Category: Statistics

BMC Pediatr. 2026 Jan 23. doi: 10.1186/s12887-026-06536-9. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is integral to the management of pediatric hematologic malignancies and non-malignant disease, but infection is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study is to assess the application of antimicrobial agents in pediatric HSCT.

METHODS: This multicenter retrospective observational cohort study was conducted across 21 hospitals in China. We included pediatric patients who underwent HSCT and received antimicrobial treatment between January 2023 and April 2024. The study collected and analyzed data on patients’ disease types, antibiotic use, antifungal drug use, and treatment durations, with subgroup analysis based on age. Statistical analysis was performed using Python 3.13.

RESULTS: We included a total of 186 patients with 73 patients in the tumor group and 113 patients in the non-tumor group. The most frequent disease in the tumor group was acute lymphoblastic leukemia (37 patients, 50.68%), and the most frequent disease in the non-tumor group was mucopolysaccharidosis (48 patients, 42.48%). The antibiotic piperacillin-tazobactam (136 prescriptions, 63.85%) and antifungal agents fluconazole (118 prescriptions) and voriconazole (72 prescriptions, 36.36%) were the most frequently applied antibiotics and antifungal agents, respectively. In patients receiving antibacterial therapy, the median treatment period was 10 days, and the majority of patients were found to have treatment periods of between 7 and 14 days. This corresponded to a non-significant trend toward longer treatment in school-age children compared with infants (10 vs. 8 days).

CONCLUSION: In pediatric HSCT recipients, antibacterial and antifungal therapy is predominantly broad-spectrum with moderate durations; school-age children have slightly longer courses without significant differences.

PMID:41578231 | DOI:10.1186/s12887-026-06536-9

BMC Infect Dis. 2026 Jan 23. doi: 10.1186/s12879-026-12521-5. Online ahead of print.

NO ABSTRACT

PMID:41578214 | DOI:10.1186/s12879-026-12521-5

BMC Med Res Methodol. 2026 Jan 23. doi: 10.1186/s12874-026-02771-x. Online ahead of print.

NO ABSTRACT

PMID:41578196 | DOI:10.1186/s12874-026-02771-x

BMC Med Res Methodol. 2026 Jan 24. doi: 10.1186/s12874-025-02760-6. Online ahead of print.

NO ABSTRACT

PMID:41578192 | DOI:10.1186/s12874-025-02760-6

Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2026 Jan 23. doi: 10.1002/acn3.70313. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: SOX1 antibody-positive paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNS) exhibit significant population-specific clinical heterogeneity. While Western cohorts predominantly manifest Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (65%-80%), comprehensive clinical characterization and treatment response data in Asian populations remain critically limited.

METHODS: We conducted a single-center retrospective case series analyzing 13 consecutive patients with SOX1 antibody-positive PNS treated at Guangdong Sanjiu Brain Hospital from January 2019 to December 2024. SOX1 antibodies were confirmed using commercial immunoblot assay. Primary endpoints included treatment response (≥ 1-point improvement on modified Rankin Scale [mRS]) and functional recovery (mRS ≤ 2). Statistical analyses employed Fisher’s exact tests and Mann-Whitney U tests.

RESULTS: Among 13 patients (median age 61 years [IQR 56-67], 53.8% female), neuropsychiatric presentations predominated, including seizures (46.2%) and psychiatric symptoms (30.8%), with combined neuropsychiatric manifestations occurring in 53.8% of patients. Co-existing neuronal antibodies were identified in 15.4% of cases (GABAB receptor, LGI1). Malignancy was confirmed in 30.8% of patients. Immunotherapy recipients (n = 7) demonstrated significantly superior functional outcomes compared to non-treated patients: median 3-month mRS 0 (IQR 0-0) versus 3 (IQR 3-3), p = 0.03. Treatment response rates were 85.7% versus 33.3% (p = 0.103).

CONCLUSIONS: Chinese patients with SOX1 antibody-positive PNS demonstrate a neuropsychiatric-predominant phenotype (53.8%), contrasting markedly with Western cohorts. Early immunotherapy administration was associated with superior functional outcomes (median 3-month mRS: 0 vs. 3, p = 0.03). These findings support comprehensive neuronal antibody profiling and early immunotherapy consideration in patients presenting with neuropsychiatric manifestations.

