Freedom from exposure to danger and protection from the occurrence or risk of injury or loss. It suggests optimal precautions in the workplace, on the street, in the home, etc., and includes personal safety as well as the safety of property.

The development of systems to prevent accidents, injuries, and other adverse occurrences in an institutional setting. The concept includes prevention or reduction of adverse events or incidents involving employees, patients, or facilities. Examples include plans to reduce injuries from falls or plans for fire safety to promote a safe institutional environment.

Efforts to reduce risk, to address and reduce incidents and accidents that may negatively impact healthcare consumers.

Activities involved in ensuring the safety of FOOD including avoidance of bacterial and other contamination.

Freedom of equipment from actual or potential hazards.

Evaluation undertaken to assess the results or consequences of management and procedures used in combating disease in order to determine the efficacy, effectiveness, safety, and practicability of these interventions in individual cases or series.

Errors or mistakes committed by health professionals which result in harm to the patient. They include errors in diagnosis (DIAGNOSTIC ERRORS), errors in the administration of drugs and other medications (MEDICATION ERRORS), errors in the performance of surgical procedures, in the use of other types of therapy, in the use of equipment, and in the interpretation of laboratory findings. Medical errors are differentiated from MALPRACTICE in that the former are regarded as honest mistakes or accidents while the latter is the result of negligence, reprehensible ignorance, or criminal intent.

A method of studying a drug or procedure in which both the subjects and investigators are kept unaware of who is actually getting which specific treatment.

Disorders that result from the intended use of PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATIONS. Included in this heading are a broad variety of chemically-induced adverse conditions due to toxicity, DRUG INTERACTIONS, and metabolic effects of pharmaceuticals.

Beliefs and values shared by all members of the organization. These shared values, which are subject to change, are reflected in the day to day management of the organization.

An institute of the CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION which is responsible for assuring safe and healthful working conditions and for developing standards of safety and health. Research activities are carried out pertinent to these goals.

Surveillance of drugs, devices, appliances, etc., for efficacy or adverse effects, after they have been released for general sale.

The promotion and maintenance of physical and mental health in the work environment.

Time schedule for administration of a drug in order to achieve optimum effectiveness and convenience.

Unforeseen occurrences, especially injuries in the course of work-related activities.

An office in the Department of Labor responsible for developing and establishing occupational safety and health standards.

The giving of drugs, chemicals, or other substances by mouth.

The relationship between the dose of an administered drug and the response of the organism to the drug.

Observation of a population for a sufficient number of persons over a sufficient number of years to generate incidence or mortality rates subsequent to the selection of the study group.

The degree to which the blood supply for BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS is free of harmful substances or infectious agents, and properly typed and crossmatched (BLOOD GROUPING AND CROSSMATCHING) to insure serological compatibility between BLOOD DONORS and recipients.

Studies to determine the advantages or disadvantages, practicability, or capability of accomplishing a projected plan, study, or project.

Therapy with two or more separate preparations given for a combined effect.

The process of minimizing risk to an organization by developing systems to identify and analyze potential hazards to prevent accidents, injuries, and other adverse occurrences, and by attempting to handle events and incidents which do occur in such a manner that their effect and cost are minimized. Effective risk management has its greatest benefits in application to insurance in order to avert or minimize financial liability. (From Slee & Slee: Health care terms, 2d ed)

Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.

Systems developed for collecting reports from government agencies, manufacturers, hospitals, physicians, and other sources on adverse drug reactions.

An agency of the PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE concerned with the overall planning, promoting, and administering of programs pertaining to maintaining standards of quality of foods, drugs, therapeutic devices, etc.

Any dummy medication or treatment. Although placebos originally were medicinal preparations having no specific pharmacological activity against a targeted condition, the concept has been extended to include treatments or procedures, especially those administered to control groups in clinical trials in order to provide baseline measurements for the experimental protocol.

