Epidemiological Issues Research Articles

Beyond the Boundary: A Bibliometric Analysis of the Published Research on Injuries in Cricket.

Cricket, a sport immensely popular in the Indian subcontinent and Commonwealth countries, boasts a staggering global following of over 1 billion enthusiasts. However, injuries in cricket are prevalent, resulting in detrimental effects on player performance and leading to substantial absenteeism from the game. In recent times, there has been a surge in interest on the epidemiology, biomechanics, and prevention of cricket-related injuries. To gain comprehensive insights into the existing research landscape, we present a bibliometric analysis of the published research on cricket injuries. The Web of Science database was searched using a well-defined search strategy. Original research articles looking at any aspect of injuries in cricket were included. Search results were imported into the R Bibliometrix package for analysis. Analysis of bibliometric parameters included top authors, journals, countries and keywords. Co-occurrence networks were generated and thematic mapping was performed to identify emerging research topics. 423 publications from 126 journals were included. An increasing trend in publications was noted. JW Orchard was the highest published author; Australia was the highest published country and the Journal of Science and Sport in Medicine had the highest number of publications. Fast bowlers were the most extensively researched and the major research was noted to focus on three niche areas, i.e., epidemiology, consensus definitions and spinal issues in fast bowlers. Research on batsmen, wicketkeepers and fielders was relatively sparse. Furthermore, we observed limited representation of research from the Indian subcontinent, despite cricket's immense popularity in the region. Our study findings highlight that majority of the cricket injury research stems from developed countries. The primary research areas include epidemiology, injury prevention, and biomechanics, with a particular focus on fast bowlers. However, much more has to be done to encourage research publications, focused on batsmen, wicketkeeper and fielders, as well as cricket in the developing world. These insights are essential for researchers seeking to delve into cricket-related studies and organizations aiming to advance injury prevention research in cricket.

Cryptogenic stroke. Part 4: Antiphospholipid syndrome and cancer

Cryptogenic embolic stroke (embolic strokes of undetermined source, ESUS) is an intermediate diagnosis in patients with unknown etiology of stroke and implies the absence of large sources of cardioembolism and significant extra- and intracranial stenoses and probably embolic pathogenesis of cerebral infarction. In the previous parts of the article, we discussed the issues of diagnosis and secondary prevention of ESUS with underlying potential aortoaortic sources of embolism, paradoxical embolism and atrial cardiopathy. This article discusses the issues of epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and secondary prevention of ischemic stroke with underlying antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and cancer-associated stroke (RAI). Both mechanisms of stroke are associated with hypercoagulability, often manifest as multifocal cortical brain lesions, and respond to anticoagulant therapy. While APS should be suspected primarily in young women with pathology of pregnancy, arterial and venous thrombosis, as well as livedo reticularis (racemosa), RAI does not have a specific clinical picture, but can manifest as diffuse cortical infarcts (symptom of three pools) combined with increased D-dimer level. If APS is suspected, appropriate haematological screening is required, followed by the use of the Sydney diagnostic criteria. Possible diagnosis of RAI often requires transesophageal echocardiography (ruling out non-bacterial thromboendocarditis) and oncological screening. Secondary prevention of APS consists in prescribing warfarin with the target international normalized ratio (INR) of 2.0 to 3.0. RAI is treated with anticoagulants, but the choice of a drug and dose is determined by the balance between thrombotic/thromboembolic and hemorrhagic risks.

Issues of management of patients with post-stroke cognitive impairment

Stroke is second to third most common cause of death in the population and the leading cause of disability. More than 12 million strokes are registered annually in the world. Cognitive impairments (CI) significantly contribute to the disability of patients after a stroke, which limit daily activities no less than movement disorders. The article presents data on the prevalence of post-stroke CI (PSCI), examines the issues of epidemiology, risk factors, the main clinical and pathogenetic data of disorders, the peculiarities of their diagnosis and treatment. The issues of the dipyridamole use for the prevention of stroke and in patients with PSCI are discussed.

