BCG vaccination of healthcare workers for protection against COVID-19: 12-month outcomes from an international randomised controlled trial.

Objectives: Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine has immunomodulatory effects that may provide protection against unrelated infectious diseases. We aimed to determine whether BCG vaccination protects adults against COVID-19.

Design: Phase III double-blind randomised controlled trial.

Causal Inference in Oncology: Why, What, How and When.

Oncologists are faced with choosing the best treatment for each patient, based on the available evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies. RCTs provide estimates of the average effects of treatments on groups of patients, but they may not apply in many real-world scenarios where for example patients have different characteristics than the RCT participants, or where different treatment variants are considered. Causal inference defines what a treatment effect is and how it may be estimated with RCTs or outside of RCTs with observational - or 'real-world' - data.

Association of Bacterial Load and Colonization Sites With the Risk of Postoperative Infection.

Background: The independent effects of extranasal-only carriage, carriage at multiple bodily sites, or the bacterial load of colonizing (SA) on the risk of developing SA surgical site infections and postoperative bloodstream infections (SA SSI/BSIs) are unclear. We aimed to quantify these effects in this large prospective cohort study.

Methods: Surgical patients aged 18 years or older were screened for SA carriage in the nose, throat, or perineum within 30 days before surgery.

The effect of skeletal muscle mass on dose-limiting toxicities during (chemo)radiotherapy in patients with head and neck cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Radiotherapy (RT) is a standard treatment for head and neck cancer (HNC) and chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is indicated for patients with locally advanced disease. Toxicities during treatment are common and can lead to early cessation of chemotherapy and radiotherapy (RT) interruptions, which can affect oncologic outcomes. Skeletal muscle mass (SMM) is a new biomarker to predict toxicities and overall survival.

Corticosteroids for Immune-Related Adverse Events and Checkpoint Inhibitor Efficacy: Analysis of Six Clinical Trials.

Purpose: Retrospective studies suggest that immunosuppressive treatment of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) impairs survival in patients with melanoma who received immune checkpoint inhibitors. Here, we study this association across tumor types using data from six international phase II/III registrational trials.

Methods: A post hoc analysis was performed on individual patient data from the anti-programmed cell death-1 (anti-PD-1) + anti-cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated protein-4 (anti-CTLA-4) treatment arms of six clinical trials (CheckMate-067, -142, -214, -648, -743, and -9LA).

Using a measurement type-independent metric to compare patterns of determinants between patient-reported versus performance-based physical function in hemodialysis patients.

Purpose: We applied a previously established common T-score metric for patient-reported and performance-based physical function (PF), offering the unique opportunity to directly compare measurement type-specific patterns of associations with potential laboratory-based, psychosocial, sociodemographic, and health-related determinants in hemodialysis patients.

Methods: We analyzed baseline data from the CONVINCE trial (N = 1,360), a multinational randomized controlled trial comparing high-flux hemodialysis with high-dose hemodiafiltration. To explore the associations of potential determinants with performance-based versus patient-reported PF, we conducted multiple linear regression (backward elimination with cross-validation and Lasso regression).

A cost-utility analysis of cochlear implants for single sided deafness in adults and children in the Netherlands.

Background: Cochlear Implant (CI) has been shown to improve speech comprehension, sound localization and tinnitus in adults with Single-Sided-Deafness (SSD) compared to standard treatment currently available in the Dutch setting such as a CROS (Contralateral Routing of Signals) hearing device or a BCD (Bone Conduction Device). Also, for the pediatric population with SSD, CI has shown to be clinically meaningful. Because currently no information is available on the health economic effects of CI in adults and children with SSD in the Netherlands, a cost-utility analysis was conducted.

Mild and moderate COVID-19 during Alpha, Delta and Omicron pandemic waves in urban Maputo, Mozambique, December 2020-March 2022: A population-based surveillance study.

In sub-Saharan Africa, reported COVID-19 numbers have been lower than anticipated, even when considering populations' younger age. The extent to which risk factors, established in industrialised countries, impact the risk of infection and of disease in populations in sub-Saharan Africa, remains unclear. We estimated the incidence of mild and moderate COVID-19 in urban Mozambique and analysed factors associated with infection and disease in a population-based surveillance study.

