Background: Despite evidence that isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) can reduce the risk of tuberculosis (TB) disease among People Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (PLHIV), uptake of IPT is low in many resource-limited settings. This study determined the level of IPT uptake and its associated factors amongst PLHIV. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective quantitative study amongst PLHIV who do not have active TB and enrolled in 2019 - 2020 for anti-retroviral therapy (ART) in Butebo district, Uganda. Data related to demographic factors (age, sex, religion, marital status, employment status, education level, area of residence, household density), health facility factors (pre-IPT counseling), community factors [distance from Health Center (H/C), incurred costs to reach H/C], and IPT drug-related factors [frequency of Isoniazid (INH) refill, INH stock-outs] were collected from four health facilities using a checklist. The data was analyzed into descriptive statistics and relationships determined using Chi-square tests. Results: Among eligible PLHIV (272), 34.2% achieved IPT uptake. The mean duration between HIV diagnosis and the start of IPT was 4.31 years, with IPT Uptake among males (37.0%), females (32.8%), married (39.5%), and Christians (35.4%). Factors that affect the rate of IPT uptake include employment, education, residence, costs to reach H/C, and preIPT counseling. The IPT completion rate was 97.8%. All the cases who had regular INH refill completed IPT compared to 60.0% with the irregular refill, while 97.8% did not experience INH stock-outs and completed IPT. Conclusion Pre-IPT counseling was the most significant contributing factor for IPT uptake.IPT uptake may be scaled up by integrating IPT services in routine HIV care, enhancing counseling for IPT and supervision and monitoring, training of health workers, and improving logistical supplies at the health centers.

BACKGROUND: Reducing skin contamination rate and improving the positive rate in blood culture is essential for the correct diagnosis and management of sepsis. Chlorhexidine-alcohol was compared with povidone-iodine for the efficiency of disinfection. Positive rates were compared between the collection of 10 mL and 20 mL of blood per sample. METHODS: The study population included adult patients > or = 18 years old requested for blood culture in the Emergency Department. Povidone-iodine (10%) was used for antiseptic skin preparation from March to June 2011, and 0.5% chlorhexidine-alcohol from July to October 2011. The standard for blood collection was 10 mL in the first period and 20 mL in the second period. The dedicated phlebotomists had been educated on the optimal skin preparation and sample collection. RESULTS: After 10% povidone-iodine application, 31 of 2,755 samples (1.1%) were considered to be contaminated; whereas, a total of 60 of 3,064 samples (2.0%) were contaminated (P=0.011) after application of 0.5% chlorhexidine-alcohol. The positive rate of blood culture was 12.5% (345/2,755) in the first period versus 17.1% (524/3,064) in the second period (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Both disinfectants appeared acceptable for skin preparation for blood culture collection, although chlorhexidine-alcohol had a higher contamination rate than povidone-iodine. The positive rate of blood culture was in accordance with the amount of sample collected. Continuous education and monitoring are needed for the proper collection and management of blood culture.
Adult ; Antisepsis ; Blood Volume ; Disinfectants ; Disinfection ; Emergencies ; Humans ; Povidone-Iodine ; Sepsis ; Skin

BACKGROUND: Previous antibiotic exposure may inhibit the growth of microorganisms in blood culture bottles. The authors investigated the frequency of previous antibiotic usage and analyzed the relationships among antibiotic usage, microbiological culture results and mortality of sepsis patients. METHODS: From April to May 2011, all blood cultures requested from inpatients were analyzed according to the admitted ward and antibiotic prescription records. The BacT/Alert 3D system (bioMerieux Inc.) was used with a standard bottle (SA, SN) for blood culture. RESULTS: Of 900 inpatients, 48% had been receiving antimicrobial agents when blood cultures were ordered. This group had a significantly higher mortality rate (36.2%) compared to the patients who had not received antibiotics (11.1%). Gram-negative rod bacteremia (37.1%) and candidemia (100%) resulted in a significantly higher mortality rate compared to Gram-positive cocci bacteremia (16.4%). In the analysis of 21 cases resulting in death, 15 (71.4%) patients died before or on the date when blood culture results were reported. CONCLUSION: Patients who receive antibiotics prior to blood collection may be at a higher risk for mortality. In the present study, Gram-negative rod bacteremia and candidemia cases showed a rapid progression of sepsis as indicated by Gram staining and thus should be regarded seriously.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Anti-Infective Agents ; Bacteremia ; Candidemia ; Gram-Positive Cocci ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Prescriptions ; Sepsis ; Sydnones