Local antibacterial therapy in patients with diseases of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses, including against the background of cystic fibrosis

Acute respiratory viral infection is one of the most common infectious diseases. Clinical manifestations vary from time to time and from person to person and, as a rule, include intoxication and catarrhal syndromes. ARVI is more often caused by such causative agents as pneumoviruses, human metapneumovirus, coronaviruses, rhinoviruses, adenoviruses and bocaviruses. Among diseases of the ENT organs, ARVI can cause rhinosinusitis and pharyngitis. The inflammation that occurs in the mucosa causes its dystrophy and necrosis, which leads to the dysfunction of mucociliary clearance. As a result, an optimal environment for the development of bacterial flora is created. Bacterial rhinosinusitis needs antibiotic therapy. These drugs can act locally and systemically. It is well known that topical drugs have fewer side effects and result in a greater active substance concentration directly at a site of inflammation. Currently, a nasal framycetin spray is used as a topical antibacterial therapy to treat bacterial rhinosinusitis and in the early postoperative period. Topical drugs have a good evidence base, fewer side effects, and are safe, even for patients with cystic fibrosis. Given the significant antibiotics load in patients with cystic fibrosis, any opportunity to delay re-administration of antibiotics is a positive thing. In this aspect, topical antibiotics that have no systemic adverse events, including negative effects on the normal human microbiome, and can be used to overcome the resistance of microorganisms in a varying degree due to the achievement of high active substance concentration directly in a focus of infection may have a certain therapeutic value. The article addresses issues of epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations of acute respiratory viral infection, i. e. acute rhinosinusitis. In addition, the article describes the use of topical antibiotic therapy for the treatment of diseases of the nasal cavities and paranasal sinuses.

Modern Approaches to the Management of Children with Acute Respiratory Viral Infection

Experts of the Union of Pediatricians of Russia have developed modern guidelines on management of children with acute respiratory viral infection. The term “acute respiratory viral infection” (ARVI) combines following nosological forms: acute nasopharyngitis, acute pharyngitis, acute laryngitis, acute tracheitis, acute laryngopharyngitis, upper respiration tract infection (unspecified). The issues of epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention have been considered in detail.

Lack of consensus on the definition of severe congenital heart defects for research: A challenge for comparing international studies.

Lack of consensus on the definition of severe congenital heart defects for research: A challenge for comparing international studies.

Tonsillitis in the practice of a nurse

The problem of acute and chronic tonsillitis remains relevant from year to year both in medical and general medical terms. Tonsillitis is still one of the most frequent manifestations of upper respiratory tract diseases. The article reflects the issues of epidemiology, etiopathogenesis, and classification of various tonsillitis forms. Modern methods of diagnosis and differentiation of viral and bacterial forms of the disease are considered. Modern recommendations in the tactics of treatment of these patients are taken into account.

Recommendations on the measurement techniques of atmospheric pollutants from in situ and satellite observations: a review

Measurement of atmospheric air pollutants (aerosols, NO2, O3, CO, HCHO, and SO2) is essential for characterizing the environmental and biogeochemical process to monitor the air quality. The concerned measurement methods and instrumentations are complex due to the weak spectral characteristics and very low concentration in volume mixtures of them in the atmosphere. This narrative review focuses on the fundamental and advanced concepts of almost all the in situ and satellite-based methods and instrumentations for measuring the gaseous and other air pollutants in the earth-atmosphere interaction. This paper discusses the literature of past and present developments in the measurement methods and instrumentations by highlighting their positive and negative feedbacks. The developing history (1970–2020) of space-borne instrumentations is indicated along with their techniques and capability to compute the concentration of the atmospheric pollutants for monitoring the air quality (air pollution) and climate in large (regional to global) scale. Several applications of the satellite instruments are described in terms of some important pollutant gases, most of which are known as ambient air pollutant. This study makes some recommendations to the readers so that they can utilize the measurement methods and instrumentations to estimate the important air pollutants such as NO2, SO3, O3, CO, and aerosols as well as for setting up future guidelines and air pollution control policies regarding the epidemiology and public health issues.

