Review
Oncology
Nora Tabea Sibert, Holger Pfaff, Clara Breidenbach, Simone Wesselmann, Christoph Kowalski
Summary: Patient-reported outcomes are being used to compare the quality of outcomes between different healthcare providers, but fair comparisons require case-mix adjustment to account for differences in patient populations. This systematic review identified various approaches to case-mix adjustment for patient-reported outcomes, highlighting the need for a standardized methodological guideline.
Article
Surgery
Mark E. Cohen, Yaoming Liu, Bruce L. Hall, Amy J. Sachs, Jakob C. Lapsley, Claudia M. Byrd, Clifford Y. Ko
Summary: To ensure the validity and acceptance of NSQIP risk-adjusted benchmarking, it is important to adequately control for hospitals that vary in their proportions of lower- or higher-risk operations. This issue has been addressed through separate empirical and simulation studies.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS
(2022)
Article
Health Policy & Services
Pavankumar Mulgund, Banashri Pavankumar Mulgund, Raj Sharman, Raghvendra Singh
Summary: Research findings suggest that healthcare organizations in California encounter several legal and technological challenges in complying with CCPA. Legal concerns include lack of regulatory clarity and low enforcement likelihood, while technological hurdles include poor data discovery and inventory processes, lack of sophisticated digital infrastructure, the interaction between technology and privacy professionals, and high compliance costs.
HEALTH POLICY AND TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Oncology
Arthur K. E. Elfrink, Erik W. van Zwet, Rutger-Jan Swijnenburg, Marcel den Dulk, Peter B. van den Boezem, J. Sven D. Mieog, Wouter W. te Riele, Gijs A. Patijn, Wouter K. G. Leclercq, Daan J. Lips, Arjen M. Rijken, Cornelis Verhoef, Koert F. D. Kuhlmann, Carlijn Buis, Koop Bosscha, Eric J. T. Belt, Maarten Vermaas, N. Tjarda van Heek, Steven J. Oosterling, Hans Torrenga, Hasan H. Eker, Esther C. J. Consten, Hendrik A. Marsman, Michel W. J. M. Wouters, Niels F. M. Kok, Dirk J. Gruenhagen, Joost M. Klaase
Summary: This study aimed to compare short-term postoperative outcomes for patients undergoing liver resection for colorectal liver metastases by providing a case-mix model. Significant differences in case-mix variables between hospitals were observed, and correction of these differences eliminated significant outliers in postoperative outcomes. Case-mix adjustment is essential for comparing short-term postoperative outcomes between hospitals.
Article
Nursing
Ellen Van de Velde, Ann Van Hecke, Naomi Van Cleemput, Kristof Eeckloo, Simon Malfait
Summary: Research suggests that involving consumers in nursing handovers can improve the relationship and trust between consumers and nurses, as well as empower consumers to take control of their healthcare process and ensure information accuracy and completeness.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Rachel L. Wattier, Cary W. Thurm, Sarah K. Parker, Ritu Banerjee, Adam L. Hersh
Summary: This study evaluated the variation and adjustment methods of antimicrobial use in children's hospitals, finding that indirect standardization can reduce apparent variation in usage rates and provide adjusted comparisons to guide interventions.
CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2021)
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Mekdes Kondale Gurara, Veerle Draulans, Jean-Pierre Van Geertruyden, Yves Jacquemyn
Summary: Despite efforts to improve maternal health care services in rural Ethiopia, the utilization status remains low. This study assessed the status and determinants of maternal health care services in rural Ethiopia. The findings indicate that individual factors such as women's educational status, awareness of danger signs, and family planning, as well as cluster-level factors such as residing in lowland areas and easy access to transportation, play a crucial role in the utilization of maternal health care services.
BMC PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH
(2023)
Review
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Olukemi Adeyemi, Mary Lyons, Tsi Njim, Joseph Okebe, Josephine Birungi, Kevin Nana, Jean Claude Mbanya, Sayoki Mfinanga, Kaushik Ramaiya, Shabbar Jaffar, Anupam Garrib
Summary: Some East African countries have taken steps towards HIV and NCD service integration, although evidence of effectiveness remains limited. Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda recommend integrated delivery of HIV and NCD care in high level health policies and treatment guidelines, while South Sudan and Burundi focus on building healthcare infrastructure without reported plans for HIV and NCD care integration.
