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Prevention of renal disease progression and renal replacement therapy in emerging countries.

Chronic kidney disease is increasing in both developed and emerging countries with progressive encroachment on health services budgets. In spite of the lack of accurate registries, we tried to focus on the magnitude of the problem on different continents. Prevention of progression has been a remote but reachable goal. Many health foundations including the International Society of Nephrology gave recommendations for prevention and slowing progression, but these are again confronted by lack of resources. Integration of governmental, community, and expert efforts is necessary to set prevention priorities including affordable screening programs and increasing access to renal replacement therapy by different modalities.

Chronic Disease↗

Comparison of the epilepsy surgery programs in Cartagena, Colombia, and Zürich, Switzerland.

The organization, financing, productivity, quality of work, and cost-effectiveness of the Epilepsy Center in Cartagena, Colombia, were studied and compared with the epilepsy surgery program at the University Hospital Zürich, Switzerland. During a 2-month visit, one of the authors (I.T.) evaluated the center in Cartagena as a welfare institution and evaluated its epilepsy surgery program. The postoperative results of the Cartagena program were compared with those reported at the Second International Palm Desert Conference 1992, which revealed a similar rate of postoperative seizure control in temporal lobe epilepsy, slightly inferior results with hemispherectomy, and slightly better results with anterior callosotomy. A comparison between the two epilepsy centers showed that pre and postoperative antiepileptic drug treatment is more restricted in Colombia because of high costs. Although important diagnostic tools such as electroencephalography, seizure monitoring, neuropsychology, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging are available in both centers, the Zürich program also has access to positron emission tomography, single photon emission computed tomography, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and intracarotid and selective amobarbital tests. The postoperative seizure outcome is similar in surgical temporal lobe epilepsy patients (temporal lobectomy series, Cartagena; selective amygdalohippocampectomy series, Zürich). The comparison of direct costs of epilepsy surgery in Cartagena and Zürich showed that for the average patient undergoing epilepsy surgery in Cartagena, the cost is 5.5% of that in Zürich. This study presents evidence that epilepsy surgery is an inexpensive and efficient treatment option for epilepsy patients in developing countries. Epilepsy surgery in developing countries may even be considered at an early stage in patients who cannot afford the costs of lifetime medical treatment but can afford the one-time cost of a surgical treatment.

Anticonvulsants↗

House calls: is there an APN in the house?

PURPOSE: To report how a group of geriatric advanced practice nurses (APNs) participated in a house calls program that increased access to care for homebound and frail community-dwelling elders. DATA SOURCES: Selected literature and author experiences, illustrated with clinical examples. CONCLUSIONS: Many frail older adults are unable to access healthcare due to functional impairments related to multiple, chronic medical conditions. Many of these adults inappropriately utilize the emergency department for episodic care. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The model of care maximizes utilization of APNs to provide cost effective, culturally sensitive, quality care. The goal of geriatric assessment and primary care in this practice is to add quality to later years of life, promoting dignity and comfort to older adults and their families.

Aged↗

Differential ranking of causes of fatal versus non-fatal injuries among US children.

OBJECTIVE: Leading causes of fatal and non-fatal injury among US children aged <15 years were compared. METHOD: A descriptive study was conducted using nationally representative data on injury related deaths (National Vital Statistics System) and on non-fatal injury related emergency department visits (IEDV; National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-All Injury Program). Data were accessed using a publicly available web based system. RESULTS: Annually, an estimated 7100000 pediatric IEDV and 7400 injury deaths occurred. The overall non-fatal to fatal ratio (NF:F) was 966 IEDV:1 death. Among deaths, the leading causes were motor vehicle traffic occupants (n = 1700; NF:F = 150:1), suffocations (n = 1037; NF:F = 14:1), and drownings (n = 971, NF:F = 6:1). Among non-fatal injuries, falls (estimated 2400000) and struck by/against (estimated 1800000) were the most common causes, but substantially less lethal (NF:F = 19000:1 and 15000:1, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The leading causes of pediatric fatal and non-fatal injuries differed substantially. This study indicates the need for consideration of common causes of non-fatal injury, especially falls.

Accidental Falls↗

Mental health services for children in the first two years after the 1995 Oklahoma City terrorist bombing.

