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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Validation and reliability of the Care Vulnerability Index: A study by interrater agreement and test-retest method

Nurs Open. 2022 Mar 8. doi: 10.1002/nop2.1203. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: The aim of this study is to determine the validity and reliability of the Care Vulnerability Index (CVI) as a tool to estimate the need and competence of care.

DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey including a longitudinal component.

METHODS: Content validity ratio (CVR) was calculated by interrater agreement of a group of 11 experts in two rounds. The test-retest analysis was measured in an urban population of Colombia with 96 participants through two statistical tests: Pearson’s correlation coefficient and the difference in means.

RESULTS: Care Vulnerability Index turned out to be valid with a CVR of 0.879. Reliability by Pearson correlation between test-retest was 0.912 (CI95: 0.872-0.941; p-value <.01) and there was no significant mean difference between test and retest in global score and in clustered groups of variables. Validating CVI will make it possible to prioritize healthcare resources in the population and identify people susceptible to care problems.

PMID:35261198 | DOI:10.1002/nop2.1203

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Association of Cardiac Biomarkers with Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis and Psoriasis: A Longitudinal Cohort Study

Arthritis Rheumatol. 2022 Mar 8. doi: 10.1002/art.42079. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: In patients with psoriatic disease (PsD), we determined whether cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and N-terminal pro-brain-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) were associated with carotid plaque burden and the development of cardiovascular (CV) events independent of the Framingham Risk Score (FRS).

METHODS: Among 1,000 patients with PsD, carotid total plaque area (TPA) was measured in 358 participants at baseline. cTnI and NT-proBNP were measured using automated clinical assays. The association between cardiac biomarkers and carotid atherosclerosis was assessed by multivariable regression after adjusting for CV risk factors. Improvement in the prediction of CV events beyond the FRS was tested using measures of risk discrimination and reclassification.

RESULTS: In univariate analyses, cTnI (β coefficient 0.52 [95% CI 0.3, 0.74], p<0.001) and NT-proBNP (β coefficient 0.24 [95% CI 0.1, 0.39], p<0.001) were associated with TPA. After adjusting for CV risk factors, the association remained statistically significant for cTnI (adjusted β coefficient 0.21 [95% CI 0, 0.41], p=0.047), but not NT-proBNP (p=0.21). Among 1,000 patients with PsD assessed for CV risk prediction, 64 patients had incident CV events. When comparing a base model (with the FRS alone) to expanded models (with the FRS plus cardiac biomarkers), there was no improvement in predictive performance.

CONCLUSION: In patients with PsD, cTnI may reflect the burden of atherosclerosis, independent of traditional CV risk factors. cTnI and NT-proBNP are associated with incident CV events independent of the FRS, however, further study of their role in CV risk stratification is warranted.

PMID:35261189 | DOI:10.1002/art.42079

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The gender imbalance in Interventional Radiology in Australia and New Zealand

J Med Imaging Radiat Oncol. 2022 Mar 8. doi: 10.1111/1754-9485.13397. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: There are few female Interventional Radiologists worldwide and this is a significant issue for many countries. There is little known about the current status and attitudes to women in Interventional Radiology in Australia and New Zealand. The purpose of this study was to explore the gender balance, workforce challenges and perceptions towards women in Interventional Radiology in Australia and New Zealand.

METHODS: An anonymised voluntary survey exploring the current demographics of Interventional Radiologists and opinions on multiple gender issues in Interventional Radiology was conducted. The survey was sent to all members of the Interventional Radiology Society of Australasia. Statistical analysis was performed using independent samples t-tests, the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U testing and proportions of binary variables using logistic regression.

