BACKGROUND: One hundred twenty women alcoholics recruited to a treatment program called EWA (Early Treatment for Women With Alcohol Addiction) were studied. The selected women were not previously treated for alcohol abuse. METHODS: The women were followed up by use of a structured personal interview, biomarkers sensitive for alcohol abuse (i.e., glutamyl transpeptidase), and questionnaires, by using defined criteria for abstinence, social drinking, satisfactory drinking outcome, and unsatisfactory drinking outcome. RESULTS: Drinking outcome was good (i.e., total abstinence, social drinking, or satisfactory drinking outcome) for 67% of the women during the total follow-up time, by use of strict criteria for relapse. The results were corroborated by the biomarkers. Similar results were reported from two previously studied groups of women from the same department. However, the frequency of abstinence was higher and social drinking was significantly lower among this sample of women. Daily drinking, the use of sedatives, and a long duration of pretreatment alcohol abuse predicted an unfavorable outcome. However, a long duration of outpatient treatment predicted a good outcome, whereas treatment dropout was related to an unsatisfactory drinking outcome. A majority of the women (96%) rated the treatment experience and the treatment program favorably. The overall good results might reflect the selection of the subjects studied. CONCLUSIONS: Improving treatment program adherence would probably improve outcome for the women with an unsatisfactory drinking outcome.
To see, if voluntary admission for treatment in first-episode psychosis results in better adherence to treatment and more favourable outcome than involuntary admission.
We compared consecutively first-admitted, hospitalised patients from a voluntary (n = 91) with an involuntary (n = 126) group as to psychopathology and functioning using Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and Global Assessment of Functioning Scales at baseline, after 3 months and at 2 year follow-up. Moreover, duration of supportive psychotherapy, medication and number of hospitalisations during the 2 years were measured.
More women than men were admitted involuntarily. Voluntary patients had less psychopathology and better functioning than involuntary patients at baseline. No significant difference as to duration of psychotherapy and medication between groups was found. No significant difference was found as to psychopathology and functioning between voluntarily and involuntarily admitted patients at follow-up.
Legal admission status per se did not seem to influence treatment adherence and outcome.
International experts in the fields of diabetes, diabetes technology, endocrinology, mobile health, sport science, and regulatory issues gathered for the 7(th) Annual Symposium on Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose (SMBG). The aim of this meeting was to facilitate new collaborations and research projects to improve the lives of people with diabetes. The 2014 meeting comprised a comprehensive scientific program, parallel interactive workshops, and two keynote lectures.
Finnish Cancer Registry, Institute for Statistical and Epidemiological Cancer Research, Liisankatu 21 B, FI-001 70 Helsinki, Finland. nea.malila@cancer.fi
The aim of the study was to assess the feasibility of and possible selection to attend in colorectal cancer screening.
During the years 1979-1980, 1 785 men and women (born in 1917-1929) were invited to a pilot screening project for colorectal cancer. The screening method used was a guaiac-based faecal occult blood test repeated once if the initial test was positive.
Compliance was 69% and the test was positive in 19% of those attending. In a record linkage with the Finnish Cancer Registry, 47 colorectal cancer cases and 24 deaths from colorectal cancer were observed by the end of 2004. In all, the particular test method was not regarded specific enough for population screening. There was, however, no difference in cancer incidence between those who complied and those who did not when compared to the general population of same age and gender.
Compliance was found high enough to make screening feasible and there was no self selection of persons with low cancer risk to attend screening.
Department of Medicine, London Health Sciences Centre, University of Western Ontario, 339 Windermere Road, London, Ontario N6A 5A5, Canada. Kelly.Zarnke@lhsc.on.ca
To provide updated, evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and assessment of high blood pressure in adults.
For people with high blood pressure, the assignment of a diagnosis of hypertension depends on the appropriate measurement of blood pressure, the level of the blood pressure elevation, the duration of follow-up and the presence of concomitant vascular risk factors, target organ damage and established atherosclerotic diseases. For people diagnosed with hypertension, defining the overall risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes requires laboratory testing, a search for target organ damage and an assessment of the modifiable causes of hypertension. Out-of-clinic blood pressure assessment and echocardiography are options for selected patients.
People at increased risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes and were identified and quantified.
Medline searches were conducted from the period of the last revision of the Canadian recommendations for the management of hypertension (May 1998 to October 2000). Reference lists were scanned, experts were polled, and the personal files of the subgroup members and authors were used to identify other studies. All relevant articles were reviewed and appraised, using prespecified levels of evidence, by content experts and methodological experts.
A high value was placed on the identification of people at increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
The identification of people at higher risk of cardiovascular disease will permit counselling for lifestyle manoeuvres and the introduction of antihypertensive drugs to reduce blood pressure for patients with sustained hypertension. In certain settings, and for specific classes of drugs, blood pressure lowering has been associated with reduced cardiovascular morbidity and/or mortality.
The present document contains detailed recommendations pertaining to aspects of the diagnosis and assessment of patients with hypertension, including the accurate measurement of blood pressure, criteria for the diagnosis of hypertension and recommendations for follow-up, routine and optional laboratory testing, assessment for renovascular hypertension, home and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, and the role of echocardiography in hypertension.
All recommendations were graded according to strength of the evidence and voted on by the Canadian Hypertension Recommendations Working Group. Only the recommendations achieving high levels of consensus are reported here. These guidelines will be updated annually.
