The Libyan journal of medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Comparison of the effects of modified constraint-induced movement therapy and intensive conventional therapy with a botulinum-a toxin injection on upper limb motor function recovery in patients with stroke.
Stroke is the second leading cause of mortality worldwide and one of the main causes of adult disability. Many studies have suggested that combination therapies provide better outcomes in patients with stroke than monotherapies. The combination of botulinum-A toxin (BTX) injection with rehabilitation methods, such as modified constraint-induced movement therapy (BTX-mCIMT), has emerged as a highly promising intervention for promoting motor recovery after stroke. ⋯ At the end of 4 weeks, the patients in the BTX-mCIMT group showed significantly higher mean FMA and BI assessment scores than the patients in the BTX-ICT group (P < 0.05). However, no significant statistical difference was observed in the MAS score of the patients in the two groups (P > 0.05). Our results indicated that while both BTX-mCIMT and BTX-ICT promoted motor function recovery in patients with stroke, BTX-mCIMT exerted higher therapeutic effects than BTX-ICT on motor function recovery and in the activities of daily living of patients with stroke.
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Comparative Study
A gap analysis of SDG 3 and MDG 4/5mortality health targets in the six Arabic countries of North Africa: Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Mauritania.
The United Nations Assembly adopted the Sustainable Development Goals to succeed the Millennium Development Goals in September 2015. From a European perspective, the development of health in the countries of North Africa are of special interest as a critical factor of overall social development in Europe's Mediterranean partners. In this paper, we address the mortality related SDG-3 targets, the likelihood to achieve them until 2030 and analyze how they are defined. ⋯ Although mortality statistics may be incomplete there is an impressive gradient from East to West showing Mauritania and deadly road traffic injuries as the most problematic areas. Given the large differences between countries baselines, we consider it preferable to set realistic targets to be achieved until 2030.
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Introduction: Asthma patient education is an essential component of asthma management, just as inhaler treatment adherence and inhaler technique education. These issues face challenges in the developed world communities and the literature demonstrates data of various validity supporting the need for educational activities. However, communities with poor health-care facilities and low socioeconomic status have seen little or no effort to tackle this challenging area of research. ⋯ Discussion & Conclusion: The study supports the feasibility and efficacy of asthma patient education in poor health-care circumstances at basic levels of asthma knowledge, adherence and inhaler technique. This interventional study is unique in the circumstances it was carried out under. Limitations include the large number of dropouts.
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The use of health information technology (HIT) is expected to deliver benefits for patients, nurses, physicians, and organizations, but the benefits of HIT can only be attained if nurses accept and intend to use it as they are the leading user-group. The use of the tablet is becoming commonplace in healthcare organizations to improve patient care. The current study incorporates Technology Acceptance Model2 (TAM2) with two antecedents, facilitating condition and personal, to identify and understand the factors that influence nurses' intention to use the Tablet PC. The survey methodology was used to collect data from the nurses working in a regional healthcare center in Taiwan. The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was employed to analyze the research framework. ⋯ But concerning the perceived ease of use, the insignificant path coefficient was reported. The finding also indicated that personal on the research model is much stronger than the subjective norm on Tablet PC performance. The proposed research framework contributes to the conclusive explanation for understanding nurses' intention to use. The current study brings perspectives from the technological and attitudinal differences that have largely been missing in the existing literature of the nurses' intention to use HIT. Thus, health care providers must take these factors into consideration as the findings of the current study advance theory and contribute to the basis for future study intended for enhancing our understanding of nurses' adoption behavior regarding HIT.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
The role of tacstd-2 level in hepatitis C patients (controlled clinical research).
Hepatitis C virus is one of the leading causes of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The tumor-associated calcium signal transducer 2 (Tacstd-2) molecule is thought to be involved in the expression of a number of molecules that facilitate transport of hepatitis C into the cell. The aim of this study was to investigate Tacstd-2 concentrations in hepatitis C patients, with and without cirrhosis, and compare with uninfected controls. ⋯ Liver transferase concentrations were higher in hepatitis C patients with a Tacstd-2 concentration <500 ng/U compared to those with a Tacstd-2 concentration >500 ng/U. In patients with hepatitis C, Tacstd-2 level was detected at higher serum concentrations than healthy individuals. The introduction of hepatitis C virus into the cell can be relatively easy in people with a higher serum concentration of Tacstd-2.