Category: Statistics

J Evid Based Soc Work (2019). 2026 Jun 28:1-20. doi: 10.1080/26408066.2026.2692572. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Involving community members with lived experience of social issues or services is crucial to improve social work education, however no published studies have examined this specifically within simulated learning environments. This study examined student perspectives on community member involvement in simulations.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: This quantitative and qualitative study surveyed current and alumni Bachelor of Social Work students about their perspectives of engaging in simulations with community members through an online questionnaire. Sampling was purposive from a target of 200 students reached through online advertisement. Fifty-eight responses were received. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data, inferential statistics (t-test and ANOVA) to compare groups, and Cohen’s d to assess effect size, while thematic analysis was applied to qualitative data.

RESULT: High mean scores indicate that simulations were perceived as effective in preparing students for real practice (M = 8.34), more impactful than role plays (M = 8.54), and increased awareness of diversity and difference (M = 7.64), cultural sensitivity (M = 7.53), and comfort working with the community (M = 7.16). Themes reflect the benefits and challenges of having real-life situations in the classroom.

DISCUSSION: Students valued the authenticity of lived experience knowledge as central to their learning. Read through a decolonial lens, results represent a challenge to the epistemic hierarchies that have historically determined whose knowledge counts in education.

CONCLUSION: Social work programs must move toward building sustained, equitable, accountable and reciprocal partnerships with communities. Future research could target a larger sample to increase generalizability of findings.

PMID:42365550 | DOI:10.1080/26408066.2026.2692572

Vet Med Sci. 2026 Jul;12(4):e71067. doi: 10.1002/vms3.71067.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Ethnoveterinary medicine (EVM) remains central to livestock health management in Afar region of Ethiopia. However, this Indigenous knowledge is increasingly threatened by environmental degradation and socio-cultural transformation. This study aimed to document medicinal plants used by pastoralists in the Megale district, Afar region, Ethiopia.

METHODS: Ethnobotanical data were collected through semi-structured interviews and field observations involving 13 key informants. Medicinal plant specimens were collected and identified, and their nomenclature was verified using Plants of the World Online following the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification system. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and quantitative ethnobotanical indices, including informant consensus factor (ICF), fidelity level (FL) and relative importance (RI).

RESULTS: Twenty-seven medicinal plant species belonging to 14 families were documented. Euphorbiaceae (35.71%) and Fabaceae (28.57%) were the most represented families. Leaves were the most frequently utilized plant part (54.55%), and crushing was the predominant preparation method (61.77%). Dermal and oral routes accounted for over 70% of administrations. Wound management involved the highest number of plant species (20%), whereas musculoskeletal disorders showed the highest informant consensus (ICF = 0.67). Balanites rotundifolia (RI = 0.88) and Calotropis procera (RI = 0.78) were the most culturally important species.

CONCLUSION: Ethnoveterinary medicinal plants remain integral to livestock healthcare in Megale district. High cultural consensus highlights key species priorities for conservation and future pharmacological investigation. The concentration of knowledge among elderly informants underscores the urgency of documentation, conservation and integration into community-based veterinary services.

PMID:42365533 | DOI:10.1002/vms3.71067

Echocardiography. 2026 Jul;43(7):e70527. doi: 10.1111/echo.70527.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Automated right ventricular (RV) analysis in 2D echocardiography is limited by the morphological complexity of RV segmentation and the domain fragility of single-center deep learning models across ultrasound vendors. No prior framework has jointly addressed both challenges for RV-specific segmentation.

OBJECTIVES: To develop and prospectively validate TACA-Net (Bi-Phase Adversarial Cross-Attention Network), a unified multi-center framework for simultaneous RV endocardial segmentation and three-class functional severity classification (normal, mildly reduced, significantly reduced) in 2D apical four-chamber echocardiography.

METHODS: Data were prospectively collected from three clinical sites within a single tertiary hospital network, each equipped with a different ultrasound vendor. Centers A and B (n = 1,240 patients) were used for training and 5-fold cross-validation; Center C (n = 320 patients) served as the fully held-out external test set. TACA-Net integrates a gradient reversal layer-based domain discriminator for vendor-agnostic feature learning, a bidirectional bi-phase cross-attention module encoding the complementary information between end-diastolic and end-systolic representations, and a dual-head decoder jointly optimizing segmentation and classification with an auxiliary bi-phase consistency loss. Performance was benchmarked against six segmentation baselines (U-Net, Attention U-Net, TransUNet, Swin-UNETR, nnU-Net, MACS) and five classification baselines (ResNet-50, EfficientNet-B4, ViT-B/16, segmentation-then-classify pipeline, MACS + head). Primary segmentation endpoints were Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) and Hausdorff Distance 95th percentile (HD95); primary classification endpoint was macro-averaged area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC).

