Objectives: To examine the effect of external application in pain compared to traditional method.
Design: A double-blind placebo-controlled clinical investigation.
Setting: A public hospital.
Participants: 168 LBP subjects.
Interventions: Assignment: (1) external IFT, (2) placebo external IFT, (3) traditional IFT and (4) placebo traditional IFT. Groups 1 and 3 received 20 min of IFT at 100 Hz and groups 2 and 4 received sham IFT.
Main outcome measures: Before and after IFT session, pain severity (VAS), pressure threshold (PPT), pain distribution and ROM were assessed.
Results: IFT changed all outcomes similarly. VAS and ROM improved statistically, P < 0.03. A trend of better VAS reduced with active IFTs.
Conclusions: No therapeutic difference between the two methods. 相似文献
Pain Pattern Classification (PPC) and Directional Preference (DP) have been shown to be predictive of health care outcomes and serve to guide orthopedic clinical decision making. We conducted a prospective, observational cohort study to verify the association between PPC, DP, and clinical outcomes.
Methods:
Clinical outcome measures including pain intensity and disability were completed at first examination and follow-up by 335 patients. A Pearson’s chi-squared test was used to determine differences in prevalence rates for the categorical variables, and two-sample t-tests were used to determine differences in rates for the continuous variables. A Tukey’s range test was used to determine differences in follow-up pain intensity and disability for neck pain dual-classification schemes.
Results:
The prevalence of DP was 82.4%. The prevalence of CEN, Non-CEN, and Non-Classifiable (NC) was 15.2%, 42.1%, and 25.1%, respectively. The prevalence of DP was lowest for patients with sub-acute symptoms and who were <45 years old. Patients classified as DP CEN had, on average 2.62 NDI units less than patients classified as Non-DP. Patients classified as DP CEN had, on average, 0.90 pain intensity units less than patients classified as Non-DP at follow-up. Patients who demonstrated DP CEN did not have clinically significant lower pain intensity or disability at follow-up than patients who demonstrated Non-DP.
Discussion:
The results of this investigation need to be interpreted with caution with respect to the study design and it’s subsequent strengths and limitations.
Level of Evidence:
1b. 相似文献
The utility of a dedicated clinical test is dependent on the diagnostic accuracy values and the quality of the study in which the test was examined. Scales allow a summative scoring of bias within a study. At present, there are no scales advocated to measure the bias of diagnostic accuracy studies.
Objective:
The objective of this study was to create a new diagnostic accuracy quality scale (DAQS) that provides a quantitative summary of the methodological quality of studies evaluating clinical tests and measures.
Design:
The study used a four-round Delphi survey designed to create, revise, and develop consensus for a quality scale.
Methods:
The four-round Delphi involved a work team and a respondent group of experts. An initial round among the work team created a working document, which was then modified and revised, with opportunities to create new items threaded in the second round. Rounds III and IV involved voting on the importance of each of the proposed items and consensus development from the respondent group. Consensus for the selection of an item required a 75% approval for the importance of that item.
Results:
Sixteen individuals with a variety of research/professional backgrounds made up the respondent group. Modification and revision of the initial work team instrument created a scale with 21 items that reflected potential areas of methodological bias.
Limitations:
The new scale needs validation through weighted assessment. In addition, there was a large proportion of physical therapist/researchers on the work team and the respondent group.
Conclusions:
Systematic reviews allow summation of evidence for clinical tests and scales are essential to critique the quality of the articles included in the review. The DAQS may serve this role for diagnostic accuracy studies. 相似文献
Objectives: To determine the risk of recurrence after a first intentional overdose. Secondary objectives included characterization of the temporal course and potential predictors of repeat overdose, a strong risk factor for death from suicide.
Methods: Design: Population-based cohort study.
Setting: Ontario, Canada, from 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2013.
Participants: All Ontario residents presenting to an emergency department after a first intentional overdose.
Main outcome measures: The incidence and timing of recurrent overdose.
