To assess the association between the maternal continuum of healthcare and child immunisation in East Africa using propensity score matching (PSM).

Cross-sectional study using Demographic and Health Survey data.

This study was conducted in East African countries.

This study included a weighted sample of 13 488 women with children aged 12–23 months.

Child immunisation was the outcome variable of this study.

The PSM estimates indicate that the average treatment effect on the treated for complete child immunisation was 0.0583, meaning that children of mothers who received a complete maternal continuum of care had a 5.83% higher probability of being fully immunised compared with children of mothers with incomplete care. Expressed relative to the treated group’s mean, this corresponds to a 7.48% increase. Additionally, our results indicated that the population average treatment effect was 0.0629. This means that, on average, a complete continuum of maternal healthcare increases the probability of full child immunisation by approximately 6.29% across the entire population.

The study highlights that children whose mothers receive comprehensive maternal healthcare are more likely to complete their childhood immunisations. This finding underscores the need to integrate immunisation services into maternal healthcare programmes to enhance vaccination coverage and promote better child health. To maximise this connection, improving access to maternal healthcare, especially in underserved regions, is crucial, along with ensuring that immunisation is a regular part of maternal care.

Low anterior resection syndrome (LARS) is a common functional complication after sphincter-preserving surgery for rectal cancer that significantly impairs the quality of life. Current postoperative management strategies are suboptimal, and effective preventive approaches are lacking. This study aims to evaluate the impact of a mobile-based, knowledge-enhanced digital intervention for reducing the incidence of major LARS.

This is a multicentre, open-label, parallel-group, randomised controlled trial to be conducted across three academic medical centres in Korea.

A total of 300 adult patients who underwent low anterior resection or stoma reversal after rectal cancer surgery will be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to the intervention group (mobile digital programme) or the control group (standard educational materials). The digital programme includes daily symptom monitoring, exercise suggestions, dietary recommendations and structured feedback from healthcare providers during clinical visits based on outcomes. The primary outcome is the incidence of major LARS (score ≥30) at 12 months postoperatively. Secondary outcomes include longitudinal changes in LARS score, quality of life (European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ)-Core 30 (C30), EORTC QLQ-Colorectal Cancer 29 (CR29)), European Quality of Life 5 Dimensions Level Version (EQ-5D-5L), patient satisfaction and programme adherence. Statistical analyses will include stratified chi-squared tests and mixed-effects models based on the intention-to-treat principle.

The trial received ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board of the National Cancer Centre, Korea. Written informed consent will be obtained from all participants. The findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.

NCT07041515.

A successful extubation process is critical for the future health outcomes of paediatric patients, as it tests the functioning of the respiratory system without the support of mechanical ventilation. However, extubation can cause stress, pain, anxiety or discomfort in patients, which may sometimes lead to an increased likelihood of reintubation. Music-based interventions and therapies have been shown to be effective in reducing anxiety and stress levels in ventilated patients in the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU), but studies evaluating the effect of music therapy during the extubation process in the PICU are scarce.

This is a pragmatic multicentre randomised clinical trial with two parallel arms. The intervention group will receive standard care + music therapy during the extubation process, and the control group will receive standard care alone. The main outcome measure is heart rate, which will be measured every minute for 5 min pre-extubation, during the extubation process and up to 10 min postextubation. Secondary outcome measures are: oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, blood pressure and heart rate variability. A total of 82 patients will be randomised.

This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Fundación Universitaria Sanitas (CEIFUS 1356-24, date of approval: 3 May 2024). All parents or legal guardians of patients will sign a written informed consent, and if applicable, assent from participants will be sought. The results will be disseminated through publications in peer-reviewed journals, conferences and presentations at the hospitals’ clinical committees.

Version 1.0, 18 December 2024.

NCT06591533, trial registration date: 10 September 2024.

Dysregulated immunity may account for an increased risk of infection and other adverse outcomes among frail hospitalised persons. The primary objective of this study is to examine whether baseline frailty is associated with the risk of developing ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) or other intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired infections among invasively ventilated adults. Additional objectives are to examine the relationship between frailty and hospital length of stay, discharge to a long-term care facility and vital status. We hypothesise that persons with frailty compared with others would have an increased risk of VAP and other infections, a longer hospital stay, higher probability of discharge to a long-term care facility and higher mortality.

This is a preplanned secondary analysis of the PROSPECT trial (Probiotics to Prevent Severe Pneumonia and Endotracheal Colonization Trial) which enrolled patients across 44 ICUs in three countries. We will use Cox proportional hazards regression analysis to assess the association of frailty with the clinical outcomes of interest, adjusting for other baseline variables. Baseline demographic and descriptive outcome data will be reported using descriptive statistics. Regression results will be presented as adjusted HRs or ORs with 95% CIs for the associations of each independent variable with the primary, secondary and tertiary outcomes.

Participating hospital research ethics board approved the PROSPECT trial and data collection. The protocol for this study was approved by the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board on 20 August 2015 (Project ID:19128). This study will identify whether frailty is associated with risk of VAP and other healthcare-associated infections in invasively ventilated patients, adjusted for other baseline factors. Results may be useful to patients, their caregivers, clinicians and the design of future research. Findings will be disseminated to investigators at a meeting of the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group. We will present study results at an international conference in the fields of critical care and infectious diseases, to coincide with or precede open-access peer-review publication. To aid knowledge dissemination, we will use a variety of formats. For example, for traditional and social media, we will create two different visual abstracts and infographics of our results suitable to share on clinician-facing and public-facing platforms.

