Reliability and validity of a new postoperative track assessment tool (PoTra-tool) as a decision-making aid: A prospective observational study.

Background: Postoperative instruments supporting decision-making for optimal care level are lacking.

Objectives: This study tested the reliability/validity of the postoperative track assessment tool (PoTra-tool) in a postanaesthesia care unit (PACU) and a specialised peri-operative intermediate care unit (IMCU).

Design: A prospective observational study.

Trial-level factors affecting accrual rate of systemic sclerosis randomized clinical trials.

Objectives: To estimate the average time to complete patient enrollment and identify factors associated with accrual rates in systemic sclerosis (SSc) randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

Methods: We searched published SSc-RCTs indexed in PubMed from 2000 to 2024, selecting those with recruitment completed before the COVID-19 pandemic. We recorded key trial features (country, phase, randomization ratio, intervention, blinding, funding source, outcome type) and enrollment year(s).

Incidence of Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated With JAK Inhibitors Compared With Biologic Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs: Data From an International Collaboration of Registries.

Objective: Our objective was to assess the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with JAK inhibitors (JAKi), tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi), or biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs with other modes of action (bDMARD-OMA) in a multicountry, real-world population.

Methods: Patients with RA from 15 registries in the JAK-pot collaboration were included. MACE incidence was analyzed using two approaches: a within-registry analysis aggregating country-specific estimates from registers with >25 incident MACEs through meta-analysis and an individual-level data combined analysis.

Trends and influences in women authorship in randomised controlled trials in rheumatology: a comprehensive analysis of all published RCTs from 2009 to 2023.

Objectives: We examined the evolution and influencing factors of women's authorship in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published in rheumatology.

Methods: We analysed all RCTs published in rheumatology from 2009 to 2023 determining authors' gender using the Gender API service. The percentage of women as authors in published RCTs and its association with potential factors was assessed using generalised estimating equations.

Large language models for accurate disease detection in electronic health records: the examples of crystal arthropathies.

Objectives: We propose and test a framework to detect disease diagnosis using a recent large language model (LLM), Meta's Llama-3-8B, on French-language electronic health record (EHR) documents. Specifically, it focuses on detecting gout ('goutte' in French), a ubiquitous French term that has multiple meanings beyond the disease. The study compares the performance of the LLM-based framework with traditional natural language processing techniques and tests its dependence on the parameter used.

Prospective registration of trials: where we are, why, and how we could get better.

Objectives: Transparent trial conduct requires prospective registration of a randomized controlled clinical trial (RCT) before the enrollment of the first participant. We aimed to (1) estimate the proportion of RCTs that are prospectively registered and analyze the time trends and factors linked to registration timing and (2) assess the reasons for nonadherence to prospective registration and explore ways to improve compliance. We studied trials published in rheumatology as a case study.

Monitoring equity in the delivery of health services: a Delphi process to select healthcare equity indicators.

Aims Of The Study: Health equity is a key component of quality of care and an objective for a growing number of quality improvement projects for deontological, ethical, public health and economic reasons. To monitor equity in the delivery of health services in Switzerland, there is a need to implement valid, measurable and actionable equity indicators, along with vulnerability stratifiers such as migrant status, which could lead to differences in quality of care. The aim of this study was to develop a set of healthcare equity indicators and stratifiers targeting inpatient and outpatient populations and to test their feasibility.

Development and validation of a self-updating gout register from electronic health records data.

Objective: To develop an automatic gout register from electronic health records (EHRs) data.

Methods: We analysed the EHR of all patients >18 years old from a tertiary academic hospital (2013-2022) based on six criteria: International Classification of Diseases 10 gout diagnosis, urate-lowering therapy prescription, monosodium urate crystals in joint aspiration and gout-related terms in problem lists, clinical or imaging reports. We assessed the positive and negative predictive value (PPV and NPV) of the query by chart reviews.

Comparative effectiveness of baricitinib and alternative biological DMARDs in a Swiss cohort study of patients with RA.

Objectives: This observational study compares the effectiveness of baricitinib (BARI), a targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (tsDMARD), with alternative biological DMARDs (bDMARDs) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), from a prospective, longitudinal cohort.

Methods: We compared patients initiating a treatment course (TC) of BARI, tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) or bDMARDs with other modes of action (OMA), during a period when all these DMARDs were available in Switzerland. The primary outcome was drug maintenance; secondary outcomes included discontinuation rates related specifically to ineffectiveness and adverse events.

Validation of French versions of the 15-item picker patient experience questionnaire for adults, teenagers, and children inpatients.

