Effectiveness of spinal manipulation and myofascial release compared with spinal manipulation alone on health-related outcomes in individuals with non-specific low back pain:randomized controlled trial

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of spinal manipulation combined with myofascial release compared with spinal manipulation alone, in individuals with chronic non-specific low back pain (CNLBP). Design: Randomized controlled trial with three months follow-up. Setting: Rehabilitation clinic. Participants: Seventy-two individuals (between 18 and 50 years of age; CNLBP ≥12 consecutive weeks) were enrolled and randomly allocated to one of two groups: (1) Spinal manipulation and myofascial release – SMMRG; n = 36) or (2) Spinal manipulation alone (SMG; n = 36). Interventions: Combined spinal manipulation (characterized by high velocity/low amplitude thrusts) of the sacroiliac and lumbar spine and myofascial release of lumbar and sacroiliac muscles vs manipulation of the sacroiliac and lumbar spine alone, twice a week, for three weeks. Main outcome measures: Assessments were performed at baseline, three weeks post intervention and three months follow-up. Primary outcomes were pain intensity and disability. Secondary outcomes were quality of life, pressure pain-threshold and dynamic balance. Results: No significant differences were found between SMMRG vs SMG in pain intensity and disability post intervention and at follow-up. We found an overall significant difference between-groups for CNLBP disability (SMG-SMMRG: mean difference of 5.0; 95% confidence interval of difference 9.9; −0.1), though this effect was not clinically important and was not sustained at follow-up. Conclusions: We demonstrated that spinal manipulation combined with myofascial release was not more effective compared to spinal manipulation alone for patients with CNLBP. Clinical trial registration number: NCT03113292

Cost-utility analysis of opportunistic and systematic diabetic retinopathy screening strategies from the perspective of the Brazilian Public Healthcare System

Objective: To perform a cost-utility analysis of diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening strategies from the perspective of the Brazilian Public Healthcare System. Methods: A model-based economic evaluation was performed to estimate the incremental costs per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained between three DR screening strategies: (1) the opportunistic ophthalmology referral-based (usual practice), (2) the systematic ophthalmology referral-based, and (3) the systematic teleophthalmology-based. The target population included individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) aged 40 years, without retinopathy, followed over a 40-year time horizon. A Markov model was developed with five health states and a 1-year cycle. Model parameters were based on literature and country databases. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed to assess model parameters’ uncertainty. WHO willingness-to-pay (WHO-WTP) thresholds were used as reference (i.e. one and three times the Brazilian per capita Gross Domestic Product of R$32747 in 2018). Results: Compared to usual practice, the systematic teleophthalmology-based screening was associated with an incremental cost of R$21445/QALY gained ($9792/QALY gained). The systematic ophthalmology referral-based screening was more expensive (incremental costs = R$4) and less effective (incremental QALY = −0.012) compared to the systematic teleophthalmology-based screening. The probability of systematic teleophthalmology-based screening being cost-effective compared to usual practice was 0.46 and 0.67 at the minimum and the maximum WHO-WTP thresholds, respectively. Conclusion: Systematic teleophthalmology-based DR screening for the Brazilian population with T2D would be considered very cost effective compared to the opportunistic ophthalmology referral-based screening according to the WHO-WTP threshold. However, there is still a considerable amount of uncertainty around the results

The importance of programmatic health actions in tuberculosis control: experience of a Primary Health Care Service in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Introduction: Tuberculosis deserves special attention from health professionals and society. However, health services are not organized to attend these patients, and the prevalence of the disease remains high in the country. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the role of primary care in improving tuberculosis indicators with structured programmatic actions.Methods: Data from patients diagnosed with tuberculosis linked to the Primary Health Care Service of the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, attended in the health care services of the city, were analyzed and compared before (2002-2008) and after (2009-2012) the implementation of a Tuberculosis Control Program. The indicators were analyzed based on the goals established by WHO.Results: One hundred and forty patients had tuberculosis between 2002 and 2012, 94 before the implementation of the Program and 46 after. With the Program, the annual number of tracked respiratory symptomatic patients and patients diagnosed with tuberculosis increased. Also, the diagnosis of tuberculosis in primary care services increased from 4.3% (n = 4) to 39.1% (n = 18) (p <0.001); and there was an improvement in cure (78.2% to 85.7%) and therapy dropout (9.3% to 9.1%) rates.Conclusion: Our study showed that, after implementation of the Tuberculosis Control Program in the Primary Health Care Service of the Hospital de Clínicas dePorto Alegre, there was improvement in diagnosis of the disease, cure and treatment dropout rates, which have reached the cure rate goal established by the Ministry of Health

