Quantitation of ethyl glucuronide in serum & urine by gas chromatography - mass spectrometry.

Background & objectives: Alcohol misuse has now become a serious public health problem and early intervention is important in minimizing the harm. Biochemical markers of recent and high levels of alcohol consumption can play an important role in providing feedback regarding the health consequences of alcohol misuse. Existing markers are not sensitive to recent consumption and in detecting early relapse. Ethyl glucuronide (EtG), a phase-II metabolite of ethanol is a promising marker of recent alcohol use and can be detected in body fluids. In this study an analytical technique for quantitation of EtG in body fluids using solid-phase extraction (SPE) and gas chromatography (GC) with mass spectrometric detection (MS) was developed and validated. Methods: De-proteinization of serum and urine samples was done with perchloric acid and hydrochloric acid, respectively. Serum samples were passed through phospholipids removal cartridges for further clean up. EtG was isolated using amino propyl solid phase extraction columns. Chromatographic separation was achieved by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. Results: Limit of detection and limit of quantitation were 50 and 150 ng/ml for urine and 80 and 210 ng/ml for serum, respectively. Signal to noise ratio was 3:1, mean absolute recovery was 80-85 per cent. Significant correlation was obtained between breath alcohol and serum EtG levels (r=0.853) and urine EtG and time since last abuse (r = -0.903) in clinical samples. Interpretation & conclusions: In the absence of other standardized techniques to quantitate EtG in biological samples, this gc -ms method was found to have high throughput and was sensitive and specific.

Burnout syndrome among undergraduate nursing students at a public university / Síndrome de Burnout entre estudantes de graduação em enfermagem de uma universidade pública / Síndrome de Burnout entre estudiantes de pregrado en enfermería de una universidad pública

OBJECTIVE: to investigate the burnout syndrome and its relationship with demographic and academic variables among undergraduate nursing students at a public university in Southern Brazil. METHOD: a quantitative study with 168 students, by applying an adaptation of the Maslach Burnout Inventory - Student Survey, validated for this study. We used descriptive and variance analysis of the data analysis. RESULTS: we found that students do not have the burnout syndrome, manifesting high average scores in Emotional Exhaustion, low in Disbelief and high in Professional Effectiveness; that younger students who perform leisure activities have greater Professional Effectiveness, unlike students in early grades with no extracurricular activities; combining work and studies negatively influenced only the Professional Effectiveness factor, while the intention of giving up influenced negatively Disbelief and Professional Effectiveness factors. CONCLUSION: the situations that lead students to Emotional Exhaustion need to be recognized, considering the specificity of their study environments. .

OBJETIVO: investigar a síndrome de Burnout e sua relação com variáveis sociodemográficas e acadêmicas, entre estudantes de graduação em enfermagem de uma universidade pública do Sul do Brasil. MÉTODO: estudo quantitativo, realizado com 168 estudantes, mediante a aplicação de uma adaptação do Maslach Burnout Inventory - Student Survey, validada para este estudo. Utilizou-se a análise descritiva e de variância para análise dos dados. RESULTADOS: constatou-se que os estudantes não apresentam a síndrome de Burnout, manifestando médias altas em exaustão emocional, baixas em descrença e altas em eficácia profissional; que estudantes mais jovens e que realizam atividades de lazer apresentam maior eficácia profissional, diferentemente de estudantes das séries iniciais e que não realizam atividades extracurriculares; conciliar trabalho e estudos influenciou negativamente apenas o fator eficácia profissional, enquanto a intenção de desistir do curso influenciou negativamente os fatores descrença e eficácia profissional. CONCLUSÃO: faz-se necessário o reconhecimento das situações que levam os estudantes à exaustão emocional, considerando a especificidade de seus ambientes de formação. .

OBJETIVO: investigar la síndrome de burnout y su relación con variables sociodemográficas y académicas, entre estudiantes de pregrado en enfermería de una universidad pública del Sur de Brasil. MÉTODO: estudio cuantitativo, desarrollado con 168 estudiantes, mediante la aplicación de una adaptación del Maslach Burnout Inventory - Student Survey, validada para fines de ese estudio. Fueron utilizados los análisis descriptivo y de variancia para analizar los datos. RESULTADOS: se constató que los estudiantes no presentan la síndrome de burnout, manifestando altos promedios en Agotamiento Emocional, bajos en Descreencia y altos en Eficacia Profesional; que estudiantes más jóvenes y que practican actividades de ocio presentan mayor Eficacia Profesional, diferentemente de estudiantes de los años iniciales sin actividades extracurriculares; conciliar trabajo y estudios influyó negativamente apenas el factor Eficacia Profesional, mientras la intención de desistir del curso influyó negativamente los factores Descreencia y Eficacia Profesional. CONCLUSIÓN: es necesario reconocer las situaciones que llevan a los estudiantes al Agotamiento Emocional, considerando la especificidad de sus ambientes de formación. .