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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1978

Some non-infective diseases endemic in the West Indies.

The West Indies, and associated parts of the Caribbean area, are extremely diverse and afford interesting examples for the study of geographical medicine. Short accounts are given of some conditions whose aetiologies have been relatively recently clarified, including vomiting sickness of Jamaica, veno-occlusive disease of Jamaica, blackfat pulmonary fibrosis of Guyana, and epidemic acute glomerulonephritis of Trinidad. The aetiology of tropical sprue, which is common in Puerto Rico and absent from Jamaica remains to be explained although a hypothesis has been put forward. Further work is needed to establish the geographical distribution of idiopathic cardiomegaly and the spinal neuropathies and associated syndromes of retrobulbar neuritis and sensorineural deafness before their aetiologies can be understood.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

The use of corporal punishment in child rearing in the West Indies.

The West Indian child is usually loved by its parents or caretakers, but is frequently subjected to corporal punishment unsuitable to the age and stage of its development and excessive in relation to the alleged offence. The debate on whether the persistent use of what is considered excessive punishment as the means of instilling obedience in children, centres around the parents' African heritage or learned behaviour from the institution of slavery. Socially and economically disadvantaged parents under stress seem to displace their frustrations and anxieties on the children through corporal punishment which often assumes ritualised characteristics. The community in general and the parents in particular need help through appropriate education, to change their attitudes of accepting excessive corporal punishment as the means of imposing discipline upon children.

Child↗
PubMed2006

Injuries in West Indies cricket 2003-2004.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse injuries in West Indies Cricket and compare them with those of other cricket playing nations. METHODS: Injuries between June 2003 and December 2004 were surveyed prospectively in all major matches of the West Indies Cricket Board. RESULTS: Most injuries occurred in the West Indies Test and one day international teams. Mean match injury incidence was 48.7 per 10,000 player-hours in Test cricket, and 40.6 per 10,000 player-hours in one day international cricket, with injury prevalence of 11.3% and 8.1% respectively. In domestic cricket, the match injury incidence was 13.9 per 10,000 player-hours for first class cricket, and 25.4 per 10,000 player-hours in one day domestic competitions. There were more injuries on tour for the West Indies team than at home. The batsmen and fast bowlers sustained 80% of injuries, with many leading to long absence from the game, although many of these injuries were sustained while fielding. Most injuries were of the phalanges (22%) and the lumbar spine (20%) sustained mainly while fielding (including catching) and fast bowling respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Injuries in West Indies cricket may be reduced by (a) early detection and management of injuries on tour, (b) attention to fielding and catching techniques, and (c) monitoring of young fast bowlers.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Population evolution of the free-living stage of goat gastrointestinal nematodes on herbage under tropical conditions in Guadeloupe (French West Indies).

In Guadeloupe (French West Indies), paddocks were contaminated with gastrointestinal helminth eggs by young goats during the rainy season and the dry season. The evolution of L3 population size on herbage was followed over a period of 56 days. The major genera were Haemonchus and Trichostrongylus. It was shown that the L3 appeared on herbage 7-14 days after the beginning of contamination (DAC), and the L3 population sizes were maximal between the 14th and the 21st DAC. The maximum duration of larval survival ranged between 49 and 56 days. There was a marked depressive effect by the dry season on eggs hatching and L3 development with some arrested egg hatching in Trichostrongylus. The climatic events and the amount of dry matter on pastures during the grazing period appeared as the main important factors which could interfere with the overall evolution of the L3 population size and there was no preferential direction of L3 migration from faeces to herbage.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Effects of irrigation on appearance and survival of infective larvae of goat gastro-intestinal nematodes in Guadeloupe (French West Indies).