Accidents on streets, roads, and highways involving drivers, passengers, pedestrians, or vehicles. Traffic accidents refer to AUTOMOBILES (passenger cars, buses, and trucks), BICYCLING, and MOTORCYCLES but not OFF-ROAD MOTOR VEHICLES; RAILROADS nor snowmobiles.

Studies in which individuals or populations are followed to assess the outcome of exposures, procedures, or effects of a characteristic, e.g., occurrence of disease.

Small-scale tests of methods and procedures to be used on a larger scale if the pilot study demonstrates that these methods and procedures can work.

Errors in prescribing, dispensing, or administering medication with the result that the patient fails to receive the correct drug or the indicated proper drug dosage.

Restraining belts fastened to the frame of automobiles, aircraft, or other vehicles, and strapped around the person occupying the seat in the car or plane, intended to prevent the person from being thrown forward or out of the vehicle in case of sudden deceleration.

Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.

The long-term (minutes to hours) administration of a fluid into the vein through venipuncture, either by letting the fluid flow by gravity or by pumping it.

Damage inflicted on the body as the direct or indirect result of an external force, with or without disruption of structural continuity.

The qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to specified health hazards or from the absence of beneficial influences. (Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 1988)

Works about clinical trials that involve at least one test treatment and one control treatment, concurrent enrollment and follow-up of the test- and control-treated groups, and in which the treatments to be administered are selected by a random process, such as the use of a random-numbers table.

The effect of environmental or physiological factors on the driver and driving ability. Included are driving fatigue, and the effect of drugs, disease, and physical disabilities on driving.

The analysis of an activity, procedure, method, technique, or business to determine what must be accomplished and how the necessary operations may best be accomplished.

Works about pre-planned studies of the safety, efficacy, or optimum dosage schedule (if appropriate) of one or more diagnostic, therapeutic, or prophylactic drugs, devices, or techniques selected according to predetermined criteria of eligibility and observed for predefined evidence of favorable and unfavorable effects. This concept includes clinical trials conducted both in the U.S. and in other countries.

Methods of creating machines and devices.

Equipment and furniture used by infants and babies in the home, car, and play area.

A usually four-wheeled automotive vehicle designed for passenger transportation and commonly propelled by an internal-combustion engine using a volatile fuel. (Webster, 1973)

Risk or hazard associated with the handling and use of chemicals.

Single preparations containing two or more active agents, for the purpose of their concurrent administration as a fixed dose mixture.

Organizations comprising wage and salary workers in health-related fields for the purpose of improving their status and conditions. The concept includes labor union activities toward providing health services to members.

Antibodies from non-human species whose protein sequences have been modified to make them nearly identical with human antibodies. If the constant region and part of the variable region are replaced, they are called humanized. If only the constant region is modified they are called chimeric. INN names for humanized antibodies end in -zumab.

Management of the internal organization of the hospital.

Process that is gone through in order for a drug to receive approval by a government regulatory agency. This includes any required pre-clinical or clinical testing, review, submission, and evaluation of the applications and test results, and post-marketing surveillance of the drug.

Examination of foods to assure wholesome and clean products free from unsafe microbes or chemical contamination, natural or added deleterious substances, and decomposition during production, processing, packaging, etc.

Activities and programs intended to assure or improve the quality of care in either a defined medical setting or a program. The concept includes the assessment or evaluation of the quality of care; identification of problems or shortcomings in the delivery of care; designing activities to overcome these deficiencies; and follow-up monitoring to ensure effectiveness of corrective steps.

Antibodies produced by a single clone of cells.

A method in which either the observer(s) or the subject(s) is kept ignorant of the group to which the subjects are assigned.

Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.

A statistical means of summarizing information from a series of measurements on one individual. It is frequently used in clinical pharmacology where the AUC from serum levels can be interpreted as the total uptake of whatever has been administered. As a plot of the concentration of a drug against time, after a single dose of medicine, producing a standard shape curve, it is a means of comparing the bioavailability of the same drug made by different companies. (From Winslade, Dictionary of Clinical Research, 1992)

Drugs that are used to treat RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS.

