Tag: pubmed

PLoS One. 2022 Feb 25;17(2):e0264393. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264393. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major public health problem in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Although CKD prevalence has been rapidly increasing in LMICs, particularly in Asia, quantitative studies on the current epidemiology of CKD in this region are limited. This study aimed to identify the prevalence of CKD stages 3-5 in LMICs in Asia, by subregion, country economy classification, identification of CKD, traditional and non-traditional risk factors. A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies was conducted through a literature search of seven electronic databases and grey literature search published until November 2021. The Newcastle-Ottawa quality assessment scale (NOS) was used to assess the risk of bias of each study. A random-effects model was used to estimate pooled prevalence. The protocol is registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO CRD42019120519). Of 4,548 potentially relevant records, 110 studies with moderate and high quality were included with 4,760,147 subjects. The average prevalence (95% CI) of CKD stages 3-5 in 14 LMICs in Asia was 11.2% (9.3-13.2%). The prevalence of CKD stages 3-5 was varied among subregions and country economic classification. CKD prevalence was 8.6% (7.2-10.2%) in east Asia, 12.0% (7.7-17.0%) in south-east Asia, 13.1% (8.7-18.2%) in western Asia, and 13.5% (9.5-18.0%) in south Asia. CKD prevalence was 9.8% (8.3-11.5%) in upper-middle-income countries and 13.8% (9.9-18.3%) in lower-middle-income countries. Prevalence of CKD stage 3-5 in LMICs in Asia is comparable to global prevalence. High level of heterogeneity was observed. Study of factors and interventions that lead to the delay of CKD progression is needed.

PMID:35213610 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0264393

PLoS One. 2022 Feb 25;17(2):e0264343. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264343. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: After stratifying for age, sex and multimorbidity at baseline, our aim is to analyse time trends in incident multimorbidity and polypharmacy in the 15-year clinical trajectories of individual patients in a family medicine setting.

METHODS: This study was carried out using data from the Registration Network Family Medicine in the South of the Netherlands. The clinical trajectories of 10037 subjects during the 15-year period (2000-2014) were analyzed in a repeated measurement of using a generalized estimating equations model as well as a multilevel random intercept model with repeated measurements to determine patterns of incident multimorbidity and polypharmacy. Hierarchical age-period-cohort models were used to generate age and cohort trajectories for comparison with prevalence trends in multimorbidity literature.

RESULTS: Multimorbidity was more common in females than in males throughout the duration of the 15-year trajectory (females: 39.6%; males: 33.5%). With respective ratios of 11.7 and 5.9 between the end and the beginning of the 15-year period, the youngest female and male groups showed a substantial increase in multimorbidity prevalence. Ratios in the oldest female and male groups were 2.2 and 1.9 respectively. Females had higher levels of multimorbidity than males in the 0-24-year and 25-44-year age groups, but the levels converged to a prevalence of 92.2% in the oldest male and 90.7% in the oldest female group. Similar, albeit, moderate differences were found in polypharmacy patterns.

CONCLUSIONS: We sought to specify the progression of multimorbidity from an early age. As a result, our study adds to the multimorbidity literature by specifying changes in chronic disease accumulation with relation to polypharmacy, and by tracking differences in patient trajectories according to age and sex. Multimorbidity and polypharmacy are common and their prevalence is accelerating, with a relatively rapid increase in younger groups. From the point of view of family medicine, this underlines the need for a longitudinal approach and a life course perspective in patient care.

PMID:35213615 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0264343

PLoS One. 2022 Feb 25;17(2):e0264131. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264131. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

The integrity of peer review is essential for modern science. Numerous studies have therefore focused on identifying, quantifying, and mitigating biases in peer review. One of these better-known biases is prestige bias, where the recognition of a famous author or affiliation leads reviewers to subconsciously treat their submissions preferentially. A common mitigation approach for prestige bias is double-blind reviewing, where the identify of authors is hidden from reviewers. However, studies on the effectivness of this mitigation are mixed and are rarely directly comparable to each other, leading to difficulty in generalization of their results. In this paper, we explore the design space for such studies in an attempt to reach common ground. Using an observational approach with a large dataset of peer-reviewed papers in computer systems, we systematically evaluate the effects of different prestige metrics, aggregation methods, control variables, and outlier treatments. We show that depending on these choices, the data can lead to contradictory conclusions with high statistical significance. For example, authors with higher h-index often preferred to publish in competitive conferences which are also typically double-blind, whereas authors with higher paper counts often preferred the single-blind conferences. The main practical implication of our analyses is that a narrow evaluation may lead to unreliable results. A thorough evaluation of prestige bias requires a careful inventory of assumptions, metrics, and methodology, often requiring a more detailed sensitivity analysis than is normally undertaken. Importantly, two of the most commonly used metrics for prestige evaluation, past publication count and h-index, are not independent from the choice of publishing venue, which must be accounted for when comparing authors prestige across conferences.

