[A Structural Equation Model on Social Re-Adjustment of Stroke Patients: Based on Roy's Adaptation Model].

Purpose: This study aimed to develop and test a structural equation model on social re-adjustment of individuals with stroke based on a literature review and Roy's adaptation model.

Methods: This study involved 321 participants who had a stroke and visited the outpatient department after discharge. The hypothetical model was developed based on Roy's adaptation model and a comprehensive review of previous literature on the topic.

Test-to-Stay in Kindergarten Through 12th Grade Schools After Household Exposure to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2.

Background: Test-to-stay (TTS) is a strategy to limit school exclusion following an exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We evaluated the use of TTS within universally masked kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) school settings following household SARS-CoV-2 exposure.

Methods: Three hundred twenty-two participants were enrolled.

Predictors of health-related quality of life after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a multifactorial concept in assessing physical and mental health. This study was performed to evaluate the HRQOL of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and the predictors of HRQOL in patients until 1 year after surgery. This cross-sectional study included 110 consecutive patients who underwent elective CABG in a medical center in South Korea.

Test-to-Stay After SARS-CoV-2 Exposure: A Mitigation Strategy for Optionally Masked K-12 Schools.

Objectives: We evaluated the impact of a test-to-stay (TTS) program on within-school transmission and missed school days in optionally masked kindergarten through 12th grade schools during a period of high community severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 transmission.

Methods: Close contacts of those with confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection were eligible for enrollment in the TTS program if exposure to a nonhousehold contact occurred between November 11, 2021 and January 28, 2022. Consented participants avoided school exclusion if they remained asymptomatic and rapid antigen testing at prespecified intervals remained negative.

The trial to assess chelation therapy 2 (TACT2): Rationale and design.

Background: Intravenous edetate disodium-based infusions reduced cardiovascular events in a prior clinical trial. The Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy 2 (TACT2) will replicate the initial study design.

Methods: TACT2 is an NIH-sponsored, randomized, 2x2 factorial, double masked, placebo-controlled, multicenter clinical trial testing 40 weekly infusions of a multi-component edetate disodium (disodium ethylenediamine tetra-acetic acid, or NaEDTA)-based chelation solution and twice daily oral, high-dose multivitamin and mineral supplements in patients with diabetes and a prior myocardial infarction (MI).

Test-to-Stay After Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in K-12 Schools.

Objectives: We evaluated the safety and efficacy of a test-to-stay program for unvaccinated students and staff who experienced an unmasked, in-school exposure to someone with confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Serial testing instead of quarantine was offered to asymptomatic contacts. We measured secondary and tertiary transmission rates within participating schools and in-school days preserved for participants.

Supportive Care Needs and Health-Related Quality of Life of Esophageal Cancer Survivors.

Objective: The aim of this study is (1) to describe the prevalence and correlates of unmet needs among esophageal cancer survivors (ECS) in Korea and (2) to identify the association between unmet needs and health-related quality of life (HRQOL).

Methods: We used a cross-sectional descriptive study design. Participants were 118 ECS from a hospital in Korea who received surgery at least 12 months before participating.

Rationale and design of PROACT Xa: A randomized, multicenter, open-label, clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of apixaban versus warfarin in patients with a mechanical On-X Aortic Heart Valve.

Vitamin K antagonists are the only approved oral anticoagulants for long-term prophylaxis against valve thrombosis and thromboembolism in patients with a mechanical heart valve. Despite the proven efficacy and safety of anticoagulation with the oral direct factor Xa inhibitor apixaban compared with warfarin in high-risk populations including subjects with atrial fibrillation or with venous thromboembolism, it remains unknown whether patients with a mechanical heart valve can be safely managed with apixaban. The On-X Aortic Heart Valve and On-X Ascending Aortic Prosthesis with the Vascutek Gelweave Valsalva Graft may have lower rates of valve thrombosis and thromboembolism than conventional bileaflet and tilting disc valves due its unique pyrolytic carbon composition and flared inlet design.

The effect of EDTA-based chelation on patients with diabetes and peripheral artery disease in the Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT).

Objective: Approximately 1 in 7 US adults have diabetes; and over 60% of deaths in patients with diabetes have cardiac disease as a principal or contributing cause. Both coronary and peripheral artery disease (PAD) identify high-risk cohorts among patients with diabetes. We have previously demonstrated improved cardiovascular outcomes with edetate disodium-based chelation in post-MI patients with diabetes, enrolled in the Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT).

The mediating and moderating effects of meaning in life on the relationship between depression and quality of life in patients with dysphagia.

Aims And Objectives: To identify whether meaning in life has moderating and mediating effects on the relationship between depression and quality of life in patients with dysphagia.

Background: Dysphagic patients typically have multidimensional problems, such as depression, which can negatively influence their quality of life. Meaning in life, therefore, can be used as a psychological resource that may enhance quality of life for these patients.

Understanding and Preventing Loss to Follow-up: Experiences From the Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems.

