Objective: The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) criteria for osteoarthritis (OA) obviate the need for physical exam or imaging, and their use may improve timely diagnosis of OA. However, they have not been validated.
Methods: Within a larger study of individuals with type 2 diabetes, participants with and without self-reported knee pain underwent assessment of the NICE criteria for knee OA by questionnaire (index test), and clinical evaluation for established or possible knee OA by a rheumatologist (reference standard).
Background: Following reduction of public health and social measures concurrent with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron emergence in late 2021 in Australia, COVID-19 case notification rates rose rapidly. As rates of direct viral testing and reporting dropped, true infection rates were most likely to be underestimated.
Objective: To better understand infection rates and immunity in this population, we aimed to estimate SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Australians aged 0-19 years.
Background: Health inequities persist among First Nations people living in developed countries. Surgical care is pivotal in addressing a significant portion of the global disease burden. Evidence regarding surgical outcomes among First Nations people in Australia is limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPublic health frameworks have grappled with the inequitable distribution of power as a driver of the social conditions that determine health. However, these frameworks have not adequately considered building community power as a strategy to shift the distribution of power. Community power-building organizations build and organize a base of affected people to take collective action to transform their material conditions, using advocacy and other tactics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAustralia and New Zealand are two countries in the Southern Pacific region. They share many pediatric anesthesia similarities in terms of medical organizational systems, education, training, and research, however there are important differences between the two nations in relation to geography, the First Nations populations and the history of colonization. While the standards for pediatric anesthesia and the specialty training requirements are set by the Australian and New Zealand College of Anesthetists and the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia in New Zealand and Australia, colonization has created distinct challenges that each nation now faces in order to improve the anesthetic care of its pediatric population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn Hepatobiliary Pancreat Surg
May 2024
Backgrounds/aims: While patients with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer (BRPC) are a target population for neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), formal guidelines for neoadjuvant therapy are lacking. We assessed the perioperative and oncological outcomes in patients with BRPC undergoing NAC with FOLFIRINOX for patients undergoing upfront surgery (US).
Methods: The AHPBA criteria for borderline resectability and/or a CA19-9 level > 100 μ/mL defined borderline resectable tumors retrieved from a prospectively populated institutional registry from 2007 to 2020.
Objective: As part of the first phase of the OARSI Early-stage Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis (EsSKOA) initiative, we explored the first symptoms and experiences recalled by individuals with knee osteoarthritis (OA).
Design: This qualitative study, informed by qualitative description, was a secondary analysis of focus groups (n = 17 groups) and one-on-one interviews (n = 3) conducted in 91 individuals living with knee OA as part of an international study to better understand the OA pain experience. In each focus group or interview, participants were asked to describe their first symptoms of knee OA.
Medical assistance in dying (MAiD) has been a legally approved practice in Canada since 2016. Only recently have patients undergoing MAiD also been considered as donors for liver transplantation (LT). This study aimed to evaluate a case series of LT outcomes for recipients with MAiD donors and was paired with a systematic literature review of studies assessing the efficacy of MAiD-associated liver donation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA) commonly co-occurs in people with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and increases the risk for diabetes complications, yet uptake of evidence-based treatment is low. We combined theory, stakeholder involvement and existing evidence to develop a multifaceted intervention to improve OA care in persons with T2DM. This was done in partnership with Arthritis Society Canada to leverage the existing infrastructure and provincial funding for community arthritis care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and knee osteoarthritis (OA) commonly co-occur and epidemiologic studies suggest concomitant symptomatic knee OA increases the risk of T2DM complications. We sought to explore the experiences and perspectives of individuals' living with both symptomatic knee OA and T2DM, with a focus on the impact of OA on T2DM management and daily life.
Design: We conducted qualitative semistructured telephone interviews with persons living with T2DM and knee OA.
Background: Serum Amyloid A (SAA) is a major acute phase protein in cats, increasing rapidly in response to various inflammatory diseases. An automated latex-enhanced immunoturbidimetric assay for human SAA (LZ-SAA, Eiken), previously validated for use in cats, has had further major modification (VET-SAA, Eiken) for specific use in veterinary diagnostic laboratories but has yet to be validated in cats.
Results: Intra-assay and inter-assay CVs for the VET-SAA assay ranged from 1.
Objective: Delivering person-centered care in individuals with knee osteoarthritis (OA) necessitates consideration of other chronic conditions that frequently co-occur. We sought to understand the extent to which arthritis therapists consider type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) when treating persons with knee OA and concomitant T2DM, and barriers to doing so.
Methods: We conducted 18 semistructured telephone interviews with arthritis therapists working within a provincially funded arthritis care program (Arthritis Society Canada) in Ontario, Canada.
The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic is broadly affecting the mental health and well-being of people around the world, and disproportionately affecting some groups with already pre-existing health inequities. Two groups at greater risk of physical and/or mental health detriments from COVID-19 and more profoundly impacted by the pandemic include frontline workers and American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. To provide support and prevent long-term mental health problems, we culturally adapted a psychological first aid guide specifically for COVID-19 frontline workers serving AI/AN communities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol
February 2023
Background: Women with rheumatic heart disease (RHD) can have a lower cardiac reserve to cope with pregnancy and labour, leading to increased obstetric and cardiac risks. The Northern Territory has been repeatedly reported to have the highest prevalence of RHD in Australia, yet evidence specific to pregnancy is scarce in the literature.
Aims: The primary aim of this paper is to describe the baseline characteristics and maternal outcomes of pregnant women with RHD presenting to the largest obstetrics referral hospital in the Northern Territory.
Background: Driver mutations are the genetic components responsible for tumor initiation and progression. These variants, which may be inherited, influence cancer risk and therefore underlie many familial cancers. The present study examines the potential association between SNPs in driver genes SF3B1 (rs4685), TBX3 (rs12366395, rs8853, and rs1061651) and MAP3K1 (rs72758040) and BC in BRCA1/2-negative Chilean families.
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