Sleep During Menopausal Transition: A 10-year Follow-Up

Abstract Study Objectives A 10-year observational follow-up study to evaluate the changes in sleep architecture during menopausal transition. Methods Fifty-seven premenopausal women (mean age 46 years, SD 0.9) were studied at baseline and after a 10-year follow-up. At both time points, polysomnography (PSG) was performed, and the serum follicle-stimulating hormone (S-FSH) concentration measured. Linear regression models were used to study the effects of aging and menopause (assessed as change in S-FSH) on sleep. Results After controlling for body mass index, vasomotor, and depressive symptoms, higher S-FSH level was associated with longer sleep latency (B 0.45, 95 % CI 0.07 to 0.83). Aging of 10 years was associated with shorter sleep latency (B -46.8, 95 % CI -77.2 to -16.4), shorter latency to stage 2 sleep (B -50.6, 95 % CI -85.3 to -15.9), decreased stage 2 sleep (B -12.4, 95 % CI -21.4 to -3.4) and increased slow wave sleep (B 12.8, 95 % CI 2.32 to 23.3) after controlling for confounding factors. Conclusions This study suggests that PSG measured sleep of middle-aged women does not worsen over a 10-year time span due to menopausal transition. The observed changes seem to be rather age- than menopause-dependent.

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Relationship Between Mental Health, Resilience, and Physical Activity in Older Adults: A 2-Year Longitudinal Study

Journal of Aging and Physical Activity ◽

10.1123/japa.2020-0264 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Maria Priscila Wermelinger Ávila ◽

Jimilly Caputo Corrêa ◽

Alessandra Lamas Granero Lucchetti ◽

Giancarlo Lucchetti

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Physical Activity ◽

Older Adults ◽

Regression Models ◽

Linear Regression Models ◽

Physically Active ◽

Effective Interventions ◽

Self Sufficiency ◽

The Relationship

The aim of this study was to longitudinally investigate the association between resilience and mental health in older adults and to determine the influence of physical activity on this relationship. A total of 291 older adults were included in a 2-year follow-up study. Adjusted linear regression models evaluated the association between resilience at baseline and mental health after 2 years in sufficiently and insufficiently physically active older adults. A negative correlation was found between resilience at baseline and depression, anxiety, and stress after 2 years for the overall sample. This association changed after stratifying the group. Sufficiently physically active individuals made greater use of the resilience components “Self-Sufficiency” and “Perseverance,” whereas insufficiently physically active individuals made greater use of “Meaning of Life” and “Existential Singularity.” Physical activity can influence the relationship between resilience and mental health. These results can help guide the devising of more effective interventions for this age group.

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Placental Epigenome-Wide Association Study Identified Loci Associated with Childhood Adiposity at 3 Years of Age

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms21197201 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (19) ◽

pp. 7201

Author(s):

Valérie Gagné-Ouellet ◽

Edith Breton ◽

Kathrine Thibeault ◽

Carol-Ann Fortin ◽

Véronique Desgagné ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Regression Models ◽

Skinfold Thickness ◽

Cellular Heterogeneity ◽

Fetal Life ◽

Mrna Levels ◽

Linear Regression Models ◽

Childhood Adiposity ◽

Genomic Regions ◽

Independent Cohort

The aim of this study was to identify placental DNA methylation (DNAm) variations associated with adiposity at 3 years of age. We quantified placental DNAm using the Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChips. We assessed associations between DNAm at single-CpGs and skinfold thickness using robust linear regression models adjusted for gestational age, child’s sex, age at follow-up and cellular heterogeneity. We sought replication of DNAm association with child adiposity in an independent cohort. We quantified placental mRNA levels for annotated gene using qRT-PCR and tested for correlation with DNAm. Lower DNAm at cg22593959 and cg22436429 was associated with higher adiposity (β = −1.18, q = 0.002 and β = −0.82, q = 0.04). The cg22593959 is located in an intergenic region (chr7q31.3), whereas cg22436429 is within the TFAP2E gene (1p34.3). DNAm at cg22593959 and cg22436429 was correlated with mRNA levels at FAM3C (rs = −0.279, p = 0.005) and TFAP2E (rs = 0.216, p = 0.03). In an independent cohort, the association between placental DNAm at cg22593959 and childhood adiposity was of similar strength and direction (β = −3.8 ± 4.1, p = 0.36), yet non-significant. Four genomic regions were also associated with skinfold thickness within FMN1, MAGI2, SKAP2 and BMPR1B genes. We identified placental epigenetic variations associated with adiposity at 3 years of age suggesting that childhood fat accretion patterns might be established during fetal life.

