Agreement Between Self-Report and Medical Record Prevalence of 16 Chronic Conditions in the Alaska EARTH Study.

The gold standard for health information is the health record. Hospitalization and outpatient diagnoses provide health systems with data on which to project health costs and plan programmatic changes. Although health record information may be reliable and perceived as accurate, it may not include population-specific information and may exclude care provided outside a specific health care facility.

Skin perfusion pressure in chronic venous disorders.

Objective: To examine whether a patient group with chronic venous disorders (CVDs) would show a different response to a pressure provocation test, such as skin perfusion pressure (SPP) of microcirculatory function.

Design: A cuff inflation technique was applied to the gaiter area of the lower legs to induce complete occlusion of the microcirculation. The cuff was then released to measure the pressure at which perfusion resumed, and SPP was measured with a laser Doppler flowmeter (LDF).

Outcomes of a cardiothoracic intensive care web-based online intravenous insulin infusion calculator study at a Medical University Hospital.

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine whether a web-based, on-line intravenous insulin (IVI) infusion calculator (IVIIC) program for the delivery of IVI therapy in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients was superior to a prior IVI protocol used in the cardiothoracic intensive care unit at our institution.

Methods: The study included 97 CABG patients studied from October 2004 to February 2005 pre-protocol (type 2 diabetes) and October 2005 to February 2006 post-protocol (with or without type 2 diabetes). The IVIIC was programmed to resemble an algorithm whereby any patient with type 2 diabetes or a blood glucose (BG) greater than 120 mg/dL was started on IVI with an insulin sensitivity factor, a multiplier of 0.