An array of tests used to determine the toxicity of a substance to living systems. These include tests on clinical drugs, foods, and environmental pollutants.

Committees established to review interim data and efficacy outcomes in clinical trials. The findings of these committees are used in deciding whether a trial should be continued as designed, changed, or terminated. Government regulations regarding federally-funded research involving human subjects (the "Common Rule") require (45 CFR 46.111) that research ethics committees reviewing large-scale clinical trials monitor the data collected using a mechanism such as a data monitoring committee. FDA regulations (21 CFR 50.24) require that such committees be established to monitor studies conducted in emergency settings.

Substances that inhibit or prevent the proliferation of NEOPLASMS.

An agency of the PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE established in 1990 to "provide indexing, abstracting, translating, publishing, and other services leading to a more effective and timely dissemination of information on research, demonstration projects, and evaluations with respect to health care to public and private entities and individuals engaged in the improvement of health care delivery..." It supersedes the National Center for Health Services Research. The United States Agency for Health Care Policy and Research was renamed Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) under the Healthcare Research and Quality Act of 1999.

Multi-step systematic review process used for improving safety by investigation of incidents to find what happened, why it happened, and to determine what can be done to prevent it from happening again.

An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, or inborn or inherited characteristic, which, on the basis of epidemiologic evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent.

Use of written, printed, or graphic materials upon or accompanying a drug container or wrapper. It includes contents, indications, effects, dosages, routes, methods, frequency and duration of administration, warnings, hazards, contraindications, side effects, precautions, and other relevant information.

Bleeding or escape of blood from a vessel.

Facilities equipped for performing surgery.

Levels within a diagnostic group which are established by various measurement criteria applied to the seriousness of a patient's disorder.

Forceful administration under the skin of liquid medication, nutrient, or other fluid through a hollow needle piercing the skin.

The use of two or more chemicals simultaneously or sequentially in the drug therapy of neoplasms. The drugs need not be in the same dosage form.

Preclinical testing of drugs in experimental animals or in vitro for their biological and toxic effects and potential clinical applications.

The science of designing, building or equipping mechanical devices or artificial environments to the anthropometric, physiological, or psychological requirements of the people who will use them.

Aid for consistent recording of data such as tasks completed and observations noted.

Suspensions of killed or attenuated microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa), antigenic proteins, synthetic constructs, or other bio-molecular derivatives, administered for the prevention, amelioration, or treatment of infectious and other diseases.

Injections made into a vein for therapeutic or experimental purposes.

The highest dose of a biologically active agent given during a chronic study that will not reduce longevity from effects other than carcinogenicity. (from Lewis Dictionary of Toxicology, 1st ed)

Pathologic processes that affect patients after a surgical procedure. They may or may not be related to the disease for which the surgery was done, and they may or may not be direct results of the surgery.

The return of a sign, symptom, or disease after a remission.

New abnormal growth of tissue. Malignant neoplasms show a greater degree of anaplasia and have the properties of invasion and metastasis, compared to benign neoplasms.

Place or physical location of work or employment.

Administration of vaccines to stimulate the host's immune response. This includes any preparation intended for active immunological prophylaxis.

Overall systems, traditional or automated, to provide medication to patients in hospitals. Elements of the system are: handling the physician's order, transcription of the order by nurse and/or pharmacist, filling the medication order, transfer to the nursing unit, and administration to the patient.

Provision of physical and biological barriers to the dissemination of potentially hazardous biologically active agents (bacteria, viruses, recombinant DNA, etc.). Physical containment involves the use of special equipment, facilities, and procedures to prevent the escape of the agent. Biological containment includes use of immune personnel and the selection of agents and hosts that will minimize the risk should the agent escape the containment facility.

Elements, compounds, mixtures, or solutions that are considered severely harmful to human health and the environment. They include substances that are toxic, corrosive, flammable, or explosive.