RESULTS: On the external test set, TACA-Net achieved a DSC of 0.903 ± 0.013 and an HD95 of 7.1 ± 1.0 mm for RV segmentation, and a macro-averaged AUC of 0.911 (95% CI: 0.885-0.937) for functional classification, statistically significantly superior to all six segmentation and five classification baselines (all p < 0.01). Ablation analyses demonstrated independent contributions of domain alignment (ΔDSC = -0.038 when removed), bi-phase cross-attention (ΔAUC = -0.032), and multi-task joint training (ΔDSC = -0.014). No significant differential performance was detected across diagnosis subgroups, sex, or image quality strata. GradientSHAP attribution maps revealed highest feature importance in the RV lateral free wall, consistent with established RV pathophysiology. Expected calibration error for TACA-Net was 0.041 on the external test set, the lowest among all classification models evaluated.

CONCLUSIONS: TACA-Net achieves vendor-agnostic RV segmentation and functional classification from routinely acquired 2D echocardiography, with robust multi-vendor generalization demonstrated under rigorous prospective external validation. The framework provides a clinically interpretable and methodologically transparent foundation for AI-assisted right heart assessment at scale.

PMID:42365531 | DOI:10.1111/echo.70527

Arthroscopy. 2026 Jun 28. doi: 10.1002/arj.70359. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To compare clinical outcomes following hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement syndrome using either limited interportal (IP) or T-capsulotomy (TC) technique, with routine capsular closure.

METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included patients ≤50 years old who underwent primary hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement syndrome between May 2021 and January 2024 with a minimum of 12-month follow-up. Patients were treated with either IP or TC, and all underwent standardized capsular repair. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) were collected preoperatively and at final follow-up. Cohort-specific minimum clinically important difference thresholds were calculated for each PROs and compared between groups. Improvements in scores were compared with established thresholds for the patient acceptable symptomatic state (PASS). Statistical significance was set at P < .05.

RESULTS: A total of 116 patients met the inclusion criteria (54 IP, 62 TC; mean age 34.5 ± 8.8 years; 55% female). Mean follow-up was 15.5 ± 5.4 months. Both groups showed significant improvements in all PROs. Although mean improvements were not statistically different, the interportal group showed consistently higher average postoperative scores. Cohort-specific minimum clinically important difference thresholds were achieved at similar rates in both groups, whereas exploratory analyses using previously published PASS thresholds showed higher PASS achievement in the interportal group for International Hip Outcomes Tool (76% vs 54%) and Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System Physical Function (58% vs 46%). No revisions or Clavien-Dindo grade ≥2 complications occurred in either group.

CONCLUSIONS: Both IP and TC techniques led to significant improvements in PROs following hip arthroscopy with capsular repair, with similar rates of cohort-specific minimum clinically important difference achievement and no differences in revision surgery or major complications. Exploratory analyses showed higher PASS rates for International Hip Outcomes Tool and Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System Physical Function in the IP group, suggesting that a more limited capsulotomy may confer functional advantages.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, retrospective comparative case series.

PMID:42365525 | DOI:10.1002/arj.70359

Int J Dermatol. 2026 Jun 28. doi: 10.1111/ijd.70548. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Keloids are an abnormal fibroproliferative disorder that often causes pruritus, pain, and hyperpigmentation, thereby significantly impacting quality of life. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is upregulated in scars and, therefore, can be a potential target for their treatment.

OBJECTIVES: Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intralesional triamcinolone acetonide (TAC) versus intralesional bevacizumab injection in the treatment of post-traumatic keloids.

METHODS: This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 28 adult patients with post-traumatic keloids. Patients were randomized into two groups; one group received intralesional triamcinolone acetonide, and the other received intralesional bevacizumab. Injections were done monthly. Patients received a total of three sessions. Therapeutic efficacy was defined in terms of the modified Vancouver Scar Scale (mVSS), erythema index by spectrophotometry, histopathological evaluation, and biochemical assessment of VEGF, collagen type I, and collagen type III levels.

RESULTS: A statistically significant difference in mVSS was observed between the triamcinolone acetonide and bevacizumab groups, favoring the TAC group. The TAC group showed a significant decrease in VEGF level and an increase in collagen type III after treatment. The bevacizumab group showed significant improvement in the spacing between collagen fibers after treatment. The patient satisfaction score and the physician global assessment revealed superior outcomes regarding intralesional triamcinolone acetonide.

CONCLUSION: Despite the superior results observed with triamcinolone, bevacizumab warrants further investigation to determine whether it can be used for early and vascular keloids or as an adjuvant to optimize results.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT07014280.

PMID:42365524 | DOI:10.1111/ijd.70548

Aust J Prim Health. 2026 Aug 17;32(4):PY25238. doi: 10.1071/PY25238.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Well-implemented vaccination programs can reduce infectious disease burden in an equitable and cost-effective manner. This rapid review used a strengths-based approach to identify enablers and barriers to vaccination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 0-5 years, and identify the characteristics of effective programs to improve vaccination coverage and timeliness.

METHODS: Databases and grey literature sources were searched for articles published between 2013 and 2025. Following screening, an inductive coding process informed by Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis was utilised to consolidate qualitative data.

RESULTS: Twelve studies discussing enablers, barriers and characteristics of successful programs to increase vaccination rates were included. These studies were heterogenous in design and population.

