Tag: nevin manimala

Eur J Health Econ. 2023 Aug 7. doi: 10.1007/s10198-023-01624-4. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: How different subtypes and stages of lung cancer affect morbidity- and mortality-associated productivity have not been investigated. This study quantified the losses of lifetime employment duration and productivity among patients with various subtypes and stages of lung cancer.

METHODS: We identified nationwide lung cancer patients diagnosed at the ages of 50-64 between 2011 and 2019. Monthly survival probabilities were weighted by monthly employed-to-population ratios and working salaries to estimate lifetime employment duration and productivity. We compared lifetime employment duration and productivity of patients with those of the age-, sex-, calendar year-matched general population for losses of lifetime employment duration and productivity, which were multiplied by pathology and stage shifts based on the first-round screening of Taiwan Lung Cancer Screening in Never Smoker Trial (TALENT) to calculate the savings of lifetime employment duration and productivity.

RESULTS: Lung cancer patients had shorter survival and employment duration than the referents. Patients with lung cancers other than adenocarcinoma experienced greater losses of lifetime employment duration and productivity as compared to adenocarcinoma patients. Applying the estimations of never-smoking patients to 100 lung cancer patients with pathology and stage shifts based on the TALENT, the savings of lifetime employment duration and productivity were 132.2 (95% prediction interval: 116.2-147.4) years and 3353 (95% prediction interval: 2914-3802) thousand US dollars, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Early diagnosis of lung cancer would save the losses of employment duration and lifetime productivity. Future evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of lung cancer screening could consider incorporating these societal impacts.

PMID:37548803 | DOI:10.1007/s10198-023-01624-4

Arch Womens Ment Health. 2023 Aug 7. doi: 10.1007/s00737-023-01362-9. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Fear of childbirth exists on a continuum of severity, and the most severe form is commonly referred to as tocophobia. Although a rare entity, tocophobia is a common reason for requesting an elective cesarean section. It is generally considered a specific phobia but is not recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) as a diagnostic entity. To improve the assessment and treatment of tocophobia, research is warranted to clarify its relationship with commonly occurring psychiatric disorders in pregnancy.

PMID:37548800 | DOI:10.1007/s00737-023-01362-9

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Aug 7. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-28989-6. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

One of the first environmental crises to attract interest in development initiatives and aid was the great drought of the 1970s in the Sahel. This study investigates the extent of damage caused by natural disasters from one of the most widely used databases-EM-DAT-with a sample size of 16 Sahelian countries over the period 1960-2020. These countries have been divided into three regions: Western Africa Sahel (WAS), Central Africa Sahel (CAS), and Eastern Africa Sahel (EAS). The analyses encompass four categories of natural hazards, namely, biological, climatological, hydrological, and meteorological. We used descriptive and test statistics to summarize the natural disaster records. Through this approach, we explore tendencies to identify the most frequently reported natural hazards; we examine their spatial distribution and evaluate their impacts in terms of socioeconomic damage and causalities. During the study period, a total of 1000 events were recorded in the database. The Western Africa Sahel (WAS) region had the highest number of disasters, with 476 events, followed by the Eastern Africa Sahel (EAS) region with 369 events. The most common hazards in the Sahel were hydrological (41.8%), mainly floods, and biological (39.5%) hazards. Approximately 300 million people in the Sahel were affected by natural hazards, with 59.17% in EAS, 36.48% in WAS, and 4.35% in CAS. Although droughts occurred less frequently (14%), they had a significant impact on the population, affecting 84% of those affected by natural hazards. In general, EAS experiences a higher impact from natural hazards, potentially influenced by the pastoral lifestyle of its population. However, WAS is also very vulnerable to natural hazards especially epidemics and nowadays floods. The uncontrolled urbanization in the area may contribute to this vulnerability.

