We investigated the influence of developmental and social factors on the age of autism diagnosis (AoD) in a cohort of toddlers living in Chile. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 509 preschool children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder [M = 40.2 months (SD = 8.6), girls: 32
BACKGROUND:Quality improvement is an important component of hospital operations.AIM:To prioritise clinical quality and safety problems in Chilean hospitals according to their severity, frequency, and detectability.MATERIAL AND METHODS:The study was conducted between December 2018 and June 2019. To identify quality and safety problems, an exploratory study was conducted using an online survey aimed to those responsible for clinical quality and safety in Chilean hospitals. The survey was sent to 94 hospitals and completed by quality management personnel at 34 hospitals, yielding a total of 25 valid surveys for analysis. Based on the information gathered, a risk priority score was computed to rank the problems surveyed. Focus groups were held to find the root causes of the quality and safety problem with the highest risk priority score.RESULTS:The three highest risk priorities were:1 ineffective interprofessional communication,2 lack of leadership for addressing frequently recurring safety issues, and3 antimicrobial resistance due to inappropriate use of antibiotics. For the communication problem, the focus group found two main root causes: those due to personnel and those relating to the hospitals themselves.CONCLUSIONS:Hospitals can systematically use the proposed approach to categorize their main clinical quality and safety problems, analyze their causes, and then design solutions.
Abstract Background Most of the drugs approved for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) seem to be of low risk during pregnancy. However, clinicians’ attitude to IBD treatments during pregnancy in clinical practice has been barely studied. Aim Primary: To describe the management of immunomodulators and biologic agents prescribed for IBD (initiation and withdrawal) in a prospective registry of clinical practice. Secondary aims: To know the main reasons for drug discontinuation; and to evaluate the impact of drug withdrawal on IBD activity during pregnancy. Methods Pregnant patients with IBD from DUMBO registry were included. DUMBO is a prospective, observational and multicentre registry, which enrols pregnant women with IBD over 5 years in 70 centres in Spain. The registry was kicked off in September 2019. Study protocol is summarized in figure 1. Results So far, 580 pregnant women have been included in the registry; of them, 489 conceived at least 40 weeks before data extraction and were considered for the present analysis (Table 1). 98% of the pregnancies were singleton, and 2% were twin pregnancies. There were 4% of miscarriages, and 1% of elective abortions. The majority of patients were in remission at conception and throughout pregnancy. Patients’ treatments during pregnancy are summarized in table 1; 20% of patients were exposed to thiopurines, 29% to biologics, and 10% to both biologics and thiopurines. No patient received methotrexate, cyclosporine, tacrolimus or tofacitinib during pregnancy. A minority of patients started a new drug during pregnancy: 3 patients (0.6%) started azathioprine, 2 (0.4%) adalimumab, 6 (1.2%) infliximab, and 1 (0.2%) ustekinumab. The proportion of patients who discontinued each drug, reasons for discontinuation, trimester of gestation at discontinuation and disease outcome, are summarized in table 2. The proportion of patients who discontinued each drug among those with the standard or the intensified dose, are summarized in table 3. Of noted, biologic agents were discontinued in over 1/3 of patients, while thiopurines were maintained in most cases (78% of those who interrupted thiopurines were maintained on biologics). No patient flared-up after drug discontinuation (Table 2); all but one patient who interrupted the treatment, were in remission at baseline Conclusion Biologic agents (even anti-TNF agents) are withdrawn in a relatively high proportion of IBD patients during pregnancy, mainly due to clinicians’ decision. The risk of relapse after drug discontinuation is low, probably due to adequate control of the disease activity already at conception.
El modelo de asignación de costes de Varela-Laso et al. [1] fue aplicado en una facultad de una Universidad pública chilena. El modelo propuesto es una adaptación al sistema de costeo basado en actividades (ABC) presentado por Kaplan y Cooper [2] que considera en una primera etapa la identificación de objetos de costes intermedios, correspondientes a los diversos resultados de la gestión universitaria: docencia de pregrado, docencia de postgrado, investigación, administración académica, perfeccionamiento, entre otros.
