Screening of edentulous patients in a dental school population using the prosthodontic diagnostic index

doi:10.1111/j.1741‐2358.2009.00317.x
Screening of edentulous patients in a dental school population using the prosthodontic diagnostic index Purpose: The aim of this study was to classify a number of completely or partially edentulous patients who attended undergraduate clinics at the Dental School of Athens using the prosthodontic diagnostic index (PDI) to identify the complexity of the cases treated by the students. Background: There is a scarcity of studies, concerning prosthodontic patients and screening them according to a classification system such as the PDI. Material and methods: The survey was conducted on 181 patients who attended the clinics for treatment. The PDI categorised the patients into four classes (Class I–IV) according to the severity of certain diagnostic findings. Results: From the 110 completely edentulous patients, 27 patients were in Class I, 21 in Class II, 15 in Class III and 47 in Class IV. From the 71 partially edentulous patients, two were in Class I, 17 in Class II, 29 in Class III and 23 in Class IV. Conclusion: Our results showed that the majority of patients were categorised in Class III (partially edentulous) and IV (completely edentulous). This indicates the need to introduce a proper screening tool, such as the PDIs, during the initial examination, to achieve a successful treatment.     

Screening for schistosomiasis among the Yemeni population in Eccles.

A population of Yemenis living in the north of England was screened for schistosomiasis. Schistosome ova were found in the urine of five of the 104 patients who were screened, but only two received treatment, owing mainly to the mobility of the population. The results of the screening programme showed that it is possible to obtain the enthusiastic cooperation of many individuals, and organisations, most of whom do not normally work together as a team.     

Childhood mortality after a high dose of vitamin A in a high risk population.

OBJECTIVES--To determine whether a single high dose of vitamin A given to all children in communities with high mortality and malnutrition could affect mortality and to assess whether periodic community wide supplementation could be readily incorporated into an ongoing primary health programme. DESIGN--Opportunistic controlled trial. SETTING--Jumla district, Nepal. SUBJECTS--All children aged under 5 years; 3786 in eight subdistricts given single dose of vitamin A and 3411 in remaining eight subdistricts given no supplementation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Mortality and cause of death in the five months after supplementation. RESULTS--Risk of death for children aged 1-59 months in supplemented communities was 26% lower (relative risk 0.74, 95% confidence interval 0.55 to 0.99) than in unsupplemented communities. The reduction in mortality was greatest among children aged 6-11 months: death rate (deaths/1000 child years at risk) was 133.8 in supplemented children and 260.8 in unsupplemented children (relative risk 0.51, 0.30 to 0.89). The death rate from diarrhoea was also reduced (63.5 supplemented v 97.5 unsupplemented; relative risk 0.65, 0.44 to 0.95). The extra cost per death averted was about $11. CONCLUSION--The results support a role for Vitamin A in increasing child survival. The supplementation programme was readily integrated with the ongoing community health programme at little extra cost.     

Screening for carcinoma of the prostate by digital rectal examination in a randomly selected population.

OBJECTIVE--To study the acceptability, costs, psychosocial consequences, and organisation of screening for carcinoma of the prostate. DESIGN--A randomly selected population was personally invited for digital rectal examination by a urologist and a general practitioner. Further examinations were performed if induration was felt. Each man completed a questionnaire on his response to the examination. SETTING--General practices in the area of Norrköping. PATIENTS--1494 Men aged 50-69 randomly selected from a population of 9026. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE--Prostates having a firm nodular consistency. RESULTS--Carcinoma of the prostate was suspected in 45 of 1163 patients examined; in 10 by the general practitioners, in 10 by the urologists, and in 25 by both. Forty four men had a fine needle aspiration biopsy, and carcinomas were found in 13 cases. Of these, one had been suspected by the general practitioner, four by urologists, and eight by both. The cost for each man was 11.60 pounds, and the cost for each case of carcinoma detected and treated by potentially curative methods was 2477 pounds. Of the 13 men with carcinoma, 10 underwent radical prostatectomy and one radiotherapy. One man had advanced disease and was given endocrine treatment, another was not treated. Only 193 men felt distress during the initial examination. Of the 44 men who had an aspiration biopsy, 25 experienced anxiety. CONCLUSIONS--Screening for carcinoma of the prostate by a urologist or a general practitioner using digital rectal examination is a cost effective method of early diagnosis. Whether such screening leads to prolonged survival, however, remains doubtful.     

