Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and the Higher Incidence of Clostridium Difficile Infection

This study aimed at analyzing the patients with inflammatory bowel disease and the higher incidence of clostridium difficile infection by emphasizing the theoretical review of studies discussing the  inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), which include Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. And by discussing the treatment of CDI in IBD patients, the diagnosis of CDI in IBD, and the risk factors for CDI in IBD. The study concluded that clinicians should be cautious about the chances of CDI in patients who have an exacerbation of IBD. At times the IBD flare cannot be differentiated from CDI requiring a high degree of clinical suspicion and vouching for early stool testing for toxin assay. When CDI in IBD are established primarily within two days of hospital admission it suggests that a good number of the infection was acquired before admission. CDI should, therefore, be suspected in differentiated diagnosis for intractable IBD patients, because many such patients need not present with a history of antibiotic exposure or hospital admission and may largely be receiving outpatient treatment

Clinical Correlation Between Back Pain and Osteoarthritis Among Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: To investigate the clinical correlation between back pain and the role of osteoarthritis in the etiology of this pain. Methods: This research employs a cross-sectional study design to investigate the clinical correlation between back pain and osteoarthritis in adults. Cross-sectional studies provide a snapshot of data at a specific time, making them suitable for assessing the prevalence and potential associations between variables of interest. Results: The study included 1106 participants. The most frequent age among them was 40-50 years (n= 486, 43.9%), followed by 18-28 years (n= 340, 30.7%). The most frequent gender among study participants was female (n= 560, 50.6%) followed by male (n= 546, 49.4%). The most frequent marital status among study participants was married (n= 702, 63.5%), followed by single (n= 353, 31.9%). The most frequent job among study participants was a government job (n= 480, 43.4%), followed by a private sector job (n= 177, 16%). Duration of suffering from back pain among study participants with most of them being 1 to 5 years (n= 505, 45.7%), followed by nothing (n= 373, 33.7%), and the least was 23 years and above (n= 13, 1.2%). Participants were asked about evaluating the impact of back pain on life. For personal care, the most frequent was (currently, I do not feel any pain) (n= 514, 46.5%). The severity of pain, the most frequent, was (I can usually take care of myself and do my own things without adding to my pain) (n= 923, 83.5%). The lift and move things, the most frequent was (I can lift heavy objects without it adding to my pain) (n= 524, 47.4%). The walking, the most frequent was (The pain does not prevent me from walking any distance) (n= 801, 72.4%). The Sitting, the most frequent was (I can sit in any chair for as long as I want) (n= 661, 59.8%). The stand-up, most frequent was (I can stay standing as long as I want without increasing my pain) (n= 523, 47.3%). For sleep, the most frequent answer was (My sleep is never disturbed by pain) (n= 611, 55.2%). The Social-life, most frequent was (My social life is normal and does not cause me more pain) (n= 860, 77.8%). Conclusion: The results of the study showed that most of the participants were married and taught in government jobs. The majority of them do not suffer from severe back pain that affects their lives. In addition, most of the study participants had good and effective communicatio

Quantitative research on the impact of COVID‐19 on frontline nursing staff at a military hospital in Saudi Arabia

Abstract Aim The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between stress, psychological symptoms and job satisfaction among frontline nursing staff at a military hospital in Saudi Arabia during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Design Descriptive cross‐sectional study. Methods Data were collected using an online survey. All Registered Nurses (N = 1,225) working at a military hospital between February to April 2021 were contacted, 625 responded (51%). Data were analysed using descriptive and multivariate analysis, Student's t‐test for independent samples and one‐way analysis of variance followed by Tukey's multiple comparison tests. Results Stress was experienced more significantly than depression or anxiety. Approximately 29% of the change in scores for psychological symptoms was explained by age group, being a Saudi national and working in emergency departments (F[3,620] = 19.063, p < 0.0001). A 37% change in nursing stress scores was explained by nationality and work department. (F[5,618] = 19.754, p < 0.0001). A 29% change in job satisfaction scores was explained by nationality and work department (F[3,620] = 19.063, p < 0.0001)

