Publications by authors named "Benoit Masse"
Importance: Nature-based therapeutic or preventive interventions for mental health are increasingly popular, but their effectiveness for improving mental health is not well documented.
Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of the Open Sky School Program (École à Ciel Ouvert), a 12-week nature-based intervention for elementary schoolchildren in grades 5 and 6, for reducing mental health symptoms.
Design, Setting, And Participants: This 2-arm, cluster randomized clinical trial was conducted from February 27 to June 16, 2023, in French-language elementary schools in Quebec, Canada, with green space within 1 km.
Article Synopsis
- Preterm birth and preeclampsia are major public health issues that can harm infants, and the study investigates the role of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) in these outcomes.
- Analyzing data from over 6,000 pregnant women in Quebec, researchers found a significant association between CMV seropositivity and increased risks of both preterm birth and preeclampsia.
- The analysis revealed that most of the risk from CMV for preterm birth is direct, and future research should focus on ways to prevent CMV infections to potentially reduce these pregnancy complications.
Background: Frequent or prolonged exposure to stressors may jeopardize young children's health. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with disruptions in daily routines and social isolation resulting from public health preventive measures, have raised concerns about its potential impact on children' experienced stress, particularly for young children and vulnerable families. However, whether the pandemic was accompanied by changes in physiological stress remains unknown as perceived stress is not a good proxy of physiological stress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Fetal Medicine Foundation (FMF) studies suggest that preterm preeclampsia can be predicted in the first trimester by combining biophysical, biochemical, and ultrasound markers and prevented using aspirin. We aimed to evaluate the FMF preterm preeclampsia screening test in nulliparous women.
Methods: We conducted a prospective multicenter cohort study of nulliparous women recruited at 11 to 14 weeks.
Background: Women with a previous caesarean delivery face a difficult choice in their next pregnancy: planning another caesarean or attempting vaginal delivery, both of which are associated with potential maternal and perinatal complications. This trial aimed to assess whether a multifaceted intervention, which promoted person-centred decision making and best practices, would reduce the risk of major perinatal morbidity among women with one previous caesarean delivery.
Methods: We conducted an open, multicentre, cluster-randomised, controlled trial of a multifaceted 2-year intervention in 40 hospitals in Quebec among women with one previous caesarean delivery, in which hospitals were the units of randomisation and women the units of analysis.
Introduction: Preschoolers and school-aged children with congenital heart disease (CHD) are at higher risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) compared with the general population. To this day, no randomised controlled trial (RCT) aiming to improve attention has been conducted in young children with CHD. There is emerging evidence indicating that parent-child yoga interventions improve attention and reduce ADHD symptoms in both typically developing and clinical populations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Arterial stiffness and exposure to psychosocial work-related factors increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. However, little is known about the relationship between psychosocial work-related factors and arterial stiffness. We aimed to examine this relationship.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: This study aims to compare cardiopulmonary response to aerobic exercise between young adults born very preterm, including a subgroup with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), and term controls.
Methods: 71 adults (aged 18-29 years) born <30 weeks gestational age (24 with BPD) and 73 term controls were recruited. Assessment included cardiopulmonary exercise testing with impedance cardiography.
Article Synopsis
- Identifying modifiable factors that can help maintain cognitive function is crucial for public health, with work-related psychosocial factors playing a key role in developing cognitive reserve despite their negative health effects.
- The study, involving 2,219 participants over 17 years, examined how these psychosocial factors influence cognitive function via telomere length and inflammation, using established models and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment.
- Results showed that low job control and passive work were linked to shorter telomeres in females, while low social support and high effort-reward imbalance increased inflammation in males, impacting overall cognitive performance negatively.
Introduction: One of the most effective diagnostic tools for pancreatic cancer is endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) or biopsy (EUS-FNB). Several randomized clinical trials have compared different EUS tissue sampling needles for the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
Objective: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of EUS-guided FNA as EUS-FNB needles for the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer using a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article Synopsis
- Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals, and households with young children play a significant role in its transmission, although the specific impact of healthcare and childcare professions on CMV risk is under-researched.
- This study aimed to analyze the prevalence, incidence, and risk factors for CMV infection among healthcare and childcare workers by systematically reviewing existing literature.
- The findings revealed that 59.3% of childcare workers and 49.5% of healthcare workers tested positive for CMV, with a higher incidence of primary infection observed in childcare workers; however, the increased risk of seropositivity was significant only for childcare workers compared to controls.
Objective: Extensive exposure to prescription-type opioids has resulted in major harm worldwide, calling for better-adapted approaches to opioid agonist therapy. The authors aimed to determine whether flexible take-home buprenorphine/naloxone is as effective as supervised methadone in reducing opioid use in prescription-type opioid consumers with opioid use disorder.
Methods: This seven-site, pan-Canadian, 24-week, pragmatic, open-label, noninferiority, two-arm parallel randomized controlled trial involved treatment-seeking adults with prescription-type opioid use disorder.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to investigate if maternal high-dose DHA supplementation improved neurodevelopment in very preterm neonates at 18 to 22 months corrected age.
- A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted with lactating mothers of preterm neonates, comparing outcomes for children whose mothers took DHA-rich algae oil and those on a placebo.
- Results showed no overall improvement in cognitive, language, or motor scores between the two groups, but a notable benefit in language scores for neonates born before 27 weeks’ gestation who received DHA.