PMID:35213600 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0264131

PLoS One. 2022 Feb 25;17(2):e0264004. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264004. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Childhood immunization is one of the most cost-effective prevention measures for children’s mortality and morbidity, saving 2-3 million lives per year. In Ethiopia, under-five mortality rates, about 190,000 children die each year. Different research conducted in Ethiopia on childhood vaccination have focused on either vaccination coverage of individual vaccine or complete and incomplete vaccination. As far as my literature searching, studies separated the vaccination status into non-vaccinated, partially vaccinated and full vaccinated and assorted factors among children age 12-23 month in Ethiopia were limited. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify factors associated with vaccination status among children 12-23 months of age in Ethiopia.

METHOD: A secondary data analysis was done based on the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS). A total weighted sample of 1911 children age 12-23 months of age were included in the study. Logit based Multinomial logistic regression analysis was computed to distinguish factors associated with routine vaccination of children aged 12-23 months. P-value less than 0.05 was used to declare statistical significance of each independent variables, and adjusted odd ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence interval were used to present the result and STATA 14 was utilized for data management and analysis.

RESULT: Overall the prevalence of full vaccinated children was 35%, while 49% of children were partially vaccinated and 16% were non-vaccinated. In multinomial analysis, having focused ANC (at least four visits) contrasted to no ANC visits at all had 9.7 higher odd of being fully vaccinated than not vaccinated [AOR = 9.74, 95% CI = 3.52-26.94], and 5 times higher odd of being partially vaccinated than not vaccinated [AOR = 4.97, 95% CI = 2.00-12.33].

CONCLUSION: The present study found that childhood full vaccination status was low compared with the World Health Organization targets. Frequency of ANC visit and visited by field worker were significantly associated both partially and full vaccination whereas, visited health facility last 12 months and wealth status were significantly associated with childhood full vaccination.

PMID:35213589 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0264004

PLoS One. 2022 Feb 25;17(2):e0264166. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264166. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: As global populations age, cross-national comparisons of cognitive health and dementia risk are increasingly valuable. It remains unclear, however, whether country-level differences in cognitive function are attributable to population differences or bias due to incommensurate measurement. To demonstrate an effective method for cross-national comparison studies, we aimed to statistically harmonize measures of episodic memory and language function across two population-based cohorts of older adults in the United States (HRS HCAP) and India (LASI-DAD).

METHODS: Data for 3,496 HRS HCAP (≥65 years) and 3,152 LASI-DAD (≥60 years) participants were statistically harmonized for episodic memory and language performance using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) methods. Episodic memory and language factor variables were investigated for differential item functioning (DIF) and precision.

RESULTS: CFA models estimating episodic memory and language domains based on a priori adjudication of comparable items fit the data well. DIF analyses revealed that four out of ten episodic memory items and five out of twelve language items measured the underlying construct comparably across samples. DIF-modified episodic memory and language factor scores showed comparable patterns of precision across the range of the latent trait for each sample.

CONCLUSIONS: Harmonization of cognitive measures will facilitate future investigation of cross-national differences in cognitive performance and differential effects of risk factors, policies, and treatments, reducing study-level measurement and administrative influences. As international aging studies become more widely available, advanced statistical methods such as those described in this study will become increasingly central to making universal generalizations and drawing valid conclusions about cognitive aging of the global population.

PMID:35213581 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0264166

PLoS One. 2022 Feb 25;17(2):e0263884. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263884. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Dream enactment behavior is one of the features of rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder. It might be a manifestation of neurodegenerative diseases and can lead to fall associated injuries. There is no evidence of dream enactment behavior and its associated factors in Ethiopia. Hence, this study targeted to pinpoint the predictors of dream enactment behavior among Medical students at the University of Gondar.

