The effect of computerised decision support alerts tailored to intensive care on the administration of high-risk drug combinations, and their monitoring: a cluster randomised stepped-wedge trial.

BACKGROUND: Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) can harm patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Yet, clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) aimed at helping physicians prevent DDIs are plagued by low-yield alerts, causing alert fatigue and compromising patient safety. The aim of this multicentre study was to evaluate the effect of tailoring potential DDI alerts to the ICU setting on the frequency of administered high-risk drug combinations. METHODS: We implemented a cluster randomised stepped-wedge trial in nine ICUs in the Netherlands. Five ICUs already used potential DDI alerts. Patients aged 18 years or older admitted to the ICU with at least two drugs administered were included. Our intervention was an adapted CDSS, only providing alerts for potential DDIs considered as high risk. The intervention was delivered at the ICU level and targeted physicians. We hypothesised that showing only relevant alerts would improve CDSS effectiveness and lead to a decreased number of administered high-risk drug combinations. The order in which the intervention was implemented in the ICUs was randomised by an independent researcher. The primary outcome was the number of administered high-risk drug combinations per 1000 drug administrations per patient and was assessed in all included patients. This trial was registered in the Netherlands Trial Register (identifier NL6762) on Nov 26, 2018, and is now closed. FINDINGS: In total, 10 423 patients admitted to the ICU between Sept 1, 2018, and Sept 1, 2019, were assessed and 9887 patients were included. The mean number of administered high-risk drug combinations per 1000 drug administrations per patient was 26·2 (SD 53·4) in the intervention group (n=5534), compared with 35·6 (65·0) in the control group (n=4353). Tailoring potential DDI alerts to the ICU led to a 12% decrease (95% CI 5-18%; p=0·0008) in the number of administered high-risk drug combinations per 1000 drug administrations per patient, after adjusting for clustering and prognostic factors. INTERPRETATION: This cluster randomised stepped-wedge trial showed that tailoring potential DDI alerts to the ICU setting significantly reduced the number of administered high-risk drug combinations. Our list of high-risk drug combinations can be used in other ICUs, and our strategy of tailoring alerts based on clinical relevance could be applied to other clinical settings. FUNDING: ZonMw.

Inflammatory bowel disease patients' perspectives of non-medical needs.

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) imposes a huge burden on the healthcare systems and greatly declines the patient's quality of life. However, there is a paucity of detailed data regarding information and supportive needs as well as sources and methods of obtaining information to control different aspects of the disease from the perspectives of the patients themselves. This study aimed to establish the IBD patients' preferences of informational and supportive needs through Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). METHODS: IBD patients were recruited from different centers. Considering inclusion and exclusion criteria, 521 participants were filled a predefined questionnaire. This questionnaire was prepared through literature review of the recent well-known guidelines on the needs of IBD patients, which was further approved by the experts of IBD area in three rounds of Delphi consensus. It includes 56 items in four sections of informational needs (25), supportive needs (15), sources of information (7), and methods of obtaining information (9). RESULTS: In particular, EFA was used to apply data reduction and structure detection. Given that this study tries to identify patterns, structures as well as inter-relationships and classification of the variables, EFA was utilized to simplify presentation of the variables in a way that large amounts of observations transform into fewer ones. Accordingly, the EFA identified five factors out of 25 items in the information needs section, three factors out of 15 items in the supportive needs section, two factors out of 7 items in the information sources section, and two factors out of 9 items in the information presentation methods. Through the CFA, all 4 models were supported by Root Mean Squared Error of Approximation (RMSEA); Incremental Fit Index (IFI); Comparative Fit Index (CFI); Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI); and SRMR. These values were within acceptable ranges, indicating that the twelve factors achieved from EFA were validated. CONCLUSIONS: This study introduced a reliable 12-factor model as an efficient tool to comprehensively identify preferences of IBD patients in informational and supportive needs along with sources and methods of obtaining information. An in-depth understanding of the needs of IBD patients facilitates informing and supporting health service provision. It also assists patients in a fundamental way to improve adaptation and increase the quality of life. We suggest that health care providers consider the use of this tool in clinical settings in order to precisely assess its efficacy.

