Tag: pubmed

PeerJ. 2025 Oct 23;13:e20239. doi: 10.7717/peerj.20239. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Visual impairment, including low vision and blindness, is an important global health concern. In Saudi Arabia, research on vision screening prevalence and its predictors is limited. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of vision screening and identify associated factors among Saudi residents attending primary healthcare settings.

METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from March to July 2023, involving 14,239 participants from 48 randomly selected primary healthcare centers in Riyadh. Data were collected electronically from participants aged 18 years and older, using a validated questionnaire covering sociodemographic characteristics, health-related behaviors, and comorbidities. Vision screening (yes/no) was the outcome of interest, and predictors were identified using multiple logistic regression. All statistical analyses were performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software.

RESULTS: The mean age of the population sample was 59.7 years ± SD 16.6 years, 56.6% were female, and 65.3% were married. The overall prevalence of vision screening was 9.1%. Multivariable analysis revealed that higher education (AOR 0.65-0.67, 95% CI [0.50-0.84] for up to high school; [0.52-0.87] for college/university; [0.44-0.76] for others) and marriage (AOR 0.81, 95% CI [0.70-0.94]) were associated with lower odds of vision screening. Conversely, unemployment (AOR 1.28, 95% CI [1.12-1.46]), exercise (AOR 1.29, 95% CI [1.14-1.47]), diabetes (AOR 1.49, 95% CI [1.24-1.80]), and obesity (AOR 1.39, 95% CI [1.11-1.75]) were associated with higher odds (all p < 0.05). Age, sex, insurance coverage, smoking, and hypertension did not reach statistical significance.

CONCLUSION: Overall, the prevalence of vision screening among the Saudi residents was low. This study identified key sociodemographic and health-related predictors of vision screening among Saudi residents. Targeted interventions are needed to improve screening rates, particularly among underutilizing groups such as those with higher education, married individuals, and employed individuals. Future research should qualitatively explore underlying reasons for these disparities to inform effective and culturally sensitive strategies.

PMID:41147000 | PMC:PMC12554312 | DOI:10.7717/peerj.20239

PeerJ. 2025 Oct 23;13:e20226. doi: 10.7717/peerj.20226. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

The codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is a major, economically important pest of apple orchards in Türkiye. This study was conducted with the objective of evaluating the efficacy of the mating disruption technique in controlling C. pomonella in commercial apple orchards in the Beyşehir district (Konya) during the years 2023 and 2024. The experiments were conducted in six commercial apple orchards. Three of these orchards were treated with pheromones, while the remaining three served as control orchards. The efficacy of mating disruption was evaluated by comparing the number of C. pomonella males caught in Delta traps in pheromone-treated and control orchards and the infestation rates in these orchards. Delta traps baited with synthetic sex pheromone were hung in each pheromone-treated and control apple orchard to monitor the adult codling moths, and the number of males was recorded weekly. Once the first adult was caught in Delta traps, ISOCOD-C (380 mg (E,E)-8,10-Dodecadienol, dodecanol, tetradecanol) pheromone dispensers were hung at a dose of 500 pieces/ha, 1.5-1.8 m above the soil surface in four directions of the trees in the apple orchards where the mating disruption technique was applied. To determine the infestation rate of C. pomonella, 10 fruits from 10 trees (a total of 100 fruits) were randomly selected and the infested fruits were recorded weekly. ISOCOD-C pheromone dispensers suppressed capture of male moths in Delta traps and infestation rate in fruits in the treated orchards in both years, and the differences were found to be statistically significant in comparison to the control. In the pheromone-treated orchards, the mean number of males (trap/week) was 0.91 ± 0.18 and 0.81 ± 0.19 in 2023 and 2024, respectively, while this was 11.38 ± 1.64 in 2023 and 19.60 ± 2.65 in 2024 in the control orchards. The mean infestation rate (%) in the pheromone-treated orchards was 1.18 ± 0.21% and 2.50 ± 0.43%, in 2023 and 2024, respectively. In contrast, this rate was 13.26 ± 1.08% and 15.33 ± 1.02% in the control orchards. In addition, it was determined that the total number of sprays for codling moth in orchards using mating disruption decreased by 44.4% and 45.4% in 2023 and 2024, respectively, in comparison with the control. As a result, this study revealed that the ISOCOD-C pheromone disperser can be successfully used against C. pomonella in apple orchards.

PMID:41146997 | PMC:PMC12554307 | DOI:10.7717/peerj.20226

PeerJ. 2025 Oct 23;13:e20293. doi: 10.7717/peerj.20293. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: This study expands existing research by examining longitudinal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical college students’ physical fitness.

