Medicine
-
Observational Study
The prevalence and outcomes of α- and β-thalassemia among pregnant women in Hubei Province, Central China: An observational study.
There is no information concerning the prevalence of thalassemia among pregnant women in Hubei Province currently. This study is aimed to explore the prevalence of α- and β-thalassemia genotypes among pregnant women in Hubei Province, and to explore the clinically applicable screening approach, as well as to investigate the pregnancy outcomes of α- and β-thalassemia carriers. Pregnant participants were recruited from 4 hospitals for the screening of α- and β-thalassemia mutations in Hubei Province. ⋯ MCV and MCH values were suggested to apply on the preliminary screening of pregnant β-thalassemia; however, it's unpractical on that of α-thalassemia. Furthermore, thalassemia carriers might have a high risk of negative pregnancy outcomes. These findings could be useful for the preliminary screening of thalassemia and perinatal care for the pregnant thalassemia carriers.
-
Medical care should be equally provided to the public regardless of their financial capability. In the real world, expenditures directly out from the patient sector decide the medical journey, even in a country with national health insurance. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there are differences in the diagnostic and treatment processes in hematologic malignancies based on patient characteristics, such as health insurance status. ⋯ Follow-up durations were longest in the status change group and shortest in the medical insurance group. Almost all medical aid beneficiaries with hematologic malignancies opted to continue treatment at this secondary/municipal hospitals, indicating that this category of medical institutions provides adequate levels and qualified healthcare services to those patients. The secondary municipal hospital provides qualified healthcare services for medical aid beneficiaries with hematologic malignancies.
-
Health literacy is a set of knowledge and skills that enables individuals to obtain, communicate, process and understand information, and services to make appropriate health decisions and to successfully navigate the health care system. Health literacy is important to quality of cancer survivorship care and patient self-management of their disease. We examined health literacy among cancer survivors, using data from the 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. ⋯ The prevalence was higher among Hispanic and Black individuals, and among those with poor health status, low income and educational attainment. A sizeable percentage of cancer survivors have low health literacy which is likely to complicate their ability to self-manage their disease and navigate the health care system for optimal care. In order to ensure the quality and appropriateness of cancer survivorship care, effective interventions are needed to address low health literacy in these populations.
-
Preoperative screening of potential risk of lymph node metastasis is necessary for thyroidectomy plus lymph node dissection. The 2015 American thyroid association management guidelines do not recommend prophylactic cervical lymph node resection without clinical evidence of metastasis. Ultrasound is recommended imaging method and routine computed tomography is not recommended by the 2015 American thyroid association management guidelines for screening of lymph node metastasis. ⋯ Besides the neck ultrasound, the neck computed tomography scanning can be used as a complementary imaging method to detect cervical lymph node metastasis of patients with papillary thyroid cancer before thyroidectomy plus lymph node dissection. Level of evidence: III. Technical efficacy stage: 2.
-
A global public health crisis caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) leads to considerable morbidity and mortality, which bring great challenge to respiratory medicine. Hydrogen-oxygen therapy contributes to treat severe respiratory diseases and improve lung functions, yet there is no information to support the clinical use of this therapy in the COVID-19 pneumonia. A retrospective study of medical records was carried out in Shishou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Hubei, China. ⋯ The physiological and biochemical indexes, including immune inflammation indicators, electrolytes, myocardial enzyme profile, and functions of liver and kidney, were examined and investigated before and after hydrogen-oxygen therapy. The results showed significant decreases in the neutrophil percentage and the concentration and abnormal proportion of C-reactive protein in COVID-19 patients received additional hydrogen-oxygen therapy. This novel therapeutic may alleviate clinical symptoms of COVID-19 patients by suppressing inflammation responses.