Clinical characteristics and predictors of positive stool culture in adult patients with acute gastroenteritis

OBJECTIVE: To identify the presenting features and spectrum of pathogens in adult patients with acute diarrhoea and to determine the predictors of stool culture positivity. METHODS: A descriptive study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital from April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006. Medical records of all consecutive adult patients with history of acute diarrhoea were reviewed between June 2006 to December 2006 for clinical characteristics and laboratory investigations. RESULTS: A total of 454 patients were admitted from April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006. Stool cultures were performed in 233 (50%) patients, 96 (42%) had positive results. Patients with positive stool culture compared to a negative Culture were found to have a younger mean age (43 vs. 53), greater number of unformed stools (16 vs. 11) and low serum bicarbonate level (16 vs. 20). Vibrio cholerae (86%) was found to be the most prevalent organism followed by Salmonella spp (6%), Campylobacter spp (5.2%), Shigella spp (2%). Ciprofloxacin was given to 97% patients along with fluid administration, and 78% were found to be resistant to quinolones. Most patients recovered before the finalized stool culture results. CONCLUSION: Careful selection of the patients based on their clinical presentation and initial laboratory work up can help to decide ordering of stool culture in adults with diarrhoea. Fluid resuscitation remains the main stay of treatment

Lipid-Rich Variant of Urothelial Carcinoma Presenting as the Dominant Morphology in a Recurrent Tumor After Local Therapy

Objective: Rare co-existance of disease or pathology Background: The lipid-rich variant is a rare and aggressive type of urothelial carcinoma (UCa), with less than 40 cases reported in the literature. This variant usually presents as an advanced-stage primary tumor. Case Report: We report the case of a 61-year-old man with previous history of T1 high-grade conventional urothelial carcinoma treated with local therapy. The patient later presented with a new 6.5-cm exophytic bladder mass. Histopathological examination revealed a T2 urothelial carcinoma of the lipid-rich variant. Retrospective review of the previous biopsies confirmed conventional high-grade urothelial car0cinoma, but scattered rare individual or small clusters of cells that resemble the lipid-rich variant urothelial carcinoma were also noted. Conclusions: The findings in this case suggest that the differential sensitivity of conventional urothelial carcinoma to local therapy may have allowed the lipid-rich variant to predominate in the recurrence. Pathologists should be aware of the lipid-rich variant of urothelial carcinoma. The prognostic significance of rare lipoblast-like cells among predominantly conventional urothelial carcinoma may requires further study

Knowledge about osteoporosis among healthy women attending a tertiary care hospital

INTRODUCTION: To determinate the knowledge on osteoporosis-risk factors and disease in three age groups of Pakistani women.METHODS: In this exploratory cross-sectional study, an osteoporosis knowledge assessment questionnaire (OKAT) was used to collect data and it was delivered through a face-to-face interview. Questions were asked about symptoms of osteoporosis, knowledge of risk factors, preventive factors and treatment. A convenience sample (n =320) comprising of three groups of healthy women aged 25-35 years, 36-45 years, and over 45 years was taken. The scoring range was 0 to 20. Among-group comparisions of means were analyzed by two-way ANOVA. To determine the overall influence of osteoporosis-risk factors, the multivariate analysis was used.RESULTS: The knowledge on osteoporosis in younger women was very poor compared to relatively older females. However, women belonging to higher socioeconomic status and better education had slightly more knowledge about osteoporosis compared to those with a low education level, regardless of age.CONCLUSION: The majority of women had modest knowledge on osteoporosis. Younger women were at increased risk for low bone mass and premature osteoporosis

Patients\u27 insight of interpreting prescriptions and drug labels--a cross sectional study.

Background: Errors in consuming drugs are associated with significant morbidity and mortality, besides an impact on the already overburdened health-care system. Misunderstanding drug labels and prescriptions plays an important role in contributing to adverse drug events. Objective: To evaluate abilities to understand prescriptions and drug labels among patients attending tertiary care hospital in Karachi. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), from January to March 2009. After informed consent, 181 adult patients and their healthy attendants were interviewed at AKUH using a standardized questionnaire, which ascertained patient demographics, factors that might increase exposure to health-care personnel as well as the basic knowledge and understanding of prescriptions and drug labels. Results: Out of 181, majority 137(76%) had received graduate or post-graduate degrees. 16 (9%) had received no formal education; of which all were females and 89(84%) of the total females were housewives. Overall, 130(72%) followed only a single doctor’s prescription. Majority failed to understand various medical terminologies related to dosage. In the high literacy group, 45(33%) understood once daily OD (p = 0.003), 27(20%) thrice daily TID (p = 0.05), 29(21%) twice daily BD (p = 0.01), 31(23%) thrice daily TDS (p = 0.002) and 43(31%) as needed SOS (p = 0.003) as compared to the group with no formal education, who were unable to comprehend the terms. The most common reason for using more than one prescription was decreased satisfaction with the doctor in 19(39%) and multiple co-morbids as responded by 17(35%) of patients. Knowledge regarding various medical terminologies used for dosage and routes of drug administration were also understood more frequently among the English medium respondents. The elderly identified medicine through color (47%, p,0.001), and were less likely to understand drug indications (p = 0.05) compared to younger subjects. Conclusion: Understanding of drug prescriptions is alarmingly low in the community, even amongst the educated. Care givers need to revisit this often ignored aspect of patient care

