Methods and results: All patients who underwent PTX between January 2010 and February 2014 in a tertiary referral center were included in this study and followed up for 12 months. Laboratory outcome parameters include various preoperative and postoperative serial measurements of laboratory parameters. Patients' hospitalizations and mortality records post-PTX were also retrieved and recorded. In all, 90 patients were included in this study. The mean age was 48 ± 18 years. The majority of the patients (54.4%) were male and 90% were on hemodialysis. The mean duration of dialysis was 8.0 ± 5.0 years. Indications for PTX were symptomatic bone pain (95.6%), fractures (3.3%) and calciphylaxis (1.1%). Mean preoperative values for serum calcium, phosphate, alkaline phosphatase and intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) were 2.40 ± 0.23mmol/L, 1.92 ± 0.51 mmol/L, 689.60 ± 708.50 U/L and 311.90 ± 171.94 pmol/L, respectively. The majority (92.2%) had all four glands removed and 92.2% of the glands showed hyperplasic changes. One year after PTX, 90 patients (100%) had serum iPTH <8 pmol/L and 28 patients (31%) had unmeasurable iPTH levels. A total of 15% of patients had hospitalizations for various reasons and of these, 50% were within 90 days. The mean hospital stay was 14.4 ± 18.6 days. The mortality rate was 4.4% and of these, 25% were in first 30 days. Causes of death were mainly from sepsis (75%) and acute coronary syndrome (25%). One patient (1.1%) had a relapse.
Conclusions: Even though PTX markedly reduces postoperative serum iPTH levels, it carries with it significant risk of morbidity and mortality.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixteen New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into four groups. Modified Hyrax expanders were placed across the midsagittal sutures and secured with miniscrew implants with the following activations: group 1 (control), 0.5 mm expansion/day for 12 days; group 2, 1 mm instant expansion followed by 0.5 mm expansion/day for 10 days; group 3, 2.5 mm instant expansion followed by 0.5 mm expansion/day for 7 days; and group 4, 4 mm instant expansion followed by 0.5 mm expansion/day for 4 days. After 6 weeks, sutural expansion and new bone formation were evaluated histomorphometrically. Statistical analysis was performed using Kruskal-Wallis/Mann-Whitney U tests and Spearman's rho correlation (p
BACKGROUND: The healthcare industry is fundamental to sustaining the health of Australians, yet it is under immense pressure. Budgets are limited, demands are increasing as are workplace injuries and all of these factors compromise patient care. Urgent attention is needed to reduce strains on workers and costs in health care, however, little work has been done to benchmark psychosocial factors in healthcare working conditions in the Asia-Pacific. Intercultural comparisons are important to provide an evidence base for public policy.
DESIGN: A cross-sectional design was used (like other studies of prevalence), including a mixed-methods approach with qualitative interviews to better contextualize the results.
METHODS: Data on psychosocial factors and other work variables were collected from healthcare workers in three hospitals in Australia (N = 1,258) and Malaysia (N = 1,125). 2015 benchmarks were calculated for each variable and comparison was conducted via independent samples t tests. Healthcare samples were also compared with benchmarks for non-healthcare general working populations from their respective countries: Australia (N = 973) and Malaysia (N = 225).
FINDINGS: Our study benchmarks healthcare working conditions in Australia and Malaysia against the general working population, identifying trends that indicate the industry is in need of intervention strategies and job redesign initiatives that better support psychological health and safety.
CONCLUSION: We move toward a better understanding of the precursors of psychosocial safety climate in a broader context, including similarities and differences between Australia and Malaysia in national culture, government occupational health and safety policies and top-level management practices.