Nineteen infants and children were killed in the 1995 terrorist bombing in Oklahoma City, and many were injured. More than 200 children lost one or both parents. These casualties focused attention on children in the disaster response efforts. This paper describes the development and implementation of a school-based mental health program that provided accessible services to children affected by the bombing, with an emphasis on normalization. A clinical needs assessment of all children in the Oklahoma City public school system was carried out, and clinicians provided emergency and crisis services, counseling, and support groups.

Adolescent↗

HIV care: continuing medical education and consultation needs of nurses, physicians, and pharmacists.

This article explores the impact of provider characteristics on their HIV-related continuing medical education (CE) attendance, consultation needs, satisfaction with skills, and willingness to provide care. A total of 731 users (52% physicians, 26% nurses, 11% pharmacists, and 10% nurse practitioners and physician assistants) of an HIV consultation were surveyed by mail (76% response). Significant differences in provider variables were found to be related to HIV experience and profession. Experienced providers reported more CE, more satisfaction with skills, lower consultation needs, more consultations sought, and more willingness to take new patients than other providers. "Unwillingness" was commonly explained by concerns over quality of care or staying up-to-date. Relative to physicians, nurses had more CE hours, were more dissatisfied with their skills, and had greater consultation needs. Although all providers had high consultation or CE needs in some areas, accessibility to such programs is particularly important for low-volume providers.

Analysis of Variance↗

Development and testing of innovative patient resources for the management of coronary heart disease (CHD): a descriptive study.

BACKGROUND: Although heart disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality the majority of patients do not access existing rehabilitation programs and patient resources are not designed to facilitate patient choice and decision-making. The objective of this study was to develop and test a series of risk factor modules and corresponding patient information leaflets for secondary prevention of CHD. METHODS: In phase one, a series of risk factor modules and management options were developed following analysis of literature and interviews with health professionals. In phase two, module information leaflets were developed using published guidelines and interviews of people with CHD. In phase three, the leaflets were tested for quality (DISCERN), readability (Flesch) and suitability (SAM) and were compared to the existing cardiac rehabilitation (CR) information leaflet. Finally, the patients assessed the leaflets for content and relevance. RESULTS: Four key risk factors identified were cholesterol, blood pressure, smoking and physical inactivity. Choice management options were selected for each risk factor and included medical consultation, intensive health professional led program, home program and self direction. Patient information needs were then identified and leaflets were developed. DISCERN quality scores were high for cholesterol (62/80), blood pressure (59/80), smoking (62/80) and physical activity (62/80), all scoring 4/5 for overall rating. The mean Flesch readability score was 75, representing "fairly easy to read", all leaflets scored in the superior category for suitability and were reported to be easy to understand, useful and motivating by persons with CHD risk factors. The developed leaflets scored higher on each assessment than the existing CR leaflets. CONCLUSION: Using a progressive three phase approach, a series of risk factor modules and information leaflets were successfully developed and tested. The leaflets will contribute to shared-decision making and empowerment for persons with CHD.

Adult↗

Multivariate analysis: the need for data, and other problems.

Multivariate analyses are an aid to, not a substitute for critical thinking in the area of data analysis. Meaningful results can only be produced by these methods if careful consideration is given to questions of sample size, variable type, variable distribution etc., and accusations of subjectivity in interpretation can only be overcome by replication. The computer revolution has produced many problems for statisticans, not least of which is the ease with which experiments may access packages of programs for multivariate analysis, and so bypass a "difficult" (by which is meant one who will not do simply as he is told) statistician. Of course there are many abusers of univariate statistical methods. Here, however, the abuses are not likely to lead to such seriously misleading results as in the multivariate case. Perhaps a major cause of the continuing misuse of statistical methods is the insistence of many journal editors in psychology and related areas, on articles being laced with multivariate analyses, and on encouraging the pedantic use of signifance levels, i.e. the inevitable p less than minus, as if such inclusions lent an air of respectability to their journal which it might not otherwise have had. Research workers in these fields would be better encouraged to devote more time to an initial screening of their data using simple graphical techniques, to ensure that their data are at least approximately suitable for more complicated multivariate analyses.

Psychiatry↗

Functional health pattern assessment: a seasonal migrant farmworker community.

