Articles: prospective-studies.
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To quantify the dose-response associations between total physical activity and risk of breast cancer, colon cancer, diabetes, ischemic heart disease, and ischemic stroke events. ⋯ People who achieve total physical activity levels several times higher than the current recommended minimum level have a significant reduction in the risk of the five diseases studied. More studies with detailed quantification of total physical activity will help to find more precise relative risk estimates for different levels of activity.
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Review
Procalcitonin-guided therapy for the initiation of antibiotics in the ED: a systematic review.
Procalcitonin (PCT) is a new biomarker with a higher accuracy in the diagnosis of bacterial infections. Utilization of PCT may reduce the number of unnecessary antibiotics prescribed to patients and consequently may decrease the rise in antibiotic resistance. The aim of this systematic review is to determine if a PCT-guided algorithm can safely reduce the number of antibiotics prescribed to all patients with a suspected of infection in the emergency department (ED). ⋯ Procalcitonin-guided therapy in the ED is only studied in subpopulations, where it was effective and safe in adult patients with respiratory tract infections and not effective but safe nonetheless in specific pediatric populations. Nonadherence is a significant problem in prospective PCT-guided therapy studies. There is not enough evidence to use PCT-guided therapy in a general ED population.
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Hospitalizations for aspiration pneumonia have doubled among older adults. Using a bedside water swallow test (WST) to screen for swallowing-related aspiration can be efficient and cost-effective for preventing additional comorbidities and mortality. We evaluated screening accuracy of bedside WSTs used to identify patients at risk for dysphagia-associated aspiration. ⋯ Currently used bedside WSTs offer sufficient, although not ideal, utility in screening for aspiration. Consecutive sips with large volumes in patients who did not present with overt airway responses or voice changes appropriately ruled out risk of aspiration. Small volumes with single sips appropriately ruled in aspiration when clinical signs were present. Combining these bedside approaches may offer improved screening accuracy, but further research is warranted.
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The objectives of this systematic review and pooled analysis were to examine long-term survival, morbidity, and mortality following surgical resection of gastric cancer hepatic metastases and to identify prognostic factors that improve survival. ⋯ The observed improved survival rates following the resection of hepatic metastasis from gastric adenocarcinoma in selected patients merit a prospective study to formally address the survival benefits and the influence on quality of life of such approach.
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A large number of studies have examined the potential complications of calf deep vein thrombosis (DVT). There is no consensus on when or how to treat patients to prevent these complications. This systematic review assessed the rate of proximal propagation, pulmonary embolism, major bleeding and recurrence in patients with isolated calf DVT. ⋯ The literature on calf DVT is heterogeneous, limiting conclusions from data analysis. Adverse outcomes are infrequent and studies do not suggest that they are reduced by anticoagulation.