Tag: nevin manimala

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2022 Aug 4;22(1):616. doi: 10.1186/s12884-022-04932-4.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND & AIM: Pregnancy is associated with numerous physical and psychological changes and affects the sexual function of couples. Since the root of many marital problems lies in the quality of the relationship and sexual function, the present study investigates the effect of virtual cognitive-behavioral sexual counseling on pregnant women’s sexual function and intimacy.

METHODS & MATERIALS: This study is a randomized clinical trial, and 80 pregnant women aged 18 to 35 years and in 16-24 weeks of pregnancy were assigned to two intervention and control groups based on randomized blocks from June 2021 to July 2021. The control group received routine prenatal care, but the intervention group, in addition to routine prenatal care, underwent virtual counseling with a cognitive-behavioral approach during eight sessions of 90 minutes. Data were collected using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) and sexual intimacy questionnaire. SPSS software was used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS: The comparison of mean scores of sexual function and intimacy in the two groups before the intervention was not statistically significant with each other. However, after the intervention, the mean scores of sexual function and intimacy in the intervention group were significantly increased compared to the control group (p < 0.001). The effect size of the intervention was 0.52 for sexual function and 0.272 for sexual intimacy.

CONCLUSION: Virtual cognitive-behavioral counseling can be used as an effective treatment to promote sexual function and intimacy of women during pregnancy.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: IRCT20161230031662N10. Registry date: 21/06/2021.

PMID:35927705 | DOI:10.1186/s12884-022-04932-4

Pediatr Rheumatol Online J. 2022 Aug 4;20(1):61. doi: 10.1186/s12969-022-00708-4.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: There is insufficient evidence on the clinical effectiveness and safety of infliximab (IFX) treatment of Takayasu arteritis (TA) in infants.

METHODS: We evaluated the therapeutic effectiveness and safety of IFX in a retrospective case series of 10 infantile TA patients. Observations included assessment of clinical symptoms, laboratory testing, and vascular imaging.

RESULTS: Fever was the presenting symptom for 8 of 10 infants with TA. During acute episodes, leucocyte and inflammatory indices were significantly increased. Vascular imaging showed the most commonly involved arteries to be carotid arteries, abdominal aortas, and coronary arteries (9 cases, 90%). Two weeks after initiating IFX treatment, leukocyte and platelet counts decreased and hemoglobin levels increased. There were statistically significant clinical improvements 6 weeks after starting treatment compared with before treatment (p < 0.05). Inflammatory indices decreased 2 weeks after starting IFX treatment compared with before treatment (p < 0.05). Vascular lesions began to recover within 1.5-3 months of initiating IFX therapy, and involved vessels significantly recovered within 13 months. Some arteries remained stenotic, with intimal thickening and uneven lumen wall thicknesses. The only adverse event was a treatment-responsive allergic reaction during IFX infusion in one infant.

CONCLUSIONS: Fever was the main manifestation of illness and was often accompanied by significantly increased inflammatory indices. IFX treatment was apparently effective and reduced or eliminated need for glucocorticoids. IFX had a reasonably good safety profile.

PMID:35927694 | DOI:10.1186/s12969-022-00708-4

J Health Popul Nutr. 2022 Aug 4;41(1):32. doi: 10.1186/s41043-022-00315-9.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Anaemia in pregnancy is the leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality and poor birth outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. The most common cause of anaemia during pregnancy is acute blood loss and iron deficiency due to physiological changes and increasing demand for iron on the mother and growing foetus. Iron and folic acid supplementation is the most widely employed strategy to alleviate iron deficiency anaemia during pregnancy. The mother’s knowledge of anaemia and the benefit of iron-folic acid is crucial in reducing the magnitude of anaemia due to iron deficiency. In Woldia town, despite the efforts made to reduce iron deficiency anaemia during pregnancy, information on pregnant mother knowledge on anaemia and the benefit of iron-folic acid and its associated factors are scarce.

METHODS: A facility-based cross-sectional study design was conducted, on 414 pregnant mothers attending antenatal care in Woldia town, Northern Ethiopia. Systematic random sampling methods were used to select study participants. The data were entered into Epi-data version 4.2 and analysed using SPSS version 24. Bivariable and multivariable analysis was done to see the association between the dependent variable and independent variables.

