Immortal time bias (ITB) is common in cohort studies and distorts the association estimates between the treated and untreated. We used data from an Italian study on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness, with a large cohort, long follow-up, and adjustment for confounding factors, affected by ITB, with the aim to verify the real impact of the vaccination campaign by comparing the risk of all-cause death between the vaccinated population and the unvaccinated population. We aligned all subjects on a single index date and considered the "all-cause deaths" outcome to compare the survival distributions of the unvaccinated group versus various vaccination statuses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSome authors have demonstrated that proprioceptive stimuli applied on the feet soles can interfere on the ocular muscles. However, these studies do not clarify possible functional differences between the dominant eye and the non-dominant eye. The purpose of this randomised study is to establish if the positioning of an Internal Heel Wedge (IHW) and an External Heel Wedge (EHW) can modify horizontal heterophoria, determine dissimilar behaviours between the dominant eye and the non-dominant eye.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFData from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) emphasized by the media indicate that COVID-19 vaccination reduces related infections, hospitalizations and deaths. However, a comparison showed significantly more hospitalizations and intensive care unit accesses in the corresponding months and days in 2021 2020 and no significant differences in deaths. The combination of non-alternative hypotheses may help explain the discrepancy between the results in the entire population and the vaccination's success claimed by the ISS in reducing infections, serious cases and deaths: a bias: counting as unvaccinated also "those vaccinated with 1 dose in the two weeks following the inoculation", and as incompletely vaccinated also "those vaccinated with 2 doses within two weeks of the 2nd inoculation".
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Previous studies have shown that the stimulation of the foot sole can provide important information about the body's position and locomotion. However, these studies do not clarify how the position of the mechanical stimulation on the foot sole affects the gait cycle.
Aims: This interventional single-arm study aims to verify if the insertion of an Internal Heel Wedge (IHW) and External Heel Wedge (EHW) can modify the stabilometric and podobarometric variables, the functional changes during the gait cycle, the different responses between the dominating lower limb and the non-dominating lower limb, and the potential temporal summations of the proprioceptive stimulation.