Variables associated with antibiotic administration for performing paracentesis among patients with ascites in a community hospital.

Aim Of The Study: Early paracentesis before antibiotic administration reduces morbidity and mortality in patients with decompensated cirrhosis. We studied the association of variables with antibiotic administration before or after performing paracentesis.

Material And Methods: This was a retrospective study of 137 patients with ascites secondary to cirrhosis admitted to a community hospital in New York City.

A prospective evaluation of patient perspectives and financial considerations during prostate cancer treatment decision-making.

Introduction: In universal healthcare systems, patients may still encounter financial obstacles from cancer treatments, potentially influencing treatment decision-making. We investigated the relationship between socioeconomic status and treatment decision-making as it pertains to patient values, preferences, and perceived barriers to care for localized prostate cancer.

Methods: We conducted a prospective study of patients undergoing a prostate biopsy for the initial detection of prostate cancer.

Global assessment of chemical quality of drinking water: The case of trihalomethanes.

Background: Trihalomethanes (THM), a major class of disinfection by-products, are widespread and are associated with adverse health effects. We conducted a global evaluation of current THM regulations and concentrations in drinking water.

Methods: We included 120 countries (∼7000 million inhabitants in 2016), representing 94% of the world population.

Long working hours, sedentary work, noise, night shifts and risk of ischaemic heart disease.

Objective: Ischaemic heart disease (IHD) is a leading cause of death in Western countries. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between occupational exposure to loud noise, long working hours, shift work, and sedentary work and IHD.

Methods: This data linkage study included all New Zealanders employed and aged 20-64 years at the time of the 2013 census, followed up for incident IHD between 2013 and 2018 based on hospitalisation, prescription and death records.

Ureteroscopy under conscious sedation: A proof-of-concept study.

Introduction: Ureteroscopy (URS) is commonly performed under general anesthesia (GA) to maximize patient tolerability and minimize surgical complications; however, given the improvements in endoscopic technology and risks associated with GA, alternate forms of anesthesia have been postulated. We aimed to evaluate the outcomes of URS under conscious sedation.

Methods: We completed a retrospective cohort study from November 2019 to June 2020 at a tertiary-level hospital.

A longitudinal linkage study of occupation and ischaemic heart disease in the general and Māori populations of New Zealand.

Objectives: Occupation is a poorly characterised risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) with females and indigenous populations under-represented in most research. This study assessed associations between occupation and ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in males and females of the general and Māori (indigenous people of NZ) populations of New Zealand (NZ).

Methods: Two surveys of the NZ adult population (NZ Workforce Survey (NZWS); 2004-2006; n = 3003) and of the Māori population (NZWS Māori; 2009-2010; n = 2107) with detailed occupational histories were linked with routinely collected health data and followed-up until December 2018.

Ischaemic Heart Disease and Occupational Exposures: A Longitudinal Linkage Study in the General and Māori Populations of New Zealand.

Objectives: This study assessed associations between occupational exposures and ischaemic heart disease (IHD) for males and females in the general and Māori populations (indigenous people of New Zealand).

Methods: Two surveys of the general adult [New Zealand Workforce Survey (NZWS); 2004-2006; n = 3003] and Māori population (Māori NZWS; 2009-2010; n = 2107), with information on occupational exposures, were linked with administrative health data and followed-up until December 2018. Cox proportional hazards regression (adjusted for age, deprivation, and smoking) was used to assess associations between organizational factors, stress, and dust, chemical and physical exposures, and IHD.

Exposure to drinking water trihalomethanes and nitrate and the risk of brain tumours in young people.

Brain tumours (BTs) are one of the most frequent tumour types in young people. We explored the association between tap water, exposure to trihalomethanes (THM) and nitrate and neuroepithelial BT risk in young people. Analysis of tap water consumption were based on 321 cases and 919 appendicitis controls (10-24 years old) from 6 of the 14 participating countries in the international MOBI-Kids case-control study (2010-2016).

Predictors of mortality for patients admitted to the intensive care unit with obstructing septic stones.

Introduction: Patients diagnosed with septic stone are at significant risk of morbidity and mortality should source control through drainage be delayed, and they are often admitted to intensive care units (ICU) for hemodynamic support. The purpose of this study was to determine patient factors that may predict mortality in patients admitted to ICU with septic stone, particularly whether rural patients at a greater distance from a tertiary care center were at greater risk of mortality given the inherent delay in intervention.

