Virtual Pooled Registry-Cancer Linkage System: an improved method for ascertaining cancer diagnoses.

Background: The National Cancer Institute funds many large cohort studies that rely on self-reported cancer data requiring medical record validation. This is labor intensive, costly, and prone to underreporting or misreporting of cancer and disparity-related differential response. US population-based central cancer registries identify incident cancer within their catchment area, yielding all malignant neoplasms and benign brain and central nervous system tumors with standardized data fields.

Sex differences in cytokines and adipokines in obese patients with PsA and controls undergoing a weight loss intervention.

Objective: In this post hoc analysis of a previously published study, we compared cytokines and adipokine levels in women and men with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) at baseline (BL) and 6 months (M6) following a weight loss intervention.

Methods: Patients with PsA (n=41) between 25 and 75 years of age, with body mass index (BMI)≥33 kg/m were included in a weight loss intervention with a very low energy diet (VLED) for 12 or 16 weeks depending on BL BMI<40 or ≥40 kg/m. As controls (n=39), obese individuals, already planned for VLED treatment were recruited and matched for sex, age and weight to the patients with PsA.

Serum IL-23 significantly decreased in obese patients with psoriatic arthritis six months after a structured weight loss intervention.

Introduction: Patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are frequently obese. We have previously shown decreased disease activity in patients with PsA with a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 33 kg/m following weight loss treatment with Very Low Energy Diet (VLED), resulting in a median weight loss of 18.6% at six months (M6) after baseline (BL).

Nicotinamide for Skin-Cancer Chemoprevention in Transplant Recipients.

Background: Immunosuppressed organ-transplant recipients have an increased incidence of, and mortality from, skin cancer. Nicotinamide (vitamin B) enhances the repair of ultraviolet (UV) radiation-induced DNA damage, reduces the cutaneous immunosuppressive effects of UV radiation, and reduces the incidence of keratinocyte cancers (including squamous-cell and basal-cell carcinomas) and actinic keratoses among high-risk immunocompetent patients. Whether oral nicotinamide is useful for skin-cancer chemoprevention in organ-transplant recipients is unclear.

Sex and country differences in gout: cross-country comparison between Sweden and the UK.

Objective: Compare characteristics, sex differences, and management of gout in Sweden and the UK.

Method: The results from two separate primary care gout surveys from Sweden and the UK were compared. Participants aged ≥18 years with gout were sent a questionnaire asking about lifestyle, gout characteristics, uratelowering therapy (ULT), comorbidities, disability, and disease impact.

Health-related quality of life in gout, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, results from a cross-sectional survey in Western Sweden.

Objectives: Inflammatory joint diseases (IJDs) substantially affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We aimed to compare HRQoL between patients with gout, psoriatic arthritis (PsA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and ankylosing spondylitis (AS): (i) overall; (ii) stratified by sex; and (iii) between women and men with the same IJD diagnosis.

Method: A survey including the RAND36-Item Health Survey for assessing HRQoL was sent to patients with a diagnosis of gout, PsA, RA, or AS, registered at a rheumatology clinic or primary care centre during 2015-2017.

Ascertainment of Incident Cancer by US Population-Based Cancer Registries Versus Self-Reports and Death Certificates in a Nationwide Cohort Study, the US Radiologic Technologists Study.

Follow-up of US cohort members for incident cancer is time-consuming, is costly, and often results in underascertainment when the traditional methods of self-reporting and/or medical record validation are used. We conducted one of the first large-scale investigations to assess the feasibility, methods, and benefits of linking participants in the US Radiologic Technologists (USRT) Study (n = 146,022) with the majority of US state or regional cancer registries. Follow-up of this cohort has relied primarily on questionnaires (mailed approximately every 10 years) and linkage with the National Death Index.

Lifestyle factors and comorbidities in gout patients compared to the general population in Western Sweden: results from a questionnaire study.

Objective: This study aimed to identify lifestyle factors associated with gout in patients with prevalent gout compared to the general population.

Method: Adult patients with gout identified in primary and secondary care in Western Sweden between 2015 and 2017 were sent a questionnaire asking about demographics, lifestyle, and comorbidities. Five age- and gender-matched controls were identified in a random sample of 52 348 individuals aged 16-84 years who participated in the National Public Health survey in Sweden, year 2015.

DNA methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene predicts substance use in adolescence: longitudinal data from over 1000 young individuals.

Early life stress has been linked to increased methylation of the Nuclear Receptor Subfamily 3 Group C Member 1 (NR3C1) gene, which codes for the glucocorticoid receptor. Moreover, early life stress has been associated with substance use initiation at a younger age, a risk factor for developing substance use disorders. However, no studies to date have investigated whether NR3C1 methylation can predict substance use in young individuals.

