Abdifrazier0635
Few individuals seroconverted from negative to positive (ACPA 2% and IgM RF 5%) and positive to negative (ACPA 3% and IgM RF 6%). selleck compound CONCLUSIONS ACPA has a higher PPV for RA than IgM RF, whereas their NPV is identical. ACPA is the better choice when testing for RA in primary care. Seroconversion is rare, and it is only rarely relevant to retest. FUNDING The Department of Clinical immunology at Odense University Hospital funded the study. TRIAL REGISTRATION not relevant. Articles published in the DMJ are “open access”. This means that the articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.INTRODUCTION In pregnant women, bacteriuria with group B streptococci (GBS) may be associated with a high degree of recto-vaginal GBS colonisation and therefore an increased risk of early-onset GBS disease. The aim of this study was to assess the performance of routine use of dipstick urine analysis during pregnancy for prediction of recto-vaginal GBS colonisation at the time of labour. METHODS Among 902 unselected Danish pregnant women, we obtained results from 1) dipstick urine analysis, 2) urine culture carried out during pregnancy, if indicated, and 3) recto-vaginal culture at labour. The inclusion criteria were age > 18 years and gestational age ≥ 37 weeks. RESULTS Intrapartum recto-vaginal GBS colonisation was predicted by a positive urine dipstick with 5% sensitivity only. CONCLUSION Dipstick urine analysis had a low sensitivity for predicting intrapartum recto-vaginal colonisation with GBS. FUNDING none. TRIAL REGISTRATION not relevant. Articles published in the DMJ are “open access”. This means that the articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.INTRODUCTION The aim of this study was to cross-culturally adapt the Western Ontario Rotator Cuff Index (WORC) into a Danish version (D-WORC) and evaluate its validity, reliability and responsiveness in patients undergoing surgery for arthroscopic subacromial decompression or rotator cuff repair. METHODS The original WORC version was cross-culturally adapted into Danish and, the validity, test-retest reliability, responsiveness construct validity, internal consistency, interclass correlation coefficient (ICC), limits of agreement (LOA) and an anchor minimal important change (MIC) were assessed using the Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH), the Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS), the Short Form-36 and the global rating scale. RESULTS The cross-cultural adaption was successful. The correlation was high between the D-WORC and DASH (Pearson's correlation coefficient (PCC) = 0.71; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.60-0.79) and moderate between the D-WORC and the OSS (PCC = 0.67; 95% CI 0.55-0.76). Reliability analysis showed an ICC of 0.80 (95% CI 0.69-0.87) and an internal consistency of 0.94 (95% CI 0.92-0.95). The test-retest mean difference was 76.4 (± standard deviation = 201.40). LOA ranged from -318.3 (95% CI -387.8--248.9) to 471.2 (95% CI 401.7-540.6) for the total WORC score. The MIC was -211 in the total score. CONCLUSIONS The D-WORC is a valid, reliable and responsive questionnaire that can be used in Danish populations. FUNDING Lone Dragnes Brix Familien Hede Nielsens Fond, Gurli og Hans Engell Friis' Fond, Aase og Ejnar Danielsens Fond, Knud og Edith Eriksons Mindefond, Region Midtjyllands Sundhedsvidenskabelige Forskningsfond. TRIAL REGISTRATION Danish Data Protection Agency 1-16-02-653-15. Articles published in the DMJ are “open access”. This means that the articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.INTRODUCTION Pancreatic cancer is among the most lethal malignancies with a five-year survival of about 5%, and the only curative treatment is surgical resection. Denmark consists of five governmental regions and has four surgical centres. Our aim was to explore the regional and socio-economic differences in overall survival following a pancreatic cancer diagnosis in Denmark. METHODS We included a total of 5,244 pancreatic cancer patients (WHO International Classification of Diseases, tenth version C25) registered in the Danish Pancreatic Cancer Database during 2012-2017. The data sources used were the Danish Civil Registration System, the Danish National Patient Registry and the Danish national registers on education and income at Statistics Denmark. Cox regression analysis was used to examine all-cause mortality of pancreatic cancer patients by region of residence and socio-economic status. RESULTS Compared to The Capital Region, there was an excess mortality in the Central Denmark Region and the North Denmark Region in both men and women, whereas no increased mortality was observed in the Region of Southern Denmark or in Region Zealand. Estimates were adjusted for age, year of diagnosis and comorbidity. Adjustment for surgical resection greatly attenuated the variation in survival between the regions. CONCLUSIONS We found significant differences in overall survival across the five Danish regions following a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. The regional variation in survival was largely attributable to differences in the propensity to use surgical resection. FUNDING none. TRIAL REGISTRATION not relevant. Articles published in the DMJ are “open access”. This means that the articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.Community health workers (CHWs) can improve patients' health by providing them with ongoing behavioral support during the health care experience, and they help decrease health care costs, especially among patients whose starting costs are high and among underserved and minority populations. We developed a CHW-based care model with the aim of improving outcomes and lowering costs for high-risk diabetes patients in rural Appalachia. Enrolled patients experienced a mean decrease in HbA1c of 2.4 percentage points, and 60% or more of patients with diabetes lowered their blood glucose between baseline and 6 to 12 months after enrollment. As health care providers and patients became familiar with this model of care management, enrollment in the program accelerated.