Methods: The Manitoba Intensive Care Unit prospective registry began in 1999 and includes all patients admitted to ICU across Manitoba.

Location of residence and mortality for patients diagnosed with Fournier's gangrene.

Introduction: Fournier's gangrene (FG) is a necrotizing infection of the genitalia. Time from to surgical intervention is a critical determinant of prognosis. We sought to investigate whether patients from rural locations have worse clinical outcomes given distance from a tertiary center.

The Prevalence of Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Different Occupational Groups in New Zealand.

Objectives: Although cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk has been shown to differ between occupations, few studies have specifically evaluated the distribution of known CVD risk factors across occupational groups. This study assessed CVD risk factors in a range of occupational groups in New Zealand, stratified by sex and ethnicity.

Methods: Two probability-based sample surveys of the general New Zealand adult population (2004-2006; n = 3003) and of the indigenous people of New Zealand (Māori; 2009-2010; n = 2107), for which occupational histories and lifestyle factors were collected, were linked with routinely collected health data.

Clinical presentation of young people (10-24 years old) with brain tumors: results from the international MOBI-Kids study.

Introduction: We used data from MOBI-Kids, a 14-country international collaborative case-control study of brain tumors (BTs), to study clinical characteristics of the tumors in older children (10 years or older), adolescents and young adults (up to the age of 24).

Methods: Information from clinical records was obtained for 899 BT cases, including signs and symptoms, symptom onset, diagnosis date, tumor type and location.

Results: Overall, 64% of all tumors were low-grade, 76% were neuroepithelial tumors and 62% gliomas.

Inequities in exposure to occupational risk factors between Māori and non-Māori workers in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Background: Health inequities between indigenous and non-indigenous people are well documented. However, the contribution of differential exposure to risk factors in the occupational environment remains unclear. This study assessed differences in the prevalence of self-reported exposure to disease risk factors, including dust and chemicals, physical factors and organisational factors, between Māori and non-Māori workers in New Zealand.

Recall of mobile phone usage and laterality in young people: The multinational Mobi-Expo study.

Objective: To study recall of mobile phone usage, including laterality and hands-free use, in young people.

Methods: Actual mobile phone use was recorded among volunteers aged between 10 and 24 years from 12 countries by the software application XMobiSense and was compared with self-reported mobile phone use at 6 and 18 months after using the application. The application recorded number and duration of voice calls, number of text messages, amount of data transfer, laterality (% of call time the phone was near the right or left side of the head, or neither), and hands-free usage.

Patterns of emergency department utilization by patients on chronic dialysis: A population-based study.

Importance: Patients on dialysis are often elderly and frail, with multiple comorbid conditions, and are heavy users of Emergency Department (ED) services. However, objective data on the frequency and pattern of ED utilization by dialysis patients are sparse. Such data could identify periods of highest risk for ED visits and inform health systems interventions to mitigate these risks and improve outcomes.

Morbidity in New Zealand pesticide producers exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD).

Objectives: To conduct a cross-sectional morbidity survey among 245 former employees of a pesticide production plant exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) in New Zealand.

Methods: Demographic factors and health information were collected in face-to-face interviews. TCDD, lipids, thyroid hormones, glucose and immunoglobulin G (IgG) were determined in non-fasting blood.

Patterns of cellular phone use among young people in 12 countries: Implications for RF exposure.

Characterizing exposure to radiofrequency (RF) fields from wireless telecommunications technologies during childhood and adolescence is a research priority in investigating the health effects of RF. The Mobi-Expo study aimed to describe characteristics and determinants of cellular phone use in 534 young people (10-24years) in 12 countries. The study used a specifically designed software application installed on smartphones to collect data on the use of wireless telecommunications devices within this age group.

New Zealanders working non-standard hours also have greater exposure to other workplace hazards.

Exposure to workplace hazards, such as dust, solvents, and fumes, has the potential to adversely affect the health of people. However, the effects of workplace hazards on health may differ when exposure occurs at different times in the circadian cycle, and among people who work longer hours or who do not obtain adequate sleep. The aim of the present study was to document exposures to workplace hazards across a national sample of New Zealanders, comparing people who work a standard 08:00 -17:00 h Monday-to-Friday working week (Std hours) and those who do not (N-Std hours).

