Displaying publications 41 - 60 of 870 in total

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  1. Saba AO, Ismail A, Zulkifli SZ, Halim MRA, Wahid NAA, Amal MNA
    Sci Rep, 2020 10 14;10(1):17205.
    PMID: 33057156 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-74168-9
    The ornamental fish trade has been considered as one of the most important routes of invasive alien fish introduction into native freshwater ecosystems. Therefore, the species composition and invasion risks of fish species from 60 freshwater fish pet stores in Klang Valley, Malaysia were studied. A checklist of taxa belonging to 18 orders, 53 families, and 251 species of alien fishes was documented. Fish Invasiveness Screening Test (FIST) showed that seven (30.43%), eight (34.78%) and eight (34.78%) species were considered to be high, medium and low invasion risks, respectively. After the calibration of the Fish Invasiveness Screening Kit (FISK) v2 using the Receiver Operating Characteristics, a threshold value of 17 for distinguishing between invasive and non-invasive fishes was identified. As a result, nine species (39.13%) were of high invasion risk. In this study, we found that non-native fishes dominated (85.66%) the freshwater ornamental trade in Klang Valley, while FISK is a more robust tool in assessing the risk of invasion, and for the most part, its outcome was commensurate with FIST. This study, for the first time, revealed the number of high-risk ornamental fish species that give an awareness of possible future invasion if unmonitored in Klang Valley, Malaysia.
    Matched MeSH terms: Risk Assessment/methods*
  2. Sow AY, Ismail A, Zulkifli SZ, Amal MN, Hambali KA
    Sci Rep, 2019 04 23;9(1):6391.
    PMID: 31015502 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-42753-2
    This work investigates the metals concentration in the tissues of Asian swamp eel, Monopterus albus. Five selected tissues, including liver, gill, bone, skin, and muscle were examined for the concentration of Zn, Cu, Cd, Pb, and Ni. The concentrations of Cd and Pb were found high in the muscle tissues of the eels. Additionally, high amounts of Zn and Cu metals were observed in the liver, whereas the Cd, Pb, and Ni metals were highly detected in gill. The accumulation of Zn, Cu, Cd, Pb, and Ni in both skin and bone of the eel seems to vary between seasons. Low levels of Zn, Cu, and Ni were identified in the muscle tissues of the eels. This study revealed that the concentration of Cd and Pb in the muscle tissues of Asian swamp eels exceeded the permissible limits by the US EPA, suggesting the consumption of the muscle may be hazardous and can severely affect one's health.
    Matched MeSH terms: Risk Assessment*
  3. Sadeghi H, Mohandes SR, Hosseini MR, Banihashemi S, Mahdiyar A, Abdullah A
    PMID: 33202768 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17228395
    Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)-related injuries are vexing problems for construction projects in developing countries, mostly due to poor managerial-, governmental-, and technical safety-related issues. Though some studies have been conducted on OHS-associated issues in developing countries, research on this topic remains scarce. A review of the literature shows that presenting a predictive assessment framework through machine learning techniques can add much to the field. As for Malaysia, despite the ongoing growth of the construction sector, there has not been any study focused on OHS assessment of workers involved in construction activities. To fill these gaps, an Ensemble Predictive Safety Risk Assessment Model (EPSRAM) is developed in this paper as an effective tool to assess the OHS risks related to workers on construction sites. The developed EPSRAM is based on the integration of neural networks with fuzzy inference systems. To show the effectiveness of the EPSRAM developed, it is applied to several Malaysian construction case projects. This paper contributes to the field in several ways, through: (1) identifying major potential safety risks, (2) determining crucial factors that affect the safety assessment for construction workers, (3) predicting the magnitude of identified safety risks accurately, and (4) predicting the evaluation strategies applicable to the identified risks. It is demonstrated how EPSRAM can provide safety professionals and inspectors concerned with well-being of workers with valuable information, leading to improving the working environment of construction crew members.
    Matched MeSH terms: Risk Assessment*
  4. Yap CK, Wong KW, Al-Shami SA, Nulit R, Cheng WH, Aris AZ, et al.
    PMID: 33383875 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18010195
    This study aimed to analyse ten trace metal concentrations in the edible part of the freshwater clam Corbicula javanica and to provide a critical assessment of the potential risks to human health through consumption of this clam as food based on well-established indices and food safety guidelines. The clams were captured from a pristine original site and transplanted to other sites with different environmental qualities. The trace metal levels in the edible total soft tissue (TST) of the clam were below those of the food safety guidelines referred to except for Pb, which exceeded the permissible limit set by the European Commission (2006) and the US Food and Drug Administration/ Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition); Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference. (USFDA/CFSAN; ISSC) (2007). The estimated daily intake (EDI) values of the clam were found to be lower than the oral reference dose and the calculated target hazard quotient (THQ) and total THQ were found to be less than 1. Therefore, in conclusion, the human health risk for consumption of TST of C. javanica at both average and high-level were insignificant regardless of the environment it was exposed to.
    Matched MeSH terms: Risk Assessment*
  5. Taheri E, Mollabahrami F, Farokhzad M, Ghasemi F, Assari MJ
    Int J Environ Health Res, 2020 Apr;30(2):198-211.
    PMID: 30879332 DOI: 10.1080/09603123.2019.1588232
    In the laboratories staffs, there is potential for adverse health effects in exposure to chemicals. Therefore, risk assessment is one of the main issues to prevent these effects. The purpose of this study was to assess the health risk of laboratory staffs and compare the two methods, including 'Chemical Health Risk Assessment' (CHRA) and 'Regional Screening Levels' (RSLs), that developed by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health of Malaysia and the Environmental Protection Agency respectively. Using these two methods, the places with the highest risk were identified. Comparisons showed that RSLs is a precise method without personal judgment. The CHRA is a simple method for wider chemicals that categorize risk. But CHRA includes fewer parameters compared to RSLs, as well as personal judgment. The results of the present study showed that two methods did not compatible. According to the characteristics of these two methods, it is recommended to use them as a compliment each other to obtain accurate results.
    Matched MeSH terms: Risk Assessment/methods*
  6. Joseph P, Yusuf S, Lee SF, Ibrahim Q, Teo K, Rangarajan S, et al.
    Heart, 2018 04;104(7):581-587.
    PMID: 29066611 DOI: 10.1136/heartjnl-2017-311609
    OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of the non-laboratory INTERHEART risk score (NL-IHRS) to predict incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) across seven major geographic regions of the world. The secondary objective was to evaluate the performance of the fasting cholesterol-based IHRS (FC-IHRS).