Features of etiology, clinical picture, diagnosis and treatment of travelers’ diarrhea

The article discusses the issues of epidemiology, etiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of travelers’ diarrhea (TD). This disease most often has a bacterial nature, but can also be caused by viruses and protozoa. TD usually has a favorable course and ends with self-healing. In mild forms of TD, rehydration therapy is suffi cient, as well as the appointment of loperamide or bismuth subsalicylate. In moderately severe and severe forms, the use of antibiotics (fl uoroquinolones, azithromycin, rifaximin) is necessary. Prevention of TD is reduced to compliance with hygienic measures. The appointment of antibiotics for this purpose — taking into account the growing resistance to them — is carried out only for special indications.

Current ethical and social issues in epidemiology.

The American College of Epidemiology held its 2021 Annual Meeting virtually, September 8-10, with a conference theme of 'From Womb to Tomb: Insights from Health Emergencies'. The American College of Epidemiology Ethics Committee hosted a symposium session in recognition of the ethical and social challenges brought to light by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and on the occasion of the publication of the third edition of the classic text, Ethics and Epidemiology. The American College of Epidemiology Ethics Committee invited the book editor and contributing authors to present at the symposium session titled 'Current Ethical and Social Issues in Epidemiology.' The purpose of this paper is to further highlight the ethical challenges and presentations. Three speakers with expertise in ethics, health law, health policy, global health, health information technology, and translational research in epidemiology and public health were selected to present on the social and ethical issues in the current landscape. Dr. S Coughlin presented on the 'Ethical and Social Issues in Epidemiology',Dr. L Beskow presented on 'Ethical Challenges in Genetic Epidemiology',and Dr. K Goodman presented on the 'Ethics of Health Informatics'. New digital sources of data and technologies are driving the ethical challenges and opportunities in epidemiology and public health as it relates to the three emerging topic areas identified: (1) digital epidemiology, (2) genetic epidemiology, and (3) health informatics. New complexities such as the reliance on social media to control infectious disease outbreaks and the introduction of computing advancements are requiring re-evaluation of traditional bioethical frameworks for epidemiology research and public health practice. We identified several cross-cutting ethical and social issues related to informed consent, benefits, risks and harms, and privacy and confidentiality and summarized these alongside more nuanced ethical considerations such as algorithmic bias, group harms related to data (mis)representation, risks of misinformation, return of genomic research results, maintaining data security, and data sharing. We offered an integrated synthesis of the stages of epidemiology research planning and conduct with the ethical issues that are most relevant in these emerging topic areas. New realities exist for epidemiology and public health as professional groups who are faced with addressing population health, and especially given the recent pandemic and the widespread use of digital tools and technologies. Many ethical issues can be understood in the context of existing ethical frameworks; however, they have yet to be clearly identified or connected with the new technical and methodological applications of digital tools and technologies currently in use for epidemiology research and public health practice. To address current ethical challenges, we offered a synthesis of traditional ethical principles in public health science alongside more nuanced ethical considerations for emerging technologies and aligned these with lifecycle stages of epidemiology research. By critically reflecting on the impact of new digital sources of data and technologies on epidemiology research and public health practice, specifically in the control of infectious outbreaks, we offered insights on cultivating these new areas of professional growth while striving to improve population health.

The matrix revolutions: How databases and database linkages will transform epidemiologic research.

The matrix revolutions: How databases and database linkages will transform epidemiologic research.

Summarising multiple bounds of the average causal effect in Mendelian randomisation.

Summarising multiple bounds of the average causal effect in Mendelian randomisation.

Rigour and reproducibility in perinatal and paediatric epidemiologic research using big data.

Rigour and reproducibility in perinatal and paediatric epidemiologic research using big data.

