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PloS One 2023Pressure ulcers (PUs), which affect millions of people worldwide, are among the five most prevalent hospitalized cases causing adverse impairment. Nevertheless, pressure...
BACKGROUND
Pressure ulcers (PUs), which affect millions of people worldwide, are among the five most prevalent hospitalized cases causing adverse impairment. Nevertheless, pressure ulcers are largely preventable, and their management depends on their severity. The authors, therefore, explored the attitude and preventive practices of pressure ulcers among orthopedic nurses in a tertiary hospital in Ghana.
METHODS
An exploratory descriptive qualitative approach was employed for this study to help researchers explore the attitude and practices toward PU (Pressure Ulcer). Purposive sampling approach was employed, and data was analyzed using thematic content analysis. The sample size for this study was 30 which was obtained based on saturation. Participants were engaged in face-to-face interviews which were transcribed verbatim.
FINDINGS
Two themes and eight subthemes were generated from the analysis of this study. The two themes were preventive practices and attitude towards PU. The study identified that there were no specific protocols illustrated on the wards for managing pressure ulcers. Nevertheless, the study participants were keen on preventing pressure ulcers and hence engaged in practices such as early patients' ambulation, early identification of PU signs, removing creases and crumps from patient beds, nutritional management for PU prevention, and dressing of PU wounds.
CONCLUSION
Practices of pressure ulcer management were highly valued by the orthopedics nurses. Hence, the nurses recommended the need for accepted guidelines on pressure ulcer management to be illustrated in the various orthopedic wards in the country.
Topics: Humans; Pressure Ulcer; Tertiary Care Centers; Orthopedics; Ghana; Nurses
PubMed: 37682963
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290970 -
Polskie Archiwum Medycyny Wewnetrznej 2011Pulmonary embolism is the most common preventable cause of death in hospital patients and prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is cost-saving in high-risk... (Review)
Review
Pulmonary embolism is the most common preventable cause of death in hospital patients and prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is cost-saving in high-risk patients. Low-dose anticoagulation is very effective at preventing VTE but increases bleeding. Graduated compression stockings and intermittent pneumatic compression devices are also used to prevent VTE and do not increase bleeding, which makes their use appealing in patients who cannot tolerate bleeding, such as patients with acute stroke. Studies that evaluated mechanical methods of preventing VTE were small and mainly used asymptomatic deep vein thrombosis (DVT), detected using screening tests, as the study outcome. The recently published CLOTS Trial 1 (Clots in Legs Or sTockings after Stroke) compared thigh-level compression stockings with no stockings in about 2500 patients with stroke and immobility, and found that thigh-level stockings were not effective. Indirectly, the findings of this study question the ability of stockings to prevent VTE in other patient groups, including those after surgery. CLOTS 1 compared thigh-level and below-knee stockings in about 3000 patients with acute stroke. Given that thigh-level stockings were ineffective in CLOTS 1, it is surprising that they were more effective than below-knee stockings in CLOTS Trial 2. A possible explanation is that below-knee stockings increase DVT, although this seems unlikely. CLOTS 1 and CLOTS 2 question whether graduated compression stockings prevent VTE and suggest the need for further trials evaluating their efficacy in medical and surgical patients.
Topics: Humans; Stockings, Compression; Stroke; Treatment Outcome; Venous Thromboembolism
PubMed: 21346697
DOI: No ID Found -
BMC Microbiology Nov 2023Dental caries is a chronic oral disease caused by microbial infections, which result in erosion of the dental enamel and cause irreversible damage. Therefore, proper...
BACKGROUND
Dental caries is a chronic oral disease caused by microbial infections, which result in erosion of the dental enamel and cause irreversible damage. Therefore, proper disease management techniques and the creation of an environment that prevents intraoral growth and biofilm formation of Streptococcus mutans in the early stages, are crucial to prevent the potential progression of dental plaque to disease. Here, we aimed to investigate antimicrobial and antibiofilm effects of the Bacillus velezensis ID-A01 supernatant (ID23029) against S. mutans, and its inhibitory effects on acidogenesis.