NCT02462590.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in critically ill patients is often undetected. However, it is unclear whether ultrasound surveillance for early detection of DVT in high-risk medical-surgical intensive care unit (ICU) patients improves patients’ outcomes. The DETECT trial (Diagnosing deep-vein thrombosis early in critically ill patients) evaluates the effect of twice-weekly bilateral lower limb ultrasound compared to usual care on 90-day mortality of critically ill adult patients admitted to medical, surgical and trauma ICUs.

The DETECT trial is an international, parallel-group, open-label, randomised trial, which will recruit 1800 critically ill adults from over 14 hospitals in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Eligible patients will be allocated to twice-weekly bilateral lower limb ultrasound or usual care. The primary outcome is 90-day mortality. Secondary outcomes include lower limb proximal DVT, pulmonary embolism and clinically important bleeding. The first patient was enrolled on 21 March 2023. As of 8 April 2025, 711 patients have been enrolled from 14 centres in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The first interim analysis was conducted on 14 May 2025. We expect to complete recruitment by December 2026.

Institutional review boards (IRBs) of each participating institution approved the study. We plan to publish the results in peer-reviewed journals and present the findings at international critical care conferences.

Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT05112705, registered on 9-11-2021.

To explore the association between the degree of coronary artery calcium (CAC) and the progression of calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD).

A single-centre retrospective cohort study using a hospital-based database.

A total of 2898 patients who underwent coronary CT angiography and serial echocardiograms at ≥6 months apart were included. Initial echocardiography was performed within 6 months from the time of CCTA.

CAC was divided into four groups: 0, 1–99, 100–399 and ≥400 (Agatston units, AU). The progression of CAVD was defined in two ways: progression 1 as at least one grade of progression, progression 2 as at least moderate aortic stenosis (AS) at follow-up.

At the initial CAVD grade, patients with at least mild AS tended to increase with increasing CAC (p

CAC was significantly associated with the progression of CAVD. Particularly, CAC≥400 was linked to progression toward significant AS.

Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) entails substantial morbidity and mortality, yet no epidemiologic evidence exists on its outcomes in Mexico. This study assessed national hospitalisations (2005–2022) and mortality (2000–2022) related to AAV using data from the General Board of Health Information.

Retrospective, population-based time-trend analysis on administrative health data.

Mexico’s national hospital discharge and mortality registries, covering 1 January 2000 through 31 December 2022.

All individuals aged ≥ 15 years with a primary or secondary International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision, diagnosis of AAV recorded during hospitalisation or on death certificates nationwide.

The study’s primary outcomes were the age-standardised hospitalisation and mortality rates for AAV (expressed per 100 000 population, overall and by sex), with temporal trends in both rates quantified using Joinpoint regression to calculate annual percent change (APC) and average APC (AAPC).

We identified 2804 hospitalisations and 599 deaths. Females accounted for 49.7% of hospitalisations, while males represented 48.7% of deaths. Although the overall age-standardised hospitalisation rate (ASHR) and mortality rate (ASMR) AAPCs were not statistically significant, relevant trends emerged. From 2010 to 2022, ASHR declined significantly (APC: –5.2%; 95% CI –9.7, –0.5; p=0.03), whereas mortality rates remained stable from 2000 to 2022 (AAPC: +3%; 95% CI –4.6, 11.3; p=0.45). Nevertheless, mortality increased among males (APC: +6.4%; 95% CI 0.9, 12.2; p=0.02) and individuals over 45 years (APC: +8.6%; 95% CI 1.7, 16.0; p=0.02) from 2008 onwards.

Overall, these findings indicate no major changes in national rates but reveal a decline in hospitalisations since 2010 and a rise in mortality for specific subgroups since 2008. Targeted interventions, particularly for older adults and men, appear warranted to address this evolving disease burden. Future research should explore underlying risk factors and evaluate tailored strategies to improve clinical outcomes in AAV across Mexico.

This study aimed to determine the association between diabetes mellitus (DM) medication use and glycaemic control.

This was a retrospective diabetes registry-based cohort study.

Singapore.

Patients aged 18 and above with incident DM in the SingHealth Diabetes Registry from 2013 to 2020 were included. The entire study period included a 1 year baseline period, a 1 year observation period and a 3 month outcome period.

Drug use was measured using the proportion of days covered (PDC), and the changes in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) between the outcome and baseline periods were assessed. The associations between baseline HbA1c and PDC ≥0.80 and between PDC and change in HbA1c were analysed using logistic regression and the Kruskal–Wallis test, respectively.

Of 184 646 unique patients in the registry from 2013 to 2020, 36 314 met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. The median PDC for any DM drug, oral DM drugs and insulin during the observation period was 20.3%, 16.8% and 0%, respectively. Those who had good glycaemic control at baseline were less likely to receive DM drugs and those with poor baseline glycaemic control or missing baseline HbA1c were more likely to be consistent users (PDC >80%) (px 10^-16).

The relationship between DM drug use and glycaemic control is complex and non-monotonic. Higher PDC for any DM drug and oral DM drugs during the observation period was significantly associated with clinically relevant HbA1c improvements.

Prediabetes (PD), defined by impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glucose, represents a growing global health challenge, with a prevalence projected to increase substantially. PD is a critical intervention target because of its high annual progression rate (5–10%) to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and elevated cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Non-surgical interventions (NSIs), particularly lifestyle modifications (LMs) and pharmacological therapies, are the cornerstone of PD management, demonstrating efficacy and cost efficiency over surgical options. However, despite LM’s ability to reduce T2DM incidence by 40–70% in trials such as the Diabetes Prevention Program, real-world implementation faces barriers, including resource intensity and complex delivery requirements, which increase upfront costs. We aim to review scientific literature reporting on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of NSIs for preventing the progression of PD to T2DM among adults.