METHODS: A medical college in Wenzhou, was selected to examine the changes in physical fitness indicators among students from 2019 to 2021.

RESULTS: While most students maintained normal weight status (85.2%), overweight/obese prevalence increased significantly (8.0% in 2019, 8.9% in 2020, and 10.1% in 2021). Among male students, 67.0% were classified within the passing range, while the majority of female students (55.0%) fell within the “good” grade category. In 2021, a significant decline was observed in the standing long jump, 50-m dash, and 1,000/800 m run (p < 0.05) across both genders.

CONCLUSIONS: The lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have significantly contributed to increased weight gain among college students and a decline in their endurance running performance.

PMID:41146996 | PMC:PMC12554305 | DOI:10.7717/peerj.20293

PeerJ. 2025 Oct 23;13:e20084. doi: 10.7717/peerj.20084. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Agility and change-of-direction (COD) are essential for success in soccer, influencing performance and injury risk. Resisted sprint training (RST) has shown promise in enhancing these skills by improving muscle strength and neuromuscular coordination. However, the effects of vertical and horizontal RST on agility and COD performance remain inadequately explored.

METHODOLOGY: A systematic literature search was conducted across PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar without date restrictions, following PRISMA guidelines. Studies were included if they involved healthy soccer players, RST interventions, and assessed agility or COD speed. Data extraction and quality assessment were executed independently by two reviewers; statistical analyses employed RevMan and Stata software packages.

RESULTS: This meta-analysis included 13 studies, which collectively generated 35 groups based on experiment and control protocols. The demonstrated a statistically significant improvement of RST on agility and COD performance (SMD = -0.31, 95% CI [-0.44 to -0.17], p < 0.001). Subgroup analyses revealed a trend towards greater improvements with vertically resisted sprinting (SMD = -0.36, p = 0.009), compared to horizontally resisted sprinting (SMD = -0.13, p = 0.25) although the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.07). Elite athletes demonstrated significant enhancements in agility and COD (SMD = -0.45, p < 0.001). In contrast, amateur athletes displayed no significant improvements (SMD = -0.05, p = 0.77). RST outperformed unresisted sprinting (SMD = -0.29, p < 0.05) and alternative training (SMD = -0.36, p < 0.001), indicating its effectiveness across various comparators.

CONCLUSIONS: RST significantly enhances agility and change-of-direction performance in soccer players, particularly among elite athletes. Vertical resisted sprinting is more effective than horizontal resistance, supporting its integration into training programs for improved athletic performance.PROSPERO registration number (CRD42024608859).

PMID:41146995 | PMC:PMC12554313 | DOI:10.7717/peerj.20084

J Prev Alzheimers Dis. 2025 Oct 27:100391. doi: 10.1016/j.tjpad.2025.100391. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: A new era of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research is beginning with multiple approved anti-amyloid monoclonal antibodies (mABs). These drugs are currently not widely used, but may be soon, especially at clinical trial sites. Putative disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) may alter the progression rate, potentially reducing our ability to detect effects on top of mABs. Co-administration of amyloid-targeted agents may diminish benefit (antagonism, due to the overlapping mechanism of action); alternatively, complementary treatment mechanisms may increase benefit (synergy).

METHOD: We consider several clinical trial design scenarios: a 2-arm trial added-on to a mAB, a 2-arm combination compared to double placebo, and a 4-arm full factorial trial. We calculate the required sample sizes for the shortest practical study for secondary prevention (prevention of AD clinical diagnosis in biomarker positive individuals, 2-year study), early AD (18-months), and mild-to-moderate AD (1-year). We consider additivity, antagonism, and synergy.

RESULT: The expected interaction between investigational and mAB treatment can have a large effect on power and study design. Antagonistic treatment effects often require double the sample size of synergistic effects. The 4-arm scenario required ∼10-fold increase compared to a 2-arm combination study.

CONCLUSION: Studies evaluating investigational therapies as add-on to mABs are complex, and their cost will depend on the interaction between treatments. An inescapable fact in add-on trials is the slower progression of the control arm; and it is difficult to further slow already slow progression. Treatments that are likely to work better with amyloid removal will be easier to study due to their complementary MOA. Symptomatic treatments may require fewer additional subjects than disease-modifying treatments since they are less affected by the presence or absence of mABs.

