure services can potentially help prevent or postpone approximately four times as many readmissions and a minimum of twice as many deaths compared with simply optimising uptake of spironolactone (not necessarily requiring specialist services). Examination of the impact of different heart failure interventions can inform rational planning of relevant healthcare services.

Epigenetics targeted protein-vorinostat nanomedicine inducing apoptosis in heterogeneous population of primary acute myeloid leukemia cells including refractory and relapsed cases.

Science.gov (United States)

Chandran, Parwathy; Kavalakatt, Anu; Malarvizhi, Giridharan Loghanathan; Vasanthakumari, Divya Rani Vikraman Nair; Retnakumari, Archana Payickattu; Sidharthan, Neeraj; Pavithran, Keechilat; Nair, Shantikumar; Koyakutty, Manzoor

2014-05-01

Aberrant epigenetics play a key role in the onset and progression of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Herein we report in silico modelling based development of a novel, protein-vorinostat nanomedicine exhibiting selective and superior anti-leukemic activity against heterogeneous population of AML patient samples (n=9), including refractory and relapsed cases, and three representative cell lines expressing CD34(+)/CD38(-) stem cell phenotype (KG-1a), promyelocytic phenotype (HL-60) and FLT3-ITD mutation (MV4-11). Nano-vorinostat having ~100nm size exhibited enhanced cellular uptake rendering significantly lower IC50 in AML cell lines and patient samples, and induced enhanced HDAC inhibition, oxidative injury, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis compared to free vorinostat. Most importantly, nanomedicine showed exceptional single-agent activity against the clonogenic proliferative capability of bone marrow derived leukemic progenitors, while remaining non-toxic to healthy bone marrow cells. Collectively, this epigenetics targeted nanomedicine appears to be a promising therapeutic strategy against various French-American-British (FAB) classes of AML. Through the use of a protein-vorinostat agent, exceptional single-agent activity was demonstrated against the clonogenic proliferative capability of bone marrow derived leukemic progenitors, while remaining non-toxic to healthy bone marrow cells. The studied epigenetics targeted nanomedicine approach is a promising therapeutic strategy against various French-American-British classes of acute myeloid leukemia. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Population pharmacokinetics of vancomycin in Jordanian patients

African Journals Online (AJOL)

predictors of vancomycin clearance include: weight, serum creatinine, chronic renal ... (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit ... reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. ... fluid balance; and albumin levels]); (3) .... vancomycin half-life is prolonged in patients with.

Clinical manifestations in uveitis patients with and without rheumatic disease in a Chinese population in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Tseng, Shi-Ting; Yao, Tsung-Chieh; Huang, Jing-Long; Yeh, Kuo-Wei; Hwang, Yih-Shiou

2017-12-01

Uveitis can be a local eye disease or a manifestation of systemic rheumatologic disorders. However, the differences of clinical manifestations between uveitis patients with or without systemic rheumatologic disease have been seldom described in literature. We investigated the clinical features and complications of rheumatic disease-related uveitis, and compared the characteristics in patients with and without rheumatic disease in a Chinese population in Taiwan. A retrospective review was performed for all patients who had been diagnosed with uveitis between January 2009 and June 2014 at the Department of Ophthalmology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan. A total of 823 uveitis patients were enrolled in the study, including 123 patients with rheumatic diseases. The most frequent rheumatic diseases included ankylosing spondylitis (5.8%), followed by Behçet's disease (2.8%), sarcoidosis (1.4%), psoriasis (1.1%), and juvenile idiopathic arthritis (1.1%). Compared with patients without rheumatic disease, those with rheumatic disease-related uveitis had a lower mean age at onset (35.1 ± 15.8 years vs. 44.0 ± 17.5 years), a longer follow-up period (27.1 ± 25.3 months vs. 22.2 ± 23.0 months), a higher incidence of anterior uveitis (69.0% vs. 46.3%), less frequent posterior uveitis (4.9% vs. 21.4%), a higher incidence of recurrence (26.8% vs. 14.1%), more frequent bilateral involvement (53.7% vs. 38.8%), and more frequent posterior synechiae (17.2% vs. 9.4%). The disease course and clinical manifestations of rheumatic disease-related uveitis were different from those unrelated. Patients with rheumatic disease-related uveitis had a higher recurrent rate and more frequent posterior synechiae than patients without rheumatic diseases. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Evaluating screening colonoscopy quality in an uninsured urban population following patient navigation

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Keith Naylor

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Patient navigation (PN increases screening colonoscopy completion in minority and uninsured populations. However, colonoscopy quality is under-reported in the setting of PN and quality indicators have often failed to meet benchmark standards. This study investigated screening colonoscopy quality indicators after year-one of a PN initiative targeting the medically uninsured. This was a retrospective analysis of 296 outpatient screening colonoscopies. Patients were 45 to 75 years of age with no history of bowel cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, or colorectal surgery. The screening colonoscopy quality indicators: adenoma detection rate (ADR, cecal intubation rate (CIR, and bowel preparation quality were compared in 89 uninsured Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC patients who received PN and 207 University Hospital patients who received usual care. The FQHC PN and University Hospital cohorts were similar in female sex (69% vs. 70%; p = 0.861 and African American race (61% vs. 61%; p = 0.920. The FQHC PN cohort was younger (57 years vs. 60 years; p < 0.001. There was no difference in ADR (33% vs. 32%; p = 0.971 or CIR (96% vs. 95%; p = 0.900 comparing the FQHC PN and University Hospital cohorts. The FQHC PN patients had a greater likelihood of an optimal bowel preparation on multivariate logistic regression (odds ratio 4.17; 95% confidence interval 1.07 to 16.20. Uninsured FQHC patients who received PN were observed to have intra-procedure quality indicators that exceeded bench-mark standards for high-quality screening colonoscopy and were equivalent to those observed in an insured University Hospital patient population.

Frequency of BRAF V600E Mutation in the Mexican Population of Patients With Metastatic Melanoma

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Erika Ruiz-Garcia

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The BRAF V600E mutation has been described in melanomas occurring in the Caucasian, European, and Asian populations. However, in the Mexican population, the status and clinical significance of BRAF mutation has not been researched on a large scale. Methods: Consecutive BRAF-tested Mexican patients with metastatic melanoma (n = 127 were analyzed for mutations in exon 15 of the BRAF gene in genomic DNA by real-time polymerase chain reaction technology for amplification and detection. The results were correlated with the clinical-pathologic features and the prognosis of the patients. Results: The frequency of somatic mutation V600E within the BRAF gene was 54.6% (43 of 127 patients. Nodular melanoma was the most prevalent subtype in our population, with BRAF mutations in 37.2% (16 of 55 patients. In contrast, superficial spread had a frequency of 18.6% BRAF mutation (eight of 24. Other clinicopathologic features were assessed to correlate with the mutation status. Conclusion: This study searched for the most prevalent BRAF V600E mutation type in melanoma in a heterogeneous population from Mexico. Nodular melanoma was found to be the most prevalent in metastatic presentation and the presence of BRAF V600E mutation, perhaps related to the mixed ancestry; in the north, ancestry is predominantly European and in the south, it is predominantly Asian. The outcomes of the mutation correlations were similar to those found in other populations.

Early changes within the lymphocyte population are associated with the development of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome in trauma patients.

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Manson, Joanna; Cole, Elaine; De'Ath, Henry D; Vulliamy, Paul; Meier, Ute; Pennington, Dan; Brohi, Karim

2016-06-07

Early survival following severe injury has been improved with refined resuscitation strategies. Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) is common among this fragile group of patients leading to prolonged hospital stay and late mortality. MODS after trauma is widely attributed to dysregulated inflammation but the precise mechanics of this response and its influence on organ injury are incompletely understood. This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between early lymphocyte responses and the development of MODS during admission. During a 24-month period, trauma patients were recruited from an urban major trauma centre to an ongoing, observational cohort study. Admission blood samples were obtained within 2 h of injury and before in-hospital intervention, including blood transfusion. The study population was predominantly male with a blunt mechanism of injury. Lymphocyte subset populations including T helper, cytotoxic T cells, NK cells and γδ T cells were identified using flow cytometry. Early cytokine release and lymphocyte count during the first 7 days of admission were also examined. This study demonstrated that trauma patients who developed MODS had an increased population of NK dim cells (MODS vs no MODS: 22 % vs 13 %, p < 0.01) and reduced γδ-low T cells (MODS vs no MODS: 0.02 (0.01-0.03) vs 0.09 (0.06-0.12) × 10^9/L, p < 0.01) at admission. Critically injured patients who developed MODS (n = 27) had higher interferon gamma (IFN-γ) concentrations at admission, compared with patients of matched injury severity and shock (n = 60) who did not develop MODS (MODS vs no MODS: 4.1 (1.8-9.0) vs 1.0 (0.6-1.8) pg/ml, p = 0.01). Lymphopenia was observed within 24 h of injury and was persistent in those who developed MODS. Patients with a lymphocyte count of 0.5 × 10(9)/L or less at 48 h, had a 45 % mortality rate. This study provides evidence of lymphocyte activation within 2 h of injury, as demonstrated by

Identification of high risk patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in a northern Greek population

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Karvounis Charalambos

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The percentage of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM patients who are in high risk for Sudden Death (SD constitutes only a minority of all HCM population but the incidence of SD in this subset is high (at least 5% annually. The identification of this small but important proportion of high risk HCM patients has been the clue in the clinical evaluation of these patients. Methods Our study cohort consisted from 123 patients with HCM who are currently followed up in our Institution. Five clinical risk factors were assessed: a family history of premature SD, unexplained syncope, Non Sustained Ventricular Tachycardia (NSVT on 24-h ECG monitoring, Abnormal Blood Pressure Response (ABPR during upright exercise testing and Maximum left ventricular Wall Thickness (MWT ≥30 mm. The purpose of our study was the identification of high risk HCM patients coming from Northern Greece. Results Fifteen patients (12.2% of the whole cohort had MWT ≥ 30 mm, 30 patients (24.4% had an ABPR to exercise, 17 patients (13.8% had episodes of NSVT in 24-h Holter monitoring, 17 patients (13.8% suffered from syncope, and 8 patients (6.5% had a positive family history of premature SD. Data analysis revealed that 74 patients (60.1% had none risk factor. Twenty four patients (19.5% had 1 risk factor, 17 patients (13.8% had 2 risk factors, 4 patients (3.25% had 3 risk factors, and 4 patients (3.25% had 4 risk factors, while none patient had 5 risk factors. Twenty five patients (20.3% had 2 or more risk factors. Conclusion This study for the first time confirms that, although a 60% of patients with HCM coming from a regional Greek population are in low risk for SD, a substantial proportion (almost 20% carries a high risk for SD justifying prophylactic therapy with amiodaron or ICD implantation.

Oral medicine and the ageing population.

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Yap, T; McCullough, M

2015-03-01

The oral cavity is subject to age related processes such as cellular ageing and immunosenescence. The ageing population bears an increased burden of intraoral pathology. In oral medicine, the majority of presenting patients are in their fifth to seventh decade of life. In this review, we discuss the ageing population's susceptibility to mucosal disorders and the increased prevalence of potentially malignant disorders and oral squamous cell carcinoma, as well as dermatoses including oral lichen planus and immunobullous conditions. We also address the ageing population's susceptibility to oral discomfort and explore salivary secretion, ulceration and the symptoms of oral burning. Finally, we will describe orofacial pain conditions which are more likely encountered in an older population. This update highlights clinical presentations which are more likely to be encountered in the ageing population in a general practice setting and the importance of screening both new and long-term patients. © 2015 Australian Dental Association.

Screening for Fabry's disease in young patients with ischemic stroke in a Chinese population.

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Song, Xiaowei; Xue, Sufang; Zhao, Jingyan; Wu, Jian

2017-04-01

Fabry disease is an X-linked lysosomal storage disorder frequently associated with cerebrovascular disease. Data regarding Fabry disease and ischemic stroke has been lacking in China. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of Fabry disease and the distribution of the alpha-galactosidase A (α-GalA) gene - GLA mutations in young stroke patients in the Chinese population and its association with stroke subtypes. A total of 357 ischemic stroke patients admitted to Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, aged 18-55 years old, including 293 patients with cerebral infarction and 64 patients with transient ischemic attack, were enrolled in this study. Mutations in the GLA gene were screened by Sanger sequencing. Enzyme levels were measured to further confirm the disease in patients with the gene mutation. The mutation frequency was compared among different stroke subtypes and further compared with the control group individually. No pathogenic mutations in the coding regions of the GLA gene were identified in this group of patients and thus no Fabry disease was found in our study. However, the frequency of an intronic polymorphism c.-10C>T was significantly different among different Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment subtypes (p T polymorphism in patients with stroke due to other causes and undetermined causes was much higher than that in the control group (OR = 3.18, 95% CI: 1.29-7.83, p stroke patients. In addition, our results suggested that the c.-10C>T polymorphism may be a risk factor for ischemic stroke of other and undetermined causes. Further study is required to confirm our findings.

COPD, Body Mass, Fat Free Body Mass and prognosis in Patients from a Random Population Sample

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vestbo, Jørgen; Prescott, E; Almdal, Thomas Peter

2006-01-01

distribution of low FFMI and its association with prognosis in a population-based cohort of patients with COPD. METHODS: We used data on 1,898 patients with COPD identified in a population-based epidemiologic study in Copenhagen. FFM was measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis. Patients were followed...... mortality and 2.4 (1.4-4.0) for COPD-related mortality. FFMI was also a predictor of overall mortality when analyses were restricted to subjects with normal BMI. CONCLUSIONS: FFMI provides information in addition to BMI and assessment of FFM should be considered in the routine assessment of COPD....

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D in a West African population of tuberculosis patients and unmatched healthy controls

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wejse, Christian; Olesen, Rikke; Rabna, Paulo

2007-01-01

BACKGROUND: Little is known regarding vitamin D deficiency (VDD) in African populations and in tuberculosis (TB) patients. VDD has been shown to be associated with TB. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to compare the degree of vitamin D insufficiency (VDI) and VDD in TB patients and healthy adult controls...... in a West African population. DESIGN: An unmatched case-control study was performed at a Demographic Surveillance Site in Guinea-Bissau. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3) [25(OH)D(3)] concentrations were measured in 362 TB patients and in 494 controls. RESULTS: Hypovitaminosis D [25(OH)D(3) Udgivelsesdato: 2007...

A service evaluation of cough reflex testing to guide dysphagia management in the postsurgical adult head and neck patient population.

Science.gov (United States)

Holmes, Samantha

2016-06-01

The article reviews recent literature supporting the use of cough reflex testing (CRT), and outlines a service evaluation of CRT conducted with postsurgical head and neck cancer patients. There is a growing evidence base to support the use of CRT in dysphagia management to establish laryngeal sensation and screen for silent aspiration; however, there is a lack of evidence relating to using CRT within the head and neck population. Over a 3-month period, inpatients on an ear, nose and throat/maxillofacial ward underwent CRT as part of their clinical swallow evaluation. Data from these patients were collected, including their diagnoses, CRT findings, and subsequent management. The evaluation was limited by difficulties in maintaining a supply of citric acid, accessing medics to prescribe the citric acid, and staffing levels, as administration of the CRT initially required two members of staff to be present. The service evaluation findings, alongside current evidence examining noncancer mortality rates, suggests identification of silent aspiration is important in this population. CRT was useful to rationalize instrumental assessments and was easily incorporated into the swallowing evaluation. More evidence is needed to support the use of CRT within the head and neck population.

[Vitamin B12 levels in the patient population attending an urban health centre in Madrid].

Science.gov (United States)

Camarero-Shelly, M

2018-04-01

Vitamin B 12 levels are usually measured in Primary Care when the patients have symptoms or risk factors associated with its deficiency, mostly in the elderly. However, no evidence has been found to support the recommendation of screening in the general population. The aim of this study is to assess the relevance of having extended the screening of vitamin B 12 deficiency to a younger population, after observing an increase in the prescription of this injected vitamin in a population under 65 years, by analysing the vitamin B 12 values obtained. A descriptive, retrospective, observational study was conducted on a sample consisting of 5,531 patients from Barajas Health Primary Centre, Madrid, between 2008 and 2012, and on whom a blood test was performed for any reason, with values of vitamin B 12 . A deficiency was found in 9.1% (SD 2.3) of the patients, of whom 49.4% were less than 65 years. The deficiencies were associated (P<.001, 95% CI) with age, dementia, changes in blood red cell counts, memory, and with the taking of metformin and proton pump inhibitors (P=.007). The prevalence of vitamin B 12 deficiency in our served population is similar in patients older and younger than 65 years. The extended screening was relevant. Copyright © 2017 Sociedad Española de Médicos de Atención Primaria (SEMERGEN). Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of oral health related quality of life in patient with mild periodontitis among young male population of Namakkal district

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Natarajan Shanmuga Sundaram

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Aim: The aim of the study is to assess the impact of oral health related quality of life (QOL on patients presenting for scaling and oral prophylaxis using a the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQL questionnaire. Materials and Methods: This prospective study includes a total of 100 male patients of age group 25-35 years, who visited private clinic in Namakkal district, South India. They were assessed for their perceptions of oral health using OHRQL questionnaire before initial periodontal therapy including scaling and root planning. Results: A total of 100 patients (mean age:29 years participated in the study and completed initial periodontal therapy. Before treatment 98% of the patients perceived that their oral health status impacted on their QOL in one or more ways. Bad breath was the most common complaint. Social well-being, personality and psychological function were identified as compromised OHRQL domains. More than 60% of the patients stated their overall general health is affected by periodontal disease. Conclusion: Periodontitis negatively affected QOL in this Namakkal district population of young male patients with mild periodontitis. Conventional non-surgical periodontal therapy and personality development counseling has a potential to ameliorate patient perceptions of oral health and improve their QOL.

Fidaxomicin versus Vancomycin as a First-Line Treatment for Clostridium difficile-Associated Diarrhea in Specific Patient Populations: A Pharmacoeconomic Evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Reveles, Kelly R; Backo, Jennifer L; Corvino, Frank A; Zivkovic, Marko; Broderick, Kelly C

2017-12-01

The reduction in recurrent Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) with fidaxomicin therapy may reduce hospital readmissions and lead to lower overall CDAD costs. However, studies assessing the cost-effectiveness of fidaxomicin as first-line therapy from the U.S. hospital perspective are lacking. This study evaluated the costs associated with utilizing fidaxomicin or vancomycin as a first-line therapy for CDAD in specific patient populations from a U.S. hospital perspective. A decision-analytic model was developed to estimate total costs (hospitalization and drug costs) associated with using fidaxomicin or vancomycin as first-line therapy for a first episode and up to two recurrences of CDAD in five patient populations: general population, elderly, patients receiving concomitant antibiotics, and patients with renal impairment or cancer. The total cost of CDAD treatment using fidaxomicin first line in the general population was $14,442 per patient versus $14,179 per patient with vancomycin first line. In subgroup analyses, fidaxomicin use resulted in total hospital cost savings of $616 per patient in patients with cancer and $312 in patients with concomitant antibiotic use; vancomycin use was associated with total hospital cost savings of $243 per patient in the elderly and $371 in patients with renal impairment. Fidaxomicin as first-line CDAD therapy is associated with similar total costs as compounded vancomycin oral solution in the general population. In elderly and renally impaired patients, slight increases in hospital cost were observed with fidaxomicin therapy, and in patients with cancer or concomitant antibiotic use, hospital cost savings were observed. © 2017 Pharmacotherapy Publications, Inc.

Survival benefit of glioblastoma patients after FDA approval of temozolomide concomitant with radiation and bevacizumab: A population-based study.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Ping; Du, Xianglin L; Lu, Guangrong; Zhu, Jay-Jiguang

2017-07-04

Few population-based analyses have investigated survival change in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients treated with concomitant radiotherapy-temozolomide (RT-TMZ) and adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ) and then bevacizumab (BEV) after Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, respectively. We aimed to explore the effects on survival with RT-TMZ, adjuvant TMZ and BEV in general GBM population based on the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) and Texas Cancer Registry (TCR) databases. A total of 28933 GBM patients from SEER (N = 24578) and TCR (N = 4355) between January 2000 and December 2013 were included. Patients were grouped into three calendar periods based on date of diagnosis: pre-RT-TMZ and pre-BEV (1/2000-2/2005, P1), post-RT-TMZ and pre-BEV (3/2005-4/2009, P2), and post-RT-TMZ and post-BEV (5/2009-12/2013, P3). The association between calendar period of diagnosis and survival was analyzed in SEER and TCR, separately, by the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards model. We found a significant increase in median overall survival (OS) across the three periods in both populations. In multivariate models, the risk of death was significantly reduced during P2 and further decreased in P3, which remained unchanged after stratification. Comparison and validation analysis were performed in the combined dataset, and consistent results were observed. We conclude that the OS of GBM patients in a "real-world" setting has been steadily improved from January 2000 to December 2013, which likely resulted from the administrations of TMZ concomitant with RT and adjuvant TMZ for newly diagnosed GBM and then BEV for recurrent GBM after respective FDA approval.

Automated classification of eligibility criteria in clinical trials to facilitate patient-trial matching for specific patient populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Kevin; Demner-Fushman, Dina

2017-07-01

To develop automated classification methods for eligibility criteria in ClinicalTrials.gov to facilitate patient-trial matching for specific populations such as persons living with HIV or pregnant women. We annotated 891 interventional cancer trials from ClinicalTrials.gov based on their eligibility for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients using their eligibility criteria. These annotations were used to develop classifiers based on regular expressions and machine learning (ML). After evaluating classification of cancer trials for eligibility of HIV-positive patients, we sought to evaluate the generalizability of our approach to more general diseases and conditions. We annotated the eligibility criteria for 1570 of the most recent interventional trials from ClinicalTrials.gov for HIV-positive and pregnancy eligibility, and the classifiers were retrained and reevaluated using these data. On the cancer-HIV dataset, the baseline regex model, the bag-of-words ML classifier, and the ML classifier with named entity recognition (NER) achieved macro-averaged F2 scores of 0.77, 0.87, and 0.87, respectively; the addition of NER did not result in a significant performance improvement. On the general dataset, ML + NER achieved macro-averaged F2 scores of 0.91 and 0.85 for HIV and pregnancy, respectively. The eligibility status of specific patient populations, such as persons living with HIV and pregnant women, for clinical trials is of interest to both patients and clinicians. We show that it is feasible to develop a high-performing, automated trial classification system for eligibility status that can be integrated into consumer-facing search engines as well as patient-trial matching systems. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association 2017. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US.

Differences Between Patients that Made an Impulsive or Premeditated Suicide Attempt in a Mexican Population.

Science.gov (United States)

Reyes-Tovilla, Jorge E; Hernández Yánez, Homero Daniel; Peralta-Jiménez, Yesenia; Ramón-Frías, Teresa; Juárez-Rojop, Isela; Pool-García, Sherezada; Velázquez-Sánchez, Martha Patricia; López-Narvóez, Lilia; Fresán, Ana; Tovilla-Zárate, Carlos Alfonso

2015-01-01

We performed a study to identify differences between patients with impulsive suicide attempt and those with premeditated suicide attempt in a Mexican population. We studied 144 patients who recently attempted suicide. Impulsive and premeditated suicide attempts were evaluated with the Suicide Intent Scale. These data were divided according to the type of attempt. Subsequently, the characteristics between the two groups were compared. The rate of patients that made an impulsive attempt was 61.8% and only 9.7% of the patients carried out a premeditated suicide attempt. More years of schooling/education and less severity of the attempt were observed in patients that carried out an impulsive suicide attempt (p suicide attempt. Our findings demonstrate that there are clinical differences among the individuals who carried out an impulsive suicide attempt from those who premeditated an attempt in a Mexican population. As a result, when planning interventions and prevention efforts it may be helpful to consider these clinical differences and demographic characteristics. © 2015 The Author(s).

Nationwide and population-based prescription patterns in bipolar disorder

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kessing, Lars Vedel; Vradi, Eleni; Andersen, Per Kragh

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to describe prescription patterns and changes in these patterns over the last decade for patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder in mental healthcare, using population-based and nationwide data, and to relate the findings to recommendations from...... international guidelines. METHODS: A population-based, nationwide study was carried out. It included register-based longitudinal data on all patients with a first-ever contact with mental healthcare with a diagnosis of mania/bipolar disorder from the entire Danish population, and all prescription data...

Increased Risk of Dementia in Patients with Tension-Type Headache: A Nationwide Retrospective Population-Based Cohort Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fu-Chi Yang

Full Text Available The association between primary headaches, including tension-type headache (TTH as one of the most common primary headache disorders, and dementia remains controversial. In this nationwide, population-based, retrospective, cohort study, we explored the potential association between TTH and dementia and examined sex, age, and comorbidities as risk factors for dementia.Using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD claims data, the sample included 13908 subjects aged ≥20 years with newly-diagnosed TTH in 2000-2006. The non-TTH group included 55632 randomly selected sex- and age-matched TTH-free individuals. All subjects were followed until dementia diagnosis, death, or the end of 2011. Patients with dementia, including vascular and non-vascular (including Alzheimer's subtypes, were identified using International Classification of Diseases Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to assess the risk of dementia and dementia-associated risk factors, such as migraine and other medical comorbidities.During the average follow-up of 8.14 years, the incidence density rates of dementia were 5.30 and 3.68/1,000 person-years in the TTH and non-TTH groups, respectively. Compared with the non-TTH group, the risks of dementia were 1.25 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11-1.42 and 1.13 (95% CI, 1.01-1.27 times higher in the women and >65-year-old TTH group, respectively. TTH patients with comorbidities had a higher risk of dementia. TTH patients had a greater risk of non-vascular dementia (hazard ratio, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.09-1.34 than the non-TTH group.TTH patients have a future risk of dementia, indicating a potentially linked disease pathophysiology that warrants further study. The association between TTH and dementia is greater in women, older adults, and with comorbidities. Clinicians should be aware of potential dementia comorbidity in TTH patients.

The importance of good death components among cancer patients, the general population, oncologists, and oncology nurses in Japan: patients prefer "fighting against cancer".

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Miyashita, Mitsunori; Kawakami, Sachiko; Kato, Daiki; Yamashita, Hideomi; Igaki, Hiroshi; Nakano, Kimiko; Kuroda, Yujiro; Nakagawa, Keiichi

2015-01-01

The objectives of this study were to compare the importance of components of a good death among cancer patients, the general population, oncologists, and oncology nurses, and explore which patients preferred "fighting against cancer." We conducted a cross-sectional anonymous self-reported survey of cancer patients who visited a radiation oncology outpatient clinic, oncologists, and oncology nurses at the Tokyo University Hospital and a random sample of the general population in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The outcomes were 18 previously developed components of a good death in Japanese cancer care consisting of 57 attributes. Three hundred ten patients, 353 subjects from the general population, 109 oncologists, and 366 oncology nurses participated. The desire to "fight against cancer" was highly significantly different between patients and oncologists (effect size [ES] = -1.40; P = 0.001) and patients and oncology nurses (ES = -1.12; P = 0.001). "Physical and cognitive control" was, similarly, highly significantly different between patients and oncologists (ES = -1.30; P = 0.001) and patients and oncology nurses (ES = -1.06; P = 0.001). Patients who emphasized "maintaining hope and pleasure" (P = 0.0001), "unawareness of death" (P = 0.0001), and "good relationship with family" (P = 0.004) favored "fighting against cancer." The patients, however, who emphasized "physical and psychological comfort" did not significantly favor "fighting against cancer" (P = 0.004). The importance of good death components differed between groups. Medical professionals should be aware of the diversity of values surrounding death and assess the patient's values and discuss them to support his or her quality of life. In addition, the development of care and a medical/social system to maintain hope and pleasure after failure of anticancer treatment is necessary.

Risk of Suicide Attempt in Poststroke Patients: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

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Harnod, Tomor; Lin, Cheng-Li; Kao, Chia-Hung

2018-01-10

This nationwide population-based cohort study evaluated the risk of and risk factors for suicide attempt in poststroke patients in Taiwan. The poststroke and nonstroke cohorts consisted of 713 690 patients and 1 426 009 controls, respectively. Adults (aged >18 years) who received new stroke diagnoses according to the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM ; codes 430-438) between 2000 and 2011 were included in the poststroke cohort. We calculated the adjusted hazard ratio for suicide attempt ( ICD-9-CM codes E950-E959) after adjustment for age, sex, monthly income, urbanization level, occupation category, and various comorbidities. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to measure the cumulative incidence of suicide attempt, and the Fine and Gray method was used as a competing event when estimating death subhazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals between groups. The cumulative incidence of suicide attempt was higher in the poststroke cohort, and the adjusted hazard ratio of suicide attempt was 2.20 (95% confidence interval, 2.04-2.37) compared with that of the controls. The leading risk factors for poststroke suicide attempt were earning low monthly income (US dollars), living in less urbanized regions, doing manual labor, and having a stroke before age 50 years. The attempted suicide risk did not differ significantly between male and female patients in this study. These results convey crucial information to clinicians and governments for preventing suicide attempt in poststroke patients in Taiwan and other Asian countries. © 2018 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley.

Risk of hypothyroidism among patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated with radiation therapy: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

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Fan, Chao-Yueh; Lin, Chun-Shu; Chao, Hsing-Lung; Huang, Wen-Yen; Su, Yu-Fu; Lin, Kuen-Tze; Tsai, I-Ju; Kao, Chia-Hung

2017-06-01

This study aimed to assess the incidence and risk of hypothyroidism among patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) after radiation therapy (RT). We identified 14,893 NPC patients and 16,105 other head and neck cancer (HNC) patients treated with RT without thyroidectomy from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan between 2000 and 2011. Each NPC patient was randomly frequency-matched with four individuals without NPC by age, sex, and index year. Competing-risk regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) of hypothyroidism requiring thyroxin associated with NPC after RT. The risk of developing hypothyroidism was significantly higher in the NPC cohort than in the matched cohort (adjusted HR=14.35, 95% CI=11.85-17.37) and the HNC cohort (adjusted HR=2.06, 95% CI=1.69-2.52). Independent risk factors for hypothyroidism among NPC patients included younger age, female sex, higher urbanization level, autoimmune disease, and receipt of chemotherapy. The risk of hypothyroidism requiring thyroxin was significantly higher in NPC patients after RT than in the general Taiwanese population and HNC patients. Regular clinical and serum thyroid function tests are essential among NPC survivors after RT. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Barriers to quality health care for the transgender population.

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Roberts, Tiffany K; Fantz, Corinne R

2014-07-01

The transgender community is arguably the most marginalized and underserved population in medicine. A special issue focusing on men's health would be incomplete without mention of this vulnerable population, which includes those transitioning to and from the male gender. Transgender patients face many barriers in their access to healthcare including historical stigmatization, both structural and financial barriers, and even a lack of healthcare provider experience in treating this unique population. Historical stigmatization fosters a reluctance to disclose gender identity, which can have dire consequences for long-term outcomes due to a lack of appropriate medical history including transition-related care. Even if a patient is willing to disclose their gender identity and transition history, structural barriers in current healthcare settings lack the mechanisms necessary to collect and track this information. Moreover, healthcare providers acknowledge that information is lacking regarding the unique needs and long-term outcomes for transgender patients, which contributes to the inability to provide appropriate care. All of these barriers must be recognized and addressed in order to elevate the quality of healthcare delivered to the transgender community to a level commensurate with the general population. Overcoming these barriers will require redefinition of our current system such that the care a patient receives is not exclusively linked to their sex but also considers gender identity. Copyright © 2014 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Education and employment in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis - a standardized comparison to the German general population.

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Schlichtiger, Jenny; Haas, Johannes-Peter; Barth, Swaantje; Bisdorff, Betty; Hager, Lisa; Michels, Hartmut; Hügle, Boris; Radon, Katja

2017-05-22

Although several studies show that JIA-patients have significantly lower employment rates than the general population, the research on educational and occupational attainments in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) remain conflicting most likely due to small sample sizes. Therefore, aim of this study is to compare the educational achievements and employment status of 3698 JIA-patients with the German general population (GGP). "SEPIA" was a large cross-sectional study on the current status of a historic cohort of JIA-patients treated in a single center between 1952 and 2010. For the analyses of education and employment a sub-cohort was extracted, including only adult cases with a confirmed diagnosis of JIA (N = 2696). Participants were asked to fill out a standardized written questionnaire on education and employment. Outcome measures (education/unemployment) were directly standardized to the GGP using data obtained from the National Educational Panel Study 2013 (N = 11,728) and the German Unemployment Statistics 2012 of the Federal Statistical Office (N = 42,791,000). After age- and sex-standardization, 3% (95% Confidence Interval 1.9 to 4.1%) more of the JIA-patients (26%) than of the GGP (23%) had only reached primary education. In contrast, parents of JIA-patients had similar levels of education as parents in the GGP. With a standardized difference of 0.2% (95% CI: 0.16 to 0.19%), the unemployment rate in JIA-patients was slightly, but not significantly higher than in the GGP. Stratifying for disease duration and the current treatment status, differences were confirmed for persons diagnosed before 2001, whilst for patients diagnosed after 2000, differences were found only in JIA-patients with ongoing disease. Medium and high educational achievements did not differ statistically significant between JIA patients and the GPP. Educational achievements in German JIA-patients are significantly lower than in the GGP. Furthermore we were able to

Trend analysis and outcome prediction in mechanically ventilated patients: a nationwide population-based study in Taiwan.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ming-Jang Lee

Full Text Available To investigate the relationship between changes in patient attributes and hospital attributes over time and to explore predictors of medical utilization and mortality rates in mechanical ventilation (MV patients in Taiwan.Providing effective medical care for MV patients is challenging and requires good planning and effective clinical decision making policies. Most studies of MV, however, have only analyzed a single regional ventilator weaning center or respiratory care unit, high-quality population-based studies of MV trends and outcomes are scarce.This population-based cohort study retrospectively analyzed 213,945 MV patients treated during 2004-2009.During the study period, the percentages of MV patients with the following characteristics significantly increased: age ≦ 65 years, treatment at a medical center, and treatment by a high-volume physician. In contrast, the percentages of MV patients treated at local hospitals and by low-volume physicians significantly decreased (P<0.001. Age, gender, Deyo-Charlson co-morbidity index, teaching hospital, hospital level, hospital volume, and physician volume were significantly associated with MV outcome (P<0.001. Over the 6-year period analyzed in this study, the estimated mean hospital treatment cost increased 48.8% whereas mean length of stay decreased 13.9%. The estimated mean overall survival time for MV patients was 16.4 months (SD 0.4 months, and the overall in-hospital 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 61.0%, 36.7%, 17.3%, and 9.6%, respectively.These population-based data revealed increases in the percentages of MV patients treated at medical centers and by high-volume physicians, especially in younger patients. Notably, although LOS for MV patients decreased, hospital treatment costs increased. Healthcare providers and patients should recognize that attributes of both the patient and the hospital may affect outcomes.

