Articles

Persistent C-peptide secretion in Type 1 diabetes and its relationship to the genetic architecture of diabetes

The objective of this cross-sectional study was to explore the relationship of detectable C-peptide secretion in type 1 diabetes to clinical features and to the genetic architecture of diabetes.

Authors: Paul M. McKeigue, Athina Spiliopoulou, Stuart McGurnaghan, Marco Colombo, Luke Blackbourn, Timothy J. McDonald, Suna Onengut-Gomuscu, Stephen S. Rich, Colin N. A. Palmer, John A. McKnight, Mark W. J. Strachan, Alan W. Patrick, John Chalmers, Robert S. Lindsay, John R. Petrie, Sandeep Thekkepat…

A novel sub-epidemic modeling framework for short-term forecasting epidemic waves

Simple phenomenological growth models can be useful for estimating transmission parameters and forecasting epidemic trajectories. However, most existing phenomenological growth models only support single-peak ...

Authors: Gerardo Chowell, Amna Tariq and James M. Hyman

Guidelines for multi-model comparisons of the impact of infectious disease interventions

Despite the increasing popularity of multi-model comparison studies and their ability to inform policy recommendations, clear guidance on how to conduct multi-model comparisons is not available. Herein, we pre...

Authors: Saskia den Boon, Mark Jit, Marc Brisson, Graham Medley, Philippe Beutels, Richard White, Stefan Flasche, T. Déirdre Hollingsworth, Tini Garske, Virginia E. Pitzer, Martine Hoogendoorn, Oliver Geffen, Andrew Clark, Jane Kim and Raymond Hutubessy

New approaches for detecting cancer with circulating cell-free DNA

Authors: Clare Fiala and Eleftherios P. Diamandis

Clinical and cost-effectiveness of contingency management for cannabis use in early psychosis: the CIRCLE randomised clinical trial

Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit substance amongst people with psychosis. Continued cannabis use following the onset of psychosis is associated with poorer functional and clinical outcomes. However, ...

Authors: Luke Sheridan Rains, Louise Marston, Mark Hinton, Steven Marwaha, Thomas Craig, David Fowler, Michael King, Rumana Z. Omar, Paul McCrone, Jonathan Spencer, Joanne Taylor, Sophie Colman, Catherine Harder, Eleanor Gilbert, Amie Randhawa, Kirsty Labuschagne…

RTS,S/AS01E immunization increases antibody responses to vaccine-unrelated Plasmodium falciparum antigens associated with protection against clinical malaria in African children: a case-control study

Vaccination and naturally acquired immunity against microbial pathogens may have complex interactions that influence disease outcomes. To date, only vaccine-specific immune responses have routinely been invest...

Authors: Carlota Dobaño, Itziar Ubillos, Chenjerai Jairoce, Ben Gyan, Marta Vidal, Alfons Jiménez, Rebeca Santano, David Dosoo, Augusto J. Nhabomba, Aintzane Ayestaran, Ruth Aguilar, Nana Aba Williams, Núria Díez-Padrisa, David Lanar, Virander Chauhan, Chetan Chitnis…

Two dose levels of rabbit antithymocyte globulin as graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis in haploidentical stem cell transplantation: a multicenter randomized study

The optimal dose of rabbit antithymocyte globulin (ATG, ImtixSangstat) minimizing infections without increasing graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is unknown in T cell-replete, G-CSF-primed haploidentical hemato...

Authors: Ren Lin, Yu Wang, Fen Huang, Zhiping Fan, Shen Zhang, Ting Yang, Yajing Xu, Na Xu, Li Xuan, Jieyu Ye, Jing Sun, Xiaojun Huang and Qifa Liu

Correction to: The uncertainty with using risk prediction models for individual decision making: an exemplar cohort study examining the prediction of cardiovascular disease in English primary care

The original article [1] contained an error in the abstract. The mentioned cohort size now correctly states ‘N = 3,855,660’.

Authors: Alexander Pate, Richard Emsley, Darren M. Ashcroft, Benjamin Brown and Tjeerd van Staa

Antibiotic use and the risk of rheumatoid arthritis: a population-based case-control study

Antibiotic-induced disturbances of the human microbiota have been implicated in the development of chronic autoimmune conditions. This study aimed to assess whether antibiotic use is associated with the onset ...

Authors: Alyshah Abdul Sultan, Christian Mallen, Sara Muller, Samantha Hider, Ian Scott, Toby Helliwell and Lindsay J. Hall

Informing decision-making for universal access to quality tuberculosis diagnosis in India: an economic-epidemiological model

India and many other high-burden countries have committed to providing universal access to high-quality diagnosis and drug susceptibility testing (DST) for tuberculosis (TB), but the most cost-effective approa...