Knowing the state of mental health research in adolescents and youth can be an important tool for decision-making, especially in contexts of limited resources. The aim of this study is to map the scientific research on adolescent and youth mental health in Chile using an ontological framework. We have mapped the population of research articles on mental health of adolescents and youth in Chile in Scopus, Web of Science, and SciELO databases onto the ontology. The PRISMA reporting guidelines were used to screen the 1688 items based on relevance, duplication, and version. The corpus of 346 articles was coded into the ontology through an iterative process among the seven authors. This ontological mapping shows isolated research efforts that have been carried out in Chile to explain the whole state of mental health in adolescents and youth. There is a lack of coordination between the priorities established by the decision-makers and the researchers. Our results coincide with the need to strengthen mental health research in the country, and to prioritizing those topics that contribute to decision-making based on the needs of the population.
BACKGROUND:Both vedolizumab and ustekinumab are approved for the management of Crohn's disease [CD]. Data on which one would be the most beneficial option when anti-tumour necrosis factor [anti-TNF] agents fail are limited.AIMS:To compare the durability, effectiveness, and safety of vedolizumab and ustekinumab after anti-TNF failure or intolerance in CD.METHODS:CD patients from the ENEIDA registry who received vedolizumab or ustekinumab after anti-TNF failure or intolerance were included. Durability and effectiveness were evaluated in both the short and the long term. Effectiveness was defined according to the Harvey-Bradshaw index [HBI]. The safety profile was compared between the two treatments. The propensity score was calculated by the inverse probability weighting method to balance confounder factors.RESULTS:A total of 835 patients from 30 centres were included, 207 treated with vedolizumab and 628 with ustekinumab. Dose intensification was performed in 295 patients. Vedolizumab [vs ustekinumab] was associated with a higher risk of treatment discontinuation (hazard ratio [HR] 2.55, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.02-3.21), adjusted by corticosteroids at baseline [HR 1.27; 95% CI: 1.00-1.62], moderate-severe activity in HBI [HR 1.79; 95% CI: 1.20-2.48], and high levels of C-reactive protein at baseline [HR 1.06; 95% CI: 1.02-1.10]. The inverse probability weighting method confirmed these results. Clinical response, remission, and corticosteroid-free clinical remission were higher with ustekinumab than with vedolizumab. Both drugs had a low risk of adverse events with no differences between them.CONCLUSION:In CD patients who have failed anti-TNF agents, ustekinumab seems to be superior to vedolizumab in terms of durability and effectiveness in clinical practice. The safety profile is good and similar for both treatments.
OBJECTIVETo describe main motor disorders detected in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and analyze associated clinical variables.PATIENTS AND METHODA cross-sectional observatio nal study of 96 children with ASD, median age 4 years (range, 3-9), 32.3% girls, and 18.8% preterm. Children were evaluated at the UC-CHRISTUS Clinical Hospital Neurodevelopmental Unit for three years. We analyzed the relationship between motor signs (stereotypies, delayed gait, and hypo/hyper tonia) and spoken language at 4 years of age.RESULTS63.5% of children presented a motor disorder, 33.3% had hand or body motor stereotypies at the time of the evaluation, and 28.1% had delayed gait (> 16 months of corrected gestational age). These children had a higher frequency of absence of spoken language at four years of age (OR = 9.36; 95% CI = 2.67-32.78) than patients without delayed gait. 40.6% of children presented alterations in muscle tone during the first two years of life (32.3% generalized hypotonia and 8.3% generalized hypertonia). A history of generalized hypotonia increases the chance of presenting delayed gait (OR = 2.65; 95% CI = 1.08-6.48) and motor stereo typies (OR = 2.63; 95% CI = 1.04-6.65).CONCLUSIONSChildren with ASD usually develop motor disorders that may precede the diagnosis of the condition. In ASD, infant hypotonia may predict the occurrence of other motor disorders, and delayed gait was associated with spoken language absence in preschool age.
BACKGROUND Community participation in health programme planning has gained traction in public health in recent decades. When an idea enters the mainstream, it becomes vulnerable to overuse and dilution, and public health professionals claiming "community participation" may intentionally or unintentionally prevent more meaningful participatory action. The principle of community-centred planning is seldom integrated into programme evaluation. We have previously argued that, to prevent ambiguity and abuse, a stronger and more explicit idea of community ownership is useful. Un-like "participation", "ownership" leaves little room for dilution. METHOD This perspective piece explores a framework to support evaluating community ownership in planning, by emphasising decision-making power in health planning and management as a necessary element for evaluation alongside other outcomes. After defining the concept of community ownership, we identify and discuss challenges and research gaps related to implementing community ownership in health programme planning, management, and evaluation. Such issues include considering which communities have claims to programme ownership, alternative approaches to representation and participation that support ownership, gathering community values and preferences, and incorporating them into ongoing programme planning, management and evaluation. We consider methodological issues likely to arise when transitioning from gathering community voices - which is valuable but incomplete work - towards community decision making power in planning and evaluation. RESULTS We use cases from recent policy and research in Chile as examples to consider through the lens of this framework. Finally, we discuss some current constraints in implementing community ownership in healthcare planning and evaluation. CONCLUSION We encourage exploring how to practice evaluation in ways that will further our ability to be helpful professional supporters of community self-determination in finding their paths to health.
