BACKGROUND Prolonged mechanical ventilation is increasingly common. It is expensive and associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Our objective is to comprehensively characterize patients admitted to a Ventilator Rehabilitation Unit (VRU) for weaning and identify characteristics associated with survival. METHODS 182 consecutive patients over 3.5 years admitted to Temple University ...

Background: In order to describe the patients and evaluate the effectiveness of treatments for widow spider envenomation, investigators require a reliable assessment tool. In this paper, the development of a clinical index for measuring the widow spider bite severity, Latrodectus Envenomation Severity Score (LESS), is described. Methods: According to the valid methods for index development, a D...

background: psoriasis is a disease which may have a direct impact on the psychological and social aspects of the patient, particularly due to its visibility. to date, we are unaware of any study showing a relationship between psoriasis and psychological parameters such as psychological vulnerability and coping strategies . objective: the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of psoriasi...

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in critically ill children, and to study its association with parathyroid response, severity of illness and clinical outcomes. DESIGN Prospective observational study. SETTING Medical Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of a tertiary care centre of Northern India. PARTICIPANTS 154 children in-patients: August 2011-January 2013. MAIN...

BACKGROUND The clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI) is commonly used as a primary outcome measure in studies evaluating the efficacy of treatments for anxiety disorders. The current study evaluated the psychometric properties and predictors of clinicians' ratings on an adapted version of the CGI among individuals with social anxiety disorders. METHOD An independent assessor administered the...

BACKGROUND Limited information is available regarding the impact of prior use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in patients subsequently developing community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). We assessed the effects of prior ICS use on severity of illness and microbiology in CAP hospitalized patients. METHODS A retrospective cohort study of subjects with CAP (by the International Classification of Dis...