THE PROFILE OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS IN GENERAL PRACTICE

2015 ◽  
Vol 86 (11) ◽  
pp. e4.6-e4
Author(s):  
Sophie Binks ◽  
Liz Green
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Team Approach ◽  
Improvement Project ◽  
Flu Vaccination ◽  
The Mean ◽  
One Year ◽  
Primary Care Professionals

IntroductionMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a long-term neurological condition requiring a multi-disciplinary team approach. Recently, NICE highlighted the role of primary care professionals in MS management through an updated clinical guideline. This quality improvement project investigated aspects of MS patient care in a large Brighton GP practice.MethodElectronic GP records were searched to identify all currently registered patients with a diagnosis of MS. Details of initial presentation, epidemiology and care received over a one-year period were examined.ResultsThere were 19 patients, representing a prevalence of 186 per 100,000. Most patients first presented in GP with sensory disturbance, optic neuritis or motor symptoms. The mean number of primary care contacts per patient per year was 4.3, compared to 0.4 contacts per person per year with a neurologist and 0.5 with the MS nurse. 46% of GP consultations were wholly or partially related to the patient's MS. Around half of patients took up proactive interventions such as flu vaccination (47%) and Vitamin D monitoring (50%).ConclusionsPrimary care professionals are significant contributors to the care of people with MS with frequent patient contact. During this project, patients were reminded of preventive care opportunities and this will be re-audited in 2015.

A Clinic to Improve Care of Patients with Sickle Cell Disease and the Role of Medical Students in Quality Improvement

Blood ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 126 (23) ◽  
pp. 5586-5586
Author(s):  
Annie Press ◽  
Robert Lucito ◽  
Ilene Friedman ◽  
Samara Ginzburg
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Sickle Cell Disease ◽  
Sickle Cell ◽  
Cell Disease ◽  
Improvement Project ◽  
Clinical Microsystems ◽  
One Year

Abstract Background: At Hofstra-North Shore LIJ School of Medicine, we have opportunities for our medical students to participate in experiential quality improvement projects. As part of this initiative, some students participate on health-care improvement teams using a Clinical Microsystems approach. This approach is a conceptual framework that has been applied to various departments in the North Shore-LIJ Health System in order to improve quality and patient safety. The basis of Clinical Microsystems is to identify a need in the hospital that may be targeted in order to improve the efficacy of healthcare quality and delivery. Once the objective for healthcare improvement is determined, a multidisciplinary team is created spanning one or more microsystems to target the specific barrier. One of the multidisciplinary teams focuses on the care of patients with sickle cell disease. LIJ Hospital admits between 150 and 200 patients with sickle cell disease a year primarily due to recurrent pain crises. The initial sickle cell multidisciplinary improvement team included physicians, patients, nurses, social workers and two medical students. The role of the students on this team included literature searches and survey administration. The team's initial analysis found that a lack of consistent outpatient follow up was resulting in frequent readmissions for this population to acute care facilities for pain control. To address this, the team was instrumental in establishing a primary care outpatient clinic focused exclusively on caring for patients with sickle cell disease, run by a primary care physician, in 2012. The current study was conducted by a medical student, and her mentor, who were original members of the sickle cell improvement team. The study tested the hypothesis that enrolling patients with sickle cell disease in an outpatient clinic with a dedicated physician focused on sickle cell disease management and pain control would decrease the number of admissions this population has for acute care at LIJ. The study also highlights the opportunity to involve medical students in a meaningful way in hands-on quality improvement projects in the early stages of training. Methods: This was a retrospective study of all adults with sickle cell disease, 21 years or older, who were seen at the primary care outpatient sickle cell clinic. We compared the rates of hospital admissions and length of stay in the one-year prior and one-year after their establishment of care at the clinic. All data was identified through manual and automated searches of the Electronic Health Record. Results: Since the opening of the clinic in 2012, 107 adults established care at the clinic. Within the first year that a patient began being cared for by the clinic, their admission rate dropped 27%, from an average of 3.775 to 2.75 admissions per year (p=0.0003). There were a total of 151 admissions one-year pre-intervention and 110 admissions one-year post-intervention. Conclusion: This project supports the value of a dedicated primary care outpatient sickle cell clinic on decreasing the admission rates for patients with sickle cell disease. Within one year of establishing care at the clinic, admissions rates decreased significantly, emphasizing the role of dedicated outpatient primary care in the management of patients with sickle cell disease. This study also highlights the importance and feasibility of integrating medical students into a quality improvement project early on during medical school. There are opportunities for students to have meaningful roles on hospital based improvement projects and learn quality improvement methodologies. An important component to this success is faculty mentoring to support a student's involvement in the project. The student involved in this study experientially participated in multidisciplinary team-based rapid cycles of change, process mapping, data collection and analysis. Similar projects could offer students an opportunity to participate during medical school in a longitudinal quality improvement project to develop skills they will need as physicians to identify, participate and measure the effects of improvement efforts. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Long-term dynamics and destruction of marsh vegetation in the Kolokolkova Bay of the Barents Sea

