Category: Statistics

JMIR Med Inform. 2025 Jul 4;13:e62710. doi: 10.2196/62710.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Concerns have been expressed about the abundance of new clinical prediction models (CPMs) proposed in the literature. However, the extent of this proliferation in prediction research remains unclear.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to estimate the total and annual number of CPM development-related publications available across all medical fields.

METHODS: Using a validated search strategy, we conducted a systematic search of literature for prediction model studies published in Pubmed and Embase between 1995 and the end of 2020. By taking random samples for each year, we identified eligible studies that developed a multivariable model (ie, diagnostic or prognostic) for individual-level prediction of a health outcome across all medical fields. Exclusion criteria included development of models with a single predictor, studies not involving humans, methodological studies, conference abstracts, articles with unavailable full text, and those not available in English. We estimated the total and annual number of published regression-based multivariable CPM development articles, based on the total number of publications, proportion of included articles, and the search sensitivity. Furthermore, we used an adjusted Poisson regression to extrapolate our results to the period 1950-2024. Additionally, we estimated the number of articles that developed CPMs using techniques other than regression (eg, machine learning).

RESULTS: From a random sample of 10,660 articles published between 1995 and 2020, 109 regression-based CPM development articles were included. We estimated that 82,772 (95% CI 65,313-100,231) CPM development articles using regression were published, with an acceleration in model development from 2010 onward. With the addition of articles that developed non-regression-based CPMs, the number increased to 147,714 (95% CI 125,201-170,226). After extrapolation to the years 1950-2024, the number of articles increased to 156,673 and 248,431 for regression-based models and total CPMs, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Based on a representative sample of publications from the literature, we estimated that nearly 250,000 articles reporting the development of CPMs across all medical fields were published until 2024. CPM development-related publications continue to increase in number. To prevent research waste and close the gap between research and clinical practice, focus should shift away from developing new CPMs to facilitating model validation and impact assessment of the plethora of existing CPMs. Limitations of this study include restriction of search to articles available in English and development of the validated search strategy prior to the popularity of artificial intelligence and machine learning models.

PMID:40614260 | DOI:10.2196/62710

Cir Cir. 2025 Jul 4. doi: 10.24875/CIRU.24000028. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of the neck specific exercise (NSE) program through telerehabilitation on the functional recovery of adults with grade I and II acute cervical sprain at the first level of care.

METHODS: Quasi-experimental before-and-after study in a family medicine unit. Subjects with grade I and II cervical sprain were included, and a specific telerehabilitation program for the neck was applied. The effect of the program on functionality and pain was determined by means of the neck disability index and the visual analog scale. Program participants completed a 6-week intervention that included five weekly sessions, performing baseline measurements, at 2 and 6 weeks.

RESULTS: The EEC program using telerehabilitation after 6 weeks demonstrated a statistically significant decrease compared to baseline measurement in functional recovery (11 points) and pain (6.5 points).

CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the application of the EEC program through telerehabilitation is effective in both improving functional recovery and reducing pain in patients with grade I and II acute cervical sprain at the first level of care.

