Nevin Manimala

J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2022 Mar 10:ocac034. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocac034. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Clinicians spend significant time working in the electronic health record (EHR). The US is an outlier in EHR time, suggesting that EHR-related work may be driven in part by the legal environment and threat of malpractice. To assess this, we evaluate the association between state-level malpractice climate and clinician time spent in the EHR.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We use EHR metadata from 351 ambulatory care health systems in the United States using Epic from January-August 2019 combined with state-level data on malpractice incidence and payouts. We used descriptive statistics to measure variation in clinician EHR time, including total EHR time, documentation time per day, and after-hours EHR time per day. Multi-variable regression evaluated the association between clinicians in high malpractice states and EHR use.

RESULTS: We found no association between location in a state in the top-quartile of malpractice payouts and time spent in the EHR per day, time spent in the EHR outside of scheduled hours, or time spent documenting per day, except for a subgroup of the clinicians in the highest malpractice specialties, where there was a small increase in EHR time per day (B = 6.08 min, P < 0.001) and time spent documenting notes (B = 2.77 min, P < 0.001).

DISCUSSION: State-level differences in malpractice incidence are unlikely to be a significant driver of EHR work for most clinicians.

CONCLUSION: Policymakers seeking to address EHR documentation burden should examine burden driven by other socio-technical demands on clinician time, such as billing or quality measurement.

PMID:35271723 | DOI:10.1093/jamia/ocac034

Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2022 Mar 10. doi: 10.5858/arpa.2021-0223-CP. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

CONTEXT.—: The College of American Pathologists (CAP) updated the Laboratory Accreditation Program Cytopathology Checklist to assist laboratories in meeting and exceeding the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments standards for gynecologic cytologic-histologic correlation (CHC).

OBJECTIVE.—: To survey the current CHC practices.

DESIGN.—: Data were analyzed from a survey developed by the committee and distributed to participants in the CAP Gynecologic Cytopathology PAP Education Program mailing.

RESULTS.—: Worldwide, CHC practice is nearly universally adopted, with an overall rate of 87.0% (568 of 653). CHC material was highly accessible. CHC was commonly performed real time/concurrently at the time the corresponding surgical pathology was reviewed. Investigation of CHC discordances varied with North American laboratories usually having a single pathologist review all discrepant histology and cytology slides to determine the reason for discordance, while international laboratories have a second pathologist review histology slides to determine the reason for discordance. The cause of CHC discordance was primarily sampling issues. The more common statistical metrics for CHC monitoring were the total percentage of cases that correlated with subsequent biopsies, screening error rate by cytotechnologist, and interpretative error rate by cytotechnologist.

CONCLUSIONS.—: Many laboratories have adopted and implemented the CHC guidelines with identifiable differences in practices between North American and international laboratories. We identify the commonalities and differences between North American and international institutional practices including where CHC is performed, how CHC cases are identified and their accessibility, when CHC is performed, who investigates discordances, what discordances are identified, and how the findings affect quality improvement.

PMID:35271691 | DOI:10.5858/arpa.2021-0223-CP

PLoS One. 2022 Mar 10;17(3):e0265063. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265063. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Considering perinatal transmission and the high rate of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in infants, diagnosis of HBV infection during pregnancy and timely interventions are of great importance. Therefore, this study was performed to investigate the prevalence and genotype distribution of HBV infection and the associated risk factors among pregnant women in the northern shores of the Persian Gulf, South of Iran.

METHODS: Serum samples of 1425 pregnant women were tested for the presence of HBsAg and HBcAb by ELISA (HBsAg one-Version ULTRA and HBc Ab ELISA kits, DIA.PRO, Milan, Italy). The seropositive samples were tested for the presence of HBV DNA by nested PCR, targeting S, X, pre-core (pre-C), and basal core promoter (BCP) regions of the HBV genome. The amplified fragments were sequenced by Sanger dideoxy sequencing technology to evaluate the genotype distribution and mutations of HBV infection by using the MEGA 7 software. The HBV seropositive pregnant women were tested for HCV and HIV coinfections by ELISA (HCV Ab and HIV Ab/Ag ELISA kits, DIA.PRO, Milan, Italy).

