Yoxas/statistical_literacy huggingface dataset:
Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) and dental caries (DC) disproportionately affect children and young adults in sub-Saharan countries, with major impact on schoolchildren's health and education. DC in children with RHD constitutes an important risk for fatal complications. Our study aimed at assessing the feasibility of simultaneous RHD and DC screening in school environment. March 20-24, 2022, we performed an observational descriptive study of schoolchildren in a public school in Maputo City, Mozambique. RHD screening involved two stages: first, a physical examination (including cardiac auscultation and direct observation of the oral cavity), and second, an abbreviated echocardiography performed by a cardiologist. Rapid testing for group A Streptococcus (GAS) was done to every eighth child in the classroom and for those with signs suggesting recent infection, in accordance with the study protocol developed for screening. A multidisciplinary team collected the data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. A total of 954 students (median age 9; range 6-15) were screened. One hundred and twenty-five participants were eligible for a rapid antigen test, of which 6 (4.8%) tested positive. On clinical evaluation 52 children (5.3%) presented a heart murmur. Echocardiography on 362 children showed borderline RHD in 35 children and definite RHD in 2 (0.6%); 1 child had a ventricular septal defect. Dental cavities were present in 444 (48.4%), despite 904 out of 917 students reporting brushing of their teeth once to three times daily (98.6%). School-based integrated oral and cardiovascular screenings and use of rapid tests for GAS carriage provide crucial information to create customized preventive strategies for rheumatic fever (RF) and RHD in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), in addition to detecting children at very high risk of bacterial endocarditis. The sustainability of such interventions and acceptability by health providers needs to be assessed.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic disease that affects different areas of the patient's body. Patient education and health literacy is essential for them to participate actively in follow-up. The aim of this study was to assess differences between clinimetric measurements done by a medical team and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in RA and understand the impact of patient education strategies in order to identify differences between RA assessment methods. This is a longitudinal cohort study. It included adult patients with RA and access to digital tools. These were divided into 3 groups by type of education. Group 1 included patients who participated in a multicomponent RA educational program. Group 2 did not have this multicomponent RA education. Group 3 did not receive any education. The 3 groups performed PROMs. Disease activity scales, functional class, and quality of life were measured. Univariate and bivariate analysis (χ2 and Wilcoxon for paired data) were done. Twenty-eight patients were included in group 1, 26 in group 2, and 37 in group 3. All were women. In group 1, there were no significant differences in clinimetrics between the medical team and patient's PROMs except for fatigue. In group 2 and group 3, significant differences were found. The RAPID3 and PAS variables did not show significant differences when analyzed by intervention subgroups. This study shows no differences between clinimetrics/PROMs for patients with a high-level education on RA and physicians. On the other hand, when patient did not have any RA education, the clinimetric results differed from physician measurement.
Rhinoplasty enhances facial symmetry and functionality. However, the accurate and reliable quantification of nasal defects pre-surgery remains an ongoing challenge. This study introduces a novel approach for defect quantification using 2D images and artificial intelligence, providing a tool for better preoperative planning and improved surgical outcomes. A pre-trained AI model for facial landmark detection was utilised on a dataset of 250 images of male patients aged 18 to 24 who underwent rhinoplasty for cosmetic nasal deformity correction. The analysis concentrated on 36 different distances between the facial landmarks. These distances were normalised using min-max scaling to counter image size and quality variations. Post-normalisation, statistical parameters, including mean, median, and standard deviation, were calculated to identify and quantify nasal defects. The methodology was tested and validated using images from different ethnicities and regions, showing promising potential as a beneficial surgical aid. The normalised data produced reliable quantifications of nasal defects (average 76.2%), aiding in preoperative planning and improving surgical outcomes and patient satisfaction. The developed method can be extended to other facial plastic surgeries. Furthermore, it can be used to create app-based software, assist medical education, and improve patient-doctor communication. This novel method for defect quantification in rhinoplasty using AI and image processing holds significant potential in improving surgical planning, outcomes, and patient satisfaction, marking an essential step in the fusion of AI and plastic surgery.
Risk assessment for bees is mainly based on data for honey bees; however, risk assessment is intended to protect all bee species. This raises the question of whether data for honey bees are a good proxy for other bee species. This issue is not new and has resulted in several publications in which the sensitivity of bee species is compared based on the values of the 48-h median lethal dose (LD50) from acute test results. When this approach is used, observed differences in sensitivity may result both from differences in kinetics and from inherent differences in species sensitivity. In addition, the physiology of the bee, like its overall size, the size of the honey stomach (for acute oral tests), and the physical appearance (for acute contact tests) also influences the sensitivity of the bee. The recently introduced Toxicokinetic-Toxicodynamic (TKTD) model that was developed for the interpretation of honey bee tests (Bee General Uniform Threshold Model for Survival [BeeGUTS]) could integrate the results of acute oral tests, acute contact tests, and chronic tests within one consistent framework. We show that the BeeGUTS model can be calibrated and validated for other bee species and also that the honey bee is among the more sensitive bee species. In addition, we found that differences in sensitivity between species are smaller than previously published comparisons based on 48-h LD50 values. The time-dependency of the LD50 and the specifics of the bee physiology are the main causes of the wider variation found in the published literature. Environ Toxicol Chem 2024;00:1-11. © 2024 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.
