Effects of Diabetes Prevention Education Program for Overweight and Obese Subjects with a Family History of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Pilot Study from the United Arab Emirates.

Objectives: The association of obesity and family history of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) provides an opportunity for risk stratification and prevention, as these two conditions are the most well-known risk factors for T2DM. We aimed to test the feasibility and effects of a diabetes mellitus prevention education program designed for overweight and obese Emirati people with at least one parent with T2DM.

Methods: We conducted a pilot study using a pre-post design without a control arm at the Diabetes Center at Tawam Hospital in Al Ain, UAE.

Stated Preferences for Attributes of a Pharmacogenetic Test Among the General Population Presented with a Hypothetical Acute Coronary Syndrome Scenario.

Background: Pharmacogenetic (PGx) testing identifies pharmacotherapeutic risks to permit personalized therapy. Identifying the genetic profile of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) who are considered for therapy with clopidogrel (P2Y receptor blockers) and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) contributes to the treatment paradigm. Patient preferences would inform a collaborative framework and by extension inform healthcare policy formulation.

Clinical and economic burden of infections in hospitalized solid organ transplant recipients compared with the general population in Canada - a retrospective cohort study.

Infections continue to be a major cause of post-transplant morbidity and mortality, requiring increased health services utilization. Estimates on the magnitude of this impact are relatively unknown. Using national administrative databases, we compared mortality, acute care health services utilization, and costs in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients to nontransplant patients using a retrospective cohort of hospitalizations in Canada (excluding Manitoba/Quebec) between April-2009 and March-2014, with a diagnosis of pneumonia, urinary tract infection (UTI), or sepsis.

The effect of religion on the perception of health states among adults in the United Arab Emirates: a qualitative study.

Objectives: Investigate how religion may affect the perception of health states among adults in the United Arab Emirates and the implications for research on self-reported health and quality of life and the use of values in cost-effectiveness analysis.

Design: Qualitative analysis of short-structured interviews with adult Emiratis carried out by a market research agency.The COREQ criteria have been used where appropriate to guide the reporting of our findings.

Antithrombotic Therapy and Direct Medical Costs in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome in Shanghai, China.

Background: Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide.

Objectives: To describe patient profile, treatment patterns, and disease burden for patients with ACS.

Methods: A retrospective descriptive cohort study was conducted.

Clinical and microbiological epidemiology of early and late infectious complications among solid-organ transplant recipients requiring hospitalization.

There is limited literature describing the clinical and microbiological characteristics of solid-organ transplant recipients requiring hospitalization for infectious complications. This study reports on the rate and timing of these syndromes and describes the associated microbiological epidemiology. This prevalence cohort study evaluated solid-organ transplant recipients requiring hospitalization during 2007-2011.

An Investigation of the Feasibility and Cultural Appropriateness of Stated Preference Methods to Generate Health State Values in the United Arab Emirates.

Background: No five-level EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L) value sets are currently available in the Middle East to inform decision making in the region's health care systems.

Objectives: To test the feasibility of eliciting EQ-5D-5L values from a general public sample in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) using the EuroQol Group's standardized valuation protocol.

Methods: Values were elicited in face-to-face computer-assisted personal interviews.

Impact of infectious disease consultation on the clinical and economic outcomes of solid organ transplant recipients admitted for infectious complications.

Background: There has been a paucity of data on the healthcare resource utilization of infectious disease-related complications in solid organ transplant recipients. The aims of this study were to report the clinical and economic burden of infectious disease-related complications, along with the impact of infectious disease consultation.

Methods: This cohort study evaluated patients requiring admission to a tertiary-care center during 2007, 2008, and 2011.

Prospectively measured 10-year changes in health-related quality of life and comparison with cross-sectional estimates in a population-based cohort of adult women and men.

Purpose: To prospectively assess changes in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) over 10 years, by age and sex, and to compare measured within-person change to estimates of change based on cross-sectional data.

Methods: Participants in the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study completed the 36-item short form (SF-36) in 1995/1997 and 2005/2007. Mean within-person changes for domain and summary components were calculated for men and women separately, stratified by 10-year age groups.

Health-related quality of life in Canadian adolescents and young adults: normative data using the SF-36.

Objectives: Normative data for the SF-36 measure of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) exist for those over 25 years of age, based on data from the population-based Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study (CaMos). CaMos recently recruited a sample of young Canadians aged between 16 and 24 years. The purpose of this study was to develop normative SF-36 data for this age group.

Relation between fractures and mortality: results from the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study.

Background: Fractures have largely been assessed by their impact on quality of life or health care costs. We conducted this study to evaluate the relation between fractures and mortality.

Methods: A total of 7753 randomly selected people (2187 men and 5566 women) aged 50 years and older from across Canada participated in a 5-year observational cohort study.

The natural progression of health-related quality of life: results of a five-year prospective study of SF-36 scores in a normative population.

Background: Limited information exists regarding the natural progression of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in the general population, as most research has been cross-sectional or has followed populations with specific medical conditions. Such norms are important to establish, because the effect of any intervention may be confounded by changes due to the natural progression of HRQOL over time.

Methods: Participants were randomly selected from 9 Canadian cities and surrounding rural areas.

Stability of normative data for the SF-36: results of a three-year prospective study in middle-aged Canadians.

Background: The SF-36 is widely used to assess health-related quality of life (HRQOL), but with few longitudinal studies in healthy populations, it is difficult to quantify its natural history. This is important because any measure of change following an intervention may be confounded by natural changes in HRQOL. This paper assesses mean changes in SF-36 scores over a 3-year period in men and women between the ages of 40 and 59 years at baseline.

Is there regional variation in the SF-36 scores of Canadian adults?

Background: Canadian normative data for the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item short form (SF-36) have recently been published. However, there is evidence from other countries to suggest that regional variation in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) may exist. We therefore examined the SF-36 data from nine Canadian centres for evidence of systematic differences.