Background/Aims: The aim of this study is to explore the validity and reliability of the health-related quality of life SF-36 questionnaire in patients undergoing renal replacement therapy. Methods: A multicenter descriptive transversal study was carried out in Galicia, Spain, with patients undergoing renal replacement therapy. The tool used to measure the health-related quality of life was the authorized Spanish version of the ‘SF-36’ generic health questionnaire. The internal consistency of this survey was determined by means of interscale correlations and Cronbach’s α statistic. Validity was examined with a principal component exploratory factor analysis with Varimax rotation. Results: A total of 213 patients waiting for a kidney transplant and 72 recipients with a functioning renal transplant were studied. All the interscale correlations were positive and significant. The overall statistical value for Cronbach’s α was equal to 0.91 (95% CI: 0.91–0.94) and in all domains this value ranged from 0.7 to 0.92. The factor analysis identified 8 factors that explain 66.6% of the variance, 5 of which consisted of the same structure as 5 factors (domains) of the theoretical model. Conclusion: The SF-36 questionnaire is also a reliable and valid tool when used to measure the quality of life of patients undergoing renal replacement therapy.

Objective: To determine whether, in addition to treatment with antibiotics, it is necessary to remove the intrauterine device (IUD) to eliminate genital colonization by Actinomyces. Methods: A randomized clinical trial was carried out. Patients were divided into two groups. The intervention group did not have their IUDs removed, while the control group did. Both groups were treated with trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole. A total of 43 patients were included. Results: The patients from the intervention group and the control group proved to be comparable. The post-intervention cytology smear tested negative for Actinomyces in 100% of the patients whose IUD had been removed and in 66.7% of those whose IUD had not been removed (p = 0.005). The probability that colonization by Actinomyces will continue if the IUD is not removed is greater the longer the patient has been exposed to the IUD. After 24 months, relative risk (RR) = 2, after 36 months RR = 2.16 and after 48 months RR = 2.66. Conclusions: The removal of the IUD has been effective in genital colonization by Actinomyces. The protective effect exerted by the removal of the IUD was found to be greater in proportion to the length of time the patient had used it.

Introduction:The aim of this study was to evaluate response and drug survival of biologic therapy in patients with moderate to severe plaque-type psoriasis who initiated biologic therapy at least 10 years ago, in a real-world setting. Methods: This was an observational retrospective follow-up study that included patients with moderate to severe plaque-type psoriasis who initiated biologic therapy between October 2006 and December 2009. Efficacy was expressed as the percentage of patients achieving a 50, 75 and 90% reduction from baseline in the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI 50, PASI 75, PASI 90, respectively) every 3 months during the first year of therapy and then every 12 months up to the end of follow-up or withdrawal from the study. Results: A total of 56 patients were included in the study, representing 140 treatment lines (median 2, range 1-8); of these patients, 53 were still receiving biologic therapy at the end of the study. The mean duration of biologic therapy was 140.4 (range 47.6-175.4) months. Etanercept was used in 98.2% of patients, followed by efalizumab (42.9%), adalimumab (41.1%), ustekinumab (33.9%) and infliximab (16.1%). Treatment lines were switched in 62.1% of treatments: 24.3% due to secondary failure, 20.7% due to primary failure and 3.6% due to side effects. No patient treated with anti-interleukins had to discontinue treatment due to side effects. Ustekinumab had the highest drug survival.Conclusions: This study in the real-world-setting shows maintenance of long-term efficacy and safety of biologic therapy in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in daily practice who initiated biologic therapy 10 years ago.