METHODS: The cross-sectional survey was carried out at the University of Gondar among Medical students selected by simple random sampling technique from Dec 2020 to Feb 2021. We used a structured pretested questionnaire to collect the data and dream enactment behavior was evaluated using rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder single question. Descriptive statistics were computed, and determinant factors were identified using binary logistic regression model. In the final model, explanatory variables with a p<0.05 were considered as predictors (statistically significant) of the dream enactment behavior. The strength of association was determined using adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with its 95% CI.

RESULTS: Four-hundred and twelve students took part in the study with 97.4% response rate. The mean age of participants was 20.82(±1.88) years and 291(70.63%) were males. The prevalence of dream enactment was 34.47% (95% CI: 30.02-39.20). Daytime sleepiness score (AOR = 1.104; 95% CI: 1.053-1.160), age (AOR = 1.15; 95% CI: 1.019-1.290), monthly pocket money (AOR = 0.9991; 95% CI: 0.9985-0.9997), alcohol drink (AOR = 2.71; 95% CI: 1.076-6.846), and perceived stress (AOR = 3.854; 95% CI: 1.802-8.242) were statistically significant factors of dream enactment behavior.

CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the magnitude of dream enactment behavior was high which was significantly associated with daytime sleepiness score, age, monthly pocket money, alcohol drink, and perceived stress all of which are modifiable except age. The University of Gondar has to plan a strategy to avert the condition via the prevention of the determinant factors. Students need to reduce stress and avoid alcohol drink. We strongly urge forthcoming scholars to ascertain association of dream enactment and academic performance of university students.

PMID:35213585 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0263884

J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2022 Feb 25. doi: 10.1002/jcsm.12956. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Although the obesity paradox is a topic of immense interest for oncologists and epidemiologists, the mechanism underlying this unexpected benefit of obesity is poorly understood. We explored the prognostic value of obesity and its association with skeletal muscle mass.

METHODS: This retrospective study evaluated the data of patients who underwent surgical excision for lung adenocarcinoma between January 2011 and December 2015. Body mass index was categorized according to the criteria of the Asia-Pacific classification. Cross-sectional areas of the skeletal muscle, subcutaneous fat, and visceral fat were measured. Skeletal muscle mass status was defined based on the cut-offs of skeletal muscle index (cm² /m² ), calculated as the area of skeletal muscle divided by height squared. Overall survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and differences in survival probabilities were compared using the log-rank test. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was conducted to determine the association with overall survival.

RESULTS: A total of 636 patients with a median age of 61 years (interquartile range, 54.0-68.5 years; 321 men and 315 women) were included. Obese patients (body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m² ) had longer overall survival than non-obese patients (mean, 110.2 months vs. 98.7 months; log-rank P = 0.015). Under multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression analysis, obesity was associated with longer overall survival after adjusting for covariates (hazard ratio, 0.59; 95% confidence interval, 0.40-0.86; P = 0.007). The prognostic value of obesity remained and predicted favourable overall survival after additional adjusting for skeletal muscle mass status (hazard ratio, 0.57; 95% confidence interval, 0.36-0.89; P = 0.014), skeletal muscle index (hazard ratio, 0.53; 95% confidence interval, 0.33-0.84; P = 0.008), or skeletal muscle area (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% confidence interval, 0.38-0.98; P = 0.041). No association was observed between skeletal muscle mass status and the impact of body mass index on overall survival (P for interaction = 0.512).

CONCLUSIONS: Obesity was associated with favourable overall survival, independent of skeletal muscle mass, after surgical excision of lung adenocarcinoma.

PMID:35212195 | DOI:10.1002/jcsm.12956

Endocrinol Diabetes Metab. 2022 Feb 24:e00331. doi: 10.1002/edm2.331. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To determine the frequency of diabetes mellitus and diabetic ketoacidosis and associated factors in COVID-19-positive patients.

BACKGROUND: High mortality amongst SARS-Cov2 patients may be attributed to diabetes and diabetic ketoacidosis.