RESULTS: This study revealed that 54.1% and 57.7% of pregnant women had good knowledge of anaemia and the benefit of iron-folic acid, respectively. Maternal education status (AOR = 2.19, 95% CI 1.32-3.64), good knowledge of iron-folic acid (AOR = 5.85, 95% CI 3.60-9.50) and residence (AOR = 5.43, 95% CI 2.36-12.51) were statistically associated with pregnant mothers knowledge on anaemia. Obtained counselling on the benefit of iron-folic acid (AOR = 2.04, 95% CI 1.11-3.75), having four or more antenatal care visit (AOR = 3.12, 95% CI 1.38-7.07) and good knowledge of anaemia (AOR = 5.88, 95% CI 3.63-9.50) was statistically associated with pregnant mothers knowledge on the benefit of iron-folic acid.

CONCLUSIONS: Promoting frequent antenatal care visits and giving counselling on the benefit of iron-folic acid and cause, prevention and treatment of anaemia were essential strategies to raise knowledge of pregnant mother on anaemia and the benefit of iron-folic acid.

PMID:35927693 | DOI:10.1186/s41043-022-00315-9

BMC Vet Res. 2022 Aug 4;18(1):300. doi: 10.1186/s12917-022-03404-3.

ABSTRACT

BACKFROUND: Treatment options for metacarpal/metatarsal fractures include conservative and surgical management. The aim of this study is to determine whether there is any significant difference in healing and complication rates, between open and closed treatment. Medical records of dogs and cats with metacarpal/metatarsal fractures with complete follow-up were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were allocated in two groups: open or closed stabilization. Minor and major complications were recorded and compared. Fracture healing was classified as good, delayed and non-union, and it was statistically compared.

RESULTS: Sixty-three patients (35 dogs and 28 cats) were included. Thirty-one were treated with an open approach and 32 by a closed stabilization. Regarding fracture healing a significantly higher proportion of delayed healing/non-union was found in the closed group (12/32 vs 2/31). Regarding postoperative complications, a significantly higher number of animals in the open group did not develop any complications (12/31 vs 3/32). A significantly higher proportion of minor complications were reported in the closed group (27/32 vs 12/31). However, a higher number of major complications was reported in the open group (7/31 vs 2/32) although this was not statistically significant. Fracture malalignment was significantly more prevalent in patients undergoing closed stabilization (11/32 vs 2/31).

CONCLUSION: According to the results, better healing, fracture alignment and a lower complication rate are found when fractures are stabilised with an open technique. However, other factors such as configuration of the fracture, soft tissue involvement, patient´s character and client´s situation would also need to be taken into account in the decision of stabilization technique.

PMID:35927668 | DOI:10.1186/s12917-022-03404-3

Lipids Health Dis. 2022 Aug 4;21(1):67. doi: 10.1186/s12944-022-01678-y.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) represents a deadly aggressive phenotype of breast cancer (BC) with a unique clinicopathological presentation and low survival rate. In fact, obesity represents an important risk factor for BC. Although several studies have identified different cellular-derived and molecular factors involved in IBC progression, the role of adipocytes remains unclear. Cancer-associated adipose tissue (CAAT) expresses a variety of adipokines, which contribute to tumorigenesis and the regulation of cancer stem cell (CSC). This research investigated the potential effect of the secretome of CAAT explants from patients with BC on the progression and metastasis of the disease.

METHODS: This study established an ex-vivo culture of CAAT excised from IBC (n = 13) vs. non-IBC (n = 31) patients with obesity and profiled their secretome using a cytokine antibody array. Furthermore, the quantitative PCR (qPCR) methodology was used to validate the levels of predominant cytokines at the transcript level after culture in a medium conditioned by CAAT. Moreover, the impact of the CAAT secretome on the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cells with stem cell (CSC) markers was studied in the non-IBC MDA-MB-231 and the IBC SUM-149 cell lines. The statistical differences between variables were evaluated using the chi-squared test and unpaired a Student’s t-test.

