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A validation study of the LABIRINTO scale for the evaluation of autism spectrum disorder in children aged 2 to 4 years

Trends Psychiatry Psychother. 2021 Jun 15. doi: 10.47626/2237-6089-2020-0141. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To find evidence of the content, construct, and criterion validity of the LABIRINTO scale for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children aged 24-59 months.

METHODS: The scale was constructed in four stages: 1) items were defined based on an extensive literature review and discussions with autism and child development specialists; 2) child development specialists evaluated each item; 3) a preliminary version of the scale was applied to children diagnosed with ASD to enable any necessary adjustments; 4) the scale was then applied to 27 children with typical development and no neurodevelopmental disorder and 48 children with ASD. According to the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), clinical diagnosis constitutes the gold standard.

RESULTS: The scale’s psychometric indexes were appropriate for construct validity, with Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin = 0.94 and root mean square error of approximation = 0.000. Only one factor on the scale had a Cronbach alpha of 0.97. The receiver operating characteristic curve indicated a cutoff of 12, with a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 100% for distinguishing children with ASD from those with typical development.

CONCLUSION: This study confirmed the validity of the LABIRINTO scale.

PMID:34139117 | DOI:10.47626/2237-6089-2020-0141

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Vaginal bacterial load in the second trimester is associated with early preterm birth recurrence: a nested case-control study

BJOG. 2021 Jun 17. doi: 10.1111/1471-0528.16816. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between vaginal microbiome (VMB) composition and recurrent early spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB)/preterm prelabour rupture of membranes (PPROM).

DESIGN: Nested case-control study.

SETTING: UK tertiary referral hospital.

SAMPLE: High-risk women with previous sPTB/PPROM <34+0 weeks gestation who had a recurrence (n=22) or delivered at ≥37+0 weeks without PPROM (n=87).

METHODS: Vaginal swabs collected between 15-22 weeks gestation were analysed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and 16S quantitative PCR.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Recurrent early sPTB/PPROM.

RESULTS: 28/109 high-risk women had anaerobic vaginal dysbiosis, with the remainder dominated by lactobacilli (L. iners 36/109, L. crispatus 23/109, or other 22/109). VMB type and diversity were not associated with recurrence. Women with a recurrence, compared to those without, had a higher median vaginal bacterial load (8.64 vs. 7.89 log10 cells/μl, adjusted odds ratio (aOR)=1.90, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.01-3.56, p=0.047) and estimated Lactobacillus concentration (8.59 vs. 7.48 log10 cells/μl, aOR=2.35, CI=1.20-4.61, p=0.013). A higher recurrence risk was associated with higher median bacterial loads for each VMB type after stratification, although statistical significance was reached only for L. iners-domination (aOR=3.44, CI=1.06-11.15, p=0.040). Women with anaerobic dysbiosis or L. iners-domination had a higher median vaginal bacterial load than women with a VMB dominated by L. crispatus or other lactobacilli (8.54, 7.96, 7.63, and 7.53 log10 cells/μl, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS: Vaginal bacterial load is associated with early sPTB/PPROM recurrence. Domination by lactobacilli other than L. iners may protect women from developing high bacterial loads. Future PTB studies should quantify vaginal bacteria and yeasts.

PMID:34139060 | DOI:10.1111/1471-0528.16816

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HIV and Solid Organ Transplantation: A 15-Year Retrospective Audit at a Tertiary Australian Transplant Centre

Intern Med J. 2021 Jun 17. doi: 10.1111/imj.15423. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The incidence of end-stage organ disease in people living with HIV (PLWH) is increasing, as people live longer due to potent, tolerable antiretroviral therapy. Consequently, the number of PLWH who would benefit from solid organ transplant (SOT) is rising. Solid organ transplantation experience in PLWH in Australia remains limited. The aim of this study was to retrospectively review the outcomes for SOT in PLWH in Victoria, Australia.

METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of PLWH undergoing SOT over a 15-year period was performed. Adult PLWH over 18 years of age were eligible and identified from the Victorian HIV Service database. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise baseline demographics and clinical data, and outcomes following SOT.

