Anaemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD) mostly results from a decrease in the production of erythropoietin (EPO) by the failing kidney. CKD progression requires treatment with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents and iron supplementation to ensure sufficient erythrocyte production. Best clinical practice guidelines should be adhered to in managing CKD to reduce morbidity and mortality related to anaemia associated cardiovascular disease. Likewise, guideline deviations create an increased strain on the resources of the treatment facility. It is uncertain to which extent these guidelines are followed by Nephrology Units in the public healthcare sector, or whether the documented international trends are prevalent locally due to the paucity of local data, and therefore further investigation is warranted. This study aimed to assess treatment trends in managing anaemia in CKD patients at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital (SBAH). Files of patients receiving treatment at the SBAH Nephrology Unit between 2 January 2018 - 31 August 2018 were reviewed. Only individuals with stage 5 CKD receiving either haemodialysis, or peritoneal dialysis were included, while those with less than three months’ treatment were excluded. Measured variables included demographical information, current EPO treatment and/or iron supplementation regimens versus serum haemoglobin/iron levels and quantity of administered blood products. Ninety-seven patients met the inclusion criteria. Haemodialysis accounted for 43% (n = 42), and peritoneal dialysis 57% (n = 55). Intergroup comparison between the number of results where both haemoglobin and iron were within the target range versus the number of results where both parameters fell outside the target range yielded a significant difference (p = 0.0031). Patients receiving peritoneal dialysis reached serum haemoglobin and iron levels closer to normal target values compared to those receiving haemodialysis. Managing anaemia in CKD is a complex process. More stringent iron control, especially for patients receiving haemodialysis, including the administration of long-acting EPO preparations once a month, is proposed. The latter will contribute to the improvement of clinical outcomes of patients with CKD. Keywords: Chronic kidney disease, anaemia, erythropoiesis stimulating agent, haemoglobin, iron / Dissertation (MSc (Pharmacology))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Pharmacology / MSc (Pharmacology) / Unrestricted

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:06:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 6293.pdf: 6594637 bytes, checksum: 313540db5bd44c0b02cd3d086cf8c310 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-05-29 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / Since its creation television has undergone major paradigm shifts, from black and white images to color displays, from analog systems to digital transmissions, from low quality display to high quality displays, from passive programs for fully interactive programs. Currently the term Social TV is gaining popularity in television and innovating once again the way people watch TV, combining computing and communication mechanisms to provide new ways to entertain and inform the viewer. The object of this work lies in the context of Social TV, explores the concept of support agents that have the role to stimulate social interactions, having the aim of enrich the quality of experience in watching television. This paper proposes a model of interaction between the agent and the viewers in Social TV systems and tests with users using a tool developed for the interaction model. Finally the paper compares the results of interactions to investigate the influence generated by inserting the support agent in an environment of Social TV. / Desde sua criação a televisão sofreu algumas mudanças de paradigmas, de imagens em preto e branco para telas coloridas, de sistemas analógicos para transmissões digitais, de qualidade de exibição de baixa resolução para sistemas de alta qualidade de imagem, de programas passivos para programas totalmente interativos. Atualmente o termo TV Social vem ganhando popularidade no meio televisivo e inovando mais uma vez a forma como as pessoas assistem televisão, combinando mecanismos de comunicação e computação para fornecer novas formas de entreter e informar o telespectador. O objeto de estudo deste trabalho situa-se no contexto de TV Social, explora o conceito de Agentes Incentivadores que possuem o papel de estimular interações sociais, possuindo a finalidade de alcançar enriquecimento da qualidade de experiência em assistir televisão. O trabalho propõe um modelo de interação entre o Agente Incentivador e os telespectadores de um sistema de TV Social e realiza testes com usuários utilizando a ferramenta de interação desenvolvida para o modelo. Por fim o trabalho analisa os resultados das interações para averiguar a influência gerada pela inserção do agente incentivador em um ambiente de TV Social.