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Despite the intention of international psoriasis treatment guidelines to cover all patients globally, disparities persist in the availability and accessibility of adequate therapy in many countries. The Global Healthcare Study on Psoriasis (GHSP) aims to study patient characteristics, disease impact, treatment accessibility and healthcare systems worldwide. This study provides a description and data analysis of 22 countries.
The GHSP cohort was initiated in 2020, and the number of recruiting centres has gradually grown. Participants are recruited by dermatologists at reference centres worldwide. Data are collected using a standardised assessment questionnaire comprising 88 items, administered by trained experts.
By 26 October 2024, cross-sectional data had been collected from 3950 psoriasis patients at 130 reference centres in 22 countries on six continents. The majority (55.7%) of patients were male, and the median (IQR) body mass index was 26.5 (23.7–30.1) kg/m2. The median (IQR) Psoriasis Area and Severity Index was 5.0 (2.0–11.4), and median (IQR) Dermatology Life Quality Index was 7.0 (2.0–14.0). Psoriatic arthritis was present in 20.2% of the patients and nail psoriasis in 36.7%. Additionally, 16.5% of patients were current smokers, and 26.4% reported regular alcohol consumption.
By identifying inequalities, special patient populations and country-specific differences, the GHSP will guide the development of strategies to enhance psoriasis care on a global level. Future directions include expanding the study to additional countries and sites worldwide, while transitioning into a long-term global registry of skin diseases, including atopic dermatitis and hidradenitis suppurativa, termed ‘Global Healthcare Registry on Skin Diseases’.
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) presents a global healthcare burden. Despite widespread use of non-insulin glucose lowering therapies, many individuals still require insulin to achieve recommended target glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c). Insulin injections improve HbA1c but can lead to problematic hypoglycaemia. The objective of this study is to determine whether fully closed-loop insulin delivery improves HbA1c at 26 weeks compared with standard insulin therapy with continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in adults with T2D.
This study adopts an open-label, multinational, randomised, single-period parallel design and aims to randomise 224 adults with T2D to either standard insulin therapy with CGM (control group) or fully closed-loop insulin delivery (intervention group) for a period of 26 weeks. Participants will complete a run-in period of 2–3 weeks wearing a masked CGM followed by randomisation to either the control or intervention group. The primary endpoint is the between-group difference in HbA1c at 26 weeks. Key endpoints include time in target glucose range (3.9–10.0 mmol/L), mean sensor glucose, time above range (>10.0 mmol/L) and non-inferiority for time below target (
The study has received ethical approval from the East of England Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Research Ethics Committee (24/EE/0149) in the UK. Ethical approval for non-UK site has been obtained by local Research Ethics Committees.
Results will be disseminated by peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations, and findings will be shared with people living with diabetes, healthcare providers and relevant stakeholders.
To map and synthesise the main recommendations for arterial blood gas (ABG) collection in intensive care units (ICUs).
A scoping review was conducted according to the PRISMA-ScR Checklist, supported with The PAGER framework and guided by the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology to ensure methodological rigour and analytical comprehensiveness.
Data collection was conducted from February to April 2024. The data sources included: Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Cochrane Library, PubMed Central, Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), Web of Science (WoS), SCOPUS, Science Direct, Virtual Health Library (VHL), Excerpta Medica database (Embase), CAPES Thesis and Dissertation Catalogue, Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD), Scientific Open Access Repository of Portugal (RCAAP), Theses Canada and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) repository.
Key findings recommend the radial artery as the preferred puncture site, an insertion angle of 30° to 45°, the use of 1 or 3 mL syringes and 20G or 23G gauge needles. Transport and storage at room temperature are advised. Cryoanalgesia and subcutaneous analgesia methods were found to be effective for pain management.
The review highlights the best practices for arterial blood gas collection in critical care. The synthesized evidence strengthens clinical practice, informs guidelines for intensive care nursing and promotes safer, higher-quality care for critically ill patients.
The evidence-based recommendations identified can enhance nursing care related to arterial blood gas collection. Adherence to these practices promotes safer, more humanised and evidence-based care during the procedure.
The report of this study followed the PRISMA-ScR Checklist.
There was no patient or public involvement in this scoping review.
Major haemorrhage is the leading cause of preventable death in trauma, and prehospital blood transfusion may improve survival and outcomes for patients with prolonged out-of-hospital times. Globally, there is increasing interest in the use of whole blood in the prehospital environment, with randomised controlled trials ongoing. However, the results of these studies may not be generalisable to the longer out-of-hospital times seen in the Canadian trauma environment. The aim of this trial is to determine the feasibility of performing a randomised clinical trial evaluating the use of leukocyte-reduced whole blood transfusion compared with component blood transfusion in the Canadian prehospital environment. The secondary objective is to explore whether whole blood transfusion is better in reducing the proportion of patients who die or require massive transfusion within 24 hours.