Smoking paradox in the development of psoriatic arthritis among patients with psoriasis: a population-based study.

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Nguyen, Uyen-Sa D T; Zhang, Yuqing; Lu, Na; Louie-Gao, Qiong; Niu, Jingbo; Ogdie, Alexis; Gelfand, Joel M; LaValley, Michael P; Dubreuil, Maureen; Sparks, Jeffrey A; Karlson, Elizabeth W; Choi, Hyon K

2018-01-01

Smoking is associated with an increased risk of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in the general population, but not among patients with psoriasis. We sought to clarify the possible methodological mechanisms behind this paradox. Using 1995-2015 data from The Health Improvement Network, we performed survival analysis to examine the association between smoking and incident PsA in the general population and among patients with psoriasis. We clarified the paradox using mediation analysis and conducted bias sensitivity analyses to evaluate the potential impact of index event bias and quantify its magnitude from uncontrolled/unmeasured confounders. Of 6.65 million subjects without PsA at baseline, 225 213 participants had psoriasis and 7057 developed incident PsA. Smoking was associated with an increased risk of PsA in the general population (HR 1.27; 95% CI 1.19 to 1.36), but with a decreased risk among patients with psoriasis (HR 0.91; 95% CI 0.84 to 0.99). Mediation analysis showed that the effect of smoking on the risk of PsA was mediated almost entirely through its effect on psoriasis. Bias-sensitivity analyses indicated that even when the relation of uncontrolled confounders to either smoking or PsA was modest (both HRs=~1.5), it could reverse the biased effect of smoking among patients with psoriasis (HR=0.9). In this large cohort representative of the UK general population, smoking was positively associated with PsA risk in the general population, but negatively associated among patients with psoriasis. Conditioning on a causal intermediate variable (psoriasis) may even reverse the association between smoking and PsA, potentially explaining the smoking paradox for the risk of PsA among patients with psoriasis. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Population-based contracting (population health): part II.

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Jacofsky, D J

2017-11-01

Modern healthcare contracting is shifting the responsibility for improving quality, enhancing community health and controlling the total cost of care for patient populations from payers to providers. Population-based contracting involves capitated risk taken across an entire population, such that any included services within the contract are paid for by the risk-bearing entity throughout the term of the agreement. Under such contracts, a risk-bearing entity, which may be a provider group, a hospital or another payer, administers the contract and assumes risk for contractually defined services. These contracts can be structured in various ways, from professional fee capitation to full global per member per month diagnosis-based risk. The entity contracting with the payer must have downstream network contracts to provide the care and facilities that it has agreed to provide. Population health is a very powerful model to reduce waste and costs. It requires a deep understanding of the nuances of such contracting and the appropriate infrastructure to manage both networks and risk. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2017;99-B:1431-4. ©2017 The British Editorial Society of Bone & Joint Surgery.

The patient perspective: utilizing focus groups to inform care coordination for high-risk medicaid populations.

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Sheff, Alex; Park, Elyse R; Neagle, Mary; Oreskovic, Nicolas M

2017-07-25

Care coordination programs for high-risk, high-cost patients are a critical component of population health management. These programs aim to improve outcomes and reduce costs and have proliferated over the last decade. Some programs, originally designed for Medicare patients, are now transitioning to also serve Medicaid populations. However, there are still gaps in the understanding of what barriers to care Medicaid patients experience, and what supports will be most effective for providing them care coordination. We conducted two focus groups (n = 13) and thematic analyses to assess the outcomes drivers and programmatic preferences of Medicaid patients enrolled in a high-risk care coordination program at a major academic medical center in Boston, MA. Two focus groups identified areas where care coordination efforts were having a positive impact, as well as areas of unmet needs among the Medicaid population. Six themes emerged from the focus groups that clustered in three groupings: In the first group (1) enrollment in an existing medical care coordination programs, and (2) provider communication largely presented as positive accounts of assistance, and good relationships with providers, though participants also pointed to areas where these efforts fell short. In the second group (3) trauma histories, (4) mental health challenges, and (5) executive function difficulties all presented challenges faced by high-risk Medicaid patients that would likely require redress through additional programmatic supports. Finally, in the third group, (6) peer-to-peer support tendencies among patients suggested an untapped resource for care coordination programs. Programs aimed at high-risk Medicaid patients will want to consider programmatic adjustments to attend to patient needs in five areas: (1) provider connection/care coordination, (2) trauma, (3) mental health, (4) executive function/paperwork and coaching support, and (5) peer-to-peer support.

Age and sex dependencies of anxiety and depression in cardiologic patients compared with the general population

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Hinz, A; Kittel, J; Karoff, M; Schwarz, R

2004-01-01

Objective: The aim of this study was to test age and sex effects on anxiety and depression using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale HADS. Method: Sample 1 consisted of 2037 subjects of the German general population, and sample 2 comprised 2696 cardiologic patients. Results: In the group of the general population we observed a linear increase of depression and (to a lower extent) of anxiety with age. In contrast to that, the patients reached their anxiety and depression maxima in the ra...

Long-term oxygen therapy in COPD patients: population-based cohort study on mortality

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Pavlov N

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Nikolay Pavlov,1 Alan Gary Haynes,2,3 Armin Stucki,4 Peter Jüni,5 Sebastian Robert Ott1 1Department of Pulmonary Medicine, University Hospital (Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; 2CTU Bern, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; 3Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; 4Department of Internal Medicine, Spital Thun, Thun, Switzerland; 5Applied Health Research Centre, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St Michael’s Hospital, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada Purpose: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide and is associated with a growing and substantial socioeconomic burden. Long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT, recommended by current treatment guidelines for COPD patients with severe chronic hypoxemia, has shown to reduce mortality in this population. The aim of our study was to assess the standardized mortality ratios of incident and prevalent LTOT users and to identify predictors of mortality. Patients and methods: We conducted a 2-year follow-up population-based cohort study comprising all COPD patients receiving LTOT in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. Comparing age- and sex-adjusted standardized mortality ratios, we examined associations between all-cause mortality and patient characteristics at baseline. To avoid immortal time bias, data for incident (receiving LTOT <6 months and prevalent users were analyzed separately. Results: At baseline, 475 patients (20% incident users, n=93 were receiving LTOT because of COPD (48/100,000 inhabitants. Mortality of incident and prevalent LTOT users was 41% versus 27%, respectively, p<0.007, and standardized mortality ratios were 8.02 (95% CI: 5.64–11.41 versus 5.90 (95% CI: 4.79–7.25, respectively. Type 2 respiratory failure was associated with higher standardized mortality ratios among incident LTOT users (60.57, 95% CI: 11.82–310.45, p=0

The Impact of Comorbid Depression on Educational Inequality in Survival after Acute Coronary Syndrome in a Cohort of 83 062 Patients and a Matched Reference Population.

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Merete Osler

Full Text Available Patients with low socioeconomic position have higher rates of mortality after diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS, but little is known about the mechanisms behind this social inequality. The aim of the present study was to examine whether any educational inequality in survival after ACS was influenced by comorbid conditions including depression.From 2001 to 2009 all first-time ACS patients were identified in the Danish National Patient Registry. This cohort of 83 062 ACS patients and a matched reference population were followed for incident depression and mortality until December 2012 by linkage to person, patients and prescription registries. Educational status was defined at study entry and the impact of potential confounders and mediators (age, gender, cohabitation status, somatic comorbidity and depression on the relation between education and mortality were identified by drawing a directed acyclic graph and analysed using multiple Cox regression analyses.During follow-up, 29 583(35.6% of ACS patients and 19 105(22.9% of the reference population died. Cox regression analyses showed an increased mortality in the lowest educated compared to those with high education in both ACS patients and the reference population. Adjustment for previous and incident depression or other covariables only attenuated the relations slightly. This pattern of associations was seen for mortality after 30 days, 1 year and during total follow-up.In this study the relative excess mortality rate in lower educated ACS patients was comparable with the excess risk associated with low education in the background population. This educational inequality in survival remained after adjustment for somatic comorbidity and depression.

Palliative sedation for cancer patients included in a home care program: a retrospective study.

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Calvo-Espinos, Claudio; Ruiz de Gaona, Estefania; Gonzalez, Cristina; Ruiz de Galarreta, Lucia; Lopez, Cristina

2015-06-01

Palliative sedation is a common treatment in palliative care. The home is a difficult environment for research, and there are few studies about sedation at home. Our aim was to analyze this practice in a home setting. We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional descriptive study in a home cohort during 2011. The inclusion criteria were as follows: 18 years or older and enrolled in the Palliative Home Care Program (PHCP) with advanced cancer. The variables employed were: sex, age, primary tumor location, and place of death. We also registered indication, type, drug and dose, awareness of diagnosis and prognosis, consent, survival, presence or absence of rales, painful mouth, and ulcers in patients sedated at home. We also collected the opinions of family members and professionals about the suffering of sedated patients. A total of 446 patients (56% at home) of the 617 admitted to the PHCP between January and December of 2011 passed away. The typical patient in our population was a 70-year-old man with a lung tumor. Some 35 (14%) home patients required sedation, compared to 93 (49%) at the hospital. The most frequent indication was delirium (70%), with midazolam the most common drug (mean dose, 40 mg). Survival was around three days. Rales were frequent (57%) as well as awareness of diagnosis and prognosis (77 and 71%, respectively). Perception of suffering after sedation was rare among relatives (17%) and professionals (8%). In most cases, the decision was made jointly by professionals and family members. Our study confirmed the role of palliative sedation as an appropriate therapeutic tool in the home environment.

Linked Patient-Reported Outcomes Data From Patients With Multiple Sclerosis Recruited on an Open Internet Platform to Health Care Claims Databases Identifies a Representative Population for Real-Life Data Analysis in Multiple Sclerosis.

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Risson, Valery; Ghodge, Bhaskar; Bonzani, Ian C; Korn, Jonathan R; Medin, Jennie; Saraykar, Tanmay; Sengupta, Souvik; Saini, Deepanshu; Olson, Melvin

2016-09-22

An enormous amount of information relevant to public health is being generated directly by online communities. To explore the feasibility of creating a dataset that links patient-reported outcomes data, from a Web-based survey of US patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) recruited on open Internet platforms, to health care utilization information from health care claims databases. The dataset was generated by linkage analysis to a broader MS population in the United States using both pharmacy and medical claims data sources. US Facebook users with an interest in MS were alerted to a patient-reported survey by targeted advertisements. Eligibility criteria were diagnosis of MS by a specialist (primary progressive, relapsing-remitting, or secondary progressive), ≥12-month history of disease, age 18-65 years, and commercial health insurance. Participants completed a questionnaire including data on demographic and disease characteristics, current and earlier therapies, relapses, disability, health-related quality of life, and employment status and productivity. A unique anonymous profile was generated for each survey respondent. Each anonymous profile was linked to a number of medical and pharmacy claims datasets in the United States. Linkage rates were assessed and survey respondents' representativeness was evaluated based on differences in the distribution of characteristics between the linked survey population and the general MS population in the claims databases. The advertisement was placed on 1,063,973 Facebook users' pages generating 68,674 clicks, 3719 survey attempts, and 651 successfully completed surveys, of which 440 could be linked to any of the claims databases for 2014 or 2015 (67.6% linkage rate). Overall, no significant differences were found between patients who were linked and not linked for educational status, ethnicity, current or prior disease-modifying therapy (DMT) treatment, or presence of a relapse in the last 12 months. The frequencies of the

A retrospective investigation of HLA-B*5801 in hyperuricemia patients in a Han population of China.

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Cheng, Heng; Yan, Dewen; Zuo, Xin; Liu, Junying; Liu, Wenlan; Zhang, Youming

2018-05-01

Hyperuricemia and gout have become increasingly prevalent in China. Allopurinol is an effective urate-lowering therapy, but it has severe side effects. HLA-B*5801 is highly associated with the allopurinol-induced toxic epidermal necrolysis and Stevens-Johnson syndrome. In this retrospective report, we had genotyped HLA-B*5801 in 253 cases of hyperuricemia and gout patients in a Han population in Shenzhen and analyzed the clinical management of medications. We found 30 carriers of the HLA-B*5801 allele in 253 cases of hyperuricemia or gout patients in the population (11.9%). Allopurinol was prescribed in both HLA-B*5801-positive and HLA-B*5801-negative groups. The evaluation of four models with or without genetic screening and management of allopurinol or febuxostat indicated that the HLA-B*5801 screening had significant cost benefit for clinical management. For appropriate management and cost-effectiveness, the HLA-B*5801 allele should be screened in all patients with hyperuricemia and gout in the Chinese population.

Frequency of opioid use in a population of cancer patients during the trajectory of the disease

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jarlbæk, Lene; Gilså Hansen, Dorte; Bruera, E

2010-01-01

AIMS: Bearing in mind that Denmark has one of the world's highest legal uses of strong opioids per capita, the aim of the present study was to describe the frequency of opioid use in a complete, population-based cohort of cancer patients at different time points during the trajectory of the disease......, and to analyse the influence of different factors on opioid use close to death. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All incident cancer patients registered in 1997-1998 (n=4006) from a population of 470,000 were followed individually from diagnosis to death (non-survivors) or for 5 years (survivors). The use of opioids...... was obtained from a prescription database covering the whole population. RESULTS: Among the 43% cancer patients who survived for 5 years, 12% used opioids at diagnosis, 38% during follow-up and 10% after 5 years. For the non-survivors, 80% used opioids sometime during follow-up. At diagnosis, use related...

Burden and health-related quality of life of eating disorders, including Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), in the Australian population

OpenAIRE

Hay, Phillipa; Mitchison, Deborah; Collado, Abraham Ernesto Lopez; Gonz?lez-Chica, David Alejandro; Stocks, Nigel; Touyz, Stephen

2017-01-01

Background Little is known about the epidemiology and health related quality of life (HRQoL) of the new DSM-5 diagnoses, Binge Eating Disorder (BED) and Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) in the Australian population. We aimed to investigate the prevalance and burden of these disorders. Methods We conducted two sequential population-based surveys including individuals aged over 15?years who were interviewed in 2014 (n?=?2732) and 2015 (n =3005). Demographic information and diag...

Quality of life in patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia in Norway: a population based study.

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Geirdal, Amy Østertun; Dheyauldeen, Sinan; Bachmann-Harildstad, Gregor; Heimdal, Ketil

2012-06-01

Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is a rare, autosomal dominant disease characterized by the presence of recurrent epistaxis and small characteristic malformations of the peripheral blood vessels near the surface of the skin or mucosal linings. Arteriovenous malformations (AVM) of the lung, liver, and CNS are also known clinical findings. The purpose of this study was to examine quality of life (QoL) in patients with HHT in Norway. Sixty-six affected patients (39 women and 27 men) were included. QoL on overall-, health-related (HR-QoL), and disease-specific levels were measured with Cantril's Ladder (CL), Short Form 36 (SF-36), and a Symptom-specific QoL question in HHT patients (SFB-HHT-Q), respectively. Comparisons were made between patients and an age and gender adjusted normative sample from the Norwegian population (N = 990). Overall, the results reflected that several HHT disease-related variables were associated with reduced QoL on all three levels; overall QoL (CL), HR-QoL (SF36) as well as disease-specific QoL (SFB-HHT-Q), while demographic variables impacted HR-QoL in HHT patients. Compared to the normative sample, all subscales of SF36, but bodily pain, were significantly poorer in the HHT patients. HHT disease variables had the strongest association with QoL compared to demographic variables. The results substantiate that disease severity is associated with poorer QoL in this patients. Pain contributed independently to all levels of QoL. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Population pharmacokinetics of intravenous Erwinia asparaginase in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients.

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Sassen, Sebastiaan D T; Mathôt, Ron A A; Pieters, Rob; Kloos, Robin Q H; de Haas, Valérie; Kaspers, Gertjan J L; van den Bos, Cor; Tissing, Wim J E; Te Loo, Maroeska; Bierings, Marc B; Kollen, Wouter J W; Zwaan, Christian M; van der Sluis, Inge M

2017-03-01

Erwinia asparaginase is an important component in the treatment of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia. A large variability in serum concentrations has been observed after intravenous Erwinia asparaginase. Currently, Dutch Childhood Oncology Group protocols dose alterations are based on trough concentrations to ensure adequate asparaginase activity (≥100 IU/L). The aim of this study was to describe the population pharmacokinetics of intravenous Erwinia asparaginase to quantify and gather insight into inter-individual and inter-occasion variability. The starting dose was evaluated on the basis of the derived population pharmacokinetic parameters. In a multicenter prospective observational study, a total of 714 blood samples were collected from 51 children (age 1-17 years) with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The starting dose was 20,000 IU/m 2 three times a week and adjusted according to trough levels from week three onwards. A population pharmacokinetic model was developed using NONMEM ® A 2-compartment linear model with allometric scaling best described the data. Inter-individual and inter-occasion variability of clearance were 33% and 13%, respectively. Clearance in the first month of treatment was 14% higher ( P <0.01). Monte Carlo simulations with our pharmacokinetic model demonstrated that patients with a low weight might require higher doses to achieve similar concentrations compared to patients with high weight. The current starting dose of 20,000 IU/m 2 might result in inadequate concentrations, especially for smaller, lower weight patients, hence dose adjustments based on individual clearance are recommended. The protocols were approved by the institutional review boards. (Registered at NTR 3379 Dutch Trial Register; www.trialregister.nl). Copyright© Ferrata Storti Foundation.

The relationship between patients' knowledge of diabetes therapeutic goals and self-management behaviour, including adherence.

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Waheedi, Mohammad; Awad, Abdelmoneim; Hatoum, Hind T; Enlund, Hannes

2017-02-01

Background The Middle East region has one the highest prevalence rates of diabetes in the world. Little is known about the determinants of adherence and the role of knowledge in diabetes self-management within these populations. Objective To investigate the relationship between patients knowledge of diabetes therapeutic targets with adherence to self-care measures in a sample of patients with type 2 diabetes in Kuwait. Setting Primary care chronic care clinics within the Ministry of Health of Kuwait. Methods A cross sectional survey was carried out with 238 patients from six clinics. A multistage stratified clustered sampling method was used to first randomly select the clinics and the patients. Self-reported adherence to three behaviours: medication taking, diet and physical activity. Results Respondents were able to correctly report a mean (SD) of 1.6 (1.3) out of 5 of the pre-specified treatment targets. Optimal adherence to physical activity, diet and medications was reported in 25, 33 and 47 % of the study cohort, respectively. A structural equation model analysis showed better knowledge of therapeutic goals and own current levels translated into better adherence to medications, diet and physical activity. Conclusion Knowledge of therapeutic goals and own recent levels is associated with adherence to medications, diet, or physical activity in this Kuwaiti cohort of patients with diabetes. Low adherence to self-care management and poor overall knowledge of diabetes is a big challenge to successful diabetes care in Kuwait.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome in a Population of African Patients

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Sylvester Chuks Nwokediuko

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Functional dyspepsia is the prototype functional gastrointestinal disorder. This study was designed to determine its prevalence, subtypes, and risk factors associated with the subtypes. Method. Patients with upper gastrointestinal symptoms who presented for endoscopy were administered a questionnaire containing the functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome modules of the Rome III diagnostic criteria. Results. Of 192 patients who had functional dyspepsia, epigastric pain syndrome, postprandial distress syndrome, and combination of the two subtypes accounted for 79.2%, 62.5%, and 50%, respectively. Multivariate analysis of the risk factors showed that independent predictors of postprandial distress syndrome were alcohol and irritable bowel syndrome while irritable bowel syndrome was independent predictor of epigastric pain syndrome. Alcohol, smoking, and use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were independent predictors of cooccurrence of postprandial distress syndrome and epigastric pain syndrome. Conclusion. Functional dyspepsia accounts for 62.5% of dyspepsia in a population of black African patients. Regarding symptomatology, epigastric pain syndrome, postprandial distress syndrome, and combination of the two subtypes account for 79.2%, 62.5%, and 50%, respectively. Risk factors for functional dyspepsia are irritable bowel syndrome, alcohol, smoking, and use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Work stress, sleep deficiency, and predicted 10-year cardiometabolic risk in a female patient care worker population.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobsen, Henrik B; Reme, Silje E; Sembajwe, Grace; Hopcia, Karen; Stiles, Tore C; Sorensen, Glorian; Porter, James H; Marino, Miguel; Buxton, Orfeu M

2014-08-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the longitudinal effect of work-related stress, sleep deficiency, and physical activity on 10-year cardiometabolic risk among an all-female worker population. Data on patient care workers (n=99) was collected 2 years apart. Baseline measures included: job stress, physical activity, night work, and sleep deficiency. Biomarkers and objective measurements were used to estimate 10-year cardiometabolic risk at follow-up. Significant associations (Pwork-related stress and sleep deficiency, maintaining sleep and exercise patterns had a strong impact on modifiable 10-year cardiometabolic risk. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Health-Related Quality of Life in Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer Patients After Definitive Chemoradiation Therapy Including Image Guided Adaptive Brachytherapy: An Analysis From the EMBRACE Study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kirchheiner, Kathrin, E-mail: kathrin.kirchheiner@meduniwien.ac.at [Department of Radiation Oncology, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna and General Hospital of Vienna, Vienna (Austria); Pötter, Richard [Department of Radiation Oncology, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna and General Hospital of Vienna, Vienna (Austria); Christian Doppler Laboratory for Medical Radiation Research for Radiation Oncology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna (Austria); Tanderup, Kari; Lindegaard, Jacob C. [Department of Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus (Denmark); Haie-Meder, Christine [Department of Radiotherapy, Gustave-Roussy, Villejuif (France); Petrič, Primož [Department of Radiotherapy, Institute of Oncology Ljubljana, Ljubljana (Slovenia); Department of Radiation Oncology, National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Doha (Qatar); Mahantshetty, Umesh [Department of Radiation Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai (India); Jürgenliemk-Schulz, Ina M. [Department of Radiation Oncology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht (Netherlands); Rai, Bhavana [Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh (India); Cooper, Rachel [Leeds Cancer Centre, St James' s University Hospital, Leeds (United Kingdom); Dörr, Wolfgang [Department of Radiation Oncology, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna and General Hospital of Vienna, Vienna (Austria); Christian Doppler Laboratory for Medical Radiation Research for Radiation Oncology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna (Austria); Nout, Remi A. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden (Netherlands); Lindegaard, Jacob; Tanderup, Kari; Fokdal, Lars; Van Der Steen Banasik, Elzbieta; Haie-Meder, Christine; Dumas, Isabelle; and others

2016-04-01

Purpose: This study analyzed functioning and symptom scores for longitudinal quality of life (QoL) from patients with locally advanced cervical cancer who underwent definitive chemoradiation therapy with image guided adaptive brachytherapy in the EMBRACE study. Methods and Materials: In total, 744 patients at a median follow-up of 21 months were included. QoL was prospectively assessed using European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life core module 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) and EORTC cervical cancer module 24 (CX24) questionnaires at baseline, then every 3 months during the first year, every 6 months in the second and third years, and finally yearly thereafter in patients with no evidence of disease. Outcomes were evaluated over time and compared to those from an age-matched female reference population. Results: General QoL and emotional and social functioning were impaired at baseline but improved during the first 6 months after treatment, to reach a level comparable to that of the reference population, whereas cognitive functioning remained impaired. Both social and role functioning showed the lowest scores at baseline but which increased after treatment to reach a plateau at 6 months and then declined slightly at 3 and 4 years. The overall symptom experience was elevated at baseline and decreased to a level within the range of that of the reference population. Similarly, tumor-related symptoms (eg, pain, appetite loss, and constipation), which were present before treatment, decreased substantially at the first follow-up after treatment. Several treatment-related symptoms developed either immediately after and persisted over time (diarrhea, menopausal symptoms, peripheral neuropathy, and sexual functioning problems) or developed gradually after treatment (lymphedema and dyspnea). Conclusions: This longitudinal prospective QoL analysis showed that patients' general QoL and functioning were impaired before treatment compared to

Health-Related Quality of Life in Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer Patients After Definitive Chemoradiation Therapy Including Image Guided Adaptive Brachytherapy: An Analysis From the EMBRACE Study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirchheiner, Kathrin; Pötter, Richard; Tanderup, Kari; Lindegaard, Jacob C.; Haie-Meder, Christine; Petrič, Primož; Mahantshetty, Umesh; Jürgenliemk-Schulz, Ina M.; Rai, Bhavana; Cooper, Rachel; Dörr, Wolfgang; Nout, Remi A.; Lindegaard, Jacob; Tanderup, Kari; Fokdal, Lars; Van Der Steen Banasik, Elzbieta; Haie-Meder, Christine; Dumas, Isabelle

2016-01-01

Purpose: This study analyzed functioning and symptom scores for longitudinal quality of life (QoL) from patients with locally advanced cervical cancer who underwent definitive chemoradiation therapy with image guided adaptive brachytherapy in the EMBRACE study. Methods and Materials: In total, 744 patients at a median follow-up of 21 months were included. QoL was prospectively assessed using European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life core module 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) and EORTC cervical cancer module 24 (CX24) questionnaires at baseline, then every 3 months during the first year, every 6 months in the second and third years, and finally yearly thereafter in patients with no evidence of disease. Outcomes were evaluated over time and compared to those from an age-matched female reference population. Results: General QoL and emotional and social functioning were impaired at baseline but improved during the first 6 months after treatment, to reach a level comparable to that of the reference population, whereas cognitive functioning remained impaired. Both social and role functioning showed the lowest scores at baseline but which increased after treatment to reach a plateau at 6 months and then declined slightly at 3 and 4 years. The overall symptom experience was elevated at baseline and decreased to a level within the range of that of the reference population. Similarly, tumor-related symptoms (eg, pain, appetite loss, and constipation), which were present before treatment, decreased substantially at the first follow-up after treatment. Several treatment-related symptoms developed either immediately after and persisted over time (diarrhea, menopausal symptoms, peripheral neuropathy, and sexual functioning problems) or developed gradually after treatment (lymphedema and dyspnea). Conclusions: This longitudinal prospective QoL analysis showed that patients' general QoL and functioning were impaired before treatment compared to those of

"Now I see it, now I don't": Determining Threshold Levels of Facial Emotion Recognition for Use in Patient Populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiu, Isabelle; Gfrörer, Regina I; Piguet, Olivier; Berres, Manfred; Monsch, Andreas U; Sollberger, Marc

2015-08-01

The importance of including measures of emotion processing, such as tests of facial emotion recognition (FER), as part of a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment is being increasingly recognized. In clinical settings, FER tests need to be sensitive, short, and easy to administer, given the limited time available and patient limitations. Current tests, however, commonly use stimuli that either display prototypical emotions, bearing the risk of ceiling effects and unequal task difficulty, or are cognitively too demanding and time-consuming. To overcome these limitations in FER testing in patient populations, we aimed to define FER threshold levels for the six basic emotions in healthy individuals. Forty-nine healthy individuals between 52 and 79 years of age were asked to identify the six basic emotions at different intensity levels (25%, 50%, 75%, 100%, and 125% of the prototypical emotion). Analyses uncovered differing threshold levels across emotions and sex of facial stimuli, ranging from 50% up to 100% intensities. Using these findings as "healthy population benchmarks", we propose to apply these threshold levels to clinical populations either as facial emotion recognition or intensity rating tasks. As part of any comprehensive social cognition test battery, this approach should allow for a rapid and sensitive assessment of potential FER deficits.

The Drosophila genome nexus: a population genomic resource of 623 Drosophila melanogaster genomes, including 197 from a single ancestral range population.

Science.gov (United States)

Lack, Justin B; Cardeno, Charis M; Crepeau, Marc W; Taylor, William; Corbett-Detig, Russell B; Stevens, Kristian A; Langley, Charles H; Pool, John E

2015-04-01

Hundreds of wild-derived Drosophila melanogaster genomes have been published, but rigorous comparisons across data sets are precluded by differences in alignment methodology. The most common approach to reference-based genome assembly is a single round of alignment followed by quality filtering and variant detection. We evaluated variations and extensions of this approach and settled on an assembly strategy that utilizes two alignment programs and incorporates both substitutions and short indels to construct an updated reference for a second round of mapping prior to final variant detection. Utilizing this approach, we reassembled published D. melanogaster population genomic data sets and added unpublished genomes from several sub-Saharan populations. Most notably, we present aligned data from phase 3 of the Drosophila Population Genomics Project (DPGP3), which provides 197 genomes from a single ancestral range population of D. melanogaster (from Zambia). The large sample size, high genetic diversity, and potentially simpler demographic history of the DPGP3 sample will make this a highly valuable resource for fundamental population genetic research. The complete set of assemblies described here, termed the Drosophila Genome Nexus, presently comprises 623 consistently aligned genomes and is publicly available in multiple formats with supporting documentation and bioinformatic tools. This resource will greatly facilitate population genomic analysis in this model species by reducing the methodological differences between data sets. Copyright © 2015 by the Genetics Society of America.

Improvement in Detection of Wrong-Patient Errors When Radiologists Include Patient Photographs in Their Interpretation of Portable Chest Radiographs.

Science.gov (United States)

Tridandapani, Srini; Olsen, Kevin; Bhatti, Pamela

2015-12-01

This study was conducted to determine whether facial photographs obtained simultaneously with radiographs improve radiologists' detection rate of wrong-patient errors, when they are explicitly asked to include the photographs in their evaluation. Radiograph-photograph combinations were obtained from 28 patients at the time of portable chest radiography imaging. From these, pairs of radiographs were generated. Each unique pair consisted of one new and one old (comparison) radiograph. Twelve pairs of mismatched radiographs (i.e., pairs containing radiographs of different patients) were also generated. In phase 1 of the study, 5 blinded radiologist observers were asked to interpret 20 pairs of radiographs without the photographs. In phase 2, each radiologist interpreted another 20 pairs of radiographs with the photographs. Radiologist observers were not instructed about the purpose of the photographs but were asked to include the photographs in their review. The detection rate of mismatched errors was recorded along with the interpretation time for each session for each observer. The two-tailed Fisher exact test was used to evaluate differences in mismatch detection rates between the two phases. A p value of error detection rates without (0/20 = 0%) and with (17/18 = 94.4%) photographs were different (p = 0.0001). The average interpretation times for the set of 20 radiographs were 26.45 (SD 8.69) and 20.55 (SD 3.40) min, for phase 1 and phase 2, respectively (two-tailed Student t test, p = 0.1911). When radiologists include simultaneously obtained photographs in their review of portable chest radiographs, there is a significant improvement in the detection of labeling errors. No statistically significant difference in interpretation time was observed. This may lead to improved patient safety without affecting radiologists' throughput.

Association Between Bereaved Families' Sense of Security and Their Experience of Death in Cancer Patients: Cross-Sectional Population-Based Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Igarashi, Ayumi; Miyashita, Mitsunori; Morita, Tatsuya; Akizuki, Nobuya; Akiyama, Miki; Shirahige, Yutaka; Sato, Kazuki; Yamamoto-Mitani, Noriko; Eguchi, Kenji

2016-05-01

The sense of security scale was developed to indicate care quality within the community. Bereaved families have perspective to evaluate the quality of the care system. The aim was to examine associations between end-of-life care and sense of security regarding regional cancer care among bereaved families. A cross-sectional population-based survey was conducted with families of cancer patients who died in regional areas of Japan. A total of 1046 family caregivers of patients responded to surveys (effective response rate of 65%). In multiple regression analyses, the families' higher age (P patients' end of life (P = 0.016), lower caregiving burden (P patient death, including being free from physical distress (P security. Quality of death and lower burden on family caregivers were associated with families' sense of security. This suggests strategies for improving care quality for each patient to improve the sense of security. Copyright © 2016 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Investigation of patients with atypical or severe hyperandrogenaemia including androgen-secreting ovarian teratoma.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Dennedy, Michael Conall

2012-02-01

Approximately 7% of women of reproductive age manifest polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and <0.5% have other causes of hyperandrogenism including congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), androgen-secreting tumour of an ovary or an adrenal gland, Cushing\\'s syndrome or hyperthecosis. The presence of features atypical of PCOS should prompt more extensive evaluation than that usually undertaken. Features atypical of PCOS include the onset of symptoms outside the decade of 15-25 years, rapid progression of symptoms, the development of virilization and a serum testosterone concentration in excess of twice the upper limit of the reference range. Ethnic background, family history and specific clinical findings, e.g. Cushingoid appearance, may inform a focused investigation. Otherwise, patients should have measurement of 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) under basal conditions ideally in the early morning, and if abnormal, they should have measurement of 17-OHP one hour after the administration of synthetic ACTH, 250 microg i.v., to screen for CAH, which is present in approximately 2% of hyperandrogenic patients. The overnight cortisol suppression test employing 1 mg dexamethasone at midnight is a sensitive test for Cushing\\'s syndrome. Coronal tomographic (CT) scanning of the adrenals and transvaginal ultrasonography of the ovaries are the investigations of choice when screening for tumours in these organs. Less frequently required is catheterization and sampling from both adrenal and ovarian veins, which is a technically demanding procedure with potential complications which may provide definitive diagnostic information not available from other investigations. Illustrative case reports highlight some complexities in the investigation of hyperandrogenic patients presenting with features atypical of PCOS and include only the ninth case report of an androgen-secreting ovarian teratoma.