In Guadeloupe (French West Indies), faeces from naturally infected goats were deposited during the dry season on three plots, irrigated with long (plot A) or short herbage (B) and non-irrigated with long herbage (C). Microclimatic data and the evolution of L3 population size in faeces, on soil surface and on herbage were followed over a period of 26 days. The initial nematode egg population was comprised of 58% Haemonchus contortus (HC), 25% Trichostrongylus colubriformis (TC) and 17% Oesophagostomum columbianum (OC). Temperature and water content varied in time and space (soil, faeces, herbage) from homogeneous in A to very heterogeneous in C. In A and B, population dynamics were similar with higher values of maxima in A. Larval peaks occurred on day 9 after deposition in faeces in plot A: 23.1, 39.1 and 17.2 L3/100 eggs, respectively for HC, TC and OC; the same day in soil: 1.9, 0.6 and 3.1 L3/100 eggs. On day 26 it remained less than 1 L3/100 eggs in both soil and herbage for the three species. In C, only TC larvae were observed coming, after rain, from eggs in which hatching had been delayed. It was difficult to separate the respective effects of temperature and water content on the development of the eggs, but irrigation gave favourable conditions for all eggs to develop into larvae. Pasture rotation with 28-35 days of regrowth should minimize the increased risk of infection for the goats due to irrigation.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Is MRCP (U.K.) a redundant qualification for graduates of D.M. (Internal Medicine), University of the West Indies?

M.R.C.P.(U.K.) and D.M. (Internal Medicine), University of the West Indies, are postgraduate qualifications that did, or now do, evaluate and set the quality of specialist Internal Physician training. Since the inception of the degree, graduates of D.M. (Internal Medicine), University of the West Indies, have developed sub-specialty interests and have been recognized as being of consultant status throughout the region and the world. D.M. is of a higher standard as it is an exit examination whereas the MRCP(U.K.) diploma is an entrance examination. Acquisition of the MRCP (U.K.) is expensive; travel to the U.K. is mandatory. Possession of MRCP (U.K.) is considered by most graduates of D.M. (Internal Medicine), University of the West Indies, to be unnecessary; it has not advanced their career in any discernible way. It should no longer be encouraged in any way at the University of the West Indies.

Education, Medical, Graduate↗
PubMed2001

An evaluation of medical school education in musculoskeletal medicine at the University of the West Indies, Barbados.

At the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill campus, the Freedman and Bernstein musculoskeletal competency examination was administered to 22 medical students during the last month of their final year. Eighty-two per cent (82%) of the students failed to score above the passing score of 73.1%. Nineteen of the twenty-two students had taken an orthopaedic elective or rotation during their final two years. The questions were also categorized as Anatomy, Trauma and General Orthopaedics. All students failed to score above the passing score in Anatomy. Sixty-four per cent (64%) failed in Trauma and 45% failed in General Orthopaedics. This study suggests that inadequacies in medical school preparation do exist at this campus of the University of the West Indies and the findings mirror those at medical schools in the United States of America.

Education, Medical↗
PubMed2001

Research, health policies and health care in the Caribbean. The role of the University of the West Indies.

The University of the West Indies has had a major impact on the provision of health care and the health of Caribbean nations over the last 50 years, through undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing medical education, research, outreach and public service. These roles are fully accepted, and the Faculties of Medical Sciences and School of Clinical Medicine and Research have provided most of the doctors now serving the English-speaking Caribbean, including academic leaders and chief medical officers. The design of a curriculum to produce doctors "designed" for the region has been a well-articulated goal, and the need to carry out relevant and essential national health research is now accepted. But the broader roles of ensuring translation of research into policy and practice, and developing effective ways of promoting on-going continuing training and behaviour change are far from understood or seriously attempted. Communication of research findings and evidence-based practice is crucial. The West Indian Medical Journal clearly has a valuable role to play here and this requires expansion and support. But a multi-faceted approach to communicating research findings and translating evidence into policy, planning and care is necessary. One possible approach would be a University Unit of Health Policy Research and Development.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed2001

Fifty years of clinical examinations at the University of the West Indies.

The University of the West Indies was founded at Mona, Jamaica, in 1948. After fifty-two years, the format of the final Bachelor of Medicine clinical examination in Medicine and Therapeutics has been radically revised. The change from the traditional to an evidence-based, objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) was undertaken in November/December 2000. Assessment drives learning and both the methods chosen for assessment and the manner in which they are applied determine how students learn. The philosophical underpinnings of the change in format are discussed in this paper.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1987

Multiple sclerosis among the United Kingdom-born children of immigrants from the West Indies.