    METHODS: Using measures of discrimination and calibration, we tested the performance of the NL-IHRS (n=100 475) and FC-IHRS (n=107 863) for predicting incident CVD in a community-based, prospective study across seven geographic regions: South Asia, China, Southeast Asia, Middle East, Europe/North America, South America and Africa. CVD was defined as the composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure or coronary revascularisation.

    RESULTS: Mean age of the study population was 50.53 (SD 9.79) years and mean follow-up was 4.89 (SD 2.24) years. The NL-IHRS had moderate to good discrimination for incident CVD across geographic regions (concordance statistic (C-statistic) ranging from 0.64 to 0.74), although recalibration was necessary in all regions, which improved its performance in the overall cohort (increase in C-statistic from 0.69 to 0.72, p<0.001). Regional recalibration was also necessary for the FC-IHRS, which also improved its overall discrimination (increase in C-statistic from 0.71 to 0.74, p<0.001). In 85 078 participants with complete data for both scores, discrimination was only modestly better with the FC-IHRS compared with the NL-IHRS (0.74 vs 0.73, p<0.001).

    CONCLUSIONS: External validations of the NL-IHRS and FC-IHRS suggest that regionally recalibrated versions of both can be useful for estimating CVD risk across a diverse range of community-based populations. CVD prediction using a non-laboratory score can provide similar accuracy to laboratory-based methods.

