Journal of evaluation in clinical practice
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Responses to experimental pain have suggested central and peripheral sensitisation in adult patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). Recent studies have proposed an algometry-derived dynamic measure of pain sensitisation, slowly repeated evoked pain (SREP), which is useful in the discrimination of painful conditions related to central sensitisation. Pain and fatigue are two symptoms that affect the general functioning of patients with SCD most significantly, however, research about experimental dynamic pain measures and their relation to the main symptoms of SCD (pain and fatigue) is still scarce. ⋯ Pain threshold and tolerance did not discriminate between patients and healthy individuals, but were useful for predicting fatigue severity in SCD. The SREP protocol provides a useful dynamic measure of pain for the discrimination and detection of enhanced pain sensitisation in patients with SCD, which could contribute to more personalised pain evaluations and treatment for these patients.
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Premenstrual syndrome is a women's health problem affecting women of reproductive age. Early traumas may have negative effects on women's health. Childhood traumas are thought to be an important risk factor for the emergence of premenstrual syndrome. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between premenstrual syndrome and childhood traumas in women. ⋯ Childhood traumas were found to be an important factor affecting the occurrence of premenstrual syndrome and exacerbating its symptoms. Early detection of childhood traumas may prevent long-term problems that may occur in individuals.
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Cancer patients experience substantial psychological distress which causes the reduction of the quality of life. However, the risk of psychological distress has not been well predicted especially in young- and middle-aged gynaecological cancer patients. This study aimed to develop a prediction model for psychological distress in young- and middle-aged gynaecological cancer patients using the artificial neural network (ANN). ⋯ Compared with the LR model, the ANN model shows obvious superiority across all assessment index outcomes, and it may be used as a decision-support tool for early identification of young- and middle-aged gynaecological cancer patients suffering from psychological distress.
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Observational Study
Implementation of an Early Referral Programme for Patients With Hand Arthralgia.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a progressive autoimmune inflammatory disease. According to the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), the stages of RA progression include pre-RA, preclinical RA, inflammatory arthralgia, arthralgia with positive antibodies, arthralgia suspected of progressing to RA, undifferentiated arthritis and finally established RA. According to the Community Oriented Program for Control of Rheumatic Diseases (COPCORD), the prevalence of RA in Mexico is 1.6% [2], with approximately 10% of health problems addressed at the primary care level. ⋯ The implementation of this early referral programme significantly reduced the time in months for patients to access rheumatologic care.
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Pneumonia is the primary cause of pediatric hospitalization and the most frequent cause of death among children under the age of five in China. The parental discharge teaching quality and discharge readiness have a significant impact on children's health outcomes and readmission. ⋯ Pediatricians are encouraged to consider this outcome to develop targeted interventions that improve parental discharge teaching, discharge readiness and post-discharge outcomes for children with pneumonia.