The importance of programmatic health actions in tuberculosis control: experience of a Primary Health Care Service in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Introduction: Tuberculosis deserves special attention from health professionals and society. However, health services are not organized to attend these patients, and the prevalence of the disease remains high in the country. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the role of primary care in improving tuberculosis indicators with structured programmatic actions. Methods: Data from patients diagnosed with tuberculosis linked to the Primary Health Care Service of the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, attended in the health care services of the city, were analyzed and compared before (2002-2008) and after (2009-2012) the implementation of a Tuberculosis Control Program. The indicators were analyzed based on the goals established by WHO. Results: One hundred and forty patients had tuberculosis between 2002 and 2012, 94 before the implementation of the Program and 46 after. With the Program, the annual number of tracked respiratory symptomatic patients and patients diagnosed with tuberculosis increased. Also, the diagnosis of tuberculosis in primary care services increased from 4.3% (n = 4) to 39.1% (n = 18) (p <0.001); and there was an improvement in cure (78.2% to 85.7%) and therapy dropout (9.3% to 9.1%) rates. Conclusion: Our study showed that, after implementation of the Tuberculosis Control Program in the Primary Health Care Service of the Hospital de Clínicas dePorto Alegre, there was improvement in diagnosis of the disease, cure and treatment dropout rates, which have reached the cure rate goal established by the Ministry of Health

Introdução: de acordo com donabedian, o estudo do processo de assistência é a melhor forma de melhorar a qualidade do serviço

Telemedicin

Avaliação econômica sobre as estratégias de rastreamento da retinopatia diabética no Sistema Único de Saúde