Authors: Hojoon Sohn, Parastu Kasaie, Emily Kendall, Gabriela B. Gomez, Anna Vassall, Madhukar Pai and David Dowdy

Understanding the interactions between iron supplementation, infectious disease and adverse birth outcomes is essential to guide public health recommendations

Pregnant women are highly susceptible to anaemia and iron deficiency due to the increased demands of pregnancy as well as other factors. Iron supplementation is recommended in pregnancy, yet the benefits on ne...

Authors: Freya J. I. Fowkes, Eliza Davidson, Paul A. Agius and James G. Beeson

When to keep it simple – adaptive designs are not always useful

Adaptive designs are a wide class of methods focused on improving the power, efficiency and participant benefit of clinical trials. They do this through allowing information gathered during the trial to be use...

Authors: James M. S. Wason, Peter Brocklehurst and Christina Yap

The haematological consequences of Plasmodium vivax malaria after chloroquine treatment with and without primaquine: a WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis

Malaria causes a reduction in haemoglobin that is compounded by primaquine, particularly in patients with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency. The aim of this study was to determine the relativ...

Authors: Robert J. Commons, Julie A. Simpson, Kamala Thriemer, Cindy S. Chu, Nicholas M. Douglas, Tesfay Abreha, Sisay G. Alemu, Arletta Añez, Nicholas M. Anstey, Abraham Aseffa, Ashenafi Assefa, Ghulam R. Awab, J. Kevin Baird, Bridget E. Barber, Isabelle Borghini-Fuhrer, Umberto D’Alessandro…

Mortality following myocardial infarction among HIV-infected persons: the Center for AIDS Research Network Of Integrated Clinical Systems (CNICS)

Persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have higher risks for myocardial infarction (MI) than the general population. This is driven in part by higher type 2 MI (T2MI, due to coronary supply-demand mis...

Authors: Matthew J. Feinstein, Robin M. Nance, J. A. Chris Delaney, Susan R. Heckbert, Matthew J. Budoff, Daniel R. Drozd, Greer A. Burkholder, James H. Willig, Michael J. Mugavero, William C. Mathews, Richard D. Moore, Joseph J. Eron, Sonia Napravnik, Peter W. Hunt, Elvin Geng, Priscilla Hsue…

Current opportunities to catalyze research in nutrition and cancer prevention – an interdisciplinary perspective

Cancer Research UK and Ludwig Cancer Research convened an inaugural international Cancer Prevention and Nutrition Conference in London on December 3–4, 2018. Much of the discussion focused on the need for syst...

Authors:

The long-term survival characteristics of a cohort of colorectal cancer patients and baseline variables associated with survival outcomes with or without time-varying effects

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the world. In this study, we assessed the long-term survival characteristics and prognostic associations and potential time-varying effects of clinico-demog...

Authors: Yajun Yu, Megan Carey, William Pollett, Jane Green, Elizabeth Dicks, Patrick Parfrey, Yildiz E. Yilmaz and Sevtap Savas

Correction to: Three randomized controlled trials evaluating the impact of “spin” in health news stories reporting studies of pharmacologic treatments on patients’/caregivers’ interpretation of treatment benefit

Figure 3 in the original article [1] is incorrect; labels for secondary outcomes have been shifted and do not correspond to the numbers reported in the table (Additional file 8). The corrected version can be s...

Authors: Isabelle Boutron, Romana Haneef, Amélie Yavchitz, Gabriel Baron, John Novack, Ivan Oransky, Gary Schwitzer and Philippe Ravaud

Antenatal iron supplementation and birth weight in conditions of high exposure to infectious diseases

A recent cohort study among Papua New Guinean women surprisingly showed iron deficiency during pregnancy to be associated with increased birth weight. These findings seemingly contradict previous trial evidenc...

Authors: Hans Verhoef, Martin N. Mwangi, Carla Cerami and Andrew M. Prentice

The comorbidity burden of type 2 diabetes mellitus: patterns, clusters and predictions from a large English primary care cohort

The presence of additional chronic conditions has a significant impact on the treatment and management of type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Little is known about the patterns of comorbidities in this population. The aim...

