The Secure Anonymised Information Linkage databank Dementia e-cohort (SAIL-DeC).

Introduction: The rising burden of dementia is a global concern, and there is a need to study its causes, natural history and outcomes. The Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank contains anonymised, routinely-collected healthcare data for the population of Wales, UK. It has potential to be a valuable resource for dementia research owing to its size, long follow-up time and prospective collection of data during clinical care.

Association of Health Status Scores With Cardiovascular and Limb Outcomes in Patients With Symptomatic Peripheral Artery Disease: Insights From the EUCLID (Examining Use of Ticagrelor in Symptomatic Peripheral Artery Disease) Trial.

Background There are limited data on health status instruments in patients with peripheral artery disease and cardiovascular and limb events. We evaluated the relationship between health status changes and cardiovascular and limb events. Methods and Results In an analysis of the EUCLID (Examining Use of Ticagrelor in Symptomatic Peripheral Artery Disease) trial, we examined the characteristics of 13 801 patients by tertile of health status instrument scores collected in the trial (EuroQol 5-Dimensions [EQ-5D], EQ visual analog scale [VAS], and peripheral artery questionnaire).

Taxation of the fat content of foods for reducing their consumption and preventing obesity or other adverse health outcomes.

Background: Overweight and obesity are increasing worldwide and are considered to be a major public health issue of the 21st century. Introducing taxation of the fat content in foods is considered a potentially powerful policy tool to reduce consumption of foods high in fat or saturated fat, or both.

Objectives: To assess the effects of taxation of the fat content in food on consumption of total fat and saturated fat, energy intake, overweight, obesity, and other adverse health outcomes in the general population.

Association of Hypertension and Arterial Blood Pressure on Limb and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Symptomatic Peripheral Artery Disease: The EUCLID Trial.

Background: Current guidelines recommend aggressive management of hypertension. Recent evidence suggested potential harm with low blood pressure targets in patients with peripheral artery disease. We investigated the association of a history of hypertension and office systolic blood pressure (SBP) with major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) and major adverse limb events (MALEs).

Valuing Alzheimer's disease drugs: a health technology assessment perspective on outcomes.

Objectives: Due to the nature of Alzheimer's disease (AD), health technology assessment (HTA) agencies might face considerable challenges in choosing appropriate outcomes and outcome measures for drugs that treat the condition. This study sought to understand which outcomes informed previous HTAs, to explore possible reasons for prioritizations, and derive potential implications for future assessments of AD drugs.

Method: We conducted a literature review of studies that analyzed decisions made in HTAs (across disease areas) in three European countries: England, Germany, and The Netherlands.

Estimating global injuries morbidity and mortality: methods and data used in the Global Burden of Disease 2017 study.

Background: While there is a long history of measuring death and disability from injuries, modern research methods must account for the wide spectrum of disability that can occur in an injury, and must provide estimates with sufficient demographic, geographical and temporal detail to be useful for policy makers. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 study used methods to provide highly detailed estimates of global injury burden that meet these criteria.

Methods: In this study, we report and discuss the methods used in GBD 2017 for injury morbidity and mortality burden estimation.

Biomarkers associated with early stages of kidney disease in adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

Objectives: To identify biomarkers of renal disease in adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and to compare findings in adults with T1D.

Methods: Twenty-five serum biomarkers were measured, using a Luminex platform, in 553 adolescents (median [interquartile range] age: 13.9 [12.

International population-based health surveys linked to outcome data: A new resource for public health and epidemiology.

Background: National health surveys linked to vital statistics and health care information provide a growing source of individual-level population health data. Pooling linked surveys across jurisdictions would create comprehensive datasets that are larger than most existing cohort studies, and that have a unique international and population perspective. This paper's objectives are to examine the feasibility of pooling linked population health surveys from three countries, facilitate the examination of health behaviours, and present useful information to assist in the planning of international population health surveillance and research studies.

A qualitative examination of affect and ideology within mass media interventions to increase HIV testing with gay men garnered from a systematic review.

Objectives: Increasing appropriate HIV testing among men who have sex with men (MSM) is crucial to HIV prevention. Mass media interventions are effective in promoting testing, but to date, there has been little examination of their active content.

Design: We conducted a qualitative analysis of intervention materials (n = 69) derived from a systematic review of mass media interventions designed to improve testing with MSM.

Investigation of genetically regulated gene expression and response to treatment in rheumatoid arthritis highlights an association between expression and treatment response.

Objectives: In this study, we sought to investigate whether there was any association between genetically regulated gene expression (as predicted using various reference panels) and anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) treatment response (change in erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)) using 3158 European ancestry patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Methods: The genetically regulated portion of gene expression was estimated in the full cohort of 3158 subjects (as well as within a subcohort consisting of 1575 UK patients) using the PrediXcan software package with three different reference panels. Estimated expression was tested for association with anti-TNF treatment response.

