Cross-modal similar clinical case retrieval using a modular model based on contrastive learning and k-nearest neighbor search.

Objective: Electronic health record systems have made it possible for clinicians to use previously encountered similar cases to support clinical decision-making. However, most studies for similar case retrieval were based on single-modal data. The existing studies on cross-modal clinical case retrieval were limited.

Identifying subtypes of type 2 diabetes mellitus based on real-world electronic medical record data in China.

Aims: To replicate the European subtypes of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the Chinese diabetes population and investigate the risk of complications in different subtypes.

Methods: A diabetes cohort using real-world patient data was constructed, and clustering was employed to subgroup the T2DM patients. Kaplan-Meier analysis and the Cox models were used to analyze the association between diabetes subtypes and the risk of complications.

ERTool: A Python Package for Efficient Implementation of the Evidential Reasoning Approach for Multi-Source Evidence Fusion.

Multi-source evidence fusion aims to process and combine evidence from different sources to support rational and reliable decision-making. The evidential reasoning (ER) approach is a helpful method to deal with information from multiple sources with uncertainty. It has been widely used in business analytics, healthcare management, and other fields for optimal decision-making.

Association of the intergenerational structure with the onset of depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older adults in China.

Background: Chinese family structure has undergone tremendous changes over the past few decades. Moreover, the association of the intergenerational structure with depression remains controversial.

Aims: This study aimed to find out the association of the intergenerational structure and the onset of depressive symptoms among Chinese middle-aged and older adults.

Association between ambient PM and the prevalence of chronic kidney disease in China: A nationwide study.

Particulate of diameter ≤ 1 µm (PM) presents a novel risk factor of adverse health effects. Nevertheless, the association of PM with the risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the general population is not well understood, particularly in regions with high PM levels like China. Based on a nationwide representative survey involving 47,204 adults and multi-source ambient air pollution inversion data, the present study evaluated the association of PM with CKD prevalence in China.

Graph-guided deep hashing networks for similar patient retrieval.

With the rapid growth and widespread application of electronic health records (EHRs), similar patient retrieval has become an important task for downstream clinical decision support such as diagnostic reference, treatment planning, etc. However, the high dimensionality, large volume, and heterogeneity of EHRs pose challenges to the efficient and accurate retrieval of patients with similar medical conditions to the current case. Several previous studies have attempted to alleviate these issues by using hash coding techniques, improving retrieval efficiency but merely exploring underlying characteristics among instances to preserve retrieval accuracy.

Hospitalizations of Chronic Dialysis Patients: A National Study in China.

Background: Patients receiving chronic dialysis are usually with multiple comorbidities and at high risk for hospitalization, which lead to tremendous health care resource utilization. This study aims to explore the characteristics of hospitalizations among chronic dialysis patients in China.

Methods: Hospital admissions from January 2013 to December 2015 were extracted from a national inpatient database in China.

China trauma treatment statistics 2019: A national retrospective study based on hospitalized cases.

Objective: Trauma is China's fifth leading cause of death and ranked first among youths. Trauma databases have been well-established in many countries to announce the current state of trauma rescue, treatment and care. Nevertheless, China hasn't yet established a comparable database.

Prevalence of psychological symptoms and associated risk factors among nurses in 30 provinces during the COVID-19 pandemic in China.

Background: With the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), nurses have won well-deserved recognition for their indispensable roles in providing humane and professional healthcare for patients. However, by the nature of their role working at the forefront of patient care, nurses are prone to experiencing mental health consequences. Therefore, we pay attention to measuring the magnitude of psychological symptoms and identifying associated factors among nurses in China.

Structure-aware siamese graph neural networks for encounter-level patient similarity learning.

Patient similarity learning has attracted great research interest in biomedical informatics. Correctly identifying the similarity between a given patient and patient records in the database could contribute to clinical references for diagnosis and medication. The sparsity of underlying relationships between patients poses difficulties for similarity learning, which becomes more challenging when considering real-world Electronic Health Records (EHRs) with a large number of missing values.

Long-Term Exposure to Ambient PM, Sunlight, and Obesity: A Nationwide Study in China.

Background: Accumulated researches revealed that both fine particulate matter (PM) and sunlight exposure may be a risk factor for obesity, while researches regarding the potential effect modification by sunlight exposure on the relationship between PM and obesity are limited. We aim to investigate whether the effect of PM on obesity is affected by sunlight exposure among the general population in China.

Methods: A sample of 47,204 adults in China was included.

Bidirectional associations of vision loss, hearing loss, and dual sensory loss with depressive symptoms among the middle-aged and older adults in China.

Background: Most studies on the relationship between sensory loss and depression focus on the unidirectional association between sensory loss and the risk of depression based on cross-sectional designs. The present study aimed to explore the bidirectional longitudinal associations of vison loss (VL), hearing loss (HL), and dual sensory loss (DSL) with depressive symptoms among Chinese population.

Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted among 13,690 participants aged 45 years and older over four years.

Predicting Prolonged Length of ICU Stay through Machine Learning.

This study aimed to construct machine learning (ML) models for predicting prolonged length of stay (pLOS) in intensive care units (ICU) among general ICU patients. A multicenter database called eICU (Collaborative Research Database) was used for model derivation and internal validation, and the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care (MIMIC) III database was used for external validation. We used four different ML methods (random forest, support vector machine, deep learning, and gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT)) to develop prediction models.

Association between pulse pressure, systolic blood pressure and the risk of rapid decline of kidney function among general population without hypertension: results from the China health and retirement longitudinal study (CHARLS).

Background: Association between blood pressure (BP) and kidney function among the middle and old aged general population without hypertension remains unclear.

Methods: Participants aged ≥ 45 years, with complete data in 2011 and 2015 interviews of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study(CHARLS), and without pre-existing hypertension were included. Systolic BP (SBP) was categorized as low (< 120 mmHg), medium (120-129 mmHg), and high (120-139 mmHg).

Influence of doctors' perception on the diagnostic status of chronic kidney disease: results from 976 409 individuals with electronic health records in China.

Background: The diagnostic status of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and its underlying reasons provide evidence that can improve CKD management. However, the situation in developing countries remains under-investigated.

Methods: Adults with electronic health records (EHRs; 2008-19) in Yinzhou, China were included.

Age- and Gender-Specific Prevalence of Frailty and Its Outcomes in the Longevous Population: The Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Study.

Frailty is an epidemic age-related syndrome addressing heavy burden to the healthcare system. Subject to the rarity, age-, and gender-specific prevalence of frailty and its prognosis among the longevous population remains under-investigated. Based on the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Study (CLHLS, 2008-2018), individuals aged ≥ 65 years having complete data of frailty were recruited.

Predicting Prolonged Length of Hospital Stay for Peritoneal Dialysis-Treated Patients Using Stacked Generalization: Model Development and Validation Study.

Background: The increasing number of patients treated with peritoneal dialysis (PD) and their consistently high rate of hospital admissions have placed a large burden on the health care system. Early clinical interventions and optimal management of patients at a high risk of prolonged length of stay (pLOS) may help improve the medical efficiency and prognosis of PD-treated patients. If timely clinical interventions are not provided, patients at a high risk of pLOS may face a poor prognosis and high medical expenses, which will also be a burden on hospitals.

Association of cardiovascular disease with 30-day hospital readmission in Chinese patients receiving maintenance dialysis.

Background: Previous studies have shown cardiovascular disease (CVD) to be a risk factor in the prediction of 30-day hospital readmission among patients receiving dialysis. However, studies of Asian populations are limited. In the present study, we examined the association between CVD and 30-day hospital readmission in Chinese patients receiving maintenance dialysis.

Development of a scoring tool for predicting prolonged length of hospital stay in peritoneal dialysis patients through data mining.

Background: The hospital admission rate is high in patients treated with peritoneal dialysis (PD), and the length of stay (LOS) in the hospital is a key indicator of medical resource allocation. This study aimed to develop a scoring tool for predicting prolonged LOS (pLOS) in PD patients by combining machine learning and traditional logistic regression (LR).

Methods: This study was based on patient data collected using the Hospital Quality Monitoring System (HQMS) in China.

Anemia and Kidney Function Decline among the Middle-Aged and Elderly in China: A Population-Based National Longitudinal Study.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a public health burden, and anemia is common among patients with CKD. However, less is known regarding the longitudinal association between anemia and deterioration of kidney function among the general population. The China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study is a nationally representative survey for households with members aged ≥ 45 years.

Using machine learning methods to predict in-hospital mortality of sepsis patients in the ICU.

Background: Early and accurate identification of sepsis patients with high risk of in-hospital death can help physicians in intensive care units (ICUs) make optimal clinical decisions. This study aimed to develop machine learning-based tools to predict the risk of hospital death of patients with sepsis in ICUs.

Methods: The source database used for model development and validation is the medical information mart for intensive care (MIMIC) III.

The association between reduced kidney function and hearing loss: a cross-sectional study.

Background: The relationship between kidney function and hearing loss has long been recognized, but evidence of this association mostly comes from small observational studies or other populations. The aim of this study is to explore the association between reduced kidney function and hearing loss in a large population-based study among the middle-aged and elderly Chinese.

Methods: Data collected from the Chinese Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2015 were used for analysis.

The contributor roles for randomized controlled trials and the proposal for a novel CRediT-RCT.

Background: The past decade has witnessed a rapid increase in the number of contributors per article, which has made explicitly defining the roles of each contributor even more challenging. The Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) was developed to explicitly define author roles, but there is a lack of empirical data on how CRediT is used in clinical trials. This study aimed to provide empirical data on the use of CRediT in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and discuss some limitations of CRediT.