Tag: statistics

J Consult Clin Psychol. 2022 Jul;90(7):559-567. doi: 10.1037/ccp0000747.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Some psychotherapists are more effective than others, which means that patients’ treatment outcomes partly depend on therapist effects (TEs). This study investigated whether the use of progress feedback influences TE.

METHOD: Data from N = 4,549 participants and 131 therapists across six clinical trials of progress feedback were analyzed. All trials used the Outcome-Questionnaire-45 (OQ-45) outcome measure and assigned psychotherapy patients to a usual psychological care condition or feedback condition. We examined whether feedback utilization moderated TE using multilevel modeling and random-effects meta-analysis.

RESULTS: TE explained a small proportion (intracluster correlation coefficient [ICC] = .011) of variability in posttreatment OQ-45 scores in the pooled multistudy sample, after controlling for intake severity. Feedback utilization was associated with a statistically significant reduction of the magnitude of the TE (ICC = .009) by approximately 18.2%. Secondary analyses of OQ-45 subscales indicated that TEs were statistically significant in relation to symptom distress, but not interpersonal relations or social role. Feedback was associated with better treatment outcomes and narrower variability between therapists.

CONCLUSIONS: Feedback-informed treatment reduces the gap between more and less effective therapists, leading to more equitable and effective psychological care. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

PMID:35901368 | DOI:10.1037/ccp0000747

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2022 Jul 1;23(7):2491-2496. doi: 10.31557/APJCP.2022.23.7.2491.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common cancer of the female genital tract. Egypt showed a significant increase in incidence lately of which 25% were premenopausal. Advanced or recurrent disease are mostly unresectable and the traditional adjuvant therapy give modest results with devastating side effects. Late discoveries of immune checkpoint inhibitors have produced promising results. Programmed cell death 1 (PD1) is an immune inhibiting receptor on surface of lymphocytes, which plays critical roles in maintaining immunological self-tolerance. There are two ligands for this receptor, PDL1 and PDL2. PD-L1 is expressed on tumor cells; attaches to PD1, allowing tumor cells to escape from the host immune response. Its prognostic significance in various tumors is controversial and its significance in ECs has just begun to be investigated. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between PDL1 expression and different clinicopathologic parameters in EC cases and its correlation with CD4 and CD8 immune cells, in order to identify the predictive biomarkers for the outcome by immune therapy.

METHODS: Hundred, paraffin tissue blocks of EC cases were collected and stained with antibodies against PDL1,CD4 and CD8.

RESULTS: PDL1 was positive in 67% of cases in tumor cells and in 61% of cases in immune cells. CD4 and CD8 were expressed in 79% of cases. Statistically significant correlations were observed between PDL1 expression and patients mean age, LVSI, TILS score and CD4+/CD8+ expression.

CONCLUSION: Those variables can stratify candidates who can benefit most from immunotherapy, or can be chosen for further high cost molecular investigations application.

PMID:35901358 | DOI:10.31557/APJCP.2022.23.7.2491

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2022 Jul 1;23(7):2477-2482. doi: 10.31557/APJCP.2022.23.7.2477.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The human papillomavirus (HPV) is an important public health problem that can cause cervical cancer. HPVs were classified into high-risk (HR-HPV) and low-risk (LR-HPV) types. In this study, we aimed to determine the prevalence and genotype distribution of HR-HPV infection in Samsun province in Turkey.

METHODS: Cervical smear samples taken from 5406 women over a 23-month period were evaluated for the presence of HPV infection. The detection of HPV genotypes was performed using RT-PCR technology. HPV detection and genotyping were performed using RT-PCR method. HR- HPV types are divided into 3 groups as type 16, type 18 and other types (31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 66, 68, with or without type 16 and 18). The results were evaluated statistically.

RESULTS: The mean age of HR-HPV positive patients was 39.56 years (20-68 years). The prevalance of HR-HPV types did not differ between different age groups (p˃0.05). Overall, 9.17% of women (496/5406 samples) were found to be positive at least one type of HR-HPV. HPV type 16 was detected in 28.62%, type 18 in 9.67%, and other types in 78.83%. The most common HR-HPV type was other types (p˂0.001). Type 16 was most common than type 18 (p˂0.001). The patients were evaluated by dividing them into 6 age groups. Type 16 positivity was higher in 30-39 ages while type18 and other types positivity were higher in the 40-49 age group. When the 23-month period of HPV test was evaluated according to months and seasons, the highest prevalance was seen in June 2021 and Summer 2021.

CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first large-scale study of HR-HPV prevalence and genotype distribution among women in Samsun Province of Turkey. The other types containing one or more types made up the majority of the studied population.

PMID:35901356 | DOI:10.31557/APJCP.2022.23.7.2477

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2022 Jul 1;23(7):2397-2405. doi: 10.31557/APJCP.2022.23.7.2397.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: In Northeast Thailand, Praziquantel (PZQ) is used to treat infection with the Opisthorchis viverrnini (OV). OV has highly prevalence in this area due to the traditional consumption of uncooked cyprinid fish. The nephrotoxic effects of PZQ metabolite excretion through the kidney have not been assessed yet. This study investigated the relationship between number of Praziquantel treatments and kidney parenchymal change.

METHODS: A study was carried out on participants from the Cholangiocarcinoma Screening and Care Program (CASCAP) between 2013 – 2018. The frequency of PZQ use was reported using a standardized questionnaire. Kidney parenchymal change (KPC) was defined as having a kidney abnormality based on ultrasonography diagnosed by well-trained general practitioners. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) measured associations between PZQ frequency and KPC controlling for the effects of other extraneous factors using multiple logistic regression.

RESULTS: A total of 490,969 subjects with mean age of 55.2 (SD = 9.15) years were enrolled among them 62.1% were female. Prevalence of KPC was 1.2% while prevalence of KPC were 1.2%, 1.3%, 1.4%, and 1.5% for participants with one, two, three, and more than 3 PZQ treatment occasions respectively. Those dose-response relationship was statistically significant based on chi-square test for trend (p-value <0.001). After controlling for possible confounders, compared to non-treatment, subjects with more than 3 treatment occasions were 25% more likely to have a KPC positive result (OR = 1.25; 95% CI: 1.02 – 1.52; p-value = 0.028).

CONCLUSION: The number of repeated PZQ treatments is statistically significantly related to KPC. This relationship could be included in health messaging for those who continue eating uncooked fish with an understanding that the OV infection can easily be cured by PZQ without any other health concerns. For positive OV cases, however, the known efficacy of PZQ could over-ride the small magnitude of the adverse effect.

PMID:35901347 | DOI:10.31557/APJCP.2022.23.7.2397

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2022 Jul 1;23(7):2431-2439. doi: 10.31557/APJCP.2022.23.7.2431.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of CD44v6 and RCAS1 and the presence of HPV in cervical cancer tissues, to determine serum RCAS1 levels, and to evaluate these components in correlation with clinicopathologic features and survival.

METHODS: A total of 52 patients consisting of 28 squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and 24 adenocarcinoma cases, were studied. RCAS1 and CD44v6 expression was evaluated using immunohistochemical staining. HPV 16 and 18 E6 genes were detected using PCR, and serum RCAS1 concentrations were measured using ELISA. Associations between these factors and clinicopathologic features and survival were analyzed.

RESULTS: CD44v6 expression was significantly higher in SCC compared with that in adenocarcinoma (P<0.001). It also showed a significant relation to histologic grade (P<0.001) and tumor size (P=0.03). RCAS1 expression was higher in adenocarcinoma than in SCC (P=0.001), and it showed a borderline relation with histological grade (P=0.057). Overall survival was not significantly different in both CD44v6 and RCAS1 expression; however, FIGO stage (P=0.025) and tumor size (P=0.042) resulted statistically different. The pre-surgical treatment serum RCAS1 levels were not associated with any clinicopathological variables. The presence of HPV 16 E6 was higher in SCC, while the presence of HPV 18 E6 was higher in adenocarcinoma (P<0.001). Detection of HPV 16 E6 was significantly associated with expression of CD44v6. The presence of HPV both HPV 16 E6 and HPV 18 E6 was found in cancer tissues with RCAS1 expression, but without any statistical significance.

