The Quantitative Impact of Visual Function on Accelerometer-measured Physical Activity in Older United States Adults: A Nationwide Cross-sectional Analysis.

Purpose: To explore the impact of objective vision measures on novel metrics of objectively-measured physical activity (PA) in a nationally representative sample of United States (US) older adults.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis using data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study.

Participants: Adults had their distance and near visual acuity (VA) and contrast sensitivity (CS) tested.

Unintended Consequences of Increased Out-of-Pocket Costs During Medicare Coverage Gap on Anticoagulant Discontinuation and Stroke.

Introduction: This study aims to assess the risk of direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) discontinuation among Medicare beneficiaries with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) who reach the Medicare coverage gap stratified by low-income subsidy (LIS) status and the impact of DOAC discontinuation on rates of stroke and systemic embolism (SE) among beneficiaries with increased out-of-pocket (OOP) costs due to not receiving LIS.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, Medicare claims data (2015-2020) were used to identify beneficiaries with NVAF who initiated rivaroxaban or apixaban and entered the coverage gap during ≥ 1 year. DOAC discontinuation rates during the coverage gap were stratified by receipt of Medicare Part D Low-Income Subsidy (LIS), a proxy for not experiencing increased OOP costs.

Treatment Patterns and Healthcare Resource Use in Medicare Beneficiaries with Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Studies on real-world treatment patterns and long-term economic burden of Parkinson's disease (PD) have been limited.

Objective: To assess treatment patterns, healthcare resource utilization (HRU), and costs associated with PD symptoms and treatment-related adverse events (AEs) among Medicare beneficiaries in the United States.

Methods: A 100% Medicare Fee-For-Service data (2006-2020) of patients with PD were analyzed.

Device-modified trabeculectomy for glaucoma.

Background: Glaucoma is an optic neuropathy that leads to visual field defects and vision loss. It is the second leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world. Treatment for glaucoma aims to reduce intraocular pressure (IOP) to slow or prevent further vision loss.

The Impact of Neighborhood Factors on Physical Activity in Older Adults With Visual Impairment.

Purpose: To investigate the associations of neighborhood-level socioeconomic and environmental characteristics with physical activity in persons with glaucoma.

Design: Cross-sectional study (N = 230).

Methods: Home addresses were used to extract neighborhood factors (NFs): Area Deprivation Index, crime rate, and the proportion of racial and ethnic minorities, poverty, college graduates, and park area in their census tract.

Evaluation of away-from-home excursion patterns after falling among individuals with glaucoma: a longitudinal study.

Background: Unintentional falls among older adults are associated with an ensuing decline in physical activity. Our objective is to evaluate the associations between fall status and changes in excursions after a fall.

Methods: Prospective cohort study of older adults with glaucoma or suspected glaucoma who reported falls for 1 year and wore a GPS device for 1-week at the baseline and 1 year later.

Motor and Physical Function Impairments as Contributors to Slow Gait Speed and Mobility Difficulty in Middle-Aged and Older Adults.

Background: Motor function affects ability to perform daily activities and maintain independence. Yet, the interrelatedness of upper and lower extremity motor impairments and the magnitude of their contribution to slow gait and mobility difficulty are not well investigated.

Methods: Participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (N = 728, aged 50-99) completed motor and physical function tests including grip and knee extension strength, pegboard, finger tapping, standing balance, chair stands, fast-paced 400-m walk, and usual gait speed.

Patterns of Prevalence of Multiple Sensory Impairments Among Community-dwelling Older Adults.

Background: Much is known about individual sensory deficits among older adults, but there is a dearth of information about the prevalence of multiple concurrent sensory deficits in this population.

Methods: We evaluated the prevalence of individual and multiple sensory impairments at the most recent clinic visit among participants aged 24 years and older in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) (hearing, vision, olfaction, proprioception, and vestibular function) and Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC) (hearing, vision, olfaction). We compared observed prevalence of multiple sensory impairments with expected prevalence based on compounded probabilities of multiple impairments using Fisher Exact Tests.

Longitudinal changes in daily patterns of objectively measured physical activity after falls in older adults with varying degrees of glaucoma.

Background: Visually impaired older adults have a greater risk of falling, making them particularly susceptible to fall-related health consequences and restricted physical activity. Unclear however, is the relationship between having falls and longitudinal changes in daily patterns of objectively measured physical activity in older adults with visual impairments.

Methods: We created a three-year prospective cohort study (Falls in Glaucoma Study) of older adults with primary or suspected glaucoma at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute from 2013 to 2015.

Genomic and transcriptomic profiling of hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach.

Hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach (HAS), a rare subtype of gastric cancer (GC), has a low incidence but a high mortality rate. Little is known about the molecular features of HAS. Here we applied whole-exome sequencing (WES) on 58 tumours and the matched normal controls from 54 HAS patients, transcriptome sequencing on 30 HAS tumours, and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) on one HAS tumour.

Association Between Visual Field Damage and Gait Dysfunction in Patients With Glaucoma.

Importance: Gait dysfunction is common in older people with visual impairment and is a major cause of falls.

Objective: To compare 3-year longitudinal changes in gait measures across the spectrum of baseline visual field (VF) damage in glaucoma.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A post hoc analysis was designed on September 1, 2018, following a prospective cohort study, which enrolled older adults with glaucoma or suspected glaucoma from September 2013 to March 2015 and followed up for up to 3 years.

