Saturdays Orthodontic Appointments, Demand, and Patients' Commitment.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the demand for orthodontic appointments on weekends and the level of commitment the patients have for those appointments.

Materials And Methods: A survey of 17 questions was created and given to 199 adult patients. The first six questions addressed demographic information, followed by three questions addressing whether coming to their orthodontic appointments required taking time off of work.

Direct-to-consumer orthodontics: Exploring laypeople's perception of orthodontic treatment complexity.

Background: The authors aimed to explore the treatment preferences of laypeople regarding direct-to-consumer (DTC) orthodontics and to identify whether case complexity, as perceived by laypeople, is one of the factors influencing interest in DTC orthodontics.

Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted. Data analysis was performed using logistic regression models.

Correlation between adolescent orthodontic quality of life and ABO Discrepancy Index in an orthodontic treatment-seeking population: A cross-sectional study.

Objective: To evaluate the association between adolescents' orthodontic quality of life before initiating orthodontic treatment and their objective case complexity as measured by the American Board of Orthodontics' Discrepancy Index (DI).

Design And Setting: A single-centre, cross-sectional survey study.

Methods: The Orthodontic Quality of Life Assessment Survey (OQoLAS) was administered to 240 adolescents (aged 11-14 years) during their record-gathering appointment.

Direct to consumer orthodontics: Exploring patient demographic trends and preferences.

Introduction: This study aimed to evaluate market trends on the demographics most likely to select direct to consumer orthodontics and the reasoning behind their decisions.

Methods: An internet-based cross-sectional survey was conducted. Data analysis was carried out using logistic regression models.

Efficacy in myopia control.

There is rapidly expanding interest in interventions to slow myopia progression in children and teenagers, with the intent of reducing risk of myopia-associated complications later in life. Despite many publications dedicated to the topic, little attention has been devoted to understanding 'efficacy' in myopia control and its application. Treatment effect has been expressed in multiple ways, making comparison between therapies and prognosis for an individual patient difficult.

The effects of light scatter when using a photochromic vs. non-photochromic contact lens.

Purpose: To assess the visual effects of wearing both an activated and an inactivated photochromic contact lens, with a direct comparison to a non-photochromic contact lens worn in the fellow eye. This study focused on the visual effects of scatter quantified as the minimum distance between two points of light, and the diameter of the halo and starbursts that surround a bright white point source.

Methods: 60 subjects (aged 18-65 years) were measured in a contralateral design where lens type was randomly assigned, one type to each eye.

Randomized Crossover Trial Evaluating the Impact of Senofilcon A Photochromic Lens on Driving Performance.

Significance: The first contact lens to incorporate a photochromic additive was cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year.

A contra-lateral comparison of the visual effects of a photochromic vs. non-photochromic contact lens.

Purpose: To compare the effects of a photochromic contact lens vs. a non-photochromic control lens on visual function.

Methods: A subject-masked, prospective contralateral eye design was used.

Safety of soft contact lenses in children: retrospective review of six randomized controlled trials of myopia control.

Purpose: To examine the rate and types of ocular adverse events among children wearing soft contact lenses.

Methods: This study is a retrospective review of ocular adverse event data from six randomized controlled trials among a total of 581 myopic children (aged 7-15 years at baseline) administered daily disposable hydrogel contact lenses (etafilcon A).

Results: During 816 patient years of contact lens wear, no significant or serious ocular adverse events were reported.

Lid Wiper Epitheliopathy in Soft Contact Lens Wearers.

Purpose: To evaluate lid wiper epitheliopathy (LWE) in soft contact lens (SCL) wearers on initial presentation and after using various SCL and solution combinations.

Methods: LWE was assessed in 253 habitual SCL wearers who attended a screening visit at one of three study sites. LWE was assessed using lissamine green and sodium fluorescein dyes (Korb scale); a final LWE grade was calculated as the averaged LWE grade of the two dyes.

Coefficient of Friction of Human Corneal Tissue.

Purpose: A novel property evaluation methodology was used to determine the elusive value for the human corneal coefficient of friction (CoF).

Methods: Using a microtribometer on 28 fresh human donor corneas with intact epithelia, the CoF was determined in 4 test solutions (≥5 corneas/solution): tear-mimicking solution (TMS) in borate-buffered saline (TMS-PS), TMS in phosphate-buffered saline (TMS-PBS), TMS with HEPES-buffered saline (TMS-HEPES), and tear-like fluid in PBS (TLF-PBS).

Results: Mean (SD) CoF values ranged from 0.

Resultant vertical prism in toric soft contact lenses.

Purpose: Rotational stability of toric soft contact lenses (TSCLs) is achieved using a range of designs. Designs utilising prism or peripheral ballast may result in residual prism in the optic zone. This study quantifies the vertical prism in the central 6mm present in TSCLs with various stabilisation methods.