PMID:40614245 | DOI:10.24875/CIRU.24000028

Am Surg. 2025 Jul 4:31348251358431. doi: 10.1177/00031348251358431. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveThe gold standard for resuscitation in traumatic hemorrhagic shock is 1:1:1 transfusion (FFP:PLT:RBC). However, this practice guideline was established based on patients who received low-volume blood transfusions. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the relationship of transfusion ratios on mortality in trauma patients undergoing ultra-massive transfusion (UMT) (≥20 units of red blood cell product/24 hours).MethodsA multicenter retrospective review of patients receiving UMT was conducted across 11 level I trauma centers from 2016 to 2024. Patients were analyzed based on the following categories: FFP:RBC or Platelet:RBC <1:2 (low), 1:2-1:1 (moderate), and ≥1:1 (high). The primary outcome of interest was mortality.ResultsAcross the centers, 1155 patients received UMT with an overall mortality rate of 62.9%. They were predominantly males (81.6%) with a median age of 32 years (IQR 25-48). The majority (72.4%) received moderate FFP:RBC transfusion ratios and either low (44.8%) or moderate (42.6%) Platelet:RBC ratios. As Platelet:RBC ratio trended higher, the mortality rate decreased with a 24-hour mortality of 70.8% in the low group, 59.1% in the moderate, and 47.6% in the high. Transfusion ratio of Platelet:RBC was an independent risk factor for mortality, with OR 0.54 in the moderate group (P < 0.001) and OR 0.39 in the higher group (P < 0.001).ConclusionOur analysis utilizes one of the largest, multicenter cohorts of UMT patients and found a statistically significant decrease in mortality with more balanced Platelet:RBC transfusion ratios. These findings suggest that perhaps earlier and more aggressive transfusion of platelets may confer a survival benefit for trauma patients undergoing UMT.

PMID:40614227 | DOI:10.1177/00031348251358431

J Chem Inf Model. 2025 Jul 4. doi: 10.1021/acs.jcim.5c00291. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Organic semiconductors (OSCs) composed of π conjugated molecules have attracted significant interest in studying bulk properties such as molecular arrangements and electron mobility. However, current traditional force fields (FFs) offer limited torsion types, failing to cover the full chemical space of π conjugated molecules and hindering further molecular dynamics simulation in deducing bulk properties through statistical mechanics. In this study, we introduce OSCFF, a GAFF2-compatible FF that supports diverse torsions for conjugated molecules and enables high-accuracy RESP charge prediction through a neural network (NN). To develop the OSCFF, we construct two expansive and diverse molecular data sets: one consists of around 56,000 fragment geometries with torsion profiles and another consists of around 472,000 optimized molecular geometries with RESP charges. Using these data sets, we train NN models to predict RESP charges and fit the missing dihedral parameters in GAFF2 through automatic differentiation techniques. We further demonstrate that OSCFF achieves high accuracy in predicting torsional energy profiles, RESP charges, and radial distribution functions for conjugated systems. Additionally, we release the data sets, dihedral parameters, and RESP model as open-source resources. We believe OSCFF will serve as a valuable tool for advancing the study of bulk properties in OSCs.

PMID:40614220 | DOI:10.1021/acs.jcim.5c00291

Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being. 2025 Dec;20(1):2508421. doi: 10.1080/17482631.2025.2508421. Epub 2025 Jul 4.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The DenBalo study in Burkina Faso aimed to examine biological vulnerability in preterm versus full-term newborns but recorded fewer preterm births than expected based on routine health centre statistics. To investigate this discrepancy, a qualitative study was conducted to understand how healthcare workers assess gestational age in urban Burkina Faso.

METHODS: Ten in-depth interviews and four focus groups were conducted with health workers across four centres in Bobo-Dioulasso. Thematic analysis revealed five key themes: definitions of preterm birth, gestational age estimation methods, preterm birth reporting, care challenges, and proposed improvements.

RESULTS: Health workers varied in their definitions of preterm birth, using either gestational age (<37 weeks) or birth weight (<2.5 kg). Gestational age is often estimated from the last menstrual period, though considered unreliable. While early ultrasound is preferred for its accuracy, limited access leads to reliance on less precise fundal height measurements. Documentation of preterm births is inconsistent, and challenges include data collection issues, resource shortages, and parental reluctance to seek specialized care. Respondents emphasized the need for greater community awareness, improved infrastructure, and ongoing staff training to enhance preterm care.

CONCLUSION: Standardized gestational age estimation and improved data recording can enhance preterm birth surveillance and help reduce neonatal mortality in low-resource settings.

PMID:40614168 | DOI:10.1080/17482631.2025.2508421

Biom J. 2025 Aug;67(4):e70065. doi: 10.1002/bimj.70065.

