Tag: statistics

N Z Med J. 2024 May 3;137(1594):23-30. doi: 10.26635/6965.6392.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To report dispensing trends for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Aotearoa New Zealand, focussing on adults in order to highlight increasing demand for ADHD treatment by adults and to prompt discussion.

METHOD: Demographic and dispensing data for ADHD were obtained from the Pharmaceutical Collection between the years 2006 and 2022. This was stratified according to child (<18 years) and adult (≥18 years) populations. Population dispensing rates for methylphenidate and atomoxetine were calculated. Key findings are reported to reveal demographic and dispensing trends for medication treated ADHD in Aotearoa New Zealand.

RESULTS: More males are dispensed ADHD medication than females, although this is less evident for adults (54.8% male). Māori adults are dispensed ADHD medication at a lower rate (10.1%) than Māori children (22.9%). There was a 10-fold increase in dispensing of ADHD medication for adults compared to a three-fold increase for children over the study period. New dispensing for adults doubled between 2011 and 2022.

CONCLUSION: Medication treatment for adult ADHD is increasing in Aotearoa New Zealand and includes treatment for persisting childhood ADHD and new diagnoses made in adulthood. Despite increases, dispensing rates for ADHD remain lower than prevalence estimates, suggesting a significant treatment gap. Addressing the treatment gap for ADHD may reduce negative effects of ADHD, but wider social influences should also be considered.

PMID:38696829 | DOI:10.26635/6965.6392

N Z Med J. 2024 May 3;137(1594):13-22. doi: 10.26635/6965.6387.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To better understand the reasons for reduced hospital admissions to a hospital general medicine service during COVID-19 lockdowns.

METHODS: A statistical model for admission rates to the General Medicine Service at Wellington Hospital, Aotearoa New Zealand, since 2015 was constructed. This model was used to estimate changes in admission rates for transmissible and non-transmissible diagnoses during and following COVID-19 lockdowns for total admissions and various sub-groups.

RESULTS: For the 2020 lockdown (n=734 admissions), the overall rate ratio of admissions was 0.71 compared to the pre-lockdown rate. Non-transmissible diagnoses, which constitute 87% of admissions, had an admission rate ratio of 0.77. Transmissible diagnoses, constituting 13% of admissions, had an admission rate ratio of 0.44. Reductions in admissions did not exacerbate existing ethnic disparities in access to health services. The lag in recovery of admission rates was more pronounced for transmissible than non-transmissible diagnoses. The 2021 lockdown (n=105 admissions) followed this pattern, but was of shorter duration with small numbers, and therefore measures were frequently not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS: The biggest relative reduction in hospital admission was due to a reduction in transmissible illness admissions, likely due to COVID-related public health measures. However, the biggest reduction in absolute terms was in non-transmissible illnesses, where hospital avoidance may be associated with increased morbidity or mortality.

PMID:38696828 | DOI:10.26635/6965.6387

J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2024 Apr 30. doi: 10.5435/JAAOS-D-24-00044. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Severe pain after orthopaedic surgery is common and often results in chronic postsurgical pain and chronic opioid use (COU). Poor pain alleviation (PPA) after surgery is a well-described modifiable risk factor of COU. Although PPA’s role in inducing COU is recognized in other areas, it is not well defined in orthopaedic surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of PPA on COU in the population who underwent orthopaedic surgery.

METHODS: Medical records from a large academic medical center from 2015 to 2018 were available for analysis. Patients undergoing nononcologic surgical procedures by the orthopaedic surgery service that also required at least 24 hours of hospital stay for pain control were included in the study. Surgery type, body location, basic demographics, preoperative opioid use, comorbidities, medications administered in the hospital, opioid prescription after discharge, and length of stay were recorded. COU was defined as a continued opioid prescription at ≥ 3 months, ≥ 6 months, or ≥ 9 months after surgery. PPA was defined as having a recorded pain score of eight or more, between 4 and 12 hours apart, three times during the hospital stay.

RESULTS: A total of 7,001 patients were identified. The overall rate of COU was 25.3% at 3 months after surgery. Charlson Comorbidity Index > 0 and PPA were statistically significant predictors of opioid use at all time points. Preoperative opioid naivety was associated with decreased COU. The type and location of surgical procedures were not associated with COU, after controlling for baseline variables.

CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrated an overall high rate of COU. The known risk factors of COU were evident in our study population, particularly the modifiable risk factor of acute postsurgical PPA. Better management of postsurgical pain in orthopaedic patients may lead to a decrease in the rates of COU in this group.

PMID:38696825 | DOI:10.5435/JAAOS-D-24-00044

Ann Med. 2024 Dec;56(1):2346537. doi: 10.1080/07853890.2024.2346537. Epub 2024 May 2.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: To investigate the effectiveness of the intervention with critical value management and push short messaging service (SMS), and to determine improvement in the referral rate of patients with positive hepatitis C antibody (anti-HCV).