EDITORIAL article Front. Artif. Intell., 02 December 2022Sec. Artificial Intelligence in Finance Volume 5 - 2022 | https://doi.org/10.3389/frai.2022.1096496
This study examined the agreement of perceived health-related quality of life (HRQOL) between caregivers and autistic children and adolescents (n = 133, 5–12 years) using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory Generic Core Scales, Fourth Edition (PedsQL 4.0). Results reveal good to excellent agreement over this age range across the total, physical, and psychosocial health scales. However, the emotional, social, and school functioning scores demonstrated lower agreement in dyads with children aged 5–7 than in dyads with children aged 8–12 years. Despite these differences in agreement, overall, the PedsQL 4.0 caregiver-module is a reliable instrument for measuring HRQOL in autistic individuals aged 5–12 years.
Abstract Background The 21st century has witnessed advances in endoscopic surveillance technology such as high-definition imaging and virtual or dye-based chromoendoscopy, which have led to increased detection of dysplasia. It is unknown the rates of new dysplastic lesions or cancer progression with these techniques though it seems lower than previously described. Methods We developed a multicenter, population-based and retrospective cohort from 7 Spanish hospitals from the Group of Inflammatory bowel disease of Castilla Y Leon (GEICYL) including sequentially all patients with inflammatory bowel disease and colonic dysplastic lesions completely resected (R0) in surveillance with dye-based indigo carmine chromoendoscopy between January 2013 and December 2019, with a minimum endoscopic follow-up of 12 months. The aim was to evaluate the risk of developing more advanced metachronous neoplasia during follow-up, analysing possible associated risk factors. Results A total of 99 patients and 148 index lesions (145 low-grade dysplasias [LGD] and 3 high-grade dysplasias [HGD]) with a medium follow-up of 48.76 months (IQR: 36.34 – 67.15) were included. Patients and IBD baseline characteristics are reflected in table 1. During follow-up, 37 patients developed 97 new dysplastic lesions (92 LGD, 4 HGD and 1 CRC) and 1 patient developed multifocal invisible dysplasia (3 HGD). The overall incidence rate for new dysplastic lesions was 0.23 per 100 patient-year, 1.15 per 100 patients at 5 years and 2.29 per 100 patients at 10 years (Figure 1). Personal history of dysplasia was associated with higher risk of developing any grade of dysplasia during follow-up (p 0.025), meanwhile, left colon lesions was associated with a lower risk (p 0.043). 6 patients developed more advanced lesions (5 patients HGD and 1 CCR) with an incidence rate at year and 10 years of 1% and 14% respectively; LGD lesion >1cm was a risk factor for developing HGD or CRC (p 0.041), meanwhile LGD lesion < 1 cm was a protective factor (p 0.013) (table 2,3). 1/8 patients (13%) with HGD lesions developed CRC during follow-up. 3 patients were colectomized (2 by HGD and 1 by CRC). Neither mesalamine treatment or immunosuppressive or biological treatment were associated with a lower risk of dysplasia development. Conclusion Risk of dysplasia progression to advanced neoplasia and specifically risk of new neoplastic lesions after endoscopic resection of colitis-associated dysplasia are very low in our cohort with dye-chromoendoscopy. Personal history of dysplasia, as risk factor, and left colon location, as protective factor, were associated with new dysplastic lesions. Finally, size above 1 cm was the only risk factor for progression to advanced lesions.
