A retrospective case–control study of clinical factors associated with paradoxical exacerbation of pemphigus vulgaris following rituximab infusion

Stroke is a major cause of disability worldwide, and balance impairments are common disabling factors in patients with stroke, leading to falls. Thus, the study objectives were as follows: (i) To find the prevalence of balance impairment among patients with stroke. (ii) To find out the factors associated with balance impairment in patients with stroke. This cross-sectional retrospective case control study involved eighty-one post stroke patients with a mean age of 58.36 ± 14.06, recruited from six hospitals, who underwent an assessment of balance, walking speed, depression and isometric strength of the ankle and knee. These patients were later categorized into subjects with good balance (<45) in the Berg balance scale (BBS) and those with poor balance (≥45), as cases and controls, to assess the factors associated with balance impairment using binary logistic regression. The prevalence of balance impairment among patients with stroke was 48.1%. The reduction in power of knee flexors (OR = 0.858), knee extensors (OR = 0.880) and ankle dorsiflexors (OR = 0.820) was found to be significantly associated with balance impairment, along with speed (OR = 1.187 (95% CI = 1.100, 1.280)), depression (OR = 1.331 (95% CI = 1.055–1.679)) and activities of daily living (OR = 0.313 (95% CI = 0.150–0.650)). In summary, around half of the patients with stroke exhibited balance impairments, with females being more prone.

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Risk factors associated with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome in Chinese children: A single center retrospective case-control study

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0203695 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. e0203695

Author(s):

Ling Shen ◽

Zongtong Lin ◽

Xing Lin ◽

Zhongjie Yang

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Obstructive Sleep Apnea ◽

Case Control Study ◽

Case Control ◽

Single Center ◽

Retrospective Case ◽

Factors Associated ◽

Obstructive Sleep ◽

Hypopnea Syndrome ◽

Control Study

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Cerebrovascular risk factors associated with ischemic stroke in a young non-diabetic and non-hypertensive population: a retrospective case-control study

BMC Neurology ◽

10.1186/s12883-020-02005-7 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Nan Zhang ◽

Lin Zhang ◽

Qiu Wang ◽

Jingwei Zhao ◽

Jia Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Blood Pressure ◽

Young Adults ◽

Ischemic Stroke ◽

Case Control Study ◽

Conditional Logistic Regression ◽

Case Control ◽

Retrospective Case ◽

Factors Associated ◽

Control Study

Abstract Background Globally, rates of ischemic stroke (IS) have been rising among young adults. This study was designed to identify risk factors associated with IS incidence in young adults unaffected by hypertension or diabetes. Methods This was a retrospective case-control study of early-onset IS patients without diabetes and hypertension. Control patients were matched with healthy individuals based upon sex, age (±2 years), and BMI (±3 kg/m2) at a 1:3 ratio. Sociodemographic, clinical, and risk factor-related data pertaining to these patients was collected. The association between these risk factors and IS incidence was then assessed using conditional logistic regression models. Results We recruited 60 IS patients and 180 controls with mean ages of 44.37 ± 4.68 and 44.31 ± 4.71 years, respectively, for this study. Relative to controls, IS patients had significantly higher total cholesterol (TG), homocysteine (HCY), white blood cell (WBC), absolute neutrophil count (ANC), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) levels, and significantly lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglyceride cholesterol (TC), free triiodothyronine (FT3), and free thyroxine (FT4) levels (all P < 0.05). After controlling for potential confounding factors, HCY and ANC were found to be significantly positively associated with IS incidence (OR 1.518, 95%CI 1.165–1.977, P = 0.002 and OR 2.418, 95%CI 1.061–5.511, P = 0.036, respectively), whereas HDL-C and FT3 levels were negatively correlated with IS incidence (OR 0.001, 95%CI 0.000–0.083, P = 0.003 and OR 0.053, 95%CI 0.008–0.326, P = 0.002, respectively). Conclusions In young non-diabetic and non-hypertensive patients, lower HDL-C and FT3 levels and higher HCY and ANC levels may be associated with an elevated risk of IS. Additional prospective studies of large patient cohorts will be essential to validate these findings.

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