Two or more vaccines in a single dosage form.

The exposure to potentially harmful chemical, physical, or biological agents that occurs as a result of one's occupation.

Studies comparing two or more treatments or interventions in which the subjects or patients, upon completion of the course of one treatment, are switched to another. In the case of two treatments, A and B, half the subjects are randomly allocated to receive these in the order A, B and half to receive them in the order B, A. A criticism of this design is that effects of the first treatment may carry over into the period when the second is given. (Last, A Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)

Food derived from genetically modified organisms (ORGANISMS, GENETICALLY MODIFIED).

Devices used to protect and restrain infant and child automotive passengers.

Identifies, for study and analysis, important issues and problems that relate to health and medicine. The Institute initiates and conducts studies of national policy and planning for health care and health-related education and research; it also responds to requests from the federal government and other agencies for studies and advice.

Introduction of substances into the body using a needle and syringe.

On the job training programs for personnel carried out within an institution or agency. It includes orientation programs.

Laws and regulations concerned with industrial processing and marketing of foods.

The presence in food of harmful, unpalatable, or otherwise objectionable foreign substances, e.g. chemicals, microorganisms or diluents, before, during, or after processing or storage.

Forceful administration into a muscle of liquid medication, nutrient, or other fluid through a hollow needle piercing the muscle and any tissue covering it.

Any enterprise centered on the processing, assembly, production, or marketing of a line of products, services, commodities, or merchandise, in a particular field often named after its principal product. Examples include the automobile, fishing, music, publishing, insurance, and textile industries.

Dosage forms of a drug that act over a period of time by controlled-release processes or technology.

A plan for collecting and utilizing data so that desired information can be obtained with sufficient precision or so that an hypothesis can be tested properly.

A systematic statement of policy rules or principles. Guidelines may be developed by government agencies at any level, institutions, professional societies, governing boards, or by convening expert panels. The text may be cursive or in outline form but is generally a comprehensive guide to problems and approaches in any field of activity. For guidelines in the field of health care and clinical medicine, PRACTICE GUIDELINES AS TOPIC is available.

An unpleasant sensation in the stomach usually accompanied by the urge to vomit. Common causes are early pregnancy, sea and motion sickness, emotional stress, intense pain, food poisoning, and various enteroviruses.

The individuals employed by the hospital.

Personnel who provide nursing service to patients in a hospital.

Agents that suppress immune function by one of several mechanisms of action. Classical cytotoxic immunosuppressants act by inhibiting DNA synthesis. Others may act through activation of T-CELLS or by inhibiting the activation of HELPER CELLS. While immunosuppression has been brought about in the past primarily to prevent rejection of transplanted organs, new applications involving mediation of the effects of INTERLEUKINS and other CYTOKINES are emerging.

Laws concerned with manufacturing, dispensing, and marketing of drugs.

The function of directing or controlling the actions or attitudes of an individual or group with more or less willing acquiescence of the followers.

Agents that prevent clotting.

Knowledge, attitudes, and associated behaviors which pertain to health-related topics such as PATHOLOGIC PROCESSES or diseases, their prevention, and treatment. This term refers to non-health workers and health workers (HEALTH PERSONNEL).

Persons with no known significant health problems who are recruited to participate in research to test a new drug, device, or intervention as controls for a patient group. (from http://clinicalcenter.nih.gov/recruit/volunteers.html, accessed 2/14/2013)

A nonparametric method of compiling LIFE TABLES or survival tables. It combines calculated probabilities of survival and estimates to allow for observations occurring beyond a measurement threshold, which are assumed to occur randomly. Time intervals are defined as ending each time an event occurs and are therefore unequal. (From Last, A Dictionary of Epidemiology, 1995)

The administration of drugs by the respiratory route. It includes insufflation into the respiratory tract.

Use of plants or herbs to treat diseases or to alleviate pain.

