Tag: statistics

Tijdschr Psychiatr. 2024;66(9):527-531.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Outpatient forensic treatment is generally more focused on diminishing transgressive behavior, rather than the treatment of a specific disorder. However, the indications for prescribing psychotropic medication are usually a specific disorder. Although guidelines are used a large portion of psychopharmacological prescription is off-label.

AIM: To explore the extent of off-label prescribing. The study aimed to address three main questions: What is the percentage of off-label prescribing? Which part of off-label prescribing is based on guidelines and formularies? What is the frequency of pharmacist consultation before prescribing off-label medication?

METHOD: Data for the study were collected by 17 psychiatrists working in the thirteen forensic outpatient clinics of de Waag. The study focused on a sample of 202 adult patients, who were treated between October 2022 and May 2023.

RESULTS: 72.0% of 350 prescriptions were prescribed off-label. From these 72.0%, 51.4% was based on guidelines and formularies and 20.6% not. In 84,7% off the off-label prescription not based on guidelines and formularies a pharmacist wasn’t consulted.

CONCLUSION: This study confirms the high percentage of off-label prescriptions in the forensic psychiatry. However, more than 70% was based on guidelines and formularies.

PMID:39749614

Mult Scler. 2025 Jan 3:13524585241310104. doi: 10.1177/13524585241310104. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Many common symptoms in post-acute sequelae following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (PASC) overlap with those of multiple sclerosis (MS). We examined symptoms and performance of the PASC score, developed in the general population, in MS based on infection history.

METHODS: We surveyed North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS) registry participants regarding infections and categorized participants based on infection history. Symptoms experienced before, during, and after infection were used to identify persistent new symptoms. PASC was defined as a score ⩾ 12 based on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) study RECOVER.

RESULTS: Of 4787 participants surveyed, 2927 were included: 294 (10%) having recent COVID-19; 853 (29.1%) recent non-COVID-19 infection; 246 (8.4%) recent COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 infection; 1534 (52.4%) uninfected, defined as never having COVID-19 nor any infection within the past 6 months. Compared to those uninfected, infection groups reported at least a two-fold increase in fever, cough, loss of smell/taste, and shortness of breath. Based on persistent new symptoms, PASC was identified in only 1.5% of participants with COVID-19.

CONCLUSION: Our study suggests lower than expected prevalence of PASC in MS and a complex association between infections and development of new persistent symptoms following infections. The similar proportions classified with PASC across infection groups shows that symptoms of PASC are common and complicate assessment of PASC in MS.

PMID:39749575 | DOI:10.1177/13524585241310104

Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2025 Jan 3:trae069. doi: 10.1093/trstmh/trae069. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Snakebite envenoming is a medical emergency that requires rapid access to essential medicines and well-trained personnel. In resource-poor countries, mapping snakebite incidence can help policymakers to make evidence-based decisions for resource prioritisation. This study aimed to characterise the spatial variation in snakebite risk, and in particular to identify areas of relatively high and low risk, in Eastern Province, Rwanda.

METHODS: Snakebite surveillance of people bitten in 2020 was conducted in Eastern Province through household visits and case verification. Geostatistical modelling and predictive mapping were applied to data from 617 villages in six districts to develop sector-level and district-level risk maps.

RESULTS: There were 1217 individuals bitten by snakes across six districts. The estimated population-weighted snakebite incidence in Eastern Province was 440 (95% predictive interval 421 to 460) cases per 100 000 people, corresponding to 13 500 (95% predictive interval 12 950 to 14 150) snakebite events per year. Two sectors in the southwest, Gashanda and Jarama, showed >1500 snakebite events per 100 000 annually. The lowest incidence was observed in the north.

CONCLUSIONS: Considerable differences exist in snakebite risk between sectors in Eastern Province, with the highest risk concentrated in the southwest. Policymakers should consider prioritising resources related to snakebite prevention, essential medicines and health worker training in this region.

PMID:39749566 | DOI:10.1093/trstmh/trae069

Dan Med J. 2024 Nov 20;71(12):A04240264. doi: 10.61409/A04240264.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Even though Denmark has the highest contraceptive use (42%) of the Nordic countries, 19% of all pregnancies in Denmark end in termination. Various contraceptive options are available, and unwanted pregnancies therefore ought to be avoidable. This study aimed to investigate if women received counselling and prescriptions for contraception during their termination and if this or other factors impacted their risk of repeat termination.

METHODS: This was an analytical, historical and retrospective cohort study. Data were collected manually from 310 medical records at the Hospital of Southern Jutland between 2016 and 2019.

