Comparison of adjustable and nonadjustable single-incision mini-slings in the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence: An initial experience with 30 cases.

Objective: Several single-incision mini-slings (SIMSs) have been developed to minimize the potential complications associated with retropubic or transobturator mid-urethral slings. However, few studies compared the efficacy of different types of SIMS. This study compared the outcomes of an adjustable SIMS (Ajust) with a nonadjustable SIMS (Solyx) in the treatment of urodynamic stress incontinence (USI) over postoperative follow-up of 12 months.

Dynamics of detailed components of metabolic syndrome associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease and death.

Few studies quantify a cascade of dynamic transitions on the detailed components of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and subsequent progressions to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its death. A total of 47,495 subjects repeatedly attending a community-based integrated screening program in Taiwan were recruited. The refined MetS-related classification (RMRC) in relation to five criteria of MetS was defined as free of metabolic disorder (FMD, none of any criteria), mild metabolic disorder (MMD, 1-2 criteria) and MetS.

The effect of intravesical hyaluronic acid therapy on urodynamic and clinical outcomes among women with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome.

Objective: Treatment of interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) is often delayed because of a lack of objective data during diagnosis. This study was conducted to determine the clinical validity of using urodynamic studies to investigate the effect of intravesical hyaluronic acid (HA) treatment among women with IC/BPS.

Materials And Methods: Thirty patients with IC/BPS undergoing 6-month intravesical instillation of HA were recruited.

Five-year comparative risk of hepatocellular carcinoma development under entecavir or tenofovir treatment-naïve patients with chronic hepatitis B-related compensated cirrhosis in Taiwan.

Background: Comparative long-term efficacy of entecavir (ETV) and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) for prevention of disease progression to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) among high-risk patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB)-related compensated cirrhosis is controversial.

Aims: To compare the long-term efficacy of ETV and TDF in HCC prevention in patients with CHB-related cirrhosis, and to evaluate predictive risk factors for HCC development.

Methods: From January 2008 to March 2018, 894 treatment-naïve patients with CHB-related compensated cirrhosis on ETV or TDF were enrolled based on the longitudinal cohort study.

Chronic hepatitis B exhibited higher rate of hepatocellular carcinoma occurrence than hepatitis C in cirrhotic patients after effective antiviral treatment.

Background/purpose: Effective antiviral-therapy can reduce the risk of liver cirrhosis related hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Yet, the difference of hepatocellular carcinoma development in chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C patients with cirrhosis after effective antiviral therapy treatment is unknown. In this study, We comprehensive explored the difference among them.

Risk Prediction of Prostate Cancer with Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms and Prostate Specific Antigen.

Purpose: Combined information on single nucleotide polymorphisms and prostate specific antigen offers opportunities to improve the performance of screening by risk stratification. We aimed to predict the risk of prostate cancer based on prostate specific antigen together with single nucleotide polymorphism information.

Materials And Methods: We performed a prospective study of 20,575 men with prostate specific antigen testing and 4,967 with a polygenic risk score for prostate cancer based on 66 single nucleotide polymorphisms from the Finnish population based screening trial of prostate cancer and 5,269 samples of 7 single nucleotide polymorphisms from the Finnish prostate cancer DNA study.

Incidence, Prevalence, and Duration of Chronic Kidney Disease in Taiwan: Results from a Community-Based Screening Program of 106,094 Individuals.

Background/aims: Taiwan has the highest incidence of end-stage renal disease, which requires renal replacement therapy. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) contributes to this burden. However, the current data on the epidemiologic features of CKD in Taiwan are incomplete.

Bayesian negative-binomial-family-based multistate Markov model for the evaluation of periodic population-based cancer screening considering incomplete information and measurement errors.

Population-based cancer screening is often asked but hardly addressed by a question: "How many rounds of screening are required before identifying a cancer of interest staying in the pre-clinical detectable phase (PCDP)?" and also a similar one related to the number of screens required for stopping screening for the low risk group. It can be answered by using longitudinal follow-up data on repeated rounds of screen, namely periodic screen, but such kind of data are rather complicated and fraught with intractable statistical properties including correlated multistate outcomes, unobserved and incomplete (censoring or truncation) information, and imperfect measurements. We therefore developed a negative-binomial-family-based discrete-time stochastic process, taking sensitivity and specificity into account, to accommodate these thorny issues.

