Search

Problem-based learning (PBL) is the through-going didactics at Aalborg University, but literature shows how integrating PBL into project work is challenging for students. Studies indicate that students especially struggle with the problem analysis section, i.e., what it consists of, how the structure of the analysis should be, etc. Moreover, literature shows that ignorance among students leads to conflicts among group members. The aim of the study was to evaluate the consequences of introducing a problem analysis tool to master students working with a PBL project. Data analysis showed an increase (with significant p values) in the following 5 topics: 1) the problem analysis term, 2) problem analysis structure, 3) scientific argumentation, 4) learn to analyze instead of explaining, and 5) using literature to argue for a scientific problem. Significant results showed that students believed that they had increased their understanding of the term problem analysis after being introduced to the problem analysis tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New onset diabetes (NOD) in people 50 years or older may indicate underlying pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The cumulative incidence of PDAC among people with NOD remains uncertain on a population-based level. This was a nationwide population-based retrospective cohort study based on the Danish national health registries. We investigated the 3-year cumulative incidence of PDAC in people 50 years or older with NOD. We further characterised people with pancreatic cancer-related diabetes (PCRD) in relation to demographic and clinical characteristics, including trajectories of routine biochemical parameters, using people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) as a comparator group. During a 21-year observation period, we identified 353,970 people with NOD. Among them, 2105 people were subsequently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer within 3 years (0.59%, 95% CI [0.57–0.62%]). People with PCRD were older than people with T2D at diabetes diagnosis (median age 70.9 vs. 66.0 years (P < 0.001) and had a higher burden of comorbidities (P = 0.007) and more prescriptions of medications used to treat cardiovascular diseases (all P < 0.001). Distinct trajectories of HbA1c and plasma triglycerides were observed in PCRD vs. T2D, with group differences observed for up to three years prior to NOD diagnosis for HbA1c and up to two years for plasma triglyceride levels. The 3-year cumulative incidence of PDAC is approximately 0.6% among people 50 years or older with NOD in a nationwide population-based setting. Compared to T2D, people with PCRD are characterised by distinct demographic and clinical profiles, including distinctive trajectories of plasma HbA1c and triglyceride levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Patients are compelled to become more involved in shared decision making with healthcare professionals in the self-management of chronic disease and general adherence to treatment. Therefore, it is valuable to be able to identify patients with low functional health literacy so they can be given special instructions about the management of chronic disease and medications. However, time spent by both patients and clinicians is a concern when introducing a screening instrument in the clinical setting, which raises the need for short instruments for assessing health literacy that can be used by patients without the involvement of healthcare personnel. This paper describes the development of a short version of the full-length Danish TOFHLA (DS-TOFHLA) that is easily applicable in the clinical context and where the use does not require a trained interviewer. Materials and methods: Data were collected as a part of a large-scale telehomecare project (TeleCare North), which was a randomized controlled trial that included 1225 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The DS-TOFHLA was developed solely using an algorithm-based selection of variables and multiple linear regression. A multiple linear regression model was developed using an exhaustive search strategy. Results: The exhaustive search showed that the number of items in the full-length TOFHLA could be reduced from 17 numeracy items and 50 reading comprehension items to 20 reading comprehension items while maintaining a correlation of r = 0.90 between the scores from full-length and short versions. A generic model-based approach was developed, which is suitable for development of short versions of the TOFHLA in other languages, including the original American version. Conclusions: This study demonstrated how a generic model-based approach could be applied in the development of a short version of the TOFHLA, thereby reducing the 67 items to 20 items in the short version. Furthermore, this study showed that the inclusion of numeracy items was not necessary. The development of the DS-TOFHLA presents an opportunity to reliably identify patients with inadequate functional health literacy in approximately 5 minutes without involvement of healthcare personnel. The approach may be used in the development of short versions of any scaling questionnaire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lowering glucose levels is a complex task for patients with type 1 diabetes, and they often lack contact with health care professionals. Intermittently scanned continuous glucose monitoring (isCGM) has the potential to aid them with blood glucose management at home. The aim of this study was to investigate the long-term effect of isCGM on HbA1c in type 1 diabetes patients with poor glycaemic control in a region-wide real-world setting. Methods: All patients with type 1 diabetes receiving an isCGM due to poor glycaemic control (≥70 mmol/mol [≥8.6%]) in the period of 2020–21 in Region North Denmark ("T1D-CGM") were compared with all type 1 diabetes patients without isCGM ("T1D-NOCGM") in the same period. A multiple linear regression model adjusted for age, sex, diabetes duration and use of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion was constructed to estimate the difference in change from baseline HbA1c between the two groups and within subgroups of T1D-CGM. Results: A total of 2,527 patients (T1D-CGM: 897; T1D-NOCGM: 1,630) were included in the study. The estimated adjusted difference in change from baseline HbA1c between T1D-CGM vs T1D-NOCGM was -5.68 mmol/mol (95% CI: (-6.69 to -4.67 mmol/mol; p<0.0001)). Older patients using isCGM dropped less in HbA1c. Conclusions: Our results indicate that patients with type 1 diabetes in poor glycaemic control from Region North Denmark in general benefit from using isCGM with a sustained 24-month improvement in HbA1c, but the effect on HbA1c may be less pronounced for older patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims The nicotinic acid analogue acipimox is an antilipolytic agent, which acutely inhibits lipolysis and suppresses systemic levels of free fatty acids (FFA) and improves insulin sensitivity in obese patients. These effects of acipimox are transient due to a counter-regulatory increase in growth hormone levels that reverse the antilipolytic effect of acipimox. Hypopituitary patients constitute a viable model to study the growth hormone-independent effects of acipimox and the impact of isolated changes in FFA concentrations and insulin sensitivity on parasympathetic nervous activity. The aim of the present study was to investigate if pharmacological antilipolysis with acipimox acutely affects autonomic tone. Methods We studied heart rate variability as a measure of autonomic tone in eight hypopituitary men with and without acipimox treatment. The standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals, root mean square of successive differences and high frequency were measured as heart rate variability parameters. The patients were studied in the basal and insulin-stimulated state with clamped plasma glucose on two occasions in a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled crossover study. Results Plasma glucose (4.7 vs. 4.9 mmol l-1, P = 0.02) and serum FFA (0.05 vs. 0.41 mmol l-1, P < 0.001) were significantly decreased during acipimox treatment. Acipimox had an inhibitory effect on standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals (41.3 vs. 45.3 ms, P = 0.01), root mean square of successive differences (23.2 vs. 11 ms, P = 0.03) and high frequency (3.79 vs 3.60 ln (ms2), P = 0.02) and these effects were reversed during clamping. Conclusions Short-term inhibition of lipolysis by acipimox treatment lowered circulating FFA levels, improved insulin sensitivity, and was accompanied by reduced parasympathetic tone. The effect of acipimox on the parasympathetic modulation was reversed by hyperinsulinaemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several heart failure studies have shown promising results for implementing telehealthcare. These studies have led to clinical and political interest in telehealthcare as a way to improve heart failure outcomes and lower costs. However, there is a need for large-scale clinical trials with cost-effectiveness assessments. Methods/design: The present study is known as the TeleCare North Heart Failure Trial in Denmark. We are studying the health effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a telehealth (Telekit) solution compared with usual care for patients with heart failure. The design is a multicenter, two-arm, parallel-group, nonblinded, superiority randomized controlled trial. Outpatient healthcare centers will be responsible for recruiting eligible participants (600 participants are expected) for the trial in the geographic area of the North Denmark Region. Participants are qualified for inclusion if they have been diagnosed according to national guidelines and are categorized in New York Heart Association class 2, 3, or 4. Patients must have a permanent residence and be motivated to use telehealth care. The primary outcomes are changes in health-related quality of life (assessed using the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire, the EuroQol EQ-5D-5L questionnaire, and the Short Form Health Survey [SF-36]) and in the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio measured from baseline to follow-up. The secondary outcomes are changes in mortality and in physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, and weight. Discussion: The TeleCare North Heart Failure Trial is intended to improve the international evidence base for the health effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of telehealthcare for patients with heart failure. The expectation is that the results of the trial can be generalized to all municipalities in Denmark and serve as an inspiration for further international research. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02860013). Registered on 28 July 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to develop an algorithm for prediction of exacerbation onset in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients based on continuous self-monitoring of physiological parameters from telehome-care monitoring. 151 physiological parameters of COPD patients were monitored on a daily/weekly basis for up to 2 years. Data were segmented in 30-day periods leading up to an exacerbation (exacerbation episode) and starting from a 14-day recovery period post-exacerbation (control episode) and tested in 6 intervals to predict exacerbation onset using k-nearest neighbour (k = 1, 3, 5). A classifier with sensitivity of 73%, specificity of 74%, positive predictive value of 69%, negative predictive value of 78% and an accuracy of 74% was achieved using data intervals consisting of 5 days. Intelligent processing of physiological recordings have potential for predicting exacerbation onset. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

OBJECTIVE To investigate the sex differences in cardiac autonomic modulation in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes and to determine whether cardiac autonomic modulation is associated with glycemic variability. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We investigated a cohort consisting of 48 men and 39 women with non-insulin-treated type 2 diabetes and a known duration of diabetes <5 years. All patients were equipped with a continuous glucose monitoring sensor for 3 days, and the mean amplitude of glycemic excursions (MAGE) was calculated to obtain individual glycemic variability. Cardiac autonomic modulation was quantified by analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) in time and frequency domains and during cardiovascular reflex tests (response to standing [RS], deep breathing [expiration-inspiration], and Valsalva maneuver). RESULTS Sex differences in age- and heart rate-adjusted HRV measures were observed in both active and passive tests. Low frequency (LF; P = 0.036), LF/high frequency (HF; P < 0.001), and RS (P = 0.006) were higher in men, whereas expiration-inspiration (P < 0.001), but not HF, was higher in women. In women, reduced cardiac autonomic modulation as assessed by the standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals (P = 0.001), the root mean square of successive differences (P = 0.018), LF (P < 0.001), HF (P = 0.005), total power (P = 0.008), RS ratio (P = 0.027), and expiration-to-inspiration ratio (P = 0.006) was significantly associated with increased glycemic variability as assessed by MAGE. This was not the case in men. The association in women persisted in a multivariate regression analysis controlling for weight, mean heart rate, blood pressure (systolic), and triglycerides. CONCLUSIONS In patients with newly diagnosed and well-controlled type 2 diabetes, increased glycemic variability was associated with reduced cardiac autonomic modulation in women but not in men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Diabetes is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects millions of people worldwide. A complication of COPD is exacerbations that result in increased utilization of healthcare services, readmissions to the hospital, and a decline in health-related quality of life. Home telehealth has been shown both to improve health-related quality of life and to reduce admission rates. Using clinical data from a home telemonitoring group, this study sought to investigate the clinical impact of telemonitoring. Subjects and Methods: Fifty-seven subjects with COPD were included in a 4-month telemonitoring project. Differences between the clinical parameters during the first and last months of participation in the project were tested for significance, and the levels for the first month versus the difference were tested for correlation. Results: Significant declines were observed in prescriptions for antibiotics and steroids (p =0.03), clinical consultations (p =0.05), mean systolic blood pressure (p <0.001), standard deviation of systolic blood pressure (p =0.03), and mean diastolic blood pressure (p =0.02). No significant differences were observed for mean of oxygen saturation (p =0.77), standard deviation of oxygen saturation (p =0.36), mean of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (p =0.17), mean of forced vital capacity (p =0.29), mean of pulse rate (p= 0.78), standard deviation of pulse rate (p =0.57), and standard deviation of diastolic blood pressure (p =0.27). Conclusions: The results suggest that telemonitoring improves the condition of the patient by lowering the blood pressure, the number of prescribed antibiotics and steroids, and the number of clinical consultations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than 1% of infants are born premature. Many of these children require special treatment because of immature organs and body functions. CO2 is an important parameter to monitor in order to avoid serious brain damage. Blood sampling of CO2 has several shortcomings and non-invasive transcutaneous CO2 is being investigated in order to assess its potential to contribute with the same type of information as blood CO2 measurements. The present study assesses the quality of transcutaneous CO2 data by comparing it to the “golden standard” blood CO2 data, in order to provide clinicians with a better understanding of the usefulness and limitations of transcutaneous CO2 data in neonatal care. The study shows that for low transcutaneous CO2 the error is relatively high and in most cases the true CO2, represented by the blood CO2, which can be regarded as the “gold standard”, is higher than the measured transcutaneous CO2. The opposite is the case for high transcutaneous CO2. It is discussed how this is not due to any systematic error in the equipment, but due to the natural behaviour of noisy data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automation of organizing and analyzing NHANES data can provide easier access to data and potentially reducing risk of introducing bias. This study investigates the potential for developing a software for this purpose. MATLAB R2016b was used for transforming and analyzing data from the NHANES. The software was tested successful by analyzing the association between smoking and glucose metabolism in the general population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resting heart rate (rHR) and heart rate variability (HRV) are non-invasive measurements that predict the risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). Marine n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) supplementation may decrease rHR, increase HRV, and reduce the risk of SCD. To date, no studies have investigated the effect of marine n-3 PUFA on HRV in renal transplant recipients. In a randomized controlled trial, 132 renal transplant recipients were randomized to receive either three 1 g capsules of marine n-3 PUFA, each containing 460 mg/g EPA and 380 mg/g DHA, or control (olive oil) for 44 weeks. HRV was calculated in the time and frequency domains during a conventional cardiovascular reflex test (response to standing, deep breathing, and Valsalva maneuver) and during 2 min of resting in the supine position. There was no significant effect of marine n-3 PUFA supplementation on time-domain HRV compared with controls. rHR decreased 3.1 bpm (± 13.1) for patients receiving marine n-3 PUFA compared to 0.8 (± 11.0) in controls (p = 0.28). In the frequency domain HRV analyses, there was a significant change in response to standing in both high and low frequency measures, 2.9 (p = 0.04, 95% CI (1.1;8)) and 2.7 (p = 0.04, 95% CI (1.1;6.5)), respectively. In conclusion, 44 weeks of supplemental marine n-3 PUFAs in renal transplant recipients significantly improved the cardiac autonomic function, assessed by measuring HRV during conventional cardiovascular reflex tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors comment on the study "Association of Glycemic Variability in Type 1 Diabetes With Progression of Microvascular Outcomes in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial" by J. M. Lachin et al. They acknowledge the study for raising the discussion on the use of spot glucose measurements to estimate variability in a time series. They warn about the use of statistical algorithms like multiple imputation in estimating missing data points from a time series.

Copyright of Journal of Diabetes is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)