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Detection of Visual Field Loss Progression in Glaucoma: An Overview and Food for Thought

Ophthalmology Research An International Journal ◽

10.9734/or/2020/v13i130158 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 16-24

Author(s):

Carlo Aleci

Keyword(s):

Visual Field ◽

Gold Standard ◽

Regression Models ◽

Visual Field Loss ◽

Linear Regression Models ◽

Considerable Effort ◽

Rate Of Progression ◽

Visual Field Damage ◽

Event Based

The damage to the visual field is the main outcome of glaucoma. Basically, there are two different approaches to establish the rate of the functional loss in this clinical condition: event-based analysis and trend-based analysis. The event-based analysis, that relies on the occurrence of pre-established events to detect the progression of the visual field damage, cannot quantify the decay rate of sensitivity. In turn, the trend-based analysis, that aims to measure the rate of progression according to linear regression models, requires a long follow-up. Despite considerable effort, there is still no consensus on the optimal procedure, and a gold standard is still missing. This paper provides a quick overview of the topic as a tribute to the researchers engaged in this field.

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Older Adults’ Worry about COVID-19: Associations with Experiences of COVID-19 Among Social Connections

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.2744 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 744-744

Author(s):

Amanda Leggett ◽

Hyun Jung Koo ◽

Lindsay Kobayashi ◽

Jessica Finlay ◽

Hannah Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Older Adults ◽

Regression Models ◽

Social Connections ◽

Linear Regression Models ◽

Physical And Mental Health ◽

Disease Symptoms ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Higher Educational Attainment

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the physical and mental health of older adults, yet it is unknown how much older adults worry about their own exposure. As older adults are at increased risk for severe complications from COVID-19, understanding patterns of worry may inform public health guidelines and interventions for this age group. We investigated older adults’ worry about COVID-19 in the early months of the pandemic and associations with familial/friend’s diagnosis or disease symptoms. Data comes from the baseline (April/May 2020), one-month, and two-month follow-up surveys from the COVID-19 Coping Study, a national longitudinal cohort study of US adults aged ≥55. We used linear regression models to investigate the association between self-reported familial/friend diagnosis or symptoms with pandemic worry, accounting for demographic factors and individual diagnosis or experience of COVID-19 symptoms. Participants (Baseline=4379, 1 month= 2553, 2 month=2682) were 67 years old on average, 72% were female, 5.7% were non-White, and 80.5% had a college degree. At baseline, 26.6% of participants had friends or family who had been diagnosed or experienced symptoms of COVID-19. Having friends or family diagnosed or with symptoms of COVID-19 (B=0.08, SE=0.04, p<.05), being female (B=0.42, SE=0.03, p<.001), and having higher educational attainment (B=0.06, SE=0.02, p<.001) were significantly associated with greater worry about COVID-19. These associations were consistent over 3 months. Understanding if worry about the pandemic correlates with following public health guidelines is a key next step so intervention strategies can prioritize older adults and their social networks.

