Exploring immediate cardiorespiratory responses: low-intensity blood flow restricted cycling vs. moderate-intensity traditional exercise in a randomized crossover trial.

Purpose: Blood-flow restriction (BFR) endurance training may increase endurance performance and muscle strength similar to traditional endurance training while requiring a lower training intensity. We aimed to compare acute cardiorespiratory responses to low-intensity interval exercise under BFR with moderate-intensity traditional interval exercise (TRA).

Methods: We conducted a randomized crossover study.

Evidence-based coaching of core competencies in epidemiology, using the framework of randomized controlled trials: the Zurich approach.

Teaching epidemiological concepts in academic settings poses a challenge due to the intricate nature of the discipline as both a science and a practice. Whereas traditional classroom-based teaching methods are commonly employed, evidence suggests they may not be the most effective approach for fostering core competencies and skills required in real-life scientific work. In this article, we describe our process of transitioning from traditional classroom teaching of epidemiology towards practice-based coaching to convey epidemiological concepts to bachelor's and master's students in Biomedicine.

A combined cross-sectional analysis and case-control study evaluating tick-borne encephalitis vaccination coverage, disease and vaccine effectiveness in children and adolescents, Switzerland, 2005 to 2022.

BackgroundTick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a severe, vaccine-preventable viral infection of the central nervous system. Symptoms are generally milder in children and adolescents than in adults, though severe disease does occur. A better understanding of the disease burden and duration of vaccine-mediated protection is important for vaccination recommendations.

Exploring the Major Barriers to Physical Activity in Persons With Multiple Sclerosis: Observational Longitudinal Study.

Background: Physical activity (PA) represents a low-cost and readily available means of mitigating multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms and alleviating the disease course. Nevertheless, persons with MS engage in lower levels of PA than the general population.

Objective: This study aims to enhance the understanding of the barriers to PA engagement in persons with MS and to evaluate the applicability of the Barriers to Health Promoting Activities for Disabled Persons (BHADP) scale for assessing barriers to PA in persons with MS, by comparing the BHADP score with self-reported outcomes of fatigue, depression, self-efficacy, and health-related quality of life, as well as sensor-measured PA.

Better tools for better estimates: improving approaches to handling missing data in Swiss cancer registries.

Objective: Various approaches have been used in the literature to handle missing vital status data in cancer registries. We aimed to compare these approaches to determine which led to the least biased estimates in typical analytic tasks of cancer registries.

Methods: A simulation study was performed using data from the Swiss National Agency for Cancer Registration for six tumor types.

Experts vs. machine - comparison of machine learning to expert-informed prediction of outcome after major liver surgery.

Background: Machine learning (ML) has been successfully implemented for classification tasks (e.g., cancer diagnosis).

Prescriptions of antidepressants and anxiolytics in France 2012-2022 and changes with the COVID-19 pandemic: interrupted time series analysis.

Background: Depression and anxiety have increased in prevalence since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: To evaluate the consumption of antidepressants and anxiolytics from 2012 to 2022 and the pandemic's potential impact in France.

Methods: We conducted an interrupted time series analysis of routine drug sales data (Medic'AM) from all French outpatient pharmacies from 2012 to 2022.

Determinants of health-related quality of life in healthy children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: Results from a prospective longitudinal cohort study.

Unlabelled: Understanding health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in children and adolescents, during a pandemic and afterwards, aids in understanding how circumstances in their lives impact their well-being. We aimed to identify determinants of HRQOL from a broad range of biological, psychological, and social factors in a large longitudinal population-based sample. Data was taken from a longitudinal sample (n = 1843) of children and adolescents enrolled in the prospective school-based cohort study Ciao Corona in Switzerland.

Cross-protective HCoV immunity reduces symptom development during SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Numerous clinical parameters link to severe coronavirus disease 2019, but factors that prevent symptomatic disease remain unknown. We investigated the impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and endemic human coronavirus (HCoV) antibody responses on symptoms in a longitudinal children cohort ( = 2,917) and a cross-sectional cohort including children and adults ( = 882), all first exposed to SARS-CoV-2 (March 2020 to March 2021) in Switzerland. Saliva ( = 4,993) and plasma ( = 7,486) antibody reactivity to the four HCoVs (subunit S1 [S1]) and SARS-CoV-2 (S1, receptor binding domain, subunit S2 [S2], nucleocapsid protein) was determined along with neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan, Alpha, Delta, and Omicron (BA.

Persistent humoral immune response in youth throughout the COVID-19 pandemic: prospective school-based cohort study.

Understanding the development of humoral immune responses of children and adolescents to SARS-CoV-2 is essential for designing effective public health measures. Here we examine the changes of humoral immune response in school-aged children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic (June 2020 to July 2022), with a specific interest in the Omicron variant (beginning of 2022). In our study "Ciao Corona", we assess in each of the five testing rounds between 1874 and 2500 children and adolescents from 55 schools in the canton of Zurich with a particular focus on a longitudinal cohort (n=751).