Spectrum of Heart Diseases in Children in a National Cardiac Referral Center Tanzania, Eastern Africa: A Six-Year Overview.

Background: While communicable diseases have long been the primary focus of healthcare in Africa, the rising impact of paediatric and congenital heart disease (CHD) cannot be overlooked. This research aimed to estimate the frequency and pattern of heart diseases in children who underwent their first echocardiography at a national cardiac referral hospital in Tanzania.

Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted on children aged 0 to 18 years referred for first-time cardiological evaluation from January 2017 to December 2022.

Awareness of Breast Cancer Risk Factors in Women with vs. Without High Breast Density.

Purpose: Women with high breast density (HBD) carry an increased risk for breast cancer (BC). The aim of the study was to provide data on awareness and knowledge gaps among women with vs w/o HBD about BC risk factors (BCRFs), which is the basis for effective communication about screening.

Patients And Methods: This was a web-based survey of 3000 women aged ≥30 and ≤70 from six countries.

The association of inflammatory markers with frailty and in-hospital mortality in older COVID-19 patients.

Introduction: During the COVID19 pandemic, older patients hospitalized for COVID-19 exhibited an increased mortality risk compared to younger patients. While ageing is associated with compromised immune responses and frailty, their contributions and interplay remain understudied. This study investigated the association between inflammatory markers and mortality and potential modification by frailty among older patients hospitalized for COVID-19.

Experiences with a national team-based learning program for advance care planning in pediatric palliative care.

Background: Advance Care Planning (ACP) enables patients and relatives to define and share values, goals and preferences for future medical treatment and care. The IMplementing Pediatric Advance Care Planning Toolkit (IMPACT), developed in the Netherlands, is a method for conducting ACP in pediatric palliative care. Healthcare professionals who were trained to use IMPACT, indicated their need for ongoing support to practice ACP communication skills optimally over time.

Dietary and lifestyle inflammation scores in relation to colorectal cancer recurrence and all-cause mortality: A longitudinal analysis.

Aim: The aim of this study was to longitudinally investigate dietary and lifestyle inflammation scores and their interaction in relation to risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) recurrence and all-cause mortality.

Methods: Data of two prospective cohort studies among CRC survivors was used. Information about diet and/or lifestyle was available for 2739 individuals for at least one of the following time points: at diagnosis, six months after diagnosis and two years after diagnosis.

Evaluating individualized treatment effect predictions: A model-based perspective on discrimination and calibration assessment.

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the prediction of individualized treatment effects. While there is a rapidly growing literature on the development of such models, there is little literature on the evaluation of their performance. In this paper, we aim to facilitate the validation of prediction models for individualized treatment effects.

Learning from a crisis: a qualitative study on how nurses reshaped their work environment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The global nursing shortages exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a drastic reorganization in nursing practices. Work routines, the composition of teams and subsequently mundane nursing practices were all altered to sustain the accessibility and quality of care. These dramatic changes demanded a reshaping of the nurses' work environment.

Planetary Health Diet Compared to Dutch Dietary Guidelines: Nutritional Content and Adequacy.

In 2019, the EAT-Lancet Commission proposed a Planetary Health Diet (PHD) to address challenges toward sustainable and healthy diets. However, its suitability within the Dutch context and a comparison with the Dutch Dietary Guidelines (DDG) needs investigation. Our study aimed to compare the PHD with DDG in terms of food groups, servings, nutritional content, and adequacy in adults.

Supervised, structured and individualized exercise in metastatic breast cancer: a randomized controlled trial.

Physical exercise both during and after curative cancer treatment has been shown to reduce side effects. Evidence in the metastatic cancer setting is scarce, and interventions that improve health-related quality of life (HRQOL) are much needed for patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC). The multinational randomized controlled PREFERABLE-EFFECT trial assessed the effects of exercise on fatigue and HRQOL in patients with MBC.