Health Problems During and After Travel: A Prospective Observational Study in a Travel Clinic in Portugal

Introduction: In order to improve the health of travellers during travel it is important to better understand the health problems faced by travellers in different destinations. The main objective of this study was to characterise the perceived health problems of travellers during and up to six months after travel on a pre-travel clinic in Lisbon, Portugal.Material and Methods: This is a prospective observational study. Participants were recruited among those travellers attending a pretravel clinic between May 2016 and April 2017, meeting the inclusion criteria (age over 18 years old and predicted time of stay from five to 90 days). Structured questionnaires were applied by telephone interviews, three and six months after arrival. Associations and their magnitude were sought between travel and traveller’s characteristics with total and specific health problems, using multiple logistic regression models.Results: Out of 364 participants who completed the study, 60% were under 37 years of age, and 87.9% presented a higher educationaldegree. Africa and Asia were travel destinations for 89.1% of travellers. Three months after travel, 39.3% confirmed some travel-acquired health problem, namely diarrhoea (26.6%) and unmeasured fever (12.4%). A malaria case was diagnosed, occurring 3.5 months after return. From a total of 189 travellers to countries with high risk of malaria and chemoprophylaxis recommendation, 65.6% adhered completely and 6.9% of those presenting fever during travel sought healthcare.Discussion: The proportion of travellers that became ill was lower compared to other published studies. Failure to follow a randomsampling method and the characteristics of the travel consultation with a particular profile of travellers in terms of level of education and ability to pay, challenges the external validity of the study.Conclusion: Health problems during or after travel occurred in 39.3% of travellers with diarrhoeal disease being the most common (26.6%). From our findings, the need for taking chemoprophylaxis for malaria or seeking health care in the presence of fever is not translated into appropriate action. The reasons are unclear and should be the subject of further research. Furthermore, research is needed with inclusion of other centres practicing travel medicine in Portugal, both in the pre-travel setting and others, in order to better understand the health risks associated with Portuguese traveller’s characteristics and destinations.

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Quality of Travel Health Advice in a French Travel Medicine and Vaccine Center: A Prospective Observational Study

Journal of Travel Medicine ◽

10.1111/j.1708-8305.2011.00591.x ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 76-83 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Marie‐Anne Bouldouyre ◽

Nathalie Colin De Verdière ◽

Juliette Pavie ◽

Nathalie De Castro ◽

Diane Ponscarme ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Observational Study ◽

Prospective Observational Study ◽

Travel Medicine ◽

Travel Health ◽

Health Advice

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Integrated Rehabilitation for Children with Cerebral palsy: A Prospective Observational Study

Journal of Korean Medicine ◽

10.13048/jkm.21038 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 42 (4) ◽

pp. 60-74

Author(s):

Hye-Yoon Lee ◽

Young-Ju Yun ◽

Yong-Beom Shin ◽

Soo-Yeon Kim ◽

Jun-hee Han ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cerebral Palsy ◽

Observational Study ◽

Motor Function ◽

Prospective Observational Study ◽

Health Problems ◽

System Level ◽

Gross Motor ◽

Gross Motor Function ◽

Treatment Type ◽

Children With Cerebral Palsy

Objectives: This study aimed to analyse: 1) the clinical effectiveness and safety of traditional Korean Medicine (TKM) and frequency of TKM therapies used and their relationship with conventional treatments.Methods: This prospective observational study enrolled children with cerebral palsy (CP) aged 6-78 months (n=126). The children who used herbal medication for >30 days or acupuncture treatment >12 sessions within 6 months were defined as the integrated rehabilitation (IR) group; the remaining participants were included in the conventional rehabilitation (CR) group.Results: Changes in the Gross Motor Function Measure-66 (GMFM-66) were greater in the IR group (6.4±6.1) than in the CR group (4.6±5.8). The reduction in the number of other health problems was greater in the IR group than in the CR group. The GMFM-66 improvement was greatest in gross motor function classification system level 1. There was no between-group difference in the frequency of rehabilitation therapy (10.9±6.6 and 12.0±9.9 in the IR and CR groups, respectively).Conclusion: TKM may offer additional benefits in terms of the GMFM-66 score and other health problems. However, there is a need for further randomized controlled trials involving a restricted CP type and a controlled treatment type and intensity to confirm these findings.

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Prospective observational study evaluating the predictive value of ankle branchial pressure index on the outcomes of diabetic foot ulcers

International Surgery Journal ◽

10.18203/2349-2902.isj20202527 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (7) ◽

pp. 2352

Author(s):

Vishnu S. Ravidas ◽

Samadarsi P. ◽

Ajayan G.