RESULTS: A total of 82% of patients received contraceptive counselling during their termination, and 35% of these patients received a contraceptive prescription for future use. A total of 17% had a repeat termination within three years after receiving counselling; 23% of the women who did not receive contraceptive counselling experienced one or more repeat pregnancy terminations within the following three-year period. The risk of repeat termination during the follow-up period was significantly higher among the patients with a previous termination.

CONCLUSIONS: The majority of the women received contraceptive counselling at the time of their termination. Women who previously had an abortion were twice as likely to undergo a repeat termination during the follow-up period. Further research is necessary to establish whether counselling and prescription of contraceptives have a significant impact on repeat terminations.

FUNDING: None.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: Approval R. no. 20/22908.

PMID:39749560 | DOI:10.61409/A04240264

Dan Med J. 2024 Nov 20;71(12):A05240316. doi: 10.61409/A05240316.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Most postmenopausal women with early-stage oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancer are allocated to five years of endocrine therapy. This treatment is not without adverse effects, which may lead to treatment discontinuation. This study aimed to assess compliance with endocrine therapy among postmenopausal women with early-stage oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancer and examine its association with disease-free survival.

METHODS: This study retrospectively identified a cohort of 360 postmenopausal women diagnosed in the period from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2017 at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark, with early-stage oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancer in the clinical database of the Danish Breast Cancer Group. Kaplan-Meier was used to estimate compliance and disease-free survival.

RESULTS: A total of 346 patients receiving endocrine therapy were included, 240 were compliant, and 106 were non-compliant. The median follow-up was 6.5 years (95% confidence interval (CI): 6.4-6.7 years). The compliance at 4.5 years was 68.8% (95% CI: 64.1-74.0%). Disease-free survival was significantly higher for the compliant group (adjusted HR = 2.29; 95% CI: 1.34-3.91).

CONCLUSIONS: We found a low compliance at 4.5 years and most discontinuations were due to adverse effects. The study provides evidence that low compliance with endocrine therapy had a negative impact on disease-free survival.

FUNDING: The study was funded by the Danish Cancer Society.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was approved by the research overview of the Capital of Denmark and the Center for Health.

PMID:39749559 | DOI:10.61409/A05240316

Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2025 Jan 3:trae085. doi: 10.1093/trstmh/trae085. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Snakebite envenomation continues to affect lives globally, with >1.2 million envenomations and approximately 120 000 annual mortalities. Unfortunately, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) contribute to >80% of these global statistics. With different targets set to minimize the impact of snakebite envenoming, such as halving the envenoming cases by 2030 from the World Health Organization (WHO), multiple initiatives are inevitable. Gender intersectionality and tropical disease research for infectious diseases of poverty, developed by the WHO, has championed the exploration of neglected diseases, stratifying them using gendered domains. However, minimal research using the gender intersectionality framework has been conducted to explore snakebite envenoming, especially among LMICs. Exploring snakebite envenomation through a gendered lens is critical in developing gender-specific interventions for the prevention and treatment of envenomation. This narrative review explores the available literature about snakebite envenomation in LMICs through a gender intersectionality lens. It provides insights into the existing gaps, especially regarding research using intersectionality frameworks and the gendered matrix. It further proposes avenues of research using these domains to understand snakebite envenomation, especially through the intersectionality lens.

PMID:39749529 | DOI:10.1093/trstmh/trae085

Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2025 Jan 3:trae112. doi: 10.1093/trstmh/trae112. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Snakebite envenoming is a neglected tropical disease that causes significant morbidity and mortality in rural sub-Saharan Africa. However, there is a notable lack of data concerning the management and treatment outcomes for those affected. This study addresses this gap by examining the management and treatment outcomes of snakebite victims in Uganda.

METHODS: We reviewed retrospective data of 532 snakebite cases attending 16 Ugandan health facilities from January 2017 to December 2021. Demographic characteristics and clinical data were extracted from patient records and summarized using descriptive statistics.

RESULTS: The snakebite victims had a median age of 26 y, most were male (55.3%) and had bites of unidentified snake species (92.3%). Among the 465 treated patients, 71.6% received antibiotics, 66.0% hydrocortisone, 36.3% analgesics and only 6.9% antivenom. No adverse antivenom reactions were documented. The majority (89.5%) were discharged; 1.3% died and 5.5% had unknown outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that snakebite envenoming affects vulnerable Ugandans, particularly young males and children. Treatment is primarily supportive, with antibiotic overuse and infrequent antivenom administration. Health provider training on appropriate snakebite management is needed to optimize outcomes.

