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Comparative Review of the Socioeconomic Burden of Lower Back Pain in the United States and Globally.Neurospine Jun 2024Internationally, the United States (U.S.) cites the highest cost burden of low back pain (LBP). The cost continues to rise, faster than the rate of inflation and overall...
Internationally, the United States (U.S.) cites the highest cost burden of low back pain (LBP). The cost continues to rise, faster than the rate of inflation and overall growth of health expenditures. We performed a comprehensive literature review of peer-reviewed and non- peer-reviewed literature from PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar for contemporary data on prevalence, cost, and projected future costs. Policymakers in the U.S. have long attempted to address the high-cost burden of LBP through limiting low-value services and early imaging. Despite these efforts, costs (~$40 billion; ~$2,000/patient/yr) continue to rise with increasing rates of unindicated imaging, high rates of surgery, and subsequent revision surgery without proper trial of non-pharmacologic measures and no corresponding reduction in LBP prevalence. Globally, the overall prevalence of LBP continues to rise largely secondary to a growing aging population. Cost containment methods should focus on careful and comprehensive clinical assessment of patients to better understand when more resource-intensive interventions are indicated.
PubMed: 38955526
DOI: 10.14245/ns.2448372.186 -
BMJ Open Jul 2024Health behaviours such as exercise and diet strongly influence well-being and disease risk, providing the opportunity for interventions tailored to diverse individual...
INTRODUCTION
Health behaviours such as exercise and diet strongly influence well-being and disease risk, providing the opportunity for interventions tailored to diverse individual contexts. Precise behaviour interventions are critical during adolescence and young adulthood (ages 10-25), a formative period shaping lifelong well-being. We will conduct a systematic review of just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs) for health behaviour and well-being in adolescents and young adults (AYAs). A JITAI is an emerging digital health design that provides precise health support by monitoring and adjusting to individual, specific and evolving contexts in real time. Despite demonstrated potential, no published reviews have explored how JITAIs can dynamically adapt to intersectional health factors of diverse AYAs. We will identify the JITAIs' distal and proximal outcomes and their tailoring mechanisms, and report their effectiveness. We will also explore studies' considerations of health equity. This will form a comprehensive assessment of JITAIs and their role in promoting health behaviours of AYAs. We will integrate evidence to guide the development and implementation of precise, effective and equitable digital health interventions for AYAs.
METHODS AND ANALYSIS
In adherence to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis guidelines, we will conduct a systematic search across multiple databases, including CENTRAL, MEDLINE and WHO Global Index Medicus. We will include peer-reviewed studies on JITAIs targeting health of AYAs in multiple languages. Two independent reviewers will conduct screening and data extraction of study and participant characteristics, JITAI designs, health outcome measures and equity considerations. We will provide a narrative synthesis of findings and, if data allows, conduct a meta-analysis.
ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION
As we will not collect primary data, we do not require ethical approval. We will disseminate the review findings through peer-reviewed journal publication, conferences and stakeholder meetings to inform participatory research.
PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER
CRD42023473117.
Topics: Humans; Adolescent; Systematic Reviews as Topic; Young Adult; Health Behavior; Research Design; Health Promotion; Exercise
PubMed: 38955365
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-083870 -
Computer Methods and Programs in... Jun 2024ChatGPT is an AI platform whose relevance in the peer review of scientific articles is steadily growing. Nonetheless, it has sparked debates over its potential biases...
BACKGROUND
ChatGPT is an AI platform whose relevance in the peer review of scientific articles is steadily growing. Nonetheless, it has sparked debates over its potential biases and inaccuracies. This study aims to assess ChatGPT's ability to qualitatively emulate human reviewers in scientific research.
METHODS
We included the first submitted version of the latest twenty original research articles published by the 3rd of July 2023, in a high-profile medical journal. Each article underwent evaluation by a minimum of three human reviewers during the initial review stage. Subsequently, three researchers with medical backgrounds and expertise in manuscript revision, independently and qualitatively assessed the agreement between the peer reviews generated by ChatGPT version GPT-4 and the comments provided by human reviewers for these articles. The level of agreement was categorized into complete, partial, none, or contradictory.
