Screening for Adolescent Depression and Suicide Risk

Suicidal behavior is among the most critical of medical emergencies for adolescents. Among US youth aged 15 to 24 years, intentional self-harm (suicide) is the second leading cause of death and accounted for 6807 deaths in 2018. Recent statistics are ominous regarding significant increases in suicidal behavior among adolescents; from 2009 and 2019, there were significant increases in the prevalence of those who reported having seriously considered attempting suicide (13.8% to 18.8%) and having attempted suicide (6.3% to 8.9%). These increases occurred prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. A study that evaluated emergency department visits for suspected suicidal behavior among persons aged 12 to 25 years before and during the COVID-19 pandemic found that the mean number of weekly visits for suspected suicide attempts increased from February through March 2021, compared with the same period in 2019, with a 50.6% increase among girls and a 3.7% increase among boys.

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Ottobre 2022

USPSTF Recommendation: Depression and Suicide Risk Screening in Children and Adolescents

This 2022 Recommendation Statement from the US Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening for major depressive disorder (MDD) in adolescents aged 12 to 18 years (B recommendation) and concludes that current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening for MDD in children 11 years or younger (I statement) and of screening for suicide risk in children and adolescents (I statement).

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Ottobre 2022

Comparison of primary cytology, primary HPV testing and co-testing as cervical cancer screening for Chinese women: a population-based screening cohort

Objectives
We compared clinical performance of three strategies of primary human papillomavirus (HPV) testing, primary cytology and co-testing for cervical cancer screening.

Design
A population-based prospective cohort study of clinical performance of screening strategy.

Setting
Patients recruited from community in Changzhi County, Shanxi Province, China.

Patient
3209 women aged 30–64 years without gynaecological issues.

Primary and secondary outcome measures
The performance of different screening strategies for detecting cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or more severe (CIN2+).

Results
A total of 53 CIN2+ and 31 CIN3+ cases are detected. For CIN2+, sensitivity of primary HPV (95.9%) and co-testing (98.0%) are not statistically different, but significantly higher than primary cytology (48.0%). Specificity (86.8%), colposcopy referral rate (7.8%) and number of colposcopies required to detect one case (9.8) for primary HPV are better than co-testing (79.8%, 11.9%, 14.3%, respectively). For CIN3+, primary HPV, co-testing have 100% of sensitivity and specificity, which is significantly higher than primary cytology (56.7% and 90.2%). Number of colposcopies required to detect one case for primary HPV (15.9) is better than co-testing (23.8).

Conclusions
Compared with co-testing, HPV primary screening had comparable sensitivity and higher specificity for CIN2+ detection, and both of them showed better performance than cytology primary screening in cervical cancer screening.

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Ottobre 2022

Emerging Evidence on Coronary Heart Disease Screening in Kidney and Liver Transplantation Candidates: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association

Circulation, Ahead of Print. Coronary heart disease is an important source of mortality and morbidity among kidney transplantation and liver transplantation candidates and recipients and is driven by traditional and nontraditional risk factors related to end-stage organ disease. In this scientific statement, we review evidence from the past decade related to coronary heart disease screening and management for kidney and liver transplantation candidates. Coronary heart disease screening in asymptomatic kidney and liver transplantation candidates has not been demonstrated to improve outcomes but is common in practice. Risk stratification algorithms based on the presence or absence of clinical risk factors and physical performance have been proposed, but a high proportion of candidates still meet criteria for screening tests. We suggest new approaches to pretransplantation evaluation grounded on the presence or absence of known coronary heart disease and cardiac symptoms and emphasize multidisciplinary engagement, including involvement of a dedicated cardiologist. Noninvasive functional screening methods such as stress echocardiography and myocardial perfusion scintigraphy have limited accuracy, and newer noninvasive modalities, especially cardiac computed tomography–based tests, are promising alternatives. Emerging evidence such as results of the 2020 International Study of Comparative Health Effectiveness With Medical and Invasive Approaches–Chronic Kidney Disease trial emphasizes the vital importance of guideline-directed medical therapy in managing diagnosed coronary heart disease and further questions the value of revascularization among asymptomatic kidney transplantation candidates. Optimizing strategies to disseminate and implement best practices for medical management in the broader end-stage organ disease population should be prioritized to improve cardiovascular outcomes in these populations.

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Ottobre 2022

Evaluating the association between urine drug screening frequency and retention in opioid agonist treatment in Ontario, Canada: a retrospective cohort study

Objective
The objective of this study was to evaluate how urine drug screening (UDS) frequency is associated with retention in opioid agonist treatment (OAT).

Methods
Data for this retrospective cohort study of 55 921 adults in OAT in Ontario, Canada, were derived from administrative sources between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2015. All patient information was linked anonymously across databases using encrypted health card numbers. Descriptive statistics were calculated for comparing UDS frequency groups using standardised differences (d) where d less than 10% indicated a statistically significant difference. A logistic regression model was then used to calculate ORs adjusting for baseline covariates, including sex, age, location of residence, income quintile, mental disorders, HIV status and deep tissue infections.

Results
Over 70% of the cohort had four or more UDS tests per month (weekly or more UDS). Significant associations were observed between UDS frequency and 1-year treatment retention in OAT biweekly (adjusted OR (aOR)=3.20, 95% CI 2.75 to 3.75); weekly UDS (aOR=6.86, 95% CI 5.88 to 8.00) and more than weekly (aOR=8.03, 95% CI 6.87 to 9.38) using the monthly or less groups as the reference.

Conclusion
This study identified an association between weekly UDS and 1-year treatment retention in OAT. There is an active discussion within Canada about the utility of UDS. The lack of evidence for the impact of UDS on retention has left it open to some to argue they simply provide a barrier to patient engagement. Therefore, it is timely of this study to demonstrate that more frequent urine testing is not associated with a reduction in treatment retention.

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Ottobre 2022

Do doctors and other healthcare professionals know overdiagnosis in screening and how are they dealing with it? A protocol for a mixed methods systematic review

Introduction
Overdiagnosis is the diagnosis of a disease that would never have caused any symptom or problem. It is a harmful side effect of screening and may lead to unnecessary treatment, costs and emotional drawbacks. Doctors and other healthcare professionals (HCPs) have the opportunity to mitigate these consequences, not only by informing their patients or the public but also by adjusting screening methods or even by refraining from screening. However, it is unclear to what extent HCPs are fully aware of overdiagnosis and whether it affects their screening decisions. With this systematic review, we aim to synthesise all available research about what HCPs know and think about overdiagnosis, how it affects their position on screening policy and whether they think patients and the public should be informed about it.

Methods and analysis
We will systematically search several databases (MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL and PsycArticles) for studies that directly examine HCPs’ knowledge and subjective perceptions of overdiagnosis due to health screening, both qualitatively and quantitatively. We will optimise our search by scanning reference and citation lists, contacting experts in the field and hand searching abstracts from the annual conference on ‘Preventing Overdiagnosis’. After selection and quality appraisal, we will analyse qualitative and quantitative findings separately in a segregated design for mixed-method reviews. The data will be examined and presented descriptively. If the retrieved studies allow it, we will review them from a constructivist perspective through a critical interpretive synthesis.

Ethics and dissemination
For this type of research, no ethical approval is required. Findings from this systematic review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at the annual congress of ‘Preventing Overdiagnosis’. In addition, the results will serve as guidance for further research on this topic.

PROSPERO registration number
CRD42021244513.

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Ottobre 2022