Authors: Magdalena Nowakowska, Salwa S. Zghebi, Darren M. Ashcroft, Iain Buchan, Carolyn Chew-Graham, Tim Holt, Christian Mallen, Harm Van Marwijk, Niels Peek, Rafael Perera-Salazar, David Reeves, Martin K. Rutter, Stephen F. Weng, Nadeem Qureshi, Mamas A. Mamas and Evangelos Kontopantelis

Delirium detection in older acute medical inpatients: a multicentre prospective comparative diagnostic test accuracy study of the 4AT and the confusion assessment method

Delirium affects > 15% of hospitalised patients but is grossly underdetected, contributing to poor care. The 4 ‘A’s Test (4AT, www.​the4AT.​com) is a sho...

Authors: Susan D. Shenkin, Christopher Fox, Mary Godfrey, Najma Siddiqi, Steve Goodacre, John Young, Atul Anand, Alasdair Gray, Janet Hanley, Allan MacRaild, Jill Steven, Polly L. Black, Zoë Tieges, Julia Boyd, Jacqueline Stephen, Christopher J. Weir…

Celiac disease: a comprehensive current review

Celiac disease remains a challenging condition because of a steady increase in knowledge tackling its pathophysiology, diagnosis, management, and possible therapeutic options.

Authors: Giacomo Caio, Umberto Volta, Anna Sapone, Daniel A. Leffler, Roberto De Giorgio, Carlo Catassi and Alessio Fasano

Low serum IGF1 is associated with hypertension and predicts early cardiovascular events in women with rheumatoid arthritis

Since low insulin-like growth factor (IGF) 1 is often linked to inflammation, we analyze whether serum levels of IGF1 are associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a longitud...

Authors: Malin C. Erlandsson, Lovisa Lyngfelt, N. David Åberg, Caroline Wasén, Rachelle A. Espino, Sofia Töyrä Silfverswärd, Mitra Nadali, Katharina Jood, Karin M.E. Andersson, Rille Pullerits and Maria I. Bokarewa

Correction to: How can clinicians, specialty societies and others evaluate and improve the quality of apps for patient use?

Since the publication of this article [1] it has come to my attention that it contains an error in which the y-axis in Fig. 1 was inverted, thus incorrectly displaying a weak negative correlation rather than a...

Authors: Jeremy C. Wyatt

Distinct mortality patterns at 0–2 days versus the remaining neonatal period: results from population-based assessment in the Indian state of Bihar

The objectives of this study were to understand the differences in mortality rate, risk factors for mortality, and cause of death distribution in three neonatal age sub-groups (0–2, 3–7, and 8–27 days) and ass...

Authors: Rakhi Dandona, G. Anil Kumar, Debarshi Bhattacharya, Md. Akbar, Yamini Atmavilas, Priya Nanda and Lalit Dandona

Health professions digital education on clinical practice guidelines: a systematic review by Digital Health Education collaboration

Clinical practice guidelines are an important source of information, designed to help clinicians integrate research evidence into their clinical practice. Digital education is increasingly used for clinical pr...

Authors: Lorainne Tudor Car, Aijia Soong, Bhone Myint Kyaw, Kee Leng Chua, Naomi Low-Beer and Azeem Majeed

Beyond the hype of big data and artificial intelligence: building foundations for knowledge and wisdom

Big data, coupled with the use of advanced analytical approaches, such as artificial intelligence (AI), have the potential to improve medical outcomes and population health. Data that are routinely generated f...

Authors: Josip Car, Aziz Sheikh, Paul Wicks and Marc S. Williams

Building the case for actionable ethics in digital health research supported by artificial intelligence

The digital revolution is disrupting the ways in which health research is conducted, and subsequently, changing healthcare. Direct-to-consumer wellness products and mobile apps, pervasive sensor technologies a...

Authors: Camille Nebeker, John Torous and Rebecca J. Bartlett Ellis

GWAS and enrichment analyses of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease identify new trait-associated genes and pathways across eMERGE Network

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common chronic liver illness with a genetically heterogeneous background that can be accompanied by considerable morbidity and attendant health care costs. The pa...

Authors: Bahram Namjou, Todd Lingren, Yongbo Huang, Sreeja Parameswaran, Beth L. Cobb, Ian B. Stanaway, John J. Connolly, Frank D. Mentch, Barbara Benoit, Xinnan Niu, Wei-Qi Wei, Robert J. Carroll, Jennifer A. Pacheco, Isaac T. W. Harley, Senad Divanovic, David S. Carrell…

The uncertainty with using risk prediction models for individual decision making: an exemplar cohort study examining the prediction of cardiovascular disease in English primary care

Risk prediction models are commonly used in practice to inform decisions on patients’ treatment. Uncertainty around risk scores beyond the confidence interval is rarely explored. We conducted an uncertainty an...

