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PubMed2001

Infection control programs at children's hospitals: a description of structures and processes.

BACKGROUND: Infection control (IC) structures and processes determine the effectiveness of surveillance efforts to prevent infections in health care settings. METHODS: A survey was sent to 56 children's hospitals collaborating in the Pediatric Prevention Network (PPN). RESULTS: Completed surveys were returned from 48 hospitals. Responsibility for the IC program resided with the medical director (21%); vice president for patient care (18%); quality improvement director (17%); other senior hospital administrator (15%); or other hospital personnel (18%). Forty-two hospitals had an IC committee; 32 had antimicrobial restriction/control policies; and 21 had an antimicrobial restriction/control task force or committee. Components of antimicrobial restriction programs included infectious disease specialist approval, restricted formularies, selective susceptibility test reporting, and staff education programs. Many methods were used to detect infections, including microbiology laboratory reports (100%); record reviews (98%); informal reports from providers (90%); and readmission reviews (77%). CONCLUSIONS: Children's hospitals vary widely in how they design and implement their IC functions. These variations influence adverse event detection and nosocomial infection rate calculations. If medical errors, including nosocomial infections, are to be detected and hospital rates compared, standardized methods to collect, analyze, and report data are needed. The PPN has initiated activities to standardize surveillance and IC practices in participating hospitals.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

PubMed1993

Inequalities in the regional distribution of private psychiatric services provided under Medicare.

An analysis was carried out on Medicare data to find out if there are inequalities in the geographical distribution of private psychiatric services in Australia. The number of psychiatric services and persons becoming patients per 100,000 population was calculated for each federal electorate for the year 1985/86 and related to social indicators derived from the 1986 census. As a comparison, services provided by consultant physicians were analyzed as well. The data were based on the electorate of the patient rather than the electorate of the practitioner. Consultant psychiatrist services were found to be received more often in high socio-economic status electorates and those with older populations, and less often in rural areas. A similar pattern was found for consultant physician services, although the relationship with socio-economic status was not as strong. Frequent psychiatric consultations of longer duration, which are an indicator of insight psychotherapy, were more common in higher socioeconomic status electorates. A limitation of the Medicare data is that they cover only private services. To overcome this limitation, a supplementary analysis was carried out on the distribution of consultations for mental disorders using data from the National Health Survey. These data confirmed that individuals of high socio-economic status with a mental disorder are more likely to receive specialist treatment.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

Surveillance of problem drug use in the UK: a review of a Regional Drug Misuse Database.

BACKGROUND: We report detailed findings of the first systematic validation of a Regional Drug Misuse Database (RDMD); such databases constitute the main investment in routine drug statistics in the UK by the Department of Health. METHODS: A retrospective case-finding study in a stratified random sample of one in three specialist drug agencies was carried out. Agency records of clients attending during 1994 were matched with reports (episodes) to the North Thames RDMD to assess the level of under-reporting, and the relationship between RDMD reports (episodes) and the number of problem drug users in contact with agencies. Under-ascertainment of cases was estimated using two-sample capture-recapture. RESULTS: Under-reporting was associated with agency records missing full date of birth or initials (attributers), and agency type. Compared with drug dependency units (DDU) the odds of under-reporting were 3-18 times higher by the other specialist drug agencies. Even after excluding episodes with missing attributers the odds ratio (OR) of not being reported was significantly higher among needle exchanges (OR 2.7), non-statutory community based drug teams (OR 3.2), statutory community based drug teams (OR 4.9) and residential rehabilitation units (OR 8.7) compared with DDUs. Overall database episodes represented 60 per cent of the number of clients attending specialist agencies as a result of a mixture of under-reporting and the proportion of clients retained in treatment, which also varied by agency type. A total of 727 individuals (16 per cent) had never been reported. CONCLUSIONS: Surveillance of drug misuse through RDMDs does not yet fulfil its objectives. It is essential that a system of following up reports is introduced to improve their utility, and to contribute to the monitoring of the UK Government's new drugs strategy, and wider European surveillance.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1995

[The use of serological tests for detecting HIV infection in general clinical consultations and hospital consultations].