RESULTS: Seventy seven responses were received, 83% males and 17% females. The majority of participants worked full time (83%) and identified as an Interventional Radiologist with/without some sessions of diagnostic radiology per week (83%). There was general consensus in many issues; however, males tended to disagree more than females that female IRs are treated differently than male IRs (p < 0.037), and that male IRs are paid more than female IRs (P = 0.020). Females agreed it was harder for female IRs to gain academic or clinical promotion; however, males disagreed (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: There is a clear gender imbalance in Interventional Radiology in Australia and New Zealand. Multiple issues should be investigated and addressed by the major stakeholders such as the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists and the Interventional Radiology society of Australasia.

PMID:35261169 | DOI:10.1111/1754-9485.13397

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Sydney ‘lockout’ liquor licensing law restrictions have been associated with a sustained reduction in emergency department presentations from assaults over 5 years

Emerg Med Australas. 2022 Mar 9. doi: 10.1111/1742-6723.13955. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: The present study assessed the impact of changes to the New South Wales Liquor Act in 2014 on assault-related presentations to the ED of St Vincent’s Hospital. This hospital is the primary receiving hospital for the area affected by these laws.

METHODS: Patients presenting to the ED with an assault-related diagnosis were identified from the ED and trauma registry databases from 2009 to 2019 and retrospectively reviewed. The number of presentations in the 5 years prior to the introduction of the laws in 2014 was compared to the number occurring in the 5 years following this. Admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) and in-hospital death were used as markers for severe injury.

RESULTS: From 2009 to 2019 there were 2983 assault-related presentations to the ED, with 153 requiring ICU admission and 12 deaths. The mean number of presentations annually fell from 342 to 255 after the introduction of the laws (P = 0.01). The reduction in presentations was sustained for the entire 5-year period after the introduction of the laws. Although the mean number of patients requiring ICU admission per year fell from 17 to 14, and the mean number of deaths annually fell from 1.6 to 0.8, neither of these were statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS: There has been a significant reduction in assault-related presentations to St Vincent’s Hospital following the changes to the liquor licensing laws that has been sustained for 5 years with no significant decrease in the those with severe assault injuries.

PMID:35261152 | DOI:10.1111/1742-6723.13955

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Application of three-dimensional reconstruction of left upper lung lobes in anatomical segmental resection

Thorac Cancer. 2022 Mar 8. doi: 10.1111/1759-7714.14379. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The lobar and segmental anatomy are the basis for anatomical pulmonary segmentectomy.

METHODS: From October 2017 to June 2021, 136 patients with small pulmonary nodules scheduled for anatomical pulmonary segmentectomy at our institution underwent three-dimensional (3D) lung reconstruction. The anatomy of the left upper lobe (LUL) was statistically analyzed and graphically mapped using the reconstructed models, and the role of this reconstruction method in performing pulmonary segmentectomy was explored.

RESULTS: Through the analysis of the reconstructed models, the upper stem (S1 + 2 + 3) bronchus was classified as having two (94/136 cases) or three branches (42/136 cases). The upper stem artery had two branches in 24/136 patients, three in 60/136 cases, four in 44/136 cases, and five in 8/136 cases. A total of 103/136 upper stem veins had two branches, 26/136 had three branches, and 7/136 had four branches. The lingual stem (S4 + 5) bronchus was two-branched in 116/136 cases and three-branched in 20/136 cases, while the lingual artery was single-branched in 61/136 cases, two-branched in 70/136 cases, and three-branched in rare cases (5/136 cases). The lingual stem vein was unbranched in 119/136 cases and two-branched in 17/136 cases. Additionally, six unusual variants (<5%) were identified: one in the bronchus, with four cases; three in the pulmonary artery, with six cases; and two in the pulmonary vein, with two cases.

CONCLUSIONS: 3D reconstruction can yield results similar to specimens for lung segment studies. The reconstruction strategy and the data presented in this article will be valuable references for thoracic surgeons performing anatomic resections.

PMID:35261166 | DOI:10.1111/1759-7714.14379

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Distribution of tubal endometriosis: A 10-year retrospective study

J Obstet Gynaecol Res. 2022 Mar 8. doi: 10.1111/jog.15220. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To investigate the distribution of tubal endometriosis (EM) in the right and left sides and four parts of the fallopian tube.