These recommendations are endorsed by the Canadian Hypertension Society, The Canadian Coalition for High Blood Pressure Prevention and Control, The College of Family Physicians of Canada, The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, The Adult Disease Division and Bureau of Cardio-Respiratory Diseases and Diabetes at the Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control of Health Canada.
2005 Canadian Hypertension Education Program recommendations. New and important aspects of the sixth annual Canadian Hypertension Education Program's recommendations for management of hypertension.
To provide updated, evidence-based recommendations for the management of hypertension in adults.
For lifestyle and pharmacological interventions, evidence from randomized, controlled trials and systematic reviews of trials was preferentially reviewed. Changes in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality were the primary outcomes of interest. For lifestyle interventions, blood pressure (BP) lowering was accepted as a primary outcome given the lack of long-term morbidity/mortality data in this field. For treatment of patients with kidney disease, the development of proteinuria or worsening of kidney function was also accepted as a clinically relevant primary outcome.
MEDLINE searches were conducted from November 2004 to October 2005 to update the 2005 recommendations. In addition, reference lists were scanned and experts were contacted to identify additional published studies. All relevant articles were reviewed and appraised independently by content and methodological experts using prespecified levels of evidence.
Lifestyle modifications to prevent and/or treat hypertension include the following: perform 30 min to 60 min of aerobic exercise four to seven days per week; maintain a healthy body weight (body mass index of 18.5 kg/m2 to 24.9 kg/m2) and waist circumference (less than 102 cm for men and less than 88 cm for women); limit alcohol consumption to no more than 14 standard drinks per week in men or nine standard drinks per week in women; follow a diet that is reduced in saturated fat and cholesterol and that emphasizes fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products; restrict salt intake; and consider stress management in selected individuals. Treatment thresholds and targets should take into account each individual's global atherosclerotic risk, target organ damage and comorbid conditions. BP should be lowered to less than 140/90 mmHg in all patients, and to less than 130/80 mmHg in those with diabetes mellitus or chronic kidney disease (regardless of the degree of proteinuria). Most adults with hypertension require more than one agent to achieve these target BPs. For adults without compelling indications for other agents, initial therapy should include thiazide diuretics. Other agents appropriate for first-line therapy for diastolic hypertension with or without systolic hypertension include beta-blockers (in those younger than 60 years), angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (in nonblack patients), long-acting calcium channel blockers or angiotensin receptor antagonists. Other agents for first-line therapy for isolated systolic hypertension include long-acting dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers or angiotensin receptor antagonists. Certain comorbid conditions provide compelling indications for first-line use of other agents: in patients with angina, recent myocardial infarction or heart failure, beta-blockers and ACE inhibitors are recommended as first-line therapy; in patients with diabetes mellitus, ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor antagonists (or in patients without albuminuria, thiazides or dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers) are appropriate first-line therapies; and in patients with nondiabetic chronic kidney disease, ACE inhibitors are recommended. All hypertensive patients should have their fasting lipids screened, and those with dyslipidemia should be treated using the thresholds, targets and agents recommended by the Canadian Hypertension Education Program Working Group on the management of dyslipidemia and the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Selected patients with hypertension, but without dyslipidemia, should also receive statin therapy and/or acetylsalicylic acid therapy.
All recommendations were graded according to strength of the evidence and voted on by the 45 members of the Canadian Hypertension Education Program Evidence-Based Recommendations Task Force. All recommendations reported here achieved at least 95% consensus. These guidelines will continue to be updated annually.
Notes
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Recent data from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that nearly one billion people in the world are suffering from hypertension. Forecasts suggest that, with the aging of the population, this number could reach 1.5 billion by 2025 (Kearney, Whelton, & Reynolds, 2005). In developed countries, more than one in five adults have hypertension (Vasan, Beiser, Seshadri, Larson, Kannel, & D'Agostino, 2002). Statistics for Canada reveal that fewer than 15% of those diagnosed with hypertension are adequately controlled (Joffres, Hamet, MacLean, L'italien, & Fodor, 2001). Part of the effort to improve hypertension detection, assessment and treatment is an annual process to produce and update evidence-based recommendations for the management of hypertension and to implement the recommendations (Zarnke, Campbell, McAlister, & Levine, 2000; Campbell, Nagpal, & Drouin, 2001). The most up-to-date 2007 Canadian recommendations for the assessment and management of hypertension are presented. Contemporary nursing practice requires that nurses take responsibility and a role in the primary prevention, detection and treatment of hypertension.
The prevalence of posterior subcapsular cataracts in young patients receiving inhaled glucocorticoids for treatment of chronic asthma is unknown. In a cross-sectional study, slit-lamp examinations were done on 95 consecutive young patients who were taking inhaled beclomethasone or budesonide. No posterior subcapsular cataracts were found. The median age of the patients was 13.8 (range 5.8-24.8). The median dose of inhaled beclomethasone or budesonide was 750 micrograms/day (range 300-2000), or 12.9 micrograms/kg per day (range 7.5-34.2). The median duration of treatment was 5 years (range 1-15). 77% of the patients had not used oral glucocorticoids in the year preceding the examination. This study suggests that routine screening for posterior subcapsular cataracts in this patient population is not warranted.
Notes
Comment In: Lancet. 1993 Nov 20;342(8882):1306-77901619
