1,720,970 research outputs found
LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF TRENDS IN SMOKING HABITS AND IMPACT OF CHANGES IN SMOKING AND BODY MASS ON LUNG FUNCTION
Full text linkThe tobacco epidemic has been the driving force to establish the foundation of the battle against tobacco use and effective public policy measures using simple preventative and targeting strategies against nicotine dependence. However, smoking is still a widespread phenomenon at various forms in recent years and the assessment of smoking trends and behavioral changes will reflect the attributes of impacted age groups to identify smoking prone populations and lead to strategize preventative and recovery systems. We analyzed the long-term trends in smoking initiation and cessation in order to identify age- and gender specific changes in Australian population over a 70 year timeline, utilizing the data from two longitudinal studies on the general population from the Tasmanian Health Study (TAHS) and the Busselton Health Study (BHS). To determine the effect of both smoking status and weight change on lung function in the general population, we also performed an analysis on lung function outcomes modulated by smoking behavioral changes relative to weight gain over 20 years in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS). We estimated trends in the rates of smoking initiation (number of incident smokers divided by total time at risk) between 1920 and 1989, by sex and age groups (11-15, 16-20, 21-35 years). The rates of smoking initiation during young adolescence (11-15 years) increased steeply between 1925 and 1980 in females. After being relatively stable, they slightly increased after the 70’s also among males. In the same period, the rates showed a completely different trend between males and females during late adolescence (16-20 years): initiation rates in males decreased steeply, whereas they steadily increased in females. Smoking initiation during late adolescence peaked in the ‘40s for males and decreased afterward, while in females initiation increased until the mid-‘70s. These results reflect the shift of smoking trend from boys to girls among teens, and they highlight a sharp increase in smoking initiation among Australian female adolescents during the ‘70s and ‘80s that is consistent with information available from Europe. Our findings also showed that quitters with high weight gain had faster lung function decline compared to quitters with moderate weight gain at older ages, but not at younger ages, highlighting the importance of early smoking cessation and weight control among quitters. Using a historical perspective, this longitudinal study documents early signs of the successful implementation of tobacco control measures in the Australian population. It underlines the importance of encourging positive awareness and implementing strategies for early smoking cessation, parallel to promoting prevention and stronger intervention strategies in youth. In addition, empowering and monitoring active and healthy living can improve the outcomes of smoking cessation on lung function trajectories and mitigate the future risk of diseases like asthma and COPD
A systematic review and meta-analysis of rhinoplasty using the rhinoplasty outcome evaluation scale
Full text linkBackground: The purpose was to evaluate the role and impact of the rhinoplasty outcome evaluation (ROE) in rhinoplasty. Objectives: To systematically review the ability of ROE to assess rhinoplasty outcome in the very recent surgical approaches. Data sources: Searching MESH terms "rhinoplasty" and "rhinoplasty and ROE" on PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Google Scholar, and other major literature databases. Study eligibility criteria: A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses model was adopted for eligibility criteria. Participants and interventions: A first large screening on 1,660 papers allowed the final retrieval of 896 reports, of which only 101 were eligible for all the inclusion criteria, which allowed finally to select a group of 12 reports published in the time range 2018-2021. Study appraisal and synthesis methods: Meta-regression with Durbin-Watson test, checking of meta-analysis bias with Rosenthal's estimator, and heterogeneity through the I 2 statistics were performed. The analysis included a Mantel-Haenszel test and associated or meta-analysis. Results: Twelve eligible and qualified papers were included in the meta-analysis, out of 1,263 patients, from 1,660 papers. ROE confirmed previous reports about its ability to discriminate preoperative from postoperative outcome (50/100), as from the different rhinoplasty approaches, a value very close to the functional Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation scale. This study strengthens the role of ROE in the evaluation of rhinoplasty outcomes encouraging further research to improve ROE scale on different cultural habits and geographical areas. Limitations: The main limitations were due to the weak inclusion and exclusion criteria, methodological flaws with the statistical analysis, and poor data synthesis and evaluation in many papers about ROE
Perception of Trifocal IOL Performance in Young Adults with High Astigmatism and Hyperopia and its Improvement Using Small Incision Lenticule Extraction
No full textHyperopia is a kind of refractive error in which incoming light is focused behind, instead of on, the retina wall due to insufficient accommodation by the lens. It is likely affected by ethnicity, geography, and a family history of hyperopia or accommodative esotropia and is categorized as low (≤ 2.00D), moderate (2.00-4.00 D), and high (> 4.00D). Beyond hyperopia refractive error, patients may have poor accommodative function or visual perceptual skills
Rectus muscle diastasis in Italian women: determinants of disease severity, and associated disorders
No full textPurpose Diastasis of rectus abdominis (DRA) refers to a separation of the rectus abdominis from the linea alba, which is common in the female population during pregnancy and in the postpartum period. The present study aimed at investigating DRA severity, risk factors and associated disorders. Methods In the present cross-sectional study, a web-based questionnaire was addressed to the 23,000 members of the Women's Diastasis Association. The questionnaire comprised three parts, dedicated respectively to diastasis characteristics, possible risk factors, and related disorders. Faecal and urinary incontinences were assessed using the Wexner and ICIQ-SF score, respectively. Risk factors for diastasis severity (<3, 3-5, >5 cm) were evaluated by a multinomial regression model. Results Four thousand six hundred twenty-nine women with a mean age (SD) of 39.8 (6.5) years and a median BMI of 23.7 kg/m(2) (range 16.0-40.0) responded to the questionnaire. Proportion of DRA >5 cm increased from 22.8% in norm weight women to 44.0% in severely obese women, and from 10.0% in nulliparous women to 39.3% in women with >3 pregnancies. These associations were confirmed in multivariable analysis. DRA severity was associated with the risk of abdominal hernia and pelvic prolapse, whose prevalence more than doubled from women with DRA <3 cm (31.6% and 9.7%, respectively) to women with DRA >5 cm (68.2% and 20.2%). In addition, most patients reported postural pain and urinary incontinence, whose frequency increased with DRA severity. Conclusion The present study confirmed that DRA severity increases with increasing BMI and number of pregnancies. Larger separation between rectal muscles was associated with increased risk of pain/discomfort, urinary incontinence, abdominal hernia and pelvic prolapse. Prospective studies are needed to better evaluate risk factors
