METHODS: A steering group was formed to review the existing guideline and propose amendments to the 17-item checklist. A Delphi consensus exercise was utilised to determine agreement across a list of proposed modifications to the STROCSS 2017 guideline. An expert panel of 46 surgeons were invited to assess the proposed updates via Google Forms.
RESULTS: The response rate was 91% (n = 42/46). High agreement was reached across all the items and the guideline was finalised in the first round. The checklist maintained 17-items, with modifications primarily considered to improve content and readability.
CONCLUSIONS: The STROCSS 2019 guideline is hereby presented as a considered update to improve reporting of cohort, cross-sectional and case-control studies in surgery.
Methods: PBL was implemented within two drug delivery courses in 2015, in anticipation that the use of formulation or industrial instead of clinical or pharmacy practice based triggers, would open up student interest and understanding towards learning pharmaceutics in relation to industrial pharmacy. Two cohorts were monitored through final year examination results and PBL feedback to evaluate student perception and acceptance of the use of PBL. Previous cohorts were only exposed to conventional tutorials.
Results: Both cohorts showed better performance in their final examination results (2015 & 2016) compared to the previous year (2014) when students were only exposed to tutorials. The maximum and average marks obtained were also higher. There was significant difference between the maximum marks for Drug Delivery Systems 2 and the average marks for Drug Delivery Systems 1 with P Cohort 2014 is higher than Cohorts 2015 and 2016, the performance of students were better seen in the two latter cohorts. In addition, student feedback showed positive acquiescence towards using PBL as part of the course.
Conclusions: Introduction of PBL in the drug delivery courses has shown to improve student academic performance either directly or indirectly by increasing student's interest and understanding of the subjects taught. It also enhanced student soft skills and confidence. Students were happy with the implementation of PBL which improved their understanding of the subject, enhancing their abilities to think critically and improved their time management abilities.
METHODS: Ethnic Chinese mothers intending to breastfeed their healthy infants were recruited post-delivery between August and October 2017 then, at 1 and 6 months, they were telephone interviewed about their experience. For every participant going to a CC after the birth, another mother going home ("home") for her confinement was recruited. Chi-square test was used to compare groups and multiple logistic regression was used to assess the effect of confinement place on exclusive breastfeeding.
RESULTS: Of 187 mothers, 88 (47%) went to CCs. Significantly more were primipara and fewer had previous breastfeeding experience. Response rates for the 1- and 6- month interviews were 88% (CC) versus 97% (home); and 77% (CC) versus 87% (home) respectively. Exclusive breastfeeding rates were similar between the groups: 62% (CC) versus 56% (home) at 1 month (p = 0.4); and 37% (CC) versus 42% (home) at 6 months (p = 0.5). Multiple logistic regression did not show that CCs were a factor affecting exclusive breastfeeding rates at 1 month, (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.9, 3.3), or 6 months (aOR 0.9, 95% CI 0.4, 1.7). However, significantly more CC participants only fed expressed breast milk. Despite 66% of CC participants reporting that their centre supported breastfeeding, only 6 (8%) CC participants compared to 66 (69%) of home participants roomed-in with their baby (p
METHODS: We searched for studies published and indexed in three databases (PubMed, AMED, and CINAHL Plus) from inception until 31 March 2020, complemented with a search of cited literature for articles describing the effects of greenness on mortality in Asia-Pacific region. Eligible articles were screened and data were extracted independently by two reviewers. A random-effects model was utilised to obtain pool hazard ratio (HR) and risk ratio of all-cause mortality outcome.
RESULTS: The search identified 3239 studies, of which 20 studies reporting 133,363 participants from longitudinal cohort studies and 202 million people from population-based prevalence studies were included in the review. The majority of the studies (60%) were conducted in high-income countries in Asia-Pacific. All participants of the longitudinal cohort studies were aged 60 years or older, whereas the prevalence studies involved people of all age groups. A significant protective association of green environment exposure with all-cause mortality was reported in 18 studies. Pooled results from five studies showed increased level of greenness exposure was associated with a significant decrease in all-cause mortality (pooled HR = 0.97; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.93 to 1.02; p
METHODS: We used data from the AIDS Care Cohort to Evaluate Exposure to Survival Services study, a long-running community-recruited cohort of PLWH who use illicit drugs linked to comprehensive HIV clinical records. The longitudinal relationship between daily pill burden and the odds of ≥95% adherence to ART among ART-exposed individuals was analyzed using multivariable generalized linear mixed-effects modeling, adjusting for sociodemographic, behavioural, and structural factors linked to adherence.
