Articles

A blinded evaluation of privacy preserving record linkage with Bloom filters

Privacy preserving record linkage (PPRL) methods using Bloom filters have shown promise for use in operational linkage settings. However real-world evaluations are required to confirm their suitability in prac...

Authors: Sean Randall, Helen Wichmann, Adrian Brown, James Boyd, Tom Eitelhuber, Alexandra Merchant and Anna Ferrante

Reporting methodological issues of the mendelian randomization studies in health and medical research: a systematic review

Mendelian randomization (MR) studies using Genetic risk scores (GRS) as an instrumental variable (IV) have increasingly been used to control for unmeasured confounding in observational healthcare databases. Ho...

Authors: Shabab Noor Islam, Tanvir Ahammed, Aniqua Anjum, Olayan Albalawi and Md. Jamal Uddin

Left-censored recurrent event analysis in epidemiological studies: a proposal for when the number of previous episodes is unknown

When dealing with recurrent events in observational studies it is common to include subjects who became at risk before follow-up. This phenomenon is known as left censoring, and simply ignoring these prior epi...

Authors: Gilma Hernández-Herrera, David Moriña and Albert Navarro

A proportional odds model of risk behaviors associated with recurrent road traffic crashes among young adults in Kuwait

The aims of this cross-sectional study were to i) assess one-year period prevalence of one, two, three or more road traffic crashes (RTCs) as an ordinal outcome and ii) identify the drivers’ characteristics as...

Authors: Saeed Akhtar, Eisa Aldhafeeri, Farah Alshammari, Hana Jafar, Haya Malhas, Marina Botras and Noor Alnasrallah

Prediction of acute appendicitis among patients with undifferentiated abdominal pain at emergency department

Early screening and accurately identifying Acute Appendicitis (AA) among patients with undifferentiated symptoms associated with appendicitis during their emergency visit will improve patient safety and health...

Authors: Dai Su, Qinmengge Li, Tao Zhang, Philip Veliz, Yingchun Chen, Kevin He, Prashant Mahajan and Xingyu Zhang

Developing a toolkit for increasing the participation of black, Asian and minority ethnic communities in health and social care research

It is recognised that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) populations are generally underrepresented in research studies. The key objective of this work was to develop an evidence based, practical toolkit ...

Authors: Azhar Farooqi, Karan Jutlla, Raghu Raghavan, Andrew Wilson, Mohammud Shams Uddin, Carol Akroyd, Naina Patel, Pamela Peggy Campbell-Morris and Aaisha Tasneem Farooqi

Are there non-linear relationships between alcohol consumption and long-term health?: a systematic review of observational studies employing approaches to improve causal inference

Research has long found ‘J-shaped’ relationships between alcohol consumption and certain health outcomes, indicating a protective effect of moderate consumption. However, methodological limitations in most stu...

Authors: Rachel Visontay, Matthew Sunderland, Tim Slade, Jack Wilson and Louise Mewton

COVID-19 impact on mental health

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed a significant influence on public mental health. Current efforts focus on alleviating the impacts of the disease on public health and the economy, wit...

Authors: Jingyu Cui, Jingwei Lu, Yijia Weng, Grace Y. Yi and Wenqing He

Sample attrition analysis in a prospective cohort study of medical graduates in China

A major challenge of prospective cohort studies is attrition in follow-up surveys. This study investigated attrition in a prospective cohort comprised of medical graduates in China. We described status of attr...

Authors: Mingyue Li, Ziyue Wang, Baisong Zhang, Tiantian Wei, Dan Hu and Xiaoyun Liu

Spatiotemporal variations in exposure: Chagas disease in Colombia as a case study

Age-stratified serosurvey data are often used to understand spatiotemporal trends in disease incidence and exposure through estimating the Force-of-Infection (FoI). Typically, median or mean FoI estimates are ...

Authors: Julia Ledien, Zulma M. Cucunubá, Gabriel Parra-Henao, Eliana Rodríguez-Monguí, Andrew P. Dobson, María-Gloria Basáñez and Pierre Nouvellet

Completeness of reporting of clinical prediction models developed using supervised machine learning: a systematic review

While many studies have consistently found incomplete reporting of regression-based prediction model studies, evidence is lacking for machine learning-based prediction model studies. We aim to systematically r...

