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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Health-related quality of life in patients with chronic orofacial pain compared with other chronic pain patients

Clin Exp Dent Res. 2022 Mar 28. doi: 10.1002/cre2.560. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of orofacial pain patients is lower than that of the general population and impaired in multiple dimensions. The aim of the present study was to investigate HRQoL of orofacial pain patients in comparison with patients suffering from other chronic pain disorders.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and fifty-one tertiary care facial pain patients (mean age, 50 years; standard deviation [SD], 15; 119 females), were compared with 312 other non-cancer chronic pain patients (mean age, 46 years; SD, 13; 204 women), recruited from three multidisciplinary pain clinics in Finland. The groups were compared using the 15D, and pain-related measures such as pain interference, pain acceptance, anxiety, depression, and sleep. Statistical comparisons between groups were done using t test, χ2 test, or analysis of covariance. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to study whether pain-related aspects influencing HRQoL are similar between the patient groups.

RESULTS: The 15D score was significantly higher in facial pain patients (0.823; SD, 0.114) indicating better HRQoL in comparison with other chronic pain patients (0.732; SD, 0.107) (p < .001). The 15D profiles of studied populations resembled each other but orofacial pain patients showed significantly higher scores for most individual 15D dimensions. Dimensions regarding discomfort and symptoms and sleep were most affected in both groups. Orofacial pain patients showed less psychosocial disability and better acceptance of their pain. Pain acceptance was a weaker explanatory factor of HRQoL in orofacial pain patients.

CONCLUSION: Compared to other non-cancer chronic pain, chronic pain in the orofacial area causes less impairment in HRQoL. Orofacial pain patients showed less psychosocial disability and better pain acceptance.

PMID:35347879 | DOI:10.1002/cre2.560

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Caregiver burden and the associated factors in the family caregivers of patients with schizophrenia

Nurs Open. 2022 Mar 28. doi: 10.1002/nop2.1205. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: Our study aimed to investigate the caregiving burden and its associated factors in family caregivers of patients with schizophrenia.

DESIGN: Correlational study.

METHOD: Using the convenience sampling method, 215 caregivers were recruited from outpatient clinics affiliated with a tertiary referral psychiatric hospital in Iran. The caregiving burden was measured by the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI-22), and associations between caregiving burden and potential factors were examined using multiple regression analysis. We used the STROBE checklist to report the results.

RESULTS: Family caregivers of patients with schizophrenia reported a high level of caregiving burden, with 38.2% of the caregivers perceiving severe burden relating to their role. In the regression analysis, age, gender, educational level, income, job loss due to caregiving, relationship with patient, disease duration and frequency of caregiving were statistically significant predictors of caregiving burden. The regression model explained 54.4% of the variance of caregiving burden.

PMID:35347867 | DOI:10.1002/nop2.1205

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Recognition of facial emotion expressions and perceptual processes in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome

Early Interv Psychiatry. 2022 Mar 28. doi: 10.1111/eip.13295. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Social cognition (SC) deficits and of its facial emotion expression (FEE) component have been described in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11.2DS), a high-risk for schizophrenia (SCZ) systemic genetic syndrome. Correlations between deficits in FEE skills and visual-spatial abilities in people with 22q11.2DS warrant investigation.

METHODS: The sample consisted of 37 patients with 22q11.2DS (DEL), 19 with 22q11.2DS and psychosis (DEL-SCZ), 23 with idiopathic SCZ, and 48 healthy controls. We assessed FEE through The Ekman 60 Faces test (EK-F60), visual-spatial skills with Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices, and symptom severity with the positive And negative syndrome scale. Statistics were conducted through multivariate analysis of variance and correlation analysis.

RESULTS: Patients with 22q11.2DS performed worse that the other groups in recognizing Surprise, Disgust, Rage, Fear, and Neutral expressions on the EK-F60. Recognition of Surprise and Disgust correlated positively with visual-spatial abilities in patients with 22q11.2DS; negative and cognitive symptoms correlated negatively with recognition of Sadness, Surprise, and Disgust.

CONCLUSIONS: Patients with 22q11.2DS show impairments of both peripheral and central steps of the emotional recognition process, leading to SC deficits. The latter are present regardless of the presence of a full-blown psychosis.

PMID:35347860 | DOI:10.1111/eip.13295

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Confidence intervals for point-of-stabilization of content uniformity

Pharm Stat. 2022 Mar 28. doi: 10.1002/pst.2207. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Within the framework of continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing, we are interested in statistical modeling of the initial behavior of the production line. Assuming a gradually changing sequence of a suitable product quality characteristic (e.g., the content uniformity), we estimate the so-called point-of-stabilization (PoSt) and construct corresponding confidence regions based on appropriate asymptotic distributions and bootstrap. We investigate linear, quadratic, and nonlinear gradual change models both in homoscedastic and heteroscedastic setup. We propose a new nonlinear Emax gradual change model and show that it is applicable even if the true model is linear. Asymptotic distribution of the PoSt estimator is known only in a homoscedastic linear and quadratic model and, therefore, bootstrap approximations are used to construct one-sided PoSt confidence intervals.