AIMS: To determine the number and type of HIV tests requested in general practice (GP) and in hospital outpatient clinics, to identify principle risk behaviors, to determine the percentage of HIV positive tests and to identify possible factors associated with the request of HIV tests. METHODS: Cross-sectional, analytical and observational study, involving 80 GPs and 45 hospital specialists in the region of Lisbon. All requests for HIV tests were analysed during a 12 month period. RESULTS: 936 HIV tests were requested, with a mean of 12.47 in GP and 0.69 in the hospital. Risk behaviors observed were mainly heterosexual contacts and intravenous drug abuse (IVDA). The motives of the requests mainly were pregnancy, risk behaviors in GP and the presence of symptoms suggesting HIV infection in the hospital. The initiative of the request came from doctors in 70% of the cases. The percentage of HIV positive tests (ELISA + Western blot) was 4.2% in GP and 32% in the hospital. According to risk behaviors, the percentage of seropositivity was 33% in homo/bisexuals, 13% in IVDA, 7% in heterosexuals with risk behaviors and 0.2% in individuals with unidentified risk behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: The patterns of request of HIV tests differ in hospital and in GP. In a significant percentage of cases, no informed consent was obtained prior to HIV testing, both in hospital and GP. This study may serve as an indicator of the need for information and education programs concerning HIV testing directed to health professionals and the general population.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Risk of death in pregnancy achieved through oocyte donation in patients with Turner syndrome: a national survey.

UNLABELLED: To determine the risk of death in pregnant women with Turner syndrome who were treated with oocyte donation, and to ascertain the prevalence of preconception cardiac screening in these patients. DESIGN: Survey and literature review. SETTING: Academic infertility center. PARTICIPANT(S): All 258 donor-egg programs in the 1997 Assisted Reproductive Technology Success Rates publication from the Society for Artificial Reproductive Technology were surveyed by fax or telephone. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Death in pregnancy conceived through oocyte donation and proportion of patients prescreened with echocardiography. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-four (52%) programs reported 146 Turner patients treated, resulting in 101 pregnancies. One patient died from aortic rupture while awaiting treatment; 72 (49.3%) patients were pre- screened with echocardiography. No deaths in pregnancy were reported. A literature review identified four case reports of Turner patients who died during pregnancy in the United States during the same time period. CONCLUSION(S): The maternal risk of death from rupture or dissection of the aorta in pregnancy may be 2% or higher. Patients with Turner syndrome have not been adequately screened with echocardiography before treatment. Specialists who treat patients with Turner syndrome need to be aware of their cardiac risk and its potential exacerbation from the increased cardiac demands of pregnancy.

Aortic Dissection↗

PubMed1983

Women and health care in rural Pakistan.

The provision of medical facilities to rural areas is a major objective of development in Pakistan and the government has undertaken several programs to train and deploy auxiliary health workers on a large scale. Programs to train lady health visitors, dispensers and sanitary inspectors, have been in operation for decades and their graduates have a place in the workforce. Currently the Government is developing a Basic Health Program to train auxiliary health workers and to establish a network of rural health facilities throughout the country. The research here reported was meant to help plan this program. The 4 week study was conducted in four districts of the Punjab and North West Frontier Provinces. We first interviewed women patients of rural dispensaries in the four districts to determine their views of their needs and of the constraints of the purdah system when seeking health care. We then interviewed principals of medical colleges and training institutes, who were in a position to assess the availability of women to enter the medical workforce and female mid-level health workers who were currently serving in their posts. Finally, since allopathic medical institutions compete with indigenous medical specialists, we interviewed two hakims and a homeopathic physician to obtain their view of rural health needs, as well as their potential for contributing to a broad based rural health care system.