RESULTS: The results of cytokine array profiling revealed an overall significantly higher level of a panel of 28 cytokines secreted by the CAAT ex-vivo culture from IBC patients with obesity compared to those with non-IBC. Of note, interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and monocyte chemo-attractant protein 1 (MCP-1) were the major adipokines secreted by the CAAT IBC patients with obesity. Moreover, the qPCR results indicated a significant upregulation of the IL-6, IL-8, and MCP-1 mRNAs in CAAT ex-vivo culture of patients with IBC vs. those with non-IBC. Intriguingly, a qPCR data analysis showed that the CAAT secretome secretions from patients with non-IBC downregulated the mRNA levels of the CD24 CSC marker and of the epithelial marker E-cadherin in the non-IBC cell line. By contrast, E-cadherin was upregulated in the SUM-149 cell.

CONCLUSIONS: This study identified the overexpression of IL-6, IL-8, and MCP-1 as prognostic markers of CAAT from patients with IBC but not from those with non-IBC ; moreover, their upregulation might be associated with IBC aggressiveness via the regulation of CSC and EMT markers. This study proposed that targeting IL-6, IL-8, and MCP-1 may represent a therapeutic option that should be considered in the treatment of patients with IBC.

PMID:35927653 | DOI:10.1186/s12944-022-01678-y

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2022 Aug 4;22(1):613. doi: 10.1186/s12884-022-04947-x.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Out-of-pocket payment (OOPP) is reported to be a major barrier to seeking maternal health care especially among the poor and can expose households to a risk of catastrophic expenditure and impoverishment.This study examined the OOPPs women made during childbirth in the Upper West region of Ghana.

METHODS: We carried out a cross-sectional study and interviewed women who gave birth between January 2013 and December 2017. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, place of childbirth, as well as direct cost (medical and non-medical) were collected from respondents. The costs of childbirth were estimated from the patient perspective. Logistics regression was used to assess the factors associated with catastrophic payments cost. All analyses were done using STATA 16.0.

RESULTS: Out of the 574 women interviewed, about 71% (406/574) reported OOPPs on their childbirth. The overall average direct medical and non-medical expenditure women made on childbirth was USD 7.5. Cost of drugs (USD 8.0) and informal payments (UDD 5.7) were the main cost drivers for medical and non-medical costs respectively. Women who were enrolled into the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) spent a little less (USD 7.5) than the uninsured women (USD 7.9). Also, household childbirth expenditure increased from primary health facilities level (community-based health planning and services compound = USD7.2; health centre = USD 6.0) to secondary health facilities level (hospital = USD11.0); while home childbirth was USD 4.8. Overall, at a 10% threshold, 21% of the respondents incurred catastrophic health expenditure. Regression analysis showed that place of childbirth and household wealth were statistically significant factors associated with catastrophic payment.

CONCLUSIONS: The costs of childbirth were considerably high with a fifth of households spending more than one-tenth of their monthly income on childbirth and therefore faced the risk of catastrophic payments and impoverishment. Given the positive effect of NHIS on cost of childbirth, there is a need to intensify efforts to improve enrolment to reduce direct medical costs as well as sensitization and monitoring to reduce informal payment. Also, the identified factors that influence cost of childbirth should be considered in strategies to reduce cost of childbirth.

PMID:35927635 | DOI:10.1186/s12884-022-04947-x

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2022 Aug 4;22(1):615. doi: 10.1186/s12884-022-04943-1.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Small-for-gestational-age neonates (SGA) are at increased risk of neonatal morbidity. Nulliparity represents a risk factor for SGA; birthweight charts may perform differently for the detection of SGA among nulliparas. This study aimed at describing the prevalence of SGA in nulliparas according to different birthweight charts and evaluating the diagnostic performance of these charts to maternal and perinatal outcomes.

METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of a Brazilian cohort of nulliparas named Preterm SAMBA study. Birthweight centiles were calculated using the Intergrowth-21st, WHO-Fetal Growth Charts, Birth in Brazil population chart and GROW-customised chart. The risks of outcomes among SGA neonates and their mothers in comparison to neonates with birthweights between the 40^th-60^th centiles were calculated, according to each chart. ROC curves were used to detect neonatal morbidity in neonates with birth weights below different cutoff centiles for each chart.