ABSTRACT

In medical, ecological, and psychological research, there is a need for methods to handle multiple testing, for example, to consider group comparisons with more than two groups. Typical approaches that deal with multiple testing are mean- or variance-based which can be less effective in the context of heavy-tailed and skewed data. Here, the median is the preferred measure of location and the interquartile range (IQR) is an adequate alternative to the variance. Therefore, it may be fruitful to formulate research questions of interest in terms of the median or the IQR. For this reason, we compare different inference approaches for two-sided and noninferiority hypotheses formulated in terms of medians or IQRs in an extensive simulation study. We consider multiple contrast testing procedures combined with a bootstrap method as well as testing procedures with Bonferroni correction. As an example of a multiple testing problem based on heavy-tailed data, we analyze an ecological trait variation in early and late breeding in a medium-sized bird of prey.

PMID:40614164 | DOI:10.1002/bimj.70065

IEEE Trans Cybern. 2025 Jul 4;PP. doi: 10.1109/TCYB.2025.3581309. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Domain adaptation (DA) techniques are becoming increasingly proficient in cross-domain fault diagnosis tasks. However, DA-based methods are not always applicable due to the target domain data is not always accessible. Although there have been some interesting domain generalization methods for fault diagnosis under unseen conditions, most of them can only be used to mine the fault features on source domain distributions, and the improvement of model generalization performance is limited. To solve this problem, the multiplicative noise Gaussian perturbation strategy and the additive noise linear fusion strategy are proposed to capture fault information beyond source domain distributions. The former is used to randomly perturb feature statistics of multisource domains to simulate the uncertainty of domain shift, while the latter is used to perform the additive noise linear operation on feature statistics of multiple source domains to ensure the authenticity of the generated feature styles. Further, the feature statistics generated by both strategies are mixed with random convex weights to obtain new feature styles, achieving the best compromise between reliability and diversity. The network can learn more fault information from features with diversified styles. Extensive experimental results on both public and real datasets verify the effectiveness of our approach.

PMID:40614158 | DOI:10.1109/TCYB.2025.3581309

Med Sci Monit. 2025 Jul 4;31:e947895. doi: 10.12659/MSM.947895.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND Infertility is defined as the absence of pregnancy despite unprotected, regular sexual intercourse of couples of reproductive age for at least 1 year. Infertility may be unexplained or linked to anovulation/polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). PCOS can involve the processes of inflammation, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome. This study compared serum levels of afamin, asprosin, and pentraxin3 (PTX3) between women with PCOS and women with unexplained infertility to elucidate underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. MATERIAL AND METHODS Our study included 106 women: 55 with unexplained infertility and 51 with PCOS. Using the electrochemiluminescence immunoassay method, we assessed the levels of estradiol, follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, and anti-Mullerian hormone. Afamin, asprosin, and PTX3 levels were measured by ELISA. RESULTS Age, fasting glucose levels, and body mass index (BMI) of the groups were statistically similar. Anti-Mullerian hormone, antral follicle count, and LH levels were higher (P<0.05) in the PCOS group. Afamin and PTX3 levels were higher in the PCOS group (P<0.05), while asprosin levels were similar. CONCLUSIONS Our study demonstrates the importance of afamin associated with oxidative stress and the PTX3, which plays a role in the regulation of humoral immune responses, in the etiology of infertility cases. Afamin and PTX3 should be evaluated in ovulatory and non-ovulatory PCOS cycles to facilitate treatment and to elucidate the ovulation and implantation processes in PCOS. These recommendations specifically include dividing PCOS patients into subgroups such as diabetogenic, obese, and hirsute, and re-examining biochemical markers accordingly.

PMID:40614140 | DOI:10.12659/MSM.947895

Cancer. 2025 Jul 15;131(14):e35967. doi: 10.1002/cncr.35967.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Assessment of sexual dysfunction among adult male survivors of childhood cancer has primarily been limited to erectile dysfunction. This study aimed to characterize sexual functioning more comprehensively among a large population of male survivors of childhood cancer.

