Tag: statistics

Ann Afr Med. 2025 Mar 4. doi: 10.4103/aam.aam_254_24. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Insufficient recognition of ominous headache red flags delays specialized care for potentially life-threatening secondary pathologies. Population-level awareness in Saudi Arabia warrants assessment to guide public health planning. The aim of the study was to evaluate headache red flag knowledge and associated care-seeking attitudes among Saudi adults through a cross-sectional survey.

METHODS: A multistage random sample of 643 Saudis aged 15-85 years was recruited proportionally across 13 regions from November 23, 2023 to February 14, 2024. A self-administered questionnaire assessed knowledge of 12 common red flags through closed responses. Total scores were calculated, and associations with demographic/clinical predictors were examined using statistics including Chi-square, ANOVA, and Bayesian correlations.

RESULTS: Mean knowledge score was 11.73/24 indicating partial overall understanding. Higher scores correlated with male gender, ages 36-55 years, tertiary education, and prior headache histories. Knowledge of key red flags like “thunderclap headache” was incomplete. Timely specialist evaluation for concerning symptoms received limited endorsement over analgesic use. Vulnerable subgroups demonstrating low awareness included females, youth, and those reliant on unreliable hazard information sources.

CONCLUSION: Saudi adults demonstrated modest yet uneven headache red flag knowledge influenced by sociodemographic attributes. Specific deficits warrant targeted educational campaigns addressing individual and systemic barriers to prompt neurological evaluations for alarm symptoms. Public health efforts involving experts, community leaders, and technological innovations hold promise enhancing timely diagnosis of secondary pathologies nationwide if periodically monitored.

PMID:40041935 | DOI:10.4103/aam.aam_254_24

Am J Hum Biol. 2025 Mar;37(3):e70016. doi: 10.1002/ajhb.70016.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Despite growing evidence linking adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) with physical health conditions such as obesity and hypertension, research in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including India, remains limited. This study aims to examine the relationship between ACE exposure and the risk of overweight/obesity and hypertension among young adults in Delhi-NCR, India.

METHODS: The present cross-sectional study involved 1702 young adults of both sexes. Participants were recruited from two universities in Delhi-NCR, India. ACEs were measured using the ACE-International questionnaire (ACE-IQ), while anthropometric (weight, height, waist circumference, and hip circumference) and blood pressure parameters were assessed using standard protocols.

RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight/obesity increased with higher ACE categories, from 38% among participants with no ACEs to 49.7% among those with ≥ 4 ACEs (p = 0.006). Linear regression showed a significant positive association between ACE scores and BMI (β = 0.182, p = 0.004), waist circumference (WC; β = 0.351, p = 0.022), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR; β = 0.002, p = 0.026). Odds ratio analysis revealed that participants with 3 or more ACEs had increased odds of being overweight/obese compared to unexposed individuals. No consistent associations were found between ACE exposure and blood pressure parameters. Among specific ACE domains, household mental illness was associated with higher odds of both general and central obesity, and bullying showed the highest odds for overweight/obesity.

CONCLUSIONS: ACE-exposed young adults may be at a higher risk of overweight/obesity; however, the risk of hypertension may not be immediate. Early intervention may help offset the risk of obesity and related disorders among ACE-exposed youth.

PMID:40041929 | DOI:10.1002/ajhb.70016

Front Glob Womens Health. 2025 Feb 18;6:1481164. doi: 10.3389/fgwh.2025.1481164. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Involvement of male partners in postnatal care (PNC) is an effective approach to improving maternal and child health outcomes. Despite this, it has been perceived as a woman’s responsibility and continues to be a significant problem in developing countries, including Ethiopia. Furthermore, there is a paucity of evidence regarding male involvement during postnatal care in Ethiopia, particularly in the study area. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the current status of male partners’ involvement in postnatal care and associated factors in the study area, Wolaita Sodo, in southern Ethiopia in 2023.

METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted on 629 participants from 1 April to 1 May 2023 using a multistage sampling technique. A pre-tested and structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were entered into EpiData version 4.6 and exported to Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 25 for analysis. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were employed to identify factors associated with male partner involvement during postnatal care. The level of significant association in the multivariable analysis was determined based on a P-value of <0.05.

