Paediatric Barcelona Olfactory Test-6 (pBOT-6): Validation of a Combined Odour Identification and Threshold Screening Test in Healthy Spanish Children and Adolescents

Background: Few odour tests have been created for children. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a simple and quick olfactory test, suitable for the evaluation of odour identification and threshold in a Spanish paediatric population, the paediatric Barcelona Olfactory Test-6 (pBOT-6).The pBOT-6 consisted in a set of 6 odorants for a forced-choice identification test (IT), and a 6 dilutions phenyl ethyl alcohol geometric series for the threshold test (TT). The pBOT-6 was compared with the U-sniff test (a validated international paediatric smell test) in 131 Spanish healthy volunteers aged 6-17 years. A Bland-Altman plot was used to determine the agreement between two tests. Reliability was analyzed in fifteenvolunteers using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Normative data was obtained and 8 children diagnosed with subjective smell loss were tested for validation.Bland-Altman analysis demonstrated a minimal bias of -1.71% with upper and lower limit of agreement of -31.1% and 27.6%, respectively. The ICC was 0.83 (95% CI 0.6-0.96) for the IT and 0.73 (95% CI 0.36-0.9) for the TT, showing excellent and good consistency between measurements over time. Mean pBOT-6 scores were significantly higher in healthy volunteers compared with patients with smell loss. Discrimination between normosmia and smell loss was achieved with a sensitivity of 96.9% and a specificity of 100%.The pBOT-6 offers an effectiveand fast method useful in clinical routine to distinguish, with high sensitivity and specificity, between paediatric patients with normosmia and those with smell dysfunction

Suicidality in primary care patients who present with sadness and anhedonia: a prospective European study

Background: Sadness and anhedonia (loss of interest in activities) are central symptoms of major depression. However, not all people with these symptoms meet diagnostic criteria for major depression. We aimed to assess the importance of suicidality in the outcomes for primary care patients who present with sadness and anhedonia. Method: Cohort study of 2,599 unselected primary care attenders in six European countries followed up at 6 and 12 months. Results: 1) In patients with sadness and/or anhedonia who were not depressed at entry to the study, suicide plans (OR = 3.05; 95 % CI = 1.50–6.24; p = 0.0022) and suicide attempts (OR = 9.08; 95 % CI = 2.57–32.03; p = 0.0006) were significant predictors of developing new onset depression at 6 or 12 months. 2) In patients with sadness and/or anhedonia who met CIDI criteria for major depression at entry, suicidal ideation (OR = 2.93; 95 % CI = 1.70–5.07; p = 0.0001), suicide plans (OR = 3.70; 95 % CI = 2.08–6.57; p < 0.0001), and suicide attempts (OR = 3.33; 95 % CI = 1.47–7.54; p = 0.0040) were significant predictors of persistent depression at 6 or 12 months. Conclusions: Three questions on suicidality could help primary care professionals to assess such patients more closely without necessarily establishing whether they meet criteria for major depression.This research was funded by a grant from The European Commission, referencePREDICT-QL4-CT2002-00683. We are also grateful for part support in Europe from: the Estonian Scientific Foundation (grant number 5696); the Slovenian Ministry for Research (grant No.4369-1027); the Spanish Ministry of Health (grant FIS references: PI041980, PI041771, PI042450) and the Spanish Network of Primary Care Research, redIAPP (ISCIII-RETICS RD06/0018) and SAMSERAP group; and the UK NHS Research and Development office for providing service support costs in the UK. We are also grateful for the support from the University of Malaga (Spain) and to Carlos García from Loyola Andalucía University (Spain)

Intoxicación aguda por cloroquina, potencialmente letal

Varón de 33 años de edad, que ingresó en nuestro centro 5 h después de ingerir, por error, 3 g de cloroquina base. Refería la aparición, desde una hora después de la ingesta, de visión borrosa, debilidad e inestabilidad. A su ingreso, en la exploración física destacaba una presión arterial de 80/50 mmHg, con un estado neurológico normal. En la analítica se apreció una discreta hipertransaminasemia, con un potasio en plasma de 3,5 mEq/l. En el electrocardiograma existía un ritmo sinusal a 75 lat/min y complejos QRS de 0,12 s, con un intervalo QT alargado (0,48 s). El paciente ingresó en la unidad de cuidados intensivos (UCI), iniciándose tratamiento con carbón activado por sonda nasogástrica, diuresis forzada y magnesio y bicarbonato intravenosos, y permaneció en esta UCI durante un período de 48 h. No precisó ventilación mecánica, aminas ni reposición de potasio. La intoxicación por cloroquina a una dosis superior a 30 mg/kg es potencialmente letal. En pocas horas aparecen inestabilidad hemodinámica grave, alteraciones de la conducción, arritmias ventriculares y apnea, habiéndose descrito fallecimientos a la hora de haber ingerido la sustanci