Drugs which have received FDA approval for human testing but have yet to be approved for commercial marketing. This includes drugs used for treatment while they still are undergoing clinical trials (Treatment IND). The main heading includes drugs under investigation in foreign countries.

An infant during the first month after birth.

The use of COMPUTER COMMUNICATION NETWORKS to store and transmit medical PRESCRIPTIONS.

Anti-inflammatory agents that are non-steroidal in nature. In addition to anti-inflammatory actions, they have analgesic, antipyretic, and platelet-inhibitory actions.They act by blocking the synthesis of prostaglandins by inhibiting cyclooxygenase, which converts arachidonic acid to cyclic endoperoxides, precursors of prostaglandins. Inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis accounts for their analgesic, antipyretic, and platelet-inhibitory actions; other mechanisms may contribute to their anti-inflammatory effects.

The process of observing, recording, or detecting the effects of a chemical substance administered to an individual therapeutically or diagnostically.

Expendable and nonexpendable equipment, supplies, apparatus, and instruments that are used in diagnostic, surgical, therapeutic, scientific, and experimental procedures.

The attainment or process of attaining a new level of performance or quality.

Personal devices for protection of heads from impact, penetration from falling and flying objects, and from limited electric shock and burn.

Devices that provide support for tubular structures that are being anastomosed or for body cavities during skin grafting.

Attitudes of personnel toward their patients, other professionals, toward the medical care system, etc.

Period after successful treatment in which there is no appearance of the symptoms or effects of the disease.

Exercise of governmental authority to control conduct.

Vaccines used to prevent infection by viruses in the family ORTHOMYXOVIRIDAE. It includes both killed and attenuated vaccines. The composition of the vaccines is changed each year in response to antigenic shifts and changes in prevalence of influenza virus strains. The vaccine is usually bivalent or trivalent, containing one or two INFLUENZAVIRUS A strains and one INFLUENZAVIRUS B strain.

A macrolide compound obtained from Streptomyces hygroscopicus that acts by selectively blocking the transcriptional activation of cytokines thereby inhibiting cytokine production. It is bioactive only when bound to IMMUNOPHILINS. Sirolimus is a potent immunosuppressant and possesses both antifungal and antineoplastic properties.

Delivery of substances through VENIPUNCTURE into the VEINS.

The largest country in North America, comprising 10 provinces and three territories. Its capital is Ottawa.

Any adverse condition in a patient occurring as the result of treatment by a physician, surgeon, or other health professional, especially infections acquired by a patient during the course of treatment.

Failure of equipment to perform to standard. The failure may be due to defects or improper use.

Institutions with an organized medical staff which provide medical care to patients.

Statistical measures of utilization and other aspects of the provision of health care services including hospitalization and ambulatory care.

The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.

The collective designation of three organizations with common membership: the European Economic Community (Common Market), the European Coal and Steel Community, and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). It was known as the European Community until 1994. It is primarily an economic union with the principal objectives of free movement of goods, capital, and labor. Professional services, social, medical and paramedical, are subsumed under labor. The constituent countries are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. (The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1997, p842)

Studies in which subsets of a defined population are identified. These groups may or may not be exposed to factors hypothesized to influence the probability of the occurrence of a particular disease or other outcome. Cohorts are defined populations which, as a whole, are followed in an attempt to determine distinguishing subgroup characteristics.

Precise and detailed plans for the study of a medical or biomedical problem and/or plans for a regimen of therapy.

DNA molecules capable of autonomous replication within a host cell and into which other DNA sequences can be inserted and thus amplified. Many are derived from PLASMIDS; BACTERIOPHAGES; or VIRUSES. They are used for transporting foreign genes into recipient cells. Genetic vectors possess a functional replicator site and contain GENETIC MARKERS to facilitate their selective recognition.

Penetrating stab wounds caused by needles. They are of special concern to health care workers since such injuries put them at risk for developing infectious disease.

The application of industrial management practice to systematically maintain and improve organization-wide performance. Effectiveness and success are determined and assessed by quantitative quality measures.

