AIM: To assess the impact DMTAC on glycemic control and the difference in glycemic control between hospital and health clinic settings as well as defaulter and non-defaulter. In addition, the impact of pharmacist's interventions, DMTAC follow-up frequencies, and duration of diabetes on glycemic control were also determined.
METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted among diabetes patients under DMTAC care between January 2019 and June 2020 in five hospitals and 23 primary health clinics. Patients' demographics data, treatment regimens, frequencies of DMTAC visits, defaulter (absent from DMTAC visits) and types of pharmacists' intervention were retrieved from patients' medical records and electronic database. HbA1c was collected at baseline, 4-6 months (post-1), and 8-12 months (post-2).
RESULTS: We included 956 patients, of which 60% were females with a median age of 58.0 (IQR: 5.0) years. Overall, the HbA1c reduced significantly from baseline (median: 10.2, IQR: 3.0) to post-1 (median: 8.8, IQR: 2.7) and post-2 (median: 8.3, IQR: 2.6%) (p
METHODS: All patients with suspected ITB or CD were prospectively recruited. A standardized protocol was applied, and the diagnosis was made accordingly. The protocol consists of history and examination, ileocolonoscopy with biopsies, and tuberculosis workup. The diagnosis of probable ITB was made based on at least one positive finding. All other patients were diagnosed as probable CD. Patients were treated either with anti-tubercular therapy or steroids. Reassessment was then carried out clinically, biochemically, and endoscopically. In patients with suboptimal response, the treatment was either switched or escalated depending on the reassessment.
RESULTS: 164 patients were recruited with final diagnosis of 30 (18.3%) ITB and 134 (81.7%) CD. 1 (3.3%) out of 30 patients with ITB was initially treated as CD. 16 (11.9%) out of 134 patients with CD were initially treated as ITB. The initial overall accuracy for the protocol was 147/164 (89.6%). All patients received the correct diagnosis by 12 weeks after reassessment.
CONCLUSION: In our population, most patients had CD rather than ITB. The standardized protocol had a high accuracy in differentiating CD from ITB.
SUMMARY ANSWER: Age, ethnicity, obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2), and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) significantly impacted serum AMH levels, with the rate of decrease accelerating as age increased; a concentration of 4.0 ng/ml was the optimal cut-off for diagnosis of PCOS.
WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: There are significant differences in ovarian reserve among women from different races and ethnicities, and Asian women often have poorer reproductive outcomes during assisted reproductive treatment cycles.
STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: A population-based multi-nation, multi-centre, multi-ethnicity prospective cohort study of 4613 women was conducted from January 2020 to May 2021. Infertile women of 20-43 years of age were enrolled. The exclusion criteria included: age <20 or >43, non-Asian ethnicity, and missing critical data.
PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Participants were Asian women of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Malay, Indian, and Indonesian ethnicities from 12 IVF centres across Asia. These women were all naïve to ovarian stimulation cycles and attended IVF centres for fertility assessment. The AMH measurement was performed using an AMH automated assay on a clinically validated platform.
MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: A total of 4556 infertile Asian women were included in the final analyses. The mean ± SD for serum AMH concentrations (ng/ml) across specific age groups were: overall, 3.44 ± 2.93; age <30, 4.58 ± 3.16; 30-31, 4.23 ± 3.23; 32-33, 3.90 ± 3.06; 34-35, 3.21 ± 2.65; 36-37, 2.74 ± 2.44; 38-39, 2.30 ± 1.91; 40 and above, 1.67 ± 2.00. The rate of AMH decrease was ∼0.13 ng/ml/year in patients aged 25-33 and 0.31 ng/ml/year in women aged 33-43. The highest rates of PCOS were found in Indians (18.6%), Malays (18.9%), and Vietnamese (17.7%). Age (P
CASE PRESENTATION: All three cases were adolescents: a 14-year-old girl with a highly placed upper left lateral incisor and history of general anaesthesia; a 14-year-old boy with an impacted upper right first premolar and history of dental trauma; and a 13-year-old girl with an infraoccluded upper left central incisor with history of replantation due to avulsion. Iatrogenic malocclusion developed from attempts to align ankylosed teeth. Subsequently, surgical luxation was performed, and the ankylosed teeth were successfully aligned. However, it was associated with pulp calcification, root resorption and recurrence of ankylosis.
CONCLUSION: Surgical luxation and orthodontic alignment of ankylosed teeth can be considered a useful short-term solution to delay the need of surgical removal and teeth replacement.
METHODS: Participants (N = 2071) from Hong Kong, the Philippines, Australia, and the U.S.A. completed an online survey assessing their preferences for exchange of information, autonomy in decision-making, expression and validation of their emotions, focus on them as an individual, and the doctor-patient relationship.
RESULTS: Participants from all four countries had similar preferences for empathy and shared decision-making. For other facets of PCC, participants in the Philippines and Australia expressed somewhat similar preferences, as did those in the U.S.A. and Hong Kong, challenging East-West stereotypes. Participants in the Philippines placed greater value on relationships, whereas Australians valued more autonomy. Participants in Hong Kong more commonly preferred doctor-directed care, with less importance placed on the relationship. Responses from U.S.A. participants were surprising, as they ranked the need for individualized care and two-way flow of information as least important.
CONCLUSIONS: Empathy, information exchange, and shared decision-making are values shared across countries, while preferences for how the information is shared, and the importance of the doctor-patient relationship differ.
METHOD: Electronic literature search was conducted on eight databases using keywords and MeSH guidelines. Using the PRISMA protocol, studies published from 2003 to 2022 were retrieved and analyzed.
RESULT: Of the 1481 articles identified, 9 met the inclusion criteria. All the included studies were conducted across 10 of the 36 states in Nigeria, with every geo-political zone in Nigeria represented by at least two studies. The overarching themes identified were attitude and beliefs (n = 7), knowledge of HIV/AIDS (n = 3), quality of care (n = 4), education and in-service training (n = 4), and health facility policies and procedures (n = 3). Factors associated with HIV-related stigma among healthcare workers varied by gender, healthcare settings, specialties of health workers, and the presence of institutional stigma reinforcements. Healthcare workers without recent in-service training on HIV/AIDS and those who work in hospitals without anti-HIV/AIDS stigma policies exhibited more HIV-related stigmatizing attitudes.
CONCLUSION: Continuous in-service training of healthcare workers and the development of comprehensive stigma reduction interventions that will be reinforced with anti-HIV stigma policies in clinical settings may facilitate the attainment of national HIV prevention goals.
METHODS: Protein composition and their degradation as well as biochemical and textural changes of camel meat as influenced by cooking methods were investigated.
RESULTS: The highest cooking loss (52.61%) was reported in microwaved samples while grilled samples showed the lowest cooking loss (44.98%). The microwaved samples showed the highest levels of lipid oxidation as measured by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, while boiled samples showed the lowest levels (4.5 mg/kg). Protein solubility, total collagen, and soluble collagen content were highest in boiled samples. Boiled camel meat had lower hardness values compared to the other treated samples. Consequently, boiling was the more suitable cooking technique for producing camel meat with a reduced hardness value and lower lipid oxidation level.
CONCLUSION: The camel meat industry and camel meat consumer can benefit from this research by improving their commercial viability and making consumers aware about the effects of cooking procedures on the quality of camel meat. The results of this study will be of significance to researchers and readers who are working on the processing and quality of camel meat.