scholarly journals A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study of low dose mirtazapine once daily in patients of major depressive disorders on escitalopram

Author(s):  
Mallikarjuna Rao I. ◽  
Usha Kiran Prayaga ◽  
Dharma Rao Uppada ◽  
Ramachandra Rao E. ◽  
B. L. Kudagi

Background: The SSRIs being used as 1st line therapy in treatment of depression have delayed therapeutic effect which makes the patient vulnerable to an increased risk of suicide and decreased adherence to the treatment and will prematurely discontinue the therapy. The present study was conducted to evaluate if low dose mirtazapine-escitalopram combination therapy has any add on benefit over monotherapy with escitalopram.Methods: In a single-centered, comparative study involving patients with depression attending the out-patient after screening and exclusion, 60 eligible patients were randomly assigned to receive tablet mirtazapine 7.5 mg plus tablet escitalopram 10 mg intervention or tablet escitalopram 10 mg plus placebo intervention in a double-blind 6-week treatment phase. The primary outcome measure was the change in the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score from baseline. Participants were evaluated at baseline, 1st, 2nd,4th and 6th week. Results were analyzed using Chi-Square test for adverse effects and independent t-test analysis for efficacy parameter.Results: In the analysis of results at 6th week the numbers of patients achieved remission in mirtazapine group are more with a p-value of 0.018 which is significant and the numbers of responders in mirtazapine group are also more which is statistically significant on chi-square test. There is no significant difference was observed between the two groups with reference to occurrence of adverse effect.Conclusions: Adding low dose mirtazapine has an added benefit in terms of efficacy and getting remission early with more number of responders in the treatment of major depression.

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
Muhammad Tahir ◽  
Aamer Ali Khattak ◽  
Erum Monis ◽  
Sana Gul

Objective: To perform genotyping for MTR A2756G polymorphism and identification of risk factors associated with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Study Design: Cross section, comparative study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out at the Department of Biochemistry of Quaid-i- Azam University, Islamabad from October 2014 to August 2015. Materials and Methods: In this study, 292 diagnosed patients HNSCC and 324 normal individuals without any history of cancer were enrolled. Blood samples of patients and controls were collected in ethylenediamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) and DNA was extracted using conventional method. All samples were genotyped for the MTR A2756G polymorphism using PCR-RFLP. Frequency of polymorphism was compared between HNSCC patients andcontrols. MultipleLogisticRegression(MLR)andchi-squaretestwasperformedtoexaminetheassociation of MTR A2756G polymorphism with risk factor. Results: Chi-square test of independence showed statistically significant difference among the variables of age, smoking and MTR A2756G genotype (p-value<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that smoking (adjusted OR, 3.7; 95% CI, 2.3 – 6.0), age groups 41 – 50 years (adjusted OR, 3.6; 95% CI, .9 – 6.7) and > 60 years (adjusted OR, 3.5; 95% CI, 1.7 – 7.3), MTR 2756 AG genotype (adjusted OR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.3 – 3.5) is associated with increased risk of HNSCC. Conclusion: The results suggest that the genetic polymorphism MTR A2756G is associated with the occurrence of HNSCC in the Pakistani population while the individuals between 40 to 50 years of age and those who are smokers are at a greater risk of developing HNSCC.


2019 ◽  
Vol 73 ◽  
pp. 15-19
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Międzybrodzki ◽  
Milena Celmer ◽  
Mateusz Patyk ◽  
Jurand Silicki ◽  
Rafał Mazur ◽  
...  

Objective: The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the application of hydro-CT using sinogram-affirmed iterative reconstruction (SAFIRE) in the diagnosis of gastric cancer. Material/Methods: Low-dose hydro-CT was performed on 30 patients with suspicion of gastric cancer in gastroscopy. The raw data were reconstructed with SAFIRE. Images were retrospectively analyzed by two experienced radiologists in tandem who were blinded to the gastroscopy results. The results of the gastric biopsy were treated as a standard of reference. We compared the diagnostic accuracy of hydro-CT and endoscopy for the diagnosis of gastric cancer using the chi-square test with Yates’ correction. A P value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The diagnosis of gastric cancer was confirmed in a histopathological examination in 25 (83.3%) patients, while in the remaining 5 cases (16.7%) benign gastric ulceration or gastritis was diagnosed. In 23 cases (92%) a correct diagnosis of gastric cancer was made in hydro-CT. The accuracy of endoscopy was at the level of 83.3%. There was no significant difference in the correctness of the diagnosis of gastric cancer in endoscopy and hydro-CT (p>0.05). For the diagnosis of gastric cancer with hydro-CT, sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 80%, a positive predictive value of 95.8%, and a negative predictive value of 100% were calculated. Conclusions: Low-dose hydro-CT using SAFIRE may be considered as a valuable diagnostic method for the diagnosis of gastric cancer, especially for patients who have contraindications to endoscopy or gastric biopsy.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 320
Author(s):  
Farhati Farhati ◽  
Riska Resmana ◽  
Dian Nurhadianti

