Biomedical subjects

F Elender

Publications and source records attributed to F Elender.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Comparison of hydrocellular foam and calcium alginate in the healing and comfort of split-thickness skin-graft donor sites.

This is a comparative study of a hydrocellular foam (Allevyn, Smith and Nephew) and a calcium alginate (Kaltostat, ConvaTec) in dressing split-thickness skin-graft donor sites. The dressing materials were used in equal halves of each donor site in 20 patients undergoing skin-graft harvest. The donor sites dressed with Allevyn showed a tendency to earlier healing, but this was not confirmed statistically. However, Allevyn was found to be more comfortable than Kaltostat and this difference was statistically significant. Due to its increased patient comfort, cheaper cost and comparable time to healing with Kaltostat, the authors recommend the use of Allevyn as a dressing for split-thickness skin-graft donor sites.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

Who gets priority? Waiting list assessment using a scoring system.

This study examines the relationship between clinical priority and duration on the waiting list. Patients' priority is also compared from three different perspectives: the consultant at out-patients (clinical urgency), the general practitioner who later sends a letter requesting expedition of admission (clinical urgency) and the 18-month waiters. Clinical priority in 222 patients awaiting primary hip or knee arthroplasty was assessed using a modification of the New Zealand priority criteria scoring system, administered by postal questionnaire. There was no correlation between time on waiting list and clinical score (r = 0.0). The hip and knee patient scores were not significantly different. The mean scores in the consultant and GP groups were higher (greater pain and disability) than in the 18-month waiters. The Kappa inter-rater agreement method demonstrated that both groups of clinician's assessment of clinical urgency had a 'fair' strength of agreement with scoring system, but the agreement of the 18-month waiter group was 'very poor'. Time on a waiting list should not be a decisive factor in establishing priority for primary hip or knee arthroplasty. Scoring systems can aid in assigning clinical priority for operation and indeed for the initial out-patient referral.

Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip↗

PubMed1998

Tuberculosis mortality in England and Wales during 1982-1992: its association with poverty, ethnicity and AIDS.

This paper seeks to establish the strength of association between contemporary tuberculosis (TB) in England and Wales and several potential aetiological factors. It presents an ecological analysis of standardised annual TB mortality rates for the 403 local authority districts between 1982 and 1992, disaggregated by age and sex. Social, demographic and ethnicity measures from the 1981 and 1991 censuses and standardised annual AIDS-related mortality rates for young men are used to calculate Poisson regression models. A strong association was found between all TB mortality groups and overcrowding at the household level. For women, no other measures improved the explanatory power of the models. In multiple regressions, both poverty and AIDS-related mortality explained additional variation in the model for younger men. The link between ethnicity and tuberculosis notifications was not reflected in this analysis of mortality. For all groups no evidence of a positive relationship with ethnicity was found, once overcrowding had been accounted for. The significance of household as opposed to district level crowding suggests that prolonged contact is required for disease transmission. Regression analysis indicates that it is the overcrowding and poverty among ethnic populations that is significant for their tuberculosis mortality. The fact that the relationship between AIDS and TB is confined to the group most typical of AIDS patients provides evidence that AIDS has little influence on the level of tuberculosis mortality in the wider population. Explanations for the observed relationship include preferential certification, migration for treatment and shortcomings in health care provision.

England↗