ABSTRACT: Higher education institutions contribute to society in multiple ways through the technical and professional formation of the population and disseminating new information. This diversity of objectives that interact with each other hinder both the acquisition and the allocation of resources. In other words, they affect the institutions' capacity to meet costs at a given level of financing or income. For this reason, the costs attributable to degrees bestowed by educational institutions help to provide critical financial information, especially when computing the margin between income and expenses, evidencing the efficiency in resource consumption, and significantly aiding in the decision-making process. This article presents an integral and flexible methodology for designing an Activity-Based Costing system to determine the costs of degrees bestowed by higher education institutions applying the method to a Chilean public university. The results highlight nine degrees with a surplus and one with a financial deficit, the high impact on the cost of degrees stemming from the distribution of efforts of academics in the varied activities undertaken, the effect of grants among degrees, and other results of university administration, indicating the relevance of these models for the definition of government policies. Furthermore, these results' contribution in a current global context is discussed where institutions are found to be devising readjustments to their activities that have been affected by confinement caused by the global SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic. Keywords: Costing in educational institutions; costs of degrees; activities-based costing in education; higher education institutions; Chile
Ensuring access to healthcare is critical to prevent illnesses and deaths from COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 cases in health systems that have deteriorated during the pandemic. This study aims to map the existing literature on healthcare access after the appearance of COVID-19 using an ontological framework. This will help us to formalize, standardize, visualize and assess the barriers to and drivers of access to healthcare, and how to continue working towards a more accessible health system. A total of 131 articles are included and considered for mapping in the framework. The results were also compared to the World Health Organization guidelines on maintaining essential health services to determine the overlapping and nonoverlapping areas. We showed the benefits of using ontology to promote a systematic approach to address healthcare problems of access during COVID-19 or other pandemics and set public policies. This systematic approach will provide feedback to study the existing guidelines to make them more effective, learn about the existing gaps in research, and the relationship between the two of them. These results set the foundation for the discussion of future public health policies and research in relevant areas where we might pay attention.
Abstract Background Pouchitis and Crohn′s-like disease of the pouch (CDP) can be refractory to conventional therapy. Evidence of biological therapy has been rarely reported in large patient cohorts. We explored the use and effectiveness of these therapies and compared the success of a second biologic after antiTNF failure. Methods This is a retrospective RESERVO study of the Spanish cohort of GETECCU, that included patients operated for ulcerative colitis, with pouch construction, and subsequent diagnosis of pouchitis, CDP or cuffitis second ECCO diagnostic criteria1. Patients treated with antiTNF, Vedolizumab and/or Ustekinumab were selected. Clinical effectiveness was evaluated at long-term. We defined clinical remission as returning to the previous stool frequency, no pain or defecatory urgency, clinical response as the improvement in these parameters without the achievement of remission and non-response as no change or worsening of these symptoms. We also compared the effectiveness of second biologic (antiTNF vs vedolizumab-ustekinumab) after antiTNF failure, using descriptive and comparative statistics. Results The cohort comprised 145 patients. Demographic and clinical characteristics are represented in Table 1. A total of 232 biologic therapies were indicated. Of the total cohort, 60 (41.3%), 21 (14.4%) and 6 (4.1%) used two, three and four lines, respectively. Biologics used were Infliximab (n=95), Adalimumab (n=69), Vedolizumab (n=35), Ustekinumab (n=26) and Golimumab (n=7). Therapy characteristics, clinical effectiveness, need for intensification, discontinuation, and therapy duration for each biological therapy are represented in Table 2. Global rates of clinical remission, response, non-response and loss of response to a first biologic were 21.8%, 27.5%, 21.1% and 29.6%. Female gender was the only factor associated with effectiveness to a first biologic in univariate analysis (OR 2.16, CI 1.08–4.32, p 0.027). There were no significant differences regarding efectiveness between type of pouch disorder (pouchitis vs CDP, 51.6 vs 47.6%, p 0.48) or biologic agents. Thirty-nine patients received a second biologic after prior antiTNF failure (28 a second antiTNF and 11 non-antiTNF: 6 Vedolizumab, 5 Ustekinumab). Basal characteristics in this subgroup showed no significant differences. Clinical response (21.4 vs 63.6%, p 0.02) and discontinuation therapy rates (82.2 vs 54.5 %, p 0.04) after 11 months showed a more favorable profile for non-antiTNF therapy. Conclusion Biologics represent an effective option in the management of pouchitis and Crohn′s like disease of the pouch. Despite our small sample size, non-antiTNF therapy could be the best option after antiTNF failure. 1Fernando Magro. J Crohns Colitis 2017; 11(6): 649–670.