<p>Low consumption of vegetables and fruit causes an increased risk of chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. The results showed that the majority of pregnant women (52.9%) rarely consume vegetables and fruit in sufficient quantities as recommended. Therefore, it is necessary to provide education about the importance of vegetables and fruits consumption, one of which is through the Information Motivation Behavioral Skill (IMB) approach. This study aims to determine the effect of health education with the Information Motivation Behavior Skill (IMB) approach to increasing knowledge and consumption patterns of vegetables and fruits in pregnant women. This research is a quasi-experimental study with pre-post test design with control groups conducted in pregnant women in the city of Bandung with 60 samples using the observation sheet and questionnaire instruments. Data analysis used the chi-square test. The result of this study indicates that there are significant differences in knowledge and patterns of consumption of vegetables and fruit in pregnant women between the control and treatment groups with a p-value&lt;0.05. Information Motivation Behavior Skill (IMB) Health Education Model approach has a role in increasing the knowledge and consumption patterns of vegetables and fruits in pregnant women.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-56
Author(s):  
Türkan SEZEN ERHAMZA ◽  
Kübra A ARSLAN ÇARPAR

Introduction: The study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and awareness of orthodontics, a specialty of dentistry,amongst Medical Students. Materials and Method: A sample of 550 students (279 female, 226 male aged between 18 and 36 years) were attented.Of the subjects, 58.6% (n = 296) were preclinical students, while 41.4% (n = 209) were clinical students. The students were informed about the questionnaire and asked to fill in the questionnaire forms. For the comparison of data between groups (gender, level of education), the chi-square test was used. A chi-square test was used for statistical evaluation and the p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result: 385 students (76.2%) had heard the term orthodontics although 41.2% of the subjects knew that orthodonticswas concerned with malocclusions and their treatment. The question about treatment procedures was answeredas scaling by 35.8%, tooth polishing by 40%, tooth aligning by 89.9% of the students. The percentage of knowingorthodontics to be related to tooth aligning showed a significant difference between female and male (p = 0.006), andpreclinical and clinical students (p = 0.033). Of the participants, 42.8% thought that dentures, 83% brackets, 78.8% ofremovable appliances were used by orthodontists. Conclusion: Our results have shown that medical students should have more information about orthodontics, aspecialty of dentistry.


2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 159 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.A. Martinez ◽  
J.M. Vazquez ◽  
I. Parrilla ◽  
C. Cuello ◽  
M.A. Gil ◽  
...  

A new procedure for nonsurgical deep intrauterine insemination (DUI) in non-sedated sows has recently been reported (Martinez et al. 2002 Reproduction 123, 163–170). In comparison to traditional artificial insemination (AI), using this procedure, a 20-fold reduction in the number of spermatozoa inseminated can be used without a decrease in fertility when hormonally treated post-weaning estrous sows are used. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of DUI under field conditions. In Experiment 1, crossbred sows (2–6 parity) were weaned at 20.75 ± 0.06 days. Estrous detection was performed once per day, beginning 3 days after weaning. Sows with a weaning to estrus interval of 4–5 days were selected to be inseminated. A total of 190 sows were inseminated at 12, 24, and 36 h after onset of estrus using one of the following two regimes: (1) DUI with 150 × 106 fresh spermatozoa in 5 mL of BTS (n = 95) and (2) Traditional AI with 3 × 109 fresh spermatozoa in 100 mL of BTS (n = 95) prepared from the same semen samples used for the DUI group. Farrowing rates (FR) and litter sizes (LTS; mean ± SEM) from both groups were compared using chi-squared test and ANOVA, respectively. There was no significant difference in the FR between groups (83.2 and 86.3% for DUI and AI groups, respectively). However, a decrease (P < 0.001) in the LTS was observed in sows inseminated by the DUI procedure (9.8 ± 0.29 and 10.9 ± 0.17, respectively). In Experiment 2, seventy one natural post-weaning estrus sows were used. Fifty-five sows were DUI inseminated three times with 150 (n = 17), 300 (n = 19), or 600 (n = 19) × 106 spermatozoa in 5, 10, or 20 mL of BTS, respectively. The remaining sows (n = 16) were traditionally inseminated. On Day 6 after estrus, sows were subjected to laparotomy and the tips of both uterine horns were flushed in order to evaluate pregnancy rate (PR: percentage of sows with at least 4 viable embryos) and fertilization rate (ratio of viable embryos to the total number of embryos and oocytes). PR was similar in all the groups, ranging from 84.2% (DUI 300 × 106 spermatozoa group) to 94.7% (DUI 600 × 106 spermatozoa group). Fertilization rate and the percentage of bilateral fertilization after DUI with 600 × 106 spermatozoa did not differ from those of the AI group (97.8 and 100% vs. 98.4 and 100%, respectively), but a significant decrease in both parameters (P < 0.05; chi-square test) was observed in sows inseminated with 300 (94.3 and 87.5%) or 150 (84.4 and 66.7%) × 106 spermatozoa. In conclusion, DUI with 150 × 106 spermatozoa offers similar FR but a lower LTS in sows with natural estrus in comparison with those parameters obtained when traditional AI is used. The lower litter size could be related to the low percentage of bilateral fertilization observed in that group. This work was supported by CDTI 020003.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. 1030-1036
Author(s):  
Galih Aktama ◽  
Henky Agung Nugroho ◽  
Muhammad David Perdana Putra