Authors: Alexander Pate, Richard Emsley, Darren M. Ashcroft, Benjamin Brown and Tjeerd van Staa

Why we need a small data paradigm

There is great interest in and excitement about the concept of personalized or precision medicine and, in particular, advancing this vision via various ‘big data’ efforts. While these methods are necessary, th...

Authors: Eric B. Hekler, Predrag Klasnja, Guillaume Chevance, Natalie M. Golaszewski, Dana Lewis and Ida Sim

Medication management support in diabetes: a systematic assessment of diabetes self-management apps

Smartphone apps are becoming increasingly popular for supporting diabetes self-management. A key aspect of diabetes self-management is appropriate medication-taking. This study aims to systematically assess an...

Authors: Zhilian Huang, Elaine Lum, Geronimo Jimenez, Monika Semwal, Peter Sloot and Josip Car

Validations of verbal autopsies – comment on ‘automated versus physician assignment of cause of death for verbal autopsies: randomized trial of 9374 deaths in 117 villages in India’

Authors: Michel Garenne

Hospitalisation rates and predictors in people with dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Hospitalisation is often harmful for people with dementia and results in high societal costs, so avoidance of unnecessary admissions is a global priority. However, no intervention has yet reduced admissions of...

Authors: Hilary Shepherd, Gill Livingston, Justin Chan and Andrew Sommerlad

Sex differences in the association between diabetes and risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all-cause and cause-specific mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 5,162,654 participants

Studies have suggested sex differences in the mortality rate associated with diabetes. We conducted a meta-analysis to estimate the relative effect of diabetes on the risk of all-cause, cancer, cardiovascular ...

Authors: Yafeng Wang, Adrienne O’Neil, Yurui Jiao, Lijun Wang, Jingxin Huang, Yutao Lan, Yikun Zhu and Chuanhua Yu

Next-generation sequencing identifies monogenic diabetes in 16% of patients with late adolescence/adult-onset diabetes selected on a clinical basis: a cross-sectional analysis

Monogenic diabetes (MgD) accounts for 1–2% of all diabetes cases. In adults, MgD is difficult to distinguish from common diabetes causes. We assessed the diagnosis rate and genetic spectrum of MgD using next-g...

Authors: Xavier Donath, Cécile Saint-Martin, Danièle Dubois-Laforgue, Ramanan Rajasingham, François Mifsud, Cécile Ciangura, José Timsit and Christine Bellanné-Chantelot

The TABLET trial: limitations and implications

Authors: Chrysoula Dosiou and Alex Stagnaro-Green

Landmark models to define the age-adjusted risk of developing stage 1 type 1 diabetes across childhood and adolescence

Autoimmune diseases are often preceded by an asymptomatic autoantibody-positive phase. In type 1 diabetes, the detection of autoantibodies to pancreatic islet antigens in genetically at-risk children is progno...

Authors: Verena Sophia Hoffmann, Andreas Weiß, Christiane Winkler, Annette Knopff, Manja Jolink, Ezio Bonifacio and Anette-G. Ziegler

Observational study: 27 years of severe malaria surveillance in Kilifi, Kenya

Many parts of Africa have witnessed reductions in Plasmodium falciparum transmission over the last 15 years. Since immunity to malaria is acquired more rapidly at higher transmission, the slower acquisition of im...

Authors: Patricia Njuguna, Kathryn Maitland, Amek Nyaguara, Daniel Mwanga, Polycarp Mogeni, Neema Mturi, Shebe Mohammed, Gabriel Mwambingu, Caroline Ngetsa, Kenedy Awuondo, Brett Lowe, Ifedayo Adetifa, J. Anthony G. Scott, Thomas N. Williams, Sarah Atkinson, Faith Osier…

The global impact and cost-effectiveness of a melioidosis vaccine

Every year, 90,000 people may die from melioidosis. Vaccine candidates have not proceeded past animal studies, partly due to uncertainty around the potential market size. This study aims to estimate the potent...

Authors: Nantasit Luangasanatip, Stefan Flasche, David A. B. Dance, Direk Limmathurotsakul, Bart J. Currie, Chiranjay Mukhopadhyay, Tim Atkins, Richard Titball and Mark Jit

Assessing the disease burden of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the real world – big data and big numbers

Authors: Jörn M. Schattenberg and Mattias Ekstedt

Tobacco smoking and risk of 36 cardiovascular disease subtypes: fatal and non-fatal outcomes in a large prospective Australian study

Tobacco smoking is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Evidence on the relation of smoking to different subtypes of CVD, across fatal and non-fatal outcomes, is limited.

