Respiratory care
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The terms sedentary behavior and physical inactivity have been confusingly mixed. Although the association between physical inactivity and mortality has been shown previously in subjects with COPD, this association had not yet been investigated with regard to sedentarism. The aim of this work was to investigate the impact of sedentary behavior on mortality of subjects with COPD and to propose a cutoff point of sedentarism with prognostic value. ⋯ Sedentary behavior was an independent predictor of mortality in subjects with COPD, even adjusting for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and a number of other variables. Mortality was higher in subjects with COPD who spend ≥8.5 h/d in activities requiring <1.5 MET. These findings may open room for future studies aiming at decreasing sedentary time as a promising strategy to reduce mortality risk in subjects with COPD.
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Lung clearance index (LCI), a measure of ventilation inhomogeneity derived from a multiple-breath washout test, is a promising tool for assessing airway function in patients with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis. However, it is unknown whether ventilation inhomogeneity could improve after successful elimination of excessive secretions within bronchiectasis. The objective of this work was to assess the short-term effects of lung secretion clearance using the autogenic drainage technique on standard lung function tests and LCI in subjects with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis. ⋯ In adults with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis and mucus hypersecretion, autogenic drainage improved ventilation inhomogeneity. LCI change may be the result of the maximum recruited lung volume and the amount of cleared mucus secretion. (ClinicalTrials.gov registration NCT02411981.).
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Cancer patients may require intensive care support for postoperative care, complications associated with underlying malignancy, or toxicities related to cancer therapy. The higher mortality rates found in this population than in the population of ICU patients without cancer may be attributable to confounding due to a higher prevalence of multiple organic dysfunctions at ICU admission in patients with malignancy; however, data regarding this hypothesis are scarce. Accordingly, we performed the present study to compare the crude and propensity score-matched mortality rates between adult subjects with and without cancer admitted to a mixed medical-surgical ICU. ⋯ The present study failed to show an association between malignancy and all-cause 30-d mortality rate in adult subjects admitted to a mixed medical-surgical ICU. The propensity score-matched analysis showed no evidence of excessive mortality due to cancer diagnosis.