Assessing Primary Care Blood Pressure Documentation for Hypertension Management During the COVID-19 Pandemic by Patient and Provider Groups.

Background: Primary care electronic medical record (EMR) data can be used to identify, manage, and screen hypertension cases. However, this approach relies on completeness and accessibility of documented blood pressure (BP) values. With the large switch to virtual care due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we assessed BP documentation in primary care EMRs during the pandemic, across patient and physician groups.

Surrogate Adiposity Markers and Mortality.

Importance: Body mass index (BMI) is an easily obtained adiposity surrogate. However, there is variability in body composition and adipose tissue distribution between individuals with the same BMI, and there is controversy regarding the BMI associated with the lowest mortality risk.

Objective: To evaluate which of BMI, fat mass index (FMI), and waist-to-hip (WHR) has the strongest and most consistent association with mortality.

Cost-Effectiveness of Polygenic Risk Scores to Guide Statin Therapy for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention.

Background: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are leading causes of death despite effective therapies and result in unnecessary morbidity and mortality throughout the world. We aimed to investigate the cost-effectiveness of polygenic risk scores (PRS) to guide statin therapy for Canadians with intermediate CVD risk and model its economic outlook.

Methods: This cost-utility analysis was conducted using UK Biobank prospective cohort study participants, with recruitment from 2006 to 2010, and at least 10 years of follow-up.

Inhaled corticosteroids, COPD, and the incidence of lung cancer: a systematic review and dose response meta-analysis.

Background: There has been debate on whether inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) reduce the incidence of lung cancer amongst patients with Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (COPD). We aimed to perform a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis on available observational data.

Methods: We performed both a dose response and high versus low random effects meta-analysis on observational studies measuring whether lung cancer incidence was lower in patients using ICS with COPD.

The Comparative Effectiveness of Vasoactive Treatments for Hepatorenal Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.

Objective: Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Evidence examining commonly used drug treatments remains uncertain. We assessed the comparative effectiveness of inpatient treatments for HRS by performing a network meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCTs).

Guidelines are needed for studies of pre-treatment HIV drug resistance: a methodological study.

Background: The expansion of access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) has been accompanied by an increase in pre-treatment drug resistance (PDR). While it is critical to monitor the increasing prevalence of PDR across countries and populations to inform optimal regimen selection, the completeness of reporting is often suboptimal, limiting the interpretation and generalizability of the results. Indeed, there is no formal guidance on how studies investigating the prevalence of drug resistance should be reported.

Health-Related Quality-of-Life and Cost Utility Analyses in Critical Care: A Systematic Review.

Objectives: Cost utility analyses compare the costs and health outcome of interventions, with a denominator of quality-adjusted life year, a generic health utility measure combining both quality and quantity of life. Cost utility analyses are difficult to compare when methods are not standardized. It is unclear how cost utility analyses are measured/reported in critical care and what methodologic challenges cost utility analyses pose in this setting.

Probiotics for Celiac Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Introduction: Many patients with celiac disease (CD) experience persistent symptoms despite adhering to the gluten-free diet. Different studies have assessed the use of probiotics as an adjuvant treatment for CD. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of probiotics in improving gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms and quality of life (QOL) in patients with CD.

Methods for the Selection of Covariates in Nutritional Epidemiology Studies: A Meta-Epidemiological Review.

Background: Observational studies provide important information about the effects of exposures that cannot be easily studied in clinical trials, such as nutritional exposures, but are subject to confounding. Investigators adjust for confounders by entering them as covariates in analytic models.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the reporting and credibility of methods for selection of covariates in nutritional epidemiology studies.