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate nurses' knowledge of the law, consciousness, and will to practice and the relationships among factors affecting the will to practice. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients and multiple regression. RESULTS: Most respondents were women (93.9%) and 75.6% of them had received basic education on law. The average score on knowledge of the law was 11.83±3.07 for general law and 10.42±3.32 for nursing law. The average score on consciousness of law and will to practice was 2.50±0.31 and 4.32±0.58, respectively. Differences were observed in knowledge of the law in terms of having taken a refresher course(F=5.87, p=.003); in consciousness of the law in terms of knowledge of the law (F=6.61, p<.002); and in will to practice according to age (F=7.30, p=.007) and educational level (F=13.08, p<.001). Factors influencing will to practice included behavioral and cognitive consciousness, general knowledge of law, and education. These factors explained 24% of the variance. CONCLUSION: Nurses knowledge and consciousness regarding law was relatively lower than their will to practice. Systematic law education for nurses and repetitive research are recommended to prevent nursing malpractice.
Consciousness* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Jurisprudence* ; Malpractice ; Nursing ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: This study was done to identify the relationships among nursing professionalism, nursing work environment, and patient safety activities, and to analyze the factors influencing nurses' patient safety nursing activities. METHODS: This descriptive study included 270 nurses from six general hospitals. Questionnaires were used to collect data between August 20 and September 21, 2018, using questionnaires. Analyses included descriptive statistics, t-test, analysis of variance, Pearson correlation coefficient, and stepwise multiple regression, conducted using IBM SPSS/WIN 21.0. RESULTS: Mean scores on nursing professionalism, nursing work environment, and patient safety nursing activities were 3.51±0.41, 2.44±0.45, and 4.39±0.50, respectively. The patient safety nursing activities score was positively correlated with subscales of nursing professionalism variable: professional self-concept (r=.15, p=.019), social recognition (r=.10, p=.036), professional identity in nursing (r=.24, p<.001), role of nursing practice (r=.16, p=.012), nursing foundation for quality of care (r=.19, p=.003), and nurse manager's ability (r=.14, p=.031). Patient safety nursing activities were influenced by professional identity in nursing (β=.22, p=.001) and nursing foundation for quality of care (β=.15, p=.001), which explained 8.0% of the variance. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that nurse managers should focus on creating an appropriate nursing environment and facilitating nursing professionalism to enhance hospital nurses' patient safety nursing activities.
Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Nurse Administrators ; Nursing ; Patient Safety ; Professionalism

BACKGROUND: T typing has been used as a screening test for epidemiologic studies of group A streptococci (GAS) infections or carriers, and M typing has been performed for virulence studies. However, M typing is difficult to perform in routine laboratories. Recently, genotyping of the emm gene, which encodes the M protein, has become available. We investigated which T antigen is closely associated with a certain emmgenotype. METHODS: GAS were collected from the children in Jinju who were asymptomatic carriers (N=349) or had acute pharyngitis (N=122) during the 3 year-period from 2002 through 2004. T typing was performed by a slide aggulutination, and emmgenotyping by PCR and DNA sequencing. RESULTS: More than 90% of T1, T3, T6, T12, T25, and T5/27/44 antigens were associated with emm1, emm3, emm6, emm12 and 22, emm75, and emm44/61 genotypes, respectively; however, other T antigens, such as T2, T4, T7, T11, and B3264, were not associated with any particular emm genotypes. CONCLUSION: Several T antigens are so closely associated with particular emm genotypes that one could predict emmgenotypes based on the result of T typing.
Antigens, Viral, Tumor* ; Child ; Epidemiology ; Genotype* ; Gyeongsangnam-do ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Pharyngitis ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Streptococcus pyogenes ; Virulence