One of the most critical threats to the validity of any longitudinal research is the bias caused by study attrition. Prevention efforts should be focused on those individuals at high risk of non-participation to improve the generalizability of study findings. To identify demographic and clinical factors associated with loss to follow-up (FU) at post-injury years 1 to 35 among 25,871 people with spinal cord injury (SCI) enrolled in the National Spinal Cord Injury Database.

Will Big Data Close the Missing Heritability Gap?

Despite the important discoveries reported by genome-wide association (GWA) studies, for most traits and diseases the prediction R-squared (R-sq.) achieved with genetic scores remains considerably lower than the trait heritability. Modern biobanks will soon deliver unprecedentedly large biomedical data sets: Will the advent of big data close the gap between the trait heritability and the proportion of variance that can be explained by a genomic predictor? We addressed this question using Bayesian methods and a data analysis approach that produces a surface response relating prediction R-sq.

Prospective Endoscopic Ultrasound-Based Approach to the Evaluation of Idiopathic Pancreatitis: Causes, Response to Therapy, and Long-term Outcome.

Objectives: Although idiopathic pancreatitis is common, the natural history is not well studied, and the best diagnostic approach to both single and multiple attacks remains undefined.

Methods: We prospectively evaluated patients with idiopathic pancreatitis over a 10-year period, and clinical information for each episode was reviewed. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) was performed in all patients.

Prospective Evaluation of the Clinical Features of Choledocholithiasis: Focus on Abdominal Pain.

Objectives: Although abdominal pain is a cardinal feature of choledocholithiasis, there has been little formal study of the features of pain in this condition. The objective of this study was to prospectively evaluate the clinical, laboratory, and radiological features of common bile duct stones, focusing on the characteristics of abdominal pain.

Methods: All of the patients evaluated for choledocholithiasis at the time of endoscopic cholangiopancreatography during a 3.

Performance characteristic of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration is unaffected by pancreatic mass size.

Background And Study Aims: Despite a well-established tool for diagnosis of pancreatic masses, endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) studies have shown suboptimal diagnostic performance at divergent mass sizes. Since the impact of gold standard follow-up and presence of on-site evaluation on this observation is unknown, we aimed to study the performance characteristics of EUS-FNA under these strict conditions.

Patients And Methods: EUS-FNA results from pancreatic mass lesions performed between July 2000 and March 2013 were evaluated.

Clinical Alarms in Intensive Care Units: Perceived Obstacles of Alarm Management and Alarm Fatigue in Nurses.

Objectives: The purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate the current situation of clinical alarms in intensive care unit (ICU), nurses' recognition of and fatigue in relation to clinical alarms, and obstacles in alarm management.

Methods: Subjects were ICU nurses and devices from 48 critically ill patient cases. Data were collected through direct observation of alarm occurrence and questionnaires that were completed by the ICU nurses.

Choice of plastic or metal stent for patients with jaundice with pancreaticobiliary malignancy using simple clinical tools: a prospective evaluation.

Background And Aim: Although plastic stents have been recommended for patients with pancreaticobiliary malignancy and an expected survival of less than 6 months, no study has developed criteria to assess survival which could then determine the choice of stent for biliary decompression. The aim of the study was to determine the utility of simple clinical tools in deciding whether to place a plastic or metal stent in patients with malignant obstructive jaundice.

Methods: At presentation for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography for suspected malignant distal bile duct obstruction, prospectively patients with Karnofsky score of <80 and/or metastatic disease to the liver underwent placement of 10-French plastic stents while patients with a Karnofsky score of ≥80 underwent placement of self-expandable metal stents (SEMS).

Predictability of capsule endoscopy referred to a tertiary care center for double-balloon enteroscopy.

Objectives: Patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding with 'positive' findings on video capsule endoscopy (VCE) by gastroenterologists practicing in the community are often referred to tertiary care centers for double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE). Our study explores the degree of concordance between these two procedures performed in two different clinical settings.

Methods: Concordance between the procedures was estimated using a κ-coefficient.

ERCP-related perforations in the new millennium: A large tertiary referral center 10-year experience.

Introduction: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is an important diagnostic and therapeutic modality for pancreatic and biliary disorders. Perforation is one of the most dreaded complications of ERCP. Since it is uncommon, there has been little study of incidence, risk factors, and outcomes of management.

Post-traumatic growth in stomach cancer survivors: Prevalence, correlates and relationship with health-related quality of life.

Purpose: Post-traumatic growth (PTG) is defined as positive psychological changes experienced as a result of struggle with highly challenging life circumstances. Interest in PTG has increased in cancer survivorship care; however, little is known about PTG among stomach cancer survivors. This study aimed to examine the prevalence and correlates of PTG, and to identify relationships between PTG and health-related quality of life (HRQOL).

Safety and yield of diagnostic ERCP in liver transplant patients with abnormal liver function tests.

Background. Abnormal liver enzymes postorthotopic liver transplant (OLT) may indicate significant biliary pathology or organ rejection. There is very little known in the literature regarding the current role of diagnostic ERCP in this scenario.