PMID:35347839 | DOI:10.1002/pst.2207

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Mandibular condyle changes in rats with unilateral masticatory function

Orthod Craniofac Res. 2022 Mar 29. doi: 10.1111/ocr.12575. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Certain malocclusions or unilateral tooth loss can lead to asymmetric functional load of the two mandibular sides during mastication and induce skeletal asymmetries to the condylar process of growing individuals. However, in adults, asymmetric function may have a different impact. The aim of the present study was to investigate three-dimensionally the effects of unilateral masticatory function on the condylar process morphology in growing and adult rats and the adaptive processes to differential condylar loading.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-six growing and adult Wistar rats aged 4 and 26 weeks respectively were obtained. The maxillary right molars of the experimental animals were extracted and all animals were followed for 12 weeks. Three-dimensional images were obtained by an in-vivo microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) examination. The following measurements were studied: condylar process height, condylar base width, and condylar cross-sectional surface.

RESULTS: While no differences were found with regards to condylar process height and base width, the cross-section of the condyle on the extraction side did not increase during growth in the young rats. No such differences were found in adults. Young rats had statistically significantly shorter condylar height, base width and cross-sectional surface than the adult rats and showed significant growth of these structures during the experimental period.

CONCLUSION: Condylar height and base width growth are not hindered by reduced occlusal function, contrary to the average cross-sectional surface, which implies that the condyle form of growing individuals becomes thinner while maintaining its length, in the absence of occlusal stimuli. The condyle of adult rats with extractions is less affected by occlusion changes.

PMID:35347850 | DOI:10.1111/ocr.12575

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Botulinum toxin type A for preventing and treating cleft lip scarring– A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

J Cosmet Dermatol. 2022 Mar 29. doi: 10.1111/jocd.14941. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) are congenital cleft facial deformities that are abnormal developments caused by errors in the fusion process of the embryo’s face. Surgery is an important treatment, but postoperative scars will still cause psychological shadows to patients. This study aimed to systematically evaluate the efficacy of Botulinum toxin type A (BTXA) in preventing and treating postoperative CL/P scars and improving scar quality.

METHODS: A systematic review was performed by searching PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library and Web of Science for relevant trials. All relevant trials were performed before June 30, 2021. The data were entered into Revman 5.3 software, and a meta-analysis was conducted by using the random-effects model or fixed-effects model.

RESULTS: Four randomized controlled trials involving 161 cases were included. Through quantitative analysis, BTXA showed significant differences in preventing and treating postoperative CL/P scars in terms of scar width (MD: -0.20; [95% CI, -0.30, -0.10], p<0.0001) and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) (MD: 1.30; [95% CI, 1.06, 1.55], p<0.0001), although no significant difference was noted on the Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) (MD: -0.75; [95% CI, -1.68, 0.19], p=0.12) between the two groups.

CONCLUSION: In preventing and treating postoperative CL/P scar hypertrophy, we found that BTXA injection can show better results. There was no statistically significant difference between the results after omitting Navarro’s study or Chang’s study because of the time of injection-before/during surgery or adult CL/P scars.

PMID:35347825 | DOI:10.1111/jocd.14941

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Dose-escalated simultaneously integrated boost radiation protocol fails to result in a survival advantage for sinonasal tumors in dogs

Vet Radiol Ultrasound. 2022 Mar 29. doi: 10.1111/vru.13086. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The prognosis for canine sinonasal tumors remains rather poor despite definitive-intent radiotherapy (RT). Theoretical calculations predicted improved outcomes with simultaneously integrated boost (SIB) protocols. With the hypothesis of clinically detectable differences in outcome between groups, our retrospective study evaluated prognostic variables and outcome in dogs treated with regular versus SIB RT. Dogs with sinonasal tumors treated with either a regular (10 × 4.2 Gy) or new SIB protocol (10 × 4.83 Gy to macroscopic tumor) were included. Information regarding signalment, tumor stage, type, clinical signs, radiation toxicity, response, and outcome was collected. Forty-nine dogs were included: 27 treated regularly and 22 treated with SIB RT. A total of 69.4% showed epistaxis, 6.1% showed epileptic seizures, 46.9% showed stage IV tumors, and 6.1% showed lymph node metastases. Early toxicity was mostly mild. Late grade 1 skin toxicity (alopecia/leucotrichia) was seen in 72.1% of dogs, and a possible grade 3 ocular toxicity (blindness) was seen in one dog. Complete/partial resolution of clinical signs was seen in 95.9% of patients as best clinical response and partial remission was seen as best imaging response in 34.7%. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 274 days (95% CI: 117-383) for regular and 300 days (95% CI: 143-451) for SIB RT, which was not significantly different (P = 0.42). Similarly, the median overall survival (OS) was 348 days (95% CI: 121-500) for regular and 381 days (95% CI: 295-634) for the SIB RT (P = 0.18). Stratified by protocol, the hazard ratio of stage IV versus stage I-III tumors was 2.29 (95% CI: 1.156-4.551, P = 0.02) for OS but not PFS. All dogs showed acceptable toxicity. In contrast to theoretical predictions, however, we could not show a statistically significant better outcome with the new protocol.