RESULTS
A killing kinetics assay showed a peak lethality percentage of 94.5% after 6 h of exposure to ID23029. In sucrose-exposed conditions, ID23029 inhibited lactic acid formation, preventing the pH from falling below the threshold for enamel demineralization, and inhibited up to 96.6% of biofilm formation. This effect was maintained in the presence of lysozyme. Furthermore, ID23029 retained up to 92% lethality, even at an intraoral concentration at which lysozyme is ineffective against S. mutans.
CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrates the potential of the B. velezensis ID-A01 supernatant for the prevention and treatment of dental caries. Its eventual use in dental practice is encouraged, although further studies are required to confirm its beneficial effects.
Topics: Humans; Muramidase; Streptococcus mutans; Dental Caries; Anti-Infective Agents; Biofilms
PubMed: 37996837
DOI: 10.1186/s12866-023-03114-2 -
Journal of Sport Rehabilitation Nov 2018Overuse injuries are common in physically active populations. Lower limb overuse injuries can occur anywhere in the lower-extremity and include injuries such as medial... (Review)
Review
Overuse injuries are common in physically active populations. Lower limb overuse injuries can occur anywhere in the lower-extremity and include injuries such as medial tibial stress syndrome, plantar fasciitis, and anterior knee pain. One reason that overuse injuries have received attention is because they have both short- and long-term consequences on health and burden the lives of physically active people. Over the years, a variety of approaches have been proposed for prevention of lower limb overuse injury that addresses various intrinsic or extrinsic risk factors. One extrinsic risk factor is footwear and the use of orthotic insoles to prevent injury. To date, there is no consensus as to whether these supports prevented lower limb overuse injuries. A critical appraisal of recent studies examining the injury prevention capabilities of orthotic insoles was completed. The long-term objective of this research is to help identify effective strategies for preventing injuries in physically active people.
Topics: Athletic Injuries; Cumulative Trauma Disorders; Foot Orthoses; Humans; Lower Extremity
PubMed: 28952905
DOI: 10.1123/jsr.2016-0142 -
Depression and Anxiety Oct 2020Women who have experienced a recent sexual assault (SA) are at high risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related conditions, with approximately half of... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
BACKGROUND
Women who have experienced a recent sexual assault (SA) are at high risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related conditions, with approximately half of women experiencing SA meeting criteria for PTSD. There are no guidelines for the prevention of PTSD and other common mental health disorders after SA. Thus, the purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to synthesize research on secondary preventions for PTSD after SA, determine efficacy whether any intervention seems promising, and ascertain when, how, and to whom interventions should be delivered.
METHODS
After searching electronic databases for secondary preventions for PTSD and related conditions among women who have experienced a recent SA, 17 studies were reviewed, their quality was rated on the clinical trial assessment measure, and 10 studies were meta-analyzed (7 were excluded, as they were not randomized controlled trials or due to the absence of heterogeneity).
RESULTS
Results suggested a small-to-moderate effect of prevention on reducing PTSD and related symptoms. There was no moderating effect of medication versus psychosocial interventions, timing, treatment modality, or targeted versus universal prevention. Half of the studies were of high quality.
CONCLUSION
Cognitive-behavioral secondary preventions for PTSD appear to be safe and effective among women who have experienced a recent SA. Future research should identify best practices and mechanisms of treatment, and once identified, it should move toward implementation science.
Topics: Female; Humans; Secondary Prevention; Sex Offenses; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
PubMed: 32442345
DOI: 10.1002/da.23030 -
The Journal of Headache and Pain Jul 2022Migraine represents a serious burden for national health systems. However, preventive treatment is not optimally applied to reduce the severity and frequency of headache... (Observational Study)
Observational Study
BACKGROUND
Migraine represents a serious burden for national health systems. However, preventive treatment is not optimally applied to reduce the severity and frequency of headache attacks and the related expenses. Our aim was to assess the persistence to traditional migraine prophylaxis available in Spain and its relationship with the healthcare resource use (HRU) and costs.
METHODS
Retrospective observational study with retrospective cohort design of individuals with migraine treated with oral preventive medication for the first time from 01/01/2016 to 30/06/2018. One-year follow-up information was retrieved from the Big-Pac™ database. According to their one-year persistence to oral prophylaxis, two study groups were created and describe regarding HRU and healthcare direct and indirect costs using 95% confidence intervals (CI). The analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed as a sensitivity analysis. Patients were considered persistent if they continued on preventive treatment until the end of the study or switched medications within 60 days or less since the last prescription. Non-persistent were those who permanently discontinued or re-initiated a treatment after 60 days.
