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Hospitalization decision for ambulatory patients with community-acquired pneumonia: a prospective study with general practitioners in France.

BACKGROUND: We designed a prospective study in the Puy-de-Dĵme region of France to identify factors associated with a hospitalization decision by general practitioners (GPs) for patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). PATIENTS AND METHODS: 95 voluntary GPs were recruited to report over the period (February 1993 to March 1994) patients diagnosed with CAP defined as acute onset of fever associated with focal pulmonary crackles and/or radiological changes consistent with a pulmonary infection in patients over 3 years of age, living in the community. RESULTS: 37 of the 175 CAP patients (21.4%) were hospitalized. Univariate analysis showed that the hospitalization decision was related to age > 65 years, retirement, history of cardiovascular disease, other extrapulmonary chronic disease, chest auscultation findings, tachypnea at rest and altered mental status. Multivariate analysis identified four variables associated with hospitalization: living alone at home (OR = 3.75), history of cardiovascular disease (OR = 2.54), other chronic medical conditions excluding pulmonary diseases (OR = 4.28) and tachypnea at rest (OR = 3.33). The hospitalization decision by GPs for patients with CAP takes into account social conditions, co-morbid conditions of the patients and the seventy of CAP.

Adolescent↗

[Social-hygienic features of health, life conditions and medical-social assistance to the veterans and disabled veterans of the Great patriotic war in Russia].

Disease incidence in participants and subjects disabled in the Great Patriotic War is analyzed as reflected by the records of consultation rate and medical check-ups of this population. Sociologic study provided information about the subjective assessment of the health status and some sociohygienic and biological characteristics of the cohort. The scope of medical care rendered and requirements in corrective devices and specific types of social care were studied.

Aged↗

Inhalant abuse and heroin addiction: a comparative study on 574 opiate addicts with and without a history of sniffing.

In the present study, a comparison relating to various social aspects was made between 74 opiate addicts who had abused or continued to abuse solvents and 500 fixers without sniffing experience (SE). The results show clear differences between the two groups with reference to age, sex, social status, socialization conditions, family structure, education, vocational training, drug sequence and criminality as well as attitude and motivation towards withdrawal therapy. Contrary to hitherto existing assumptions, solvent abuse among children and juveniles can lead to opiate addiction, given a certain set of social circumstances. Polytoxicomanic opiate addicts with sniffing experience can be differentiated as a marginal group with particularly unfavorable developmental conditions and a specific course of addiction. The results make it clear that a stronger differentiation is necessary within the group of heroin addicts, which has often been regarded as being homogeneous.

Adolescent↗

[Philosophical and historical values of medicine].

History of Medicine has pointed its higher attention on both great physicians and relevant medical schools. The hieratic person of the physician has been pre-eminent and conditioning the relationship between patients and doctor, the latter in a paternalistic dominant position. Changes occurred in medicine during the last century, mainly related to the technological advancements and a new ethiopatogenetic view. Better social conditions, improvement of diagnostic procedures and the discovery of effective therapeutic drugs (e.g. antibiotics, etc.) has produced advancements in general life conditions (measured by parameters such as aging, reduction of newborn mortality etc.), but also an increase in the cost of the social medical system. So, the new frontier of History of Medicine is the analysis of changes occurred in medicine (new epistemological rules, pressure of new technologies, more sophisticated citizens-patients) to deepen the values of medicine in an anthropological view of managed care.

Historiography↗

[Beyond the numbers barrier: racial inequalities and health].

The point of departure for this article was the concept of health as a set of comprehensive and collective living conditions, influenced by the political, socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental context. The work thus shows that studies on health inequalities, disparities, or iniquities should extend beyond statistical data, since racism is not always explicit and measurable in social interactions. It is necessary to analyze the various life experiences of blacks and non-blacks in a given social condition, considering gender, age, place of residence, schooling, family origin, occupation, income, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, capacities and incapacities, social network, and possibilities for accessing social goods and services. Finally, the article lists guidelines that can assist in the major challenge of drafting public policies to combat and eradicate the immense inequalities between whites and blacks.

Female↗

[Characteristics of the brain system activity and vegetative function formation in children under conditions of the European north (a problem study)].

Results of complex medical-physiological research performed during 10 scientific expeditions in Arkhangelsk region in 2003-2005 are presented. Influence of climatic-geographic, biogeochemical and social conditions of North-West region of Russia on sexual maturation, formation of the brain structural-functional organization, vegetative functions, immunological and biochemical status of schoolchildren was studied with the aid of modern neurophysiologic (computer electroencephalography, computer rheoencephalography, computed electric dipole origin tomography, etc.), psychophysiological and psychometric methods (evaluation of cognitive and mnestic functions, Vechsler 1Q estimation), biochemical assessment of monoamine oxidase and butyrylcholinesterase activity, physical-chemical analysis of macro- and microelements in the organism.

Adolescent↗

Psychosocial stress and NK cells among members of a communal settlement.

