Quality of life in parents of Turkish and Syrian pediatric bone marrow transplant and oncology patients

Background

The success of the treatment depends on the well-being of the parents in pediatric cancer patients. In addition, migrants need to deal with the consequences of war.

Aim

Our purpose was to compare the HRQoL of parents of Syrian and Turkish children followed in our bone marrow transplant and oncology units.

Materials and Methods

One hundred SF 36 questionnaires, fifty from each group were collected between October 2019 and March 2020 in this cross-sectional study. Demographic characteristics of the patients (sex, age, cancer type, presence of relapse, duration of follow-up) and education level of parents were recorded. Analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 20.0.

Results

Turkish parents reported better results in physical functioning, emotional well-being, physical pain, general health, and physical health composite score (P < 0.05). There were more fathers in the Syrian group and education status was significant between the two groups (P = 0.01, P = 0.001, respectively). There was no correlation between QoL and education levels in the Turkish group. In Syrian parents, pain score was high in middle school graduates (P = 0.043). In the presence of relapse, although the physical function score decreased, the physical role function score increased in Turkish parents (P = 0.0035, P = 0.005, respectively). Syrian parents' emotional role function and energy/fatigue score were both increased when children had relapses (P = 0.027for both).

Conclusion

Migration is a complex issue. Turkish parents were better in physical functioning, emotional well-being, physical pain, general health, and physical health composite score. Screening for parental burden, assisting them to find appropriate support services is essential in improving the health and QoL of both our patients and their parents.

Difference in general practice telehealth utilisation associated with birth country during COVID-19 from two Australian states

Objective

Telehealth has been an integral part of ensuring continued general practice access during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether telehealth was similarly adopted across different ethnic, cultural, and linguistic groups in Australia is unknown. In this study, we assessed how telehealth utilisation differed by birth country.

Methods

In this retrospective observational study, electronic health record data from 799 general practices across Victoria and New South Wales, Australia between March 2020 to November 2021 were extracted (12,403,592 encounters from 1,307,192 patients). Multivariate generalised estimating equation models were used to assess the likelihood of a telehealth consultation (against face-to-face consultation) by birth country (relative to Australia or New Zealand born patients), education index, and native language (English versus others).

Results

Patients born in Southeastern Asia (aOR: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.52-0.55), Eastern Asia (aOR: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.60-0.66), and India (aOR: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.63-0.66) had a lower likelihood of having a telehealth consultation compared to those born in Australia or New Zealand. Northern America, British Isles, and most European countries did not present with a statistically significant difference. Additionally, higher education levels (aOR: 1.34; 95% CI: 1.26-1.42) was associated with an increase in the likelihood of a telehealth consultation, while being from a non-English-speaking country was associated with a reduced likelihood (aOR: 0.83; 95% CI: 0.81-0.84).

Conclusions

This study provides evidence showing differences in telehealth use associated with birth country. Strategies to ensure continued healthcare access for patients, whose native language is not English, such as providing interpreter services for telehealth consultations, would be beneficial.

Perspectives

Understanding cultural and linguistic differences may reduce health disparities in telehealth access in Australia and could present an opportunity to promote healthcare access in diverse communities.

Dentists' knowledge about anaphylaxis caused by local anaesthetics

BACKGROUND

IgE-mediated systemic reactions to local anaesthetics may be seen--although rarely--by dentists. However, it is not known whether dentists are familiar with symptoms, signs and management of anaphylaxis.

METHODS

In this study we aimed to evaluate knowledge of dentists of the symptoms and signs and current treatment of anaphylaxis. For this, some dentists working in their private offices in Istanbul were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire with 15 questions related to anaphylaxis.

RESULTS

A total of 86 dentists agreed to participate in the study. None of the attendants were completely aware of the symptoms and signs of anaphylaxis. About half of the attendants (48.8%) knew epinephrine as the first drug in the treatment of anaphylaxis and keep it in their offices (55.6%), but only one third of the dentists (31.5%) preferred intramuscular route as the most effective route for epinephrine injection.

CONCLUSION

Our data show that the level of dentists' knowledge of local anaesthetics allergy and anaphylaxis is inadequate. This may endanger patients' lives. An educational programme that may improve general dentists' knowledge about local anaesthetics allergy and anaphylaxis is urgently necessary.

Leukocytoclastic vasculitis in a child with epidermolysis bullosa simplex

A 10-year-old boy with epidermolysis bullosa simplex (Weber-Cockayne variant) together with leukocytoclastic vasculitis is presented. He was admitted to the hospital with the provisional diagnoses of infected epidermolysis bullosa simplex or drug eruption. On the sixth day of hospitalization he developed palpable purpura, abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea, together with hematuria and proteinuria. A generalized tonic-clonic convulsion, changes in mental status, fluctuations in arterial blood pressure and intractable pain in his extremities occurred during the course of hospitalization. Systemic pulse steroid therapy, antibiotics, and antihypertensive and anticonvulsive drugs were given. On the 30th day of hospitalization, a skin graft was performed to replace a large tissue defect on his left hand. Despite high dose steroid therapy, his hematuria, proteinuria and hypertension continued after his discharge, suggesting a steroid-resistant renal pathology, such as focal glomerulosclerosis, that occurred secondary to leukocytoclastic vasculitis.