Multiple sclerosis has been reported to be very uncommon in the West Indies. In previous studies immigrants from the West Indies resident in Greater London had only one-eighth the likelihood of being diagnosed in hospital as having multiple sclerosis compared with those born in the United Kingdom. No studies of the incidence and prevalence of multiple sclerosis were available for London or South East England but there is evidence that it is much the same as occurs in Ireland. In the age groups studied the United Kingdom-born children of West Indian immigrants had an incidence and prevalence of probable multiple sclerosis of the same order as has been reported in Northern Ireland and in the Irish Republic. Although there is evidence that genetic factors play a part, our findings are strong evidence that the cause of the disease is mainly environmental and is therefore potentially preventable.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

[Ultrasonographic fetal growth curves in the West Indies. Apropos of 2930 measures of 889 fetuses].

OBJECTIVE: To establish the echographic foetal growth curves between 20 and 40 weeks amenorrhoea in the specific population of the West Indies. SITE. Gynecology-Obstetrics Unit, Redoute Hospital, Fort-de-France. POPULATION: All echographies performed between the 20th and 40th week of amenorrhoea in single foetus pregnancies in women of local origin who had undergone an echography before 15 weeks of amenorrhoea were included. Major malformations and chromosomic abnormalities were excluded. METHODS: A total of 2,930 measurements of the biparietal, transverse abdominal diameters and length of femur were recorded in 889 foetuses. The curves for the 10th, 50th and 90th percentiles were constructed by smoothing with a second end linear curve for each of the echographic parameters. For each parameter, the growth curves were compared with the curves established by Leroy and Bessis for the French population. The difference in the growth curves between the two populations were correlated to gestational age in order to establish whether there is a difference between the West Indies population and the metropolitan French population. RESULTS: Comparison with the Leroy and Bessis curves revealed that the rate of growth in the transverse abdominal diameter and the length of femur was significantly different between the West Indies population and the French population (p < 0.01). Inversely, the rate of growth of the biparietal diameter was comparable for the two populations. CONCLUSION: These growth curves provide echographists and obstetricians who examine patients of West Indies origin to adapt their obstetrical management. An ethnic factor cannot be excluded in explaining the difference between the two populations. This study confirms the requirement to establish foetal growth curves of each separate region.

Abdomen↗
PubMed2005

Role of return migration in the emergence of multiple sclerosis in the French West Indies.

The emergence of multiple sclerosis in island societies has been investigated only in a few Caucasian populations living in temperate regions. The effect of human migration on the risk of developing this disease is still an open question because of possible genetic selection. We conducted an epidemiological study of the multiple sclerosis population in the French West Indies (Martinique and Guadeloupe), a population which includes large numbers of West Indians who have returned after emigrating to metropolitan France. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) for multiple sclerosis among migrants were calculated and their genetic characteristics were compared to those of non-migrants. The crude prevalence of multiple sclerosis was 14.8/10(5) on December 31, 1999 (95% CI: 11.9-17.7); and its crude mean annual incidence for the period July 1, 1999 to June 30, 2002 was 1.4/10(5) (95% CI: 1.0-1.8), confirming its emergence in the French West Indies. Recurrent neuromyelitis optica, which is virtually the only form of multiple sclerosis in black African populations in tropical regions, represented not >17.8% of these cases. During the 1,440,000 person-years of follow-up, 33 incidence cases were identified in migrants. Since the number of expected cases was 19.3, the overall SIR was 1.71 (95% CI: 1.19-2.38; P < 0.01) among migrants. The increase in the SIR was more marked if the stay was made before the age of 15 years (4.05, 95% CI: 2.17-6.83; P < 0.0001). European ancestry in the two migrating and non-migrating populations was similar. Martinique, which has a higher rate of return migration, has a higher prevalence of multiple sclerosis (21.0/10(5) versus 8.5/10(5)) and a higher incidence (2.0/10(5) versus 0.7/10(5)) than Guadeloupe. The emergence of the disease in the French West Indies is of environmental rather than genetic origin. It may be explained either through the introduction by migrants of precipitating environmental factors that operate in a critical way before the age of 15 years, and/or by the recent disappearance from the French West Indies of protective environmental factors acting before this age.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Studies of the relationship between Schistosoma and their intermediate hosts. III. The genus Biomphalaria and Schistosoma mansoni from Egypt, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda, West Indies (St. Lucia) and Zaire (two different strains: Katanga and Kinshasa).

