Validating the Mild Behavioral Impairment Checklist in a Cognitive Clinic: Comparisons With the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire.

Objective: To compare the utility of the Mild Behavioral Impairment-Checklist (MBI-C) and Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) to capture NPS in subjective cognitive decline (SCD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and dementia.

Methods: In this cross-sectional memory clinic study, linear regression models compared MBI-C (n = 474) and NPI-Q (n = 1040) scores in relation to Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score.

Results: MBI prevalence was 37% in subjective cognitive decline, 54% in mild cognitive impairment, and 62% in dementia.

Efficacy of Multimodal Analgesia for Postoperative Pain Management in Head and Neck Cancer Patients.

Postoperative opioid use has been linked to the subsequent development of opioid dependency. Multimodal analgesia (MMA) can reduce the use of opioids in the postoperative period, but MMA has not been well-studied after major head and neck surgery. Our goal is to explore the association between MMA and postoperative opioid use and pain control in patients undergoing major head and neck surgery.

Outdoor Air Pollution and Depression in Canada: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study from 2011 to 2016.

To assess whether exposure to increased levels of outdoor air pollution is associated with psychological depression, six annual iterations of the Canadian Community Health Survey ( ≈ 127,050) were used to estimate the prevalence of a major depressive episode (2011-2014) or severity of depressive symptoms (2015-2016). Survey data were linked with outdoor air pollution data obtained from the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium, with outdoor air pollution represented by fine particulate matter ≤2.5 micrometers (μm) in diameter (PM), ozone (O), sulfur dioxide (SO), and nitrogen dioxide (NO).

Describing organ dysfunction in the intensive care unit: a cohort study of 20,000 patients.

Background: Multiple organ dysfunction is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in intensive care units (ICUs). Original development of the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score was not to predict outcome, but to describe temporal changes in organ dysfunction in critically ill patients. Organ dysfunction scoring may be a reasonable surrogate outcome in clinical trials but further exploration of the impact of case mix on the temporal sequence of organ dysfunction is required.

Determinants and incidence of depression in multiple sclerosis: A prospective cohort study.

Objective: To estimate the incidence and explore potential determinants of incidence of depression in MS.

Methods: A prospective cohort study used a sample of 192 patients from the southern Alberta MS clinic registry. Participants completed baseline risk factor assessment questionnaires using either online, mail or telephone surveys, and completed the Patient Health Questionnaire every 2weeks for 6months to assess depressive symptoms in real time.

Validation of the Model of End-Stage Liver Disease for Liver Transplant Allocation in Alberta: Implications for Future Directions in Canada.

Background. Since 2002, the Model of End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) has been used for allocation of liver transplants (LT) in the USA. In Canada, livers were allocated by the CanWAIT algorithm.

Understanding the impact of a clinical care pathway for major head and neck cancer resection on postdischarge healthcare utilization.

Background: The purposes of this study were to explore the association of a postoperative clinical care pathway for patients undergoing major head and neck surgery with microvascular reconstruction on postdischarge health care utilization and cost and to compares a nonpathway group (n = 60) to a prospective, pathway-managed group (n = 54). Our primary purpose was to understand whether pathway-managed patients used postdischarge health care resources differently than patients managed without a care pathway.

Methods: Health care utilization data (counts and costs) were collected for the 3 months after discharge.

Reduced blood flow in normal white matter predicts development of leukoaraiosis.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether low cerebral blood flow (CBF) is associated with subsequent development of white matter hyperintensities (WMH). Patients were included from a longitudinal magnetic resonance (MR) imaging study of minor stroke/transient ischemic attack patients. Images were co-registered and new WMH at 18 months were identified by comparing follow-up imaging with baseline fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR).

MRI texture heterogeneity in the optic nerve predicts visual recovery after acute optic neuritis.

Purpose: To test the feasibility of using multi-scale MRI texture analysis to assess optic nerve pathology and to investigate how visual recovery relates to the severity of acute tissue damage in the optic nerve in patients after optic neuritis (ON).

Materials And Methods: We recruited 25 patients with acute ON. Retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness; MRI lesion length and enhancement; optic nerve area ratio; and multi-scale MRI texture analysis, a measure of structural integrity, were used to assess tissue damage at baseline, and at 6 and 12 months.

Electrothermal arthroscopic capsulorrhaphy: old technology, new evidence. A multicenter randomized clinical trial.

Background: Radiofrequency technology for shoulder instability was rapidly adopted despite limited clinical evidence and a poor understanding of its indications. Reports of serious adverse events followed, leading to its abandonment. This paper presents findings from a multicenter randomized clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of electrothermal arthroscopic capsulorrhaphy (ETAC) compared with open inferior capsular shift (ICS) and reviews the role of randomized trials in adopting new technology.

Log-binomial models: exploring failed convergence.

Background: Relative risk is a summary metric that is commonly used in epidemiological investigations. Increasingly, epidemiologists are using log-binomial models to study the impact of a set of predictor variables on a single binary outcome, as they naturally offer relative risks. However, standard statistical software may report failed convergence when attempting to fit log-binomial models in certain settings.

Neurovascular decoupling is associated with severity of cerebral amyloid angiopathy.

Objectives: We used functional MRI (fMRI), transcranial Doppler ultrasound, and visual evoked potentials (VEPs) to determine the nature of blood flow responses to functional brain activity and carbon dioxide (CO2) inhalation in patients with cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), and their association with markers of CAA severity.