Results: We followed 81,675 patients discharged from hospital after a first intentional overdose. Overall, 13,903 (17.0%) returned with a repeat overdose after a median interval of 288 (inter-quartile range: 62 to 834) days. Of these, 4493 (5.5%) had multiple repeat episodes. Factors associated with repeat self-poisoning included psychiatric care in the preceding year (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.55; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.50 to 1.61), alcohol dependence (aHR 1.41; 95% CI 1.35 to 1.46) and documented depression (aHR 1.39; 95% CI 1.34 to 1.44). Female sex, rural residence, lower socioeconomic status, ingestion of psychoactive drugs and younger age were also weakly associated with repeat overdose.
Discussion: Hospital presentation for repetition of intentional overdose is common, with recurrent episodes often far removed from the first. While several factors predict overdose repetition, none is particularly strong.
Conclusion: Secondary prevention initiatives should be implemented for all individuals who present to the emergency department and survive intentional overdose. 相似文献
Design: A RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method was used.
Setting: General practice.
Subjects: A panel of nine experts, mainly general practitioners, was asked to rate the relevance of 64 quality indicators for the diagnosis and antibiotic treatment of acute respiratory tract infections based on guidelines. Subsequently, a face-to-face meeting was held to resolve misinterpretations and to achieve consensus.
Main outcome measures: The experts were asked to rate the indicators on a nine-point Likert scale. Consensus of appropriateness for a quality indicator was reached if the overall panel median rating was 7–9 with agreement.
Results: A total of 50 of the 64 proposed quality indicators attained consensus. Consensus was achieved for 12 indicators focusing on the diagnostic process and 19 indicators focusing on the decision about antibiotic treatment and choice of antibiotics, respectively.
Conclusion: These newly developed quality indicators may be used to strengthen Danish general practitioners’ focus on their management of patients with acute respiratory tract infections and to identify where there is a need for future quality improvements. 相似文献
Design: An observational study.
Setting: Register-based retrospective quasi-experimental longitudinal follow-up study based on a before–after setting in a Finnish city.
Subjects: Patients who consulted different doctors in a local health care unit.
Main outcome measures: Numbers of monthly visits to different doctor groups in public and private primary care, and numbers of monthly referrals to secondary care ED from different sources of primary care were recorded before and after abrupt implementation of the reverse triage.
Results: The beginning of reverse triage decreased the number of patient visits to a primary ED doctor without increasing mortality. Simultaneously, there was an increase in doctor visits in the adjacent secondary care ED and local private sector. The number of patients who came to secondary care ED without a referral or with a referral from the private sector increased.
Conclusions: The data suggested that the reverse triage causes redistribution of the use of doctors’ services rather than a true decrease in the use of these services. 相似文献
Design and setting: This is a post hoc analysis of a retrospective study that included all cases of CRC and adenomas with high-grade dysplasia (HGD) between 2005 and 2009 in the county of Jämtland, Sweden.
Subjects: All patients with CRC and adenomas with HGD that initially presented with symptoms to primary care and delivered FITs.
Main outcome measure: The likelihood of a positive FIT in cases of CRC and adenomas with HGD; when analysing one, two or three samples.
Results: Of 195 patients, 160 delivered three-sample FITs. Using the 139 cases in which at least one sample was positive, the likelihood of detecting a positive sample upon analysis of only one of the three samples was 0.91 (95% CI: 0.85–0.95), indicating that 13 positive cases may have been missed.
Conclusion: Use of a one-sample FIT instead of a three-sample FIT as a diagnostic aid may result in the missing of one tenth of symptomatic CRCs and adenomas with HGD. 相似文献
Design: Cross-sectional, observational study.
Setting: A two-bed emergency care unit.
Subjects: All patients admitted to the unit during one year.
Main outcome measures: Patients’ age and gender, comorbidity, main diagnoses and municipal care level on admission and discharge, diagnostic and therapeutic initiatives, occupancy rate.
Results: Sixty admissions were registered, with total bed occupancy 194 days, and an occupancy rate of 0.27. The patients (median age 83 years, 57% women) had mostly infections, musculoskeletal symptoms or undefined conditions. Some 48% of the stays exceeded three days and 43% of the patients were subsequently transferred to nursing homes or hospitals.