    Matched MeSH terms: Risk Assessment/methods*
  7. Chia YC
    Singapore Med J, 2011 Feb;52(2):116-23.
    PMID: 21373738
    Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in both developed and developing countries. While it is relatively easy to identify those who are obviously at high risk and those at the lowest risk for CVD, it is often the large group of individuals with what appears to be modestly abnormal risk factors who contributes most to the burden of CVD. This is where estimation of CVD risk is necessary. Many tools for risk assessment have been devised. All these risk scores have their own inherent advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, they may also not be directly applicable to a local population. Ideally, each country should have its own risk score that takes into account other factors as well. In the interim, it is worthwhile to be familiar with one of these scores, select one that is most appropriate for your patient and discuss treatment options based on the estimated risk.
    Matched MeSH terms: Risk Assessment/methods*
  8. Shahab A, Hui Z, Rad S, Xiao H, Siddique J, Huang LL, et al.
    Environ Geochem Health, 2023 Mar;45(3):585-606.
    PMID: 35347514 DOI: 10.1007/s10653-022-01255-3
    In order to expound on the present situation and potential risk of road dust heavy metals in major cities, a total of 114 literatures mainly over the past two decades, involving more than 5000 sampling sites in 61 cities of 21 countries, were screened through the collection and analysis of research papers. The concentration, sources, distribution, health risk, sample collection, and analytical methods of heavy metal research on road dust in cities around the world are summarized. The results show that Cd, Zn, and Cu in many urban road dusts in the world are higher than the grade II of the Chinese maximum allowable concentration of potentially toxic elements in the soil. Geo-accumulation index values show that Pb > Cd > Zn > Cu had the highest contamination levels. Hazard index assessment indicates Pb and Cr had the highest potential health risk, especially for children in which ingestion was found as the main exposure pathway. Moreover, through comparative analysis, it is found that some pollutants are higher in developed and industrialized cities and transport (53%) followed by industrial emissions (35%) provide the major contributions to the sources of heavy metals.
    Matched MeSH terms: Risk Assessment/methods
  9. Wang P, Tan Y, Soh KL, Soh KG, Ning C, Xue L, et al.
    Nutr Cancer, 2024;76(7):573-583.
    PMID: 38757365 DOI: 10.1080/01635581.2024.2352901
    It is critical to screen and assess malnutrition in cancer patients early. However, there is no uniform standard for nutritional risk screening and malnutrition assessment. We aimed to analyze the effects of the Nutrition Risk Screening 2002 (NRS2002) in screening for nutritional risk among adult cancer patients, using the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) as the reference standard. A systematic search was performed using PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database, and China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP). Studies comparing NRS2002 with PG-SGA in adult cancer patients were included. To assess the quality of the included studies, the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2) was used. The combined sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC) were calculated. In addition, sensitivity, subgroup, and publication bias analyses were performed. Thirteen articles involving 3,373 participants were included. The combined sensitivity, specificity, DOR, and AUC were 0.62 (95% CI, 0.60-0.64), 0.86 (95% CI, 0.84-0.88), 11.23 (95% CI, 8.26-15.27), and 0.85 (95% CI, 0.82-0.88), respectively. For adult cancer patients, NRS2002 has moderate sensitivity, high specificity, and high AUC in screening for nutritional risk.
    Matched MeSH terms: Risk Assessment/methods
  10. Jihan AMN, Audey R
    Med J Malaysia, 2023 Mar;78(2):171-176.
    PMID: 36988526
    INTRODUCTION: Risk stratification tools that integrate clinical, ECG findings and cardiac biomarkers have been used to facilitate the management of chest pain patients in the emergency department (ED). We studied the feasibility of history, age, electrocardiogram and risk factors (HEAR) score as a risk stratification tool for chest pain patients presented to ED Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) in comparison to modified HEART score (MHS) based on major adverse cardiac events (MACE) within 6 weeks' time.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analysed retrospective data of chest pain patients presenting to ED HUSM from 1st June 2020 till 31st January 2021 based on the patient's history, ECG findings, risk factors, age and troponin level. The patients were stratified as low risk (MHS and HEAR score of 0-3), intermediate risk (MHS and HEAR score of 4-6), and high risk (MHS of 7-10 and HEAR score of 7-8). The association of the MHS and HEAR score with MACE at 6 weeks' time was evaluated using simple logistic regression.

