scholarly journals Invited Commentary: Examining Sex/Gender Differences in Risk of Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementias—Challenges and Future Directions

2019 ◽  
Vol 188 (7) ◽  
pp. 1224-1227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Rose Mayeda
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Alzheimer Disease ◽  
Death Certificate ◽  
Current Issue ◽  
Sample Selection ◽  
Conclusive Evidence ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Biological Mechanisms ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Study Designs

Abstract The majority of people living with Alzheimer disease (AD) and related dementias are women. Longer life expectancy is one factor thought to contribute to this observation, but possible sex-specific biological mechanisms have received considerable attention from the research community. In the current issue of the Journal, Buckley et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2019;188(7):1213–1223) use death certificate information on all deaths occurring among adults aged ≥60 years in Australia between 2006 and 2014 to evaluate sex/gender differences in rates of death with dementia (all types), AD dementia, and vascular dementia listed on the death certificate. The paper by Buckley et al. highlights several important methodological challenges for research examining sex/gender differences in risk of AD and related dementias, including challenges in measurement, survival bias and competing risks, and selection bias arising from sample selection. The current evidence on possible sex-specific biological risk factors for AD is intriguing, but there are numerous alternative explanations for differences in AD dementia and AD biomarkers between women and men. Triangulation of evidence from study designs with different strengths and weaknesses and transdisciplinary collaboration will be vital to generating conclusive evidence about sex/gender differences in risk of AD and related dementias.

scholarly journals Does Active Design Influence Activity, Sitting, Wellbeing and Productivity in the Workplace? A Systematic Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (24) ◽  
pp. 9228
Author(s):  
Lina Engelen
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Work Performance ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Conclusive Evidence ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Active Design ◽  
Study Designs ◽  
Abstract Screening ◽  
Building Designs

Active design is an emerging concept to incorporate physical activity into daily life through thoughtful design, and is often implemented in new building designs. It is, however, not known what evidence base there is to support the claims. Through this systematic review, the current evidence for active design was investigated. Seven databases were searched. A range of search terms relating to active design, physical activity, sitting, performance and wellbeing were used. After title and abstract screening of 1174 papers and full-text screening, 17 were selected for inclusion. The papers provided promising evidence of active design aiding a reduction in sitting and increase in standing time. Limited evidence was found for physical activity; a few studies reported an increase in step counts. Musculoskeletal effects were investigated in few studies, but there is some evidence of benefits to lower back pain. There was consistent evidence for better light and air quality, but no evidence for other features of the workplace environment. No conclusive evidence was found on associations between active design features and work performance. There is hence some evidence to support the benefit of active design on physical health; however, the dearth and heterogeneity of the study designs, measures and findings warrant further research.

How much do we know about the long-term effectiveness of parenting programmes? Advances, shortcomings, and future directions

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Metin Özdemir
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Conclusive Evidence ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Causal Inferences ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Problem Behaviours ◽  
Parent Outcomes

Purpose – Parenting programmes are seen as feasible and cost-effective in preventing early behavioural problems in children and adolescents. A number of studies have concluded that such programmes are effective in reducing child problem behaviours and improving the skills and well-being of parents. Nevertheless, less is known about long-term programme effects. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – A non-meta-analytic discussion. Findings – Long-term evaluations of parenting programmes suffer from a number of methodological weaknesses resulting in an inability to make robust causal inferences about child and parent outcomes in the longer term. The current evidence is favourable but is likely to be biased by methodological weaknesses. There is a need for more studies of greater methodological strength to obtain conclusive evidence that would guide empirical research, practice and policy. Originality/value – The paper discusses weaknesses in long-term evaluations of parenting programmes and highlights concrete future directions towards improving the quality of study design, evaluation and data analysis.

Levosimendan to facilitate weaning from cardiorespiratory support in critically ill patients: current evidence and future directions

2020 ◽  
Vol 86 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Sangalli ◽  
Giacomo Bellani ◽  
Alessandro Affronti ◽  
Francesca Volpi ◽  
Marco Feri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Critically Ill ◽  
Critically Ill Patients ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Future Directions

Gender Differences in Non-Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Bergami ◽  
Marialuisa Scarpone ◽  
Edina Cenko ◽  
Elisa Varotti ◽  
Peter Louis Amaduzzi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coronary Artery Disease ◽  
Gender Differences ◽  
Heart Disease ◽  
Coronary Artery ◽  
Ischemic Heart Disease ◽  
Coronary Arteries ◽  
Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease ◽  
Ischemic Heart ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Artery Disease

: Subjects affected by ischemic heart disease with non-obstructive coronary arteries constitute a population that has received increasing attention over the past two decades. Since the first studies with coronary angiography, female patients have been reported to have non-obstructive coronary artery disease more frequently than their male counterparts, both in stable and acute clinical settings. Although traditionally considered a relatively infrequent and low-risk form of myocardial ischemia, its impact on clinical practice is undeniable, especially when it comes to infarction, where the prognosis is not as benign as previously assumed. Unfortunately, despite increasing awareness, there are still several questions left unanswered regarding diagnosis, risk stratification and treatment. The purpose of this review is to provide a state of the art and an update on current evidence available on gender differences in clinical characteristics, management and prognosis of ischemic heart disease with non-obstructive coronary arteries, both in the acute and stable clinical setting.

