METHODS: A cross-sectional study of consecutive adult patients attending an open access endoscopy list for the primary indication of dyspepsia was conducted. Independent epidemiological and clinical factors for CSEF were determined prospectively.
RESULTS: Data for 1167/1208 (96.6 %) adults (mean age 49.7 ± 15.9 years, 42.4 % males, ethnic distribution: 30.5 % Malays, 36.9 % Chinese and 30.8 % Indians) were analysed between January 2007 and August 2008. Three-hundred and eight (26.4 %) patients were found to have CSEF, most often those with age ≥45 years (30.3 vs 19 %, P < 0.0001), male gender (34.1 vs 20.7 % female, P < 0.0001), lower education levels (i.e. primary or no education), smoking (36.7 vs 24.9 %, P = 0.003), H. pylori infection (40.6 vs 21.8 %, P < 0.0001), and duration of dyspepsia ≤5 months (32.8 vs 24.4 %, P = 0.006). Age ≥ 45 years (OR 1.82, 95 % CI = 1.38-2.48), male gender (OR 1.84, 95 % CI = 1.53-2.59), H. pylori infection (OR 2.36, 95 % CI = 1.83-3.26), and duration of dyspepsia ≤5 months (OR 1.44, 95 % CI = 1.13-2.03) were subsequently identified as independent risk factors for CSEF.
CONCLUSION: CSEF are found in 26.4 % of Asian adults with uninvestigated dyspepsia. Duration of symptoms <5 months, among other recognised factors, is predictive of CSEF.
DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study.
SETTING: Singapore's nationwide claims database.
PARTICIPANTS: Singaporeans and permanent residents.
OUTCOMES: Patients were identified by International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, Australian Modification (ICD-9-AM) and ICD-10-AM codes from all admissions between 2000 and 2017, and categorised according to aetiology: venous, arterial, diabetic and pressure. Comorbidities were extracted from a national database of Charlson Comorbidity Index scores.
RESULTS: Between 2000 and 2017, 124 023 wound-related claims among 86 631 patients were identified. Age-specific rate (ASR) and age-adjusted incidence rates of all wounds increased over 18 years, with greatest increases among those aged ≥80. In 2017, the median age of patients was 74 (IQR 63-84). Half were male (51%). 70% were ethnic Chinese, 15% Malay and 9% Indian. In 2017, the crude incidence rate (CIR) was 15 per 100 000 persons (95% CI 14 to 16) for venous wounds, 56 (95% CI 53 to 58) for arterial, 168 (95% CI 164 to 173) for diabetic and 183 (95% CI 179 to 188) for pressure wounds. The CIR of any chronic wound was 296 (95% CI 291 to 301). ASRs were greatest in patients aged ≥80: 92 (95% CI 74 to 112) for venous, 478 (95% CI 436 to 522) for arterial, 1791 (95% CI 1710 to 1876) for diabetic, 3647 (95% CI 3530 to 3766) for pressure and 4277 (95% CI 4151 to 4407) for any wound. Compared with the Chinese, Indians had thrice the ASRs of venous and arterial wounds and double the ASR of diabetic wounds. Malays had double the ASRs of arterial and diabetic wounds.
CONCLUSIONS: Chronic wounds are common in the elderly with significant ethnic disparities in this Asian cohort. With the incidence expected to rise with ageing populations, it is crucial to address health disparities and evaluate utilisation and cost to inform clinical practice and health policy.
METHODS: Computed tomography (CT) scans of 100 normal adult knees, aged 18 years and above, were analysed using a 3-dimensional (3D) analysis software. All tibiae were first aligned to a standard frame of reference and then rotationally aligned to the tibial centroid axis (TCAx) and the transmalleolar axis (tmAx). MPTA was measured from best-fit planes on the surface of the proximal tibia for each rotational alignment. Diaphyseal bowing was assessed by dividing the shaft to three equal portions and establishing the angle between the proximal and distal segments.
RESULTS: The mean MPTA was 87.0° ± 2.2° (mean ± SD) when rotationally aligned to TCAx and 91.6° ± 2.7° when aligned to tmAx. The mean diaphyseal bowing was 0.1° ± 1.9° varus when rotationally aligned to TCAx and 0.3° ± 1.6° valgus when aligned to tmAx. The mean difference when the MPTA was measured with two different rotational alignments (TCAx and tmAx) was 4.6° ± 2.3°. No statistically significant differences were observed between males and females. Post hoc tests revealed statistically significant difference in MPTA between different ethnic sub-groups.
CONCLUSION: The morphology of the proximal tibiae in the disease-free Asian knee is inherently varus but not more so than other reported populations. The varus profile is contributed by the MPTA, with negligible diaphyseal bowing. These implications are relevant to surgical planning and prosthesis design.
METHODS: A total of 1114 subjects comprising of 536 PD patients and 578 healthy controls of Malay ancestry were recruited and genotyped using Taqman® allelic discrimination assays.
RESULTS: The G allele of rs10513789 (OR = 0.83, p = 0.001) and A allele of rs12637471 (OR = 0.79, p = 0.007) in the MCCC1/LAMP3 locus were associated with a protective effect against developing PD in the Malay population. A recessive model of penetrance showed a protective effect of the GG genotype for rs10513789 and the AA genotype for rs12637471. No association with PD was found with the other MCCC1/LAMP3 rs12493050 variant or with the DGKQ (rs11248060) variant. No significant associations were found between the four variants with the age at PD diagnosis.
CONCLUSION: MCCC1/LAMP3 variants rs10513789 and rs12637471 protect against PD in the Malay population.
METHODS: Total 14 eligible articles published before March 2019 involving 35 studies, of which 21 studies (16,109 cases and 26,378 controls) for rs2205960 G > A, 8 studies (2,424 cases and 3,692 controls) for rs704840 T > G, and 6 studies (3,839 cases and 5,867 controls) for rs844648 G > A were included. Effects of the three respective polymorphisms on the susceptibility to ADs were estimated by pooling the odds ratios (ORs) with their corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI) in allelic, dominant, recessive, heterozygous and homozygous models.
RESULTS: The overall analysis revealed that all the rs2205960 G > A, rs704840 T > G and rs844648 G > A polymorphisms could increase the risk of ADs in allelic, dominant, recessive, heterozygous and homozygous models. Furthermore, subgroup analysis showed that both rs2205960 G > A and rs704840 T > G were significantly associated with the susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). What's more, statistically significant association between rs2205960 G > A polymorphism and primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) susceptibility was also observed in allelic, dominant and heterozygous models.
CONCLUSIONS: This current meta-analysis suggested that all of the three TNFSF4 polymorphisms may be associated with ADs susceptibility in Asians.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 2306 subjects were selected from the patient archives of a large dental hospital and the chronological age for each subject was recorded. This age was assigned to each specific stage of dental development for each tooth to create a RDS. To validate this RDS, a further 484 subjects were randomly chosen from the patient archives and their dental age was assessed based on the scores from the RDS. Dental age was estimated using meta-analysis command corresponding to random effects statistical model. Chronological age (CA) and Dental Age (DA) were compared using the paired t-test.
RESULTS: The overall difference between the chronological and dental age (CA-DA) was 0.05 years (2.6 weeks) for males and 0.03 years (1.6 weeks) for females. The paired t-test indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between the chronological and dental age (p > 0.05).
CONCLUSION: The validated southern Chinese reference dataset based on dental maturation accurately estimated the chronological age.