1,158 results match your criteria: "Amsterdam UMC - Location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam[Affiliation]"

Background: Evaluating a patient's medication list is critical to reduce prescribing errors (PEs), but is a labour- and time-intensive process. Identification of patients at risk of PEs could improve the allocation of scarce time and resources, but currently available prediction tools are not effective.

Objective: To investigate whether ward doctors can identify patients at risk of PEs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: In 2019 the Dutch national prevention of preterm birth (PTB) protocol was adjusted to withhold tocolysis for threatened PTB above 30 weeks of gestation due to insufficient evidence regarding its effectiveness on improving perinatal outcomes. The aim of this study is to evaluate neonatal outcomes of children born in the Netherlands between 30 and 32 weeks of gestation before and after the national protocol change.

Study Design: We performed a nationwide retrospective cohort study comparing outcomes of births in the years 2018 (tocolysis) and 2020 (no tocolysis).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Higher education institutions increasingly aim to implement equity in admissions. However, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to determine which equitable admissions procedures are suitable in a specific context, nor which groups should be its beneficiaries. Therefore, we applied the Formal Consensus Method (FCM) to investigate the support amongst experts and stakeholders for different equitable admissions policies and target groups within the context of Health Professions Education in The Netherlands.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to create customized birthweight charts based on maternal height and assess how this customization affects the classification of small for gestational age (SGA) and large for gestational age (LGA) infants.
  • Researchers used data from 21,350 births in the Netherlands to create the MiCaS-birthweight chart and analyzed prevalence rates of SGA and LGA across different height categories.
  • Findings showed that the MiCaS chart resulted in more consistent SGA and LGA rates across various maternal heights, contrasting with the standard Dutch chart, where SGA and LGA rates fluctuated significantly with maternal height.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected child and adolescent mental health and at the end of the pandemic (April 2022) child mental health had not returned to pre-pandemic levels. We investigated whether this observed increase in mental health problems has continued, halted, or reversed after the end of the pandemic in children from the general population and in children in psychiatric care.

Methods: We collected parent-reported and child-reported data at two additional post-pandemic time points (November/December 2022 and March/April 2023) in children (8-18 years) from two general population samples ( = 818-1056 per measurement) and one clinical sample receiving psychiatric care ( = 320-370) and compared these with data from before the pandemic.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • VA-ECMO (veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) is used to treat severe cardiac failure and can restore overall blood circulation, but its impact on small blood vessel function is still unclear.
  • A systematic review of the literature (1215 studies sourced, 11 included) focused on how VA-ECMO affects microcirculation, measuring factors like small vessel density and blood flow.
  • Initial findings suggest that microcirculatory function improves within hours for survivors of cardiac events post-ECMO, but this improvement levels off; more extensive research is needed to confirm these effects over time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hearing Impairment: Reduced Pupil Dilation Response and Frontal Activation During Degraded Speech Perception.

J Speech Lang Hear Res

November 2024

Department of Psychiatry and Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Article Synopsis
  • The study examined how pupil dilation responses, an indicator of cognitive effort during listening, varied between normal-hearing (NH) and hard of hearing (HH) individuals while processing clear and degraded speech using fMRI technology.
  • Results showed that HH participants struggled more with speech reception, especially under degraded conditions, exhibiting smaller pupil dilation responses compared to NH participants, which suggests differences in cognitive effort required for speech processing.
  • Findings indicated that hearing impairment leads to greater activation in certain brain areas during speech comprehension, highlighting the relationship between attentional control, cognitive load, and how individuals respond to degraded speech.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Iron deficiency anemia is a significant global health concern, diagnosed by measuring hemoglobin concentrations in combination with plasma ferritin concentration. This study investigated the variability in ferritin reference intervals among laboratories in the Netherlands and examined how this affects the identification of iron-related disorders.

Methods: Ferritin reference intervals from 52 Dutch ISO15189-certified medical laboratories were collected.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Physician staffed Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (P-HEMS) care in the Netherlands has transitioned from predominantly trauma management to handling a variety of medical conditions. Relevant outcome parameters for Dutch P-HEMS research have not been previously defined. National consensus was sought to identify relevant long term patient outcome parameters, process outcome parameters and performance outcome parameters for Dutch P-HEMS care.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • This study looks at a new imaging tracer called [F]F-AraG, which helps scientists understand how cancer and the immune system interact, particularly in lung cancer patients.
  • Researchers tested this tracer in 13 patients to figure out the best way to measure how much of it gets taken up by tumors over time.
  • The results showed that the 2T3k model was the best for understanding how the tracer works, and two specific measurements (TBR and TPR) were very useful for comparing results across different time periods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Bladder radiotherapy can be tricky because the size and shape of the bladder can change daily, making it hard to treat tumors effectively while avoiding damage to healthy tissue.
  • A study compared a new method called online adaptive radiotherapy (oART), which adjusts daily to these changes, with the old method that doesn’t adjust (non-ART).
  • Results showed that oART not only effectively targeted the bladder cancer but also reduced radiation exposure to healthy organs, meaning fewer side effects for the patient over two years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study looked at a new way to treat bladder cancer using a computer program that can automatically adjust daily treatments without needing a doctor to make changes each time.
  • They tested this method on 17 patients, focusing on how well the computer's work matched up with the usual treatment techniques.
  • The results showed that while the computer did a good job, there were still some differences in how the treatment areas were outlined compared to the traditional method used by doctors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Subcortical brain structures play a crucial role in various disorders, and a study analyzed the genetic basis of brain volumes in nearly 75,000 individuals of European ancestry, revealing 254 loci linked to these volumes.
  • The research identified significant gene expression in neural cells, relating to brain aging and signaling, and found that polygenic scores could predict brain volumes across different ancestries.
  • The study highlights genetic connections between brain volumes and conditions like Parkinson's disease and ADHD, suggesting specific gene expression patterns could be involved in neuropsychiatric disorders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Integration of reconstructed human skin (RhS) into organ-on-chip (OoC) platforms addresses current limitations imposed by static culturing. This innovation, however, is not without challenges. Microfluidic devices, while powerful, often encounter usability, robustness, and gas bubble issues that hinder large-scale high-throughput setups.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The development of intrinsic capacity measures for longitudinal research: The Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam.