Patient and population protection in X-ray examinations -a general roentgenological and health problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khadzhidekov, G.; Dermendzhiev, Kh.

1975-01-01

Population exposure in excess of that due to natural radiation background is known to result primarily (to 70-90%) from medical X-rays given in mass screening. Protection of the population is a problem of great concern in present-day radiology and is approached by balancing benefits of diagnostic X-rays against risks presented by the probability of overexposing the patient. An evaluation on such a basis necessitates detailed and accurate information on patient radiation exposure and takes into account factors leading to a population hazard by making assessments in terms of so-called genetically significant doses. Gonad doses have to be carefully analysed, implying a need for studies of various types of X-ray procedures, precautionary measures taken, etc. An important issue in the choice and adoption of an appropriate method for large-scale gonad dose assessments in routine practice. To obtain an estimate of radiation hazard from medical roentgenology in terms of genetically significant doses and identify measures necessary to limit exposure risks, collaborative efforts are needed involving participation of roentgenologists and hygienists, and use of dosimetric, organizational-methodological, and statistical techniques. These efforts should lead to an abrupt reduction in radiation burden to the population from diagnostic X-rays. (author)

Students’ Learning Experiences from Didactic Teaching Sessions Including Patient Case Examples as Either Text or Video: A Qualitative Study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Kamilla; Holdgaard, Martin Møller; Paltved, Charlotte

2017-01-01

' perceptions of psychiatric patients and students' reflections on meeting and communicating with psychiatric patients. METHODS: The authors conducted group interviews with 30 medical students who volunteered to participate in interviews and applied inductive thematic content analysis to the transcribed....... Students taught with video-based patient cases, in contrast, often referred to the patient cases when highlighting new insights, including the importance of patient perspectives when communicating with patients. CONCLUSION: The format of patient cases included in teaching may have a substantial impact...... unintended stigma and influence an authoritative approach in medical students towards managing patients in clinical psychiatry....

Long-term survival, prevalence, and cure of cancer: a population-based estimation for 818 902 Italian patients and 26 cancer types

Science.gov (United States)

Dal Maso, L.; Guzzinati, S.; Buzzoni, C.; Capocaccia, R.; Serraino, D.; Caldarella, A.; Dei Tos, A. P.; Falcini, F.; Autelitano, M.; Masanotti, G.; Ferretti, S.; Tisano, F.; Tirelli, U.; Crocetti, E.; De Angelis, R.; Virdone, S.; Zucchetto, A.; Gigli, A.; Francisci, S.; Baili, P.; Gatta, G.; Castaing, M.; Zanetti, R.; Contiero, P.; Bidoli, E.; Vercelli, M.; Michiara, M.; Federico, M.; Senatore, G.; Pannozzo, F.; Vicentini, M.; Bulatko, A.; Pirino, D. R.; Gentilini, M.; Fusco, M.; Giacomin, A.; Fanetti, A. C.; Cusimano, R.

2014-01-01

Background Persons living after a cancer diagnosis represent 4% of the whole population in high-income countries. The aim of the study was to provide estimates of indicators of long-term survival and cure for 26 cancer types, presently lacking. Patients and methods Data on 818 902 Italian cancer patients diagnosed at age 15–74 years in 1985–2005 were included. Proportions of patients with the same death rates of the general population (cure fractions) and those of prevalent patients who were not at risk of dying as a result of cancer (cure prevalence) were calculated, using validated mixture cure models, by cancer type, sex, and age group. We also estimated complete prevalence, conditional relative survival (CRS), time to reach 5- and 10-year CRS >95%, and proportion of patients living longer than those thresholds. Results The cure fractions ranged from >90% for patients aged cancers to cancers of all ages. Five- or 10-year CRS >95% were both reached in cancers of the stomach, colon–rectum, pancreas, corpus and cervix uteri, brain, and Hodgkin lymphoma. For breast cancer patients, 5- and 10-year CRSs reached >95% after 19 and 25 years, respectively, and in 15 and 18 years for prostate cancer patients. Five-year CRS remained 25 years after cancer diagnosis in patients with liver and larynx cancers, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, myeloma, and leukaemia. Overall, the cure prevalence was 67% for men and 77% for women. Therefore, 21% of male and 31% of female patients had already reached 5-year CRS >95%, whereas 18% and 25% had reached 10-year CRS >95%. Conclusions A quarter of Italian cancer patients can be considered cured. This observation has a high potential impact on health planning, clinical practice, and patients' perspective. PMID:25149707

Population Pharmacokinetics of Meropenem in Plasma and Subcutis in Patients on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Treatment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hanberg, Pelle; Öbrink-Hansen, Kristina; Thorsted, Anders

2018-01-01

The objectives of this study were to describe meropenem pharmacokinetics (PK) in plasma and/or subcutaneous adipose tissue (SCT) in critically ill patients receiving ECMO treatment, and to develop a population PK model to simulate alternative dosing regimens and modes of administration. We...... conducted a prospective observational study. Ten patients on ECMO treatment received meropenem (1 or 2 g) intravenously over 5 min every 8 hours. Serial SCT concentrations were determined using microdialysis and compared with plasma concentrations. A population PK model of SCT and plasma data was developed...... infusion would be needed for 100%fT>MIC and 100%fT>4xMIC to be obtained. Meropenem plasma and SCT concentrations were associated with estimated creatinine-clearance (eCLCr). Simulations showed that in patients with increased eCLCr, dose increment or continuous infusion may be needed to obtain therapeutic...

Special populations: care of the critically ill and injured during pandemics and disasters: CHEST consensus statement.

Science.gov (United States)

Dries, David; Reed, Mary Jane; Kissoon, Niranjan; Christian, Michael D; Dichter, Jeffrey R; Devereaux, Asha V; Upperman, Jeffrey S

2014-10-01

Past disasters have highlighted the need to prepare for subsets of critically ill, medically fragile patients. These special patient populations require focused disaster planning that will address their medical needs throughout the event to prevent clinical deterioration. The suggestions in this article are important for all who are involved in large-scale disasters or pandemics with multiple critically ill or injured patients, including frontline clinicians, hospital administrators, and public health or government officials. Key questions regarding the care of critically ill or injured special populations during disasters or pandemics were identified, and a systematic literature review (1985-2013) was performed. No studies of sufficient quality were identified. Therefore, the panel developed expert opinion-based suggestions using a modified Delphi process. The panel did not include pediatrics as a separate special population because pediatrics issues are embedded in each consensus document. Fourteen suggestions were formulated regarding the care of critically ill and injured patients from special populations during pandemics and disasters. The suggestions cover the following areas: defining special populations for mass critical care, special population planning, planning for access to regionalized service for special populations, triage and resource allocation of special populations, therapeutic considerations, and crisis standards of care for special populations. Chronically ill, technologically dependent, and complex critically ill patients present a unique challenge to preparing and implementing mass critical care. There are, however, unique opportunities to engage patients, primary physicians, advocacy groups, and professional organizations to lessen the impact of disaster on these special populations.

Cataract surgery in a population-based cohort of patients with type 1 diabetes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grauslund, Jakob; Green, Anders; Sjølie, Anne K

2011-01-01

.05-3.40) were the only statistically significant predictors of cataract surgery. Duration of diabetes, gender, glycaemic regulation, proteinuria, smoking, blood pressure and level of retinopathy were not associated with cataract surgery. Conclusion: Type 1 diabetes is associated with a high long-term incidence......ABSTRACT. Purpose: To estimate the long-term cumulative incidence of cataract surgery and associated risk factors in a 25-year follow-up of a population-based cohort of patients with type 1 diabetes. Methods: Based on insulin prescriptions, a population-based cohort of 727 patients with type 1...... of surgery were 59.3 and 42 years, respectively. Cataract surgery in the cohort took place approximately 20 years earlier compared to non-diabetic persons. In a multivariate regression analysis, baseline age [hazard ratio (HR) 1.89 per 10 years, 95% CI 1.46-2.27] and maculopathy (HR 1.89, 95% CI 1...

Redefining high-risk patients with stage II colon cancer by risk index and microRNA-21: results from a population-based cohort

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, T F; Kjær-Frifeldt, S; Christensen, R D

2014-01-01

Background:The aim of the present study was to analyse the prognostic value of microRNA-21 (miRNA-21) in patients with stage II colon cancer aiming at a risk index for this group of patients.Methods:A population-based cohort of 554 patients was included. MicroRNA-21 was analysed by qPCR based.......001). The overall survival (OS) index identified three different subgroups (Pcolon cancer. Furthermore...... on tumour tissue. An index was created using the coefficients obtained from a collective multiple Cox regression. The entire procedure was cross-validated (10-fold). The performance of the index was quantified by time-dependent receiver operating characteristics curves.Results:High miRNA-21 expression...

Risk of infective endocarditis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus in Taiwan: a nationwide population-based study.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Y S; Chang, C C; Chen, Y H; Chen, W S; Chen, J H

2017-10-01

Objectives Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus are considered vulnerable to infective endocarditis and prophylactic antibiotics are recommended before an invasive dental procedure. However, the evidence is insufficient. This nationwide population-based study evaluated the risk and related factors of infective endocarditis in systemic lupus erythematosus. Methods We identified 12,102 systemic lupus erythematosus patients from the National Health Insurance research-oriented database, and compared the incidence rate of infective endocarditis with that among 48,408 non-systemic lupus erythematosus controls. A Cox multivariable proportional hazards model was employed to evaluate the risk of infective endocarditis in the systemic lupus erythematosus cohort. Results After a mean follow-up of more than six years, the systemic lupus erythematosus cohort had a significantly higher incidence rate of infective endocarditis (42.58 vs 4.32 per 100,000 person-years, incidence rate ratio = 9.86, p endocarditis in systemic lupus erythematosus patients. Conclusions A higher risk of infective endocarditis was observed in systemic lupus erythematosus patients. Risk factors for infective endocarditis in the systemic lupus erythematosus cohort included heart disease, chronic kidney disease, steroid pulse therapy within 30 days, and a recent invasive dental procedure within 30 days.

The effect of the COACH program (Continuity Of Appropriate pharmacotherapy, patient Counselling and information transfer in Healthcare) on readmission rates in a multicultural population of internal medicine patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Karapinar-Carkit, Fatma; Borgsteede, Sander D; Zoer, Jan; Siegert, Carl; van Tulder, Maurits; Egberts, Antoine C G; van den Bemt, Patricia M L A

2010-02-16

Medication errors occur frequently at points of transition in care. The key problems causing these medication errors are: incomplete and inappropriate medication reconciliation at hospital discharge (partly arising from inadequate medication reconciliation at admission), insufficient patient information (especially within a multicultural patient population) and insufficient communication to the next health care provider. Whether interventions aimed at the combination of these aspects indeed result in less discontinuity and associated harm is uncertain. Therefore the main objective of this study is to determine the effect of the COACH program (Continuity Of Appropriate pharmacotherapy, patient Counselling and information transfer in Healthcare) on readmission rates in patients discharged from the internal medicine department. An experimental study is performed at the internal medicine ward of a general teaching hospital in Amsterdam, which serves a multicultural population. In this study the effects of the COACH program is compared with usual care using a pre-post study design. All patients being admitted with at least one prescribed drug intended for chronic use are included in the study unless they meet one of the following exclusion criteria: no informed consent, no medication intended for chronic use prescribed at discharge, death, transfer to another ward or hospital, discharge within 24 hours or out of office hours, discharge to a nursing home and no possibility to counsel the patient.The intervention consists of medication reconciliation, patient counselling and communication between the hospital and primary care healthcare providers.The following outcomes are measured: the primary outcome readmissions within six months after discharge and the secondary outcomes number of interventions, adherence, patient's attitude towards medicines, patient's satisfaction with medication information, costs, quality of life and finally satisfaction of general practitioners

Danish patients with chronic pancreatitis have a four-fold higher mortality rate than the Danish population

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nøjgaard, Camilla; Bendtsen, Flemming; Becker, Ulrik

2010-01-01

We investigated mortality of patients with chronic pancreatitis (CP), compared with the Danish population and sought to determine whether clinical presentations of CP can be used in prognosis. We also investigated clinical factors associated with mortality and causes of death among these patients....

Work disability in non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis patients before and after start of anti-TNF therapy: a population-based regional cohort study from southern Sweden.

Science.gov (United States)

Wallman, Johan K; Jöud, Anna; Olofsson, Tor; Jacobsson, Lennart T H; Bliddal, Henning; Kristensen, Lars E

2017-05-01

The aim was to assess work-loss days before and after commencement of anti-TNF treatment in patients with non-radiographic axial spondylarthritis (nr-axSpA). Bionaïve nr-axSpA patients (n = 75), aged 17-62 years, fulfilling the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society criteria for axial spondyloarthritis and starting anti-TNF treatment during 2004-11, were retrieved from the observational South Swedish Arthritis Treatment Group study. Patient information was linked to Swedish Social Insurance Agency data on sick leave and disability pension from 1 year before to 2 years after anti-TNF initiation. Matched population references were included for comparison and to adjust for secular trends. The nr-axSpA patients had a median age of 35 years and disease duration of 6 years at the start of treatment. During the 2 years after anti-TNF initiation, mean work-loss days (including both sick leave and disability pension) in the nr-axSpA group decreased significantly from 3.4 to 1.9 times more than among the population references. The effect was seen on sick leave, whereas disability pension levels remained similar in both groups throughout. Anti-TNF therapy in nr-axSpA was associated with a significant and sustained improvement of work disability over 2 years. However, the proportion of work-loss days remained almost twice as high as in the general population at the end of follow-up. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

Increased risk of benign prostate hyperplasia in sleep apnea patients: a nationwide population-based study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ping-Song Chou

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Sleep apnea (SA is a common sleep disorder characterized by chronic intermittent hypoxia (IH. Chronic IH induces systemic inflammatory processes, which can cause tissue damage and contribute to prostatic enlargement. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH and SA in a Taiwanese population. METHODS: The study population was identified from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD and contained 202 SA patients and 1010 control patients. The study cohort consisted of men aged ≥ 30 years who were newly diagnosed with SA between January 1997 and December 2005. Each patient was monitored for 5 years from the index date for the development of BPH. A Cox regression analysis was used to calculate the hazard ratios (HRs for BPH in the SA and control patients. RESULTS: During the 5-year follow-up, 18 SA patients (8.9% and 32 non-SA control patients (3.2% developed BPH. The adjusted HR for BPH was 2.35-fold higher in the patients with SA than in the control patients (95% confidence interval (CI 1.28-4.29, P<.01. We further divided the SA patients into 4 age groups. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, the highest adjusted HR for BPH in the SA patients compared with the control patients was 5.59 (95% CI = 2.19-14.31, P<.001 in the patients aged between 51 and 65 years. CONCLUSION: Our study results indicate that patients with SA are associated with increased longitudinal risk of BPH development, and that the effects of SA on BPH development are age-dependent.

Personality traits in patients with cluster headache: a comparison with migraine patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Muñoz, I; Hernández, M S; Santos, S; Jurado, C; Ruiz, L; Toribio, E; Sotelo, E M; Guerrero, A L; Molina, V; Uribe, F; Cuadrado, M L

2016-01-01

Cluster headache (CH) has been associated with certain personality traits and lifestyle features, but there are few studies assessing personality profiles in CH. We aimed to analyze personality traits in patients with CH, and to compare them with those found in migraine. We included all consecutive patients with CH attending 5 outpatient offices between January and December 2013. Personality traits were evaluated using the Salamanca screening test, a validated inventory assessing 11 personality traits grouped in 3 clusters. We analyzed the test results in this population, and compared them with those of a migraine population previously assessed with the same test. Eighty patients with CH (75 men, 5 women; mean age, 43.2 ± 9.9 years) were recruited. The reference population consisted of 164 migraine patients (30 men, 134 women; mean age 36.4 ± 12.7 years). In CH patients, the most frequent personality traits were anancastic (52.5 %), anxious (47.5 %), histrionic (45 %), schizoid (42.5 %), impulsive (32.5 %) and paranoid (30 %). When compared to migraine patients, paranoid (p traits (p = 0.007; χ2 test) were significantly more prevalent in CH patients. In logistic regression analysis the paranoid trait was significantly associated with CH (p = 0.001; OR: 3.27, 95 % CI [1.66-6.43]). According to the Salamanca screening test, personality traits included in cluster A (odd or eccentric disorders) are more prevalent in CH patients than in a population of migraineurs. Larger studies are needed to determine whether certain personality traits are related to CH.

Life expectancy of colon, breast, and testicular cancer patients: an analysis of US-SEER population-based data.

Science.gov (United States)

Capocaccia, R; Gatta, G; Dal Maso, L

2015-06-01

Cancer survivorship is an increasingly important issue in cancer control. Life expectancy of patients diagnosed with breast, colon, and testicular cancers, stratified by age at diagnosis and time since diagnosis, is provided as an indicator to evaluate future mortality risks and health care needs of cancer survivors. The standard period life table methodology was applied to estimate excess mortality risk for cancer patients diagnosed in 1985-2011 from SEER registries and mortality data of the general US population. The sensitivity of life expectancy estimates on different assumptions was evaluated. Younger patients with colon cancer showed wider differences in life expectancy compared with that of the general population (11.2 years in women and 10.7 in men at age 45-49 years) than older patients (6.3 and 5.8 at age 60-64 years, respectively). Life expectancy progressively increases in patients surviving the first years, up to 4 years from diagnosis, and then starts to decrease again, approaching that of the general population. For breast cancer, the initial drop in life expectancy is less marked, and again with wider differences in younger patients, varying from 8.7 at age 40-44 years to 2.4 at ages 70-74 years. After diagnosis, life expectancy still decreases with time, but less than that in the general population, slowly approaching that of cancer-free women. Life expectancy of men diagnosed with testicular cancer at age 30 years is estimated as 45.2 years, 2 years less than cancer-free men of the same age. The difference becomes 1.3 years for patients surviving the first year, and then slowly approaches zero with increasing survival time. Life expectancy provides meaningful information on cancer patients, and can help in assessing when a cancer survivor can be considered as cured. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The COLOFOL trial: study design and comparison of the study population with the source cancer population

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hansdotter Andersson P

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Pernilla Hansdotter Andersson,1 Peer Wille-Jørgensen,2 Erzsébet Horváth-Puhó,3 Sune Høirup Petersen,2 Anna Martling,4 Henrik Toft Sørensen,3 Ingvar Syk1 On behalf of the COLOFOL Study Group 1Department of Surgery, Skåne University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden; 2Abdominal Disease Center K, Bispebjerg University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark; 3Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; 4Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden Introduction: The COLOFOL trial, a prospective randomized multicenter trial comparing two follow-up regimes after curative surgical treatment for colorectal cancer, focuses on detection of asymptomatic recurrences. This paper aims to describe the design and recruitment procedure in the COLOFOL trial, comparing demographic characteristics between randomized patients and eligible patients not included in the study. Materials and methods: COLOFOL was designed as a pragmatic trial with wide inclusion criteria and few exclusion criteria, in order to obtain a sample reflecting the general patient population. To be eligible, patients had to be 75 years or younger and curatively resected for stage II or III colorectal cancer. Exclusion criteria were hereditary colorectal cancer, no signed consent, other malignancy, and life expectancy less than 2 years due to concomitant disease. In four of the 24 participating centers, we scrutinized hospital inpatient data to identify all colorectal cancer patients who underwent surgery, in order to ascertain all eligible patients who were not included in the study and to compare them with enrolled patients. Results: Of a total of 4,445 eligible patients, 2,509 patients were randomized (56.4% inclusion rate. A total of 1,221 eligible patients were identified in the scrutinized hospitals, of which 684 (56% were randomized. No difference in age or sex distribution was observed between randomized and nonrandomized

Age-associated impact on presentation and outcome for penetrating thoracic trauma in the adult and pediatric patient populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Mollberg, Nathan M; Tabachnick, Deborah; Lin, Fang-Ju; Merlotti, Gary J; Varghese, Thomas K; Arensman, Robert M; Massad, Malek G

2014-02-01

Studies reporting on penetrating thoracic trauma in the pediatric population have been limited by small numbers and implied differences with the adult population. Our objectives were to report on a large cohort of pediatric patients presenting with penetrating thoracic trauma and to determine age-related impacts on management and outcome through comparison with an adult cohort. A Level I trauma center registry was queried between 2006 and 2012. All patients presenting with penetrating thoracic trauma were identified. Patient demographics, injury mechanism, injury severity, admission physiology, and outcome were recorded. Patients were compared, and outcomes were analyzed based on age at presentation, with patients 17 years or younger defining our pediatric cohort. A total of 1,423 patients with penetrating thoracic trauma were admitted during the study period. Two hundred twenty patients (15.5%) were pediatric, with 205 being adolescents (13-17 years) and 15 being children (≤ 12 years). In terms of management for the pediatric population, tube thoracostomy alone was needed in 32.7% (72 of 220), whereas operative thoracic exploration was performed in 20.0% (44 of 220). Overall mortality was 13.6% (30 of 220). There was no significant difference between the pediatric and adult population with regard to injury mechanism or severity, need for therapeutic intervention, operative approach, use of emergency department thoracotomy, or outcome. Stepwise logistic regression failed to identify age as a predictor for the need for either therapeutic intervention or mortality between the two age groups as a whole. However, subgroup analysis revealed that being 12 years or younger (odds ratio, 3.84; 95% confidence interval, 1.29-11.4) was an independent predictor of mortality. Management of traumatic penetrating thoracic injuries in terms of the need for therapeutic intervention and operative approach was similar between the adult and pediatric populations. Mortality from

Helicobacter Pylori Associated Antral Gastritis in Peptic Ulcer Disease Patients and Normal Healthy Population of Kashmir, India

Science.gov (United States)

Malik, G. M.; Bhat, M. Youssuf; rather, Ab. Rashid; Basu, Javaid Ahmad; Qureshi, Khursheed Ahmad

1998-01-01

Aim: To study the association of Helicobacter pylori infection with chronic antral gastritis in peptic ulcer disease patients and healthy population of Kashmir. Methods: 50 peptic ulcer patients (duodenal ulcer = 46, gastric ulcer = 2 and combined duodenal and gastric ulcer = 2) and 30 asymptomatic healthy volunteers were included in this study. Peptic ulcer was diagnosed on endoscopic examination. 4–6 punch biopsies were taken from gastric antrum in all the individuals and in case of gastric ulcer an additional biopsy was taken from the edge of the ulcer to exclude its malignant nature. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) organism was diagnosed using three different test methods, viz. Histology (using Giemsa Stain), Microbiology (Gram Stain) and Biochemistry (using one minute Endoscopy Room Test). Histological diagnosis of H. pylori was taken as the “gold standard” for the presence of H. pylori organism. Histological diagnosis of gastritis was made using Hematoxylin and Eosin Stain and the gastritis was classified as active chronic gastritis and superficial chronic gastritis. Results: Out of 30 peptic ulcer disease patients with associated antral gastritis, 27 (90%) were positive for H. pylori on histological examination (13 superficial chronic gastritis and 14 active chronic gastritis) whereas out of 8 healthy volunteers with histological evidence of chronic antral gastritis, H. pylori was observed in 7 individuals (87.50%) (4 active chronic gastritis and 3 superficial chronic gastritis). Conclusion: A highly significant association between H. pylori infection with chronic antral gastritis both in peptic ulcer disease patients and healthy volunteers of Kashmir was found in this study. Association between H. pylori infection and chronic gastritis was 90% in peptic ulcer group and 87.50% in healthy population (P<0.005). PMID:18493464

Patients' diets and preferences in a pediatric population with inflammatory bowel disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Green, T J; Issenman, R M; Jacobson, K

1998-01-01

To determine the dietary practices of the pediatric inflammatory bowel disease population at the Children's Hospital of the Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation and the reported effectiveness of those diets. A questionnaire mailed to 153 pediatric patients was returned by 125 patients (76 Crohn's disease [CD] and 49 ulcerative colitis [UC] patients)--an 82% response rate. The median age of respondents was 13 years, and 62% were male. Ninety per cent and 71% of CD and UC patients, respectively, had changed their diets since diagnosis. Caloric supplements (eg, BOOST [Mead Johnson Nutritionals]), sole source nutrition, low fibre and lactose-free diets were used by more than 15% of CD patients, whereas lactose-free, nonspicy, low acid, additive-free, caloric supplement and low fibre diets were used by more than 15% of UC patients. A diet supplement was more commonly used in CD patients (P juice. A benefit was reported for 103 of 141 reported diets, with the most commonly alleviated symptoms being abdominal pain, diarrhea and flatulence. Many children with inflammatory bowel disease have altered their diets to manage their disease and have attributed symptomatic relief to these diets.

Population pharmacokinetics of recombinant coagulation factor VIII-SingleChain in patients with severe hemophilia A.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Y; Roberts, J; Tortorici, M; Veldman, A; St Ledger, K; Feussner, A; Sidhu, J

2017-06-01

Essentials rVIII-SingleChain is a unique recombinant factor VIII (FVIII) molecule. A population pharmacokinetic model was based on FVIII activity of severe hemophilia A patients. The model was used to simulate factor VIII activity-time profiles for various dosing scenarios. The model supports prolonged dosing of rVIII-SingleChain with intervals of up to twice per week. Background Single-chain recombinant coagulation factor VIII (rVIII-SingleChain) is a unique recombinant coagulation factor VIII molecule. Objectives To: (i) characterize the population pharmacokinetics (PK) of rVIII-SingleChain in patients with severe hemophilia A; (ii) identify correlates of variability in rVIII-SingleChain PK; and (iii) simulate various dosing scenarios of rVIII-SingleChain. Patients/Methods A population PK model was developed, based on FVIII activity levels of 130 patients with severe hemophilia A (n = 91 for ≥ 12-65 years; n = 39 for  85% and > 93% of patients were predicted to maintain FVIII activity level above 1 IU dL -1 , at all times with three-times-weekly dosing (given on days 0, 2, and 4.5) at the lowest (20 IU kg -1 ) and highest (50 IU kg -1 ) doses, respectively. For twice weekly dosing (days 0 and 3.5) of 50 IU kg -1 rVIII-SingleChain, 62-80% of patients across all ages were predicted to maintain a FVIII activity level above 1 IU dL -1 at day 7. Conclusions The population PK model adequately characterized rVIII-SingleChain PK, and the model can be utilized to simulate FVIII activity-time profiles for various dosing scenarios. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis.

Derangement of lipid profile in antiepileptic drugs treated patients in local population

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zuberi, N.A.; Perveen, T.

2012-01-01

Epilepsy is the third most common neurological disorder. It is not a single entity. The abnormal electrical activity may result in a variety of events, including loss of consciousness, abnormal movements, a typical or odd behavior or distorted perceptions falls seizers. Epilepsy is a chronic disorder and often requiring years of treatment. A large number of drugs are used for the treatment of epilepsy. The choice among the antiepileptic drugs depends on its effectiveness and side effects. Our retrospective study investigated the effect of anti epileptic drugs on lipid profile. Serum lipid profile was measured in 160 patients in which 40 patients were not started any antiepileptic drug .The remaining 120 patients were receiving antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). 40 control subjects were taken from general population for comparison. The height, weight and body mass index (BMI) and lipid profile of antiepileptic drugs treated patients were compared with control and untreated group. The weight and body mass index of antiepileptic drugs treated group was significantly increased when compared to the control group. Total Cholesterol (TC), Triglyceride (TO), High density lipoprotein (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein (LDL-C), ratio TC/HDL-C and ratio LDL-C/HDL-C were investigated for each group of drugs and controls. TC, TO, LDL-C, ratio TC/HDL-C and ratio LDL-C/HDL-C were significantly increased in patients who were on AEDs when compared with control but HDL-C of all drug treated groups showed significantly decreased when compared with control group. There was significant change in lipid profile was seen in AEDs treated group when compared with control group. Ratio TC/HDL-C and ratio LDUHDL-C alteration showed the risk of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. Anti-epileptic drugs also alter the BMI and so it could potentially facilitate the development of diabetes mellitus. Our results additionally suggest that there is a need for careful monitoring of lipid profile in

Calculation of Ground State Rotational Populations for Kinetic Gas Homonuclear Diatomic Molecules including Electron-Impact Excitation and Wall Collisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farley, David R.

2010-01-01

A model has been developed to calculate the ground-state rotational populations of homonuclear diatomic molecules in kinetic gases, including the effects of electron-impact excitation, wall collisions, and gas feed rate. The equations are exact within the accuracy of the cross sections used and of the assumed equilibrating effect of wall collisions. It is found that the inflow of feed gas and equilibrating wall collisions can significantly affect the rotational distribution in competition with non-equilibrating electron-impact effects. The resulting steady-state rotational distributions are generally Boltzmann for N (ge) 3, with a rotational temperature between the wall and feed gas temperatures. The N = 0,1,2 rotational level populations depend sensitively on the relative rates of electron-impact excitation versus wall collision and gas feed rates.

MD Anderson's Population Health Approaches to Cancer Prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

Foxhall, Lewis; Moreno, Mark; Hawk, Ernest

2018-02-01

Texas's size and unique population demographics present challenges to addressing the state's cancer burden. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is one of 69 National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers across the United States. While these centers traditionally have focused on research, education and training, and providing research-driven patient care, they are in a unique position to collaboratively advance population health through cancer control. Unlike the traditional academic model of a three-legged stool representing research, education, and patient care, MD Anderson's mission includes a fourth leg that incorporates population health approaches. MD Anderson has leveraged state- and national-level data and freely available resources to develop population-health priorities and a set of evidence-based actions across policy, public and professional education, and community-based clinical service domains to address these priorities. Population health approaches complement dissemination and implementation research and treatment, and will be increasingly needed to address the growing cancer burden in Texas and the nation.

Coronary artery disease and hypertension in a non-selected spinal cord injury patient population.

Science.gov (United States)

Aidinoff, E; Bluvshtein, V; Bierman, U; Gelernter, I; Front, L; Catz, A

2017-03-01

Retrospective observational comparative study. The objectives of this study were to assess the atherosclerosis diseases and risk factors prevalence after spinal cored injury (SCI). Loewenstein Rehabilitation Hospital, Israel. Data of 154 traumatic and non-traumatic SCI patients were retrospectively collected. Coronary artery disease (CAD), myocardial infarction (MI), hypertension (HT) and risk factors for atherosclerotic diseases were examined after SCI for prevalence and effects, and compared with published corresponding data of the general population. CAD, MI and HT were found in 11.7, 6.7 and 29.2% of 120 patients, aged 53.4±11.1 years, 83.3% males, who survived until the end of the follow-up. Corresponding values for the general population, adjusted for age, gender and years of education, are 8.5, 6.6 and 24.9% in Israel, and 10.2% for CAD and 40.3% for HT, in US. Body mass index>30 increased the odds of acquiring CAD (P=0.016). Hypercholesterolemia and older age at injury increased the hazard for HT (P=0.044; P=0.019, respectively). A steady partner decreased the risk of CAD (P=0.029). HT was more prevalent at T 4 -T 6 than above T 4 (52 vs 23.3%, P=0.02). Patients with SCI below T 6 had a higher rate of diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, and past smoking, and fewer years of education than those with SCI above T 7 (P=0.016; P=0.032; P=0.034; P=0.014, respectively). The prevalence of CAD, HT and some of their risk factors after SCI is generally, but not consistently and not statistically significant, slightly higher than in the corresponding general population. The challenge is to reduce the prevalence of atherosclerotic morbidity after SCI below that in the general population.

The characteristics of pre-diabetic patients associated with body composition and cardiovascular disease risk factors in the Iranian population

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zahra Gholi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Different populations have shown various patterns of association between impaired fasting glucose (IFG and body composition parameters and risk factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD. The current study aimed at investigating the differences between persons with prediabetes and healthy people in terms of CVD risk factors including body composition parameters, blood pressure, and lipid profile in a sample of the Iranian population. Materials and Methods: In a case-control setting, a sample containing 386 (193 prediabetic subjects and 193 normal subjects of the first-degree relatives of diabetic patients aged 35-55 years were investigated. Samples were assessed using glucose tolerance categories. Prediabetes was defined according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA criteria. Body composition parameters, blood pressure, glucose parameters, and lipid profile were measured and compared between the two groups. Results: Prediabetic patients had higher body mass index (BMI, waist circumference (WC, and body fat (BF in comparison to the control group (P < 0.05. In addition, prediabetic subject had a higher intake of energy, carbohydrate, protein, fat, and cholesterol and it seems that these patients had an unhealthy dietary intake (P < 0.05. Fasting blood glucose (FBG (P < 0.001, total cholesterol (P = 0.007, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C, and triglyceride (P = 0.021 were higher in prediabetic patients (P < 0.05 than in the controls. Conclusion: Both the risk factors of CVD and body composition parameters were different between the prediabetic and normal groups; total cholesterol (TC, triglyceride (TG, and FBS were predictors of the risk of prediabetes.

