1.The role of prehealth student volunteers at a student-run free clinic in New York, United States.
Syed H SHABBIR ; Maria Teresa M SANTOS
Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions 2015;12(1):49-
PURPOSE: The medical student-run Einstein Community Health Outreach Clinic provides free healthcare to the uninsured adult population of New York, the United States. During the summer, prehealth student volunteers are recruited to assist with clinic operations. METHODS: We designed a survey study to identify the baseline characteristics of the volunteers between June and August of 2013 and 2014 in order to evaluate the influence of working in a medical student-run free clinic on their education, impressions, and career goals. RESULTS: A total of 38 volunteers (response rate, 83%) participated in the study. The volunteers were demographically diverse and interested in primary care specialties and community service. CONCLUSION: After the Einstein Community Health Outreach program, the volunteers showed an improved understanding of the healthcare process and issues relevant to uninsured patients. They also developed favorable attitudes towards primary care medicine and an increased level of interest in pursuing careers in primary care.
Adult
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Ambulatory Care Facilities
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Delivery of Health Care
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Education
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Humans
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Medically Uninsured
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Primary Health Care
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Social Welfare
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United States*
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Volunteers*
2.Risk of Cognitive Impairment in Patients With Parkinson’s Disease With Visual Hallucinations and Subjective Cognitive Complaints
Diego SANTOS-GARCÍA ; Teresa de Deus FONTICOBA ; Carlos Cores BARTOLOMÉ ; Maria J. Feal PAINCEIRAS ; Jose M. Paz GONZÁLEZ ; Cristina Martínez MIRÓ ; Silvia JESÚS ; Miquel AGUILAR ; Pau PASTOR ; Lluís PLANELLAS ; Marina COSGAYA ; Juan García CALDENTEY ; Nuria CABALLOL ; Ines LEGARDA ; Jorge Hernández VARA ; Iria CABO ; Lydia López MANZANARES ; Isabel González ARAMBURU ; Maria A. Ávila RIVERA ; Víctor Gómez MAYORDOMO ; Víctor NOGUEIRA ; Víctor PUENTE ; Julio Dotor GARCÍA-SOTO ; Carmen BORRUÉ ; Berta Solano VILA ; María Álvarez SAUCO ; Lydia VELA ; Sonia ESCALANTE ; Esther CUBO ; Francisco Carrillo PADILLA ; Juan C. Martínez CASTRILLO ; Pilar Sánchez ALONSO ; Maria G. Alonso LOSADA ; Nuria López ARIZTEGUI ; Itziar GASTÓN ; Jaime KULISEVSKY ; Marta Blázquez ESTRADA ; Manuel SEIJO ; Javier Rúiz MARTÍNEZ ; Caridad VALERO ; Mónica KURTIS ; Oriol de FÁBREGUES ; Jessica González ARDURA ; Ruben Alonso REDONDO ; Carlos ORDÁS ; Luis M. López DÍAZ L ; Darrian MCAFEE ; Pablo MARTINEZ-MARTIN ; Pablo MIR ;
Journal of Clinical Neurology 2023;19(4):344-357
Background:
and Purpose Visual hallucinations (VH) and subjective cognitive complaints (SCC) are associated with cognitive impairment (CI) in Parkinson’s disease. Our aims were to determine the association between VH and SCC and the risk of CI development in a cohort of patients with Parkinson’s disease and normal cognition (PD-NC).
Methods:
Patients with PD-NC (total score of >80 on the Parkinson’s Disease Cognitive Rating Scale [PD-CRS]) recruited from the Spanish COPPADIS cohort from January 2016 to November 2017 were followed up after 2 years. Subjects with a score of ≥1 on domain 5 and item 13 of the Non-Motor Symptoms Scale at baseline (V0) were considered as “with SCC” and “with VH,” respectively. CI at the 2-year follow-up (plus or minus 1 month) (V2) was defined as a PD-CRS total score of <81.
Results:
At V0 (n=376, 58.2% males, age 61.14±8.73 years [mean±SD]), the frequencies of VH and SCC were 13.6% and 62.2%, respectively. VH were more frequent in patients with SCC than in those without: 18.8% (44/234) vs 4.9% (7/142), p<0.0001. At V2, 15.2% (57/376) of the patients had developed CI. VH presenting at V0 was associated with a higher risk of CI at V2 (odds ratio [OR]=2.68, 95% confidence interval=1.05–6.83, p=0.039) after controlling for the effects of age, disease duration, education, medication, motor and nonmotor status, mood, and PD-CRS total score at V0. Although SCC were not associated with CI at V2, presenting both VH and SCC at V0 increased the probability of having CI at V2 (OR=3.71, 95% confidence interval=1.36–10.17, p=0.011).
Conclusions
VH were associated with the development of SCC and CI at the 2-year follow-up in patients with PD-NC.
3.Lack of methylation changes in GJB2 and RB1 non-coding regions of cochlear implant patients with sensorineural hearing loss
Angelo Augusto M. Sumalde ; Ivana V. Yang ; Talitha Karisse L. Yarza ; Celina Ann M. Tobias-Grasso ; Ma. Leah C. Tantoco ; Elizabeth Davidson ; Abner L. Chan ; Mahshid S. Azamian ; Teresa Luisa G. Cruz ; Seema R. Lalani ; Maria Rina T. Reyes-Quintos ; Eva Maria Cutiongco-de la Paz ; Regie Lyn P. Santos-Cortez ; Charlotte M. Chiong
Acta Medica Philippina 2023;57(9):116-120
Objective:
Recent advances in epigenetic studies continue to reveal novel mechanisms of gene regulation and control, however little is known on the role of epigenetics in sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in humans. We aimed to investigate the methylation patterns of two regions, one in RB1 and another in GJB2 in Filipino patients with SNHL compared to hearing control individuals.
Methods:
We investigated an RB1 promoter region that was previously identified as differentially methylated in children with SNHL and lead exposure. Additionally, we investigated a sequence in an enhancer-like region within GJB2 that contains four CpGs in close proximity. Bisulfite conversion was performed on salivary DNA samples from 15 children with SNHL and 45 unrelated ethnically-matched individuals. We then performed methylation-specific real-time PCR analysis (qMSP) using TaqMan® probes to determine percentage methylation of the two regions.
Results:
Using qMSP, both our cases and controls had zero methylation at the targeted GJB2 and RB1 regions.
Conclusion
Our study showed no changes in methylation at the selected CpG regions in RB1 and GJB2 in the two comparison groups with or without SNHL. This may be due to a lack of environmental exposures to these target regions. Other epigenetic marks may be present around these regions as well as those of other HL-associated genes.
Hearing Loss
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Methylation