Keyword(s):

Wound Healing ◽

Observational Study ◽

Diagnostic Accuracy ◽

Diabetic Foot ◽

Prospective Observational Study ◽

Major Amputation ◽

Foot Ulcers ◽

Diabetic Foot Ulcers ◽

Pressure Index ◽

Study Participants

Background: The study was conducted to determine the diagnostic accuracy of ankle branchial pressure index (ABPI) in predicting major amputation and duration of wound healing in diabetic foot ulcers.Methods: 105 participants (30-85 years) admitted in general surgery inpatient with diabetic foot ulcers during 18 months were enrolled in the present prospective observational study. Institutional ethics committee approved the study and written informed consent was obtained from all study participants. Data was analyzed using R and the tests of significance were chi square test and ANOVA. Area under curve (AUC) of receiver operator characteristic (ROC) was used to describe the diagnostic accuracy of ABPI. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The mean ABPI of study participants was 0.7 with 23.8% participants having normal ABPI. Lower ABPI was associated with longer duration of ulcer healing (p=0.003). All participants with ABPI <0.3 required more than 120 days for wound healing (p<0.001) and required above knee amputation (p<0.001). AUC ROC of ABPI and major amputation is 0.987 with 92.9% sensitivity and 98.9% specificity. Significantly higher proportion of participants with ABPI ≤0.48 underwent major amputation. The AUC of ROC of ABPI on duration of wound healing was 0.953 with 84.9% sensitivity and 98.1% specificity. Conclusions: ABPI can be used as a routine tool in all patients with diabetic foot ulcers for screening peripheral arterial disease so that the decision for amputation can be made early during diabetic foot ulcers.

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Effect of Lactococcus lactis Strain Plasma on HHV-6 and HHV-7 Shedding in Saliva: A Prospective Observational Study

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms9081683 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 1683

Author(s):

Hiroki Miura ◽

Masaru Ihira ◽

Kei Kozawa ◽

Yoshiki Kawamura ◽

Yuki Higashimoto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dendritic Cells ◽

Salivary Gland ◽

Observational Study ◽

Lactococcus Lactis ◽

Prospective Observational Study ◽

Viral Dna ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Lactis Strain ◽

Study Participants ◽

Second Period

HHV-6 and HHV-7 can reactivate in the salivary gland in response to various host stresses. Lactococcus lactis strain Plasma (LC-Plasma) can activate plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) and decrease viral infection. We investigated whether LC-Plasma intake could decrease HHV-6 and HHV-7 reactivation in the salivary gland. A total of 54 healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study. Participants took LC-Plasma granules daily for 6 weeks. Saliva samples were collected from subjects weekly for 4 weeks before (first), during (second), and after (third period) LC-Plasma intake. There was a 2-week interval between the first and second periods and a 3-week interval between the second and third periods. Mean salivary HHV-6 and HHV-7 DNA loads were compared among the three observation periods. In the first period (baseline data of viral DNA shedding), HHV-6 DNA shedding was significantly higher in subjects under 40 years old, and HHV-7 DNA shedding was significantly higher in males. HHV-6 and HHV-7 DNA loads did not significantly differ between periods. Meanwhile, in a subgroup analysis of the subjects under 40 years old, HHV-6 DNA load was significantly lower in the second period than in the first period. LC-Plasma decreases HHV-6 reactivation in the salivary glands in younger adults.

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A PROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY ON MEDICATION USE PATTERN IN PATIENTS WITH RISK FACTORS OF CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE

Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research ◽

10.22159/ajpcr.2021.v14i12.43513 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 144-148

Author(s):

AVEZ ALI ◽

PAWAN KUMAR ◽

JAVED AKHTAR ANSARI ◽

MEENAZ FATIMA ◽

FIRDOUS IRRUM

Keyword(s):

Chronic Kidney Disease ◽

Kidney Disease ◽

Observational Study ◽

Prospective Observational Study ◽

World Health ◽

Medication Usage ◽

Essential Drug List ◽

Usage Patterns ◽

Health Organization ◽

Study Participants

Objectives: The current study was undertaken to review and assess the medication usage pattern in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods: A 12-month prospective observational study was carried out at Shadan Teaching and General Hospital, Peerancheru (Hyderabad), involving 384 CKD patients considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Medication evaluation for optimization was done using the World Health Organization (WHO) core prescribing indicators. Data collected were entered using Microsoft Excel. Descriptive statistics such as mean, percentage, and standard deviation (SD) were used to present sociodemographic characteristics of the study participants. Results: Out of the total of 384 patients, 249 (65%) were male and 135 (35%) were female with a mean age of 58.28 (SD: 13.12). A total of 384 prescriptions were scrutinized with a total of 3634 drugs, out of which drugs acting on the cardiovascular system were the most prescribed drugs (36.37%). The average number of drugs per prescription was found to be 9.08 considering the total number of prescriptions. The percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name was 15.57%. The percentage of encounters with antibiotics was 25%, whereas the percentage of encounters with injections was 86%. The percentage of drugs prescribed from the Essential Drug List or Formulary was found to be 26.36%. Conclusion: Assessment of medication usage patterns using the WHO core indicators in CKD patients helps to reinforce the current hospital guidelines for the optimal usage of medications. The introduction of a clinical pharmacist along with a multidisciplinary team provides intensive care to the patients and helps to improve the clinical outcome.

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