CONCLUSION: CD44v6 and RCAS1 expression seems to be involved in tumor proliferation and differentiation, but it is not implicated in the progression and invasion of cervical cancer infected by HPV. Pre-treatment levels of serum RCAS1 in cervical cancer are not a diagnostic and predictive biomarker.

PMID:35901351 | DOI:10.31557/APJCP.2022.23.7.2431

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2022 Jul 1;23(7):2333-2340. doi: 10.31557/APJCP.2022.23.7.2333.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: We aim to investigate the effect of curcumin on preventing cancer anorexia-cachexia syndrome (CACS) via through mechanism of inhibition on NF-kB signal pathway. Outcome measurement for primary end point was improvement of body tissue composition, and the secondary end points were body weight and body mass index, hand grip muscle strengthening, and safety.

METHODS: This is randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase ll a study, 33 patients with CACS in solid malignancy were enrolled and randomized in 1:1 to receive oral curcumin (at a dose of 800 mg twice daily) or placebo for 8 weeks.

RESULTS: All parameters of body compositions were not statistically significant different between two groups, which were consist body fat mass [-1.25(SEM 0.87) vs. +0.63(SEM 0.55); p=0.119], skeletal muscle mass [-0.35(SEM 0.60) vs.+0.33(SEM 0.42); p=0.408] and percent body fat [-0.47(SEM 0.95) vs. -0.29(SEM 0.82); p=0.893] including with basal metabolic rate [-13.47(SEM 21.94) vs. +15.30(13.76); p=0.336]. The average of weight loss was also not statistically significant different between two groups. [-1.4 kg(SEM 0.89) in curcumin vs-1.12 kg(SEM 0.73), p=0.810]. Notably, patient with curcumin had less reduction of hand-grip muscle strength on both hands [Rt. handed: -2.47 in curcumin vs. -5.36 in placebo; p=0.318] [Lt. handed: -1.98 vs. -5.43; p=0.317], and basal metabolic rate than placebo group. Most adverse events were grade 1 on both groups similarly.

CONCLUSION: Curcumin was not shown to be superior to placebo with regard to increasing the body composition in cancer patients with CACS. However, curcumin might show some clinical benefits, including slow progression of hand-grip muscle strength loss, and basal metabolic rate. Further investigations should be explored.

PMID:35901339 | DOI:10.31557/APJCP.2022.23.7.2333

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2022 Jul 1;23(7):2351-2359. doi: 10.31557/APJCP.2022.23.7.2351.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the presence of Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) and Human papillomavirus (HPV) in breast cancer with patients from Northeast of Brazil, considering the molecular subtypes and also taking in account the relation with TP53 immunoexpression.

METHODS: Seventy-five samples of invasive breast carcinoma with no special type were selected from pathology archives at Federal University of Ceará. EBV was detected by In situ hybridization (ISH) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) and HPV was detected by PCR. ISH was performed using EBER1 probe (Shibata et al., 1991; Bacchi et al., 1996) while IHC was performed on histological formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples (Hsu et al., 1981). PCR methodology (Haws et al., 2004) was used to amplify the genetic material of human papillomavirus. The amplification products were electrophoretic analyzed on 1% agarose gel. The data analyses were carried out using the statistical software EPINFO® version 6.04d and SPSS version 17.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). Statistically significant differences were evaluated by the chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test and correlations between groups were analyzed by Spearman’s and Pearson’s rank correlation coefficient.

RESULTS: 69.4% of the cases were EBNA1 positives by IHC. EBNA1 positive tumors had lower Ki-67 index (0-40%), while EBNA1 negative cases had relevant higher Ki-67 index (41-100%) (p = 0.06). EBV was present in all tumor grades, with a high frequency in grade I and III tumors comparing to EBNA1 negative cases. No HPV positive cases were observed.

CONCLUSION: Regarding the results from this study, we support the hypothesis that EBV can be involved on breast tumorigenesis.