The compatibility between strains of Schistosoma mansoni from Egypt, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda, the West Indies, and Zaire (two strains which came from Katanga and from Kinshasa), and various species and strains of Biomphalaria, i.e. Biomphalaria pfeifferi, B. alexandrina, B. glabrata and B. camerunensis was investigated. Data as mortality, rate of infection of the surviving snails, duration of infection, cercarial production per day per positive snail, etc., were observed. The main emphasis was placed on determining the total cercarial production per 100 exposed snails for each snail population. It was possible to infect all the tested populations of B pfeifferi with the various strains of S. mansoni, but the observation as e.g. TCP/100 exposed snails varied greatly according to the population of snail and the strain of S. mansoni. The results for the remaining species of Biomphalaria varied greatly, depending on the combination, e.g. B. alexandrina was only susceptible to the local S. mansoni from Egypt. The highest TCP/100 exposed snails was more than 1 million for the strains of S. mansoni from Egypt, Kenya and the West Indies in B. alexandrina, B. pfeifferi and B. glabrata, respectively. The next group, with a TCP/100 exposed snails on 7--800 000 consists of S. mansoni from Sudan, Uganda and Zaire (Katanga) all in B. pfeifferi. The last tested strain of S. mansoni, Zaire (Kinshasa) yielded a cercarial production on 500 000 per 100 exposed snails in B. pfeifferi and B. camerunensis. The shortest prepatent period, 19 days, was observed for S. mansoni from Kinshasa, Zaire, in B. camerunensis, and the longest prepatent period, 25 days, was found for strains from Egypt and from the West Indies in B. alexandrina and B. glabrata, respectively. In general, a very long duration of infection, lasting up to 200 days, was observed.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

A comparison of the objective structured clinical examination results across campuses of the University of the West Indies (2001 and 2002).

OBJECTIVE: To compare the performance of medical students in the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) of thefinal MBBS Examination across the four campuses of The University of the West Indies, over a two-year period DESIGN AND METHODS: All final examination results of the Medicine and Therapeutics OSCE were collectedfrom the Faculty of Medical Science at the four campuses of The University of the West Indies and analyzed using both parametric (t-tests and ANOVAs) and non-parametric tests (chi-squared tests). RESULTS: Results indicated that students achieved significantly higher mean scores in the 2002 examination than in 2001 (t = 3.85, df = 415, p = 0.000). There were no significant differences between campuses with regards to the mean corrected score in 2001. Also in 2001, in adult stations, all campuses achieved significantly higher scores than Jamaica. However, in Jamaica, mean child health station scores were significantly higher than all other campuses and, the mean score in Trinidad and Tobago was higher than the Bahamas and Barbados. In 2002, all other campuses achieved significantly higher scores than Trinidad and Tobago and females performed significantly better than males with regards to overall mean scores (t = 2.814, df = 189, p = 0.005). Also in 2002, Barbados achieved significantly higher mean corrected scores than Trinidad and Tobago (F = 4.649, df = 3191; p = 0.004) and Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago both obtained significantly higher mean child health station scores than Jamaica. CONCLUSIONS: The important conclusion from this study is that the OSCE scores in Medicine and Therapeutics are generally uniform across the four campuses of the University, thereby confirming the consistency of the approach to teaching and helping to validate the efficacy and veracity of the medical graduate being produced by The University of the West Indies.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Anopheles triannulatus (Neiva and Pinto): a new Anopheles record from Trinidad, West Indies.

We report the first collection of Anopheles triannulatus from Trinidad, West Indies. Adults were captured using human bait while larvae and pupae were collected from a pond located in Valencia, north Trinidad. The associated species was An. oswaldoi. This new record increases the number of mosquito species belonging to the Genus Anopheles to 14 and the total species count from 162 to 163 in Trinidad, West Indies.

Animals↗