Plos One
-
We performed an exclusive study to investigate the associations between a total of 23 lactate-related indices during the first 24h in an intensive care unit (ICU) and in-hospital mortality. ⋯ These data indicate that the maximal arterial lactate concentration at T24 is a robust predictor of in-hospital mortality as well as 90-day survival in unselected ICU patients with predictive ability as comparable with APACHE III score.
-
The purpose of this study was to establish a Korean version of the Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI-K) for Korean-speaking patients facing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) for knee osteoarthritis (OA) and to investigate the psychometric characteristics of the CSI-K. We recruited a total of 269 patients with knee OA who were scheduled to undergo TKA for the study. CSI-K and pain-related outcomes, including the pain visual analog scale (VAS) and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities OA Index (WOMAC) pain sub-scores, were measured. ⋯ As expected, the CSI scores correlated strongly with the WOMAC pain scores (r = 0.524, p < 0.001) and moderately with the pain VAS (r = 0.496, p < 0.001), the WOMAC function (r = 0.408, p < 0.001), and the EQ-5D scores (r = 0.437, p < 0.001). EFA resulted in a six-factor model. The findings demonstrate that the CSI was successfully trans-culturally adapted into a simplified Korean version (CSI-K) that was reliable and valid for Korean-speaking patients who awaiting TKA for knee OA.
-
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. Cancer screenings can detect precancerous cells and allow for earlier diagnosis and treatment. Our purpose was to better understand risk factors for cancer screenings and assess the effect of cancer screenings on changes of Cardiovascular health (CVH) measures before and after cancer screenings among patients. ⋯ Deep learning algorithm could be used to investigate the associations between time-series CVH measures and cancer screenings in an ambulatory population. Patients with more adverse CVH profiles tend to be screened for cancers, and cancer screening may also prompt favorable changes in CVH. Cancer screenings may increase patient CVH health, thus potentially decreasing burden of disease and costs for the health system (e.g., cardiovascular diseases and cancers).
-
Incentivising vaccine consent form return may improve vaccine uptake and be seen as less coercive than incentivising vaccination itself. We assessed the acceptability of financial incentives in this context among adolescent females and explored potential mechanisms by which incentives might change behaviour. ⋯ Adolescents had positive views of financially incentivising consent form return to promote vaccine uptake, although care must be taken to reduce misconceptions regarding what is being incentivised. Incentivising vaccination was seen as coercive, but incentivising actions that increase the likelihood of vaccination (i.e. consent form return) were not. Incentives may encourage adolescents to return consent forms by helping them engage with this behaviour or increasing its' perceived value.
-
The COVID-19 pandemic has had tremendous impact on Americans' lives including their personal and social behaviors. While people of all ages are affected in some way by the pandemic, older persons have been far more likely to suffer the most severe health consequences. For this reason, how people have responded to mitigating behaviors to COVID-19 may differ by age. ⋯ One month into the pandemic, older people were less likely than younger people to engage in two of four risky behaviors. The change in risky behavior over time did not differ by age; but both younger and older people were more likely to engage in risky behaviors after two months. Being female, a member of a racial/ethnic minority group, higher socioeconomic status, having more COVID-19 cases in one's state of residence, a higher perceived risk for infection and dying, and a more left-leaning political orientation were related to adopting more pandemic mitigating behaviors.