Search results for "Confounding"

2018

Objective Children with chronic health conditions may perform poorer at school. Associations may be confounded by numerous social factors. We aimed to estimate the effects of a chronic health condition on overall school performance in first graders with an emphasis on rigorous adjustment for potential confounders. Methods A population-based cohort study was performed in the area of Mainz-Bingen (Germany). In 2015 all preschoolers were approached and the presence of a chronic health condition was assessed by parental questionnaires and preschool health examination data. The identification of a chronic health condition was based on special health care needs and presence of a doctor’s diagnosi…

Shifting effects in randomised controlled trials of complex interventions: a new kind of performance bias?

2012

Gold C, Erkkila J, Crawford MJ. Shifting effects in randomised controlled trials of complex interventions: a new kind of performance bias? Objective:  Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) aim to provide unbiased estimates of treatment effects. However, the process of implementing trial procedures may have an impact on the performance of complex interventions that rely strongly on the intuition and confidence of therapists. We aimed to examine whether shifting effects over the recruitment period can be observed that might indicate such impact. Method:  Three RCTs investigating music therapy vs. standard care were included. The intervention was performed by experienced therapists and based on …

280 Impact of ozone air pollution on ischemic cerebral and cardiac events in Dijon, France

2011

Background There is strong evidence that short-term exposure to ozone (O3) is associated with respiratory disease and death, but the effects of short-term exposure to ozone on ischemic heart and cerebrovascular disease have not been clearly established. Methods Daily levels of urban O3 pollution, the incidence of first-ever, recurrent, fatal and non-fatal ischemic cerebro-vascular events (ICVE) and myocardial infarction (MI) were compared using a bi-directional case-crossover design analysis. We analysed 1 574 ICVE and 913 MI that occurred in Dijon, France from 2001 to 2007. Sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter with an aerodiameter of 10μg/…

Fear Avoidance Beliefs and Risk of Long-Term Sickness Absence: Prospective Cohort Study among Workers with Musculoskeletal Pain

2018

Background and Objective. Musculoskeletal pain is common in the population. Negative beliefs about musculoskeletal pain and physical activity may lead to avoidance behavior resulting in absence from work. The present study investigates the influence of fear avoidance beliefs on long-term sickness absence. Methods. Workers of the general working population with musculoskeletal pain (low back, neck/shoulder, and/or arm/hand pain; n = 8319) from the Danish Work Environment Cohort Study were included. Long-term sickness absence data were obtained from the Danish Register for Evaluation and Marginalization (DREAM). Time-to-event analyses (cox regression) controlled for various confounders estima…

Visual Impairment Is Associated With Depressive Symptoms—Results From the Nationwide German DEGS1 Study

2018

Introduction: Visual impairment is associated with a variety of co-morbidities including physical and mental health in industrial countries. Our aim is to examine associations between self-reported impairment and depressive symptoms in the German population. Methods: The point prevalence of self-reported visual impairment in Germany was computed using data from the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for adults from 2008 to 2011 (N=7.783, 50.5% female, age range 18-79 years). Visual impairment was surveyed by two questions, one for seeing faces at a distance of 4 meters and one for reading newspapers. Depressive symptoms were evaluated with the PHQ-9 questionnaire and two-week pr…

Serum Uric Acid and Kidney Disease Measures Independently Predict Cardiovascular and Total Mortality: The Uric Acid Right for Heart Health (URRAH) Pr…

2021

Background: Serum uric acid predicts the onset and progression of kidney disease, and the occurrence of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. Nevertheless, it is unclear which is the appropriate definition of hyperuricemia in presence of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Our goal was to study the independent impact of uric acid and CKD on mortality.Methods: We retrospectively investigated 21,963 patients from the URRAH study database. Hyperuricemia was defined on the basis of outcome specific cut-offs separately identified by ROC curves according to eGFR strata. The primary endpoints were cardiovascular and all-cause mortality.Results: After a mean follow-up of 9.8 year, there were 1,582 (7.2…

Heart rate variability as predictor of mortality in sepsis: A systematic review.

2018

Background Autonomic dysregulation is one of the recognized pathophysiological mechanisms in sepsis, generating the hypothesis that heart rate variability (HRV) can be used to predict mortality in sepsis. Methods This was a systematic review of studies evaluating HRV as a predictor of death in patients with sepsis. The search was performed by independent researchers in PubMed, LILACS and Cochrane, including papers in English, Portuguese or Spanish, indexed until August 20th, 2017 with at least 10 patients. Study quality was assessed by Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. To analyze the results, we divided the articles between those who measured HRV for short-term recordings ( 1 hour), and those who did…

The Importance of Lifestyle Factors for Work Ability among Physical Therapists: A Cross-Sectional Study

2021

Lifestyle factors such as smoking, sedentarism, low physical activity levels, and overweight are associated with poor health, and they can potentially influence work ability. However, it remains unknown which lifestyle habits are associated with work ability among physical therapists (PTs). The aim of this study was to examine the associations between smoking, alcohol consumption, BMI, sitting time, and physical activity levels with work ability among PTs utilizing a nationwide questionnaire. Associations were modeled using logistic regression controlled for various confounders. Overweight, sitting &gt

Factors associated with the subjective health complaints among adolescents: Results from the ASSO Project

2019

Objectives. Subjective health complaints (e.g. headache and feeling low) are common among adolescents. The objective of this study was to identify the factors associated with the subjective health of adolescents from a population-based point of view. Material and methods. A sample of 712 students was recruited within the web-based Project ASSO (Adolescents and Surveillance System for the Obesity prevention), funded by the Italian Ministry of Health and piloted in Palermo. A 0-100 quantitative score (arbitrarily named "psychosomatic malaise index") based on the frequency of occurrence of seven subjective health complaints was created and used as outcome; socio-demographic characteristics, me…

Relationships Between Biochemical Markers of Hyperandrogenism and Metabolic Parameters in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Systematic Review a…

2019

AbstractWhile several studies have documented an increased risk of metabolic disorders in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), associations between androgenic and metabolic parameters in these patients are unclear. We aimed to investigate the relationships between biochemical markers of hyperandrogenism (HA) and metabolic parameters in women with PCOS. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, a literature search was performed in the PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science from 2000 to 2018 for assessing androgenic and metabolic parameters in PCOS patients. To assess the relationships between androgenic and metabolic parameters, meta-regression analys…