Conclusion: Occupancy rate was low. Patient selection was not according to national standards, and stays were longer. Many patients were transferred to nursing homes, indicating that the unit was an intermediate pathway or a short cut to institutional care. It is unclear whether the unit avoided hospital admissions. 相似文献
Design: Observational before-after study.
Setting: Forty-one nursing homes.
Intervention: MRs performed by multidisciplinary teams during November 2011 to February 2014.
Subjects: In all, 2465 long-term care patients.
Main outcome measures: DRPs identified by explicit criteria (STOPP/START and NORGEP) and drug–drug interaction database; interventions to resolve DRPs; drug use changes after MR.
Results: A total of 6158 DRPs were identified, an average of 2.6 DRPs/patient, 2.0 for regular and 0.6 for pro re nata (prn) drugs. Of these patients, 17.3% had no DRPs. The remaining 82.7% of the patients had on average 3.0 DRPs/patient. Use of unnecessary drugs (43.5%), excess dosing (12.5%) and lack of monitoring of the drug use (11%) were the most frequent DRPs. Opioids and psychotropic drugs were involved in 34.4% of all DRPs. The mean number of drugs decreased after the MR from 6.8 to 6.3 for regular drugs and from 3.0 to 2.6 for prn drugs. Patients with DRPs experienced a decrease of 1.1 drugs after MR (0.5 for regular and 0.6 for prn drugs). The reduction was most pronounced for the regular use of antipsychotics, antidepressants, hypnotics/sedatives, diuretics, antithrombotic agents, antacid drugs; and for prn use of anxiolytics, opioids, hypnotics/sedatives, metoclopramide and NSAIDs.
Conclusion: The medication review resulted in less drug use, especially opioids and psychotropic drugs. 相似文献
Objectives: To review age-related changes in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, and to put these changes in the context of providing palliative care to geriatric patients.
Method: Review of literature relevant to age-related changes in physiology, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics; and the practice of palliative care for geriatric patients.
Results: Multiple age related changes occur which affect the choice and dosing of medications, including those used for pain and symptom management.
Conclusion: The safe and effective management of symptoms in advanced illness for older adults depends on having a clear understanding of physical and metabolic changes and their impact of selection of drug therapy. 相似文献
Objective: This review will focus on those therapeutic agents where there is sufficient literature to adequately comment on the role of the agent in the pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Methods: A systematic search was conducted using PubMed covering the period September 1970– 2017. The search term utilized was “drug induced pulmonary hypertension”. This resulted in the identification of 853 peer-reviewed articles including case reports. Each paper was then reviewed by the authors for its relevance. The majority of these papers (599) were excluded as they related to systemic hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, human immunodeficiency virus, pulmonary fibrosis, alternate differential diagnosis, treatment, basic science, adverse effects of treatment, and pulmonary hypertension secondary to pulmonary embolism.
Agents affecting serotonin metabolism (and related anorexigens): Anorexigens, such as aminorex, fenfluramine, benfluorex, phenylpropanolamine, and dexfenfluramine were the first class of medications recognized to cause pulmonary arterial hypertension. Although most of these medications have now been withdrawn worldwide, they remain important not only from a historical perspective, but because their impact on serotonin metabolism remains relevant. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, tryptophan, and lithium, which affect serotonin metabolism, have also been implicated in the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Interferon and related medications: Interferon alfa and sofosbuvir have been linked to the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension in patients with other risk factors, such as human immunodeficiency virus co-infection.
Antiviral therapies: Sofosbuvir has been associated with two cases of pulmonary artery hypertension in patients with multiple risk factors for its development. Its role in pathogenesis remains unclear.
Small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors: Small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors represent a relatively new class of medications. Of these dasatinib has the strongest evidence in drug-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension, considered a recognized cause. Nilotinib, ponatinib, carfilzomib, and ruxolitinib are newer agents, which paradoxically have been linked to both cause and treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Monoclonal antibodies and immune regulating medications: Several case reports have linked some monoclonal antibodies and immune modulating therapies to pulmonary arterial hypertension. There are no large series documenting an increased prevalence of pulmonary arterial hypertension complicating these agents; nonetheless, trastuzumab emtansine, rituximab, bevacizumab, cyclosporine, and leflunomide have all been implicated in case reports.