The Efficacy of GLP-1 Analogues on Appetite Parameters, Gastric Emptying, Food Preference and Taste Among Adults with Obesity: Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Obesity is an epidemiological issue that negatively affects public health and has led to a high global burden on the healthcare system. Several approaches to control and overcome the obesity crisis have been established. However, Nobel discoverers found that glucagon-like peptide-1 analogues (GLP-1 analogues) positively regulate appetite and food intake, eventually leading to weight loss. The present systematic review aims to summarize the currently available evidence of the impact of GLP-1 analogues on appetite, gastric emptying, taste sensitivity, and food preferences among adults with obesity without other chronic diseases. A systematic literature search was conducted from October 2021 to December 2021 from three electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect), including only randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Studies were based on the use of GLP-1 analogues, of any dosage and duration among adults with obesity without other medical diseases; studies measured appetite, gastric emptying, food preferences, and taste as a primary or secondary outcome. The risk of publication bias in each study was assessed independently using the updated Cochrane risk-of-bias tool (RoB2). Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria with a total sample size of 445 participants. All the included studies measured at least one or more of the primary outcomes. The promising effect was evidenced by most studies showing appetite suppression, delayed gastric emptying, and changes in taste and food preferences. GLP-1 analogues are effective obesity management therapy that could decrease food intake and eventually reduce weight by suppressing appetite, reducing hunger, decreasing gastric emptying, and altering food preferences and taste. However, high-quality, long-term, large sample size studies are crucial to examine the efficacy and effective dose of GLP-1 analogues intervention.

MEDICO-STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE INCIDENCE OF PNEUMONIA, INCLUDING THOSE CAUSED BY COVID-19 IN THE CHERNIVTSI REGION DURING 2018–2021

One of the most urgent problems of modern health care is currently a viral infection caused by SARS-CoV-2, which has acquired both significant medical and social significance. The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic on March 11, 2020. The disease is characterized by a polymorphism of the clinical picture from damage to the respiratory tract to pronounced intestinal manifestations, nevertheless, the most severe form remains viral pneumonia caused by COVID-19.
 The goal. Conducting a medical-statistical analysis of hospital morbidity and mortality from pneumonia caused by COVID-19 in the territory of Chernivtsi region according to the data of 2020-2021, with an overview of the dynamics of morbidity and mortality from pneumonia (J12-J16, J18) in 2018-2019.
 Object and research methods. The leading research method was the biostatistical method, which was used to confirm the representativeness of the sample population and statistical processing of the materials of form No. 20 for the Chernivtsi region, and data on the average annual population, obtained according to the data of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine (2018-2021).
 The results. COVID-19-induced pneumonia (IP) has significantly affected the pattern and incidence rate of upper respiratory tract diseases, increasing the proportion of pneumonia more than thrice. COVID-19 IP does not affect children which is to some extent related to the impossibility of transmitting the disease during the pre- and intrauterine periods. In 2020, the average mortality from COVID-19 among the adult population was 0.54‰ and in 2021 – 1.1‰. Mortality in the pre-COVID era, in turn, was not significant, did not exceed 0.015‰.
 Conclusions. The average mortality in 2021 exceeded the peak mortality of 2019 by 7.3 times which indicates the unpreparedness of the health care system for a challenge of a similar scale, which to a certain extent can be related to both the uncertainty regarding the issues of epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment of this disease and the imperfection of the health care system, which was at an intermediate stage of reformation.

Researching trends in pemphigoid diseases: A bibliometric study of the top 100 most cited publications.

