[Care and implications for caregivers of surgical patients at home].

Objective: To identify the care given by informal caregivers to patients who underwent abdominal surgery in the Consorci Hospitalari of Vic (Barcelona). To compare the responsibility burden for those caregivers in all the different stages of the surgical process. To determine the consequences of the care itself on the caregiver's health and to identify the factors that contribute to the need of providing care and the appearance of consequences for the caregivers in the home.

Arterial catheter setup for glucose control in critically ill patients: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Use of an arterial catheter to obtain hourly blood samples for intensive insulin therapy monitoring avoids causing patients the discomfort of repeated fingersticks. Returning the clearing volume may decrease procedure-related blood loss by 50% and minimize the risk of anemia.

Objectives: To compare the feasibility of 2 arterial catheter clearing-volume return setups for hourly blood extractions and to evaluate the related complications and the accuracy of arterial samples in determining glycemia.

[Topics and considerations on reducing hospital admission: from evidence to practice].

Demographic changes and the economic situation of the recent years have conditioned a turning point in health policies, which have decided to progressively prioritize chronicity care programs. Given that hospital costs were concentrated in attention to patients with chronic diseases, reduction on admissions is now a priority target. Meanwhile, we state that among the obviously community handling paradigmatic aim for those patients and the current care situation, there is a long way to do that should be done gradually.

Executive functioning in children and adolescents with symptoms of sluggish cognitive tempo and ADHD.

Objective: The aim of this study was to observe whether the independent presence of Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT) directly impacts on the Executive Function (EF), and to determine whether there are deficits in EF that are unique to ADHD predominantly inattentive (ADHD-I) or SCT.

Method: Seventy-six participants aged 6 to 17 years and their parents were assessed using a diagnostic interview, an instrument that assesses the EF, and another instrument that assesses the SCT. Two hierarchical linear regression models were performed.

Survey about the use of lung function testing in public hospitals in Catalonia in 2009.

Background: Underdiagnosis is one of the problems with the greatest impact on respiratory disease management and requires specific interventions. Access to quality spirometry is especially important and is an objective of the Master Plan for Respiratory Diseases of the Department of Health of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

Objective: To determine the current use of spirometry at public hospitals in Catalonia, possible deficiencies and options for improvement.

[Objective assessment of the level of comorbidity in geriatric patients with bowel cancer: relationship between the surgical results and survival].

Objectives: Bowel cancer is increasing in prevalence in geriatrics (older than 65 years). The influence of comorbidities on the post-surgical results of bowel cancer is not well known. Our aim was to assess the comorbidities using the Charlson index in a geriatric population subjected to bowel cancer surgery, and analyse their influence on the postoperative results and the mortality rate.

Impact of telemedicine on acute management of stroke patients undergoing endovascular procedures.

Background: Telemedicine is improving acute stroke care in remote areas. Delay in hospital-to-hospital transfer is a common reason why acute ischemic stroke patients are excluded from interventional therapy. The progressive implementation of these procedures, requiring highly specialized professionals in comprehensive stroke centers, will certainly challenge even more the geographic equity in the access to the best acute stroke treatments.

[Cardiovascular risk factors, cardiovascular risk and quality of life in patients with a severe mental disorder].

Aim: To determine the cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF), level of cardiovascular risk (CVR) and to analyse the relationship between CVR and quality of life in patients with severe mental illness (SMI).

Design Of Study: Cross sectional study.

Setting: Mental Health Service, Consorci Hospitalari de Vic (Barcelona).

[Potentially inappropriate medication on admission to a medium-stay unit according to STOPP and START criteria].

Introduction: In older people some drugs are classified as potentially inappropriate and some tools have been developed to help to prescribe correctly, such as the "Screening Tool of Older Persons' potentially inappropriate Prescriptions" (STOPP) and the "Screening Tool to Alert doctors to the Right Treatment" (START) criteria. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and advice on the usefulness of these criteria in a medium-stay unit of a geriatric hospital.

Material And Methods: A 6 month prospective cross-sectional study was designed.

Human neoteny revisited: The case of synaptic plasticity.

The process of learning requires morphological changes in the neuronal connections and the formation of new synapses. Due to the importance of memory and learning in our species, it has been suggested that the synaptic plasticity in a number of association areas is higher in the human brain than in other primates. Cortical neurons in mammals are characterized by higher metabolism, activity, and synaptic plasticity during development and the juvenile stage than in the adult.

[Endovenous thrombolysis in a district hospital using the telestroke system].

Introduction: In January 2007, a telestroke system was established between a community hospital lacking a neurologist on call and a stroke centre 70 km away for acute stroke care.

Aim: To study the impact of a telemedicine system for acute stroke care in a community hospital and the security of thrombolytic treatment.

Patients And Methods: Observational study of acute stroke patients attended in the emergency room in a community hospital between 2007 and 2010.

Changes in plasma and platelet BDNF levels induced by S-citalopram in major depression.

Background: Neuroplastic processes are thought to be involved in the pathophysiology of major depression. It has been reported that serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is decreased in depressed patients.

Objectives: Compare BDNF levels in depressed patients and healthy controls in platelet poor plasma and in washed platelets.

Community-acquired respiratory coinfection in critically ill patients with pandemic 2009 influenza A(H1N1) virus.

Background: Little is known about the impact of community-acquired respiratory coinfection in patients with pandemic 2009 influenza A(H1N1) virus infection.

Methods: This was a prospective, observational, multicenter study conducted in 148 Spanish ICUs.

Results: Severe respiratory syndrome was present in 645 ICU patients.

[Management of glucocorticoid induced hyperglycemia].

Glucocorticoid-induced hyperglycemia is a frequent problem. In the general clinical practice, it may generate hospital admissions, their prolongation and repeated emergency visits without obtaining an adequate solution to the problem. Even so, this problem continues to be undervalued in terms of diagnosis, and especially, treatment.

[Relationship between C-telopeptides of type I collagen serum values with bone mineral density and antiosteoporotic drug intake in postmenopausal women. Preliminary data from the FRODOS study].

Background And Objective: Few studies have addressed the role of bone turnover markers (BTM) in Spanish postmenopausal women. The goal of the study was to analyse the relationship between crosslinked C-telopeptides of type I collagen (betaCTXs) serum values and bone mineral density (BMD) and antiosteoporotic drug intake in a large sample of postmenopausal women.

Patients And Method: We have recruited 1495 women aged 59-70 years (15.

Impact of a telemedicine system on acute stroke care in a community hospital.

In January 2007, a telestroke system was established between a community hospital lacking a neurologist on call and a stroke centre 70 km away. The telestroke system allowed urgent remote evaluation of the patient by a specialized neurologist, supervised thrombolytic treatment or a decision for urgent transfer to the stroke centre. During the first year of operation of the telestroke system, we studied all acute ischaemic stroke patients admitted to the community hospital and compared the results with the previous year.

[Genetic and environmental factors that may influence in the senile form of Alzheimer's disease: nested case control studies].

Introduction: We identify the genetic and environmental factors associated to Alzheimer's disease (AD) in a population aged 80 years or greater.

Population Studied: subjects who participated in the COGMANLLEU study on prevalence of cognitive deterioration in Manlleu (Osona, Central Catalonia).

Design: nested case control studies.