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- Ademuyiwa, Adesoji O., et al.
(author)
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Determinants of morbidity and mortality following emergency abdominal surgery in children in low-income and middle-income countries
- 2016
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In: BMJ Global Health. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2059-7908. ; 1:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Child health is a key priority on the global health agenda, yet the provision of essential and emergency surgery in children is patchy in resource-poor regions. This study was aimed to determine the mortality risk for emergency abdominal paediatric surgery in low-income countries globally.Methods: Multicentre, international, prospective, cohort study. Self-selected surgical units performing emergency abdominal surgery submitted prespecified data for consecutive children aged <16 years during a 2-week period between July and December 2014. The United Nation's Human Development Index (HDI) was used to stratify countries. The main outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality, analysed by multilevel logistic regression.Results: This study included 1409 patients from 253 centres in 43 countries; 282 children were under 2 years of age. Among them, 265 (18.8%) were from low-HDI, 450 (31.9%) from middle-HDI and 694 (49.3%) from high-HDI countries. The most common operations performed were appendectomy, small bowel resection, pyloromyotomy and correction of intussusception. After adjustment for patient and hospital risk factors, child mortality at 30 days was significantly higher in low-HDI (adjusted OR 7.14 (95% CI 2.52 to 20.23), p<0.001) and middle-HDI (4.42 (1.44 to 13.56), p=0.009) countries compared with high-HDI countries, translating to 40 excess deaths per 1000 procedures performed.Conclusions: Adjusted mortality in children following emergency abdominal surgery may be as high as 7 times greater in low-HDI and middle-HDI countries compared with high-HDI countries. Effective provision of emergency essential surgery should be a key priority for global child health agendas.
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| 4. |
- Johansson, Magnus, et al.
(author)
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Web-Based Self-Help for Problematic Alcohol Use : a Large Naturalistic Study
- 2017
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In: International Journal of Behavioral Medicine. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1070-5503 .- 1532-7558. ; 24:5, SI, s. 749-759
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This observational study examined user characteristics, intervention use patterns, and variables associated with reductions in alcohol consumption for anonymous Internet help-seekers using a Web-based self-help program.A Web-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) program with eight modules delivered over 10 weeks was offered to participants with at least hazardous use of alcohol according to the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) (n = 4165). At baseline and 10-week follow-up, participants completed the Timeline-followback (TLFB), AUDIT, Drug Use Disorders Identification Test (DUDIT), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), EuroQol-5 dimension (EQ-5D), World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale-abbreviated version (WHOQOL-BREF), Readiness to Change Questionnaire (RCQ), and Readiness Ruler. Follow-up completers and non-completers were compared at baseline, and follow-up completer outcomes were reported. Predictors of change in drinking behavior were evaluated at follow-up.Registered users were 41.88 years old on average (SD = 12.36), and 52 % were women; the mean baseline number of drinks during the past week was 27.27 (SD = 17.92) with 62 % in the AUDIT category of probable dependence and only 7 % having low-risk consumption according to public health guidelines. At follow-up (n = 1043), 53 % showed a clinically significant change to a lower level of alcohol use (chi(2) = 254.403, p < 0.001); the mean alcohol consumption fell (t = 22.841, p < 0.001) and the proportion with low-risk consumption rose to 40 %. Being male, scoring higher on baseline readiness, completing the program, and accessing other support predicted low-risk drinking and clinically significant change to a lower level of alcohol use at follow-up.A publicly available Web-based program for managing problematic alcohol use attracted users with considerable alcohol- and health-related problems, which were changed to lower severity for follow-up completers.
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- Riper, Heleen, et al.
(author)
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Effectiveness and treatment moderators of internet interventions for adult problem drinking : An individual patient data meta-analysis of 19 randomised controlled trials
- 2018
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In: PLoS Medicine. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1549-1277 .- 1549-1676. ; 15:12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BackgroundFace-to-face brief interventions for problem drinking are effective, but they have found limited implementation in routine care and the community. Internet-based interventions could overcome this treatment gap. We investigated effectiveness and moderators of treatment outcomes in internet-based interventions for adult problem drinking (iAIs).Methods and findingsSystematic searches were performed in medical and psychological databases to 31 December 2016. A one-stage individual patient data meta-analysis (IPDMA) was conducted with a linear mixed model complete-case approach, using baseline and first follow-up data. The primary outcome measure was mean weekly alcohol consumption in standard units (SUs, 10 grams of ethanol). Secondary outcome was treatment response (TR), defined as less than 14/21 SUs for women/men weekly. Putative participant, intervention, and study moderators were included. Robustness was verified in three sensitivity analyses: a two-stage IPDMA, a one-stage IPDMA using multiple imputation, and a missing-not-at-random (MNAR) analysis. We obtained baseline data for 14,198 adult participants (19 randomised controlled trials [RCTs], mean age 40.7 [SD = 13.2], 47.6% women). Their baseline mean weekly alcohol consumption was 38.1 SUs (SD = 26.9). Most were regular problem drinkers (80.1%, SUs 44.7, SD = 26.4) and 19.9% (SUs 11.9, SD = 4.1) were binge-only drinkers. About one third were heavy drinkers, meaning that women/men consumed, respectively, more than 35/50 SUs of alcohol at baseline (34.2%, SUs 65.9, SD = 27.1). Post-intervention data were available for 8,095 participants. Compared with controls, iAI participants showed a greater mean weekly decrease at follow-up of 5.02 SUs (95% CI -7.57 to -2.48, p < 0.001) and a higher rate of TR (odds ratio [OR] 2.20, 95% CI 1.63-2.95, p < 0.001, number needed to treat [NNT] = 4.15, 95% CI 3.06-6.62). Persons above age 55 showed higher TR than their younger counterparts (OR = 1.66, 95% CI 1.21-2.27, p = 0.002). Drinking profiles were not significantly associated with treatment outcomes. Human-supported interventions were superior to fully automated ones on both outcome measures (comparative reduction: -6.78 SUs, 95% CI -12.11 to -1.45, p = 0.013; TR: OR = 2.23, 95% CI 1.22-4.08, p = 0.009). Participants treated in iAIs based on personalised normative feedback (PNF) alone were significantly less likely to sustain low-risk drinking at follow-up than those in iAIs based on integrated therapeutic principles (OR = 0.52, 95% CI 0.29-0.93, p = 0.029). The use of waitlist control in RCTs was associated with significantly better treatment outcomes than the use of other types of control (comparative reduction: -9.27 SUs, 95% CI -13.97 to -4.57, p < 0.001; TR: OR = 3.74, 95% CI 2.13-6.53, p < 0.001). The overall quality of the RCTs was high; a major limitation included high study dropout (43%). Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of our primary analyses.ConclusionTo our knowledge, this is the first IPDMA on internet-based interventions that has shown them to be effective in curbing various patterns of adult problem drinking in both community and healthcare settings. Waitlist control may be conducive to inflation of treatment outcomes.
