Tag: statistics

Indian J Ophthalmol. 2023 Jul;71(7):2835-2840. doi: 10.4103/IJO.IJO_2777_22.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the onset of dissociated vertical deviation (DVD) and inferior oblique overaction (IOOA), their subsequent development, and their correlation with pre and postoperative parameters.

METHODS: Medical records of patients with infantile esotropia who underwent surgery between 2005 and 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. DVD and IOOA were measured before and after surgery. Patients were divided into two groups based on horizontal and vertical deviation at the time of presentation: those with infantile esotropia only (group A) and patients with infantile esotropia who developed vertical deviation (group B).

RESULTS: Out of a total of 102 patients, DVD occurrence was seen in 53 patients (51.9%) and IOOA was seen in 50 patients (48.04%). DVD was seen in 22 patients at the time of initial examination and in 31 patients postoperatively. IOOA at presentation was seen in 45 patients (44.1%) and 5 patients (8.8%) postoperatively. No statistical difference was found in the age of surgery, angle of deviation, mean follow-up, and mean refractive error within both groups. The postoperative motor outcome was statistically comparable between the two groups (P = 0.29). Sensory outcomes of fusion (P = 0.048) and stereopsis (P-value = 0.00063) were better in group A.

CONCLUSION: No correlation was found between the age of occurrence and development of vertical deviation with refractive error, angle of deviation, age, or type of surgery. We found that motor outcomes are not affected but sensory outcomes are affected in patients with vertical deviations. This indicates that DVD and IOOA are developed due to inherent disruption of fusion and stereopsis.

PMID:37417130 | DOI:10.4103/IJO.IJO_2777_22

Indian J Ophthalmol. 2023 Jul;71(7):2803-2807. doi: 10.4103/IJO.IJO_692_23.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to identify the association between fetal hemoglobin (HbF) concentration, blood transfusion, and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in preterm infants.

METHODS: This was an observational, prospective study. A total of 410 preterm infants born with <36 weeks gestational age and <2.0 kg birth weight in a tertiary care center of central India for a period of 1 year were included in this study. Clinical data were obtained from case notes. HbF of infants was measured in the blood sample using high-performance liquid chromatography at the first visit and after 1 month follow-up and was analyzed statistically. Dilated fundus examination was done as per ROP screening guidelines, and ROP was classified as per the International Classification of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ICROP), 2021. The study subjects were divided into two groups based on the status of ROP. The relationship among HbF, blood transfusion, and ROP was evaluated in both the groups. The relationship between other clinical characteristics and various neonatal risk factors was also studied between the groups.

RESULTS: A total of 410 preterm infants were included in this study, of which 110 infants had ROP (26.8%). Blood transfusion was found to be significantly associated with the development of ROP. Higher fraction of HbF (%) was associated with a lower prevalence of ROP. HbF was also inversely related with the severity of ROP.

CONCLUSION: Replacing HbF by adult hemoglobin during blood transfusion may promote the development of ROP. Conversely, maintaining a higher percentage of HbF may be a protective factor against ROP.

PMID:37417124 | DOI:10.4103/IJO.IJO_692_23

Indian J Ophthalmol. 2023 Jul;71(7):2756-2759. doi: 10.4103/IJO.IJO_659_23.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Ripasudil is a class of drug which alters the trabecular meshwork to increase the aqueous outflow and has been shown to be effective in pseudoexfoliative glaucoma (PXF G). This study aimed at assessing the efficacy and safety profile of ripasudil as an adjunct treatment in patients with PXF G at maximal tolerated antiglaucoma medications.

METHODS: In this prospective, interventional study, 40 patients with PXF G were enrolled between May 2021 and Jan 2022. Ripasudil 0.4% was started as an adjunctive drug to the ongoing antiglaucoma medications. On follow-up visits at 1, 3, and 6 months, the visual acuity, intraocular pressure (IOP), anterior segment, and fundus findings were evaluated. The premedication and postmedication IOP values were compared by paired t-test, and a P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS: Average age at recruitment was 60.02 ± 8.74 years. Baseline premedication IOP was 25.375 ± 3.276 mmHg. IOP reduction at 6 months was found to be statistically significant in all patients, with the maximal response being 24.13%. Also, 87.5% (35/40) of patients reached target IOP or even lower IOP at the end of study. There was no statistically significant association between the PXF grade and IOP. However, the grade of inferior iridocorneal angle pigmentation was found to be higher in eyes with elevated IOP (P < 0.05). Only three patients developed conjunctival hyperemia as an adverse reaction, which was mild and transient.

