Screening ECGs for Cardiovascular Risk Assessment

In their article on routine electrocardiogram (ECG) screening and cardiovascular disease (CVD) events Yagi and colleagues report findings from a nationwide cohort study on screening electrocardiography in Japan between January 2015 and December 2021. Since 1989, an annual screening ECG has been mandatory for working-age people in Japan aged 35 years and older. The authors assessed claims and annual health screening data from the Japan Health Insurance Association that included 3 698 429 individuals registered in the database and who had a screening ECG in 2016. Electrocardiograms were classified as having 1 minor abnormality, 2 or more minor abnormalities, or major abnormalities. Using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models and adjusting for multiple clinical covariates, the authors found a greater risk of the composite outcome of overall death or hospital admission for CVD in people with 1 minor abnormality (hazard ratio [HR], 1.19; 95% CI, 1.18-1.20), 2 or more minor abnormalities (HR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.34-1.39), and major ECG abnormalities (HR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.92-2.02) compared with people with a normal ECG result. Cardiovascular events were observed across subgroups by age, sex, and low vs moderate to high CVD risk groups. The authors concluded that “further studies are needed to elucidate the role of routine ECG screening for early prevention of CVD events, along with optimal follow-up strategies for both major and minor ECG abnormalities.”

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Settembre 2024

Protocol of health screening related to occupational diseases in 100 000 workers in critical sectors: a cross-sectional study with worksite risk assessment

Background
Occupational diseases are one of the most important health problems related to employment However, in Malaysia, there are few epidemiological studies discussing these issues, especially among workers in the industry. For that, this study aimed to screen workers from high-risk industrial sectors, identify hazards in the workplace and recommend improvement measures in the workplace to prevent occupational diseases.

Methods and analysis
This is a 3-year project in which a survey of 100 000 workers from all 13 states in Malaysia will be conducted using a web-based screening tool that is comprised of two parts: occupational disease screening tool and hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control method. Data will be collected using a multistage stratified sampling method from 500 companies, including seven critical industrial sectors. The independent variables will be sociodemographic characteristics, comorbidities, previous medical history, high-risk behaviour and workplace profile. The dependent variable will be the types of occupational diseases (noise-induced hearing loss, respiratory, musculoskeletal, neurotoxic, skin and mental disorders). Subsequently, suggestions of referral for medium and high-risk workers to occupational health clinics will be attained. The approved occupational health service clinics/providers will make a confirmatory diagnosis of each case as deemed necessary. Subsequently, a walk-through survey to identify workplace hazards and recommend workplace improvement measures to prevent these occupational diseases will be achieved. Both descriptive and inferential statistics will be used in this study. Simple and adjusted binary regression will be used to find the determinants of occupational diseases.

Ethics and dissemination
This study has been approved by the MARA University of Technology Research Ethics Board. Informed, written consent will be obtained from all study participants. Findings will be disseminated to the Department of Occupational Health and Safety, involved industries, and through peer-reviewed publications.

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Agosto 2024

How a population-based cohort of men estimate lifetime risk of prostate cancer in a survey before entering a prostate cancer screening trial in Sweden?

Objectives
Investigating men’s perceived lifetime risk of prostate cancer.

Design
Survey-based study to men invited for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening in the GÖTEBORG-2 trial between September 2015 and June 2020.

Setting
38 775 men in the Gothenburg area, Sweden, were invited for PSA-testing and participated in a survey.

Participants
17 980 men participated in PSA-testing, of whom 13 189 completed the survey. In addition, 1264 men answered the survey only.

Interventions
Before having the PSA-test, men answered an electronic survey and estimated their lifetime risk of receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis on a visual analogue scale from 0% to 100%.

Main outcome measures
The primary outcome was the median lifetime risk estimation, which was compared with Wilcoxon test to an anticipated lifetime risk of 20% (based on GÖTEBORG-1 trial). The secondary outcome was to determine factors associated with risk estimation in a multivariable linear regression model: previous prostate examination, family history, physical exercise, healthy diet, comorbidity, alcohol consumption, smoking, education level, marital status, urinary symptoms and erectile dysfunction.

Results
Among PSA-tested men, the median estimated lifetime risk of prostate cancer was 30% (IQR 19% to 50%), corresponding to a 10 percentage-points higher estimation compared with the anticipated risk (p5 percentage-points higher risk estimation. Similar results were obtained for non-PSA-tested men.

Conclusions
Most men overestimated their prostate cancer risk which underscores the importance of providing them accurate information about prostate cancer.

Trial registration number
ISRCTN94604465.

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Agosto 2024

Economic evaluations of pancreatic cancer screening: a systematic review protocol

Introduction
The early detection of pancreatic cancer is an important step in reducing mortality by offering patients curative treatment. Screening strategies in risk populations and by means of different detection methods have been economically evaluated. However, a synthesis of screening studies to inform resource allocation towards early detection within the disease area has not been done. Therefore, studies evaluating the cost-effectiveness and costs of screening for pancreatic cancer should be systematically reviewed.

Methods and analysis
A systematic review of economic evaluations reporting the cost-effectiveness or costs of pancreatic cancer screening will be conducted. The electronic databases Medline, Web of Science and EconLit will be searched without geographical or time restrictions. Two independent reviewers will select eligible studies based on predefined criteria. The study quality will be assessed using the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards statement and the Bias in Economic Evaluation checklist. One reviewer will extract relevant data and a second reviewer will cross-check compliance with the extraction sheet. Key items will include characteristics of screened individuals, the screening strategies used, and costs, health effects and cost-effectiveness as study outputs. Differences of opinion between the reviewers will be solved by consulting a third reviewer.