METHODS: No intervention was done for patients with positive anti-HCV screening results from 1 January 2015 to 31 October 2021. Patients with positive anti-HCV results at our hospital from 1 November 2021 to 31 July 2022 were informed vide critical value management and push SMS. For inpatients, a competent physician was requested to liaise with the infectious disease physician for consultation, and patients seen in the OPD (outpatient department) were asked to visit the liver disease clinic. The Chi-square correlation test, one-sided two-ratio test and linear regression were used to test the relationship between intervention and referral rate.

RESULTS: A total of 638,308 cases were tested for anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) in our hospital and 5983 of them were positive. 51.8% of the referred patients were aged 18-59 years and 10.8% were aged ≥75 years. The result of Chi-square correlation test between intervention and referral was p = .0000, p < .05. One-sided two-ratio test was performed for statistics of pre-intervention referral rate (p1) and post-intervention referral rate (p2). Normal approximation and Fisher’s exact test for the results obtained were 0.000, p < .05, and the alternative hypothesis p1 – p₂ < 0 was accepted. The linear regression equation was referral = 0.1396 × intervention + 0.3743, and the result model p = 8.79e – 09, p < .05. The model was significant, and the coefficient of intervention was 0.1396.

CONCLUSIONS: The interventions of critical value management and push SMS were correlated with the referral rate of patients with positive anti-HCV.

PMID:38696817 | DOI:10.1080/07853890.2024.2346537

Obstet Gynecol. 2024 May 2. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000005596. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

We aimed to study whether separating the vaginal and abdominal surgical fields during total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH) is associated with surgical site infection rates. This was a retrospective cohort study of all patients who underwent TLH and any concomitant procedures with two minimally invasive gynecologic surgery subspecialists between January 2016 and May 2023. Among 680 included patients, the rate of infection was 0.8% with surgical field separation and 1.3% without (3/377 vs 4/303; odds ratio 0.60, 95% CI, 0.13-2.70). There was no statistical difference between groups; however, the difference in infection rates between groups was extremely small, which led to inadequate power. Our findings suggest that rates of infection after TLH are low, with or without surgical field separation. Treating the vagina, perineum, and abdomen as a single, continuous operative field during TLH may be an acceptable practice.

PMID:38696813 | DOI:10.1097/AOG.0000000000005596

JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2024 May 2;12:e54124. doi: 10.2196/54124.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Reproductive health literacy and menstrual health awareness play a crucial role in ensuring the health and well-being of women and people who menstruate. Further, awareness of one’s own menstrual cycle patterns and associated symptoms can help individuals identify and manage conditions of the menstrual cycle such as premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Digital health products, and specifically menstrual health apps, have the potential to effect positive change due to their scalability and ease of access.

OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of this study was to measure the efficacy of a menstrual and reproductive health app, Flo, in improving health literacy and health and well-being outcomes in menstruating individuals with and without PMS and PMDD. Further, we explored the possibility that the use of the Flo app could positively influence feelings around reproductive health management and communication about health, menstrual cycle stigma, unplanned pregnancies, quality of life, work productivity, absenteeism, and body image.

METHODS: We conducted 2 pilot, 3-month, unblinded, 2-armed, remote randomized controlled trials on the effects of using the Flo app in a sample of US-based (1) individuals who track their cycles (n=321) or (2) individuals who track their cycles and are affected by PMS or PMDD (n=117).

RESULTS: The findings revealed significant improvements at the end of the study period compared to baseline for our primary outcomes of health literacy (cycle tracking: D̄=1.11; t₃₁₁=5.73, P<.001; PMS or PMDD: D̄=1.20; t₁₁₅=3.76, P<.001) and menstrual health awareness (D̄=3.97; t₃₁₁=7.71, P<.001), health and well-being (D̄=3.44; t₃₁₁=5.94, P<.001), and PMS or PMDD symptoms burden (D̄=-7.08; t₁₁₅=-5.44, P<.001). Improvements were also observed for our secondary outcomes of feelings of control and management over health (D̄=1.01; t₃₁₁=5.08, P<.001), communication about health (D̄=0.93; t₃₁₁=2.41, P=.002), menstrual cycle stigma (D̄=-0.61; t₃₁₁=-2.73, P=.007), and fear of unplanned pregnancies (D̄=-0.22; t₃₁₁=-2.11, P=.04) for those who track their cycles, as well as absenteeism from work and education due to PMS or PMDD (D̄=-1.67; t₁₄₄=-2.49, P=.01).

CONCLUSIONS: These pilot randomized controlled trials demonstrate that the use of the Flo app improves menstrual health literacy and awareness, general health and well-being, and PMS or PMDD symptom burden. Considering the widespread use and affordability of the Flo app, these findings show promise for filling important gaps in current health care provisioning such as improving menstrual knowledge and health.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: OSF Registries osf.io/pcgw7; https://osf.io/pcgw7 ; OSF Registries osf.io/ry8vq; https://osf.io/ry8vq.