A broad-based needs assessment of a migrant farmworker community was conducted using the community functional health pattern tool (Gikow & Kucharski, 1987) and Porter's (1987) factor-isolating theory of population group diagnosis. Data analysis revealed numerous health needs in all 10 functional health patterns and an urgent need for accessible primary prevention programs. A mobile outreach program to the migrant camps was seen as the most effective way to provide education, screening, and health care.

Adult↗

Improving caregiver well-being delays nursing home placement of patients with Alzheimer disease.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of a counseling and support intervention for spouse caregivers in delaying time to nursing home placement of patients with Alzheimer disease (AD), and identify the mechanisms through which the intervention accomplished this goal. METHODS: We conducted a randomized controlled trial of an enhanced counseling and support intervention compared to usual care. Participants were a referred volunteer sample of 406 spouse caregivers of community-dwelling patients who had enrolled in the study over a 9.5-year period. The intervention consisted of six sessions of individual and family counseling, support group participation, and continuous availability of ad hoc telephone counseling. Structured questionnaires were administered at baseline and at regular follow-up intervals, every 4 months for the first year and every 6 months thereafter. Cox proportional hazard models were used to test the effects of the intervention on the time to nursing home placement for the patients after controlling for multiple time-invariant and time-dependent predictors of placement. RESULTS: Patients whose spouses received the intervention experienced a 28.3% reduction in the rate of nursing home placement compared with usual care controls (hazard ratio = 0.717 after covariate adjustment, p = 0.025). The difference in model-predicted median time to placement was 557 days. Improvements in caregivers' satisfaction with social support, response to patient behavior problems, and symptoms of depression collectively accounted for 61.2% of the intervention's beneficial impact on placement. CONCLUSION: Greater access to effective programs of counseling and support could yield considerable benefits for caregivers, patients with Alzheimer disease, and society.

Aged↗

Environmental, policy, and cultural factors related to physical activity in sedentary American Indian women.

Focus group interviews were conducted to explore sociocultural, environmental, and policy-related determinants of physical activity among sedentary American Indian women. Thirty women aged 20 to 50 years (mean = 37.4 +/- 10.6 years) participated. Three sessions were conducted with women aged 20 to 34 years and three with women aged 35 to 50 to evaluate response differences by age. Because no obvious age differences were observed, data were pooled. Barriers to physical activity included inadequate support for household and child care responsibilities and difficulties balancing home-related and societal expectations with physical activity. In addition, women reported little support from their communities and work sites to be physically active. Environmental barriers included lack of safe outdoor areas and accessible walking trails. Weather and stray dogs were also commonly mentioned. Sociocultural barriers included giving family obligations priority above all other things, being expected to eat large portions of high-fat foods, and failing to follow a traditionally active lifestyle. Enablers of physical activity included support from family and coworkers and participation in traditional community events. Suggested intervention approaches included accessible and affordable programs and facilities, community emphasis on physical activity, and programs that incorporated the needs of larger women and of families. Participants emphasized a preference for programs that were compatible with the role expectations of their families and communities, and they expressed the desire for acceptance and encouragement to be physically active from the family, the community, the worksite, and their tribal leaders.

Adult↗

Differential characteristics of HIV-infected penitentiary patients and HIV-infected community patients.

PURPOSE: To identify particular characteristics of HIV+ patients from correctional facilities (CF) compared with an HIV+ population from the community to better detect variables for intervention. METHOD: In our hospital, HIV+ patients are admitted to an infectious diseases ward (IDW) when they come from the community or to a penitentiary unit (PU) when they are transferred from CF. We retrospectively reviewed admissions of those patients in both areas during 1999. RESULTS: Admissions of HIV+ patients to IDW and PU generate 2.3% and 53.4% of hospital and PU stays, respectively. Both populations were equivalent in terms of mean age, CD4 count, viral load, prophylaxis for opportunistic infections, average stay, and death during stay. Male sex (91% vs. 74%), previous or current intravenous drug use (88% vs. 77%), and hepatitis C virus (HCV) seropositivity (97% vs. 82.6%) were more frequent in the PU than in the IDW. Multivariate analysis identified three factors as being independently related to admission from prison: longer time of known HIV infection (average 3.3 years; 95% CI 1.9-4.6), no previous antiretroviral treatment (odds ratio [OR] 2.95; 95% CI 1.46-6.0), and admission due to tuberculosis (OR 2.5; 95% CI 1.03-6.0). CONCLUSION: HIV infection is still a serious medical problem in CF. Although imprisonment can provide access to health programs, HIV-infected prison patients suffer more frequently from tuberculosis and take less antiretroviral treatment.

