A systematic scoping review of environmental health conditions and hygiene behaviors in homeless shelters

Background

There are well-established relationships between health and homelessness, and shelters can facilitate the transmission of diseases and contribute to their prevention. Adequate environmental health conditions and hygiene behaviors in homeless shelters are fundamental to the health of their clients, a marginalized population. We report the status of environmental health conditions and hygiene behaviors in homeless shelters and associated health outcomes; interventions to improve these conditions, behaviors, and outcomes; and obstacles to improvement.

Angiodysplasia as the cause of massive lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage in a young adult

PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to clarify the importance of bleeding vascular ectasia of the colon as the etiology of massive lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage in patients 40 years of age or younger. METHODS: An otherwise healthy 21-year-old male was admitted to a tertiary medical center with massive lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Technetium-labeled red blood cell scan, selective visceral angiography, and colonoscopy identified the source of bleeding as vascular abnormality of the descending colon. Segmental colonic resection was performed. RESULTS: Histologic review of the specimen demonstrated a vascular ectasia. The patient recovered uneventfully and has had no further stigmata of hemorrhage. A review of the literature was undertaken to make clear the significance of vascular ectasia as the source for massive colonic hemorrhage in the young adult. CONCLUSION: This is the first report that documents histologically a vascular ectasia as the source of massive lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage in an otherwise healthy patient less than 40 years of age. Vascular ectasia is an uncommon cause of lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage in the young adult.The Chief, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Navy Department, Washington, DC, Clinical Investigation Program sponsored this report #84-16-1968-532, as required by HSETCINST 6000.41A. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Navy, Department of Defense, or the United States Government.     

Influence of pain and urinary symptoms on quality of life in young men with chronic prostatitis-like symptoms

BACKGROUND: Our aims in the present study were to estimate the influences of pain and urinary symptoms on quality of life, and to determine which of these two variables has the most predictive power with respect to quality of life in young men with chronic prostatitis-like symptoms. METHODS: Chronic prostatitis-like symptoms were measured by the National Institutes of Health-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index. Of the 28,841 men aged 20 years who lived in the study community, 18,495 men (a response rate 64.1%) agreed to participate in the study. A total of 1057 men who complained of symptoms indicative of chronic prostatitis were included in the study. The influences of pain and urinary symptoms on quality of life were determined using logistic regression analysis. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to estimate the predictive ability of each of these variables with respect to quality of life. RESULTS: Results from multivariate analysis showed that both pain and urinary symptoms were associated with an increased likelihood of impaired quality of life, although pain contributed more to a reduced quality of life than urinary symptoms. Relative to men who experienced mild pain, men who experienced moderate pain had a 3.9-fold risk of poor quality of life (odds ratio [OR], 3.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.86-5.23; P < 0.001) and those who experienced severe pain had a 15.7-fold risk of reduced quality of life (OR, 15.68; 95% CI, 6.59-37.35; P < 0.001). Moderate urinary symptoms were associated with a 1.4-fold risk of bother (OR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.01-1.99; P < 0.001) and severe urinary symptoms were associated with 2.4-fold risk (OR, 2.39; 95% CI, 1.37-4.12; P < 0.001), relative to mild urinary symptoms. Comparison of the effects of pain and urinary symptoms showed that pain severity had the most predictive power for bother, quality of life, and quality-of-life impact. The areas under the ROC curves for bother, quality of life, and quality-of-life impact were 71.3%, 69.3% and 72.5%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Urinary symptoms and pain might be associated with an increased likelihood of impaired quality of life in young men with chronic prostatitis-like symptoms. In addition, our findings suggest that pain severity is the most influential variable for determining quality of life in this population.     

Therapeutic intrauterine insemination (TII)--controversial treatment for infertility

The literature on therapeutic intrauterine insemination (TII) is confused because of lack of homogeneity in case selection, differences in executing the procedural steps, and the manner of evaluating and reporting results. This review compares results from Norfolk with those in the English literature. Special emphasis has been placed on separately analyzing each step of the procedure and presenting results of different authors in a comparable fashion. Including all etiologic factors and types of cycles, the term pregnancy rate per cycle was 3% for Norfolk, 2.6% to 6.2% elsewhere. Patients receiving TII in stimulated cycles did significantly better than those receiving TII in natural cycles, in terms of total pregnancy rate per cycle (p = 0.002). In male factor infertility, term pregnancy rate per cycle was 1.1% in Norfolk, 4.7% to 6.2% elsewhere (perhaps because of stricter criteria in Norfolk). In cervical factor infertility, term pregnancy rate per cycle was 4.5% in Norfolk, 2.7% to 11% for others. For unexplained infertility, Norfolk had 5.8% term pregnancy rate per cycle for natural cycles, 8.3% for stimulated cycles. Best published prospective results were 23% for stimulated cycles. TII seems to have a very low efficiency rate judging from term pregnancy rates per cycle. There are clear data indicating the need for redefining the indications.     

Human preovulatory oocytes have a higher sperm-binding ability than immature oocytes under hemizona assay conditions: evidence supporting the concept of "zona maturation"

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the sperm-binding potential of human oocytes at different stages of nuclear maturation under hemizona assay (HZA) conditions. DESIGN: This was a prospective study designed in a blinded fashion. SETTING: Academic research environment approved by the Institutional Review Board. PATIENTS: Surplus oocytes, donated by patients undergoing in vitro fertilization therapy after gonadotropin stimulation, were analyzed. Semen from a fertile donor was used in all assays. INTERVENTIONS: Five groups of oocytes were considered: (1) immature, prophase I; (2) metaphase I; (3) metaphase II; (4) inseminated, unfertilized metaphase II; and (5) immature, prophase I oocytes matured in vitro to metaphase II. Oocytes were stored in salt solution (pH 7.2) and microbisected before assay. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(s): Tight binding of sperm to the zona pellucida under HZA conditions was evaluated after 4 hours of gametes coincubation. RESULTS: Metaphase II oocytes (groups 3 and 4) had significantly higher binding than other groups (P = 0.0001). The mean value of the difference between the two halves (hemizona) was not significant, thus showing a small intra-assay variation for all maturational stages. CONCLUSIONS: Full meiotic competence of human oocytes is associated with an increased zona pellucida-binding potential.