Ethics and dissemination
Ethics approval is not required for this study since no original data will be collected. The results will be disseminated through presentations at conferences and publication in a peer-reviewed journal. The results of the systematic review will inform future economic evaluations of pancreatic screening, which provide guidance for decision-making in healthcare resource prioritisation.

PROSPERO registration number
CRD42023475348.

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Agosto 2024

Diagnostic performance of an albuminuria point-of-care test in screening for chronic kidney disease among young people living with HIV in Uganda: a cross-sectional study

Objectives
The main aim was to determine the diagnostic performance of an albuminuria point-of-care test (POC) for diagnosis of chronic kidney disease among young people living with HIV (YPLHIV) in Uganda.

Design
We conducted a cross-sectional study comparing the diagnostic performance of MicroalbuPHAN (Erba Lachema, Czech Republic), an albuminuria POC test against the laboratory-measured albumin and creatinine as the reference standard.

Setting
The study was set in seven HIV clinics in Kampala, Uganda that provide antiretroviral therapy to adults and children living with HIV. The study took place from April to August 2023.

Participants
497 YPLHIV aged 10–24 years who were diagnosed with HIV before 10 years of age were randomly selected from the HIV clinics. Pregnant YPLHIV were excluded.

Procedures
Participants provided a spot urine sample that was tested for albumin and creatinine using the POC and in the laboratory and proteinuria using urine dipstick. The sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive values (NPV, PPV) of the POC versus the laboratory test were calculated, and factors associated with having a positive POC test were estimated using logistic regression.

Outcome measures
The primary outcome was a diagnosis of albuminuria defined as an albumin creatinine ratio above 30 mg/g.

Results
Of the 497 participants enrolled, 278 (55.9%) were female and 331 (66.8%) were aged 10–17 years. The POC test had a sensitivity of 74.5% (95% CI 70.6% to 78.4%) and specificity of 68.1% (95% CI 63.9% to 72.3%). The PPV was 21.5% (95% CI 17.8% to 25.1%) and the NPV was 95.8% (95% CI 94.0% to 97.6%), with an accuracy of 68.8%. There was strong evidence that a positive POC test was associated with having proteinuria (OR 2.82; 95% CI 1.89 to 4.22, p

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Agosto 2024

Prevalence and associated factors of suspected occupational skin diseases among restaurant workers in peninsular Malaysia: secondary data analysis of Registry for Occupational Disease Screening (RODS)

Objectives
Occupational skin diseases (OSDs) pose significant risks to the health and well-being of restaurant workers. However, there is presently limited evidence on the burden and determinants of OSDs among this occupational group. This research aims to estimate the prevalence and associated factors of suspected OSDs among restaurant workers in Peninsular Malaysia.

Design
A secondary data analysis of the 2023 Registry of Occupational Disease Screening (RODS) was performed. The RODS survey tool, which included the Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire, a symptoms checklist and items on work-relatedness, was used to screen for OSDs. Logistic regression analyses were performed to identify associated factors.

Setting and participants
Restaurant workers (n=300) registered in RODS from February 2023 to April 2023, aged 18 years and above and working in restaurants across Selangor, Melaka and Pahang for more than 1 year, were included in the study, whereas workers who had pre-existing skin diseases were excluded.

Results
The prevalence of suspected OSDs among study participants was 12.3%. Higher odds of suspected OSDs among study participants were observed among those exposed to wet work (adjusted OR (AOR) 22.74, 95% CI 9.63 to 53.68) and moderate to high job stress levels (AOR 4.33, 95% CI 1.80 to 10.43).

Conclusions
These findings suggest that OSDs are a significant occupational health problem among restaurant workers. Interventions targeting job content and wet work may be vital in reducing OSDs among this group of workers.

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Agosto 2024

Testing a persuasive health communication intervention (PHCI) for emergency department patients who declined rapid HIV/HCV screening: a randomised controlled trial study protocol

Introduction
Previous studies have shown that substantial percentages of emergency department (ED) patients in the USA recommended for HIV or hepatitis C (HCV) decline testing. Evidence-based and cost-effective interventions to improve HIV/HCV testing uptake are needed, particularly for people who inject drugs (PWIDs) (currently or formerly), who comprise a group at higher risk for these infections. We developed a brief persuasive health communication intervention (PHCI) designed to convince ED patients who had declined HIV/HCV testing to agree to be tested. In this investigation, we will determine if the PHCI is more efficacious in convincing ED patients to be tested for HIV/HCV when delivered by a video or in person, and whether efficacy is similar among individuals who currently, previously or never injected drugs.

Methods and analysis
We will conduct a multisite, randomised controlled trial comparing PHCIs delivered by video versus in person by a health educator to determine which delivery method convinces more ED patients who had declined HIV/HCV testing instead to be tested. We will stratify randomisation by PWID status (current, former or never/non-PWID) to permit analyses comparing the PHCI delivery method by injection-drug use history. We will also perform a cost-effectiveness analysis of the interventions compared with current practice, examining the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio between the two interventions for the ED population overall and within individual strata of PWID. As an exploratory analysis, we will assess if a PHCI video with captions confers increased or decreased acceptance of HIV/HCV testing, as compared with a PHCI video without captions.

Ethics and dissemination
The study protocol has been approved by the institutional review board of the Icahn School of Medicine. The results will be disseminated at international conferences and in peer-reviewed publications.

Trial registration number
NCT05968573.

Leggi
Agosto 2024