Does the applied polytrauma definition notably influence outcome and patient population? - a retrospective analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Frenzel, Stephan; Krenn, Philipp; Heinz, Thomas; Negrin, Lukas Leopold

2017-08-31

Although the term "polytrauma" has been in use for decades, no generally accepted definition exists. The aim of this study was to demonstrate that different polytrauma definitions applied to a specific patient population result in diverse subgroups of individuals, who in turn present a varying outcome. All patients (≥18 years) treated at our level I trauma center within a time period of three years were classified according to 11 selected polytrauma definitions and included in our study, if they were rated "polytraumatized" by at least one of these definitions. All patients, who met the criteria of a certain definition, were combined to the relevant definition-positive group, thus resulting in 11 patient subgroups. Their demographic data (number of patients, mean patient age, mean Injury Severity Score value, median number of ventilator days, median length of stay at the intensive care unit and at the hospital, mortality rate and odds ratio) were statistically compared. Three hundred seventy-five patients (73% male) with a mean age of 47 years met the inclusion criteria and were allocated to the relevant subgroups; their patient number varied from 55 to 346 and their mean Injury Severity Score value ranged from 4 to 75. Not surprisingly, all examined parameters were subject to variations. Whereas most definition-positive groups showed a mortality rate of about 21% to 30%, 18% of the individuals, who met the criteria according to Blacker, and 40% of the polytrauma victims according to Schalamon died. The Pape 1-, Schalamon-, and Berlin-positive groups presented a significant odds ratio with regard to mortality that considerably exceeded 1. A polytrauma definition can only be a reliable tool in classifying trauma victims if it provides a significant odds ratio with regard to mortality that considerably exceeds 1 and if it succeeds in capturing patients with multiple severe injuries and a higher mortality rate without reducing the number of polytraumatized

Clinical validity of a population database definition of remission in patients with major depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Sicras-Mainar, Antoni; Blanca-Tamayo, Milagrosa; Gutiérrez-Nicuesa, Laura; Salvatella-Pasant, Jordi; Navarro-Artieda, Ruth

2010-02-11

Major depression (MD) is one of the most frequent diagnoses in Primary Care. It is a disabling illness that increases the use of health resources. To describe the concordance between remission according to clinical assessment and remission obtained from the computerized prescription databases of patients with MD in a Spanish population. multicenter cross-sectional. The population under study was comprised of people from six primary care facilities, who had a MD episode between January 2003 and March 2007. A specialist in psychiatry assessed a random sample of patient histories and determined whether a certain patient was in remission according to clinical criteria (ICPC-2). Regarding the databases, patients were considered in remission when they did not need further prescriptions of AD for at least 6 months after completing treatment for a new episode. Validity indicators (sensitivity [S], specificity [Sp]) and clinical utility (positive and negative probability ratio [PPR] and [NPR]) were calculated. The concordance index was established using Cohen's kappa coefficient. Significance level was p Reliability analysis: Cronbach's alpha: 90.6% (CI was 95%: 85.6 - 95.6%). Results show an acceptable level of concordance between remission obtained from the computerized databases and clinical criteria. The major discrepancies were found in diagnostic accuracy.

Improved survival of multiple myeloma patients with late relapse after high-dose treatment and stem cell support, a population-based study of 348 patients in Denmark in 1994-2004

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vangsted, Annette Juul; Klausen, Tobias W; Andersen, Niels F

2010-01-01

To analyse if patients with early relapse after high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell support (HDT) benefit from new treatment strategies in a population-based setting.......To analyse if patients with early relapse after high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell support (HDT) benefit from new treatment strategies in a population-based setting....

Population Pharmacokinetics of Tenofovir in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Patients Taking Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy

OpenAIRE

Jullien, Vincent; Tréluyer, Jean-Marc; Rey, Elisabeth; Jaffray, Patrick; Krivine, Anne; Moachon, Laurence; Lillo-Le Louet, Agnès; Lescoat, Anne; Dupin, Nicolas; Salmon, Dominique; Pons, Gérard; Urien, Saïk

2005-01-01

The influence of renal function on tenofovir pharmacokinetics was investigated in 193 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients by the use of a population approach performed with the nonlinear mixed effects modeling program NONMEM. Tenofovir pharmacokinetics was well described by a two-compartment open model in which the absorption and the distribution rate constants are equal. Typical population estimates of apparent central distribution volume (Vc/F), peripheral distribution volu...

Symptom patterns in dissociative identity disorder patients and the general population.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Colin A; Ness, Laura

2010-01-01

The authors used the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule to compare structured interview symptom patterns in a general population sample (N= 502) and a sample of patients with clinical diagnoses of dissociative identity disorder (N= 303). Based on the Trauma Model, the authors predicted that the patterns would be similar in the 2 samples and that symptom scores would be higher in participants reporting childhood sexual abuse in both samples. They predicted that symptom scores would be higher among women with dissociative identity disorder reporting sexual abuse than among women in the general population reporting sexual abuse, with the clinical sample reporting more severe abuse. These predictions were supported by the data. The authors conclude that symptom patterns in dissociative identity disorder are typical of the normal human response to severe, chronic childhood trauma and have ecological validity for the human race in general.

Analysis of immune cell populations in atrial myocardium of patients with atrial fibrillation or sinus rhythm.

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Natalia Smorodinova

Full Text Available Atrial fibrillation (AF is the most common arrhythmia and despite obvious clinical importance remains its pathogenesis only partially explained. A relation between inflammation and AF has been suggested by findings of increased inflammatory markers in AF patients.The goal of this study was to characterize morphologically and functionally CD45-positive inflammatory cell populations in atrial myocardium of patients with AF as compared to sinus rhythm (SR.We examined 46 subjects (19 with AF, and 27 in SR undergoing coronary bypass or valve surgery. Peroperative bioptic samples of the left and the right atrial tissue were examined using immunohistochemistry.The number of CD3+ T-lymphocytes and CD68-KP1+ cells were elevated in the left atrial myocardium of patients with AF compared to those in SR. Immune cell infiltration of LA was related to the rhythm, but not to age, body size, LA size, mitral regurgitation grade, type of surgery, systemic markers of inflammation or presence of diabetes or hypertension. Most of CD68-KP1+ cells corresponded to dendritic cell population based on their morphology and immunoreactivity for DC-SIGN. The numbers of mast cells and CD20+ B-lymphocytes did not differ between AF and SR patients. No foci of inflammation were detected in any sample.An immunohistochemical analysis of samples from patients undergoing open heart surgery showed moderate and site-specific increase of inflammatory cells in the atrial myocardium of patients with AF compared to those in SR, with prevailing population of monocyte-macrophage lineage. These cells and their cytokine products may play a role in atrial remodeling and AF persistence.

Acute cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality in patients with hyperthyroidism: a population-based cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Dekkers, Olaf M; Horváth-Puhó, Erzsébet; Cannegieter, Suzanne C; Vandenbroucke, Jan P; Sørensen, Henrik Toft; Jørgensen, Jens Otto L

2017-01-01

Several studies have shown an increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in hyperthyroidism, but most studies have been too small to address the effect of hyperthyroidism on individual cardiovascular endpoints. Our main aim was to assess the association among hyperthyroidism, acute cardiovascular events and mortality. It is a nationwide population-based cohort study. Data were obtained from the Danish Civil Registration System and the Danish National Patient Registry, which covers all Danish hospitals. We compared the rate of all-cause mortality as well as venous thromboembolism (VTE), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), ischemic and non-ischemic stroke, arterial embolism, atrial fibrillation (AF) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the two cohorts. Hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were estimated. The study included 85 856 hyperthyroid patients and 847 057 matched population-based controls. Mean follow-up time was 9.2 years. The HR for mortality was highest in the first 3 months after diagnosis of hyperthyroidism: 4.62, 95% CI: 4.40-4.85, and remained elevated during long-term follow-up (>3 years) (HR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.33-1.37). The risk for all examined cardiovascular events was increased, with the highest risk in the first 3 months after hyperthyroidism diagnosis. The 3-month post-diagnosis risk was highest for atrial fibrillation (HR: 7.32, 95% CI: 6.58-8.14) and arterial embolism (HR: 6.08, 95% CI: 4.30-8.61), but the risks of VTE, AMI, ischemic and non-ischemic stroke and PCI were increased also 2- to 3-fold. We found an increased risk for all-cause mortality and acute cardiovascular events in patients with hyperthyroidism. © 2017 European Society of Endocrinology.

Clinical validity of a population database definition of remission in patients with major depression

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salvatella-Pasant Jordi

2010-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Major depression (MD is one of the most frequent diagnoses in Primary Care. It is a disabling illness that increases the use of health resources. Aim: To describe the concordance between remission according to clinical assessment and remission obtained from the computerized prescription databases of patients with MD in a Spanish population. Methods Design: multicenter cross-sectional. The population under study was comprised of people from six primary care facilities, who had a MD episode between January 2003 and March 2007. A specialist in psychiatry assessed a random sample of patient histories and determined whether a certain patient was in remission according to clinical criteria (ICPC-2. Regarding the databases, patients were considered in remission when they did not need further prescriptions of AD for at least 6 months after completing treatment for a new episode. Validity indicators (sensitivity [S], specificity [Sp] and clinical utility (positive and negative probability ratio [PPR] and [NPR] were calculated. The concordance index was established using Cohen's kappa coefficient. Significance level was p Results 133 patient histories were reviewed. The kappa coefficient was 82.8% (confidence intervals [CI] were 95%: 73.1 - 92.6, PPR 9.8% and NPR 0.1%. Allocation discrepancies between both criteria were found in 11 patients. S was 92.5% (CI was 95%: 88.0 - 96.9% and Sp was 90.6% (CI was 95%: 85.6 - 95.6%, p Conclusions Results show an acceptable level of concordance between remission obtained from the computerized databases and clinical criteria. The major discrepancies were found in diagnostic accuracy.

Unilateral hemimandibular hyperactivity: Clinical features of a population of 128 patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Vernucci, Roberto Antonio; Mazzoli, Valentina; Galluccio, Gabriella; Silvestri, Alessandro; Barbato, Ersilia

2018-07-01

Facial asymmetries due to unilateral condylar hyperactivity are often a challenge both for maxillo-facial surgeons and for orthodontists; the current literature shows different opinions about aetiology, classification, treatment approach and timing. We made a retrospective study on patients suffering from unilateral condylar hyperactivity between 1997 and 2015 in our Department; clinical features and treatment options were grouped and compared with literature. The descriptive analysis investigated variables like sex, age, side and direction of the asymmetry, condylar activity and type of intervention. The population was composed of 128 patients. The hemimandibular hyperactivity occurs equally in both sexes around the second decade, although the range of the first consultation goes from 7 to 49 y.o. The vertical hyperdevelopment group is almost equal to the horizontal. All the patients with horizontal hyperactivity showed negative scintigraphy and were treated with pre-surgical orthodontics and orthognathic surgery; patients with vertical hyperactivity and positive scintigraphy were treated with condylectomy and post-surgical orthodontics. In our group of patients, direction of the hyperactivity and results of the scintigraphy lead to treatment choice and timing. Further studies are necessary to explain why, in our group, all the patients with horizontal involvement are negative to scintigraphy. Copyright © 2018 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Demographics of implant placement and complications of a patient subgroup in a dental hospital population.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Brennan, Maire

2011-03-14

Little has been reported about the demographics of implant placement in the Irish population and the complications that occur. This is important in terms of service planning and providing patient information.

Demographics of implant placement and complications of a patient subgroup in a dental hospital population.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Brennan, Maire

2010-05-01

Little has been reported about the demographics of implant placement in the Irish population and the complications that occur. This is important in terms of service planning and providing patient information.

The prediction of the cavitation phenomena including population balance modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Bannari, Rachid; Hliwa, Ghizlane Zineb; Bannari, Abdelfettah; Belghiti, Mly Taib

2017-07-01

Cavitation is the principal reason behind the behavior's modification of the hydraulic turbines. However, the experimental observations can not be appropriate to all cases due to the limitations in the measurement techniques. The mathematical models which have been implemented, use the mixture multiphase frame. As well as, most of the published work is limited by considering a constant bubble size distribution. However, this assumption is not realist. The aim of this article is the implementation and the use of a non-homogeneous multiphase model which solve two phases transport equation. The evolution of bubble size is considered by the population balance equation. This study is based on the eulerian-eulerian model, associated to the cavitation model. All the inter-phase forces such as drag, lift and virtual mass are used.

Population pharmacokinetics of imipenem in critically ill patients with suspected ventilator-associated pneumonia and evaluation of dosage regimens.

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Couffignal, Camille; Pajot, Olivier; Laouénan, Cédric; Burdet, Charles; Foucrier, Arnaud; Wolff, Michel; Armand-Lefevre, Laurence; Mentré, France; Massias, Laurent

2014-11-01

Significant alterations in the pharmacokinetics (PK) of antimicrobials have been reported in critically ill patients. We describe PK parameters of imipenem in intensive care unit (ICU) patients with suspected ventilator-associated pneumonia and evaluate several dosage regimens. This French multicentre, prospective, open-label study was conducted in ICU patients with a presumptive diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia caused by Gram-negative bacilli, who empirically received imipenem intravenously every 8 h. Plasma imipenem concentrations were measured during the fourth imipenem infusion using six samples (trough, 0.5, 1, 2, 5 and 8 h). Data were analysed with a population approach using the stochastic approximation expectation maximization algorithm in Monolix 4.2. A Monte Carlo simulation was performed to evaluate the following six dosage regimens: 500, 750 or 1000 mg with administration every 6 or 8 h. The pharmacodynamic target was defined as the probability of achieving a fractional time above the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of >40%. Fifty-one patients were included in the PK analysis. Imipenem concentration data were best described by a two-compartment model with three covariates (creatinine clearance, total bodyweight and serum albumin). Estimated clearance (between-subject variability) was 13.2 l h(-1) (38%) and estimated central volume 20.4 l (31%). At an MIC of 4 μg ml(-1) , the probability of achieving 40% fractional time > MIC was 91.8% for 0.5 h infusions of 750 mg every 6 h, 86.0% for 1000 mg every 8 h and 96.9% for 1000 mg every 6 h. This population PK model accurately estimated imipenem concentrations in ICU patients. The simulation showed that for these patients, the best dosage regimen of imipenem is 750 mg every 6 h and not 1000 mg every 8 h. © 2014 The British Pharmacological Society.

Health-Related Quality of Life in Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer Patients After Definitive Chemoradiation Therapy Including Image Guided Adaptive Brachytherapy: An Analysis From the EMBRACE Study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kirchheiner, Kathrin; Pötter, Richard; Tanderup, Kari

2016-01-01

Purpose This study analyzed functioning and symptom scores for longitudinal quality of life (QoL) from patients with locally advanced cervical cancer who underwent definitive chemoradiation therapy with image guided adaptive brachytherapy in the EMBRACE study. Methods and Materials In total, 744...... patients at a median follow-up of 21 months were included. QoL was prospectively assessed using European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life core module 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) and EORTC cervical cancer module 24 (CX24) questionnaires at baseline, then every 3 months during...... at 6 months and then declined slightly at 3 and 4 years. The overall symptom experience was elevated at baseline and decreased to a level within the range of that of the reference population. Similarly, tumor-related symptoms (eg, pain, appetite loss, and constipation), which were present before...

Population pharmacokinetics of proguanil in patients with acute P. falciparum malaria after combined therapy with atovaquone.

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Hussein, Z; Eaves, C J; Hutchinson, D B; Canfield, C J

1996-11-01

1. The pharmacokinetics of proguanil were evaluated in patients with acute P. falciparum malaria receiving concomitantly proguanil hydrochloride and atovaquone. The population consisted of 203 Blacks, 112 Orientals and 55 Malays; 274 males and 96 females. Of the 370 patients, 114 and 256 patients were classified as 'poor' and 'extensive' metabolizers of proguanil, respectively. Body weight and age ranged between 11-110 kg and 3-65 years, respectively. 2. A one compartment model with first-order absorption and elimination was fitted to proguanil plasma concentration-time profiles, using non-linear mixed effect modelling (NONMEM). 3. Oral clearance (CLo) showed a 0.785 power relationship with body weight and was 13% higher in Orientals than Blacks and Malays and 17% lower in 'poor' than 'extensive' metabolizers. According to the mean weight of each population, the final population estimates of CLo in Blacks, Orientals and Malays who are 'extensive' metabolizers were 54.0, 61.5 and 64.3 l h-1, respectively. Age, gender and dose had no significant effects on CLo. 4. Apparent volume of distribution (V/F) showed a 0.88 power relationship with body weight. The final population estimates were 562 and 1629 l in children ( 15 years, respectively, who had a mean body weight of 22.6 and 54.8 kg, respectively. The effect of other covariates on V/F was not examined. 5. The final magnitudes of interpatient variability in CLo and V/F were relatively low at 22.5 and 17.0%, respectively. 6. Population pharmacokinetic parameter estimates in Black, Oriental and Malay patients with acute P. falciparum malaria are in good agreement with results of pharmacokinetic studies in healthy Caucasian volunteers. In view of the 30-50% residual variability in proguanil plasma concentrations, the slight effects of Orientals and 'poor' metabolizers on CLo are unlikely to be clinically significant. Hence, dose recommendation will be solely based on body weight.

Population pharmacodynamic model of bicarbonate response to acetazolamide in mechanically ventilated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients

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2011-01-01

Introduction Acetazolamide is commonly given to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with metabolic alkalosis. Little is known of the pharmacodynamics of acetazolamide in the critically ill. We undertook the pharmacodynamic modeling of bicarbonate response to acetazolamide in COPD patients under mechanical ventilation. Methods This observational, retrospective study included 68 invasively ventilated COPD patients who received one or multiple doses of 250 or 500 mg of acetazolamide during the weaning period. Among the 68 investigated patients, 207 time-serum bicarbonate observations were available for analysis. Population pharmacodynamics was modeled using a nonlinear mixedeffect model. The main covariates of interest were baseline demographic data, Simplified Acute Physiology Score II (SAPS II) at ICU admission, cause of respiratory failure, co-prescription of drugs interfering with the acid-base equilibrium, and serum concentrations of protein, creatinin, potassium and chloride. The effect of acetazolamide on serum bicarbonate levels at different doses and in different clinical conditions was subsequently simulated in silico. Results The main covariates interacting with acetazolamide pharmacodynamics were SAPS II at ICU admission (P = 0.01), serum chloride (P 500 mg twice daily is required to reduce serum bicarbonate concentrations > 5 mmol/L in the presence of high serum chloride levels or coadministration of systemic corticosteroids or furosemide. Conclusions This study identified several covariates that influenced acetazolamide pharmacodynamics and could allow a better individualization of acetazolamide dosing when treating COPD patients with metabolic alkalosis. PMID:21917139

Association Study for 26 Candidate Loci in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Patients from Four European Populations

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Amit Kishore

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF affects lung parenchyma with progressing fibrosis. In this study, we aimed to replicate MUC5B rs35705950 variants and determine new plausible candidate variants for IPF among four different European populations. We genotyped 26 IPF candidate loci in 165 IPF patients from four European countries: Czech Republic (n = 41, Germany (n = 33, Greece (n = 40, France (n = 51 and performed association study comparing observed variant distribution with this obtained in a genetically similar Czech healthy control population (n = 96 described in our earlier data report. A highly significant association for a promoter variant (rs35705950 of mucin encoding MUC5B gene was observed in all IPF populations, individually and combined [OR (95% CI; p-value as 5.23 (8.94-3.06; 1.80x10-11. Another non-coding variant, rs7934606 in MUC2 was significant among German patients [2.85 (5.05-1.60; 4.03x10-4] and combined European IPF cases [2.18 (3.16-1.50; 3.73x10-5]. The network analysis for these variants indicated gene-gene and gene-phenotype interactions in IPF and lung biology. With replication of MUC5B rs35705950 previously reported in U.S. populations of European descent and indicating other plausible polymorphic variants relevant for IPF, we provide additional reference information for future extended functional and population studies aimed, ideally with inclusion of clinical parameters, at identification of IPF genetic markers.

Dermoscopic patterns in patients with a clinical diagnosis of onychomycosis-results of a prospective study including data of potassium hydroxide (KOH) and culture examination.

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Jesús-Silva, Miriam América; Fernández-Martínez, Ramón; Roldán-Marín, Rodrigo; Arenas, Roberto

2015-04-01

Onychomycosis is the most common nail disease, representing 50% of cases affecting the nail apparatus. The diagnosis is made by clinical examination along with the KOH exam of the nail and culture of the sample. However, not all dermatologists have access to a mycology lab. To determine the correlation between KOH examination and dermoscopic patterns in patients with clinical diagnosis of onychomycosis. A descriptive, open, observational, prospective, cross-sectional study of 178 patients with clinical suspicion of onychomycosis was conducted. All patients underwent clinical examination, dermoscopy with a DermLite PHOTO dermatoscope (3Gen, San Juan Capistrano, CA, USA), KOH assessment and culture analysis. The most frequent dermoscopic patterns were identified and their correlation with the clinical subtype of onychomycosis was analyzed. The study included 178 patients with clinical suspicion of onychomycosis. Of these, 155 (87.1%) had positive direct KOH examination for onychomycosis. Eighty-seven patients (56.13%) presented with clinical onychomycosis pattern of total dystrophic onychomycosis (TDO), 67 (43.23%) with distal lateral subungual onychomycosis (DLSO), 1 (0.65%) with trachyonychia). Dermoscopic patterns of onychomycosis showed the following frequencies: the spiked pattern was present in 22 patients (14.19%), longitudinal striae pattern in 51 patients (32.9%) and linear edge pattern in 21 patients (13.55%). We identified a pattern described as "distal irregular termination" in 41 patients with TDO and 26 with DLSO. This is the fist study conducted in a Mexican population that uses dermoscopy as a diagnostic tool along with the KOH examination for the diagnosis of onychomycosis. Dermoscopy may be used as an important diagnostic tool when evaluating nail disease. However, it should not be used as the only diagnostic criteria for onychomycosis.

Population and patient-specific target margins for 4D adaptive radiotherapy to account for intra- and inter-fraction variation in lung tumour position

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hugo, Geoffrey D; Di Yan; Jian Liang

2007-01-01

In this work, five 4D image-guidance strategies (two population, an offline adaptive and two online strategies) were evaluated that compensated for both inter- and intra-fraction variability such as changes to the baseline tumour position and respiratory pattern. None of the strategies required active motion compensation such as gating or tracking; all strategies simulated a free-breathing-based treatment technique. Online kilovoltage fluoroscopy was acquired for eight patients with lung tumours, and used to construct inter- and intra-fraction tumour position variability models. Planning was performed on a mid-ventilation image acquired from a respiration-correlated CT scan. The blurring effect of tumour position variability was included in the dose calculation by convolution. CTV to PTV margins were calculated for variability in the cranio-caudal direction. A population margin of 9.0 ± 0.7 mm was required to account for setup error and respiration in the study population without the use of image-guidance. The greatest mean margin reduction was introduced by the offline adaptive strategy. A daily online correction strategy produced a small reduction (1.6 mm) in the mean margin from the offline strategy. Adaptively correcting for an inter-fraction change in the respiratory pattern had little effect on margin size due to most patients having only small daily changes in the respiratory pattern. A daily online correction strategy would be useful for patients who exhibit large variations in the daily mean tumour position, while an offline adaptive strategy is more applicable to patients with less variation

Identifying elements of patient-centered care in underserved populations: a qualitative study of patient perspectives.

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Sheela Raja

Full Text Available Patient-centered care is an important goal in the delivery of healthcare. However, many patients do not engage in preventive medical care. In this pilot study, we conducted twenty in depth, semi-structured qualitative interviews at the University of Illinois at Chicago Health Sciences campus in a four month time frame. Many patients were underserved and underinsured, and we wanted to understand their experiences in the healthcare system. Using content analysis, several themes emerged from the interview data. Participants discussed the need for empathy and rapport with their providers. They identified provider behaviors that fostered a positive clinical relationship, including step-by step explanations of procedures, attention to body language and clinic atmosphere, and appropriate time management. Participants identified cost as the most common barrier to engaging in preventive care and discussed children and social support as motivating factors. A long-term relationship with a provider was an important motivator for preventive care, suggesting that the therapeutic alliance was essential to many patients. Conversely, many participants discussed a sense of dehumanization in the healthcare system, reporting that their life circumstances were overlooked, or that they were judged based on insurance status or ethnicity. We discuss implications for provider training and healthcare delivery, including the importance of patient-centered medical homes.

High water-stressed population estimated by world water resources assessment including human activities under SRES scenarios

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Kiguchi, M.; Shen, Y.; Kanae, S.; Oki, T.

2009-04-01

In an argument of the reduction and the adaptation for the climate change, the evaluation of the influence by the climate change is important. When we argue in adaptation plan from a damage scale and balance with the cost, it is particularly important. Parry et al (2001) evaluated the risks in shortage of water, malaria, food, the risk of the coast flood by temperature function and clarified the level of critical climate change. According to their evaluation, the population to be affected by the shortage of water suddenly increases in the range where temperature increases from 1.5 to 2.0 degree in 2080s. They showed how much we need to reduce emissions in order to draw-down significantly the number at risk. This evaluation of critical climate change threats and targets of water shortage did not include the water withdrawal divided by water availability. Shen et al (2008a) estimated the water withdrawal of projection of future world water resources according to socio-economic driving factors predicted for scenarios A1b, A2, B1, and B2 of the Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES). However, these results were in function of not temperature but time. The assessment of the highly water-stressed population considered the socioeconomic development is necessary for a function of the temperature. Because of it is easy to understand to need to reduce emission. We present a multi-GCM analysis of the global and regional populations lived in highly water-stressed basin for a function of the temperature using the socioeconomic data and the outputs of GCMs. In scenario A2, the population increases gradually with warming. On the other hand, the future projection population in scenario A1b and B1 increase gradually until the temperature anomaly exceeds around from +1 to +1.5 degree. After that the population is almost constant. From Shen et al (2008b), we evaluated the HWSP and its ratio in the world with temperature function for scenarios A1B, A2, and B1 by the index of W

Primary ciliary dyskinesia in the paediatric population: range and severity of radiological findings in a cohort of patients receiving tertiary care

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Jain, K. [Department of Radiology, Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust, London (United Kingdom); Padley, S.P.G. [Department of Radiology, Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust, London (United Kingdom)], E-mail: s.padley@ic.ac.uk; Goldstraw, E.J.; Kidd, S.J. [Department of Radiology, Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust, London (United Kingdom); Hogg, C.; Biggart, E.; Bush, A. [Department of Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust, London (United Kingdom)

2007-10-15

Aim: To investigate the clinical range and severity of radiological findings in a cohort of patients with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) receiving tertiary care. Materials and methods: The case notes and clinical test results of 89 children attending the paediatric respiratory disease clinic at our institution were retrospectively analysed. Demographic details including age at diagnosis and common presenting signs and symptoms were studied. Results of chest radiographs, microscopy, and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) for quantification of lung damage were analysed. Results: In a cohort of 89 children with PCD, a presentation chest radiograph was available in 62% of patients (n = 55), with all but one demonstrating changes of bronchial wall thickening. HRCT of the lungs, available in 26 patients, were scored using the system described by Brody et al. analysing five specific features of lung disease, including bronchiectasis, mucus plugging, peribronchial thickening, parenchymal changes of consolidation, and ground-glass density, and focal air-trapping in each lobe. Peribronchial thickening was observed using HRCT in 25 patients, while 20 patients had bronchiectasis. Severity scores were highest for the middle and the lingular lobes. Conclusion: The radiographic findings of the largest reported cohort of patients with PCD are presented, with associated clinical findings. Dextrocardia remains the commonest finding on chest radiography. HRCT demonstrates peribronchial thickening and bronchiectasis, which is most marked in the lower zones. Radiological scoring techniques developed for assessment of cystic fibrosis can also be applied for the assessment of disease severity in this patient population.

Population pharmacodynamic modelling of midazolam induced sedation in terminally ill adult patients

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de Winter, Brenda C. M.; Masman, Anniek D.; van Dijk, Monique; Baar, Frans P. M.; Tibboel, Dick; Koch, Birgit C. P.; van Gelder, Teun; Mathot, Ron A. A.

2017-01-01

Aims Midazolam is the drug of choice for palliative sedation and is titrated to achieve the desired level of sedation. A previous pharmacokinetic (PK) study showed that variability between patients could be partly explained by renal function and inflammatory status. The goal of this study was to combine this PK information with pharmacodynamic (PD) data, to evaluate the variability in response to midazolam and to find clinically relevant covariates that may predict PD response. Method A population PD analysis using nonlinear mixed effect models was performed with data from 43 terminally ill patients. PK profiles were predicted by a previously described PK model and depth of sedation was measured using the Ramsay sedation score. Patient and disease characteristics were evaluated as possible covariates. The final model was evaluated using a visual predictive check. Results The effect of midazolam on the sedation level was best described by a differential odds model including a baseline probability, Emax model and interindividual variability on the overall effect. The EC50 value was 68.7 μg l–1 for a Ramsay score of 3–5 and 117.1 μg l–1 for a Ramsay score of 6. Comedication with haloperidol was the only significant covariate. The visual predictive check of the final model showed good model predictability. Conclusion We were able to describe the clinical response to midazolam accurately. As expected, there was large variability in response to midazolam. The use of haloperidol was associated with a lower probability of sedation. This may be a result of confounding by indication, as haloperidol was used to treat delirium, and deliria has been linked to a more difficult sedation procedure. PMID:28960387

Fillers in the skin of color population.

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Heath, Candrice R; Taylor, Susan C

2011-05-01

The skin of color population in the United States is rapidly growing and the cosmetic industry is responding to the demand for skin of color targeted treatments. The aging face in skin of color patients has a unique pattern that can be successfully augmented by dermal fillers. Though many subjects with skin of color were not included in the pre-market dermal filler clinical trials, some post-market studies have examined the safety and risks of adverse events in this population. The safety data from a selection of these studies was examined. Though pigmentary changes occurred, there have been no reports of keloid development. Developing a patient-specific care plan and instituting close follow up is emphasized.

Risk of Periodontal Diseases in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Nationwide Population-based Cohort Study.

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Shen, Te-Chun; Chang, Pei-Ying; Lin, Cheng-Li; Chen, Chia-Hung; Tu, Chih-Yen; Hsia, Te-Chun; Shih, Chuen-Ming; Hsu, Wu-Huei; Sung, Fung-Chang; Kao, Chia-Hung

2015-11-01

Several studies have reported an association between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and periodontal diseases. However, a large-scale population-based cohort study was previously absent from the literature. Therefore, we evaluated the risk of periodontal diseases in patients with COPD in a nationwide population.From the National Health Insurance claims data of Taiwan, we identified 22,332 patients with COPD who were newly diagnosed during 2000 to 2010. For each case, two individuals without COPD were randomly selected and frequency matched by age, sex, and diagnosis year. Both groups were followed up till the end of 2011.The overall incidence of periodontal diseases was 1.19-fold greater in the COPD group than in the comparison group (32.2 vs 26.4 per 1000 person-years; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.15-1.24). Compared with non-COPD patients, the adjusted hazard ratios of patients with COPD increased with the number of emergency room visits (from 1.14 [95% CI 1.10-1.19] to 5.09 [95% CI 4.53-5.72]) and admissions (from 1.15 [95% CI 1.10-1.20] to 3.17 [95% CI 2.81-3.57]). In addition, the adjusted hazard ratios of patients with COPD treated with inhaled corticosteroids (1.22, 95% CI 1.11-1.34) and systemic corticosteroids (1.15, 95% CI 1.07-1.23) were significantly higher than those of patients not treated with corticosteroids.Patient with COPD are at a higher risk of developing periodontal diseases than the general population. Our results also support that the risk of periodontal diseases is proportional to COPD control. In addition, patients who receive corticosteroid treatment are at a higher risk of developing periodontal diseases.

Combined Population Dynamics and Entropy Modelling Supports Patient Stratification in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

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Brehme, Marc; Koschmieder, Steffen; Montazeri, Maryam; Copland, Mhairi; Oehler, Vivian G.; Radich, Jerald P.; Brümmendorf, Tim H.; Schuppert, Andreas

2016-04-01

Modelling the parameters of multistep carcinogenesis is key for a better understanding of cancer progression, biomarker identification and the design of individualized therapies. Using chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) as a paradigm for hierarchical disease evolution we show that combined population dynamic modelling and CML patient biopsy genomic analysis enables patient stratification at unprecedented resolution. Linking CD34+ similarity as a disease progression marker to patient-derived gene expression entropy separated established CML progression stages and uncovered additional heterogeneity within disease stages. Importantly, our patient data informed model enables quantitative approximation of individual patients’ disease history within chronic phase (CP) and significantly separates “early” from “late” CP. Our findings provide a novel rationale for personalized and genome-informed disease progression risk assessment that is independent and complementary to conventional measures of CML disease burden and prognosis.

Efficacy of an integrated hospital-primary care program for heart failure: a population-based analysis of 56,742 patients.

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Comín-Colet, Josep; Verdú-Rotellar, José María; Vela, Emili; Clèries, Montse; Bustins, Montserrat; Mendoza, Lola; Badosa, Neus; Cladellas, Mercè; Ferré, Sofía; Bruguera, Jordi

2014-04-01

The efficacy of heart failure programs has been demonstrated in clinical trials but their applicability in the real world practice setting is more controversial. This study evaluates the feasibility and efficacy of an integrated hospital-primary care program for the management of patients with heart failure in an integrated health area covering a population of 309,345. For the analysis, we included all patients consecutively admitted with heart failure as the principal diagnosis who had been discharged alive from all of the hospitals in Catalonia, Spain, from 2005 to 2011, the period when the program was implemented, and compared mortality and readmissions among patients exposed to the program with the rates in the patients of all the remaining integrated health areas of the Servei Català de la Salut (Catalan Health Service). We included 56,742 patients in the study. There were 181,204 hospital admissions and 30,712 deaths during the study period. In the adjusted analyses, when compared to the 54,659 patients from the other health areas, the 2083 patients exposed to the program had a lower risk of death (hazard ratio=0.92 [95% confidence interval, 0.86-0.97]; P=.005), a lower risk of clinically-related readmission (hazard ratio=0.71 [95% confidence interval, 0.66-0.76]; P<.001), and a lower risk of readmission for heart failure (hazard ratio=0.86 [95% confidence interval, 0.80-0.94]; P<.001). The positive impact on the morbidity and mortality rates was more marked once the program had become well established. The implementation of multidisciplinary heart failure management programs that integrate the hospital and the community is feasible and is associated with a significant reduction in patient morbidity and mortality. Copyright © 2013 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Bordetella Bronchiseptica in the Immunosuppressed Population – A Case Series and Review.