This is a multi-centre, open-label, randomised controlled feasibility trial. Patients aged 16 years or older will be eligible if they have suffered a major traumatic haemorrhage, are attended by the provincial air ambulance service and require a prehospital blood transfusion. The primary outcome is feasibility as measured by the following metrics: proportion of patients enrolled with full data collection, proportion of patients who received at least one prehospital transfusion prior to arriving at the receiving trauma centre, proportion of patients who completed transfusion of all assigned blood units, number of patients unable to be enrolled due to lack of whole blood availability and number of whole blood units produced for the study that were wasted or expired. The secondary outcome is a composite outcome of death (all-cause mortality) or receipt of massive transfusion (receipt of 10 units of blood or more) within the first 24 hours from randomisation. We plan to recruit 60 patients, with an anticipated post-randomisation exclusion of ~10 patients for traumatic cardiac arrest or who do not meet eligibility criteria.
Provincial ethics approval was obtained (Clinical Trials Ontario REB ID: CTO-4921). An opt-out consent model will be employed for participants. The SWiFT Canada trial will recruit 60 patients through the provincial air ambulance organisation in Ontario who are transported to one of the six participating lead trauma centres. It will investigate the feasibility of a pre-hospital transfusion clinical trial in Canada to compare the effectiveness of whole blood compared with component blood therapy in a future definitive trial.
ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT06495294 (
by Shirley Ge, Hope Lappen, Luz Mercado, Kaylee Lamarche, Theodore J. Iwashyna, Catherine L. Hough, Virginia W. Chang, Adolfo Cuevas, Thomas S. Valley, Mari Armstrong-Hough
BackgroundRacial and ethnic disparities in the delivery and outcomes of critical care are well documented. However, interventions to mitigate these disparities are less well understood. We sought to review the current state of evidence for interventions to promote equity in critical care processes and patient outcomes.
MethodsFour bibliographic databases (MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science Core Collection, CINAHL, and Embase) and a list of core journals, conference abstracts, and clinical trial registries were queried with a pre-specified search strategy. We analyzed the content of interventions by categorizing each as single- or multi-component, extracting each intervention component during review, and grouping intervention components according to strategy to identify common approaches.
ResultsThe search strategy yielded 11,509 studies. Seven-thousand seventeen duplicate studies were removed, leaving 4,491 studies for title and abstract screening. After screening, 93 studies were included for full-text review. After full-text review by two independent reviewers, eleven studies met eligibility criteria. We identified ten distinct intervention components under five broad categories: education, communication, standardization, restructuring, and outreach. Most examined effectiveness using pre-post or other non-randomized designs.
ConclusionsDespite widespread recognition of disparities in critical care outcomes, few interventions have been evaluated to address disparities in the ICU. Many studies did not describe the rationale or targeted disparity mechanism for their intervention design. There is a need for randomized, controlled evaluations of interventions that target demonstrated mechanisms for disparities to promote equity in critical care.
by Alicia Núñez García, Sofia de la Fuente García, Erfan Lowemi, Masood Masoodian, Renata Vieira, Aurea Rodrigues, Saturnino Luz
Background: While interventions have been designed which use extended reality (XR) technology in promoting physical, mental and social well-being through cultural heritage experiences, well-defined methodologies for the assessment of such interventions is lacking. Objectives: We present a protocol for evaluating the usability and effectiveness of an XR system that mediates and facilitates access to intangible cultural heritage experiences. We aim to assess the effects of these experiences on user well-being and attitudes across four case studies: ageing societies, sustainable tourism, disappearing communities, and immigration and multiculturalism. Methods and analysis: Participants will be randomly assigned to control or intervention groups. The effects of the XR intervention on well-being will be assessed through statistical analysis of the participants’ salivary cortisol and cortisone levels, physiological signals, and subjective ratings, both pre- and post-intervention and between control and intervention groups. Usability will be measured through a system usability scale. Speech will be recorded for qualitative and natural language processing analysis. Machine learning models will be developed for prediction of affect and well-being on multimodal data. Discussion: This is one of the first international and multidisciplinary studies to explore the effects of XR-mediated intangible cultural heritage experiences on well-being and attitudes towards issues of societal importance. One of the main strengths of this study is the range of data modalities it collects, and the range of methods it employs to analyse these data in a complementary manner, including qualitative, statistical and advanced machine learning methods. Conclusion: This protocol offers a method and four case studies to assess the potential of immersive XR experiences and interventions of intangible cultural heritage as contributors to increased well-being and as actors of societal change. It stands as a reference model for further similar interventions in the field.Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is common in pregnancy and is increasing in prevalence. It is associated with an increased risk of maternal and perinatal complications if not diagnosed and managed early. Most guidelines suggest making a diagnosis of GDM using an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy at which stage there still is an increased risk of complications. Increased beta-cell secretory product concentrations have been observed prior to changes in glycaemia and can potentially be used as an early marker to diagnose and assess risk of developing GDM.