RESULTS: Nine virologically-suppressed PLWH underwent SOT from HIV-negative donors; 5 kidneys, 2 livers, and 2 bilateral sequential lung transplants. All patients were male, with a median age of 57.3 years (IQR 54.3-60.1), CD4 count of 485 (IQR 342-835) at transplantation, and comorbidities were common at baseline. After a median follow up of 3.9 years (IQR 2.7-7.6), 8 (89%) patents were alive, 7 (78%) had functioning grafts, though 5 (56%) experienced organ rejection. Infections were common. Two patients required modification to their antiretroviral therapy due to significant drug-drug interactions, prior to transplant, while 5 (56%) had modifications post-SOT. No patients experienced HIV virologic failure.

CONCLUSION: PLWH with end-stage organ disease experience good clinical and functional outcomes, and should be considered for SOT where indicated. However, multidisciplinary planning and care is essential to optomise care in this patient group. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:34139100 | DOI:10.1111/imj.15423

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Detecting and Addressing Trauma-related Sequelae in Primary Care

Prim Care Companion CNS Disord. 2021 Jun 17;23(3):20m02781. doi: 10.4088/PCC.20m02781.

ABSTRACT

Objective: The associations between the sequelae of complex trauma symptoms and adult health status, patient engagement in treatment, and the potential impacts on primary care providers are underappreciated despite the potential for adverse outcomes. This study examined the correlations among adult primary care patients’ reports of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), adverse childhood experiences (ACE), and the impacts of social determinants of health (SDH) with provider diagnoses in the electronic health record.

Methods: Patients in 3 primary care clinics were surveyed. Self-report measures included demographics, trauma symptoms, ACE, and SDH elements. Participant health status and diagnoses were obtained from their electronic health records.

Results: The final sample of 354 participants reported high levels of trauma including PTSS and ACE. Educational attainment, health literacy, material hardship, access to health care, and ACE were all statistically associated with reports of PTSS (P < .05 for all). Despite the prevalence of symptoms and adverse experiences reported by the participants, only 5% were diagnosed with a trauma-related disorder in the electronic health record.

Conclusions: Data analyses revealed a significant discrepancy between participants’ reports of symptoms with a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder by their primary care doctor. Trauma-impacted patients often present with complicated health problems that may influence the encounter in negative ways, including diminishing the primary care doctor’s sense of efficacy and competency if they are not addressed effectively in the encounter. The common nature of ACE, PTSS, and SDH effects indicate that both patients and physicians would benefit from detection and training in strategies for routinely implementing trauma-informed practices.

PMID:34139108 | DOI:10.4088/PCC.20m02781

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Mindfulness-based interventions for psychological wellbeing and quality of life in men with prostate cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Psychooncology. 2021 Jun 11. doi: 10.1002/pon.5749. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are increasingly being encouraged for managing treatment-related symptoms but much less is known about the extent to which mindfulness is effective in relieving the psychosocial distress experienced by men with prostate cancer. A systematic review was conducted to synthesise the literature on MBIs for psychological wellbeing and quality of life improvement in men with prostate cancer.

METHODS: Embase, CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PsycArticles and Web of Science were searched up to 7th November 2020. Included studies were assessed for quality using appropriate appraisal tools. Homogeneous study results were pooled in a meta-analysis while narrative synthesis was used to summarise the findings from heterogeneous results. Effect size was expressed as Cohen’s d (95% confidence intervals) and statistical significance (p-value) was set at 0.05.

RESULTS: Four studies comprising three randomised trials and one non-randomised study met the inclusion criteria. MBIs for men with prostate cancer showed small to moderate effect for improving psychological outcomes. The pooled result of quality of life and post-traumatic growth in study participants showed moderate (d = -0.29 [-1.29, 0.71], p = 0.57) and large (d = 0.77 [-0.33,1.88], p = 0.000) effects, respectively.

CONCLUSION: MBI is potentially promising for psychological outcomes, quality of life and post-traumatic growth symptoms improvement in men with prostate cancer but recommendations cannot be made based on current evidence due to limited research and inadequate methodological rigour of published literature. Robust research is needed to draw a reliable conclusion about its sustained effect in men with advanced disease.

PMID:34139035 | DOI:10.1002/pon.5749

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Risk factors, Treatment and Outcomes of Subacute Thyroiditis Secondary to COVID-19: A Systematic Review

Intern Med J. 2021 Jun 17. doi: 10.1111/imj.15432. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 is known to cause an acute respiratory illness, although clinical manifestations outside of the respiratory tract may occur. Early reports have identified SARS-CoV-2 as a cause of subacute thyroiditis (SAT).

