The International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health process of care (POC) for management of hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) algorithm was developed to provide evidence-based ...guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of HSDD in women by health care professionals. Affecting 10% of adult females, HSDD is associated with negative emotional and psychological states and medical conditions including depression. The algorithm was developed using a modified Delphi method to reach consensus among the 17 international panelists representing multiple disciplines. The POC starts with the health care professional asking about sexual concerns, focusing on issues related to low sexual desire/interest. Diagnosis includes distinguishing between generalized acquired HSDD and other forms of low sexual interest. Biopsychosocial assessment of potentially modifiable factors facilitates initiation of treatment with education, modification of potentially modifiable factors, and, if needed, additional therapeutic intervention: sex therapy, central nervous system agents, and hormonal therapy, guided in part by menopausal status. Sex therapy includes behavior therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, and mindfulness. The only central nervous system agent currently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for HSDD is flibanserin in premenopausal women; use of flibanserin in postmenopausal women with HSDD is supported by data but is not FDA approved. Hormonal therapy includes off-label use of testosterone in postmenopausal women with HSDD, which is supported by data but not FDA approved. The POC incorporates monitoring the progress of therapy. In conclusion, the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health POC for the management of women with HSDD provides a rational, evidence-based guideline for health care professionals to manage patients with appropriate assessments and individualized treatments.
Sexual problems are common in women of all ages. Despite their frequency and impact, female sexual dysfunctions (FSDs) are often unrecognized and untreated in clinical settings. In response, the ...International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health convened a multidisciplinary, international expert panel to develop a process of care (POC) that outlines recommendations for identification of sexual problems in women. This POC describes core and advanced competencies in FSD for clinicians who are not sexual medicine specialists and serve as caregivers of women and, therefore, is useful for clinicians with any level of competence in sexual medicine. The POC begins with the expectation of universal screening for sexual concerns, proceeds with a 4-step model (eliciting the story, naming/reframing attention to the problem, empathic witnessing of the patient's distress and the problem's impact, and referral or assessment and treatment) that accommodates all levels of engagement, and delineates a process for referral when patients' needs exceed clinician expertise. Distressing problems related to desire, arousal, and orgasm affect 12% of women across the lifespan. Low desire is the most common sexual problem, but sexual pain and other less common disorders of arousal and orgasm are also seen in clinical practice. Screening is best initiated by a ubiquity statement that assures the patient that sexual concerns are common and can be revealed. Patient-centered communication skills facilitate and optimize the discussion. The goal of the POC is to provide guidance to clinicians regarding screening, education, management, and referral for women with sexual problems.
Post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) is a degenerative joint disease initiated by injury. Early phase (0–7 days) treatments often include rest (unloading) and anti-inflammatory medications, but how ...those early interventions impact PTOA progression is unknown. We hypothesized that early unloading and anti-inflammatory treatment would diminish joint inflammation and slow PTOA progression.
Mice were injured with non-invasive ACL rupture followed by hindlimb unloading (HLU) or normal cage activity (ground control: GC) for 7 days, after which all mice were allowed normal cage activity. HLU and GC mice were treated with daily celecoxib (CXB; 10 mg/kg IP) or vehicle. Protease activity was evaluated using in vivo fluorescence imaging, osteophyte formation and epiphyseal trabecular bone were quantified using micro-computed tomography, and synovitis and articular cartilage were evaluated using whole-joint histology at 7, 14, 21, and 28 days post-injury.
HLU significantly reduced protease activity (-22-30% compared to GC) and synovitis (-24-50% relative to GC) at day 7 post-injury (during unloading), but these differences were not maintained at later timepoints. Similarly, trabecular bone volume was partially preserved in HLU mice at during unloading (-14-15% BV/TV for HLU mice, -21-22% for GC mice relative to uninjured), but these differences were not maintained during reloading. Osteophyte volume was reduced by both HLU and CXB, but there was not an additive effect of these treatments (HLU: −46%, CXB: −30%, HLU + CXB: −35% relative to vehicle GC at day 28).
These data suggest that early unloading following joint injury can reduce inflammation and potentially slow PTOA progression.
Background:
In this study, we evaluated the analytical performance of the second-generation factory-calibrated FreeStyle Libre Flash Glucose Monitoring (FreeStyle Libre 2) System compared to plasma ...venous blood glucose reference, Yellow Springs Instrument 2300 (YSI).
