Influence of quality of life related to perceived foot health between in a rural an urban population: A case-control research.

Foot problems are very common in the community. Studies indicate that between 18% and 63% of people have foot pain or stiffness and that foot problems have a large impact on people's functional decline and a significant detrimental impact on measures of quality of life related to health. The general objective of this research was to compare foot health in people from the rural population compared to people from the urban population and its relationship with quality of life. A case-control descriptive study was developed with a sample of 304 patients, 152 patients from the rural population and 152 patients from the urban population. Quality of life was measured through the SF-36 Health Questionnaire in its Spanish version. The rural population group had a mean age of 46.67 ± 13.69 and the urban population group 49.02 ± 18.29. Regarding the score of the lowest levels of quality of life related to foot problems, the rural population group compared to the urban population group showed: for body pain (52.21 ± 30.71 vs. 67.80 ± 25.28, p < 0.001); and for mental health (69.58 ± 18.98 vs. 64.60 ± 14.88, p < 0.006). Differences between groups were analysed using Student's t-test for independent samples, which showed statistical significance (p < 0.05). This research offers evidence that the rural population presents better levels of mental health and lower levels of bodily pain in the domains of the SF-36 Health Questionnaire comparing with the urban population.

The implications of the foot health status in Parkinson patients: A case-control study.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects both health of the feet, as to gait patterns. This study aimed to find out about foot problems and their impact on self-perceived quality of life and related to foot health in Parkinson's patients compared to a group of healthy subjects and to measure it with Spanish Podiatry Health Questionnaire (PHQ-S). It is about a case-control study in a sample of Parkinson's patients n = 62, healthy controls n = 62. The PHQ-S was reported, it describes perception the subject has in each of podiatric 6 dimensions consulted, assessing appreciation of health status of interviewee's feet and a self-rated the foot health score on the visual analog scale (VAS). There were statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) in the dimensions that assessed problems with walking and moving, nail trimming, concern feet state, and affectation of quality of life related foot health. Regarding the self-perception of state of their feet, Parkinson's patients perceive a worse state of health of their feet than healthy subjects. The mean value was 4.8 (SD 2.2) for Parkinson's patients and 3.8 (SD 2.3) for healthy subjects. In conclusion, patients with PD have problems in walking or moving, foot pain, difficulties in foot hygiene and in cutting for their nails, as well as the concern they suffer from deterioration in state of their feet affect them and decrease their quality of life. Podiatric problems in Parkinson's patients have a great impact in reducing quality of life related to foot health.

Impact of Chronic Foot Pain Related Quality of Life: A Retrospective Case-Control Study.

BACKGROUND: Chronic foot pain (CFP) is a widespread condition worldwide; however, few studies that relate CFP and foot health-related quality of life have been reported. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe the impact of foot health and health in general in a sample of adult people with CFP compared with a control group. STUDY DESIGN: This study was designed as a retrospective case-control study. SETTING: Podiatric section of a care center. METHODS: Two hundred adults were included in the study. Patients were divided into CFP patient (n = 100) and control groups (n = 100). All of them regularly attended a private podiatric clinic to take care of their foot health. Self-reported data and medical histories for people with and without CFP were evaluated. All findings were compared with quality of life (QoL) scores based on the Foot Health Status Questionnaire, Spanish version. RESULTS: Adults with CFP (compared to the control group) showed reductions in QoL linked to overall health and foot health in particular and were statistically significant with respect to several domains: (1) foot pain, (2) foot function, (3) general health, and (4) physical activity. These differ-ences were evaluated with a t-test for independent samples, and statistical significance was consid-ered a P value of P < 0.05. LIMITATIONS: The study was not a randomized controlled trial. Although primary outcome data were self-reported, the assessor was not blinded. CONCLUSIONS: CFP patients, regardless of gender, recorded a negative influence on QoL-related foot health that seems to be linked with the presence of this chronic condition.

The implications of diabetic foot health-related with quality of life: A retrospective case control investigation.

BACKGROUND: The diabetes people show a significant presence of foot health problems are usually all over the world, causing in big economic effects for these persons, their families and world population OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research is to evaluate and relate the impact of foot health associated with the quality of life (QoL) in a group of people with and without diabetes MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 150 persons of a mean age of 71.45 ± 11.93 years came to a foot and ankle specialist outpatient center. Self-reported data were medical records where persons'with and without diabetes was evaluated. All findings obtained was compared with scores quality of life using the tool Foot Health Status Questionnaire, spanish version RESULTS: The diabetes group revealed a reduction of QoL linked to overall health and to foot health in particular. Differences among both groups were analyzed by means of a independent Student's t-test samples, displaying a p-value lower than 0.05 statistically significant for the domains of foot pain, foot function footwear and social capacity CONCLUSIONS: Diabetes people recorded a negative influence on the QoL related with foot health, that seems to be linked with the presence of chronic disease in diabetes people.

[Knowledge and adherence to bio-safety measures and biological accidents by nursing students during their clinical practice]. / Conocimiento y cumplimiento de las medidas de bioseguridad y accidentes biológicos de los estudiantes de enfermería en las prácticas clínicas.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the degree of knowledge and performance of bio-safety measures by nursing students and knowing the type of biological accidents suffered during their clinical practice. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted on the students of three Nursing courses held in May of 2008. Data was collected by an anonymous self-administered questionnaire, with a return of 54%. RESULTS: A total of 97% of students seemed to know the standard biosafety measures, and all of them (100%) stated that those measures must be applied to every patient. However, the reality of clinical practice shows that biosafety measures are only partially applied. An average of 60.2% implement the personal hygiene measures, 66.1% use physical barriers, and 44% use sharp materials safely. Around 32.25% of the students have suffered some biological accident, with a greater incidence in the second year: administering injections (24%), drawing blood samples with Venojet needles (18%) and recapping used needles (17%). CONCLUSIONS: The high level of knowledge shown by the students on standard precautions is not always shown in clinical practice. There are significant deficiencies in student safety practices: recapping of used needles continues to be one of the most common risk practices carried out.

[Real life simulations to train nurses]. / Simuladores de escala real en el entrenamiento de enfermería.

Nurses must confront critical potential life threatening situations daily. These are very tense situations which must be solved in a rapid, adequate manner in coordination with the rest of the professional health team. How to deal with these crises, which usually follow an established protocol, must be learned and practiced in a safe environment which provides the greatest possible guarantee of success. The best way to acquire this knowledge and skill is through a real life simulation. Nurses from various disciplines carry out their work in the Training Center for Critical Crises at the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital in Santander, the only center in Spain which runs this type of simulation. In 2003, this center initiated a specific training simulation for nurses whose purpose is to increase scientific-technical knowledge to the maximum and accelerate the learning of non-technical social and cognitive fundamentals within the working environment of a professional health team. The following article describes a simulation meeting these characteristics, its teaching methods, advantages, importance for professional health teams, and its repercussions on patients.