RESULTS
720 human reviewers' comments were assessed. There was a good agreement between the three assessors (Overall kappa >0.6). ChatGPT's comments demonstrated complete agreement in terms of quality and substance with 48 (6.7 %) human reviewers' comments, partially agreed with 92 (12.8 %), identifying issues necessitating further elaboration or recommending supplementary steps to address concerns, had no agreement with a significant 565 (78.5 %), and contradicted 15 (2.1 %). ChatGPT comments on methods had the lowest proportion of complete agreement (13 comments, 3.6 %), while general comments on the manuscript displayed the highest proportion of complete agreement (17 comments, 22.1 %).
CONCLUSION
ChatGPT version GPT-4 has a limited ability to emulate human reviewers within the peer review process of scientific research.
PubMed: 38954915
DOI: 10.1016/j.cmpb.2024.108313 -
PloS One 2024Despite ongoing efforts, perinatal morbidity and mortality persist across all settings, imposing a dual burden of clinical and economic strain. Besides, the fragmented...
BACKGROUND
Despite ongoing efforts, perinatal morbidity and mortality persist across all settings, imposing a dual burden of clinical and economic strain. Besides, the fragmented nature of economic evidence on perinatal health interventions hinders the formulation of effective health policies. Our review aims to comprehensively and critically assess the economic evidence for such interventions in high-income countries, where the balance of health outcomes and fiscal prudence is paramount.
METHODS AND ANALYSIS
We will conduct a comprehensive search for studies using databases including EconLit (EBSCO), Cost Effectiveness Analysis (CEA) Registry, Medline (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), CINAHL Ultimate (EBSCO), Global Health (Ovid), and PubMed. Furthermore, we will broaden our search to include Google Scholar and conduct snowballing from the final articles included. The search terms will encompass economic evaluation, perinatal health interventions, morbidity and mortality, and high-income countries. We will include full economic evaluations focusing on cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit, cost-utility, and cost-minimisation analyses. We will exclude partial economic evaluations, reports, qualitative studies, conference papers, editorials, and systematic reviews. Date restrictions will limit the review to studies published after 2010 and those in English during the study selection process. We will use the modified Drummond checklist to evaluate the quality of each included study. Our findings will adhere to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) 2020 statement. A summary will include estimated costs, effectiveness, benefits, and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). We also plan to conduct a subgroup analysis. To aid comparability, we will standardise all costs to the United States Dollar, adjusting them to their 2022 value using country-specific consumer price index and purchasing power parity.
ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION
This systematic review will not involve human participants and requires no ethical approval. We will publish the results in a peer-reviewed journal.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
We registered our record on PROSPERO (registration #: CRD42023432232).
Topics: Humans; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Systematic Reviews as Topic; Pregnancy; Female; Perinatal Care; Developed Countries
PubMed: 38954703
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0306557 -
The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.... Jul 2024The Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment (SMFA) is a well validated, widely used patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure for orthopaedic patients. Despite its...
Minimal Clinically Important Difference (MCID) for the Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment (SMFA) in Severe Lower Extremity Trauma: Pooled Data from 7 Multicenter, Prospective Clinical Trials.
BACKGROUND
The Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment (SMFA) is a well validated, widely used patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure for orthopaedic patients. Despite its widespread use and acceptance, this measure does not have an agreed upon minimal clinically important difference (MCID). The purpose of the present study was to create distributional MCIDs with use of a large cohort of research participants with severe lower extremity fractures.
METHODS
Three distributional approaches were used to calculate MCIDs for the Dysfunction and Bother Indices of the SMFA as well as all its domains: (1) half of the standard deviation (one-half SD), (2) twice the standard error of measurement (2SEM), and (3) minimal detectable change (MDC). In addition to evaluating by patient characteristics and the timing of assessment, we reviewed these calculations across several injury groups likely to affect functional outcomes.