PMID:41145342 | DOI:10.1016/j.tjpad.2025.100391

J Prev Alzheimers Dis. 2025 Oct 27:100392. doi: 10.1016/j.tjpad.2025.100392. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Statistical methods in clinical research tend to become entrenched. Innovations threaten the status quo. The “right way” becomes frozen in lore. This is so even when the “right way” is not best. “Statistical significance” and the associated requirement of “high power” is an example. This attitude is an impediment to efficient design. Willingness to address some design issues with moderate power enables building highly informative and highly efficient clinical trials. This article considers several types of clinical trials, including dose-finding, combinations, and factorial designs. Bayesian adaptive methods are used to show that trials can be made more efficient and more informative. Surprisingly, the approach is consistent with many attitudes of the widely regarded “Father of Modern Statistics,” R.A. Fisher. Fisher was anti-Bayesian in rejecting its subjective interpretations. But Fisher and Bayes come to the same conclusion in many applied matters. Fisher invented factorial design. Its principal attraction for him was enabling addressing two or more questions with a single experiment. He complained about attitudes that hindered progress: “No aphorism is more frequently repeated in connection with field trials [and clinical trials], than that we must ask Nature few questions, or, ideally, one question at a time… this view is wholly mistaken.” Fisher’s primary analysis required modeling and making assumptions. For example, his first analysis in a factorial setting assumed no interactions among the factors. He investigated possibilities of interactions but he did not see the need for doing so with high power.

PMID:41145340 | DOI:10.1016/j.tjpad.2025.100392

Cardiovasc Revasc Med. 2025 Oct 17:S1553-8389(25)00545-7. doi: 10.1016/j.carrev.2025.10.010. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is a common valvular disorder linked to significant morbidity and mortality. Transcatheter tricuspid valve intervention (TTVI) has emerged as a novel therapeutic option for high-risk patients. However, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating its clinical efficacy remain limited in sample size, making it difficult to draw definitive conclusions.

METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of studies comparing outcomes between TTVI vs. optimal medical therapy (OMT) published between January 2000 to June 2025 in PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase. The primary outcomes were all-cause mortality and heart failure hospitalization (HFH). The secondary outcomes included cardiovascular death, TR severity, NYHA class improvement, and Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) score.

RESULTS: Three RCTs, including 1264 patients (TTVI: 696; OMT: 568), were analyzed. At one year, there was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (RR: 1.12; 95 % CI: 0.77-1.63; p = 0.55), HFH (RR: 0.83; 95 % CI: 0.64-1.07; p = 0.15) and cardiovascular death (RR: 1.11; 95 % CI: 0.7-1.77; p = 0.65) between groups. Patients in TTVI group significantly improved at least 1 class in NYHA functional classification (RR: 2.77; 95 % CI: 1.72-4.49; p < 0.0001), had greater changes in KCCQ scores (+15.23 points; 95 % CI: 12.03-18.44; p < 0.0001), and markedly reduced the incidence of ≥ severe TR at follow-up (RR: 0.09; 95 % CI: 0.03-0.27; p < 0.0001) compared to OMT.

CONCLUSIONS: Although TTVI has not demonstrated statistically significant reductions in all-cause mortality or HFH, it is associated with substantial improvements in functional class, quality of life, and TR severity, supporting its role in select high-risk patients.

PMID:41145332 | DOI:10.1016/j.carrev.2025.10.010

J Hepatol. 2026 Jan 30:S0168-8278(25)02478-X. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2025.08.039. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Given country-specific variance in legislation, limited information is available regarding outcomes of liver transplantation (LT) using medical assistance in dying (MAiD) donation after circulatory death (DCD type-V) grafts. We compared outcomes following LT using DCD type-V vs. conventional DCD type-III grafts.

METHODS: We reviewed all LTs using DCD-V and DCD-III donors performed across Canadian provinces between 2016 (MAiD legalization) and 2023. Primary outcomes were patient and graft survival at 1, 3, and 5 years. Secondary outcomes included early allograft dysfunction, length of stay, postoperative complications, and biliary complications.

RESULTS: Among 313 recipients, 56 (17.9%) received DCD-V and 257 (82.1%) DCD-III grafts. DCD-V donors were older (56 vs. 38 years, p <0.0001), and had similar warm ischemic time (20 vs. 23 min, p = 0.190). Patient survival for DCD-V was 89.3%, 85.7%, and 85.7% at 1, 3, and 5 years, with graft survival of 82.1%, 78.6%, and 78.6%, comparable to DCD-III. DCD-V was not associated with graft loss (odds ratio 1.64; 95% CI 0.66-4.08), which was confirmed by multivariable Cox regression analysis (hazard ratio 1.53; 95% CI 0.74-3.15). Early allograft dysfunction occurred more frequently with DCD-III (57.5% vs. 42.9%, p = 0.047), whereas length of stay was longer with DCD-V (21.5 vs. 15 days, p = 0.011). Overall complication rates were similar; biliary complications were more common in DCD-V, but this was not statistically significant (32.1% vs. 23.1%, p = 0.153).