Effect of dairy products fortified with vitamin d3 on restless legs syndrome in women with premenstrual syndrome, abdominal obesity and vitamin d deficiency: a pilot study.

BACKGROUNDS: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is an unpleasant condition that affects the quality of life of patients. Its prevalence in increased in women with premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Vitamin D plays a key role in female reproduction through its impact on calcium homeostasis and neurotransmitters. We aimed to evaluate the effect of dairy products fortified with Vitamin D3 on RLS in women with PMS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a 2.5-month, randomized, total-blinded clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of low-fat milk and yogurt fortified with vitamin D on RLS in women with PMS. Among 141 middle-aged women with abdominal obesity, 71 and 70 cases received fortified and non-fortified low-fat dairy products, respectively. All subjects completed a Symptoms Screening Tool (PSST) and RLS questionnaires. RESULTS: The results showed that in the women with severe PMS (PSST > 28), serum levels of vitamin D increased significantly following vitamin D fortification. The mean restless legs score in the severe PMS subgroup (PSST > 28) was significantly lower after the intervention (p < 0.05. Serum Vitamin D levels significantly differed between intervention and control groups in all individuals (PSST < 19, PSST 19-28, and PSST > 28) (p < 0.05), but no significant differences were found between RLS scores of the intervention and control groups in the three PMS subgroups (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Fortifying dairy products with vitamin D3 can increase the serum levels of vitamin D and reduce the RLS severity in women with severe PMS, but not in other groups.

Prediction of chromosomal abnormalities in the screening of the first trimester of pregnancy using machine learning methods: a study protocol.

BACKGROUND: For women in the first trimester, amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling is recommended for screening. Machine learning has shown increased accuracy over time and finds numerous applications in enhancing decision-making, patient care, and service quality in nursing and midwifery. This study aims to develop an optimal learning model utilizing machine learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to predict chromosomal abnormalities and evaluate their predictive efficacy. METHODS/ DESIGN: This cross-sectional study will be conducted in midwifery clinics in Mashhad, Iran in 2024. The data will be collected from 350 pregnant women in the high-risk group who underwent screening tests in the first trimester (between 11-14 weeks) of pregnancy. Information collected includes maternal age, BMI, smoking habits, history of trisomy 21 and other chromosomal disorders, CRL and NT levels, PAPP-A and B-HCG levels, presence of insulin-dependent diabetes, and whether the pregnancy resulted from IVF. The study follows up with the women during their clinic visits and tracks the results of amniocentesis. Sampling is based on Convenience Sampling, and data is gathered using a checklist of characteristics and screening/amniocentesis results. After preprocessing, feature extraction is conducted to identify and predict relevant features. The model is trained and evaluated using K-fold cross-validation. DISCUSSION: There is a growing interest in utilizing artificial intelligence methods, like machine learning and deep learning, in nursing and midwifery. This underscores the critical necessity for nurses and midwives to be well-versed in artificial intelligence methods and their healthcare applications. It can be beneficial to develop a machine learning model, specifically focusing on neural networks, for predicting chromosomal abnormalities. ETHICAL CODE: IR.MUMS.NURSE.REC. 1402.134.

Approximately 3% of newborns are affected by congenital abnormalities and genetic diseases, leading to disability and death. Among live births, around 3000 cases of Down syndrome (trisomy 21) can be expected based on the country's birth rate. Pregnant women carrying fetuses with Down syndrome face an increased risk of pregnancy complications. Artificial intelligence methods, such as machine learning and deep learning, are being used in nursing and midwifery to improve decision-making, patient care, and research. Nurses need to actively participate in the development and implementation of AI-based decision support systems. Additionally, nurses and midwives should play a key role in evaluating the effectiveness of artificial intelligence-based technologies in professional practice.

Development, comparison, and internal validation of prediction models to determine the visual prognosis of patients with open globe injuries using machine learning approaches.

