BACKGROUND & AIMS: PURPOSE:Making good consumer decisions requires having good information. This study compared long-term-care recommendations among various types of health professionals. DESIGN AND METHODS:We gave randomly varied scenarios to a convenience national sample of 211 professionals from varying disciplines and work locations. For each scenario, we asked the professional to recommend the appropriate forms of long-term care. RESULTS:Although the professional respondents used the full spectrum of options offered to them, some professionals tended to favor the sector they worked in. Advanced practice nurses recommended day care and homemaking more and adult foster care less. Gerontologists used skilled nursing-facility placement more actively and rehabilitation, homemaking, and home health care less actively. Geriatricians and primary care physicians both favored rehabilitation and skilled nursing-facility care and were both less enthusiastic about assisted living, homemaking, and informal care, but the geriatricians favored day care more than did the primary care physicians. Registered nurses were highly supportive of assisted living, adult foster care, homemaking, and home health care, and they opposed skilled nursing-facility care. Social workers were less likely than other participants to endorse rehabilitation and adult foster care. IMPLICATIONS:Because consumer preference should be a major factor in making long-term-care decisions, many consumers need information about what options may best fit their situation. In the absence of empirical data on which types of long-term care work best for whom, consumers have to rely on expert judgment-but that judgment varies. Clients should be aware that an expert's background (as defined by discipline and work situation) may affect his or her recommendations. Each discipline appears to have its own set of experiences and beliefs that may influence recommendations.

背景与目标：

BACKGROUND & AIMS: :Clubfoot (talipes equinovarus) is a common orthopaedic malformation that can be accurately diagnosed prenatally. The study was conducted to investigate possible in utero visualization of transient and late-onset clubfoot. Early (13-16 weeks' gestation) prenatal transvaginal sonographic diagnosis of clubfoot deformity was made in 36 cases during the study period. Only those cases where follow-up examination revealed different sonographic findings were considered. The results showed that seven cases of transient (as well as relapsing) clubfoot were identified. In 4 of 7 cases, the clubfoot resolved (all after more than 10 min of observation) during the same examination. In the fifth and sixth cases, it initially resolved, later reappearing in follow-up examinations (20 and 22 weeks' gestation). In the seventh case, the clubfoot persisted for two consecutive examinations (2 weeks apart each) and later disappeared. In addition, six late-onset (22-24 weeks' gestation) clubfoot cases were identified during the study period. Although infrequent, in utero clubfoot can be both a transient and a late-onset phenomenon. Over- and under-diagnosis are potential hazards in these situations.

背景与目标： : 马蹄内翻足 (马蹄内翻足) 是一种常见的矫形畸形，可以在产前准确诊断。进行这项研究是为了研究子宫内短暂性和迟发性马蹄内翻足的可能性。在研究期间，对36例马蹄内翻足畸形进行了早期 (妊娠13-16周) 产前经阴道超声诊断。仅考虑那些随访检查显示超声检查结果不同的情况。结果表明，发现了7例短暂性 (以及复发性) 马蹄内翻足。在7例中的4例中，在同一检查中，马蹄内翻足消退 (所有观察超过10分钟后)。在第五和第六例中，它最初得到解决，后来在后续检查中再次出现 (妊娠20和22周)。在第七例中，马蹄内翻足持续进行了两次连续检查 (每次间隔2周)，后来消失了。此外，在研究期间还发现了6例迟发性 (妊娠22-24周) 马蹄内翻足病例。尽管很少出现，但子宫内的马蹄内翻足既可以是短暂现象，也可以是迟发现象。在这些情况下，过度诊断和诊断不足是潜在的危险。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: :A prospective collection of positive antimicrobial cultures was performed over 12 consecutive months in the medical intensive care unit of a cancer hospital. In all, 144 infections and 163 pathogens were documented during 87 of the 528 admissions. Lung, urinary, ENT (ear, nose and throat) infections and bacteraemia were the most frequently documented. Staphylococcus species, Streptococcus species, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella species and Pseudomonas species were the most common pathogens. Gram-positive strains were observed predominantly during monomicrobial bacteraemia (48.9%). Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE) were found in 58% and 92% of the isolated strains respectively. No particular outbreak was identified. A further prospective study will be necessary to evaluate the impact of the antibiotic use on the selection of resistant strains in our ICU.