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Abraham Tareq Yacoub

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Organisms that are not known to cause serious infection in the immunocompetent population can in fact cause devastating illness in immunosupressed neutropenic populations especially those who are undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT, and solid organ transplantation or a history of malignancy.  One organism of interest isolated from immunosupressed patients at our institution was Bordetella bronchiseptica. B. bronchiseptica is a Gram-negative, rod shaped bacterium, primary respiratory tract organism known to cause respiratory tract disease in the animal population which include dogs, cats, and rabbits. This organism rarely causes serious infection in the immunocompetent population. However; in immunosupressed patients, it can cause serious pulmonary disease. We present three cases of B. bronchiseptica isolated from patients with a history of malignancy a serious pulmonary infection.

Female fertility preservation in the pediatric and adolescent cancer patient population.

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Algarroba, Gabriela N; Sanfilippo, Joseph S; Valli-Pulaski, Hanna

2018-04-01

The 5-year survival rate for childhood cancer is over 80%, thereby increasing the number of young women facing infertility in the future because of the gonadotoxic effects of chemotherapy and radiation. The gonadotoxic effects of childhood cancer treatment vary by the radiation regimen and the chemotherapeutic drugs utilized. Although the American Society of Clinical Oncology guidelines recommend fertility preservation for all patients, there are several barriers and ethical considerations to fertility preservation in the pediatric and adolescent female population. Additionally, the fertility preservation methods for pre- and postpubertal females differ, with only experimental methods available for prepubertal females. We will review the risk of chemotherapy and radiation on female fertility, the approach to fertility preservation in the pediatric and adolescent female population, methods of fertility preservation for both pre- and postpubertal females, barriers to fertility preservation, cost, and psychological and ethical considerations. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Population effect model identifies gene expression predictors of survival outcomes in lung adenocarcinoma for both Caucasian and Asian patients.

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Guoshuai Cai

Full Text Available We analyzed and integrated transcriptome data from two large studies of lung adenocarcinomas on distinct populations. Our goal was to investigate the variable gene expression alterations between paired tumor-normal tissues and prospectively identify those alterations that can reliably predict lung disease related outcomes across populations.We developed a mixed model that combined the paired tumor-normal RNA-seq from two populations. Alterations in gene expression common to both populations were detected and validated in two independent DNA microarray datasets. A 10-gene prognosis signature was developed through a l1 penalized regression approach and its prognostic value was evaluated in a third independent microarray cohort.Deregulation of apoptosis pathways and increased expression of cell cycle pathways were identified in tumors of both Caucasian and Asian lung adenocarcinoma patients. We demonstrate that a 10-gene biomarker panel can predict prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma in both Caucasians and Asians. Compared to low risk groups, high risk groups showed significantly shorter overall survival time (Caucasian patients data: HR = 3.63, p-value = 0.007; Asian patients data: HR = 3.25, p-value = 0.001.This study uses a statistical framework to detect DEGs between paired tumor and normal tissues that considers variances among patients and ethnicities, which will aid in understanding the common genes and signalling pathways with the largest effect sizes in ethnically diverse cohorts. We propose multifunctional markers for distinguishing tumor from normal tissue and prognosis for both populations studied.

Excess mortality among patients with multiple sclerosis in Denmark has dropped significantly over the past six decades: a population based study.

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Koch-Henriksen, Nils; Laursen, Bjarne; Stenager, Egon; Magyari, Melinda

2017-08-01

Lifetime expectancy in multiple sclerosis (MS) is reduced. Few studies have had sufficient follow-up or sufficient number of patients to assess if survival has improved with time. However, a recent meta-analysis found no time-dependent change in MS excess mortality across studies over recent decades. To investigate whether short-term all-cause excess mortality in patients with MS in the total Danish population has changed over the last six decades. We included all patients with MS recorded in the nationwide Danish MS Registry with definite or probable MS and onset from 1950 through 1999. The Danish Civil Registration System provided date of death for all deceased patients with follow-up in 2015, and Statistics Denmark supplied specific population mortality. We calculated excess number of death per 1000 person-years (EDR) and standardised mortality ratio (SMR). We included 18 847 patients among whom 6102 had died as opposed to 2492 expected deaths. EDR was 10.63 (95% CI 10.19 to 11.09) and a SMR was 2.45 (95% CI 2.39 to 2.51). The 15-year EDR dropped gradually from 11.29 (95% CI 9.95 to 12.73) in the 1950-1959 onset cohort to 2.56 (95% CI 1.98 to 3.18) in the 1990-1999 onset cohort, and SMR dropped from 4.48 (95% CI 4.06 to 4.92) to 1.80 (95% CI 1.62 to 1.99). The decline in short-term excess mortality in MS started decades before disease-modifying treatment of MS became available, before use of MRI became widespread, and before the McDonald diagnostic criteria were introduced. A change in the MS cohorts with fewer malignant cases may be a significant contributor. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

The effect of the COACH program (Continuity Of Appropriate pharmacotherapy, patient Counselling and information transfer in Healthcare on readmission rates in a multicultural population of internal medicine patients

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van Tulder Maurits

2010-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Medication errors occur frequently at points of transition in care. The key problems causing these medication errors are: incomplete and inappropriate medication reconciliation at hospital discharge (partly arising from inadequate medication reconciliation at admission, insufficient patient information (especially within a multicultural patient population and insufficient communication to the next health care provider. Whether interventions aimed at the combination of these aspects indeed result in less discontinuity and associated harm is uncertain. Therefore the main objective of this study is to determine the effect of the COACH program (Continuity Of Appropriate pharmacotherapy, patient Counselling and information transfer in Healthcare on readmission rates in patients discharged from the internal medicine department. Methods/Design An experimental study is performed at the internal medicine ward of a general teaching hospital in Amsterdam, which serves a multicultural population. In this study the effects of the COACH program is compared with usual care using a pre-post study design. All patients being admitted with at least one prescribed drug intended for chronic use are included in the study unless they meet one of the following exclusion criteria: no informed consent, no medication intended for chronic use prescribed at discharge, death, transfer to another ward or hospital, discharge within 24 hours or out of office hours, discharge to a nursing home and no possibility to counsel the patient. The intervention consists of medication reconciliation, patient counselling and communication between the hospital and primary care healthcare providers. The following outcomes are measured: the primary outcome readmissions within six months after discharge and the secondary outcomes number of interventions, adherence, patient's attitude towards medicines, patient's satisfaction with medication information, costs, quality of

Breast-cancer-specific mortality in patients treated based on the 21-gene assay: a SEER population-based study.

Science.gov (United States)

Petkov, Valentina I; Miller, Dave P; Howlader, Nadia; Gliner, Nathan; Howe, Will; Schussler, Nicola; Cronin, Kathleen; Baehner, Frederick L; Cress, Rosemary; Deapen, Dennis; Glaser, Sally L; Hernandez, Brenda Y; Lynch, Charles F; Mueller, Lloyd; Schwartz, Ann G; Schwartz, Stephen M; Stroup, Antoinette; Sweeney, Carol; Tucker, Thomas C; Ward, Kevin C; Wiggins, Charles; Wu, Xiao-Cheng; Penberthy, Lynne; Shak, Steven

2016-01-01

The 21-gene Recurrence Score assay is validated to predict recurrence risk and chemotherapy benefit in hormone-receptor-positive (HR+) invasive breast cancer. To determine prospective breast-cancer-specific mortality (BCSM) outcomes by baseline Recurrence Score results and clinical covariates, the National Cancer Institute collaborated with Genomic Health and 14 population-based registries in the the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program to electronically supplement cancer surveillance data with Recurrence Score results. The prespecified primary analysis cohort was 40-84 years of age, and had node-negative, HR+, HER2-negative, nonmetastatic disease diagnosed between January 2004 and December 2011 in the entire SEER population, and Recurrence Score results ( N =38,568). Unadjusted 5-year BCSM were 0.4% ( n =21,023; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.3-0.6%), 1.4% ( n =14,494; 95% CI, 1.1-1.7%), and 4.4% ( n =3,051; 95% CI, 3.4-5.6%) for Recurrence Score <18, 18-30, and ⩾31 groups, respectively ( P <0.001). In multivariable analysis adjusted for age, tumor size, grade, and race, the Recurrence Score result predicted BCSM ( P <0.001). Among patients with node-positive disease (micrometastases and up to three positive nodes; N =4,691), 5-year BCSM (unadjusted) was 1.0% ( n =2,694; 95% CI, 0.5-2.0%), 2.3% ( n =1,669; 95% CI, 1.3-4.1%), and 14.3% ( n =328; 95% CI, 8.4-23.8%) for Recurrence Score <18, 18-30, ⩾31 groups, respectively ( P <0.001). Five-year BCSM by Recurrence Score group are reported for important patient subgroups, including age, race, tumor size, grade, and socioeconomic status. This SEER study represents the largest report of prospective BCSM outcomes based on Recurrence Score results for patients with HR+, HER2-negative, node-negative, or node-positive breast cancer, including subgroups often under-represented in clinical trials.

Epidemiology of hepatocellular carcinoma: target population for surveillance and diagnosis.

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Tang, An; Hallouch, Oussama; Chernyak, Victoria; Kamaya, Aya; Sirlin, Claude B

2018-01-01

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Incidence rates of liver cancer vary widely between geographic regions and are highest in Eastern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. In the United States, the incidence of HCC has increased since the 1980s. HCC detection at an early stage through surveillance and curative therapy has considerably improved the 5-year survival. Therefore, medical societies advocate systematic screening and surveillance of target populations at particularly high risk for developing HCC to facilitate early-stage detection. Risk factors for HCC include cirrhosis, chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), excess alcohol consumption, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, family history of HCC, obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and smoking. Medical societies utilize risk estimates to define target patient populations in which imaging surveillance is recommended (risk above threshold) or in which the benefits of surveillance are uncertain (risk unknown or below threshold). All medical societies currently recommend screening and surveillance in patients with cirrhosis and subsets of patients with chronic HBV; some societies also include patients with stage 3 fibrosis due to HCV as well as additional groups. Thus, target population definitions vary between regions, reflecting cultural, demographic, economic, healthcare priority, and biological differences. The Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) defines different patient populations for surveillance and for diagnosis and staging. We also discuss general trends pertaining to geographic region, age, gender, ethnicity, impact of surveillance on survival, mortality, and future trends.

"Community vital signs": incorporating geocoded social determinants into electronic records to promote patient and population health.

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Bazemore, Andrew W; Cottrell, Erika K; Gold, Rachel; Hughes, Lauren S; Phillips, Robert L; Angier, Heather; Burdick, Timothy E; Carrozza, Mark A; DeVoe, Jennifer E

2016-03-01

Social determinants of health significantly impact morbidity and mortality; however, physicians lack ready access to this information in patient care and population management. Just as traditional vital signs give providers a biometric assessment of any patient, "community vital signs" (Community VS) can provide an aggregated overview of the social and environmental factors impacting patient health. Knowing Community VS could inform clinical recommendations for individual patients, facilitate referrals to community services, and expand understanding of factors impacting treatment adherence and health outcomes. This information could also help care teams target disease prevention initiatives and other health improvement efforts for clinic panels and populations. Given the proliferation of big data, geospatial technologies, and democratization of data, the time has come to integrate Community VS into the electronic health record (EHR). Here, the authors describe (i) historical precedent for this concept, (ii) opportunities to expand upon these historical foundations, and (iii) a novel approach to EHR integration. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Using patient experiences as an outcome of integrated care. How to measure it?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nicolaisen, Anne; Fallesen, Anne Kudsk; Rasmussen, Hanna Barbara

2016-01-01

. Inclusion criteria for respondents were, ≥ 18 years, able to read and speak Danish, and having experienced a clinical pathway that included services from both health and social care. The study population include patients being admitted to hospital acute or scheduled, patients in outpatient clinical pathways......, in the selection process, we tried to included a population that reflects the general population with regard to age, socio-economic level and gender. However, the interviewed patients are in general older and do have comorbidity. The data analysis is ongoing and results will be presented at the conference....

Clinical characteristics, angiographic profile and in hospital mortality in acute coronary syndrome patients in south indian population

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Rajni Sharma

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Aims: The aim was to study the clinical profile, risk factors prevalence, angiographic distribution, and severity of coronary artery stenosis in acute coronary syndrome (ACS patients of South Indian population. Materials and Methods: A total of 1562 patients of ACS were analyzed for various risk factors, angiographic pattern and severity of coronary heart disease, complications and in hospital mortality at Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Research and Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Results: Mean age of presentation was 54.71 ± 19.90 years. Majority were male 1242 (79.5% and rest were females. Most patients had ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI 995 (63.7% followed by unstable angina (UA 390 (25% and non-STEMI (NSTEMI 177 (11.3%. Risk factors; smoking was present in 770 (49.3%, hypertension in 628 (40.2%, diabetes in 578 (37%, and obesity in (29.64% patients. Angiography was done in 1443 (92.38% patients. left anterior descending was most commonly involved, left main (LM coronary artery was least common with near similar frequency of right coronary artery and left circumflex involvement among all three groups of ACS patients. Single-vessel disease was present in 168 (45.28% UA, 94 (56.29% NSTEMI and 468 (51.71% STEMI patients. Double-vessel disease was present in 67 (18.08% UA, 25 (14.97% NSTEMI and 172 (19.01% STEMI patients. Triple vessel disease was present in 28 (7.55% UA, 16 (9.58% NSTEMI, 72 (7.95% STEMI patients. LM disease was present in 12 (3.23% UA, 2 (1.19% NSTEMI and 9 (0.99% STEMI patients. Complications; ventricular septal rupture occurred in 3 (0.2%, free wall rupture in 2 (0.1%, cardiogenic shock in 45 (2.9%, severe mitral regurgitation in 3 (0.2%, complete heart block in 11 (0.7% patients. Total 124 (7.9% patients died in hospital after 2.1 ± 1.85 days of admission. Conclusion: STEMI was most common presentation. ACS occurred a decade earlier in comparison to Western population. Smoking was most prevalent

Chromosomal abnormalities in a psychiatric population

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lewis, K.E.; Lubetsky, M.J.; Wenger, S.L.; Steele, M.W. [Univ. of Pittsburgh Medical Center, PA (United States)

1995-02-27

Over a 3.5 year period of time, 345 patients hospitalized for psychiatric problems were evaluated cytogenetically. The patient population included 76% males and 94% children with a mean age of 12 years. The criteria for testing was an undiagnosed etiology for mental retardation and/or autism. Cytogenetic studies identified 11, or 3%, with abnormal karyotypes, including 4 fragile X positive individuals (2 males, 2 females), and 8 with chromosomal aneuploidy, rearrangements, or deletions. While individuals with chromosomal abnormalities do not demonstrate specific behavioral, psychiatric, or developmental problems relative to other psychiatric patients, our results demonstrate the need for an increased awareness to order chromosomal analysis and fragile X testing in those individuals who have combinations of behavioral/psychiatric, learning, communication, or cognitive disturbance. 5 refs., 1 fig., 2 tabs.

Nature-assisted rehabilitation for reactions to severe stress and/or depression in a rehabilitation garden: long-term follow-up including comparisons with a matched population-based reference cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Währborg, Peter; Petersson, Ingemar F; Grahn, Patrik

2014-03-01

To determine the effect of a nature-assisted rehabilitation programme in a group of patients with reactions to severe stress and/or mild to moderate depression. Changes in sick-leave status and healthcare consumption in these patients were compared with those in a matched population-based reference cohort (treatment as usual). Retrospective cohort study with a matched reference group from the general population. A total of 118 participants referred to a nature-assisted rehabilitation programme, and 678 controls recruited from the Skåne Health Care Register. For both groups, information on sick leave was extracted from the National Social Insurance Register and on healthcare consumption data from the Skåne Health Care Register. The interventional rehabilitation programme was designed as a multimodal programme involving professionals from horticulture and medicine. The programme was conducted in a rehabilitation garden, designed especially for this purpose. A significant reduction in healthcare consumption was noted among participants in the programme compared with the reference population. The main changes were a reduction in outpatient visits to primary healthcare and a reduction in inpatient psychiatric care. No significant difference in sick-leave status was found. A structured, nature-based rehabilitation programme for patients with reactions to severe stress and/or depression could be beneficial, as reflected in reduced healthcare consumption.

Appendicectomies in Albanians in Greece: outcomes in a highly mobile immigrant patient population

Science.gov (United States)

2001-01-01

Background Albanian immigrants in Greece comprise a highly mobile population with unknown health care profile. We aimed to assess whether these immigrants were more or less likely to undergo laparotomy for suspected appendicitis with negative findings (negative appendicectomy), by performing a controlled study with individual (1:4) matching. We used data from 6 hospitals in the Greek prefecture of Epirus that is bordering Albania. Results Among a total of 2027 non-incidental appendicectomies for suspected appendicitis performed in 1994-1999, 30 patients with Albanian names were matched (for age, sex, time of operation and hospital) to 120 patients with Greek names. The odds for a negative appendicectomy were 3.4-fold higher (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.24-9.31, p = 0.02) in Albanian immigrants than in matched Greek-name subjects. The difference was most prominent in men (odds ratio 20.0, 95% CI, 1.41-285, p = 0.02) while it was not formally significant in women (odds ratio 1.56, 95% CI, 0.44-5.48). The odds for perforation were 1.25-fold higher in Albanian-name immigrants than in Greek-name patients (95% CI 0.44- 3.57). Conclusions Albanian immigrants in Greece are at high risk for negative appendicectomies. Socioeconomic, cultural and language parameters underlying health care inequalities in highly mobile immigrant populations need better study. PMID:11472640

Model for prognostication of population irradiation dose at the soil way of long-living radionuclides including in food chains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prister, B.S.; Vinogradskaya, V.D.

2009-01-01

On the basis of modern pictures of cesium and strontium ion absorption mechanisms a soil taking complex was build the kinetic model of radionuclide migration from soil to plants. Model parameter association with the agricultural chemistry properties of soil, represented by complex estimation of soil properties S e f. The example of model application for prognostication of population internal irradiation dose due to consumption of milk at the soil way of long-living radionuclides including in food chains

Predictive power of the grace score in population with diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Baeza-Román, Anna; de Miguel-Balsa, Eva; Latour-Pérez, Jaime; Carrillo-López, Andrés

2017-12-01

Current clinical practice guidelines recommend risk stratification in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) upon admission to hospital. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is widely recognized as an independent predictor of mortality in these patients, although it is not included in the GRACE risk score. The objective of this study is to validate the GRACE risk score in a contemporary population and particularly in the subgroup of patients with diabetes, and to test the effects of including the DM variable in the model. Retrospective cohort study in patients included in the ARIAM-SEMICYUC registry, with a diagnosis of ACS and with available in-hospital mortality data. We tested the predictive power of the GRACE score, calculating the area under the ROC curve. We assessed the calibration of the score and the predictive ability based on type of ACS and the presence of DM. Finally, we evaluated the effect of including the DM variable in the model by calculating the net reclassification improvement. The GRACE score shows good predictive power for hospital mortality in the study population, with a moderate degree of calibration and no significant differences based on ACS type or the presence of DM. Including DM as a variable did not add any predictive value to the GRACE model. The GRACE score has an appropriate predictive power, with good calibration and clinical applicability in the subgroup of diabetic patients. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evidence of recombination in Hepatitis C Virus populations infecting a hemophiliac patient

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Cristina Juan

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background/Aim Hepatitis C virus (HCV infection is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in patients affected by hereditary bleeding disorders. HCV, as others RNA virus, exploit all possible mechanisms of genetic variation to ensure their survival, such as recombination and mutation. In order to gain insight into the genetic variability of HCV virus strains circulating in hemophiliac patients, we have performed a phylogenetic analysis of HCV strains isolated from 10 patients with this kind of pathology. Methods Putative recombinant sequence was identified with the use of GARD program. Statistical support for the presence of a recombination event was done by the use of LARD program. Results A new intragenotypic recombinant strain (1b/1a was detected in 1 out of the 10 hemophiliac patient studied. The recombination event was located at position 387 of the HCV genome (relative to strain AF009606, sub-type 1a corresponding to the core gene region. Conclusion Although recombination may not appear to be common among natural populations of HCV it should be considered as a possible mechanism for generating genetic diversity in hemophiliacs patients.

Mortality among patients with cleared hepatitis C virus infection compared to the general population

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Omland, Lars Haukali; Christensen, Peer Brehm; Krarup, Henrik Bygum

2011-01-01

The increased mortality in HCV-infected individuals partly stems from viral damage to the liver and partly from risk-taking behaviours. We examined mortality in patients who cleared their HCV-infection, comparing it to that of the general population. We also addressed the question whether prognosis...

Effect of excess iodine intake on thyroid diseases in different populations: A systematic review and meta-analyses including observational studies.

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Ryoko Katagiri

Full Text Available Although several reports concerning the association of iodine excess and thyroid disease have appeared, no systematic review of the association between iodine excess intake and thyroid diseases, especially hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism, has yet been reported.We conducted a systematic search of Ovid MEDLINE, PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases, Ichushi-Web and CiNii database for intervention trials and observational studies. Search terms were constructed from related words for excess AND iodine intake or excretion AND thyroid hormones or diseases AND study designs. After considering the qualitative heterogeneity among studies, a meta-analysis was conducted and odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI were estimated in random-effects models. A protocol was registered with PROSPERO (No. CRD42015028081.50 articles were included, including three intervention trials, six case-control studies, six follow-up studies and 35 cross-sectional studies. Three cross-sectional studies in adults included in meta-analysis. Odds ratio of overt and subclinical hypothyroidism between excess and adequate populations were 2.78 (CI:1.47 to 5.27 and 2.03 (CI:1.58 to 2.62 in adults, respectively. Source of excess iodine status was mainly iodized salt or water in included studies.Although universal salt iodization has improved goiter rates, chronic exposure to excess iodine from water or poorly monitored salt are risk factors for hypothyroidism in free-living populations. Monitoring of both iodine concentration in salt as well as the iodine concentration in local drinking water are essential to preventing thyroid diseases. Hypothyroidism should be also carefully monitored in areas with excess iodine. Because of the low quality and limited number of included studies, further evidence and review are required.

Stroke Risk among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Zhejiang: A Population-Based Prospective Study in China

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Lihua Guo

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. This study aimed to explore the incidence of stroke and stroke subtypes among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM based on the long-term surveillance data in Zhejiang, China, during 2007 to 2013. Materials and Methods. During January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2013, a total of 327,268 T2DM and 307,984 stroke patients were registered on Diabetes and Stroke Surveillance System, respectively. Stroke subtypes were classified according to standard definitions of subarachnoid hemorrhage, intracerebral hemorrhage, and ischemic stroke. The incidence of stroke and stroke subtypes was calculated by standardized incidence ratio (SIRs with 95% confidence intervals (CIs compared with general population. Results. The incidence of stroke and stroke subtypes among patients with T2DM was significantly higher than in general population. Stroke risk was found significantly increased with an SIR of 3.87 (95% CI 3.76–3.99 and 3.38 (95% CI 3.27–3.48 in females and males, respectively. The excess risk of stroke was mainly attributable to the significantly higher risk of cerebral infarctions with the risk for T2DM being four times that for general population. Conclusions. The relationship between stroke and T2DM was strong, especially in female. The incidence of stroke and stroke subtypes among patients with T2DM was up to 3-fold higher than in general population in Zhejiang province, especially the subtype of cerebral infarctions.

Risk of lung cancer in patients with gastro-esophageal reflux disease: a population-based cohort study

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Chi-Kuei Hsu

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This large-scale, controlled cohort study estimated the risks of lung cancer in patients with gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD in Taiwan. We conducted this population-based study using data from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan during the period from 1997 to 2010. Patients with GERD were diagnosed using endoscopy, and controls were matched to patients with GERD at a ratio of 1:4. We identified 15,412 patients with GERD and 60,957 controls. Compared with the controls, the patients with GERD had higher rates of osteoporosis, diabetes mellitus, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, bronchiectasis, depression, anxiety, hypertension, dyslipidemia, chronic liver disease, congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation, stroke, chronic kidney disease, and coronary artery disease (all P < .05. A total of 85 patients had lung cancer among patients with GERD during the follow-up of 42,555 person-years, and the rate of lung cancer was 0.0020 per person-year. By contrast, 232 patients had lung cancer among patients without GERD during the follow-up of 175,319 person-years, and the rate of lung cancer was 0.0013 per person-year. By using stepwise Cox regression model, the overall incidence of lung cancer remained significantly higher in the patients with GERD than in the controls (hazard ratio, 1.53; 95% CI [1.19–1.98]. The cumulative incidence of lung cancer was higher in the patients with GERD than in the controls (P = .0012. In conclusion, our large population-based cohort study provides evidence that GERD may increase the risk of lung cancer in Asians.

Sick leave in patients with ankylosing spondylitis before and after anti-TNF therapy: a population-based cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kristensen, Lars E; Petersson, Ingemar F; Geborek, Pierre; Jöud, Anna; Saxne, Tore; Jacobsson, Lennart T H; Englund, Martin

2012-02-01

To study levels of sick leave and disability pension before and after TNF-antagonist therapy in AS patients. Using the population-based South Swedish Arthritis Treatment Group register, we identified 139 AS patients (aged 18-58 years, 78% men), who between January 2002 and December 2008 started their first treatment with adalimumab, etanercept or infliximab. We linked data to the payment register by the Swedish Social Insurance Agency and calculated the proportion on sick leave in 30-day intervals from 12 months before treatment start until 12 months after. For each AS patient, we randomly selected four subjects from the general population matched for age, sex and area of residence. One to 3 months before treatment, an average of 24% of AS patients were on sick leave. During the first 6 months after treatment start, this fraction dropped to 15%, and further declined to 12% at 12 months (P patients with the general population, the relative risk of being on sick leave 3 months before treatment, treatment start and 12 months after treatment start was 8.0 (95% CI 4.6, 13.9), 9.2 (95% CI 5.4, 15.7) and 4.0 (95% CI 2.1, 6.3), respectively. The decrease in sick leave was not substantially offset by changes in disability pension. There is a decline in sick leave during the first 12 months after initiation of TNF-antagonist treatment in AS patients not explained by societal factors or secular trends. The proportion of AS patients on disability pension remained unchanged during the observation period.

Gorlin-Goltz syndrome: A case series of 5 patients in North Indian population with comparative analysis of literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Lata, Jeevan; Verma, Nitin; Kaur, Amandeep

2015-09-01

In Indian scenario, Gorlin-Goltz syndrome (nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome [NBCCS]) has been rarely reported. The clinical, radiological, and histopathological findings and major and minor criteria in five cases of NBCCS in North Indian population have been presented along with a discussion of the role of gene mutation analysis in early diagnosis of syndrome. The diagnostic findings of Gorlin-Goltz syndrome in 5 patients were compared with other reports in Indian population and with reports of this syndrome in other parts of the world. The most common features seen were keratocystic odontogenic tumors (100%), calcifications of falx cerebri (60%), palmar-plantar pits (80%), rib anomalies (80%), macroencephaly (60%), ocular hypertelorism (80%), and frontal bossing (60%) in our series. Retained deciduous teeth seen in 80% patients whose association has not been previously reported has been presented. None of our patients had basal cell carcinoma, syndactyly or polydactyly, pectus deformity, bridging of sella turcica, pigmented nevi, or family history of this syndrome in contrast to such findings in other Indian patients. Medulloblastoma has not been reported in any Indian patient so far compared to this finding in other studies conducted worldwide. Combining the features of 48 patients in 38 cases of NBCCS being published in Indian literature with five cases of our series and on comparison with other studies in the world, a wide disparity in different ethnic groups and a wide variation in presentation of syndrome within the same population is suggested.

Development and Implementation of Team-Based Panel Management Tools: Filling the Gap between Patient and Population Information Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Watts, Brook; Lawrence, Renée H; Drawz, Paul; Carter, Cameron; Shumaker, Amy Hirsch; Kern, Elizabeth F

2016-08-01

Effective team-based models of care, such as the Patient-Centered Medical Home, require electronic tools to support proactive population management strategies that emphasize care coordination and quality improvement. Despite the spread of electronic health records (EHRs) and vendors marketing population health tools, clinical practices still may lack the ability to have: (1) local control over types of data collected/reports generated, (2) timely data (eg, up-to-date data, not several months old), and accordingly (3) the ability to efficiently monitor and improve patient outcomes. This article describes a quality improvement project at the hospital system level to develop and implement a flexible panel management (PM) tool to improve care of subpopulations of patients (eg, panels of patients with diabetes) by clinical teams. An in-depth case analysis approach is used to explore barriers and facilitators in building a PM registry tool for team-based management needs using standard data elements (eg, laboratory values, pharmacy records) found in EHRs. Also described are factors that may contribute to sustainability; to date the tool has been adapted to 6 disease-focused subpopulations encompassing more than 200,000 patients. Two key lessons emerged from this initiative: (1) though challenging, team-based clinical end users and information technology needed to work together consistently to refine the product, and (2) locally developed population management tools can provide efficient data tracking for frontline clinical teams and leadership. The preliminary work identified critical gaps that were successfully addressed by building local PM registry tools from EHR-derived data and offers lessons learned for others engaged in similar work. (Population Health Management 2016;19:232-239).

Students' Learning Experiences from Didactic Teaching Sessions Including Patient Case Examples as Either Text or Video: A Qualitative Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Pedersen, Kamilla; Moeller, Martin Holdgaard; Paltved, Charlotte; Mors, Ole; Ringsted, Charlotte; Morcke, Anne Mette

2017-10-06

The aim of this study was to explore medical students' learning experiences from the didactic teaching formats using either text-based patient cases or video-based patient cases with similar content. The authors explored how the two different patient case formats influenced students' perceptions of psychiatric patients and students' reflections on meeting and communicating with psychiatric patients. The authors conducted group interviews with 30 medical students who volunteered to participate in interviews and applied inductive thematic content analysis to the transcribed interviews. Students taught with text-based patient cases emphasized excitement and drama towards the personal clinical narratives presented by the teachers during the course, but never referred to the patient cases. Authority and boundary setting were regarded as important in managing patients. Students taught with video-based patient cases, in contrast, often referred to the patient cases when highlighting new insights, including the importance of patient perspectives when communicating with patients. The format of patient cases included in teaching may have a substantial impact on students' patient-centeredness. Video-based patient cases are probably more effective than text-based patient cases in fostering patient-centered perspectives in medical students. Teachers sharing stories from their own clinical experiences stimulates both engagement and excitement, but may also provoke unintended stigma and influence an authoritative approach in medical students towards managing patients in clinical psychiatry.

Specific balance training included in an endurance-resistance exercise program improves postural balance in elderly patients undergoing haemodialysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Frih, Bechir; Mkacher, Wajdi; Jaafar, Hamdi; Frih, Ameur; Ben Salah, Zohra; El May, Mezry; Hammami, Mohamed

2018-04-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of 6 months of specific balance training included in endurance-resistance program on postural balance in haemodialysis (HD) patients. Forty-nine male patients undergoing HD were randomly assigned to an intervention group (balance training included in an endurance-resistance training, n = 26) or a control group (resistance-endurance training only, n = 23). Postural control was assessed using six clinical tests; Timed Up and Go test, Tinetti Mobility Test, Berg Balance Scale, Unipodal Stance test, Mini-Balance Evaluation Systems Test and Activities Balance Confidence scale. All balance measures increased significantly after the period of rehabilitation training in the intervention group. Only the Timed Up and Go, Berg Balance Scale, Mini-Balance Evaluation Systems Test and Activities Balance Confidence scores were improved in the control group. The ranges of change in these tests were greater in the balance training group. In HD patients, specific balance training included in a usual endurance-resistance training program improves static and dynamic balance better than endurance-resistance training only. Implications for rehabilitation Rehabilitation using exercise in haemodialysis patients improved global mobility and functional abilities. Specific balance training included in usual endurance resistance training program could lead to improved static and dynamic balance.

Molecular epidemiology and dynamics of Pseudomonas aeruginosa populations in lungs of cystic fibrosis patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jelsbak, Lars; Johansen, Helle Krogh; Frost, Anne Louise Viborg

2007-01-01

The ability to establish lifelong persistent infections is a fundamental aspect of the interactions between many pathogenic microorganisms and their mammalian hosts. One example is chronic lung infections by the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients....... This infection process is associated with extensive genetic adaptation and microevolution of the infecting bacteria. Through investigations of P. aeruginosa populations and infection dynamics in a group of CF patients followed at the Danish CF Clinic in Copenhagen, we have identified two distinct and dominant...

Applying the WHO conceptual framework for the International Classification for Patient Safety to a surgical population.

Science.gov (United States)

McElroy, L M; Woods, D M; Yanes, A F; Skaro, A I; Daud, A; Curtis, T; Wymore, E; Holl, J L; Abecassis, M M; Ladner, D P

2016-04-01

Efforts to improve patient safety are challenged by the lack of universally agreed upon terms. The International Classification for Patient Safety (ICPS) was developed by the World Health Organization for this purpose. This study aimed to test the applicability of the ICPS to a surgical population. A web-based safety debriefing was sent to clinicians involved in surgical care of abdominal organ transplant patients. A multidisciplinary team of patient safety experts, surgeons and researchers used the data to develop a system of classification based on the ICPS. Disagreements were reconciled via consensus, and a codebook was developed for future use by researchers. A total of 320 debriefing responses were used for the initial review and codebook development. In total, the 320 debriefing responses contained 227 patient safety incidents (range: 0-7 per debriefing) and 156 contributing factors/hazards (0-5 per response). The most common severity classification was 'reportable circumstance,' followed by 'near miss.' The most common incident types were 'resources/organizational management,' followed by 'medical device/equipment.' Several aspects of surgical care were encompassed by more than one classification, including operating room scheduling, delays in care, trainee-related incidents, interruptions and handoffs. This study demonstrates that a framework for patient safety can be applied to facilitate the organization and analysis of surgical safety data. Several unique aspects of surgical care require consideration, and by using a standardized framework for describing concepts, research findings can be compared and disseminated across surgical specialties. The codebook is intended for use as a framework for other specialties and institutions. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care; all rights reserved.