RESULTS
A total of 4,298 SMFA assessments were collected from 3,185 patients who had undergone surgical treatment of traumatic injuries of the lower extremity at 60 Level-I trauma centers across 7 multicenter, prospective clinical studies. Depending on the statistical approach used, the MCID associated with the overall sample ranged from 7.7 to 10.7 for the SMFA Dysfunction Index and from 11.0 to 16.8 for the SMFA Bother Index. For the Dysfunction Index, the variability across the scores was small (<5%) within the sex and age subgroups but was modest (12% to 18%) across subgroups related to assessment timing.
CONCLUSIONS
A defensible MCID can be found between 7 and 11 points for the Dysfunction Index and between 11 and 17 points for the Bother Index. The precise choice of MCID may depend on the preferred statistical approach and the population under study. While differences exist between MCID values based on the calculation method, values were consistent across the categories of the various subgroups presented.
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
PubMed: 38954643
DOI: 10.2106/JBJS.23.01201 -
Issues in Mental Health Nursing Jul 2024Electrophysiological biomarkers are being examined as potential diagnostic measures of cognitive impairment and its manifestations for psychiatric nurses' use in the... (Review)
Review
Electrophysiological biomarkers are being examined as potential diagnostic measures of cognitive impairment and its manifestations for psychiatric nurses' use in the care of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, there is no integrative review describing the themes from the current research about electrophysiological biomarkers and the developing relationship among the themes. Characterizing this developing relationship is imperative for any possible integration of biomarkers into the care of AD by psychiatric nurses. The purpose of this integrative review is to identify themes from the current research about electrophysiological biomarkers of AD and the developing relationship among the themes, the conceivable relational premise for psychiatric nurses to integrate electrophysiological biomarkers into the screening, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of AD for the care of persons with AD. A literature search was executed with PUBMED (accessing Medline and Elsevier) and CINAHL databases that focused on studies about electrophysiological biomarkers of AD from 2015 to 2022. Twenty-seven peer-reviewed studies met this review's inclusion criteria. Five themes emerged: (1) assessing/screening, (2) assessment differential, (3) diagnosing, (4) diagnostic accuracy, and (5) treating. These themes related sequentially and linearly, establishing a developing relationship about the risk, the onset, and the progression of AD. Electrophysiological biomarkers associated to cognitive impairment in AD, supporting the accepted understanding of the symptoms of AD. Changes in behavior and functioning were not examined, limiting the possible integration of electrophysiological biomarkers. Further investigations are warranted with an expansion of the clinical symptoms and diverse study populations.
PubMed: 38954497
DOI: 10.1080/01612840.2024.2352011 -
Current Urology Reports Jul 2024Treatment of intermediate risk prostate cancer remains controversial. Clearly some patients with low volume favorable intermediate risk can be followed with active... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF THIS REVIEW
Treatment of intermediate risk prostate cancer remains controversial. Clearly some patients with low volume favorable intermediate risk can be followed with active surveillance. Those with high volume bilateral disease need more radical whole gland therapy. The question remains on how to best treat low volume localized unfavorable intermediate risk prostate cancer (GG3) while maintaining quality of life. Focal therapy has been becoming a popular option for many patients with localized prostate cancer. Most studies looking at focal therapy for prostate cancer have been limited to GG1 and GG2, many of whom may not need treatment. We set out to review the literature evaluating the safety and efficacy of focal therapy for GG3 prostate cancer.
RECENT FINDINGS
We reviewed multiple peer review articles obtained from a PubMed search. While in field biopsy recurrence rates approach 20%, failure free survival and overall survival exceeds 90%. While focal therapy for unfavorable GG3 intermediate risk prostate cancer may have higher rates of local recurrence with appropriate post procedure follow up, patients who need salvage therapy are easily identified and survival rates are very high. Focal therapy is a good option for patients with localized low volume GG3 prostate cancer without compromising cancer survival and preserving quality of life.