Translation of a circulating miRNA signature of melanoma into a solid tissue assay to improve diagnostic accuracy and precision.

Successful treatment of cutaneous melanoma depends on early and accurate diagnosis of clinically suspicious melanocytic skin lesions. Multiple international studies have described the challenge of providing accurate and reproducible histopathological assessments of melanocytic lesions, highlighting the need for new diagnostic tools including disease-specific biomarkers. Previously, a 38-miRNA signature (MEL38) was identified in melanoma patient plasma and validated as a novel biomarker.

Cardiovascular risk factors in gout, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis: a cross-sectional survey of patients in Western Sweden.

Objectives: We aimed to compare traditional (trad) cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) among patients with gout, psoriatic arthritis (PsA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) stratified by sex.

Methods: A survey was sent to patients with gout (n=1589), PsA (n=1200), RA (n=1246) and AS (n=1095). Patients were retrieved from Sahlgrenska University Hospital, the hospitals of Uddevalla and Skövde, and 12 primary care centres in Western Sweden.

Escape Into a Nursing Career: An Active Recruitment Strategy for Prospective Students.

A purpose of this activity was to determine if an escape room activity could familiarize prospective students with information about a program, nurture an interest in a nursing career, and expose individuals to active teaching strategies. Ten prospective nursing students participated in an escape room recruitment activity that introduced them to aspects of nursing care. The activity decreased participants' nervousness about beginning the nursing program.

Cortisol Concentration as Predictor of Tobacco Initiation in Adolescents: Results From a Population-Based Swedish Cohort.

Purpose: Stress potentiates the smoking reward, decreases the ability to resist smoking, and increases the risk of smoking relapse in adulthood. This study aimed to clarify if salivary cortisol, as an indicator of stress, may be prospectively associated with the onset and phenotype of tobacco use in adolescents.

Methods: This study was based on a cohort of Swedish adolescents, among whom saliva specimens were collected from a nested sample.

Dual energy CT findings in gout with rapid kilovoltage-switching source with gemstone scintillator detector.

Background: A definite diagnosis of gout requires demonstration of monosodium urate crystals in synovial fluid or in tophi, which in clinical practice today seldom is done. Dual energy CT (DECT) has repeatedly been shown to be able to detect monosodium urate crystals in tissues, hence being an alternative method to synovial fluid microscopy. The vast majority of these studies were performed with CT scanners with two X-ray tubes.

Cardiovascular risk factors are highly overrepresented in Swedish patients with psoriatic arthritis compared with the general population.

: We aimed to determine the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) followed at a large Swedish Rheumatology Clinic, and to compare differences in cardiovascular risk factors between men and women with PsA and with the general population.: A questionnaire was sent to patients with PsA registered at the Rheumatology Clinic at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg (n = 982). Comparisons with the general population were made using data from the Swedish National Public Health Survey.

Good survival rates in systemic lupus erythematosus in southern Sweden, while the mortality rate remains increased compared with the population.

Objective: To ascertain the mortality rate and causes of death in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) within a defined region in southern Sweden during the time period 1981-2014 and determine whether these have changed over time.

Methods: In 1981, a prospective observation study of patients with SLE was initiated in southern Sweden. All incident SLE patients within a defined geographic area were identified using previously validated methods including diagnosis and immunology registers.

The Validity of Gout Diagnosis in Primary Care: Results from a Patient Survey.

Objective: Validate primary care diagnosis of gout by the Mexico and the Netherlands classification criteria.

Methods: Questionnaires on gout characteristics were sent to all individuals aged ≥ 18 with ≥ 1 International Classification of Diseases, 10th ed. diagnosis of gout at 12 primary care centers.

Incidence of and risk factors for nephrolithiasis in patients with gout and the general population, a cohort study.

Background: Nephrolithiasis (NL) is known to be associated with gout, although there are few comparative studies on risk and risk factors for NL in gout compared to population cohorts. In this cohort study we investigated: (1) overall incidence of NL in gout (cases) and general population controls; (2) risk and risk factors (common comorbidities and medications) for first-time NL in cases and controls separately.

Methods: Cases (n = 29,968) and age-matched and sex-matched controls (n = 138,678) were identified from the regional healthcare database in western Sweden (VEGA).

Histological and Extended Clinical Outcomes After ABO-Incompatible Renal Transplantation Without Splenectomy or Rituximab.

Background: Excellent short-term results have been reported in ABO-incompatible (ABOi) renal transplant recipients managed solely with antibody removal and conventional immunosuppression. However, long-term clinical outcomes with this regimen and predictive information from protocol biopsies are lacking.

Methods: We compared outcome data in ABOi and ABO-compatible (ABOc) recipients receiving this regimen approximately 4 years posttransplant, and histology from biopsies approximately 12 months posttransplant.