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| 6. |
- Sundstrom, Christopher, et al.
(author)
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Identification and management of alcohol use and illicit substance use in outpatient psychiatric clinics in Sweden : a national survey of clinic directors and staff
- 2019
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In: Addiction science & clinical practice. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1940-0632 .- 1940-0640. ; 14
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Swedish national guidelines recommend that all health care settings systematically screen patients for alcohol use and illicit substance use. When hazardous use is identified, it should immediately be addressed, preferably through brief interventions (BI). It is well known that the prevalence of alcohol use and illicit substance use among psychiatric patients is high, but it is not known to what extent screening and BI are routinely carried out in such clinics. Methods: Two online surveys investigating the use of screening and BI for alcohol and illicit substances were constructed; one for psychiatric outpatient clinic directors and one for staff at these clinics. The main analyses were calculated as simple frequencies. In secondary analyses, we investigated the associations between substance abuse training, type of clinic and screening/BI delivery. For these analyses, the Chi square test was used. Results: Most clinic directors reported that they have guidelines to screen for alcohol (93.1%) and illicit substance use (78.9%) at initial assessment. Fifty percent reported having guidelines for delivering BI when identifying hazardous alcohol use (35.9% for hazardous illicit substance use). Among staff, 66.6% reported always screening for alcohol use and 57.8% reported always screening for illicit substance use at initial assessment. Further, 36.7% reported that they usually deliver BI when identifying hazardous alcohol use (35.7% for hazardous illicit substance use). Secondary analyses indicated that staff with substance abuse training were significantly more likely to screen for alcohol use than staff without such training. Further, staff at psychosis clinics were significantly less likely to screen for both alcohol and substance use than staff at both general and specialist psychiatric clinics. Conclusions: Most clinic directors reported having clear guidelines for staff to screen for alcohol use and illicit substance use, but fewer staff members than expected indicated that these guidelines were adhered to. Providing training about substance use disorders for staff may increase use of screening for alcohol use, and psychosis clinics may need to improve their screening routines.
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- Vasan, Ramachandran S, et al.
(author)
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Relative importance of borderline and elevated levels of coronary heart disease risk factors.
- 2005
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In: Ann Intern Med. - 1539-3704. ; 142:6, s. 393-402
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Clinical trials indicate that a sizable proportion of adults have multiple borderline coronary risk factors and may benefit from treatment. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the relative and absolute contributions of borderline and elevated risk factors to the population burden of coronary heart disease (CHD) events. DESIGN: A prospective cohort study and a national cross-sectional survey. SETTING: The Framingham Study and the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). PARTICIPANTS: White non-Hispanic persons in the Framingham Study and in NHANES III who were between 35 to 74 years of age and had no CHD. MEASUREMENTS: Occurrence of first CHD events according to 5 major CHD risk factors: blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, glucose intolerance, and smoking. Three categories-optimal, borderline, and elevated-were defined for each risk factor per national guidelines. Sex-specific 10-year CHD event rates from the Framingham Study were applied to numbers of at-risk individuals estimated from NHANES III and the 2000 U.S. Census. RESULTS: Twenty-six percent of men and 41% of women had at least 1 borderline risk factor in NHANES III. According to estimates, more than 90% of CHD events will occur in individuals with at least 1 elevated risk factor, and approximately 8% will occur in people with only borderline levels of multiple risk factors. Absolute 10-year CHD risk exceeded 10% in men older than age 45 years who had 1 elevated risk factor and 4 or more borderline risk factors and in those who had at least 2 elevated risk factors. In women, absolute CHD risk exceeded 10% only in those older than age 55 years who had at least 3 elevated risk factors. LIMITATIONS: The generalizability of the findings to persons of other ethnic backgrounds is unknown. CONCLUSIONS: Borderline CHD risk factors alone account for a small proportion of CHD events.
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