Methods:
The study enrolled participants aged four and above with type 1 or type 2 diabetes at seven sites in the United States. Adult participants (18+ years) participated in three in-clinic sessions and pediatric participants (4-17 years) participated in up to two in-clinic sessions stratified to provide data for days 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, or 14 of sensor wear. Participants aged 11+ underwent supervised glycemic manipulation during in-clinic sessions to achieve glucose levels across the measurement range of the System. Performance evaluation included accuracy measures such as the proportion of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) values that were within ±20% or ±20 mg/dL of reference glucose values, and bias measures such as the mean absolute relative difference (MARD) between CGM and reference values.
Results:
Data from the 144 adults and 129 pediatric participants were analyzed. Percent of sensor results within ±20%/20 mg/dL of YSI reference were 93.2% and 92.1%, and MARD was 9.2% and 9.7% for the adults and pediatric participants, respectively. The System performed well in the hypoglycemic range, with 94.3% of the results for the adult population and 96.1% of the data for pediatric population being within 15 mg/dL of the YSI reference. The time lag was 2.4 ± 4.6 minutes for adults and 2.1 ± 5.0 minutes for pediatrics.
Conclusions:
The System demonstrated improved analytical accuracy performance across the dynamic range during the 14-day sensor wear period as compared to the previous-generation device.
NCT#: NCT03607448 and NCT03820050
•In the study, substance use in CWS is compared with the general population.•Youth in foster care had higher risk for SRP than the general population.•The risk for SRP was even higher among those ...receiving in-home services.•The increased risk remained after controlling for important confounding variables.
The literature base on substance use among adolescents who receive interventions from child welfare services (CWS) in Nordic countries is limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether Norwegian adolescents in contact with CWS are at higher risk for substance-related problems (SRP) compared with the general adolescent population, and to what extent those in foster care (FC) differ from those receiving in-home services (IHS).
The data set comprise 9785 individuals aged 16–19 years who participated in the cross-sectional, population-based youth@hordaland-survey, of whom 141 (1.4%) received IHS from the CWS, while 155 (1.6%) lived in FC. The primary outcomes were indicators of self-reported SRP. Regression analyses were used to explore the association between IHS/FC and SRP with a reference group from the general population. Potential confounding variables included age, sex, ethnicity, and internalizing- and externalizing mental health problems.
Compared with the general population, adolescents receiving IHS had a robust and consistent increased odds of SRP across multiple indicators compared to the general population, even after adjustment for confounding variables (adjusted odds ratios AORs ranging from 1.81 to 3.04, all p < 0.05; adjusted mean difference = 1.49, p < 0.01). Adolescents living in FC had a higher total degree of SRP (AOR = 1.51, p < 0.05), as well as higher illicit drug use (AOR = 1.75, p < 0.05), compared with the general adolescent population. The IHS-group had higher total degree of SRP (OR = 2.08, p < 0.01) compared with the FC-group.
Adolescents receiving IHS and adolescents in FC had a significantly heightened risk for SRP, compared with the general population. The risk for SRP was higher among adolescents receiving IHS compared with those living in FC. These findings indicate that prevention efforts of SRP in CWS-populations during adolescence are needed.
Background Healthcare workers have reported increased anxiety while working in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the role of healthcare students in a health crisis has been discussed among ...clinicians and researchers. The simultaneous international shortage of personal protection equipment (PPE) during the first wave of the pandemic potentially exposed healthcare workers and students to the virus during their work and clinical training. Our aim was therefore to evaluate the extent to which paramedic students in Oslo, Norway, were exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and were involved in voluntary and/or paid healthcare-related work. An evaluation was also made of the students' COVID-19-related symptoms and of their health-related quality of life (HRQoL) during the first wave of the pandemic. Methods Paramedic students (n = 155) at Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway, were invited to complete an online survey five months after the first cases of COVID-19 were detected. The university was situated in the epicenter of the pandemic in Norway. The responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent sample t-tests, and linear regression analysis. Results Of the 109 respondents (70.3%), 40 worked in patient-related healthcare work. Of those, seven (17.5%) students experienced insufficient supplies of PPE, six (15.0%) participated in aerosol-generating procedures without adequate PPE, and nine (22.5%) experienced insufficient time to don PPE. Seventy-five (70.1%) students experienced no COVID-19-related symptoms, and no students tested positive for COVID-19. HRQoL was scored 0.92 (sd 0.12), which was significantly higher than for the general population before the pandemic (p = 0.002). Students continued with their education and participated in a variety of pandemic-related emergency tasks during the first wave of the pandemic. Conclusions Paramedic students were valuable contributors to the national pandemic response. Despite potential exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in unpredictable emergency settings with limited supplies of personal protection equipment, no students tested positive for COVID-19. Their health-related quality of life remained high. Students' participation and utilization in similar health crises should be considered in future health crises. Keywords: Emergency medical services, Students, Pandemics, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Quality of life, Health personnel, Emergency medical technicians, Ambulances
Experiences with peers constitute an important aspect of socialization, and children and adolescents with cancer may experience reduced social interaction due to treatment. A literature review was ...conducted to investigate the evidence to support a standard of care evaluating these experiences. Sixty‐four articles were reviewed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria. Moderate quality of evidence suggest that social interaction can be beneficial to increase knowledge, decrease isolation, and improve adjustment and constitute an important, unmet need. The evidence supports a strong recommendation for youth with cancer to be provided opportunities for social interaction following a careful assessment of their unique characteristics and preferences.