The study was a prospective, longitudinal cohort study. OGTTs were carried out at visit one: 16–18 weeks and visit two: 24–28 weeks gestation in pregnant women with at least one risk factor for GDM [Body Mass Index >30 kg/m2, previous macrosomic baby (>4.5 kg), previous GDM, first degree relative with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)]. Blood sampling was performed at fasting, 30 min, 1 and 2 hours following a 75-g oral glucose load. Samples were analysed for glucose, total and intact proinsulin, insulin and C-peptide. Hormonal concentrations at visit 1 were compared between those that remained normal glucose tolerant (NGT) and those that progressed to GDM at visit 2 using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) area under the curve (AUC) to assess for discrimination between the two groups.
Unfortunately, a smaller than planned sample size was recruited due to the start of COVID-19 pandemic midway through the study. 83 pregnant women had OGTT at visit 1. Of these, 12 reached the threshold for GDM at visit 1 and were excluded. In total, data from 66 patients were included for analysis (5 Did Not Attend). Visit 1 hormone comparisons were carried out between 51 who remained NGT and 15 who progressed to GDM at visit 2. There were no significant differences at each time point in ROC AUC between the two groups for total and intact proinsulin and insulin. However, there were significant differences observed in C-peptide ROC AUC at 30 (p=0.041) and 60 min (p=0.003) between the two groups.
This study did not demonstrate significant increase in early proinsulin concentrations in patients that developed GDM. However, there were differences in C-peptide concentrations. The COVID-19 pandemic restricted the recruitment of patient numbers and further studies in a larger cohort will be needed to validate these findings.
El Cuidado Humanizado de Enfermería, como expresión del arte de cuidar, se caracteriza por entablar una relación eminentemente ética y de confianza en su interacción con el Otro. Medir este constructo ha sido el objetivo del instrumento Percepción de Comportamientos de Cuidado Humanizado de Enfermería (PCHE). El presente artículo muestra el proceso de construcción y de validación del instrumento, y su correlación teórica con los planteamientos filosóficos del cuidado humano de Jean Watson. El instrumento PCHE, en sus tres versiones, ha contado con la medición de validez facial y de contenido. En su tercera versión contó, además, con la validez de constructo y la medición de la confiabilidad, permitiendo concluir que el instrumento PCHE-III es confiable y mide las características asociadas al fenómeno del Cuidado humanizado en enfermería.
La maternidad es un momento decisivo que se puede presentar en la vida de las mujeres. Éste es el relato biográfico de María, una mujer de 35 años y en paro que vive junto a su marido en un pueblo de Granada. El objetivo ha sido conocer la vivencia de la maternidad a través de las palabras de la informante, visibilizando como un mismo proceso biológico y social, es vivido y sentido de forma particular por cada mujer en base a sus circunstancias personales, laborales y socio-familiares. Para construir el relato he realizado una entrevista semiestructurada, con preguntas abiertas abordando los temas principales que surgen al ser madre. Este tipo de relatos permite visibilizar las diferentes realidades y poder entender y empatizar con aquellas circunstancias que son ajenas a una persona pero que cobran significado cuando se conoce el contexto donde se desarrollan.
El Síndrome de Sjögren es una enfermedad autoinmune sistémica que conduce al Síndrome Sicca, combinación de sequedad en ojos, cavidad oral, faringe, laringe y vagina. Se presenta frecuentemente asociado a otros trastornos autoinmunes, como artritis reumatoide y lupus eritematoso. Afecta generalmente a mujeres caucásicas entre 40-50 años. La patogénesis es desconocida, pudiendo ser desencadenada por factores genéticos, ambientales e infecciones víricas. La sintomatología, difusa, dificulta el diagnóstico. El objetivo del estudio es describir y comprender la experiencia vivida por una joven ante el diagnóstico y evolución de su enfermedad. En el texto se describen las manifestaciones clínicas, la calidad de vida, la actividad profesional, y las perspectivas de futuro. El relato biográfico aportó a nuestro trabajo una visión integradora del cuidado centrada en lo que la paciente considera importante.
Objetivo principal: Evaluar si el uso de catéter venoso central (CVC) impregnado en antimicrobiano es útil para la reducción de la bacteriemia relacionada con el catéter en pacientes ingresados en la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos (UCI), e identificar el antimicrobiano más efectivo. Metodología: Se realizó una revisión sistemática en Bases Datos (CINAHL, PUBMED, CUIDEN, EMBASE, LILACS y SCIELO). Incluidos artículos de 2009 a 2017, inglés y español, que fuesen ensayos clínicos aleatorizados e incluyeran pacientes de UCI con CVC impregnado comparado con CVC convencional. Se evaluó la calidad metodológica de los artículos mediante la herramienta CASPE. Resultados principales: De los 8 estudios, 4 mostraron significancia en cuanto al uso de CVC impregnados para la reducción de infecciones relacionadas con el catéter. Dentro de los antimicrobianos usados, la minociclina-rifampicina muestra la mayor efectividad. Conclusión principal: El uso de CVC impregnado, puede ser efectivo en la reducción de infecciones en UCI. Dentro de las limitaciones de este tipo de catéter, a mayor número de luces y tiempo de mantenimiento de CVC, menor efectividad antimicrobiana.
FreshRSS 