PMID:41578161 | DOI:10.1002/acn3.70313

World J Biol Psychiatry. 2026 Jan 23:1-9. doi: 10.1080/15622975.2026.2617200. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Suicidal behaviour, including completed suicide and attempted suicide, is affected by genetic factors, involving serotonergic system genes. TPH2 gene encodes tryptophan hydroxylase 2, rate-limiting brain serotonin synthetising enzyme whose pre-mRNAs are edited by ADAR enzymes, including ADARB1. TPH2 rs4290270 and ADARB1 rs9983925/rs4819035 variants have been previously implicated in suicide attempt in Serbian psychiatric patients. Our aim was to investigate whether these variants could also contribute to genetic predisposition for a more extreme phenotype-completed suicide differentiated by violent and non-violent method-in a Slovenian cohort.

METHODS: Genotyping of TPH2 rs4290270 and ADARB1 rs9983925/rs4819035 was performed on sample including 333 suicide completers (305 violent and 28 non-violent), and 357 non-suicidal autopsy controls from Slovenia. Statistical analyses were performed in PLINK ver. 1.9.

RESULTS: TPH2 rs4290270 AA genotype increased the risk of completed suicide compared to controls (p = 0.032/0.031^corrected), mainly driven by violent suicide (p = 0.045/0.044^corrected). Preliminary, ADARB1 rs4819035 GT and GG genotypes increased the risk of non-violent completed suicide compared to controls (p = 0.015/0.011^corrected), and to violent completed suicide (p = 0.026/0.022^corrected).

CONCLUSION: TPH2 and ADARB1 genetic variants shape different genetic backgrounds in different types of suicidal behaviour, completed and attempted suicide. Preliminary, these variants might also differentiate between various methods of completed suicide, violent and non-violent.

PMID:41578154 | DOI:10.1080/15622975.2026.2617200

Scand J Caring Sci. 2026 Mar;40(1):e70190. doi: 10.1111/scs.70190.

ABSTRACT

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Patients’ perspectives on quality of care are vital, and cross-country comparisons of inpatient settings can provide valuable insights. This study aims to describe and compare Norwegian and Swedish patients’ perceptions of the quality of their inpatient mental healthcare. It also explores how admission status (voluntary vs. involuntary), demographics and clinical characteristics are associated with these perceptions.

ETHICAL ISSUES AND APPROVAL: The study adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki and received approval from the Regional Ethical Committees in both countries.

RESEARCH METHODS: A cross-sectional, descriptive-comparative design was applied. Adult inpatients meeting inclusion criteria were recruited from 21 mental health hospital wards in Norway and Sweden using convenience sampling. Data were collected using the validated Quality in Psychiatric Care-Inpatient (QPC-IP) instrument. Of 354 returned questionnaires, 40 were excluded due to missing data, leaving 155 Norwegian and 159 Swedish for analysis. Descriptive statistics and inferential analyses were conducted to examine differences (p ≤ 0.05).

OUTCOME MEASURES: Perceived quality of mental healthcare, measured with the QPC-IP.

RESULTS: Norwegian patients reported significantly higher perceived quality of care than Swedish patients across all QPC-IP dimensions: Encounter, Participation, Discharge, Support, Secluded Environment and Secure Environment. Significant interactions between country and admission status were observed on the Support and Discharge dimensions, with involuntarily admitted Swedish patients reporting the lowest quality of care.

STUDY LIMITATIONS: Although the study included multiple hospitals in both countries, the sample size was relatively small. While not designed to yield generalisable results, the limited sample may still restrict transferability. Data was collected during different time periods, which may have introduced time-related variation.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings reveal significant differences in perceived quality of mental healthcare between the two settings, underscoring the need to explore factors contributing to these disparities.