Risk communication is a major challenge in productive patient-physician communication. Patient decision making responsibilities come with an implicit assumption that patients are sufficiently educated and confident in their abilities to make decisions about their care based on evidence based treatment recommendations. Attempts to improve health literacy in patients by way of graphical decision aids have met with success. Such decision aids typically have been designed for a general population and evaluated based on whether or not users of the decision aid can accurately report the data points in isolation. To classify decision aids, we present an information-centric framework for assessing the content delivered to patients. We provide examples of our framework from a literature survey and suggest ways improvements can be made by considering all dimensions of our framework.
Risk factors for interpersonal violence-related injury (IPVRI) in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) remain poorly defined. We describe associations between IPVRI and select social determinants of health (SDH) in Cameroon. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of prospective trauma registry data collected from injured patients >15 years old between October 2017 and January 2020 at four Cameroonian hospitals. Our primary outcome was IPVRI, compared with unintentional injury. Explanatory SDH variables included education level, employment status, household socioeconomic status (SES) and alcohol use. The EconomicClusters model grouped patients into household SES clusters: rural, urban poor, urban middle-class (MC) homeowners, urban MC tenants and urban wealthy. Results were stratified by sex. Categorical variables were compared via Pearson's χ2 statistic. Associations with IPVRI were estimated using adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). Among 7605 patients, 5488 (72.2%) were men. Unemployment was associated with increased odds of IPVRI for men (aOR 2.44 (95% CI 1.95 to 3.06), p<0.001) and women (aOR 2.53 (95% CI 1.35 to 4.72), p=0.004), as was alcohol use (men: aOR 2.33 (95% CI 1.91 to 2.83), p<0.001; women: aOR 3.71 (95% CI 2.41 to 5.72), p<0.001). Male patients from rural (aOR 1.45 (95% CI 1.04 to 2.03), p=0.028) or urban poor (aOR 2.08 (95% CI 1.27 to 3.41), p=0.004) compared with urban wealthy households had increased odds of IPVRI, as did female patients with primary-level/no formal (aOR 1.78 (95% CI 1.10 to 2.87), p=0.019) or secondary-level (aOR 1.54 (95% CI 1.03 to 2.32), p=0.037) compared with tertiary-level education. Lower educational attainment, unemployment, lower household SES and alcohol use are risk factors for IPVRI in Cameroon. Future research should explore LMIC-appropriate interventions to address SDH risk factors for IPVRI.
Risk factors for the persistence of superficial skin infestations are prevalent in humid tropical environments, which are favorable for breeding of the causative vector mite Sarcoptes scabiei (ectoparasite) and dermatophyte fungi. This study aimed at assessing the awareness and knowledge of childhood scabies and ringworm infestations among parents in Calabar, a highly humid rainforest tropical environment. Cross-sectional study design and systematic random sampling were used to recruit school-age children in selected primary schools in Calabar. Researcher-driven administration of a structured questionnaire was conducted to obtain quantitative data from parents of recruited children. : Chi-square was used to assess factors associated with ever hearing or seeing scabies and ringworm infestations. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. One hundred and eighty-two (56.7%) and 218 (67.9%) of the respondents had heard of or seen scabies and ringworm infestation. Among respondents that were aware of scabies, 53.3% knew of the cause, 50.5% were aware of the risk factors while 68.1% and 78.0% knew their treatment and prevention, respectively; 98.6%, 60.6%, 76.6%, and 80.7% of respondents knew the cause, risk factors, treatment, and prevention of ringworm infestation, respectively. Fathers with at least secondary school literacy level and sharing beds were significantly associated with awareness of scabies. There is a suboptimal level of awareness and knowledge of two of the most common superficial skin infestations among parents of primary school children in the study setting. There is a need to redouble our effort at sensitization of parents toward improved awareness of these common infestations.
