Publications by authors named "Barkha Patel"

Article Synopsis
  • This study focuses on decentralized methods for recruiting participants in a COVID-19 treatment trial, evaluating their effectiveness and efficiency.
  • Five primary recruitment strategies are analyzed: search engine ads, paid ads through national and regional testing companies, electronic health record messaging, and word of mouth.
  • The study compares these methods based on patient demographics, recruitment efficiency, and associated costs.
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Article Synopsis
  • - Metformin shows antiviral properties against SARS-CoV-2 by inhibiting protein translation through the mechanistic target of rapamycin pathway, leading to significant reductions in hospitalizations, emergency visits, and long COVID risk in the COVID-OUT trial.
  • - The COVID-OUT trial involved 999 participants and compared metformin, fluvoxamine, and ivermectin; it found a 3.6-fold reduction in viral load with metformin compared to placebo, and reduced rates of detectable viral load and viral rebound.
  • - The results indicate that metformin effectively lowers SARS-CoV-2 viral load, potentially explaining its clinical effectiveness, while neither ivermectin nor fluvoxamine showed significant benefits over placebo.
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Introduction: Two biologic therapies for psoriatic arthritis (PsA), guselkumab and ustekinumab, have demonstrated superior efficacy versus placebo in clinical trials. However, no head-to-head studies have been conducted comparing these two treatments for PsA. The objective was to indirectly compare guselkumab and ustekinumab on joint and skin efficacy up to week 52, using pooled individual patient-level data (IPD) from PsA trials.

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The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the development of decentralized clinical trials (DCT). DCT's are an important and pragmatic method for assessing health outcomes yet comprise only a minority of clinical trials, and few published methodologies exist. In this report, we detail the operational components of COVID-OUT, a decentralized, multicenter, quadruple-blinded, randomized trial that rapidly delivered study drugs nation-wide.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study aims to compare the effectiveness of targeted synthetic and biologic DMARDs in treating psoriatic arthritis (PsA) through a network meta-analysis, addressing the lack of head-to-head clinical trials in this area.
  • A systematic literature review included 26 Phase III randomized controlled trials assessing patient-reported outcomes like HAQ-DI and SF-36 scores, with thorough data extraction and bias assessment procedures.
  • Results showed that intravenous TNF alpha inhibitors generally performed better for HAQ-DI and SF-36 scores, while various interleukin agents provided comparable improvements across outcomes.
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  • A study analyzed the costs and impacts of starting or delaying ofatumumab treatment for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in Canada using a Markov cohort model over ten years.* -
  • Ofatumumab showed better health outcomes, like fewer relapses and improved job productivity, while also lowering treatment-related costs compared to other high-efficacy MS therapies.* -
  • The findings suggest that beginning treatment with ofatumumab sooner rather than later can lead to enhanced health benefits for newly diagnosed patients with active MS.*
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Physicians are unsatisfied with their training in the care of patients with obesity. Physical examination is a key component of care, and modifications to techniques are often necessary for patients with obesity. To determine learning needs, we examined medical students' perceived comfort and competency in conducting physical examinations on patients with obesity.

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Background: Adolescence is a critical period for reinforcing healthy dietary behaviors and supporting the development of cooking skills. Social media may be an avenue for supporting these behaviors, as it is popular among adolescents and can improve access to nutrition education interventions. This study sought to understand the optimal implementation of effective social media-based nutrition education interventions to inform the implementation of future social media-based nutrition education interventions.

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Current antiviral treatment options for SARS-CoV-2 infections are not available globally, cannot be used with many medications, and are limited to virus-specific targets. Biophysical modeling of SARS-CoV-2 replication predicted that protein translation is an especially attractive target for antiviral therapy. Literature review identified metformin, widely known as a treatment for diabetes, as a potential suppressor of protein translation via targeting of the host mTor pathway.

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Background: Post-COVID-19 condition (also known as long COVID) is an emerging chronic illness potentially affecting millions of people. We aimed to evaluate whether outpatient COVID-19 treatment with metformin, ivermectin, or fluvoxamine soon after SARS-CoV-2 infection could reduce the risk of long COVID.

Methods: We conducted a decentralised, randomised, quadruple-blind, parallel-group, phase 3 trial (COVID-OUT) at six sites in the USA.

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Clinical and economic burdens exist within the coronary artery disease (CAD) care pathway despite advances in diagnosis and treatment and the increasing utilization of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, research presenting a comprehensive assessment of the challenges across this pathway is scarce. This contemporary review identifies relevant studies related to inefficiencies in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of CAD, including clinician, patient, and economic burdens.

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Background: Long Covid is an emerging chronic illness potentially affecting millions, sometimes preventing the ability to work or participate in normal daily activities. COVID-OUT was an investigator-initiated, multi-site, phase 3, randomized, quadruple-blinded placebo-controlled clinical trial (NCT04510194). The design simultaneously assessed three oral medications (metformin, ivermectin, fluvoxamine) using two by three parallel treatment factorial assignment to efficiently share placebo controls and assessed Long Covid outcomes for 10 months to understand whether early outpatient treatment of SARS-CoV-2 with metformin, ivermectin, or fluvoxamine prevents Long Covid.