INTRODUCTION: Open globe injuries (OGI) represent a main preventable reason for blindness and visual impairment, particularly in developing countries. The goal of this study is evaluating key variables affecting the prognosis of open globe injuries and validating internally and comparing different machine learning models to estimate final visual acuity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed three hundred patients with open globe injuries receiving treatment at Khatam-Al-Anbia Hospital in Iran from 2020 to 2022. Age, sex, type of trauma, initial VA grade, relative afferent pupillary defect (RAPD), zone of trauma, traumatic cataract, traumatic optic neuropathy (TON), intraocular foreign body (IOFB), retinal detachment (RD), endophthalmitis, and ocular trauma score (OTS) grade were the input features. We calculated univariate and multivariate regression models to assess the association of different features with visual acuity (VA) outcomes. We predicted visual acuity using ten supervised machine learning algorithms including multinomial logistic regression (MLR), support vector machines (SVM), K-nearest neighbors (KNN), naïve bayes (NB), decision tree (DT), random forest (RF), bagging (BG), adaptive boosting (ADA), artificial neural networks (ANN), and extreme gradient boosting (XGB). Accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV), recall, F-score, brier score (BS), Matthew correlation coefficient (MCC), receiver operating characteristic (AUC-ROC), and calibration plot were used to assess how well machine learning algorithms performed in predicting the final VA. RESULTS: The artificial neural network (ANN) model had the best accuracy to predict the final VA. The sensitivity, F1 score, PPV, accuracy, and MCC of the ANN model were 0.81, 0.85, 0.89, 0.93, and 0.81, respectively. In addition, the estimated AUC-ROC and AUR-PRC of the ANN model for OGI patients were 0.96 and 0.91, respectively. The brier score and calibration log-loss for the ANN model was 0.201 and 0.232, respectively. CONCLUSION: As classic and ensemble ML models were compared, results shows that the ANN model was the best. As a result, the framework that has been presented may be regarded as a good substitute for predicting the final VA in OGI patients. Excellent predictive accuracy was shown by the open globe injury model developed in this study, which should be helpful to provide clinical advice to patients and making clinical decisions concerning the management of open globe injuries.

Models to predict length of stay in the emergency department: a systematic literature review and appraisal.

INTRODUCTION: Prolonged Length of Stay (LOS) in ED (Emergency Department) has been associated with poor clinical outcomes. Prediction of ED LOS may help optimize resource utilization, clinical management, and benchmarking. This study aims to systematically review models for predicting ED LOS and to assess the reporting and methodological quality about these models. METHODS: The online database PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science (10 Sep 2023) was searched for English language articles that reported prediction models of LOS in ED. Identified titles and abstracts were independently screened by two reviewers. All original papers describing either development (with or without internal validation) or external validation of a prediction model for LOS in ED were included. RESULTS: Of 12,193 uniquely identified articles, 34 studies were included (29 describe the development of new models and five describe the validation of existing models). Different statistical and machine learning methods were applied to the papers. On the 39-point reporting score and 11-point methodological quality score, the highest reporting scores for development and validation studies were 39 and 8, respectively. CONCLUSION: Various studies on prediction models for ED LOS were published but they are fairly heterogeneous and suffer from methodological and reporting issues. Model development studies were associated with a poor to a fair level of methodological quality in terms of the predictor selection approach, the sample size, reproducibility of the results, missing imputation technique, and avoiding dichotomizing continuous variables. Moreover, it is recommended that future investigators use the confirmed checklist to improve the quality of reporting.

Author Response.

How to cite this article: Rahmatinejad Z, Hoseini B, Pourmand A, Reihani H, Rahmatinejad F, Eslami S, et al. Author Response. Indian J Crit Care Med 2024;28(2):183-184.

Improving data adequacy of ultrasonography reports for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) through a national structured template.

BACKGROUND: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a prevalent disorder that increases due to lifestyle, the rising rate of obesity, and population ages worldwide. Diagnostic ways, including sonography, do not have an explicit reporting structure. PURPOSE: To create a structure template for NAFLD reporting, investigate its completeness, and assess the specialist opinions of using it in clinical practice. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A structured reporting template (SRT) was designed and implemented in four stages. At first, important features were extracted from a comprehensive literature review and were evaluated by 10 radiologists and gastroenterologists using the Likert scale. Finally, the usefulness of the SRT in comparison with the conventional reporting template (CRT) was judged by 10 gastroenterologists completing the questionnaire. RESULTS: Demographic information and sonography of the liver, gallbladder, and spleen organs were the most critical features. The completeness scores of SRT reports were higher than CRT scores for almost all the factors studied. The difference in the scores was significant for most of the parameters. Moreover, the total completeness score increased from 42% in CRT to 92% in SRT. A comparison of the report adequacy of two reports was seen in all items. The SRT obtained more rates from specialists. CONCLUSION: Introduction of the SRT for NAFLD significantly enhanced the completeness of reporting to reduce variability in the interpretation of the related reports by clinicians. Nevertheless, more studies are needed to generalize the results in real scales for patients with NAFLD.

A randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled add-on trial to assess the efficacy, safety, and anti-atherogenic effect of spirulina platensis in patients with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus.

The efficacy of spirulina platensis (S. platensis) as an add-on therapy to metformin and its effect on atherogenic keys in patients with uncontrolled Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) was evaluated. Sixty patients were randomly assigned to S. platensis (2 g/day) or placebo group for three months while continuing metformin as their usual treatment. The efficacy of S. platensis was determined using the pre- and post-intervention HbA1c levels (primary outcome) as well as tracking FBS and lipid profiles levels (TC, LDL-C, TG, and HDL-C) as secondary outcomes at the different treatment time points (0,30,60,90 days). During the three-month intervention period, supplementation with S. platensis resulted in a significant lowering of HbA1c (↓1.43, p < 0.001) and FBS (↓ 24.94 mg/dL, p < 001) levels. Mean TG in the intervention group was found to be significantly lower in the intervention group than in controls (p < 0.001). Total cholesterol (TC) and its fraction, LDL-C, exhibited a fall (↓41.36 mg/dL and ↓38.4 mg/dL, respectively; p < 0.001) coupled with a marginal increase in the level of HDL-C (↑3 mg/dL; p < 0.001). Add-on therapy with S. platensis was superior to metformin regarding long-term glucose regulation and controlling blood glucose levels of subjects with T2DM. Also, as a functional supplement, S. platensis has a beneficial effect on atherogenic keys (TG and HDL-C) with no adverse events.

Comparison of Six Scoring Systems for Predicting In-hospital Mortality among Patients with SARS-COV2 Presenting to the Emergency Department.

Background: The study aimed to compare the prognostic accuracy of six different severity-of-illness scoring systems for predicting in-hospital mortality among patients with confirmed SARS-COV2 who presented to the emergency department (ED). The scoring systems assessed were worthing physiological score (WPS), early warning score (EWS), rapid acute physiology score (RAPS), rapid emergency medicine score (REMS), national early warning score (NEWS), and quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA). Materials and methods: A cohort study was conducted using data obtained from electronic medical records of 6,429 confirmed SARS-COV2 patients presenting to the ED. Logistic regression models were fitted on the original severity-of-illness scores to assess the models' performance using the Area Under the Curve for ROC (AUC-ROC) and Precision-Recall curves (AUC-PR), Brier Score (BS), and calibration plots were used to assess the models' performance. Bootstrap samples with multiple imputations were used for internal validation. Results: The mean age of the patients was 64 years (IQR:50-76) and 57.5% were male. The WPS, REMS, and NEWS models had AUROC of 0.714, 0.705, and 0.701, respectively. The poorest performance was observed in the RAPS model, with an AUROC of 0.601. The BS for the NEWS, qSOFA, EWS, WPS, RAPS, and REMS was 0.18, 0.09, 0.03, 0.14, 0.15, and 0.11 respectively. Excellent calibration was obtained for the NEWS, while the other models had proper calibration. Conclusion: The WPS, REMS, and NEWS have a fair discriminatory performance and may assist in risk stratification for SARS-COV2 patients presenting to the ED. Generally, underlying diseases and most vital signs are positively associated with mortality and were different between the survivors and non-survivors. How to cite this article: Rahmatinejad Z, Hoseini B, Reihani H, Hanna AA, Pourmand A, Tabatabaei SM, et al. Comparison of Six Scoring Systems for Predicting In-hospital Mortality among Patients with SARS-COV2 Presenting to the Emergency Department. Indian J Crit Care Med 2023;27(6):416-425.

Colorectal Cancer in North-Eastern Iran: a retrospective, comparative study of early-onset and late-onset cases based on data from the Iranian hereditary colorectal cancer registry.