Introdução: A retinopatia diabética é uma complicação microvascular do diabetes mellitus que, se não identificada precocemente e tratada, pode evoluir e levar à cegueira. Com base no aumento da prevalência de diabetes tipo 2 nas últimas décadas, espera-se aumento nos casos de retinopatia diabética desafiando sistemas de saúde a encontrarem soluções para enfrentar esse problema. Objetivos: Relatar os valores de utilidade associados aos estágios de retinopatia diabética numa amostra de pacientes atendidos na atenção primária no Brasil. Avaliar o custo incremental por ano de vida ganho com qualidade e o impacto orçamentário incremental entre duas estratégias de rastreamento da retinopatia diabética: 1) estratégia atual, onde as pessoas com diabetes que procuram por atendimento são encaminhadas para avaliação oftalmológica (oportunístico baseado na consulta oftalmológica – taxa de cobertura de ~36%) e 2) convidar as pessoas com diabetes sob responsabilidade das equipes de saúde da família a realizarem fotografias retinianas, sendo encaminhadas ao oftalmologista apenas se necessário (sistemático por teleoftalmologia – taxa de cobertura de 80%). Métodos: Estudo transversal foi desenhado para descrever valores de utilidade associados aos estágios da retinopatia diabética em amostra de pessoas com diabetes tipo 2, que participaram do rastreamento por teleoftalmologia numa unidade de atenção primária no sul do Brasil de 2013 a 2016. Para a análise de custo-utilidade, foi desenvolvido modelo de Markov para simular custos e anos de vida ganhos com qualidade em ambas as estratégias de rastreamento, em pessoas com diabetes tipo 2, com 40 anos seguidos durante toda a vida. A análise foi realizada sob perspectiva do Sistema Único de Saúde. A incerteza do modelo foi avaliada por análise de sensibilidade probabilística. Para análise de impacto orçamentário, foi desenvolvido modelo determinístico baseado em cenários com horizonte temporal de cinco anos. Resultados: A média de utilidade ajustada em pessoas sem retinopatia diabética foi 0,73 (IC 95% 0,69 a 0,77), com retinopatia diabética não ameaçadora à visão foi 0,74 (IC 95% 0,67 a 0,81) e com ameaça à visão foi 0,60 (IC 95% 0,51 a 0,70). A razão de custo-utilidade incremental do rastreamento sistemático por teleoftalmologia em comparação a estratégia atual foi de R$67.448,26/QALY quando otimizado acesso apenas à fotocoagulação e de R$9.089,37/QALY se disponibilizado acesso aos tratamentos para diabetes e retinopatia diabética. O custo por pessoa rastreada foi de R$83,04 na estratégia atual e R$42,05 na alternativa. O impacto orçamentário incremental estimado do rastreamento sistemático por teleoftalmologia seria de R$247.493.429,67 em cinco anos, em comparação com a atual estratégia. A teleoftalmologia sendo implementada com aumento progressivo das taxas de cobertura, provavelmente, economizaria R$427.944.045,74 em cinco anos em comparação com a estratégia atual. O rastreamento sistemático por teleoftalmologia, provavelmente, economizaria R$1.990.595.285,05 em comparação com o rastreamento sistemático baseado na consulta com oftalmologista. Conclusões: A média dos valores de utilidade pode ser menor em pessoas em risco de perda visual do que em pessoas sem retinopatia. O rastreamento sistemático por teleoftalmologia é, provavelmente, custo-efetivo em comparação à estratégia atual considerando limiar de disposição a pagar recomendado pela OMS. O impacto orçamentário incremental estimado do rastreamento sistemático por teleoftalmologia, em relação à atual estratégia, precisa ser avaliado à luz de que poderia dobrar o número de pessoas rastreadas e de que priorizaria o uso das consultas oftalmológicas para os casos em risco de perda visual.Introduction: Diabetic retinopathy is a microvascular complication of diabetes mellitus. When it is not early detected and treated, it can evolve to diabetic macular edema leading to visual loss. Based on increasing rates of type 2 diabetes in past decades it is expected an increment of diabetic retinopathy cases, imposing a challenge to health care systems to deal with it. Objectives: To report health-state utility means by diabetic retinopathy stages in a Brazilian sample. To assess the incremental cost-utility and budget impact of two diabetic retinopathy screening approaches: 1) the current strategy where people with diabetes seeking for medical care are referred to ophthalmolist consultations (36$37,591.34/QALY when better screening leading to improved access only to retinal photocoagulation and $5,060.95/QALY when better screening leading to better access to both diabetes and diabetic retinopathy treatments. The cost per person screened was$46.32 in the strategy based on ophthalmologist consultations and $23.45 in the teleophthalmology alternative. The incremental budget impact of systematic by teleophthalmology screening would be$138,048,267.95 in five years compared to the current opportunistic strategy. When teleophthalmology was implemented at progressive increase in screening rates, it would probably save $238,694,740.34 in five-years compared to the current strategy. The systematic by teleophthalmology would probably save$1,110,301,679.02 compared to systematic screening based on ophthalmologist consultations. Conclusions: Utility means elicited by EQ-5D might be lower in people with diabetic retinopathy sight-threatening conditions than in people without diabetic retinopathy. Teleophthalmology systematic screening is cost-effective compared to opportunistic strategy based on ophthalmologist consultations given a willingness to pay recommended by the WHO. The estimated incremental budget impact of $138 million of the systematic by teleophthalmology DR screening compared to the current opportunistic strategy need to be evaluated in light of it could screen more than twice as many DM people at a lower cost and it could prioritize ophthalmologist consultations to people with diabetic retinopathy sight-threatening conditions

Avaliação econômica sobre as estratégias de rastreamento da retinopatia diabética no Sistema Único de Saúde

