Croatian medical journal
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Croatian medical journal · Jun 2008
Professionals with delivery skills: backbone of the health system and key to reaching the maternal health Millennium Development Goal.
The attainment of the fifth Millennium Development Goal requires adequate national reserves of skilled birth attendants. Nurses, midwives, and their equivalents form the frontline of the formal health system are a critical element of global efforts to reduce ill-health and poverty in the poorest areas of the world. Planning and policies supporting these cadres of workers must be placed high on the development agenda and championed by key international and national players. ⋯ Investment in the largely female cadre that cares for the majority of the world's poorer women has simply not been a high enough priority. Five key policy recommendations include harnessing political will and adequate metrics, protection of frontline workers' safety and livelihoods, ensuring an adequate pipeline with a focus on girls' education, donor support for training and professional organizations, and a rapid scale-up of a robust cadre of delivery care professionals. Finally, a call for unified international support of rapid scale-up of cadres of delivery care workers is put forth.
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Croatian medical journal · Apr 2008
Multi-type maltreatment in childhood and psychological adjustment in adolescence: questionnaire study among adolescents in Western Herzegovina Canton.
To determine the prevalence and intercorrelation of different forms of childhood maltreatment and psychological problems in adolescents in Western Herzegovina Canton. ⋯ Most third-grade high-school students in Western Herzegovina Canton were exposed to multi-type maltreatment in childhood, regardless of the war experience. Emotional and physical abuse were most frequently combined forms of maltreatment. Sociodemographic and family characteristics and exposure to some forms of abuse were significant predictors of exposure to other forms of abuse. Exposure to maltreatment in childhood predicted difficulties in psychological adjustment in adolescence.
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Croatian medical journal · Apr 2008
Influence of adjuvant hyperbaric oxygen therapy on short-term complications during surgical reconstruction of upper and lower extremity war injuries: retrospective cohort study.
To determine the effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy on short-term complications of complex war wounds to the upper and lower extremities in patients who were and those who were not treated according to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) emergency war surgery recommendations. ⋯ HBO therapy reduced the frequency of wound complications in patients with Gustilo type III wounds and shortened the time to granulation formation. HBO therapy was more effective in non-NATO than in NATO treated patients for the prevention of deep soft-tissue infection but not flap necrosis.
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Croatian medical journal · Apr 2008
Impact of aminoglycoside cycling in six tertiary intensive care units: prospective longitudinal interventional study.
To determine the effect of aminoglycoside cycling in six tertiary intensive care units (ICU) on the rates of sepsis, aminoglycoside resistance patterns, antibiotic consumption, and costs. ⋯ Exclusive use of amikacin significantly reduced the resistance of GNB isolates to gentamicin and netilmicin, the number of GNB nosocomial bacteremias, and the cost of total antibiotic usage in ICUs.