Bioética em Angola: experiência da Faculdade de Medicina de Malanje / Bioethics in Angola: experience of the Malanje Medical School / Bioética en Angola: experiencia de la Facultad de Medicina de Malanje

Resumo O desenvolvimento da bioética e da ética na investigação científica em África é relativamente incipiente, mas vem crescendo o interesse público pelo tema. Este artigo relata a experiência da Faculdade de Medicina de Malanje da Universidade Lueji A'Nkonde. São abordados eventos ocorridos na faculdade para o desenvolvimento integral da bioética, com destaque para a Conferência Internacional Sub-Regional sobre Ética da Investigação Científica, que deu origem à Declaração de Malanje, e a criação do Comitê de Bioética em Pesquisa. Enfim, conclui-se que os passos em prol desse campo do conhecimento representam indícios de sua implantação em Angola. No entanto, urgem ações governamentais de países das redes em Bioética na América Latina e Caribe para efetivar a cooperação Sul-Sul e cumprir todas as recomendações da Declaração de Malanje.

Abstract The current development of Bioethics and Ethics in scientific research in Africa is relatively incipient, but public interest in the subject is growing. We address the experience of the Malanje Medical School in the field of Bioethics in Angola. We summarize events at the Malanje Medical School of the Lueji A'Nkonde University for the Integral Development of Bioethics. One of its results was the Malanje Declaration. Another one was the creation of the Research Bioethics Committee of the Malanje Medical School. Finally, we consider the steps towards the Integral Development of Bioethics as evidence of its implantation in that country. However, there is need for governmental action in the countries involved in the mediation of Bioethics networks for Latin America and the Caribbean for the South-South cooperation objective and fulfilment of all the recommendations of the Malanje Declaration.

Resumen El desarrollo actual de la bioética y de la ética en la investigación científica en África es relativamente incipiente, pero viene creciendo el interés público en el tema. Este artículo relata la experiencia de la Facultad de Medicina de Malanje de la Universidad Lueji A'Nkonde. Se abordan los eventos que tuvieron lugar en la facultad para el desarrollo integral de la bioética, destacándose la Conferencia Internacional Subregional sobre Ética de la Investigación Científica, que dio origen a la Declaración de Malanje, y a la creación del Comité de Bioética en Investigación. Finalmente, se concluye que los pasos en pro de este campo del conocimiento representan indicios de su implantación en Angola. No obstante, urgen acciones gubernamentales de los países involucrados con las redes de Bioética en América Latina y el Caribe para efectivizar la cooperación Sur-Sur y cumplir todas las recomendaciones de la Declaración de Malanje.

HIV/AIDS Indicators for Clinical Care Quality Assessment: Relevance and Utility Assessed by Health Professionals.

INTRODUCTION: After conducting a systematic review of quality indicators for assessing HIV/AIDS clinical care, we aimed to assess the clinical relevance and practice utility of those indicators from the point of view of HIV/AIDS physician experts. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is an observational, cross-sectional study, in which we selected, by convenience, physicians who work in an Infectious Disease Department of a central hospital to complete two questionnaires with a core set of indicators to establish the most relevant and useful indicators for assessment of the clinical HIV/AIDS care. A Likert scale was used to rank the indicators. RESULTS: Eleven of thirteen physicians filled two questionnaires. From the initial list of 53 quality indicators, 21 were identified as the most relevant and useful in HIV/AIDS clinical care. The internal consistency for clinical relevance in each indicators domain was for clinical signs and symptoms (p = 0.971), for therapy (p = 0.900), for prognosis (p = 0.820) and diagnosis (p = 0.733) and for practice utility were diagnosis (p = 0.934), clinical signs (p = 0.964), laboratory examinations (p = 0.947), therapy (p = 0.583) and prognosis (p = 0.368). DISCUSSION: In the process of assessing the clinical relevance and practice utility of HIV/AIDS quality care indicators, it was found that the majority of physicians agreed that diagnosis and clinical symptoms and signs indicators domains are the most important for assessing the quality of care for HIV/AIDS patients. CONCLUSION: This instrument should be considered as a diagnostic tool, allowing hospital administrators to identify if HIV/AIDS care is properly delivered or needs improvement.

Introdução: Após a realização de uma revisão sistemática sobre indicadores de qualidade para avaliar os cuidados clínicos prestados a doentes com infecção VIH/ SIDA, procuramos avaliar a relevância e utilidade clínica prática desses indicadores, do ponto de vista dos médicos especialistas em doenças infecciosas, incluindo VIH/ SIDA. Material e Métodos: Este é um estudo observacional, transversal, em que foram selecionados, por conveniência, os médicos que trabalham em um Departamento de Doenças Infecciosas de um hospital central, para responder a dois questionários, com um conjunto básico de indicadores, selecionando aqueles mais relevantes e úteis para a avaliação dos cuidados clínicos para avaliação do atendimento clínico prestado aos doentes com infeção por VIH/SIDA. A escala do tipo Likert foi utilizada para classificar os indicadores. Resultados: Onze dos treze médicos preencheram os dois questionários. A partir da lista inicial de 53 indicadores de qualidade, 21 foram identificados como os mais relevantes e úteis para avaliar os cuidados clínicos prestados a doentes com infeção por VIH/SIDA. A consistência interna para a relevância clínica, em cada domínio de indicadores foi quanto à relevância clínica ­ sinais clínicos (p = 0,971), terapêutica (p = 0,900), prognóstico (p = 0,820) e diagnóstico (p = 0,733) e quanto à utilidade prática ­ diagnóstico (p = 0,934), sinais clínicos (p = 0,964), exames laboratoriais (p = 0,947), terapêutica (p = 0,583) e prognóstico (p = 0,368). Discussão: No processo de avaliação da relevância clínica e utilidade prática dos indicadores de qualidade de cuidados prestados a doentes com infeção por VIH/SIDA, descobrimos que a maioria dos médicos concorda que os indicadores dos domínios de diagnóstico, sinais e sintomas clínicos são os mais importantes para avaliar a qualidade dos cuidados clínicos prestados a doentes com infeção por VIH/SIDA. Conclusão: Este instrumento deve servir como uma ferramenta de diagnóstico, permitindo aos administradores hospitalares identificar se os cuidados aos doentes com infeção por VIH/SIDA estão as ser devidamente prestados ou precisam de melhorias.

