Healthy People 2020 Structured Evidence Queries: Facilitating Access to Published Research for Public Health Planning and Policy Development

Healthy People 2020 (HP2020) provides national objectives to guide health promotion and disease prevention efforts in the United States. Public health professionals and policy makers may have limited time to identify relevant research evidence to inform program planning and policy development. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) recognized the need to reduce the time and increase the precision of finding research literature to support the development of evidence-based actions to achieve HP2020 objectives. NLM collaborated with the HHS Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion to develop pre-formulated search strategies - structured evidence queries (SEQs) - of the PubMed database to make research evidence related to HP2020 objectives easier to find. The search queries were developed by librarians, working in consultation with subject matter experts in public health. The HP2020 SEQ website is organized by HP2020 topic areas and provides PubMed search results for HP2020 objectives including the Leading Health Indicators, a subset of high-priority health issues that represent significant threats to the public’s health. The PubMed search strategies were designed to return a manageable number of relevant citations for busy public health professionals to review. The search strategies can be modified in PubMed to address particular practice and research needs. Information to help users learn more about PubMed, obtain full-text copies of articles, and find additional resources for public health practice are provided in the FAQs section of the site. The resource was developed as a result of an effective partnership between librarians, public health professionals, and subject experts

Healthy People 2020 Structured Evidence Queries for PubMed: Practice Informed by Research

Objective: Healthy People 2020 is a set of objectives with 10-year targets to guide national health promotion and disease prevention efforts. Public health professionals may have limited time to identify relevant research articles on public health strategies. NLM recognized the need to reduce the time and increase the precision of finding research to support evidence-based actions to achieve HP2020 objectives. Methods: NLM collaborated with the HHS Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion to develop pre-formulated search strategies ─ structured evidence queries (SEQs) ─ of PubMed to make research evidence related to HP2020 objectives easier to find. The queries were developed by librarians, working in consultation with subject matter experts in public health. The PubMed search strategies are organized by HP2020 topic areas on the HP2020 SEQ website that is supported by NLM with assistance of the collaboration, Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce. The website also provides search queries for the Healthy People 2020 Leading Health Indicators, a subset of high-priority health issues that represent significant threats to the public’s health. Information to help users learn more about PubMed, obtain full-text copies of articles, and find additional resources for public health practice are provided on the site. Results: The Healthy People 2020 Structured Evidence Queries website, http://phpartners.org/hp2020, launched in June 2011. As of the end of 2012, structured evidence queries were formulated for 268 health objectives in 24 Healthy People 2020 topic areas, with the expectation of full coverage by May 2013. The SEQs are also integrated with the HHS HealthyPeople.gov website. The PubMed search strategies were designed to return a manageable number of relevant citations for busy public health professionals to review. Users retrieve the most recent research articles indexed for MEDLINE on Healthy People objectives each time a SEQ is selected and run in PubMed. The search strategies can be modified to address particular practice and research needs. The website includes FAQs on how to modify and save searches, obtain copies of articles, and receive assistance from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine. Additional resources on public health topics are available from the Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce website, http://PHPartners.org. Conclusions: The HP2020 SEQs provide peer-reviewed research evidence to support national objectives for improving the health of all Americans. The resource is the outcome of an effective partnership between librarians, public health professionals, and subject experts

Dental Implant Supported Restorations Improve Quality of Life in Osteoporotic Women

Introduction. The aim of this study is to compare the quality of life (QoL) in partially edentulous osteoporotic women who have missing teeth restored with dental implant retained restorations with those who do not and, secondarily, to report the rate of osteonecrosis in this sample. Methods. 237 participants completed the Utian QoL survey, a 23-question document measuring across psychosocial domains of well-being including occupational, health, emotional, and sexual domains which together contribute to an overall score. The subset of participants having dental implant supported prosthesis (64) was compared to the subset having nonimplant supported fixed restorations (47), the subset having nonimplant supported removable restorations (60), and the subset having no restoration of missing teeth (66). Results. ANOVA showed significant difference in all QoL domains between the four subsets (p<0.05). Although 134 reported oral bisphosphonate and 51 reported IV bisphosphonate use, no signs of ONJ were identified in any participants. Conclusion. These findings show implant retained oral rehabilitation has a statistically significant impact over nonimplant and traditional fixed restorations, removable restorations, and no restoration of missing teeth in far reaching areas including occupational, health, emotional, sexual, and overall QoL. These findings also support future examination of psychosocial outcomes associated with oral rehabilitation and the incorporation of oral health into women’s health promotion