PMID:38696773 | DOI:10.2196/54124

J Phys Chem A. 2024 May 2. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpca.4c02024. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

In the realm of structural and bonding investigations within chemical systems, elucidating global minimum energy configurations stands as a paramount goal. As the systems increase in size and complexity, this pursuit becomes progressively challenging. Herein, we introduce Bonobo optimizer (BO), a metaheuristic algorithm inspired by the social and reproductive behaviors of bonobos, to the domain of chemical problem solving. Focusing on small carbon clusters, this study systematically evaluates BO’s performance, showcasing its robustness and efficiency. Parametric studies highlight the algorithm’s adaptability, consistently converging to global minimum structures. Rigorous statistical validation supports the results, and a comparative analysis against established global optimization algorithms underlines BO’s superior efficiency. This exploration extends the applicability of BO to the optimization of atomic clusters, providing a promising avenue for future advancements in computational chemistry.

PMID:38696762 | DOI:10.1021/acs.jpca.4c02024

Rheumatology (Oxford). 2024 May 2:keae245. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keae245. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to establish a screening model for differentiating anti-synthetase syndrome (ASS) from other antinuclear antibody (ANA)-associated rheumatic diseases (AARD) using a combination of cytoplasmic and non-cytoplasmic ANA (ncANA) patterns.

METHODS: This retrospective observational study included patients with AARDs such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), systemic sclerosis (SSc), Sjögren’s syndrome (SS), mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD), and polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM) who underwent ANA screening between April 2012 and December 2021. Variables included age, sex, ANA patterns (Cytoplasmic and ncANA), and titers. Logistic regression analysis of Cytoplasmic and ncANA patterns was performed to differentiate ASS from other AARDs.

RESULT: The 981 diagnosed cases of AARDs consisted of SS (n = 451), SSc (n = 264), SLE (n = 201), PM/DM (n = 104), MCTD (n = 52), and ASS, including PM/DM (n = 64). Of these, 155 patients had ≥2 overlapping diseases; however, there was no overlap between AARDs and ASS. ASS is more likely to occur when the cytoplasmic titer is positive and the ncANA <320. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis of the Cytoplasmic and ncANA range revealed an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.885 (95% CI: 0.844 to 0.927).

CONCLUSION: It is important to detect cytoplasmic patterns as an ANA screening test for ASS diagnosis, even if the titer is low. Additionally, combining the cytoplasmic and ncANA patterns yields more accurate ASS screening results.

PMID:38696756 | DOI:10.1093/rheumatology/keae245

Chembiochem. 2024 May 2:e202400243. doi: 10.1002/cbic.202400243. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Successful implementation of enzymes in practical application hinges on the development of efficient mass production techniques. However, in a heterologous expression system, the protein is often unable to fold correctly and, thus, forms inclusion bodies, resulting in the loss of its original activity. In this study, we present a new and more accurate model for predicting amino acids associated with an increased L-amino acid oxidase (LAO) solubility. Expressing LAO from Rhizoctonia solani in Escherichia coli and combining random mutagenesis and statistical logistic regression, we modified 108 amino acid residues by substituting hydrophobic amino acids with serine and hydrophilic amino acids with alanine. Our results indicated that specific mutations in Euclidean distance, glycine, methionine, and secondary structure increased LAO expression. Furthermore, repeated mutations were performed for LAO based on logistic regression models. The mutated LAO displayed a significantly increased solubility, with the 6-point and 58-point mutants showing a 2.64- and 4.22-fold increase, respectively, compared with WT-LAO. Ultimately, using recombinant LAO in the biotransformation of α-keto acids indicates its great potential as a biocatalyst in industrial production.

PMID:38696752 | DOI:10.1002/cbic.202400243

Blood Press. 2024 Dec;33(1):2339434. doi: 10.1080/08037051.2024.2339434. Epub 2024 May 2.

ABSTRACT

Objective: The study aimed to assess health-seeking behaviour (HSB) and associated factors among hypertensive patients in Bangladesh.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Hypertension & Research Centre, Rangpur, Bangladesh, between January 2022 and June 2022. A total of 497 hypertensive adults were recruited consecutively. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was deployed by the research team for data collection. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to explore the predictors of HSB.Results: The mean age of the hypertensive patients was 52 ± 11 (SD) years. Most of them were aged between 51 and 60 years (33%), female (55%), came from rural areas (57%), and belonged to middle socioeconomic class (68%). One-fourth of the patients (27%) had chosen informal healthcare providers for their first consultation. Fear of stroke (244, 45%), headache (170, 36%), and neck pain (81, 17%) were the three most common compelling causes of their visit to the hypertension centre. Age (aOR 0.78, 95% CI 0.68 – 0.89), male sex (aOR: 1.79, 95% CI 1.05 – 3.10), living in semi-urban (aOR 4.68, 95% CI 1.45 – 15.10) and rural area (aOR 1.68, 95% CI 1.01 – 2.80), farmers as occupation (aOR: 3.24, 95%CI: 1.31 – 8.06) and belonging to lower social economic class (aOR 4.24, 95% CI 1.68 – 10.69) were predictors of visiting informal providers of hypertensive patient. One-fourth of the hypertensive patients received consultation from informal healthcare providers.Conclusions: Raising awareness among patients and proper referral to specialised hypertension centres could promulgate the patients towards appropriate behaviour.

PMID:38696746 | DOI:10.1080/08037051.2024.2339434