DEATHS FROM SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME ON PUBLIC HOLIDAYS AND WEEKENDS

Deaths from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) between 1979 and 1984 were tabulated by month for weekdays, weekends and public holidays. Examination of deaths by day of the week showed the weekend had more deaths than the weekdays (χ₂= 26.3, df = 6, p = 0.0002) and that this pattern occurred in both the under three months and three-11 months age group. There were 40 deaths on the 78 public holidays in the six years under study. Modelling the data showed that there was no difference between the number of deaths on holidays compared to weekends.     

胸腰椎骨折脱位157例临床分析

本文报告157例胸腰椎骨折脱位病人,非手术治疗36例,手术治疗116例。作者对临床治疗中的有关问题进行了讨论。     

高血压病合并脑梗死的动态血压特点

目的 :观察高血压病合并脑梗死患者的动态血压特点。方法 :对 70例高血压病合并脑梗死患者和 1 0 2例单纯高血压病患者进行 2 4h动态血压监测。结果 :84 %高血压病合并脑梗死患者血压昼夜节律消失 ,而单纯高血压病患者 5 8%消失 (P <0 .0 1 ) ;高血压病合并脑梗死组 85 %出现晨峰 ,而单纯高血压病组 5 5 %出现晨峰 (P <0 .0 1 )。结论 :血压的昼夜变化和晨峰与高血压病合并脑梗死密切相关。高血压病合并脑梗死患者晨峰明显增加 ,昼夜节律消失明显     

Involving mental health service users in quality assurance

OBJECTIVE: This study compares the process and outcomes of two approaches to engaging mental health (MH) service users in the quality assurance (QA) process. BACKGROUND: QA plays a significant role in health and care services, including those delivered in the voluntary sector. The importance of actively, rather than passively, involving service users in evaluation and service development has been increasingly recognized during the last decade. DESIGN: This retrospective small-scale study uses document analysis to compare two QA reviews of a MH Day Centre, one that took place in 1998 as a traditional inspection-type event and one that took place in 2000 as a collaborative process with a user-led QA agenda. Setting and participants The project was undertaken with staff, volunteers and service users in a voluntary sector MH Day Centre. Intervention The study compares the management, style, evaluation tools and service user responses for the two reviews; it considers staff perspectives and discusses the implications of a collaborative, user-led QA process for service development. RESULTS: The first traditional top-down inspection-type QA event had less ownership from service users and staff and served the main purpose of demonstrating that services met organizational standards. The second review, undertaken collaboratively with a user-led agenda focused on different priorities, evolving a new approach to seeking users' views and achieving a higher response rate. CONCLUSIONS: Because both users and staff had participated in most aspects of the second review they were more willing to work together and action plan to improve the service. It is suggested that the process contributed to an evolving ethos of more effective quality improvement and user involvement within the organization.     

股骨干骨折内固定术后不愈合27例分析

报告股骨干骨折切开复位内固定术后不愈合27例。其中，17例钢板固定者，只4例符合要求，9例髓内针固定者，有5例针短小。尚伴有固定方法，钢板或髓内针断裂，以及感染等方面原因有。本组再手术26例1次手术治愈，1例2次手术治愈。绝大部分经带蒂骨皮质剥离^[1]和坚强内固定术后而愈合，不需植骨。产生骨折不愈合的诸因素中，以忽视内固定的基本原则与术中操作不当为主。     

提高灌注溶石疗法的研究(附87例分析)

应用2%复方去氧胆酸钠、2%复方偏磷酸钠及Ⅰ号或Ⅱ号复方桔皮油乳剂等溶石剂经胆道引流管灌注治疗87例胆道残石病例。治疗前经 X 线或胆道镜确诊。残石部位:肝外胆管31例;肝内胆管37例;肝内外胆管19例。治疗中从引流瓶及大便淘洗中发现大量胆石碎片,经化学分析及电镜检查,与体外溶石试验结果一致。治疗结果:56例全溶,占64.37%;19例残石变小或变少,占21.24%;4例因肝内胆管病变中转手术,占4.86%;8例因治疗反应停止溶石,占9.20%。4例肿大的肝脾缩小,脸色由灰暗变为红润。对改善溶石治疗的有关措施进行了讨论。     

An audit of pain and vomiting in paediatric day case surgery

Three hundred and thirteen paediatric day case patients were prospectively audited to assess postoperative pain, nausea and vomiting using data sheets completed by nursing staff, anaesthetists and parents. The incidence of nausea and vomiting was 7.3% and was commoner in older children and those who had received opioids. Forty per cent of patients had some degree of postoperative pain; 17% of these patients were scored as having severe pain. Of children who had pain on returning home (31.4%), 85% of these required paracetamol. Fifteen per cent of children had a disturbed night due to pain and/or vomiting after their operation and 28.5% of children had pain on the following day. Boys undergoing circumcision were responsible for a disproportionately high percentage of the severe pain scores. Audit has helped to highlight deficiencies in the service provided and has led staff to try and improve their methods of analgesia.     

