Dynamic Treatment Regimes on Dyadic Networks.

Identifying interventions that are optimally tailored to each individual is of significant interest in various fields, in particular precision medicine. Dynamic treatment regimes (DTRs) employ sequences of decision rules that utilize individual patient information to recommend treatments. However, the assumption that an individual's treatment does not impact the outcomes of others, known as the no interference assumption, is often challenged in practical settings.

An Epidemiological Study of Physical-Mental Multimorbidity in Youth: Une étude épidémiologique de la morbidité physique-mentale chez les jeunes.

Objective: This epidemiological study estimated the lifetime prevalence of chronic physical illness (i.e., an illness that lasted or was expected to last ≥6 months) and 6-month prevalence of mental disorder and multimorbidity (i.

Using random forest to identify correlates of depression symptoms among adolescents.

Purpose: Adolescent depression is a significant public health concern, and studying its multifaceted factors using traditional methods possess challenges. This study employs random forest (RF) algorithms to determine factors predicting adolescent depression scores.

Methods: This study utilized self-reported survey data from 56,008 Canadian students (grades 7-12) attending 182 schools during the 2021/22 academic year.

Use of online food delivery services among adults in five countries from the International Food Policy Study 2018-2021.

Aim: Online food delivery services (OFDS) are popular for purchasing meals prepared outside home, increasing access to energy-dense and nutrient-poor foods. This adversely impacts dietary choices and health outcomes. Our study examined trends in OFDS use in Australia, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US) from 2018 to 2021.

Revealing the Mysteries of Population Mobility Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada: Comparative Analysis With Internet of Things-Based Thermostat Data and Google Mobility Insights.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated public health policies to limit human mobility and curb infection spread. Human mobility, which is often underestimated, plays a pivotal role in health outcomes, impacting both infectious and chronic diseases. Collecting precise mobility data is vital for understanding human behavior and informing public health strategies.

Forecasting daily COVID-19 cases with gradient boosted regression trees and other methods: evidence from U.S. cities.

Introduction: There is a vast literature on the performance of different short-term forecasting models for country specific COVID-19 cases, but much less research with respect to city level cases. This paper employs daily case counts for 25 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the U.S.

Breast Cancer and Bone Mineral Density in a U.S. Cohort of Middle-Aged Women: Associations with Phosphate Toxicity.

Breast cancer is associated with phosphate toxicity, the toxic effect from dysregulated phosphate metabolism that can stimulate tumorigenesis. Phosphate toxicity and dysregulated phosphate metabolism are also associated with bone mineral abnormalities, including excessive bone mineral loss and deposition. Based on shared associations with dysregulated phosphate metabolism and phosphate toxicity, a hypothesis proposed in the present mixed methods-grounded theory study posits that middle-aged women with incidence of breast cancer had a greater magnitude of changes in bone mineral density over time compared with women who remained cancer-free.

High Dietary Phosphorus Is Associated with Increased Breast Cancer Risk in a U.S. Cohort of Middle-Aged Women.

Research has shown that high amounts of dietary phosphorus that are twice the amount of the U.S. dietary reference intake of 700 mg for adults are associated with all-cause mortality, phosphate toxicity, and tumorigenesis.

Examining the Association Between Household Enrollment in the (4Ps) and Wasting and Stunting Status Among Children Experiencing Poverty in the Philippines: A Cross-Sectional Study.

This study assessed whether enrollment in a national conditional cash transfer program was associated with wasting and stunting among children experiencing extreme poverty in the Philippines. Data were drawn from cross-sectional surveys collected from 10 regional areas in the Philippines between April 2018 and May 2019. A total of 2945 children aged between six months and 12 years comprised the analytical sample.

Breast cancer, alcohol, and phosphate toxicity.

Alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, even at low alcohol intake levels, but public awareness of the breast cancer risk associated with alcohol intake is low. Furthermore, the causative mechanisms underlying alcohol's association with breast cancer are unknown. The present theoretical paper uses a modified grounded theory method to review the research literature and propose that alcohol's association with breast cancer is mediated by phosphate toxicity, the accumulation of excess inorganic phosphate in body tissue.

Examining the use of decision trees in population health surveillance research: an application to youth mental health survey data in the COMPASS study.

Introduction: In population health surveillance research, survey data are commonly analyzed using regression methods; however, these methods have limited ability to examine complex relationships. In contrast, decision tree models are ideally suited for segmenting populations and examining complex interactions among factors, and their use within health research is growing. This article provides a methodological overview of decision trees and their application to youth mental health survey data.

Do school characteristics, based on the Comprehensive School Health Framework, contribute to youth meeting national physical activity recommendations over time?

Introduction: Canadian youth are insufficiently active, and schools may play a role in promoting student physical activity (PA). Based on the Comprehensive School Health (CSH) framework, this study examined whether school characteristics are associated with secondary school students meeting national PA recommendations over time.

Methods: We used COMPASS survey data from 78 schools in Ontario and Alberta and 9870 Grade 9 and 10 students attending those schools.

Using Decision Trees to Examine Environmental and Behavioural Factors Associated with Youth Anxiety, Depression, and Flourishing.

Modifiable environmental and behavioural factors influence youth mental health; however, past studies have primarily used regression models that quantify population average effects. Decision trees are an analytic technique that examine complex relationships between factors and identify high-risk subgroups to whom intervention measures can be targeted. This study used decision trees to examine associations of various risk factors with youth anxiety, depression, and flourishing.

