by Oumarou I. Wone Adama, Iman Frédéric Youa, Alexandra Bitty-Anderson, Arnold Junior Sadio, Rogatien Comlan Atoun, Yao Rodion Konu, Hezouwe Tchade, Martin Kouame Tchankoni, Kokou Herbert Gounon, Kparakate Bouboune Kota-Mamah, Abissouwessim Egbare Tchade, Godonou Amivi Mawussi, Fiali Ayawa Lack, Fifonsi Adjidossi Gbeasor-Komlavi, Anoumou Claver Dagnra, Didier Koumavi Ekouevi
IntroductionIn Togo, the syndromic approach is used for the diagnosis and management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The aim of this study was to evaluate the syndromic approach for diagnosis of STIs among female sex workers (FSW) in Lomé, Togo.
MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out from September to October 2023 among FSW in Lomé (Togo). FSW aged 18 years and above were included. A gynecological examination was performed for syndromic diagnosis, and the Xpert® CT/NG were used to screen vaginal swabs for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG). The performance (predictive values) of the syndromic approach to STI diagnosis was evaluated using the Xpert® CT/NG test as the gold standard.
ResultsA total of 357 FSW were recruited. The median age of FSW was 32 years (IQR: [26–40 years]) and 8.2% had attained a higher level of education. The prevalence of syndromic STI among FSW was 33.3%. Vaginal swabs were positive for CT (8.4%) and NG (8.7%), with a prevalence of bacterial STIs (CT and/or NG) of 14.3%. The syndromic approach to STI diagnosis demonstrated a positive predictive value of 24.3%.
ConclusionThe prevalence of STIs is relatively high among FSW in Lomé. According to this study, the diagnosis of STIs using the syndromic approach has limited relevance. National STI screening and management policies urgently need to be rethought, incorporating recent technological advances.
Detecting cancer earlier improves treatment options and long-term survival. A multicancer early detection test that reliably picks up early-stage cancer would potentially save lives and reduce the cost of treating cancer. One promising candidate is the Enlighten test, which applies machine learning to plasma amino acid concentrations to detect cancer. In a cohort of 77 patients recently diagnosed with breast, colorectal, pancreatic or prostate cancer, 60 (78%) were detected by the test (sensitivity), with no false positives in 20 healthy controls. The MODERNISED study will further develop the Enlighten test to detect 10 different cancers by adding bladder, lung, melanoma, oesophageal, ovarian and renal cancer to the test.
MODERNISED (ISRCTN17299125) is a multicentre prospective, non-interventional, case–control study. We aim to recruit 1000 adult participants with a recent cancer diagnosis, 250 adult participants with symptoms of cancer where a cancer diagnosis was ruled out by the National Health Service (NHS) standard of care and 100 healthy adult volunteers. Cancer tissue of origin (ToO) will include bladder, breast, colorectal, lung, melanoma, oesophageal, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate and renal. Participants in the two non-cancer cohorts who are later diagnosed with cancer will be moved to the cancer cases cohort. The primary aim is to train and validate a machine learning algorithm to detect cancer, which will be evaluated by AUROC. Secondary aims include training and validating an algorithm to predict ToO and stage of cancer, exploring differences in performance by demographics and estimating how sensitivity varies across specificity cut-offs of 95%, 99% and 99.9%. These results will provide a statistically powered estimate of how well the Enlighten test can discriminate between individuals with and without cancer, which can then be validated for clinical use in further research.
This study is sponsored by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust and has been approved by the Health Research Authority and Health and Care Research West Midlands (24/WM/0234). Results will be presented at scientific meetings and published in international peer-reviewed journals. Lay summaries of study progress and findings will be published on the Southampton Clinical Trial Unit’s website.
To identify postoperative interventions and quality improvement initiatives used to prevent wound complications in patients undergoing colorectal surgeries, the types of activities nurses undertake in these interventions/initiatives and how these activities align with nurses' scope of practice.
A scoping review.
Three health databases were searched, and backward and forward citation searching occurred in April 2022. Research and quality improvement initiatives included focussed on adult patients undergoing colorectal surgery, from 2010 onwards. Data were extracted about study characteristics, nursing activities and outcomes. The ‘Dimensions of the scope of nursing practice’ framework was used to classify nursing activities and then the Patterns, Advances, Gaps, Evidence for practice and Research recommendations framework was used to synthesise the review findings.