背景与目标： : 在癌症医院的医疗重症监护病房中连续12个月进行了阳性抗菌培养的前瞻性收集。在528的87例入院期间，共记录了144例感染和163例病原体。肺，泌尿，耳鼻喉科 (耳，鼻和喉) 感染和菌血症是最常见的记录。最常见的病原体是葡萄球菌，链球菌，大肠杆菌，克雷伯菌和假单胞菌。革兰氏阳性菌株主要在单株菌血症期间观察到 (48.9%)。分离株的58% 和92% 中分别发现了耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌 (MRSA) 和表皮葡萄球菌 (MRSE)。没有发现特别的爆发。需要进行进一步的前瞻性研究，以评估抗生素使用对我们ICU中耐药菌株选择的影响。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: :Spiritual issues arise frequently in the care of dying patients, yet health care professionals may not recognize them, may not believe they have a duty to address these issues, and may not understand how best to respond to their patients' spiritual needs. The case of a patient with a strong religious belief in a miraculous cure of metastatic pancreatic cancer is used to explore how better understanding of this belief and more explicitly spiritual conversation with the patient by his treating team might have provided opportunities for an improved plan of care. This article distinguishes spirituality from religion; describes the salient spiritual needs of patients at the end of life as encompassing questions of meaning, value, and relationship; delineates the role physicians ought to play in ascertaining and responding to those needs; and discusses the particular issue of miracles, arguing that expectations of miraculous cure ought not preclude referral to hospice care.

背景与目标： : 精神问题经常出现在临终病人的护理中，然而医疗保健专业人员可能不认识他们，可能不相信他们有责任解决这些问题，也可能不了解如何最好地应对患者的精神需求。对转移性胰腺癌的奇迹般治愈具有强烈宗教信仰的患者的案例被用来探索如何更好地理解这种信仰以及他的治疗团队与患者进行更明确的精神对话可能会为改善护理计划提供机会。本文将灵性与宗教区分开来; 描述了生命末期患者的显着精神需求，包括意义，价值和关系问题; 描述了医生在确定和应对这些需求时应扮演的角色; 并讨论了奇迹的特殊问题，认为对奇迹般的治愈的期望不应排除转诊至临终关怀。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: INTRODUCTION:Since 2003, Iraq has struggled to build a single national health system administered by the Iraqi Ministry of Health, but politics, lack of leadership, and a cultural bias against treating soldiers in civilian hospitals have hindered access to care for members of Iraq's armed forces who are wounded in combat. METHODS:U.S. surgeons are providing trauma care for Iraqi soldiers in American field hospitals, with more than 80% of hospital bed days occupied by Iraqis. At the same time, Iraqi hospitals have been treating the many civilian casualties of violence, and the Ministry of Health has greatly improved its emergency response and management capabilities over the past year. RESULTS:Ministry of Health hospitals have adequate surgical capabilities and bed capacity to care for both civilian and security forces casualties. Faltering attempts to develop a national health policy that provides comprehensive care for Iraqi Security Forces will jeopardize Iraq's ability to assume responsibilities for the country's national defense, and could delay the withdrawal of Coalition military forces from Iraq. CONCLUSIONS:It is imperative that leadership of the new government of Iraq and the international surgical community strongly endorse the implementation of a single health care system for all Iraqis.