METHODS: A systematic review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. MEDLINE, Web of Science and PubMed databases were queried in February 2021 for studies from December 2019 to February 2021. MeSH search terms “COVID-19”, “SARS-CoV-2” and “coronavirus” along with search terms “thyroiditis”, “thyrotoxicosis”, “thyroid” were used. Descriptive statistics for continuous variables and proportions for categorical variables were calculated.

RESULTS: 15 publications reporting on 17 individual cases of COVID-19 induced SAT were identified. Age ranged from 18 to 69 years old. The majority of the cases were female (14 of 17, 82%). The delay between onset of respiratory symptoms and diagnosis of SAT ranged from 5 to 49 days (mean, 26.5). Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) related to viral infection was uncommonly reported at the time of SAT diagnosis. Thyroid ultrasonography frequently reported an enlarged hypoechoic thyroid with decreased vascularity and heterogenous echotexture. Elevated CRP was common at the time of SAT diagnosis, with results ranging from 4.5 to 176 mg/L (mean, 41 mg/L). Anti-thyroid antibodies were frequently negative. SAT specific treatment included corticosteroids for 12/17 (70.5%) patients. Most return to normal thyroid status.

CONCLUSION: COVID-19 associated SAT may be difficult to identify in a timely manner due to potential absence of classic symptoms, as well as cross-over of common clinical features between COVID-19 and thyrotoxicosis. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:34139048 | DOI:10.1111/imj.15432

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Adult Children’s Educational Attainment and Parent Health in Mid- and Later-Life

J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2021 Jun 17:gbab109. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbab109. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Intergenerational models of adult health contend that children’s educational attainments influence the health and well-being of their parents. However, it is unclear how much of this association is confounded by background characteristics that predict both children’s educational attainments and parents’ subsequent health, particularly in the U.S.

METHODS: Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health Parent Study are used to examine how having no children who completed college influences parents’ self-rated health and depressive symptoms. We rely on propensity score methods to more squarely assess this relationship net of potential confounding bias and to test for heterogeneity in the consequences associated with having no children who completed college.

RESULTS: Having no children who completed college is negatively associated with parents’ self-rated health and positively associated with depressive symptoms. After statistically balancing differences in background characteristics between groups, these associations remain, though the magnitude of the coefficients is attenuated. Supplemental matching analyses suggest that while the association between children’s education and self-rated health might be spurious, the association with depressive symptoms is more robust. Additionally, among parents with the highest propensity for having no children who complete college, the consequences on depressive symptoms are greatest.

DISCUSSION: This study pays particular attention to selection-related concerns surrounding the association between offspring educational attainment and parent well-being in the United States. These findings are important given the call for investments in children’s educational opportunities as promoting both the well-being of adult children and their parents.

PMID:34139008 | DOI:10.1093/geronb/gbab109

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Systematic review and meta-analysis of integrated studies on antimicrobial resistance genes in Africa – A One Health perspective

Trop Med Int Health. 2021 Jun 17. doi: 10.1111/tmi.13642. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) raises serious health and financial concerns. However, the main drivers of the emergence, spread and subsequent colonization of resistant bacterial strains between humans, animals and the environment are still poorly understood.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review was to identify molecular studies on AMR in One Health settings in Africa and to determine the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance genes in humans, animals and the environment. Due to the very low number of studies including environmental samples, the meta-analysis only includes data obtained from animals and humans.

METHODS: The PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases were searched, identifying 10,464 publications on AMR in Africa from January 1st , 2000 until June 1st , 2020. Inclusion criteria were: (1) Integrated studies assessing AMR simultaneously in an animal-human, animal-environment, human-environment or animal-human-environment context, (2) Genotypic characterization of AMR and (3) temporal and spatial relationship between samples from humans and animals. Statistical random effects model meta-analysis was performed.

RESULTS: Overall, 18 studies met our eligibility criteria and were included in this review. Six studies investigated E. coli and Salmonella spp. (N = 6). The most prevalent AMR genes in animals included sul1 (36.2%), sul2 (32.0%), tetA (31.5%), strB (30.8%) and blaTEM (30.0%), whereas sul2 (42.4%), tetA (42.0%), strB (34.9%), blaTEM (28.8%) and sul1 (27.8%) were most prevalent in humans. We observed no clear pattern for a higher prevalence in either the animal or the human reservoir.

