ABSTRACT
Background: The Northern Cape is South Africa's largest province with an HIV prevalence of 7.1% versus a 13.5% national prevalence. CD4 testing is provided at three of five National Health Laboratory Service district laboratories, each covering a 250 km precinct radius. Districts without a local service report prolonged CD4 turn-around times (TAT).Objective: This study documented the impact of a new CD4 laboratory in Tshwaragano in the remote John Taolo Gaetsewe district of the Northern Cape, South Africa.Methods: CD4 test volumes and TAT (total, pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical) data for the Northern Cape province were extracted for June 2018 to October 2019. The percentage of CD4 results within the stipulated 40-h TAT cut-off and the median and 75th percentiles of all TAT parameters were calculated. Pre-implementation, samples collected at Tshwaragano were referred to Kimberley or Upington, Northern Cape, South Africa.Results: Pre-implementation, 95.4% of samples at Tshwaragano were referred to Kimberley for CD4 testing (36.3% of Kimberley's test volumes). Only 7.5% of Tshwaragano's total samples were referred post-implementation. The Tshwaragano laboratory's CD4 median total TAT decreased from 24.7 h pre-implementation to 12 h post-implementation (p = 0.003), with >95.0% of results reported within 40 h. The Kimberley laboratory workload decreased by 29.0%, and testing time significantly decreased from 10 h to 4.3 h.Conclusion: The new Tshwaragano CD4 service significantly decreased local TAT. Upgrading existing community laboratories to include CD4 testing can alleviate provincial service load and improve local access, TAT and efficiency in the centralised reference laboratory
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , CD4 Antigens , HIV , Allergy and Immunology , Exercise Test , Hospitals, District , Laboratories , Operations ResearchABSTRACT
Objectifs : Identifier et analyser chez les broncho-pneumopathes chroniques obstructifs (BPCO) en état stable, les facteurs déterminants de la distance parcourue au test de marche de six minutes (TDM) et de la dyspnée en fin de test. Patients et méthodes : Les patients BPCO ont été évalués par épreuves fonctionnelles, questionnaire de Saint-Georges (QRSG) et TDM avec mesures de capacité respiratoire (CI) et d'oxymétrie. Résultats : Quatre-vingt-deux patients (volume expiré par seconde [VEMS] moyen 56 ± 19%) ont été étudiés. La distance moyenne au TDM était de 477 ± 89% (72 ± 14% valeurs prédites [VP]). La distance au TDM (cm) était corrélée avec le VEMS, le rapport CI/CPT, la CPT, le CI avant le test et le rapport capacité de diffusion du monoxyde de carbone ramenée au volume aléatoire (DLCO/VA). En pourcentage VP, la distance au TDM était corrélée à la capacité résiduelle fonctionnelle (CRF), à la CI avant le test et au score activité du QRSG. La dyspnée fine de TDM était corrélée avec la CRF, la dyspnée pré-TDM et avec les scores activités et totale du QRSG.Conclusion : Les facteurs déterminants de la dyspnée au cours du TDM sont complexes ; ils dépendent de facteurs fonctionnels et non-fonctionnels. Le TDM est un test d'exploration à valeur intégrative dans la BPCO
Subject(s)
Congo , Exercise Test , Psychomotor Performance , Pulmonary Disease, Chronic ObstructiveABSTRACT
Background: Exercise capacity, like some other variables of exercise stress test, is a strong predictor of cardiovascular and overall mortality. Many confounding factors, including gender, have been found to affect exercise capacity. This study evaluated whether exercise capacity differs in age-matched type 2 diabetic Nigerian men and their women counterparts and the hemodynamic variables of exercise treadmill test that correlate with exercise capacity in them. Materials and Methods: A total of 61 type 2 diabetics (male = 34; female = 27) aged 30 to 60 years who were recruited through the Medical Out-patient Department of OAUTHC, Ile Ife, Nigeria, underwent symptom- limited maximal treadmill exercise using Bruce protocol. Result: Patients had comparable clinical and demographic patterns. There was no gender difference in the chronotropic response to exercise. Males had faster heart rate recovery (HRR) than females. Though both sexes had similar resting systolic blood pressure (SBP), males had significantly higher peak SBP than females (216.2 ± 23.7 mmHg vs 203.3 ± 21.7 mmHg; P = 0.03). Exercise capacity was significantly higher in males (7.5 ± 2.0 METs) than females (6.4 ± 1.5 METs); P = 0.01. Significant correlates of exercise capacity in both sexes were fasting plasma glucose, resting diastolic blood pressure, Duke Treadmill Score, and HRR. Majority of the patients were in moderate DUKE risk subgroup and there was no statistically significant difference between males and females in this regard. Conclusion: Gender difference occurs in the exercise capacity of diabetic patients and the factors associated with this disparity may be related to gender differences in resting heart rate and HRR, both reflecting a withdrawal of vagal tone
Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms , Exercise Test , NigeriaABSTRACT
Formulae for predicting functional capacity during 6-minue walk are lacking and the accuracy of the existing formulae has been challenged in deferent populations. The purpose of this study was to develop an equation that would be useful in predicting functional capacity in form of maximum oxygen consumption) (V0 ) in Chronic Heart Failure Patients (CHF) during exercise. Sixty-five subjects were recruited for the study. The procedure required the subjects to walk on a self paced speed on a 20 meter marked level ground for 6 minutes. The distance covered in 6 minutes was measured and the speed calculated. The result showed that the distance covered was highly correlated with the VO2 (0.65; p 0.01). The regression analysis revealed that a linear equation model developed was a good predictor ofV0 for the group. The study concluded that in situation where sophisticated equipments are lacking; this equation might be useful during exercise supervision for patients withCHF. [VO2 (ml kg-1 min-1)