Standing posture at work does not increase the risk of varicose veins among health care providers in taiwan

Objective: This study compared the risk of varicose veins [VV] among physicians, nonphysician health care providers [HCP], and the general population

Subjects and Methods: The Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database was used to identify 28,844 physicians and 26,099 nonphysi-cian HCP and an identical number of age- and sex-matched patients from the general population. Using logistic regression analyses, W risks between physicians and the general population, nonphysician HCP and the general population, and physicians and nonphysician HCP, and among physician specialists were compared by tracing their medical histories between 2007 and 2011

Results: Physicians and nonphysician HCP had cumulative W incidences of 0.12% [34/28,844] and 0.13% [33/26,099], respectively, during the 5-year period, compared to that of the general population within the same 5-year period. Physicians and nonphysician HCP didnot have a higher W risk than the general population after adjusting for deep vein thrombosis [DVT] history [adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.86; 95% confidence interval [Cl] 0.53-1.40, and AOR 1.43; 95% Cl 0.82-2.50, respectively]. Physicians did not a have higher VV risk than nonphysician HCP [AOR 0.80; 95% Cl 0.43-1.51] after adjusting for age, sex, and DVT history. Surgery had the highest incidence [0.22%] while pediatrics and emergency medicine had the lowest incidence [0%] of VV risk among physician specialists; however, the difference was not significant [all p values >0.05]

Conclusion: In this study, VV risk did not differ among physicians, non-physician HCP, and the general population

Associations between variation of systolic blood pressure and neurological deterioration of ischemic stroke patients

Objectives: To assess the relationship of variation of blood pressure and neurological deterioration (ND) in ischemic stroke patients. Methods: We recruited patients with the fi rst-ever ischemic stroke at a teaching hospital. The National Institutes of Health Stoke Score (NIHSS) of each patient was monitored for 2 months. ND was defi ned as an increase of ≥ 2 points in NIHSS during the fi rst 7 days after stroke. Blood pressure was measured every 6 hours for fi rst 7 days. We analyzed blood pressure data in the fi rst 36 hours to study the relationship between variation of blood pressure and ND. Successive variation of systolic (svSBP) and diastolic (svDBP) blood pressure was calculated as svSBP= |SBPn+1 – SBPn | and svDBP= |DBPn+1 – DBPn | respectively. The largest svSBP in the fi rst 36 hours of hospitalization or before ND was defi ned as maximum variation of systolic blood pressure (maxvSBP). Then, the mean variation of systolic (mvSBP) and diastolic (mvDBP) blood pressure was calculated as mvSBP= svSBP/N and mvDBP= svDBP/N respectively. Results: A total of 121 patients were included in this study, and 38 of them had ND. The mvSBP was higher in the ND Group (17.9±8.4 mmHg vs. 13.7±4.4 mmHg, p=0.006) but the difference in mvDBP did not reach statistical signifi cance (9.8±3.5mmHg vs. 8.6±3.0 mmHg p=0.06). The ND Group had a larger maxvSBP (35.2±17.2 vs. 27.6±11.6 mmHg, p =0.01), which was more frequently over 30mmHg than that in the stable group (P=0.02). Conclusions: A large svSBP is associated with an increased risk for ND. The study highlights the importance of close monitoring of blood pressure in ischemic stroke patients.