Introduction: The aim of the study was to determine the effect of a maternal docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation during lactation, compared with a placebo, on the neonatal growth profile of breastfed very preterm infants.
Methods: Preterm infants' growth profile, growth velocity from birth to 36 weeks' postmenstrual age (PMA), and growth at 36 weeks' PMA were pre-specified secondary outcomes of a randomized placebo-controlled trial conducted in 16 Canadian neonatal intensive care units (2015-2018). Lactating mothers who delivered before 29 weeks' gestation were given 1.
Article Synopsis
- - The study evaluated the impact of SMOFlipid 20%, a DHA-containing lipid emulsion, on the survival rates without bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in very preterm infants at 36 weeks' postmenstrual age, using data from the MOBYDIck clinical trial conducted in Canadian NICUs from 2015 to 2018.
- - Out of 528 infants assessed, 272 received the SMOF-LE; results showed similar rates of BPD-free survival between the SMOF-LE group (56.7%) and the non-SMOF-LE group (59.7%), with no significant differences in BPD or severe BPD rates and mortality.
- - The conclusion drawn
The Secretary General of the United Nations described the impact of COVID-19-related school closures as a "generational catastrophe." What will be the legacy of the 2020-2021 pandemic-related disruptions in 5, 10, 20 years from now, as regards education and well-being of children and youth? Addressing the disproportionate impact on those growing up in socio-economically disadvantaged areas or on those with pre-existing learning challenges is key to sustainable recovery. This commentary builds on the four literature reviews presented in this Special Section on a Pandemic Recovery Plan for Children and proposes strategies to understand and attenuate the impact of pandemic-related lockdown measures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Chronic low-grade inflammation has been associated with high risk of several chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, depression, and dementia. As low-grade inflammation could be present long before the apparition of the disease, identifying modifiable risk factors could allow to act upstream. Psychosocial stressors at work have been suggested as modifiable risk factors of low-grade inflammation, but few longitudinal studies have evaluated the association between these stressors and inflammatory biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Psychosocial stressors at work have been proposed as modifiable risk factors for mild cognitive impairment (MCI). This study aimed to evaluate the effect of cumulative exposure to psychosocial stressors at work on cognitive function.
Methods: This study was conducted among 9188 white-collar workers recruited in 1991-1993 (T1), with follow-ups 8 (T2) and 24 years later (T3).
Introduction: Maternal Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in the first trimester (T1) of pregnancy is a public health concern, as it increases the risk of severe neurodevelopmental outcomes associated with congenital infection compared to infections occurring later during pregnancy.
Objectives: To determine CMV seroprevalence in T1 of pregnancy, its trend, risk factors and the incidence rate of primary infection during pregnancy.
Methods: Using the biobank of the prospective cohort "Grossesse en Santé de Québec" collected between April 2005 and March 2010 at the Québec-Laval Hospital, Québec, Canada, maternal CMV serology was determined using Abbott Architect Chemiluminescence microparticle immunoassays for immunoglobulin G(IgG), immunoglobulin M(IgM) titration and IgG avidity testing.
Introduction: Most evidence on associations between alcohol use behaviors and the characteristics of its social and physical context is based on self-reports from study participants and, thus, only account for their subjective impressions of the situation. This study explores the feasibility of obtaining alternative measures of loudness, brightness, and attendance (number of people) using 10-second video clips of real-life drinking occasions rated by human annotators and computer algorithms, and explores the associations of these measures with participants' choice to drink alcohol or not.
Methods: Using a custom-built smartphone application, 215 16-25-year-olds documented characteristics of 2,380 weekend night drinking events using questionnaires and videos.
Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of a workplace intervention reducing psychosocial stressors at work in lowering blood pressure and hypertension prevalence.
Methods: The study design was a quasi-experimental pre-post study with an intervention group and a control group. Post-intervention measurements were collected 6 and 36 months after the midpoint of the intervention.
Article Synopsis
- Childhood overweight and obesity (OWO) is a significant health issue globally, and preventing it is a priority in China through initiatives like the Sino-Canadian Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (SCHeLTI).
- This multicentre, cluster-randomised controlled trial involves 4500 families in Shanghai, focusing on health promotion interventions during pregnancy and early childhood to reduce the risk of childhood OWO.
- The primary outcome aims to measure the effectiveness of the intervention on the rate of childhood OWO at 5 years old, with ethical approval for the study having been obtained from relevant committees.
Background And Objectives: The aim of the study was to perform the first randomized trial comparing the diagnostic yield, bloodiness, and cellularity of the 25G standard needle (25S) and the 25G ProCore™ needle (25P).
Materials And Methods: All patients referred to the tertiary care referral center for EUS guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) of suspicious solid pancreatic lesions were eligible. EUS-FNA was performed in each lesion with both 25S and 25P needles (the choice of the first needle was randomized), using a multipass sampling pattern, without stylet or suction.
Article Synopsis
- Maternal DHA supplementation might help prevent bronchopulmonary dysplasia in premature infants, but the evidence is not clear-cut.
- A clinical trial was conducted with mothers of infants born before 29 weeks, providing them either DHA or placebo capsules; it was stopped early due to potential harm concerns.
- The results showed that 54.9% of infants who received DHA survived without bronchopulmonary dysplasia, compared to 61.6% in the placebo group, suggesting no significant benefit from DHA supplementation.