Fibrinolysin or agents that convert plasminogen to FIBRINOLYSIN.

The science concerned with the detection, chemical composition, and biological action of toxic substances or poisons and the treatment and prevention of toxic manifestations.

Any process by which toxicity, metabolism, absorption, elimination, preferred route of administration, safe dosage range, etc., for a drug or group of drugs is determined through clinical assessment in humans or veterinary animals.

The enactment of laws and ordinances and their regulation by official organs of a nation, state, or other legislative organization. It refers also to health-related laws and regulations in general or for which there is no specific heading.

The action of a drug that may affect the activity, metabolism, or toxicity of another drug.

Any aspect of the operations in the preparation, processing, transport, storage, packaging, wrapping, exposure for sale, service, or delivery of food.

Descriptions and evaluations of specific health care organizations.

Techniques and strategies which include the use of coding sequences and other conventional or radical means to transform or modify cells for the purpose of treating or reversing disease conditions.

Men and women working in the provision of health services, whether as individual practitioners or employees of health institutions and programs, whether or not professionally trained, and whether or not subject to public regulation. (From A Discursive Dictionary of Health Care, 1976)

The time it takes for a substance (drug, radioactive nuclide, or other) to lose half of its pharmacologic, physiologic, or radiologic activity.

Drugs intended for human or veterinary use, presented in their finished dosage form. Included here are materials used in the preparation and/or formulation of the finished dosage form.

A class of statistical procedures for estimating the survival function (function of time, starting with a population 100% well at a given time and providing the percentage of the population still well at later times). The survival analysis is then used for making inferences about the effects of treatments, prognostic factors, exposures, and other covariates on the function.

Procedures, such as TISSUE CULTURE TECHNIQUES; mathematical models; etc., when used or advocated for use in place of the use of animals in research or diagnostic laboratories.

Management, removal, and elimination of biologic, infectious, pathologic, and dental waste. The concept includes blood, mucus, tissue removed at surgery or autopsy, soiled surgical dressings, and other materials requiring special control and handling. Disposal may take place where the waste is generated or elsewhere.

Diseases in any segment of the GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT from ESOPHAGUS to RECTUM.

The forcible expulsion of the contents of the STOMACH through the MOUTH.

Accidentally acquired infection in laboratory workers.

The practice of prescribing or using a drug outside the scope of the drug's official approved label as designated by a regulatory agency concerning the treatment of a particular disease or condition.

Substances which lower blood glucose levels.

A drug-induced depression of consciousness during which patients respond purposefully to verbal commands, either alone or accompanied by light tactile stimulation. No interventions are required to maintain a patent airway. (From: American Society of Anesthesiologists Practice Guidelines)

Disease having a short and relatively severe course.

Works about comparative studies to verify the effectiveness of diagnostic, therapeutic, or prophylactic drugs, devices, or techniques determined in phase II studies. During these trials, patients are monitored closely by physicians to identify any adverse reactions from long-term use. These studies are performed on groups of patients large enough to identify clinically significant responses and usually last about three years. This concept includes phase III studies conducted in both the U.S. and in other countries.

Substances intended to be applied to the human body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance without affecting the body's structure or functions. Included in this definition are skin creams, lotions, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail polishes, eye and facial makeup preparations, permanent waves, hair colors, toothpastes, and deodorants, as well as any material intended for use as a component of a cosmetic product. (U.S. Food & Drug Administration Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition Office of Cosmetics Fact Sheet (web page) Feb 1995)

Vaccines in which the infectious microbial nucleic acid components have been destroyed by chemical or physical treatment (e.g., formalin, beta-propiolactone, gamma radiation) without affecting the antigenicity or immunogenicity of the viral coat or bacterial outer membrane proteins.

The structuring of the environment to permit or promote specific patterns of behavior.

Medicated dosage forms for topical application in the vagina. A cream is a semisolid emulsion containing suspended or dissolved medication; a foam is a dispersion of a gas in a medicated liquid resulting in a light, frothy mass; a jelly is a colloidal semisolid mass of a water soluble medicated material, usually translucent.