Risk factors of infant mortality in Africa and south Asian countries have been broadly discussed. However, infant morbidity is largely underestimated. We analyzed the data from a randomized vaccine trial in Bangladesh to identify and assess the effect of risk factors on infant morbidity. Pregnant women were randomly assigned to receive either inactivated influenza vaccine or pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine and the infants were randomly assigned to receive 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine or Hib conjugate vaccine at week 6, 10 and 14. The data were collected from August 2004 through December 2005. Each pair of infant and mother were followed for 24 weeks after birth with weekly visits. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) for repeated measurements and Poisson regression models were used to identify the risk factors and evaluate their effect on the longitudinal incidence and total number of episodes of respiratory illness with fever (RIF), diarrhea disease, ear problem and pneumonia. A total of 340 pregnant women were randomized with mean age of 25 years. The baseline mother and infant characteristics were similar between two treatment groups. Exclusive breastfeeding and higher paternal education level were common factors associated with lower infant morbidity of RIF (adjusted OR = 0.40 and 0.94 with p < 0.01 and p = 0.02, respectively), diarrhea disease (adjusted OR = 0.39 and 0.95 with p < 0.01 and p = 0.04, respectively), and ear problem (adjusted OR = 0.20 and 0.76 with p < 0.01 and p < 0.01, respectively). Maternal influenza vaccine significantly reduced the incidence of RIF (adjusted OR = 0.54; p < 0.01) but not diarrhea disease or ear problem (p > 0.05). Female infants had lower incidence of diarrhea disease (adjusted OR = 0.67; p = 0.01) and ear problem (adjusted OR = 0.12; p = 0.01). Maternal influenza vaccination, exclusive breastfeeding, female children, and higher paternal education level significantly reduced the infant morbidity within the 24 weeks after birth in Bangladesh.
Risk literacy, i.e., the ability to calculate and apply risk parameters, represents a key competence for risk communication and medical decision making. However, risk literacy is reportedly low in medical students. The successful acquisition of statistical competencies is often difficult, and can be hampered by emotional learning obstacles, calling for interventions to support learning. In this cluster-randomized study, we aimed to translate findings from placebo research to medical education. Specifically, we tested if the acquisition of risk literacy during a seminar unit can be facilitated by positive expectations, induced by a positive and non-threatening framing of the content and learning goals. The study took place during a mandatory 2.5-h seminar on "risk literacy" for 2nd year medical students. The seminar teaches both statistical knowledge and its application in patient communication. To test the effects of expectations on risk literacy acquisition, the (otherwise identical) seminar was framed either as "communication training" (positive framing condition) or "statistics seminar" (negative framing condition). All N = 200 students of the semester were invited to participate, and cluster-randomized to the positive or negative framing condition (4 seminar groups each condition). Risk literacy was assessed with the "Quick Risk Test" (QRT) at the beginning and end of the seminar, along with statistics anxiety and subjective learning success using questionnaires. Data from N = 192 students were included. At the end of the seminar, risk literacy was increased in both framing conditions, with a significantly greater increase in QRT scores in the positive framing condition. Statistics anxiety was significantly decreased in both framing conditions, with no evidence of group differences. Subjective learning success was overall high and comparable between groups. Supporting our hypothesis, positive framing led to a significantly greater increase in risk literacy (i.e., in QRT scores). Our data offer first support that positive framing of learning goals may help to facilitate the acquisition of statistical knowledge. Expectation-orientated interventions may thus offer a feasible tool to optimize learning settings and framing of learning objectives in medical statistics courses.
Risk perception is a core construct in many behaviour change theories in public health. Individuals who believe they are at risk of acquiring an illness may be more likely to engage in behaviours to reduce that risk; those who do not feel at risk may be unlikely to engage in risk reduction behaviours. Among participants who seroconverted in two FEM-PrEP sites - Bondo, Kenya, and Pretoria, South Africa - we explored perceived HIV risk and worry about acquiring HIV prior to HIV infection. FEM-PrEP was a phase III clinical trial of once-daily, oral emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate for HIV prevention among women in sub-Saharan Africa. We asked all participants about their perceived HIV risk in the next four weeks, prior to HIV testing, during a quantitative face-to-face interview at enrolment and at quarterly follow-up visits. Among participants who seroconverted, we calculated the frequencies of their responses from the visit conducted closest to, but before, HIV acquisition. Also among women who seroconverted, we conducted qualitative, semi-structured interviews (SSIs) at weeks 1, 4 and 8 after participants' HIV diagnosis visit to retrospectively explore feelings of HIV worry. Applied thematic analysis was used to analyse the SSI data. Among participants who seroconverted in Bondo and Pretoria, 52% reported in the quantitative interview that they had no chance of acquiring HIV in the next four weeks. We identified four processes of risk rationalization from the SSI narratives. In "protective behaviour," participants described at least one risk reduction behaviour they used to reduce their HIV risk; these actions made them feel not vulnerable to HIV, and therefore they did not worry about acquiring the virus. In "protective reasoning," participants considered their HIV risk but rationalized, based on certain events or beliefs, that they were not vulnerable and therefore did not worry about getting HIV. In "recognition of vulnerability," participants described reasons for being worried about getting HIV but said no or limited action was taken to reduce their perceived vulnerability. Participants with "no rationalization or action" did not describe any HIV worry or did not engage in HIV risk reduction behaviours. Women who are at substantial risk of acquiring HIV may underestimate their actual risk. Yet, others who accurately understand their HIV risk may be unable to act on their concerns. Perceived HIV risk and risk rationalization are important concepts to explore in risk reduction counselling to increase the use of HIV prevention strategies among women at risk of HIV.
