Current medical research and opinion
-
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted and continues to impact the health and well-being of Australian adults. However, there has been no instrument validated to comprehensively measure how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted adults in Australia across several domains (e.g. fear of COVID-19, attitudes towards vaccination, psychosocial impact of lockdowns).The current study conducted a rigorous psychometric process to develop and validate an instrument to measure the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, the COVID-19 Impact Scale (CIS). ⋯ The instrument is available to be used by Australian researchers and implemented to evaluate public policies, adapted for future pandemics, or used internationally.
-
To provide a systematic overview of bioethical debate on somatic gene therapy as documented in the scientific literature. ⋯ Our study provides a database of existing challenges and arguments of somatic gene therapy and may serve as the basis of normative analysis. By presenting collected arguments, we contribute to the discussion about the ethics and social dimensions of somatic gene therapy.
-
To assess the predictive accuracy of code-based algorithms for identifying invasive Escherichia coli (E. coli) disease (IED) among inpatient encounters in US hospitals. ⋯ This study assessed code-based algorithms to identify IED during inpatient encounters in a large US hospital database. Such algorithms could be useful to identify IED in healthcare databases that lack information on microbiology data.
-
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of death worldwide. While two approved fixed-dose inhaled corticosteroid/long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA)/long-acting β2-agonist (LABA) triple therapies reduce all-cause mortality (ACM) versus dual LAMA/LABA therapy in patients with COPD, head-to-head studies have not compared the effects of these therapies on ACM. We compared ACM in adults with moderate-to-very severe COPD receiving budesonide/glycopyrrolate/formoterol fumarate (BGF) in ETHOS versus fluticasone furoate/umeclidinium/vilanterol (FF/UMEC/VI) in IMPACT using a matching-adjusted indirect comparison (MAIC). ⋯ In this MAIC, which adjusted for population heterogeneity between ETHOS and IMPACT, ACM was significantly reduced with BGF versus FF/UMEC/VI in patients with moderate-to-very severe COPD.
-
The treat-to-target strategy is recommended by Selecting Therapeutic Targets in Inflammatory Bowel Disease II (STRIDE-II) for treating ulcerative colitis (UC), and monitoring remission status is crucial during this management. The systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), defined as platelet * neutrophil/lymphocyte, is a complete blood count-based index reflecting the balance of immune and inflammatory status. This study aims to investigate the feasibility of SII for diagnosing UC and monitoring UC disease activity. ⋯ SII is a potential biomarker for diagnosing UC and monitoring UC disease severity, especially in evaluating mucosal and histological healing during the long-term management in treat-to-target strategy. However, further research is needed to confirm its usefulness and optimize its clinical application.