Population structure analyses of Staphylococcus aureus at Tygerberg Hospital, South Africa, reveals a diverse population, a high prevalence of Panton-Valentine leukocidin genes, and unique local methicillin-resistant S. aureus clones

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oosthuysen, W. F.; Orth, H.; Lombard, C. J.; Sinha, B.; Wasserman, E.

Studies reporting on the population structure of Staphylococcus aureus in South Africa have focused only on methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). This study describes the population structure of S. aureus, including methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) isolated from patients at Tygerberg

Antibody isotypes, including IgG subclasses, in Ecuadorian patients with pulmonary Paragonimiasis

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Angel Guevara E.

1995-08-01

Full Text Available An ELISA test was developed to detect Paragonimus-specific antibodies, including IgG subclasses, using P. mexicanus crude water-soluble antigens. The test was standardized to detect antibodies in sera of Ecuadorian patients with pulmonary paragonimiasis and negative controls from the endemic area. The detected mean levels of IgG (0.753, SEM: 0.074 and IgM (0.303, SEM: 0.033 were significantly elevated (P<0.05. Within the IgG subclasses, IgG4 showed the highest detected mean level (0.365, SEM: 0.116 and the other three subclasses showed considerably lower mean levels (IgG1, 0.186 SEM: 0.06; IgG2, 0.046 SEM: 0.01; IgG3, 0.123 SEM: 0.047. The number of P. mexicanus eggs found in sputum of infected individuals showed a positive correlation with the level of antibodies detected for IgM, IgG and its subclasses (P<0.001. The relevance of these findings in Ecuadorian patients suffering from pulmonary paragonimiasis is discussed.

Risk of cancer among HIV-infected individuals compared to the background population

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Helleberg, Marie; Gerstoft, Jan; Afzal, Shoaib

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: The relative impact of immune deficiency and lifestyle-related factors on risk of cancer in the HIV-infected population is controversial. We aimed to estimate the population-attributable fractions (PAFs) associated with smoking, being HIV-infected and with immune deficiency. METHODS...... of cancer associated with smoking and with being HIV-infected were 27 and 49%, respectively. For cancers not strongly related to smoking or viral infections, the PAFs associated with being HIV-infected and with immune deficiency were 0%. CONCLUSION: The risk of cancer is increased in HIV patients compared......: In a Danish, nationwide, population-based cohort study (1995-2011), incidences of cancer were compared between an HIV-infected cohort and a population-based matched cohort in analyses stratified on cancer category, smoking status and for HIV patients: low CD4 cell count. RESULTS: We included 3503 HIV patients...

Phytophthora have distinct endogenous small RNA populations that include short interfering and microRNAs.

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Noah Fahlgren

Full Text Available In eukaryotes, RNA silencing pathways utilize 20-30-nucleotide small RNAs to regulate gene expression, specify and maintain chromatin structure, and repress viruses and mobile genetic elements. RNA silencing was likely present in the common ancestor of modern eukaryotes, but most research has focused on plant and animal RNA silencing systems. Phytophthora species belong to a phylogenetically distinct group of economically important plant pathogens that cause billions of dollars in yield losses annually as well as ecologically devastating outbreaks. We analyzed the small RNA-generating components of the genomes of P. infestans, P. sojae and P. ramorum using bioinformatics, genetic, phylogenetic and high-throughput sequencing-based methods. Each species produces two distinct populations of small RNAs that are predominantly 21- or 25-nucleotides long. The 25-nucleotide small RNAs were primarily derived from loci encoding transposable elements and we propose that these small RNAs define a pathway of short-interfering RNAs that silence repetitive genetic elements. The 21-nucleotide small RNAs were primarily derived from inverted repeats, including a novel microRNA family that is conserved among the three species, and several gene families, including Crinkler effectors and type III fibronectins. The Phytophthora microRNA is predicted to target a family of amino acid/auxin permeases, and we propose that 21-nucleotide small RNAs function at the post-transcriptional level. The functional significance of microRNA-guided regulation of amino acid/auxin permeases and the association of 21-nucleotide small RNAs with Crinkler effectors remains unclear, but this work provides a framework for testing the role of small RNAs in Phytophthora biology and pathogenesis in future work.

Phytophthora have distinct endogenous small RNA populations that include short interfering and microRNAs.

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Fahlgren, Noah; Bollmann, Stephanie R; Kasschau, Kristin D; Cuperus, Josh T; Press, Caroline M; Sullivan, Christopher M; Chapman, Elisabeth J; Hoyer, J Steen; Gilbert, Kerrigan B; Grünwald, Niklaus J; Carrington, James C

2013-01-01

In eukaryotes, RNA silencing pathways utilize 20-30-nucleotide small RNAs to regulate gene expression, specify and maintain chromatin structure, and repress viruses and mobile genetic elements. RNA silencing was likely present in the common ancestor of modern eukaryotes, but most research has focused on plant and animal RNA silencing systems. Phytophthora species belong to a phylogenetically distinct group of economically important plant pathogens that cause billions of dollars in yield losses annually as well as ecologically devastating outbreaks. We analyzed the small RNA-generating components of the genomes of P. infestans, P. sojae and P. ramorum using bioinformatics, genetic, phylogenetic and high-throughput sequencing-based methods. Each species produces two distinct populations of small RNAs that are predominantly 21- or 25-nucleotides long. The 25-nucleotide small RNAs were primarily derived from loci encoding transposable elements and we propose that these small RNAs define a pathway of short-interfering RNAs that silence repetitive genetic elements. The 21-nucleotide small RNAs were primarily derived from inverted repeats, including a novel microRNA family that is conserved among the three species, and several gene families, including Crinkler effectors and type III fibronectins. The Phytophthora microRNA is predicted to target a family of amino acid/auxin permeases, and we propose that 21-nucleotide small RNAs function at the post-transcriptional level. The functional significance of microRNA-guided regulation of amino acid/auxin permeases and the association of 21-nucleotide small RNAs with Crinkler effectors remains unclear, but this work provides a framework for testing the role of small RNAs in Phytophthora biology and pathogenesis in future work.

Phytophthora Have Distinct Endogenous Small RNA Populations That Include Short Interfering and microRNAs

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Fahlgren, Noah; Bollmann, Stephanie R.; Kasschau, Kristin D.; Cuperus, Josh T.; Press, Caroline M.; Sullivan, Christopher M.; Chapman, Elisabeth J.; Hoyer, J. Steen; Gilbert, Kerrigan B.; Grünwald, Niklaus J.; Carrington, James C.

2013-01-01

In eukaryotes, RNA silencing pathways utilize 20-30-nucleotide small RNAs to regulate gene expression, specify and maintain chromatin structure, and repress viruses and mobile genetic elements. RNA silencing was likely present in the common ancestor of modern eukaryotes, but most research has focused on plant and animal RNA silencing systems. Phytophthora species belong to a phylogenetically distinct group of economically important plant pathogens that cause billions of dollars in yield losses annually as well as ecologically devastating outbreaks. We analyzed the small RNA-generating components of the genomes of P. infestans, P. sojae and P. ramorum using bioinformatics, genetic, phylogenetic and high-throughput sequencing-based methods. Each species produces two distinct populations of small RNAs that are predominantly 21- or 25-nucleotides long. The 25-nucleotide small RNAs were primarily derived from loci encoding transposable elements and we propose that these small RNAs define a pathway of short-interfering RNAs that silence repetitive genetic elements. The 21-nucleotide small RNAs were primarily derived from inverted repeats, including a novel microRNA family that is conserved among the three species, and several gene families, including Crinkler effectors and type III fibronectins. The Phytophthora microRNA is predicted to target a family of amino acid/auxin permeases, and we propose that 21-nucleotide small RNAs function at the post-transcriptional level. The functional significance of microRNA-guided regulation of amino acid/auxin permeases and the association of 21-nucleotide small RNAs with Crinkler effectors remains unclear, but this work provides a framework for testing the role of small RNAs in Phytophthora biology and pathogenesis in future work. PMID:24204767

Prevalence and demographic determinants of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in the Turkish general population: a population-based cross-sectional study.

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Mungan, Zeynel

2012-08-01

We aimed to establish the prevalence and demographic determinants of gastroesophageal reflux disease in the Turkish general population using the Turkish version of the gastroesophageal reflux disease questionnaire. A total of 8143 volunteers (mean age: 38.5 (13.3) years; 52.3% males) were included in this cross-sectional questionnaire study conducted via face-to-face administration of the questionnaire forms including items on sociodemographic features, past history of gastric disorders, gastroesophageal reflux disease, the influence of reflux symptoms on patients' lives, physician visits, diagnostic tests, and reflux medications. A past history of gastric symptoms was reported in half of the population. More female participants (p<0.001) had a past history of gastric symptoms that yielded a previous diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux disease in 19.1% of the population. The likelihood of gastroesophageal reflux disease was low in the majority (75.3%) of the subjects evaluated. Gastroesophageal reflux disease with an inconveniencing or disrupting impact on the patient's life was present in 17.9% and 6.8% of the population. Total gastroesophageal reflux disease-questionnaire scores and reflux prevalence were higher in older age groups (p<0.001). Females were more likely to have gastroesophageal reflux disease prevalence based on reflux symptoms. The impact of gastroesophageal reflux disease on sleep and psychological/emotional well-being was more pronounced in older and female patients, whereas the impact on eating/drinking behaviors and physical-social activities was more marked among females independent of their age (p<0.001). Reflux prevalence was higher in subjects from East Anatolia, Central Anatolia, Mediterranean, and Black Sea regions of Turkey (p<0.001 for each). Prevalence and demographic determinants of gastroesophageal reflux disease are compatible with the profile of the disease in the other Western populations, with a predilection for females and

Perception of the etiology of illness: causal attributions in a heart patient population.

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Koslowsky, M; Croog, S H; La Voie, L

1978-10-01

This study examined perceived causes of myocardial infarction in a patient population of 345 men previously free from significant medical problems. Investigation of their perceptions following the life-threatening illness crisis indicated that stress and tension factors were the causes most commonly cited. Possible social and psychological correlates are analyzed using an attribution theory framework, and their implications are discussed.

Survey indicated that core outcome set development is increasingly including patients, being conducted internationally and using Delphi surveys.

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Biggane, Alice M; Brading, Lucy; Ravaud, Philippe; Young, Bridget; Williamson, Paula R

2018-02-17

There are numerous challenges in including patients in a core outcome set (COS) study, these can vary depending on the patient group. This study describes current efforts to include patients in the development of COS, with the aim of identifying areas for further improvement and study. Using the COMET database, corresponding authors of COS projects registered or published from 1 January 2013 to 2 February 2017 were invited via a personalised email to participate in a short online survey. The survey and emails were constructed to maximise the response rate by following the academic literature on enhancing survey responses. Personalised reminder emails were sent to non-responders. This survey explored the frequency of patient input in COS studies, who was involved, what methods were used and whether or not the COS development was international. One hundred and ninety-two COS developers were sent the survey. Responses were collected from 21 February 2017 until 7 May 2017. One hundred and forty-six unique developers responded, yielding a 76% response rate and data in relation to 195 unique COSs (as some developers had worked on multiple COSs). Of focus here are their responses regarding 162 COSs at the published, completed or ongoing stages of development. Inclusion of patient participants was indicated in 87% (141/162) of COSs in the published completed or ongoing stages and over 94% (65/69) of ongoing COS projects. Nearly half (65/135) of COSs included patient participants from two or more countries and 22% (30/135) included patient participants from five or more countries. The Delphi survey was reported as being used singularly or in combination with other methods in 85% (119/140) of projects. Almost a quarter (16/65) of ongoing studies reported using a combination of qualitative interviews, Delphi survey and consensus meeting. These findings indicated that the Delphi survey is the most popular method of facilitating patient participation, while the combination of

Intensive Care Management of Thoracic Aortic Surgical Patients, Including Thoracic and Infradiaphragmatic Endovascular Repair (EVAR/TEVAR).

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Cole, Sheela Pai

2015-12-01

The patient with thoracic aortic disease can present for open or endovascular repair. Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) has emerged as a minimally invasive option for a multitude of aortic pathology, including dissections, aneurysms, traumatic injuries, and ulcers. Postoperative management of these patients depends on the extent of procedure, whether it was open or endovascular, and, finally, on the preoperative comorbidities present. While procedural success has catapulted TEVAR to popularity, midterm results have been mixed. Additionally, periprocedural complications such as paraplegia and renal failure remain a significant morbidity in these patients. © The Author(s) 2015.

Perceived social support and its impact on depression and health-related quality of life: a comparison between cancer patients and general population.

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Yoo, Hyosang; Shin, Dong Wook; Jeong, Ansuk; Kim, So Young; Yang, Hyung-Kook; Kim, Jun Suk; Lee, Ji Eun; Oh, Jae Hwan; Park, Eun-Cheol; Park, Keeho; Park, Jong-Hyock

2017-08-01

It is well known that cancer patients' perception of social support is associated with their depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life. However, there have been little studies that compared the variates of cancer patients with the general population. We sought to compare differences in the level of perceived social support and the impact of perceived social support on depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life between cancer survivors and the general population. Data were collected from 1818 cancer patients treated at the National Cancer Center and regional cancer centers in South Korea. The control group of the general population was composed of 2000 individuals without cancer from community. Cancer patients reported significantly higher level of perceived social support than the general population, while they reported lower health-related quality of life and were more susceptible to depression. The positive associations of higher perceived social support with lower depressive symptoms, as well as with higher health-related quality of life, were stronger among cancer patients than among the general population. The interaction effect suggests that the impact of social support would be stronger among cancer patients than the general public. Thus, it would be beneficial to pay attention to providing social support to cancer patients, particularly to those who are more vulnerable. Furthermore, investigation of the most effective and efficient methods to deliver social support interventions would be worthwhile. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Health-related quality of life of prostate cancer patients compared to the general German population: age-specific results.

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Zenger, Markus; Hinz, Andreas; Stolzenburg, Jens-Uwe; Rabenalt, Robert; Schwalenberg, Thilo; Schwarz, Reinhold

2009-01-01

The objective of this study was to examine the age-specific health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of prostate cancer patients (PCPs). 387 PCPs were asked to self-assess their HRQOL with the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire. Patients' data were compared with those of the general German population. The reported global health/QOL scores of the study group and the general German population are nearly equal. However, most of the subdomains of HRQOL are negatively affected in PCPs, especially in younger patients (

Risk of Nongenitourinary Cancers in Patients With Spinal Cord Injury: A Population-based Cohort Study.

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Kao, Chia-Hong; Sun, Li-Min; Chen, Yueh-Sheng; Lin, Cheng-Li; Liang, Ji-An; Kao, Chia-Hung; Weng, Ming-Wei

2016-01-01

Little information is available regarding the risk of nongenitourinary (GU) cancers in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). The authors conducted a nationwide population-based study to investigate whether a higher risk of non-GU cancer is seen among patients with SCI.Data retrieved from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan were used in this study. A total of 41,900 patients diagnosed with SCI between 2000 and 2011 were identified from the National Health Insurance Research Database and comprised the SCI cohort. Each of these patients was randomly frequency matched with 4 people from the general population (without SCI) according to age, sex, comorbidities, and index year. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to calculate adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals and determine how SCI affected non-GU cancer risk.No significant difference in overall non-GU cancer risk was observed between the SCI and control groups. The patients with SCI exhibited a significantly higher risk of developing esophageal, liver, and hematologic malignancies compared with those without SCI. By contrast, the SCI cohort had a significantly lower risk of colorectal cancer compared with the non-SCI cohort (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.80, 95% confidence interval = 0.69-0.93). Additional stratified analyses by sex, age, and follow-up duration revealed various correlations between SCI and non-GU cancer risk.The patients with SCI exhibited higher risk of esophageal, liver, and hematologic malignancies but a lower risk of colorectal cancer compared with those without SCI. The diverse patterns of cancer risk among the patients with SCI may be related to the complications of chronic SCI.

The prevalence of diagnosed chronic conditions and multimorbidity in Australia: A method for estimating population prevalence from general practice patient encounter data.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher Harrison

Full Text Available To estimate the prevalence of common chronic conditions and multimorbidity among patients at GP encounters and among people in the Australian population. To assess the extent to which use of each individual patient's GP attendance over the previous year, instead of the average for their age-sex group, affects the precision of national population prevalence estimates of diagnosed chronic conditions.A sub-study (between November 2012 and March 2016 of the Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health program, a continuous national study of GP activity. Each of 1,449 GPs provided data for about 30 consecutive patients (total 43,501 indicating for each, number of GP attendances in previous year and all diagnosed chronic conditions, using their knowledge of the patient, patient self-report, and patient's health record.Hypertension (26.5% was the most prevalent diagnosed chronic condition among patients surveyed, followed by osteoarthritis (22.7%, hyperlipidaemia (16.6%, depression (16.3%, anxiety (11.9%, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GORD (11.3%, chronic back pain (9.7% and Type 2 diabetes (9.6%. After adjustment, we estimated population prevalence of hypertension as 12.4%, 9.5% osteoarthritis, 8.2% hyperlipidaemia, 8.0% depression, 5.8% anxiety and 5.2% asthma. Estimates were significantly lower than those derived using the previous method. About half (51.6% the patients at GP encounters had two or more diagnosed chronic conditions and over one third (37.4% had three or more. Population estimates were: 25.7% had two or more diagnosed chronic conditions and 15.8% had three or more.Of the three approaches we have tested to date, this study provides the most accurate method for estimation of population prevalence of chronic conditions using the GP as an expert interviewer, by adjusting for each patient's reported attendance.

Social Role Participation in Patients With Ankylosing Spondylitis: A Cross-Sectional Comparison With Population Controls.

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van Genderen, Simon; Plasqui, Guy; Landewé, Robert; Lacaille, Diane; Arends, Suzanne; van Gaalen, Floris; van der Heijde, Désirée; Heuft, Liesbeth; Luime, Jolanda; Spoorenberg, Anneke; Gignac, Monique; Boonen, Annelies

2016-12-01

Participation in social roles for persons with chronic disease is important for their quality of life, but interpretation of the data on participation is difficult in the absence of a benchmark. This study aimed to compare social role participation in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) to population controls using the Social Role Participation Questionnaire (SRPQ). There were 246 AS patients and 510 population controls who completed the SRPQ, which assesses participation in 11 roles (with scores ranging 1-5) across 4 dimensions (importance, satisfaction with performance, satisfaction with time, and physical difficulty), and additionally ranked their 3 most important roles. The ranking of role importance, the SRPQ dimension scores, and the gap between importance and satisfaction with performance of roles were compared between patients and controls. Patients (62% male; mean ± SD age 51 ± 12 years) and controls (70% male; mean ± SD 42 ± 15 years) ranked intimate relationships, relationships with children/stepchildren/grandchildren, and employment as the most important roles. Compared to controls, patients gave higher scores on the SRPQ to importance (3.75 versus 3.43), but reported lower satisfaction with performance (3.19 versus 3.58) and greater physical difficulty (3.87 versus 4.67) (P ≤ 0.05 for all). The largest differences in gaps between importance and satisfaction with performance for patients compared to controls were seen in the physical leisure, hobbies, and traveling and vacation categories, in which patients assigned higher importance but reported especially low satisfaction. As society places increasing emphasis on individual responsibility to participate fully in social roles, the current data suggest that health care providers should pay more attention to participation restrictions experienced by patients with AS. © 2016, American College of Rheumatology.

Radiation dose to the esophagus from breast cancer radiation therapy, 1943-1996: an international population-based study of 414 patients.

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Lamart, Stephanie; Stovall, Marilyn; Simon, Steven L; Smith, Susan A; Weathers, Rita E; Howell, Rebecca M; Curtis, Rochelle E; Aleman, Berthe M P; Travis, Lois; Kwon, Deukwoo; Morton, Lindsay M

2013-07-15

To provide dosimetric data for an epidemiologic study on the risk of second primary esophageal cancer among breast cancer survivors, by reconstructing the radiation dose incidentally delivered to the esophagus of 414 women treated with radiation therapy for breast cancer during 1943-1996 in North America and Europe. We abstracted the radiation therapy treatment parameters from each patient's radiation therapy record. Treatment fields included direct chest wall (37% of patients), medial and lateral tangentials (45%), supraclavicular (SCV, 64%), internal mammary (IM, 44%), SCV and IM together (16%), axillary (52%), and breast/chest wall boosts (7%). The beam types used were (60)Co (45% of fields), orthovoltage (33%), megavoltage photons (11%), and electrons (10%). The population median prescribed dose to the target volume ranged from 21 Gy to 40 Gy. We reconstructed the doses over the length of the esophagus using abstracted patient data, water phantom measurements, and a computational model of the human body. Fields that treated the SCV and/or IM lymph nodes were used for 85% of the patients and delivered the highest doses within 3 regions of the esophagus: cervical (population median 38 Gy), upper thoracic (32 Gy), and middle thoracic (25 Gy). Other fields (direct chest wall, tangential, and axillary) contributed substantially lower doses (approximately 2 Gy). The cervical to middle thoracic esophagus received the highest dose because of its close proximity to the SCV and IM fields and less overlying tissue in that part of the chest. The location of the SCV field border relative to the midline was one of the most important determinants of the dose to the esophagus. Breast cancer patients in this study received relatively high incidental radiation therapy doses to the esophagus when the SCV and/or IM lymph nodes were treated, whereas direct chest wall, tangentials, and axillary fields contributed lower doses. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Warfarin Pharmacogenomics in Diverse Populations.

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Kaye, Justin B; Schultz, Lauren E; Steiner, Heidi E; Kittles, Rick A; Cavallari, Larisa H; Karnes, Jason H

2017-09-01

Genotype-guided warfarin dosing algorithms are a rational approach to optimize warfarin dosing and potentially reduce adverse drug events. Diverse populations, such as African Americans and Latinos, have greater variability in warfarin dose requirements and are at greater risk for experiencing warfarin-related adverse events compared with individuals of European ancestry. Although these data suggest that patients of diverse populations may benefit from improved warfarin dose estimation, the vast majority of literature on genotype-guided warfarin dosing, including data from prospective randomized trials, is in populations of European ancestry. Despite differing frequencies of variants by race/ethnicity, most evidence in diverse populations evaluates variants that are most common in populations of European ancestry. Algorithms that do not include variants important across race/ethnic groups are unlikely to benefit diverse populations. In some race/ethnic groups, development of race-specific or admixture-based algorithms may facilitate improved genotype-guided warfarin dosing algorithms above and beyond that seen in individuals of European ancestry. These observations should be considered in the interpretation of literature evaluating the clinical utility of genotype-guided warfarin dosing. Careful consideration of race/ethnicity and additional evidence focused on improving warfarin dosing algorithms across race/ethnic groups will be necessary for successful clinical implementation of warfarin pharmacogenomics. The evidence for warfarin pharmacogenomics has a broad significance for pharmacogenomic testing, emphasizing the consideration of race/ethnicity in discovery of gene-drug pairs and development of clinical recommendations for pharmacogenetic testing. © 2017 Pharmacotherapy Publications, Inc.

Neurons derived from patients with bipolar disorder divide into intrinsically different sub-populations of neurons, predicting the patients' responsiveness to lithium.

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Stern, S; Santos, R; Marchetto, M C; Mendes, A P D; Rouleau, G A; Biesmans, S; Wang, Q-W; Yao, J; Charnay, P; Bang, A G; Alda, M; Gage, F H

2017-02-28

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a progressive psychiatric disorder with more than 3% prevalence worldwide. Affected individuals experience recurrent episodes of depression and mania, disrupting normal life and increasing the risk of suicide greatly. The complexity and genetic heterogeneity of psychiatric disorders have challenged the development of animal and cellular models. We recently reported that hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) neurons differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived fibroblasts of BD patients are electrophysiologically hyperexcitable. Here we used iPSCs derived from Epstein-Barr virus-immortalized B-lymphocytes to verify that the hyperexcitability of DG-like neurons is reproduced in this different cohort of patients and cells. Lymphocytes are readily available for research with a large number of banked lines with associated patient clinical description. We used whole-cell patch-clamp recordings of over 460 neurons to characterize neurons derived from control individuals and BD patients. Extensive functional analysis showed that intrinsic cell parameters are very different between the two groups of BD neurons, those derived from lithium (Li)-responsive (LR) patients and those derived from Li-non-responsive (NR) patients, which led us to partition our BD neurons into two sub-populations of cells and suggested two different subdisorders. Training a Naïve Bayes classifier with the electrophysiological features of patients whose responses to Li are known allows for accurate classification with more than 92% success rate for a new patient whose response to Li is unknown. Despite their very different functional profiles, both populations of neurons share a large, fast after-hyperpolarization (AHP). We therefore suggest that the large, fast AHP is a key feature of BD and a main contributor to the fast, sustained spiking abilities of BD neurons. Confirming our previous report with fibroblast-derived DG neurons, chronic Li treatment reduced

Predictors of suicide in the patient population admitted to a locked-door psychiatric acute ward.

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Roar Fosse

Full Text Available No prior study appears to have focused on predictors of suicide in the general patient population admitted to psychiatric acute wards. We used a case-control design to investigate the association between suicide risk factors assessed systematically at admission to a locked-door psychiatric acute ward in Norway and subsequent death by suicide.From 2008 to 2013, patients were routinely assessed for suicide risk upon admission to the acute ward with a 17-item check list based on recommendations from the Norwegian Directorate of Health and Social Affairs. Among 1976 patients admitted to the ward, 40 patients, 22 men and 18 women, completed suicide within December 2014.Compared to a matched control group (n = 120, after correction for multiple tests, suicide completers scored significantly higher on two items on the check list: presence of suicidal thoughts and wishing to be dead. An additional four items were significant in non-corrected tests: previous suicide attempts, continuity of suicidal thoughts, having a suicide plan, and feelings of hopelessness, indifference, and/or aggression. A brief scale based on these six items was the only variable associated with suicide in multivariate regression analysis, but its predictive value was poor.Suicide specific ideations may be the most central risk markers for suicide in the general patient population admitted to psychiatric acute wards. However, a low predictive value may question the utility of assessing suicide risk.

Redefining high-risk patients with stage II colon cancer by risk index and microRNA-21: results from a population-based cohort

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, T F; Kjær-Frifeldt, S; Christensen, R D

2014-01-01

Background:The aim of the present study was to analyse the prognostic value of microRNA-21 (miRNA-21) in patients with stage II colon cancer aiming at a risk index for this group of patients.Methods:A population-based cohort of 554 patients was included. MicroRNA-21 was analysed by qPCR based...... on tumour tissue. An index was created using the coefficients obtained from a collective multiple Cox regression. The entire procedure was cross-validated (10-fold). The performance of the index was quantified by time-dependent receiver operating characteristics curves.Results:High miRNA-21 expression...... was associated with an unfavourable recurrence-free cancer-specific survival (RF-CSS), hazard ratio 1.35 (95% confidence interval, 1.03-1.76) (P=0.028). The generated RF-CSS index divided the traditional high-risk patients into subgroups with 5-year RF-CSS rates of 87% and 73%, respectively (P...

Optimisation of the dosage of tranexamic acid in trauma patients with population pharmacokinetic analysis.

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Grassin-Delyle, S; Theusinger, O M; Albrecht, R; Mueller, S; Spahn, D R; Urien, S; Stein, P

2018-06-01

Tranexamic acid is used both pre-hospital and in-hospital as an antifibrinolytic drug to treat or prevent hyperfibrinolysis in trauma patients; dosing, however, remains empirical. We aimed to measure plasma levels of tranexamic acid in patients receiving pre-hospital anti-hyperfibrinolytic therapy and to build a population pharmacokinetic model to propose an optimised dosing regimen. Seventy-three trauma patients were enrolled and each received tranexamic acid 1 g intravenously pre-hospital. A blood sample was drawn after arrival in the emergency department, and we measured the plasma tranexamic acid concentration using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and modelled the data using non-linear mixed effect modelling. Tranexamic acid was administered at a median (IQR [range]) time of 43 (30-55 [5-135]) min after trauma. Plasma tranexamic acid levels were determined on arrival at hospital, 57 (43-70 [20-148]) min after pre-hospital administration of the drug. The measured concentration was 28.7 (21.5-38.5 [8.7-89.0]) μg.ml -1 . Our subjects had sustained severe trauma; injury severity score 20 (16-29 [5-75]), including penetrating injury in 2.8% and isolated traumatic brain injury in 19.7%. The pharmacokinetics were ascribed a two-compartment open model with body-weight as the main covariate. As tranexamic acid concentrations may fall below therapeutic levels during initial hospital treatment, we propose additional dosing schemes to maintain a specific target blood concentration for as long as required. This is the first study to investigate plasma level and pharmacokinetics of tranexamic acid after pre-hospital administration in trauma patients. Our proposed dosing regimen could be used in subsequent clinical trials to better study efficacy and tolerance profiles with controlled blood concentrations. © 2018 The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.

IBD in the elderly population: results from a population-based study in Western Hungary, 1977-2008.

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Lakatos, Peter Laszlo; David, Gyula; Pandur, Tunde; Erdelyi, Zsuzsanna; Mester, Gabor; Balogh, Mihaly; Szipocs, Istvan; Molnar, Csaba; Komaromi, Erzsebet; Kiss, Lajos S; Lakatos, Laszlo

2011-02-01

Limited data are available on the incidence and disease course of IBD in the elderly population. Our aim was to analyze the incidence and disease course of IBD according to the age at diagnosis in the population-based Veszprem province database, which included incident patients diagnosed between January 1, 1977 and December 31, 2008. Data of 1420 incident patients were analyzed (UC: 914, age at diagnosis: 38.9 SD 15.9 years; CD: 506, age at diagnosis: 31.5 SD 13.8 years). Both hospital and outpatient records were collected and comprehensively reviewed. 106 (11.6%) of UC patients and 21 (4.2%) of CD patients were diagnosed with >60 years of age. In UC, the incidence increased from 1.09 to 10.8/10(5) in the elderly, while CD increased to 3.04/10(5) in 2002-2007. In CD, colonic location (elderly: 61.9% vs. pediatric: 24.3%, p=0.001, and adults: 36.8%, p=0.02) and stenosing disease (elderly: 42.9% vs. pediatric: 14.9%, p=0.005, and adults: 19.5%, p=0.01) were more frequent in the elderly. A change in disease behavior was absent in the elderly, while in pediatric and adult CD population it was 20.3% (p=0.037), 19.8% (p=0.036) after 5 years. In UC, extensive disease was more frequent in pediatric patients compared to the elderly (p=0.003, OR: 2.73, 95%CI: 1.38-5.41). In addition, pediatric (57.3%, p<0.001, OR: 6.58; 95%CI: 3.22-12.9) and adult (39.8%, p<0.001, OR: 3.24; 95%CI: 1.91-5.49) patients required more often systemic steroids during follow-up compared to the elderly (17%). Proximal extension at 10 years was 11.6%, but time to extension was not different according to the age at onset. Elderly patients represent an increasing proportion of the IBD population. Stenosing and colon-only disease were characteristic for elderly CD patients, while the disease course in UC was milder. Copyright © 2010 European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gorlin–Goltz syndrome: A case series of 5 patients in North Indian population with comparative analysis of literature

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Lata, Jeevan; Verma, Nitin; Kaur, Amandeep

2015-01-01

Objective: In Indian scenario, Gorlin–Goltz syndrome (nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome [NBCCS]) has been rarely reported. The clinical, radiological, and histopathological findings and major and minor criteria in five cases of NBCCS in North Indian population have been presented along with a discussion of the role of gene mutation analysis in early diagnosis of syndrome. Materials and Methods: The diagnostic findings of Gorlin–Goltz syndrome in 5 patients were compared with other reports in Indian population and with reports of this syndrome in other parts of the world. Results: The most common features seen were keratocystic odontogenic tumors (100%), calcifications of falx cerebri (60%), palmar-plantar pits (80%), rib anomalies (80%), macroencephaly (60%), ocular hypertelorism (80%), and frontal bossing (60%) in our series. Retained deciduous teeth seen in 80% patients whose association has not been previously reported has been presented. None of our patients had basal cell carcinoma, syndactyly or polydactyly, pectus deformity, bridging of sella turcica, pigmented nevi, or family history of this syndrome in contrast to such findings in other Indian patients. Medulloblastoma has not been reported in any Indian patient so far compared to this finding in other studies conducted worldwide. Conclusions: Combining the features of 48 patients in 38 cases of NBCCS being published in Indian literature with five cases of our series and on comparison with other studies in the world, a wide disparity in different ethnic groups and a wide variation in presentation of syndrome within the same population is suggested. PMID:26604574

Gorlin–Goltz syndrome: A case series of 5 patients in North Indian population with comparative analysis of literature

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Jeevan Lata

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: In Indian scenario, Gorlin–Goltz syndrome (nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome [NBCCS] has been rarely reported. The clinical, radiological, and histopathological findings and major and minor criteria in five cases of NBCCS in North Indian population have been presented along with a discussion of the role of gene mutation analysis in early diagnosis of syndrome. Materials and Methods: The diagnostic findings of Gorlin–Goltz syndrome in 5 patients were compared with other reports in Indian population and with reports of this syndrome in other parts of the world. Results: The most common features seen were keratocystic odontogenic tumors (100%, calcifications of falx cerebri (60%, palmar-plantar pits (80%, rib anomalies (80%, macroencephaly (60%, ocular hypertelorism (80%, and frontal bossing (60% in our series. Retained deciduous teeth seen in 80% patients whose association has not been previously reported has been presented. None of our patients had basal cell carcinoma, syndactyly or polydactyly, pectus deformity, bridging of sella turcica, pigmented nevi, or family history of this syndrome in contrast to such findings in other Indian patients. Medulloblastoma has not been reported in any Indian patient so far compared to this finding in other studies conducted worldwide. Conclusions: Combining the features of 48 patients in 38 cases of NBCCS being published in Indian literature with five cases of our series and on comparison with other studies in the world, a wide disparity in different ethnic groups and a wide variation in presentation of syndrome within the same population is suggested.