METHODS: A retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted on patients with tubal EM at the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University from October 2011 to September 2021. Chi-square and binomial tests were used for analysis.

RESULTS: Thirty-four patients (53.97%) had tubal resection due to EM (EM group). Twenty-nine patients (46.03%) had tubal resection due to non-EM (non-EM group). Thirty-two patients (50.80%) had left fallopian tube EM, 21 (33.33%) had right fallopian tube EM, and 10 (15.87%) had bilateral fallopian tube EM, with significant differences among them (p = 0.000). In the EM group, 15 patients (44.12%) had left fallopian tube EM, 13 (38.23%) had right fallopian tube EM, and 6 (17.65%) had bilateral fallopian tube EM (p = 0.052). In the non-EM group, statistically different (p = 0.001) diagnoses of left fallopian tube EM, right fallopian tube EM, and bilateral fallopian tube EM were 17 (58.62%), 8 (27.59%), and 4 (13.79%), respectively. In the EM group, 18 patients (52.94%) were in the ampullary region; 16 (47.06%) were in the nonampullary region (p = 0.864). In the non-EM group, 22 cases (75.86%) were in the ampullary region and 7 (24.14%) were in the nonampullary region, with a significant difference between them (p = 0.008).

CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of left fallopian tube EM was higher than that of right and bilateral fallopian tube EM. The incidence of tubal ampullary EM was higher than that of nonampullary region.

PMID:35261117 | DOI:10.1111/jog.15220

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(Un)common space in infant neuroimaging studies: A systematic review of infant templates

Hum Brain Mapp. 2022 Mar 9. doi: 10.1002/hbm.25816. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

In neuroimaging, spatial normalization is an important step that maps an individual’s brain onto a template brain permitting downstream statistical analyses. Yet, in infant neuroimaging, there remain several technical challenges that have prevented the establishment of a standardized template for spatial normalization. Thus, many different approaches are used in the literature. To quantify the popularity and variability of these approaches in infant neuroimaging studies, we performed a systematic review of infant magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies from 2000 to 2020. Here, we present results from 834 studies meeting inclusion criteria. Studies were classified into (a) processing data in single subject space, (b) using an off the shelf, or “off the shelf,” template, (c) creating a study specific template, or (d) using a hybrid of these methods. We found that across the studies in the systematic review, single subject space was the most used (no common space). This was the most used common space for diffusion-weighted imaging and structural MRI studies while functional MRI studies preferred off the shelf atlases. We found a pattern such that more recently published studies are more commonly using off the shelf atlases. When considering special populations, preterm studies most used single subject space while, when no special populations were being analyzed, an off the shelf template was most common. The most used off the shelf templates were the UNC Infant Atlases (24%). Using a systematic review of infant neuroimaging studies, we highlight a lack of an established “standard” template brain in these studies.

PMID:35261126 | DOI:10.1002/hbm.25816

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“Will it work for me?” Developing patient-friendly graphical displays of posttraumatic stress disorder treatment effectiveness

J Trauma Stress. 2022 Mar 8. doi: 10.1002/jts.22808. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The goal of this study was to create simple visual displays to help patients understand the benefits of evidence-based treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We reviewed randomized trials of the most effective individual, trauma-focused psychotherapies and first-line antidepressants for adults with PTSD. The analytic sample included 65 treatment arms from 41 trials. We used binomial logistic regression to estimate the proportion of participants who lost their PTSD diagnosis at posttreatment and created a sample icon array to display these estimates. We provide a range of estimates (0-100) based on varying the percentage of the sample with a military affiliation. The percentage of participants who no longer met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD among civilian populations was 64.3% for trauma-focused treatment, 56.9% for SSRI/SNRI, and 16.7% for waitlist/minimal attention. For military populations, the proportions of participants who no longer met the diagnostic criteria were 44.2%, 36.7%, and 8.1%, respectively. We present icon arrays for 0%, 7%, 50%, and 100% military affiliation displaying 100 icons, a portion of which were shaded to indicate the number of participants that no longer met the PTSD criteria following treatment. After evidence-based treatment, between one third and two thirds of participants no longer met the PTSD criteria. Providers can use the icon array developed in this study with patients to facilitate communication regarding PTSD treatment effectiveness.