PMID:37548790 | DOI:10.1007/s11356-023-28989-6

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Aug 7. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-29029-z. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Establishing a reasonable cost-sharing and compensation mechanism for air pollution control is a prerequisite for realizing inter-regional cooperative treatment. Taking inter-provincial sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emissions in China from 2005 to 2019 as the research object, this paper proposes a data-driven approach to establish a cost-sharing index system of regional SO₂ treatment in four dimensions and construct a cost-sharing and compensation scheme using the entropy-TOPSIS method. The results revealed that there are significant spatial and temporal differences in the treatment cost of SO₂ emission, and the total SO₂ treatment costs at the national level increased first and then decreased during the study period, meanwhile, the regional SO₂ treatment costs are much higher in the less economically developed regions such as the central and western regions than in economically developed eastern coastal regions. The design of the cost-sharing and compensation mechanism of SO₂ treatment should consider the regional differences in abatement capacity, abatement potential, abatement responsibility, and development demands. The economically developed regions should share higher treatment costs according to their historical cumulative abatement responsibilities, and provide economic compensation and technical support to the less economically developed regions. Specifically, the marginal abatement cost in the more economically developed eastern region is much higher than that in the less economically developed central and western areas due to their large abatement responsibility and strong reduction capacity but insufficient abatement potential, so the eastern regions can transfer part of their abatement responsibility to the central and western regions using economic compensation. Reasonable cost sharing and horizontal compensation can help promote regional cooperation and synergistic management in air pollution abatement. Finally, corresponding policy recommendations are given to provide a decision basis for cross-regional cooperation in air pollution control.

PMID:37548789 | DOI:10.1007/s11356-023-29029-z

Clin Oral Investig. 2023 Aug 7. doi: 10.1007/s00784-023-05191-z. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to compare β-thalassemia major patients and healthy individuals in terms of anthropometric characteristics and changes in craniofacial profile.

SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Craniofacial anthropometric measurements were performed on a total of 422 subjects (199 β-thalassemia major patients and 223 healthy individuals) by using a millimetric caliper and tape measure on 19 anthropometric parameters (8 horizontal, 10 vertical, and 1 head circumference) in cranial, facial, nasal, orolabial, and orbital zones.

RESULTS: The difference between the orbital, nasal, and orolabial zone parameters of healthy subjects and β-thalassemia major patients was found to be statistically significant (p < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of head circumference in the cranial zone and total facial height in facial zone (n-gn) values (p˃0.05). In intragroup comparison between females and males with β-thalassemia, statistically significant differences were found in forehead width (ft-ft), forehead height (tr-gl), right eye width (R ex-ex), and upper lip height (sn-stm) (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: Understanding the craniofacial profile changes in β-thalassemia major patients and increasing our knowledge about the relationship between the course and severity of disease and the level of these changes would contribute to the advancements in diagnoses to be made in facial and jaw zones of these patients and in the treatment plans.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: We believe that the analysis and results of the craniofacial anthropometric data obtained in the study will contribute to the diagnosis and treatment processes of patients with β-thalassemia major in areas of expertise such as craniofacial surgery, orthodontics, and hemato-oncology.

PMID:37548765 | DOI:10.1007/s00784-023-05191-z

Support Care Cancer. 2023 Aug 7;31(9):508. doi: 10.1007/s00520-023-07977-z.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this research was to review the literature from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the impacts of moxibustion on cancer-related fatigue (CRF) as well as provide credible evidence to guide clinical practice.

METHODS: Three English electronic medical databases (PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library) and two Chinese databases (China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang) were searched. Only randomized controlled trials on the effect of moxibustion on CRF were included in this systematic review. Study selection, data extraction, and validation were all carried out independently by two reviewers. The revised Cochrane Risk of Bias tool was used to assess the quality of the RCTs (RoB 2.0). The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system was applied to assess effect sizes in individual RCTs and pooled effect sizes in meta-analyses. Data were meta-analyzed using Stata (version 14.0).

RESULTS: In a random-effects meta-analysis of 24 RCTs with 1894 participants, the aggregated standardized mean difference (SMD) revealed a statistically significant association between moxibustion and alleviation from cancer-related fatigue (SMD = – 1.66, 95% CI = – 2.05, – 1.28, p = 0.000). Pooled results, however, show significant heterogeneity (I² = 92.5%), and the evidence is insufficient to determine whether this association varies systematically by measuring tools and moxibustion modalities. Furthermore, evidence ranging from very low to low showed that moxibustion had an immediate positive effect on patients with CRF.