Methods: In a cross-sectional prospective cohort study, fMRI, transcranial Doppler ultrasound CO2 reactivity, and VEP data were compared between 18 patients with probable CAA (by Boston criteria) and 18 healthy controls, matched by sex and age. Functional MRI consisted of a visual task (viewing an alternating checkerboard pattern) and a motor task (tapping the fingers of the dominant hand).

Frequency of signs of excited delirium syndrome in subjects undergoing police use of force: Descriptive evaluation of a prospective, consecutive cohort.

Unlabelled: There has, to date, been no prospective description of the frequency with which police officers encounter individuals who display signs of excited delirium syndrome (ExDS). The ability to document the relationship between signs of excited delirium and subject outcomes and then determine the underlying pathophysiology that results in morbidity and mortality is necessary in order to determine the case definition for ExDS in live individuals. We prospectively evaluated the frequency of signs of ExDS in a cohort of consecutive subjects undergoing use of force by law enforcement officers (LEOs) and determined the frequency with which those features were encountered alone and in combination.

Internet-based interventions for disordered gamblers: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial of online self-directed cognitive-behavioural motivational therapy.

Background: Gambling disorders affect about one percent of adults. Effective treatments are available but only a small proportion of affected individuals will choose to attend formal treatment. As a result, self-directed treatments have also been developed and found effective.

Telomere length correlates with life span of dog breeds.

Telomeric DNA repeats are lost as normal somatic cells replicate. When telomeres reach a critically short length, a DNA damage signal is initiated, inducing cell senescence. Some studies have indicated that telomere length correlates with mortality, suggesting that telomere length contributes to human life span; however, other studies report no correlation, and thus the issue remains controversial.

Matched case-control studies: a review of reported statistical methodology.

Background: Case-control studies are a common and efficient means of studying rare diseases or illnesses with long latency periods. Matching of cases and controls is frequently employed to control the effects of known potential confounding variables. The analysis of matched data requires specific statistical methods.

Incidence and outcome of prone positioning following police use of force in a prospective, consecutive cohort of subjects.

The safety of placing suspects in the prone position following police use of force has been debated extensively, particularly in the context of sudden in-custody death. The proportion of individuals who remain in the prone position following police use of force is not known, nor has the epidemiology of sudden in-custody death in any position after police restraint been documented. Using a consecutive cohort of individuals in whom police used force, we prospectively documented the number of individuals who were placed in a prone versus not-prone position, and the prevalence of sudden in-custody death in either position.

Emergency medical services response time and mortality in an urban setting.

Background: A common tenet in emergency medical services (EMS) is that faster response equates to better patient outcome, translated by some EMS operations into a goal of a response time of 8 minutes or less for advanced life support (ALS) units responding to life-threatening events.

Objective: To explore whether an 8-minute EMS response time was associated with mortality.

Methods: This was a one-year retrospective cohort study of adults with a life-threatening event as assessed at the time of the 9-1-1 call (Medical Priority Dispatch System Echo- or Delta-level event).

Palmitate alters the rhythmic expression of molecular clock genes and orexigenic neuropeptide Y mRNA levels within immortalized, hypothalamic neurons.

The control of energy homeostasis within the hypothalamus is under the regulated control of homeostatic hormones, nutrients and the expression of neuropeptides that alter feeding behavior. Elevated levels of palmitate, a predominant saturated fatty acid in diet and fatty acid biosynthesis, alter cellular function. For instance, a key mechanism involved in the development of insulin resistance is lipotoxicity, through increased circulating saturated fatty acids.

The effects of a supplemental, theory-based physical activity counseling intervention for adults with type 2 diabetes.

Background: Physical activity (PA) is a cornerstone in the management of type 2 diabetes (T2DM). This pilot investigation explores the effects of a standard diabetes education program compared with a supplemental PA intervention on diabetes-related health outcomes.

Methods: Using a prospective 2-armed design, 96 adults with T2DM were randomly assigned to either standard care (diabetes education program; n = 49) or standard care supplemented with an 8-week, individualized-counseling and community-based PA component (n = 47).

Three job-related stress models and depression: a population-based study.

Objectives: To estimate the current prevalence of major depression in a sample of working population, and to examine the associations between job strain, effort-reward imbalance and family-work conflicts and major depression.

Methods: A sample of employees who were between the ages of 25 and 65 years and who were working in Alberta at the time of survey was recruited using the method of random digit dialing (n = 4,302). Data about job stress, effort-reward imbalance and work-family conflicts and depression were collected via telephone.

Estimates of total analytical error in consumer and hospital glucose meters contributed by hematocrit, maltose, and ascorbate.

Background: Patients and physicians expect accurate whole blood glucose monitoring even when patients are anemic, are undergoing peritoneal dialysis, or have slightly elevated ascorbate levels. The objective of this study was to estimate analytical error in two consumer and two hospital glucose meters contributed by variations in hematocrit, maltose, ascorbate, and imprecision.

Methods: The influence of hematocrit (20-60%), maltose, and ascorbate were tested alone and in combination with each glucose meter and with a reference plasma glucose method at three concentrations of glucose.

The prevalence of mental disorders in the working population over the period of global economic crisis.

Objectives: The ongoing global economic crisis may have affected people's mental health. This study aimed to, among a sample of the working population, estimate and compare the prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders in different time intervals from January 2008 to October 2009 and to examine the demographic and socioeconomic correlates of mental disorders.

Methods: From January 2008 to October 2009, 3579 employees in Alberta were recruited using the random digit dialing method.