BACKGROUND The Belgian Section of Transplant Coordinators, created in 1997 under the auspices of the Belgian Transplant Society, is in charge of the collection of the national data about donor/procurement activities. METHODS Data are collected in all Belgian transplant centers. An annual report is finalized by combining these data with data from the Eurotransplant database. RESULTS An incre...

AIM To determine the prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) in a sample of the Belgian men who have sex with men (MSM) population, and to assess the relevance of major predictors such as age, relationship, and education. We investigated the use of phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors among Belgian MSM. METHODS An internet-based survey on sexual behavior and sexual dysfunctions, called ...

G1P[8] rotaviruses are responsible for the majority of human rotavirus infections worldwide. The effect of universal mass vaccination with rotavirus vaccines on circulating G1P[8] rotaviruses is still poorly understood. Therefore we analyzed the complete genomes of the RotarixTM vaccine strain, and 70 G1P[8] rotaviruses, detected between 1999 and 2010 in Belgium (36 before and 34 after vaccine ...

INTRODUCTION Supply problems of drugs are an increasing and worldwide problem, also in Belgium. Hospital pharmacists try to manage drug supply problems to minimize the impact on patient care. This study aims to quantify in a detailed manner how much time employees of 17 Belgian hospital pharmacies spend on drug supply problems. METHODS During six months, employees of Belgian hospital pharmaci...

OBJECTIVES To establish gestational age-specific mid-trimester normal medians for the prenatal serum markers alpha fetoprotein (AFP), human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and unconjugated oestriol (uE3) for a Belgian population by using the Beckman Coulter Access chemiluminiscent immunoassays; to compare these data with data obtained from other geographical regions; to propose regression coeffici...

OBJECTIVE To describe the vitamin D status of Belgian children and examine the influence of non-nutritional determinants, in particular of anthropometric variables. DESIGN Cross-sectional data of Belgian participants of the EU 6th Framework Programme IDEFICS (Identification and Prevention of Dietary- and Lifestyle-Induced Health Effects in Children and Infants) Study. SETTING 25-Hydroxyvita...

BACKGROUND Studies have linked nurse staffing levels (number and skill mix) to several nurse-sensitive patient outcomes. However, evidence from European countries has been limited. OBJECTIVES This study examines the association between nurse staffing levels (i.e. acuity-adjusted Nursing Hours per Patient Day, the proportion of registered nurses with a Bachelor's degree) and 10 different patie...

BACKGROUND The present study aimed to explore associations of physical activity (PA), waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI) with subjective health in a nationally representative sample of Belgian adults. METHODS Data from the 2004 Belgian Food Consumption Survey were used. A face-to-face questionnaire about sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics, general health, subje...

In 2008, specimens resembling Aedes (Finlaya) koreicus (Edwards) (also Ochlerotatus koreicus or Hulecoeteomyia koreica) were found in Belgium during a national mosquito survey (MODIRISK). Small but consistent differences were, however, observed between the specimens described from Peninsula Korea and those found in Belgian. To achieve the correct identification a detailed morphological comparis...

This article analyses domestic and foreign reactions to a 2008 report in the British Medical Journal on the complementary and, as argued, synergistic relationship between palliative care and euthanasia in Belgium. The earliest initiators of palliative care in Belgium in the late 1970s held the view that access to proper palliative care was a precondition for euthanasia to be acceptable and that...