Global analysis of the COVID-19 research landscape and scientific impact.

OBJECTIVES: To consider a 1-year time window of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis to integrate qualitative and quantitative data and provide an in-depth analysis of all COVID-19 publications from geographical, epidemiological and chronological perspectives. METHODS: Publications on COVID-19 from December 1, 2019, to December 31, 2020 without document type limitations were extracted from the Web of Science database. Microsoft Excel 2016, GraphPad Prism 9, VOSviewer 1.6.15 and IBM SPSS 21.0 were used to analyze the global epidemiological publication landscape and its correlations, research hotspots around the world and the top 5 countries in terms of publications. RESULTS: A total of 51,317 documents were analyzed in the present study. The publication trend could be divided into an increasing output stage and an explosive output stage. There were positive correlations between monthly publications, confirmed cases and deaths. Research hotspots from the whole year, from individual quarters, and from the top 5 countries with the most publications were further identified. CONCLUSIONS: The correlation analysis of publications indicated that confirmed cases and deaths were forces driving the scientific output, reflecting the growing trend to some extent. Moreover, the hotspot analysis provided valuable information for scientists, funders, policy and decision-makers to determine what areas should be their focus when faced with public health emergencies in the future.

The effect of stigma on social participation in community-dwelling Chinese patients with stroke sequelae: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of stigma on social participation in community-dwelling Chinese patients with stroke sequelae. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey study. SETTING: The study was conducted in two community centres in Tianjin, China. SUBJECTS: Community-dwelling Chinese patients with stroke sequelae. MEASURES: Chinese version of Stigma Scale for Chronic Illness, Chinese version of Impact on Participation and Autonomy, Modified Barthel index, Self-Rating Depression Scale, Social Support Rating Scale, Medical Coping Modes Questionnaire, background and disease-related questions. Pearson's correlation coefficients were computed between stigma and social participation. The impact of stigma on social participation was estimated by hierarchical multiple regression analysis after controlling for demographic, physical and psychosocial characteristics. RESULTS: In total, 136 patients with stroke sequelae were included in this study, with a mean age of 67.8 years. The Chinese version of the Stigma Scale for Chronic Illness had a mean score of 48.4 (SD 16.9), and the Chinese version of the Impact on Participation and Autonomy was 67.1 (SD 21.1). Significant correlations were found between stigma and social participation. Pearson's correlation coefficient ranged from 0.354 to 0.605 (P < 0.01). Enacted stigma provided a significant explanation for the variance of social participation by 1.1% (P < 0.05). Felt stigma provided a significant explanation for the variance of social participation by 2.9% (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Felt stigma and enacted stigma have independent associations with social participation. Patients with stroke sequelae who reported higher stigma experienced a lower level of social participation.

Evaluation of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Intermittent Self-Catheterization Users: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVE: To identify patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for intermittent self-catheterization (ISC) users, critically assess and summarize the quality of the measurement properties, and describe the application scenarios on each instrument. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, EMBASE, Medline, PsycINFO, and relevant reference lists were systematically searched through December 2019 (updated May 2020). STUDY SELECTION: Two reviewers independently identified original English language publications that evaluated the psychometric properties of specific PROMs used in ISC patients. DATA EXTRACTION: The following data were obtained: author and publication year, content of domains and subscales, number of items, response options, constructs measured, language, and information on measurement properties. DATA SYNTHESIS: Eleven publications were deemed eligible, including 6 PROMs for measuring patients' ISC-related quality of life, self-confidence, satisfaction, difficulties, acceptance, and adherence to treatment. The Intermittent Self-Catheterization Questionnaire provided the most detail, and the Intermittent Catheterization Acceptance Test could be evaluated on the most consensus-based standards for the selection of health status measurement instrument properties. CONCLUSIONS: Several tools are available for ISC users, but at present there is no comprehensive, concise, and robust instrument with good psychometric properties. Further research on psychometric properties is needed to verify the remaining properties of existing scales and to develop novel tools for clinicians, researchers, and patients.

Global publications on stigma between 1998-2018: A bibliometric analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the development process and structural relationships of scientific achievements on stigma over the past two decades and to provide insights for researchers and policy makers to drive policy decisions and identify future research needs. METHODS: Quantitative analysis of publications was directly interpreted and graphed through Web of Science and ORIGIN 2017. The co-occurrence and collaboration analysis between authors, countries and keywords were conducted through VOSviewer. Keyword burst was detected through CiteSpace. RESULTS: The retrieved 2,799 publications showed a trend of increasing annual publications between 1998 and 2018. The United States made the greatest contribution to global publications regarding stigma. Four keyword clusters indicating research hotspot were identified through the default clustering method in VOSviewer. Meta-analysis and internalized stigma were detected as keyword bursts in recent years. CONCLUSIONS: The growth trend of publications indicated increased research interest in stigma, especially common stigma types, including HIV stigma and obesity stigma. Future research should focus on other types of stigma and should include more elaborate intervention programs, mechanism exploration, and research on internalized stigma. Scientific research on stigma requires an extensive collaborative endeavor, both domestically and internationally, among diverse researchers, institutions, and countries.