BACKGROUND: The incidence rate of colorectal cancer (CRC) is increasing among patients below 50 years of age. The reason for this is unclear, but could have to do with the fact that indicative variables, such as tumour location, gender preference and genetic preponderance have not been followed up in a consistent mann er. The current study was primarily conducted to improve the hereditary CRC screening programme by assessing the demographic and clinicopathological characteristics of early-onset CRC compared to late-onset CRC in northeast Iran. METHODS: This retrospective study, carried out over a three-year follow-up period (2014-2017), included 562 consecutive CRCs diagnosed in three Mashhad city hospital laboratories in north-eastern Iran. We applied comparative analysis of pathological and hereditary features together with information on the presence of mismatch repair (MMR) gene deficiency with respect to recovery versus mortality. Patients with mutations resulting in absence of the MMR gene MLH1 protein product and normal BRAF status were considered to be at high risk of Lynch syndrome (LS). Analyses using R studio software were performed on early-onset CRC (n = 222) and late-onset CRC (n = 340), corresponding to patients ≤50 years of age and patients > 50 years. RESULTS: From an age-of-onset point of view, the distribution between the genders differed with females showing a higher proportion of early-onset CRC than men (56% vs. 44%), while the late-onset CRC disparity was less pronounced (48% vs. 52%). The mean age of all participants was 55.6 ± 14.8 years, with 40.3 ± 7.3 years for early-onset CRC and 65.1 ± 9.3 years for late-onset CRC. With respect to anatomical tumour location (distal, rectal and proximal), the frequencies were 61, 28 and 11%, respectively, but the variation did not reach statistical significance. However, there was a dramatic difference with regard to the history of CRC in second-degree relatives between two age categories, with much higher numbers of family-related CRCs in the early-onset group. Expression of the MLH1 and PMS2 genes were significantly different between recovered and deceased, while this finding was not observed with regard to the MSH6 and the MSH2 genes. Mortality was significantly higher in those at high risk of LS. CONCLUSION: The variation of demographic, pathological and genetic characteristics between early-onset and late-onset CRC emphasizes the need for a well-defined algorithm to identify high-risk patients.

Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibody among urban Iranian population: findings from the second large population-based cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The first large serosurvey in Iran found a SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence of 17.1% among the general population in the first wave of the epidemic by April, 2020. The purpose of the current study was to assess the seroprevalence of COVID-19 infection among Iranian general population after the third wave of the disease. METHODS: This population-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 7411 individuals aged ≥10 years old in 16 cities across 15 provinces in Iran between January and March, 2021. We randomly sampled individuals registered in the Iranian electronic health record system based on their national identification numbers and invited them by telephone to a healthcare center for data collection. Presence of SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG and IgM antibodies was assessed using the SARS-CoV-2 ELISA kits. The participants were also asked about their recent COVID-19-related symptoms, including cough, fever, chills, sore throat, headache, dyspnea, diarrhea, anosmia, conjunctivitis, weakness, myalgia, arthralgia, altered level of consciousness, and chest pain. The seroprevalence was estimated after adjustment for population weighting and test performance. RESULTS: The overall population-weighted seroprevalence adjusted for test performance was 34.2% (95% CI 31.0-37.3), with an estimated 7,667,874 (95% CI 6,950,412-8,362,915) infected individuals from the 16 cities. The seroprevalence varied between the cities, from the highest estimate in Tabriz (39.2% [95% CI 33.0-45.5]) to the lowest estimate in Kerman (16.0% [95% CI 10.7-21.4]). In the 16 cities studied, 50.9% of the seropositive individuals did not report a history of symptoms suggestive of COVID-19, implying an estimation of 3,902,948 (95% CI 3,537,760-4,256,724) asymptomatic infected individuals. CONCLUSIONS: Nearly one in three individuals were exposed to SARS-CoV-2 in the studied cities by March 2021. The seroprevalence increased about two-fold between April, 2020, and March, 2021.

Internal validation and evaluation of the predictive performance of models based on the PRISM-3 (Pediatric Risk of Mortality) and PIM-3 (Pediatric Index of Mortality) scoring systems for predicting mortality in Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs).