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Why does library holding format really matter for book impact assessment?: Modelling the relationship between citations and altmetrics with print and electronic holdings

Scientometrics ◽

10.1007/s11192-021-04239-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ashraf Maleki

Keyword(s):

Impact Assessment ◽

Regression Models ◽

Weak Correlation ◽

Follow Up Study ◽

The Past ◽

Google Books ◽

The Relationship ◽

Statistical Results ◽

Over Time

AbstractScholarly books are important outputs in some fields and their many publishing formats seem to introduce opportunities to scrutinize their impact. As there is a growing interest in the publisher-enforced massive collection of ebooks in libraries in the past decade, this study examined how this influences the relationship that library print holdings (LPH), library electronic holdings (LEH) and total library holdings (TLH) have with other metrics. As a follow up study to a previous research on OCLC library holdings, the relationship between library holdings and twelve other metrics including Scopus Citations, Google Books (GB) Citations, Goodreads engagements, and Altmetric indicators were examined for 119,794 Scopus-indexed book titles across 26 fields. Present study confirms the weak correlation levels observed between TLH and other indicators in previous studies and contributes additional evidence that print holdings can moderately reflect research, educational and online impact of books consistently more efficient than eholdings and total holdings across fields and over time, except for Mendeley for which eholdings slightly prevailed. Regression models indicated that along with other dimensions, Google Books Citations frequently best explained LPH (in 14 out of 26 fields), whereas Goodreads User counts were weak, but the best predictor of both LEH and TLH (in 15 fields out of 26), suggesting significant association of eholdings with online uptake of books. Overall, findings suggest that inclusion of eholdings overrides the more impactful counts of print holdings in Total Library Holdings metric and therefore undermines the statistical results, whilst print holdings has both statistically and theoretically promising underlying assumptions for prediction of impact of books and shows greater promise than the general Library Holding metric for book impact assessment. Thus, there is a need for a distinction between print and electronic holding counts to be made, otherwise total library holding data need to be interpreted with caution.

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Sensor-based Fall Risk Assessment – an Expert ‘to go’

Methods of Information in Medicine ◽

10.3414/me10-01-0040 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 50 (05) ◽

pp. 420-426 ◽

Cited By ~ 52

Author(s):

A. Rehwald ◽

K. H. Wolf ◽

M. Gietzelt ◽

G. Nemitz ◽

H. Meyer zu Schwabedissen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Fall Risk ◽

Regression Models ◽

Sensor Data ◽

Accelerometer Data ◽

Risk Models ◽

Logistic Regression Models ◽

Follow Up Study ◽

One Year

SummaryBackground: Falls are a predominant problem in our aging society, often leading to severe somatic and psychological consequences, and having an incidence of about 30% in the group of persons aged 65 years or above. In order to identify persons at risk, many assessment tools and tests have been developed, but most of these have to be conducted in a supervised setting and are dependent on an expert rater.Objectives: The overall aim of our research work is to develop an objective and unobtrusive method to determine individual fall risk based on the use of motion sensor data. The aims of our work for this paper are to derive a fall risk model based on sensor data that may potentially be measured during typical activities of daily life (aim #1), and to evaluate the resulting model with data from a one-year follow-up study (aim #2).Methods: A sample of n = 119 geriatric inpatients wore an accelerometer on the waist during a Timed ‘Up & Go’ test and a 20 m walk. Fifty patients were included in a one-year follow-up study, assessing fall events and scoring average physical activity at home in telephone interviews. The sensor data were processed to extract gait and dynamic balance parameters, from which four fall risk models – two classification trees and two logistic regression models – were computed: models CT#1 and SL#1 using accelerometer data only, models CT#2 and SL#2 including the physical activity score. The risk models were evaluated in a ten-times tenfold cross-validation procedure, calculating sensitivity (SENS), speci ficity (SPEC), positive and negative predictive values (PPV, NPV), classification accuracy, area under the curve (AUC) and the Brier score.Results: Both classification trees show a fair to good performance (models CT#1/ CT#2): SENS 74% / 58%, SPEC 96% / 82%, PPV 92% / 74%, NPV 77%/82%, accuracy 80% / 78%, AUC 0.83 / 0.87 and Brier scores 0.14 / 0.14. The logistic regression models (SL#1/ SL#2) perform worse: SENS 42% / 58%, SPEC 82% / 78%, PPV 62% / 65%, NPV 67% / 72%, accuracy 65% /70%, AUC 0.65 / 0.72 and Brier scores 0.23 / 0.21.Conclusions: Our results suggest that accelerometer data may be used to predict falls in an unsupervised setting. Furthermore, the parameters used for prediction are measurable with an unobtrusive sensor device during normal activities of daily living. These promising results have to be validated in a larger, long-term prospective trial.