A Comprehensive School Health Approach to Student Physical Activity: A Multilevel Analysis Examining the Association between School-Level Factors and Student Physical Activity Behaviors.

Background: The comprehensive school health (CSH) framework has four components: social and physical environment; partnerships and services; teaching and learning; and policy. This study examines associations between CSH and student physical activity (PA).

Methods: Using 2015/2016 COMPASS study survey data of 37,397 students (grades 9-12) from 80 secondary schools in Ontario and Alberta, Canada, associations between school-level factors within CSH and student PA outcomes (weekly moderate-to-vigorous PA [MVPA] minutes and achieving the national PA recommendations of ≥60 min of MVPA daily, vigorous PA ≥3 days/week, strengthening activities ≥3 days/week) were analyzed using multilevel regression models stratified by gender and grade.

NextGen Public Health Surveillance and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Recent advances in technology have led to the rise of new-age data sources (e.g., Internet of Things (IoT), wearables, social media, and mobile health).

School-Level Factors within Comprehensive School Health Associated with the Trajectory of Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity over Time: A Longitudinal, Multilevel Analysis in a Large Sample of Grade 9 and 10 Students in Canada.

(1) The majority of Canadian youth are insufficiently active, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) decreases substantially during secondary school. School factors within the comprehensive school health (CSH) framework may help attenuate this decline. This study aimed to examine how youth MVPA changes over a three-year period and evaluate the school characteristics associated with preventing the decline in MVPA over time, guided by the CSH framework.

Low-frequency exercise training improves cardiovascular fitness and strength during treatment for breast cancer: a single-arm intervention study.

Aerobic and resistance exercise during and after cancer treatment are important for health-related outcomes, however treatment-specific barriers may inhibit adherence. We explored the effect of lower-frequency exercise training on fitness, body composition, and metabolic markers (i.e.

Identifying early-measured variables associated with APACHE IVa providing incorrect in-hospital mortality predictions for critical care patients.

APACHE IVa provides typically useful and accurate predictions on in-hospital mortality and length of stay for patients in critical care. However, there are factors which may preclude APACHE IVa from reaching its ceiling of predictive accuracy. Our primary aim was to determine which variables available within the first 24 h of a patient's ICU stay may be indicative of the APACHE IVa scoring system making occasional but potentially illuminating errors in predicting in-hospital mortality.

Identifying subpopulations of septic patients: A temporal data-driven approach.

Sepsis is one of the deadliest diseases in North America and in spite of the vast amount of research on this topic there is still uncertainty in the outcome of sepsis treatments. This study aimed at investigating the informativeness of temporal electronic health records (EHR) in stratifying septic patients and identifying subpopulations of septic patients with similar trajectories and clinical needs. We performed hierarchical clustering and Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN) analyses using data from septic patients in the MIMIC III intensive care unit database.

More-2-Eat implementation demonstrates that screening, assessment and treatment of malnourished patients can be spread and sustained in acute care; a multi-site, pretest post-test time series study.

Background: Malnutrition in medical and surgical inpatients is an on-going problem. More-2-Eat (M2E) Phase 1 demonstrated that improved detection and treatment of hospital malnutrition could be embedded into routine practice using an intensive researcher-facilitated implementation process. Yet, spreading and sustaining new practices in diverse hospital cultures with minimal researcher support is unknown.

The impact of an alcohol policy change on developmental trajectories of youth alcohol use: examination of a natural experiment in Canada.

Objectives: In 2015, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) authorized sale of alcohol in some Ontario grocery stores. This research evaluates the impact of the new policy on alcohol use patterns of youth in a quasi-experimental setting with two control groups.

Methods: The sample consists of 2267 grade 9 students attending 60 secondary schools across Ontario (n = 56) and Alberta (n = 4), who provided 4-year linked longitudinal data (2013-2014 to 2016-2017) in the COMPASS study.

Handgrip strength predicts length of stay and quality of life in and out of hospital.

Background: Handgrip strength (HGS) is a practical measure of strength and physical function that can be used to identify frailty among hospitalized patients, but its utility in this setting is unclear. To be considered useful, any functional measure needs to provide pertinent information on the patient and predict relevant outcomes such as health-care utilization (e.g.

Identifying patterns of alcohol use among secondary school students in Canada: A multilevel latent class analysis.

Introduction: Harm from alcohol use depend not only on the volume of consumption but also on drinking patterns. This study identifies patterns of alcohol consumption in youth and investigates how these patterns vary across schools and whether individual- and school-level factors are associated with engagement in patterns of alcohol consumption.

Methods: The sample consists of 45,298 grade 9 to 12 students attending 89 secondary schools across Ontario and Alberta (Canada), who participated in the COMPASS study during the school year 2013-14.

Fall Risk Classification in Community-Dwelling Older Adults Using a Smart Wrist-Worn Device and the Resident Assessment Instrument-Home Care: Prospective Observational Study.

Background:  Little is known about whether off-the-shelf wearable sensor data can contribute to fall risk classification or complement clinical assessment tools such as the Resident Assessment Instrument-Home Care (RAI-HC).

Objective:  This study aimed to (1) investigate the similarities and differences in physical activity (PA), heart rate, and night sleep in a sample of community-dwelling older adults with varying fall histories using a smart wrist-worn device and (2) create and evaluate fall risk classification models based on (i) wearable data, (ii) the RAI-HC, and (iii) the combination of wearable and RAI-HC data.

Methods:  A prospective, observational study was conducted among 3 faller groups (G, G, G) based on the number of previous falls (0, 1, ≥2 falls) in a sample of older community-dwelling adults.