背景与目标：

BACKGROUND & AIMS: INTRODUCTION:To obtain strict glucose regulation, an accurate and feasible bedside glucometry method is essential. We evaluated three different types of point-of-care glucometry in seriously ill intensive care unit (ICU) patients. The study was performed as a single-centre, prospective, observational study in a 12-bed medical ICU of a university hospital. METHODS:Patients with an expected ICU stay of more than 48 hours were included. Because the reference laboratory delivers glucose values after approximately 30 to 60 minutes, which is too slow to use in a glucose regulation protocol and for calibration of the subcutaneous continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) (CGMS System Gold), we first validated the ICU-based blood gas/glucose analyser ABL715 (part 1 of the study). Subsequently, part 2 was performed: after inserting (and calibrating) the subcutaneous CGMS, heparinised arterial blood samples were drawn from an arterial line every 6 hours and analysed on both the Precision PCx point-of-care meter using test strips and on the blood gas/glucose analyser ABL715. CGMS glucose data were downloaded after 24 to 72 hours. The results of the paired measurements were analysed as a scatter plot by the method of Bland and Altman and were expressed as a correlation coefficient. RESULTS:Part 1: Four hundred and twenty-four blood samples were drawn from 45 critically ill ICU patients. The ICU-based blood gas/glucose analyser ABL715 provided a good estimate of conventional laboratory glucose assessment: the correlation coefficient was 0.95. In the Clarke error grid, 96.8% of the paired measurements were in the clinically acceptable zones A and B. Part 2: One hundred sixty-five paired samples were drawn from 19 ICU patients. The Precision PCx point-of-care meter showed a correlation coefficient of 0.89. Ninety-eight point seven percent of measurements were within zones A and B. The correlation coefficient for the subcutaneous CGMS System Gold was 0.89. One hundred percent of measurements were within zones A and B. CONCLUSION:The ICU-based blood glucose analyser ABL715 is a rapid and accurate alternative for laboratory glucose determination and can serve as a standard for ICU blood glucose measurements. The Precision PCx is a good alternative, but feasibility may be limited because of the blood sample handling. The subcutaneous CGMS System Gold is promising, but real-time glucose level reporting is necessary before it can be of clinical use in the ICU. When implementing a glucose-insulin algorithm in patient care or research, one should realise that the absolute glucose level may differ systematically among various measuring methods, influencing targeted glucose levels.

背景与目标：

BACKGROUND & AIMS: BACKGROUND:Surveys of the population are commonly used to obtain information on health status. Increasingly, researchers are linking self-reported health status information to primary care consultation data. However, it is not known how participating in a health-related survey affects consultation behaviour. The objective of this study was to assess whether completion of a health-related questionnaire changes primary care consultation behaviour. METHODS:Participants were 3402 adults aged 50 and over from the general population in North Staffordshire, UK, who completed a health-related postal survey received in April 2003. The survey was predominantly about occurrence and severity of knee pain in the last year. Primary care attendance for the three months following response was compared to three control periods: i) the three months prior to the survey, ii) the same time period in the previous year and iii) the same time period in the following year. Comparisons were made on consultations for any problem, consultations for musculoskeletal disorders and consultations for knee problems. RESULTS:The percentage of subjects consulting for any condition was marginally higher for the three months directly after receipt of the questionnaire but the difference was only statistically significant in comparison to the three months before the survey (64% v. 62%, p = 0.05). There was little difference in consultation prevalence for musculoskeletal problems immediately after the survey compared to the three control periods. There was an increase of 37% in knee disorder consultations for the three months after the survey compared to the three months directly before the survey (p = 0.02). However, consultation prevalence for knee problems was identical for the three months after the survey to the same time periods in the years prior to and following the survey (both p = 0.94). CONCLUSION:The results from this study suggests that questionnaires related to physical health do not affect the standard consulting behaviour of patients, even for the symptom under investigation. This should reassure researchers who wish to link self-reported health status and medical care utilisation and clinicians whose patients are involved in such research.

背景与目标：

BACKGROUND & AIMS: :Bedside duplex/color Doppler sonography is used for a wide gamut of abnormalities encountered in the neonatal intensive care unit. This article emphasizes the use of bedside sonography for evaluation of infants with necrotizing enterocolitis, infants requiring line placement, and those in whom a diaphragmatic abnormality is suspected. Although the assessment of those infants requires excellent operator skills, learning to do so is a definite benefit to these babies who would otherwise be exposed to ionizing radiation.

