Category: Statistics

BMC Psychol. 2026 Jan 24. doi: 10.1186/s40359-025-03938-9. Online ahead of print.

NO ABSTRACT

PMID:41580742 | DOI:10.1186/s40359-025-03938-9

BMC Vet Res. 2026 Jan 24. doi: 10.1186/s12917-025-05160-6. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) and Bluetongue (BT) are vector-borne diseases that commonly circulate among wild and domestic ruminants. The epidemiological situation of EHD in Tunisia remains poorly documented, despite several studies having been conducted on BT. To assess the seroprevalence of the EHD and BT in northern Tunisia, 394 bovine serum samples were collected and tested for anti-VP7 antibodies using a competitive ELISA. The seroprevalence of EHD and BT at the individual level was estimated 51.2% and 81% respectively. Herd-level seroprevalence reached 93% for EHD and 100% for BT. No statistically significant differences in prevalence were observed between governorates for EHD (p-value = 0.169). However, the prevalence of BT across governorates was found to be statistically significant (p-value = 0.00000). A multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression was conducted to identify risk factors for EHD and BT. The final model revealed the only significant risk factor identified for both EHD and BT seroprevalence was age. Local animal husbandry practices and herd management were not found to be associated with the dynamics of the two diseases. The findings of this study highlight the geographical extent of the disease in the northwestern region and its associated risk factors. It is therefore imperative that further investigations be conducted on vectors and their abudance in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the current situation.

PMID:41580738 | DOI:10.1186/s12917-025-05160-6

Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med. 2026 Jan 24. doi: 10.1186/s13049-026-01560-1. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Ambulance professionals operate in dynamic, time-pressured environments where patient safety is paramount, with medication administration errors (MAEs) being a particular concern. While pediatric-focused interventions have addressed dosing errors, few studies have explored strategies to reduce MAEs in prehospital settings. Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) is an evidence-based team training program that has demonstrated positive outcomes in various in-hospital contexts. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a TeamSTEPPS intervention on MAE frequency in ambulance services.

METHODS: This quasi-experimental, pre-post study was conducted within a Norwegian ambulance service across seven ambulance stations split into two groups as part of the TEAM-AMB project. The intervention consisted of a nine-month TeamSTEPPS team training program. Two independent reviewers assessed randomly selected electronic patient journals from pre- and post-intervention periods for MAEs, defined as deviations from the “five rights” of medication administration according to ambulance service protocols. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, Chi-square/Fisher’s exact tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, and multivariable logistic regression. Cohen’s Kappa evaluated interrater reliability.

RESULTS: Overall, 30.6% of ambulance missions contained at least one MAE, with wrong dose (17.5%) and wrong drug (15.1%) being the most common error subcategories. There was no significant change, combined or for either group, in MAE frequency between pre-intervention (28.9%) and post-intervention (32.2%) periods (p = 0.17). Wrong drug errors significantly increased from 11.2% to 19.1% post-intervention (p < 0.01). The number of different medications administered was the strongest predictor of errors, with each additional medication type increasing error odds by 47% (p < 0.01). Patient and mission characteristics showed no association with MAEs in multivariable analysis.

CONCLUSIONS: This Norwegian ambulance service study found MAEs in 30.6% of 1,499 missions. The TeamSTEPPS team training intervention did not reduce overall error frequency. The results suggest that team training alone is not sufficient to address the multifaceted causes of MAEs. Future interventions should focus on organizational improvements, particularly enhanced standard operating procedure adherence and electronic documentation systems, to improve accuracy and enable reliable medication error detection.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov-ID: NCT05244928.

PMID:41580728 | DOI:10.1186/s13049-026-01560-1

BMC Womens Health. 2026 Jan 24. doi: 10.1186/s12905-025-04214-z. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Women with disabilities are susceptible to compounded discrimination based on gender and disability, which can constrain healthcare access and worsen health outcomes. Quantitative evidence on determinants of unmet healthcare needs in Women with disabilities remains limited. This study aimed to identify predictors of unmet healthcare needs among women with disabilities and to provide evidence to inform improvements in healthcare accessibility.

METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 2873 Women with disabilities from the nationally representative 2023 Survey of People with Disabilities in Korea. Guided by Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Services Use, we examined predisposing, enabling, and need factors associated with unmet healthcare needs using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and multivariable logistic regression.

RESULTS: Among women with disabilities, the prevalence of unmet healthcare needs was 19.7%. The most common reasons were difficulty traveling to healthcare facilities (41.2%) and financial constraints (25.8%). In multivariable analysis, the odds of experiencing unmet healthcare needs were higher among those with lower household income, physical disabilities, severe disability, dependence in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), poor self-rated health, experience of depression, difficulty using transportation, and inability to go out alone.