[The Quality of the Family Physician-Patient Relationship. Patient-Related Predictors in a Sample Representative for the German Population].

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Dinkel, Andreas; Schneider, Antonius; Schmutzer, Gabriele; Brähler, Elmar; Henningsen, Peter; Häuser, Winfried

2016-03-01

Patient-centeredness and a strong working alliance are core elements of family medicine. Surveys in Germany showed that most people are satisfied with the quality of the family physician-patient relationship. However, factors that are responsible for the quality of the family physician-patient relationship remain unclear. This study aimed at identifying patient-related predictors of the quality of this relationship. Participants of a cross-sectional survey representative for the general German population were assessed using standardized questionnaires. The perceived quality of the family physician-patient relationship was measured with the German version of the Patient-Doctor Relationship Questionnaire (PDRQ-9). Associations of demographic and clinical variables (comorbidity, somatic symptom burden, psychological distress) with the quality of the family physician-patient relationship were assessed by applying hierarchical linear regression. 2278 participants (91,9%) reported having a family physician. The mean total score of the PDRQ-9 was high (M=4,12, SD=0,70). The final regression model showed that higher age, being female, and most notably less somatic and less depressive symptoms predicted a higher quality of the family physician-patient relationship. Comorbidity lost significance when somatic symptom burden was added to the regression model. The final model explained 11% of the variance, indicating a small effect. Experiencing somatic and depressive symptoms emerged as most relevant patient-related predictors of the quality of the family physician-patient relationship. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 Inhibitors and the Risk of Pancreatitis in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Population-Based Cohort Study

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Young-Gun Kim

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Information on the risk of acute pancreatitis in patients receiving dipeptidyl-peptidase IV inhibitors (DPP-4i is limited and controversial. One study suggested that the differences in findings between these meta-analyses were attributed to whether they included large randomized control trials with cardiovascular outcomes or not. The aim of our study was to determine whether the use of DPP-4i increases the risk of acute pancreatitis compared with sulfonylurea (SU and whether the risk is higher in patients with underlying cardiovascular disease (CVD. Methods. A population-based cohort study was performed using Korean National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort data. We included 33,395 new users of SU and DPP-4i from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2015. SU-treated patients and DPP-4i-treated patients were matched by 1 : 1 propensity score matching. We used Kaplan–Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis to calculate the risk of acute pancreatitis. Results. The hazard ratio (HR of hospitalization for acute pancreatitis was 0.642 (95% confidence interval (CI: 0.535–0.771 in DPP-4i-treated patients compared with SU-treated patients. The HR of DPP-4i use was also lower than that of SU use in patients without underlying CVD (HR: 0.591; 95% CI: 0.476–0.735 but not in patients with underlying CVD (HR: 0.727; 95% CI: 0.527–1.003. Conclusion. Our findings suggest that DPP-4i is less likely to cause drug-induced pancreatitis than SU. This finding was not evident in patients with CVD, but DPP-4i was not more likely to induce pancreatitis in these patients than SU was.

CHLAMYDIA PNEUMONIAE – THE PREVALENCE OF ANTIBODIES IN HEALTHY POPULATION AND IN PATIENTS WITH COMMUNITY ACQUIRED PNEUMONIA

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Darja Keše

2001-06-01

Full Text Available Background. To determinate the prevalence rates of Chlamydia pneumoniae infections in Slovenia and to evaluate the importance of C. pneumoniae infections at patients with community acquired pneumonia (CAP.Materials and methods. With the microimmunofluorescence test (micro-IF we evaluated the presence of C. pneumoniae specific antibodies in 1036 healthy subjects, in two periods of time, in 1991–93 and 1997–1998. We also tested the pair sera collected from 2118 patients with CAP between 1993–1999.Results. We demonstrated that C. pneumoniae infections are common in our population, as we detected IgG antibodies in 43.1% of healthy population. The prevalence rate of C. pneumoniae infections statistically significant increased in two periods of time. Acute C. pneumoniae infections were proved in 15.9% of all patients with CAP.Conclusions. C. pneumoniae is important respiratory pathogen also in our community. The infections are more common in older patients. Because C. pneumoniae like other Chlamydia species has tendency to cause chronic disease, it is reasonable to diagnose this bacterium in respiratory patients. It is also recommended to test convalescent sera at serologic laboratory diagnosis.

Patient refusal for regional anesthesia in elderly orthopedic population: A cross-sectional survey at a tertiary care hospital.

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Salam, Asma Abdus; Afshan, Gauhar

2016-01-01

Improvements in pain management techniques in the last decade have had a major impact on the practice of orthopedic surgeries, for example, total hip arthroplasty and total knee arthroplasty. Although there are a number of treatment options for postoperative pain, a gold standard has not been established. In our institution, both general anesthesia and regional anesthesia (RA), are being offered to the elderly orthopedic population but RA is not frequently accepted by elderly population. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of various reasons for refusal of RA in elderly patients undergoing orthopedic surgeries. A prospective study conducted over a period of 1 year, had 549 patients with ages above 60 years who underwent different types of elective orthopedic procedures 182 patients who refused RA were interviewed according to a structured questionnaire designed to assess the reasons of refusal. Most common reason for the refusal of RA was surgeon's choice (38.5%), whereas 20.3% of the patients were unaware about the RA. There was a significant association between female gender and refusing RA due to backache (17.2%) and fear of being awake during the operation (24.1%) respectively. This survey showed that the main reasons among elderly female population were the fear of remaining awake and backache. However, overall it was the surgeon's choice which made patients refuse RA, and the anesthesiologists were the main source of information.

Is cardiovascular risk reduction therapy effective in South Asian, Chinese and other patients with diabetes? A population-based cohort study from Canada.

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Ke, Calvin H; Morgan, Steve; Smolina, Kate; Gasevic, Danijela; Qian, Hong; Khan, Nadia A

2017-08-31

Guidelines recommend ACE inhibitors (ACEi), angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), calcium channel blockers (CCBs) and diuretics in all patients with diabetes mellitus. However, the effectiveness of these agents in South Asian and Chinese populations is unknown. We sought to determine whether ACEi, ARB, CCB and diuretics are associated with reduced mortality in South Asian, Chinese and other patients with diabetes. Population-based cohort study using administrative health databases. Province of British Columbia, Canada (2006-2013). Patients aged ≥35 years with incident diabetes. Primary outcome was all-cause mortality for each medication class compared with untreated patients within each ethnicity. Treatment effect was assessed using inverse probability of treatment weighted Cox proportional hazards models. Medication adherence effect on mortality was also evaluated. 208 870 patients (13 755 South Asian, 22 871 Chinese, 172 244 other Canadian) were included. ACEi reduced mortality in other patients (HR=0.88, 0.84-0.91), but power was insufficient to evaluate for benefit in Chinese and South Asian patients. ARB and diuretics reduced mortality in Chinese (ARB HR=0.64, 0.50-0.82; diuretics HR=0.77, 0.62-0.96) and other patients (ARB HR=0.69, 0.64-0.74; diuretics HR=0.66, 0.63-0.69) compared with untreated patients. No mortality benefit was observed among South Asians for any drug class or for CCB among all ethnicities. Higher medication adherence was associated with lower mortality for other patients only (HR=0.79, 0.72-0.86). Effectiveness of cardiovascular risk reduction therapy on mortality varies considerably by ethnicity. Further study is needed to evaluate the mortality benefit of antihypertensive agents in South Asians. Inclusion of these ethnic groups in future clinical trials is essential to examine for differential responses. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No

Necrotizing Fasciitis Among Patients With Liver Cirrhosis in Texas, 2001 - 2010: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

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Oud, Lavi; Watkins, Phillip

2016-02-01

Liver cirrhosis is a risk factor for necrotizing fasciitis (NF), and is associated with markedly worse outcomes than for NF among non-cirrhosis patients. Only limited, mostly single-center, data were reported to date on the epidemiology, clinical features, resource utilization and outcomes of NF among patients with cirrhosis. We studied a population-based cohort of adult hospitalizations associated with cirrhosis, who had a diagnosis of NF during the years 2001 - 2010, using the Texas Inpatient Public Use Data File. The annual volume of NF hospitalizations was benchmarked against all annual hospitalizations with a diagnosis of cirrhosis. The patterns of demographics, chronic comorbidities, evolving organ failure, resource utilization and outcomes were examined. There were 371,745 hospitalizations associated with liver cirrhosis, with 381 NF hospitalizations during study period. The annual volume of NF hospitalizations rose 7.9%/year (P = 0.0287), while its incidence among cirrhosis-associated hospitalizations remained unchanged (P = 0.2955). Non-cirrhosis comorbidities were reported in 69.6% and ICU care was required in 67.2% of NF hospitalization. The key changes noted between 2001 - 2003 and 2008 - 2010 among NF hospitalizations included rising mean (SD) Deyo-Charlson index 2.4 (1.5) vs. 3.9 (2.4) (P < 0.0001), development of ≥ 3 organ failures in 9.1% vs. 39.8% (P < 0.0001), and discharge to long-term care facilities 7.8% vs. 21.1% (P = 0.0204). Hospital mortality was unchanged (26% vs. 33.1%; P = 0.3659). Inflation-adjusted total hospital charges did not change (P = 0.1025) during study period. The present cohort of NF associated with liver cirrhosis is the largest reported to date. A rising annual volume of NF events matched a corresponding increase in cirrhosis-associated hospitalizations. There was increasing burden of chronic comorbidity and rising severity of illness, with a majority of patients requiring ICU care. Case fatality was high and there has

A stereotaxic, population-averaged T1w ovine brain atlas including cerebral morphology and tissue volumes

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Björn eNitzsche

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Standard stereotaxic reference systems play a key role in human brain studies. Stereotaxic coordinate systems have also been developed for experimental animals including non-human primates, dogs and rodents. However, they are lacking for other species being relevant in experimental neuroscience including sheep. Here, we present a spatial, unbiased ovine brain template with tissue probability maps (TPM that offer a detailed stereotaxic reference frame for anatomical features and localization of brain areas, thereby enabling inter-individual and cross-study comparability. Three-dimensional data sets from healthy adult Merino sheep (Ovis orientalis aries, 12 ewes and 26 neutered rams were acquired on a 1.5T Philips MRI using a T1w sequence. Data were averaged by linear and non-linear registration algorithms. Moreover, animals were subjected to detailed brain volume analysis including examinations with respect to body weight, age and sex. The created T1w brain template provides an appropriate population-averaged ovine brain anatomy in a spatial standard coordinate system. Additionally, TPM for gray (GM and white (WM matter as well as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF classification enabled automatic prior-based tissue segmentation using statistical parametric mapping (SPM. Overall, a positive correlation of GM volume and body weight explained about 15% of the variance of GM while a positive correlation between WM and age was found. Absolute tissue volume differences were not detected, indeed ewes showed significantly more GM per bodyweight as compared to neutered rams. The created framework including spatial brain template and TPM represent a useful tool for unbiased automatic image preprocessing and morphological characterization in sheep. Therefore, the reported results may serve as a starting point for further experimental and/or translational research aiming at in vivo analysis in this species.

Baseline characteristics of patients with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction included in the Karolinska Rennes (KaRen) study.

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Donal, Erwan; Lund, Lars H; Oger, Emmanuel; Hage, Camilla; Persson, Hans; Reynaud, Amélie; Ennezat, Pierre-Vladimir; Bauer, Fabrice; Sportouch-Dukhan, Catherine; Drouet, Elodie; Daubert, Jean-Claude; Linde, Cecilia

2014-02-01

Karolinska Rennes (KaRen) is a prospective observational study to characterize heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and to identify prognostic factors for long-term mortality and morbidity. To report characteristics and echocardiography at entry and after 4-8 weeks of follow-up. Patients were included following an acute heart failure presentation with B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP)>100 ng/L or N-terminal pro-BNP (NT-proBNP)>300 ng/L and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF)>45%. The mean ± SD age of 539 included patients was 77 ± 9 years and 56% were women. Patient history included hypertension (78%), atrial tachyarrhythmia (44%), prior heart failure (40%) and anemia (37%), but left bundle branch block was rare (3.8%). Median NT-proBNP was 2448 ng/L (n=438), and median BNP 429 ng/L (n=101). Overall, 101 patients did not return for the follow-up visit, including 13 patients who died (2.4%). Apart from older age (80 ± 9 vs. 76 ± 9 years; P=0.006), there were no significant differences in baseline characteristics between patients who did and did not return for follow-up. Mean LVEF was lower at entry than follow-up (56% vs. 62%; P<0.001). At follow-up, mean E/e' was 12.9 ± 6.1, left atrial volume index 49.4±17.8mL/m(2). Mean global left ventricular longitudinal strain was -14.6 ± 3.9%; LV mass index was 126.6 ± 36.2g/m(2). Patients in KaRen were old with slight female dominance and hypertension as the most prevalent etiological factor. LVEF was preserved, but with increased LV mass and depressed LV diastolic and longitudinal systolic functions. Few patients had signs of electrical dyssynchrony (ClinicalTrials.gov.- NCT00774709). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Implications of vitamin D deficiency in lithiasic patient and in general population.

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Millán-Rodríguez, F; Gavrilov, P; Gracia-García, S; Angerri-Feu, O; Sánchez-Martín, F M; Villavicencio-Mavrich, H

2015-05-01

Vitamin D deficiency causes problems in mineral metabolism but also overall health. In first place a review of the topic was carried out. Then, in order to contextualize it in lithiasic patient, a study on Vitamin D deficiency and its possible relationship with impaired PTH levels is performed. A review of topics such as metabolism, epidemiology and the relationship of vitamin D deficiency with several pathologies was performed. Besides a multivariate analysis and a correlation study between vitamin D and PTH levels was conducted in 100 lithiasic patients. We present a review of Vitamin D metabolism, receptors and functions, as well as about its valuation methodology and the treatment of its deficiency. Lithiasic patients show a higher vitamin D deficiency than general population. Vitamin D deficiency has been significantly associated with increased PTH levels. In addition, there is enough literature showing a relationship between vitamin D deficiency not only with bone disease, but also with multiple diseases. vitamin D levels should be measured in all lithiasic patients, and those with vitamin D deficiency should be treated. Copyright © 2014 AEU. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Enhancing the efficacy of treatment for temporomandibular patients with muscular diagnosis through cognitive-behavioral intervention, including hypnosis: a randomized study.

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Ferrando, Maite; Galdón, María José; Durá, Estrella; Andreu, Yolanda; Jiménez, Yolanda; Poveda, Rafael

2012-01-01

This study evaluated the efficacy of a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), including hypnosis, in patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) with muscular diagnosis. Seventy-two patients (65 women and 7 men with an average age of 39 years) were selected according to the Research Diagnostic Criteria for TMD, and assigned to the experimental group (n = 41), receiving the 6-session CBT program, and the control group (n = 31). All patients received conservative standard treatment for TMD. The assessment included pain variables and psychologic distress. There were significant differences between the groups, the experimental group showing a higher improvement in the variables evaluated. Specifically, 90% of the patients under CBT reported a significant reduction in frequency of pain and 70% in emotional distress. The improvement was stable over time, with no significant differences between posttreatment and 9-month follow-up. CBT, including hypnosis, significantly improved conservative standard treatment outcome in TMD patients. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Characteristics of patients with missing information on stage: a population-based study of patients diagnosed with colon, lung or breast cancer in England in 2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Di Girolamo, Chiara; Walters, Sarah; Benitez Majano, Sara; Rachet, Bernard; Coleman, Michel P; Njagi, Edmund Njeru; Morris, Melanie

2018-05-02

Stage is a key predictor of cancer survival. Complete cancer staging is vital for understanding outcomes at population level and monitoring the efficacy of early diagnosis initiatives. Cancer registries usually collect details of the disease extent but staging information may be missing because a stage was never assigned to a patient or because it was not included in cancer registration records. Missing stage information introduce methodological difficulties for analysis and interpretation of results. We describe the associations between missing stage and socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of patients diagnosed with colon, lung or breast cancer in England in 2013. We assess how these associations change when completeness is high, and administrative issues are assumed to be minimal. We estimate the amount of avoidable missing stage data if high levels of completeness reached by some Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), were achieved nationally. Individual cancer records were retrieved from the National Cancer Registration and linked to the Routes to Diagnosis and Hospital Episode Statistics datasets to obtain additional clinical information. We used multivariable beta binomial regression models to estimate the strength of the association between socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of patients and missing stage and to derive the amount of avoidable missing stage. Multivariable modelling showed that old age was associated with missing stage irrespective of the cancer site and independent of comorbidity score, short-term mortality and patient characteristics. This remained true for patients in the CCGs with high completeness. Applying the results from these CCGs to the whole cohort showed that approximately 70% of missing stage information was potentially avoidable. Missing stage was more frequent in older patients, including those residing in CCGs with high completeness. This disadvantage for older patients was not explained fully by the

Etiology of hypopituitarism in tertiary care institutions in Turkish population: analysis of 773 patients from Pituitary Study Group database.

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Tanriverdi, F; Dokmetas, H S; Kebapcı, N; Kilicli, F; Atmaca, H; Yarman, S; Ertorer, M E; Erturk, E; Bayram, F; Tugrul, A; Culha, C; Cakir, M; Mert, M; Aydin, H; Taskale, M; Ersoz, N; Canturk, Z; Anaforoglu, I; Ozkaya, M; Oruk, G; Hekimsoy, Z; Kelestimur, F; Erbas, T

2014-09-01

Hypopituitarism in adult life is commonly acquired and the main causes are known as pituitary tumors and/or their treatments. Since there are new insights into the etiology of hypopituitarism and presence of differences in various populations, more studies regarding causes of hypopituitarism are needed to be done in different ethnic groups with sufficient number of patients. Therefore, we performed a multi-center database study in Turkish population investigating the etiology of hypopituitarism in 773 patients in tertiary care institutions. The study was designed and coordinated by the Pituitary Study Group of SEMT (The Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism of Turkey). Nineteen tertiary reference centers (14 university hospitals and 5 training hospitals) from the different regions of Turkey participated in the study. It is a cross-sectional database study, and the data were recorded for 18 months. We mainly classified the causes of hypopituitarism as pituitary tumors (due to direct effects of the pituitary tumors and/or their treatments), extra-pituitary tumors and non-tumoral causes. Mean age of 773 patients (49.8 % male, 50.2 % female) was 43.9 ± 16.1 years (range 16-84 years). The most common etiology of pituitary dysfunction was due to non-tumoral causes (49.2 %) among all patients. However, when we analyze the causes according to gender, the most common etiology in males was pituitary tumors, but the most common etiology in females was non-tumoral causes. According to the subgroup analysis of the causes of hypopituitarism in all patients, the most common four causes of hypopituitarism which have frequencies over 10 % were as follows: non-secretory pituitary adenomas, Sheehan's syndrome, lactotroph adenomas and idiopathic. With regard to the type of hormonal deficiencies; FSH/LH deficiency was the most common hormonal deficit (84.9 % of the patients). In 33.8 % of the patients, 4 anterior pituitary hormone deficiencies (FSH/LH, ACTH, TSH, and GH) were

HIV-infected mental health patients: characteristics and comparison with HIV-infected patients from the general population and non-infected mental health patients

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schade, A.; Grootheest, G.; Smit, J.H.

2013-01-01

Objectives: HIV-infected patients are at increased risk of developing mental health symptoms, which negatively influence the treatment of the HIV-infection. Mental health problems in HIV-infected patients may affect public health. Psychopathology, including depression and substance abuse, can

Cardiovascular Events in Cancer Patients Treated with Highly or Moderately Emetogenic Chemotherapy: Results from a Population-Based Study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vo, T. T.; Nelson, J. J.

2012-01-01

Studies on cardiovascular safety in cancer patients treated with highly or moderately emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC or MEC), who may have taken the antiemetic, aprepitant, have been limited to clinical trials and postmarketing spontaneous reports. Our study explored background rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events among HEC- or MEC-treated cancer patients in a population-based setting to contextualize events seen in a new drug development program and to determine at a high level whether rates differed by aprepitant usage. Medical and pharmacy claims data from the 2005-2007 IMPACT National Benchmark Database were classified into emetogenic chemotherapy categories and CVD outcomes. Among 5827 HEC/MEC-treated patients, frequencies were highest for hypertension (16-21%) and composites of venous (7-12%) and arterial thromboembolic events (4-7%). Aprepitant users generally did not experience higher frequencies of events compared to nonusers. Our study serves as a useful benchmark of background CVD event rates in a population-based setting of cancer patients.

Endoscopic detection rate of sessile serrated lesions in Lynch syndrome patients is comparable with an age- and gender-matched control population: case-control study with expert pathology review.

Science.gov (United States)

Vleugels, Jasper L A; Sahin, Husna; Hazewinkel, Yark; Koens, Lianne; van den Berg, Jose G; van Leerdam, Monique E; Dekker, Evelien

2018-05-01

Carcinogenesis in Lynch syndrome involves fast progression of adenomas to colorectal cancer (CRC) because of microsatellite instability. The role of sessile serrated lesions (SSLs) and the serrated neoplasia pathway in these patients is unknown. The aim of this matched case-control study was to compare endoscopic detection rates and distribution of SSLs in Lynch syndrome patients with a matched control population. We collected data of Lynch syndrome patients with a proven germline mutation who underwent colonoscopy between January 2011 and April 2016 in 2 tertiary referral hospitals. Control subjects undergoing elective colonoscopy from 2011 and onward for symptoms or surveillance were selected from a prospectively collected database. Patients were matched 1:1 for age, gender, and index versus surveillance colonoscopy. An expert pathology review of serrated polyps was performed. The primary outcomes included the detection rates and distribution of SSLs. We identified 321 patients with Lynch syndrome who underwent at least 1 colonoscopy. Of these, 223 Lynch syndrome patients (mean age, 49.3; 59% women; index colonoscopy, 56%) were matched to 223 control subjects. SSLs were detected in 7.6% (95% confidence interval, 4.8-11.9) of colonoscopies performed in Lynch syndrome patients and in 6.7% (95% confidence interval, 4.1-10.8) of control subjects (P = .86). None of the detected SSLs in Lynch syndrome patients contained dysplasia. The detection rate of SSLs in Lynch syndrome patients undergoing colonoscopy is comparable with a matched population. These findings suggest that the role of the serrated neoplasia pathway in CRC development in Lynch syndrome seems to be comparable with that in the general population. Copyright © 2018 American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Validation of the DRAGON Score in a Chinese Population to Predict Functional Outcome of Intravenous Thrombolysis-Treated Stroke Patients.

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Zhang, Xinmiao; Liao, Xiaoling; Wang, Chunjuan; Liu, Liping; Wang, Chunxue; Zhao, Xingquan; Pan, Yuesong; Wang, Yilong; Wang, Yongjun

2015-08-01

The DRAGON score predicts functional outcome of ischemic stroke patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis. Our aim was to evaluate its utility in a Chinese stroke population. Patients with acute ischemic stroke treated with intravenous thrombolysis were prospectively registered in the Thrombolysis Implementation and Monitor of acute ischemic Stroke in China. We excluded patients with basilar artery occlusion and missing data, leaving 970 eligible patients. We calculated the DRAGON score, and the clinical outcome was measured by the modified Rankin Scale at 3 months. Model discrimination was quantified by calculating the C statistic. Calibration was assessed using Pearson correlation coefficient. The C statistic was .73 (.70-.76) for good outcome and .75 (.70-.79) for miserable outcome. Proportions of patients with good outcome were 94%, 83%, 70%, and 0% for 0 to 1, 2, 3, and 8 to 10 score points, respectively. Proportions of patients with miserable outcome were 0%, 3%, 9%, and 50% for 0 to 1, 2, 3, and 8 to 10 points, respectively. There was high correlation between predicted and observed probability of 3-month favorable and miserable outcome in the external validation cohort (Pearson correlation coefficient, .98 and .98, respectively, both P DRAGON score showed good performance to predict functional outcome after tissue-type plasminogen activator treatment in the Chinese population. This study demonstrated the accuracy and usability of the DRAGON score in the Chinese population in daily practice. Copyright © 2015 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Low Prevalence of Biopsy-Proven Eosinophilic Esophagitis in Patients with Esophageal Food Impaction in Mexican Population.

Science.gov (United States)

García-Compeán, Diego; González-González, José A; Duran-Castro, José J; Herrera-Quiñones, Gilberto; Borjas-Almaguer, Omar D; Maldonado-Garza, Héctor J

2018-06-01

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is the most common cause of dysphagia and esophageal food impaction (EFI) in the USA, Western Europe, and Australia. In Mexico, the uncomplicated form of this disease is infrequent, and prevalence in patients with EFI is unknown. To determine the prevalence and causes of EFI, endoscopic and therapeutic aspects, and establish the prevalence of biopsy-proven EoE in patients with EFI. Diagnostic upper gastrointestinal endoscopy reports from January 2011 to December 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients with therapeutic procedures, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, or non-food foreign body impaction were excluded. The number of patients with EFI was determined. Additionally, patients with esophageal biopsy were retained for EoE prevalence calculation. The diagnosis of EoE was defined with the presence of eosinophil infiltration count ≥ 15/high-power field with or without typical endoscopic abnormalities. A total of 4700 reports of the same number of patients were selected; 2209 were males (47%) with a mean age of 57.6 ± 12.3 years (range 14-93). We identified 36 patients with EFI (0.76, 95% CI 0.51-1.01), 16 males (44.4%) with a mean age of 54.9 ± 19.7 (range 22-92). Esophageal biopsies were obtained in 17/36 (47.2%) cases. The diagnosis of EoE was confirmed in 2 patients (11.7%). Peptic stenosis was the most frequent cause of EFI. EoE is an infrequent cause of EFI in the Mexican population (11.7%). EoE had the lowest prevalence compared to that reported in Caucasian populations. The prevalence of EFI was also low.

Incidence Rate of Community-Acquired Sepsis Among Hospitalized Acute Medical Patients-A Population-Based Survey

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henriksen, Daniel Pilsgaard; Laursen, Christian B; Jensen, Thøger Gorm

2015-01-01

to the hospital. DESIGN:: Population-based survey. SETTING:: Medical emergency department from September 1, 2010, to August 31, 2011. PATIENTS:: All patients were manually reviewed using a structured protocol in order to identify the presence of infection. Vital signs and laboratory values were collected...... to define the presence of systemic inflammatory response syndrome and organ dysfunction. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:: Incidence rate of sepsis of any severity. Among 8,358 admissions to the medical emergency department, 1,713 patients presented with an incident admission of sepsis of any severity, median...... on symptoms and clinical findings at arrival, incidence rates of patients admitted to a medical emergency department with sepsis and severe sepsis are more frequent than previously reported based on discharge diagnoses....

Audit of preventive activities in 16 inner London practices using a validated measure of patient population, the 'active patient' denominator. Healthy Eastenders Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Robson, J; Falshaw, M

1995-01-01

BACKGROUND. Reliable comparison of the results of audit between general practices and over time requires standard definitions of numerators and denominators. This is particularly relevant in areas of high population turnover and practice list inflation. Without simple validation to remove supernumeraries, population coverage and professional activity may be underestimated. AIM. This audit study aimed to define a standard denominator, the 'active patient' denominator, to enable comparison of professional activity and population coverage for preventive activities between general practices and over time. It also aimed to document the extent to which computers were used for recording such activities. METHOD. A random sample of people in the age group 30-64 years was drawn from the computerized general practice registers of the 16 inner London general practices that participated in the 'healthy eastenders project'. A validation procedure excluded those patients who were likely to have died or moved away, or who for administrative reasons were unable to contribute to the numerator; this allowed the creation of the active patient denominator. An audit of preventive activities with numerators drawn from both paper and computerized medical records was carried out and results were presented so that practices could compare their results with those of their peers and over time. RESULTS. Of the original sample of 2331 people, 25% (practice range 13%-37%) were excluded as a result of the validation procedure. A denominator based on the complete, unexpurgated practice register rather than the validated active patient denominator would have reduced the proportion of people with blood pressure recorded within the preceding five years from 77% to 61%, recording of smoking status from 68% to 53% and recording of cervical smears from 80% to 66%. Only 53% of the last recordings, within the preceding five years, of blood pressure and only 54% of those of smoking status were recorded on

Dietary Protein Intake in a Multi-ethnic Asian Population of Healthy Participants and Chronic Kidney Disease Patients.

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Teo, Boon Wee; Toh, Qi Chun; Xu, Hui; Yang, Adonsia Y T; Lin, Tingxuan; Li, Jialiang; Lee, Evan J C

2015-04-01

Clinical practice guidelines recommend different levels of dietary protein intake in predialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. It is unknown how effectively these recommendations perform in a multi-ethnic Asian population, with varied cultural beliefs and diets. We assess the profi le of protein intake in a multi-ethnic Asian population, comparing healthy participants and CKD patients. We analysed the 24-hour urine collections of the Asian Kidney Disease Study (AKDS) and the Singapore Kidney Function Study (SKFS) to estimate total protein intake (TPI; g/day). We calculated ideal body weight (IDW; kg): 22.99 × height2 (m). Standard statistical tests were applied where appropriate, and linear regression was used to assess associations of continuous variables with protein intake. There were 232 CKD patients and 103 healthy participants with 35.5% diabetics. The mean TPI in healthy participants was 58.89 ± 18.42 and the mean TPI in CKD patients was 53.64 ± 19.39. By US National Kidney Foundation (NKF) guidelines, 29/232 (12.5%) of CKD patients with measured glomerular filtration rate (GFR) patients had TPI-IDW >0.75g/kg/ day. By American Dietetic Association (ADA) guidelines, 34.7% (44/127) of CKD patients with GFR patients with GFR protein intake of between 0.3 to 0.5 g/kg/day. A total of 21.9% (25/114) of diabetic CKD patients had protein intake between 0.8 to 0.9 g/kg/day. On average, the protein intake of most CKD patients exceeds the recommendations of guidelines. Diabetic CKD patients should aim to have higher protein intakes.

Analysis of movements recorded in 104 patients with prostate and estimation of the margins by positioning our patient population; Analisis de los desplazamientos registrados en 104 pacientes de prostata y estimacion de los margenes por poscionamiento para nuestra poblacion de pacientes

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Bejar Navarro, M. J.; Gomez Martin, C.; Maravilla Limorte, M.; Alonso Iracheta, L.; Rot Sanjuan, M. J.; Colmenares Fernandez, R.; Capuz Suarez, B.; Moris Pablos, R.

2011-07-01

Analysis of movements recorded in 104 patients with prostate and estimation of the margins by positioning our patient population The image guided (IGRT) allows to know the magnitude of uncertainty in the position for a given patient population. The objectives of this work are the statistical analysis of the movements recorded by a volumetric imaging in 104 patients with prostate and estimation of margins due to uncertainty in the positioning for this patient population.

Clinical informatics to improve quality of care: a population-based system for patients with diabetes mellitus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rajeev Chaudhry

2009-06-01

Conclusions A clinical informatics system, used to deliver proactive, co-ordinated care to a population of patients with diabetes mellitus, can improve process and also quality outcome measures. Larger studies are needed to confirm these early findings.

Do hemophiliacs have a higher risk for dental caries than the general population?

OpenAIRE

Žaliūnienė, Rūta; Aleksejūnienė, Jolanta; Brukienė, Vilma; Pečiulienė, Vytautė

2015-01-01

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine if patients with hemophilia were at increased risk for dental decay as compared to the general population. Materials and methods: Census sampling was used in this case–control study to recruit cases (patients with hemophilia) and a control group individuals recruited randomly from the general population, which were matched with cases based on gender, age and place of residence. Clinical examinations included dental health and salivary assessm...

Do hemophiliacs have a higher risk for dental caries than the general population?

OpenAIRE

Žaliūnienė, Rūta; Aleksejūnienė, Jolanta; Brukienė, Vilma; Pečiulienė, Vytautė

2015-01-01

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine if patients with hemophilia were at increased risk for dental decay as compared to the general population. Materials and methods: Census sampling was used in this case–control study to recruit cases (patients with hemophilia) and a control group individuals recruited randomly from the general population, which were matched with cases based on gender, age and place of residence. Clinical examinations included dental health and salivary assessment...

Patient-related barriers to hypertension control in a Nigerian population

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Okwuonu, Chimezie Godswill; Ojimadu, Nnamdi Ezekiel; Okaka, Enajite Ibiene; Akemokwe, Fatai Momodu

2014-01-01

Background Hypertension control is a challenge globally. Barriers to optimal control exist at the patient, physician, and health system levels. Patient-related barriers in our environment are not clear. The aim of this study was to identify patient-related barriers to control of hypertension among adults with hypertension in a semiurban community in South-East Nigeria. Methods This was a cross-sectional descriptive study of patients with a diagnosis of hypertension and on antihypertensive medication. Results A total of 252 participants were included in the survey, and comprised 143 males (56.7%) and 109 females (43.3%). The mean age of the participants was 56.6±12.7 years, with a diagnosis of hypertension for a mean duration of 6.1±3.3 years. Among these patients, 32.9% had controlled blood pressure, while 39.3% and 27.8%, respectively, had stage 1 and stage 2 hypertension according to the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection and Evaluation of High Blood Pressure. Only 23.4% knew the consequences of poor blood pressure control and 64% were expecting a cure from treatment even when the cause of hypertension was not known. Furthermore, 68.7% showed low adherence to medication, the reported reasons for which included forgetfulness (61.2%), financial constraints (56.6%), high pill burden (22.5%), side effects of medication (17.3%), and low measured blood pressure (12.1%). Finally, knowledge and practice of the lifestyle modifications necessary for blood pressure control was inadequate among the participants. Conclusion Poor knowledge regarding hypertension, unrealistic expectations of treatment, poor adherence with medication, unawareness of lifestyle modification, and failure to apply these were identified as patient-related barriers to blood pressure control in this study. PMID:25061335

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Program Implementation in 2 Surgical Populations in an Integrated Health Care Delivery System.

