BMC Cancer. 2025 Feb 18;25(1):292. doi: 10.1186/s12885-025-13713-z.
NO ABSTRACT
PMID:39966798 | DOI:10.1186/s12885-025-13713-z
BMC Oral Health. 2025 Feb 18;25(1):251. doi: 10.1186/s12903-025-05622-1.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Free gingival graft (FGG) is considered as a well-established periodontal surgical technique to achieve sufficient keratinized tissue width and thickness and subsequently enhance gingival health and stability. This bibliometric research aims to reveal research focuses and trends about FGG.
METHODS: Articles published on FGG were retrospectively retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database from 2000 to 2023. Statistical and visual analyses were performed to characterize their quantity, journals, countries and regions, institutions, authors and keywords by CiteSpace software.
RESULTS: The top 100 most cited articles comprised 80 original research papers and 20 reviews, with an average citation count of 56. Notably, 75% of these works (n = 75) were classified in the Q1 category of the Journal Citation Reports (JCR). The most influential article authored by Dr. Cairo F. in 2014 has received 251 citations. Specifically, 27 high-level papers published in Journal of Periodontology accounted for 1,849 citations. The United States with 30 articles published and the University of Michigan with 11 articles were the most productive country and institution, respectively. Prof. Wang Hom-lay published 6 articles with a total of 608 citations. Additionally, collagen matrix and dental implants have garnered significant attention over the past decades.
CONCLUSION: Our analysis offers a comprehensive overview and in-depth analysis of the future development trends and potential research directions of FGG, which can inspire both clinical and scientific researchers.
PMID:39966796 | DOI:10.1186/s12903-025-05622-1
BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2025 Feb 18;25(1):89. doi: 10.1186/s12911-024-02731-9.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The exponential growth in patient data collection by healthcare providers, governments, and private industries is yielding large and diverse datasets that offer new insights into critical medical questions. Leveraging extensive computational resources, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence are increasingly utilized to address health-related issues, such as predicting outcomes from Electronic Health Records and detecting patterns in multi-omics data. Despite the proliferation of medical devices based on Artificial Intelligence, data accessibility for research is limited due to privacy concerns. Efforts to de-identify data have met challenges in maintaining effectiveness, particularly with large datasets. As an alternative, synthetic data, that replicate main statistical properties of real patient data, are proposed. However, the lack of standardized evaluation metrics complicates the selection of appropriate synthetic data generation methods. Effective evaluation of synthetic data must consider resemblance, utility and privacy, tailored to specific applications. Despite available metrics, benchmarking efforts remain limited, necessitating further research in this area.
RESULTS: We present SynthRO (Synthetic data Rank and Order), a user-friendly tool for benchmarking health synthetic tabular data across various contexts. SynthRO offers accessible quality evaluation metrics and automated benchmarking, helping users determine the most suitable synthetic data models for specific use cases by prioritizing metrics and providing consistent quantitative scores. Our dashboard is divided into three main sections: (1) Loading Data section, where users can locally upload real and synthetic datasets; (2) Evaluation section, in which several quality assessments are performed by computing different metrics and measures; (3) Benchmarking section, where users can globally compare synthetic datasets based on quality evaluation.
CONCLUSIONS: Synthetic data mitigate concerns about privacy and data accessibility, yet lacks standardized evaluation metrics. SynthRO provides an accessible dashboard helping users select suitable synthetic data models, and it also supports various use cases in healthcare, enhancing prognostic scores and enabling federated learning. SynthRO’s accessible GUI and modular structure facilitate effective data evaluation, promoting reliability and fairness. Future developments will include temporal data evaluation, further broadening its applicability.
PMID:39966793 | DOI:10.1186/s12911-024-02731-9
BMC Oral Health. 2025 Feb 18;25(1):254. doi: 10.1186/s12903-025-05624-z.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Analyzing the morphological growth changes upon mandibular advancement between Twin Block (TB) and Functional Regulator II (FR2) in Class II patients involves measuring the condylar and mandibular changes in terms of linear and volumetric measurements, as well as the distances registered after superimposition. Correspondingly, 3D digital assessment with the benefit of artificial intelligence tools was applied, and color-coded distance maps were descriptively interpreted to visualize the direction of growth.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Twenty patients aged 9 to 12 years with skeletal Class II malocclusion with overjet (5-9 mm) were enrolled into two groups: Group 1 (TB) and Group 2 (FR2). CBCT radiographs were taken at T0 (prior to treatment) and T1 (at the end of effective treatment; 7-11 months). 3D UX-Net algorithm was used to extract the 3D models and obtain the volumes. Visual Basic software was employed to develop a method for calculating the 3D distances and angles. 3D superimposition methods through Viewbox software were utilized to analyze growth direction following the treatments, using color-coded distance map visualizations.