Thirty-seven studies were included. These studies often reported negative wound pressure therapy and surgical site infection bundle interventions/initiatives. Nurses' scope of practice was most frequently ‘Technical procedure and delegated medical care’ meaning nurses frequently acted under doctors' orders, with the most common delegated activity being dressing removal.
The full extent of possible interventions nurses could undertake independently in the postoperative period requires further exploration to improve wound outcomes and capitalise on nurses' professional role.
Nurses' role in preventing postoperative wound complications is unclear, which may inhibit their ability to influence postoperative outcomes. In the postoperative period, nurses undertake technical activities, under doctors' orders to prevent wound infections. For practice, nurses need to upkeep and audit their technical skills. New avenues for researchers include exploration of independent activities for postoperative nurses and the outcomes of these activities.
There may be opportunities to broaden nurses' scope of practice to act more autonomously to prevent wound complication.
Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist.
A health consumer interpreted the data and prepared the manuscript.
Objetivo: Identificar os efeitos da pandemia da COVID 19 nos profissionais atuantes no atendimento pré-hospitalar. Método: revisão integrativa, conduzida de acordo com o protocolo prisma, por meio das bases de dados: Medline/PubMed, Lilacs, SciElo, BDENF, CUIDEN, CINAHAL. Adotaram-se os Descritores em Ciências da Saúde (DeCS): “Saúde do trabalhador” “Pandemia” “COVID 19” “Atendimento pré-hospitalar” “Segurança” “Profissionais de saúde” “Trabalho”. Após a aplicação dos critérios de inclusão, foram selecionados treze artigos que compuseram a amostra do estudo. Resultados: dezoito artigos foram analisados e duas categorias foram construídas: risco de contaminação e exposição ocupacional dos profissionais da saúde que cuidam de pacientes acometidos pela COVID-19 e risco de adoecimento psicoemocional dos profissionais da saúde que cuidam pacientes acometidos pela COVID-19. Conclusão: A revisão mostrou os potenciais efeitos sobre a saúde dos profissionais durante o atendimento de pacientes acometidos pela COVID-19. E a importância da implementação de estratégias de intervenção focadas nos riscos ocupacionais.
Objetive: analizar las percepciones, motivaciones y dificultades de los técnicos de enfermería titulados en enfermería. Metodología: Me-todología: Se trata de una investigación cualitativa, exploratoria descriptiva, la recolección de datos se realizó en un Hospital Municipal del Noroeste de Paraná, durante el primer semestre de 2020, mediante la aplicación de un guión semiestructurado con preguntas orien-tadoras y un cuestionario sociodemográfico. Resultados: El conocimiento adquirido en la graduación de enfermería fue uno de los facto-res facilitadores que contribuyó a una mejor ejecución de la atención brindada, y la mayor dificultad está relacionada con la aceptación de los colegas y supervisores, en relación a las opiniones y sugerencias sobre los procedimientos u organización de la Servicio. Las razones que llevaron a los técnicos de enfermería a cursar una carrera en el área en la que trabajan se deben a la necesidad de cono-cimientos y la búsqueda de un mejor futuro financiero. Conclusión: cuando el profesional tiene un título, se desarrolla con mayor destreza y eficacia en la asistencia proporcionada.
Objetivo principal: Comparar la eficacia del uso del Expediente Clínico Electrónico (ECE) Vs Expediente Clínico Físico (ECF) en la mejora la calidad en atención de pacientes hospitalizados. Metodología: Se consideraron estudios relacionados con uso del ECE, utilizando los descriptores DeCS y MeSH, operadores booleanos AND, NOT y OR. Criterios inclusión: artículos de revisión con cinco años de publicación; criterios exclusión: pacientes ambulatorios o de consulta externa. Resultados principales: La evidencia establece ventajas del uso ECE como la facilidad de uso, accesibilidad, lectura, calidad en la documentación, control de información sobre los cuidados de los pacientes, cumplimiento normativo y toma de decisiones, lo cual reduce el riesgo de errores médicos; sin embargo, algunas desventajas es el empleo de hardware, software, redes; requiere soporte técnico las 24 horas al día. Conclusión principal: el empleo del ECE establece eficacia en la atención al paciente hospitalizado mediante la minimización de tiempos en registros y el aumento en la seguridad de la información.