Risk prediction model for gastric cancer within 5 years in healthy Korean adults.

BACKGROUND: Although endoscopy is commonly used for gastric cancer screening in South Korea, predictive models that integrate endoscopy results are scarce. We aimed to develop a 5-year gastric cancer risk prediction model using endoscopy results as a predictor. METHODS: We developed a predictive model using the cohort data of the Kangbuk Samsung Health Study from 2011 to 2019. Among the 260,407 participants aged ≥20 years who did not have any previous history of cancer, 435 cases of gastric cancer were observed. A Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to evaluate the predictors and calculate the 5-year risk of gastric cancer. Harrell's C-statistics and Nam-D'Agostino χ2 test were used to measure the quality of discrimination and calibration ability, respectively. RESULTS: We included age, sex, smoking status, alcohol consumption, family history of cancer, and previous results for endoscopy in the risk prediction model. This model showed sufficient discrimination ability [development cohort: C-Statistics: 0.800, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.770-0.829; validation cohort: C-Statistics: 0.799, 95% CI 0.743-0.856]. It also performed well with effective calibration (development cohort: χ2 = 13.65, P = 0.135; validation cohort: χ2 = 15.57, P = 0.056). CONCLUSION: Our prediction model, including young adults, showed good discrimination and calibration. Furthermore, this model considered a fixed time interval of 5 years to predict the risk of developing gastric cancer, considering endoscopic results. Thus, it could be clinically useful, especially for adults with endoscopic results.

Pharmacotherapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder: Real-world evidence from a 10-year retrospective data analysis.

We investigated pharmacotherapy trends for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients at a Korean tertiary hospital from 2008 to 2017. Out of 1894 patients, 82.9% received at least one psychotropic medication, with prescription rates increasing over time. The most frequently prescribed drug classes were selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs, 80.5%), anxiolytics (57.5%), antipsychotics (47.2%), other antidepressants (21.1%), and mood stabilizers (18.4%). Combination therapy was administered to 79.7% of medicated patients, with SSRIs, anxiolytics, and antipsychotics being the most common combination. Comorbidities significantly increased the prescription rates of all psychotropic classes (P < 0.001). Our study offers insights that may aid in bridging the gap between OCD treatment guidelines and real-world clinical practice.

The association between the restriction of daily life and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea: a nationwide based survey.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led to substantial daily life changes for people worldwide. We investigated the association between daily life restrictions and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic based on the Korea Community Health Survey. Daily life restrictions were evaluated using a questionnaire to population into three restriction categories: no/slightly, moderately, and severely. Depression was assessed by the Korean version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Chi-square tests and Fisher's exact tests were used to compare the demographic characteristics of individuals with and without depression. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between the severity of daily life restrictions and the prevalence of depression. The prevalence of depression was 2.4% in the total population: 5.7% in the severely restricted group and 2.7% in the moderately restricted group. After adjusting for age, sex, educational level, income, marital status, and employment status, the severely restricted group was more likely to have depression than was the no change/slightly restricted group (OR = 2.40, 95% CI 2.16-2.67, p < 0.001). Employers with severely restricted daily life exhibited a higher OR for depression compared to the no/slightly restricted group (OR = 3.24, 95% CI 2.37-4.45, p < 0.001). It is necessary to consider the mental health of vulnerable affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs in schizophrenia: a 10-year retrospective study in a Korean tertiary hospital.

Extensive research has been carried out on the comparative effectiveness of antipsychotic medications. Most studies, however, have been performed in Western countries. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness, indicated by time to any-cause discontinuation, of antipsychotic drugs in a large number of patients with schizophrenia in South Korea. We identified 1458 patients with schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorder who were treated with antipsychotic medications using a clinical data warehouse at the Seoul National University Hospital between March 2005 and February 2014. Kaplan-Meier survival analyses were used to estimate the time to discontinuation of antipsychotic drugs. We compared the survival curves of different antipsychotics using log-rank tests. Overall, the median time to discontinuation for any cause was 133 days (95% CI, 126-147). The longest time to discontinuation was observed for clozapine, followed by aripiprazole, paliperidone, olanzapine, amisulpride, risperidone, quetiapine, ziprasidone, and haloperidol. Specifically, clozapine was significantly different from all other antipsychotic drugs (all p < 0.001). Aripiprazole also had a significantly longer time to discontinuation than amisulpride (p = 0.001), risperidone (p < 0.001), quetiapine (p < 0.001), ziprasidone (p < 0.001), and haloperidol (p < 0.001). In Asian patients with schizophrenia, clozapine was the most effective antipsychotic in terms of time to discontinuation, followed by aripiprazole. This study extends the findings of previous effectiveness studies from Western populations and suggests the need to develop guidelines for the pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia tailored to Asian individuals.