    RESULTS: This study included 147 patients in the MHS analysis and 71 patients in HEAR score analysis. The incident rate of MACE in low, intermediate and high risk was 0%,16.3%, and 34.7%, in the MHS group, and 0%, 3.22%, and 6.66% in HEAR score group. The mean difference between MACE and non-MACE in MHS and HEAR score groups was -2.29 (CI: -3.13,1.44, p<0.001) and -2.51(CI: -5.23, 0.21, p=0.070), respectively. There was no significant association between the incidence rate of MACE with modified HEART score (MHS) and HEAR score groups (p>0.95).

    CONCLUSION: HEAR score is not feasible to be used as a risk stratification tool for chest pain patients presenting to ED HUSM in comparison to MHS. Further studies are required to validate the results.

    Matched MeSH terms: Risk Assessment/methods
  11. Borges FK, Devereaux PJ, Cuerden M, Bhandari M, Guerra-Farfán E, Patel A, et al.
    BMJ Open, 2019 Sep 24;9(9):e033150.
    PMID: 31551393 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-033150
    INTRODUCTION: Inflammation, dehydration, hypotension and bleeding may all contribute to the development of acute kidney injury (AKI). Accelerated surgery after a hip fracture can decrease the exposure time to such contributors and may reduce the risk of AKI.

    METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Hip fracture Accelerated surgical TreaTment And Care tracK (HIP ATTACK) is a multicentre, international, parallel-group randomised controlled trial (RCT). Patients who suffer a hip fracture are randomly allocated to either accelerated medical assessment and surgical repair with a goal of surgery within 6 hours of diagnosis or standard care where a repair typically occurs 24 to 48 hours after diagnosis. The primary outcome of this substudy is the development of AKI within 7 days of randomisation. We anticipate at least 1998 patients will participate in this substudy.

    ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: We obtained ethics approval for additional serum creatinine recordings in consecutive patients enrolled at 70 participating centres. All patients provide consent before randomisation. We anticipate reporting substudy results by 2021.

    TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02027896; Pre-results.

    Matched MeSH terms: Risk Assessment/methods
  12. Dench E, Bond-Smith D, Darcey E, Lee G, Aung YK, Chan A, et al.
    BMJ Open, 2019 Dec 31;9(12):e031041.
    PMID: 31892647 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-031041
    INTRODUCTION: For women of the same age and body mass index, increased mammographic density is one of the strongest predictors of breast cancer risk. There are multiple methods of measuring mammographic density and other features in a mammogram that could potentially be used in a screening setting to identify and target women at high risk of developing breast cancer. However, it is unclear which measurement method provides the strongest predictor of breast cancer risk.

    METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The measurement challenge has been established as an international resource to offer a common set of anonymised mammogram images for measurement and analysis. To date, full field digital mammogram images and core data from 1650 cases and 1929 controls from five countries have been collated. The measurement challenge is an ongoing collaboration and we are continuing to expand the resource to include additional image sets across different populations (from contributors) and to compare additional measurement methods (by challengers). The intended use of the measurement challenge resource is for refinement and validation of new and existing mammographic measurement methods. The measurement challenge resource provides a standardised dataset of mammographic images and core data that enables investigators to directly compare methods of measuring mammographic density or other mammographic features in case/control sets of both raw and processed images, for the purposes of the comparing their predictions of breast cancer risk.

    ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Challengers and contributors are required to enter a Research Collaboration Agreement with the University of Melbourne prior to participation in the measurement challenge. The Challenge database of collated data and images are stored in a secure data repository at the University of Melbourne. Ethics approval for the measurement challenge is held at University of Melbourne (HREC ID 0931343.3).

    Matched MeSH terms: Risk Assessment/methods
  13. Borges FK, Sessler DI, Tiboni M, Patel A, LeManach Y, Heels-Ansdell D, et al.
    Am Heart J, 2024 Sep;275:45-52.
    PMID: 38851520 DOI: 10.1016/j.ahj.2024.05.020
    INTRODUCTION: Troponin elevation after noncardiac surgery is associated with an elevated risk of 30-day mortality. Little is known about relative merit of using a high-sensitivity Troponin T (hsTnT), the fifth-generation assay, vs the nonhigh sensitivity Troponin T (non-hsTnT), the fourth-generation assay, in the noncardiac surgery setting. We aimed to identify whether hsTnT can identify additional patients at risk that would have gone undetected with non-hsTnT measurement.

