Knowledge and management of temporomandibular joint disorders by general dentists in Spain

Given the importance of temporomandibular disorders (TMD), we tried to assess general dentists? knowledge regarding etiology, diagnosis, and treatment in order to understand their attitude. A sample of 130 general dentists answered a 16-item questionnaire on three areas ? etiology, diagnosis, and management of common temporomandibular disorders ? as well as a question on the need for continuous education regarding TMD management in common clinical practice in Spain. Given that the descriptive statistics achieved reflect significantly different values among means in each area, a variance analysis for repeated measurements was applied in order to contrast differences among etiology, diagnosis, and management knowledge levels. The contrast test was based on Wilks? Lambda, which assumed a value of 0.120 (F = 467.28; p<.001), demonstrating statistically significant differences among knowledge levels in the three dimensions. The effect size for these differences, measured by partial eta squared, was very high (?2p = 0.88). Such parameters were also analyzed to search for potential differences according to professional experience, with differences being exposed as non-significant at the 0.05 level: etiology (T = 1.60; p = 0.113), diagnosis (T = - 0.17; p = 0.868), and treatment (T = 1.10; p = 0.273). Our study found that, even though clinicians are generally skilled regarding the knowledge of the etiologic that explain the diagnosis of TMD, they have room for improvement in terms of TMD management compared to the other two areas studied. General dentists could benefit from specific educational programs enhancing TMD management skills

Hospital Intervention to Reduce Overweight with Educational Reinforcement after Discharge: A Multicenter Randomized Clinical Trial

Introduction: Obesity and overweight affect more than one-third of the world’s population and pose a major public health problem. Objective: To evaluate the impact of an educational intervention on dietary habits and physical exercise in patients with overweight admitted to departments of internal medicine, comprising a pre-discharge educational session with follow-up and reinforcement by telephone at 3, 6, and, 12 months post-discharge. Outcome variables were weight, systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressures, health-related quality of life (HRQOL), hospital readmissions, emergency department visits, and death. Method: A randomized experimental study with a control group was performed in hospitalized non-diabetic adults aged 18 years with body mass index (BMI) 25 kg/m2. Results and conclusions: The final sample included 273 patients. At three months post-discharge, the intervention group had lower SBP and DPB and improved dietary habits (assessed using the Pardo Questionnaire) and VAS-assessed HRQOL in comparison to the control group but a worse EQ-5Q-5L-assessed HRQOL. There were no between-group differences in hospital readmissions, emergency department visits, or mortality at any time point. Both groups evidenced a progressive improvement over the three follow-up periods in weight, SBP, and dietary habits but a worsening of EQ-5D-5L-value-assessed HRQOL. Discussion: The intervention group showed greater improvements over the short term, but between-group differences disappeared at 6 and 12 months. Weight loss and improvements in key outcomes were observed in both groups over the follow-up period. Further research is warranted to determine whether a minimum intervention with an educational leaflet, follow-up phone calls, and questionnaires on overweight-related healthy habits, as in the present control group, may be an equally effective strategy without specific individual educational input.Instituto de Salud Carlos IIIEuropean Commission PI17/0041

Class II subdivision : cone beam computed tomography- CBCT Analysis

To estimate whether there is skeletal and/or dental asymmetry in class II subdivision patients, between the Class II side and the Class I side using of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). A sample of 30 patients, from a private clinic, retrospectivel

Sobrecarga y resiliencia en cuidadores de niños con cáncer

The objective of this text is to review the incidence of resilience and overload in caregivers of children with oncological diseases, resilience being defined as the ability to overcome adverse situations, as opposed to overloading, which refers to chronic stress associated with care, which can affect the physical and psychological health of the caregiver, considerably modifying the performance of their role. This research was validated by means of a cross-sectional study in which 50 articles were analyzed, including academic articles and articles from scientific journals, in order to validate concepts, findings and advances in correspondence to the relationship between overload and resilience, identifying possible variables that affect this relationship. From this, it became evident that spirituality and adequate coping strategies can modify the levels of resilience and overload, in addition to this, various tools are proposed for the prevention of overload and the promotion of coping strategies in the work of careEl presente texto tiene como objetivo revisar la incidencia de la resiliencia y la sobrecarga en cuidadores de niños con enfermedades oncológicas, siendo la resiliencia, definida como aquella capacidad para sobreponerse ante situaciones adversas, a diferencia de la sobrecarga, que hace alusión al estrés de tipo crónico asociado al cuidado, el cual, puede afectar la salud física y psicológica del cuidador, modificando considerablemente el desempeño de su rol. Esta investigación se validó por medio de un estudio de corte transversal en dónde se analizaron 50 artículos entre los cuales se encuentran artículos académicos y artículos de revistas científicas, con el fin de validar, conceptos, hallazgos y avances en correspondencia a la relación entre sobrecarga y resiliencia, identificando posibles variables que incidan en dicha relación. A partir de esto, se evidenció que la espiritualidad y unas adecuadas estrategias de afrontamiento pueden modificar los niveles de resiliencia y sobrecarga, adicional a ello, a partir se plantean diversas herramientas para la prevención de la sobrecarga y la promoción de estrategias de afrontamiento en la labor del cuidad