RESULTS: The average volume increase of the mandible, right and left condyle was 2666.00 ± 1469.16 mm³, 207.70 ± 125.28 mm³, and 216.90 ± 121.65 mm³, respectively, after TB treatment, and 3316.10 ± 1552.29 mm³, 208.90 ± 116.85 mm³, and 193.65 ± 114.25 mm³, respectively, after FR2 treatment. The mean absolute distances (MAD) for the mandible, right, and left condyle from T1 to T0 were in TB group 1.238 ± 0.757 mm, 2.248 ± 0.346 mm, 2.267 ± 0.593 mm, respectively, and in FR2 group 1.417 ± 0.550 mm, 2.616 ± 1.063 mm, 2.475 ± 0.916 mm, respectively. The visualization of color-coded maps revealed a superior-posterior growth direction of the condyle measuring within 3 mm after the treatment.
CONCLUSIONS: Although mandibular and condylar volumes increased in each group when comparing T0 to T1, indicating the efficacy of both appliances in enhancing growth, no clinically or statistically significant differences were observed between the groups in terms of volumetric, linear, and 3D superimposition changes. However, color-coded distance maps demonstrated a consistent pattern of posterior-superior relocation of the condyles in most cases after treatment when comparing T1 to T0, whereas the back of the ramus in more than half of the cases has moved backwards. With no statistical differences between the studied groups.
PMID:39966790 | DOI:10.1186/s12903-025-05624-z
BMC Health Serv Res. 2025 Feb 18;25(1):274. doi: 10.1186/s12913-025-12426-0.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Nurses have a crucial role in recognizing potential dangers to patient safety during direct patient care. However, there are occasions when they opt to stay quiet instead of voicing their concerns, ultimately endangering patients. The underlying reasons for this silence pose a significant challenge in the nursing industry. While it’s known that workplace conditions contribute to this silence, the specific ways in which this occurs need to be clarified. This research aimed to investigate the factors that lead nurses to remain silent about patient safety, specifically focusing on environmental influences in Ardabil City.
METHODS: This descriptive and analytical study examined 630 nurses, including head nurses, from five medical training centers in Ardabil, northwest Iran. The primary instruments used in the research included the Employee Silence about Patient Safety Questionnaire, the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI), measures of psychological safety, leader-member exchange (LMX) assessments, and evaluations of professional discrimination. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 16.0, applying descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and hierarchical regression analysis.
RESULTS: The average score for employee silence regarding patient safety was 2.62, with a standard deviation of 0.98. Several factors were found to be significant predictors of employees’ silence about patient safety, including nurse participation in hospital affairs (ß = 0.196, p = 0.002), nurse’s role in the quality of care (ß = -0.352, p < 0.001), staff and facility adequacy (ß = 0.156, p = 0.001), communication with the physician (ß = -0.105, p = 0.015), LMX (ß = -0.284, p < 0.001), and job position (ß = -0.093, p = 0.018).
CONCLUSION: This study has identified several critical factors influencing employee silence regarding patient safety, including nurse involvement in hospital decision-making, the quality of care, communication with physicians, and job positions. To address these challenges, healthcare organizations must implement standardized protocols, improved communication channels, regular safety training, and the integration of advanced technologies. Increasing nurse participation in decision-making processes and strengthening communication between nursing staff and physicians can foster a culture of openness that encourages employees to voice their safety concerns. By creating an environment where staff feel supported and empowered to speak up, healthcare facilities can enhance patient safety and improve overall care quality, ultimately leading to a safer working environment for healthcare professionals.
PMID:39966779 | DOI:10.1186/s12913-025-12426-0
BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2025 Feb 18;25(1):182. doi: 10.1186/s12884-025-07313-9.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Despite the known benefits of skin-to-skin contact (SSC), limited data exists on its implementation, especially its influencing factors. The current study was designed to use machine learning (ML) to identify the predictors of SSC.