PMID:41578152 | DOI:10.1111/scs.70190

Nat Commun. 2026 Jan 23. doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-68707-7. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Brain age prediction has been widely utilized to assess functional connectivity (FC) development, but conventional global brain age indices are limited in capturing spatial heterogeneity across the cortex. This study introduces a regional brain development index to characterize fine-grained FC maturation across cortical regions. We examined its spatial variability and stratified individuals into subtypes with distinct region-wise FC developmental patterns. Using data from the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort (ages 8-23 years), we identified three distinct subtypes and found that individuals with advanced FC developmental pattern aligning with the sensorimotor-association axis exhibited superior cognitive performance. Robustness was confirmed through replication in the Human Connectome Project Development cohort. Further analyses revealed associations between FC development and gene expression linked to neural differentiation, synaptogenesis, and myelination. These findings suggest that spatial heterogeneity in FC development reflects cortical microstructure and hierarchical organization, underscoring its critical role in neurocognitive maturation during youth.

PMID:41578132 | DOI:10.1038/s41467-026-68707-7

Nat Commun. 2026 Jan 23. doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-68714-8. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Despite decades of neuroimaging research, how white matter develops along the length of major tracts in humans remains unknown. Here, we identify fundamental patterns of white matter maturation by examining developmental variation along major, long-range cortico-cortical tracts in youth ages 5-23 years using diffusion MRI from three large-scale, cross-sectional datasets (total N = 2716). Across datasets, we delineate two replicable axes of human white matter development. First, we find a deep-to-superficial axis, in which superficial tract regions near the cortical surface exhibit greater age-related change than deep tract regions. Second, we demonstrate that the development of superficial tract regions aligns with the cortical hierarchy defined by the sensorimotor-association axis, with tract ends adjacent to sensorimotor cortices maturing earlier than those adjacent to association cortices. These results reveal developmental variation along tracts that conventional tract-average analyses have previously obscured, challenging the implicit assumption that white matter tracts mature uniformly along their length. Such developmental variation along tracts may have functional implications, including mitigating ephaptic coupling in densely packed deep tract regions and tuning neural synchrony through hierarchical development in superficial tract regions – ultimately refining neural transmission in youth.

PMID:41578121 | DOI:10.1038/s41467-026-68714-8

J Gen Intern Med. 2026 Jan 23. doi: 10.1007/s11606-026-10172-5. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Opioid use disorder (OUD) is responsible for significant morbidity and mortality in the USA. Hospitalization rates for patients with OUD have increased over the recent decades. Those with OUD have a substantially higher rate of patient-directed discharge (PDD) than those without OUD. There have been mixed results when examining the association between inpatient MOUD and PDD.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between inpatient MOUD and the rate of PDD among patients without evidence of MOUD treatment prior to hospitalization.

DESIGN: Retrospective study comparing admissions receiving inpatient MOUD and propensity score-matched control admissions who did not receive MOUD.

SUBJECTS: Two thousand seven hundred seventy-one admissions with a diagnosis of OUD and without evidence of prior MOUD treatment were compared to 2771 propensity-matched admissions.

INTERVENTION: Provision of inpatient MOUD, either buprenorphine or methadone during admission.

MAIN MEASURES: Primary outcome was patient-directed discharge. Secondary outcomes were buprenorphine prescription at discharge, buprenorphine prescription within 60 days of discharge, admission into an outpatient methadone program within 30 days of discharge, 30-day readmission, and 30-day post-discharge ED visit.

KEY RESULTS: Among 5542 admissions with OUD and no evidence of MOUD prior to admission, those that received inpatient MOUD were significantly less likely to have a PDD (11.9% vs 14.4%; OR 0.80 [CI 0.67-0.96]) and significantly more likely to receive a discharge prescription for buprenorphine (8.6% vs 1.2%; OR 8.04 [CI 5.52-11.71]) and another buprenorphine prescription within 60 days of discharge (5.5% vs 1.1%; OR 5.09 [CI 3.35-7.74]), compared with control admissions who did not receive MOUD. Inpatient MOUD was not significantly associated with admission into an outpatient methadone program within 30 days, 30-day readmission, and 30-day post-discharge ED visit.

CONCLUSIONS: Receipt of inpatient MOUD was associated with a statistically significant reduction in PDD among those with OUD and without evidence of MOUD before admission when compared with propensity-matched admissions which did not receive inpatient MOUD.

PMID:41578099 | DOI:10.1007/s11606-026-10172-5