The pandemic that began in late 2019, COVID-19, affects all patients, including cancer patients. Patients with cancer that continues to spread and  there is no other effective alternative treatment must undergo surgery so that cancer does not get worse. Given this problem, many health care centers have developed a protocol system in the form of a COVID-19-free surgical route. This study is a retrospective cohort study comparing the incidence of pulmonary complications in patients undergoing elective cancer surgery at dr. Moewardi Surakarta before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study sample was adult patients  aged ≥ 18 years which underwent elective surgical procedures with the aim of curative cancer starting before COVID-19 (March 2019-February 2020) until the time the COVID-19 pandemic emerged (March 2020 - February 2021). The data obtained were 768 patients. Of these patients, 384 were classified as having a COVID19-free operation route during the pandemic, and 384 others underwent elective surgery in the pre-pandemic period. Based on the Chi-Square test, a p-value of 0.850 was obtained (P>0.05) which shows that there is significant difference between cases of pulmonary complications in surgical patients before and after the pandemic who were carried out through the COVID-19-free protocol route. In conclusion, there is no significant change in effect of the covid-19 free operation path protocol on the incidence of lung complications in postoperative elective patients at dr. Moewardi Hospital Surakarta, although this patented and mandatory protocol can reduce cancer patients’ morbidity and mortality who undergoing elective surgery during a pandemic.


2019 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 405-415
Author(s):  
Archita Dey ◽  
Mahua Chanak ◽  
Kaustav Das ◽  
Koel Mukherjee ◽  
Kaushik Bose

Abstract Lip print pattern (LPP) is unique to each individual. For decades, forensic experts have used LPP for personal identification to solve criminal cases. However, studies investigating ethnic variation in LPP are scanty. Our study wanted to investigate variation in LPP between two ethnic groups, Oraon tribals and Bengalee Hindus, residing in West Bengal, India. A total of 280 participants included 112 Oraons and168 Bengalee Hindus of both. Prints were taken using dark shaded lipstick and transparent cellophane tape and recorded into white A4 sheet. Prints were divided into four quadrants and examined by magnifying glass. For analysis of results, classification of Suzuki and Tsuchihashi was followed. A p value of 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. It was observed that Type II pattern was dominant in first and second quadrants in both ethnic groups, irrespective of sex. Combination of Type II+III was found to be the most common pattern in males among both Oraons (16.2%) and Bengalee Hindus (12.2%) whereas in females Type II pattern (25.0%) among Oraons and Type III pattern among Bengalee Hindus (11.4%) was the most common. Chi square test showed statistically significant difference among females (p<0.05) and in third and fourth quadrants among males (p<0.01) of both ethnic groups. Our investigation clearly demonstrated sex and ethnic variations in LPP. Further studies are required to investigate ethnic variation in LPP among the various populations groups, both tribal as well as non-tribal, from different regions of India.


2015 ◽  
Vol 87 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Santosh Kumar ◽  
Rajesh Roat ◽  
Swati Agrawal ◽  
Kumar Jayant ◽  
Ravimohan S. Mavuduru ◽  
...  