Efectividad de la translucencia nucal aumentada en la detección de embarazos con riesgo de cromosomopatías

Fundamento: la evaluación mediante ultrasonido de la anatomía embrionaria desde edades precoces permite la detección de embarazos con riesgo de cromosomopatías, con importante valor agregado pues la edad materna avanzada aislada como único indicador de riesgo no es suficiente. Objetivo: evaluar resultados de la medición de translucencia nucal en el ultrasonido del primer trimestre de gestación como marcador sonográfico de cromosomopatías. Métodos: se estudió un universo de 29 334 embarazadas, desde septiembre de 2006 hasta diciembre de 2010. Se evaluó el comportamiento general del marcador sonográfico considerando los años y la edad materna. Se determinó la efectividad de la translucencia nucal aumentada en la detección indirecta de productos con cromosomopatías mediante los parámetros habituales. Resultados: con los años disminuyó el número neto de translucencias nucales aumentadas y la cantidad absoluta de cariotipos prenatales realizados pero aumentó su proporción y la de los cariotipos prenatales positivos entre las mujeres con translucencia nucal aumentada. Entre los 71 fetos con aumento de la translucencia nucal, fueron confirmados por otros elementos del programa prenatal siete cromosomopatías, con una sensibilidad de la translucencia aumentada aislada para su detección de 14,6 %; especificidad de 99,8 %; los valores predictivos positivos fueron de 18,4 % y los negativos de 99,9 %. Se obtuvieron tasas de falsos positivos muy bajos.Conclusiones: la elevada especificidad la reafirma como un buen marcador precoz de riesgo de cromosomopatías, sobre todo síndrome de Down y trisomía 18, que conlleva a una tasa mínima de indicación de procedimientos obstétricos invasivos e incremento extra en la detección de defectos fetales.</p

Oropharyngeal Colostrum Positively Modulates the Inflammatory Response in Preterm Neonates

During the first days of life, premature infants have physiological difficulties swallowing, thereby missing out on the benefits of breastfeeding. The aim of this study is to assess the effects of oropharyngeal mother’s milk administration in the inflammatory signaling of extremely premature infants. Neonates (n = 100) (<32 week’s gestation and/or <1500 g) were divided into two groups: mother’s milk group (n = 48), receiving 0.2 mL of oropharyngeal mother’s milk every 4 h for the first 15 days of life, and a control group (n = 52), not receiving oropharyngeal mother’s milk. Serum concentrations of interleukin (IL) IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-1ra, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a), and interferón gamma (IFN- y) were assessed at 1, 3, 15, and 30 days of postnatal life. Maternal and neonatal outcomes were collected. The rate of common neonatal morbidities in both groups was similar. The mother’s milk group achieved full enteral feeding earlier, and showed a decrease in Il-6 on days 15 and 30, in IL-8 on day 30, and in TNF-a and INF- y on day 15, as well as an increase in IL-1ra on days 3 and 15 and in IL-10 on day 30. Oropharyngeal mother’s milk administration for 15 days decreases the pro-inflammatory state of preterm neonates and provides full enteral nutrition earlier, which could have a positive influence on the development of the immune system and inflammatory response, thereby positively influencing other developmental outcomes

Caracterización clínica y epidemiológica de la enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica

Objetivo: caracterizar clínica y epidemiológicamente a los pacientes con enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica. Métodos: estudio descriptivo retrospectivo trasversal, que incluyó pacientes adultos con diagnóstico de enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica en un hospital universitario de Medellín. La fuente de información fue secundaria a través de historias clínicas, el análisis se realizó en el programa Jamovi, empleando un análisis univariado. Resultados: se incluyeron 552 pacientes, la edad mediana fue 76 años con predominio del sexo femenino (56.7%). Respecto a la exposición a sustancias tóxicas respiratorias importantes en el desarrollo de la enfermedad, 24.1% consumían cigarrillo y 23% exposición a biomasa. Al momento del ingreso hospitalario 17.9% fueron clasificados con disnea grado IV; 74.1% recibió beta-agonistas de corta acción y antimuscarínicos de corta acción 60%; 11.6% requirió ingreso a las unidades de cuidados intensivos o especiales y 7.8% fallecieron durante la hospitalización. Conclusión: se evidencia subdiagnóstico espirométrico de la enfermedad que puede estar relacionado con las limitaciones económicas, tecnológicas y de recurso humano capacitado, lo cual afecta el adecuado diagnóstico y manejo de la enfermedad, así como impacta la calidad de vida de los pacientes