PURPOSE: The study was aimed to assess the prognostic power The Pediatric Risk of Mortality-3 (PRISM-3) and the Pediatric Index of Mortality-3 (PIM-3) to predict in-hospital mortality in a sample of patients admitted to the PICUs. DESIGN AND METHODS: The study was performed to include all children younger than 18 years of age admitted to receive critical care in two hospitals, Mashhad, northeast of Iran from December 2017 to November 2018. The predictive performance was quantified in terms of the overall performance by measuring the Brier Score (BS) and standardized mortality ratio (SMR), discrimination by assessing the AUC, and calibration by applying the Hosmer-Lemeshow test. RESULTS: A total of 2446 patients with the median age of 4.2 months (56% male) were included in the study. The PICU and in-hospital mortality were 12.4 and 16.14%, respectively. The BS of the PRISM-3 and PIM-3 was 0.088 and 0.093 for PICU mortality and 0.108 and 0.113 for in-hospital mortality. For the entire sample, the SMR of the PRISM-3 and PIM-3 were 1.34 and 1.37 for PICU mortality and 1.73 and 1.78 for in-hospital mortality, respectively. The PRISM-3 demonstrated significantly higher discrimination power in comparison with the PIM-3 (AUC = 0.829 vs 0.745) for in-hospital mortality. (AUC = 0.779 vs 0.739) for in-hospital mortality. The HL test revealed poor calibration for both models in both outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The performance measures of PRISM-3 were better than PIM-3 in both PICU and in-hospital mortality. However, further recalibration and modification studies are required to improve the predictive power to a clinically acceptable level before daily clinical use. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The calibration of the PRISM-3 model is more satisfactory than PIM-3, however both models have fair discrimination power.

A telemonitoring system to support CPAP therapy in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: a participatory approach in analysis, design, and evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Continues positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy is a gold standard treatment for moderate to severe cases of OSA (obstructive sleep apnea). The present research aimed to describe the analysis, design, and evaluation of a telemonitoring system to improve CPAP adherence in patients afflicted with OSA. METHODS: The telemonitoring system was developed in five phases. In the exploratory phase, the body of related literature was reviewed. Then a need analysis was conducted through a focus group discussion with sleep medicine specialists and sales company representatives and an interview with patients. The third phase involved data integration. Then the content and system development were done based on the previous phases. Finally, usability and functionality tests were used to evaluate the system. RESULTS: The exploratory phase and the needs analysis were conducted by four sleep medicine specialists, two medical informatics specialists, six key figures of the sales companies, two system developers, and 46 patients in different phases. Based on the results obtained from the data integration phase, the telemonitoring system involved three main parts: a patient's application, a doctor's portal, a selling companies' portal (operator's portal) along with facilitating software for patients to send the CPAP data. Usability and functionality tests were given to 7 and 10 patients, respectively. The total number of usability issues reported by users in the evaluation process was 18, with an average of 2.5 issues per user. The installation problems, disrupted links and improper playing of videos were the main functionalities problems that were solved. CONCLUSION: The telemonitoring system, as a means of communication between patients, doctors, and selling companies, can be used to support patients clinically and technically. It has the potential to improve CPAP adherence in patients with OSA.

Effect of a Text Message-Based Support Program on Outcomes of Patients After Flexor Tendon Injury Repair.

PURPOSE: Although the effectiveness of using text messages in home-based rehabilitation programs has been investigated, its ability to engage patients in home rehabilitation exercises and, as a result, improve hand outcomes, specifically in patients with flexor tendon injuries, has not been evaluated. The aim of this study was to determine whether the addition of a text message-based intervention to usual care is effective in improving hand outcomes in patients with flexor tendon injuries after repair. METHODS: In this 2-arm parallel randomized controlled trial, 40 patients were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (usual care plus the support program) or the control group (usual care only). Intervention included an automated package of instructional text messages containing links to a secure website for instructional rehabilitation videos delivered over 12 weeks. The Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand and visual analog scale for pain scores were assessed at 6 and 12 weeks. Physician-reported grip strength and total active motion were assessed after 12 weeks. RESULTS: The study was completed by 90% (36 of 40) of the patients who were enrolled. There were statistically significant differences between the 2 groups with respect to Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand and visual analog scale scores at the 6-week and 12-week assessments. In addition, there were statistically significant differences between the 2 groups with respect to total active motion and grip strength at 12 weeks. Finally, a high level of satisfaction with the intervention was reported. CONCLUSIONS: The text message-based program was associated with improved outcomes over the first 12 weeks after flexor tendon repair. TYPE OF STUDY/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic II.