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Dietary n-6 PUFA, carbohydrate:protein ratio and change in body weight and waist circumference: a follow-up study

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s1368980014001578 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 18 (7) ◽

pp. 1317-1323 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Marianne U Jakobsen ◽

Lise Madsen ◽

Claus Dethlefsen ◽

Karen M Due ◽

Jytte Halkjær ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Body Weight ◽

Waist Circumference ◽

Glycaemic Index ◽

Linear Regression Models ◽

Protein Levels ◽

Follow Up Study ◽

The Difference ◽

Waist Circumference Change ◽

Different Levels

AbstractObjectiveTo investigate the association between the intake of n-6 PUFA and subsequent change in body weight and waist circumference at different levels of the carbohydrate:protein ratio.DesignFollow-up study with anthropometric measurements at recruitment and on average 5·3 years later. Dietary intake was determined at recruitment by using an FFQ that was designed for the study and validated. We applied linear regression models with 5-year change in weight or waist circumference as outcome and including a two-way interaction term between n-6 PUFA and carbohydrate intakes, lower-order terms, protein intake, long-chain n-3 PUFA intake and other potential confounders. Due to adjustment for intake of protein, levels of carbohydrate indirectly reflect levels of the carbohydrate:protein ratio.SettingDiet, Cancer and Health follow-up study, Denmark.SubjectsWomen and men (n 29 152) aged 55 years.ResultsFor a high intake of n-6 PUFA (6·9 % of energy) v. a low intake of n-6 PUFA (3·4 % of energy), the difference in 5-year weight change was −189·7 g (95 % CI −636·8, 257·4 g) at a low carbohydrate:protein ratio and −86·7 g (95 % CI −502·9, 329·6 g) at a high carbohydrate:protein ratio; the differences in 5-year waist circumference change were 0·26 cm (95 % CI −0·47, 0·98 cm) and −0·52 cm (95 % CI −1·19, 0·15 cm), respectively. Inclusion of the dietary glycaemic index did not change the results.ConclusionsNo consistent associations between the intake of n-6 PUFA and change in body weight or waist circumference at different levels of the carbohydrate:protein ratio were observed.

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Bariatric Surgery Affects Plasma Levels of Alanine Aminotransferase Independent of Weight Loss: A Registry-Based Study

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm10122724 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (12) ◽

pp. 2724

Author(s):

Shira Azulai ◽

Ronit Grinbaum ◽

Nahum Beglaibter ◽

Shai Meron Eldar ◽

Moshe Rubin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bariatric Surgery ◽

Weight Loss ◽

Plasma Levels ◽

Alanine Aminotransferase ◽

Regression Models ◽

Time Course ◽

Liver Enzymes ◽

Linear Regression Models ◽

Hepatic Enzymes

Patients that undergo bariatric surgery experience weight loss and a reduction in the plasma levels of the hepatic enzymes alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). We used the Israeli national bariatric registry, which includes demographic, clinical, and biochemical data on 19,403 patients, of which 1335 patients had two-year follow-up data on ALT, AST, A1C, and BMI, to test the dependence of the reduction in the levels of ALT and AST on weight loss. The data were analyzed using regression models, retrospective matching, and time course analyses. Changes in liver enzymes did not correlate with change in BMI, and linear regression models did not demonstrate that the change in ALT and AST values were dependent on pre-operative levels of BMI or the extent of weight loss. ALT and AST levels were reduced two years after surgery compared with a cohort of retrospectively matched patients for ethnicity, sex, age, BMI, and A1C. Finally, patients who regained weight displayed a reduction in levels of liver enzymes. Our results suggest that bariatric surgery affects AST and ALT levels via weight loss dependent and independent mechanisms. Mechanistic studies that will identify the nature of this effect and the clinical relevance of ALT and AST levels to the post-bariatric liver function are warranted.

