Irish journal of medical science
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Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are tissue-specific and highly stable and may serve as early molecular markers of adverse pregnancy outcomes in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). ⋯ Aberrant expression of lncRNAs was strongly associated with the adverse pregnancy outcomes in GDM.
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Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing is not recommended as a population screening measure for prostate cancer. PSA testing is nevertheless widespread and is associated with harm due to false-positive test results, overdiagnosis and economic costs. ⋯ Men at our practice are significantly exposed to PSA testing. We found evidence of possible overdiagnosis.
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Ireland has had an historic over-reliance on inpatient mental health care accompanied by poorly resourced community provision. There has been an increasing policy focus on provision of mental health care in the community to facilitate diversion from, or shorten stays in, inpatient care. However, little is known about the determinants of psychiatric inpatient length of stay (LOS) to allow for the targeting of community services. ⋯ The regional variation observed in inpatient LOS supports the assumption that increased provision of community services diverts or reduces the quantum of care required in inpatient settings. However, without substantive improvement in the community data collected and reported, future planning of mental health services, both community and inpatient, will be substantially curtailed.
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A near miss event (NME) in healthcare is an event that did not happen but would have caused serious harm if it did. The operating room (OR) is prone to risk and incidents, with estimates that 50% of all hospital adverse events occur in the OR, yet reporting of NME is uncommon in the OR. ⋯ The implications of the findings for improving healthcare safety are discussed and in particular the adoption of the science of Human Factors Ergonomics into healthcare.