Association Between Colorectal Cancer Mortality and Gradient Fecal Hemoglobin Concentration in Colonoscopy Noncompliers.

Background: To what extent the risk for colorectal cancer (CRC) death among noncompliers of colonoscopy is elevated following positive fecal immunological testing and whether the elevated risk varies with the fecal hemoglobin concentration (f-Hb) and location of CRC have not been researched.

Methods: We used data on 59 389 individuals (4.0%) among 1 489 937 Taiwanese screenees age 50 to 69 years with f-Hb 20 μg hemoglobin or more per gram of feces from 2004 to 2009.

Fuzzy set regression method to evaluate the heterogeneity of misclassifications in disease screening with interval-scaled variables: application to osteoporosis (KCIS No. 26).

Although the trade-off between the two misclassifications (false-positive fraction and false-negative fraction), corresponding to type I and type II error in statistical hypothesis testing based on Neyman-Pearson lemma, to determine the optimal cutoff in the province of evaluating the accuracy of medical diagnosis and disease screening using interval-scaled biomarkers has been attempted by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, the heterogeneity of the two misclassifications in relation to the utility or individual preference for relative weights between the two errors has been barely addressed and has increasingly gained attention in disease screening when the optimal subject-specific or subgroup-specific cutoff (the heterogeneity of ROC curve) is underscored. We proposed a fuzzy set regression method to achieve such a purpose. The proposed method was illustrated with data on screening for osteoporosis with bone mineral density.

Does non-central nervous system tuberculosis increase the risk of ischemic stroke? A population-based propensity score-matched follow-up study.

Background: Previous studies on the association between tuberculosis and the risk of developing ischemic stroke have generated inconsistent results. We therefore performed a population-based, propensity score-matched longitudinal follow-up study to investigate whether contracting non-central nervous system (CNS) tuberculosis leads to an increased risk of ischemic stroke.

Methods: We used a logistic regression model that includes age, sex, pre-existing comorbidities and socioeconomic status as covariates to compute the propensity score.

Increased risk of ischemic stroke in young patients with ankylosing spondylitis: a population-based longitudinal follow-up study.

Background: Prospective data on the association between ischemic stroke and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in the young are sparse. The purpose of this population-based, age- and sex-matched longitudinal follow-up study was to investigate the risk of developing ischemic stroke in young patients with AS.

Methods: A total of 4562 patients aged 18- to 45-year-old with at least two ambulatory visits in 2001 with a principal diagnosis of AS were enrolled in the AS group.

Parkinson's disease is related to an increased risk of ischemic stroke-a population-based propensity score-matched follow-up study.

Objective: The risk of stroke in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) remains controversial. The purpose of this population-based propensity score-matched longitudinal follow-up study was to determine whether there is an increased risk of ischemic stroke after PD.

Methods: We used a logistic regression model that includes age, sex, pre-existing comorbidities and socioeconomic status as covariates to compute the propensity score.

Increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke in patients with migraine: a population-based cohort study.

Objective: Previous studies on the association between migraine and the risk of developing hemorrhagic stroke (HS) have generated inconsistent results. The aim of the present population-based, age- and sex- matched follow-up study was to investigate whether migraine is associated with an increased risk of HS.

Method: A total of 20925 persons with at least two ambulatory visits in 2001 with the principal diagnosis of migraine were enrolled in the migraine group.

Association of diabetes mellitus with the risk of developing adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder: a longitudinal population-based followup study.

Objective: Although it has been suggested that diabetes mellitus (DM) is a risk factor for developing adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder (ACS), data on the temporal association between these 2 conditions are sparse. The purpose of this population-based age- and sex-matched cohort study was to investigate the risk of developing ACS in patients with newly diagnosed DM.

Methods: A total of 78,827 subjects with at least 2 ambulatory care visits with a principal diagnosis of DM in 2001 were recruited for the DM group.

Increased risk of stroke after trigeminal neuralgia--a population-based follow-up study.

Background: There are no reports on the risk of stroke after trigeminal neuralgia (TN). The aim of this population-based follow-up study was to investigate whether the occurrence of TN is associated with a higher risk of developing stroke.

Methods: A total of 1453 people with at least three ambulatory visits in 2001 with the principal diagnosis of TN were enrolled in the TN cohort.

Different prevalence rates of Parkinson's disease in urban and rural areas: a population-based study in Taiwan.