The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of daily psychosocial stress on the human immune system. We tested 38 couples living in a communal settlement (kibbutz) under similar economic and social conditions, sharing similar housing, nutrition and health care. They were tested repeatedly over a two year period for a number of psychosocial parameters including demoralization, social support, family cohesion, adaptational hardiness and hostility. In parallel, the natural killer "NK" cell system was analysed for distinctive markers and for cytotoxic activity. The proportion of CD16+ lymphocytes was found to correlate with cytotoxic NK activity in both men and women. In contrast, the proportion of CD57+ cells correlated with that of CD16+ cells only in women while in men only the CD57+CD8-lymphocytes subset correlated with CD16+ cells. For each individual tested, the values of NK activity and NK markers obtained in tests carried out more than a year apart showed a striking correlation. In males, NK cytotoxicity correlated with hostility but was negatively correlated with family cohesion, adaptability and hardiness. The level of CD16+ and CD57+ cells correlated positively with demoralization in males only. Changes in the level of NK activity and in the level of CD16+ cells occurring in husbands during the observation period correlated positively with changes in demoralization and negatively with changes in family cohesion and adaptability. The results indicate that daily psychological stress and low family function may enhance the NK system, and that this response may differ between the sexes.

Adult↗

[Evaluation of retard drug forms with special reference to their therapeutic aspects].

The useful development and application of controlled-release dosage forms is an important possibility to improve the pharmacotherapy of many diseases. However, according to the present social conditions of reproduction the introduction of a new drug has to be directed not only to a high therapeutic benefit but also to an increased social efficiency i.e., to an improvement of cost-benefit-relation. In the present study, therefore, the effect of using controlled-release dosage forms on the development of social efficiency is discussed. Basing on a comprehensive estimation of the therapeutic efficiency (therapeutic advantages and disadvantages) of controlled-release dosage forms the criteria of cost and benefit being of importance for a complex evaluation of efficiency are described.

Delayed-Action Preparations↗

An assessment of community suicide risk.

The contributions of several core variables to the white suicide rates in 24 Florida counties were examined, and a prediction equation, using multiple linear regression, was developed. Age was found to be about 50% more important than divorce. With both age and divorce controlled, loneliness and insanity were found to be significant core variables (p less than .05). A prediction equation including age, crime rate, insanity, and alcoholism was found that accounted for 79% of the variation in the suicide rates across counties. The observed rates were divided by predicted rates to yield standardized mortality ratios. It is proposed that these ratios may serve to assess both the need for and the impact of community suicide prevention services by placing suicide rates in the context of relevant social conditions.

Adult↗

Introduction of a board certification system for the Japanese Society of General Hospital Psychiatry.

The importance of board certification systems is increasing in parallel with changes in the social conditions surrounding general medical practice. The same is also the case for consultation-liaison psychiatry, a subspecialty of psychiatry. As a consequence, in April 2001 a board certification system for the Japanese Society of General Hospital Psychiatry was introduced. The clinical abilities required for liaison psychiatrists in this system can be summarized as follows: the ability to adequately treat patients with physical/psychiatric comorbidity or somatization, the ability to form an appropriate and adequate relationship with patients with physical diseases and to collaborate with medical and surgical professionals, and to have a good social and ethical awareness of general medical practice. The conditions required to obtain certification and the issues that remain to be addressed are also discussed.

Certification↗

Use of the catheterized rat in studies on social interactions and plasma catecholamines.

Catheterized rats were subjected to various social conditions and amphetamine treatment and plasma norepinephrine and epinephrine levels were measured. Normal interactions involving another male or female rat did not alter plasma catecholamine levels. Social interactions with a mouse or an amphetamine treated, hyperactive male rat had no effect on plasma epinephrine but increased norepinephrine levels significantly. A low dose of amphetamine given to the catheterized rat increased only plasma norepinephrine levels. The catheterized rat was found to be a very useful animal model for the study of social interactions and their effects on physiological processes as reflected in changes in certain blood chemicals.

Amphetamine↗

Opiate effects on social behavior of juvenile dogs as a function of social deprivation.

The relationship between opioids and social behavior was examined by administering morphine (an opioid agonist) and naloxone (an opioid antagonist) to juvenile dogs and measuring various social behaviors (e.g., tail wagging) in a large room. Drugs were administered following social deprivation and nondeprivation. It was hypothesized that morphine would ease effects of social deprivation while naloxone would result in behavior typical of untreated socially-deprived dogs. Social deprivation (24 hr) resulted in more contact with the experimenter and increased tail wagging relative to nondeprivation. Morphine (0.25 mg/kg) resulted in more contacts with the experimenter and entrances into the "experimenter's area" relative to vehicle injections. Further, morphine decreased and naloxone increased tail wagging in the dog's area and there was a significant social condition X drug interaction for that measure. Naloxone (0.25 mg/kg) increased wagging following nondeprivation while morphine decreased wagging following deprivation. These data support the hypotheses that social deprivation can increase social behaviors, and that social behavior is regulated by activity in brain opioid systems.

Animals↗

Markers for work disability in rheumatoid arthritis.