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Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination has decreasing protection from acquiring any infection with emergence of new variants; however, vaccination continues to protect against progression to severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The impact of vaccination status on symptoms over time is less clear.

Methods: Within a randomized trial on early outpatient COVID-19 therapy testing metformin, ivermectin, and/or fluvoxamine, participants recorded symptoms daily for 14 days.

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Background: Ofatumumab is a high-efficacy disease-modifying therapy (DMT) approved for first-line treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) in Canada.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost effectiveness of ofatumumab from a Canadian healthcare system perspective.

Methods: A Markov cohort model was run over 65 years using annual cycles, 1.

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Background: Early treatment to prevent severe coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is an important component of the comprehensive response to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic.

Methods: In this phase 3, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, we used a 2-by-3 factorial design to test the effectiveness of three repurposed drugs - metformin, ivermectin, and fluvoxamine - in preventing serious SARS-CoV-2 infection in nonhospitalized adults who had been enrolled within 3 days after a confirmed diagnosis of infection and less than 7 days after the onset of symptoms. The patients were between the ages of 30 and 85 years, and all had either overweight or obesity.

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Background: COVID-19 mitigation measures, including closures of schools and recreational facilities and alterations in eating behaviours and physical activity, may impact weight.

Objective: To examine changes in body weight and body mass index (BMI) in children and adolescents with obesity participating in an obesity treatment program before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada.

Methods: Body weight and BMI at baseline and 6 months were recorded for the 'historic' cohort (females = 34, males = 21) before the pandemic (November 1, 2018, to March 18, 2020) and for the 'pandemic' cohort (females = 30, males = 30) during the pandemic (March 19, 2020 to July 31, 2021).

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The increasing prevalence of children with obesity has contributed to a higher risk of developing cardiometabolic comorbidities. Adversity and chronic stress are negatively linked to cardiometabolic outcomes, and resilience is positively associated with improved outcomes. However, whether resilience is protective against metabolic disturbances preceding disease presentation is less understood.

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Health care professionals (HCPs) play a critical role in helping to address weight-related issues with pediatric patients, yet often feel ill-equipped to discuss/manage this complex and sensitive health issue. Using the five As ("Ask, Assess, Advise, Agree, and Assist") of Pediatric Obesity Management, we created a series of educational videos and evaluated the content, quality (acceptability, engagement), and impact of these videos on HCPs' self-efficacy, knowledge, and change in practice when addressing weight-related issues with pediatric patients and their families using questionnaires. HCPs ( = 65) participated in a baseline assessment and 4-6 month follow-up ( = 54).

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Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered technologies are becoming an integral part of youth's environments, impacting how they socialize and learn. Children (12 years of age and younger) often interact with AI through conversational agents (e.g.

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Carbohydrate counting is an essential component of type 1 diabetes education but can be difficult for adolescents to learn. Because adolescents are avid users of technology, an Internet-based education module was compared with an in-class education session in terms of carbohydrate counting accuracy in adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Adolescent participants displayed increased carbohydrate counting accuracy after attending an in-class education session compared with an Internet-based education module.

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Objectives: Exposure to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in utero may impact nutritional intake and lifestyle habits in early childhood. However, it is unclear whether nutritional status predicts greater risk for metabolic disturbances, such as insulin resistance (IR). The primary objectives were: 1) to determine parent-reported nutritional risk scores in 2-year-old children born to women with and without GDM and 2) to assess whether these scores predict IR in 5-year-old children.

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Background: Parents may struggle to initiate healthy weight-related conversations with their children. Educational videos may be an effective tool for improving parents' knowledge and self-efficacy on this topic. The aim of this pilot study was to develop an educational video to assist parents in weight-related conversations with their child, and to assess changes in parents' self-efficacy on this topic.

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Background: The evolution of increased adiposity and cardiometabolic risk in offspring exposed to maternal gestational diabetes (GDM) is not well understood.

Objective: (a) To evaluate the impact of in utero exposure to GDM and maternal weight status on homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in the offspring longitudinally from 1 to 3 years of age and (b) to compare body mass index (BMI) and HOMA-IR in GDM and non-GDM exposed offspring at 1 and 3 years of age.

Methods: A prospective cohort of children born to mothers with and without GDM underwent metabolic characterization between birth and 3 years of age.

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There is a general consensus that overconsumption of sugar-sweetened beverages contributes to the prevalence of obesity and related comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes (T2D). Whether a similar relationship exists for no- or low-calorie "diet" drinks is a subject of intensive debate and controversy. Here, we demonstrate that consuming seven sucralose-sweetened beverages with, but not without, a carbohydrate over 10 days decreases insulin sensitivity in healthy human participants, an effect that correlates with reductions in midbrain, insular, and cingulate responses to sweet, but not sour, salty, or savory, taste as assessed with fMRI.

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