RESULTS: Of 1425 participants, 15 pregnant women (1.05%, 95% CI: 0.64%-1.73%) were positive for HBsAg, 41 women (2.88%, 95% CI: 2.10%-3.88%) were positive for HBcAb, and 5 women (0.35%, 95% CI: 0.15% -0.82%) had HBV viremia with genotype D, sub-genotype D3 and subtype ayw2. One of the viremic samples was positive for HBcAb but negative for HBsAg, which is indicative of an occult HBV infection. HBsAg seroprevalence was higher among pregnant women aged 20 to 29 years, women in the third trimester of pregnancy, residents of Khormuj city, Afghan immigrants, illiterate women, and pregnant women with a history of tattoo and HBV vaccination. The highest rate of HBcAb seroprevalence was observed in residents of Borazjan city, Turk ethnicity, the age group >39 years, and those women with more parities and a history of abortion. Nevertheless, HBV seroprevalence among pregnant women was not statistically associated with these variables. In contrast, HBcAb seropositivity was significantly associated with the history of tattoo (P = 0.018). According to mutations analyses, seven amino acid substitutions in the HBsAg, one point mutation in the pre-C region, and five points mutations in the BCP region were detected. Besides, the BCP mutations caused amino acid substitutions in the X protein. Of note, the conversion of Ala → Val at amino acid 168 (A168V) and Thr → Pro at amino acid 127 (T127P) were detected in HBsAg of the occult HBV strain.

CONCLUSION: These results indicate a relatively low prevalence of HBV infection among pregnant women in the South of Iran, while tattooing is a risk factor for exposure to HBV infection. Moreover, all of the HBV-positive pregnant women were asymptomatic and unaware of their infection. Therefore, routine screening for HBV markers during pregnancy, appropriate treatment of HBV-infected women, and HBV vaccination are recommended to decrease mother-to-child transmission of HBV.

PMID:35271684 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0265063

PLoS One. 2022 Mar 10;17(3):e0265255. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265255. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

Traditional body measurement techniques are commonly used to assess physical health; however, these approaches do not fully represent the complex shape of the human body. Three-dimensional (3D) imaging systems capture rich point cloud data that provides a representation of the surface of 3D objects and have been shown to be a potential anthropometric tool for use within health applications. Previous studies utilising 3D imaging have only assessed body shape based on combinations and relative proportions of traditional body measures, such as lengths, widths and girths. Geometric morphometrics (GM) is an established framework used for the statistical analysis of biological shape variation. These methods quantify biological shape variation after the effects of non-shape variation-location, rotation and scale-have been mathematically held constant, otherwise known as the Procrustes paradigm. The aim of this study was to determine whether shape measures, identified using geometric morphometrics, can provide additional information about the complexity of human morphology and underlying mass distribution compared to traditional body measures. Scale-invariant features of torso shape were extracted from 3D imaging data of 9,209 participants form the LIFE-Adult study. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) models were created to determine the extent to which variations in human torso shape are explained by existing techniques. The results of this investigation suggest that linear combinations of body measures can explain 49.92% and 47.46% of the total variation in male and female body shape features, respectively. However, there are also significant amounts of variation in human morphology which cannot be identified by current methods. These results indicate that Geometric morphometric methods can identify measures of human body shape which provide complementary information about the human body. The aim of future studies will be to investigate the utility of these measures in clinical epidemiology and the assessment of health risk.

PMID:35271672 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0265255

PLoS One. 2022 Mar 10;17(3):e0265262. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265262. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Due to the effectiveness of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), most malaria-endemic countries resort to free distributions in the population with particular attention to pregnant women, a more vulnerable group. However, the mere issuance of ITNs does not usually translate to proper utilization. This study aimed to examine the utilization of ITNs and its associated factors among pregnant women in Myanmar.

METHODS: The data analyzed in this cross-sectional study were extracted from available survey datasets of the 2015-16 Myanmar Demographic Health Survey. The secondary data were presented using a chart, descriptive statistics and inferential statistics including simple and multiple logistic regression models. All analyses were performed using STATA, Version 15. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS: Of 466 currently pregnant women, the majority (96%) possessed bed nets for sleeping. Among them, 15.9% slept without a bed net the night before the survey, while 65.7% slept with untreated nets. Only about 1 in 5 (18.4%) slept under ITNs. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, pregnant women residing in delta and lowland regions [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 7.70, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.62, 16.38], plains (aOR = 7.09, 95%CI: 3.09, 16.25) or hilly areas (aOR = 4.26, 95%CI: 1.91, 9.52) were more likely to report non-utilization of ITNs than those residing in coastal regions.