RESULTS: This study found that 32.95% [95% confidence interval (CI): 29.2-36.8] of male partners are involved in postnatal care service utilization. A higher maternal educational level [adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 2.95, 95% CI: 1.76-4.94], good knowledge of postnatal care services (AOR: 3.2, 95% CI: 1.93-5.3), good knowledge of danger signs and complications (AOR: 4.5, 95% CI: 2.39-8.48), a favorable attitude (AOR: 4.02, 95% CI: 2.50-6.45), distance (AOR: 1.91, 95% CI: 1.15-3.17), and cesarean delivery (AOR: 2.5, 95% CI: 1.39-4.60) were significantly associated with male partner involvement in postnatal care services.

CONCLUSION: In this study, a male partner’s involvement in their spouse’s PNC service utilization was found to be low. Maternal educational status, good knowledge of PNC services, good knowledge of danger signs and complications, a favorable attitude, distance, and cesarean delivery were associated with male partner’s involvement in PNC. Therefore, strengthening awareness about postnatal care services and danger signs through health education and promoting a positive attitude toward postnatal services are essential.

PMID:40041927 | PMC:PMC11876152 | DOI:10.3389/fgwh.2025.1481164

Acta Pharm Sin B. 2025 Jan;15(1):123-132. doi: 10.1016/j.apsb.2024.12.004. Epub 2024 Dec 12.

ABSTRACT

Debates persist regarding the efficacy and safety of azvudine, particularly its real-world outcomes. This study involved patients aged ≥60 years who were admitted to 25 hospitals in mainland China with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection between December 1, 2022, and February 28, 2023. Efficacy outcomes were all-cause mortality during hospitalization, the proportion of patients discharged with recovery, time to nucleic acid-negative conversion (T _NANC), time to symptom improvement (T _SI), and time of hospital stay (T _HS). Safety was also assessed. Among the 5884 participants identified, 1999 received azvudine, and 1999 matched controls were included after exclusion and propensity score matching. Azvudine recipients exhibited lower all-cause mortality compared with controls in the overall population (13.3% vs. 17.1%, RR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.67-0.90; P = 0.001) and in the severe subgroup (25.7% vs. 33.7%; RR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.66-0.88; P < 0.001). A higher proportion of patients discharged with recovery, and a shorter T _NANC were associated with azvudine recipients, especially in the severe subgroup. The incidence of adverse events in azvudine recipients was comparable to that in the control group (2.3% vs. 1.7%, P = 0.170). In conclusion, azvudine showed efficacy and safety in older patients hospitalized with COVID-19 during the SARS-CoV-2 omicron wave in China.

PMID:40041892 | PMC:PMC11873617 | DOI:10.1016/j.apsb.2024.12.004

Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2025 Feb 28;21:421-436. doi: 10.2147/NDT.S501207. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Brexpiprazole, when administered with antidepressant therapy, may provide additional benefits due to complementary actions on noradrenaline (norepinephrine), serotonin, and dopamine neurotransmitter systems. This review addressed the question: what information can preclinical studies provide on the use of brexpiprazole + antidepressant treatment?

METHODS: A systematic literature review was conducted to search for preclinical studies of brexpiprazole + antidepressant therapy that included a behavioral test relating to any psychiatric disorder. Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, and conference abstracts were searched (January 1, 2011-July 5, 2021). The statistically significant (p<0.05) findings for brexpiprazole + antidepressant were extracted.

RESULTS: Of 296 records screened, nine articles were eligible, describing seven unique studies. In rodent models, including three models of depression (unpredictable chronic mild stress, social defeat stress, and lipopolysaccharide-induced depression), brexpiprazole + selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) or serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) consistently showed statistically significant benefits over vehicle on depression-like behaviors (forced swim test, tail suspension test, sucrose preference), whereas brexpiprazole and antidepressant monotherapies did not. In the predator scent stress model of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), brexpiprazole + SSRI (escitalopram) showed a significant benefit over vehicle and/or monotherapy on anxiety-like behaviors (elevated plus-maze) and hyperalertness (acoustic startle response), whereas brexpiprazole and escitalopram monotherapies did not significantly differ from vehicle. In the fear conditioning model of PTSD, brexpiprazole showed significant improvements whether administered as monotherapy or in combination with escitalopram.

CONCLUSION: Based on a small number of studies, the administration of brexpiprazole with an antidepressant appears to have a greater treatment effect than either brexpiprazole or antidepressant monotherapies in preclinical studies of depression- and PTSD-like behaviors. Thus, preclinical studies support evidence from randomized clinical trials for the therapeutic effects of adjunctive brexpiprazole in the treatment of major depressive disorder, and brexpiprazole in combination with sertraline in the treatment of PTSD. Funding: Otsuka/Lundbeck.