CONCLUSION: Ripasudil showed additional IOP-lowering effect with other antiglaucoma medications and exhibited no significant side effects.

PMID:37417116 | DOI:10.4103/IJO.IJO_659_23

Indian J Ophthalmol. 2023 Jul;71(7):2733-2738. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_1989_22.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To find out the mean rate of progression (MROP) of visual fields (VF) in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and ocular hypertension (OHT) using FORUM^® Glaucoma Workplace.

METHODS: Two hundred and one eyes of 105 patients were included in this prospective cohort study. Patients with POAG and OHT were recruited, and VF analysis with 24-2 and or 10-2 was done using SITA standard strategy in Zeiss Humphrey Visual Field Analyzer (HFA). All the previous VFs were identified from FORUM software, and the baseline indices were recorded from the first reliable VF analysis. The present VF analysis was compared to the previous one using FORUM software, and the rate of progression (ROP) in VF was obtained by Guided Progression Analysis.

RESULTS: MROP of VF in the POAG group was – 0.085 dB/year, ranging from -2.8 to 2.8 dB/year with a standard deviation (SD) of 0.69. In the OHT group, the MROP of VF was -0.003 dB/year, ranging from – 0.8 to 0.5 dB/year with an SD of 0.27. The MROP of VF in medically treated eyes with POAG was -0.14 dB/year with an SD of 0.61 and in surgically treated eyes was -0.02 dB/year with an SD of 0.78. The overall baseline mean VF index (VFI) was 83.19% and the final mean VFI was 79.80%. There was a statistically significant decrease in the mean VFI value from baseline to the final visit (P-value 0.0005).

CONCLUSION: The mean ROP of VF in the POAG group was -0.085 dB/year and in the OHT group was – 0.003 dB/year.

PMID:37417113 | DOI:10.4103/ijo.IJO_1989_22

BMJ Qual Saf. 2023 Jul 6:bmjqs-2022-015832. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2022-015832. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether the Acute Frailty Network (AFN) was more effective than usual practice in supporting older people living with frailty to return home from hospital sooner and healthier.

DESIGN: Staggered difference-in-difference panel event study allowing for differential effects across intervention cohorts.

SETTING: All English National Health Service (NHS) acute hospital sites.

PARTICIPANTS: All 1 410 427 NHS patients aged 75+ with high frailty risk who had an emergency hospital admission to acute, general or geriatric medicine departments between 1 January 2012 and 31 March 2019.

INTERVENTION: Membership of the AFN, a quality improvement collaborative designed to support acute hospitals in England deliver evidence-based care for older people with frailty. 66 hospital sites joined the AFN in six sequential cohorts, the first starting in January 2015, the sixth in May 2018. Usual care was delivered in the remaining 248 control sites.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Length of hospital stay, in-hospital mortality, institutionalisation, hospital readmission.

RESULTS: No significant effects of AFN membership were found for any of the four outcomes nor were there significant effects for any individual cohort.

CONCLUSIONS: To realise its aims, the AFN might need to develop better resourced intervention and implementation strategies.

PMID:37414555 | DOI:10.1136/bmjqs-2022-015832

J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2023 Jul 6:jnnp-2023-331499. doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2023-331499. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Simultaneous comparisons of multiple disease-modifying therapies for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) over an extended follow-up are lacking. Here we emulate a randomised trial simultaneously comparing the effectiveness of six commonly used therapies over 5 years.

METHODS: Data from 74 centres in 35 countries were sourced from MSBase. For each patient, the first eligible intervention was analysed, censoring at change/discontinuation of treatment. The compared interventions included natalizumab, fingolimod, dimethyl fumarate, teriflunomide, interferon beta, glatiramer acetate and no treatment. Marginal structural Cox models (MSMs) were used to estimate the average treatment effects (ATEs) and the average treatment effects among the treated (ATT), rebalancing the compared groups at 6-monthly intervals on age, sex, birth-year, pregnancy status, treatment, relapses, disease duration, disability and disease course. The outcomes analysed were incidence of relapses, 12-month confirmed disability worsening and improvement.