Background: Rural living has long been debated as a risk factor for idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD). But few community-based studies compared this difference between urban and rural areas.

Methods: Population-based surveys by neurologists using a standardized diagnostic protocol were conducted in the urban areas of Keelung City and compared the prevalence rates of IPD with those we had previously determined in the rural area of Ilan County, Taiwan.

Mortality of Parkinson's disease by Hoehn-Yahr stage from community-based and clinic series [Keelung Community-based Integrated Screening (KCIS) no. 17)].

Purpose: We aimed to quantify the mortality reduction by which the early detection of Parkinson's disease (PD) within a community-based study could reduce the number of advanced cases.

Methods: Data used in this study were derived from two community-based surveys and from a clinical series of PD cases identified from a medical centre. The cumulative survival by Hoehn-Yahr (H-Y) scale was estimated and the mortality reduction derived from a community-based survey was predicted.

Elevation of C-reactive protein level is associated with synchronous and advanced colorectal neoplasm in men.

Objectives: Chronic inflammation has been implicated in the development of colorectal cancer (CRC). The presence of low-grade systemic inflammation, as determined by an elevation of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancers. However, previous studies of CRP and CRC in cohorts that comprised different genders have yielded conflicting results and little is known about CRP levels in individuals with colorectal adenomas, the precursor lesion of CRC.

First- or second-line therapy with gefitinib produces equal survival in non-small cell lung cancer.

Rationale: Gefitinib is effective in treating patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations. Deletions in exon 19 and L858R in exon 21 are the best-documented EGFR mutations that are associated with effective gefitinib responsiveness.

Objectives: To clarify the influence of gefitinib timing, we conducted a study to compare the outcomes of different lines of gefitinib treatment in patients with exon 19 deletions or L858R.

Community-based randomized intervention trial for periodontal disease after 18-month follow-up [Keelung Community-based Integrated Screening (KCIS) No. 4].

Objectives: As periodontal disease preponderates in adults, early detection and interventional regime is urgently needed. However, there is lack of evidence-based data on evaluation of population-based intervention programme related to periodontal disease. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of intervention regime on early periodontal disease identified from a community-based periodontal survey.

Impact of chewing betel-nut (Areca catechu) on liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma: a population-based study from an area with a high prevalence of hepatitis B and C infections.

Background: Chewing betel-nuts (Areca catechu) is carcinogenic but the risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver cirrhosis (LC) is little considered. Worldwide 600 million people chew betel, including emigrants from palm-growing countries.

Objective: We aimed to assess the relationships and dose-response effects of betel chewing on LC and HCC risks, since habit cessation could reduce the increased risks of HCC and LC found in such communities.

Natural history and effectiveness of early detection of Parkinson's disease: results from two community-based programmes in Taiwan (KCIS no. 11).

Objectives: The natural course of Parkinson's disease (PD), as measured on the Hoehn-Yahr (H-Y) scale, and the impact that early detection would have on prognosis for those with the disease, has barely been addressed since the introduction of L-dopa. This study aimed to elucidate the natural history of PD and effectiveness of early detection in reducing advanced disability and mortality.

Method: A total of 21 362 participants aged 40 years or older were invited to two community-based programmes for the early detection of PD.

A prospective community-population-registry based cohort study of the association between betel-quid chewing and cardiovascular disease in men in Taiwan (KCIS no. 19).

Background: Betel-quid chewing, a recognized risk factor for oral cancer, was shown to be a contributory cause of metabolic syndrome in humans, which implies a greater likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) among those with the betel habit.

Objective: This study investigated the effect of betel chewing on the risk of developing overt CVD.

Design: We used the prospective cohort data derived from a community-population-registry-based integrated screening program to quantify the effect of betel-quid chewing on the incidence of newly diagnosed CVD by classifying the study population into either exposed or nonexposed groups according to chewing status at baseline.

Radiotherapy in lung adenocarcinoma with brain metastases: effects of activating epidermal growth factor receptor mutations on clinical response.

Purpose: Whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT) has been applied to inoperable brain metastases in lung adenocarcinoma. Recently, an in vitro study showed reduced clonogenic survival of mutant epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) lung cancer cell lines in response to ionizing radiation compared with that of the wild type. To elucidate the role of EGFR mutations in radiation treatment, we evaluated the clinical response to WBRT and survival of lung adenocarcinoma patients with brain metastases.