线粒体DNA U4b单倍群:中国塔吉克族高原原发性高血压的遗传易感因素

目的:探讨线粒体DNA变异与中国塔吉克族高原原发性高血压的关系.方法:在中国塔吉克族人群中,收集了 53例高原原发性高血压病例和46例正常对照.通过PCR扩增线粒体DNA片段,经测序拼接获得线粒体全基因组,与剑桥序列比对以筛选线粒体DNA变异,分析在病例组与对照组中的分布差异,采用生物信息学工具预测阳性相关变异的功能....     

Tay-Sachs disease: high gene frequency in a non-Jewish population.

A non-Amish "Pennsylvania Dutch" semi-isolate was found to have a high frequency of Tay-Sachs gene. This high frequency could be ascribed to founder effect and may represent, in microcosm, how this mechanism could have produced the high gene frequency among Ashkenazi Jews.     

Prevalence of primary and secondary hypertension: studies in a random population sample.

The prevalence of primary and secondary hypertension was determined in a random sample of 7455 Swedish men aged 47 to 54 years. Three hundred and sizty-one men were undergoing treatment for hypertension. Seven hundred and ninety-eight men who had blood pressures above 175/115 mm Hg at preliminary screening were recalled for further blood pressure measurements. Those on treatment and all the untreated men whose blood pressures were still over 175/115 mm Hg then underwent extensive investigation for secondary hypertension. Renal parenchymal hypertension was found in 25 (3-6%) patients, renovascular hypertension in four (0-6%), and other forms of secondary hypertension in 11 (1-6%). The investigation led to surgical treatment in only two cases (0-3%). The low prevalence of secondary hypertension, especially surgically curable forms of hypertension, makes routine screening for these cases unnecessary, at least when patients with hypertension have been found at screening. These data must be taken into account in planning community control programmes in hypertension.     

Screening for high fertility in high-producing dairy cows

A retrospective study involving 2756 pregnancies from two commercial dairy herds in northeastern Spain determined relationships between management, production and reproductive data, and high fertility (conception before 90 days in milk) in high-producing dairy cows. High fertility was registered in 989 (35.9%) cows. The following data were recorded for each animal: herd, repeated animal (cows included two or more times within the study in which data were obtained from different lactational periods), parity (primiparous versus multiparous), previous twinning, reproductive disorders following calving (retained placenta, primary metritis) and at postpartum gynecological examination (incomplete uterine involution, pyometra and ovarian cysts), days in milk at conception, previous estrous synchronization and season of calving and conception. In order to evaluate the possible effect of high production during the peak milk yield on subsequent fertility, daily milk production at Day 50 postpartum was also recorded and cows were classified as high (> or = 50 kg) and low (< 50 kg) producers. Logistic regression analysis indicated no significant effects of herd, repeated animal, previous twinning, reproductive disorders such as primary metritis, incomplete uterine involution, pyometra and ovarian cysts, previous estrous synchronization and season of calving and insemination. Based on the odds ratio, the likelihood of high fertility increased in high-producer cows by a factor of 6.8. High fertility was less likely for multiparous cows (by a factor of 0.35) and for cows suffering placenta retention (by a factor of 0.65). High fertile cows produced a mean of 49.5 kg milk at Day 50 postpartum, in contrast to that 43.2 kg milk of the remainder cows. These findings question the negative effect of high production on fertility. Our results indicated that high individual cow milk production can be positively related to high fertility.