Schedule giving optimum times usually for primary and/or secondary immunization.

That segment of commercial enterprise devoted to the design, development, and manufacture of chemical products for use in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, disability, or other dysfunction, or to improve function.

Process that is gone through in order for a device to receive approval by a government regulatory agency. This includes any required preclinical or clinical testing, review, submission, and evaluation of the applications and test results, and post-marketing surveillance. It is not restricted to FDA.

Includes the spectrum of human immunodeficiency virus infections that range from asymptomatic seropositivity, thru AIDS-related complex (ARC), to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

The symptom of PAIN in the cranial region. It may be an isolated benign occurrence or manifestation of a wide variety of HEADACHE DISORDERS.

Systematic gathering of data for a particular purpose from various sources, including questionnaires, interviews, observation, existing records, and electronic devices. The process is usually preliminary to statistical analysis of the data.

The interaction of two or more persons or organizations directed toward a common goal which is mutually beneficial. An act or instance of working or acting together for a common purpose or benefit, i.e., joint action. (From Random House Dictionary Unabridged, 2d ed)

The proportion of survivors in a group, e.g., of patients, studied and followed over a period, or the proportion of persons in a specified group alive at the beginning of a time interval who survive to the end of the interval. It is often studied using life table methods.

Instruments used for injecting or withdrawing fluids. (Stedman, 25th ed)

Stents that are covered with materials that are embedded with chemicals that are gradually released into the surrounding milieu.

The legal authority or formal permission from authorities to carry on certain activities which by law or regulation require such permission. It may be applied to licensure of institutions as well as individuals.

Scales, questionnaires, tests, and other methods used to assess pain severity and duration in patients or experimental animals to aid in diagnosis, therapy, and physiological studies.

A group of compounds that contain the structure SO2NH2.

Organized efforts to insure obedience to the laws of a community.

Proteins prepared by recombinant DNA technology.

The relative equivalency in the efficacy of different modes of treatment of a disease, most often used to compare the efficacy of different pharmaceuticals to treat a given disease.

Substances that reduce the growth or reproduction of BACTERIA.

Earlier than planned termination of clinical trials.

A cyclodecane isolated from the bark of the Pacific yew tree, TAXUS BREVIFOLIA. It stabilizes MICROTUBULES in their polymerized form leading to cell death.

Diseases caused by factors involved in one's employment.

Managerial personnel responsible for implementing policy and directing the activities of hospitals.

Care of patients by a multidisciplinary team usually organized under the leadership of a physician; each member of the team has specific responsibilities and the whole team contributes to the care of the patient.

AMINO ALCOHOLS containing the ETHANOLAMINE; (-NH2CH2CHOH) group and its derivatives.

The application of drug preparations to the surfaces of the body, especially the skin (ADMINISTRATION, CUTANEOUS) or mucous membranes. This method of treatment is used to avoid systemic side effects when high doses are required at a localized area or as an alternative systemic administration route, to avoid hepatic processing for example.

Acute illnesses, usually affecting the GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT, brought on by consuming contaminated food or beverages. Most of these diseases are infectious, caused by a variety of bacteria, viruses, or parasites that can be foodborne. Sometimes the diseases are caused by harmful toxins from the microbes or other chemicals present in the food. Especially in the latter case, the condition is often called food poisoning.

Immunoglobulins produced in response to VIRAL ANTIGENS.

The number of new cases of a given disease during a given period in a specified population. It also is used for the rate at which new events occur in a defined population. It is differentiated from PREVALENCE, which refers to all cases, new or old, in the population at a given time.

Complex pharmaceutical substances, preparations, or matter derived from organisms usually obtained by biological methods or assay.

Material prepared from plants.

The effect of herbs, other PLANTS, or PLANT EXTRACTS on the activity, metabolism, or toxicity of drugs.