ABSTRACT
To investigate the needs of parents of premature infants hospitalized in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and explore associated factors. This study includes a convenience sample of 198 parents of premature infants hospitalized in a NICU in Chenzhou, Hunan province, China. Parents completed a study-specific questionnaire and the Chinese version of Critical Care Family Need Inventory (CCFNI). Analysis was conducted by multiple linear regression. Parents rated 30 of 45 items on the Chinese version of the CCFNI as important or very important. Items on the assurance, information, and proximity subscales were perceived as the most important, while items on the comfort subscale were the least important. Gender of parents and experience of visiting a NICU were significantly associated with the total needs of the parents. These insights should be used to inform clinical practice in the NICU.
Subject(s)
Health Services Needs and Demand , Infant, Premature , Parents/psychology , Perception , Adult , China , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Intensive Care Units, Neonatal/organization & administration , Linear Models , Male , Middle Aged , Psychometrics/instrumentation , Psychometrics/methods , Self Report , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether massage could help preterm infants improve weight gain, discharge from the hospital earlier, and promote the neurobehavioral development, a meta-analysis was conducted. STUDY DESIGN: MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Dissertation Abstracts, and the Cochrane Library were searched up to January 2012. There were no language restrictions. RESULTS: In all, 611 articles were retrieved and 17 studies were eligible. Massage intervention improved daily weight gain by 5.32 g (95% confidence interval [CI] 4.15, 6.49, p < 0.00001) and reduced length of stay by 4.41 days (95% CI 2.81, 6.02, p < 0.00001). No significant differences yielded on the scores of Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale. CONCLUSION: Massage therapy may be a safe and cost-effective practice to improve weight gain and decrease the hospital stay of clinically stable preterm infants. However, the association between massage and neurobehavioral development is still elusive. Future investigations with a larger sample size and strict protocol are required to confirm the effects of massage on the preterm infants.
Subject(s)
Child Development , Infant, Premature/physiology , Length of Stay , Massage , Weight Gain , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Infant, Premature/psychology , Massage/psychologyABSTRACT
UNLABELLED: Ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) is the most common congenital anomaly of the urinary tract. Evidence has shown that BMP4 and Id2 play crucial roles in nephrogenesis, alterations of which may cause ureteral developmental anomalies. Here, we directly sequenced the coding sequences in BMP4 and Id2 genes of 108 unrelated Chinese patients with ureteropelvic junction stenosis. One missense mutation c.485G> A (p.R162Q) in BMP4 and two synonymous mutations (c.1167T> C in BMP4 and c.108A> G in Id2) were detected in three cases. None of these variations were present in the 150 normal controls. Comparative amino acid sequence alignments of BMP4 in humans and other vertebrate orthologs show that p.R162 located to a highly conserved amino acid residue. Moreover, computational analysis predicted that R162Q probably infect the function of BMP4 protein. CONCLUSION: The mutation c.485G> A in BMP4 might be one of the causes of human UPJO. Further functional studies are required to validate the association between this variation and UPJO. Otherwise, Id2 mutations do not seem to be involved in this disease.
Subject(s)
Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4/genetics , Hydronephrosis/etiology , Inhibitor of Differentiation Protein 2/genetics , Mutation, Missense , Point Mutation , Ureter/abnormalities , Urogenital Abnormalities/genetics , Case-Control Studies , Child , Child, Preschool , China , Constriction, Pathologic/complications , Constriction, Pathologic/genetics , DNA Mutational Analysis , Genetic Markers , Humans , Hydronephrosis/congenital , Infant , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Urogenital Abnormalities/complicationsSubject(s)
Coal Mining , Disability Evaluation , Pneumoconiosis/physiopathology , Adult , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Respiratory Function TestsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE@#To detect the mutations of EXT2 gene in hereditary multiple exostoses (HME) families and to investigate the sensitivity of denaturant gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) in screening the mutations in EXT2 gene.@*METHODS@#Five HME families and 3 sporadic patients were screened for the mutation detection in all exons of EXT2 gene covering the coding sequence and the flanking intronic sequence by DGGE, and DNA sequencing was performed for products with abnormal conformation.@*RESULTS@#Among these HME patients, we found 2 disease-causing mutations: A313T (nonsense mutation) and 319 insGT (frameshift mutation).@*CONCLUSION@#Two mutations of EXT2 gene are identified in the sample. DGGE can be an ideal choice for gene diagnoses of HME.
