Youngbloom0778
To evaluate the clinical outcomes of deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty performed by stromal peeling in eyes that have previously undergone penetrating keratoplasty (PK) for keratoconus.
Standardised stromal exchange included (1) 9 mm trephination of the recipient bed outside the old PK wound, (2) creation of a partial anterior corneal flap through lamellar dissection across the PK wound, (3) opening the stromal component of the old PK wound using blunt-tipped Vannas scissors until a plane of separation is reached, (4) severing the attachment of the PK surgical scar from the recipient host, (5) peeling the stroma of the PK graft from the underlying tissue and (6) suturing the donor anterior corneal lamella prepared by microkeratome dissection (450 µm depth, 9 mm diameter). Futibatinib purchase Main outcome measures were success rate, best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA) and endothelial cell loss (ECL).
Of 21 post-PK eyes, stromal exchange succeeded in all but three cases, which were converted to a two-piece mushrervention allows successful management.
Healthcare professionals (HCPs) experience difficulties in timely recognising and directing palliative care (PC) needs of their patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). The aim of this study was to develop a comprehensive tool to enable HCPs in timely recognising and directing PC needs in CHF.
A four-stage mixed-method study was performed. Stage 1 identification of needs and questions of patients and families; stage 2 prioritisation and refinement of the needs and questions; stage 3a testing and online feedback on V.1; stage 3b selecting and refining care recommendations; stage 4 testing and review of V.2. Iterative reviews followed each step in the development process to ensure a wide range of stakeholder input. link2 In total, 16 patients, 12 family members and 54 HCPs participated.
A comprehensive set of 13 PC needs was identified, redefined and tested. The resulting tool, called Identification of patients with HeARt failure with PC needs (I-HARP), contains an introduction prompt with open questions to start the conversation, 13 closed screening questions with additional in-depth questions, and recommendations on actions for identified needs.
I-HARP contains an evidence-based set of questions and palliative CHF care suggestions for HCPs in the Netherlands. The resulting tool, approved by HCPs, patients and family members, is a promising guidance for HCP to timely recognise and direct PC needs in CHF.
I-HARP contains an evidence-based set of questions and palliative CHF care suggestions for HCPs in the Netherlands. The resulting tool, approved by HCPs, patients and family members, is a promising guidance for HCP to timely recognise and direct PC needs in CHF.
Palliative care strives to improve quality of life for patients with incurable diseases. This approach includes adequate support of the patients' loved ones. Consequently, loved ones have personal experiences of providing end-of-life care for their next. link3 This is a resource for information and may help to investigate the loved ones' perspectives on need for improvements.
To identify further quality aspects considered important by loved ones to improve the quality of care at the end of life as an addition to quantitative results from the Care of the Dying Evaluation for the German-speaking area (CODE-GER) questionnaire.
Within the validation study of the questionnaire 'Care of the Dying Evaluation' (CODETM) GER, loved ones were asked to comment (free text) in parallel on each item of the CODE-GER. These free-text notes were analysed with the qualitative content analysis method by Philipp Mayring.
Loved ones of patients (n=237), who had died an expected death in two university hospitals (palliative and non-palliative care units) during the period from April 2016 to March 2017.
993 relevant paragraphs were extracted out of 1261 free-text notes. For loved ones, important aspects of quality of care are information/communication, respect of the patient's and/or loved one's will, involvement in decision-making at the end of life (patient's volition) and having the possibility to say goodbye.
It is important for loved ones to be taken seriously in their sorrows, to be informed, that the caregivers respect the patients' will and to be emotionally supported.
This study was registered at the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00013916).
This study was registered at the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00013916).
Advocacy is vital for advancing tobacco control and there has been considerable investment in this area. While much is known about tobacco industry interference (TII), there is little research on advocates' efforts in countering TII and what they need to succeed. We sought to examine this and focused on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where adoption and implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) tend to remain slower and weaker.
We interviewed 22 advocates from eight LMICs with recent progress in a tobacco control policy. We explored participants' experiences in countering TII, including the activities they undertake, challenges they encounter and how their efforts could be enhanced. We used Qualitative Description to analyse transcripts and validated findings through participant feedback.
We identified four main areas of countering activities (1) generating and compiling data and evidence, (2) accessing policymakers and restricting industry access, (3) working with meanges to enhance tobacco control capacity building should be considered.
This research highlights that following years of investment in tobacco control in LMICs, there is growing confidence in addressing TII. We identify straightforward initiatives that could strengthen such efforts. This research also underscores that more structural changes to enhance tobacco control capacity building should be considered.