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Yang Qu, Varun Devakonda, Zeyi Shi, Beiming Yang, Qian Wang
Summary: Adolescence is often portrayed negatively in Western culture, but there is cultural and individual variability in views of teens. This study investigates the impact of classroom-level stereotypes of adolescence on Chinese adolescents' academic adjustment over time and finds that these stereotypes play a significant role in their academic adaptation.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Nursing
Rashmi Dissanayake, Rebecca Olivieri, Melissa Aguey-Zinsou, Elisa Yule, Leonie Dunn
Summary: This study used a descriptive phenomenological approach to explore the consumer perspective of the strengths model of case management. The findings revealed that the relationship between the consumer and the case manager is valuable, strengths assessment supports identifying strengths and areas for action, and the strengths model of case management promotes recovery and goal achievement.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
(2023)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Linda R. Stanley, Meghan A. Crabtree, Randall C. Swaim, Mark A. Prince
Summary: This cross-sectional study examines the impacts of COVID-19 on reservation-area American Indian youth. The results suggest that although COVID-19 has led to high mortality and morbidity rates on American Indian reservations, the psychosocial impacts on youth are complex, and many students exhibit resilience in the face of the pandemic.
Article
Geography
Amy M. Magnus, Patricia Advincula
Summary: Navigating mental health in rural communities presents unique challenges due to internalized shame, exclusionary communal attitudes, and fragmented mental healthcare infrastructure. Research highlights how these factors worsen mental health struggles in rural individuals, and proposes participant-driven solutions for improvement at policy and community levels.
JOURNAL OF RURAL STUDIES
(2021)
Article
Business
Jeremy S. Wolter, D. Todd Donavan, Michael Giebelhausen
Summary: Through two multilevel studies, this research found that corporate reputation has a positive impact on consumer-company identification, but only when consumers have the appropriate cognitive language and a favorable inclination towards reputable companies. The results suggest that corporate reputation plays a critical role as an intangible asset, emphasizing the importance of firms supporting stakeholder relationships properly.
JOURNAL OF BUSINESS RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Jenalyn Shigella G. Yandug, France D. Ponce, Ardvin Kester S. Ong
Summary: Alcohol consumption is projected to increase in the Philippines, prompting researchers to study the preferences of young consumers. The study found that price is the most crucial factor affecting consumer preferences, followed by the type of alcoholic beverage.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Daria Pelech, Karen Stockley
Summary: This study compares spending in private, nongroup health insurance plans to employer plans and identifies the factors contributing to spending differences, such as provider prices and quantity of care. The results show that provider prices in nongroup plans are closer to those paid by employer plans than to the lower prices paid by public payers. Health risk is the main driver of spending differences.
HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Melissa Soohoo, Elani Streja, Jui-Ting Hsiung, Csaba P. Kovesdy, Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, Onyebuchi A. Arah
Summary: The study identified the presence of the obesity paradox in patients with advanced CKD, where obese patients had lower mortality rates compared to non-obese patients. Even after considering uncontrolled confounding factors such as inflammation, the association remained, indicating that inflammation may not fully explain the relationship between BMI and mortality.
JOURNAL OF RENAL NUTRITION
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Annette K. Regan, Onyebuchi A. Arah, Sheena G. Sullivan
Summary: This study aims to evaluate the accuracy of diagnostic codes in detecting COVID-19 during pregnancy and finds that relying solely on ICD-coded diagnoses may result in missing over one-fifth of cases. The use of multiple sources of COVID-19 diagnostic information can improve the accuracy of epidemiological studies.
PAEDIATRIC AND PERINATAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Kosuke Inoue, Beate Ritz, Onyebuchi A. Arah
Summary: This study found that chronic pain increases the risk of all-cause mortality through opioid prescriptions. This highlights the importance of careful guideline-based chronic pain management to prevent death from possibly inappropriate opioid prescriptions driven by chronic pain.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Andreas Rieckmann, Piotr Dworzynski, Leila Arras, Sebastian Lapuschkin, Wojciech Samek, Onyebuchi Aniweta Arah, Naja Hulvej Rod, Claus Thorn Ekstrom
Summary: This study presents the Causes of Outcome Learning approach, which aims to discover combinations of exposures that lead to an increased risk of specific health outcomes. The approach involves a computational phase using a non-negative model, risk decomposition, and clustering individuals. Applying this approach enables the identification of complex causes and informs targeted public health interventions.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Yusuke Okubo, Akihiro Nishi, Karin B. Michels, Hiroki Nariai, Robert J. Kim-Farley, Onyebuchi A. Arah, Kazuhiro Uda, Noriko Kinoshita, Isao Miyairi
Summary: Japan's healthcare policy of providing financial incentives to medical facilities for not prescribing antibiotics resulted in a significant reduction in inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions without adverse health care consequences.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Paul Brendel, Aracelis Torres, Onyebuchi A. Arah
Summary: Traditional multiple-bias adjustment involves adjusting for biases one at a time, while a novel alternative approach is to simultaneously adjust for all biases using imputation and/or regression weighting. A simulation study showed that using correct bias parameters can yield unbiased effect estimates, and even incorrect specification of bias parameters still resulted in less bias compared to observed biased effects. Simultaneous multi-bias analysis is a useful method to investigate and understand how multiple biases can affect initial effect estimates, enhancing the validity and transparency of real-world evidence obtained from observational, longitudinal studies.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Helen T. Orimoloye, Naveen Qureshi, Pei-Chen Lee, Chia-Kai Wu, Chai Saechao, Noah Federman, Chung-Yi Li, Beate Ritz, Onyebuchi A. Arah, Julia E. Heck
Summary: This study in Taiwan found that maternal anemia during pregnancy is related to childhood cancer. Nutritional anemia increases the risk of childhood cancer, while non-nutritional anemias do not.