PMID:40041884 | PMC:PMC11878111 | DOI:10.2147/NDT.S501207

Health Educ J. 2023 Nov;82(7):725-738. doi: 10.1177/00178969231185652. Epub 2023 Jul 13.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: African Americans in the USA experience a disproportionate burden of chronic disease. Healthy lifestyle promotion programmes can help decrease this disease risk. This study determined the feasibility of using dyadic peer support to augment an existing healthy lifestyle programme in African American churches.

DESIGN: A prospective pre-post design was used with 80 participants from three churches in the southeastern USA over an 18-week period.

METHODS: Participants attended 9 weeks of group nutrition classes followed by 9 weeks of a dyadic peer support programme. Feasibility was measured by recruitment, acceptability, ability to collect peer support data, ability to implement the peer support component and preliminary health outcomes. Descriptive statistics and multilevel models were used to analyse the data.

RESULTS: Seventy-eight percent of participants completed group classes and peer support activities. Over 95% of participants would work with a partner again. Lay leaders and educators felt they had the resources and participant support to implement a dyadic peer support intervention. Participants achieved small but significant average increases of 1.1 fruit servings per day (p = .001) and 1.2 days of physical activity per week (p = .01) post-intervention. Significant changes in weight (-2.6 pounds, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -4.18, -1.1; p = .001) and vegetable intake (0.681 servings, 95% CI = 0.122, 1.241; p = .017) achieved during the first 9 weeks of the programme were maintained during the second 9 weeks.

CONCLUSION: Dyadic peer support can successfully be used to augment existing healthy lifestyle promotion programmes within African American churches. Studies using control groups are needed to test the effectiveness of dyadic peer support on health outcomes more rigorously.

PMID:40041881 | PMC:PMC11879274 | DOI:10.1177/00178969231185652

Int J Public Health. 2025 Feb 18;70:1607953. doi: 10.3389/ijph.2025.1607953. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the gender difference in Intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and its association with mental health, examine social-demographic and health characteristics-specific relationships.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study evaluated lifetime prevalence of total, psychological, physical and sexual IPV victimization. Gender-stratified multiple logistic regressions were performed to examine associations between total and subtypes of IPV victimization and anxiety and depressive symptoms, suicide ideation and suicide attempt. Sensitivity analyses and stratification analyses were additionally conducted.

RESULTS: Among 21,824 participants (female: 44.7%), females reported higher total, psychological and physical but not sexual lifetime prevalence of IPV victimization than males. Specifically, male participants with psychological (OR = 3.62, 95% CI: 2.58-5.08 vs. OR = 1.87, 95% CI: 1.39-2.51) or sexual (OR = 4.02, 95% CI: 2.61-6.20 vs. OR = 1.46, 95% CI: 0.91-2.35) IPV victimization presented greater odds of presenting possible anxiety than females; males with physical IPV victimization showed greater likelihood of with suicide ideation than females (OR = 9.95, 95% CI: 6.68-14.82 vs. OR = 4.61, 95% CI: 3.02-6.15).

CONCLUSION: Prevention programs should be tailored to respond to IPV in various contexts to reduce the likelihood of and the detrimental effects of IPV.

PMID:40041880 | PMC:PMC11876969 | DOI:10.3389/ijph.2025.1607953

Arthrosc Sports Med Rehabil. 2024 Sep 19;7(1):101005. doi: 10.1016/j.asmr.2024.101005. eCollection 2025 Feb.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To determine if there is a significant difference using femoral heads (FHs) as an anatomic horizon when measuring the lateral center-edge angle (LCEA) compared to floor, acetabular teardrops, and ischial tuberosities (ITs) and to determine their accuracy by comparing to a computed tomography (CT) scan with commercially available software.

METHODS: Between June 2019 and May 2020, patients with preoperative supine anteroposterior pelvis radiographs and CT scans were included and retrospectively analyzed. The LCEA was measured on all preoperative supine anteroposterior pelvis radiographs 4 times per hip, using the 4 methods. The 4 anatomic horizons used to measure LCEA were compared to each other to determine statistically significant difference. The LCEA measured in the CT scan at the 12-o’clock position was used to compare and determine radiographs’ LCEA accuracy.

RESULTS: Ninety-six patients (100 hips) met the inclusion criteria. Sixty-two were women (65%), and the mean age was 35.2 ± 15 years. The mean value for LCEA in CT was 32.2 and 31.1 for the 4 anatomic horizons on x-ray (P < .001). The lowest mean difference between CT scan and x-ray was obtained using the FHs (2.3 ± 2.4). Less mean difference was obtained between FHs and ITs (1.0 ± 0.8).

