Glucocorticoid receptor single nucleotide polymorphisms are associated with acute crisis pain in sickle cell disease.

Aim: Pain in sickle cell disease patients is heterogeneous and genetic polymorphisms may predispose an individual to varied vulnerability to painful events. We studied the association of SNPs in the glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1) with pain in sickle cell disease.

Method: Acute pain was scored as the number of utilizations due to crisis pain in a 12-month period.

Genetic variants of GCH1 associate with chronic and acute crisis pain in African Americans with sickle cell disease.

The multidimensional nature of pain in sickle cell disease (SCD) has rendered its therapeutic management extremely challenging. In this study, we explored the role of five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of candidate gene GCH1 in SCD pain. Composite pain index (CPI) scores and acute care utilization rates were used as phenotype markers.

CE: A Review of the Revised Sepsis Care Bundles.

: Sepsis is an extreme response to infection that can cause tissue damage, organ failure, and death if not treated promptly and appropriately. Each year in the United States, sepsis affects more than 1.5 million people and kills roughly 250,000.

Impact of the CMS No-Pay Policy on Hospital-Acquired Fall Prevention Related Practice Patterns.

Background And Objectives: In October 2008, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) stopped reimbursing hospitals for costs related to patient falls. This study aimed to examine whether the CMS no-pay policy influenced four fall prevention practices: bed alarms, sitters, room changes, and physical restraints.

Research Design And Methods: Using electronic medical record data collected from four hospitals between 2005 and 2010, this secondary observational analysis examined the associations between the CMS no-pay policy and nursing interventions and medical orders related to fall prevention.

Dignity Impact as a Primary Outcome Measure for Dignity Therapy.

Background: Feasibility of dignity therapy (DT) is well established in palliative care. Evidence of its efficacy, however, has been inconsistent and may stem from DT's primary effects differing from the outcomes measured in previous studies. We proposed that DT effects were in the spiritual domain and created a new outcome measure, Dignity Impact Scale (DIS), from items previously used in a large randomized controlled trial (RCT).

The AVPR1A Gene and Its Single Nucleotide Polymorphism rs10877969: A Literature Review of Associations with Health Conditions and Pain.

Background: Pain is the quintessential symptom for individuals suffering from sickle cell disease (SCD). Although the degree of suffering and the cost of treatment are staggering, SCD continues to be grossly understudied, including a lack of data for pain-related genes and prevalence of polymorphisms in this population. This lack of data adds to the inadequacy of pain therapy in this population.

Circulating Lipids and Acute Pain Sensitization: An Exploratory Analysis.

Background: In individuals with low back pain, higher lipid levels have been documented and were associated with increased risk for chronic low back pain.

Objectives: The purpose of this research was to identify plasma lipids that discriminate participants with acute low back pain with or without pain sensitization as measured by quantitative sensory testing.

Methods: This exploratory study was conducted as part of a larger parent randomized controlled trial.

Management of Sickle Cell Pain Using Pregabalin: A Pilot Study.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) pain may have a neuropathic component. Adjuvant drugs used to treat neuropathic pain have not been studied for the treatment of adults with SCD. To determine the safety and feasibility of using pregabalin for chronic SCD pain.

Development and Psychometric Testing of the Diabetes Caregiver Activity and Support Scale.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to develop and psychometrically test the Diabetes Caregiver Activity and Support Scale (D-CASS), a measure of how difficult or easy caregiver activity and supportive behaviors are for family caregivers of persons with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Methods Internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, criterion-related validity, and construct validity were examined in 101 family caregivers of persons with T2DM. Participants were recruited using study brochures distributed at a large hospital in the Midwest and at statewide American Indian Pow Wows.

Associations between hyponatraemia, volume depletion and the risk of falls in US hospitalised patients: a case-control study.

Objective: We aimed to determine if abnormal laboratory values which may indicate volume depletion are associated with increased odds of experiencing a hospital-acquired fall.

Design: Matched case-control study.

Setting: Four hospitals located in the Southeast USA.

Depression and Pain in Asian and White Americans With Knee Osteoarthritis.

Unlabelled: Few studies have examined the underlying psychosocial mechanisms of pain in Asian Americans. Using the biopsychosocial model, we sought to determine whether variations in depression contribute to racial group differences in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis pain between Asian Americans and non-Hispanic white Americans. The sample consisted of 100 participants, including 50 Asian Americans (28 Korean Americans, 9 Chinese Americans, 7 Japanese Americans, 5 Filipino Americans, and 1 Indian American) and 50 age- and sex-matched non-Hispanic white Americans with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis pain.

Do Vulvodynia TCM Patterns Differ by Pain Types? Beginning Evidence Supporting the Concept.

Introduction: Vulvodynia affects a maximum of 14 million U.S. women; however, it has not been adequately characterized.

A Systematic Review of Naltrexone for Attenuating Alcohol Consumption in Women with Alcohol Use Disorders.

Several clinical trials have evaluated naltrexone as a treatment for alcohol use disorders (AUDs), but few have focused on women. The aim of this review was to systematically review and summarize the evidence regarding the impact of naltrexone compared to placebo for attenuating alcohol consumption in women with an AUD. A systematic review was conducted using PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, CINAHL, and Alcohol Studies Database to identify relevant peer-reviewed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published between January 1990 and August 2016.