背景与目标： : 床边双工/彩色多普勒超声检查用于新生儿重症监护病房中遇到的各种异常情况。本文强调使用床旁超声检查评估坏死性小肠结肠炎婴儿，需要行放置的婴儿以及怀疑diaphragm肌异常的婴儿。尽管对这些婴儿的评估需要出色的操作员技能，但学习这样做对这些原本会受到电离辐射的婴儿来说是绝对的好处。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: :In the present pilot study, the feasibility of a site-of-care cervicovaginal self-sampling methodology for HPV-based screening was tested in 346 women residing in underserved rural areas of Northern Greece. These women provided self-collected cervicovaginal sample along with a study questionnaire. Following molecular testing, using the cobas® HPV Test, Roche®, HPV positive women, were referred to colposcopy and upon abnormal findings, to biopsy and treatment. Participation rate was 100%. Regular pap-test examination was reported for 17.1%. Among hrHPV testing, 11.9% were positive and colposcopy/biopsy revealed 2 CIN3 cases. Non-compliance was the most prevalent reason for no previous attendance. Most women reported non-difficulty and non-discomfort in self-sampling (77.6% and 82.4%, respectively). They would choose self-sampling over clinician-sampling (86.2%), and should self-sampling being available, they would test themselves more regularly (92.3%). In conclusion, self-sampling is feasible and well-accepted for HPV-based screening, and could increase population coverage in underserved areas, helping towards successful prevention.

背景与目标： : 在本试点研究中，对居住在希腊北部服务不足的农村地区的346名妇女进行了基于HPV筛查的护理现场宫颈阴道自采样方法的可行性进行了测试。这些妇女提供了自我收集的宫颈阴道样本以及研究问卷。在分子测试之后，使用cobas®罗氏HPV检测®HPV阳性女性被转诊至阴道镜检查和异常发现后，进行活检和治疗。参与率为100%。报告定期进行17.1% 巴氏试验检查。在hrHPV检测中，11.9% 例为阳性，阴道镜/活检显示2例CIN3。不遵守是以前没有出席的最普遍原因。大多数妇女报告说，自我取样没有困难，也没有不适 (分别为77.6% 和82.4%)。他们将选择自采样而不是临床医生采样 (86.2%)，并且如果自采样可用，他们将更定期地测试自己 (92.3%)。总之，自我采样对于基于HPV的筛查是可行的且被广泛接受，并且可以增加服务不足地区的人口覆盖率，从而有助于成功预防。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: INTRODUCTION:The aim of this article is to report, from their own perspective, the attitudes and believes towards vaccination, with special emphasis on the influence of sources of information to make the decision to get vaccinated, of health care workers (HCWs), considered as a specific risk group for immunization strategy against A (H1N1) influenza. METHODS:Cross-sectional observational study focused on active health workers in the province of Alicante. Made by face to face questionnaires to a stratified random sample based on occupational categories in hospitals and health care centres. RESULTS:The sources of information differ between subgroups; physicians used journals and/or conferences, nurses obtained information through the Ministry of Health and other nurses, and the remaining workers opted for television and/or the family physician. Of the three studied groups, physicians felt minor concern about the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic (59.4%), had the most confidence in the vaccine (42.3%), were the ones who recommended the vaccine the most (44.4%), who best followed the recommendations to avoid infection (93%), and were the most vaccinated (18.3%). Around three-quarters (75.5%) of the HCWs assessed the provided information as fair, poor or very poor. All HCWs admitted that a social alarm was created. DISCUSSION:The success of future immunization campaigns against influenza in HCWs could increase if information activities were designed to focus on each subgroup of HCWs, by adapting the strategy and improving the quality of information.

