Search results for "valence"
showing 10 items of 2732 documents
Reproductive health problems in rural South African young women: risk behaviour and risk factors
2018
Background South African young women continue to be vulnerable, with high prevalence of teenage pregnancy, HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and female genital schistosomiasis (FGS). This study seeks to examine the underlying factors that may be associated with these four adverse reproductive health outcomes. Methods In a cross-sectional study of 1413 sexually active of young women, we explored these four adverse reproductive health outcomes by considering socio-demographic factors, socio-economic factors, sexual risk behaviour, substance abuse and knowledge about reproductive health by using a questionnaire. Consenting participants were asked about previous pregnancies and were t…
Low prevalence of upper endoscopic gastrointestinal findings despite high frequency of alarm symptoms at the time of diagnosis in adult coeliac disea…
2020
Objectives Exclusion of organic disorders involving the upper gastrointestinal (UGI) is a mandatory step before considering a biopsy-avoidance diagnostic strategy for adult coeliac disease. We aim to evaluate the prevalence of alarm symptoms and coincidental UGI endoscopic findings at the time of diagnosis of coeliac disease. To develop consensus criteria to identify patients with coeliac disease requiring a gastroscopy and to evaluate whether alarm symptoms prompting gastroscopy were predictive of endoscopic findings. Methods Presenting symptoms and UGI endoscopic findings at diagnosis of coeliac disease were collected retrospectively in 278 adult patients with coeliac disease diagnosed in…
Intensive care nurses’ experiences of caring for obese intensive care patients: A hermeneutic study
2017
Aim and objectives To obtain a deeper understanding of qualified intensive care nurses’ experiences of caring for obese patients in intensive care. Background Admission of obese patients with complex health care needs to intensive care units is increasing. Caring for obese critically ill patients can be challenging and demanding for the intensive care nurse because of the patients’ weight, critical situation, and physical challenges. There is a gap in knowledge at present about qualified intensive care nurses’ experiences of caring for obese patients in intensive care units. Design A qualitative hermeneutic approach. Method The study took place in 2016 at intensive care units of two differe…
Non-adherence to psychotropic medication assessed by plasma level in newly admitted psychiatric patients: Prevalence before acute admission.
2019
Aims Non-adherence or partial adherence to psychotropic medication is found in 18-70% of patients. Many previously used methods for the assessment of adherence (e.g. questionnaires, pill counts, and electronic systems), however, might underreport actual rates of non-adherence to medication. The aim of this study was to quantify adherence using plasma level. Methods We conducted a 6-week prospective study of all consecutive admitted patients at the Paracelsus Medical University of Salzburg, Clinics of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, who had been treated with antipsychotics/antidepressants prior to admission (pre-medication dosage in 161 of 233). Plasma drug levels were determined and compared …
HPV genotype prevalence in cytologically abnormal cervical samples from women living in south Italy
2007
Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the commonest sexually transmitted infection, and high-risk HPV types are associated with cervical carcinogenesis. This study investigated: the HPV type-specific prevalence in 970 women with an abnormal cytological diagnosis; and the association of HPV infection and cervical disease in a subset of 626 women with a histological diagnosis. HPV-DNA was researched by nested PCR/sequencing and the INNOLiPA HPV Genotyping assay. The data were analysed by the chi-square test (p ? 0.05 significant). Overall, the HPV prevalence was 37.7%; high-risk genotypes were found in 88.5% of women and multiple-type infections in 30.9% of the HPV-positive women. The commo…
High prevalence of polycystic ovary syndrome in women with mild hirsutism and no other significant clinical symptoms
2010
Objective To verify the conclusions of the Endocrine Society Guidelines that patients with mild hirsutism and no other important clinical signs (menstrual irregularities, infertility, central obesity, acanthosis nigricans, rapid progression of the hirsutism, clitoromegaly) should not be further studied. Design Retrospective study in patients referred because of mild hirsutism and no other clinical signs. Setting Department of Clinical Medicine of the University of Palermo. Patient(s) One hundred fifty-two patients with mild hirsutism. Intervention(s) Measurement of serum testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, 17-OH-Progesterone, assessment of ovulation by measurement of progesterone …
Validation of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey for Estimating Burnout in Dental Students.
2016
The aim of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) as a tool for assessing the prevalence and level of burnout in dental students in Spanish universities. The survey was adapted from English to Spanish. A sample of 533 dental students from 15 Spanish universities and a control group of 188 medical students self-administered the survey online, using the Google Drive service. The test-retest reliability or reproducibility showed an Intraclass Correlation Coefficient of 0.95. The internal consistency of the survey was 0.922. Testing the construct validity showed two components with an eigenvalue greater than 1.5, w…
Lumbar spine mobility in Marfan syndrome
1993
Low back pain symptoms and lumbar spine mobility were assessed by questionnaires and by clinical and radiological measurements in 32 patients with Marfan syndrome. Frequently occurring low back pain was reported by 19% of the patients, but the disability was slight in all of them. Flexion and extension mobility of the lumbar spine (L1-S1) assessed from radiographs was 59.9 degrees and 13.2 degrees, respectively. Mean lumbar angular mobility between flexion and extension radiographs was 7.4 degrees at L1-2, 13.2 degrees at L2-3, 16.0 degrees at L3-4, 19.3 degrees at L4-5 and 18.3 degrees at L5-S1. No correlation was found between the manual assessment of lumbar segmental instability and radi…
HCV viraemia is more important than genotype as a predictor of response to interferon in sicily (Southern Italy)
1996
Abstract Background/Aims: To investigate host- and virus-related factors predictive of early and sustained alanine aminotransferase normalization after interferon therapy for HCV-related chronic liver disease, in an area where genotype 1 is highly prevalent. Methods: We studied 100 patients with HCV-RNA positive chronic liver disease (73 chronic hepatitis and 27 cirrhosis) undergoing alpha-interferon treatment. Thirty-four patients had an early response but relapsed, 15 patients remained into sustained response for at least 12 months after therapy, and 51 patients did not respond. Serum HCV-RNA levels were assessed by bDNA (Chiron), and genotype by LiPA (Innogenetics) and by sequencing of t…
The importance of HCV on the burden of chronic liver disease in Italy: a multicenter prevalence study of 9,997 cases
2005
Knowledge of the current epidemiology of chronic liver disease in Italy is mostly obsolete and fragmentary for the lack of up-to-date consistent data. In 2001, a 6-month prevalence study was undertaken in 79 hospitals to assess the characteristics of chronic liver disease in Italy. Both prevalent and incident cases were enrolled. A total of 9,997 patients were recruited, of whom 939 (9.4%) had normal liver biochemistry, 6,210 (62.1%) had chronic hepatitis, 1,940 (19.4%) had liver cirrhosis, and 341 (3.4%) had hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In 567 patients (5.7%) the diagnosis was not established. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) was found in 69.9% of the patients and was the only etiological factor…