In the field of autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, different approaches were applied to provide information regarding disease activity, comorbidities, epidemiological reports and risk factors. However, no previous studies had thoroughly analyzed the research trend in the field, and the bibliometric analysis focusing on pemphigoid diseases was available. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the current research trend in the field. A search has been conducted for the Web of Science database based on various subcategories of pemphigoid diseases. Detailed information including articles' publication types, Author information, citation, and publication information was attained for further analysis. Within the 6,995 studies, the top 100 most-cited articles were extracted for analysis. Among the top 100 studies, 70% of the studies focused on bullous pemphigoid. More than 60% of the top 100 studies were studies with original data. Furthermore, 30% of the studies were guidelines and narrative reviews. For the issues primarily focused on, most of the high-impact studies described the molecular mechanism of pemphigoid diseases (26%), managements (19%), risk factors of pemphigoid diseases (17%). Additionally, some other studies provided general review or discussed about the issue of epidemiology, diagnosis/definition, comorbidities and clinical characteristics of pemphigoid diseases. This comprehensive bibliographic study of pemphigoid diseases provided an overview of current research focuses in the field. Topics such as disease management, molecular mechanism of pathogenesis, and drug-inducing pemphigoid diseases were highly mentioned in the most-cited studies. For researchers and clinicians, the researching trend and study focus in the top-100 cited studies could serve as a potential reference for future investigation and patient management.

Post-traumatic pain mononeuropathies

Neuropathic pain syndrome (NPS) caused by peripheral nerve (PN) injury is a serious clinical problem due to its prevalence, complexity of pathogenesis, significant impact on the quality of life of patients. The issues of epidemiology, pathogenesis and treatment of patients with NBS with PN injury are considered. Modern possibilities of invasive treatment of such patients are discussed.

Epidemiological and Disease Burden Profiles of Leukemias and Malignant Lymphomas: Overview and Trends in the Republic of Moldova and Worldwide

Introduction: Hematological malignancies (HM) are relatively frequent nosological entities within the structure of morbidity by malignant tumors, exhibiting a severe evolution, restrained prognosis and negative socio-economic impact in the advanced stages and phases. Objective: The objective of the study was to identify the epidemiological patterns, and to evaluate the epidemiological trends and disease burden issues of HM in the Republic of Moldova and worldwide. Materials and Methods: The following research methods were used: epidemiological, descriptive statistics, clinico-analytic. The diagnosis was proved in all cases by histopathological, cytological, cytogenetic, molecular and immunophenotyping examinations. The qualitative type researches were performed and enriched by the narrative synthesis of the data. From the specialized international bibliographic sources and official statistics concerning HM. The narrative review of the reference sources was fulfilled in the form of a synthesis. Results: The number of newly diagnosed and followed-up patients with HM at the Institute of Oncology in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 amounted respectively to 725, 802, 613, 628, 536 and 528, the incidence (new cases per 100,000 population) being 17.6, 19.5, 14.9, 17.7, 15.1 and 20.3. In 2021 HM constituted 6.2% of all newly-diagnosed cases with malignant tumors in the Republic of Moldova. In the same year Hodgkin lymphoma was diagnosed in 10.04% of cases, non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas—in 31.63%, multiple myeloma and plasma cells neoplasms—in 7.77%, lymphoid leukemias—in 17.42%, myeloid leukemias—in 12.31%, monocytic leukemias—in 0.95%, and other leukemias—in 16.29%. In 2019 the male rate was 51.5%, and the female rate—48.5%. Within 2 years males were 266 (50.4%), females—262 (49.6%). The age of 50 - 79 years prevailed in both genders (males—65%, females—72.5%). The children constituted 4.0% of the newly diagnosed cases, 4.8% of those under the follow-up at the end of the year 2019 and 6.4% of the newly diagnosed cases in 2021. The disease span from the onset to diagnosis ranged between 1 - 24 months and constituted on average 5.63 months, without a significant difference as compared to 2019 (5.76 months). The incidence of HM in Western countries is 14 - 19 new cases per 100,000 population (4% of all cases with malignant tumors). The incidence of non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas increased by 45% between 2006 and 2016, from 319,078 to 461,000 cases. Between 2006 and 2016, the incidence of leukemias increased by 26%, from 37,000,000 to 467,000 cases. Conclusions: The epidemiological study revealed slightly lower morbidity by HM in the Republic of Moldova as compared to the West European countries mainly due to the migration of a workable population. The patients with malignant lymphomas, male gender and age categories of 50 - 79 years proved to be commonly registered epidemiological patterns. The narrative analysis of the literature revealed that patients with HM may experience a considerable disease burden with a negative impact on their employment status, working productivity and annual household income.