    METHODS: The VISION Study included 40,004 noncardiac surgery patients with postoperative troponin measurements. Among them, 1,806 patients had both fourth-generation non-hsTnT and fifth-generation hsTnT concomitant measurements (4,451 paired results). We compared the absolute concentrations, the timing, and the impact of different thresholds on predicting 30-day major cardiovascular complications (composite of death, nonfatal cardiac arrest, coronary revascularization, and congestive heart failure).

    RESULTS: Based on the manufacturers' threshold of 14 ng/L, 580 (32.1%) patients had postoperative hsTnT concentrations greater than the threshold, while their non-hsTnT concentrations were below the manufacturer's threshold. These 580 patients had higher risk of major cardiovascular events (OR 2.33; CI 95% 1.04-5.23; P = .049) than patients with hsTnT concentrations below the manufacturer threshold. Among patients with myocardial injury after noncardiac surgery, only 50% would be detected by the fourth-generation non-hsTnT assay at 6 to 12 hours postoperative as compared to 85% with the fifth-generation hsTnT assay (P-value < .001).

    CONCLUSIONS: Within the first 3 postoperative days, fifth-generation hsTnT identified at least 1 in 3 patients with troponin elevation that would have gone undetected by fourth-generation non-hsTnT using published thresholds in this setting. Furthermore, fifth-generation hsTnT identified patients with an elevation earlier than fourth-generation non-hsTnT, indicating potential to improve postoperative risk stratification.

    Matched MeSH terms: Risk Assessment/methods
  14. Song Z, Zhang W, Jiang Q, Deng L, Du L, Mou W, et al.
    Int J Surg, 2023 Dec 01;109(12):3848-3860.
    PMID: 37988414 DOI: 10.1097/JS9.0000000000000862
    BACKGROUND: The early detection of high-grade prostate cancer (HGPCa) is of great importance. However, the current detection strategies result in a high rate of negative biopsies and high medical costs. In this study, the authors aimed to establish an Asian Prostate Cancer Artificial intelligence (APCA) score with no extra cost other than routine health check-ups to predict the risk of HGPCa.

    PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 7476 patients with routine health check-up data who underwent prostate biopsies from January 2008 to December 2021 in eight referral centres in Asia were screened. After data pre-processing and cleaning, 5037 patients and 117 features were analyzed. Seven AI-based algorithms were tested for feature selection and seven AI-based algorithms were tested for classification, with the best combination applied for model construction. The APAC score was established in the CH cohort and validated in a multi-centre cohort and in each validation cohort to evaluate its generalizability in different Asian regions. The performance of the models was evaluated using area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), calibration plot, and decision curve analyses.

    RESULTS: Eighteen features were involved in the APCA score predicting HGPCa, with some of these markers not previously used in prostate cancer diagnosis. The area under the curve (AUC) was 0.76 (95% CI:0.74-0.78) in the multi-centre validation cohort and the increment of AUC (APCA vs. PSA) was 0.16 (95% CI:0.13-0.20). The calibration plots yielded a high degree of coherence and the decision curve analysis yielded a higher net clinical benefit. Applying the APCA score could reduce unnecessary biopsies by 20.2% and 38.4%, at the risk of missing 5.0% and 10.0% of HGPCa cases in the multi-centre validation cohort, respectively.

    CONCLUSIONS: The APCA score based on routine health check-ups could reduce unnecessary prostate biopsies without additional examinations in Asian populations. Further prospective population-based studies are warranted to confirm these results.

