Tag: pubmed

Lung Cancer. 2022 Mar 15;166:228-241. doi: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2022.03.010. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Radiotherapy-induced toxicity may negatively impact health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This report investigates the impact of curative-intent radiotherapy on HRQoL and toxicity in early stage and locally-advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with radiotherapy or chemo-radiotherapy enrolled in the observational prospective REQUITE study.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: HRQoL was assessed using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 questionnaire up to 2 years post radiotherapy. Eleven toxicities were scored by clinicians using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 4. Toxicity scores were calculated by subtracting baseline values. Mixed model analyses were applied to determine statistical significance (p ≤ 0.01). Meaningful clinical important differences (MCID) were determined for changes in HRQoL. Analysis was performed on the overall data, different radiotherapy techniques, multimodality treatments and disease stages.

RESULTS: Data of 510 patients were analysed. There was no significant change in HRQoL or its domains, except for deterioration in cognitive functioning (p = 0.01). Radiotherapy technique had no significant impact on HRQoL. The addition of chemotherapy was significantly associated with HRQoL over time (p <.001). Overall toxicity did not significantly change over time. Acute toxicities of radiation-dermatitis (p =.003), dysphagia (p =.002) and esophagitis (p <.001) peaked at 3 months and decreased thereafter. Pneumonitis initially deteriorated but improved significantly after 12 months (p =.011). A proportion of patients experienced meaningful clinically important improvements and deteriorations in overall HRQoL and its domains. In some patients, pre-treatment symptoms improved gradually.

CONCLUSIONS: While overall HRQoL and toxicity did not change over time, some patients improved, whereas others experienced acute radiotherapy-induced toxicities and deteriorated HRQoL, especially physical and cognitive functioning. Patient characteristics, more so than radiotherapy technique and treatment modality, impact post-radiotherapy toxicity and HRQoL outcomes. This stresses the importance of considering the potential impact of radiotherapy on individuals’ HRQoL, symptoms and toxicity in treatment decision-making.

PMID:35334417 | DOI:10.1016/j.lungcan.2022.03.010

J Public Health Manag Pract. 2022 May-Jun 01;28(3):309-316. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000001512.

ABSTRACT

CONTEXT: As response rates to health surveys conducted by telephone continue to decline and costs continue to increase, practitioners are increasingly considering a transition to self-administered mail contact modes.

OBJECTIVE: To compare empirical differences observed across adjacent administrations of the Healthy Chicago Survey (HCS) conducted by telephone versus self-administered via mail contact.

DESIGN: Data from the 2016, 2018, and 2020 administrations of the HCS are contrasted, and demographic distributions are benchmarked against the American Community Survey to investigate differences that may be linked to the HCS’ transition from a telephone to self-administered mail mode between 2018 and 2020.

SETTING: All survey data were collected from adult residents of Chicago, Illinois, between 2016 and 2020.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Costs, response rates, key health statistics, demographic distributions, and measures of precision generated from the HCS.

RESULTS: The mail mode led to a response rate increase of 6.8% to 38.2% at half the cost per complete. Mail respondents are more likely to be nonminority, female, and hold a college degree. Key health statistic differences are mixed, but design effects are larger in the mail mode, which we attribute to more detailed geographic stratification and weighting employed in 2020.

CONCLUSIONS: The mail mode is a less costly data collection strategy for the HCS, but it comes with trade-offs. The quasi-random selection of an individual in the household exacerbates sociodemographic distribution disparities.

PMID:35334486 | DOI:10.1097/PHH.0000000000001512

Lung Cancer. 2022 Mar 19;166:221-227. doi: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2022.03.014. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Prediction of prognosis is a key step of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) management and treatment assignment. Aim of this study was to identify simple prognostic factors, focusing on inflammation-related parameters.

METHODS: Baseline clinical and laboratory data were extracted from a single-center 20-year cohort of consecutive patients exhibiting a proven MPM. Inflammation-related ratios and composite scores were evaluated as prognostic indicators.

RESULTS: 468 patients were identified. Mean age and BMI were 73.0 years and 25.1 kg/m². The histologic subtype was epithelioid, sarcomatoid, or biphasic in 80.3%, 6.2%, and 13.5% of cases, respectively. Mean Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR), systemic Inflammation Index (SII) and Advanced Lung cancer inflammation Index (ALI) were 5.8, 1,836.6, and 29.6. Median survival was 13.0 months. Univariate analyses revealed that age > 70 years, persistent asthenia, hemoglobin < 13 g/dL, and non-epithelioid histologic type were associated with poorer survival, as well as the following high-inflammation-related criteria: CRP > 25 mg/L, white blood cell count (WBC) > 10⁹/dL, NLR > 5, SII > 1,270, and ALI < 18. Multivariate regression showed that age, histology, hemoglobin, and WBC were independent predictors of survival. Also, the inflammation-related factors ALI and NLR were independently associated with survival. Interestingly, hemoglobin was statistically significant predictor of survival in all multivariate models. We found higher proportion of survival > 18 months (66th percentile) in patients exhibiting SII < 2,000 and NLR < 5.

