BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Efficacy of intravenous thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke declines with increasing time to treatment initiation. Previous small-scale studies suggested that the earlier patients arrive, the longer it takes to administer recombinant tissue plasminogen activator. METHODS Of 32 529 patients with stroke prospectively enrolled in the Austrian Stroke Unit Registry (2004 t...

BACKGROUND Transmission of tuberculosis (TB) in prisons has been reported worldwide to be much higher than that reported for the corresponding general population. METHODS AND FINDINGS A systematic review has been performed to assess the risk of incident latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and TB disease in prisons, as compared to the incidence in the corresponding local general population, a...

BACKGROUND A better understanding of the health status of older inpatients could underpin the delivery of more individualised, appropriate health care. METHODS 1418 patients aged ≥ 70 years admitted to 11 hospitals in Australia were evaluated at admission using the interRAI assessment system for Acute Care. This instrument surveys a large number of domains, including cognition, communication,...

We conducted a retrospective analysis of all pediatric cases referred by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) field doctors via the MSF telemedicine system during a 4-year period from April 2010. A total of 467 pediatric cases were submitted, representing approximately 40% of all telemedicine cases. The median age of the patients was 4 years. The median response time (i.e., the interval between the c...

PURPOSE To determine the utility (quality-of-life weight) associated with adult strabismus. METHODS Time tradeoff utility values were measured in physician-conducted interviews with 140 adult patients with strabismus in a private practice setting. Patients also completed a questionnaire containing six items that rated the following aspects of disability: specific health problems, problems wit...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the absolute wealth of households using data from demographic and health surveys. METHODS We developed a new metric, the absolute wealth estimate, based on the rank of each surveyed household according to its material assets and the assumed shape of the distribution of wealth among surveyed households. Using data from 156 demographic and health surveys in 66 countries, w...

BACKGROUND There is no comprehensive database of pediatric anesthesiologists, their demographic characteristics, or geographic location in the United States. METHODS We endeavored to create a comprehensive database of pediatric anesthesiologists by merging individuals identified as US pediatric anesthesiologists by the American Board of Anesthesiology, National Provider Identifier registry, H...

BACKGROUND The potential impact of an influenza pandemic can be assessed by calculating a set of transmissibility parameters, the most important being the reproduction number (R), which is defined as the average number of secondary cases generated per typical infectious case. METHODS We conducted a systematic review to summarize published estimates of R for pandemic or seasonal influenza and ...

BACKGROUND Antibiotics are frequently used to treat hidradenitis suppurativa (HS); however, few data on their efficacy are available. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy of a combination of systemic clindamycin (300 mg twice daily) and rifampicin (600 mg daily) in the treatment of patients with severe HS. METHODS Patients (n = 116) who received this combination were studied retrospectively. ...

The purpose of this study was to gain insight in barriers and facilitators of sports in paralympic athletes. An online questionnaire was distributed through the Netherlands Olympic Committee and National Sports Confederation to determine personal and environmental barriers and facilitators of sports participation. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health model and ...