2012 ◽  
pp. 66-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. A. Lavrinenko ◽  
O. V. Lavrinenko ◽  
D. V. Dobrynin
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Mean Value ◽  
Marsh Vegetation ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Species Composition And Structure

The satellite images show that the area of marshes in the Kolokolkova bay was notstable during the period from 1973 up to 2011. Until 2010 it varied from 357 to 636 ha. After a severe storm happened on July 24–25, 2010 the total area of marshes was reduced up to 43–50 ha. The mean value of NDVI for studied marshes, reflecting the green biomass, varied from 0.13 to 0.32 before the storm in 2010, after the storm the NDVI decreased to 0.10, in 2011 — 0.03. A comparative analysis of species composition and structure of plant communities described in 2002 and 2011, allowed to evaluate the vegetation changes of marshes of the different topographic levels. They are fol­lowing: a total destruction of plant communities of the ass. Puccinellietum phryganodis and ass. Caricetum subspathaceae on low and middle marches; increasing role of halophytic species in plant communities of the ass. Caricetum glareosae vic. Calamagrostis deschampsioides subass. typicum on middle marches; some changes in species composition and structure of plant communities of the ass. Caricetum glareosae vic. Calamagrostis deschampsioides subass. festucetosum rubrae on high marches and ass. Parnassio palustris–Salicetum reptantis in transition zone between marches and tundra without changes of their syntaxonomy; a death of moss cover in plant communities of the ass. Caricetum mackenziei var. Warnstorfia exannulata on brackish coastal bogs. The possible reasons of dramatic vegetation dynamics are discussed. The dating of the storm makes it possible to observe the directions and rates of the succession of marches vegetation.

Relation of Fatigue with Alexithymia and Depression in Psychiatric Outpatients

2007 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 539-545
Author(s):  
Thomas N. Wise ◽  
Michael J. Sheridan
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Psychosocial Stress ◽  
Multivariate Regression ◽  
Multivariate Regression Analysis ◽  
Psychiatric Outpatients ◽  
The Mean

The complaint of fatigue is common in community, primary care, and psychiatric settings. Fatigue is often associated with depression and psychosocial stress. This report investigated the role of alexithymia and depression in fatigue as reported in a sample of 151 psychiatric outpatients (75 men and 76 women) who completed all scales. The mean age of the sample was 45.5 yr. ( SD = 12.5), and mean education was 16.2 yr. ( SD = 2.4). Fatigue was inversely correlated with education (–.16) and positively correlated with depression (.44), anxiety (.30), and alexithymia (.35). However, in a multivariate regression analysis, only depression and alexithymia remained significant ( p ≤ .01).

Evaluation of Transient Elastography in Prediction Of De novo Recurrence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma after Radiofrequency Ablation

QJM ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 114 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia abdelaty Abdelkader ◽  
Moustafa Hamed Abdelaleem ◽  
Mohammed El-Gharib Abo El- maaty ◽  
Heba Ismail Aly ◽  
Sayed Ahmed Sayed
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Radiofrequency Ablation ◽  
Transient Elastography ◽  
P Value ◽  
Hepatic Decompensation ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Prediction Of Mortality ◽  
The Mean ◽  
One Year

Abstract Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common malignancy worldwide and it is also a common cause of death in patients with chronic liver disease. The curative treatment options for HCC that are currently available are surgical resection, liver transplantation and radiofrequency ablation .Despite progressive improvements in the efficacy of RFA, the survival of patients with HCC who undergo RFA remains disappointing, mainly due to frequent intrahepatic recurrence of HCC after RFA. Aim of the work To evaluate the role of transient elastography (as an indirect indicator to degree of liver fibrosis) in prediction of denovo recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma after radiofrequency ablation in hepatitis C related hepatocellular carcinoma .And to compare between transient elastography and other non invasive fibrosis indices in prediction of denovo recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma after radiofrequency ablation hepatitis C related hepatocellular carcinoma Patients and methods This prospective cohrt study was conducted on hepatocellular carcinoma patient, who underwent radiofrequency ablation in Tropical Medicine Department in Eldemerdash and Ain Shams Specialized Hospital, HCC clinic Ain Shams University Hospitals, Cairo, Egypt between march, 2017 and May, 2019. Data of the patient, who underwent radiofrequency ablation during the study period, were reviewed and the patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were enrolled into this study. The patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and underwent radiofrequency ablation were followed up for 12 months. Results TE revealed 28 patients with F4 and only 2 patients with F3, the mean measurement of liver stiffness was (22.45 ± 10.36) KPa. There was a significant negative correlation between LS and denovo recurrence of HCC (mean of LS in patients with complete response was 17.19 ± 3.32 and the mean of LS in patient with denovo recurrence was 36,94 ± 5.93,with the The best cut off value ≥24.65 (p value < 0.001)). There was no significant correlation between CDC, FIB4, API scores and denovo recurrence of HCC. Also it was found that the LS was significantly associated with prediction of manifestation of hepatic decompensation after RFA (means of LS in patient without manifestation decompensation after RFA (p value <0.001) .Regarding prediction of mortality, LS at cut off value > 42 .75 (p value = 0,031) was significantly associated with prediction of mortality after one year of RFA. As regard serum non invasive fibrosis indices our results showed correlation between FIB4 score and hepatic decompensation after one year of intervention (the mean of FIB4 score in patients ascites and jaundice was 6.05 ± 4.71 (p value = 0.05) ).Therewas no statistically significant correlation between CDS and API with hepatic decompensation after RFA .As regard role of serum non invasive fibrosis indices in prediction of mortality after RFA, FIB4 score, CDS and API were statistically non significant. Conclusion Our data suggest that LS measurement is a useful predictor of HCC de novorecurrence overall survival and possibility of hepatic decompensation after RFA

scholarly journals The Role of the Primary-Care Physician in Treating Relapses in Multiple Sclerosis Patients

2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 122-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah A. Morrow ◽  
Marcelo Kremenchutzky
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Primary Care Physicians ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Care Physician ◽  
Diagnosis And Treatment ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Tertiary Care Centers ◽  
Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common disabling neurologic disease with an overall prevalence in Canada of 240 in 100,000. Multiple sclerosis clinics are located at tertiary-care centers that may be difficult for a patient to access during an acute relapse. Many relapses are evaluated by primary-care physicians in private clinics or emergency departments, but these physicians' familiarity with MS is not known. Therefore, a survey was undertaken to determine the knowledge and experience of primary-care physicians regarding the diagnosis and treatment of MS relapses. A total of 1282 licensed primary-care physicians in the catchment area of the London (Ontario, Canada) Multiple Sclerosis Clinic were identified and mailed a two-page anonymous survey. A total of 237 (18.5%) responses were obtained, but only 216 (16.8%) of these respondents were still in active practice. Of these 216 physicians, only 9% reported having no MS patients in their practice, while 70% had one to five patients, 16.7% had six to ten, and 1.9% had more than ten (3.7% did not respond to this question). Corticosteroids were recognized as an MS treatment by 49.5% of the respondents, but only 43.1% identified them as a treatment for acute relapses. In addition, 31% did not know how to diagnose a relapse, and only 37% identified new signs or symptoms of neurologic dysfunction as indicating a potential relapse. Despite the high prevalence of MS in Canada, primary-care physicians require more education and support from specialists in MS care regarding the diagnosis and treatment of MS relapses.

scholarly journals Role of methyleprednisolone succinate in the management of acute spinal cord injury

1970 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 168-172
Author(s):  
NK Karn ◽  
BP Shrestha ◽  
GP Khanal ◽  
R Rijal ◽  
P Chaudhary ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Neurological Status ◽  
Acute Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Cord Injury ◽  
And Gender ◽  
One Year

Objective: To see the role of methyleprednisolone succinate in the management of acute spinal cord injury. Methods: A randomized control trial was done including the patients with acute spinal cord injury. They were divided into age and gender matched two groups. Patients with presence of active infection, associated open fracture, those on long term steroid and those who did not give consent to participate in the trial were excluded. One group received methyleprednisolone succinate within 8 hours of injury and another group did not receive the drug. Both the groups were managed nonoperatively. The neurological status of the patients was assessed at presentation, once spinal shock was over, at 6th week and 6th month and after one year according to ASIA scoring. Frankel grading was also assessed in every follow up. Conclusion: Methylprednisolone succinct prevents secondary cord injury to a great extent and hence its administration within 8 hours of injury results in a better functional (motor and sensory) outcome. Keywords: acute spinal cord injury; methyleprednisolone succinate DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hren.v9i3.5585   HR 2011; 9(3): 168-172

scholarly journals One-Year Visual and Refractive Outcomes following LASIK for Myopia and Myopic Astigmatism with MEL 90 versus Schwind Amaris 750S Excimer Laser: A Comparative Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Sheetal Brar ◽  
Dishitha P. Rathod ◽  
C. R. Roopashree ◽  
Sri Ganesh
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Clinical Outcomes ◽  
Excimer Laser ◽  
Infectious Keratitis ◽  
Safety And Efficacy ◽  
Refractive Outcomes ◽  
The Mean ◽  
One Year ◽  
Myopic Astigmatism

Purpose. To compare clinical outcomes following LASIK for myopia performed with MEL 90 vs. Schwind Amaris 750S excimer laser. Methods. Data were collected retrospectively for patients who underwent Femto-LASIK, using the MEL 90 and Schwind Amaris 750S excimer laser for correction of myopia and myopic astigmatism within the range of −1.00 to −10.00 D SE from January 2013 till June 2018. Outcomes were analysed at 12 months for safety, efficacy, enhancement rate, and long-term complications. Results. A total of 328 eyes of 328 patients were analysed. One hundred and sixty-three eyes were treated with Schwind Amaris and the remaining 165 eyes with the MEL 90 laser. Twelve months postoperatively, the mean UDVA, CDVA, residual SE, and cylinder in the Amaris group were −0.10 ± 0.09 logMAR, −0.14 ± 0.06 logMAR, −0.21 ± 0.22 D, −0.13 ± 0.18 D versus −0.05 ± 0.07 logMAR, −0.09 ± 0.08 logMAR, −0.23 ± 0.23 D, and −0.14 ± 0.21 D for the MEL 90 group ( p values >0.05). For the Amaris group, safety and efficacy indices were 1.12 and 1.02, whereas for the MEL 90 group, these indices were 1.08 and 1.00, respectively. No eye in either group had any postop flap-related complications, infectious keratitis, diffuse lamellar keratitis, or keratectasia. Two eyes in the Amaris and 4 eyes in MEL 90 group required enhancement for the progression of myopia. Conclusion. At 12 months, both Schwind Amaris 750S and MEL 90 lasers demonstrated comparable clinical outcomes for myopic LASIK in a single surgeon setting.

The context of healthcare

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-34
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Health Profile ◽  
Long Term Conditions ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
The Uk

This chapter begins by covering the UK health profile, then defines the key concepts in primary care and public health, and outlines the generic long-term conditions model. It provides a brief overview of the National Health Service, including differences in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. It covers current NHS entitlements for people from overseas, commissioning of services, and public health in a broader context. It also describes health needs assessment, and provides an overview of the services in primary care, the role of general practice, and other primary healthcare services. Further services, including those to prevent unplanned hospital admission, aid hospital discharge, those that support children and families, housing, social support, and care homes are all covered.

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