    Matched MeSH terms: Risk Assessment/methods
  15. Inayat-Hussain SH, Fukumura M, Muiz Aziz A, Jin CM, Jin LW, Garcia-Milian R, et al.
    Environ Int, 2018 08;117:348-358.
    PMID: 29793188 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2018.05.010
    BACKGROUND: Recent trends have witnessed the global growth of unconventional oil and gas (UOG) production. Epidemiologic studies have suggested associations between proximity to UOG operations with increased adverse birth outcomes and cancer, though specific potential etiologic agents have not yet been identified. To perform effective risk assessment of chemicals used in UOG production, the first step of hazard identification followed by prioritization specifically for reproductive toxicity, carcinogenicity and mutagenicity is crucial in an evidence-based risk assessment approach. To date, there is no single hazard classification list based on the United Nations Globally Harmonized System (GHS), with countries applying the GHS standards to generate their own chemical hazard classification lists. A current challenge for chemical prioritization, particularly for a multi-national industry, is inconsistent hazard classification which may result in misjudgment of the potential public health risks. We present a novel approach for hazard identification followed by prioritization of reproductive toxicants found in UOG operations using publicly available regulatory databases.

    METHODS: GHS classification for reproductive toxicity of 157 UOG-related chemicals identified as potential reproductive or developmental toxicants in a previous publication was assessed using eleven governmental regulatory agency databases. If there was discordance in classifications across agencies, the most stringent classification was assigned. Chemicals in the category of known or presumed human reproductive toxicants were further evaluated for carcinogenicity and germ cell mutagenicity based on government classifications. A scoring system was utilized to assign numerical values for reproductive health, cancer and germ cell mutation hazard endpoints. Using a Cytoscape analysis, both qualitative and quantitative results were presented visually to readily identify high priority UOG chemicals with evidence of multiple adverse effects.

    RESULTS: We observed substantial inconsistencies in classification among the 11 databases. By adopting the most stringent classification within and across countries, 43 chemicals were classified as known or presumed human reproductive toxicants (GHS Category 1), while 31 chemicals were classified as suspected human reproductive toxicants (GHS Category 2). The 43 reproductive toxicants were further subjected to analysis for carcinogenic and mutagenic properties. Calculated hazard scores and Cytoscape visualization yielded several high priority chemicals including potassium dichromate, cadmium, benzene and ethylene oxide.

    CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reveal diverging GHS classification outcomes for UOG chemicals across regulatory agencies. Adoption of the most stringent classification with application of hazard scores provides a useful approach to prioritize reproductive toxicants in UOG and other industries for exposure assessments and selection of safer alternatives.

    Matched MeSH terms: Risk Assessment/methods*
  16. Wilkins JT, Ning H, Allen NB, Zheutlin A, Shah NS, Feinstein MJ, et al.
    J Am Coll Cardiol, 2024 Sep 10;84(11):961-973.
    PMID: 39232632 DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2024.05.070
    BACKGROUND: The ability of a 1-time measurement of non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) to predict the cumulative exposure to these lipids during early adulthood (age 18-40 years) and the associated atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk after age 40 years is not clear.

    OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to evaluate whether a 1-time measurement of non-HDL-C or LDL-C in a young adult can predict cumulative exposure to these lipids during early adulthood, and to quantify the association between cumulative exposure to non-HDL-C or LDL-C during early adulthood and the risk of ASCVD after age 40 years.

    METHODS: We included CARDIA (Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study) participants who were free of cardiovascular disease before age 40 years, were not taking lipid-lowering medications, and had ≥3 measurements of LDL-C and non-HDL-C before age 40 years. First, we assessed the ability of a 1-time measurement of LDL-C or non-HDL-C obtained between age 18 and 30 years to predict the quartile of cumulative lipid exposure from ages 18 to 40 years. Second, we assessed the associations between quartiles of cumulative lipid exposure from ages 18 to 40 years with ASCVD events (fatal and nonfatal myocardial infarction and stroke) after age 40 years.

    RESULTS: Of 4,104 CARDIA participants who had multiple lipid measurements before and after age 30 years, 3,995 participants met our inclusion criteria and were in the final analysis set. A 1-time measure of non-HDL-C and LDL-C had excellent discrimination for predicting membership in the top or bottom quartiles of cumulative exposure (AUC: 0.93 for the 4 models). The absolute values of non-HDL-C and LDL-C that predicted membership in the top quartiles with the highest simultaneous sensitivity and specificity (highest Youden's Index) were >135 mg/dL for non-HDL-C and >118 mg/dL for LDL-C; the values that predicted membership in the bottom quartiles were <107 mg/dL for non-HDL-C and <96 mg/dL for LDL-C. Individuals in the top quartile of non-HDL-C and LDL-C exposure had demographic-adjusted HRs of 4.6 (95% CI: 2.84-7.29) and 4.0 (95% CI: 2.50-6.33) for ASCVD events after age 40 years, respectively, when compared with each bottom quartile.