Introdução: A retinopatia diabética é uma complicação microvascular do diabetes mellitus que, se não identificada precocemente e tratada, pode evoluir e levar à cegueira. Com base no aumento da prevalência de diabetes tipo 2 nas últimas décadas, espera-se aumento nos casos de retinopatia diabética desafiando sistemas de saúde a encontrarem soluções para enfrentar esse problema. Objetivos: Relatar os valores de utilidade associados aos estágios de retinopatia diabética numa amostra de pacientes atendidos na atenção primária no Brasil. Avaliar o custo incremental por ano de vida ganho com qualidade e o impacto orçamentário incremental entre duas estratégias de rastreamento da retinopatia diabética: 1) estratégia atual, onde as pessoas com diabetes que procuram por atendimento são encaminhadas para avaliação oftalmológica (oportunístico baseado na consulta oftalmológica – taxa de cobertura de ~36%) e 2) convidar as pessoas com diabetes sob responsabilidade das equipes de saúde da família a realizarem fotografias retinianas, sendo encaminhadas ao oftalmologista apenas se necessário (sistemático por teleoftalmologia – taxa de cobertura de 80%). Métodos: Estudo transversal foi desenhado para descrever valores de utilidade associados aos estágios da retinopatia diabética em amostra de pessoas com diabetes tipo 2, que participaram do rastreamento por teleoftalmologia numa unidade de atenção primária no sul do Brasil de 2013 a 2016. Para a análise de custo-utilidade, foi desenvolvido modelo de Markov para simular custos e anos de vida ganhos com qualidade em ambas as estratégias de rastreamento, em pessoas com diabetes tipo 2, com 40 anos seguidos durante toda a vida. A análise foi realizada sob perspectiva do Sistema Único de Saúde. A incerteza do modelo foi avaliada por análise de sensibilidade probabilística. Para análise de impacto orçamentário, foi desenvolvido modelo determinístico baseado em cenários com horizonte temporal de cinco anos. Resultados: A média de utilidade ajustada em pessoas sem retinopatia diabética foi 0,73 (IC 95% 0,69 a 0,77), com retinopatia diabética não ameaçadora à visão foi 0,74 (IC 95% 0,67 a 0,81) e com ameaça à visão foi 0,60 (IC 95% 0,51 a 0,70). A razão de custo-utilidade incremental do rastreamento sistemático por teleoftalmologia em comparação a estratégia atual foi de R$67.448,26/QALY quando otimizado acesso apenas à fotocoagulação e de R$9.089,37/QALY se disponibilizado acesso aos tratamentos para diabetes e retinopatia diabética. O custo por pessoa rastreada foi de R$83,04 na estratégia atual e R$42,05 na alternativa. O impacto orçamentário incremental estimado do rastreamento sistemático por teleoftalmologia seria de R$247.493.429,67 em cinco anos, em comparação com a atual estratégia. A teleoftalmologia sendo implementada com aumento progressivo das taxas de cobertura, provavelmente, economizaria R$427.944.045,74 em cinco anos em comparação com a estratégia atual. O rastreamento sistemático por teleoftalmologia, provavelmente, economizaria R$1.990.595.285,05 em comparação com o rastreamento sistemático baseado na consulta com oftalmologista. Conclusões: A média dos valores de utilidade pode ser menor em pessoas em risco de perda visual do que em pessoas sem retinopatia. O rastreamento sistemático por teleoftalmologia é, provavelmente, custo-efetivo em comparação à estratégia atual considerando limiar de disposição a pagar recomendado pela OMS. O impacto orçamentário incremental estimado do rastreamento sistemático por teleoftalmologia, em relação à atual estratégia, precisa ser avaliado à luz de que poderia dobrar o número de pessoas rastreadas e de que priorizaria o uso das consultas oftalmológicas para os casos em risco de perda visual.Introduction: Diabetic retinopathy is a microvascular complication of diabetes mellitus. When it is not early detected and treated, it can evolve to diabetic macular edema leading to visual loss. Based on increasing rates of type 2 diabetes in past decades it is expected an increment of diabetic retinopathy cases, imposing a challenge to health care systems to deal with it. Objectives: To report health-state utility means by diabetic retinopathy stages in a Brazilian sample. To assess the incremental cost-utility and budget impact of two diabetic retinopathy screening approaches: 1) the current strategy where people with diabetes seeking for medical care are referred to ophthalmolist consultations (36$37,591.34/QALY when better screening leading to improved access only to retinal photocoagulation and $5,060.95/QALY when better screening leading to better access to both diabetes and diabetic retinopathy treatments. The cost per person screened was$46.32 in the strategy based on ophthalmologist consultations and $23.45 in the teleophthalmology alternative. The incremental budget impact of systematic by teleophthalmology screening would be$138,048,267.95 in five years compared to the current opportunistic strategy. When teleophthalmology was implemented at progressive increase in screening rates, it would probably save $238,694,740.34 in five-years compared to the current strategy. The systematic by teleophthalmology would probably save$1,110,301,679.02 compared to systematic screening based on ophthalmologist consultations. Conclusions: Utility means elicited by EQ-5D might be lower in people with diabetic retinopathy sight-threatening conditions than in people without diabetic retinopathy. Teleophthalmology systematic screening is cost-effective compared to opportunistic strategy based on ophthalmologist consultations given a willingness to pay recommended by the WHO. The estimated incremental budget impact of $138 million of the systematic by teleophthalmology DR screening compared to the current opportunistic strategy need to be evaluated in light of it could screen more than twice as many DM people at a lower cost and it could prioritize ophthalmologist consultations to people with diabetic retinopathy sight-threatening conditions