Adherence to prescribed overnight sleep study in patients suspected of sleep apnea: problem size and influential factors.

PURPOSE: Despite the serious consequences of sleep apnea, some patients do not follow their physicians' advice to undergo a sleep study. The present study aimed to determine the rate of adherence and influencing factors in conducting a polysomnography test in patients suspected of obstructive sleep apnea. METHODS: This qualitative and quantitative analysis was conducted between July 2017 and November 2019 on patients suspected of sleep apnea. The quantitative analysis aimed at determining the rate of adherence through a retrospective cross-sectional study. The qualitative content analysis was conducted on purposefully selected subgroup of patients suspected of obstructive sleep apnea who were referred for polysomnography. The required data were collected through the semi-structured in-depth interviews and then recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using SPSS.22 and MAXQDA10. RESULTS: Quantitative part: Of 311 patients (mean age: 47.6 ± 13.1 years) referred for polysomnography, 283 patients (91%) were at a high risk of developing obstructive sleep apnea. Among those referred for polysomnography, 31% (n = 95) adhered to recommendations for a sleep study. Qualitative part: Factors affecting adherence to polysomnography were categorized as "barriers" and "triggers." Barriers included inadequate knowledge, psychological factors, cost, and the service system. Triggers included adequate knowledge and tangible experience of consequences of the illness. CONCLUSION: The majority of patients at risk of developing obstructive sleep apnea did not follow the recommendation for polysomnography, indicating a need for systematic interventions. Among the identified barriers, knowledge and psychological factors are modifiable ones that can be addressed with the patient. We theorize that raising awareness among patients by providing additional information and eliminating concerns may help to increase the rate of adherence. Insurance coverage or subsidy to reduce the sleep study costs may also be an effective strategy to increase adherence to recommendations for polysomnography.

A cohort study of membranous nephropathy, primary or secondary.

BACKGROUND: Although IgG4 deposit against phospholipase A2 receptor (anti-PLA2R) is predominantly presented in the renal biopsy of patients with primary membranous nephropathy (MN), its diagnostic value of this immune complex has not been fully established. METHODS: In this cohort study, 108 biopsy-proven MN patients with proteinuria were evaluated during two years follow up and were divided into primary and secondary groups. Renal biopsy specimens were pathologically assessed for IgG4 and PLA2R depositions by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Therefore, the relationships between staining severity, MN type and total proteinuria in all patients were determined. RESULTS: Of 108 patients, 73.1% had primary MN and 26.9% were diagnosed as secondary form. IHC staining in patients with primary MN was positive for PLA2R in 76 (96.2%) and IgG4 in 68 (86.1%). Cases with positive PLA2R expression had a significantly higher rate among patients with mild to moderate stages (P = 0.03). No significant relationship was found between intensity of PLA2R and IgG4 deposits with proteinuria and serum creatinine. Based on our data, double positivity/negativity of PLA2R and IgG4 expression adds prominent information to the clinical data and were found to be useful and robust biomarkers for detection of primary MN patients with high sensitivity and specificity (97.1 and 96.3% respectively, PPV = 98.5% and NPV = 92.9%). CONCLUSIONS: Simultaneously expression of PLA2R and IgG4 in renal biopsy specimens of patients with MN could possibly be used as a potential diagnostic method to distinguish primary from secondary MN and also pathological severity of the disease.

Spatial-time analysis of cardiovascular emergency medical requests: enlightening policy and practice.