INTRODUCTION:Previous research has used proxy variables or a unique construct to quantify healthcare access. However, there is a need for a different model that can handle this multivariable problem. This study seeks to develop a way to measure access to the local healthcare system with higher local resolution.METHODS:A new survey was developed based on communitarian claims, following a behavioural model and an ontological framework. The survey was used to identify local barriers to healthcare services and the local preferences for priority settings. The results were analysed using multiattribute utility functions and individual weights were assigned by a panel of experts. National and regional indexes of access to healthcare were developed.RESULTS:The survey contained seven modules and 104 questions. It was conducted on 1885 participants at 42 rural and 231 urban locations in three regions of Chile. The total disutility of the identified barriers to healthcare access at the national level was low (0.1448; values ranged between 0 and 1, with 1 representing a higher barrier) and was higher in the northern region (0.1467). The barriers associated with the health-policy component showed the highest disutility value, and specific barriers for each community were identified.CONCLUSIONS:These results have the potential to improve health decision-making in Chile and can be used to assess the impacts of new health policy reforms. Although this model was tested in Chile, it can be adapted for use in any other country.PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION:Participants contributed to this study by completing a survey, participating in general talks and receiving brochures with the results obtained from this study.
Background: A health system is successful when it maintains a healthy population and provides health services that are effective, equitable and safe. Aim: To design a system based on specific indicators to monitor equity in health care access in Chile. Material and Methods: Primary information about five dimensions of access to health was collected, namely health policies, characteristics of the health system, characteristics of the population at risk, utilization of health services and consumer satisfaction. Subsequently, inequalities in access between different social groups were identified. Finally, after collecting and filtering access indicators used in other systems and existing literature, the most relevant ones were selected to monitor each identified barrier. Results: A system composed of 26 indicators, classified in the five dimensions of the framework was devised. It allows us to monitor those barriers with a greater impact on the population. For some specific indicators, population groups were disaggregated to carry out specific surveillances. Conclusions: The design of a multidimensional monitoring system for health access allows us to complement measures usually focused on a specific concept of access (such as utilization, coverage, etc.) with other dimensions. It includes those barriers that are relevant for the Chilean population. It also allows comparisons with other health systems and the generation of evidence to improve public policies.
We conducted a cross-sectional study to explore whether clinical characteristics and autism diagnostic-traits severity are associated with caregiver-reported impairment of health-related quality of life (Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory Generic Core Scales, Fourth Edition) in 93 Chilean toddlers (age: 2–4 years) with autism spectrum disorder. Median total scale, physical health, and psychosocial health scores were 76 (IQR 70–81), 88 (IQR 81–94), and 71 (IQR 62–79), respectively. In multiple-regression analysis, diagnostic age (β = 0.219; p 0.021) and Calibrated Severity Score of Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, second edition (β = – 0.434; p < 0.001) were independently correlated to the total scale score. Lower age and higher autistic traits severity at diagnosis are correlated with worse well-being perception by caregivers.
Background: A health system is successful when it maintains a healthy population and provides health services that are effective, equitable and safe.
BackgroundThis study aims to assess preferences and values for priority setting in healthcare in Chile through an original and innovative survey method. Based on the answers from a previous survey that look into the barriers the Chilean population face, this study considers the preferences of the communities overcoming those barriers. As a result six programs were identified: (1) new infrastructure, (2) better healthcare coverage, (3) increasing physicians/specialists, (4) new informatics systems, (5) new awareness healthcare programs, and (6) improving availability of drugs.MethodsWe applied an innovative survey method developed for this study to sample subjects to prioritize these programs by their opinion and by allocating resources. The survey also asked people's preferences for a distributive justice principle for healthcare to guide priority setting of services in Chile. The survey was conducted with a sample of 1142 individuals.ResultsMore than half of the interviewees (56.4%) indicated a single program as their first priority, while 20.1% selected two of them as their first priority. To increase the number of doctors/specialists and improve patient-doctor communication was the program that obtained the highest priority. The second and third priorities correspond to improving and investing in infrastructure and expanding the coverage of healthcare insurances. Additionally, the results showed that equal access for equal healthcare is the principle selected by the majority to guide distributive justice for the Chilean health system.ConclusionsThis study shows how a large population sample can participate in major decision making of national health policies, including making a choice of a distributive justice principle. Despite the complexity of the questions asked, this study demonstrated that with an innovative method and adequate guidance, average population is capable of engaging in expressing their preferences and values. Results of this study provide policy-makers useful community generated information for prioritizing policies to improve healthcare access.