CONCLUSION: The prognosis of MPM is strongly influenced by systemic inflammation and patients exhibiting higher NLR, SII and lower ALI have shorter survival, which strengthens the level of evidence about the major role played by inflammation in MPM.

PMID:35334416 | DOI:10.1016/j.lungcan.2022.03.014

Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2022 Mar 14;54:101096. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2022.101096. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Electroencephalography (EEG) has been widely adopted by the developmental cognitive neuroscience community, but the application of machine learning (ML) in this domain lags behind adult EEG studies. Applying ML to infant data is particularly challenging due to the low number of trials, low signal-to-noise ratio, high inter-subject variability, and high inter-trial variability. Here, we provide a step-by-step tutorial on how to apply ML to classify cognitive states in infants. We describe the type of brain attributes that are widely used for EEG classification and also introduce a Riemannian geometry based approach for deriving connectivity estimates that account for inter-trial and inter-subject variability. We present pipelines for learning classifiers using trials from a single infant and from multiple infants, and demonstrate the application of these pipelines on a standard infant EEG dataset of forty 12-month-old infants collected under an auditory oddball paradigm. While we classify perceptual states induced by frequent versus rare stimuli, the presented pipelines can be easily adapted for other experimental designs and stimuli using the associated code that we have made publicly available.

PMID:35334336 | DOI:10.1016/j.dcn.2022.101096

Diabetes Metab Syndr. 2022 Mar 16;16(4):102463. doi: 10.1016/j.dsx.2022.102463. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: To determine the suitability of 11 basic statistical models for estimating child-growth of under-five children and to bring-forth estimated growth curves for mean height & mean weight by their selected birth-weight categories for Central Region of India.

METHODS: The study used fourth round of National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4) data of India, consisting of 75,645 under-five children, belonging to 3 Indian States – Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh & Uttar Pradesh. The children of the Region were first divided into 4 sub categories according to their birth-weight: (i) < 2000 gm, (ii) 2000-2499 gm, (iii) 2500-2999 gm (iv) 3000+gm, growth curve for mean height and mean weight were estimated for two sexes.

RESULTS: The significant association of 7 socio-demographic factors studied, namely – age & sex of child, birth-order, BMI, mother’s highest level of education, place of residence and wealth index. Further, Cubic Model and Power Model, demonstrated best-fit to height & weight data of under-five children, belonging to different birth-weight categories, for estimating growth of boys & girls separately. These models enabled us to estimate mean height and mean weight, with 95% CI, for boys and girls separately by different birth-weight categories.

CONCLUSIONS: Study concluded that 7 socio-demographic factors were significantly associated with birth-weight. Further, Cubic Model and Power Model were most suitable for estimating child growth in terms of mean height & mean weight for boys and girls – considering specific birth-weight categories.

PMID:35334409 | DOI:10.1016/j.dsx.2022.102463

Food Chem. 2022 Mar 22;386:132746. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.132746. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

To prevent PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) cherry tomato of Pachino (Sicily, Italy) from frauds, an alternative method, which includes chemometric treatments, was proposed. The content of 32 inorganic elements (macro-micronutrients and lanthanides) present in 16 PGI and 24 not PGI cherry tomato samples cv Naomy, and in 16 PGI and 8 not PGI soil samples, was determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS). To identify the elements able to differentiate PGI and not PGI cherry tomato samples, Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and Canonical discriminant analysis (CDA) were performed. The first two principal components (PC1-PC2) explain a total variance of 71,41% between PGI and not PGI group, whereas CDA showed Zn, Cd, Mn and Ca as inorganic markers able to correctly classify the 100% of samples. Furthermore, with a translocation factor (K), evaluated in soil/plant chain, the comparison of absorption trends for PGI and not PGI samples was realized.

PMID:35334318 | DOI:10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.132746

Addict Behav. 2022 Mar 17;130:107308. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2022.107308. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Cost-of-play information is one public health intervention recommended to help reduce gambling-related harm. In the UK, this information is given on electronic gambling machines in a format known as the “return-to-player”, e.g., “This game has an average percentage payout of 90%.” However, previous evidence suggests that this information could be improved by equivalently restating it in terms of the “house-edge”, e.g., “This game keeps 10% of all money bet on average.” A “volatility warning,” stating that this information applies only in the statistical long-run, has also been recommended to help gamblers understand cost-of-play information. However, there is no evidence comparing these information provisions’ effect on gamblers’ behavior. An experiment tested US gamblers'(N = 2433) incentivized behavior in an online slot machine, where this information was manipulated between-participants along with a counter showing the total amount bet. Preregistered analyses showed that participants gambled significantly less when house-edge information or a volatility warning were shown compared to standard return-to-player information, with no effect of the total amount bet counter, and no significant interaction effects. However, these significant findings had small effect sizes, suggesting that a public health approach to gambling should not rely on informational provisions only. Subject to supportive evidence from more ecologically-valid designs such as field studies, these results suggest that improved cost-of-play information could lead to reduced rates of gambling expenditure and therefore benefit a public health approach to gambling.