scholarly journals Conditional power of antidepressant network meta-analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Holper
Keyword(s):  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Dropout Rate ◽  
Conclusive Evidence ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Hamilton Depression Scale ◽  
Conditional Power ◽  
Sample Sizes ◽  
Antidepressant Treatments

Abstract Background Conditional power of network meta-analysis (NMA) can support the planning of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing medical interventions. Conditional power is the probability that updating existing inconclusive evidence in NMA with additional trial(s) will result in conclusive evidence, given assumptions regarding trial design, anticipated effect sizes, or event probabilities. Methods The present work aimed to estimate conditional power for potential future trials on antidepressant treatments. Existing evidence was based on a published network of 502 RCTs conducted between 1979-2018 assessing acute antidepressant treatment in major depressive disorder (MDD). Primary outcomes were efficacy in terms of the symptom change on the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) and tolerability in terms of the dropout rate due to adverse events. The network compares 21 antidepressants consisting of 231 relative treatment comparisons, 164 (efficacy) and 127 (tolerability) of which are currently assumed to have inconclusive evidence. Results Required sample sizes to achieve new conclusive evidence with at least 80% conditional power were estimated to range between N = 894 - 4190 (efficacy) and N = 521 - 1246 (tolerability). Otherwise, sample sizes ranging between N = 49 - 485 (efficacy) and N = 40 - 320 (tolerability) may require stopping for futility based on a boundary at 20% conditional power. Optimizing trial designs by considering multiple trials that contribute both direct and indirect evidence, anticipating alternative effect sizes or alternative event probabilities, may increase conditional power but required sample sizes remain high. Antidepressants having the greatest conditional power associated with smallest required sample sizes were identified as those on which current evidence is low, i.e., clomipramine, levomilnacipran, milnacipran, nefazodone, and vilazodone, with respect to both outcomes. Conclusions The present results suggest that conditional power to achieve new conclusive evidence in ongoing or future trials on antidepressant treatments is low. Limiting the use of the presented conditional power analysis are primarily due to the estimated large sample sizes which would be required in future trials as well as due to the well-known small effect sizes in antidepressant treatments. These findings may inform researchers and decision-makers regarding the clinical relevance and justification of research in ongoing or future antidepressant RCTs in MDD.

scholarly journals A Review on the Value of Imaging in Differentiating between Large Vessel Vasculitis and Atherosclerosis

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 236
Author(s):  
Pieter H. Nienhuis ◽  
Gijs D. van Praagh ◽  
Andor W. J. M. Glaudemans ◽  
Elisabeth Brouwer ◽  
Riemer H. J. A. Slart
Keyword(s):  
Fdg Pet ◽  
Large Vessel Vasculitis ◽  
Large Vessel ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Inflammatory Conditions ◽  
Positron Emission ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri ◽  
Review Reports ◽  
Ct Studies

Imaging is becoming increasingly important for the diagnosis of large vessel vasculitis (LVV). Atherosclerosis may be difficult to distinguish from LVV on imaging as both are inflammatory conditions of the arterial wall. Differentiating atherosclerosis from LVV is important to enable optimal diagnosis, risk assessment, and tailored treatment at a patient level. This paper reviews the current evidence of ultrasound (US), 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to distinguish LVV from atherosclerosis. In this review, we identified a total of eight studies comparing LVV patients to atherosclerosis patients using imaging—four US studies, two FDG-PET studies, and two CT studies. The included studies mostly applied different methodologies and outcome parameters to investigate vessel wall inflammation. This review reports the currently available evidence and provides recommendations on further methodological standardization methods and future directions for research.

Prevention and early help for eating disorders in young people with type 1 diabetes

2021 ◽  
pp. 135910452199417
Author(s):  
Rosie Oldham-Cooper ◽  
Claire Semple
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Type 1 Diabetes ◽  
Early Intervention ◽  
Young People ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Team Collaboration ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Specialist Services

There is building evidence that early intervention is key to improving outcomes in eating disorders, whereas a ‘watch and wait’ approach that has been commonplace among GPs and other healthcare professionals is now strongly discouraged. Eating disorders occur at approximately twice the rate in individuals with type 1 diabetes compared to the general population. In this group, standard eating disorder treatments have poorer outcomes, and eating disorders result in a particularly high burden of morbidity. Therefore, our first priority must be prevention, with early intervention where disordered eating has already developed. Clinicians working in both eating disorders and diabetes specialist services have highlighted the need for multidisciplinary team collaboration and specific training, as well as improved treatments. We review the current evidence and future directions for prevention, identification and early intervention for eating disorders in children and young people with type 1 diabetes.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document