Work disability is common in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and accounts for a large fraction of its costs. People with RA who are work disabled have more joint involvement, radiographic damage, and/or laboratory abnormalities than people who are working. However, analysis of predictive and associative markers in 15 studies of work disability indicate that the demographic variables, such as age, occupation, level of education, and duration of disease, as well as functional status in activities of daily living (ADL) identified on a patient questionnaire, appear to identify work status more than physiological variables. Work disability results from complex interactions of a medical disease, demographic variables, social conditions, and government policies. Some patients with RA are work disabled before they see a rheumatologist. Improved work disability outcomes in RA will require attention to social, economic, and political issues, and wider physician and public education concerning RA, in addition to improved medical management of disease.

Activities of Daily Living↗

[Results in the documentation for pregnancy surveillance].

Some results from the pregnancy surveillance booklet documentation are discussed in this paper. These results were gained on the basis of data from a representative random sample taken in Rheinland-Pfalz in 1977. Unfortunately, the risk factors section in the pregnancy surveillance booklet does not receive sufficient medical documentation. Apparently, its structure is too complex and its second part is not on the proper place. Contrary to the risk factor check list, which has been answered poorly, the entry of the observations on the course of the pregnancy obviously has carried out regularly. Only half of the pregnant women take advantage of at least 10 preventive medial examinations. Frequency of these examinations and date of the first medical examination in pregnancy depend on social conditions. In case of unfavourable general conditions pregnant women go less often, and later, to the prenatal examinations and the state of health of the new-born child depends on the "social strata" factor. Seen especially from the viewpoint of a greater centralization in obstetrics, the measures taken in prenatal care should be decentralized and varied and should include a revision of the pregnancy surveillance booklet.

Child Health Services↗

Influence of previous housing history on the toxicity of amphetamine in aggregate mice.

The lethality of d-amphetamine was studied in isolated and aggregated mice with and without previous habituation to the physical or to the physical and social environment of chronically aggregated social condition under which the toxic effects of d-amphetamine were tested. In animals without previous habituation to such environments, d-amphetamine's toxicity was greatly enhanced by social aggregation, as reported by several authors in the literature. It was found that mortality in the dose range from 5 to 90 mg/kg is mainly determined by the stimulation due to aggregation. Above 90 mg/kg, the mortalities in single and aggregated mice vary in parallel. Up from this dose, lethality is independent of the external stimulation. Previous experience with house sharing in aggregated conditions reduces aggregation mortality in proportion to the duration of the previous house sharing period.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Isolation alters striatal met-enkephalin immunoreactivity in rat pups.

Isolated preweanling rats emit ultrasonic vocalizations. Mu- and delta-opioid agonists quiet isolated pups; naltrexone, an opioid receptor blocker, prevents this quieting. A littermate companion is as effective as morphine in quieting vocalizations, and naltrexone also blocks companion quieting. We have now quantified methionine enkephalin (Met-ENK) immunoreactivity in the brains of 10-day-old Wistar rat pups taken directly from the home cage or kept either alone or with a companion for a brief or prolonged period. Met-ENK is an endogenous ligand that binds to the mu- and delta-opioid receptors. Striatal peptide levels were higher when pups were with a companion than when they were kept alone; the peptide level of pups in the home cage did not differ from either. Comparisons of pups in the brief (5 min) and prolonged (60 min) separation conditions showed significantly higher peptide levels following a brief period out of the nest than at the end of an hour. In hypothalamus, hippocampus, and frontal cortex neither social condition nor duration of separation significantly altered peptide quantity. Larger amounts of Met-ENK in pups provided with a companion could reflect an increase in posttranslational cleavage of the precursor molecule leading to stimulation of receptors that act to diminish USV. Reduced levels following 60 min out of the home cage might reflect depletion of the peptide following an initial release during the period when the pup's vocal response is most vociferous.

Animals↗

[Results of long-term follow-up of transsexual patients].

From 69 transsexual patients (48 men, 21 women) having consulted the Basel University Psychiatric Outpatient-Department between 1970 and 1990, 13 men-to-woman- and 4 woman-to-man-transsexuals could be examined in a follow-up (5-20 years after the operation). The social conditions and the quality of life of the 13 men-to-woman-transsexuals had significantly deteriorated: 9 of the 13 depend on life annuity or on social welfare assistance. The patients live socially very isolated. Eight of them report almost not being able to experience sexual pleasure, 10 suffer from anxieties, depression or addictions. Three regret having demanded the operation and two have passed a second operation for restoration of the original state. The 4 woman-to-man-transsexuals showed slightly better results: 2 of them are fully professionally active and live in constant personal relationships of several years of duration. The 2 others, however, suffer from depression and problems of addiction and give the impression of affective lability. The results lead to the following conclusions: 1. the criteria of indication for the operation of the transsexuals should be observed thoroughly, especially the psychotherapeutic accompaniment before the operation during at least 1 year; 2. the question of emotional stability, of frustration tolerance and of the danger of an outbreak of psychosis are to be examined carefully; 3. the professional and social integration before and after the operation is of central importance.

Adult↗