RESULTS: 23 236 eligible patients were diagnosed with RRMS or clinically isolated syndrome. Compared with glatiramer acetate (reference), several therapies showed a superior ATE in reducing relapses: natalizumab (HR=0.44, 95% CI=0.40 to 0.50), fingolimod (HR=0.60, 95% CI=0.54 to 0.66) and dimethyl fumarate (HR=0.78, 95% CI=0.66 to 0.92). Further, natalizumab (HR=0.43, 95% CI=0.32 to 0.56) showed a superior ATE in reducing disability worsening and in disability improvement (HR=1.32, 95% CI=1.08 to 1.60). The pairwise ATT comparisons also showed superior effects of natalizumab followed by fingolimod on relapses and disability.

CONCLUSIONS: The effectiveness of natalizumab and fingolimod in active RRMS is superior to dimethyl fumarate, teriflunomide, glatiramer acetate and interferon beta. This study demonstrates the utility of MSM in emulating trials to compare clinical effectiveness among multiple interventions simultaneously.

PMID:37414534 | DOI:10.1136/jnnp-2023-331499

Br J Ophthalmol. 2023 Jul 6:bjo-2023-323282. doi: 10.1136/bjo-2023-323282. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To determine the surgical outcomes using navigation-guided transcaruncular orbital optic canal decompression (NGTcOCD) and investigate the relationship between visual prognosis. visual evoked potential (VEP), association with DeLano type of optic canal and Onodi cells in patients with indirect traumatic optic neuropathy (TON).

DESIGN: Prospective observational.

METHODS: Fifty-two consecutive patients with indirect TON unresponsive to steroid therapy were divided into three groups where Group I comprised of cases with optic canal fracture who underwent NGTcOCD, Group II without optic canal fracture who underwent NGTcOCD and Group III, no-decompression group who chose not to undergo NGTcOCD. An improvement in visual acuity (VA) at 1 week, 3 months and 1 year and amplitude and latency of VEP at 1 year were considered as primary and secondary outcomes, respectively.

RESULTS: The mean VA improved from 2.55±0.67 and 2.62±0.56 LogMAR at presentation to 2.03±0.96 and 2.33±0.72 LogMAR at final follow-up among Group I and Group II patients, respectively (p<0.001 and p=0.01). Statistically significant improvement observed among both the Groups in VEP amplitude (p=<0.01) and among Group II in VEP latency (p<0.01). Both Group I and Group II patients have better outcomes than patients in no-decompression group. VA at presentation and Type 1 DeLano optic canal were observed as significant prognostic factors.

CONCLUSIONS: NGTcOCD serves as a minimally invasive transcaruncular route to the optic canal which enables ophthalmologists to perform decompression from the anterior-most orbital end under direct visualisation. Patients with indirect TON with or without optic canal fracture and unresponsive to steroid therapy when managed with NGTcOCD have shown comparable and superior outcomes.

PMID:37414533 | DOI:10.1136/bjo-2023-323282

Heart. 2023 Jul 6:heartjnl-2022-322315. doi: 10.1136/heartjnl-2022-322315. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate prevalence, incidence and prognostic implications of permanent pacemaker (PPM) implantation in patients with cardiac amyloidosis (CA), thereby identifying the predictors of time to PPM implantation.

METHODS: Seven hundred eighty-seven patients with CA (602 men, median age 74 years, 571 transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR), 216 light-chain amyloidosis (AL)) evaluated at two European referral centres were retrospectively included. Clinical, laboratory and instrumental data were analysed. The associations between PPM implantation and mortality, heart failure (HF) or a composite endpoint of mortality, cardiac transplantation and HF were analysed.

RESULTS: 81 (10.3%) patients had a PPM before initial evaluation. Over a median follow-up time of 21.7 months (IQR 9.6-45.2), 81 (10.3%) additional patients (18 with AL (22.2%) and 63 with ATTR (77.8%)) underwent PPM implantation with a median time to implantation of 15.6 months (IQR 4.2-40), complete atrioventricular block was the most common indication (49.4%). Independent predictors of PPM implantation were QRS duration (HR 1.03, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.03, p<0.001) and interventricular septum (IVS) thickness (HR 1.1, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.17, p=0.003). The model to estimate the probability of PPM at 12 months and containing both factors showed a C-statistic of 0.71 and a calibration of slope of 0.98.

CONCLUSIONS: Conduction system disease requiring PPM is a common complication in CA that affects up to 20.6% of patients. QRS duration and IVS thickness are independently associated with PPM implantation. A PPM implantation at 12 months model was devised and validated to identify patients with CA at higher risk of requiring a PPM and who require closer follow-up.