Assessment of HIV Awareness among Prisoners as a Determinant of Effectiveness of Preventive Measures in Risk Groups

Introduction: HIV prevention and spread of this infection remain key issues of epidemiology. In this respect, appropriate preventive measures are taken in the Tyumen Region among prisoners, a specific group at risk of HIV infection and spread. In terms of epidemiology, it seems important to analyze HIV awareness among convicts for further elaboration or amendment of preventive actions currently taken in the region for this contingent. Objective: To assess the level of awareness of HIV risks under conditions of the penitentiary system among prisoners. Materials and methods: The survey method, descriptive-evaluative, analytical, statistical and epidemiological research methods with the calculation of intensive and extensive indicators are used in the work. The method of collecting primary sociological information is a questionnaire survey (November, 2021) of prisoners by entering answers into the author's questionnaire on paper. HIV-negative prisoners took part in the survey (n = 60; 20-50 years old; CI = 95 %; criterion sample). Results: The questionnaire-based survey of 60 male prisoners showed that the respondents were confident in a zero risk of HIV infection. Half of them believed that they would never get HIV while 95 % (n = 57) considered prison to be a risk-free zone. Only 63.3 % (n = 38) of the inmates agreed that any sexual intercourse posed a HIV risk. Besides, 73.3 % (n = 44) had never used intravenous drugs (they used non-parenteral drugs or not on a regular basis); 16.6 % (n = 10) favored “light” psychoactive substances or their temporary use. Fifty-five percent (n = 33) of the respondents were unaware of the recommended frequency of HIV testing and 38.8 % (n = 23) of them had been tested for HIV more than a year before the survey. Consequently, the members of the risk group do not realize themselves part of the problem, are poorly informed, and know little about HIV prevention and factors contributing to the spread of this deadly disease. Conclusions: The social group of prisoners is an important component in containment of the HIV epidemic process in the region. The survey results necessitate improvement of the HIV outreach program in the correctional system.

Differences in the superspreading potentials of COVID-19 across contact settings

BackgroundSuperspreading events (SSEs) played a critical role in fueling the COVID-19 outbreaks. Although it is well-known that COVID-19 epidemics exhibited substantial superspreading potential, little is known about the risk of observing SSEs in different contact settings. In this study, we aimed to assess the potential of superspreading in different contact settings in Japan.MethodTransmission cluster data from Japan was collected between January and July 2020. Infector-infectee transmission pairs were constructed based on the contact tracing history. We fitted the data to negative binomial models to estimate the effective reproduction number (R) and dispersion parameter (k). Other epidemiological issues relating to the superspreading potential were also calculated.ResultsThe overall estimated R and k are 0.561 (95% CrI: 0.496, 0.640) and 0.221 (95% CrI: 0.186, 0.262), respectively. The transmission in community, healthcare facilities and school manifest relatively higher superspreading potentials, compared to other contact settings. We inferred that 13.14% (95% CrI: 11.55%, 14.87%) of the most infectious cases generated 80% of the total transmission events. The probabilities of observing superspreading events for entire population and community, household, health care facilities, school, workplace contact settings are 1.75% (95% CrI: 1.57%, 1.99%), 0.49% (95% CrI: 0.22%, 1.18%), 0.07% (95% CrI: 0.06%, 0.08%), 0.67% (95% CrI: 0.31%, 1.21%), 0.33% (95% CrI: 0.13%, 0.94%), 0.32% (95% CrI: 0.21%, 0.60%), respectively.ConclusionThe different potentials of superspreading in contact settings highlighted the need to continuously monitoring the transmissibility accompanied with the dispersion parameter, to timely identify high risk settings favoring the occurrence of SSEs.