Isokinetic dynamometry is the gold standard for testing maximal strength in elite sport and rehabilitation settings. To be clinically useful, such tests should be valid and reliable. Despite some ...evidence regarding the relative test vs retest reliability of knee dynamometry, there is still a paucity of research regarding the absolute reliability parameters. The purpose of this study was to assess the absolute and relative intra-device reproducibility of isokinetic knee flexion and extension using the novel SMM iMoment dynamometer. A total of 19 participants (13 males and 6 females, aged 24 (2) years, height 178 (9) cm and weight 76 (11) kg) performed two identical knee isokinetic tests with at least a week of rest between measurements. Peak torque of knee extension and flexion were determined at 60°/s. Moderate (0.892) to excellent (0.988) relative reliability using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was obtained for peak knee torque. Absolute reliability assessed with a standard error of measurement (SEM %) was low, ranging from 2.54% to 6.93%, whereas the smallest real difference (SRD %) was moderate, ranging from 7.04% to 19.22%. Furthermore, there were no significant correlations between means and differences of two measurements, and Bland-Altman plots also showed no signs of heteroscedasticity. Our measurement protocol established the moderate to excellent reliability of the novel SMM iMoment isokinetic dynamometer. Therefore, this dynamometer can be applied in sport rehabilitation settings to measure maximal knee strength.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
In patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, including ramipril, is recommended to reduce the risk of heart failure worsening, hospitalisation, ...and death. Our aim was to investigate the influence of body composition on the pharmacokinetics of ramipril and its active metabolite ramiprilat and to evaluate the changes in pharmacokinetics after prolonged therapy. Twenty-three patients with CHF who were on regular therapy with ramipril participated at the first study visit ( median age 77 years, 65 % male, and 70 % New York Heart Association Class II); 19 patients attended the second study visit and the median time between the two visits was 8 months. Pharmacokinetics were assessed using a nonlinear mixed-effects parent-metabolite model comprising two compartments for ramipril and one compartment for ramiprilat. The influence of body size and composition was best described by an allometric relationship with fat-free mass. In addition, ramipril clearance was related to patient age and daily ramipril dose, while clearance of ramiprilat was influenced by glome rular filtration rate and daily ramipril dose. There were no clinically relevant changes in the pharmacokinetics of ramipril and ramiprilat between the study visits. Due to the relatively stable pharmacokinetics of ramipril, regular outpatient visits at 6-month intervals seem appropriate to evaluate ramipril therapy.
Heart failure is common in the nursing home population and presents many diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Point-of-care ultrasonography is a bedside method that can be used to assess volume ...status more reliably than clinical examination. This trial was conceived to test whether point-of-care ultrasonography-guided management improves heart failure outcomes among nursing home residents.
Nursing home residents with heart failure will be enrolled in a multi-centre, prospective, randomised controlled trial. Residents will first be screened for heart failure. Patients with heart failure will be randomised in 1:1 fashion into two groups. Nursing home physicians will adjust diuretic therapy according to volume status for six months. Point-of-care ultrasonography will be used in the test group and clinical examination in the control group. The primary endpoint will be heart failure deterioration, defined as a composite of any of the following four events: the need for an intravenous diuretic application, the need for an emergency service intervention, the need for unplanned hospitalisation for non-injury causes, or death from whatever cause.
The expected prevalence of heart failure among nursing home residents is above 10%. Point-of-care ultrasonography-guided heart failure management will reduce the number of deteriorations of heart failure in the nursing home population.
This study will explore the usefulness of point-of-care ultrasonography for heart failure management in the nursing home population.
The aim of this study was to translate the Cardiac Depression Scale into the Slovenian language and test its validity and reliability on Slovenian patients with heart disease.
A total of 272 patients ...with heart disease who underwent elective coronary angiography at Celje General Hospital participated in this study. We used the Slovenian Cardiac Depression Scale (S-CDS), the Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S), and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-20 (CES-D) to collect data. An exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity were performed.
Cronbach's alpha for the total scale was 0.92 and the test-retest reliability was 0.71. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed six factors, accounting for 61% of the total variance. The confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a two- and one-factor solution had acceptable goodness-of-fit measures. However, we kept a more parsimonious one-factor method, given a high correlation between the two factors and the theoretical background in previous studies. Concurrent validation against the CES-D and the STAI-S showed moderate to strong correlations.
The S-CDS is a reliable and valid instrument for screening for depression in Slovenian patients with heart disease.
Abstract Introduction In lung cancer patients treated with chemotherapy, renal function is an important parameter to be monitored. Since measurement of renal function with either isotope or ...creatinine clearance is time consuming and expensive, we evaluated which of the following equations: Cockcroft–Gault (CG), Wright, modification of diet in renal disease equation (MDRD), MDRD adjusted for body surface area (BSA) and chronic kidney disease epidemiology collaboration (CKD-EPI) best resembles endogenous creatinine clearance (ECC) and could therefore replace its measurement in clinical practice. Methods 218 lung cancer patients, who had their 24-h creatinine secretion in urine measured prior to the start of any chemotherapy, were included. Estimation of renal function was calculated and compared to ECC. Results There were no major differences in the performance of the tested equations. Mean percentage error of more than 20% and general underestimation was common to all equations. Wright equation performed best although it describes only 43% of ECC variability. Mean measured ECC was 94 mL/min (95% confidence interval CI: 90–98 mL/min) and 90 mL/min for Wright equation (95% CI: 87–93 mL/min) ( Supp. Fig. 3 ). MDRD and CKD-EPI equation performed poorest since they do not include any body size descriptor. Large deviations of differences were observed, with a median standard deviation of more than 20% and deviations from ECC exceeding 100%. Wright equation performed best, whereas, despite their leading role in the detection of renal diseases, the MDRD and CKD-EPI equation performed poorest since they do not include any body size descriptor. In the range of ECC < 50 mL/(min × 1.73 m2 ), the CG equation most often detected a contraindication for cisplatin use. Differences between ECC and calculated values correlated with patients’ weight, BSA and body mass index when these were not included in the equation itself. Conclusions In evaluating the renal function of lung cancer patients, equations adjusted for body size descriptors should be preferred. Estimated renal function should be interpreted against the characteristics of patient's body size and special attention is needed when these are reaching the extremes.