CONCLUSIONS: Despite variability between settings and communities, service access barriers, such as lack of adequate transport and opening hours, were commonly cited throughout the included studies, as well as lack of cultural safety. This review emphasises the value of community ownership and local responsiveness of programs aimed at increasing vaccination timeliness and coverage, and the importance of strengthening the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workforce.

PMID:42365523 | DOI:10.1071/PY25238

Am J Hematol. 2026 Jun 28. doi: 10.1002/ajh.70430. Online ahead of print.

NO ABSTRACT

PMID:42365517 | DOI:10.1002/ajh.70430

Scand J Surg. 2026 Jun 28:14574969261458557. doi: 10.1177/14574969261458557. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: A large variation in surgery rates can be indicative of its overuse. In Finland, surgeries for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and ulnar nerve disorder (UN) are common, but regional differences in their incidence rates remain unexplored. This study examined how the incidence rates of these surgeries vary across hospital districts in Finland to evaluate regional consistency.

METHODS: We compared regional age- and sex-adjusted incidence rates per 100,000 person-years based on data from Finland’s Care Register for Health Care for CTS and UN surgeries from 2010 to 2021, calculated relative to population size as reported by Statistics Finland. The study included 21 hospital districts in Finland.

RESULTS: During the 4-year period from 2018 to 2021, the difference between the lowest (99.6 cases per 100,000 person-years (95% confidence interval (CI) 80.7-122)) and the highest (351 cases per 100,000 person-years (95% CI 336-367)) adjusted incidence rates for CTS surgery was 3.5-fold, with a median adjusted incidence rate of 213 cases per 100,000 person-years. Over the same period, the difference between the lowest (1.04 cases per 100,000 person-year (95% CI 0.03-5.78)) and the highest (81.9 cases per 100,000 person-years (95% CI 73.2-91.5)) adjusted incidence rates for UN surgery was up to 79-fold, with a median adjusted incidence rate of 17.8 cases per 100,000 person-years.

CONCLUSIONS: Surgery for CTS shows up to a 3.5-fold variation across Finland’s hospital districts. Although less common in absolute numbers, surgical treatment rates for UN vary up to 79-fold among these regions. Such significant variations are unlikely to be attributed solely to differences in population morbidity. Instead, the findings indicate that the criteria for performing these surgeries vary considerably across the Finland’s hospital districts, suggesting a potential overuse in certain areas.

PMID:42365503 | DOI:10.1177/14574969261458557

J Nurs Manag. 2026;2026(1):e8184283. doi: 10.1155/jonm/8184283.

ABSTRACT

Digital services allow patients to efficiently access healthcare. These services work more effectively than traditional paper-based systems by delivering better patient outcomes, helping address global health challenges, and promoting the universal adoption of health technology. This study examined the impact of digital healthcare adoption and service quality on patient satisfaction in Pakistan’s public healthcare sector and the moderating effect of telehealth services on this relationship. This study adopted the technology acceptance model to understand technology sophistication and how electronic medical records, digital patient systems, and technology impact healthcare through efficiency and communication. Simultaneously, the study examined the role of doctor services, nurse services, pharmacy services, and laboratory services in the patient experience. Random sampling techniques were employed, and questionnaires were distributed to 573 respondents across five central districts of Punjab, Pakistan. The hypotheses were tested using IBM SPSS Statistics, Amos, and structural equation modeling. These findings show that digital healthcare adoption and service quality significantly improve patient satisfaction, whereas telehealth services reinforce these relationships by overcoming geographical and logistical hurdles. The conclusions of this study offer pragmatic guidance to policymakers and healthcare administrators for devising digital healthcare strategies to improve patient outcomes.

PMID:42365466 | DOI:10.1155/jonm/8184283

J Nurs Manag. 2026;2026(1):e3021423. doi: 10.1155/jonm/3021423.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Postgraduate education is critical for advancing nursing competence, yet enrolment has declined as nurses struggle to balance clinical, academic and personal responsibilities. Workplace learning offers a flexible, context-driven alternative, allowing nurses to integrate academic development into their clinical practice and potentially mitigating work-life conflicts. However, adoption of structured workplace learning remains limited across healthcare organisations.

AIM: This study aimed to explore how workplace learning can be integrated into healthcare settings to inform curriculum design, resource allocation and organisational support in postgraduate nursing education.

DESIGN AND METHODS: An explanatory sequential mixed-methods study comprising a single-cohort quantitative pre-post knowledge assessment and repeated competence assessments, followed by qualitative focus groups to explain implementation enablers and barriers. Twenty-three postgraduate nurses enrolled in a 13-week workplace learning course participated; 22 completed the study. Quantitative data were analysed with nonparametric statistics, while qualitative data underwent thematic analysis.

RESULTS: We observed a slight improvement in median knowledge scores and increasing competence scores across four time points. As this was a single-group evaluation without a control group, quantitative findings cannot be interpreted as causal effects. Qualitative analysis generated three themes: (1) learning and assessment, (2) integration of workplace learning in the organisation and (3) organisational impact on workplace learning.

CONCLUSION: Workplace learning was feasible and valued when supported by peer learning structures, appropriately timed assessments and organisational enablers such as protected time, adequate infrastructure and leadership support.

PMID:42365465 | DOI:10.1155/jonm/3021423