PEDIATRIC BLOOD & CANCER
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Anne Gaml-Sorensen, Nis Brix, Katia Keglberg Haervig, Christian Lindh, Sandra Sogaard Tottenborg, Karin Sorig Hougaard, Birgit Bjerre Hoyer, Andreas Ernst, Linn Hakonsen Arendt, Pernille Jul Clemmensen, Jens Peter Ellekilde Bonde, Tine Brink Henriksen, Gunnar Toft, Onyebuchi A. A. Arah, Cecilia Host Ramlau-Hansen
Summary: Maternal vitamin D levels during pregnancy may have an impact on reproductive health in male offspring, affecting testes volume and total sperm count. This study found that lower maternal vitamin D levels during pregnancy were associated with decreased testes volume and lower total sperm count in adult sons. The findings were supported by continuous models, spline plots, and instrumental variable analysis. Maternal vitamin D levels above 75 nmol/L during pregnancy may be beneficial for testes function in adult sons.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Anne Gaml-Sorensen, Nis Brix, Andreas Ernst, Lea Lykke Harrits Lunddorf, Christian Lindh, Gunnar Toft, Tine Brink Henriksen, Onyebuchi A. Arah, Cecilia Host Ramlau-Hansen
Summary: This study investigated whether the season of first trimester or maternal 25-hydroxyvitamin D-3 levels were associated with pubertal timing in children. The results showed that children of mothers who had their first trimester during November-April or had lower 25(OH)D-3 levels had earlier pubertal timing.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Douglas E. Morrison, Roch Nianogo, Vladimir Manuel, Onyebuchi A. Arah, Nathaniel Anderson, Tony Kuo, Moira Inkelas
Summary: An agent-based model was developed to help school districts understand infection dynamics and the impact of preventive measures on outcomes. This model provides insights for policymakers on the effects of different interventions and infection risks on educational outcomes.
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Substance Abuse
Ryan D. Assaf, Marjan Javanbakht, Pamina M. Gorbach, Onyebuchi A. Arah, Steven J. Shoptaw, Ziva D. Cooper
Summary: Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, sharing prepared cannabis and cannabis-related paraphernalia was common. However, this study found that sharing of cannabis decreased during the pandemic, possibly due to risk mitigation strategies to prevent COVID-19 transmission.
HARM REDUCTION JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Melissa Soohoo, Onyebuchi A. Arah
Summary: Time-varying uncontrolled confounding can have a substantial impact on observed effect estimates. Given the importance of longitudinal studies in guiding public health, the impact of time-varying uncontrolled confounding should be recognized and evaluated using quantitative bias analysis.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Diana M. J. Delnoij, Meggie Derks, Laura Koolen, Shuka Shekary, Jozua Suitela
Summary: This article explores different strategies for disclosing patients' experiential knowledge through analyzing their stories on the web and social media. The study found that bloggers describe a wide range of experiences in various aspects related to their health and functioning, and these experiences are reflected in the domains and items of PROMs related to their disease. However, there are potentially missing topics and redundant items in some PROMs.
JMIR FORMATIVE RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Primary Health Care
Peter P. Groenewegen, Maria van den Muijsenbergh, Ronald Batenburg, Esther Van Poel, Stijn van den Broek, Pierre Vanden Bussche, Sara Willems
Summary: This article describes the adjustments made by general practices during the COVID-19 pandemic in patient flow management, appointments, triage, referral, and infection prevention. Based on an online survey of 893 general practitioners, it was found that practices adapted their organization based on advice from professional organizations to ensure remote and safe patient care. This included a significant increase in the use of video consultations and improved cooperation with neighboring practices. Practices felt supported by professional organizations.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Catherine Psaras, Annette Regan, Roch Nianogo, Onyebuchi A. Arah, Marissa J. Seamans
Summary: This study examined the impact of the 2011/2012 ACIP pertussis recommendation on pertussis incidence and mortality among US infants. The results suggest that the recommendation may have led to a decrease in pertussis incidence, but had no significant effect on infant pertussis mortality.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2023)