RESULTS: A sample of 997 nulliparas was assessed. The rate of SGA infants varied between 7.0-11.6%. All charts showed a significantly lower risk of caesarean sections in women delivering SGA neonates compared to those delivering adequate-for-gestational-age neonates (OR 0.55-0.64, p < .05). The charts had poor performance (AUC 0.492 – 0.522) for the detection of neonatal morbidity related to SGA born at term.

CONCLUSION: The populational and customised birthweight charts detected different prevalence of small-for-gestational-age neonates and showed similar and poor performance to identify related neonatal adverse outcomes in this population.

PMID:35927626 | DOI:10.1186/s12884-022-04943-1

J Headache Pain. 2022 Aug 4;23(1):95. doi: 10.1186/s10194-022-01465-1.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of migraine is mainly clinical and self-reported, which makes additional examinations unnecessary in most cases. Migraine can be subtyped into chronic (CM) and episodic (EM). Despite the very high prevalence of migraine, there are no evidence-based guidelines for differentiating between these subtypes other than the number of days of migraine headache per month. Thus, we consider it timely to perform a systematic review to search for physiological evidence from functional activity (as opposed to anatomical structure) for the differentiation between CM and EM, as well as potential functional biomarkers. For this purpose, Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, and PubMed databases were screened.

FINDINGS: Among the 24 studies included in this review, most of them (22) reported statistically significant differences between the groups of CM and EM. This finding is consistent regardless of brain activity acquisition modality, ictal stage, and recording condition for a wide variety of analyses. That speaks for a supramodal and domain-general differences between CM and EM that goes beyond a differentiation based on the days of migraine per month. Together, the reviewed studies demonstrates that electro- and magneto-physiological brain activity (M/EEG), as well as neurovascular and metabolic recordings from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), show characteristic patterns that allow to differentiate between CM and EM groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Although a clear brain activity-based biomarker has not yet been identified to distinguish these subtypes of migraine, research is approaching headache specialists to a migraine diagnosis based not only on symptoms and signs reported by patients. Future studies based on M/EEG should pay special attention to the brain activity in medium and fast frequency bands, mainly the beta band. On the other hand, fMRI and PET studies should focus on neural circuits and regions related to pain and emotional processing.

PMID:35927625 | DOI:10.1186/s10194-022-01465-1

BMC Med Res Methodol. 2022 Aug 4;22(1):210. doi: 10.1186/s12874-022-01697-4.

NO ABSTRACT

PMID:35927619 | DOI:10.1186/s12874-022-01697-4

BMC Neurol. 2022 Aug 4;22(1):290. doi: 10.1186/s12883-022-02814-y.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Even with high standards of acute care and neurological early rehabilitation (NER) a substantial number of patients with neurological conditions still need mechanical ventilation and/or airway protection by tracheal cannulas when discharged and hence home-based specialised intensive care nursing (HSICN). It may be possible to improve the home care situation with structured specialized long-term neurorehabilitation support and following up patients with neurorehabilitation teams. Consequently, more people might recover over an extended period to a degree that they were no longer dependent on HSICN.

METHODS: This healthcare project and clinical trial implements a new specialised neurorehabilitation outreach service for people being discharged from NER with the need for HSICN. The multicentre, open, parallel-group RCT compares the effects of one year post-discharge specialized outpatient follow-up to usual care in people receiving HSICN. Participants will randomly be assigned to receive the new form of healthcare (intervention) or the standard healthcare (control) on a 2:1 basis. Primary outcome is the rate of weaning from mechanical ventilation and/or decannulation (primary outcome) after one year, secondary outcomes include both clinical and economic measures. 173 participants are required to corroborate a difference of 30 vs. 10% weaning success rate statistically with 80% power at a 5% significance level allowing for 15% attrition.

DISCUSSION: The OptiNIV-Study will implement a new specialised neurorehabilitation outreach service and will determine its weaning success rates, other clinical outcomes, and cost-effectiveness compared to usual care for people in need for mechanical ventilation and/or tracheal cannula and hence HSICN after discharge from NER.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial OptiNIV has been registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS) since 18.01.2022 with the ID DRKS00027326 .

PMID:35927616 | DOI:10.1186/s12883-022-02814-y