Female↗

PubMed2001

Variations in glucocorticoid induced osteoporosis prevention in a managed care cohort.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize glucocorticoid use and patterns of osteoporosis prevention therapies among a large US national cohort. METHODS: Health maintenance organization (HMO) members who were receiving chronic glucocorticoid therapy (> 90 day supply) within a 3 year observation period were identified along with their prescribing physicians. Receipt of anti-osteoporotic prescription therapies and bone mass measurement was determined. Multivariable analyses were used to define significant predictors of these preventive interventions. RESULTS: We identified 2378 HMO members who filled prescriptions for at least a 90 day supply of glucocorticoids, but had not filled a glucocorticoid prescription in the prior 90 days. In women over age 50, use of anti-osteoporotic therapies and bone mass measurement was 41% and 16%, respectively. Glucocorticoid-prescribing physicians were identified for 878 (37%) of these glucocorticoid users, and internal medicine specialists (39%) and rheumatologists (20%) wrote the majority of the prescriptions for glucocorticoids. Women age 50 and over were most likely to receive a prescription anti-osteoporotic preventive therapy (OR 4.0; 95% CI 1.5-10.8). Patients with a rheumatologist prescribing their glucocorticoids were more likely than those of internists to have a bone mass measurement (OR 2.2; 95% CI 1.3-3.6) and receive bisphosphonates (OR 1.9; 95% CI 1.1-3.1), but were not more likely to receive preventive treatment overall. CONCLUSION: Although better than in several prior studies, we identified low levels of selected preventive care measures for chronic glucocorticoid users in a large population based cohort. Significant demographic and practice pattern variation suggests opportunities for targeted preventive interventions.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

The Union Health Center: a working model of clinical care linked to preventive occupational health services.

As health care provision in the United States shifts to primary care settings, it is vital that new models of occupational health services be developed that link clinical care to prevention. The model program described in this paper was developed at the Union Health Center (UHC), a comprehensive health care center supported by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (now the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees) serving a population of approximately 50,000 primarily minority, female garment workers in New York City. The objective of this paper is to describe a model occupational medicine program in a union-based comprehensive health center linking accessible clinical care with primary and secondary disease prevention efforts. To assess the presence of symptoms suggestive of occupational disease, a health status questionnaire was administered to female workers attending the UHC for routine health maintenance. Based on the results of this survey, an occupational medicine clinic was developed that integrated direct clinical care with worker and employer education and workplace hazard abatement. To assess the success of this new approach, selected cases of sentinel health events were tracked and a chart review was conducted after 3 years of clinic operation. Prior to initiation of the occupational medicine clinic, 64% (648) of the workers surveyed reported symptoms indicative of occupational illnesses. However, only 42 (4%) reported having been told by a physician that they had an occupational illness and only 4 (.4%) reported having field a workers' compensation claim for an occupational disease. In the occupational medicine clinic established at the UHC, a health and safety specialist acts as a case manager, coordinating worker and employer education as well as workplace hazard abatement focused on disease prevention, ensuring that every case of occupational disease is treated as a potential sentinel health event. As examples of the success of this approach, index cases of rotator cuff tendonitis, lead poisoning, and formaldehyde overexposure in three patients and their preventative workplace follow-up, affecting approximately 150 workers at three worksites, are described. Work-related conditions diagnosed during the first 3 years of clinic operation included cumulative trauma disorders (141 cases), carpal tunnel syndrome (47 cases), low back disorders (33 cases), lead poisoning (20 cases), and respiratory disease (9 cases). This pilot project represents a new model for effective integration of clinical care and occupational disease prevention efforts within a primary care center. It could serve as a prototype for development of such services in other managed and primary care settings.

Ambulatory Care Facilities↗

PubMed2004

[Health beliefs and health behavior in older employees of medium-size and large enterprises].

BACKGROUND: In view of the aging process in our population there is a need to identify effective methods to prevent disadvantageous effects of this trend. In this paper the state of particular health-related behaviors and elements of health awareness among retirement-approaching employees are presented as a basis for developing efficient health promotion programs for this age group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data presented in this paper have been gathered during the study conducted on a random sample of 1138 employees of two 25-35 and 45-55 age groups. The study was carried out in the form of a questionnaire-based interview. RESULTS: There is no significant difference between older and younger employees with regard to their attitude towards one's own health. There are two major problems common to both age groups, the lack of awareness of very close relationship between everyday behavior and health, and a low locus of control manifested by finding excuse for health negligence in numerous problems faced each day or lack of strong will. The most specific feature in older workers is that they concentrate their health-related thinking and acting on the use of services provided by medical specialists. CONCLUSIONS: There are no sound grounds to justify the development of health promotion programs addressed only to older employees. The effective solution to this problem could be the introduction of workplace health promotion programs focused on enhancing the workers' sense of responsibility for their health and on developing skills to shape conditions favorable to health conducive behaviors.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Organisation and financing of the health care systems of Bulgaria and Greece -- what are the parallels?

