Radiothérapie en conditions stéréotaxiques : étude prospective évaluant la fatigue et la qualité de vie

PurposeTo evaluate prospectively asthenia and the quality of life in patients treated by stereotactic body irradiation and to determine their predictive factors.Methods and materialsQuality of life was assessed by the EORTC QLQ-C30 and asthenia was evaluated with the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI), on the first day (T1), last day (T2) and 1–3 weeks after the end of treatment (T3).ResultsSixty-three patients were treated with stereotactic body irradiation from February 2017 to May 2017 and 41 were included in the analysis (22 patients excluded for lack of understanding, organization, psychologic disorders or refusal). The mean number of fractions was 5 (± 2). The compliance to quality of life assessment was 98%, 95% was 81% at T1, T2 and T3, respectively. An increase of asthenia and a worsened quality of life were found in 12 (29%) and 14 (34%) patients between T1 and T2. Univariate analysis demonstrated a correlation between asthenia and quality of life were correlated with performans status (P = 0.03 and 0.05 respectively), hemoglobin level (p = 0.01 and 0.004), albumin level (P = 0.01 and 0.06), distance between home and radiotherapy department (P = 0.05 and 0.02). Multivariate analysis demonstrated a correlation between female gender (P = 0.012), albumin level (P < 0.001), distance over 25 km (P < 0.001) with asthenia, and albumin level (P = 0.003), hemoglobin level (P = 0.004) and previous chemotherapy (P = 0.003) with quality of life. No influence of stereotactic body ratiotherapy parameters was seen.ConclusionDespite hypofractionation, stereotactic body radiotherapy induced asthenia and deterioration of quality of life.     

Routes to retirement,working conditions and quality of life in comparative perspective

An important response to the challenges of ageing populations has been reforms to decrease the economic incentives for early retirement. For individuals with poor working conditions, however, there is a risk that each additional working year may have negative consequences on their quality of life after retirement. Using data from 12 countries and 3000 individuals from the SHARE (Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe), this study analyses exit routes from work to retirement in a comparative perspective. Using group-based trajectory modelling, results indicated that poor late-working life working conditions was associated with exit routes with high reliance upon income from different transfer schemes. Using multilevel models, analyses then indicated that the generosity of these transfer schemes has a positive impact on post-retirement quality of life. Limitations and policy implication of the study are discussed at the end.     

应用 σ度量对深圳市龙华区三家综合医院临床生化检验结果互认的评价研究

目的　探讨 σ度量在深圳市龙华区三家综合医院临床生化检验结果互认中的应用价值。方法　收集三家医院 2019年广东省临检中心常规化学，特殊蛋白前两次的室间质评（ EQA）样本，经混匀并分割成比对样本送至各评价实验室进行检测；以卫生部临检中心（ NCCL)标准和生物学变异导出的允许总误差（ TEa%）为质量规范，通过加权法计算出各项目 2019年 1～ 6月期间室内质控在控数据的不精密度，以 2018年参加卫生部室间质评（ EQA）数据作为偏倚（ bias%）来源，计算三家医院 29个检验项目的 σ度量值并进行性能评价，利用质量目标指数（ QGI)提出改善方法；将评价项目的 σ度量值与直接比对试验进行比较，通过统计分析确定 σ截断值（ cut-off）。结果　①三家医院 29个生化项目的性能并不一致，将项目中、高值的 σ值进行配对 t检验，其 t值分别为 2.28，3.01和 0.74，按 α =0.05水准判断得出医院 A与 B，医院 A与 C间的性能差异有统计学意义，医院 B与 C间的性能差异无统计学意义，医院 A项目性能要优于 B，C医院。评估的 87个项目中有 53项 σ平均值 <6，根据 QGI判断，3个项目需优先改善准确度，10个项目需同步改善准确度和精密度，另 40个项目需优先改善精密度。②对医院间项目比对通过率进行配对 χ2检验，其 χ2分别为 5.33，6.25和 2.5，按α=0.05水准判断， B与 A医院比对通过率低于 C与 A医院、 C与 B医院，差异有统计学意义； C与 A医院比对通过率跟 C与 B医院差异无统计学意义。③将 σ度量值与直接比对试验进行比较，经配对 χ2检验，当 σ cut-off值取≥ 2σ， ≥ 3σ，≥ 4σ，≥ 5σ和≥ 6σ时，其 χ2分别为 7.20，0.00，9.09，15.06和 16.06，按 χ20.05，1=3.84，α=0.05水准判断，当σcut-off值取≥ 3σ时，两种比对方法的差异无统计学意义。结论　σ度量值可以单独用于评价医院间生化检验结果的互认，在判断项目是否具有可比性时，可考虑将 σ cut-off值设为≥ 3σ。     