Adult↗

SCHIP's impact in three states: how do the most vulnerable children fare?

This study provides consistent evidence, from three very diverse states with heterogeneous populations and distinct programs (Florida, Kansas, and New York), that the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) increased access to and satisfaction with health care among enrolled low-income children and that vulnerable children-minorities, children and adolescents with special health care needs, and children who were uninsured for long periods of time-shared in these improvements. We highlight some areas to target for future improvement, such as reducing the high levels of unmet needs among special-needs children and increasing preventive care, especially for Hispanic children.

Adolescent↗

Changes in health insurance coverage during the economic downturn: 2000-2002.

Using Current Population Survey data from 2000-2002, this paper documents the changes that led the uninsured population to grow by 3.8 million during that time period. All of the increase in the uninsured occurred among adults, and two-thirds was among low-income adults. The extent to which the loss of employer coverage resulted in people becoming uninsured depended on their access to public programs: Children were more likely than adults to gain public coverage; women more likely than men; and parents more likely than nonparents. Middle- and higher-income Americans were also affected because many lost income and because rates of employer coverage were lower.

Adult↗

Establishing a regional bone density program: lessons from the Manitoba experience.

In 1997, the province of Manitoba, Canada developed a regional bone density program to address concerns related to access, waiting times, and quality assurance. We report our experience with this model of bone density service delivery, which is unique in North America, and confront the challenge of balancing accessibility, clear guidelines, and fiscal responsibility.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗

Physical activity in adolescence. A review with clinical suggestions.

Despite some inconsistencies in research methodologies, most findings support a positive correlation between participation in physical activities and well-being in adulthood. The results are consistent across the life span of both genders. Favorable connection between physical exercise to physical, psychological, emotional and educational benefits has been constantly proven. Despite such results a comparison between present to past findings show a global tendency for sedentary life style and reduced physical activities in many countries across ages and genders. There are claims that achieving an adult healthy life style is rooted in habits acquired at early ages, thus pointing at childhood and adolescence as the starting point of an active and healthy adulthood. The present article reviews the current literature and findings relating to physical activity with better health and an emphasis on adolescence. Factors correlated to participation of adolescents in physical activities are presented and some clinical issues to promote such activity are discussed. The authors strongly recommend enhanced initiation of community based easily accessed physical exercise programs, for children and adolescents.

Adolescent↗

Sheltered homeless children: their eligibility and unmet need for special education evaluations.

OBJECTIVES: This study described the proportion of sheltered homeless children in Los Angeles, Calif, who were eligible for special education evaluations because of a probable behavioral disorder, learning disability, or mental retardation, and to explore their level of unmet need for special education services. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of 118 parents and 169 children aged 6 through 12 years living in 18 emergency homeless family shelters in Los Angeles County, California. Parents and children were interviewed with standardized mental health and academic skill measures in English and Spanish. RESULTS: Almost half (45%) of the children met criteria for a special education evaluation, yet less than one quarter (22%) had ever received special education testing or placement. The main point of contact for children with behavioral disorders and learning problems was the general health care sector. CONCLUSIONS: School-aged sheltered homeless children have a high level of unmet need for special education evaluations, the first step toward accessing special education programs. Interventions for homeless children should include integration of services across special education, general health care, and housing service sectors.

California↗

Papanicolaou test use among reproductive-age women at high risk for cervical cancer: analyses of the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth.

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the relationship between risk factors for cervical cancer and Papanicolaou (Pap) test use within the past year among reproductive-age women. METHODS: The 1995 National Survey of Family Growth, a demographic and reproductive health survey of 10 847 women aged 15 to 44, was analyzed with multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: Of the women, 62% reported having had a Pap test within the past year. Use was significantly higher among women with risk factors and among African American women. Use was significantly lower among uninsured, poor, and foreign-born women and among women with lower educational attainment and of "other" race/ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS: Strategies to improve Pap test use include (1) educational campaigns that inform women of cervical cancer risk factors and encourage screening and (2) increased support for programs that expand access to Pap tests.

Adolescent↗