BACKGROUND: The Bulgarian and Greek Medical Care systems have been reformated the last fifteen years. The aim of this study was an examination and comparison of the Bulgarian and Greek Medical Care Systems. METHODS: This study was prepared by using all the published data related to both Bulgarian and Greek Medical Care systems. Besides, personal communications with related offices such as administration offices of hospitals and Ministries of Health were made. RESULTS: In both countries, besides the compulsory insurance there is also additional voluntary insurance which is provided by private companies. The most important difference is the family doctor (specialist in general medicine) existing in Bulgaria. Every insured person needs a 'referral form' completed by the family doctor before visiting a hospital for medical attention (except emergencies). In contrast, in Greece an insured person can directly visit any hospital without needing any forms and independent of the severity of their health problem. An important disadvantage of the Greek health system is the low number of hospitals (139), in relation to population. In contrast, there are 211 hospitals in Bulgaria, although its population is lower than in Greece. CONCLUSION: In both Greek and Bulgarian health systems changes must be done to solve the problems related to informal payments, limited financing, large debts, lack of appropriate investment policy, lack of an objective method for the costing of medical activities and inefficient management.

Bulgaria↗

PubMed2005

Deaths of HIV-positive men in the context of assisted reproduction: five case studies from a single center.

Provision of reproductive services to individuals infected with HIV-1 is gaining popular acceptance and is generally endorsed by specialists in reproductive medicine. In the situation in which the male is HIV positive and the female partner is not infected, a large body of evidence has demonstrated that the use of assisted reproductive technology is effective for achieving pregnancy, while eliminating the risk of viral transmission to the mother and fetus. No reports have documented the well-being of the HIV-infected partners subsequent to seeking fertility services. In the current report, we document the cases of five HIV-positive men who died secondary to complications of HIV infection shortly after participating in the assisted reproduction program for HIV-1-serodiscordant couples at Columbia University. Three of these couples successfully achieved pregnancy and live birth, including one set of triplets, and one case of posthumous conception; the fourth case resulted in the cryopreservation of all embryos after the sudden death of the male before the time of embryo transfer; the fifth couple failed to conceive. None of the deaths, which occurred within a few months to 2 years from initial consultation, were related to infertility treatment. The demographic and social statuses of these patients were not different from the general population of men seeking assisted reproduction in our clinic. Regarding the HIV infection status of these cases, three patients had a longer duration of infection compared to the general population of men in our cohort, and one had a significantly lower CD4 cell count. All five men had stable HIV viral loads, and were determined by their primary care providers to be clinically healthy at the time of entry into the program for assisted reproduction. The untimely deaths of these patients underscores the importance of the thoughtful consideration of the complex issues involved in family planning for these individuals, including advanced directives for the use of cryopreserved gametes and embryos, and the social, emotional, and practical issues for the children and surviving partners subsequent to the death of the HIV-positive parent.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Identification of molecular markers for endometriosis in blood lymphocytes by using deoxyribonucleic acid microarrays.