CONCLUSION: Relatively poor ITN utilization was observed among pregnant women in Myanmar. Health promotion activities for ITN utilization should be implemented especially for pregnant women residing in the delta, lowland, plain and hilly regions. Other social-behavioral factors including perceived susceptibility to malaria, knowledge of ITNs, and attitude towards ITN that might favor the non-utilization of ITNs need to be further explored.

PMID:35271668 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0265262

PLoS One. 2022 Mar 10;17(3):e0265133. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265133. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The authors sought to compare simultaneous and sequential tympanoplasty and adenoidectomy surgery in pediatric patients.

METHODS: This retrospective single-center study included 65 children (36 males, 29 females; mean age 9.16 ± 3.82 years; range 3-17 years) requiring both tympanoplasty and adenoidectomy. Simultaneous surgeries were performed on the same day, during single general anesthesia, whereas sequential surgeries were separated at least 12 weeks. The groups were compared with regard to restoration of hearing, tympanic membrane status, and utilization of medical resources. All study participants had a 12-months follow-up period after surgery.

RESULTS: No statistically significant differences were observed between the groups regarding pre- and post-operative ABG values and average hearing gains. However, the post-operative ABG was significantly lower than the pre-operative ABG in both groups (p<0.001). There were no significant differences between simultaneous and sequential groups with respect to complete healing rates and complications (all p>0.355). Simultaneous tympanoplasty and adenoidectomy surgery management is associated with a significantly decreased cumulative hospital stay, cumulative operating room time, and cumulative pure surgical time (all p≤0.016).

CONCLUSIONS: The results of first comparative study of simultaneous versus sequential tympanoplasty and adenoidectomy surgery managements demonstrate no advantages for the sequential approach. The same-day surgery can show the clinical outcomes comparable to those in the sequential group. The simultaneous surgery approach appears to be associated with reduced medical resources consumption. Therefore, simultaneous surgery management is an effective and safe option for children with chronic otitis media and adenoid hypertrophy.

PMID:35271666 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0265133

PLoS One. 2022 Mar 10;17(3):e0265266. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265266. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

As an important basis of navigation safety decisions, ship domains have always been a pilot concern. In the past, model parameters were usually obtained from statistics of massive historical cumulative data, but the results were mostly historical analysis and static data, which obviously could not meet the needs of pilots who wish to master the ship domain in real time. To obtain and update the ship domain parameter online in time and meet the real-time needs of maritime applications, this paper obtains CRI as the weight coefficient-based PSO-LSSVM method and proposes to use short-term AIS data accumulation through the risk-weighted least squares method online rolling identification method, which can filter nonhazardous targets and improve the identification accuracy and real-time performance of nonlinear models in the ship domain. The experimental examples show that the method can generate the ship domain dynamically in real time. At the same time, the method can be used to study the dynamic evolution characteristics of the ship domain over the course of navigation, which provides a reference for navigation safety decisions and the analysis of ship navigation behavior.

PMID:35271665 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0265266

PLoS One. 2022 Mar 10;17(3):e0265209. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265209. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) is increasing in adults younger than 50, and early screening remains challenging due to cost and under-utilization. To identify individuals aged 35-50 years who may benefit from early screening, we developed a prediction model using machine learning and electronic health record (EHR)-derived factors.

METHODS: We enrolled 3,116 adults aged 35-50 at average-risk for CRC and underwent colonoscopy between 2017-2020 at a single center. Prediction outcomes were (1) CRC and (2) CRC or high-risk polyps. We derived our predictors from EHRs (e.g., demographics, obesity, laboratory values, medications, and zip code-derived factors). We constructed four machine learning-based models using a training set (random sample of 70% of participants): regularized discriminant analysis, random forest, neural network, and gradient boosting decision tree. In the testing set (remaining 30% of participants), we measured predictive performance by comparing C-statistics to a reference model (logistic regression).

RESULTS: The study sample was 55.1% female, 32.8% non-white, and included 16 (0.05%) CRC cases and 478 (15.3%) cases of CRC or high-risk polyps. All machine learning models predicted CRC with higher discriminative ability compared to the reference model [e.g., C-statistics (95%CI); neural network: 0.75 (0.48-1.00) vs. reference: 0.43 (0.18-0.67); P = 0.07] Furthermore, all machine learning approaches, except for gradient boosting, predicted CRC or high-risk polyps significantly better than the reference model [e.g., C-statistics (95%CI); regularized discriminant analysis: 0.64 (0.59-0.69) vs. reference: 0.55 (0.50-0.59); P<0.0015]. The most important predictive variables in the regularized discriminant analysis model for CRC or high-risk polyps were income per zip code, the colonoscopy indication, and body mass index quartiles.