CONCLUSION: To date, data on AMR in a One Health perspective in Africa are scarce. Prospective and longitudinal studies using an integrated One Health approach assessing the environment, animals and humans at the same time are needed to better understand the main drivers of AMR sharing in Africa.

PMID:34139031 | DOI:10.1111/tmi.13642

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Timeliness of routine childhood vaccination in low- and middle-income countries, 1978-2021: Protocol for a scoping review to map methodologic gaps and determinants

PLoS One. 2021 Jun 17;16(6):e0253423. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253423. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

The literature on the timeliness of childhood vaccination (i.e. vaccination at the earliest appropriate age) in low-and middle-income countries has important measurement and methodological issues that may limit their usefulness and cross comparison. We aim to conduct a comprehensive scoping review to map the existing literature with a key focus on how the literature on vaccination timeliness has evolved, how it has been defined or measured, and what determinants have been explored in the period spanning the last four decades. This scoping review protocol was developed based on the guidance for scoping reviews from the Joanna Briggs Institute. We will include English and French language peer-reviewed publications and grey literature on the timeliness of routine childhood vaccination in low-and middle-income countries published between January 1978 through to 2021. A three-step search strategy that involves an initial search of two databases to refine the keywords, a full search of all included electronic databases, and screening of references of previous studies for relevant articles missing from our full search will be employed. The search will be conducted in five electronic databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Global Health, CINAHL and Web of Science. Google search will also be conducted to identify relevant grey literature on vaccination timeliness. All retrieved titles from the search will be imported into Endnote X9.3.3 (Clarivate Analytics) and deduplicated. Two reviewers will screen the titles, abstracts and full texts of publications for eligibility using Rayyan-the web based application for screening articles for systematic reviews. Using a tailored data extraction template, we will extract relevant information from eligible studies. The study team will analyse the extracted data using descriptive statistical methods and thematic analysis. The results will be presented using tables, while charts and maps will be used to aid the visualisation of the key findings and themes. The proposed review will generate evidence on key methodological gaps in the literature on timeliness of childhood vaccination. Such evidence would shape the direction of future research, and assist immunisation programme managers and country-level stakeholders to address the needs of their national immunisation system.

PMID:34138965 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0253423

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Risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding in patients on oral anticoagulant and proton pump inhibitor co-therapy

PLoS One. 2021 Jun 17;16(6):e0253310. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253310. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are known to reduce the risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding in patients on oral anticoagulants, and patients are increasingly on oral anticoagulants and PPI co-therapy. However, evidence is lacking on the safety and effectiveness of oral anticoagulants when co-administered with PPIs.

METHODS: Among patients initiating oral anticoagulants (warfarin and non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants [NOACs], i.e. rivaroxaban, dabigatran, apixaban, and edoxaban) during 2013-2017, those concomitantly prescribed PPIs were identified (n = 19,851). The primary endpoint was hospitalization for major upper gastrointestinal bleeding, and secondary endpoints were death and ischemic stroke.

RESULTS: During a mean 1.4 years of follow-up, the primary endpoint occurred in 512 (2.58%) patients. Overall, NOACs were associated with lower upper gastrointestinal bleeding risk after adjustment for age, sex, comorbidities and concomitant medications (adjusted hazard ratio 0.78, 95% confidence interval 0.65-0.94), compared to warfarin. There was no significant difference in upper gastrointestinal bleeding risk among the individual NOACs. This trend of reduced risk for upper gastrointestinal bleeding in NOACs compared to warfarin was consistent for both regular and reduced doses, throughout bleeding risk groups, and other subgroup analyses. NOACs were also associated with lower risk of death compared to warfarin. The risk for ischemic stroke was not significantly different among the oral anticoagulants in patients with atrial fibrillation.

CONCLUSION: In patients on oral anticoagulant and PPI co-therapy, NOACs were associated with lower risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding and mortality compared to warfarin, while there was no difference among the oral anticoagulants for stroke prevention. In patients on PPI therapy, NOACs may preferred over warfarin for decreasing risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding and mortality.

PMID:34138972 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0253310