CONCLUSION: Moxibustion may have a therapeutic effect on cancer-related fatigue. However, further large-scale, multicenter, high-quality RCTs on moxibustion for fatigue relief and safety are still needed because of the handful of studies included and the low methodological quality.

PMID:37548752 | DOI:10.1007/s00520-023-07977-z

Acta Neurochir Suppl. 2023;130:1-12. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-12887-6_1.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Quality measurement and outcome assessment have recently caught an attention of the neurosurgical community, but lack of standardized definitions and methodology significantly complicates these tasks.

OBJECTIVE: To identify a uniform definition of neurosurgical complications, to classify them according to etiology, and to evaluate them comprehensively in cases of intracranial tumor removal in order to establish a new, easy, and practical grading system capable of predicting the risk of postoperative clinical worsening of the patient condition.

METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on all elective surgeries directed at removal of intracranial tumor in the authors’ institution during 2-year study period. All sociodemographic, clinical, and surgical factors were extracted from prospectively compiled comprehensive patient registry. Data on all complications, defined as any deviation from the ideal postoperative course occurring within 30 days of the procedure, were collected with consideration of the required treatment and etiology. A logistic regression model was created for identification of independent factors associated with worsening of the Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) score at discharge after surgery in comparison with preoperative period. For each identified statistically significant independent predictor of the postoperative worsening, corresponding score was defined, and grading system, subsequently named Milan Complexity Scale (MCS), was formed.

RESULTS: Overall, 746 cases of surgeries for removal of intracranial tumor were analyzed. Postoperative complications of any kind were observed in 311 patients (41.7%). In 223 cases (29.9%), worsening of the KPS score at the time of discharge in comparison with preoperative period was noted. It was independently associated with 5 predictive factors-major brain vessel manipulation, surgery in the posterior fossa, cranial nerve manipulation, surgery in the eloquent area, tumor size >4 cm-which comprised MCS with a range of the total score from 0 to 8 (higher score indicates more complex clinical situations). Patients who demonstrated KPS worsening after surgery had significantly higher total MCS scores in comparison with individuals whose clinical status at discharge was improved or unchanged (3.24 ± 1.55 versus 1.47 ± 1.58; P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: It is reasonable to define neurosurgical complication as any deviation from the ideal postoperative course occurring within 30 days of the procedure. Suggested MCS allows for standardized assessment of surgical complexity before intervention and for estimating the risk of clinical worsening after removal of intracranial tumor. Collection of data on surgical complexity, occurrence of complications, and postoperative outcomes, using standardized prospectively maintained comprehensive patient registries seems very important for quality measurement and should be attained in all neurosurgical centers.

PMID:37548717 | DOI:10.1007/978-3-030-12887-6_1

Neuroradiology. 2023 Aug 7. doi: 10.1007/s00234-023-03206-w. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Cerebellum modulates the amplitude of resting tremor in Parkinson’s disease (PD) via cerebello-thalamo-cortical (CTC) circuit. Tremor-related white matter alterations have been identified in PD patients by pathological studies, but in vivo evidence is limited; the influence of such cerebellar white matter alterations on tremor-related brain network, including CTC circuit, is also unclear. In this study, we investigated the cerebral and cerebellar white matter alterations in PD patients with resting tremor using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).

METHODS: In this study, 30 PD patients with resting tremor (PDWR), 26 PD patients without resting tremor (PDNR), and 30 healthy controls (HCs) from the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) cohort were included. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) and region of interest-based analyses were conducted to determine white matter difference. Correlation analysis between DTI measures and clinical characteristics was also performed.