    CONCLUSIONS: Single measures of non-HDL-C and LDL-C obtained between ages 18 and 30 years are highly predictive of cumulative exposure before age 40 years, which in turn strongly predicts later-life ASCVD events.

    Matched MeSH terms: Risk Assessment/methods
  17. Zakiman Z, Mat Ruzlin AN, Chen XW, Muhamad Robat R
    Med J Malaysia, 2025 Jan;80(1):17-24.
    PMID: 39812424
    INTRODUCTION: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain to be the leading cause of premature mortality worldwide, and healthcare workers (HCWs) are potentially at risk for developing CVDs. Office-based Globorisk is a ten-year risk prediction tool for CVDs risk scores. This present study aims to determine the prevalence of CVDs risk and risk factors associated with moderate-high CVDs risk among primary HCWs in government health clinics in Selangor.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 543 HCWs from the KOSPEN WOW ("Komuniti Sihat Pembina Negara" or "Healthy Community Builds the Nation-Wellness of Workers") database in three district health offices (DHOs) under the Selangor State Health Department in Malaysia. To estimate the office-based Globorisk model, factors such as age, sex, current smoking status, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and body mass index (BMI) were included. Data analysis employed were Pearson chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, Welch's t-test and binary logistic regression.

    RESULTS: Among 543 participants, 453 (83.4%) were female, 439 (80.8%) were Malay with mean (SD) age of 44.4 (4.38). Majority of moderate-high CVDs risk identified among primary HCWs was male with 26 (86.7%), Malay with 25 (83.3%), and non-clinical group with 17 (56.7%). The prevalence of low CVDs risk was 94.5% (95% CI: 92.2-96.2) and 5.5% (95% CI: 3.8-7.8) for the moderate-high risk category. Factors associated with moderate-high CVDs risk were job category with non-clinical group (95% CI: 1.43, 6.85), elevated blood glucose (95% CI: 3.25, 19.41) and anxiety symptom (95% CI: 1.46, 13.86).

    CONCLUSION: The KOSPEN WOW platform is effective for screening and guiding implementation of intervention programmes to prevent CVDs.

    Matched MeSH terms: Risk Assessment/methods
  18. Xu W, Zhu G, Wang X, Yan X, Wang F, Li S, et al.
    PLoS One, 2025;20(1):e0318051.
    PMID: 39883745 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0318051
    OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to develop and validate a nomogram model that predicts the risk of bone metastasis (BM) in a prostate cancer (PCa) population.

    METHODS: We retrospectively collected and analyzed the clinical data of patients with pathologic diagnosis of PCa from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2022 in two hospitals in Yangzhou, China. Patients from the Affiliated Hospital of Yangzhou University were divided into a training set and patients from the Affiliated Clinical College of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Yangzhou University were divided into a validation set. Chi-square test, independent sample t-test, and logistic regression were used to screen key risk factors. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, c-index, calibration curves, and decision curves analysis (DCA) were used for the validation, calibration, clinical benefit assessment, and external validation of nomogram models.

    RESULTS: A total of 204 cases were collected from the Affiliated Hospital of Yangzhou University, including 64 cases diagnosed as PCa BM and 50 cases collected from the Affiliated Clinical College of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Yangzhou University, including 12 cases diagnosed as PCa BM. Results showed that history of alcohol consumption, prostate stiffness on Digital rectal examination(DRE), prostate nodules on DRE, FIB, ALP, cTx, and Gleason score were high-risk factors for BM in PCa and nomogram was established. The c-index of the final model was 0.937 (95% CI: 0.899-0.975). And the model was validated by external validation set (c-index: 0.929). The ROC curves and calibration curves showed that the nomogram had good predictive accuracy, and DCA showed that the nomogram had good clinical applicability.