Variations in COMT and NTRK2 Influence Symptom Burden in Women Undergoing Breast Cancer Treatment.

Women with breast cancer frequently report distressing symptoms during and after treatment that can significantly erode quality of life (QOL). Symptom burden among women with breast cancer is of complex etiology and is likely influenced by disease, treatment, and environmental factors as well as individual genetic differences. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships between genetic polymorphisms within Neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor 1 (NTRK1), Neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor 2 (NTRK2), and catechol-O-methyltransferase ( COMT) and patient symptom burden of QOL, pain, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance before, during, and after treatment for breast cancer in a subset of participants ( N = 51) in a randomized clinical trial of a novel symptom-management modality for women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy.

Korean Patient-Perceived Satisfaction Scale of Community-Based Case Management Services (Korean-PSCCM): Development and Psychometric Evaluation.

This study aimed to develop and psychometrically test an instrument for measuring patient-perceived satisfaction with community-based case management services in Korea. The study was conducted in 4 phases: Phase I, development of the instrument; Phase II, pilot testing of the instrument; Phase III, a large-scale study to test reliability and validity; and Phase IV, conversion of the new instrument from Korean to English. The new instrument was determined to have six factors-advocacy of case manager, outcome of care, communication skills, practice of a healthy lifestyle, referral, and recognition of risk factors-and also shown to be reliable.

Big data science: A literature review of nursing research exemplars.

Background: Big data and cutting-edge analytic methods in nursing research challenge nurse scientists to extend the data sources and analytic methods used for discovering and translating knowledge.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify, analyze, and synthesize exemplars of big data nursing research applied to practice and disseminated in key nursing informatics, general biomedical informatics, and nursing research journals.

Methods: A literature review of studies published between 2009 and 2015.

Emergency Department Weekend Presentation and Mortality in Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Background: Patients admitted to acute care hospitals on weekends have poorer outcomes than those admitted on weekdays, and patients admitted to hospitals for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) on weekends have a higher mortality rate than those admitted during the week. Very few studies have examined weekend presentation for patients with AMI with respect to mortality in the emergency department (ED).

Objective: The purpose of this research was to determine if weekend and holiday presentation is associated with increased mortality in EDs among patients with AMI in New Jersey.

IL1A rs1800587 associates with chronic noncrisis pain in sickle cell disease.

Aim: Pain is prevalent in sickle cell disease (SCD) patients who display great heterogeneity in pain severity and frequency. Hypothesizing that inflammatory factors are involved in the pathogenesis of SCD pain, we focused on the IL1A C/T polymorphism rs1800587 that is an SNP located in a cis-transcriptional regulatory region.

Methods: We genotyped IL1A rs1800587 and performed association studies with phenotype data obtained by a multidimensional pain assessment tool using the PAINReportIt Questionnaire.

Laws and guidelines governing the use of herbal supplements.

In the last of a three-part series on herbal supplements, laws and guidelines impacting the use of herbal supplements are discussed. Distinct differences exist between regulations for herbal supplements and those products defined as drugs. Consideration of herbal therapy should be approached within a context of holistic treatment.

Acute Low Back Pain: Differential Somatosensory Function and Gene Expression Compared With Healthy No-Pain Controls.

Objectives: Low back pain (LBP) is the second most frequently diagnosed pain condition in the United States, and although a majority of individuals have resolution of pain during the acute period, an estimated 40% of individuals will experience persistent pain. Given the heterogenous nature of LBP, this study sought to describe and compare somatosensory and molecular (gene expression) profiles between individuals with acute LBP and healthy no-pain controls.

Methods: Using a previously established protocol, we comprehensively assessed somatosensory parameters among 31 no-pain control participants and 31 participants with acute LBP.

CE: Assessing and Managing Pain, Agitation, and Delirium in Hospitalized Older Adults.

: In the acute care setting, pain, agitation, and delirium (PAD) often occur as interrelated parts of a syndrome rather than as separate entities. Because the three facets of PAD may be similar in presentation, it is often difficult for clinicians to recognize the syndrome and to assess and treat it. The challenge is particularly great in older patients, who are more likely than their younger counterparts to have such comorbid conditions as dementia, which may impair the ability to report pain, or age-related physiologic changes that may affect the metabolism and clearance of certain medications.

Herbal supplements for health promotion and disease prevention.

This three-part series is designed to provide clinicians with a working knowledge of using herbal supplements for health and disease states. Common herbal preparations used for health promotion or disease prevention will be featured in this part of the series.

Relationships among psychoneurological symptoms and levels of C-reactive protein over 2 years in women with early-stage breast cancer.

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to explore clusters of psychoneurological symptoms and inflammation (levels of C-reactive protein) over time in a cohort of women with early-stage breast cancer. Specifically, we examined the relationships among affective symptoms (depression, anxiety, fatigue, sleep disturbances, pain, and perceived stress), domains of cognitive performance, and levels of peripheral C-reactive over a period of 2 years.

Methods: This was a prospective, longitudinal study of 77 women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer.