Tag: statistics

BMC Oral Health. 2022 May 10;22(1):171. doi: 10.1186/s12903-022-02187-1.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Adequate knowledge of root canal morphology and possible variations is essential to achieve perfect root canal treatment and overcome treatment failure. Appropriate knowledge on root and canal morphology, communication, and documentation amongst dentists will be challenging from a diagnostic and successful treatment point of view.

METHODS: A total of 3420 samples were included in this study from 285 cone-beam computed tomography images of the Saudi residents, including 171 males and 114 females aged 15 to 68 years from retrospective data dated from January 2018 to April 2021. The images were examined in sagittal, axial and coronal views using a 3D version software 1.0.10.6388. The number of canal and canal morphology was recorded using Vertucci and the new classification system. The SPSS 26 was used to conduct the statistical analysis as descriptive statistics such as mean; standard deviation and frequency were calculated. The Chi-square test analysed the data with the significance level set at 0.05.

RESULTS: A total of 285 subjects participated in the study. Majority of the participants were Saudi nationals (80.7%), followed by Indian (7.4%), Pakistani (4.2%) and other nationalities. According to Vertucci and the new classification system, Type I and ¹TN¹ were the most common types, followed by Type III and Type IV, and then ¹TN^1-2-1 and ¹TN^1-2 in mandibular anteriors. The prevalence of canal variations in mandibular canine was higher in females than in males (P = 0.002). Maxillary laterals and mandibular anteriors showed the significant difference in the prevalence of root canal variation in relation to the ethnicity (P = 0.001) and age of the patients. Younger patients showed more variations than the older patients (P = 0.012, P = 0.023, P = 0.001, P = 0.001) in terms of maxillary laterals, mandibular central, laterals and canines, respectively.

CONCLUSION: Mandibular permanent anteriors showed a wide range of canal variations and canal complexity. Males and females did not demonstrate a wide range of variation in the root canal morphology except for the canines in relation to the gender of the patients.

PMID:35538514 | DOI:10.1186/s12903-022-02187-1

BMC Res Notes. 2022 May 10;15(1):159. doi: 10.1186/s13104-022-06044-w.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: We present a database on Brazilian spatial, demographic, and socioeconomic characteristics from 1996 to 2020. This database aims for integration and harmonization with epidemiological data from two major studies. It can also be a valuable database for designing and conducting various types of epidemiologic research, such as health inequality studies, ecological studies (mapping and time-trends), and multi-level analysis.

DATA DESCRIPTION: The database gathers official information obtained via open sources from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, the Institute for Applied Economic Research, and the Ministry of Health. It includes 139,153 observations and 26 attributes aggregated by years and policy-relevant geographic units on geocoding of municipality centroids, total population size, child population by age-group, birth and mortality measures, Brazilian Municipal Human Development Index, Gini coefficient, Gross Domestic Product, and sanitation. We automated all data processing and curation in the free and open software R.

PMID:35538501 | DOI:10.1186/s13104-022-06044-w

BMC Med. 2022 May 11;20(1):168. doi: 10.1186/s12916-022-02366-5.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The association between vitamin E and cancer risk has been widely investigated by observational studies, but the findings remain inconclusive. Here, we aimed to evaluate the causal effect of circulating vitamin E on the risk of ten common cancers, including bladder, breast, colorectal, esophagus, lung, oral and pharynx, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, and kidney cancer.

METHODS: A Mendelian randomization (MR) analytic framework was applied to data from a cancer-specific genome-wide association study (GWAS) comprising a total of 297,699 cancer cases and 304,736 controls of European ancestry. Three genetic instrumental variables associated with circulating vitamin E were selected. Summary statistic-based methods of inverse variance weighting (IVW) and likelihood-based approach, as well as the individual genotyping-based method of genetic risk score (GRS) were used. Multivariable IVW analysis was further performed to control for potential confounding effects. Furthermore, the UK Biobank cohort was used as external validation, supporting 355,543 European participants (incident cases ranged from 437 for ovarian cancer to 4882 for prostate cancer) for GRS-based estimation of circulating vitamin E, accompanied by a one-sample MR analysis of dietary vitamin E intake underlying the time-to-event analytic framework.

RESULTS: Specific to cancer GWAS, we found that circulating vitamin E was significantly associated with increased bladder cancer risk (odds ratios [OR]_IVW = 6.23, P_IVW = 3.05×10^-3) but decreased breast cancer risk (OR_IVW = 0.68, P_IVW = 8.19×10^-3); however, the significance of breast cancer was dampened (P_{multivariable IVW} > 0.05) in the subsequent multivariable MR analysis. In the validation stage of the UK Biobank cohort, we did not replicate convincing causal effects of genetically predicted circulating vitamin E concentrations and dietary vitamin E intake on the risk of ten cancers.

CONCLUSIONS: This large-scale population study upon data from cancer-specific GWAS and a longitudinal biobank cohort indicates plausible non-causal associations between circulating vitamin E and ten common cancers in the European populations. Further studies regarding ancestral diversity are warranted to validate such causal associations.

PMID:35538486 | DOI:10.1186/s12916-022-02366-5

BMC Med Educ. 2022 May 10;22(1):353. doi: 10.1186/s12909-022-03434-3.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Harvard Medical School course Clinical Topics in Global Health was offered for the first time as a remote class. We sought to understand student and faculty perceptions of the elective and evaluate the perceived effectiveness of teaching global health using an online education platform.

METHODS: Following the course, students and faculty were invited to complete a combined total of three online surveys, which consisted of closed- and open-response questions assessing the strengths and challenges of online learning. Data analyses included traditional descriptive statistics, Net Promoter Score calculation, and inductive thematic analysis of qualitative data.

RESULTS: Thirty-two students and eighteen guest faculty (including four international faculty) participated in the course. Highly-rated course components included guest lecturers, practical skill sessions, polls, and case studies. The Net Promoter Score for the course was excellent at 92, and students reported a greater likelihood of pursuing a career in global health because of the course. While students and faculty highlighted limitations of the remote learning platform (lack of community and interactivity), they also commented on increased accessibility and faculty diversity. Most faculty and students recommended a hybrid model for future versions of the course and suggested strategies to address current limitations.

CONCLUSIONS: A remote learning platform can effectively deliver global health education, both in the pandemic setting and beyond.

PMID:35538485 | DOI:10.1186/s12909-022-03434-3

BMC Med. 2022 May 11;20(1):174. doi: 10.1186/s12916-022-02369-2.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies are the most common study design types used to assess the treatment effects of medical interventions. To evaluate the agreement of effect estimates between bodies of evidence (BoE) from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies and to identify factors associated with disagreement.

METHODS: Systematic reviews were published in the 13 medical journals with the highest impact factor identified through a MEDLINE search. BoE-pairs from RCTs and cohort studies with the same medical research question were included. We rated the similarity of PI/ECO (Population, Intervention/Exposure, Comparison, Outcome) between BoE from RCTs and cohort studies. The agreement of effect estimates across BoE was analyzed by pooling ratio of ratios (RoR) for binary outcomes and difference of mean differences for continuous outcomes. We performed subgroup analyses to explore factors associated with disagreements.

RESULTS: One hundred twenty-nine BoE pairs from 64 systematic reviews were included. PI/ECO-similarity degree was moderate: two BoE pairs were rated as “more or less identical”; 90 were rated as “similar but not identical” and 37 as only “broadly similar”. For binary outcomes, the pooled RoR was 1.04 (95% CI 0.97-1.11) with considerable statistical heterogeneity. For continuous outcomes, differences were small. In subgroup analyses, degree of PI/ECO-similarity, type of intervention, and type of outcome, the pooled RoR indicated that on average, differences between both BoE were small. Subgroup analysis by degree of PI/ECO-similarity revealed high statistical heterogeneity and wide prediction intervals across PI/ECO-dissimilar BoE pairs.

CONCLUSIONS: On average, the pooled effect estimates between RCTs and cohort studies did not differ. Statistical heterogeneity and wide prediction intervals were mainly driven by PI/ECO-dissimilarities (i.e., clinical heterogeneity) and cohort studies. The potential influence of risk of bias and certainty of the evidence on differences of effect estimates between RCTs and cohort studies needs to be explored in upcoming meta-epidemiological studies.