背景与目标：

BACKGROUND & AIMS: OBJECTIVES:To describe the prevalence of oral diseases and their impact on oral-health-related quality of life in people with severe mental illness undertaking community-based psychiatric care. METHODS:A survey was conducted at eight outpatient psychiatric care clinics in Tower Hamlets, London, UK. One hundred and twelve consecutive patients with mental illness were invited to participate in this study. They were clinically examined and asked to complete the oral health impact profile (OHIP) questionnaire. RESULTS:The response rate was 79% (n = 89); 57 (64%) males and 58 persons over 45 years of age (65%) participated in this survey. Overall OHIP score was 25.4 (95% CI 23.3, 27.4), 70 (78%) were smokers and 45 (51%) had been to the dentist in the last two years. Forty-seven (53%) respondents had caries in at least one tooth, 60 (67%) had 21 teeth and more, and 14 (16%) used dentures. Advanced periodontal treatment was indicated in 42 (55%) of patients and 52.8% (n = 47) patients reported current pain. CONCLUSION:Overall, this survey found that oral health has a great impact on patients with severe mental illness being treated in the community setting and their oral health is poorer than the national adult general population. Future research should consider the causes that relate to the poorer oral health in this population and potential health promotion mechanisms in this population to encourage an upstream approach to health.

背景与目标：

BACKGROUND & AIMS: :Individuals at 50% risk of Huntington's disease (HD) who prefer not to know their carrier status, might opt for exclusion prenatal diagnosis (ePND) or exclusion preimplantation genetic diagnosis (ePGD). This study aims to provide a better understanding of couples' motives for choosing ePND or ePND, and surveys couples' experiences in order to make recommendations for the improvement of counselling for exclusion testing. This qualitative retrospective interview study focussed on couples who underwent ePND or ePGD for HD in the period 1996-2010. Seventeen couples were included of which 13 had experienced ePND and 6 ePGD. Mean time-interval since exclusion-testing was 3.9 years. Couples' moral reservations regarding termination of pregnancy (TOP) or discarding healthy embryos were counterbalanced by the wish to protect their future child against HD. Seven couples had terminated a total of 11 pregnancies with a 50% HD risk, none showed regret. ePGD was used by couples who wanted to avoid (another) TOP. ePND and ePGD are acceptable reproductive options for a specific group of counsellees. To guarantee sound standards of care, it is imperative that candidate couples be given in-depth non-directive counselling about all possible scenarios, and adequate professional and psychological support prior to, during and after ePND/ePGD.

背景与目标： : 50% 亨廷顿舞蹈病 (HD) 风险的人不愿知道自己的携带者状态，可能会选择排除产前诊断 (ePND) 或排除植入前遗传学诊断 (ePGD)。本研究旨在更好地了解夫妻选择ePND或ePND的动机，并调查夫妻的经历，以便为改进排除测试的咨询提出建议。这项定性回顾性访谈研究的重点是在1996-2010年期间接受过ePND或ePGD治疗HD的夫妇。包括17对夫妇，其中13对经历过ePND和6对ePGD。自排除测试以来的平均时间间隔为3.9年。夫妻在终止妊娠 (TOP) 或丢弃健康胚胎方面的道德保留被保护其未来的孩子免受HD侵害的愿望所抵消。七对夫妇终止了11例怀孕，HD风险50%，没有人感到遗憾。想要避免 (另一个) 上衣的夫妇使用ePGD。ePND和ePGD是一组特定顾问可接受的生殖选择。为了保证合理的护理标准，必须在ePND/ePGD之前，之中和之后为候选夫妇提供有关所有可能情况的深入的非指导性咨询，并提供足够的专业和心理支持。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: :Transforming small independent practices to patient-centered medical homes is widely believed to be a critical step in reforming the US health care system. Our team has conducted research on improving primary care practices for more than fifteen years. We have found four characteristics of small primary care practices that seriously inhibit their ability to make the transformation to this new care model. We found that small practices were extremely physician-centric, lacked meaningful communication among physicians, were dominated by authoritarian leadership behavior, and were underserved by midlevel clinicians who had been cast into unimaginative roles. Our analysis suggests that in addition to payment reform, a shift in the mind-set of primary care physicians is needed. Unless primary care physicians can adopt new mental models and think in new ways about themselves and their practices, it will be very difficult for them and their practices to create innovative care teams, become learning organizations, and act as good citizens within the health care neighborhood.