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Liu, Vincent X; Rosas, Efren; Hwang, Judith; Cain, Eric; Foss-Durant, Anne; Clopp, Molly; Huang, Mengfei; Lee, Derrick C; Mustille, Alex; Kipnis, Patricia; Parodi, Stephen

2017-07-19

Novel approaches to perioperative surgical care focus on optimizing nutrition, mobility, and pain management to minimize adverse events after surgical procedures. To evaluate the outcomes of an enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) program among 2 target populations: patients undergoing elective colorectal resection and patients undergoing emergency hip fracture repair. A pre-post difference-in-differences study before and after ERAS implementation in the target populations compared with contemporaneous surgical comparator groups (patients undergoing elective gastrointestinal surgery and emergency orthopedic surgery). Implementation began in February and March 2014 and concluded by the end of 2014 at 20 medical centers within the Kaiser Permanente Northern California integrated health care delivery system. A multifaceted ERAS program designed with a particular focus on perioperative pain management, mobility, nutrition, and patient engagement. The primary outcome was hospital length of stay. Secondary outcomes included hospital mortality, home discharge, 30-day readmission rates, and complication rates. The study included a total of 3768 patients undergoing elective colorectal resection (mean [SD] age, 62.7 [14.1] years; 1812 [48.1%] male) and 5002 patients undergoing emergency hip fracture repair (mean [SD] age, 79.5 [11.8] years; 1586 [31.7%] male). Comparator surgical patients included 5556 patients undergoing elective gastrointestinal surgery and 1523 patients undergoing emergency orthopedic surgery. Most process metrics had significantly greater changes in the ERAS target populations after implementation compared with comparator surgical populations, including those for ambulation, nutrition, and opioid use. Hospital length of stay and postoperative complication rates were also significantly lower among ERAS target populations after implementation. The rate ratios for postoperative complications were 0.68 (95% CI, 0.46-0.99; P = .04) for patients

Adherence to 2016 European Society of Cardiology guidelines predicts outcome in a large real-world population of heart failure patients requiring cardiac resynchronization therapy.

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Stabile, Giuseppe; Pepi, Patrizia; Palmisano, Pietro; D'Onofrio, Antonio; De Simone, Antonio; Caico, Salvatore Ivan; Pecora, Domenico; Rapacciuolo, Antonio; Arena, Giuseppe; Marini, Massimiliano; Pieragnoli, Paolo; Badolati, Sandra; Savarese, Gianluca; Maglia, Gianpiero; Iuliano, Assunta; Botto, Giovanni Luca; Malacrida, Maurizio; Bertaglia, Emanuele

2018-04-14

Professional guidelines are based on the best available evidence. However, patients treated in clinical practice may differ from those included in reference trials. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in a large population of patients implanted with a CRT device stratified in accordance with the 2016 European heart failure (HF) guidelines. We collected data on 930 consecutive patients from the Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy MOdular REgistry. The primary end point was a composite of death and HF hospitalization. Five hundred sixty-three (60.5%) patients met class I indications, 145 (15.6%) class IIa, 108 (11.6%) class IIb, and 114 (12.3%) class III. After a median follow-up of 1001 days, 120 patients who had an indication for CRT implantation had died and 71 had been hospitalized for HF. The time to the end point was longer in patients with a class I indication (hazard ratio 0.55; 95% confidence interval 0.39-0.76; P = .0001). After 12 months, left ventricular (LV) end-systolic volume had decreased by ≥15% in 61.5% of patients whereas in 57.5% of patients the absolute LV ejection fraction improvement was ≥5%. Adherence to class I was also associated with an absolute LV ejection fraction increase of >5% (P = .0142) and an LV end-systolic volume decrease of ≥15% (P = .0055). In our population, ∼60% of patients underwent implantation according to the 2016 European HF guidelines class I indication. Adherence to class I was associated with a lower death and HF hospitalization rate and better LV reverse remodeling. Copyright © 2018 Heart Rhythm Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Chronic kidney disease in HIV patients

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Bakri, S.; Rasyid, H.; Kasim, H.; Katu, S.

2018-03-01

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a health problem in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) population. Prediction of CKD in HIV patients needsto have done. This study aimis to identify the prevalence of CKD in HIV patients.Thisis a cross-sectional studyofmale and female, age 18-60 years old, diagnosedHIVat Wahidin Sudirohusodo & Hasanuddin University Hospital Makassar. Diagnosed as CKD if estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) HIV patients included in the analyses. Distribution of CKD, showed 3 (3.5%) subjects with eGFRHIV populations in Makassar is still quite low.

Distribution and determinants of health and work status in a comprehensive population of injury patients

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meerding, Willem Jan; Looman, Caspar W. N.; Essink-Bot, Marie-Louise; Toet, Hidde; Mulder, Saakje; van Beeck, Ed F.

2004-01-01

BACKGROUND: Insight into the distribution and determinants of both short- and long-term disability can be used to prioritize the development of prevention policies and to improve trauma care. We report on a large follow-up study in a comprehensive population of injury patients. METHODS: We fielded a

Population Pharmacokinetics and Optimal Sampling Strategy for Model-Based Precision Dosing of Melphalan in Patients Undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.

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Mizuno, Kana; Dong, Min; Fukuda, Tsuyoshi; Chandra, Sharat; Mehta, Parinda A; McConnell, Scott; Anaissie, Elias J; Vinks, Alexander A

2018-05-01

High-dose melphalan is an important component of conditioning regimens for patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The current dosing strategy based on body surface area results in a high incidence of oral mucositis and gastrointestinal and liver toxicity. Pharmacokinetically guided dosing will individualize exposure and help minimize overexposure-related toxicity. The purpose of this study was to develop a population pharmacokinetic model and optimal sampling strategy. A population pharmacokinetic model was developed with NONMEM using 98 observations collected from 15 adult patients given the standard dose of 140 or 200 mg/m 2 by intravenous infusion. The determinant-optimal sampling strategy was explored with PopED software. Individual area under the curve estimates were generated by Bayesian estimation using full and the proposed sparse sampling data. The predictive performance of the optimal sampling strategy was evaluated based on bias and precision estimates. The feasibility of the optimal sampling strategy was tested using pharmacokinetic data from five pediatric patients. A two-compartment model best described the data. The final model included body weight and creatinine clearance as predictors of clearance. The determinant-optimal sampling strategies (and windows) were identified at 0.08 (0.08-0.19), 0.61 (0.33-0.90), 2.0 (1.3-2.7), and 4.0 (3.6-4.0) h post-infusion. An excellent correlation was observed between area under the curve estimates obtained with the full and the proposed four-sample strategy (R 2  = 0.98; p strategy promises to achieve the target area under the curve as part of precision dosing.

Antibody screening & identification in the general patient population at a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi, India.

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Makroo, Raj Nath; Bhatia, Aakanksha; Hegde, Vikas; Chowdhry, Mohit; Thakur, Uday Kumar; Rosamma, N L

2014-09-01

The development of alloantibodies can significantly complicate transfusion therapy and results in difficulties in cross-matching of blood. Most literature on alloimmunization is limited to multitransfused individuals, with very few studies on the general hospital patients. This study was aimed at assessing the frequency and type of unexpected red cell antibodies in the general patient population at a multispecialty tertiary care centre in New Delhi, India. The results of 49,077 antibody screening tests carried out on patients, from January 2009 to December 2012 were analyzed. The clinical and transfusion records were reviewed. The data were compiled and statistically analysed. A total of 49,077 (29,917; 60.96% males and 19,160; 39.04% females) patient samples were screened for the presence of unexpected antibodies. Antibody screening was positive in 403 patients (0.82%). In the serum samples of 164 patients only autoantibodies were identified, 27 revealed autoantibodies with one or more underlying alloantibodies, while 212 patients had only alloantibody/ies in their serum. The overall alloimmunization rate was 0.49 per cent. Antibodies against the Rh system were the most frequent (64.1%), the most common alloantibody identified being anti E (37.2%), followed by anti D (19.2%). Since clinically significant antibodies are frequently detected in our patient population, antibody screening and if required, identification is the need of the hour. Since antibodies against the common Rh and Kell blood group antigens are the most frequent, provision of Rh and Kell matched red cells may be of protective value.

The impact of generic-only drug benefits on patients' use of inhaled corticosteroids in a Medicare population with asthma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Newhouse Joseph P

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Patients face increasing insurance restrictions on prescription drugs, including generic-only coverage. There are no generic inhaled corticosteroids (ICS, which are a mainstay of asthma therapy, and patients pay the full price for these drugs under generic-only policies. We examined changes in ICS use following the introduction of generic-only coverage in a Medicare Advantage population from 2003–2004. Methods Subjects were age 65+, with asthma, prior ICS use, and no chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (n = 1,802. In 2004, 74.0% switched from having a $30 brand-copayment plan to a generic-only coverage plan (restricted coverage; 26% had $15–25 brand copayments in 2003–2004 (unrestricted coverage. Using linear difference-in-difference models, we examined annual changes in ICS use (measured by days-of-supply dispensed. There was a lower-cost ICS available within the study setting and we also examined changes in drug choice (higher- vs. lower-cost ICS. In multivariable models we adjusted for socio-demographic, clinical, and asthma characteristics. Results In 2003 subjects had an average of 188 days of ICS supply. Restricted compared with unrestricted coverage was associated with reductions in ICS use from 2003–2004 (-15.5 days-of-supply, 95% confidence interval (CI: -25.0 to -6.0. Among patients using higher-cost ICS drugs in 2003 (n = 662, more restricted versus unrestricted coverage subjects switched to the lower-cost ICS in 2004 (39.8% vs. 10.3%. Restricted coverage was not associated with decreased ICS use (2003–2004 among patients who switched to the lower-cost ICS (18.7 days-of-supply, CI: -27.5 to 65.0, but was among patients who did not switch (-38.6 days-of-supply, CI: -57.0 to -20.3. In addition, restricted coverage was associated with decreases in ICS use among patients with both higher- and lower-risk asthma (-15.0 days-of-supply, CI: -41.4 to 11.44; and -15.6 days-of-supply, CI: -25.8 to -5

Factors associated with the difficulty in hospital acceptance among elderly emergency patients: A population-based study in Osaka City, Japan.

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Matsuyama, Tasuku; Kitamura, Tetsuhisa; Katayama, Yusuke; Kiyohara, Kosuke; Hayashida, Sumito; Kawamura, Takashi; Iwami, Taku; Ohta, Bon

2017-12-01

We aimed to investigate prehospital factors associated with difficulty in hospital acceptance among elderly emergency patients. We reviewed ambulance records in Osaka City from January 2013 through December 2014, and enrolled all elderly emergency patients aged ≥65 years who were transported by on-scene emergency medical service personnel to a hospital that the personnel had selected. The definition of difficulty in hospital acceptance was to the requirement for ≥4 phone calls to hospitals by emergency medical service personnel before receiving a decision from the destination hospitals. Prehospital factors associated with difficulty in hospital acceptance were examined through logistic regression analysis. During the study period, 72 105 elderly patients were included, and 13 332 patients (18.5%) experienced difficulty in hospital acceptance. In the simple linear regression model, hospital selection time increased significantly with an increasing number of phone calls (R 2  = 0.774). In the multivariable analysis, older age (P for trend emergency-related symptoms and difficulty in hospital acceptance among elderly patients with symptoms of internal disease (AOR 1.71, 95% CI 1.53-1.91). In Japan, which has a rapidly aging population, a comprehensive strategy for elderly emergency patients, especially for advanced age groups or nursing home residents, is required. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 2441-2448. © 2017 Japan Geriatrics Society.

Spectrum of neurocognitive dysfunction in Indian population on FDG PET/CT imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, Rajnish; Tripathi, Madhavi; D’Souza, Maria M; Jaimini, Abhinav; Varshney, Raunak; Panwar, Puja; Kaushik, Aruna; Saw, Sanjeev; Seher, Romana; Pandey, Santosh; Singh, Dinesh; Solanki, Yachna; Mishra, Anil K; Mondal, Anupam; Tripathi, RP

2011-01-01

A variety of neurodegenerative disorders produce significant abnormal brain function which can be detected using fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET) scan even when structural changes are not detected on CT or MRI Scan. A study was undertaken at our institute to evaluate the FDG PET/CT findings in Indian population suffering from mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Alzheimer's disease (AD), fronto-temporal dementia (FTD), dementia with lewy body disease (DLBD) and other miscellaneous causes of dementia. 117 subjects having neurocognitive deficits and 36 normals were included in our study. All patients underwent a detailed history and clinical examination. This was followed by a mini mental state examination. Subsequently an FDG brain PET scan and an MRI were done. In the patient population included in our study group 36 were normal, 39 had MCI, 40 had AD, 14 had FTD, and 13 had DLBD and 11 dementia due to other miscellaneous causes. MCI patients showed primarily reduced tracer uptake in the mesio-temporal cortex. AD patients showed reduced tracer concentration in temporo-parietal lobes, while patients with advanced diseases showed frontal lobe disease additionally. In subjects of FTD, reduced radiotracer uptake in the fronto-temporal lobes was noted. In addition, FTD patients also showed basal ganglia defects. In contrast the DLBD patients showed globally reduced FDG uptake including severely affecting the occipital cortices. In the current study the F18-FDG PET scans have been shown to be highly useful in the diagnosis of various neurocognitive disorders of the brain. AD was found to be the most common dementia in the Indian population followed by MCI. Diffuse Lewy body disease, FTD and other miscellaneous categories of dementia had a near similar incidence

Radiation Dose to the Esophagus From Breast Cancer Radiation Therapy, 1943-1996: An International Population-Based Study of 414 Patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lamart, Stephanie; Stovall, Marilyn; Simon, Steven L.; Smith, Susan A.; Weathers, Rita E.; Howell, Rebecca M.; Curtis, Rochelle E.; Aleman, Berthe M.P.; Travis, Lois; Kwon, Deukwoo; Morton, Lindsay M.

2013-01-01

Purpose: To provide dosimetric data for an epidemiologic study on the risk of second primary esophageal cancer among breast cancer survivors, by reconstructing the radiation dose incidentally delivered to the esophagus of 414 women treated with radiation therapy for breast cancer during 1943-1996 in North America and Europe. Methods and Materials: We abstracted the radiation therapy treatment parameters from each patient’s radiation therapy record. Treatment fields included direct chest wall (37% of patients), medial and lateral tangentials (45%), supraclavicular (SCV, 64%), internal mammary (IM, 44%), SCV and IM together (16%), axillary (52%), and breast/chest wall boosts (7%). The beam types used were 60 Co (45% of fields), orthovoltage (33%), megavoltage photons (11%), and electrons (10%). The population median prescribed dose to the target volume ranged from 21 Gy to 40 Gy. We reconstructed the doses over the length of the esophagus using abstracted patient data, water phantom measurements, and a computational model of the human body. Results: Fields that treated the SCV and/or IM lymph nodes were used for 85% of the patients and delivered the highest doses within 3 regions of the esophagus: cervical (population median 38 Gy), upper thoracic (32 Gy), and middle thoracic (25 Gy). Other fields (direct chest wall, tangential, and axillary) contributed substantially lower doses (approximately 2 Gy). The cervical to middle thoracic esophagus received the highest dose because of its close proximity to the SCV and IM fields and less overlying tissue in that part of the chest. The location of the SCV field border relative to the midline was one of the most important determinants of the dose to the esophagus. Conclusions: Breast cancer patients in this study received relatively high incidental radiation therapy doses to the esophagus when the SCV and/or IM lymph nodes were treated, whereas direct chest wall, tangentials, and axillary fields contributed lower doses

Radiation Dose to the Esophagus From Breast Cancer Radiation Therapy, 1943-1996: An International Population-Based Study of 414 Patients

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Lamart, Stephanie, E-mail: stephanie.lamart@nih.gov [Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland (United States); Stovall, Marilyn [Department of Radiation Physics, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas (United States); Simon, Steven L. [Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland (United States); Smith, Susan A.; Weathers, Rita E.; Howell, Rebecca M. [Department of Radiation Physics, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas (United States); Curtis, Rochelle E. [Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland (United States); Aleman, Berthe M.P. [Department of Radiotherapy, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Travis, Lois [Rubin Center for Cancer Survivorship and Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York (United States); Kwon, Deukwoo [Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami, Miami, Florida (United States); Morton, Lindsay M. [Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland (United States)

2013-07-15

Purpose: To provide dosimetric data for an epidemiologic study on the risk of second primary esophageal cancer among breast cancer survivors, by reconstructing the radiation dose incidentally delivered to the esophagus of 414 women treated with radiation therapy for breast cancer during 1943-1996 in North America and Europe. Methods and Materials: We abstracted the radiation therapy treatment parameters from each patient’s radiation therapy record. Treatment fields included direct chest wall (37% of patients), medial and lateral tangentials (45%), supraclavicular (SCV, 64%), internal mammary (IM, 44%), SCV and IM together (16%), axillary (52%), and breast/chest wall boosts (7%). The beam types used were {sup 60}Co (45% of fields), orthovoltage (33%), megavoltage photons (11%), and electrons (10%). The population median prescribed dose to the target volume ranged from 21 Gy to 40 Gy. We reconstructed the doses over the length of the esophagus using abstracted patient data, water phantom measurements, and a computational model of the human body. Results: Fields that treated the SCV and/or IM lymph nodes were used for 85% of the patients and delivered the highest doses within 3 regions of the esophagus: cervical (population median 38 Gy), upper thoracic (32 Gy), and middle thoracic (25 Gy). Other fields (direct chest wall, tangential, and axillary) contributed substantially lower doses (approximately 2 Gy). The cervical to middle thoracic esophagus received the highest dose because of its close proximity to the SCV and IM fields and less overlying tissue in that part of the chest. The location of the SCV field border relative to the midline was one of the most important determinants of the dose to the esophagus. Conclusions: Breast cancer patients in this study received relatively high incidental radiation therapy doses to the esophagus when the SCV and/or IM lymph nodes were treated, whereas direct chest wall, tangentials, and axillary fields contributed lower

Population Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Meropenem in Nonobese, Obese, and Morbidly Obese Patients.

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Chung, Eun Kyoung; Cheatham, S Christian; Fleming, Megan R; Healy, Daniel P; Kays, Michael B

2017-03-01

The study objective was to evaluate meropenem population pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in nonobese, obese, and morbidly obese patients. Forty adult patients-11 nonobese (body mass index [BMI] calculate probability of target attainment (PTA) for 5 dosing regimens, infused over 0.5 and 3 hours, using fT>MIC of 40%, 54%, and 100% of the dosing interval. A 2-compartment linear-elimination model best described the serum concentration-time data, and creatinine clearance was significantly associated with systemic clearance. Pharmacokinetic parameters were not significantly different among patient groups. In patients with creatinine clearances ≥50 mL/min, all simulated dosing regimens achieved >90% PTA at 40% fT>MIC in all patient groups at MICs ≤2 mg/L. Only 500 mg q8h, infused over 0.5 hour, did not achieve >90% PTA at 54% fT>MIC in nonobese and morbidly obese patients. At 100% fT>MIC, 1 g q6h and 2 g q8h, infused over 3 hours, reliably achieved >90% PTA in all patient groups. Meropenem pharmacokinetics are comparable among nonobese, obese, and morbidly obese patients. Standard dosing regimens provide adequate pharmacodynamic exposures for susceptible pathogens at 40% and 54% fT>MIC, but prolonged infusions of larger doses are needed for adequate exposures at 100% fT>MIC. Dosage adjustments based solely on body weight are unnecessary. © 2016, The American College of Clinical Pharmacology.

Increased risk of ischemic stroke in cervical cancer patients: a nationwide population-based study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsai, Shiang-Jiun; Su, Yu-Chieh; Hung, Shih-Kai; Huang, Yung-Sung; Tung, Chien-Hsueh; Lee, Ching-Chih; Lee, Moon-Sing; Chiou, Wen-Yen; Lin, Hon-Yi; Hsu, Feng-Chun; Tsai, Chih-Hsin

2013-01-01

Increased risk of ischemic stroke has been validated for several cancers, but limited study evaluated this risk in cervical cancer patients. Our study aimed to evaluate the risk of ischemic stroke in cervical cancer patients. The study analyzed data from the 2003 to 2008 National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) provided by the National Health Research Institutes in Taiwan. Totally, 893 cervical cancer patients after radiotherapy and 1786 appendectomy patients were eligible. The Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox proportional hazards model were used to assess the risk of ischemic stroke. The 5-year cumulative risk of ischemic stroke was significantly higher for the cervical cancer group than for the control group (7.8% vs 5.1%; p <0.005). The risk of stroke was higher in younger (age <51 years) than in older (age ≥51 years) cervical cancer patients (HR = 2.73, p = 0.04; HR = 1.37, p = 0.07) and in patients with more than two comorbid risk factors (5 years cumulative stroke rate of two comorbidities: 15% compared to no comorbidities: 4%). These study demonstrated cervical cancer patients had a higher risk of ischemic stroke than the general population, especially in younger patients. Strategies to reduce this risk should be assessed

Defining Prolonged Length of Acute Care Stay for Surgically and Conservatively Treated Patients with Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage: A Population-Based Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco Stein

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background. The definition of prolonged length of stay (LOS during acute care remains unclear among surgically and conservatively treated patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH. Methods. Using a population-based quality assessment registry, we calculated change points in LOS for surgically and conservatively treated patients with ICH. The influence of comorbidities, baseline characteristics at admission, and in-hospital complications on prolonged LOS was evaluated in a multivariate model. Results. Overall, 13272 patients with ICH were included in the analysis. Surgical therapy of the hematoma was documented in 1405 (10.6% patients. Change points for LOS were 22 days (CI: 8, 22; CL 98% for surgically treated patients and 16 days (CI: 16, 16; CL: 99% for conservatively treated patients. Ventilation therapy was related to prolonged LOS in surgically (OR: 2.2, 95% CI: 1.5–3.1; P<0.001 and conservatively treated patients (OR: 2.5, 95% CI: 2.2–2.9; P<0.001. Two or more in-hospital complications in surgical patients (OR: 2.7, 95% CI: 2.1–3.5 and ≥1 in conservative patients (OR: 3.0, 95% CI: 2.7–3.3 were predictors of prolonged LOS. Conclusion. The definition of prolonged LOS after ICH could be useful for several aspects of quality management and research. Preventing in-hospital complications could decrease the number of patients with prolonged LOS.

Implementing a Novel Guideline to Prevent Hospital-Acquired Pressure Ulcers in a Trauma Population: A Patient-Safety Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Lam, Crystal; Elkbuli, Adel; Benson, Brenda; Young, Elizabeth; Morejon, Orlando; Boneva, Dessy; Hai, Shaikh; McKenney, Mark

2018-03-26

The development of hospital acquired pressure ulcers (HAPUs) is a common complication associated with immobilization and prolonged hospitalization in trauma patients. Our semi-annual Trauma Quality Improvement Program (TQIP) report identified HAPUs as an outlier complication. We employed a hospital-wide initiative to reduce the incidence of HAPUs among our trauma patient population. Our study aimed to determine if the implemented measures would decrease HAPUs incidence rates. We reviewed adult trauma patients over a 3 year period. The novel care-based platform and preventive measures on reducing HAPUs included 7 components. 1) Pressure reducing beds, 2) Improved and protocolized nutritional support, 3) Mandatory 2-hour change of posture, 4) Turning clocks, 5) Early surgical intervention, 6) Spot checks by our wound care nurse and 7) Education to patients and care givers. Paired-sample t-test and Chi Squared analyses were used with significance defined as ppatients were admitted to our trauma services in the study period. Of these, 89 patients developed HAPUs, had an average age of 57.9 years and 48(54%) were female. The Injury Severity Score ranged from 1 to 75 with a mean of 20 in patients with HAPUs compared to 8 in patients without HAPUs during the same study period. The incidence of HAPUs at our institution was initially 1.36%, decreased to 0.98% in year 2, and 0.39% in year 3 (p-value=0.002). The novel seven-step care- based process changes, acquisition of specialized equipment and educational initiatives implemented was associated with a significant decrease in the incidence rates of Hospital Acquired Pressure Ulcers. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Classification of a palliative care population in a comprehensive cancer centre

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Benthien, K.S; Nordly, M.; Videbæk, K.

2016-01-01

PURPOSE: The purposes of the present study were to classify the palliative care population (PCP) in a comprehensive cancer centre by using information on antineoplastic treatment options and to analyse associations between socio-demographic factors, cancer diagnoses, treatment characteristics...... and receiving specialist palliative care (SPC). METHODS: This is a cross-sectional screening study of patients with cancer in the Department of Oncology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital for 6 months. Patients were assessed to be included in the DOMUS study: a randomised controlled trial...... of accelerated transition to SPC at home (NCT01885637). The PCP was classified as patients with incurable cancer and limited or no antineoplastic treatment options. Patients with performance status 2-4 were further classified as the essential palliative care population (EPCP). RESULTS: During the study period...

Transplantation for acute liver failure in patients exposed to NSAIDs or paracetamol (acetaminophen): the multinational case-population SALT study.

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Gulmez, Sinem Ezgi; Larrey, Dominique; Pageaux, Georges-Philippe; Lignot, Severine; Lassalle, Régis; Jové, Jérémy; Gatta, Angelo; McCormick, P Aiden; Metselaar, Harold J; Monteiro, Estela; Thorburn, Douglas; Bernal, William; Zouboulis-Vafiadis, Irene; de Vries, Corinne; Perez-Gutthann, Susana; Sturkenboom, Miriam; Bénichou, Jacques; Montastruc, Jean-Louis; Horsmans, Yves; Salvo, Francesco; Hamoud, Fatima; Micon, Sophie; Droz-Perroteau, Cécile; Blin, Patrick; Moore, Nicholas

2013-02-01

Most NSAIDs are thought to be able to cause hepatic injury and acute liver failure (ALF), but the event rates of those leading to transplantation (ALFT) remain uncertain. The aim of the study was to estimate population event rates for NSAID-associated ALFT METHODS: This was a case-population study of ALFT in 57 eligible liver transplant centres in seven countries (France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal and the UK). Cases were all adults registered from 2005 to 2007 for a liver transplant following ALFT without identified clinical aetiology, exposed to an NSAID or paracetamol (acetaminophen) within 30 days before the onset of clinical symptoms. NSAID and paracetamol population exposures were assessed using national sales data from Intercontinental Marketing Services (IMS). Risk was estimated as the rate of ALFT per million treatment-years (MTY). In the 52 participating centres, 9479 patients were registered for transplantation, with 600 for ALFT, 301 of whom, without clinical aetiology, had been exposed to a drug within 30 days. Of these 301 patients, 40 had been exposed to an NSAID and 192 to paracetamol (81 of whom were without overdose). Event rates per MTY were 1.59 (95 % CI 1.1-2.2) for all NSAIDs pooled, 2.3 (95 % CI 1.2-3.9) for ibuprofen, 1.9 (95 % CI 0.8-3.7) for nimesulide, 1.6 (95 % CI 0.6-3.4) for diclofenac and 1.6 (95 % CI 0.3-4.5) for ketoprofen. For paracetamol, the event rate was 3.3 per MTY (95 % CI 2.6-4.1) without overdoses and 7.8 (95 % CI 6.8-9.0) including overdoses. ALF leading to registration for transplantation after exposure to an NSAID was rare, with no major difference between NSAID. Non-overdose paracetamol-exposed liver failure was twice more common than NSAID-exposed liver failure.

Benefits of a 12-week lifestyle modification program including diet and combined aerobic and resistance exercise on albuminuria in diabetic and non-diabetic Japanese populations.

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Yamamoto-Kabasawa, Keiko; Hosojima, Michihiro; Yata, Yusuke; Saito, Mariko; Tanaka, Noriko; Tanaka, Junta; Tanabe, Naohito; Narita, Ichiei; Arakawa, Masaaki; Saito, Akihiko

2015-12-01

Albuminuria is a biomarker for chronic kidney disease and an independent predictor of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. A recent meta-analysis concluded that these risks increase with urinary albumin concentration, even when below the microalbuminuria threshold. Thus, minimizing urinary albumin may be a valuable therapeutic goal regardless of disease status. We investigated the benefits and safety of a 12-week lifestyle modification program including diet and combined aerobic and resistance exercise for reducing albuminuria in 295 normoalbuminuric or microalbuminuric Japanese adults, including 30 with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), 104 with metabolic syndrome (MS), and 145 with hypertension (HT). In the study population, the urinary albumin:creatinine ratio (UACR) was reduced significantly (ΔUACR -3.8 ± 16.8 mg/g, P < 0.001) with no change in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (ΔeGFR -0.4 ± 7.4 mL/min/1.73 m(2), P = 0.343). The reduction in UACR was associated with decreased fasting plasma glucose (P < 0.05). The UACR was also reduced in the T2DM, MS, and HT groups with no change in eGFR. Reduced UACR was associated with decreased fasting plasma glucose in the MS group and decreased systolic blood pressure in the HT group. The UACR was also reduced in 46 subjects using renin-angiotensin system inhibitors with no change in eGFR. Our 12-week lifestyle modification program reduced UACR, maintained eGFR, and improved multiple fitness findings in Japanese subjects including T2DM, MS, and HT patients.

Patient characteristics and cancer prevalence in the Danish cancer patient pathway for patients with serious non-specific symptoms and signs of cancer-A nationwide, population-based cohort study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moseholm, E; Lindhardt, B Ø

2017-01-01

of included patients who were diagnosed with cancer after completing a NSSC-CPP diagnostic course. Associations between patient characteristics and cancer diagnosis were estimated in a multivariate logistic regression model. RESULTS: The mean age of the 23,934 patients included in the analysis was 64.6 years...

Measurement of Levels of Ebstein-Barr Virus Antibodies in Patients with Hodgkins Lymphoma and Comparison with Normal Population

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M Mortazavi-zadeh

2004-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Hodgkins lymphoma is a unique malignancy with unknown etiology .Curability and prognosis of Hodgkin,s disease (HD depends on quickly early diagnosis .One of hypothesis proposed for the cause of this disease is Epstein- Barr virus infection and its activity in HD patients . Material and Methods:This case- control study was performed to determine the type and titers of antibodies against EBV capsid Antigens (Anti VCA IgM & IgG in HD patients as compared to the general population and its relation to age , sex , and subtype of Hodgkin. Thus, a fifty- person group of Hodgkin disease patients as the case group and a fifty – person group from the general population with the same age and sex characteristics as the control group were studied. Result: There was no significant difference for mean titer of IgM between two age ranges in each group of case and control. Also, there was statistically no significant difference between case and control groups ( P.Value=0.558 .Most of the patients as well as non affected persons had negative IgM titers. Regarding IgG, there was statistically no significant difference between case and control groups for being either negative or positive, and most persons (92% of each group and were positive for IgG, but mean titer of IgG was 2.87 mmol/lit in case group and 1.50 mmol/lit in control group , and this difference between two groups was statistically significant (Pvalue = 0.0001 . Conclusion: High titer of Anti-VCA IgG in Hodgkin disease patients compared to general population as seen in this study can explain over activity of EBV in Hodgkin's disease patients and the probable role of EBV in establishment and/or activity of the disease.

Effect of Age on Glasgow Coma Scale in Patients with Moderate and Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: An Approach with Propensity Score-Matched Population

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Cheng-Shyuan Rau

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Background: The most widely used methods of describing traumatic brain injury (TBI are the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS and the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS. Recent evidence suggests that presenting GCS in older patients may be higher than that in younger patients for an equivalent anatomical severity of TBI. This study aimed to assess these observations with a propensity-score matching approach using the data from Trauma Registry System in a Level I trauma center. Methods: We included all adult patients (aged ≥20 years old with moderate to severe TBI from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2016. Patients were categorized into elderly (aged ≥65 years and young adults (aged 20–64 years. The severity of TBI was defined by an AIS score in the head (AIS 3‒4 and 5 indicate moderate and severe TBI, respectively. We examined the differences in the GCS scores by age at each head AIS score. Unpaired Student’s t- and Mann–Whitney U-tests were used to analyze normally and non-normally distributed continuous data, respectively. Categorical data were compared using either the Pearson chi-square or two-sided Fisher’s exact tests. Matched patient populations were allocated in a 1:1 ratio according to the propensity scores calculated using NCSS software with the following covariates: sex, pre-existing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, systolic blood pressure, hemoglobin, sodium, glucose, and alcohol level. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the effects of age on the GCS score in each head AIS stratum. Results: The study population included 2081 adult patients with moderate to severe TBI. These patients were categorized into elderly (n = 847 and young adults (n = 1234: each was exclusively further divided into three groups of patients with head AIS of 3, 4, or 5. In the 162 well-balanced pairs of TBI patients with head AIS of 3, the elderly demonstrated a significantly higher GCS score than the young adults (14.1 ± 2.2 vs. 13.1 ± 3

Microvascular decompression for trigeminal neuralgia: comments on a series of 250 cases, including 10 patients with multiple sclerosis.

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Broggi, G; Ferroli, P; Franzini, A; Servello, D; Dones, I

2000-01-01