PMID:35901341 | DOI:10.31557/APJCP.2022.23.7.2351

Biomed Chromatogr. 2022 Jul 28. doi: 10.1002/bmc.5464. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Neuroinflammatory injury is one of the typical brain injuries after the body is exposed to radiation. It is mainly characterized by the release of inflammatory factors by activated microglia and peripherally invading lymphocytes. To provide early warning for nerve injury and early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases, it is of great significance to explore the biomarker candidates of neuroinflammatory injury. This study focused on the screening of small molecular biomarker candidates in peripheral blood from rats with neuroinflammatory injury induced by whole-brain irradiation. Rats were exposed to 0, 10, 10×3 and 30 Gy of cobalt-60 γ rays. Serum was collected on the 30th day after exposure and analyzed using RPLC and HILIC coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry based upon untargeted metabolomics. Biomarker candidates were investigated by comparing the 0 Gy group and three irradiation groups using univariate statistical analysis, PCA and OPLS-DA. Eleven biomarker candidates were putatively identified and four major altered metabolic pathways were found. The screened small molecular biomarker candidates could be used as a useful supplement to traditional biomacromolecule markers, and may be valuable for radiation protection, target therapy of inflammatory injury, and discovery of new target drugs for the prevention and cure of related neurodegenerative diseases.

PMID:35899750 | DOI:10.1002/bmc.5464

Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 2022 Jun 22;166:D6758.

ABSTRACT

Although it is generally known that a (statistical) association between a factor, i.e., determinant or independent variable, and outcome, i.e., dependent variable, does not directly provide evidence of a causal relation, in practice the distinction between associative and causal relationships often becomes fuzzy when interpreting prognostic factor research. We provide suggestions for interpreting the findings of prognostic factor research. It is important to assess the purpose and design of the study, including the statistical analysis. The actual evidence that prognostic factor research can provide is easily overestimated. In particular when associations between factors and outcome are estimated in a multivariable analysis, causal or predictive qualities can easily but wrongfully be attributed to a prognostic factor. It is generally advisable to refrain from judgments on the causal of predictive qualities of a prognostic factor purely based on a prognostic factor study. Findings from prognostic factor research are usually a good starting point for follow-up research, while the direct applicability of such findings in daily medical practice is often limited.

PMID:35899712

Foot Ankle Int. 2022 Jul 28:10711007221112090. doi: 10.1177/10711007221112090. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Lisfranc injuries are among the most debilitating injuries to the foot. Characterization of first tarsometatarsal (TMT) joint involvement in Lisfranc injuries is limited. Multiple studies have indicated that this joint is damaged in a variety of Lisfranc injury patterns, but there is sparse information regarding how often and in what form.

METHODS: A retrospective review was performed of operative Lisfranc fractures from 2010 to 2020 with patients identified by Combined Procedural Terminology codes. Hardcastle and Myerson Lisfranc injury classifications and computed tomography and radiograph characterizations of the first TMT joint were evaluated by 3 foot and ankle fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeons. Radiographic characteristics were collected. Light’s kappa coefficient evaluated interrater reliability for injury classification. Injury mechanism and Lisfranc classification effects on the first TMT joint were further assessed using inferential statistics.

RESULTS: Of 71 patients with a Lisfranc injury of which 37 (52%) were high energy, 61 (86%) showed radiographic evidence of first TMT joint injury. A fragment was present in the TMT articular surface in 33 (47%) with median size = 8.7 mm and medial capsular avulsion in n = 25 (35%). Forty-eight patients (68%) had medial/lateral TMT joint incongruence ≥2 mm (median overhang = 4 mm), 21 (30%) had dorsal/plantar incongruence (median overhang = 6 mm). Angulation of TMT articular surfaces ≥5 degrees on the transverse/anteroposterior plane occurred in n = 32 (45%) and in n = 12 (17%) on the sagittal/lateral plane, which significantly differed between classifications (P = .020).

CONCLUSION: The overwhelming majority of Lisfranc midfoot injuries seen at our tertiary referral center had imaging evidence of damage to the first TMT joint (86%), and the incidence may be higher. The most common patterns of first TMT joint involvement we found were joint incongruity, articular surface fractures, angulation of the articular surfaces, and medial capsular ligament avulsion fractures. A better understanding of injuries to the first TMT joint can help orthopaedic surgeons with diagnosis.

PMID:35899684 | DOI:10.1177/10711007221112090