Authors: Constanza L. Andaur Navarro, Johanna A. A. Damen, Toshihiko Takada, Steven W. J. Nijman, Paula Dhiman, Jie Ma, Gary S. Collins, Ram Bajpai, Richard D. Riley, Karel G. M. Moons and Lotty Hooft

K-means for shared frailty models

The purpose of this research was to see how the k-means algorithm can be applied to survival analysis with single events per subject for defining groups, which can then be modeled in a shared frailty model to ...

Authors: Usha Govindarajulu and Sandeep Bedi

Stacked survival models for residual lifetime data

When modelling the survival distribution of a disease for which the symptomatic progression of the associated condition is insidious, it is not always clear how to measure the failure/censoring times from some...

Authors: James H. McVittie, David B. Wolfson, Vittorio Addona and Zhaoheng Li

Leveraging pleiotropic association using sparse group variable selection in genomics data

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified genetic variants associated with multiple complex diseases. We can leverage this phenomenon, known as pleiotropy, to integrate multiple data sources in a ...

Authors: Matthew Sutton, Pierre-Emmanuel Sugier, Therese Truong and Benoit Liquet

Development of a data classification system for preterm birth cohort studies: the RECAP Preterm project

The small sample sizes available within many very preterm (VPT) longitudinal birth cohort studies mean that it is often necessary to combine and harmonise data from individual studies to increase statistical p...

Authors: Deborah Bamber, Helen E. Collins, Charlotte Powell, Gonçalo Campos Gonçalves, Samantha Johnson, Bradley Manktelow, José Pedro Ornelas, João Correia Lopes, Artur Rocha and Elizabeth S. Draper

Identification of causal effects in case-control studies

Case-control designs are an important yet commonly misunderstood tool in the epidemiologist’s arsenal for causal inference. We reconsider classical concepts, assumptions and principles and explore when the res...

Authors: Bas B. L. Penning de Vries and Rolf H. H. Groenwold

Reporting of abstracts in studies that used routinely collected data for exploring drug treatment effects: a cross-sectional survey

In recent years, studies that used routinely collected data (RCD), such as electronic medical records and administrative claims, for exploring drug treatment effects, including effectiveness and safety, have b...

Authors: Mei Liu, Wen Wang, Mingqi Wang, Qiao He, Ling Li, Guowei Li, Lin He, Kang Zou and Xin Sun

Oncologic patients’ misconceptions may impede enrollment into clinical trials: a cross-sectional study

Clinical trials are an essential source for advances in oncologic care, yet the enrollment rate is only 2-4%. Patients' reluctance to participate is an important barrier. This study evaluates patients' level o...

Authors: Nethanel Asher, Ari Raphael, Ido Wolf, Sharon Pelles and Ravit Geva

Simple Excel and ICD-10 based dataset calculator for the Charlson and Elixhauser comorbidity indices

The Charlson and Elixhauser Comorbidity Indices are the most widely used comorbidity assessment methods in medical research. Both methods are adapted for use with the International Classification of Diseases, ...

Authors: Pärt Prommik, Kaspar Tootsi, Toomas Saluse, Eiki Strauss, Helgi Kolk and Aare Märtson

A validation study of data in the National Tonsil Surgery Register in Sweden: high agreement with medical records ensures that data can be used to monitor clinical practices and outcomes

The ambition of the National Tonsil Surgery Register in Sweden (NTSRS) is to improve otorhinolaryngological care by monitoring trends in the clinical practices, complications, and outcomes of tonsil surgery. T...

Authors: Filip Lundström, Erik Odhagen, Fredrik Alm, Claes Hemlin, Pia Nerfeldt and Ola Sunnergren

Non-parametric estimation of reference adjusted, standardised probabilities of all-cause death and death due to cancer for population group comparisons

Ensuring fair comparisons of cancer survival statistics across population groups requires careful consideration of differential competing mortality due to other causes, and adjusting for imbalances over groups...