PMID:39749485 | DOI:10.1093/trstmh/trae112

Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2025 Dec;16(1):2444745. doi: 10.1080/20008066.2024.2444745. Epub 2025 Jan 3.

ABSTRACT

Background: A number of studies have tested the factor structure of the suggested ICD-11 symptom criteria for PTSD and complex PTSD (CPTSD) across various trauma populations, finding support for two different models in line with the ICD-11 theoretical rationale.Objective: Here, we aim to explore the factor structure of the Danish version of the International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ) by testing two alternative factor models that have previously gained support in a large sample of treatment-seeking veterans.Method: Treatment-seeking Danish soldiers and veterans (N = 599) recruited from the Military Psychology Department in the Danish Defence completed the International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to assess fit of a first-order and a second-order model.Results: Both models fit the data well but displayed latent variable correlations above 1 and negative variances (known as Heywood cases), indicating model misspecification or other problems. The specification problems included the latent variable Affect Dysregulation.Conclusions: Based on our results and results reported in previous CFAs of the ITQ, we suggest consideration of the proposed models. While many previous studies did find support for the models with no indications of misfit, others find Heywood cases concerning the same items and latent variables as our analysis. Hence, models of (C)PTSD based on the ITQ should be carefully evaluated and interpreted.

PMID:39749481 | DOI:10.1080/20008066.2024.2444745

Genet Epidemiol. 2025 Jan;49(1):e22608. doi: 10.1002/gepi.22608.

ABSTRACT

Biological datasets often consist of thousands or millions of variables, e.g. genetic variants or biomarkers, and when sample sizes are large it is common to find many associated with an outcome of interest, for example, disease risk in a GWAS, at high levels of statistical significance, but with very small effects. The False Discovery Rate (FDR) is used to identify effects of interest based on ranking variables according to their statistical significance. Here, we develop a complementary measure to the FDR, the priorityFDR, that ranks variables by a combination of effect size and significance, allowing further prioritisation among a set of variables that pass a significance or FDR threshold. Applying to the largest GWAS of type 1 diabetes to date (15,573 cases and 158,408 controls), we identified 26 independent genetic associations, including two newly-reported loci, with qualitatively lower priorityFDRs than the remaining 175 signals. We detected putatively causal type 1 diabetes risk genes using Mendelian Randomisation, and found that these were located disproportionately close to low priorityFDR signals (p = 0.005), as were genes in the IL-2 pathway (p = 0.003). Selecting variables on both effect size and significance can lead to improved prioritisation for mechanistic follow-up studies from genetic and other large biological datasets.

PMID:39749473 | DOI:10.1002/gepi.22608

J Orthod. 2025 Jan 3:14653125241309654. doi: 10.1177/14653125241309654. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To compare microleakage beneath ceramic and metal brackets prepared with either acid etching or laser conditioning.

DESIGN: An in vitro study.

SETTING: Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt.

METHODS: A total of 40 intact human premolars were selected and divided into four equal groups. The groups received the same adhesive-application procedures with different surface treatments and type of brackets: groups 1 (AM) and 3 (AC) underwent phosphoric acid etching; groups 2 (LM) and 4 (LC) underwent laser enamel conditioning using a Er,Cr:YSGG laser. Metal brackets were then bonded to the teeth in groups 1 (AM) and 2 (LM) and ceramic brackets in groups 3 (AC) and 4 (LC). Subsequently, they were placed in fuchsin dye solution. Each premolar was sectioned longitudinally in the occluso-gingival direction at right angles to the brackets. The dye penetration depth was calculated using a stereomicroscope. Microleakage was measured along the enamel-adhesive interface at each section’s gingival and occlusal levels. For group comparisons, the Tukey test was utilised as a post hoc test to determine statistical significance between groups. The independent sample t-test was utilised for comparing both subgroups.

RESULTS: The results demonstrated significantly more microleakage under metal and ceramic brackets bonded to enamel prepared with laser conditioning than with acid etching at both the gingival and occlusal surfaces and in total. The AC group exhibited the lowest amount of microleakage, but the LC group demonstrated the highest amount of microleakage.

CONCLUSION: The ceramic bracket group treated with acid etching exhibited the lowest level of microleakage. Microleakage values on the gingival and occlusal surfaces were higher in both bracket types for the laser etched groups.

PMID:39749464 | DOI:10.1177/14653125241309654