BACKGROUND: A central venous catheter (CVC) is commonly used for administering chemotherapy to cancer patients. The institutional guideline of the Gyeongsang National University Hospital (GNUH) for blood culture analysis of indwelling CVC patients recommended 6 sets (2 from the periphery and 4 from each lumen). We analyzed the usefulness of this guideline, because complying with this recommendation requires an abundant amount of the sample and it is both inconvenient and expensive. METHODS: Adult patients (age: > or =18 yr old) who were admitted to the cancer center of GNUH between January 2011 and April 2012 were requested to have their blood culture analysis done. The positive rate, contamination rate, and distribution of microorganisms were compared according to the number of requested sets. The positive results of the stipulated 6 sets were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 5,263 blood cultures were analyzed during the study period; of them, 74.4% were requests of 2 sets and 20.0% were requests of 6 sets. The positive rates in 2 set requests and 6 set requests were 8.0% and 14.3%, respectively (P<0.001). The requests for 6 sets were repeated about 5 times. All 6 sets showed positive in 16 cases (9.1%), whereas a part of the 6 sets was positive in 18 cases (10.3%). CONCLUSIONS: Although the positive rate was relatively high in the 6 set-requested groups, they had to be repeatedly requested. Microbial growth in a part of the 6-set requests was observed in a very small proportion (10.3%) of the patients, indicating that the benefit of blood culture of 6 sets is very low.
Adult ; Central Venous Catheters ; Humans ; Sepsis

Purpose: This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the factors that affect quality of life (QOL) in patients diagnosed with primary lung cancer. Methods: Data were collected from 129 patients with stages 1 to 3 primary lung cancer who had visited the outpatient oncology-hematology department of a university-affiliated hospital in Gyeonggi Province from January 2024 to March 2024. The data were then analyzed using descriptive statistics, an independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and hierarchical regression analysis using the SPSS 25.0 program. Results: The mean score of QOL in the participants was 74.62±19.84. A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that symptom experience (β=-0.29, p<.001), depression (β=-0.46, p<.001), social support (β=0.18, p=.003), and marital status (β=0.11, p=.047) significantly affected QOL among patients with primary lung cancer. The regression model explained 64% of the variation in QOL. Conclusion The results demonstrated that patients would benefit from the development and implementation of nursing interventions that focus on reducing symptoms and depression, as well as improving social support, in order to improve their QOL.

Purpose: This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the factors that affect quality of life (QOL) in patients diagnosed with primary lung cancer. Methods: Data were collected from 129 patients with stages 1 to 3 primary lung cancer who had visited the outpatient oncology-hematology department of a university-affiliated hospital in Gyeonggi Province from January 2024 to March 2024. The data were then analyzed using descriptive statistics, an independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and hierarchical regression analysis using the SPSS 25.0 program. Results: The mean score of QOL in the participants was 74.62±19.84. A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that symptom experience (β=-0.29, p<.001), depression (β=-0.46, p<.001), social support (β=0.18, p=.003), and marital status (β=0.11, p=.047) significantly affected QOL among patients with primary lung cancer. The regression model explained 64% of the variation in QOL. Conclusion The results demonstrated that patients would benefit from the development and implementation of nursing interventions that focus on reducing symptoms and depression, as well as improving social support, in order to improve their QOL.

Purpose: This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the factors that affect quality of life (QOL) in patients diagnosed with primary lung cancer. Methods: Data were collected from 129 patients with stages 1 to 3 primary lung cancer who had visited the outpatient oncology-hematology department of a university-affiliated hospital in Gyeonggi Province from January 2024 to March 2024. The data were then analyzed using descriptive statistics, an independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and hierarchical regression analysis using the SPSS 25.0 program. Results: The mean score of QOL in the participants was 74.62±19.84. A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that symptom experience (β=-0.29, p<.001), depression (β=-0.46, p<.001), social support (β=0.18, p=.003), and marital status (β=0.11, p=.047) significantly affected QOL among patients with primary lung cancer. The regression model explained 64% of the variation in QOL. Conclusion The results demonstrated that patients would benefit from the development and implementation of nursing interventions that focus on reducing symptoms and depression, as well as improving social support, in order to improve their QOL.