    CONCLUSIONS: Our study identified seven high-risk factors for BM in PCa and these factors would provide a theoretical basis for early clinical prevention of PCa BM.

    Matched MeSH terms: Risk Assessment/methods
  19. Alwehaidah MS, Al-Awadhi R, AlRoomy M, Baqer TA
    Mol Genet Genomics, 2024 Dec 20;300(1):2.
    PMID: 39704849 DOI: 10.1007/s00438-024-02207-5
    OBJECTIVE: . Despite the establishment of a link between telomere status and carcinogenesis, lack of a consensus in the cancer specific pattern of telomere length has a severe impact on the use of relative telomere length (RTL) in cancer diagnosis. The disparity in assessing the relationship between telomere length and cancer risk is complex and may vary as it is influenced by other factors. The objective of this study is to thoroughly examine the intricate relationship between telomere length and cancer incidence in Papillary Thyroid Cancer (PTC) depending on the tumor type, stage, patients' sex and age. Therefore, the current study is focused on the association of RTL in PTC patients with different clinicopathological characteristics and compared with controls to determine the risk of PTC and expected survival time after surgery.

    METHOD: . This study included 126 patients with PTC and 80 controls. RTL in thyroid tissues was measured using quantitative (q) PCR. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using logistic regression analysis. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression were used to analyze postsurgical outcomes.

    RESULT: . The RTL of patients was significantly shorter than that of controls. A short RTL was significantly correlated with an elevated risk of PTC in patients aged ≥ 55 years, female sex, classic subtype, and tumor size > 2 cm. A short RTL did not affect the overall survival of patients with PTC; however, it was associated with poor survival in patients with tumor size > 2 cm and tumor invasion.

    CONCLUSION: . This unique study combines the use of RTL with various clinicopathological features of patients with PTC. In conclusion, RTL is a promising tumor marker that correlates with the clinical characteristics of patients with PTC. Specifically, RTL  2 cm and tumor invasion to predict the risk of PTC development and prognosis of the disease. This study will open new horizon in the use of molecular marker such as RTL for understanding its association with increased cancer risk in patients with different clinicopathological features.

    Matched MeSH terms: Risk Assessment/methods
  20. Bautista JAL, Liu CM, Ibrahim AE, Lo LW, Chung FP, Hu YF, et al.
    Heart Rhythm, 2025 Jan;22(1):49-56.
    PMID: 38997056 DOI: 10.1016/j.hrthm.2024.06.062
    BACKGROUND: Prior studies have investigated cardiac anatomy and clinical parameters as predictors for pulmonary vein and non-pulmonary vein triggers.

    OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the link between the descending aorta to left inferior pulmonary vein (Dao-LIPV) distance and the occurrence of triggers and drivers in atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation procedures.

    METHODS: Drug-refractory AF patients who underwent first-time index catheter ablation from January 2010 to December 2019 were retrospectively assembled. The Dao-LIPV distance was measured from preablation pulmonary vein computed tomography. Patients were assigned to groups on the basis of the presence of LIPV triggers or drivers. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify risk factors.

    RESULTS: A total of 886 consecutive patients with drug-refractory AF were studied, and 63 (7.1%) patients were identified to have LIPV triggers or drivers. The Dao-LIPV distance had a better predictive performance (area under the curve, 0.70) compared with persistent AF (area under the curve, 0.57). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that Dao-LIPV distance ≤2.5 mm (odds ratio, 3.96; 95% CI, 2.15-7.29; P < .001) and persistent AF (odds ratio, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.02-2.94]; P = .044) were independent predictors for the presence of LIPV triggers or drivers. A risk score model was established to predict the probability of LIPV triggers or drivers with persistent AF (10.2%), Dao-LIPV distance ≤2.5 mm (11.4%), and both (15.0%).

    CONCLUSION: The proximity of the Dao-LIPV was correlated to the presence of LIPV triggers or drivers. We developed a risk score model indicating that persistent AF and Dao-LIPV distances ≤2.5 mm significantly increase the risk of LIPV triggers or drivers, aiding electrophysiologists in preparing for and performing catheter ablation more effectively.

    Matched MeSH terms: Risk Assessment/methods
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