METHODS: A total of 220 COVID-19 positive patients, hospitalized in North West General Hospital & Research Center, Peshawar, KP, Pakistan, from April to September 2020, were analysed using STATA 14. Patients with positive PCR were labelled as COVID-19 positive and were included in the study. Patients with a clinical picture of COVID-19 and negative PCR were excluded from the study. Those having ketonemia >0.6 and random blood glucose level >250mg/dl, while HCO3 (bicarbonate) ≤18, were labelled as diabetic ketoacidosis. The statistical significance level was set at p < .05.

RESULTS: A total of 220 COVID-19 patients were admitted; 166 (75.4%) were male and 54 (24.5%) were female. The mean age in years of the patients was 55.95 (SD13.9). About 57.7% of patients had diabetes mellitus, and 15 (6.8%) patients developed diabetic ketoacidosis. Amongst those with DKA, 5 patients died during hospital admission. The use of steroids was significantly higher (p < .001) in the DKA group compared with non-DKA patients. Hypertension (103,46.8%) and fever (170,77.3%) were the most reported comorbidity and symptom respectively.

CONCLUSION: The proportion of diabetes mellitus is high in patients with COVID-19. Diabetic ketoacidosis is a frequent complication in this group associated with in-hospital mortality. Steroid administration for COVID-19 should be balanced with strict glycemic control to prevent diabetic ketoacidosis and increase hospital survival.

PMID:35212184 | DOI:10.1002/edm2.331

Birth Defects Res. 2022 Feb 24. doi: 10.1002/bdr2.1993. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Trisomy 21 (T21) is common, with affected infants having an increased risk of infant mortality (5.9-7.1%). Maternal smoking is associated with infant mortality in the general population, and we evaluated if similar associations were present among infants with T21.

METHODS: We identified infants with T21 from the Texas Birth Defects Registry, and maternal smoking and infant vital status were obtained from linked birth and death certificate data, respectively. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to calculate hazard ratios between maternal smoking and death between 0 to ≤ 364 days, 28-364 days, and 0-27 days.

RESULTS: We found a significant association between maternal smoking and death between 0 to ≤ 364 (unadjusted HR 1.72, 95% CI 1.07, 2.77), which was no longer statistically significant after adjustment for covariates (adjusted HR 1.55, 95% CI 0.94, 2.56). A similar pattern was observed for death between 28-364 days (adjusted HR: 1.68, 95% CI 0.93, 3.03), whereas the association for 0-27 days (adjusted HR: 1.30, 95% CI 0.51, 3.29) was not statistically significant before and after adjustment.

CONCLUSIONS: The observed magnitudes of associations were similar to previous estimates among the general population. Further work considering the role of other maternal and infant risk factors and social determinants of health is necessary to better understand the observed results.

PMID:35212191 | DOI:10.1002/bdr2.1993

Thorac Cancer. 2022 Feb 24. doi: 10.1111/1759-7714.14363. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Advances in chest computed tomography (CT) have resulted in more frequent detection of subcentimeter pulmonary nodules (SCPNs), some of which are non-benign and may represent invasive lung cancer. The present study aimed to explore the correlation between pathological diagnosis and the CT imaging manifestations of SCPNs.

METHODS: This retrospective study included patients who underwent pulmonary resection for SCPNs at Shandong Provincial Hospital in China. Lesions were divided into five categories according to their morphological characteristics on CT: cotton ball, solid-filled with spiculation, solid-filled with smooth edges, mixed-density ground-glass, and vacuolar. We further analyzed lesion size, enhancement patterns, vascular aggregation, and SCPN traversing. Chi-square tests, Fisher’s exact tests, and Welch’s one-way analysis of variance were used to examine the correlation between CT imaging characteristics and pathological type.

RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences in the morphological distributions of SCPNs with different pathological types, including benign lesions and malignant lesions at different stages (p < 0.01). The morphological distributions of the four subtypes of invasive lung adenocarcinoma also exhibited significant differences (p < 0.01). In addition, size and enhancement patterns differed significantly among different pathological types of SCPNs.

CONCLUSION: Different pathological types of SCPNs exhibit significant differences based on their morphological category, size, and enhancement pattern on CT imaging. These CT characteristics may assist in the qualitative diagnosis of SCPNs.

PMID:35212152 | DOI:10.1111/1759-7714.14363