Effect of Referral Strategies on Access to Cardiac Rehabilitation Among Women.
Effect of referral strategies on access to cardiac rehabilitation among women.
Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2013 Mar 7;
Gravely S, Anand SS, Stewart DE, Grace SL,
BackgroundDespite its proven benefits and need, women’s access to cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is suboptimal. Referral strategies, such as systematic referral, have been advocated to improve access to CR. This study examined sex differences in CR referral and enrollment by referral strategies; and the impact of referral strategies for referral and enrollment concordance among women.DesignProspective cohort study.MethodsThis prospective study included 2635 coronary artery disease inpatients from 11 Ontario hospitals that utilized one of four referral strategies. Participants completed a sociodemographic survey, and clinical data were extracted from charts. One year later, 1809 participants (452 (25%) women) completed a mailed survey that assessed CR utilization. Referral strategies were compared among women using generalized estimating equations to control for the effect of hospital.ResultsOverall, significantly more men than women were referred (67.2% and 57.8% respectively, p?HubMed – rehab
Resistin in inflammatory and degenerative rheumatologic diseases : Relationship between resistin and rheumatoid arthritis disease progression.
Z Rheumatol. 2013 Mar 9;
Fadda SM, Gamal SM, Elsaid NY, Mohy AM
AIMS OF THE STUDY: To assess and compare resistin levels in the serum and synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA; an inflammatory rheumatologic disease) and osteoarthritis (OA; a degenerative rheumatologic disease) and to study the relationship between resistin levels and prognostic factors of RA disease progression. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study included a total of 50 patients: 25 with RA and 25 with OA. Full case history was documented for all patients and all underwent a thorough clinical examination and laboratory testing. Body mass index (BMI) values were also calculated. Radiographs were made of OA patients’ knees and RA patients’ hands. Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28) was calculated for RA patients. Serum and synovial fluid samples were obtained from the effused knees of all patients and tested for resistin level. RESULTS: Serum resistin levels were higher in RA patients than in those with OA (p?HubMed – rehab
Measuring hygiene and health perfomance of buildings: a multidimensional approach.
Ann Ig. 2013 Mar-Apr; 25(2): 151-7
Capolongo S, Buffoli M, Oppio A, Rizzitiello S
This paper proposes an innovative and transparent methodology to support the “ASL Milano” (Local Health Agency) in the hygiene and health evaluation of construction projects, in order to highlight their positive and negative performance beyond the requirements imposed by the current laws and regulations regarding buildings’ hygiene performance, which are too old and therefore unsuitable to ascertain the real quality of indoor environments. The compliance with laws or regulations, mostly out of date, and the assessment of performance involving only a part of the current emerging needs and problems, in fact, should be considered as a necessary, although not a sufficient step, to ensure high quality indoors. Consequently, it is necessary to identify and test an assessment tool which could provide an effective and flexible support for the development of hygiene and health statements regarding projects at building scale (new construction, conversion of the existing, rehabilitation, extension, change of use, etc). The assessment tool suggested by this paper is tailored for the metropolitan area of the city of Milan, but its evaluation framework could be developed and applied to other contexts. HubMed – rehab
Frontal plane corrective ability of a new unloader orthosis for medial compartment of the knee.
Prosthet Orthot Int. 2013 Mar 7;
Arazpour M, Ahmadi Bani M, Hutchins SW, Jones RK, Habibi Babadi M
Background:Patients with medial compartment osteoarthritis of the knee suffer from pain and stiffness. However, current unloader braces are not being used for extended periods by knee osteoarthritis patients due to interface problems, so compliance is an issue. The aim of this study was to design a new bespoke orthosis that could be comfortable to wear while also providing the required correction to reduce medial compartment loading.Case description and methods:A new knee orthosis design was initially tested for its frontal plane correction of knee varus using a surrogate knee model. It was then assessed by a volunteer subject with grade 2 medial compartment knee osteoarthritis using a static standing radiograph.Findings and outcomes:When fitted to the surrogate knee model, the brace corrected the knee from 10° of varus to neutral alignment in the frontal plane. When worn in situ during static stance on the affected leg of the volunteer patient, it corrected the knee by 6° to a less varus position.Conclusion:The orthosis provided frontal plane correction of the knee during static standing. It could therefore prove to be suitable for use by knee osteoarthritis patients.Clinical relevanceThis new custom unloader knee orthosis produced a more valgus knee alignment by adjusting the pneumatic components attached to the thigh and leg shells. During static stance, it corrected frontal plane varus knee rotation by 6° in a single subject with knee osteoarthritis. HubMed – rehab
Carolina Corada: Where should we look for our happiness? – In Venezuela, Carolina’s friend Simon and his son León sit with her and ask her 9 questions that had been on their minds for while. Her responses are unique,…