Opioids and substances of abuse: Buprenorphine and cocaine have been identified as potential causes of pulmonary arterial hypertension. The mechanism by which this occurs is unclear. Tramadol has been demonstrated to cause severe, transient, and reversible pulmonary hypertension.
Chemotherapeutic agents: Alkylating and alkylating-like agents, such as bleomycin, cyclophosphamide, and mitomycin have increased the risk of pulmonary veno-occlusive disease, which may be clinically indistinct from pulmonary arterial hypertension. Thalidomide and paclitaxel have also been implicated as potential causes.
Miscellaneous medications: Protamine appears to be able to cause acute, reversible pulmonary hypertension when bound to heparin. Amiodarone is also capable of causing pulmonary hypertension by way of recognized side effects.
Conclusions: Pulmonary arterial hypertension remains a rare diagnosis, with drug-induced causes even more uncommon, accounting for only 10.5% of cases in large registry series. Despite several agents being implicated in the development of PAH, the supportive evidence is typically limited, based on case series and observational data. Furthermore, even in the drugs with relatively strong associations, factors that predispose an individual to PAH have yet to be elucidated. 相似文献
Objective: To examine the associations between patients’ self-rated health and their sleep problems, somatic health complaints, and unmet needs in interpersonal relationships.
Design: We collected data via questionnaires for this cross-sectional study from general practice.
Setting: Primary health care in Norway.
Subjects: 1302 consecutive patients participated.
Main outcome measures: The questionnaire included a single question about SRH, the Bergen Insomnia Scale (BIS), five questions on somatic health complaints, and three questions from the Basic Psychological Needs Scale (BPNS) pertaining to the relationships domain. We analyzed our data using ordinal logistic regression models.
Results: Our response rate was 74%. The prevalence of fair/poor SRH was 26%, with no gender differences. We revealed a significant association between increasing age and reduced SRH. The study showed that sleep problems and somatic health complaints were strongly associated with SRH, and unmet needs in relationships were also significantly and independently associated with reduced SRH in a full model analysis.
Conclusion: Sleep problems, somatic health complaints, and unmet needs in interpersonal relationships were all associated with reduced SRH. These factors are all modifiable and could be managed both within and outside a primary care setting in order to improve SRH.
- Key Points
There was a high prevalence of reduced SRH in clinical general practice
Sleep problems, somatic health complaints, and unmet needs in interpersonal relationships were all associated with reduced SRH
These predictors are all modifiable with a potential to improve SRH
Design: A qualitative interview study using thematic analysis.
Setting: Norway.
Participants: Fifteen Thai and 15 Filipino immigrant women over the age of 18 who had been living in Norway at least one year.
Results: The women took time to understand the role of the general practitioner and some were unaware of their right to an interpreter during consultations. In addition to reliance on family members and friends in their social networks, voluntary and cultural organisations provided valuable tips and advice on how to navigate the Norwegian health system. While some women actively engaged in learning more about the system, they noted a lack of information available in multiple languages.
Conclusions: Informal sources play an important role in learning about the health care system. Formal information should be available in different languages in order to better empower immigrant women. 相似文献
Objective: The purpose of this review was to address two questions: (1) is there a difference in clinical outcomes between different exercise programmes; and (2) what is the optimal dosage of exercises for people with knee osteoarthritis.
Methods: A systematic review was conducted. A study of published (AMED, CINAHL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library) and unpublished literature (WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, current controlled trials and the United States National Institute of Health Trials Registry, and Open Grey) was undertaken in January 2013. Studies assessing the clinical outcomes of different types and dosages of exercise for people with osteoarthritis of the knee were included. Methodological quality was assessed using the critical appraisal skills programme (CASP) randomized controlled trial (RCT) appraisal tool.