PubMed: 38954356
DOI: 10.1007/s11934-024-01211-x -
Veterinary Research Communications Jul 2024Campylobacter is a major foodborne and zoonotic pathogen, causing severe human infections and imposing a substantial economic burden on global public health. The ongoing... (Review)
Review
Campylobacter is a major foodborne and zoonotic pathogen, causing severe human infections and imposing a substantial economic burden on global public health. The ongoing spread and emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains across various fields exacerbate therapeutic challenges, raising the incidence of diseases and fatalities. Medicinal plants, renowned for their abundance in secondary metabolites, exhibit proven efficacy in inhibiting various foodborne and zoonotic pathogens, presenting sustainable alternatives to ensure food safety. This review aims to synthesize recent insights from peer-reviewed journals on the epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter species, elucidate the in vitro antibacterial activity of medicinal plant compounds against Campylobacter by delineating underlying mechanisms, and explore the application of these compounds in controlling Campylobacter in food. Additionally, we discuss recent advancements and future prospects of employing medicinal plant compounds in food products to mitigate foodborne pathogens, particularly Campylobacter. In conclusion, we argue that medicinal plant compounds can be used as effective and sustainable sources for developing new antimicrobial alternatives to counteract the dissemination of MDR Campylobacter strains.
PubMed: 38954256
DOI: 10.1007/s11259-024-10455-4 -
Minerva Medica Jul 2024The escalating trend of academic article retractions over the last decades raises concerns about scientific integrity, but heterogeneity in retractions and reasons for...
INTRODUCTION
The escalating trend of academic article retractions over the last decades raises concerns about scientific integrity, but heterogeneity in retractions and reasons for them pose a major challenge. We aimed to comprehensively overview systematic reviews focusing on retractions in the biomedical literature.
EVIDENCE ACQUISITION
We abstracted salient features and bibliometric details from shortlisted articles. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Checklist for Systematic Reviews and Research Syntheses was used for validity appraisal.
EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS
A total of 11 reviews were included, published between 2016 and 2023, and reporting on a total of 1851 retracted studies. Several major reasons for retractions were identified, spanning both misconduct (e.g., falsification, duplication, plagiarism) and non-misconduct issues (e.g., unreliable data, publishing problems). Correlates include author-related factors (number of authors, nationality) and journal-related factors (impact factor), with repeat offenders contributing significantly. Impacts of retractions is profound, affecting scholarly credibility, public trust, and resource utilization.
CONCLUSIONS
In order to prevent retractions and amend their adverse effects, rigorous and transparent reporting standards, enhanced training in research ethics, strengthened peer review processes, and the establishment of collaborative and integrated research integrity offices are proposed.
PubMed: 38953875
DOI: 10.23736/S0026-4806.24.09343-1 -
Indian Journal of Public Health Apr 2024National Health Mission instituted the Village Health, Sanitation, and Nutrition Committees (VHSNCs) in 2005, with an aim of ensuring health and well-being for local... (Review)
Review
National Health Mission instituted the Village Health, Sanitation, and Nutrition Committees (VHSNCs) in 2005, with an aim of ensuring health and well-being for local communities in India. There is a lack of concrete evidence on the functioning of VHSNCs at a national level. Thus, this study was undertaken to outline the roles, responsibilities, and functions of VHSNCs in India. We conducted a comprehensive data search in Medline, Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect, EMBASE, and Google Scholar between 2005 and August 2021. All peer-reviewed qualitative studies that reported the roles, responsibilities, functions, and good practices of VHSNCs from India were included in our review. Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist was used to assess the quality of individual studies. In total, we included 15 studies (including 1100+ VHSNCs) from various states of India. Our review highlighted that the majority of the VHSNCs functioned without a clear-cut definition of roles and responsibilities had irregular meetings and workforce shortage. There was a lack of inclusivity, accountability, and delay in the processing of untied funds. The included studies have showed that VHSNCs were involved health promotional activities such as formulation and implementation of village health plans, delivery of services through public distribution systems, ensuring safe drinking water and sanitary supervision, and identification and referral of malnourished children. Our review highlights the crucial role that VHSNCs play in improving the health outcomes of rural populations and underscores the need for continued support and capacity-building efforts to ensure their effectiveness.
Topics: India; Humans; Sanitation; Qualitative Research; Health Promotion; Professional Role; Advisory Committees
PubMed: 38953815
DOI: 10.4103/ijph.ijph_149_23