Pre-natal exposures and breast tissue composition: findings from a British pre-birth cohort of young women and a systematic review.

Background: Breast density, the amount of fibroglandular tissue in the adult breast for a women's age and body mass index, is a strong biomarker of susceptibility to breast cancer, which may, like breast cancer risk itself, be influenced by events early in life. In the present study, we investigated the association between pre-natal exposures and breast tissue composition.

Methods: A sample of 500 young, nulliparous women (aged approximately 21 years) from a U.

Impact of type of full-field digital image on mammographic density assessment and breast cancer risk estimation: a case-control study.

Background: Full-field digital mammography, which is gradually being introduced in most clinical and screening settings, produces two types of images: raw and processed. However, the extent to which mammographic density measurements, and their ability to predict breast cancer risk, vary according to type of image is not fully known.

Methods: We compared the performance of the semi-automated Cumulus method on digital raw, "analogue-like" raw and processed images, and the performance of a recently developed method - Laboratory for Breast Radiodensity Assessment (LIBRA) - on digital raw and processed images, in a case-control study (414 patients (cases) and 684 controls) by evaluating the extent to which their measurements were associated with breast cancer risk factors, and by comparing their ability to predict breast cancer risk.

Sex ratio of the offspring of New Zealand phenoxy herbicide producers exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin.

Objectives: Exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) has inconsistently been associated with a decreased sex ratio of the offspring (number of male births divided by total births). We conducted a study among men and women who were employed in a New Zealand phenoxy herbicide production plant between 1969 and 1984, to study their offspring sex ratio in relation to their back-calculated TCDD serum concentrations determined in 2007/2008.

Methods: A total of 127 men and 21 women reported that 355 children were conceived after starting employment at the plant.

A before and after cross-sectional analysis of a public health campaign to increase kidney health awareness in a Canadian province.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has a major impact on patient health and health system resources. The prevalence of kidney disease is increasing, with Manitoba being one of the provinces in Canada with the highest per capita rate of CKD and end stage renal disease (Anonymous, Canadian organ replacement register annual report: treatment of end-stage organ failure in Canada, 2001-2010, 2011). In 2011, a public health campaign to promote kidney health, by increasing awareness of CKD and its risk factors, was created to target high-risk individuals such as First Nations and those with hypertension and diabetes in urban and rural/remote Manitoba.

Serum concentrations of chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, furans and PCBs, among former phenoxy herbicide production workers and firefighters in New Zealand.

Purpose: To quantify serum concentrations of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and dioxin-like compounds in former phenoxy herbicide production plant workers and firefighters, 20 years after 2,4,5-T production ceased.

Methods: Of 1025 workers employed any time during 1969-1984, 430 were randomly selected and invited to take part in a morbidity survey and provide a blood sample; 244 (57%) participated. Firefighters stationed in close proximity of the plant and/or engaged in call-outs to the plant between 1962 and 1987 also participated (39 of 70 invited).

The MOBI-Kids Study Protocol: Challenges in Assessing Childhood and Adolescent Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields from Wireless Telecommunication Technologies and Possible Association with Brain Tumor Risk.

The rapid increase in mobile phone use in young people has generated concern about possible health effects of exposure to radiofrequency (RF) and extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields (EMF). MOBI-Kids, a multinational case-control study, investigates the potential effects of childhood and adolescent exposure to EMF from mobile communications technologies on brain tumor risk in 14 countries. The study, which aims to include approximately 1,000 brain tumor cases aged 10-24 years and two individually matched controls for each case, follows a common protocol and builds upon the methodological experience of the INTERPHONE study.

Digital mammographic density and breast cancer risk: a case-control study of six alternative density assessment methods.

Introduction: Mammographic density is a strong breast cancer risk factor and a major determinant of screening sensitivity. However, there is currently no validated estimation method for full-field digital mammography (FFDM).

Methods: The performance of three area-based approaches (BI-RADS, the semi-automated Cumulus, and the fully-automated ImageJ-based approach) and three fully-automated volumetric methods (Volpara, Quantra and single energy x-ray absorptiometry (SXA)) were assessed in 3168 FFDM images from 414 cases and 685 controls.