Usefulness of personal digital assistants [palm and pocket PC] in the medical field

The Personal Digital Assistant [PDA] has become nowadays a powerful and essential tool for many physicians. Its promising success in the near future and the lack of information in regard to its use in Lebanon led to this transverse study. A questionnaire was submitted to the doctors, residents and interns of Hotel-Dieu de France [HDF] Hospital [Beirut], during March-April 2004 in order to evaluate the use of PDAs, the preferences and the needs of the medical personnel and to propose solutions which can meet its needs. The answers' rate to the questionnaire is 70.3% [303 answers]. The PDA possession rate is 30.36% it is significantly more important in physicians compared to surgeons. Among those having a PDA, the operating system Palm dominates with 60% with a current tendency towards the purchase of Pocket PC the operating system Pocket PC dominates the Phone PDAs. Approximately one third use their PDA ineffectively and admit having difficulties which greatly reduce its use in the medical field. Lexi-Drugs is the most used pharmaceutical guide, Sanford Guide the most used microbiological guide, iSilo the most used medical textbooks reader. More than 85% do not use any program to follow up their patients or read medical journals. Two thirds recognize the beneficial role of the PDA on the quality and the speed of the medical practice one third consider that it reduces medical errors. The availability of medical programs is significantly more important for Palm. Among the subjects not having a PDA, 47% hope to buy one in the year to come the possession rate of PDAs is estimated to reach 69.3% in 2010. Computerization of the medical data, installation of a wireless network, courses on the use of PDAs in the medical field, etc., are needs considered to be useful by 60-80% of the responders. Many medical utilities are already computerized. They still have to be presented in a format compatible with PDAs to answer a great part of the needs. A guided hospital policy and an educational program are needed to increase the usefulness of PDAs in the medical field

particularites de la maladie de Scheuermann de l'adulte. A propos de 45 patients

Our aim was to find out which factors favor the occurrence of pain in adult patients with Scheuermann's disease -a juvenile manifestation of osteochondrosis of the spine, to study the clinical and radiological signs, the role of rehabilitation and the means to avoid the recurrence of pain. Patients and methods: Descriptive and retrospective study about 45 adults treated by rehabilitation. A data sheet listed the patient's occupation, current practice of sport, antecedents [violent sport, traumatism, pain], presence of a family form, motive of consultation, clinical and paraclinical examinations and immediate and long-term results of rehabilitation. Average age 35 years [18 to 65], male predominance [1.8: 1], occupational risk factors: 16%; only 24% practiced sports currently. Antecedents: sports 49%, spinal column traumatism 13%, dorsal and lumbar pain during adolescence 16%. Consultation motive: abnormal posture 4% and pain 96%.According to the examination: abnormal spinal column in 80% of cases. According to radiography, our patients were divided into 49% who were carriers of growth vertebral dystrophy and 51% who were carriers of the real Scheuermann's disease. The immediate results of rehabilitation were satisfactory, 75% of the results were very good and good. Between six months and four years, 70% of the results were very satisfactory. Exercises were observed in only 11% of the cases, and stopped after two months on average. Schcucrmann's disease in adults is a different entity from that of the teenager for the major manifestation is pain and not aesthetic quality. The patients occupation is rather sedentary; sport is beneficial. The functional rehabilitation is the basic treatment and recourse to surgery or dorso-lumbar braces is rare

Resultats a long terme de la reeducation fonctionnelle dans le traitement du syndrome femoro-patellaire. A propos des 63 patients

Rehabilitation plays a primordial role in the treatment of the patellofemoral syndrome. We wanted to seek in a sample of population suffering from this problem, the factors favoring the occurrence of this syndrome, the rehabilitation result and the continuation of exercises patients and methods: Prospective descriptive study on the rehabilitated patients in a questionnaire form divided in two parts. The first one seeks the information of the patients file demographical, social and professional data, risk factors, clinical assessment and imaging, medical treatment, immediate rehabilitation results. The second part seeks the long-term effect of rehabilitation, the perseverance to exercises and the resumption of professional and sports activities. 78 patients, feminine prevalence 59%; average age: 32.7 years [between 12 and 60 years]. Occurrence favoring factors found: intensive sports 47.4%, profession presenting a risk 14%, traumatism 24.5%, hypermobility 30,7%.Etiology: patellar instability 18/78, dysplasia 2, chondromalacia 14, femoropatellar osteoarthritis 4, non-marked 40. Previous treatment AINS: 45%, efficient in third of cases; previous physical therapy 9/78 [50% failure]. The evaluated results of short-term rehabilitation according to Ficat criteria, regardless of etiology, were satisfying [good or very good] in 77% of cases. Very good: 20.5%; good: 56.5%; acceptable: 19.2%] and bad 3.8%.At long term on 63 patients with an average recession of 18 months [6 months to 3 years] we had very good 22.2%, good: 55.5%, acceptable 20.6% and bad 1.7%. Average duration of carry on of exercises: 4 months. The functional rehabilitation has confirmed its efficiency in the treatment of young patients suffering from patellofemoral syndrome. The education, the life hygiene, the preparation to sports as well as carry on of exercises prevent recurrences

Validation du choix d'experts pour l'etude des spondylarthropathies au Liban

A study of the spondylarthropathies, their recent diagnostic criteria and the prevalence of HLA B27 in these affections in Lebanon will soon be started. Experts will have to include patients, prospectively, and to classify them as having or not a spondylarthropathy, according solely to their clinical judgement. The decision of the expert is of major importance in including patients in the study. We performed a clinical evaluation of inter-observer variability to select experts according to a significant concordance in the clinical diagnosis of different rheumatic diseases, especially spondylarthropathies. Results of the evaluation are presented and discussed