Self-Reported Health Status and Use of Medical Care by 3500 Adolescents in Western Sweden. I

ABSTRACT. Some 3500 adolescents answered a questionnaire anonymously. The sample represented 85 % of the students between the ages 13 to 16 and 65 % of the students between 17 to 18 in the three communities studied. The students all had middle class backgrounds. Self-reported illness differed considerably from data found in epidemiological surveys. The self-reported medical panorama was dominated by concerns about acne, tiredness, headaches, stomach pains, sports injuries and allergic disorders. One quarter to one third of the students reported such problems. Overall, 85% of the students reported that they were "completely healthy", at the same time as they also reported an average of 3.1 medical complaints. Self-initiated appointments with physicians were reported with an average of 5.5 during the last year, which is high. About 40% of the students had one complaint for which they wanted to see a physician. About 15% reported that they had had suicidal thoughts.     

Implants and/or teeth: consensus statements and recommendations

Summary  In August 23–25, 2007, the Scandinavian Society for Prosthetic Dentistry in collaboration with the Danish Society of Oral Implantology arranged a consensus conference on the topic 'Implants and/or teeth'. It was preceded by a workshop in which eight focused questions were raised and answered in eight review articles using a systematic approach. Twenty-eight academicians and clinicians discussed the eight review papers with the purpose to reach consensus on questions relevant for the topic. At the conference the consensus statements were presented as well as lectures based on the review articles. In this article the methods used at the consensus workshop are briefly described followed by the statements with comments.     

''Long-Term Results of Antitachycardia Pacing in Patients with Supraventricular Tachycardia

Between 1979 and 1984 the Cybertach-60, (Intermedics, Inc. Model 262-01), a programmable, automatic antitachycardia pacemaker was implanted in 11 patients who had drug-refractory supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). The patients have been followed for a total of 64-108 (mean 84 months). All patients were symptomatic and had failed two or more drugs and six patients had required prior DC cardioversion. The mechanism of supraventricular tachycardia was atrioventricular (AV) nodal reentry in six patients, AV reentry in four patients, and atrial tachycardia in one patient. Preoperatively all patients had reliable termination of the tachycardia without induction of atrial fibrillation by pacing methods available to Cybertach-60. Postimplant, Cybertach-60 reliably terminated all episodes of tachycardia without ancillary drug therapy. Nevertheless, at long-term follow-up antitachycardia pacing was effective and safe in the minority (36%), with only four patients out of eleven still using a pacemaker for supraventricular tachycardia. One of these four patients required additional drug therapy. In one of the patients, the Cybertach-60 was replaced after 78 months by a more advanced device, (Intertach, Intermedics, Inc.) because of a depleted Cybertach-60 battery. In seven patients who no longer use antitachycardia pacing for termination of tachycardia, one patient developed atrial fibrillation during tachycardia termination (at 58 months postimplant). Three patients experienced induction of tachycardia or atrial fibrillation by the pacemaker due to undersensing of sinus P waves (at 36, 48, and 51 months).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

The influence of surface treatment on the implant roughness pattern

An important parameter for the clinical success of dental implants is the formation of direct contact between the implant and surrounding bone, whose quality is directly influenced by the implant surface roughness. A screw-shaped design and a surface with an average roughness of Sa of 1-2 µm showed a better result. The combination of blasting and etching has been a commonly used surface treatment technique. The versatility of this type of treatment allows for a wide variation in the procedures in order to obtain the desired roughness.

Objectives

To compare the roughness values and morphological characteristics of 04 brands of implants, using the same type of surface treatment. In addition, to compare the results among brands, in order to assess whether the type of treatment determines the values and the characteristics of implant surface roughness.

Material and methods

Three implants were purchased directly from each selected company in the market, i.e., 03 Brazilian companies (Biomet 3i of Brazil, Neodent and Titaniumfix) and 01 Korean company (Oneplant). The quantitative or numerical characterization of the roughness was performed using an interferometer. The qualitative analysis of the surface topography obtained with the treatment was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy images.

Results

The evaluated implants showed a significant variation in roughness values: Sa for Oneplant was 1.01 µm; Titaniumfix reached 0.90 µm; implants from Neodent 0.67 µm, and Biomet 3i of Brazil 0.53 µm. Moreover, the SEM images showed very different patterns for the surfaces examined.

Conclusions

The surface treatment alone is not able to determine the roughness values and characteristics.     

Health-related quality of life and gastrointestinal disease

Society is changing rapidly, and new aspects need to be considered when evaluating treatment of disease. Health-related quality of life (HRQL) is a relatively new addition to the tools clinicians use to gain a better understanding of the impact of disease and its treatment. The questions 'What is it?', 'How it is measured?' and 'How can the information be used?' are now better understood than a few years ago. Generic instruments to capture HRQL enable a broad assessment of a range of aspects and can be used to make comparisons between different patient populations. Irrespective of the choice of instrument, they can classify the influence of different factors, such as gender, age, general health status and disease severity. Health-related quality of life assessments have been made in many areas of gastroenterology, such as reflux disease, inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome, to describe the burden of illness and the impact of treatment. Health-related quality of life as a prediction of treatment response is another interesting option. Its ability in the context of surgical intervention and outcomes is also emerging even though more work must be done in this area. Health-related quality of life evaluations, as an additional tool in the management of patients, are here to stay.     

Sex under the influence of alcohol among Norwegian adolescents

The purpose of this paper is to study alcohol consumption among Norwegian adolescents at their most recent experience of sexual intercourse. The material comprises a stratified sample of 920 adolescents aged 16–20 years in a Norwegian county (52.3% of the girls and 41.4% of the boys had coital experience). Data were collected by means of questionnaires; 21.0% of the adolescents reported sex under influence of alcohol. A logistic regression analysis showed that the best predictors of sex under influence of alcohol were intercourse location, sexual enjoyment and sexual intercourse motivated by “Don't know, it just turned out that way”. Adolescents who had their most recent experience of intercourse away from home, who had problems enjoying sex and/or who said it just turned out that way, were more likely than others to have had sex under influence of alcohol. A multivanate logistic regression analysis showed that among adolescents who reported that the intercourse took place away from their homes, the odds ratio (OR) for sex under influence of alcohol increased by 8. 7. Those who had consumed alcohol before sex, more often than non-drinkers, tended to enter into sexual intercourse motivated by factors external to their own person. This tendency was more pronounced among boys than girls.