Studies in health technology and informatics
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2012
Rate of surgery in a sample of patients fulfilling the SRS inclusion criteria treated with a Chêneau brace of actual standard.
Studies investigating the outcome of conservative scoliosis treatment differ widely with respect to the inclusion criteria used. Prospective cohort studies are available using the SRS inclusion criteria for studies on bracing. This seems to provide a great advantage to compare different strategies of bracing against each other. As we have gathered all data of the patients treated with a Chêneau light TM between June 2005 and November 2007 it was possible to identify the sample of patients fulfilling the SRS inclusion criteria from the whole sample. ⋯ Rate of surgery can be reduced with the help of Chêneau braces of the latest standard and satisfactory in-brace correction. Brace treatment with the Chêneau brace seems effective and therefore clearly is indicated. Clinical outcomes may be more important for the patient than radiologic outcomes.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2012
Early discharge and its effect on ED length of stay and access block.
Effecting early discharge is a widely recommended strategy for improving patient flow in acute hospitals. This paper analyses the impact of inpatient discharge timing on Emergency Department (ED) flow parameters such as access block and length of stay, while comparing this to the effect on hospital occupancy, to arrive at an understanding of a 'whole of hospital' response to discharge timing. ⋯ The analysis reveals that, on days when the discharge peak lags the peak in inpatient admissions, hospitals of all sizes exhibit increased levels of occupancy, inpatient and ED length of stay, and access block. The findings corroborate the efficacy of early discharge initiatives and 'whole of hospital' flow improvement initiatives for addressing overcrowding and efficiency issues in hospitals.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2012
Promotion of emotional wellbeing in oncology inpatients using VR.
In Psycho-oncology, VR has been utilized mainly to manage pain and distress associated to medical procedures and chemotherapy, with very few applications aimed at promotion of wellbeing in hospitalized patients. Considering this, it was implemented a psychological intervention that uses VR to induce positive emotions on adult oncology inpatients with the purpose of evaluating its utility to improve emotional wellbeing in this population. ⋯ Results emphasize the potential of VR as a positive technology that can be used to promote wellbeing during hospitalization, especially considering the shortness of the intervention and the advanced state of disease of the participants. Despite the encouraging of these results, it is necessary to confirm them in studies with larger samples and control groups.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2012
Analysis of body growth parameters in girls with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: single thoracic idiopathic scoliosis versus single lumbar idiopathic scoliosis.
Abnormal pattern of growth has been reported in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients. However, the sequential changes of growth in different curve types of AIS have not been properly studied. The present study aimed to investigate the body growth characteristics of girls with single thoracic idiopathic scoliosis and lumbar idiopathic scoliosis in China. 339 AIS girls and 3914 healthy girls, aged 10~17yr, were included. ⋯ The standing and sitting height between thoracic and lumbar AIS girls were similar during the pubertal period. Compared to healthy girls at the same age, thoracic and lumbar AIS girls had a significantly higher corrected standing, sitting height and leg length. In addition, thoracic AIS girls are leaner than healthy girls.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2012
Use of a malleable bougie and curved forceps with videolaryngoscopy in airway management training in a cadaver model - a pilot study.
The wider angle of view of videolaryngoscopy versus standard direct laryngoscopy requires an assessment of the adjunctive devices used to facilitate intubation. In this study, subjects performed malleable bougie-assisted intubation and curved forceps removal of a glottic foreign body using videolaryngoscopy on a lightly embalmed cadaver and completed a post-procedure questionnaire. All subjects valued access to the malleable bougie available at their hospitals and 82% valued access to the curved forceps. Malleable bougie and curved forceps seem well-suited to facilitate videolaryngoscopic airway management.