CONCLUSIONS: In this study, radiographic measurements underestimated LCEA compared with those from CT scans. Using the FHs as an anatomic horizon on radiographs was a more accurate method to measure LCEA than using acetabular teardrops, ITs, or floor. While this difference is statistically significant, it is not likely to be clinically significant.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Assessment of acetabular coverage is an essential aspect of diagnosing and managing hip pathologies. One of the methods used for this is the LCEA measurement, which is based on a radiographic analysis of the hip joint. It is important to compare the measurements using different horizons and increasingly sophisticated imaging modalities to provide the most accurate information to guide clinical decision making.

PMID:40041846 | PMC:PMC11873461 | DOI:10.1016/j.asmr.2024.101005

Arthrosc Sports Med Rehabil. 2024 Oct 9;7(1):101020. doi: 10.1016/j.asmr.2024.101020. eCollection 2025 Feb.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To conduct a comprehensive analysis of public Instagram posts pertaining to the Latarjet procedure and Bankart repair with the aim of elucidating patients’ perspectives on the perioperative process, satisfaction, and expectations.

METHODS: We performed a descriptive social media-based investigation using relevant hashtags associated with surgical treatment of anterior shoulder instability, covering the period from January 2023 until January 2024. Posts were categorized by perspective, timing, content, tone, and satisfaction.

RESULTS: A total of 2,395 posts were retrieved, with 526 posts concerning surgical treatment of shoulder instability. Of the posts, 201 (37.9%) were authored by patients and 224 (42.3%) portrayed personal content and patient experience. Most were neutral (308; 58.1%) or positive (203; 38.3%) in tone. Rehabilitation was mentioned frequently by patients undergoing both procedures (49.2% of Bankart posts and 45.6% of Latarjet posts). Comparative analysis revealed no statistically significant differences regarding immobilization (P = .229), rehabilitation (P = .226), return to sport (P = .464), tone (P = .236), or expression of satisfaction (P = .826) between the 2 procedures. However, patients treated with the Latarjet procedure mentioned surgical site more frequently (P = .011). There were no differences in mentions of complications (P = .143). Complications were mentioned in 18 Bankart posts (9.6%), most commonly recurrence, and in 10 Latarjet posts (5.3%), in which the most mentioned complication was pain.

CONCLUSIONS: Social media posts reflect mostly a neutral or positive patient experience in the surgical treatment of anterior instability. Bankart and Latarjet posts exhibit no differences regarding satisfaction, tone, return to work, or return to activities of daily living. Mentions of complications are rare. The most frequent complication mentioned in Bankart posts is recurrence, whereas that in Latarjet posts is postoperative pain.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This analysis explores the relevance of social media as an instrument to gain insight into patients’ perceptions of surgical interventions for anterior shoulder instability.

PMID:40041843 | PMC:PMC11873532 | DOI:10.1016/j.asmr.2024.101020

Arthrosc Sports Med Rehabil. 2024 Jul 17;7(1):100979. doi: 10.1016/j.asmr.2024.100979. eCollection 2025 Feb.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To use a publicly available Major League Baseball (MLB) game video to investigate whether pitch type and pitching elbow angle at peak valgus stress and at release point are associated with the odds of undergoing Tommy John surgery.

METHODS: This case-control study compared pitchers who had undergone ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction to a matched control group of pitchers who had not undergone the surgery. Pitchers were selected based on inclusion in online baseball player and injury databases, including the MLB Health and Injury Tracking System, with those pitching fewer than 10 innings in MLB excluded. The experimental group included measurements from all pitchers before their ulnar collateral ligament injury who eventually had undergone Tommy John surgery since 2010. Greedy matching algorithm was used to select a matched cohort of pitchers based on age, height, weight, years in the MLB, hand dominance, pitching role (starter vs reliever), and average pitching velocity. Conditional logistic regression models were used to measure the association between pitch angle and log odds of receiving a Tommy John surgery.

RESULTS: There were 249 paired cases and controls (N = 498) included in the conditional logistic regression analysis. There was no statistically significant association between average elbow angle at peak valgus stress and the odds of undergoing Tommy John surgery (odds ratio, 1.02; 95% confidence interval, 0.99-1.03; P = .14).

CONCLUSIONS: Peak valgus elbow angle, release point angles, and combinations of angles and specific pitches were not associated with an increased risk of undergoing Tommy John surgery.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, observational study, case-control design.

PMID:40041841 | PMC:PMC11873486 | DOI:10.1016/j.asmr.2024.100979