RESULTS
Seven thousand eight hundred sixty-six patients started preventive treatment (mean age (SD) 48.2 (14.8) and 80.4% women), of whom 2,545 (32.4%) were persistent for 6 months and 2,390 (30.4%) for 12 months. Most used first-line preventive treatments were antidepressants (3,642; 46.3%) followed by antiepileptics (1,738; 22.1%) and beta-blockers (1,399; 17.8%). The acute treatments prescribed concomitantly with preventives were NSAIDs (4,530; 57.6%), followed by triptans (2,217; 28.2%). First-time preventive treatment prescribers were mostly primary care physicians (6,044; 76.8%) followed by neurologists (1,221; 15.5%). Non-persistent patients required a higher number of primary care visits (mean difference (95%CI): 3.0 (2.6;3.4)) and days of sick leave (2.7 (0.8;4.5)) than the persistent ones. The mean annual expenditure was €622 (415; 829) higher in patients who not persisted on migraine prophylactic treatment.
CONCLUSIONS
In this study, we observed a high discontinuation rate for migraine prophylaxis which is related to an increase in HRU and costs for non-persistent patients. These results suggest that the treatment adherence implies not only a clinical benefit but also a reduction in HRU and costs.
Topics: Cohort Studies; Female; Health Expenditures; Humans; Male; Migraine Disorders; Retrospective Studies; Tryptamines
PubMed: 35794535
DOI: 10.1186/s10194-022-01448-2 -
Journal of Dental Research Sep 2018Fluoridation of America's drinking water was among the great public health achievements of the 20th century. Yet there is a paucity of studies from the past 3 decades...
UNLABELLED
Fluoridation of America's drinking water was among the great public health achievements of the 20th century. Yet there is a paucity of studies from the past 3 decades investigating its dental health benefits in the U.S.
POPULATION
This cross-sectional study sought to evaluate associations between availability of community water fluoridation (CWF) and dental caries experience in the U.S. child and adolescent population. County-level estimates of the percentage of population served by CWF (% CWF) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Water Fluoridation Reporting System were merged with dental examination data from 10 y of National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (1999 to 2004 and 2011 to 2014). Dental caries experience in the primary dentition (decayed and filled tooth surfaces [dfs]) was calculated for 7,000 children aged 2 to 8 y and in the permanent dentition (decayed, missing, and filled tooth surfaces [DMFS]) for 12,604 children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 y. Linear regression models estimated associations between % CWF and dental caries experience with adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics: age, sex, race/ethnicity, rural-urban location, head-of-household education, and period since last dental visit. Sensitivity analysis excluded counties fluoridated after 1998. In unadjusted analysis, caries experience in the primary dentition was lower in counties with ≥75% CWF (mean dfs = 3.3; 95% confidence limit [CL] = 2.8, 3.7) than in counties with <75% CWF (mean dfs = 4.6; 95% CL = 3.9, 5.4), a prevented fraction of 30% (95% CL = 11, 48). The difference was also statistically significant, although less pronounced, in the permanent dentition: mean DMFS (95% CL) was 2.2 (2.0, 2.4) and 1.9 (1.8, 2.1), respectively, representing a prevented fraction of 12% (95% CL = 1, 23). Statistically significant associations likewise were seen when % CWF was modeled as a continuum, and differences tended to increase in covariate-adjusted analysis and in sensitivity analysis. These findings confirm a substantial caries-preventive benefit of CWF for U.S. children and that the benefit is most pronounced in primary teeth.
