Prevalence of ankylosing spondylitis in Spain: EPISER2016 Study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in Spain.Method: This is a cross-sectional, population-based study of people aged 20 years or older in Spain. Randomly selected individuals were contacted by telephone and rheumatic disease screening was performed. If the first screening was positive, medical records were then reviewed and/or a telephone questionnaire was conducted by a rheumatologist, followed by an appointment if necessary. Cases had to fulfil the modified New York (mNY) criteria.Results: In total, 4916 individuals were included, of whom 355 had a positive screening result for AS. Of these, 11 were classified as AS. An additional individual who reported a prior diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis had a diagnosis of AS confirmed on review of the medical records. Estimated prevalence was 0.26% (95% CI 0.14-0.49).Conclusion: EPISER2016 is the first population-based study to estimate the prevalence of AS in Spain, which has been estimated as being similar to that in other European countries.

Variability in the frequency of rheumatology consultations in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Spain.

The aim of this work was to assess the variability in the use of health-care resources, based on the number of visits to rheumatology departments by rheumatoid arthritis patients, in Spain, and its association with patient, physician and center characteristics. The sample consisted of patient records of men and women (aged 16 or older), with a clinical diagnosis of RA, who met the American Rheumatism Association 1987 revised criteria and who had been treated in a rheumatology department at a Spanish hospital with at least one visit to a rheumatologist during the two years preceding the date of the study. To analyze which variables were independently associated with the number of consultations, those with a statistically significant result in the bivariate analysis, or which were clinically relevant or deemed confounders, were used in the construction of a linear regression model. The records of 1188 RA patients were studied. The linear regression model explained the 26.67 % of the variability in the number of visits. The number of csDMARDs prescribed, the administration of biological therapy, corticoid prescription, the presence of nursing consultation, mean time to first visit in the department and attended population showed a positive significant association, while the presence of telephone consultation, distance from the hospital to the patient´s residence (≥20 km) and drug monitoring by rheumatology department + primary care physician or by other specialists were negatively associated with the number of consultations. We observed a high variability in the number of visits, which remains partially unexplained even after taking into account individual, physician and center characteristics.

Validez de un método fotométrico de medición de partículas en aire para el control de quirófanos y otras salas de ambiente controlado en los hospitales / Validity of a photometric method of counting particles in air for control of operating rooms and clean rooms in hospitals

Objetivo: Validar un sistema de medici¨®n fotom¨¦trica de part¨ªculas en aire para realizar los controles de bioseguridad ambiental de quir¨®fanos y otras salas de ambiente controlado en los hospitales. Material y m¨¦todos: Se realizaron un total de 144 mediciones pareadas de aire, 88 en ocho quir¨®fanos con sistemas de ventilaci¨®n convencional y tres niveles de filtraci¨®n y 56 en nueve habitaciones sin instalaciones de ventilaci¨®n. Se midieron part¨ªculas de entre 0,1 a 10 ¦Ìm en mg/m3 por m¨¦todo fotom¨¦trico. Simult¨¢neamente, en cada sala se realiz¨® impacto de aire en placas de Petri con medio de cultivo mediante aparato aspirador de cabezal perforado, obteniendo tras cinco d¨ªas de incubaci¨®n recuento de unidades formadoras de colonias (UFC)/1000L. Finalmente se realiz¨® el c¨¢lculo de los puntos de corte ¨®ptimos para la medici¨®n de part¨ªculas mediante Curvas ROC para discriminar tres niveles de contaminaci¨®n. Resultados: El coeficiente de correlaci¨®n entre las dos mediciones fue 0,779 (p<0,001). Los puntos de corte fueron para 0 UFC. 0,015, para >=10 UFC, 0,037, y para >=100 UFC, 0,053. La sensibilidad para estos puntos fue de 95,83%,100% y 100%, y los ¨ªndices Kappa registraron 0,51, 0,88 y 0,75 respectivamente. Conclusi¨®n: En nuestro estudio la correlaci¨®n entre las medidas es notable; la medici¨®n fotom¨¦trica de part¨ªculas puede ser una alternativa para llevar a cabo alguno de los controles rutinarios de bioseguridad (AU)

Objective: Validate a photometric on-air particle measurement system in order to perform ambient bio-security checks in operating rooms and other clean rooms within hospitals. Material and methods: A total of 144 coupled air samples were performed, 88 in 8 different operating rooms with conventional ventilation systems and 3-level filtering and 56 in 9 different rooms without specific ventilation systems. Particles were measured in size between 0,1 to 10 ¦Ìm with the photometric system in mg/m3. Simultaneously in the rooms are performed the sampling air method with impact on culture media. Incubation period is 5 days and count is performed in colony-forming units (CFU/1000L). Finally, optimal cut-points in particles measure were calculated using ROC curves in order to discriminate the three different contamination levels. Results: Spearma´s correlation coefficient was 0,779 p<0,001. Sensitivity for cut-points in particle counting for the different contamination levels was 95,83% ,100% and 100% respectively, and the corresponding Kappa indexes were 0,51; 0,88 and 0,75. Conclusion: Correlation among measurements is notable. Particle measurement can be a worthy alternative for some of the routine bio-security checks (AU)