Diagnostic performance of food consumption for bacteraemia in patients admitted with suspected infection: a prospective cohort study.

Objectives: A previous study reported that food consumption is useful to rule out bacteraemia in hospitalised patients. We aimed to validate the diagnostic performance of (1) food consumption and (2) a previously reported algorithm using food consumption and shaking chills for bacteraemia in patients admitted to hospital with suspected infection.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Association of advanced glycation end-product accumulation with overactive bladder in community-dwelling elderly: A cross-sectional Sukagawa study.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the influence of advanced glycation end-product (AGE) accumulation on the prevalence and severity of overactive bladder (OAB) in community-dwelling elderly adults.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 269 Japanese community dwellers aged ≥75 years in 2015. AGE accumulation was non-invasively measured via skin autofluorescence (SAF) values using AGE Reader.

Residual Short-Segment Distal Inflammation Has No Significant Impact on the Major Relapse of Extensive Ulcerative Colitis.

Background: Mucosal healing is a treatment target for patients with ulcerative colitis. However, the relevance of proactive treatment for residual inflammation limited to the distal colon is unclear.

Materials And Methods: Patients with ulcerative colitis who had extensive colitis in clinical remission and underwent colonoscopy were retrospectively enrolled and followed up for 2 years.

Systematic differences in effect estimates between observational studies and randomized control trials in meta-analyses in nephrology.

The limited availability of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in nephrology undermines causal inferences in meta-analyses. Systematic reviews of observational studies have grown more common under such circumstances. We conducted systematic reviews of all comparative observational studies in nephrology from 2006 to 2016 to assess the trends in the past decade.

CAST-HSROC: A Web Application for Calculating the Summary Points of Diagnostic Test Accuracy From the Hierarchical Summary Receiver Operating Characteristic Model.

Background:  Researchers have been advised to report the point estimate of either sensitivity or specificity and its 95% credible interval (CrI) for a fixed specificity or sensitivity value in the summary of findings (SoF) table for diagnostic test accuracy (DTA) when they use the hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic (HSROC) model. However, there is no other tool that easily calculates the statistics.

Results:  We developed the calculator for the summary points from the HSROC model (CAST-HSROC), a web application for calculating the statistics easily.

Association of glucocorticoid doses and emotional health in lupus low disease activity state (LLDAS): a cross-sectional study.

Background: While survival of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients has improved substantially, problems remain in the management of their emotional health. Medium to high-dose glucocorticoid doses are known to worsen emotional health; the effect is unclear among patients receiving relatively low-dose glucocorticoids. This study aims to investigate the association between low glucocorticoid doses and emotional health in lupus low disease activity state (LLDAS).

[Effects of health literacy on frailty status at two-year follow-up in older adults: A prospective cohort study].

Aim: To investigate the longitudinal association between health literacy and frailty status at two-year follow-up in community-dwelling older adults.

Methods: A total of 218 older adults (mean age, 72.5±4.

Diagnostic accuracy of Aspergillus-specific antibodies for chronic pulmonary aspergillosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

We performed this study to provide the latest evidence of the diagnostic accuracy of all Aspergillus antibodies for chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA). In this meta-analysis, we searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, Embase, and other databases, until 19 March 2020, for studies that examined the diagnostic accuracy of each Aspergillus-specific antibody for CPA and assessed the risk of bias using the revised Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 tool. We integrated the results using a hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic (HSROC) model and calculated the point estimates of specificity with sensitivity fixed at 0.

Safety and feasibility of lung biopsy in diagnosis of acute respiratory distress syndrome: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a type of acute respiratory failure characterised by non-cardiac pulmonary oedema caused by various underlying conditions. ARDS is often pathologically characterised by diffuse alveolar damage, and its pathological findings have been reported to be associated with prognosis, although the adverse effects of lung biopsies to obtain pathological findings are still unclear. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to reveal the safety and feasibility of lung biopsy in the diagnosis of ARDS.

Healthcare Providers' Perceptions on the Timing of Initial Advance Care Planning Discussions in Japan: a Mixed-Methods Study.

Background: Most adult patients are willing to discuss advance care planning before the onset of any illness. There might be differences in preferences for timing when it comes to initiating advance care planning discussions by healthcare providers with patients.

Objective: To identify healthcare providers' willingness to initiate advance care planning discussions in Japan.

Usefulness of computed tomography in the diagnosis of acute pyelonephritis in older patients suspected of infection with unknown focus.

Background: In older adults, the diagnosis of acute pyelonephritis is challenging because of non-specific symptoms and false-positive urine test results. Few studies have investigated the diagnostic performance of computed tomography (CT) signs.

Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of CT signs for acute pyelonephritis in older patients suspected of infection with unknown focus.

Association between the use of physical restraint and functional decline among older inpatients admitted with pneumonia in an acute care hospital: A retrospective cohort study.

Aim: This study was conducted to investigate the association between the use of physical restraint and functional decline in older inpatients admitted with pneumonia in an acute care setting. Although several adverse effects related to restraint use have been reported, few researchers have examined this subject in acute care settings.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted at a 471-bed, acute care hospital in Japan.

Extracellular-to-intracellular water ratios are associated with functional disability levels in patients with knee osteoarthritis: results from the Nagahama Study.

Introduction/objectives: To test the hypothesis that greater extracellular-to-intracellular water (ECW/ICW) ratios in lower-limb muscles are associated with worsened functional abilities in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods: We analyzed data from 787 participants (82.2% female; mean age, 69.

Patient Journey and Disease-Related Burden in Japanese Patients With Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension: A Mixed Methods Study.

Background: Understanding patient journey and burden of disease in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) helps improve diagnostic and treatment processes.

Objectives: This study aimed to explore patient journey from time of disease onset to a definitive diagnosis and disease burden in Japanese patients with CTEPH.

Methods: A mixed-methods study exploring patient journey and disease burden of 33 Japanese patients with a definitive diagnosis of CTEPH.

Urgency urinary incontinence, loss of independence, and increased mortality in older adults: A cohort study.

Objectives: To investigate the longitudinal association of urgency urinary incontinence (UUI) with loss of independence (LOI) or death among independent community-dwelling older adults.

Design: Population-based cohort study.

Setting: The Locomotive Syndrome and Health Outcome in Aizu Cohort Study (LOHAS), Minami-Aizu Town and Tadami Town, Fukushima, Japan.

U-TEST, a simple decision support tool for the diagnosis of sarcopenia in orthopaedic patients: the Screening for People Suffering Sarcopenia in Orthopedic cohort of Kobe study (SPSS-OK).

We aimed to develop and validate a new simple decision support tool (U-TEST) for diagnosis of sarcopenia in orthopaedic patients. We created seventeen candidate original questions to detect sarcopenia in orthopaedic patients with sarcopenia through expert opinions and a semi-structured interview. To derive a decision support tool, a logistic regression model with backward elimination was applied to select variables from the seventeen questions, age and underweight (BMI < 18·5 kg/m2).

Association of methotrexate use and lymphoproliferative disorder in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: Results from a Japanese multi-institutional retrospective study.

Objectives: To investigate the risk factors and clinical characteristics of lymphoproliferative disorder (LPD) in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: We enrolled patients with RA aged ≥20 years who visited the participating hospitals between April 2011 and July 2011. We investigated the risk factors for LPD using a Cox proportional hazard model and described pathological features and vital prognosis of LPD in patients with RA.

Transesophageal Echocardiography Simulator Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

We aimed to assess the learning effects of novice transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) simulator training and to identify gaps in existing studies. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the learning effects of novice TEE training with versus without simulators, searching published articles and proceedings in 6 major databases in June 2019. We included 9 RCTs (268 participants).

Association between quantitative lower limb arterial calcification and bilateral severe knee osteoarthritis.

Objectives: To investigate whether lower limb arterial calcification (LLAC) quantified using computed tomography (CT) was a risk factor for bilateral severe knee osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods: This cross-sectional study included patients who were scheduled for surgical treatment of primary varus knee OA. Knee OA was evaluated using the Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) classification, KL grades 3 and 4 were defined as severe OA.

Is "pain before vomiting" useful?: Diagnostic performance of the classic patient history item in acute appendicitis.

Background: In most surgical textbooks, it has been stated that pain almost always precedes vomiting in patients with appendicitis. However, the usefulness of this classic history item, "pain before vomiting", has been investigated in only one study nearly 50 years ago, in which the cause of abdominal pain could not be identified in more than 40% of patients. Accordingly, our objective was to evaluate the performance of pain before vomiting for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in patients who presented with both acute abdominal pain and vomiting.

The association between age and adverse events due to biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A retrospective cohort study.

We examined whether the age of patients with rheumatoid arthritis was associated with adverse events (AEs) caused by biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs).Patients with rheumatoid arthritis using bDMARDs from Showa University Hospital, Showa University Northern Yokohama Hospital, and Showa University Koto Toyosu Hospital from January 2005 to December 2017 were eligible for this retrospective cohort study. The maximum observation period was determined to be 1 year.