PMID:35347801 | DOI:10.1111/vru.13086

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Association of indoor and outdoor short-term PM2.5 exposure with blood pressure among school children

Indoor Air. 2022 Mar;32(3):e13013. doi: 10.1111/ina.13013.

ABSTRACT

The association between particulate matter and children’s increased blood pressure is inconsistent, and few studies have evaluated indoor exposure, accounting for time-activity. The present study aimed to examine the association between personal short-term exposure to PM2.5 and blood pressure in children. We conducted a panel study with up to three physical examinations during different seasons of 2018 (spring, summer, and fall) among 52 children. The indoor PM2.5 concentration was continuously measured at home and classroom of each child using indoor air quality monitors. The outdoor PM2.5 concentration was measured from the nearest monitoring station. We constructed a mixed effect model to analyze the association of short-term indoor and outdoor PM2.5 exposure accounting for time-activity of each participant with blood pressure. The average PM2.5 concentration was 34.3 ± 9.2 μg/m3 and it was highest in the spring. The concentration measured at homes was generally higher than that measured at outdoor monitoring station. A 10-μg/m3 increment of the up to previous 3-day mean (lag0-3) PM2.5 concentration was associated with 2.7 mmHg (95%CI = 0.8, 4.0) and 2.1 mmHg (95%CI = 0.3, 4.0) increases in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, respectively. In a panel study comprehensively evaluating both indoor and outdoor exposures, which enabled more accurate exposure assessment, we observed a statistically significant association between blood pressure and PM2.5 exposure in children.

PMID:35347791 | DOI:10.1111/ina.13013

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Combining adaptive and heat balance models for thermal sensation prediction: A new approach towards a theory and data-driven adaptive thermal heat balance model

Indoor Air. 2022 Mar;32(3):e13018. doi: 10.1111/ina.13018.

ABSTRACT

The adaptive thermal heat balance (ATHB) framework introduced a method to account for the three adaptive principals, namely physiological, behavioral, and psychological adaptation, individually within existing heat balance models. This work presents a more detailed theoretical framework together with a theory-driven empirical determination toward a new formulation of the ATHBPMV . The empirical development followed a rigor statistical process known from machine learning approaches including training, validation, and test phase and makes use of a subset (N = 57 084 records) of the ASHRAE Global Thermal Comfort Database. Results show an increased predictive performance among a wide range of outdoor climates, building types, and cooling strategies of the buildings. Furthermore, individual findings question the common believe that psychological adaptation is highest in naturally ventilated buildings. The framework offers further opportunities to include a variety of context-related variables as well as personal characteristics into thermal prediction models, while keeping mathematical equations limited and enabling further advancements related to the understanding of influences on thermal perception.

PMID:35347785 | DOI:10.1111/ina.13018

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Exploring wait time variations in a prostate cancer patient pathway-A qualitative study

Int J Health Plann Manage. 2022 Mar 28. doi: 10.1002/hpm.3454. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Norwegian health authorities emphasise that all citizens should have equal access to healthcare and implement cancer patient pathways (CPPs) to ensure medical care for all patients within the same time frame and to avoid unwanted variation. Statistics regarding prostate cancer indicate longer wait times for patients from a local hospital compared to patients from a university hospital. This study describes which health system-related factors influence variations in wait times. Eighteen healthcare workers participated in qualitative individual interviews conducted using a semi-structured interview guide. Transcripts were analysed by systematic text condensation, which is a cross-case method for the thematic analysis of qualitative data. The analysis unveiled four categories describing possible health system-related factors causing variation in times spent on diagnostics for patients in the local hospital and in university hospital, respectively: (a) capacity and competence, (b) logistics and efficiency, (c) need for highly specialised investigations, and (d) need for extra consultations. Centralisation of surgical treatment necessitated the transfer of patients, with extra steps indicated in the CPP for patients transferring from the local hospital to the university hospital for surgery. The local hospital seemed to lack capacity more frequently than the university hospital. Possible factors explaining variations in wait time between the two hospitals concern both internal conditions at the hospitals in organising CPPs and the implications of transferring patients between hospitals. Differences in hospitals’ capacity can cause variations in wait time. The extra steps involved in transferring patients between hospitals can lead to additional time spent in CPP.

PMID:35347768 | DOI:10.1002/hpm.3454