PLoS medicine
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Review Meta Analysis
Effect of water, sanitation, and hygiene on the prevention of trachoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Trachoma is the world's leading cause of infectious blindness. The World Health Organization (WHO) has endorsed the SAFE strategy in order to eliminate blindness due to trachoma by 2020 through "surgery," "antibiotics," "facial cleanliness," and "environmental improvement." While the S and A components have been widely implemented, evidence and specific targets are lacking for the F and E components, of which water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are critical elements. Data on the impact of WASH on trachoma are needed to support policy and program recommendations. Our objective was to systematically review the literature and conduct meta-analyses where possible to report the effects of WASH conditions on trachoma and identify research gaps. ⋯ We found strong evidence to support F and E components of the SAFE strategy. Though limitations included moderate to high heterogenity, low study quality, and the lack of standard definitions, these findings support the importance of WASH in trachoma elimination strategies and the need for the development of standardized approaches to measuring WASH in trachoma control programs.
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Observational Study
Obstructive sleep apnea and risk of cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality: a decade-long historical cohort study.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been reported to be a risk factor for cardiovascular (CV) disease. Although the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) is the most commonly used measure of OSA, other less well studied OSA-related variables may be more pathophysiologically relevant and offer better prediction. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between OSA-related variables and risk of CV events. ⋯ OSA-related factors other than AHI were shown as important predictors of composite CV outcome and should be considered in future studies and clinical practice.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of an educational toolkit on quality of care: a pragmatic cluster randomized trial.
Printed educational materials for clinician education are one of the most commonly used approaches for quality improvement. The objective of this pragmatic cluster randomized trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational toolkit focusing on cardiovascular disease screening and risk reduction in people with diabetes. ⋯ The educational toolkit did not improve quality of care or cardiovascular outcomes in a population with diabetes. Despite being relatively easy and inexpensive to implement, printed educational materials were not effective. The study highlights the need for a rigorous and scientifically based approach to the development, dissemination, and evaluation of quality improvement interventions.
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Observational Study
Patterns of obesity development before the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes: the Whitehall II cohort study.
Patients with type 2 diabetes vary greatly with respect to degree of obesity at time of diagnosis. To address the heterogeneity of type 2 diabetes, we characterised patterns of change in body mass index (BMI) and other cardiometabolic risk factors before type 2 diabetes diagnosis. ⋯ Three patterns of obesity changes prior to diabetes diagnosis were accompanied by distinct trajectories of insulin resistance and other cardiometabolic risk factors in a white, British population. While these results should be verified independently, the great majority of patients had modest weight gain prior to diagnosis. These results suggest that strategies focusing on small weight reductions for the entire population may be more beneficial than predominantly focusing on weight loss for high-risk individuals.
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Sentinel lymph node spread is a crucial factor in melanoma outcome. We aimed to define the impact of minimal cancer spread and of increasing numbers of disseminated cancer cells on melanoma-specific survival. ⋯ Cancer cell dissemination to the sentinel node is a quantitative risk factor for melanoma death. A model based on the combined quantitative effects of DCCD, tumor thickness, and ulceration predicted outcome best, particularly at longer follow-up. If these results are validated in an independent study, establishing quantitative immunocytology in histopathological laboratories may be useful clinically.