Plos One
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Cross-sectional studies suggest associations between abnormal lipid levels and prevalence of low back pain (LBP), but it is not known if there is any causal relationship. ⋯ Crude associations between lipid levels and risk of subsequent LBP in individuals without current LBP are mainly caused by confounding with body mass. However, an association with low HDL levels may still remain in men who are already affected and possibly experience a higher pain intensity.
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Deficiencies of vitamin A and iron affect a significant portion of the world's population, and efforts to characterize patterns of these deficiencies are hampered by a lack of measurement tools appropriate for large-scale population-based surveys. Vitamin A and iron are not easily measured directly, so reliable proxy markers for deficiency status have been identified and adopted. Measurement of inflammatory markers is necessary to interpret vitamin A and iron status markers, because circulating levels are altered by inflammation. ⋯ Inter-assay imprecision for the multiplex panel varied from 1% to 8%, and all samples fell within the limits of quantification for all assays at a single dilution. Absolute values given by the multiplex and conventional assays differed, indicating a need for further work to devise a new standard curve. This multiplexed micronutrient immunoassay technique has excellent potential as a cost effective tool for use in large-scale deficiency assessment efforts.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Cost-effectiveness analysis of acupuncture, counselling and usual care in treating patients with depression: the results of the ACUDep trial.
New evidence on the clinical effectiveness of acupuncture plus usual care (acupuncture) and counselling plus usual care (counselling) for patients with depression suggests the need to investigate the health-related quality of life and costs of these treatments to understand whether they should be considered a good use of limited health resources. ⋯ Acupuncture is cost-effective compared with counselling or usual care alone, although the ranking of counselling and acupuncture depends on the relative cost of delivering these interventions. For patients in whom acupuncture is unavailable or perhaps inappropriate, counselling has an ICER less than most cost-effectiveness thresholds. However, further research is needed to determine the most cost-effective treatment pathways for depressed patients when the full range of available interventions is considered.
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Observational Study
Physician presence in an ambulance car is associated with increased survival in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a prospective cohort analysis.
The presence of a physician seems to be beneficial for pre-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. However, the effectiveness of a physician's presence during CPR before hospital arrival has not been established. We conducted a prospective, non-randomized, observational study using national data from out-of-hospital cardiac arrests between 2005 and 2010 in Japan. ⋯ In total, 619,928 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases that met the inclusion criteria were analyzed. Among propensity-matched patients, a positive association was observed between a physician's presence during an ambulance car ride and return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) before hospital arrival, 1-month survival, and 1-month survival with minimal neurological or physical impairment (ROSC: OR = 1.84, 95% CI 1.63-2.07, p = 0.00 in adjusted for propensity and all covariates); 1-month survival: OR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.04-1.61, p = 0.02 in adjusted for propensity and all covariates); cerebral performance category (1 or 2): OR = 1.54, 95% CI 1.03-2.29, p = 0.04 in adjusted for propensity and all covariates); and overall performance category (1 or 2): OR = 1.50, 95% CI 1.01-2.24, p = 0.05 in adjusted for propensity and all covariates). A prospective observational study using national data from out-of-hospital cardiac arrests shows that a physician's presence during an ambulance car ride was independently associated with increased short- and long-term survival.
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Bilateral C1-2 transarticular screw and C1 laminar hook fixation was developed on the basis of transarticular screws fixation. The modified technique has showed a better biomechanical stability than established techniques in previous study. However, long-term (minimum follow-up 7 years) outcomes of patients with reducible atlantoaxial dislocation who underwent this modified fixation technique have not still been reported. ⋯ The long-term outcomes of this case series demonstrate that under the condition of thorough preoperative preparations, bilateral C1-C2 transarticular screw and C1 laminar hook fixation and bone graft fusion is a reliable posterior atlantoaxial fusion technique for reducible atlantoaxial dislocation.