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Five Year Follow Up of Extremely Low Gestational Age Infants after Timely or Delayed Administration of Routine Vaccinations

Vaccines ◽

10.3390/vaccines9050493 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (5) ◽

pp. 493

Author(s):

Ingmar Fortmann ◽

Marie-Theres Dammann ◽

Alexander Humberg ◽

Bastian Siller ◽

Guido Stichtenoth ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Gestational Age ◽

Regression Models ◽

Univariate Analysis ◽

Significant Proportion ◽

Linear Regression Models ◽

Long Term Consequences ◽

Extremely Low Gestational Age

This study is aimed at detecting the rate of untimely immunization in a large cohort of extremely low gestational age neonates (ELGANs) of the German Neonatal Network (GNN) and at addressing risk factors for delayed vaccination and associated long-term consequences. We performed an observational study of the GNN between 1st January 2010 and 31st December 2019. The immunization status for the hexavalent and pneumococcal immunization was evaluated in n = 8401 preterm infants <29 weeks of gestation. Univariate analysis and logistic/linear regression models were used to identify risk factors for vaccination delay and outcomes at a 5-year follow-up. In our cohort n = 824 (9.8%) ELGANs did not receive a timely first immunization with the hexavalent and pneumococcal vaccine. Risk factors for delayed vaccination were SGA status (18.1% vs. 13.5%; OR 1.3; 95% CI: 1.1–1.7), impaired growth and surrogates for complicated clinical courses (i.e., need for inotropes, necrotizing enterocolitis). At 5 years of age, timely immunized children had a lower risk of bronchitis (episodes within last year: 27.3% vs. 37.7%; OR 0.60, 95% CI: 0.42–0.86) but spirometry measures were unaffected. In conclusion, a significant proportion of ELGANs are untimely immunized, specifically those with increased vulnerability, even though they might particularly benefit from the immune-promoting effects of a timely vaccination.

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Cystatin C predicts renal function impairment after partial or radical tumor nephrectomy

International Urology and Nephrology ◽

10.1007/s11255-021-02957-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mike Wenzel ◽

Hang Yu ◽

Annemarie Uhlig ◽

Christoph Würnschimmel ◽

Manuel Wallbach ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Renal Function ◽

Linear Regression ◽

Kidney Function ◽

Cystatin C ◽

Regression Models ◽

Linear Regression Models ◽

Renal Function Impairment ◽

Blind Area ◽

Function Impairment

Abstract Purpose To test the value of preoperative and postoperative cystatin C (CysC) as a predictor on kidney function after partial (PN) or radical nephrectomy (RN) in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients with normal preoperative renal function. Methods From 01/2011 to 12/2014, 195 consecutive RCC patients with a preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) > 60 ml/min/1.73m2 underwent surgical RCC treatment with either PN or RN. Logistic and linear regression models tested for the effect of CysC as a predictor of new-onset chronic kidney disease in follow-up (eGFR < 60 ml/min/1.73m2). Moreover, postoperative CysC and creatinine values were compared for kidney function estimation. Results Of 195 patients, 129 (66.2%) underwent PN. In postoperative and in follow-up setting (median 14 months, IQR 10–20), rates of eGFR < 60 ml/min/1.73m2 were 55.9 and 30.2%. In multivariable logistic regression models, preoperative CysC [odds ratio (OR): 18.3] and RN (OR: 13.5) were independent predictors for a reduced eGFR < 60 ml/min/1.73m2 in follow-up (both p < 0.01), while creatinine was not. In multivariable linear regression models, a difference of the preoperative CysC level of 0.1 mg/dl estimated an eGFR decline in follow-up of about 5.8 ml/min/1.73m2. Finally, we observed a plateau of postoperative creatinine values in the range of 1.2–1.3 mg/dl, when graphically depicted vs. postoperative CysC values (‘creatinine blind area’). Conclusion Preoperative CysC predicts renal function impairment following RCC surgery. Furthermore, CysC might be superior to creatinine for renal function monitoring in the early postoperative setting.

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