Medicine
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Participation in volunteer activity has positive effects on health among elderly. Few studies have investigated the association between volunteer activity and depression among Chinese elderly. This study aimed to examine the association between volunteer activity and depression among the elderly in China regarding rural-urban differences. ⋯ After adjustment for all covariates, our results revealed that almost daily participation in formal volunteer activities was negatively associated with depression among urban elderly (B = -2.69, SE = 1.05, P = .010); almost daily caring for a sick or disabled adult was positively associated with depression among both urban and rural elderly (urban:B = 3.13, SE = 1.54, P = .043; rural:B = 2.56, SE = 1.18, P = .031). These findings suggested that there was a negative association between formal volunteer activity and depression among urban elderly, while there was a positive association between caring for a sick or disabled adult and depression among both urban and rural elderly. The government should take effective measures to encourage the elderly to participate in formal volunteer activities to prevent them from depression.
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Retrospective cohort study. Full-endoscopic decompression of lumbar spinal canal stenosis is being performed by endoscopic surgeons as an alternative to micro-lumbar decompression in the recent years. The outcomes of the procedure are reported by few authors only. ⋯ There were 10 patients who had grade I stable listhesis preoperatively that did not progress at follow-up. No other complications like infection, hematoma formations etc. were observed in any patient. Full endoscopic outside-in decompression method is a safe and effective option for lumbar central canal stenosis with advantages of minimal invasive technique.
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Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic affecting numerous countries around the world. This study elaborates Taiwan's epidemiological characteristics from the 2020 to 2021 COVID-19 pandemic from human, temporal, and geographical dimensions. Big data for cases were obtained from a public database from the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in April 2021. ⋯ This is the first report comparing imported and domestic cases of COVID-19 from surveillance data from the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control during January 2020 and March 2021. It illustrates that individuals infected during overseas travel are the main risk factors for the spread of COVID-19 in Taiwan. The study also highlights the importance of longitudinal and geographically extended studies in understanding the implications of COVID-19 transmission for Taiwan's population.
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To examine the effects of multidisciplinary approach and adjunct methods, on the surgical strategy, complications and treatment success of parathyroid surgery. Patients, who were operated for primary hyperparathyroidism (n = 411) at our institution between 2012 and 2019 were reviewed retrospectively. Preoperative imaging studies, surgical method, additional diagnostic methods used during surgery, frozen section results, and histopathology findings, complications, persistence, and recurrence were examined. ⋯ During the study period, annual case volume increased from 9 cases to 103 cases (P < .001) and the rate of MIP increased from 44.4% to 92.8% over the years (P < .001). Effective use of adjunct techniques has increased the rates of MIP. The multidisciplinary approach has also provided low complication rates with the increasing number of cases.
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Observational Study
Novel approach towards antimicrobial chemotherapy optimization in lower respiratory tract infections in children: An observational study.
The use of local antibiogram in guiding clinical decisions is an integral part of the antimicrobial stewardship program. Conventional antibiograms are not disease-specific, ignore the distribution of microorganisms, obscure the in-vitro efficacy interrelationships, and have limited use in polymicrobial infections. We aimed to develop an in-house empiric, disease-specific, antimicrobial prescription auxiliary for the treatment of hospitalized pediatric pneumonia patients and to present the methods which help to choose the first and the second line antimicrobial therapy, while accounting for cost and safety aspects. ⋯ A combination of statistical methods such as probabilities of drug efficacy, variance minimization, Boolean network modeling, and dominance analysis can help to choose the optimal first-line and the second-line antimicrobial treatment and optimize patient care. This research reveals that ampicillin is the optimal choice as the first-line drug and piperacillin-tazobactam is the second-line antimicrobial drug if the first one is not effective, while accounting for cost and safety aspects. The paper proposes a new methodology to adapt empiric antimicrobial therapy recommendations based on real world data and accout for costs and risk of adverse events.