Despite guideline recommendations and available evidence, implementation of treatment in heart failure (HF) is poor. The majority of patients are not prescribed drugs at target doses that have been ...proven to positively impact morbidity and mortality. Among others, tolerability issues related to low blood pressure, heart rate, impaired renal function or hyperkalaemia are responsible. Chronic kidney disease plays an important role as it affects up to 50% of patients with HF. Also, dynamic changes in estimated glomerular filtration rate may occur during the course of HF, resulting in inappropriate dose reduction or even discontinuation of decongestive or neurohormonal modulating therapy in clinical practice. As patients with HF are rarely naïve to pharmacologic therapies, the challenge is to adequately prioritize or select the most appropriate up‐titration schedule according to patient profile. In this consensus document, we identified nine patient profiles that may be relevant for treatment implementation in HF patients with a reduced ejection fraction. These profiles take into account heart rate (<60 bpm or >70 bpm), the presence of atrial fibrillation, symptomatic low blood pressure, estimated glomerular filtration rate (<30 or >30 mL/min/1.73 m2) or hyperkalaemia. The pre‐discharge patient, frequently still congestive, is also addressed. A personalized approach, adjusting guideline‐directed medical therapy to patient profile, may allow to achieve a better and more comprehensive therapy for each individual patient than the more traditional, forced titration of each drug class before initiating treatment with the next.
Uvod: Dobra priprava na odpust zveča kakovost življenja bolnika s kronično obstruktivno pljučno boleznijo in zmanjša število hospitalizacij. Z namenom opredelitve zadovoljstva bolnikov s kronično ...obstruktivno pljučno boleznijo z obravnavo koordinatorja odpusta je bila izvedena neeksperimentalna kvantitativna raziskava. Metode: Raziskava je potekala anonimno, s pomočjo strukturiranega vprašalnika, poslanega po pošti. Sodelovalo je 107 bolnikov, ki so bili zaradi poslabšanja kronične obstruktivne pljučne bolezni hospitalizirani med 2. novembrom 2009 in 6. decembrom 2011 in bili obravnavani s strani koordinatorja odpusta. Vprašalnik je vrnilo 60 bolnikov. Za statistično obdelavo smo uporabili opisno statistiko, faktorsko analizo, linearnoregresijski model in multiplo linearno regresijo. Rezultati: Z analizo smo ugotovili, da lahko s skupnim vplivom treh faktorjev (komunikacija, samoobvladovanje bolezni in doživljanje bolezni oz. simptomi) pojasnimo 84,02 % variance zadovoljstva bolnikov s koordinatorjem odpusta. Z zadovoljstvom bolnikov s koordinatorja odpusta je najbolj povezana komunikacija, sledi ji doživljanje bolezni oz. simptomi. Diskusija in zaključek: Bolniki so zadovoljni z aktivnostmi koordinatorja odpusta v postopku odpusta iz bolnišnice, kar ugotavljajo tudi drugi avtorji. Raziskava pokaže na smiselnost uvedbe profila koordinatorja odpusta v obravnavo bolnikov s kronično obstruktivno pljučno boleznijo. Spremljanje zadovoljstva bolnikov je smiselno, saj pokaže priložnosti za izboljšave dela z vidika bolnika.
The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) has published a series of guidelines on heart failure (HF) over the last 25 years, most recently in 2016. Given the amount of new information that has become ...available since then, the Heart Failure Association (HFA) of the ESC recognized the need to review and summarise recent developments in a consensus document. Here we report from the HFA workshop that was held in January 2019 in Frankfurt, Germany. This expert consensus report is neither a guideline update nor a position statement, but rather a summary and consensus view in the form of consensus recommendations. The report describes how these guidance statements are supported by evidence, it makes some practical comments, and it highlights new research areas and how progress might change the clinical management of HF. We have avoided re‐interpretation of information already considered in the 2016 ESC/HFA guidelines.
Specific new recommendations have been made based on the evidence from major trials published since 2016, including sodium–glucose co‐transporter 2 inhibitors in type 2 diabetes mellitus, MitraClip for functional mitral regurgitation, atrial fibrillation ablation in HF, tafamidis in cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis, rivaroxaban in HF, implantable cardioverter‐defibrillators in non‐ischaemic HF, and telemedicine for HF. In addition, new trial evidence from smaller trials and updated meta‐analyses have given us the chance to provide refined recommendations in selected other areas.
Further, new trial evidence is due in many of these areas and others over the next 2 years, in time for the planned 2021 ESC guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure.
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