Authors: Emily Banks, Grace Joshy, Rosemary J. Korda, Bill Stavreski, Kay Soga, Sam Egger, Cathy Day, Naomi E. Clarke, Sarah Lewington and Alan D. Lopez

A multi-centre, UK-based, non-inferiority randomised controlled trial of 4 follow-up assessment methods in stroke survivors

Recovery following a stroke is a long and ongoing process. Post-stroke follow-up after leaving the hospital is recommended. Methods for follow-up patients include face-to-face, via the telephone, post or onlin...

Authors: Jonathan Hewitt, Anna Pennington, Alexander Smith, Stephanie Gething, Michelle Price, James White, Richard Dewar and Ben Carter

Gastroenteritis aggressive versus slow treatment for rehydration (GASTRO): a phase II rehydration trial for severe dehydration: WHO plan C versus slow rehydration

World Health Organization rehydration management guidelines (plan C) for severe dehydration are widely practiced in resource-poor settings, but never formally evaluated in a trial. The Fluid Expansion as a Sup...

Authors: Kirsty A. Houston, Jack Gibb, Peter Olupot-Olupot, Nchafatso Obonyo, Ayub Mpoya, Margaret Nakuya, Rita Muhindo, Sophie Uyoga, Jennifer A. Evans, Roisin Connon, Diana M. Gibb, Elizabeth C. George and Kathryn Maitland

DIABRISK-SL trial: further consideration of age and impact of imputations

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Early interventions may help to delay or prevent onset of cardiometabolic endpoints of clinical importance to T2DM patients.

Authors: Efstathia Gkioni, Ketevan Glonti, Susanna Dodd and Carrol Gamble

Automated versus physician assignment of cause of death for verbal autopsies: randomized trial of 9374 deaths in 117 villages in India

Verbal autopsies with physician assignment of cause of death (COD) are commonly used in settings where medical certification of deaths is uncommon. It remains unanswered if automated algorithms can replace phy...

Authors: Prabhat Jha, Dinesh Kumar, Rajesh Dikshit, Atul Budukh, Rehana Begum, Prabha Sati, Patrycja Kolpak, Richard Wen, Shyamsundar J. Raithatha, Utkarsh Shah, Zehang Richard Li, Lukasz Aleksandrowicz, Prakash Shah, Kapila Piyasena, Tyler H. McCormick, Hellen Gelband…

Effect of body mass index on pregnancy outcomes in a freeze-all policy: an analysis of 22,043 first autologous frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles in China

Abnormal BMI is associated with discouraging IVF outcomes in fresh autologous or oocyte donor cycles, whether or not such a relation also holds true for women undergoing frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) rem...

Authors: Jie Zhang, Hongfang Liu, Xiaoyan Mao, Qiuju Chen, Yong Fan, Yitao Xiao, Yun Wang and Yanping Kuang

Suicide attempts in US adults with lifetime DSM-5 eating disorders

Rates of suicide are increasing in the US. Although psychiatric disorders are associated with suicide risk, there is a dearth of epidemiological research on the relationship between suicide attempts (SAs) and ...

Authors: Tomoko Udo, Sarah Bitley and Carlos M. Grilo

HIV epidemiology among female sex workers and their clients in the Middle East and North Africa: systematic review, meta-analyses, and meta-regressions

HIV epidemiology among female sex workers (FSWs) and their clients in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is poorly understood. We addressed this gap through a comprehensive epidemiological assessment.

Authors: Hiam Chemaitelly, Helen A. Weiss, Clara Calvert, Manale Harfouche and Laith J. Abu-Raddad

Optimising trial designs to identify appropriate antibiotic treatment durations

For many infectious conditions, the optimal antibiotic course length remains unclear. The estimation of course length must consider the important trade-off between maximising short- and long-term efficacy and ...

Authors: Koen B. Pouwels, Mo Yin, Christopher C. Butler, Ben S. Cooper, Sarah Wordsworth, A. Sarah Walker and Julie V. Robotham

A scoping review on the roles and tasks of peer reviewers in the manuscript review process in biomedical journals

Although peer reviewers play a key role in the manuscript review process, their roles and tasks are poorly defined. Clarity around this issue is important as it may influence the quality of peer reviewer repor...

Authors: Ketevan Glonti, Daniel Cauchi, Erik Cobo, Isabelle Boutron, David Moher and Darko Hren