PMID:37414523 | DOI:10.1136/heartjnl-2022-322315

Clin Ther. 2023 Jun;45(6):589-598. doi: 10.1016/j.clinthera.2023.04.002.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Cannabis use during adolescence can have harmful consequences, including poor educational outcomes, neurocognitive defects, and an increased risk of addiction to other drugs, such as tobacco, alcohol, and opioids. Perceived family and social network cannabis use is a risk factor for use among adolescents. It is not currently known whether there is an association between perceived family/social network cannabis use and adolescent cannabis use in the context of legalization. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between adolescent perceptions of parent, sibling, and best friend medical and/or recreational cannabis use and adolescents’ own use and whether the association changed pre-legalization and post-legalization in Massachusetts.

METHODS: We analyzed responses from surveys administered to students at 2 high schools in Massachusetts before legalization in 2016 (wave 1) and after legalization but before the start of regulated retail cannabis sales in 2018 (wave 2). We used χ² tests and multiple logistic regression to examine associations between adolescent perception of parent, sibling, and best friend use and adolescent past 30-day cannabis use before and after legalization.

FINDINGS: In this sample, no statistically significant differences were found in the prevalence of past 30-day cannabis use before and after legalization among adolescents. There was an increase in the proportion of adolescents who reported any perceived parent cannabis use from before to after legalization (18% before legalization to 24% after legalization; P = 0.018). Perceived parent, sibling, and best friend medical and recreational cannabis use were all associated with an increased odds of adolescent use, with the highest increase in odds found for perceived best friend use (adjusted odds ratio, 17.2; 95% CI, 12.4-24.0).

IMPLICATIONS: Adolescent perceptions of their parents as cannabis users increased after legalization, even before state-regulated retails sales began. Parent, sibling, and best friend cannabis use is each independently associated with increased odds of adolescent’s own use. These findings from 1 Massachusetts district should be explored in larger and more representative populations and motivate additional attention to interventions that consider family and friend influences when seeking to address adolescent cannabis use.

PMID:37414509 | DOI:10.1016/j.clinthera.2023.04.002

Clin Ther. 2023 Jun;45(6):562-577. doi: 10.1016/j.clinthera.2023.04.003.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Mental and other physical health concerns and substance use disorder are common and co-occurring events experienced by US veterans. Treatment with medicinal cannabis is a potential alternative to unwanted medication use for veterans, but more clinical and epidemiologic research is needed to understand the risks and benefits.

METHODS: Data were collected from a cross-sectional, self-reported, anonymous survey asking US veterans about their health conditions, medical treatments, demographics, and medicinal cannabis use along with its self-reported effectiveness. In addition to descriptive statistics, logistic regression models were run to examine correlates of the use of cannabis as a substitution for prescription or over-the-counter medications.

FINDINGS: A total of 510 veterans of US military service participated in the survey, which was administered between March 3 and December 31, 2019. The participants reported experiencing a variety of mental and other physical health conditions. Primary health conditions reported included chronic pain (196; 38%), PTSD (131; 26%), anxiety (47; 9%), and depression (26; 5%). Most participants (343; 67%) reported using cannabis daily. Many reported using cannabis to reduce the use of over-the-counter medications (151; 30%) including antidepressants (130; 25%), anti-inflammatories (89; 17%), and other prescription medications. Additionally, 463 veterans (91% of respondents) reported that medical cannabis helped them to experience a greater quality of life and 105 (21%) reported using fewer opioids as a result of their medical cannabis use. Veterans who were Black, who were female, who served in active combat, and who were living with chronic pain were more likely to report a desire to reduce the number of prescription medications they were taking (odds ratios = 2.92, 2.29, 1.79, and 2.30, respectively). Women and individuals who used cannabis daily were more likely to report active use of cannabis to reduce prescription medication use (odds ratios = 3.05 and 2.26).

IMPLICATIONS: Medicinal cannabis use was reported to improve quality of life and reduce unwanted medication use by many of the study participants. The present findings indicate that medicinal cannabis can potentially play a harm-reduction role, helping veterans to use fewer pharmaceutical medications and other substances. Clinicians should be mindful of the potential associations between race, sex, and combat experience and the intentions for and frequency of medicinal cannabis use.

PMID:37414507 | DOI:10.1016/j.clinthera.2023.04.003