Health Outcome Prioritization in Alzheimer's Disease: Understanding the Ethical Landscape.

Background: Dementia has been described as the greatest global health challenge in the 21st Century on account of longevity gains increasing its incidence, escalating health and social care pressures. These pressures highlight ethical, social, and political challenges about healthcare resource allocation, what health improvements matter to patients, and how they are measured. This study highlights the complexity of the ethical landscape, relating particularly to the balances that need to be struck when allocating resources; when measuring and prioritizing outcomes; and when individual preferences are sought.

Early detection of type 2 diabetes mellitus using machine learning-based prediction models.

Most screening tests for T2DM in use today were developed using multivariate regression methods that are often further simplified to allow transformation into a scoring formula. The increasing volume of electronically collected data opened the opportunity to develop more complex, accurate prediction models that can be continuously updated using machine learning approaches. This study compares machine learning-based prediction models (i.

A nationwide, retrospective, data-linkage, cohort study of epilepsy and incident dementia.

Objective: To determine the association of epilepsy with incident dementia by conducting a nationwide, retrospective data-linkage, cohort study to examine whether the association varies according to dementia subtypes and to investigate whether risk factors modify the association.

Methods: We used linked health data from hospitalization, mortality records, and primary care consultations to follow up 563,151 Welsh residents from their 60th birthday to estimate dementia rate and associated risk factors. Dementia, epilepsy, and covariates (medication, smoking, comorbid conditions) were classified with the use of previously validated code lists.

Postal recruitment for genetic studies of preterm birth: A feasibility study.

Preterm birth (PTB) represents the leading cause of neonatal death. Large-scale genetic studies are necessary to determine genetic influences on PTB risk, but prospective cohort studies are expensive and time-consuming. We investigated the feasibility of retrospective recruitment of post-partum women for efficient collection of genetic samples, with self-collected saliva for DNA extraction from themselves and their babies, alongside self-recollection of pregnancy and birth details to phenotype PTB.

Non-invasive risk scores do not reliably identify future cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma in Type 2 diabetes: The Edinburgh type 2 diabetes study.

Background: The incidence of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is increased in Type 2 diabetes, primarily secondary to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). European guidelines recommend screening for NAFLD in Type 2 diabetes. American guidelines, while not advocating a screening protocol, suggest using non-invasive markers of fibrosis for risk-stratification and guiding onward referral.

Short-term exposure to carbon monoxide and myocardial infarction: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Previous studies suggest an association between short-term exposure to carbon monoxide and myocardial infarction. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess current evidence on this association to support the update of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Air Quality Guidelines.

Methods: We searched Medline, Embase and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials to update the evidence published in a previous systematic review up to 30th September 2018 for studies investigating the association between short-term exposure to ambient carbon monoxide (up to lag of seven days) and emergency department visits or hospital admissions and mortality due to myocardial infarction.

Number of HIV-1 founder variants is determined by the recency of the source partner infection.

During sexual transmission, the high genetic diversity of HIV-1 within an individual is frequently reduced to one founder variant that initiates infection. Understanding the drivers of this bottleneck is crucial to developing effective infection control strategies. Little is known about the importance of the source partner during this bottleneck.

How young children learn independent asthma self-management: a qualitative study in Malaysia.

Objective: We aimed to explore the views of Malaysian children with asthma and their parents to enhance understanding of early influences on development of self-management skills.

Design: This is a qualitative study conducted among children with asthma and their parents. We used purposive sampling and conducted focus groups and interviews using a semi-structured topic guide in the participants' preferred language.

Accuracy of identifying incident stroke cases from linked health care data in UK Biobank.

Objective: In UK Biobank (UKB), a large population-based prospective study, cases of many diseases are ascertained through linkage to routinely collected, coded national health datasets. We assessed the accuracy of these for identifying incident strokes.

Methods: In a regional UKB subpopulation (n = 17,249), we identified all participants with ≥1 code signifying a first stroke after recruitment (incident stroke-coded cases) in linked hospital admission, primary care, or death record data.

Incidence and Factors Associated With Major Amputation in Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease: Insights From the EUCLID Trial.

Background: Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is associated with increased risk of mortality, cardiovascular morbidity, and major amputation. Data on major amputation from a large randomized trial that included a substantial cohort of patients without critical limb ischemia (CLI) have not been described. The objective was to describe the incidence and types of amputations in the EUCLID trial (Examining Use of Ticagrelor in Peripheral Artery Disease) population, subcategorize amputations in the CLI versus no CLI cohorts, and describe the events surrounding major amputation.

High-definition likelihood inference of genetic correlations across human complex traits.

Genetic correlation is a central parameter for understanding shared genetic architecture between complex traits. By using summary statistics from genome-wide association studies (GWAS), linkage disequilibrium score regression (LDSC) was developed for unbiased estimation of genetic correlations. Although easy to use, LDSC only partially utilizes LD information.