背景与目标： : 将小型独立实践转变为以患者为中心的医疗之家被广泛认为是改革美国医疗体系的关键一步。我们的团队在改善初级保健实践方面进行了超过15年的研究。我们发现了小型初级保健实践的四个特征，这些特征严重抑制了他们向这种新护理模式转变的能力。我们发现，小型实践以医师为中心，缺乏医师之间的有意义的沟通，以专制领导行为为主导，并且被那些被赋予缺乏想象力的角色的中层临床医生服务不足。我们的分析表明，除了支付改革之外，还需要改变初级保健医生的思维方式。除非初级保健医生能够采用新的心理模式，并以新的方式思考自己和他们的做法，否则他们和他们的做法将很难创建创新的护理团队，成为学习型组织，并在医疗保健社区内充当好公民。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: OBJECTIVE:Provoked deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is precipitated by a specific event. This paper compares the characteristics of provoked DVT in patients with transient risk (TR) factors and patients with continuous risk (CR) factors. METHODS:A retrospective review of records of all consecutive patients diagnosed with DVT between January 2013 and August 2014 was performed. Patients with provoked DVT were included in the TR group if the provoking event resolved in 2 weeks and they did not have ongoing risk of thrombosis. Patients in the CR group had a provoked DVT with ongoing risk of thrombosis due to individual factors deemed to be ongoing risks of thrombosis, such as cancer, hypercoagulable disorder, and prolonged immobilization. Demographics, risk factors, association with pulmonary embolism (PE) and its severity, risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE), and mortality were compared between the two groups. RESULTS:A total of 838 patients were diagnosed with DVT, and 50.7% (425) were provoked. There were 127 (29.9%) patients with TR and 298 (70.1%) with CR. TR patients were younger (60.4 ± 16.3 vs 65.9 ± 16.0; P = .001). TR was more likely to be provoked by surgery (70.9% vs 55.4%; P = .003), whereas CR was more likely to be provoked by immobilization (21.5% vs 12.6%; P = .032). CR patients were affected by cancer (48.7%) and hypercoagulable disorders (4.4%). TR patients were more likely to have calf DVTs (36.2% vs 26.2%; P = .047). There was a trend toward lower association with PE on presentation in TR (17.3% vs 21.1%; P = .072), but that did not reach statistical significance. However, TR factors were more likely to be associated with low-risk PE compared with CR factors (30.2% vs 54.6%; P = .040). After mean follow-up of 7.2 months, CR had higher risk of recurrent VTE (14.0% vs 6.8%; P = .045) and mortality (23.5% vs 7.1%; P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS:Provoked DVT with CR factors affects older patients and is associated with high recurrence of VTE and mortality compared with provoked DVT with TR factors.

背景与目标：

BACKGROUND & AIMS: BACKGROUND:Regulatory bodies including the European Medicines Agency register medications (formulation, route of administration) for specific clinical indications. Once registered, prescription is at clinicians' discretion. Off-label use is beyond the registered use. While off-label prescribing may, at times, be appropriate, efficacy and toxicity data are often lacking. AIM:The aim of this study was to document off-label use policies (including disclosure and consent) in Australian palliative care units and current practices by palliative care clinicians. DESIGN:A national, cross-sectional survey was conducted online following an invitation letter. The survey asked clinicians their most frequent off-label medication/indication dyads and unit policies. Dyads were classified into unregistered, off-label and on-label, and for the latter, whether medications were nationally subsidised. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS:All Australian palliative medicine Fellows and advanced trainees. RESULTS:Overall, 105 clinicians responded (53% response rate). The majority did not have policies on off-label medications, and documented consent rarely. In all, 236 medication/indication dyads for 36 medications were noted: 45 dyads (19%) were for two unregistered medications, 118 dyads (50%) were for 26 off-label medications and 73 dyads (31%) were for 12 on-label medications. CONCLUSIONS:Off-label prescribing with its clinical, legal and ethical implications is common yet poorly recognised by clinicians. A distinction needs to be made between where quality evidence exists but registration has not been updated by the pharmaceutical sponsor and the evidence has not been generated. Further research is required to quantify any iatrogenic harm from off-label prescribing in palliative care.

背景与目标：