CONCLUSIONS: Women with disabilities experience high rates of unmet healthcare needs. Limitations in daily living due to physical disability, low socioeconomic status (SES), and mental health vulnerability emerged as major factors underlying unmet healthcare needs among women with disabilities. Integrated policies addressing financial barriers, healthcare accessibility, and women’s health are needed to meet the unique needs of women with disabilities.

PMID:41580717 | DOI:10.1186/s12905-025-04214-z

BMC Surg. 2026 Jan 24. doi: 10.1186/s12893-026-03523-w. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Pelvic adhesions are a common consequence of prior abdominal surgery, endometriosis, malignancy, or infection, often leading to infertility, chronic pelvic pain, and surgical complications. Reliable preoperative prediction of these adhesions can guide surgical planning and minimize risks. The sonographic “sliding sign” has shown promise in detecting intra-abdominal adhesions, yet its routine use remains limited. This study aims to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of both transvaginal and transabdominal ultrasonographic assessments of the sliding sign in predicting intra-abdominal adhesions prior to gynecologic endoscopic surgery.

METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included 262 women who underwent gynecologic endoscopic surgery at a tertiary care center in 2024. Patients with body mass index (BMI) > 35 were excluded. Both transabdominal and transvaginal ultrasonographic evaluations of the sliding sign were performed preoperatively by a single experienced physician, while operative outcomes were recorded by a blinded observer. Adhesion status, operative time, hospital stay, and surgical complications were analyzed. Statistical methods included Chi-square, Fisher’s Exact test, Mann-Whitney U test, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.

RESULTS: Intra-abdominal adhesions were confirmed in 56 patients (21.4%). Absence of the sliding sign was significantly associated with the presence of adhesions (p < 0.001). Transvaginal sonography yielded a sensitivity of 77%, specificity of 100%, and area under curve (AUC) of 0.884. Transabdominal sonography demonstrated higher accuracy, with a sensitivity of 96%, specificity of 100%, and AUC of 0.982. The combination of both methods matched the diagnostic performance of transabdominal ultrasound alone. Adhesions were significantly associated with previous abdominal surgery (p < 0.001), endometriosis (p = 0.01), hypotrophic or keloid scars (p < 0.001), obliteration of the Douglas pouch (p < 0.001), longer hospital stay (p = 0.006), and increased rates of hemorrhage (p = 0.003) and bladder injury (p = 0.03).

CONCLUSION: Preoperative ultrasonographic evaluation of the sliding sign is a highly accurate, non-invasive, and practical tool for predicting intra-abdominal adhesions. Both transabdominal and transvaginal sonography offers superior sensitivity and should be considered in routine preoperative assessments. Integration of this method into standard preoperative protocols may help reduce complications, optimize surgical planning, and improve patient outcomes in gynecologic endoscopic procedures.

PMID:41580714 | DOI:10.1186/s12893-026-03523-w

Am Surg. 2026 Jan 24:31348261419763. doi: 10.1177/00031348261419763. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BackgroundSurgical costs per procedure may vary by surgeon due to operating time and equipment selection.MethodsCost and materials data were analyzed using an institutional database from a large academic, quaternary care center. The analysis included 475 thyroidectomy-coded operations performed by 13 surgeons from department A (n = 6) and department B (n = 7) between 2021 and 2023.ResultsMean time cost of procedures was significantly lower for department A surgeons by $112 compared to department B (p = .03). There was no statistically significant difference between the material cost of procedures between departments (p = .40). The highest average material cost for a single surgeon was $1590 with the lowest being $523, demonstrating the high degree of variability between surgeons.DiscussionExamining cost of materials alone, the highest and lowest-cost-ranked surgeons had a difference of $1067. Standardization of surgical trays and avoidance of outlier materials may be future avenues for research in decreasing costs.

PMID:41579333 | DOI:10.1177/00031348261419763

Int Urol Nephrol. 2026 Jan 24. doi: 10.1007/s11255-026-05029-z. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To evaluate whether systematic contralateral biopsy can be safely omitted in men with MRI-detected prostate lesions (PI-RADS ≥ 3) and to assess the impact of contralateral findings on treatment decisions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort of 617 patients with pre-biopsy multiparametric MRI showing at least one PI-RADS ≥ 3 lesion underwent cognitive MRI-targeted biopsy of the index lesion, perilesional sampling (≥ 6 cores), and contralateral systematic biopsy (≥ 6 cores). Primary endpoint was upgrading in the contralateral lobe versus index/perilesional regions. Secondary endpoint was the impact of contralateral biopsy omission on treatment decision. Statistical analyses included Friedman’s test, Wilcoxon signed-rank, one-way ANOVA with Games-Howell, and McNemar’s test.

RESULTS: Median age was 69 years, median PSA 7.83 ng/mL, and median prostate volume 46 cc. Positive cores were observed in 76.3%, 83.3%, and 51.9% of index, perilesional, and contralateral biopsies, respectively. Contralateral lobe ISUP grade was significantly lower than the maximum index/perilesional grade (median 1 vs 2, p < 0.001). Clinically significant prostate cancer (ISUP ≥ 2) was present in 81% of index/perilesional regions versus 39% of contralateral. Only 2.1% of patients had clinically significant cancer isolated to the contralateral lobe (number needed to test = 48). Contralateral findings altered management in 6.3% of cases, predominantly in patients with low-risk features.