Design and analysis of Bayesian adaptive crossover trials for evaluating contact lens safety and efficacy.

A crossover study, also referred to as a crossover trial, is a form of longitudinal study. Subjects are randomly assigned to different arms of the study and receive different treatments sequentially. While there are many frequentist methods to analyze data from a crossover study, random effects models for longitudinal data are perhaps most naturally modeled within a Bayesian framework.

Endoscopic hemostasis in peptic ulcer bleeding for patients with high-risk lesions: a series of meta-analyses.

Background And Objective: Optimal endoscopic hemostasis remains undetermined. This was a systematic review of contemporary methods of endoscopic hemostasis for patients with bleeding ulcers that exhibited high-risk stigmata.

Setting: Randomized trials that evaluated injection, thermocoagulation, clips, or combinations of these were evaluated from MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CENTRAL (1990-2006).

Do proton-pump inhibitors confer additional gastrointestinal protection in patients given celecoxib?

Objective: Celecoxib has a superior upper-gastrointestinal (GI) safety profile compared with nonselective nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NS-NSAIDs). It is unclear whether the utilization of a proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) with celecoxib confers additional protection in elderly patients. We assessed the association between GI hospitalizations and use of celecoxib with a PPI versus celecoxib alone, and NS-NSAIDs with a PPI or NS-NSAIDs alone in elderly patients.

Association between nonnaproxen NSAIDs, COX-2 inhibitors and hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction among the elderly: a retrospective cohort study.

Purpose: To evaluate the association between rofecoxib, celecoxib, diclofenac, and ibuprofen and the risk of hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in an elderly population.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study, using data from the government of Quebec health insurance agency databases, among patients 65-80 years of age who filled a prescription for any of the study drugs during 1999-2002. Cox regression models with time-dependent exposure were used to compare the incidence rates of hospitalization for AMI adjusting for patients' baseline characteristics.

Utilization and cost comparison of current and optimal prescribing of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs in Quebec, Canada.

Objective: Clinical practice guidelines recommend prophylactic use of gastroprotective agents (GPA) with nonselective nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (nsNSAID) for patients at risk of gastrointestinal (GI) complications. We estimated the costs of cyclooxygenase-2 selective inhibitors, nsNSAID, and concurrent GPA prescribed in 2002 in Quebec, Canada, and compared these to estimated costs if prescribing followed guideline recommendations.

Methods: We used the Quebec government medical and pharmaceutical claims database (RAMQ).

Retrospective analysis of utilization patterns and cost implications of coxibs among seniors in Quebec, Canada: what is the potential impact of the withdrawal of rofecoxib?

Objective: In September 2004, the manufacturer of rofecoxib announced a voluntary worldwide withdrawal of the drug. The impact of this withdrawal on drug budgets is unclear. This study evaluated average daily doses and costs of rofecoxib and celecoxib and concomitant use of gastroprotective agents (GPAs) in elderly patients with osteoarthritis (OA) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Quebec, prior to the rofecoxib withdrawal.

Impact of a general practitioner educational intervention on osteoarthritis treatment in an elderly population.

Purpose: We examined whether a continuing medical education intervention increased general practitioners' ability to select the proper pharmacological treatment for patients with osteoarthritis.

Subjects And Methods: Eight towns in Quebec, Canada were randomly allocated to one of four intervention options, workshop and decision tree, workshop, decision tree, or no intervention. All general practitioners practicing in each town were eligible to participate.

Impact of infliximab on serum leptin levels in patients with Crohn's disease.

Objectives: In mice, body weight is regulated by adipocyte-derived leptin. TNFalpha is a critical mediator of inflammation-induced cachexia in Crohn's disease (CD). The regulation of leptin by TNFalpha is poorly understood in CD.

The Canadian Registry on Nonvariceal Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding and Endoscopy (RUGBE): Endoscopic hemostasis and proton pump inhibition are associated with improved outcomes in a real-life setting.

Objectives: From the Canadian Registry of patients with Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding and Endoscopy (RUGBE), we determined clinical outcomes and explored the roles of endoscopic and pharmacologic therapies in a contemporary real-life setting.

Methods: Analysis of randomly selected patients endoscoped for nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding at 18 community and tertiary care institutions between 1999 and 2002. Covariates and outcomes were defined a priori and 30-day follow-up obtained.

The cyclooxygenase-2-selective inhibitors rofecoxib and celecoxib prevent colorectal neoplasia occurrence and recurrence.

Background & Aims: Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death. Most colorectal cancers are believed to develop from colorectal adenomas. We examined the effect of the selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors rofecoxib and celecoxib, nonselective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, aspirin, and acetaminophen on colorectal neoplasia (colorectal cancer, colorectal adenoma, or both).