PMID:35538478 | DOI:10.1186/s12916-022-02369-2

Lipids Health Dis. 2022 May 10;21(1):42. doi: 10.1186/s12944-022-01650-w.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Monoacetyldiglycerides (MAcDG), are acetylated triglycerides (TG) and an emerging class of bioactive or functional lipid with promising nutritional, medical, and industrial applications. A major challenge exists when analyzing MAcDG from other subclasses of TG in biological matrices, limiting knowledge on their applications and metabolism.

METHODS: Herein a multimodal analytical method for resolution, identification, and quantitation of MAcDG in biological samples was demonstrated based on thin layer chromatography-flame ionization detection complimentary with C30-reversed phase liquid chromatography-high resolution accurate mass tandem mass spectrometry. This method was then applied to determine the MAcDG molecular species composition and quantity in E. solidaginis larvae. The statistical method for analysis of TG subclass composition and molecular species composition of E. solidaginis larvae was one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).

RESULTS: The findings suggest that the proposed analytical method could simultaneously provide a fast, accurate, sensitive, high throughput analysis of MAcDG from other TG subclasses, including the fatty acids, isomers, and molecular species composition.

CONCLUSION: This method would allow for MAcDG to be included during routine lipidomics analysis of biological samples and will have broad interests and applications in the scientific community in areas such as nutrition, climate change, medicine and biofuel innovations.

PMID:35538477 | DOI:10.1186/s12944-022-01650-w

BMC Surg. 2022 May 10;22(1):167. doi: 10.1186/s12893-022-01601-3.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To develop and validate a prediction model to evaluate the perioperative hypoglycemia risk in hospitalized type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients undergoing elective surgery.

METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the electronic medical records of 1410 T2DM patients who had been hospitalized and undergone elective surgery. Regression analysis was used to develop a predictive model for perioperative hypoglycemia risk. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the Hosmer-Lemeshow test were used to verify the model.

RESULTS: Our study showed an incidence of 10.7% for level 1 hypoglycemia and 1.8% for level 2 severe hypoglycemia during the perioperative period. A perioperative hypoglycemic risk prediction model was developed that was mainly composed of four predictors: duration of diabetes ≥ 10 year, body mass index (BMI) < 18.5 kg/m², standard deviation of blood glucose (SDBG) ≥ 3.0 mmol/L, and preoperative hypoglycemic regimen of insulin subcutaneous. Based on this model, patients were categorized into three groups: low, medium, and high risk. Internal validation of the prediction model showed high discrimination (ROC statistic = 0.715) and good calibration (no significant differences between predicted and observed risk: Pearson χ² goodness-of-fit P = 0.765).

CONCLUSIONS: The perioperative hypoglycemic risk prediction model categorizes the risk of hypoglycemia using only four predictors and shows good reliability and validity. The model serves as a favorable tool for clinicians to predict hypoglycemic risk and guide future interventions to reduce hypoglycemia risk.

PMID:35538461 | DOI:10.1186/s12893-022-01601-3

BMC Public Health. 2022 May 10;22(1):928. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-13293-8.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) is an intervention designed to help the concerned significant others (CSOs) of people with alcohol problems who are reluctant to seek treatment. It aims to improve the well-being of CSOs and teach them how to change their behavior in order to positively influence the “identified patient” (IP) to seek treatment.

METHODS: The aim of the present pragmatic cluster-randomized trial was to compare the effectiveness of three formats for delivering CRAFT in real life settings: group sessions, individual sessions, and written material only (control group). Eighteen public treatment centers for alcohol use disorders were randomly assigned to deliver CRAFT in one of the three formats as part of their daily clinical routine. CSOs were recruited via pamphlets, general practitioners, and advertisements on social media. Trained clinicians delivered CRAFT in individual and group format, and self-administered CRAFT was limited to handing out a self-help book. The primary outcome was treatment engagement of the IP after three months.

RESULTS: A total of 249 CSOs were found to be eligible and randomly assigned to receive CRAFT delivered in group, individual, or self-administered format. The three-month follow-up rate was 60%. At three months follow-up, 29% (n = 32) of the CSOs who received group/individual CRAFT reported that their IP had engaged in treatment. The corresponding rate for the CSOs who received self-administered CRAFT was lower (15%; n = 5) but did not differ significantly from the other group of CSOs (Odds ratio (OR) = 2.27 (95% CI: 0.80, 6.41)).

CONCLUSION: We hypothesized that CSOs receiving CRAFT in a group format would improve the most, but although our findings pointed in this direction, the differences were not statistically significant.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical trials.gov ID: NCT03281057 . Registration date:13/09/2017.

PMID:35538465 | DOI:10.1186/s12889-022-13293-8

BMC Womens Health. 2022 May 10;22(1):151. doi: 10.1186/s12905-022-01736-8.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Contraceptive knowledge and use has been an emerging topic of interest in adolescents in Asia. This study quantified the contribution of the socioeconomic determinants of inequality in contraceptive use among currently married female adolescents (15-24) in four south Asian countries: India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan.

DATA AND METHODS: The data of Demographic Health Survey (DHS) for four South Asian countries, i.e. India (NFHS 2015-16), Nepal (DHS 2016), Bangladesh (DHS 2014) and Pakistan (DHS 2012-2013) has been used for examining the contraceptive use and inherent socioeconomic inequality. After employing logistic regression, concentration curves based on decomposition analysis have been made to analyse the socioeconomic inequality.

RESULTS: The results reveal that the use of contraception among female adolescents remains low and factors like education, employment, having one or more children, media exposure were positively associated with it. In terms of socioeconomic inequality, a significant amount of variation has been observed across the countries. In India, poor economic status (95.23%), illiteracy (51.29%) and rural residence (23.06%) contributed maximum in explaining the socioeconomic inequality in contraceptive use among female adolescents. For Bangladesh, the largest contributors to inequalities were rural residence (260%), illiteracy (146.67%) while birth order 3 + (- 173.33%) contributed negatively. Illiteracy (50%), poor economic status (47.83%) and rural residence (16.30%) contributed maximum to the inequalities in contraceptive use in Pakistan while birth order 3 + (- 9.78%) contributed negatively. In Nepal, the important operators of inequalities were unemployment (105.26%), birth order 3 + (52.63%) and poor economic status (47.37%), while rural residence contributed negatively (- 63.16%) to inequalities in contraceptive use.

CONCLUSIONS: Using a cross country perspective, this study presents an socioeconomic inequality analysis in contraceptive use and the important factors involved in the same. Since the factors contributing to inequalities in contraceptive use vary across countries, there is a need to imply country-specific initiatives which will look after the special needs of this age-group.

PMID:35538459 | DOI:10.1186/s12905-022-01736-8

BMC Pediatr. 2022 May 10;22(1):260. doi: 10.1186/s12887-022-03326-x.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Monitoring body composition and changes in energy expenditure during maturation and growth is significant, as many components can influence body structure in adulthood. In the case of young players, when these changes can influence their strength and power, it seems to be equally important. Our aim was to examine whether resting energy expenditure (REE) and body composition would change after 10 months from baseline in physically active children and adolescents.

METHODS: We obtained data from 80 children and adolescents aged 9 to 17 years at two measurement points: the baseline in September 2018 and after 10 months in July 2019. The study was carried out using a calorimeter (Fitmate MED, Cosmed, Rome, Italy), a device used to assess body composition using by the electrical bioimpedance method by means of a segment analyzer (TANITA MC-980). The Student’s t-test and linear regression analysis were used. Using the stepwise forward regression procedure, the selection of factors in a statistically significant way that describes the level of REE was made.

RESULTS: We noticed that REE was not significantly different between baseline (1596.94 ± 273.01 kcal) and after 10 months (1625.38 ± 253.26 kcal). When analyzing the difference in REE between studies girls, we found body height as a significant predictor. The results of our study show a negative relationship between growth and REE. Differences between sexes and age in REE between baseline and after 10 months were not significant.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study involving physically active children and adolescents, which used repeated objective measures and longitudinal statistical modeling to analyze them, was unable to demonstrate any interaction between body weight change, body composition measurements, and REE.

PMID:35538456 | DOI:10.1186/s12887-022-03326-x