Topics: Adolescent; Age Factors; Child; Child, Preschool; Cross-Sectional Studies; DMF Index; Dental Caries; Female; Fluoridation; Humans; Linear Models; Male; Nutrition Surveys; Sex Factors; United States
PubMed: 29900806
DOI: 10.1177/0022034518774331 -
Annals of the American Thoracic Society Apr 2014Population-based, longitudinal studies spanning decades linking risk factors in childhood, adolescence and early adulthood to incident clinical interstitial lung disease... (Review)
Review
Population-based, longitudinal studies spanning decades linking risk factors in childhood, adolescence and early adulthood to incident clinical interstitial lung disease (ILD) events in late adulthood have not been performed. In addition, no observational or randomized clinical trials have been conducted; therefore, there is presently no evidence to support the notion that reduction of risk factor levels in early life prevents ILD events in adult life. Primary prevention strategies are host-directed interventions designed to modify adverse risk factors (i.e., smoking) with the goal of preventing the development of ILD, whereas primordial prevention for ILD can be defined as the elimination of external risk factors (i.e., environmental pollutants). As no ILD primary prevention studies have been previously conducted, we propose that research studies that promote implementation of primary prevention strategies could, over time, make a subset of ILD preventable. Herein, we provide a number of initial steps required for the future implementation of prevention strategies; this statement discusses the rationale and available evidence that support potential opportunities for primordial and primary prevention, as well as fertile areas for future research of preventive intervention in ILD.
Topics: Chronic Disease; Congresses as Topic; Humans; Lung Diseases, Interstitial; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (U.S.); Primary Prevention; United States
PubMed: 24754826
DOI: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.201312-429LD -
International Journal of Environmental... Apr 2021Many programs exist to prevent bullying and cyberbullying. Nevertheless, despite evidence of the numerous overlapping risks of the Internet, programs that jointly and...
Many programs exist to prevent bullying and cyberbullying. Nevertheless, despite evidence of the numerous overlapping risks of the Internet, programs that jointly and adequately address large sets of risks are not presently described in the scientific literature. This study's main objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Safety.net program in a pilot sample. This program prevents eight Internet risks: cyberbullying, sexting, online grooming, cyber dating abuse, problematic Internet use, nomophobia, Internet gaming disorder, and online gambling disorder. The Safety.net program comprises 16 sessions and 4 modules (digital skills, relational risks, dysfunctional risks, and change of attitudes and cognitions). Each session lasts one hour, but the program has a networked instructional design to recall previous content in later sessions. For its assessment, a pre/post-test repeated measures design with a control group and an intervention group was used. The study sample was 165 adolescents between 11 and 14 years old (M = 12.11, SD = 0.89). The intervention group demonstrated improvements compared to the control group concerning online grooming, problematic Internet use, Internet gaming disorder, and nomophobia. These results suggest that the Safety.net program is effective in preventing the increase of most of the assessed risks and that it reduces some of them with a small number of sessions.
Topics: Adolescent; Animals; Bullying; Child; Crime Victims; Cyberbullying; Humans; Internet; Pilot Projects
PubMed: 33923779
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18084249 -
Injury Prevention : Journal of the... Jan 2024Adoption of injury prevention exercise programmes (IPEPs) in team sports is contingent on behaviour change among coaches. The aim was to study motivation and...
BACKGROUND
Adoption of injury prevention exercise programmes (IPEPs) in team sports is contingent on behaviour change among coaches. The aim was to study motivation and goal-pursuit in IPEP use among coaches of amateur football players.
METHODS
A cross-sectional study using web-based questionnaires was administered to coaches in one Swedish regional football district. The study was carried out one season after dissemination of the IPEP . The questionnaire was based on the Health Action Process Approach and covered perceptions and beliefs about using . Questions were rated on 1-7 Likert scales.
RESULTS
440 coaches participated (response rate 32%). Coaches were neutral about injury risks (median 4-5) and knowledge about preventing injuries (median 5) but had positive outcome expectancies of preventive training (median 6). Coaches who had used an IPEP perceived they had more knowledge about preventing injuries than non-users (median 5 vs 4, small effect size =0.43). Coaches who used were positive about their practical ability to use it (median 6) and had high intention to prioritise continuous use (median 7). Highly adherent coaches to higher extent believed that specific training may prevent injuries and had plans for how to instruct the players and how to work around barriers compared with low adherent coaches.
CONCLUSION
Coaches need more knowledge and support on IPEP usage and how to structure training. Coaches who had adopted had high belief in their abilities but may need constructive plans on how to use the programme and to overcome barriers.
Topics: Humans; Football; Cross-Sectional Studies; Athletic Injuries; Motivation
PubMed: 37696599
DOI: 10.1136/ip-2023-044978