OBJECTIVE: To identify molecular biomarkers for endometriosis in peripheral blood lymphocytes by using DNA microarrays. DESIGN: Case-control. SETTING: Multicenter academic research programs. PATIENT(S): Premenopausal women with or without endometriosis, determined by obstetrics and gynecology specialists during surgery. Microarray analysis included six endometriosis patients and five controls; 15 endometriosis patients and 15 controls were analyzed by using real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Patients with all disease stages were included. INTERVENTION(S): Peripheral blood samples were collected by venipuncture. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The expression levels of mRNAs in blood lymphocytes from endometriosis patients and controls were compared with those of a standard total RNA. Gene expression data were validated by real-time RT-PCR analysis. RESULT(S): A gene selection program identified genes that were differentially expressed in samples from endometriosis patients. To validate the gene expression data, the nine most discriminatory genes were analyzed by real-time RT-PCR. Two of the nine genes identified, IL2RG and LOXL1, were shown to be significantly differentially expressed. CONCLUSION(S): This is the first report of genes that are differentially expressed in peripheral blood lymphocytes of patients with endometriosis, which may provide important clues regarding the pathogenesis of this disease. Moreover, they could be considered potential targets for noninvasive diagnostic assays for endometriosis and need to be validated in a larger population.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Getting more for their dollar: a comparison of the NHS with California's Kaiser Permanente.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the costs and performance of the NHS with those of an integrated system for financing and delivery health services (Kaiser Permanente) in California. METHODS: The adjusted costs of the two systems and their performance were compared with respect to inputs, use, access to services, responsiveness, and limited quality indicators. RESULTS: The per capita costs of the two systems, adjusted for differences in benefits, special activities, population characteristics, and the cost environment, were similar to within 10%. Some aspects of performance differed. In particular, Kaiser members experience more comprehensive and convenient primary care services and much more rapid access to specialist services and hospital admissions. Age adjusted rates of use of acute hospital services in Kaiser were one third of those in the NHS. CONCLUSIONS: The widely held beliefs that the NHS is efficient and that poor performance in certain areas is largely explained by under investment are not supported by this analysis. Kaiser achieved better performance at roughly the same cost as the NHS because of integration throughout the system, efficient management of hospital use, the benefits of competition, and greater investment in information technology.

California↗

PubMed2005

Canadian rural family medicine training programs: growth and variation in recruitment.

OBJECTIVE: To document the proliferation of rural family medicine residency programs and to note differences in design as they affect rural recruitment. DESIGN: Descriptive study using semistructured telephone interviews. SETTING: All family medicine residency programs in Canada in 2002. PARTICIPANTS: Directors of Canadian family medicine residency programs. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Number of rural training programs and positions; months of rural exposure, degree of remoteness, and specialist support of rural communities within rural training programs. RESULTS: The number of rural training programs rose from one in 1973 to 12 in 2002. Most medical schools now offer dedicated rural training streams. From 1989 to 2002, the number of rural residency positions quadrupled from 36 to 144; large jumps in capacity occurred from 1989 to 1991 and then from 1999 to 2001. Rural positions now represent 20% of all family medicine residency positions. Among rural programs, minimum rural exposure ranged from 4 to 12 months, and the median distance between rural training communities and referral sites ranged from 50 to 440 km (median 187 km). Rotations in communities with no hospital were mandatory in five of 12 rural programs, optional in five, and unavailable in two. The proportion of training communities used by rural programs that had family physicians only (ie, no immediate specialty backup) ranged from 0 to 78% (mean 44%). Most training communities (78%) used by rural programs had fewer than 10 000 residents. Four of 12 rural programs offered various specialty medicine rotations in small communities. CONCLUSION: Rural residency programs have proliferated in Canada. The percentage of residency positions that are rural now equals the proportion of the general population in Canada living in rural areas. National guidelines for rural programs recommend at least 6 months of rural rotations and at least some training in communities without hospitals. Major variations among programs exist, and most program designs differ from designs recommended in national guidelines in at least one aspect.

Canada↗

PubMed1999

Terminal cancer patients and timing of referral to palliative care: a multicenter prospective cohort study. Italian Cooperative Research Group on Palliative Medicine.

This study describes the characteristics of a representative sample of terminally ill cancer patients at admission to Italian palliative care programs, the rate and reasons for discontinuation of care, and survival after enrollment. All Italian palliative care units (PCUs) specifically committed to palliative care were asked to consecutively register all new patients (n = 3901) between January and June, 1995. Fifty-eight of the 62 PCUs contacted by the Steering Committee completed the study. A random sample of 589 evaluable patients was prospectively selected from the 2667 eligible patients. Patients were mostly referred by a general practitioner (31.2%) or a specialist (42.1%). Most patients (84.7%) were followed until death. Seventy-seven discontinued care because of hospital admission (6.6%), change of residence (3.9%), refusal (1.7%), or improvement (0.8%). Median survival was 37.9 days; 14.3% of the patients died within 7 days, and 15.3% lived longer than 180 days. A statistically significant association between survival and gender, cancer type, setting of the first visit, and type of unit was observed. In Italy, as in other countries with different health systems, referral of cancer patients to palliative care tends to occur late in the course of the disease. This study suggests that the process of enrollment and the duration of patients' survival in palliative care, when studied in large unselected populations, can provide important information relevant to the care of terminally ill patients.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1989

Impact of multidrug therapy on leprosy in Baroda district (Gujarat).

