Int J Med Sci
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Impact of the training on the compliance and persistence of weekly bisphosphonate treatment in postmenopausal osteoporosis: a randomized controlled study.
Long-term patient adherence to osteoporosis treatment is poor despite proven efficacy. In this study, we aimed to assess the impact of active patient training on treatment compliance and persistence in patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis. In the present national, multicenter, randomized controlled study, postmenopausal osteoporosis patients (45-75 years) who were on weekly bisphosphonate treatment were randomized to active training (AT) and passive training (PT) groups and followed-up by 4 visits after the initial visit at 3 months interval during 12 months of the treatment. ⋯ Among the study visits, the most common reason for not receiving treatment regularly was forgetfulness (54.9% for visit 2, 44.3% for visit 3, 51.6% for visit 4, and 43.8% for visit 5), the majority of the patients always used their drugs regularly on recommended days and dosages (63.8% for visit 2, 60.9% for visit 3, 72.1% for visit 4, and 70.8% for visit 5), and most of the patients were highly satisfied with the treatment (63.4% for visit 2, 68.9% for visit 3, 72.4% for visit 4, and 65.2% for visit 5) and wanted to continue to the treatment (96.5% for visit 2, 96.5% for visit 3, 96.9% for visit 4, and 94.4% for visit 5). QUALEFFO scores of the patients in visit 1 significantly improved in visit 5 (37.7±25.4 vs. 34.0±14.6, p<0.001); however, the difference was not significant between AT and PT groups both in visit 1 and visit 5. In conclusion, in addition to active training, passive training provided at the 1(st) visit did not improve the persistence and compliance of the patients for bisphosphonate treatment.
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We examined weight changes during chronic hepatitis C (CHC) therapy and association with virologic response. ⋯ Spontaneous weight loss at 4 and 12 weeks of CHC therapy was associated with improved EVR. Weight loss at 4 weeks was an independent predictor of EVR but not SVR.
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To investigate the reasonable dose of Voluven for rapid plasma volume expansion during the anaesthesia induction patients receiving gastrointestinal surgery. ⋯ Rapid plasma volume expansion with Voluven at 7-9 ml/kg can prevent haemodynamic fluctuation during anaesthesia induction, maintain the balance between oxygen supply and oxygen consumption during gastrointestinal surgery, and Voluven at 9 ml/kg can improve the oxygen delivery.
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To determine the role of serum procalcitonin levels in predicting ascites infection in hospitalized cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic patients. ⋯ According to our findings determination of serum procalcitonin levels seems to provide satisfactory diagnostic accuracy in differentiating bacterial infections in hospitalized patients with liver cirrhosis related ascites.
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Our objective was to estimate the incidence of recent burnout in a large sample of Taiwanese physicians and analyze associations with job related satisfaction and medical malpractice experience. ⋯ Physicians in Taiwan face both burnout and a high risk in medical malpractice. There is high incidence of burnout among Taiwan physicians. This can cause shortages in medical care human resources and affect patient safety. We believe that high burnout in physicians was due to long working hours and several other factors, like mental depression, the evaluation assessment system, hospital culture, patient-physician relationships, and the environment. This is a very important issue on public health that Taiwanese authorities need to deal with.