PMID:35334298 | DOI:10.1016/j.addbeh.2022.107308

Asian J Psychiatr. 2022 Mar 11;72:103063. doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2022.103063. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Antenatal depression is as prevalent as postpartum depression and studies on it are very few. It has been relatively neglected leading to adverse effects on the growing child as well as the mother. Hence screening of depression in high risk individuals, planning and adopting important strategies for prevention needs to be undertaken. Our study aimed to assess the modifiable social and obstetric risk factors of antenatal depression.

METHODS: Third trimester pregnant women of 18-40 years attending obstetric out-patient department and admitted in tertiary hospitals who had no past psychiatric illness were screened using Edinburgh postnatal depression scale after obtaining written consent, socio-demographic and obstetric details. Statistical analysis was calculated using IBM version SPSS 23.

RESULTS: Among 222 women recruited, 25.6% had antenatal depression. Significant associations were found between lower level of education (p = 0.02,O.R=1.87), urban population (p = 0.04,O.R=5.139), intimate partner violence (p = 0.01,O.R=15.769), daily alcohol use by husband (p < 0.00,O.R=15.281), poor relationship with in-laws (p < 0.000,O.R=21.733) and parents (p < 0.000,O.R=15.281), number of previous pregnancies (p = 0.026,O.R=5.545), parity (p = 0.04,O.R=4.187), previous abortions (p = 0.007,O.R=2.834), fear of labour (p < 0.000,O.R=5.77) and complications during pregnancy (p < 0.000,O.R=3.017) with antenatal depression. Living in urban area (p = 0.023, A.O.R=3.132), fear of labour (p < 0.000, A.O.R=7.398), intimate partner violence (p = 0.026, A.O.R=36.655), poor relationship with in-laws (p = 0.001, A.O.R=36.855) and parents (p = 0.042, A.O.R=8.377) were found to be predictors of antenatal depression.

CONCLUSION: Antenatal depression is multifactorial in origin and requires a multifactorial approach in prevention and treatment. Routine antenatal screening for depression must be conducted with efforts to build strong family, peer and social support at community level.

PMID:35334285 | DOI:10.1016/j.ajp.2022.103063

Int J Biostat. 2022 Mar 25. doi: 10.1515/ijb-2021-0014. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The use of cumulative incidence functions for characterizing the risk of one type of event in the presence of others has become increasingly popular over the past two decades. The problems of modeling, estimation and inference have been treated using parametric, nonparametric and semi-parametric methods. Efforts to develop suitable extensions of machine learning methods, such as regression trees and ensemble methods, have begun comparatively recently. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to estimating cumulative incidence curves in a competing risks setting using regression trees and associated ensemble estimators. The proposed methods use augmented estimators of the Brier score risk as the primary basis for building and pruning trees, and lead to methods that are easily implemented using existing R packages. Data from the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (trial 9410) is used to illustrate these new methods.

PMID:35334192 | DOI:10.1515/ijb-2021-0014

Public Health Nurs. 2022 Mar 25. doi: 10.1111/phn.13074. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Determine the effectiveness of a COVID-19 remote monitoring and management program in reducing preventable hospital utilization.

DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study utilizing data from electronic health records.

SAMPLE: Two hundred and ninety-third patients who tested positive for COVID-19 at a drive-through testing site in Michigan. The intervention group, consisting of 139 patients, was compared to a control group of 154 patients.

MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome was the 30-day probability of hospital utilization. The covariates included in the analysis were age, gender, tobacco use, body mass index (BMI), race, and ethnicity.

INTERVENTION: A nurse-led, telephone-based active management protocol for COVID-19 patients who were isolating at home.

RESULTS: The intervention group had a non-statistically significant 42% reduction in risk of hospital utilization within 30 days of a positive COVID-19 test when compared to the control group (HR = 0.578, p-value .111, HR 95% CI [0.29, 1.13]).

CONCLUSIONS: A nurse-led remote monitoring and management program for COVID-19 reduced the probability of 30-day hospital utilization. Although the findings were not statistically significant, the program yielded practical significance by reducing hospital utilization, in-person interaction, and the risk of infection for healthcare workers.

PMID:35334128 | DOI:10.1111/phn.13074