HIV disease burden, cost, and length of stay in Portuguese hospitals from 2000 to 2010: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The number of HIV-related hospitalizations has decreased worldwide in recent years owing to the availability of highly active antiretroviral therapy. However, the change in HIV-related hospitalizations in Portugal has not been studied. Using comprehensive hospital discharge data from mainland Portuguese hospitals, we examined trends in HIV-related inpatient admissions, length of stay (LOS), Elixhauser comorbidity measures, in-hospital mortality, and mean cost from 2000 to 2010. METHODS: The hospital administrative data from inpatient admissions and discharges at 75 public acute care hospitals in the Portuguese National Health Service from 2000 to 2010 were included. HIV-related admissions were identified using the International Classification of Diseases, 9(th) Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis codes 042.x-044.x. The effect of Elixhauser comorbidity measures on extending the LOS was assessed by comparing admissions in HIV patients with and without comorbidities using the Mann-Whitney U test. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to estimate the odds of having a decreased discharge. RESULTS: A total of 57,027 hospital admissions were analyzed; 73% of patients were male, and the mean age was 39 years. The median LOS was 11 days, and the in-hospital mortality was 14%. The mean cost per hospitalization was 5,148.7€. A total of 83% of admissions were through the emergency room. During the period, inpatient HIV admissions decreased by 22%, LOS decreased by 9%, and in-hospital mortality dropped by 12%. Elixhauser comorbidities increased the median LOS in nearly all admissions. CONCLUSIONS: Despite small regional variations, a strong, consistent decrease was observed in the hospital admission rate, mean cost, length of stay, and mortality rate for HIV-related admissions in Portugal during 2000-2010.

Definition of a core set of quality indicators for the assessment of HIV/AIDS clinical care: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Several organizations and individual authors have been proposing quality indicators for the assessment of clinical care in HIV/AIDS patients. Nevertheless, the definition of a consensual core set of indicators remains controversial and its practical use is largely limited. This study aims not only to identify and characterize these indicators through a systematic literature review but also to propose a parsimonious model based on those most used. METHODS: MEDLINE, SCOPUS, Cochrane databases and ISI Web of Knowledge, as well as official websites of organizations dealing with HIV/AIDS care, were searched for articles and information proposing HIV/AIDS clinical care quality indicators. The ones that are on patient's perspective and based on services set were excluded. Data extraction, using a predefined data sheet based on Cochrane recommendations, was done by one of the authors while a second author rechecked the extracted data for any inconsistency. RESULTS: A total of 360 articles were identified in our search query but only 12 of them met the inclusion criteria. We also identified one relevant site. Overall, we identified 65 quality indicators for HIV/AIDS clinical care distributed as following: outcome (n=15) and process-related (n=50) indicators; generic (n=36) and HIV/AIDS disease-specific (n=29) indicators; baseline examinations (n=19), screening (n=9), immunization (n=4), prophylaxis (n=5), HIV monitoring (n=16), and therapy (=12) indicators. CONCLUSIONS: There are several studies that set up HIV clinical care indicators, with only a part of them useful to assess the HIV clinical care. More importantly, HIV/AIDS clinical care indicators need to be valid, reliable and most of all feasible.

Clinical assessment of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Clinical symptoms and signs are routinely used to investigate pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This study aimed to systematically assess the evidence for the diagnostic accuracy of individual or combined clinical symptoms and signs in predicting pediatric OSA. STUDY DESIGN: A systematic review of the literature and diagnostic meta-analysis. METHODS: Four medical databases were searched (from inception to August 2011). Studies were included that compared the clinical assessment with the current gold standard (full polysomnography). The study quality was assessed using the quality assessment tool for diagnostic accuracy studies. Summary estimates of diagnostic accuracy were determined using the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios, diagnostic odds ratio, and hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic (HSROC) model for meta-analyses. RESULTS: Ten diagnostic studies with 1,525 patients were included in the review. There was substantial variation in the sensitivity and specificity among different symptoms and signs, as well as across studies. Tonsillar size and snoring reported by parents or caregivers had high sensitivity but low specificity. In contrast, excessive daytime somnolence, observed apnea, and difficulty in breathing during sleep had high specificity but low sensitivity. Seven models of a combination of symptoms and signs presented moderate sensitivity (range, 0.04-0.94) and specificity (range, 0.28-0.99). The HSROC indicates poor diagnostic performance of the symptoms and signs in predicting pediatric OSA. CONCLUSIONS: Neither single nor combined symptoms and signs have satisfactory performance in predicting pediatric OSA. Alternative diagnostic models are necessary to improve the accuracy.