CONCLUSIONS: Liver grafts from MAiD donors provide outcomes comparable to DCD-III and increased Canadian DCD activity by 21.8%. These findings support MAiD as a valuable additional source of liver grafts, though larger studies are needed to validate long-term safety and efficacy.

IMPACT AND IMPLICATIONS: Liver transplantation using grafts from donors following medical assistance in dying (MAiD) achieves satisfactory patient and graft survival, with complication rates comparable to those following conventional donation after circularly death. MAiD donation increased donation after circularly death liver transplant activity in Canada by 21.8% over 7 years. These findings support MAiD as a valuable additional source of grafts, while also honoring the wishes of patients who choose to donate their organs.

PMID:41145323 | DOI:10.1016/j.jhep.2025.08.039

J Adv Nurs. 2025 Oct 27. doi: 10.1111/jan.70312. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To report on women’s experiences of perimenopause and menopause.

DESIGN: A mixed-methods design using an online survey and interviews.

METHODS: Data were collected simultaneously between April and July 2022. Women over the age of 18 who self-identified as being in perimenopause or menopause were invited to complete an online survey. Women who completed the survey were also invited to participate in an interview to discuss their experiences in more detail. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed.

RESULTS: Four hundred and eleven women completed the survey in its entirety. Twenty-five women who self-identified as being in perimenopause and menopause participated in one-on-one interviews. Both quantitative and qualitative data are presented under three themes: (1) The unexpected sequelae on daily life; (2) Experiencing stigma and shame; and (3) Feeling dismissed and devalued.

CONCLUSION: Gender inequality, silence and stigma negatively impact the health and well-being of women experiencing perimenopause and menopause. Encouraging conversations and challenging existing negative attitudes to perimenopause and menopause can reduce stigma, improve health literacy and enhance women’s experiences of this life transition.

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION AND OR PATIENT CARE: Further education for nurses and other health care professionals about perimenopause and menopause is required to better diagnose, treat and support women. Nurse-led models of care could provide timely access to menopause care. Workplaces could enhance the productivity and work satisfaction of women experiencing perimenopause and menopause by changing policy to ensure flexibility in the workplace and implementing measures to ensure their comfort.

SUMMARY STATEMENT: Women are largely unprepared for the impact perimenopause/menopause has on their everyday lives. The stigma and shame associated with perimenopause and menopause limits women’s access to support and contributes to negative outcomes for their health and well-being. Health professionals often have inadequate knowledge about perimenopause and menopause and can be dismissive of women experiencing this transition.

REPORTING METHOD: Reporting of the study was guided by The Good Reporting of a Mixed Methods Study (GRAMMS) checklist.

NO PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: This study did not include patient or public involvement in its design, conduct or reporting.

PMID:41145319 | DOI:10.1111/jan.70312

Yonsei Med J. 2025 Nov;66(11):797-805. doi: 10.3349/ymj.2024.0544.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Recent concerns regarding the delivery of surgical services in South Korea emphasize the need for close monitoring of spatial access to surgical care in patients with acute appendicitis at the regional level.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included emergency department (ED) visits with acute appendicitis and subsequent appendectomies from the National Emergency Department Information System database (2015-2021). Travel distances to the hospital were measured, and the proportion of patients admitted to regional hospitals was visualized on a geographic map. Factors related to complicated appendicitis were analyzed using logistic regression.

RESULTS: Among 207344 patients who visited the EDs, those from areas with low population density had higher proportions of patients aged ≥65 years (23.2%), Medical Aid recipients (4.8%), transfers from other hospitals (39.3%), and cases of complicated appendicitis (7.0%) compared to other regions. Additionally, patients in low-density regions had the highest proportion of traveling 50 km or more (27.7%), compared to those in mid-density (5.9%) and high-density (2.5%) regions. In the multivariate analysis, patients aged ≥65 years exhibited a stronger association with complicated appendicitis compared to other age groups.

CONCLUSION: The current results suggested that regions with low population density experienced low access to surgical care, revealing significant regional variation linked to population density. Given the rapidly aging population and the concentration of residents in urban areas in South Korea, urgent policy action is needed to ensure the adequate delivery of emergency general surgery services in low-density regions.

PMID:41145315 | DOI:10.3349/ymj.2024.0544