METHODS: This study implemented predictive SSC approaches based on the data obtained from the “Iranian Maternal and Neonatal Network (IMaN Net)” from January 2020 to January 2022. A predictive model was built using nine statistical learning models (linear regression, logistic regression, decision tree classification, random forest classification, deep learning feedforward, extreme gradient boost model, light gradient boost model, support vector machine, and permutation feature classification with k-nearest neighbors). Demographic, obstetric, and maternal and neonatal clinical factors were considered as potential predicting factors and were extracted from the patient’s medical records. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), accuracy, precision, recall, and F_1 Score were measured to evaluate the diagnostic performance.
RESULTS: Of 8031 eligible mothers, 3759 (46.8%) experienced SSC. The algorithms created by deep learning (AUROC: 0.81, accuracy: 0.75, precision: 0.67, recall: 0.77, and F_1 Score: 0.73) and linear regression (AUROC: 0.80, accuracy: 0.75, precision: 0.66, recall: 0.75, and F_1 Score: 0.71) had the highest performance in predicting SSC. Doula support, neonatal weight, gestational age, attending childbirth classes, and maternal age were the critical predictors for SSC based on the top two algorithms with superior performance.
CONCLUSIONS: Although this study found that the ML model performed well in predicting SSC, more research is needed to make a better conclusion about its performance.
PMID:39966775 | DOI:10.1186/s12884-025-07313-9
BMC Oral Health. 2025 Feb 18;25(1):255. doi: 10.1186/s12903-025-05660-9.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of preoperative oral ibuprofen premedication as a preemptive analgesia protocol on postoperative pain following the insertion of a single miniscrew insert.
METHODS: A randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled parallel-group trial design was adopted. A total of 68 patients seeking miniscrew insert placement were recruited based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either the ibuprofen group or the control group, with 34 patients in each group. The ibuprofen group and the control group received 300 mg of ibuprofen sustained-release capsules and a placebo, respectively, 30 min before surgery. Postoperative analgesics were administered as needed. Pain scores at 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, and 24 h postoperatively were recorded using the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), and the postoperative analgesic consumption was documented.
RESULTS: A total of 68 patients (34 in the control group and 34 in the preemptive analgesia group) completed the trial. No adverse events such as nausea or vomiting occurred in any of the patients. The preemptive analgesia group exhibited significantly lower pain scores at 2, 4, 6, and 8 h postoperatively [2 (0,3), 0 (0,2), 0 (0,0), 0 (0,0.25), respectively] compared to the control group [3 (2,5), 3 (2,4), 2 (0.75,4), 1 (0,3), respectively] (P = 0.0396, P = 0.0067, P = 0.0111, P = 0.0299). The proportions of patients requiring additional analgesics within 2-24 h postoperatively were 17.6% (6/34) in the preemptive analgesia group and 64.7% (22/34) in the control group, with a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.013).
CONCLUSION: Preemptive analgesia with ibuprofen can effectively reduce postoperative pain following miniscrew insert placement and represents a safe and effective perioperative pain management strategy.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: The UK’s Clinical Study Registry; ISRCTN68332234 (Retrospectively registered); 20/12/2024.
PMID:39966769 | DOI:10.1186/s12903-025-05660-9
BMC Public Health. 2025 Feb 18;25(1):670. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-21766-9.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The effect of pre-pregnancy intrauterine device (IUD) use on subsequent preterm birth (PTB) remains unclear. We aim to investigate the association between IUD use before pregnancy and subsequent PTB.
METHODS: A total of 240,437 women who participated in the National Free Preconception Health Examination Project (NFPHEP) in Yunnan from 2013 to 2019 were included in the study. All study participants were classified into three groups according to their use of pre-pregnancy contraceptive methods: non-method users, IUD users, and other method users. We used a multivariable Poisson regression model to investigate the association between the use of an IUD before pregnancy and subsequent PTB. Further models analyzed the multiplicative and additive interactions between pre-pregnancy IUD use and county deprivation.