Abstract
Background
Congenital talipes equinovarus (clubfoot) is a common musculoskeletal anomaly, with a suspected multifactorial etiopathogenesis. Herein, we used publicly available data to ...ascertain liveborn infants with clubfoot delivered in Denmark during 1994–2021, and to classify co-occurring congenital anomalies, estimate annual prevalence, and compare clubfoot occurrence with maternal smoking rates, a commonly reported risk factor. Characterizing this nationwide, liveborn cohort provides a population-based resource for etiopathogenic investigations and life course surveillance.
Methods
This case-cohort study used data from the Danish National Patient Register and Danish Civil Registration System, accessed through the publicly available Danish Biobank Register, to identify 1,315,282 liveborn infants delivered during 1994–2021 in Denmark to Danish parents. Among these, 2,358 infants (65.1% male) were ascertained with clubfoot and classified as syndromic (co-occurring chromosomal, genetic, or teratogenic syndromes) and nonsyndromic (isolated or co-occurring multiple congenital anomalies MCA). Annual prevalence estimates and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for children with nonsyndromic clubfoot were estimated using Poisson regression and compared with population-based, maternal annual smoking rates obtained from publicly available resources.
Results
Infants most often presented with nonsyndromic clubfoot (isolated = 88.6%; MCA = 11.4%); limb and heart anomalies were the most frequently identified MCAs. Prevalence (per 1,000 liveborn infants) was 1.52 (CI 1.45–1.58) for isolated and 0.19 (CI 0.17–0.22) for MCA clubfoot. Prevalence estimates for both isolated and MCA clubfoot remained relatively stable during the study period, despite marked decreases in population-based maternal smoking rates.
Conclusions
From 1994 to 2021, prevalence of nonsyndromic clubfoot in Denmark was relatively stable. Reduction in population-level maternal smoking rates did not seem to impact prevalence estimates, providing some support for the suspected multifactorial etiopathogenesis of this anomaly. This nationwide, liveborn cohort, ascertained and clinically characterized using publicly available data from the Danish Biobank Register, provides a population-based clinical and biological resource for future etiopathogenic investigations and life course surveillance.
Demographic, economic and organisational changes challenge home care services. Increased use of welfare technology and involvement of family members as co-producers of care are political initiatives ...to meet these challenges. However, these initiatives also involve ethical aspects.
The aim of this qualitative study was to explore family caregivers' experience of involvement and possible ethical aspects of caring for frail older family members receiving home care services supported by welfare technology. This study used a qualitative explorative and descriptive design within a phenomenological-hermeneutical approach. Sixteen interviews with eighteen family caregivers were conducted. The participants were sons, daughters, siblings and spouses of frail older people receiving home care services with the support of welfare technology. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The COREQ checklist was used.
The analysis led to five main themes. First, the family caregivers' experienced caring as meaningful but increasingly demanding concerning the changes in home care services. Second, they experienced a change in relationships, roles, tasks, and responsibilities related to more family involvement and the use of welfare technology. This also challenged their sense of autonomy. However, welfare technology helped them deal with responsibilities, especially safety. The family caregivers requested early involvement, dialogue for care decisions, more cooperation and support from health professionals. Third, the participants experienced that health professionals decided the conditions for co-production without discussion. Their need for information and knowledge about welfare technology were not met. Fourth, the family caregivers felt that the health professionals did not adequately recognise their unique knowledge of the care receiver and did not use this knowledge for customising the welfare technology to the care receiver and their families. Fifth, the family caregivers expressed concern about service and welfare technology inequality in home care services.
Co-production in the involvement of family caregivers in care is still not an integral part of home care service. Welfare technology was appreciated, but the family caregivers called for early involvement to ensure successful and safe implementation and use. More attention needs to be given to ethical concerns about the change in relations, transfer of tasks and responsibility, and risk of inequality.
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