Authors: Mark J. Rutherford, Therese M.-L. Andersson, Tor Åge Myklebust, Bjørn Møller and Paul C. Lambert

The impact of lookback windows on the prevalence and incidence of chronic diseases among people living with HIV: an exploration in administrative health data in Canada

We described the impact of different lengths of lookback window (LW), a retrospective time period to observe diagnoses in administrative data, on the prevalence and incidence of eight chronic diseases.

Authors: Ni Gusti Ayu Nanditha, Xinzhe Dong, Taylor McLinden, Paul Sereda, Jacek Kopec, Robert S. Hogg, Julio S. G. Montaner and Viviane D. Lima

Bayesian spatio-temporal distributed lag modeling for delayed climatic effects on sparse malaria incidence data

In many areas of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), malaria endemic regions have shrunk to patches of predominantly low-transmission. With a regional goal of elimination by 2030, it is important to use approp...

Authors: Chawarat Rotejanaprasert, Nattwut Ekapirat, Prayuth Sudathip and Richard J. Maude

Early experience with an opt-in research register - Scottish Health Research Register (SHARE): a multi-method evaluation of participant recruitment performance

Recruiting participants to a clinical study is a resource-intensive process with a high failure rate. The Scottish Health Research Register (SHARE) provides recruitment support service which helps researchers ...

Authors: Wen Shi, Shobna Vasishta, Louise Dow, Daniella Cavellini, Colin Palmer, Brian McKinstry and Frank Sullivan

Guidance for using artificial intelligence for title and abstract screening while conducting knowledge syntheses

Systematic reviews are the cornerstone of evidence-based medicine. However, systematic reviews are time consuming and there is growing demand to produce evidence more quickly, while maintaining robust methods....

Authors: Candyce Hamel, Mona Hersi, Shannon E. Kelly, Andrea C. Tricco, Sharon Straus, George Wells, Ba’ Pham and Brian Hutton

The roles of predictors in cardiovascular risk models - a question of modeling culture?

While machine learning (ML) algorithms may predict cardiovascular outcomes more accurately than statistical models, their result is usually not representable by a transparent formula. Hence, it is often unclea...

Authors: Christine Wallisch, Asan Agibetov, Daniela Dunkler, Maria Haller, Matthias Samwald, Georg Dorffner and Georg Heinze

Modelling of longitudinal data to predict cardiovascular disease risk: a methodological review

The identification of methodology for modelling cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk using longitudinal data and risk factor trajectories.

Authors: David Stevens, Deirdre A. Lane, Stephanie L. Harrison, Gregory Y. H. Lip and Ruwanthi Kolamunnage-Dona

Impact of limited sample size and follow-up on single event survival extrapolation for health technology assessment: a simulation study

Extrapolation of time-to-event data from clinical trials is commonly used in decision models for health technology assessment (HTA). The objective of this study was to assess performance of standard parametric...

Authors: Jaclyn M. Beca, Kelvin K. W. Chan, David M. J. Naimark and Petros Pechlivanoglou

The automation of relevant trial registration screening for systematic review updates: an evaluation study on a large dataset of ClinicalTrials.gov registrations

Clinical trial registries can be used as sources of clinical evidence for systematic review synthesis and updating. Our aim was to evaluate methods for identifying clinical trial registrations that should be s...

Authors: Didi Surian, Florence T. Bourgeois and Adam G. Dunn

Improving postal survey response using behavioural science: a nested randomised control trial

Systematic reviews have identified effective strategies for increasing postal response rates to questionnaires; however, most studies have isolated single techniques, testing the effect of each one individuall...

Authors: Emily McBride, Hiromi Mase, Robert S. Kerrison, Laura A. V. Marlow and Jo Waller

Moving beyond the classic difference-in-differences model: a simulation study comparing statistical methods for estimating effectiveness of state-level policies

Reliable evaluations of state-level policies are essential for identifying effective policies and informing policymakers’ decisions. State-level policy evaluations commonly use a difference-in-differences (DID...

