Estimation of Disability Adjusted Life Years in Pediatric Injury Patients at a Zonal Referral Hospital in Northern Tanzania.

Objective: This study aimed to estimates Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for pediatric injury patients at a zonal referral hospital.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study using pediatric injury registry data, DALYs for pediatric injured patients was calculated by adding the Years of life lost (YLL) and Years lived with disability (YLD). Discounting rate of 3%, age weighting parameter of 0.

Limited efficacy of cold and heat therapy as adjunctive treatments for local and functional outcomes of Bothrops atrox snakebite envenomation: A randomized clinical trial.

Background: Bothrops atrox envenomation can cause significant local and systemic effects. Adjunctive therapies, such as cold and heat applications, are proposed to enhance antivenom efficacy, but their clinical value remains unclear.

Methods: This randomized, three-arm clinical trial included 94 patients allocated in a 1:1:1 ratio to Cold Therapy Group (CTG, n = 30), Heat Therapy Group (HTG, n = 31), or Control Group (CG, n = 33).

A Comparative Study of Alcohol Use, Alcohol Use Disorder and Consequences Among Young People and Adults with Injuries in the Northern Zone of Tanzania.

Background: Alcohol use is a major risk factor for injuries, which are the leading cause of significant morbidity and mortality among young people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In Tanzania, high rates of alcohol use disorders (AUD) and heavy episodic drinking have been documented. However, limited studies have examined age differences in alcohol use and related harm among injury patients.

Epidemiology, outcomes, and access to care for pediatric patients who underwent surgery in Northern Tanzania: A cross-sectional study.

Lack of access to surgical care is common in low- and middle-income countries, where children and adolescents account for up to half of the population. However, the burden of surgical conditions and resources for children in Tanzania remains poorly defined. Our cross-sectional study aims to assess the epidemiology and outcomes of pediatric surgical procedures performed over one year at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC), a tertiary center in Moshi, Tanzania.

INPAKTS: Platform for managing and monitoring the impact of external interventions and events in DATASUS time series.

The aim is to present the INPAKTS platform, an innovative online simplified management tool that allows monitoring, visualization, and projection of the impact of external events, such as public policies or pandemics, on health indicators constructed with data from DATASUS. Ecological study where segmented linear models are constructed for interrupted time series that allow estimating temporal trends and their changes after interventions. From descriptive analysis and proportion comparison tests, several associated factors can be analyzed in addition to the spatial distribution of trend changes after interventions.

The older the injured, the worse the outcomes: A comparison of injury patterns and in-hospital outcomes between younger and older adult trauma patients at a tertiary hospital in Northern Tanzania.

The number of older adults (>60 years) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is expected to double by 2050. This demographic shift has led to a rise in traumatic injuries among this population, with one in ten trauma patients in Tanzania being an older adult. Yet, geriatric specialization remains largely absent in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including Tanzania.

Preliminary Assessment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Among Emergency Medicine Physicians During the COVID-19 Outbreak.

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant increases in work-related emotional stress and emergency department (ED) volumes. Our study aimed to provide a preliminary assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among emergency medicine (EM) physicians in the United States following the COVID-19 pandemic and explore related factors and predictors of PTSD symptoms.

Methods: Participants were recruited using a convenience sampling approach via professional listservs from national and state EM societies.

Evaluation of the Patient-Specific Functional Scale for monitoring paediatric injury patients at a zonal referral hospital in Northern Tanzania.

Background: Injuries are a major cause of morbidity and mortality among paediatric populations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The Patient-Specific Functional Scale (PSFS) is a commonly used tool to assess functional recovery. This study aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of the PSFS for monitoring paediatric injury patients at a zonal referral hospital in Northern Tanzania.

Local DEA app: Saving lives with accessible and well-located automated external defibrillators.

Purpose: Developing technological solutions to reduce care delay and mortality in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) cases is a challenge both in Brazil and worldwide. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a geolocation application for locating automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in the urban area of a medium-sized city in southern Brazil.

Methods: A mobile application was developed to locate AEDs in public places, indicating the best route to the nearest AED with an intuitive design for emergency use.

Adaptation and validation of a Rwanda-focused version of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT).

In Rwanda, alcohol use disorder (AUD) is estimated to affect 7% of the population. The Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) is an excellent screening instrument for AUD, but a Rwanda-focused version previously was unavailable. Our objective was to develop a Rwanda- focused AUDIT and evaluate its psychometric properties.

Self-Reported Post-COVID Symptoms at 18 Months After Infection Among Adults in Southern Brazil: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background/objectives: Currently, there is a limited understanding of the long-term consequences following acute COVID-19, referred to as long COVID. This cross-sectional study aims to analyze the prevalence of persistent signs and symptoms of long COVID, 18 months after primary SARS-CoV-2 infection in adults in southern Brazil.

Methods: Using two national databases (the digital registry of SARS-CoV-2 positive cases), 370 individuals living in the state of Paraná (Brazil) were recruited.

Using the ADAPT guidance to culturally adapt a brief intervention to reduce alcohol use among injury patients in Tanzania.

Harmful alcohol use is a leading risk factor for injury-related death and disability in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Brief negotiational interventions (BNIs) in emergency departments (EDs) effectively reduce alcohol intake and re-injury rates. However, most BNIs are developed in high-income countries, with limited evidence of their effectiveness in LMICs.

Multiple dimensions approach in polysubstance use: An ESEM analysis based on the RDoC framework.