BACKGROUND: Response time to cardiovascular emergency medical requests is an important indicator in reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) -related mortality. This study aimed to visualize the spatial-time distribution of response time, scene time, and call-to-hospital time of these emergency requests. We also identified patterns of clusters of CVD-related calls. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Mashhad, north-eastern Iran, between August 2017 and December 2019. The response time to every CVD-related emergency medical request call was computed using spatial and classical statistical analyses. The Anselin Local Moran's I was performed to identify potential clusters in the patterns of CVD-related calls, response time, call-to-hospital arrival time, and scene-to-hospital arrival time at small area level (neighborhood level) in Mashhad, Iran. RESULTS: There were 84,239 CVD-related emergency request calls, 61.64% of which resulted in the transport of patients to clinical centers by EMS, while 2.62% of callers (a total of 2218 persons) died before EMS arrival. The number of CVD-related emergency calls increased by almost 7% between 2017 and 2018, and by 19% between 2017 and 2019. The peak time for calls was between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m., and the lowest number of calls were recorded between 3 a.m. and 9 a.m. Saturday was the busiest day of the week in terms of call volume. There were statistically significant clusters in the pattern of CVD-related calls in the south-eastern region of Mashhad. Further, we found a large spatial variation in scene-to-hospital arrival time and call-to-hospital arrival time in the area under study. CONCLUSION: The use of geographical information systems and spatial analyses in modelling and quantifying EMS response time provides a new vein of knowledge for decision makers in emergency services management. Spatial as well as temporal clustering of EMS calls were present in the study area. The reasons for clustering of unfavorable time indices for EMS response requires further exploration. This approach enables policymakers to design tailored interventions to improve response time and reduce CVD-related mortality.

The Effect of Curcumin Supplementation on Pulse Wave Velocity in Patients with Metabolic Syndrome: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in many societies. Arterial stiffness is an initial sign of structural and functional changes in the arterial wall. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is the gold standard for non-invasive evaluation of aortic stiffness and a modifiable cardiovascular risk factor. Curcumin is a major component of turmeric with known anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects. Since arterial stiffness is affected by inflammation and oxidative stress, it may be improved by curcumin supplementation. The purpose of this clinical trial was to investigate the potential effects of curcumin on improving arterial stiffness in patients with metabolic syndrome. This placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized clinical trial was conducted among metabolic syndrome patients. Sixty-six eligible individuals were randomly assigned to active intervention or control groups. The active intervention group received curcumin supplement at a dose of 500 mg daily for 12 weeks, whereas the control group received placebo capsule. Physical activity, daily dietary energy intake, anthropometric body composition, and biochemical hemodynamic and arterial stiffness parameters were evaluated at baseline and at the end of the study. Body weight decreased significantly in the curcumin group compared to placebo. Also, curcumin intervention improved PWV, which remained significant after adjustment for potential confounding factors (p = 0.011). The current clinical trial demonstrated that daily intake of 500 mg of curcumin for 12 weeks can lead to the improvement of arterial stiffness and weight management among subjects with metabolic syndrome.

Effectiveness of IT-based interventions on self-management in adult kidney transplant recipients: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Kidney transplant outcomes are broadly associated with transplant recipients' capacity in following a complex and continuous self-management regimen. Health information technology has the potential to empower patients. This systematic review aimed to determine the impacts of IT-based interventions for self-management in kidney transplant recipients. METHODS: A comprehensive investigation was performed in MEDLINE (via PubMed) and EMBASE (via Scopus) in April 2019. Eligible studies were the randomized controlled trials which aimed to design an automated IT-based intervention. All English papers including adult kidney transplant recipients were included. To assess the clinical trial's quality, Cochrane Collaboration's assessment tool was employed. The articles were integrated based on category of outcomes, characteristics of interventions, and their impact. The interventions were classified based on the used IT-based tools, including smart phones, coverage tools, computer systems, and a combination of several tools. The impact of interventions was defined as: (1) positive effect (i.e. statistically significant), and (2) no effect (i.e. not statistically significant). RESULTS: A total of 2392 articles were retrieved and eight publications were included for full-text analysis. Interventions include those involving the use of computerized systems (3 studies), smart phone application (3 studies), and multiple components (2 studies). The studies evaluated 30 outcomes in total, including 24 care process and 6 clinical outcomes. In 18 (80%) out of 30 outcomes, interventions had a statistically significant positive effect, 66% in process and 33% in clinical outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: IT-based interventions (e.g. mobile health applications, wearable devices, and computer systems) can improve self-management in kidney transplant recipients (including clinical and care process outcomes). However, further evaluation studies are required to quantify the impact of IT-based self-management interventions on short- and long-term clinical outcomes as well as health care costs and patients' quality of life.