Impact of age and comorbidities on short- and long-term outcomes of patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer
No full textAs the world population is progressively ageing, more and more elderly patients will require cancer surgery. Although curative surgery is the treatment of choice for resectable colorectal cancer (CRC), it is still debated whether elderly frail patients should undergo major cancer surgery due to the increased risk of postoperative and long-term mortality. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the impact of age and comorbidities on postoperative mortality/morbidity and long-term outcomes, looking for potential age-related survival differences
SARS-CoV-2 Positivity in Foreign-Born Adults: A Retrospective Study in Verona, Northeast Italy
No full text: We compared SARS-CoV-2 positivity between the foreign-born adult working population and Italians living in the Verona area to investigate whether being a foreign-born adult could confer an increased risk of infection or lead to a diagnostic delay. The present study included 105,774 subjects, aged 18-65 years, tested for SARS-CoV-2 by nasopharyngeal swabs and analyzed at the University Hospital of Verona between January 2020 and September 2022. A logistic regression model was used, controlling for gender, age, time of sampling, and source of referral. A higher proportion of SARS-CoV-2 positivity in Italian (30.09%) than in foreign-born (25.61%) adults was reported, with a higher proportion of SARS-CoV-2 positivity in men than women in both cohorts analyzed. The difference in swab positivity among Italian and foreign-born adults was the highest in people aged 18-29 years (31.5% vs. 23.3%) and tended to disappear thereafter. Swab positivity became comparable between Italian and foreign-born adults during the vaccination campaign. Multivariable analysis confirmed the lower risk of swab positivity among foreign-born adults (OR = 0.85, 95% CI 0.82-0.89). In the Verona area, foreign-born adults showed a lower rate of SARS-CoV-2 positivity than the native population, likely because of underdiagnosis. Hence, public health should increase attention toward these particularly vulnerable populations
SARS-CoV-2 and Its Variants in Thrice-Infected Health Workers: A Case Series from an Italian University Hospital
No full textBackground: We described a SARS-CoV-2 thrice-infected case series in health workers (HW) to evaluate patient and virus variants and lineages and collect information on variables associated with multiple infections. Methods: A retrospective analysis of clinical and laboratory characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 thrice-infected individuals was carried out in Verona University Hospital, concurrent with the ORCHESTRA project. Variant analysis was conducted on a subset of available specimens. Results: Twelve HW out of 7368 were thrice infected (0.16%). Symptomatic infections were reported in 63.6%, 54.5% and 72.7% of the first, second and third infections, respectively. Nine subjects were fully vaccinated at the time of the third infection, and five had an additional booster dose. The mean time to second infection was 349.6 days (95% CI, 138–443); the mean interval between the second and third infection was 223.5 days (95% CI, 108–530) (p = 0.032). In three cases, the second and third infections were caused by the Omicron variant, but different lineages were detected when the second vs third infections were sequenced. Conclusions: This case series confirms evidence of multiple reinfections with SARS-CoV-2, even from the same variant, in vaccinated HW. These results reinforce the need for continued infection-specific prevention measures in previously infected and reinfected HW
Early regional cerebral grey matter damage predicts long-term cognitive impairment phenotypes in multiple sclerosis: a 20-year study
Full text linkDespite grey matter atrophy in cortical and subcortical regions has been related to cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis, only a few studies evaluated its predictive value for alterations in the long-term. We aimed to determine early predictors of cognitive status after 20 years of multiple sclerosis. In this longitudinal retrospective study, participants underwent a 1.5 T MRI scanning at diagnosis (T0) and after two years (T2), which included the evaluation of regional grey matter volume loss patterns. All individuals with multiple sclerosis underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment at the end of the study and were classified considering their global and specific cognitive domains status (memory, attention/information processing speed, executive functioning). Clinical and MRI characteristics were assessed as predictors of long-term cognitive impairment. Analysis of covariance, t-test, unadjusted and adjusted (for age, sex, disease duration, volume of white matter lesions, volume of cortical lesions) logistic regression were conducted. One hundred seventy-five people with multiple sclerosis (118 females; mean ± SD age at the end of study = 47.7 ± 9.4 years) clinically followed for 20 years from onset (mean ± SD = 19.9 ± 5.1) were evaluated. At the end of the study, 81 (47%) were classified as cognitively impaired: 38 as mildly impaired (22%), and 43 as severely impaired (25%). In particular, 46 were impaired in memory (27%), 66 were impaired in attention/information processing speed (38%), and 71 were impaired in executive functioning (41%). Regression models identified precuneus (adjusted odds ratio = 3.37; P < 0.001), insula (adjusted odds ratio = 2.33; P = 0.036), parahippocampal gyrus (adjusted odds ratio = 2.07; P < 0.001) and cingulate (adjusted odds ratio = 1.81; P = 0.009) as the most associated regions with global cognitive impairment and domains-specific cognitive alterations after a mean of 20 years of multiple sclerosis, after adjusting for demographic and clinical variables as well as for focal white matter and grey matter damage. Early grey matter volume loss of specific cortical and deep grey matter regions predicts global and domain cognitive alterations after 20 years from multiple sclerosis diagnosis
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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