Perioperative or postoperative adjuvant oxaliplatin with S-1 versus adjuvant oxaliplatin with capecitabine in patients with locally advanced gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction adenocarcinoma undergoing D2 gastrectomy (RESOLVE): an open-label, superiority and non-inferiority, phase 3 randomised controlled trial.

Background: The optimal perioperative chemotherapeutic regimen for locally advanced gastric cancer remains undefined. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of perioperative and postoperative S-1 and oxaliplatin (SOX) compared with postoperative capecitabine and oxaliplatin (CapOx) in patients with locally advanced gastric cancer undergoing D2 gastrectomy.

Methods: We did this open-label, phase 3, superiority and non-inferiority, randomised trial at 27 hospitals in China.

Non-ketotic Hyperglycemia Chorea-Ballismus and Intracerebral Hemorrhage: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Non-ketotic hyperglycemia chorea-ballismus (NKH-CB) is a rare metabolical syndrome secondary to the hyperglycemic condition, which is characterized by a triad of acute or subacute hemichorea-hemiballismus, hyperglycemic state, and unique abnormalities limited to the striatum on neuroimaging. Several related case studies on this disorder have been reported previously, but NKH-CB had never been associated with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Herein, we report an uncommon case of NKH-CB and ICH that occurred simultaneously in one patient, which provides a challenge for clinicians in making a correct diagnosis.

The Impact of Weather and Seasons on Falls and Physical Activity among Older Adults with Glaucoma: A Longitudinal Prospective Cohort Study.

Understanding periods of the year associated with higher risk for falling and less physical activity may guide fall prevention and activity promotion for older adults. We examined the relationship between weather and seasons on falls and physical activity in a three-year cohort of older adults with glaucoma. Participants recorded falls information via monthly calendars and participated in four one-week accelerometer trials (baseline and per study year).

Importance and Severity Dependence of Physical Activity by GPS-Tracked Location in Glaucoma Patients.

Purpose: To quantify the association of visual field (VF) damage on physical activity away-from-home, per away-from-home excursion, and at-home.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Methods: Among 229 participants with glaucoma or suspected glaucoma, the severity of VF damage was defined as average sensitivity within the integrated VF (IVF).

Environmental Features Contributing to Falls in Persons With Vision Impairment: The Role of Home Lighting and Home Hazards.

Purpose: To evaluate whether home hazards and lighting levels are associated with higher fall rates in adults with varying degrees of visual field (VF) damage from glaucoma.

Methods: Participants with diagnosed or suspected glaucoma provided three years of prospective falls data via monthly falls diaries. A post-fall telephone questionnaire determined fall locations.

Visual Impairment and Objectively Measured Physical Activity in Middle-Aged and Older Adults.

Background: Vision loss is associated with increased risk of falls and restricted physical activity, yet the relationship between multiple vision measures and objectively measured physical activity, especially activity patterns, in mid-to-late life is not well understood.

Method: This study included 603 participants aged 50 years and older (mean age = 73.5) in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging who had the following assessments: presenting and best-corrected visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, visual fields, stereo acuity, and free-living physical activity using a wrist-worn ActiGraph accelerometer for 7 days.

Characterizing Longitudinal Changes in Physical Activity and Fear of Falling after Falls in Glaucoma.

Background: Older adults with visual impairments experience a higher risk of falling, and are more vulnerable to adverse health consequences associated with falls than those with normal vision. This study characterizes longitudinal changes in objectively measured physical activity and fear of falling (FoF) occurring after various types of falls in visually impaired older adults.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Gait in Elderly Glaucoma: Impact of Lighting Conditions, Changes in Lighting, and Fear of Falling.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to characterize the impact of lighting changes on gait in elderly patients with glaucoma and evaluate whether associations are mediated by fear of falling (FOF).

Methods: Gait initiation and parameters measured with the GAITRite Electronic Walkway were captured in normal indoor light, then in dim light, and again in normal light (normal post dim [NPD]). Participants' right and left eye visual fields (VFs) were merged into integrated VF (IVF) sensitivities.

Environmental and behavioural interventions for reducing physical activity limitation and preventing falls in older people with visual impairment.

Background: Impairment of vision is associated with a decrease in activities of daily living. Avoidance of physical activity in older adults with visual impairment can lead to functional decline and is an important risk factor for falls. The rate of falls and fractures is higher in older people with visual impairment than in age-matched visually normal older people.

Visual Impairment and Eye Diseases in HIV-infected People in the Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Era in Rakai, Uganda.

Purpose: Antiretroviral therapy reduced infectious eye diseases (EDs) in HIV-infected people. There is limited data on age-related EDs and visual impairment (VI) in people living with HIV. We report prevalence of VI and spectrum of EDs in HIV-infected people in an ART era in Rakai, Uganda.

Patterns of Daily Physical Activity across the Spectrum of Visual Field Damage in Glaucoma Patients.

Purpose: To define and quantify patterns of objectively measured daily physical activity by level of visual field (VF) damage in glaucoma patients including: (1) activity fragmentation, a metric of health and physiologic decline, and (2) diurnal patterns of activity, a measure of rest and activity rhythms.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Participants: Older adults diagnosed with glaucoma or suspected glaucoma.

Characterizing the Impact of Fear of Falling on Activity and Falls in Older Adults with Glaucoma.

Objective: Fear of falling (FoF) may alter mobility in older adults, especially among those with visual impairment. Using a longitudinal prospective cohort of older glaucoma patients, we investigated whether and how FoF is associated with future falls and physical activity.

Design: Prospective observational cohort study.