Dual point-of-care tests (POCTs) for detecting antibodies to HIV and syphilis have been developed for use with venous whole blood, serum/plasma or finger-prick capillary whole blood. Several tests are commercially available showing encouraging performance compared with 'gold-standard' reference tests in laboratory-based studies. However, data on their performance in the field are limited. This prospective cross-sectional study will conduct a clinic-based evaluation to assess the performance characteristics and acceptability to end-users of two dual HIV/syphilis POCTs for the screening of HIV and syphilis among men who have sex with men (MSM), sex workers (SWs) and pregnant women (PW). This master protocol outlines the overall research approach that will be used in seven countries.
MSM, SWs and PW presenting at clinic evaluation sites in high, low and middle-income countries will be enrolled. The (WHO preapproved) POCTs to be evaluated are SD Bioline HIV/Syphilis Duo (Abbott) and Dual Path Platform HIV-Sypand approved by the Research Project Review Panel (RP2) of the WHO Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research and by the WHO Ethics Review Committee (ERC). The protocol has been adapted to individual countries and approved by RP2, ERC and institutional review boards at each site. Results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and relevant conferences.
The COVID-19 pandemic has required drastic safety measures to control virus spread, including an extended self-isolation period. Stressful situations increase alcohol craving and consumption in alcohol use disorder (AUD) and non-AUD drinkers. Thus, we assessed how COVID-19 related stress may have affected drinking behaviours in the general population.
We developed an online cross-sectional survey, Habit Tracker (HabiT), which measured changes in drinking behaviours before and during COVID-19 quarantine. We also assessed psychiatric factors such as anxiety, depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) and impulsivity (Short-Impulsive Behavior Scale). Lastly, we related drinking behaviours to COVID-19 specific stress factors.
HabiT was released internationally, with individuals from 83 countries participating.
Participants were included if they were 18 years of age or older and confirmed they were proficient in English. The survey was completed by 2873 adults with 1346 usable data (46.9% accurateliods of self-isolation and underscore the theoretical mechanism of negative emotionality underlying drinking behaviours driven by stress. Limitations include a large degree of study dropout (n=1515). Future studies should assess the long-term effects of isolation on drinking behaviours.
Our findings highlight a role for identifying those vulnerable for alcohol misuse during periods of self-isolation and underscore the theoretical mechanism of negative emotionality underlying drinking behaviours driven by stress. Limitations include a large degree of study dropout (n=1515). Future studies should assess the long-term effects of isolation on drinking behaviours.
To examine the temporal trends in mortality and heart failure (HF) hospitalisation in ambulatory patients following a new diagnosis of HF.
Retrospective cohort study SETTING Outpatient PARTICIPANTS Ontario residents who were diagnosed with HF in an outpatient setting between 1994 and 2013.
The primary outcome was all-cause mortality within 1 year of diagnosis and the secondary outcome was HF hospitalisation within 1 year. Risks of mortality and hospitalisation were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and the relative hazard of death was assessed using multivariable Cox proportional hazard models.
A total of 352 329 patients were studied (50% female). During the study period, there was a greater decline in age standardised 1-year mortality rates (AMR) in men (33%) than in women (19%). Specifically, female AMR at 1 year was 10.4% (95% CI 9.1% to 12.0%) in 1994 and 8.5% (95% CI 7.5% to 9.5%) in 2013, and male AMR at 1 year was 12.3% (95% CI 11.1% to 13.7%) in 1994 and 8.3% (95% CI 7.5% to 9.1%) in 2013. Conversely, age standardised HF hospitalisation rates declined in men (11.4% (95% CI 10.1% to 12.9%) in 1994 and 9.1% (95% CI 8.2% to 10.1%) in 2013) but remained unchanged in women (9.7% (95% CI 8.3% to 11.3%) in 1994 and 9.8% (95% CI 8.6% to 11.0%) in 2013).
Among patients with HF over a 20-year period, there was a greater improvement in the prognosis of men compared with women. Further research should focus on the determinants of this disparity and ways to reduce this gap in outcomes.
Among patients with HF over a 20-year period, there was a greater improvement in the prognosis of men compared with women. Further research should focus on the determinants of this disparity and ways to reduce this gap in outcomes.
The creation and evaluation of a national record linkage between substance misuse treatment, and inpatient hospitalisation data in England.
A deterministic record linkage using personal identifiers to link the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) curated by Public Health England (PHE), and Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) Admitted Patient Care curated by National Health Service (NHS) Digital.
Adults accessing substance misuse treatment in England between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2019 (n=268 251) were linked to inpatient hospitalisation records available since 1 April 1997.
Using a gold-standard subset, linked using NHS number, we report the overall linkage sensitivity and precision. Predictors for linkage error were identified, and inverse probability weighting was used to interrogate any potential impact on the analysis of length of hospital stay.
79.7% (n=213 814) people were linked to at least one HES record, with an estimated overall sensitivity of between 82.5% and 83.3%, and a precision of between 90.