Modificaciones en la velocidad de flujo cerebral medidas mediante Doppler transcraneal, tras maniobras de soporte vital avanzado

Objetivo. Tras una parada cardiorrespiratoria (PCR), pueden producirse fenómenos de anoxia cerebral (AIC). Proponemos emplear el Doppler transcraneal (DTC), en función de los resultados de velocidad de flujo cerebral encontrados, como herramienta pronóstica de los casos de PCR. Método. Estudio prospectivo de 19 pacientes que sufrieron PCR y necesitaron maniobras de soporte vital avanzado. Tras estabilizar la situación clínica y valorar el estado neurológico, se realizó DTC isonando ambas arterias cerebrales medias, y se consignaron los valores de la arteria que tuviera tanto la mayor velocidad media (VM) como el menor índice de pulsatilidad (IP). Posteriormente, se hizo un electroencefalograma (EEG) como prueba de confirmación diagnóstica de AIC. Aplicamos la prueba de la t de Student y el coeficiente de correlación (intervalo mínimo de confianza del 95%) como herramientas de análisis estadístico. Resultados. En 15 pacientes en los que el EEG y la evolución clínica fueron compatibles con AIC, el DTC demostró una tendencia a mantener una VM elevada, con un bajo IP. En los 4 pacientes en los que ni el EEG ni la evolución clínica fueron diagnósticos de AIC, el DTC obtuvo valores de VM e IP normales, existiendo diferencias significativas respecto a los 15 pacientes con AIC. Conclusiones. La existencia de un patrón DTC con alta VM y con tendencia a bajo IP, tras un episodio de PCR que requiera maniobras de soporte vital avanzado, se asocia a un mal pronóstico neurológico, con la existencia de AIC

The Medium-Term Changes in Health-Related Behaviours among Spanish Older People Lifestyles during Covid-19 Lockdown.

The aim was to evaluate general changes and investigate the association between diet quality, physical activity (PA), and sedentary time (ST) during COVID-19 lockdown and the subsequent 7-month changes in health-related behaviours and lifestyles in older people. 1092 participants (67-97y) from two Spanish cohorts were included. Telephone-based questionaries were used to evaluate health-related behaviours and lifestyle. Multinomial logistic regression analyses with diet quality, PA, and ST during lockdown as predictors for health-related behaviours changes post-lockdown were applied. Diet quality, PA, and ST significantly improved post-lockdown, while physical component score of the SF-12 worsened. Participants with a low diet quality during lockdown had higher worsening of post-lockdown ST and anxiety; whereas those with high diet quality showed less likelihood of remaining abstainers, worsening weight, and improving PA. Lower ST was associated with a higher likelihood of remaining abstainers, and worsening weight and improving social contact; nevertheless, higher ST was linked to improvement in sleep quality. Lower PA was more likely to decrease alcohol consumption, while higher PA showed the opposite. However, PA was more likely to be associated to remain abstainers. Despite improvements in lifestyle after lockdown, it had health consequences for older people. Particularly, lower ST during lockdown seemed to provide the most medium-term remarkable lifestyle improvements

Ecosystem services from smallholder forestry and agroforestry in the tropics

Smallholder forestry and agroforestry systems in the tropics provide essential products and services for millions of producers, their surrounding communities, national and international consumers, and global society. The diversity of products provided by these systems meet the needs of smallholder producers for fuelwood, food, animal fodder, and other household and farm needs; they provide additional income to supplement major commodity crops; and they offer flexibility in production and income to buffer against falling commodity prices, crop failure, or other sources of financial or economic difficulty. The sustainability of these systems is increasingly dependent upon sources of income beyond the sale of conventional products, such as price premiums from sustainability certification and agro- and ecotourism. Payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs have been developed at multiple levels to provide incentives for smallholders to conserve and enhance tree cover and management practices to provide ecosystem services such as watershed protection and carbon sequestration. Ecotourism provides an enterprise-based strategy to engage producers in conservation and enhancement of these services. This review evaluates the ability of smallholder systems to support the provision of ecosystem services (ES) and the capacity of smallholders to participate in support programs and take advantage of other emerging opportunities to support smallholder enterprises