Authors: Beth Ann Griffin, Megan S. Schuler, Elizabeth A. Stuart, Stephen Patrick, Elizabeth McNeer, Rosanna Smart, David Powell, Bradley D. Stei, Terry L. Schell and Rosalie Liccardo Pacula

An adaptive gBOIN design with shrinkage boundaries for phase I dose-finding trials

With the emergence of molecularly targeted agents and immunotherapies, the landscape of phase I trials in oncology has been changed. Though these new therapeutic agents are very likely induce multiple low- or ...

Authors: Rongji Mu, Zongliang Hu, Guoying Xu and Haitao Pan

Analysis of zero inflated dichotomous variables from a Bayesian perspective: application to occupational health

Zero-inflated models are generally aimed to addressing the problem that arises from having two different sources that generate the zero values observed in a distribution. In practice, this is due to the fact t...

Authors: David Moriña, Pedro Puig and Albert Navarro

Correction to: Applying a novel approach to scoping review incorporating artificial intelligence: mapping the natural history of gonorrhoea

Authors: Jane Whelan, Mohammad Ghoniem, Nicolas Médoc, Mike Apicella and Ekkehard Beck

Communicating incidental and reportable findings from research MRIs: considering factors beyond the findings in an underrepresented pediatric population

The application of advanced imaging in pediatric research trials introduces the challenge of how to effectively handle and communicate incidental and reportable findings. This challenge is amplified in underse...

Authors: Kiley B. Vander Wyst, Micah L. Olson, Smita S. Bailey, Ana Martinez Valencia, Armando Peña, Jeffrey Miller, Mitchell Shub, Lee Seabrooke, Janiel Pimentel, Kiri Olsen, Robert B. Rosenberg and Gabriel Q. Shaibi

Ethnographic research as an evolving method for supporting healthcare improvement skills: a scoping review

The relationship between ethnography and healthcare improvement has been the subject of methodological concern. We conducted a scoping review of ethnographic literature on healthcare improvement topics, with t...

Authors: Georgia B. Black, Sandra van Os, Samantha Machen and Naomi J. Fulop

Feasibility of a hybrid clinical trial for respiratory virus detection in toddlers during the influenza season

Traditional clinical trials are conducted at investigator sites. Participants must visit healthcare facilities several times for the trial procedures. Decentralized clinical trials offer an interesting alterna...

Authors: Soledad Muñoz-Ramírez, Begoña Escribano-López, Vallivana Rodrigo-Casares, Carlos Vergara-Hernández, Desamparados Gil-Mary, Ignacio Sorribes-Monrabal, María Garcés-Sánchez, María-Jesús Muñoz-Del-Barrio, Ana-María Albors-Fernández, María-Isabel Úbeda-Sansano, María-Victoria Planelles-Cantarino, Ester-María Largo-blanco, Eva Suárez-Vicent, Javier García-Rubio, Patricia Bruijning-Verhagen, Alejandro Orrico-Sánchez…

Impact of vaccine prioritization strategies on mitigating COVID-19: an agent-based simulation study using an urban region in the United States

Approval of novel vaccines for COVID-19 had brought hope and expectations, but not without additional challenges. One central challenge was understanding how to appropriately prioritize the use of limited supp...

Authors: Hanisha Tatapudi, Rachita Das and Tapas K. Das

New adaptive lasso approaches for variable selection in automated pharmacovigilance signal detection

Adverse effects of drugs are often identified after market introduction. Post-marketing pharmacovigilance aims to detect them as early as possible and relies on spontaneous reporting systems collecting suspici...

Authors: Émeline Courtois, Pascale Tubert-Bitter and Ismaïl Ahmed

Concordance rate of a four-quadrant plot for repeated measurements

To assure the equivalence between new clinical measurement methods and the standard methods, the four-quadrant plot and the plot’s concordance rate is used in clinical practice, along with Bland-Altman analysi...