Results: Ten studies assessing 958 knees from 916 participants were included. Exercise significantly improved pain and function for people with knee osteoarthritis. There was no significant difference in outcomes for different types of exercise i.e., aerobic versus resistance, weight bearing versus non-weight bearing. There was no significant difference in respect to the intensity of exercise i.e., high- versus lower-intensity resistance or aerobic exercises. The quality of the literature was moderate to high.
Conclusions: While exercise appears to improve symptoms and optimize function for people with knee osteoarthritis, the optimal form and dosage of exercise remains unknown.
Funding: None.
PROSPERO Registration Number: CRD42012002811. 相似文献
Design: A retrospective interrupted times series study.
Setting: Two multidisciplinary general practitioner (GP) practices.
Intervention: An internist provided in-house patient consultations in two GP practices and participated in the multidisciplinary meetings.
Subjects: The referral data extracted from the electronic medical record system of the GP practices, including all referral letters from the GPs to specialist care in the hospital setting.
Main outcome measures: The number of referrals to internal medicine in the hospital setting. This study used an autoregressive integrated moving average model to estimate the effect of the intervention taking account of a time trend and autocorrelation among the observations, comparing the pre-intervention period with the intervention period.
Results: It was found that the referrals to internal medicine did not statistically significant decrease during the intervention period.
Conclusions: This small explorative study did not find any clues to support that an in-house internist at a primary care setting results in a decrease of referrals to internal medicine in the hospital setting.
- Key Points
An in-house internist at a primary care setting did not result in a significant decrease of referrals to specialist care in the hospital setting.
The GPs and internist experience a learning-effect, i.e. an increase of knowledge about internal medicine issues.
Aim: To explore the experiences of individual services participating in the Australian National Palliative Care Standards Assessment Program.
Design: Case study evaluation.
Data sources: Ten case studies from participating services; service self-assessment data; peer mentor reports; in-depth interviews.
Analysis: Time point comparison; thematic analysis of interview data.
Results: A key strength of NSAP was the cycle between data collection, identification of key improvement areas, and development of strategies for improvement. An understanding of NSAP as a continuous quality improvement process and the potential for the integration of other national programs were noted as key service improvement strategies. The use of resources to promote best practice largely relied upon access to the Internet. PMVs were considered successful, contingent on careful matching of mentors to services. The presence of a ‘champion’ within services was perceived as a success factor.
Conclusions: This evaluation informs service improvement in specialist palliative care services through the alignment of continuous quality improvement with National Palliative Care Standards. This may assist development and ongoing revision of continuous quality improvement in the international context. 相似文献
Design: Cross sectional observational study.
Setting/subjects: 22 GPs in Southern Norway.
Main outcome measures: The percentage of consultations dealing with sexual concerns during three consecutive working days, as registered by the GPs on a questionnaire.
Results: Out of 1 117 consultations, 47 (4.2%) dealt with sexual concerns, varying from 1.6 to 10.9% of consultations. The concerns brought up varied widely, with erectile dysfunction and pain related to sexual activity in females as the largest groups. Concerns regarding sexual orientation, preferences or behavior were also dealt with, as were problems due to sexual assaults or rape. In 36 (76.6%) of the consultations, discussion of the problem and/or advice was the only action. Medication was prescribed in one third of the consultations. Patients' mean age was 46.7 years, with a span from 17 up to 75 years and 60% were female. We found no associations between GP characteristics and how frequently they dealt with sexual concerns.
Conclusions: In around 4% of consultations, the GPs dealt with a wide variety of sexual concerns. 相似文献
Purpose: We describe a series of thirteen cases of suspected cannabis hyperemesis syndrome treated with capsaicin in the emergency departments of two academic medical centers.
Methods: A query of the electronic health record at both centers identified thirteen patients with documented daily cannabis use and symptoms consistent with CHS who were administered topical capsaicin cream for symptom management.
Results: All 13 patients experienced symptom relief after administration of capsaicin cream.
Conclusion: Topical capsaicin was associated with improvement in symptoms of CHS after other treatments failed. 相似文献