DISCUSSION: Machine learning can predict CRC risk in adults aged 35-50 using EHR with improved discrimination. Further development of our model is needed, followed by validation in a primary-care setting, before clinical application.

PMID:35271664 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0265209

PLoS One. 2022 Mar 10;17(3):e0265221. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265221. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Sarcopenia is characterized by the age-associated loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength that develops progressively and plays an important role in the disability of the elderly. It has received growing attention over the last decade and has been implicated as both a cause and consequence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The existence of T2DM could increase the risk of developing sarcopenia through multiple mechanisms including advanced glycation end-product accumulation. Meanwhile, sarcopenia would alter glucose disposal and may contribute to the development and progression of T2DM due to reduced muscle mass.

METHODS: We implemented transcriptomic analysis of skeletal muscle biopsy specimens in sarcopenia patients and proliferating myoblasts or differentiated myotubes from individuals with T2DM. Related microarray data were selected from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) to screen the genes, which were differentially expressed for sarcopenia and T2DM. Multiple combinatorial statistical methods and bioinformatics tools were used to analyze the common DEGs. Meanwhile, functional enrichment analysis was also carried out. Furthermore, we constructed the protein-protein interaction (PPI), as well as transcription factor (TF)-gene interactions network and TF-miRNA coregulatory network. Finally, based on the common DEGs, drug compounds were speculated using the Drug Signatures database (DSigDB).

RESULTS: A total of 1765 and 2155 DEGs of sarcopenia and T2DM were screened, respectively. 15 common genes (LXN, CIB2, PEA15, KANK2, FGD1, NMRK1, PLCB1, SEMA4G, ADARB1, UPF3A, CSTB, COL3A1, CD99, ETV3, FJX1) correlated with sarcopenia and T2DM simultaneously were then identified, and 3 genes (UPF3A, CSTB and PEA15) of them were regarded as hub genes. Functional enrichment analysis revealed several shared pathways between two diseases. In addition, according to the TF-gene interactions network and TF-miRNA coregulatory network, part of TF and miRNA may be identified as key regulator in sarcopenia and T2DM at the same time (e.g., CREM and miR-155). Notably, drug compounds for T2DM and sarcopenia were also suggested, such as coenzyme Q10.

CONCLUSION: This study revealed that sarcopenia and T2DM may share similar pathogenesis and provided new biological targets and ideas for early diagnosis and effective treatment of sarcopenia and T2DM.

PMID:35271662 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0265221

PLoS One. 2022 Mar 10;17(3):e0265085. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265085. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Hyperthyroidism affects about 0.2%-2.7% of all pregnancies, and is generally treated with propylthiouracil (PTU). However, previous studies about the effects of propylthiouracil on maternal or foetal are contentious.

OBJECTIVE: This meta-analysis was carried out to investigate the safety and efficacy of propylthiouracil during pregnancy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed, EBSCO, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane, CNKI, Wanfang and VIP database were searched from inception until August 31, 2021 for all available randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or cohort studies that evaluated the efficacy of propylthiouracil and its effects on pregnancy outcomes. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used for binary variables, weighted mean difference (WMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used for continuous variables. RevMan5.4 and Stata 16.0 were used for performing the meta-analysis.

RESULTS: The researchers examined data from 13 randomized controlled trials and cohort studies involving 18948 infants. Congenital anomalies were not significantly associated with PTU in the pooled results (OR = 1.03, 95%CI: 0.84-1.25, P = 0.80, I2 = 40.3%). There were no statistically significant differences in neonatal hypothyroidism (OR = 0.55, 95%CI: 0.06-4.92, P = 0.593, I2 = 57.0%) or hepatotoxicity (OR = 0.34, 95%CI: 0.08-1.48, P = 0.151, I2 = 0.0%) exposed to PTU compared to the control group. The serum levels of FT3, FT4, TT3, and TT4 were significantly lower in the propylthiouracil group compared to the control group.

CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis confirmed the beneficial effects of propylthiouracil treatment, namely the risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes were not increased, and it also proved PTU’s efficacy in the treatment of pregnant women with hyperthyroidism. The findings supported the use of propylthiouracil during pregnancy with hyperthyroidism in order to improve clinical pregnancy outcomes in patients with thyroid dysfunction.

PMID:35271661 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0265085