Search results for "illness"
showing 10 items of 1529 documents
Blood eosinophils and treatment response in hospitalized exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A case-control study
2015
Background: In outpatients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), blood eosinophilia is considered as a biomarker of response to systemic corticosteroid therapy. However, little is known on whether blood eosinophilia is also predictive of positive clinical outcome in severe acute exacerbations of COPD requiring hospitalization. We hypothesized that blood eosinophil-positive severe acute exacerbations of COPD differ from eosinophil-negative ones in terms of response to therapy and clinical outcomes. Methods: To test our experimental hypothesis, we retrospectively analyzed medical records of patients with COPD admitted to our ward because of severe exacerbation, over a two-year pe…
Do GOLD stages of COPD severity really correspond to differences in health status?
2003
The purpose of this study was to assess whether different stages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) severity defined according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criteria correlate with meaningful differences in health status. A total of 381 COPD patients, aged 73+/-6 yrs, were classified in the five GOLD stages. Disease-specific (St George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ)) and generic indexes of health status were measured in all patients. Multivariate analysis of covariance or Kruskal Wallis tests were used to compare health status indexes across the spectrum of GOLD stages of COPD severity. GOLD stages of COPD severity significantly differed…
Determinants of CAT (COPD Assessment Test) scores in a population of patients with COPD in central and Eastern Europe: The POPE study
2019
Abstract Background The COPD Assessment Test (CAT) has been proposed to help guide therapy in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is important to understand the distribution of scores in different COPD populations and their determinants. Methods The POPE study is an international, observational cross-sectional study of COPD subjects in 11 Central and Eastern European countries aimed at characterizing COPD phenotypes. Here we report the analysis of CAT scores with the objective of identifying their determinants, evaluating symptom load and investigating the distribution of scores among the participating countries. Additionally, we investigated the discrepancies between the CAT a…
Medical and psychosocial predictors of mechanical circulatory support device implantation and competing outcomes in the Waiting for a New Heart Study
2011
Background Medical and psychosocial factors are related to 1-year outcomes in the Waiting for a New Heart Study. With increased use of mechanical circulatory support devices (MCSD) over the course of the study, we can now evaluate these variables as predictors of MCSD in an extended follow-up. Methods Analyses focused on 313 MCSD-free patients (82% men; aged 53 ± 11 years) newly listed for heart transplantation (HTx). Variables assessed at time of listing included psychosocial risk (depression, social isolation), quality of life, waiting list stress, and medical risk (Heart Failure Survival Score, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure). Cumulative incidence functions and cause-specific Cox mod…
Multicentric study on the beta-blocker use and relation with exacerbations in COPD
2014
SummaryChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is frequently associated with chronic heart failure (CHF) or coronary artery disease (CAD). In spite of the recommendation to use beta-blockers (BB) they are likely under-prescribed to patients with concurrent COPD and heart diseases. To find out the prevalence of use of BB, 256 COPD patients were consecutively recruited by pulmonary physicians from 14 hospitals in 7 regions of Spain in their outpatient offices if they had a diagnosis of COPD, were not on long-term oxygen therapy, had CHF or CAD, and met the criteria for BB treatment.In patients with indication 58% (95%CI, 52–64%) of the COPD patients and 97% of the non-COPD patients were …
Prevalence of Co-morbidities and severity of COPD
2014
Abstract We aimed at exploring whether the prevalence of co-morbidities of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) increases with COPD severity. Analysis of medical records of outpatients with established diagnosis of COPD was retrospectively performed. The lower limit of normality (LLN) for FEV1/FVC was applied to establish the occurrence of airway obstruction in the elderly population. The prevalence of co-morbidities was calculated, and the proportion of patients with each co-morbidity along with GOLD stages was analysed by chi-square for trend. A total of 326 (M/F: 256/70) consecutive outpatients with COPD (stage GOLD I to IV), aging 71.8 ± 9.2 years, were included in the analysis.…
COPD at the end of life: Predictors of the emotional distress of patients and their family caregivers.
2020
BackgroundFew studies have focused on patients' emotional distress with end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and their main family caregivers.MethodsCross-sectional data about emotional, functional, and burden-related variables were collected from 85 patients with end-stage COPD and their 85 respective main family caregivers to determine the variables that could predict their emotional well-being. Descriptive analyses, comparison of means, hierarchical regression models, and comparative quali-quantitative analyses were carried out.ResultsData show that the great majority of patients with COPD spend years with this diagnosis, and have been admitted to the hospital several t…
Seasons and Other Factors Affecting the Quality of Life of Asthmatic Children
2007
Amparo.Escribano@uv.es Objective: To study the effect of seasons on the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of asthmatic children. Methods: Four groups of asthmatic children 7 to 14 years old were recruited by pediatricians during each season of the year. Their HRQL was assessed by means of the Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ). Other factors surveyed were asthma severity, atopy, medical treatment, immunotherapy, obesity, parental smoking, and anti-allergic measures. Results: The mean (SD) overall PAQLQ score was highest in summer at 6.2 (1.0) and lowest in autumn at 5.5 (1.2). The same trend was found for domains in summer and autumn, respectively: symptoms, 6.2 (1.…
The Qualification of Outcome after Cervical Spine Surgery by Patients Compared to the Neck Disability Index
2016
Contains fulltext : 168196.PDF (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) OBJECTIVE: The Neck Disability Index (NDI) is a patient self-assessed outcome measurement tool to assess disability, and that is frequently used to evaluate the effects of the treatment of neck-related problems. In individualized medicine it is mandatory that patients can interpret data in order to choose a treatment. A change of NDI or an absolute NDI is generally meaningless to a patient. Therefore, a correlation between the qualification of the clinical situation rated by the patient and the NDI score was evaluated. METHODS: Patients who completed an NDI after anterior surgery because of symptomatic single level degenera…
Transforming growth factor β1 and additional renoprotective effect of combination ACE inhibitor and angiotensin II receptor blocker in hypertensive s…
2005
Objective To verify the benefit of renin–angiotensin system blockade in hypertension, the effects of 24 weeks’ losartan and ramipril treatment, both alone and in combination, on urinary albumin excretion (UAE) and circulating transforming growth factor b1 (TGFb1) have been evaluated in hypertensive subjects with minor renal abnormalities. Design and methods Fifty-one patients with stage 1 and 2 essential hypertension and with UAE >—20 mg/24 h but with maintained renal function have been included. After a 4-week run-in with placebo administration, a randomized double-blind, three-arm double-dummy trial was used. All the hypertensives (HT) were allocated randomly to three treatment arms (1…