METHODS: Male survivors (N = 1595, 22.0-59.4 years, median age, 37.8 years) and siblings (N = 269, 21.5-60.8 years, median age, 38.9 years) from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study completed the Sexual Functioning Questionnaire (SFQ) to assess interest, desire, arousal, satisfaction, activity, orgasm, masturbation, relationship, and problems. Poor sexual functioning was defined as SFQ Total scores >2 standard deviations below siblings’ mean. Multivariable logistic regression identified risk factors for poor sexual function.

RESULTS: Survivors (8.3%) were more likely to report poor sexual functioning as compared to siblings (4.9%, odds ratio [OR], 1.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1-3.4) and reported lower SFQ total scores (p < .001) and lower means on seven subscales. Poor sexual functioning among survivors was associated with older age (40-49 years: OR, 3.81; 95% CI, 1.78-8.18; 50-59 years: OR, 6.45; 95% CI, 2.28-18.30), not being married (OR, 4.39; 95% CI, 2.66-7.26), lower education (OR, 3.07; 95% CI, 1.32-7.14), learning/memory problems (OR, 1.83; 95% CI, 1.02-3.27), and high-dose cranial (≥40 Gy: OR, 3.45; 95% CI, 1.58-7.51) or high-dose testicular (≥10 Gy: OR, 4.16; 95% CI, 1.66-10.39) radiation.

CONCLUSIONS: Adult male survivors report poor sexual functioning at twice the rate expected before age 60 years. High-dose cranial or testicular radiation, as well as social and cognitive factors, contributes to risk. Improved awareness of sexual dysfunction prevalence and risk factors in male childhood cancer survivors can help clinicians better assess and treat those at highest risk.

PMID:40614134 | DOI:10.1002/cncr.35967

CPT Pharmacometrics Syst Pharmacol. 2025 Jul 4. doi: 10.1002/psp4.70051. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Rimegepant is a small-molecule calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor antagonist approved for acute and preventive migraine treatment in adults, administered as an orally disintegrating tablet (ODT). A population pharmacokinetic analysis was performed to describe rimegepant’s plasma concentration-time course and to estimate covariate effects on rimegepant exposure. The model was developed/evaluated in 3 stages using data from 11 phase 1 clinical studies, wherein rimegepant was administered orally to healthy adults, elderly people with stable chronic illness(es), adults with renal or hepatic dysfunction, and healthy adults with Japanese or Chinese ethnicity. Plasma concentration-time data were analyzed using nonlinear mixed effects modeling. A 2-compartment model with 4 transit compartments and a first-order absorption best described the rimegepant plasma concentration-time course. Estimated typical values (%relative standard error) were apparent clearance (CL/F) = 24.1 L/h (4.86%), apparent central volume of distribution (V_c/F) = 114.0 L (5.36%), apparent inter-compartmental clearance (Q/F) = 3.94 L/h (6.37%), apparent peripheral volume of distribution (V_p/F) = 46.0 L (5.30%), absorption rate constant (k_a) = 3.86 h^-1 (28.4%), and transit absorption rate constant (ktr) = 8.23 h^-1 (8.24%). Statistically significant covariates included empirical allometric body weight-based scaling exponents (0.75 for CL/F and Q/F and 1 for V_c/F and V_p/F); severe/moderate hepatic impairment and fluconazole/itraconazole co-administration on CL/F; fed status, dose on relative bioavailability; and fed status, itraconazole co-administration, and capsule and ODT formulations on transition absorption rate constant. Only severe hepatic impairment and co-administration of itraconazole resulted in a clinically significant decrease in rimegepant CL/F, supporting the recommendation to avoid rimegepant administration in patients with severe hepatic impairment or with a strong CYP3A4 inhibitor.

PMID:40614133 | DOI:10.1002/psp4.70051