Ethical,legal and professional accountability in emergency nursing practice: An ethnographic observational study

IntroductionAccountability in nursing practice is a concept that influences quality care, decision-making, safety standards and staff values. Therefore, understanding accountability and how it affects nursing practice could improve patient care and nurses’ working conditions.AimThe aim of this study was to find factors that influenced ethical, legal and professional accountability in emergency nursing practice.MethodsA qualitative ethnographic approach using participant observation through convenience sampling was employed as the data collection method, while ethnographic content analysis was used for data analysis.ResultsThe factors linked to nursing accountability found were classified into four main themes: daily dynamics, work environment evolution, customs and routines and bioethics principles’ application.DiscussionThe long-term effect of chronic high workload and crowding, which affects nursing accountability, could promote burnout in a junior ED workforce. Changes in the nurses’ working conditions need to be implemented to limit the workload to which an ED nurse is subjected to.ConclusionED nurses have to manage their accountability in difficult situations regularly, which followed patterns of four main themes across the majority of situations. Nonetheless, all those factors were influenced by nursing workload, an ever-present factor that was always considered by ED nurses during decision-making.     

Burnett Order Stress and Spatially-Dependent Boundary Conditions for the Lattice Boltzmann Method

Stress boundary conditions for the lattice Boltzmann equation that are consistent to Burnett order are proposed and imposed using a moment-based method. The accuracy of the method with complicated spatially-dependent boundary conditions for stress and velocity is investigated using the regularized lid-driven cavity flow. The complete set of boundary conditions, which involve gradients evaluated at the boundaries, are implemented locally. A recently-derived collision operator with modified equilibria and velocity-dependent collision rates to reduce the defect in Galilean invariance is also investigated. Numerical results are in excellent agreement with existing benchmark data and exhibit second-order convergence. The lattice Boltzmann stress field is studied and shown to depart significantly from the Newtonian viscous stress when the ratio of Mach to Reynolds numbers is not negligibly small.     

The Influence of the Common Cold on Self-Rated Health: A Population-Based Study

ObjectiveStudies on the association between self-rated health and acute conditions are sparse. The aim of this study was to examine whether individuals respond to acute conditions (such as the common cold) in health ratings as well as the effect of chronic conditions (using the Charlson comorbidity score) on self-rated health.MethodsThe national representative survey data was linked with the claims data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance for 13,723 adults ≥ 18 years. Ordered logistic regressions with fractional polynomials were estimated to determine the relationship between the frequency of common cold episodes and the Charlson comorbidity score on self-rated health. The interactions between these two variables and the baseline age were tested.ResultsSelf-rated health worsens with the increased frequency of both common cold episodes and the Charlson comorbidity score. Both variables have a non-linear relationship with self-rated health. Younger individuals put heavier weight on acute health conditions than their older counterparts.ConclusionIndividuals respond to questions regarding their self-rated health based on their acute health condition along with chronic condition. Thus the information on self-rated health depends on the timing the information is collected, and whether at that time the individual experienced acute health conditions or not.     

Are individuals with Parkinson's disease capable of speech-motor learning? – A preliminary evaluation

IntroductionThe benefits of different practice conditions in limb-based rehabilitation of motor disorders are well documented. Conversely, the role of practice structure in the treatment of motor-based speech disorders has only been minimally investigated. Considering this limitation, the current study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of selected practice conditions in spatial and temporal learning of novel speech utterances in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD).MethodsParticipants included 16 individuals with PD who were randomly and equally assigned to constant, variable, random, and blocked practice conditions. Participants in all four groups practiced a speech phrase for two consecutive days, and reproduced the speech phrase on the third day without further practice or feedback.ResultsThere were no significant differences (p > 0.05) between participants across the four practice conditions with respect to either spatial or temporal learning of the speech phrase. Overall, PD participants demonstrated diminished spatial and temporal learning in comparison to healthy controls. Tests of strength of association between participants' demographic/clinical characteristics and speech-motor learning outcomes did not reveal any significant correlations.ConclusionsThe findings from the current study suggest that repeated practice facilitates speech-motor learning in individuals with PD irrespective of the type of practice. Clinicians need to be cautious in applying practice conditions to treat speech deficits associated with PD based on the findings of non-speech-motor learning tasks.