Patients with Asthma and Comorbid Allergic Rhinitis: Is Optimal Quality of Life Achievable in Real Life?

Asthma trials suggest that patients reaching total disease control have an optimal Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL). Moreover, rhinitis is present in almost 80% of asthmatics and impacts asthma control and patient HRQoL. We explored whether optimal HRQoL was reachable in a real-life setting, and evaluated the disease and patient related patterns associated to optimal HRQoL achievement. = 7.617; p<0.006).Approximately one third of the patients in our survey were found to have an optimal HRQoL. While unsatisfactory disease control was the primary reason why the remainder failed to attain optimal HRQoL, it is clear that illness perception and mood also played parts. Therefore, therapeutic plans should be directed not only toward achieving the best possible clinical control of asthma and comorbid rhinitis, but also to incorporating individualized elements according to patient-related characteristics

IgE allergy diagnostics and other relevant tests in allergy, a World Allergy Organization position paper

Currently, testing for immunoglobulin E (IgE) sensitization is the cornerstone of diagnostic evaluation in suspected allergic conditions. This review provides a thorough and updated critical appraisal of the most frequently used diagnostic tests, both in vivo and in vitro. It discusses skin tests, challenges, and serological and cellular in vitro tests, and provides an overview of indications, advantages and disadvantages of each in conditions such as respiratory, food, venom, drug, and occupational allergy. Skin prick testing remains the first line approach in most instances; the added value of serum specific IgE to whole allergen extracts or components, as well as the role of basophil activation tests, is evaluated. Unproven, non-validated, diagnostic tests are also discussed. Throughout the review, the reader must bear in mind the relevance of differentiating between sensitization and allergy; the latter entails not only allergic sensitization, but also clinically relevant symptoms triggered by the culprit allergen.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The COVID-19 pandemic and its global effects on dental practice. An international survey

Objectives A multicentre survey was designed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on dental practice worldwide, estimate the COVID-19 related symptoms/signs, work attitudes and behaviour and the routine use of protective measures and personal protective equipment (PPE). Methods A global survey using a standardized questionnaire with research groups from 36 countries was designed. The questionnaire was developed and pretested during April 2020 and contained three domains: 1) personal data; 2) COVID-19 positive rate and symptoms/signs presumably related to the coronavirus; 3) working conditions and PPE adopted after the outbreak. Countries’ data were grouped by the country positive rate (CPR) during the survey period and by Gross-National-Income per capita. An ordinal multinomial logistic regression model was carried out with COVID-19 self-reported rate referred by dental professionals as dependent variable to assess the association with questionnaire items. Results A total of 52,491 questionnaires were returned with a male/female ratio of 0.63. Out of the total respondents, 7,859 dental professionals (15%) reported symptoms/signs compatible with COVID-19. More than half of the sample (n=27,818; 53%) stated to use FFP2/N95 masks, while 21,558 (41.07%) used eye protection. In the bivariate analysis, CPR and N95/FFP2 were significantly associated (OR=1.80 95%CI=1.60/2.82 and OR=5.20 95%CI=1.44/18.80, respectively), while Gross-National-Income was not statistically associated with CPR (OR=1.09 95%CI=0.97/1.60). The same significant associations were observed in the multivariate analysis. Conclusions Oral health service provision has not been significantly affected by COVID-19, although access to routine dental care was reduced due to country-specific temporary lockdown periods. While the dental profession has been identified at high-risk, the reported rates of COVID-19 for dental professionals were not significantly different to those reported for the general population in each country. These findings may help to better plan oral health care for future pandemic events

Integralidade e cuidado a grávidas adolescentes na Atenção Básica Comprehensive care of pregnant adolescents in Primary Care

O pré-natal em adolescentes tem se caracterizado por ações técnicas buscando-se na atualidade qualificar o cuidado na perspectiva da integralidade. O Programa de Agentes Comunitários de Saúde/Programa Saúde da Família (PACS/PSF) constitui estratégia para avançar nas mudanças requeridas, o que motivou esta investigação científica, que teve como objetivos conhecer o processo de cuidado pré-natal a adolescentes grávidas por profissionais de saúde do PACS/PSF e analisá-lo na perspectiva da integralidade. É um estudo qualitativo, tendo a integralidade como enfoque teórico. Foi desenvolvido em unidades de PACS/PSF em um município da Bahia, sendo sujeitos do estudo profissionais que cuidam de gestantes adolescentes. O material empírico foi produzido por meio de entrevista semiestruturada e observação não participante, em consultas e visitas domiciliárias e analisado pela técnica de análise de discurso. A análise revelou que o cuidado pré-natal à adolescente se concretiza sob o modelo biomédico, e o cumprimento de rotinas e protocolos institucionais sobrepõe-se à singularidade da adolescente. Assim, distancia-se da integralidade, na medida em que as práticas são orientadas por sujeições ideológicas a um modelo que nega às adolescentes grávidas a oportunidade de serem sujeitos.<br>Prenatal adolescent care is characterized by technical actions seeking to provide assistance from the perspective of comprehensive care. The Community Health Agent Program/Family Health Program (PACS/PSF) is a strategy for implementing the changes envisaged, which motivated this scientific investigation. The scope of the research was to assess prenatal care to pregnant adolescents by health professionals of PACS/PSF and analyze it from the standpoint of comprehensive care. It is a qualitative study, with comprehensive care as its theoretical focus. It was conducted in PACS/PSF units in a city in the State of Bahia, and the subjects of study were the practitioners who treat pregnant adolescents. The empirical material was produced by means of semi-structured interviews and non-participative observation in consultations and homecare visits and was analyzed using the speech analysis technique. This revealed that prenatal care for adolescents is provided using the biomedical model, where compliance with institutional protocols and routines takes precedence over considering the specific aspects of the adolescent. Thus it is far removed from comprehensive care, in that the practices are guided by ideological adherence to a model that fails to grant pregnant adolescents the opportunity to be treated as individuals