Factors associated with stigma in community-dwelling stroke survivors in China: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Although stigma is considered to be present in stroke patients, the factors that influence its level are ambiguous. The aim of this study was to investigate whether certain demographic, clinical, and psychosocial characteristics are related to higher levels of stigma among stroke patients in China. METHODS: A total of 200 stroke patients in the community were investigated using the Stigma Scale for Chronic Illness (SSCI), Barthel Index, Self-Rating Depression Scale, Medical Moping Questionnaire, and Social Support Rating Scale. Potential determinants were evaluated with univariate statistical analyses for their contributions to total, felt and enacted stigma. Important findings were further evaluated with multiple regression models. RESULTS: The mean total stigma, felt stigma, and enacted stigma scores were 45.21 ±â€¯16.68, 27.93 ±â€¯10.95, and 17.27 ±â€¯6.93, respectively. Most participants reported experiencing felt stigma (90%), while 72.5% reported experiencing enacted stigma. Multiple regression analysis showed that stroke patients' depression, functional status, an avoiding coping strategy, subjective support and recurrence of stroke were factors impacting the SSCI score. CONCLUSION: The stigma level among stroke patients in China was of a mild-moderate degree. Among stroke patients, a higher level of stigma was influenced by a higher degree of depression, a higher degree of an avoiding coping strategy, lower functional ability, lower subjective support and recurrence of stroke. Further work should focus on developing intervention strategies to decrease the amount of stigma and promote quality of life as well as psychosocial rehabilitation among stroke patients.

Reliability and validity of a Chinese version of the Stigma Scale for Chronic Illness (SSCI) in patients with stroke.

Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Stigma Scale for Chronic Illness (SSCI) in patients with stroke. Methods In total, 220 patients with stroke were recruited to complete the scale. The reliability of the SSCI was evaluated using internal consistency and test-retest methods. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to identify domains of the SSCI. Convergent validity was determined by analyzing the correlation between SSCI scores, activities of daily living (ADL) and depression. Results Construct validity was determined by factor analysis, extracting three factors with eigenvalues greater than 1, explaining 30.5%, 25.7%, and 8.5% of the variance, respectively, and accounting for 64.8% of the variance. All items had factor loadings above 0.40. The first factor comprised questions related to 'self-stigma' (items 1-13). The second (items 14-22) and third (items 23-24) factors aggregated questions related to 'enacted stigma'. In terms of convergent validity, the SSCI total scale was moderately correlated to the Barthel Index (BI) and the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS). Cronbach's alpha value (internal reliability) for the total SSCI score was 0.949, and the intraclass correlation coefficient value (test-retest reliability) was 0.802. Discussion The results provide initial evidence that the SSCI is a reliable and validated measure for evaluating stigma in stroke patients in China.

Stroke and food groups: an overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

OBJECTIVE: Numerous systematic reviews of prospective studies on the association of stroke risk with the consumption of various food groups have been published. A review of the evidence across the existing systematic reviews and meta-analyses of prospective studies was conducted to provide an overview of the range and validity of the reported associations of food groups with stroke risk. DESIGN: The PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library databases were searched for articles published up to September 2015 to identify systematic reviews of prospective studies. RESULTS: A total of eighteen studies published from 2008 to 2015 were eligible for analysis. Overall, thirteen specific foods were studied for an association with stroke outcome, including nuts, legumes, fruits and vegetables, refined grains, whole grains, dairy products, eggs, chocolate, red and/or processed meat, fish, tea, sugar-sweetened beverages and coffee. Whereas a high consumption of nuts, fruits, vegetables, dairy foods, fish and tea, and moderate consumption of coffee and chocolate demonstrated a protective effect, a high consumption of red and/or processed meat was associated with increased stroke risk. Refined grain, sugar-sweetened beverage, legume, egg and whole grain intake showed no effect on stroke outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The current overview provided a high level of evidence to support the beneficial effect of specific foods on stroke outcome. Clinicians and policy makers could inform clinical practice and policy based on this overview.

Predictors for severe acute esophagitis in lung cancer patients treated with chemoradiotherapy: a systematic review.

PURPOSE: To identify the risk factors for severe acute esophagitis (AE) in lung cancer patients undergoing chemoradiotherapy (CRT). METHODS: Articles from PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were searched in August 2015. Articles reporting studies of the predictors for severe AE in lung cancer patients after CRT were included. Study quality was assessed using a modified quality assessment tool that was designed previously for an observational study. The effects of studies were combined with the study quality score using a best-evidence synthesis model. Severe AE incidence was also performed using the Metafor package of R-2.11.1. RESULTS: A total of nine observational studies involving 1641 patients were included. The estimated incidence of severe AE was 14%. According to the best-evidence synthesis criteria, there were two strong-evidence risk factors for severe AE, which were the use of concurrent chemotherapy (CCT) and dose volume histogram (DVH). We also identified four limited-evidence risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: More attention should be paid to the levels of patients' esophagus function. Although there is no conclusive evidence for severe AE in lung cancer patients after CRT, the above-mentioned factors provide evidence to guide clinicians as to which patients will have severe AE and to choose an optimal prophylactic strategy.