MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was a retrospective case series study. A record of 53 patients was included in the study, during a period between June 2013 to July 2017 with ulnar nerve palsy. The procedure done was flexor digitorum superficialis tendon transfer as dynamic anti-claw procedure. The follow-up period was three months. The outcomes assessed were grip strength by using sphygmomanometer and active range of motion of fingers assessed by fingers tips touching the palm.
RESULT: Fifty-three patients were included out of them, there were fifty males and three females. The mean age was 28±10 years. All patients underwent flexor digitorum superficialis transfer for ulnar claw hand. A total of 84.9% patients have good grip strength and 83% showed good active range of motion.
CONCLUSION: Flexor digitorum superficialis tendon transfer is found to be effective, reliable and reproducible technique in ulnar nerve palsy where patient need grip strength, good range of motion and acceptable hand function for daily routine work.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted for three months, in patients with type 2 diabetes who visited three community pharmacies located in Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Patients' disease knowledge and their adherence to medications were documented using Arabic versions of the Michigan Diabetes Knowledge Test and the General Medication Adherence Scale respectively. Data were analyzed through SPSS version 23. Chi-square test was used to report association of demographics with adherence. Spearman's rank correlation was employed to report the relationship among HbA1c values, disease knowledge and adherence. Logistic regression model was utilized to report the determinants of medication adherence and their corresponding adjusted odds ratio. Study was approved by concerned ethical committee (IRB-UGS-2019-05-001).
Results: A total of 318 patients consented to participate in the study. Mean HbA1c value was 8.1%. A third of patients (N = 105, 33%) had high adherence and half of patients (N = 162, 50.9%) had disease knowledge between 51% - 75%. A significantly weak-to-moderate and positive correlation (ρ = 0.221, p < 0.01) between medication adherence and disease knowledge was reported. Patients with >50% correct answers in the diabetes knowledge test questionnaire were more likely to be adherent to their medications (AOR 4.46, p < 0.01).
Conclusion: Disease knowledge in most patients was average and half of patients had high-to-good adherence. Patients with better knowledge were 4 to 5 times more likely to have high adherence. This highlights the importance of patient education and awareness regarding medication adherence in managing diabetes.
METHOD: Laboratory confirmed influenza B hospitalized patients presented in emergency room after 48 hours of symptoms onset were identified and divided into two groups; Group-1 patients were initiated on Antiviral drug (oseltamivir) alone while Group-2 patients were initiated on Antiviral drug (oseltamivir) in combination with Antibiotic for at least 3 days. Patients were evaluated for different clinical outcomes among both treatment group.
RESULTS: A total of 153 and 131 patients were identified for Group-1 and Group-2, respectively. Clinical outcomes such as secondary bacterial infections (20.9%-vs-9.1%; P = 0.031), need of respiratory support (28.7%-vs-12.9%; P = 0.002), length of hospitalization stay (6.57-vs-4.95 days; P = <0.001), incidences of ICU admission (15.7%-vs-7.6%; P = 0.036), early clinical failure (32.6%-vs-16.1%; P = 0.01), and time to clinical stability (4.83-vs-4.1 days; P = 0.001) were found to be statistically less significant (P-value <0.05) for Group-2 patients.
CONCLUSION: Early initiation of antibiotic therapy in combination with oseltamivir was found to be more efficacious than oseltamivir alone in prevention of influenza B-associated complications especially in high-risk influenza patients.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 300 elderly Malay participants (age ≥ 65 years) with CKD, attending the Hospital University Sains Malaysia were included in the study. Demographic data and history were also recorded. Serum creatinine was assayed by Chemistry Analyzer Model Architect-C8000 (Jaffe method). While serum cystatin C was examined by Human cystatin C ELISA kit (Sigma-Aldrich) using Thermo Scientific Varioskan Flash ELISA reader.
RESULTS: Out of 300 study participants, 169 (56.3%) were females. Mean age of patients was 67.6 ± 6.7 years. 64 male (64.6%) and 35 female (35.4%) patients were between 70 and 79 years. When estimated by MDRD equation, the prevalence of CKD stage 3 (defined as eGFR = 30 - 59 mL/min/1.73m2) was 27.7%, while based on CKD-EPIcr, CKD-EPIcys, and CKD-EPIcr-cys equations, it was 28%, 36.3%, and 36.3%, respectively. The prevalence of CKD stage 4 (defined as eGFR = 15 - 29 mL/min/1.73m2) when estimated by MDRD was 37.6%, whereas based on CKD-EPIcr, CKD-EPIcys, and CKD-EPIcr-cys equations, it was 36.3%, 46.4%, and 46.4%, respectively. CKD stage 5 (defined as eGFR < 15 mL/min/1.73m2) when estimated by the MDRD equation was 34.7%. While based on CKD-EPIcr, CKD-EPIcys, and CKD-EPIcr-cys equations, the prevalence of CKD stage 5 was 35.7%, 17.3%, and 17.3%, respectively.
CONCLUSION: The staging of CKD is different between the creatinine- and cystatin C-based equations. Creatinine-based equations classify patients as having CKD stage 5 twice as often as cystatin C-based equations.