abstract background and objective: often, discharge of children against medical advice has a negative effect on the well-being of the patient. to determine the prevalence of discharge against medical advice (dama) among hospitalized children and examine the reasons given by parents/guardians for such discharges. methods: a retrospective 2-year medical records audit of children aged one day to 1...

Therapy for polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) varies widely in clinical practice as international recommendations for PMR treatment are not currently available. In this paper, we report the 2015 European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR)/ American College of Rheumatology (ACR) recommendations for the management of PMR. We used the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (G...

BACKGROUND: In developing countries, user fees may represent an important source of revenues for private-non-for-profit hospitals, but they may also affect access, use and equity. METHODS: This survey was conducted in ten hospitals of the Uganda Catholic Medical Bureau to assess differences in user fees policies and to propose changes that would better fit with the social concern explicitly pur...

The World Bank and International Monetary Fund favor healthcare user fees. User fees offer revenue and may decrease inappropriate care. However, user fees may deter needed care, especially in vulnerable populations. A cross-sectional analysis of healthcare utilization in a large Zambian hospital was conducted for children 3-6 years of age during a 1-month observation period. Diagnoses and treat...

OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to investigate whether the type of instrumental swallowing examination (Fibreoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) or videofluoroscopy) influences perception of post-swallow pharyngeal residue. DESIGN Prospective, single-blind assessment of residue from simultaneous videofluoroscopy and FEES recordings. All raters were blind to participant detail...

BACKGROUND China is transitioning towards concentrating tuberculosis (TB) diagnostic and treatment services in hospitals, while the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) system will retain important public health functions. Patient expenditure incurred through hospitalization may lead to barriers to TB care or interruption of treatment. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We conducted a ...