Exp Gerontol

November 2024

Amsterdam UMC location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Epidemiology and Data Science, the Netherlands; Aging and Later Life, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, the Netherlands.

Background: The World Health Organization has introduced the construct of intrinsic capacity (IC) as an important component of healthy ageing and overall well-being in older adults The present study aimed to develop domain-specific and composite IC scores and to validate these scores by examining their longitudinal relation with functioning.

Methods: We used prospective data on participants aged 57 to over 90 years, with a 10-year follow-up, from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, an ongoing cohort study of older Dutch men and women Using a formative, stepwise approach, we identified indicators across the different domains of IC, i.e.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to compare recovery quality in esophageal cancer patients receiving two types of pain relief: epidural and paravertebral analgesia, after minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE).
  • The trial found that while both methods were effective, epidural analgesia provided better quality of recovery in the early postoperative days, though no significant differences were noted on postoperative day 3.
  • Ultimately, both analgesia techniques can be used in practice as they showed similar outcomes regarding complications and hospital stays.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Moderators and mediators of the association between the obesogenicity of neighbourhoods and weight status in Dutch adults.

Health Place

November 2024

Epidemiology and Data Science, Amsterdam UMC Location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1117, 1081HV, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

This study aimed to assess sociodemographic, personality, and psychological moderators, and lifestyle behavioural mediators, of the association between obesogenicity of neighbourhoods and weight status in Dutch adults. This cross-sectional study used baseline data of 150,506 adult participants of the Lifelines study. To quantify obesogenicity of Dutch neighbourhoods, the Obesogenic Built Environment CharacterisTics (OBCT) index was used, calculated for 1000 m circular buffers around participant's residencies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Bone mineral density (BMD) Z-scores decrease during puberty suppression in transgender youth. Assessment of treatment impact has been based on the assumption that without intervention, BMD Z-scores remain stable. However, the natural course of BMD in this population is unknown.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Interprofessional education is one of the interventions used to increase health care students' motivation for working with older patients. Previous research about such interventions has been conducted without the use of control groups and has given inconclusive results. The objective of the present curricular resource was: Does geriatric paper-based interprofessional education influence students' interest in treating older people? During a one-year period, undergraduate fourth-year medical and third-year nursing students wrote four health care plans for four different paper-based older patient cases.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Depression is common in people with visual impairment, and the onset may be influenced by aspects related to light. The aim was to explore the associations of season, sunlight, and light sensitivity with depressive symptoms in this population.

Methods: Data regarding self-reported depressive symptoms from seven cross-sectional studies conducted between 2009 and 2018 were combined with information concerning sensitivity to light, season on the date of self-report, and potential sunlight exposure in the 2 weeks prior to self-report.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: In non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), chemoradiotherapy (CRT) yields pathological complete response (pCR) rates of approximately 30%. We investigated using ipilimumab plus nivolumab (IPI-NIVO) with neoadjuvant CRT in resectable, and borderline resectable NSCLC.

Methods: This single-arm, phase-II trial enrolled operable T3-4N0-2 patients with NSCLC without oncogenic drivers.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Editorial: Modern management of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Front Cardiovasc Med

September 2024

Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Department for Visceral-, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus and University Hospital, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Structural connectivity of dopaminergic pathways in major depressive disorder: An ultra-high resolution 7-Tesla diffusion MRI study.

Eur Neuropsychopharmacol

December 2024

Amsterdam UMC location University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Electronic address:

Article Synopsis
  • * Researchers used a 7.0 Tesla ultra-high field diffusion MRI to examine the white matter integrity of various dopamine pathways in 53 MDD patients compared to 12 healthy controls.
  • * The study found that MDD is linked to structural differences in the nigrostriatal pathway and that factors like depression severity and insomnia impact connectivity in other dopamine-related pathways.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

HPV16 is occasionally detected in vaccinated women who received the bivalent HPV16/18 vaccine, usually at low viral loads. This study explored potential differences in HPV16 variants between vaccinated and unvaccinated women. HPV16-postive viral loads were detected in 1.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Researchers aimed to create and validate Methylation Risk Scores (MRS) using machine learning to identify individuals at risk for PTSD based on genomic and trauma exposure data.
  • The study developed three models: eMRS (which combines trauma exposure and methylation data), MoRS (which relies only on methylation data), and MoRSAE (which adjusts MoRS for trauma exposure).
  • The eMRS model showed the best performance with a 92% accuracy, and all models were able to predict post-deployment PTSD significantly, suggesting that including trauma exposure improves risk assessment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF