Browsing by Author "Vuković, Mira (8860387500)"

Objective: The aim of this study was to use a Serbian-language version of the disease-specific, self-report Sarcoidosis Health Questionnaire (SHQ), which was designed and originally validated in the United States, to assess health status in sarcoidosis patients in Serbia, as well as validating the instrument for use in the country. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 346 patients with biopsy-confirmed sarcoidosis. To evaluate the health status of the patients, we used the SHQ, which was translated into Serbian for the purposes of this study. We compared SHQ scores by patient gender and age, as well as by disease duration and treatment. Lower SHQ scores indicate poorer health status. Results: The SHQ scores demonstrated differences in health status among subgroups of the sarcoidosis patients evaluated. Health status was found to be significantly poorer among female patients and older patients, as well as among those with chronic sarcoidosis or extrapulmonary manifestations of the disease. Monotherapy with methotrexate was found to be associated with better health status than was monotherapy with prednisone or combination therapy with prednisone and methotrexate. Conclusions: The SHQ is a reliable, disease-specific, self-report instrument. Although originally designed for use in the United States, the SHQ could be a useful tool for the assessment of health status in various non-English-speaking populations of sarcoidosis patients. © 2016 Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e Tisiologia.

Background/Aim. Patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and diabetes mellitus (DM) have an increased risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) after percuta-neous coronary intervention (PCI), which is not estimated sufficiently-multidimensionally in terms of type and severity of the ACS and/or DM and angiographic findings. The study was intended to validate and develop an index of met-abolic, angiographic, anatomic and clinical risk factors for one-year MACE after conducted PCI in patients with ACS and DM. Methods. A prospective cross-sectional study was performed in patients with DM and ACS. In the PCI period the following risk factors were recorded: 1) age and meta-bolic variables - glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), total cholesterol, and triglycerides levels in the blood; 2) endo-crinological variables - DM therapy and type of DM; 3) ACS modality; 4) radiological/anatomical variable - SYN-TAX score, and 5) clinical variables in modified age, creati-nine, ejection fraction (ACEF) score. One-year MACE were recorded. Results. From a total of 136 consecutive patients, 55 of them developed at least one MACE in one-year follow-up. A high predictive risk index was evaluated that assessed particular or associated risks for one-year MACE (c statistic = 0.879) in the study population, defined by: SYNTAX score > 21, modified ACEF score > 1.38, HbA1c - 8%, triglyceridemia - 2.3 mmol/L in patients with insulin therapy, and ACS modality - unstable angina pectoris. The constructed risk index for one-year MACE (MACERI) had better predictive characteristics than SYN-TAX score (c statistic = 0.798), as well as ACF score (c sta-tistic = 0.744). Conclusion. MACERI can potentially have great application in future risk factors studies for one-year MACE in patients with DM and ACS who underwent PCI, because with it the effects of these factors are measured multidimensionally at valid and accurate manner. © 2020 Inst. Sci. inf., Univ. Defence in Belgrade. All rights reserved.

Background/Aim. Accreditation is considered to be the oldest and most widespread mechanism of independent external evaluation of health care quality and is implemented in over 70 countries worldwide. Despite numerous studies in this field, there is still no solid evidence about its impact on health care quality and patient safety. The goal of this paper was to investigate if the accreditation process has an effect on the difference in values of health care quality indicators. Methods. The study was conducted in two tertiary level health care hospitals, one accredited, the other non-accredited. Values of seven quality indicators in the period before, during and immediately after the completion of accreditation (from 2007–2015), which measure health care quality, patient safety, the efficiency and productivity of the institution, were compared. Results. Of the seven monitored quality indicators, a positive effect of the accreditation process can be attributed to a shorter length of waiting for the first scheduled health check at the institution, shorter length of waiting for the first scheduled surgical check, lower rate of patients with decubitus as well as a decrease of the rate of hospital days per patient with acute myocardial infarction. No effect of accreditation was found on the mortality rate, mortality rate within the first 48 hours of hospitalization, and the average rate of hospital days per patient at the level of the institution. Conclusion. The process of accreditation undoubtedly intensifies activities that contribute to improving health care quality, which results in better health outcomes. Additional research in this field and new evidence about the relationship between accreditation and quality upgrading in health care institutions are required because this could motivate their managers to decide more easily to enter into this process and implement it, despite the additional efforts and financial investments associated with accreditation. © 2018, Inst. Sci. inf., Univ. Defence in Belgrade. All rights reserved.

Recently published data indicate that vitamin D abnormalities are common in sarcoidosis patients. The purpose of this study was to compare serum vitamin 25(OH)D levels among sarcoidosis patients with different clinical cour - ses of the disease. The study also included the first observations on cognitive functions (i.e. depression and fatigue syndrome) in relation to vitamin D deficiency in sarcoidosis patients. At the Biochemical Laboratory of the Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade, vitamin D25(OH)D was measured using the Elecsys® Vitamin D total test. A total of 226 patients with biopsy-positive sarcoidosis were analyzed. The average median value of serum vitamin D was 9.47 mg/L, suggesting severe deficiency. Statistically significant correlation was found in patients with chronic disease and low levels of serum vitamin 25(OH)D (Chi-Square=6.044; df=2; p=0.014). The patient group with vitamin D serum levels higher than 20 mg/L showed higher levels of the mean forced vi tal capacity (FVC) by 380 mL, and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) by 220 mL, when compared to the patient group with lower serum vitamin D. A statistically significant role was established for serum vitamin 25(OH)D levels as the predictor of fatigue (R2=0.878; p=0.038 (b=0.216)) and depression in patients with sarcoidosis (R2=0.80; p=0.000 (b=0.391)). The insufficiency of 25(OH)D seems to be an important factor in predicting the course of chronic disease, significant lung function impairments and cognitive failures such as fatigue and depression. The fact that the majo rity of the analyzed sarcoidosis patients had totally deficient serum 25(OH)D levels made this finding even more notable.

Recently published data indicate that vitamin D abnormalities are common in sarcoidosis patients. The purpose of this study was to compare serum vitamin 25(OH)D levels among sarcoidosis patients with different clinical cour - ses of the disease. The study also included the first observations on cognitive functions (i.e. depression and fatigue syndrome) in relation to vitamin D deficiency in sarcoidosis patients. At the Biochemical Laboratory of the Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade, vitamin D25(OH)D was measured using the Elecsys® Vitamin D total test. A total of 226 patients with biopsy-positive sarcoidosis were analyzed. The average median value of serum vitamin D was 9.47 mg/L, suggesting severe deficiency. Statistically significant correlation was found in patients with chronic disease and low levels of serum vitamin 25(OH)D (Chi-Square=6.044; df=2; p=0.014). The patient group with vitamin D serum levels higher than 20 mg/L showed higher levels of the mean forced vi tal capacity (FVC) by 380 mL, and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) by 220 mL, when compared to the patient group with lower serum vitamin D. A statistically significant role was established for serum vitamin 25(OH)D levels as the predictor of fatigue (R2=0.878; p=0.038 (b=0.216)) and depression in patients with sarcoidosis (R2=0.80; p=0.000 (b=0.391)). The insufficiency of 25(OH)D seems to be an important factor in predicting the course of chronic disease, significant lung function impairments and cognitive failures such as fatigue and depression. The fact that the majo rity of the analyzed sarcoidosis patients had totally deficient serum 25(OH)D levels made this finding even more notable.