RESULTS: Between December 2005 and May 2014, the study enrolled 770 ART-exposed participants, including 257 (34%) women, with a median age of 43 years. At baseline, 437 (56.7%) participants achieved ≥95% adherence in the previous 180 days. Among all interview periods, the median adherence was 100% (interquartile range 71%-100%). In a multivariable model, a greater number of pills per day was negatively associated with ≥95% adherence (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.87 per pill, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.84-0.91). Further analysis showed that once-a-day ART regimens were positively associated with optimal adherence (AOR 1.39, 95% CI 1.07-1.80).
CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, simpler dosing demands (ie, fewer pills and once-a-day single tablet regimens) promoted optimal adherence among PLWH who use drugs. Our findings highlight the need for simpler dosing to be encouraged explicitly for PWUD with multiple adherence barriers.
METHODS: We used the TyG index as a surrogate measure for insulin resistance. Fasting triglycerides and fasting plasma glucose were measured at the baseline visit in 141 243 individuals aged 35-70 years from 22 countries in the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study. The TyG index was calculated as Ln (fasting triglycerides [mg/dL] x fasting plasma glucose [mg/dL]/2). We calculated hazard ratios (HRs) using a multivariable Cox frailty model with random effects to test the associations between the TyG index and risk of cardiovascular diseases and mortality. The primary outcome of this analysis was the composite of mortality or major cardiovascular events (defined as death from cardiovascular causes, and non-fatal myocardial infarction, or stroke). Secondary outcomes were non-cardiovascular mortality, cardiovascular mortality, all myocardial infarctions, stroke, and incident diabetes. We also did subgroup analyses to examine the magnitude of associations between insulin resistance (ie, the TyG index) and outcome events according to the income level of the countries.
FINDINGS: During a median follow-up of 13·2 years (IQR 11·9-14·6), we recorded 6345 composite cardiovascular diseases events, 2030 cardiovascular deaths, 3038 cases of myocardial infarction, 3291 cases of stroke, and 5191 incident cases of type 2 diabetes. After adjusting for all other variables, the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases increased across tertiles of the baseline TyG index. Compared with the lowest tertile of the TyG index, the highest tertile (tertile 3) was associated with a greater incidence of the composite outcome (HR 1·21; 95% CI 1·13-1·30), myocardial infarction (1·24; 1·12-1·38), stroke (1·16; 1·05-1·28), and incident type 2 diabetes (1·99; 1·82-2·16). No significant association of the TyG index was seen with non-cardiovascular mortality. In low-income countries (LICs) and middle-income countries (MICs), the highest tertile of the TyG index was associated with increased hazards for the composite outcome (LICs: HR 1·31; 95% CI 1·12-1·54; MICs: 1·20; 1·11-1·31; pinteraction=0·01), cardiovascular mortality (LICs: 1·44; 1·15-1·80; pinteraction=0·01), myocardial infarction (LICs: 1·29; 1·06-1·56; MICs: 1·26; 1·10-1·45; pinteraction=0·08), stroke (LICs: 1·35; 1·02-1·78; MICs: 1·17; 1·05-1·30; pinteraction=0·19), and incident diabetes (LICs: 1·64; 1·38-1·94; MICs: 2·68; 2·40-2·99; pinteraction <0·0001). In contrast, in high-income countries, higher TyG index tertiles were only associated with an increased hazard of incident diabetes (2·95; 2·25-3·87; pinteraction <0·0001), but not of cardiovascular diseases or mortality.
INTERPRETATION: The TyG index is significantly associated with future cardiovascular mortality, myocardial infarction, stroke, and type 2 diabetes, suggesting that insulin resistance plays a promoting role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Potentially, the association between the TyG index and the higher risk of cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes in LICs and MICs might be explained by an increased vulnerability of these populations to the presence of insulin resistance.
FUNDING: Full funding sources are listed at the end of the paper (see Acknowledgments).
METHODS: We searched 13 electronic databases and Google scholar, conducted citation searching and a review of reference lists to find studies which investigated the relationship of alcohol with clinical outcome of pesticide self-poisoning in different countries. Thirteen studies, including 11 case series/reports and two cohort studies were considered for inclusion.