Abstractwas to assess efficacy of Tadalafil alone versus Tadalafil plus Pentoxifylline in the treatment of erectile dysfunction by using self administered IIEF-5 questionnaire.Two hundred and thirty seven patients presenting with ED at andrology OPD were evaluated for ED by a self administered IIEF (International Index of Erectile Function) questionnaire. Patients were systematically randomized by computer generated random table into two groups groups namely, group A: Tadalafil only group, group B: combination of Tadalafil + Pentoxifyl-line. All the patients were re-assessed by IIEF-5 questionnaire after 8 weeks of medical therapy. Statistical analysis was performed using student’s unpaired t-test, paired t-test, chi square test. p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Two hundred and thirty seven patients were included in the present study, in group A: 92 patients (78.6%) showed improvement in their IIEF score after 8 weeks of tadalafil treatment. While in group B, overall 104 patients(86.6%) showed improvement after combination of Tadalafil and Pentoxifylline. There was a statistically significant difference of percentage change in IIEF score was seen in group B (group A 90.7±15.2%, group B 95.6±13.4%; p value – 0.014). We found this difference even more statistically significant in patients with severe ED (group A 72.7±47.2%, group B 132.3±54.3%; p value – 0.000). There was no significant difference in between the two groups with regards to occur-rence of side effects.Both tadalafil and combination of Tadalafil + Pentoxifylline improve erectile function in patients of ED. Patients with severe ED showed much significant improvement in erectile function with combination therapy.


Author(s):  
Rajib Chakraborty

The present study measured the partial (configural, metric and scalar) invariance of Academic Delay of Gratification Scale (ADOGS) for college students prepared by Hefer Bembenutty and Stuart Karabenick (1996), with respect to gender. 488 students (277 boys and 211 girls) from engineering, law, pharmacy, and education faculties of Sultan Ul Uloom Education Society, Hyderabad, were samples of the study. Confirmatory Factor Analysis framework was used to test the three invariance, one at a time, using SPSS AMOS Ver.23. This was done by constraining the factor structure, factor loadings and intercepts for the genders boys and girls simultaneously. The SPSS AMOS CFA test provided Chi-square value and degree of freedom for the unconstrained and the constrained structures. By comparing the difference in the Chi-square test p-value for a degree of freedom of the constrained factor structure with the unconstrained structure’s Chi-Square p-value and its degree of freedom using an excel sheet calculator of Chi-square test available on the Internet, the measurement invariance of the instrument was verified. The findings of the study reveal that the scale is configural and metric invariant, as there is no significant difference between constrained and unconstrained structures. However, the scale is not scalar invariant. The educational implications are discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Mansoureh Mirzadeh ◽  
Najmeh Shahini ◽  
Masoud Kashani Lotf Abadi ◽  
Maryam Tavakoli ◽  
Arash Javanbakht ◽  
...  

<p>Smoking habits are common in schizophrenic patients. Nicotine can suppress negative symptoms and cognitive impairments. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of bupropion on cognitive function in schizophrenic patients.<strong> </strong>This study is a double blind randomized controlled trial in a large referral psychiatric university hospital in Iran. Ninety smoker schizophrenic patients were randomly allocated (based on DSM -IV TR criteria) in two groups (46 patients for case group and 44 patients in control group). They get risperidone up to 6 mg/d and bupropion up to 400 mg/d .clinical assessment (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Brief psychiatric rating scale (BPRS) were taken in beginning of study, 14<sup>th</sup> and 28<sup>th</sup> days of study. Cognitive assessment (Stroop, Digit Span, and Wechsler, Wisconsin) were taken in begging of study, the days 2<sup>nd</sup>, 7<sup>th</sup>, 14<sup>th</sup>, 28<sup>th</sup>. All data were analyzed by SPSS Ver. 17 with analytic and descriptive tests. Mean age of patients was 37.66±1.01. Mean duration of disorder was 11.63±.98 years. The scores were significantly lower at the day 28<sup>th</sup> compared to the beginning of the study in both groups in Wechsler, Stroop color word , Stroop word , Stroop color , BPRS, PANSS p value ≤0.05 .The difference between the two treatments was not significant as indicated by the effect of group, the between-subjects factor<strong> </strong><strong>p </strong>value ≥0.05. In this study, the side effects were examined and there was no significant difference between the two groups p value ≥0.05.<strong> </strong>Augmentation of bupropion to routine treatment improves cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia in abstinence of tobacco.</p>


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