Influence of cantonal health policy frameworks & activities on the influenza vaccination rate in patients with non-communicable diseases in Switzerland

Background and objective Seasonal influenza may cause serious illness, especially in high-risk populations such as older adults and individuals suffering from non-communicable diseases (NCD) and may be prevented by a vaccination. However, an assessment of the impact of the Swiss legal frameworks and number of health activities on influenza vaccination coverage of the population at the cantonal level is lacking. Methods Two participating healthcare insurers sent out 25,000 semi-structured questionnaires to their subscribers aged 60–85 in five Swiss cantons selected according to the number of health activities and legal framework regarding influenza vaccination and linguistic region. Influenza vaccination coverage of the participants was evaluated and stratified by disease status, age, canton, and linguistic region. Results were compared by cantonal activities, legal framework, and linguistic region. Results 7,617 valid questionnaires were evaluated from the cantons Aargau, Jura, St. Gallen, Schwyz, and Vaud. 47.9 % stated to have an NCD, with the most frequent being muscle/ skeletal disease (36.7%). Before 2018, 48.6% were vaccinated against influenza, and 35.9% in 2019, with the highest in canton Vaud. In all cantons and in both survey periods, NCD patients and those aged 73–85 had a higher vaccination coverage than participants without NCD, and aged 60–72. There was no difference in the odds of getting an influenza shot based on legal framework. Although a comparison of the number of activities between the German-speaking cantons did not reveal any significant differences, the odds of the participants living in a French-speaking canton getting an influenza vaccination was more likely than those living in a German-speaking canton. Conclusion There was no association between the investigated cantonal frameworks and number of health activities and influenza vaccination coverage in NCD patients in the selected cantons. However, age, disease status and linguistic region appear to have an influence on vaccination uptake

Are different generations of CAD/CAM milling machines capable to produce restorations with similar quality?

Background: Different CAD/CAM machinesâ generation may impact the restoration overall quality. The present study evaluated the marginal fit of CAD/CAM restorations manufactured with different generations of CEREC milling unit systems. Material and Methods: Sixteen typodont teeth were divided into two groups (n=8) according to the machineâ s generation assigned. These are control group (G1): Cerec AC with Bluecam/Cerec 3 milling unit and (G2): Cerec AC with Bluecam/MC XL Premium Package milling unit. Scanning of the preparation were performed and crowns were milled using the Vita Mark II blocks. Blocks were cemented using epoxy glue on the pulpal floor only and finger pressure applied for 1 min. Upon completion of the cementation step, misfits between the restoration and abutment were measured by microphotography and the silicone replica technique using light body silicon material on Mesial (M) and Distal (D) surfaces. Results: Mean and SDs of marginal gaps in micrometers were: G1/M: 94.90 (±38.52), G1/D: 88.53 (±44.87), G2/M: 85.65 (±29.89), G2/D: 95.28 (±28.13). Two-way ANOVA indicated no significant differences among different groups (P>0.05); surface area (P>0.05) and the interaction (P>0.05). Overall, G2 had greater margin gaps than G1, however, without statistical difference (P>0.05). Conclusions: Difference in milling unit generation did not significantly affect the marginal fit. Marginal gap means were in the range of the clinical acceptance levels for both generations of Cerec milling units, regardless the teeth site area

Adipose tissue: a neglected organ in the response to severe trauma?

Despite the manifold recent efforts to improve patient outcomes, trauma still is a clinical and socioeconomical issue of major relevance especially in younger people. The systemic immune reaction after severe injury is characterized by a strong pro- and anti-inflammatory response. Besides its functions as energy storage depot and organ-protective cushion, adipose tissue regulates vital processes via its secretion products. However, there is little awareness of the important role of adipose tissue in regulating the posttraumatic inflammatory response. In this review, we delineate the local and systemic role of adipose tissue in trauma and outline different aspects of adipose tissue as an immunologically active modifier of inflammation and as an immune target of injured remote organs after severe trauma