RESULTS: Of all the participants, 45,374 (18.9%) used IUDs before pregnancy, 39,414 (16.4%) used other contraceptive methods, and 155,649 (64.7%) were non-method users. The overall PTB rate was 5.30% (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 5.20-5.38%), and women in the IUD group had a significantly lower PTB rate (4.86%, 95% CI 4.66-5.06%) than women in the non-method (5.42%, 95% CI 5.31-5.53%) and other method groups (5.33%, 95% CI 5.11-5.56%). IUD use before pregnancy was associated with a reduced risk of subsequent PTB (model 1: adjusted relative risk [aRR] 0.84, 95% CI 0.80 to 0.89; model 2: aRR 0.84, 95% CI 0.79 to 0.90). In counties with a normal level of development, IUD users had a 30% lower risk of subsequent PTB than non-users (aRR 0.70, 95% CI 0.63 to 0.78). Compared with non-IUD users (incuding non-method and other method users) from the least developed counties, those from counties with a normal level of socioeconomic development had the lowest risk of subsequent PTB (aRR 0.71, 0.62 to 0.82). The additive interaction between pre-pregnancy IUD use and low level of county development was statistically significant (relative excess risk due to interaction [RERI] -0.27, -0.41 to -0.14).
CONCLUSION: Pre-pregnancy IUD use is associated with a reduced risk of subsequent PTB. Pre-pregnancy IUD users in counties with a normal level of development were associated with a lower risk of subsequent PTB than their counterparts in the least developed countries.
PMID:39966761 | DOI:10.1186/s12889-025-21766-9
Clin Nutr. 2025 Feb 3;46:191-203. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2025.01.034. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Evidence linking circulating fatty acids (FAs) to mortality from age-related chronic diseases was limited and inconsistent. We aimed to investigate the associations of plasma FAs with total, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer mortality and explore the potential mechanism.
METHODS: 117,871 individuals were prospectively followed in the UK Biobank. Circulating FAs were measured by a high-throughput NMR-based metabolic platform. Causes and dates of death were collected from death certificates according to the code of International Statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).
RESULTS: Over a median follow-up of 11.9 years, 7805 (6.6 %) deaths occurred. Plasma saturated FAs (SFAs) were positively associated with total mortality risk while plasma polyunsaturated FAs (PUFAs) exhibited an inverse association. For cause-specific mortality, circulating PUFAs, linoleic acid (LA), and n-3 PUFAs were associated with 34 %, 30 %, and 37 % lower risk of CVD mortality, respectively. Moreover, plasma n-3 PUFAs were related to a 24 % lower risk of cancer mortality. However, circulating non-LA n-6 PUFAs were associated with 11 % and 22 % higher risk of total and cancer mortality, respectively. Serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and apolipoprotein A (ApoA) had significant mediation effects on these associations. Additionally, the inverse association of plasma n-6 PUFAs with total mortality only existed among carriers of the GG genotype at rs16966952 and the inverse association of plasma PUFAs with CVD mortality was only observed among TT genotype carriers at rs174547.
CONCLUSIONS: Circulating PUFAs, particularly n-3 PUFAs and LA, were inversely related to premature death from chronic diseases and longevity. Inflammatory and lipid metabolism partially explained these associations. Genetic interactions with rs16966952 and rs174547 further modified these associations.
PMID:39965263 | DOI:10.1016/j.clnu.2025.01.034
Aging Dis. 2025 Feb 11. doi: 10.14336/AD.2024.1166. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
The association between socioeconomic position (SEP) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is well established, but its role in driving multimorbidity remains unclear. Multimorbidity, defined as the co-occurrence of more than one chronic condition, is linked to higher mortality and reduced quality of life. This study investigates the association between SEP and multimorbidity using data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Incident cases of cancer, type 2 diabetes (T2D), and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) were analysed alongside lifestyle factors such as smoking status, alcohol intake, body mass index (BMI), physical activity and diet. Multimorbidity was defined as the presence of at least two of the studied NCDs. SEP was assessed using the Relative Index of Inequality (RII) and categorized into high, medium, and low SEP. The cohort included 277 302 participants (60.7% women) from seven countries, enrolled between 1992-2000 and followed until the first diagnosis, end of follow-up (31/12/2007), or death. For transitions to multimorbidity, follow-up extended from the first diagnosis to the second diagnosis, end of follow-up, or death. Multistate models were used to examine the nine possible transitions to first diagnoses and multimorbidity combinations. Lifestyle factors were risk factors for all the transitions, except alcohol intake. In the main model, not stratified by sex, low SEP was associated with higher risks of progressing from cancer to CVD (Hazard Ratio (HR): 1.23, CI: 1.02-1.50), CVD to T2D (HR: 1.35, CI: 1.07-1.71), and cancer to T2D (HR: 1.37, CI: 1.10-1.69). These findings highlight the persistent influence of social inequalities on the risk of multimorbidity, even in individuals with an existing chronic condition.
PMID:39965252 | DOI:10.14336/AD.2024.1166