PMID:35261090 | DOI:10.1002/jts.22808

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In-hospital mortality in SARS-CoV-2 stratified by gamma-glutamyl transferase levels

J Clin Lab Anal. 2022 Mar 9:e24291. doi: 10.1002/jcla.24291. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: This study investigates in-hospital mortality amongst patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its relation to serum levels of gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT).

METHODS: Patients were stratified according to serum levels of gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) (GGT<50 IU/L or GGT≥50 IU/L).

RESULTS: A total of 802 participants were considered, amongst whom 486 had GGT<50 IU/L and a mean age of 48.1 (16.5) years, whilst 316 had GGT≥50 IU/L and a mean age of 53.8 (14.7) years. The chief sources of SARS-CoV-2 transmission were contact (366, 45.7%) and community (320, 40%). Most patients with GGT≥50 IU/L had either pneumonia (247, 78.2%) or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (85, 26.9%), whilst those with GGT<50 IU/L had hypertension (141, 29%) or diabetes mellitus (DM) (147, 30.2%). Mortality was higher amongst patients with GGT≥50 IU/L (54, 17.1%) than amongst those with GGT<50 IU/L (29, 5.9%). More patients with GGT≥50 required high (83, 27.6%) or low (104, 34.6%) levels of oxygen, whereas most of those with GGT<50 had no requirement of oxygen (306, 71.2%). Multivariable logistic regression analysis indicated that GGT≥50 IU/L (odds ratio [OR]: 2.02, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.20-3.45, p=0.009), age (OR: 1.05, 95% CI: 1.03-1.07, p<0.001), hypertension (OR: 2.06, 95% CI: 1.19-3.63, p=0.011), methylprednisolone (OR: 2.96, 95% CI: 1.74-5.01, p<0.001) and fever (OR: 2.03, 95% CI: 1.15-3.68, p=0.016) were significant predictors of all-cause cumulative mortality. A Cox proportional hazards regression model (B = -0.68, SE =0.24, HR =0.51, p = 0.004) showed that patients with GGT<50 IU/L had a 0.51-times lower risk of all-cause cumulative mortality than patients with GGT≥50 IU/L.

CONCLUSION: Higher levels of serum GGT were found to be an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality.

PMID:35261080 | DOI:10.1002/jcla.24291

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Bayesian models for aggregate and individual patient data component network meta-analysis

Stat Med. 2022 Mar 8. doi: 10.1002/sim.9372. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Network meta-analysis can synthesize evidence from studies comparing multiple treatments for the same disease. Sometimes the treatments of a network are complex interventions, comprising several independent components in different combinations. A component network meta-analysis (CNMA) can be used to analyze such data and can in principle disentangle the individual effect of each component. However, components may interact with each other, either synergistically or antagonistically. Deciding which interactions, if any, to include in a CNMA model may be difficult, especially for large networks with many components. In this article, we present two Bayesian CNMA models that can be used to identify prominent interactions between components. Our models utilize Bayesian variable selection methods, namely the stochastic search variable selection and the Bayesian LASSO, and can benefit from the inclusion of prior information about important interactions. Moreover, we extend these models to combine data from studies providing aggregate information and studies providing individual patient data (IPD). We illustrate our models in practice using three real datasets, from studies in panic disorder, depression, and multiple myeloma. Finally, we describe methods for developing web-applications that can utilize results from an IPD-CNMA, to allow for personalized estimates of relative treatment effects given a patient’s characteristics.

PMID:35261053 | DOI:10.1002/sim.9372