Indigenous Australian adults with diabetes continue to have suboptimal clinical control and poorer outcomes compared with non-Indigenous people although there is a paucity of data documenting the detailed health status of Indigenous people in Australia. To further investigate the characteristics of Indigenous Australian adults with poorly controlled diabetes we analysed baseline data from a cluster randomized trial aiming to deliver a program of integrated community-based intensive chronic disease management for Indigenous people in remote communities in far north Queensland, Australia.
Indigenous adults aged 18 to 65 years from 12 clinics in rural north Queensland with established type 2 diabetes and with HbA1c =8.5% were invited to participate. The primary outcome variable measured at baseline was HbA1c. Other variables measured included socio-demographic indicators, health literacy, BMI, blood pressure, lipids, renal function, smoking status and quality of life measures. Data were collected between December 2010 and July 2011. Analysis was performed by ethnicity - Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
One hundred and ninety three participants were included in the analysis. Very high rates of albuminuria, high rates of smoking, dyslipidaemia, hypertension and elevated BMI were recorded. Aboriginal participants reported higher levels of socio-economic disadvantage, higher smoking rates, lower BMI and worse self-reported health status than Torres Strait Islander participants.
These results demonstrate a high potential for improved culturally sound community-based management of diabetes and other comorbid conditions in this very high risk population. They also provide further evidence for including albuminuria in cardiovascular risk calculation.
Cost-effectiveness of dasatinib versus high-dose imatinib in patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML), resistant to standard dose imatinib--a Swedish model application.
Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a progressive disease, consisting of three phases, chronic, accelerated and blast phase. Treatment with imatinib has demonstrated high response rates and improved prognosis for patients with CML. The emergence of imatinib resistance is a major concern. Dasatinib is an oral kinase inhibitor of BCR-ABL that has been developed for treating CML patients across all phases of disease who are resistant or intolerant to imatinib.
The objective of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of dasatinib versus high-dose imatinib treatment in chronic phase CML patients, resistant to lower doses of imatinib (
The authors examined the impact of exposure to the 2010 Winter Olympics time period on outcomes measuring disruption of local sex work environments in Vancouver, Canada.
The authors conducted a before-and-after study, using multivariable logistic regression, to assess the relationship between exposure to the Olympics period (19 January-14 March 2010) versus the post-Olympics period (1 April-1 July 2010) and outcomes.
This study included 207 youth (14+ years) and adult sex workers (SWs) (Olympics: n=107; post-Olympics: n=100). SWs in the two periods were statistically similar, with an overall median age of 33 years (IQR: 28-40), and 106 (51.2%) of indigenous ancestry or ethnic minority. In separate multivariable logistic regression models, the Olympics period remained statistically significantly associated with perceived heightened police harassment of SWs without arrest (adjusted ORs (AOR): 3.95, 95% CIs 1.92 to 8.14), decreased availability of clients (AOR: 1.97, 95% CIs 1.11 to 3.48) and increased difficulty meeting clients due to road closures/construction (AOR: 7.68, 95% CIs 2.46 to 23.98). There were no significantly increased odds in perceived reports of new (0.999), youth (0.536) or trafficked SWs (zero reports) in the Olympic period.
To reduce potential adverse public health impacts of enhanced police harassment and displacement of local sex work markets, results suggest that evidence-based public health strategies need to be adopted for host cities of future events (eg, the London 2012 Olympic Games), such as the removal of criminal sanctions targeting sex work and the piloting and rigorous evaluation of safer indoor work spaces.
Notes
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