Corrosion Behavior of Aluminium-Coated Cans

Hundreds of billions of aluminium-based cans are manufactured and used every year worldwide including those containing soft drinks. This study investigates and evaluates the performance and quality of two well-known energy and soft drinks brands, Green Cola and Red Bull. Recent health hazards and concerns have been associated with aluminium leakage and bisphenol A (BPA) dissociation from the can&rsquo;s internal protective coating. The cans were examined under four conditions, including coated and uncoated samples, the soft drink&rsquo;s main solution, and 0.1 M acetic acid solution. Electrochemical measurements such as potentiodynamic polarization and impedance spectroscopy (EIS), element analyses using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) were performed. In addition, sample characterization by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD) were employed to comprehensively study and analyze the effect of corrosion on the samples. Even though the internal coating provided superior corrosion protection concerning main or acetic acid solutions, it failed to prevent aluminium from dissolving in the electrolyte. Green Cola&rsquo;s primary solution appears to be extremely corrosive, as the corrosion rate increased by approximately 333% relative to the acetic acid solution. Uncoated samples resulted in increases in the percentage of oxygen, the appearance of more corrosion spots, and decreases in crystallinity. The ICP-OES test detected dangerous levels of aluminium in the Green Cola solution, which increased significantly after increasing the conductivity of the solution

Additional file 2: Table S2 of Diminished accuracy of biomarkers of fibrosis in low replicative chronic hepatitis B

Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios of the four biomarkers at different cut-off values in identifying significant fibrosis (F2–4) in the overall cohort (n = 366) of patients. (DOCX 16 kb

Additional file 1: Table S1. of Diminished accuracy of biomarkers of fibrosis in low replicative chronic hepatitis B

Comparison of the 4 biomarkers scores at various thresholds in low and high viremia levels between patients with minimal/mild (F0–1) and moderate-severe (F2–4) fibrosis. (DOCX 18 kb

Impact of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC)’s multidimensional approach on rates of ventilator-associated pneumonia in intensive care units in 22 hospitals of 14 cities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

To analyze the impact of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) Multidimensional Approach (IMA) and use of INICC Surveillance Online System (ISOS) on ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) rates in Saudi Arabia from September 2013 to February 2017. A multicenter, prospective, before–after surveillance study on 14,961 patients in 37 intensive care units (ICUs) of 22 hospitals. During baseline, we performed outcome surveillance of VAP applying the definitions of the CDC/NHSN. During intervention, we implemented the IMA and the ISOS, which included: (1) a bundle of infection prevention practice interventions, (2) education, (3) outcome surveillance, (4) process surveillance, (5) feedback on VAP rates and consequences and (6) performance feedback of process surveillance. Bivariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed using generalized linear mixed models to estimate the effect of intervention. The baseline rate of 7.84 VAPs per 1000 mechanical-ventilator (MV)-days―with 20,927 MV-days and 164 VAPs―, was reduced to 4.74 VAPs per 1000 MV-days―with 118,929 MV-days and 771 VAPs―, accounting for a 39% rate reduction (IDR 0.61; 95% CI 0.5–0.7; P 0.001). Implementing the IMA was associated with significant reductions in VAP rates in ICUs of Saudi Arabia

Global economic burden of unmet surgical need for appendicitis

Background There is a substantial gap in provision of adequate surgical care in many low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to identify the economic burden of unmet surgical need for the common condition of appendicitis. Methods Data on the incidence of appendicitis from 170 countries and two different approaches were used to estimate numbers of patients who do not receive surgery: as a fixed proportion of the total unmet surgical need per country (approach 1); and based on country income status (approach 2). Indirect costs with current levels of access and local quality, and those if quality were at the standards of high-income countries, were estimated. A human capital approach was applied, focusing on the economic burden resulting from premature death and absenteeism. Results Excess mortality was 4185 per 100 000 cases of appendicitis using approach 1 and 3448 per 100 000 using approach 2. The economic burden of continuing current levels of access and local quality was US $92 492 million using approach 1 and$73 141 million using approach 2. The economic burden of not providing surgical care to the standards of high-income countries was $95 004 million using approach 1 and$75 666 million using approach 2. The largest share of these costs resulted from premature death (97.7 per cent) and lack of access (97.0 per cent) in contrast to lack of quality. Conclusion For a comparatively non-complex emergency condition such as appendicitis, increasing access to care should be prioritized. Although improving quality of care should not be neglected, increasing provision of care at current standards could reduce societal costs substantially