Co-infections and superinfections complicating COVID-19 in cancer patients: A multicentre, international study

Background: We aimed to describe the epidemiology, risk factors, and clinical outcomes of co-infections and superinfections in onco-hematological patients with COVID-19. Methods: International, multicentre cohort study of cancer patients with COVID-19. All patients were included in the analysis of co-infections at diagnosis, while only patients admitted at least 48 h were included in the analysis of superinfections. Results: 684 patients were included (384 with solid tumors and 300 with hematological malignancies). Co-infections and superinfections were documented in 7.8% (54/684) and 19.1% (113/590) of patients, respectively. Lower respiratory tract infections were the most frequent infectious complications, most often caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Only seven patients developed opportunistic infections. Compared to patients without infectious complications, those with infections had worse outcomes, with high rates of acute respiratory distress syndrome, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and case-fatality rates. Neutropenia, ICU admission and high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) were independent risk factors for infections. Conclusions: Infectious complications in cancer patients with COVID-19 were lower than expected, affecting mainly neutropenic patients with high levels of CRP and/or ICU admission. The rate of opportunistic infections was unexpectedly low. The use of empiric antimicrobials in cancer patients with COVID-19 needs to be optimized

Effectiveness of a cognitive behavioral intervention in patients with medically unexplained symptoms: cluster randomized trial

BACKGROUND: Medically unexplained symptoms are an important mental health problem in primary care and generate a high cost in health services.Cognitive behavioral therapy and psychodynamic therapy have proven effective in these patients. However, there are few studies on the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions by primary health care. The project aims to determine whether a cognitive-behavioral group intervention in patients with medically unexplained symptoms, is more effective than routine clinical practice to improve the quality of life measured by the SF-12 questionary at 12 month. METHODS/DESIGN: This study involves a community based cluster randomized trial in primary healthcare centres in Madrid (Spain). The number of patients required is 242 (121 in each arm), all between 18 and 65 of age with medically unexplained symptoms that had seeked medical attention in primary care at least 10 times during the previous year. The main outcome variable is the quality of life measured by the SF-12 questionnaire on Mental Healthcare. Secondary outcome variables include number of consultations, number of drug (prescriptions) and number of days of sick leave together with other prognosis and descriptive variables. Main effectiveness will be analyzed by comparing the percentage of patients that improve at least 4 points on the SF-12 questionnaire between intervention and control groups at 12 months. All statistical tests will be performed with intention to treat. Logistic regression with random effects will be used to adjust for prognostic factors. Confounding factors or factors that might alter the effect recorded will be taken into account in this analysis. DISCUSSION: This study aims to provide more insight to address medically unexplained symptoms, highly prevalent in primary care, from a quantitative methodology. It involves intervention group conducted by previously trained nursing staff to diminish the progression to the chronicity of the symptoms, improve quality of life, and reduce frequency of medical consultations. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01484223 [http://ClinicalTrials.gov].S

SARS-CoV-2 viral load in nasopharyngeal swabs is not an independent predictor of unfavorable outcome

The aim was to assess the ability of nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 viral load at first patient’s hospital evaluation to predict unfavorable outcomes. We conducted a prospective cohort study including 321 adult patients with confirmed COVID-19 through RT-PCR in nasopharyngeal swabs. Quantitative Synthetic SARS-CoV-2 RNA cycle threshold values were used to calculate the viral load in log10 copies/mL. Disease severity at the end of follow up was categorized into mild, moderate, and severe. Primary endpoint was a composite of intensive care unit (ICU) admission and/or death (n = 85, 26.4%). Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed. Nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 viral load over the second quartile (≥ 7.35 log10 copies/mL, p = 0.003) and second tertile (≥ 8.27 log10 copies/mL, p = 0.01) were associated to unfavorable outcome in the unadjusted logistic regression analysis. However, in the final multivariable analysis, viral load was not independently associated with an unfavorable outcome. Five predictors were independently associated with increased odds of ICU admission and/or death: age ≥ 70 years, SpO2, neutrophils > 7.5 × 103/µL, lactate dehydrogenase ≥ 300 U/L, and C-reactive protein ≥ 100 mg/L. In summary, nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 viral load on admission is generally high in patients with COVID-19, regardless of illness severity, but it cannot be used as an independent predictor of unfavorable clinical outcome