Plos One
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Comparative Study
Occurrence of medication errors and comparison of manual and computerized prescription systems in public sector hospitals in Lahore, Pakistan.
The knowledge of medication errors is an essential prerequisite for better healthcare delivery. The present study investigated prescribing errors in prescriptions from outpatient departments (OPDs) and emergency wards of two public sector hospitals in Lahore, Pakistan. A manual prescription system was followed in Hospital A. ⋯ In hospital B, the OPD had 39% medication errors and the emergency department had 73.5% errors; this unexpected difference between the emergency ward and OPD of hospital B was mainly due to the inclusion of 69.4% omissions of route of administration in the prescriptions. The incidence of prescription overdose was approximately 7%-19% in the manual system and approximately 8% in semi and fully electronic system. The omission of information and incomplete information are contributors of prescribing errors in both manual and electronic prescriptions.
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We previously developed and validated the Oxford NOTECHS rating system for evaluating the non-technical skills of an entire operating theatre team. Experience with the scale identified the need for greater discrimination between levels of performance within the normal range. We report here the development of a modified scale (Oxford NOTECHS II) to facilitate this. The new measure uses an eight-point instead of a four point scale to measure each dimension of non-technical skills, and begins with a default rating of 6 for each element. We evaluated this new scale in 297 operations at five NHS sites in four surgical specialities. Measures of theatre process reliability (glitch count) and compliance with the WHO surgical safety checklist were scored contemporaneously, and relationships with NOTECHS II scores explored. ⋯ Oxford NOTECHS II provides good discrimination between teams while retaining reliability and correlation with other measures of teamwork performance, and is not confounded by technical performance. It is therefore suitable for combined use with a technical performance scale to provide a global description of operating theatre team performance.
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Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) has been identified as a strong marker of cardiovascular disease; however, no data are available concerning the role of GDF-15 in the occurrence of organ dysfunction during coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) associated with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). ⋯ During cardiac surgery associated with CPB, GDF-15 levels increased substantially and were associated with markers of cardiac injury and renal dysfunction.
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The prevalence of back pain is constantly increasing and a public health problem of high priority. In Austria there is a lack of empirical evidence for the development of back pain and its related factors. The present study aims to investigate trends in the prevalence of back pain across different subpopulations (sex, age, obesity). ⋯ These results help to understand the development of back pain in Austria and can be used to plan controlled promotion programs. Further monitoring is recommended in order to control risk groups and plan target group-specific prevention strategies. In Austria particular emphasis should be on obese individuals. We recommend conducting prospective studies to confirm our results and investigate causal relationships.
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Healthy household contacts (HHC) of individuals with Tuberculosis (TB) with Tuberculin Skin Test (TST) conversions are considered to harbor latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), and at risk for TB. The immunologic, clinical, and public health implications of TST reversions that occur following Isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) remain controversial. ⋯ TST reversion following IPT is common following primary Mtb infection and associated with unique patterns of Mtb-induced IFN-γ production. We have demonstrated that immune responses to primary Mtb infection are heterogeneous, and submit that prospective longitudinal studies of cell mediated immune responses to Mtb infection be prioritized to identify immune phenotypes protective against development of TB disease.