62.3% +/- 0.7%; p < 0.001) and after HD (50.6% +/- 1.2% vs. 65.7% +/- 1.4%; p < 0.0001). Increased numbers of circulating immature neutrophils were observed only in MPs.
Conclusions: Although presenting
higher VLA-5 expression, malnutrition in HD patients is associated with impairment of the adhesive capacity of circulating leukocytes, particularly younger neutrophils, which may contribute to the chronic inflammatory status of these patients.”
“Background: Most healthcare spending in developing countries is private out-of-pocket. One explanation for low penetration of health insurance is that poorer individuals doubt their ability to enforce insurance contracts. Community-based health insurance schemes (CBHI) are a solution, but launching CBHI requires obtaining accurate local data on morbidity, healthcare utilization and other details to inform package
design and pricing. We developed the “”Illness Mapping”" selleck screening library method (IM) for data collection (faster and cheaper than household surveys).
Methods: IM is a modification of two non-interactive consensus group methods (Delphi and Nominal Group Technique) to operate as interactive methods. We elicited estimates from “”Experts”" in the target community on morbidity and healthcare utilization. Interaction see more between facilitator and experts became essential to bridge literacy constraints and to reach consensus.
The study was conducted in Gaya District, Bihar (India) during April-June 2010. The intervention included the IM and a household survey (HHS). IM included 18 women’s and 17 men’s groups. The HHS was conducted in 50 villages with 1,000 randomly selected Torin 2 households (6,656 individuals).
Results: We found good agreement
between the two methods on overall prevalence of illness (IM: 25.9% +/- 3.6; HHS: 31.4%) and on prevalence of acute (IM: 76.9%; HHS: 69.2%) and chronic illnesses (IM: 20.1%; HHS: 16.6%). We also found good agreement on incidence of deliveries (IM: 3.9% +/- 0.4; HHS: 3.9%), and on hospital deliveries (IM: 61.0%. +/- 5.4; HHS: 51.4%). For hospitalizations, we obtained a lower estimate from the IM (1.1%) than from the HHS (2.6%). The IM required less time and less person-power than a household survey, which translate into reduced costs.
Conclusions: We have shown that our Illness Mapping method can be carried out at lower financial and human cost for sourcing essential local data, at acceptably accurate levels. In view of the good fit of results obtained, we assume that the method could work elsewhere as well.”
“Background: The relationship between tonsillar autoimmune response and the pathogenesis of IgA nephropathy (IgAN) has been previously demonstrated. However, the role of CD4(+)CD25(+) cells, which play critical roles in maintaining peripheral tolerance and preventing autoimmunity, has not yet been defined in IgAN.