CONCLUSIONS: Tumor burden is predominantly localized to the index and perilesional regions. Contralateral biopsy minimally contributes to detecting high-grade disease or modifying treatment decisions. A selective MRI-directed approach combining targeted and perilesional sampling with judicious contralateral biopsy may optimize diagnostic yield while reducing procedural burden.

PMID:41579321 | DOI:10.1007/s11255-026-05029-z

Eur J Epidemiol. 2026 Jan 24. doi: 10.1007/s10654-025-01347-1. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Since its establishment in the late 1980s, the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) has become one of the most widely utilised data resources in both national and international research. Its value lies in the richness, scale and quality of its routinely collected primary care data, as well as the availability of numerous linkable datasets. This study provides comprehensive scientometric analyses of CPRD-related research output, impact, and data usage from 1988 to 2024. A total of 3779 peer-reviewed publications were identified, and for 98.78% of them, enriched bibliometric metadata were retrieved through Scopus and Web of Science. The UK emerged as the leading contributing country, with the United States and Canada ranking second and third. ‘McGill University’ was the most frequently affiliated institution, followed by the ‘University of Manchester’ and the ‘University of Oxford’, with seven UK universities among the top ten. The three journals most frequently publishing CPRD-based research overall, and since 2020, were ‘BMJ Open’, ‘Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety’ and ‘British Journal of General Practice’. Analyses of primary care data sources utilisation revealed that overall, 86.35% of manuscripts used CPRD GOLD exclusively, 8.39% used both CPRD GOLD and CPRD Aurum, and 4.76% used CPRD Aurum alone, although recent years showed an increased use of CPRD Aurum. Between 2016 and 2024, most articles (80.26%) were associated with CPRD research applications that referenced linked or CPRD algorithm-derived datasets. The three most frequently used were ‘Hospital Episode Statistics’ (69.77%), ‘Small Area Linkages’ (62.27%) and ‘Office for National Statistics’ mortality data (53.28%).

PMID:41579286 | DOI:10.1007/s10654-025-01347-1

Eur J Epidemiol. 2026 Jan 24. doi: 10.1007/s10654-025-01348-0. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Individuals with mental disorders face a substantially higher risk of mortality and are more likely to be lonely, socially isolated, and with low social support compared to those without mental disorders. We aimed to quantify the extent to which the observed mortality gap associated with mental disorders could be explained by these social factors. This cohort study included 162,483 participants from the Danish National Health Survey in 2013 and 2017 who were followed for six years after survey participation. Survey data on social disconnection (loneliness, social isolation, social support in the form of perceived emotional support, and a composite measure) was linked with register data on hospital-diagnosed mental disorders and mortality. We applied G-computation-based causal decomposition to compare the sex-specific relative risk of mortality associated with mental disorders under a natural course to a counterfactual scenario in which all individuals had a distribution of social disconnection similar to individuals without mental disorders. We found that social disconnection and the distribution of loneliness, social isolation, and social support accounted for 10-34% of the mortality gap associated with mental disorders among men and 2-20% among women, assuming a causal effect of social disconnection on mortality. The largest contributions were found for social isolation and loneliness, whereas the smallest were found for social support. Our results highlight the possibility that different aspects of social disconnection, especially social isolation and loneliness, could explain part of the mortality gap associated with mental disorders, with larger contributions among men than women.

PMID:41579285 | DOI:10.1007/s10654-025-01348-0

Discov Oncol. 2026 Jan 24. doi: 10.1007/s12672-026-04420-7. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of perioperative somatostatin versus octreotide in peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) patients after cytoreductive surgery (CRS) + hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC).

METHODS: Peritoneal cancer patients treated with CRS + HIPEC were divided into two groups (somatostatin group and octreotide group). The postoperative gastric drainage volume, levels of inflammatory factors, perioperative safety and adverse effects were compared between two groups.

RESULTS: There were 48 (54.5%) patients in the somatostatin group and 40 (45.4%) in the octreotide group. There was no statistically significant difference in the postoperative gastric drainage volume between two groups. The median time to exhaust and defecation (7 d) was comparable between two groups (3-14 d in the somatostatin group and 4-13 d in the octreotide group). There were significant differences in the serum amylase level on postoperative day 3 (P = 0.044), and white blood cell level and neutrophil percentage at every monitoring time. The serious adverse events (SAEs) were similar and there were no long-term follow-up results between two groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Somatostatin and octreotide analogues appear to decrease the duration of enterocutaneous fistulas, but their application in PC patients after CRS + HIPEC might reduce SAEs.

PMID:41579284 | DOI:10.1007/s12672-026-04420-7