RESULTS: In the whole brain, TBSS and region of interest-based analyses identified higher fractional anisotropy (FA) value, lower mean diffusivity (MD) value, and lower radial diffusivity (RD) in multiple fibers. In the cerebellum, TBSS analysis revealed significantly higher FA value, decreased RD value as well as MD value in multiple cerebellar tracts including the inferior cerebellar peduncle (ICP) and middle cerebellar peduncle (MCP) when comparing the PDWR with HC, and higher FA value in the MCP when compared with PDNR.

CONCLUSION: We identified better white matter integrity in the cerebrum and cerebellum in PDWR indicating a potential association between the cerebral and cerebellar white matter and resting tremor in PD.

PMID:37548715 | DOI:10.1007/s00234-023-03206-w

Eur J Endocrinol. 2023 Aug 7:lvad103. doi: 10.1093/ejendo/lvad103. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Research suggests that postnatal catch-up growth after fetal growth restriction (FGR) occurs frequently. Yet, postnatal growth in singletons may be influenced by multiple factors. Identical twins with discordant prenatal growth, termed selective FGR (sFGR), can be regarded as a natural experiment eliminating these sources of bias.

DESIGN: Observational cohort study.

METHODS: Monochorionic twins with sFGR born between 2002-2017 (aged 3-17 years) were eligible. Growth measurements (height, weight, head circumference, body mass index) were performed at follow-up. Detailed growth curves documented by a systematic primary care system in the Netherlands were collected. Measurements were converted to standard deviation scores (SDS). A mixed-effects model was used to assess within-pair SDS difference and individual height SDS relative to target height SDS.

RESULTS: Forty-seven twin pairs (94 children) were included at a median age of 11 (interquartile range 8-13) years. At the last measurement, smaller twins at birth had a lower height SDS (-0.6 vs. -0.3, p<0.001, median difference 0.5 (95%CI 0.4-0.7)), lower weight SDS (-0.5 vs. -0.1, p<0.001, median difference 0.8 (95%CI 0.5-1.0)) and lower head circumference SDS (-0.5 vs 0.2, p<0.001, median difference 0.8 (95%CI 0.6-0.9)) compared to larger twins. These differences persisted until the age of seventeen. Smaller twins showed rapid catch-up growth in the first two years and reached their target height range between 8-11 years.

CONCLUSIONS: Identical twins with discordant prenatal growth maintain a modest but significant difference in height, weight and head circumference, indicating a persistent, inhibitory effect of an adverse intrauterine environment on childhood growth.

PMID:37548178 | DOI:10.1093/ejendo/lvad103

Public Health Nutr. 2023 Aug 7:1-29. doi: 10.1017/S1368980023001520. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study presents results of a midpoint analysis of an ongoing natural experiment evaluating the diet-related effects of the Minneapolis Minimum Wage Ordinance, which incrementally increases the minimum wage to $15/hr.

DESIGN: A difference-in-difference (DiD) analysis of measures collected among low-wage workers in two U.S. cities (one city with a wage increase policy and one comparison city). Measures included employment-related variables (hourly wage, hours worked, and non-employment assessed by survey questions with wages verified by paystubs), body mass index measured by study scales and stadiometers, and diet-related mediators (food insecurity, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation, and daily servings of fruits and vegetables, whole-grain rich foods, and foods high in added sugars measured by survey questions).

SETTING: Minneapolis, Minnesota and Raleigh, North Carolina.

PARTICIPANTS: A cohort of 580 low-wage workers (268 in Minneapolis, 312 in Raleigh) who completed three annual study visits between 2018 and 2020.

RESULTS: In DiD models adjusted for time-varying and non-time-varying confounders, there were no statistically significant differences in variables of interest in Minneapolis compared with Raleigh. Trends across both cities were evident, showing a steady increase in hourly wage, stable body mass index, an overall decrease in food insecurity, and non-linear trends in employment, hours worked, SNAP participation, and dietary outcomes.

CONCLUSION: There was no evidence of a beneficial or adverse effect of the Minimum Wage Ordinance on health-related variables during a period of economic and social change. The COVID-19 pandemic and other contextual factors likely contributed to the observed trends in both cities.

PMID:37548177 | DOI:10.1017/S1368980023001520