Methods: We investigated whether the use or non-use of statins influenced the prevalence of airflow limitation. All outpatients who were over the age of 40 years and who regularly visited a primary health care facility were invited to participate. Each participant underwent spirometry and completed a questionnaire regarding their clinical status, which was used to screen for COPD. A variety of factors that are potentially

related to airflow limitation were assessed.

Results: Of the 853 patients included in the study, 81 (9.5%) had airflow limitation. The prevalence of airflow limitation was 2.3% among the 89 patients with a history of statin use, which was five times lower than the prevalence

of airflow limitation among patients who had not used statins (10.5%). Among the 347 patients with a history of past or current smoking, airflow limitation was Stem Cell Compound Library not observed in the 30 patients who had used statins. However, by multivariate analysis, statin use was not significantly associated with a lower prevalence of airflow limitation.

Conclusions: This is the first cross-sectional study from Japan that has demonstrated that statin use has a potential impact on airflow limitation in patients with COPD.”
“Assessment of applicability is an essential part of the systematic review process. In the context of systematic reviews of the effects of interventions, applicability is an assessment of whether the findings of a review can be applied in a particular context www.selleckchem.com/products/Tipifarnib(R115777).html or population. For more complex interventions, assessing applicability can be challenging because of greater diversity of, and interactions within and between, the intended population, intervention components, comparison conditions, and outcomes as well as a range of further HSP inhibitor review considerations related to intervention context and theoretical basis. We recommend that review authors plan and conduct analyses to explain variations in effect and answer questions about mechanisms of action and influence of different settings, contexts, and populations. We also recommend that review authors provide rich descriptions of the setting,

implementation details, resource use, and contexts of included studies and assess applicability for at least one target population, setting, and context. This should facilitate applicability assessments by end users. Consensus on terminology is needed and guidance should be developed for the synthesis of implementation information within reviews as well as the documentation of applicability judgments by review authors. (c) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.”
“SETTING: Contact investigation resulting from specimens sent to the Scottish Mycobacteria Reference Laboratory.

OBJECTIVE: To characterise patients and types of exposures associated with transmission of a prevalent Mycobacterium tuberculosis genotype in Scotland.