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Smoking during pregnancy retards fetal growth in a predictable manner; however, the effects of alcohol consumption are not as clear. One study found that only consumption of more than 10 drinks per week (120 grams of alcohol) had an undesirable affect on fetal growth. Considerable research supports the theory that low birth weight is the most important factor affecting newborn mortality and developmental impairment. This Danish study of 11,698 pregnant women investigated whether there is a threshold for the effect of drinking on birthweight and other growth measures, relative to tobacco use. Although the study had limitations, such as possible underreporting, there is good evidence that maternal use of alcohol and tobacco during pregnancy is associated with lower birth weight. The infants of mothers who consumed alcohol and smoked heavily had lower average birth weights than the newborns of nonsmoking mothers who consumed moderate amounts of alcohol. The results also support previous findings that drinking beer is related to poor outcomes in pregnancy. The average level of alcohol consumption was more important than binge drinking, but this may only be true for this set of measures. The difference in birth weight between infants born to women who did not smoke or consume alcohol during pregnancy and newborns of mothers who used the highest levels of alcohol and tobacco was more than one pound. This is a very significant difference, which is likely to have an impact on infant survival and development. The data suggest that, in counseling pregnant women on alcohol use, smoking habits must be considered. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Background: The way software for electronic health records and laboratory tests ordering systems are designed may influence physicians' prescription. A randomised controlled trial was performed to measure the impact of a diagnostic and laboratory tests ordering system software modification.Methods: Participants were family physicians working and prescribing diagnostic and laboratory tests. The intervention group had a modified software with a basic shortcut menu changes, where some tests were withdrawn or added, and with the implementation of an evidence-based decision support based on United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations. This intervention group was compared with usual software (control group). The outcomes were the number of tests prescribed from those: withdrawn from the basic menu; added to the basic menu; marked with green dots (USPSTF's grade A and B); and marked with red dots (USPSTF's grade D).Results: Comparing the monthly average number of tests prescribed before and after the software modification, from those tests that were withdrawn from the basic menu, the control group prescribed 33.8 tests per 100 consultations before and 30.8 after (p = 0075); the intervention group prescribed 31.3 before and 13.9 after (p < 0001). Comparing the tests prescribed between both groups during the intervention, from those tests that were withdrawn from the basic menu, the intervention group prescribed a monthly average of 14.0 vs. 29.3 tests per 100 consultations in the control group (p < 0.001). From those tests that are USPSTF's grade A and B, intervention group prescribed 66.8 vs. 74.1 tests per 100 consultations in the control group (p = 0.070). From those tests categorised as USPSTF grade D, the intervention group prescribed an average of 9.8 vs. 11.8 tests per 100 consultations in the control group (p = 0.003).Conclusions: Removing unnecessary tests from a quick shortcut menu of the diagnosis and laboratory tests ordering system had a significant impact and reduced unnecessary prescription of tests. The fact that it was not possible to perform the randomization at the family physicians' level, but only of the computer servers is a limitation of our study. Future research should assess the impact of different tests ordering systems during longer periods.Trial Registration: ISRCTN45427977 , May 1st 2014 (retrospectively registered). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Colectomy is a major event that may significantly affect the outcome of ulcerative colitis (UC) in terms of both quality of life and mortality. This paper aims to identify clinical prognostic factors that may be significantly associated with this event. Methods: PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge and Scopus were searched to identify studies investigating the association between clinical factors in adult patients with UC and studied events. The clinical factors evaluated in this meta-analysis were gender, smoking habits, disease extent, use of corticosteroids, and episodes of hospitalization. Results: Of the 3753 initially selected papers, 20 were included. The analysis showed a significantly lower risk of colectomy for female patients (odds ratio [OR] 0.78 [95% CI 0.68, 0.90]) and for smoking patients (OR 0.55 [0.33, 0.91]), and a higher risk for patients with extensive disease (OR 3.68 [2.39, 5.69]), for patients who took corticosteroids at least once (OR 2.10 [1.05, 4.22]), and for patients who were hospitalized (OR 4.13 [3.23, 5.27]). Conclusion: Gender, smoking habits, disease extent, need for corticosteroids, and hospitalization were all significantly associated with UC prognosis. These results may clarify the relative influences of these and other prognostic factors in the natural course of the disease and therefore help improve the management approach, thus improving the follow-up of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To identify demographic and clinical factors associated with disabling Crohn's disease (CD)., Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies, focusing on the factors that can predict the prognosis of different outcomes of CD was undertaken. PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge and Scopus were searched to identify studies investigating the above mentioned factors in adult patients with CD. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they describe prognostic factors in CD, with inclusion and exclusion criteria defined as follows. Studies with adult patients and CD, written in English and studying association between clinical factors and at least one prognosis outcome were included. Meta-analysis of effects was undertaken for the disabling disease outcome, using odds ratio (OR) to assess the effect of the different factors in the outcome. The statistical method used was Mantel-Haenszel for fixed effects. The 16-item quality assessment tool (QATSDD) was used to assess the quality of the studies (range: 0-42)., Results: Of the 913 papers initially selected, sixty studies were reviewed and three were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. The global QATSDD scores of papers were 18, 21 and 22. Of a total of 1961 patients enrolled, 1332 (78%) were classified with disabling disease five years after diagnosis. In two studies, age at diagnosis was a factor associated with disabling disease five years after diagnosis. Individuals under 40 years old had a higher risk of developing disabling disease. In two studies, patients who were treated with corticosteroids on the first flare developed disabling disease five years after diagnosis. Further, perianal disease was found to be relevant in all of the studies at two and five years after diagnosis. Finally, one study showed localization as a factor associated with disabling disease five years after diagnosis, with L3 being a higher risk factor. This meta-analysis showed a significantly higher risk of developing disabling disease at five years after initial diagnosis among patients younger than 40 years of age (OR = 2.47, 95%CI: 1.74-3.51), with initial steroid treatment for first flare (OR = 2.42, 95%CI: 1.87-3.11) and with perianal disease (OR = 2.00, 95%CI: 1.41-2.85)., Conclusion: Age at diagnosis, perianal disease, initial use of steroids and localization seem to be independent prognostic factors of disabling disease.