RISK PREDICTORS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD CARIES INCREMENT-A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. Lam PPY, Chua H, Ekambaram M, Lo ECM, Yiu CKY. J Evid Based Dent Pract. 2022 Sep;22(3):101732. Government TYPE OF STUDY/DESIGN: Systematic review with meta-analysis of data.
Risk stratification based on prediction models has become increasingly important in preventing and managing chronic diseases. However, due to cost- and time-limitations, not every population can have resources for collecting enough detailed individual-level information on a large number of people to develop risk prediction models. A more practical approach is to use prediction models developed from existing studies and calibrate them with relevant summary-level information of the target population. Many existing studies were conducted under the population-based case-control design. Gail et al. (J Natl Cancer Inst 81:1879-1886, 1989) proposed to combine the odds ratio estimates obtained from case-control data and the disease incidence rates from the target population to obtain the baseline hazard function, and thereby the pure risk for developing diseases. However, the approach requires the risk factor distribution of cases from the case-control studies be same as the target population, which, if violated, may yield biased risk estimation. In this article, we propose two novel weighted estimating equation approaches to calibrate the baseline risk by leveraging the summary information of (some) risk factors in addition to disease-free probabilities from the targeted population. We establish the consistency and asymptotic normality of the proposed estimators. Extensive simulation studies and an application to colorectal cancer studies demonstrate the proposed estimators perform well for bias reduction in finite samples.
Risky drinking is a concern among UK-based middle-aged adults. We aimed to explore the relationship between risky drinking, drinking motives, wellbeing, and mental health literacy (MHL). Cross-sectional analysis of online survey data completed by 193 UK-based adults aged 40-65 who drank alcohol, incorporating the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT); Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised (DMQ-R); Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS); Mental Health Literacy Scale (MHLS) and demographic questions. Coping, enhancement and conformity motives and gender significantly predicted higher AUDIT scores (measuring risky drinking). Enhancement motives were found to mediate the relationship between the self-help component of MHL and AUDIT scores, while coping motives mediated the association between wellbeing and AUDIT scores. Findings support research emphasising the influence of drinking motives on risky drinking and highlights how low wellbeing may interact with coping motives to explain risky drinking among middle-aged adults, particularly men. Interventions supporting individuals to understand the relationship between drinking motives and risky drinking, develop adaptive coping strategies, and address the causes of low wellbeing, may be beneficial. However, as the sample was 84% ethnically White, 64% women, 85% educated to at least undergraduate level, and reported a relatively high mean socioeconomic status (6.98 out of 10), the results may not generalise beyond these groups. Future research should use stratified sampling to increase generalisability, as well as exploring whether alcohol-specific, component-specific, or disorder-specific MHL is associated with risky drinking and wellbeing.
RNA viruses are complex pathogens in terms of their genetic makeup, mutation frequency, and transmission modes. They contain the RNA helicase enzyme, which plays a crucial role in the viral genome replication process. This work aims to develop and screen a potential molecule that could function as a dengue virus (DENV) RNA helicase inhibitor. The present study was performed by taking 26 potential derivatives of gedunin phytochemicals from the PubChem database as ligands. The binding study of the compounds were analyzed by in silico docking method considering DENV RNA helicase enzyme as the receptor. After a thorough analysis of the docking scores, toxicity, and physicochemical properties, compound tetrahydrogedunin was obtained as the best. Based on tetrahydrogedunin molecular structure, 100 drug-like molecules were designed using the Data Warrior tool. After the screening process for drug-likeness and ADMET properties, the derivative number 42 was considered as the promising. Further comparative docking of derivative 42 and a standard inhibitor molecule ST-610 with DENV RNA helicase enzyme showed binding affinity as -10.0 kcal/mol and -9.6 kcal/mol, respectively. The favorable interaction between DENV RNA helicase and derivative 42 was further validated by 50 nanoseconds molecular dynamics simulation and MM-GBSA analysis. Since the antiviral activity of derivative 42 has not been reported till date, the compound was predicted as a novel therapeutic molecule that can act against the dengue virus (DENV) RNA helicase enzyme.