Surgical outcome improvement by shared decision-making: value of a preoperative multidisciplinary target clinic for the elderly in colorectal surgery.

Purpose: Frailty and comorbidities increase the risk of postoperative complications and raise treatment costs. Perioperative optimisation is shown to improve surgical outcomes for the elderly. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of introducing a multidisciplinary preoperative clinic for older patients (Colchester Older Persons' Evaluation for Surgery (COPES) clinic) undergoing major colorectal surgery.

Health-Related Quality of Life and Adherence to Physical Activity and Screen Time Recommendations in Schoolchildren: Longitudinal Cohort Ciao Corona.

We investigated changes in adherence to physical activity (PA) and screen time (ST) recommendations of children and adolescents throughout the pandemic, and their association with health-related quality of life (HRQOL). 1,769 primary (PS, grades 1-6) and secondary (SS, 7-9) school children from Ciao Corona, a school-based cohort study in Zurich, Switzerland, with five questionnaires 2020-2022. HRQOL was assessed using the KINDL questionnaire.

Post COVID-19 condition, work ability and occupational changes in a population-based cohort.

Background: Evidence on the impact of post COVID-19 condition (PCC) on work ability is limited but critical due to its high prevalence among working-age individuals. This study aimed to evaluate the association between PCC, work ability, and occupational changes in a population-based cohort.

Methods: We used data from working-age adults included in a prospective, longitudinal cohort of a random sample of all individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 between August 2020 and January 2021 in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland.

Heterogeneous evolution of SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in school-age children: Results from the school-based cohort study Ciao Corona in November-December 2021 in the canton of Zurich.

Background: Much remains unknown regarding the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and variability in seropositive children in districts, schools and classes as only a few school-based cohort studies exist. Vaccination of children, initiated at different times for different age groups, adds additional complexity to the understanding of how seroprevalence developed in the school aged population.

Aim: We investigated the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in children and its variability in districts, schools and classes in Switzerland from June/July 2020 to November/December 2021.

There is no evidence that carbon dioxide-enriched oxygen before apnea affects the time to arterial desaturation, but it might improve cerebral oxygenation in anesthetized obese patients: a single-blinded randomized crossover trial.

Purpose: Carbon dioxide (CO) increases cerebral perfusion. The effect of CO on apnea tolerance, such as after anesthesia induction, is unknown. This study aimed to assess if cerebral apnea tolerance can be improved in obese patients under general anesthesia when comparing O/Air (95%O) to O/CO (95%O/5%CO).

Survival modelling and cost-effectiveness analysis of treatments for newly diagnosed metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer.

Background: In metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) treatment, survival benefits have been shown by adding docetaxel or recent androgen receptor axis-targeted therapies (ARATs) abiraterone, apalutamide, or enzalutamide to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). However, the optimal treatment strategy in terms of costs and effects is unclear, not least due to high ARAT costs.

Methods: To assess treatment cost-effectiveness, we developed a Markov cohort model with health states of progression-free disease, progressive disease and death for men with newly diagnosed mHSPC, with a 30-year time horizon.

The impact of seat height on 1-min sit-to-stand test performance in COPD: a randomised crossover trial.

Study Question: Is there a difference in the number of repetitions in the 1-minute sit-to-stand (1MSTS) test using an individually adapted seat height to 90° knee flexion (1MSTS), compared with the commonly used standard chair seat height of 46 cm (1MSTS), in people with COPD?

Methods: We conducted a single-centre, single-blinded, randomised crossover trial in people with COPD between August 2020 and March 2021 at a specialised rehabilitation clinic in Switzerland. After a learning 1MSTS test, all participants performed two 1MSTS tests in random order on consecutive days. Participants were blinded, as they did not receive detailed information on the testing protocols.

Parents' Working Conditions in the Early COVID-19 Pandemic and Children's Health-Related Quality of Life: The Ciao Corona Study.

To assess the associations between parents' working conditions during the lockdown period (March-May 2020) and children's health-related quality of life (HRQOL) over the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Zurich, Switzerland. We included 2211 children (6-16 years) and their parents from the prospective study Ciao Corona. Parents reported their employment status and working conditions during the lockdown.

Cystic fibrosis related diabetes is not associated with maximal aerobic exercise capacity in cystic fibrosis: a cross-sectional analysis of an international multicenter trial.

Background: Previous studies have reported differences in aerobic exercise capacity, expressed as peak oxygen uptake (VO), between people with and without cystic fibrosis (CF) related diabetes (CFRD). However, none of the studies controlled for the potential influence of physical activity on VO. We investigated associations between CFRD and VO following rigorous control for confounders including objectively measured physical activity.

SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in children, parents and school personnel from June 2020 to April 2021: cohort study of 55 schools in Switzerland.

Background: Few studies have directly examined the incidence or seroprevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections in children, parents and teachers from the same school communities. This study aimed to describe SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence within cantonal districts and school communities in children, parents and school personnel in June-September 2020 and March-April 2021 in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland.

Methods: We invited children from 55 randomly selected primary and secondary schools and 275 classes within them to participate in the Ciao Corona study in June-July 2020.