Though much information is available on MDT organising, it poses a challenge to the field staff due to limited field trials conducted and varied field conditions. The MDT project was begun on 11th June, 1984 in Baroda by the Govt. of India, with active assistance of State Government, the World Health Organisation and the Swedish International Development Agency. The Drug combinations for MB cases were Rifampicin 600 mg, Clofazamine 300 mg and dapsone 100 mg daily for 14 days intensive supervised therapy followed by once a month (Pulse) supervised dose of Rifampicin 100 mg, Clof. 300 mg and dapsone 100 mg for minimum period of 2 years or more if indicated and Clof 50 mg daily with dapsone 100 mg daily unsupervised for minimum period of 2 years or more if indicated, for PB cases, dapsone 100 mg daily for 6 months along with Rifampicin 600 mg supervised (Pulse) once a month for minimum period of 6 months or more if indicated. Total number of active cases at commencement of MDT was 10706, out of these 10348 (96.37%) brought under MDT till Dec. 1987. Amongst 10348, old active cases 9112 (88.05%) are cured with MDT, (3110 MB + 6002 PB) 180 old MB cases BI is still positive inspite of completed 24 pulse. The rest 1056 (10.23%) stopped the treatment for various reasons. 790 (74.81%) cases have left the villages to earn their livelihood, 30 (2.86%) were being treated by skin specialist, 86 (7.19%) refuse to continue the treatment inspite of best efforts of field staff. New cases detected since June 1984 till Dec. 1987 are 7628, out of which 7549 (96.28%) brought under treatment. Now cases cured till Dec. 1987 are 4640 (1120 MB + 3520 PB) 17 cases relapsed after MDT (15 PB + 2 MB). 280 (1.56%) cases got complications, 250 developed reactions, 3 cases Jaundice, 15 cases Gastritis and rest 12 got moderate to severe anaemia. The prevalence rate came down from 5.81 to 1.01% per thousand population till Dec., 1987. The deformity rate came down amongst new cases from 6.15 to 1.50% till Dec. 1987. regularity of treatment among PB cases is 90.84% as compared to 90.48% for MB cases. The study showed that MDT can be implemented in tribal, rural and urban populations with high rate of compliance.

Clofazimine↗

PubMed2002

[Risks, chances and perspectives of restricting the free choice of doctors by patients].

Population surveys regarding free access to primary care physicians and medical specialists focus on selected aspects of public opinion. They are helpful but not sufficient in answering the relevant question: 'What are appropriate and efficient ways of access to the health care system?'. More important than survey results would be options for practical decisions by the patients themselves, based on a system offering different possibilities of choice. Competent piloting by 'gatekeepers' would need a problem- oriented and patient-centred medical education for primary-care physicians, starting during medical education and training and continuing throughout the professional medical careers. It should focus on three additional issues: New, alternative and unbiased ways of access to medical care should be developed, tried and evaluated to ensure beneficial use of the full potential of our health care system.

Forecasting↗

PubMed1990

Computer-assisted techniques for evaluation and treatment of hypertensive patients.

An integrated approach, progressively implemented in the ARTEMIS system since 1975, is described for the computerized management of hypertensive patients. From a medical point of view, computerized programs can be used to memorize patients' individual records and profiles, to facilitate patient management and follow-up, to store medical knowledge about hypertension and to provide facilities for decision making at the level either of the individual patient or of the population followed up. From a technical point of view, the methodology used integrates data and knowledge management facilities into the same software. Five hypertension clinics are presently using the system in France and more than 22,000 records have been registered. Answer rates to 12 mandatory questions regarding past history and examination at first visit were superior to 95% in 19,601 records created between January 1976 and December 1987. Patient database interrogation can be used to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of various signs and symptoms for the diagnosis of secondary hypertension, and to predict, for each patient, his/her cardiovascular risk, the risk of drop-out, the risk of insufficient blood pressure control and the probable blood pressure level. It also serves to test the content and validity of the associated expert system which is progressively built up. A prospective evaluation of the performance of the expert system on 80 cases of hypertension showed overall agreement between the specialists and the expert system ranging from 58 to 91% depending on the decision.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