RESULTS: Meta-analysis showed that alcohol co-ingestion in pesticide self-poisoning was associated with increased risk of death [odds ratio (OR) 4.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.9-8.2 P<0.0001] and that alcohol co-ingested group required intubation eight times more often than non-co-ingested group in organophosphorus insecticide self-poisoning (OR 8.0, 95% CI 4.9-13.0 P<0.0001). Cases who co-ingested alcohol were older than non-alcohol group in two studies. One cohort study demonstrated that alcohol co-ingestion was associated with larger pesticide ingestions but did not itself affect the outcome.
CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review indicates that alcohol co-ingestion may worsen clinical outcome in pesticide self-poisoning.
METHODS: Prospectively collected data from the Asia Pacific Lupus Collaboration cohort including disease activity (SLE Disease Activity Index 2000 [SLEDAI-2K]) and medication details, captured at every visit from 2013-2018, were used. Medications were categorized as glucocorticoids (GCs), antimalarials (AM), and immunosuppressants (IS). Cox regression analyses were performed to determine the time-to-discontinuation of medications, stratified by SLE disease activity.
RESULTS: Data from 19,804 visits of 2,860 patients were analyzed. Eight medication categories were observed: no treatment; GC, AM, or IS only; GC plus AM; GC plus IS; AM plus IS; and GC plus AM plus IS (triple therapy). Triple therapy was the most frequent pattern (31.4% of visits); single agents were used in 21% of visits, and biologics in only 3%. Time-to-discontinuation analysis indicated that medication persistence varied widely, with the highest treatment persistence for AM and lowest for IS. Patients with a time-adjusted mean SLEDAI-2K score of ≥10 had lower discontinuation of GCs and higher discontinuation of IS.
CONCLUSION: Most patients received combination treatment. GC persistence was high, while IS persistence was low. Patients with high disease activity received more medication combinations but had reduced IS persistence, consistent with limited utility. These data confirm unmet need for improved SLE treatments.
METHODS: We included patients from the Vascular events In noncardiac Surgery patIents cOhort evaluatioN (VISION) study, who were ≥45 years of age, scheduled for overnight hospital admission, and had intraoperative F io2 recorded. The primary outcome was myocardial injury after noncardiac surgery (MINS), and secondary outcomes included mortality and pneumonia, all within 30 postoperative days. Data were analyzed with logistic regression, adjusted for many baseline cardiovascular risk factors, and illustrated in relation to findings from 2 recent controlled trials.
RESULTS: We included 6588 patients with mean age of 62 years of whom 49% had hypertension. The median intraoperative F io2 was 0.46 (5%-95% range, 0.32-0.94). There were 808 patients (12%) with MINS. Each 0.10 increase in median F io2 was associated with a confounder-adjusted increase in odds for MINS: odds ratio (OR), 1.17 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12-1.23; P < .0001). MINS occurred in contrast with similar frequencies and no significant difference in controlled trials (2240 patients, 194 events), in which patients were given 80% vs 30% oxygen. Mortality was 2.4% and was not significantly associated with a median F io2 (OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.97-1.19 per 0.10 increase; P = .18), and 2.9% of patients had pneumonia (OR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.95-1.15 per 0.10 increase; P = .34).
CONCLUSIONS: We observed an association between intraoperative F io2 and risk of myocardial injury within 30 days after noncardiac surgery, which contrasts with recent controlled clinical trials. F io2 was not significantly associated with mortality or pneumonia. Unobserved confounding presumably contributed to the observed association between F io2 and myocardial injury that is not supported by trials.
METHODS: A STROCSS 2021 steering group was formed to come up with proposals to update STROCSS 2019 guidelines. An expert panel of researchers assessed these proposals and judged whether they should become part of STROCSS 2021 guidelines or not, through a Delphi consensus exercise.
RESULTS: 42 people (89%) completed the DELPHI survey and hence participated in the development of STROCSS 2021 guidelines. All items received a score between 7 and 9 by greater than 70% of the participants, indicating a high level of agreement among the DELPHI group members with the proposed changes to all the items.
CONCLUSION: We present updated STROCSS 2021 guidelines to ensure ongoing good reporting quality among observational studies in surgery.