Substance use disorders (SUD) are associated with cognitive alterations, influenced by genetic, neurodevelopmental, and environmental factors, and frequently co-occur with emotional disorders, complicating treatment strategies. Employing the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework and Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM), this study investigated the direct and indirect relationships between drug abuse, neurocognitive performance, emotional indicators, and structural changes in brain regions implicated in emotional regulation and executive functions in SUD patients and healthy controls. High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were acquired from patients with SUD (n=50) and healthy controls (HC=50).

Emergency care knowledge, utilization, and barriers in Northern Tanzania: A community-based survey.

Background: Emergency care systems are critical to improving care for time-sensitive emergency conditions. The growth and development of these systems in Sub-Saharan Africa is becoming a priority. Layperson knowledge and recognition of emergency symptoms and subsequent care-seeking behavior are key to achieving timely access to care and appropriate treatment.

Resilience, Mental Health, Sleep, and Smoking Mediate Pathways Between Lifetime Stressors and Multiple Sclerosis Severity.

Introduction: Lifetime stressors (e.g., poverty, violence, discrimination) have been linked to features of multiple sclerosis (MS); yet mechanistic pathways and relationships with cumulative disease severity remain nebulous.

Sex differences in alcohol use patterns and related harms: A mixed-methods, cross-sectional study of men and women in northern Tanzania.

In northern Tanzania, alcohol use disorders (AUD) are under-diagnosed and under-treated, and current services are mostly limited to men in clinical settings despite significant alcohol-related harm in the community. The study objective was to identify sex differences in alcohol use and alcohol-related harms within and across community and clinical settings. This was a congruent triangulation mixed methods study consisting of focus group discussions (FGDs) and cross-sectional surveys.

Bayesian Modeling and Estimation of Spatial Risk for Hospitalization and Mortality from Ischemic Heart Disease in Paraná, Brazil.

Objective: Despite significant advancements in understanding risk factors and treatment strategies, ischemic heart disease (IHD) remains the leading cause of mortality worldwide, particularly within specific regions in Brazil, where the disease is a burden. Therefore, the aim of this study was to estimate the risk of hospitalization and mortality from IHD in the state of Paraná (Brazil), using spatial analysis to identify areas with higher risk based on socioeconomic, demographic and health variables.

Methods: This is an ecological study based on secondary and retrospective IHD hospitalization and mortality data obtained from the Brazilian Hospitalization and Mortality Information Systems during the 2010-2021 period.

Long COVID among Brazilian Adults and Elders 12 Months after Hospital Discharge: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

The persistence of symptoms for more than three months following infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is referred to as "Long COVID". To gain a deeper understanding of the etiology and long-term progression of symptoms, this study aims to analyze the prevalence of Long COVID and its associated factors in a cohort of Brazilian adults and elders, twelve months after hospital discharge. An observational, prospective, and follow-up study was performed with a cohort of adults and older adults diagnosed with COVID-19 in 2020 in the State of Paraná, Brazil.

Development of culturally-appropriate text message booster content to follow a brief intervention focused on reducing alcohol related harms for injury patients in Moshi, Tanzania.

Alcohol use is a risk factor for death and disability and is attributed to almost one-third of injury deaths globally. This highlights the need for interventions aimed at alcohol reduction, especially in areas with high rates of injury with concurrent alcohol use, such as Tanzania. The aim of this study is to create a culturally appropriate text messages as a booster to a brief negotiational intervention (BNI), to in the Emergency Department of the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, Moshi, Tanzania.

Framework proposal for Role-Playing Games as mental health intervention: the Critical Skills methodology.

Gamified interventions are an emerging approach in mental health treatment and prevention. Their positive effects on managing various clinical conditions stem from enhancing social skills. However, cost-effective options like Table-top Role-Playing Games (TTRPGs), which offer similar benefits to other game-based interventions, lack standardized methods for ensuring replicability.

Continuous epileptiform discharges are associated with worse neurodevelopmental findings in a congenital Zika syndrome prospective cohort.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify continuous epileptiform discharges (CEDs) on electroencephalograms (EEG) and to determine their clinical significance in children with congenital Zika syndrome (CZS).

Methods: This prospective cohort study included 75 children diagnosed with CZS born from March 2015 and followed up until September 2018 (age up to 36 months). EEG was performed to detect CEDs up to 24 months old.

Designing, development and validation of an app to reduce the response time of the emergency medical services.

Introduction: Delays in prehospital care attributable to the call-taking process can often be traced back to miscommunication, including uncertainty around the call location. Geolocation applications have the potential to streamline the call-taking process by accurately identifying the caller's location.

Objective: To develop and validate an application to geolocate emergency calls and compare the response time of calls made via the application with those of conventional calls made to the Brazilian Medical Emergency System (Serviço de Atendimento Médico de Urgência-SAMU).

Applicability of machine learning algorithm to predict the therapeutic intervention success in Brazilian smokers.

Smoking cessation is an important public health policy worldwide. However, as far as we know, there is a lack of screening of variables related to the success of therapeutic intervention (STI) in Brazilian smokers by machine learning (ML) algorithms. To address this gap in the literature, we evaluated the ability of eight ML algorithms to correctly predict the STI in Brazilian smokers who were treated at a smoking cessation program in Brazil between 2006 and 2017.

Resilience, mental health, sleep, and smoking mediate pathways between lifetime stressors and Multiple Sclerosis severity.

Intro: Lifetime stressors (e.g., poverty, violence, discrimination) have been linked to Multiple Sclerosis (MS) features; yet mechanistic pathways and relationships with cumulative disease severity remain nebulous.