Drug overdose: a wake up call! Experience at a tertiary care centre in Karachi, Pakistan

OBJECTIVE: To study the characteristics of patients admitted with drug overdose caused either by accidental overdose of the prescribed medications or as an act of deliberate self harm (DSH) at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan.METHODS: A retrospective case series review was conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital from January 2002 to October 2006. Three hundred and twenty four adult patients admitted with drug overdose were included in the study.RESULTS: Our sample group revealed mean age of 36.2 +/- 17.0 years, more females (59%), housewives (34%), and students (20%). Fifty six percent of patients committing DSH were married (p = 0.001), 81% needed in-patient psychiatric services (p = 0.016) of whom a significantly high number (38%) refused it. Domestic and social issues were rated highest among DSH group (p = 0.003), depression among females was common (p = 0.028) and Benzodiazepines (41%) was the most frequently used drug (p = 0.021). Sub-group analysis of accidental overdoses revealed mean age of 45.6 +/- 19.6 years, single (75.4%) and males (54.1%). Drugs used were mainly Benzodiazepines (18%) followed by Opioids (11%), Antiepileptics (10%) and Warfarin (10%).CONCLUSION: Our study showed that depressed housewives are at greater risk for DSH. Domestic and social issues were rated highest and Benzodiazepines were the most commonly used agents. Most of our patients refused inpatient psychiatric treatment leading us to believe that general awareness of psychiatric illnesses is imperative in our community. High number of accidental overdoses is alarming in older, single males convincing us to believe that existing pharmacy system needs further evaluation and modification

Incremental reconstruction of moving object trajectory

This article presents a model and a prototype implementation of a technical application programming interface (API) for incremental reconstruction of the moving objects trajectories captured by closed-circuit television (CCTV) and High-definition television (HDTV) cameras. This paper proposes a unique, much simpler model-driven approach which is more efficient than other approaches for dynamic tracking such as Microsoft Kinect. The research reported here is part of a research program of the Cybersecurity Research Group of London Metropolitan University for real-time video analytics with applicability to surveillance in security, disaster recovery and safety management, and customer insight

Use of Mobile Clinical Decision Support Software by Junior Doctors at a UK Teaching Hospital: Identification and Evaluation of Barriers to Engagement

BACKGROUND: Clinical decision support (CDS) tools improve clinical diagnostic decision making and patient safety. The availability of CDS to health care professionals has grown in line with the increased prevalence of apps and smart mobile devices. Despite these benefits, patients may have safety concerns about the use of mobile devices around medical equipment. OBJECTIVE: This research explored the engagement of junior doctors (JDs) with CDS and the perceptions of patients about their use. There were three objectives for this research: (1) to measure the actual usage of CDS tools on mobile devices (mCDS) by JDs, (2) to explore the perceptions of JDs about the drivers and barriers to using mCDS, and (3) to explore the perceptions of patients about the use of mCDS. METHODS: This study used a mixed-methods approach to study the engagement of JDs with CDS accessed through mobile devices. Usage data were collected on the number of interactions by JDs with mCDS. The perceived drivers and barriers for JDs to using CDS were then explored by interviews. Finally, these findings were contrasted with the perception of patients about the use of mCDS by JDs. RESULTS: Nine of the 16 JDs made a total of 142 recorded interactions with the mCDS over a 4-month period. Only 27 of the 114 interactions (24%) that could be categorized as on-shift or off-shift occurred on-shift. Eight individual, institutional, and cultural barriers to engagement emerged from interviews with the user group. In contrast to reported cautions and concerns about the impact of clinicians’ use of mobile phone on patient health and safety, patients had positive perceptions about the use of mCDS. CONCLUSIONS: Patients reported positive perceptions toward mCDS. The usage of mCDS to support clinical decision making was considered to be positive as part of everyday clinical practice. The degree of engagement was found to be limited due to a number of individual, institutional, and cultural barriers. The majority of mCDS engagement occurred outside of the workplace. Further research is required to verify these findings and assess their implications for future policy and practice