Authors: Mayu Hiraishi, Kensuke Tanioka and Toshio Shimokawa

A latent-class heteroskedastic hurdle trajectory model: patterns of adherence in obstructive sleep apnea patients on CPAP therapy

Sleep apnea patients on CPAP therapy exhibit differences in how they adhere to the therapy. Previous studies have demonstrated the benefit of describing adherence in terms of discernible longitudinal patterns....

Authors: Niek G. P. Den Teuling, Edwin R. van den Heuvel, Mark S. Aloia and Steffen C. Pauws

Modular literature review: a novel systematic search and review method to support priority setting in health policy and practice

There is an unmet need for review methods to support priority-setting, policy-making and strategic planning when a wide variety of interventions from differing disciplines may have the potential to impact a he...

Authors: Annariina M. Koivu, Patricia J. Hunter, Pieta Näsänen-Gilmore, Yvonne Muthiani, Jaana Isojärvi, Pia Pörtfors, Ulla Ashorn and Per Ashorn

Predicting COVID-19 mortality risk in Toronto, Canada: a comparison of tree-based and regression-based machine learning methods

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) presents an unprecedented threat to global health worldwide. Accurately predicting the mortality risk among the infected individuals is crucial for prioritizing medical care and ...

Authors: Cindy Feng, George Kephart and Elizabeth Juarez-Colunga

Time-varying associations between an exposure history and a subsequent health outcome: a landmark approach to identify critical windows

Long-term behavioral and health risk factors constitute a primary focus of research on the etiology of chronic diseases. Yet, identifying critical time-windows during which risk factors have the strongest impa...

Authors: Maude Wagner, Francine Grodstein, Karen Leffondre, Cécilia Samieri and Cécile Proust-Lima

Does advance contact with research participants increase response to questionnaires: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis

Questionnaires remain one of the most common forms of data collection in epidemiology, psychology and other human-sciences. However, results can be badly affected by non-response. One way to potentially reduce...

Authors: Benjamin Woolf and Phil Edwards

Exploring the impact of ineligibility on individuals expressing interest in a trial aimed at improving daily functioning regarding perceptions of self, research and likelihood of future participation

Eligibility guidelines in research trials are necessary to minimise confounds and reduce bias in the interpretation of potential treatment effects. There is limited extant research investigating how being deem...

Authors: Christopher P. Dwyer, Helen McAneney, Fionnuala M. Rogers, Robert Joyce and Sinéad M. Hynes

Development of a dynamic interactive web tool to enhance understanding of multi-state model analyses: MSMplus

Multi-state models are used in complex disease pathways to describe a process where an individual moves from one state to the next, taking into account competing states during each transition. In a multi-state...

Authors: Nikolaos Skourlis, Michael J. Crowther, Therese M-L. Andersson and Paul C. Lambert

Similarities, reliability and gaps in assessing the quality of conduct of systematic reviews using AMSTAR-2 and ROBIS: systematic survey of nutrition reviews

AMSTAR-2 (‘A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews, version 2’) and ROBIS (‘Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews’) are independent instruments used to assess the quality of conduct of systematic reviews/...

Authors: Mateusz J. Swierz, Dawid Storman, Joanna Zajac, Magdalena Koperny, Paulina Weglarz, Wojciech Staskiewicz, Magdalena Gorecka, Anna Skuza, Adam Wach, Klaudia Kaluzinska, Justyna Bochenek-Cibor, Bradley C. Johnston and Malgorzata M. Bala

Predicting the natural history of metabolic syndrome with a Markov-system dynamic model: a novel approach

Markov system dynamic (MSD) model has rarely been used in medical studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of MSD model in prediction of metabolic syndrome (MetS) natural history.

Authors: Abbas Rezaianzadeh, Esmaeil Khedmati Morasae, Davood Khalili, Mozhgan Seif, Ehsan Bahramali, Fereidoun Azizi and Pezhman Bagheri

Does pre-notification increase questionnaire response rates: a randomised controlled trial nested within a systematic review

Missing outcome data can lead to bias in the results of systematic reviews. One way to address missing outcome data is by requesting the data from the trial authors, but non-response is common. One way to pote...

Authors: Benjamin Woolf and Phil Edwards