OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc), hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), and antibodies to delta virus (anti-DV). DESIGN: Cross-sectional (prevalence) study. A non-proportional (stratified by length of stay) random sample of 20% of admitted patients was selected. CLINICAL SETTING: The Hospital Psiquiátrico Nuestra Señora de Montserrat (Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain) admits about 670 patients in its short-term, rehabilitation (mid-term) and long-term wards. SUBJECTS: 139 patients were selected: 91% were males, mean age was 55 years, and 10% belonged to an HIV risk group; mean length of hospitalization since last discharge was 13 years. MEASUREMENTS: Blood samples were drawn in October, 1988. Anti-HBc, HBsAg and anti-DV were determined by competitive enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Anti-HIV-1 were determined by sandwich EIA; negativity of results with high absorbency but below the cut-off point was confirmed by Western blot. RESULTS: None of the sampled patients had circulating anti-HIV-1 antibodies. Four cases showing high absorbency (below the "cut-off" point) were ruled out by Western-blot. Overall, the prevalence of anti-HBc was 52.8% (54.4% in long-term wards, 35.0% in mid-term wards, and 13.8% in short-term wards). The prevalence of HBsAg was 2.3%, of anti-DV 1.5%, and of HDAg 0%. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of anti-HIV is null in the studied institution. Current efforts to prevent HIV infection must continue; a hepatitis B vaccination program is highly warranted among patients and professionals of the studied hospital.

Biomarkers↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The symptom-diagnosis interval: a possible approximation to the natural history of neoplasms].

In order to assess the influence that age, sex, site of the primary tumor (SPT), the extension and histology may have on the interval first symptom-diagnosis (ISD), 1.149 cases of lung, breast, stomach, colon and rectum cancer registered in the Tumor Registry of the Hospital del Mar (Barcelona) were analyzed. Overall, mean ISD was 5.7 months. 12.7% of women and 5.5% of men (p less than 0.0001) had an ISD greater than one year. Age does not appear to influence ISD in this population (r = 0.014). Among women, the ISD for each SPT was as follows: breast cancer, 9.1 months; rectal cancer, 6.5; stomach, 4.9; colon, 4.7; lung, 2.7. Men's ISD were: rectum, 6.2; stomach, 5.9; colon, 5.7; lung 3.2. Age, sex, SPT, the extension and histology jointly explain only 18% of the ISD variability (multiple r = 0.42 p less than 0.0001). SPT and histology appear to be the strongest predictors, both remaining statistically significant when adjusting for the other four factors. While only breast cancer clearly showed a positive association between ISD and tumor extension, an unexpected inverse relationship was observed in rectal cancer. In some tumors, the ISD may just be an indicator for the rate of tumor growth. ISD data registered in a Tumor Registry can contribute to the study of a part of the natural history of neoplasms. Such analyses are also relevant for studies of secondary prevention and screening programs, access to and quality of care, and psychosocial predictors of the care seeking process.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The association between mortality and the cost of medications persists even controlling for per capita income].

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Costs and Cost Analysis↗