Objectives: No French validated concise scales are available for measuring the experience of inpatients in pediatrics. This study aims to adapt the adult PPE-15 to a pediatric population, and translating it in French, as well as to establish reference values for adults, teenagers, and parents of young children.

Methods: Cultural adaptation involved forward and backward translations, along with pretests in all three populations.

Development and validation of the physical effort scale (PES).

Objectives: Previous literature has primarily viewed physical effort as an aversive experience. However, recent research suggests that effort can also be valued positively. These differences in approach and avoidance tendencies toward physical effort may play a key role in the self-regulation of physical activity behaviors.

Time trends and modifiable factors of COVID-19 contact tracing coverage, Geneva, Switzerland, June 2020 to February 2022.

BackgroundContact tracing was one of the central non-pharmaceutical interventions implemented worldwide to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2, but its effectiveness depends on its ability to detect contacts.AimEvaluate the proportion of secondary infections captured by the contact tracing system in Geneva.MethodsWe analysed 166,892 concomitant infections occurring at the same given address from June 2020 until February 2022 using an extensive operational database of SARS-CoV-2 tests in Geneva.

A potential role for chlamydial infection in rheumatoid arthritis development.

Objectives: To assess the relationship between self-reported and serological evidence of prior chlamydial infection, rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-related autoantibodies and risk of RA development.

Methods: This is a nested study within a prospective Swiss-based cohort including all first-degree relatives of RA patients (RA-FDR) who answered a questionnaire on past chlamydial infections. Primary outcome was systemic autoimmunity associated with RA (RA autoimmunity) defined as positivity for anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACPA) and/or rheumatoid factor (RF).

When Illegitimate Tasks Threaten Patient Safety Culture: A Cross-Sectional Survey in a Tertiary Hospital.

The current study investigates the prevalence of illegitimate tasks in a hospital setting and their association with patient safety culture outcomes, which has not been previously investigated. We conducted a cross-sectional survey in a tertiary referral hospital. Patient safety culture outcomes were measured using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture questionnaire; the primary outcome measures were a low safety rating for the respondent's unit and whether the respondent had completed one or more safety event reports in the last 12 months.

Effect of SARS-CoV-2 prior infection and mRNA vaccination on contagiousness and susceptibility to infection.

The immunity conferred by SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and infections reduces the transmission of the virus. To answer how the effect of immunity is shared between a reduction of infectiousness and an increased protection against infection, we examined >50,000 positive cases and >110,000 contacts from Geneva, Switzerland (June 2020 to March 2022). We assessed the association between secondary attack rate (i.

COVID-19 Vaccination Rate under Different Political Incentive: A Counterfactual Trend Approach Using Nationwide Data.

(1) Background: France implemented a COVID-19 certificate in July 2021 to incentivize the population to uptake COVID-19 vaccines. However, little is known about the variation in its impact across age groups and its dependence on socio-demographic, economic, logistic, or political factors. (2) Methods: Using France's weekly first dose vaccination rate, a counterfactual trend approach allowed for the estimation of the vaccination rate across age groups at a small geographical level before and after the implementation of the health pass.

Time to Publication and Time-Lag Publication Bias for Randomized Trials on Connective Tissue Diseases.

Objective: To assess the time from completion to publication of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on connective tissue diseases (CTDs), investigate the factors associated with, and explore the influence of significance of study results on time to publication (time-lag publication bias).

Methods: We included interventional, phase 2/3, 3, or 4 RCTs on CTDs registered in Clinicaltrials.gov from 2000 to 2016, whose results had been published in a peer-review journal less than 5 years after their completion.

Deep learning diagnostic and severity-stratification for interstitial lung diseases and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in digital lung auscultations and ultrasonography: clinical protocol for an observational case-control study.

Background: Interstitial lung diseases (ILD), such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and non-specific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are severe, progressive pulmonary disorders with a poor prognosis. Prompt and accurate diagnosis is important to enable patients to receive appropriate care at the earliest possible stage to delay disease progression and prolong survival. Artificial intelligence-assisted lung auscultation and ultrasound (LUS) could constitute an alternative to conventional, subjective, operator-related methods for the accurate and earlier diagnosis of these diseases.

Long term anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody kinetics and correlate of protection against Omicron BA.1/BA.2 infection.

Binding antibody levels against SARS-CoV-2 have shown to be correlates of protection against infection with pre-Omicron lineages. This has been challenged by the emergence of immune-evasive variants, notably the Omicron sublineages, in an evolving immune landscape with high levels of cumulative incidence and vaccination coverage. This in turn limits the use of widely available commercial high-throughput methods to quantify binding antibodies as a tool to monitor protection at the population-level.