Hospital versus population controls in a retrospective study on diet and stomach cancer

The aim of the present study is to evaluate drawbacks and advantagesof the choice of hospital versus population controls in a casecontrol study on diet and cancer through the analysis of a retrospectivestudy on diet and gastric cancer (GC) conducted in Forli, Italy,involving 232 cases, 430 population controls and 252 hospitalizedcontrols. The present paper reports the comparison of resultson diet and GC risk obtained using the 2 types of controls.Population controls tended, in general, to eat all kinds offoods slightly more frequently (bread, pasta, cold cuts, freshfish, seasoned cheeses, legumes, garlic, onions and preservedfruits), with the exception of cooked vegetables, which werereported less frequently by population than by hospital controls.ORs for specific foods adjusted for confounders and other foodswere consistent in the separate models including populationand hospital controls respectively for all food groups, withthe exception of cooked vegetables which represented a protectivefactor only when hospital controls were considered (high consumers,population controls: adjusted, OR=0.9, trend p value 0.54; highconsumers, hospital controls, adjusted OR=0.5, trend p value<0.01). Hospital controls were slightly less often currentsmokers (22.6 versus 30.0%) and more often regular wine drinkers(57.5 versus 47.8%) compared with population controls, but noneof these variables was associated with GC risk. The main resultsin this study were consistent using both types of controls,nevertheless the distribution of some dietary variables notrelated to the disease under study differed between the 2 controlgroups, suggesting some caution in the use of hospital controlswhen studying diseases other than GC.     

DAY-ONLY ADMISSION FOR VARICOSE VEIN SURGERY

Day-only admissions for surgery are strongly encouraged, in an effort to keep costs down. Varicose vein surgery has been considered too major for day-only management despite the fact that there have been studies from overseas showing that it can be done with a morbidity comparable to inpatient surgery. The morbidity of day-only surgery for varicose veins (both long and short saphenous procedures) was assessed and compared with the results of inpatient surgery. Patients were also asked whether they were satisfied with the surgery being done this way. There were 165 consecutive patients available for study, 64 day-only and 101 inpatient. All patients attending Shellharbour Hospital, Shellharbour, had surgery done as day-only (as it was a morning list and allowed adequate time for recovery). Patients attending Bulli Hospital, Bulli, had surgery done as an inpatient (afternoon list). All surgery was performed by one surgeon. There was no difference (Chi-squared) in the age distribution (mean 48 years for day-only, 51 years for inpatient) or sex proportion in either group (Chi-squared test of proportions with continuity correction). Assessment of the results was done by review of the surgeon's notes, as well as telephone interviews for day-only subjects. The complication rate in both groups was similar. Wound problems represented the main complication with an incidence of 10.5% in each group. There was one deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in each group (diagnosed by duplex scan). Response to the telephone interview suggested that most patients were happy to have the surgery done as a day-only procedure. Sixty-nine per cent responded that they would have it done this way again and 76% were satisfied with the result of the surgery. This study confirms the results of overseas studies, in that varicose vein surgery can be performed as day-only procedures with a complication rate similar to inpatient procedures and with a high degree of patient satisfaction. It is suggested that this should be used as the method of choice for the majority of patients requiring varicose vein surgery.     

Body composition in young female adults with Type 1 diabetes mellitus. A prospective case-control study.

AIMS: Overweight is common during late puberty in female patients with Type 1 diabetes. The aim of this study was to examine the change in body composition from late puberty to early adulthood in such female patients in comparison with age-matched control subjects. METHODS: Eighteen females with Type 1 diabetes and 19 healthy female control subjects were recruited for a case-control study at the age of 16-19 years (baseline). Six years later, 16 of the diabetic females and 17 of the control subjects were re-examined (follow-up). Body composition was assessed by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. RESULTS: Body mass index (BMI) and fat mass index (total fat mass/height2) were significantly higher at baseline in the diabetic patients than in the control subjects (26.4 +/- 2.6 vs. 23.9 +/- 3.7 kg/m2, P < 0.05, and 10.0 +/- 2.4 vs. 8.0 +/- 2.8 kg/m2, P = 0.04, respectively). At follow-up, these parameters still tended to be higher in the diabetic group (27.8 +/- 4.9 vs. 24.6 +/- 5.7 kg/m2, P = 0.09, and 11.8 +/- 5.6 vs. 8.7 +/- 4.9 kg/m2, P = 0.05, respectively). BMI at baseline was strongly correlated to BMI at follow-up in both diabetic patients (r = 0.60; P < 0.05) and control subjects (r = 0.83; P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Increased fat mass in pubertal girls with Type 1 diabetes seems to persist in young adulthood. This study emphasizes the need for new strategies to prevent the development of overweight during puberty in diabetic girls.