An exploration of the relationship between perceived injustice and pain severity in breast cancer survivors: a structural equation model.

Purpose: The construct of perceived injustice is receiving increased attention in pain research due to its relationship with adverse pain outcomes. Even though cancer survivors face a 30% risk of developing pain, there is a notable lack of research exploring this relationship within this population. Therefore, this study aims to explore the relationship of perceived injustice with pain severity in breast cancer survivors (BCS).

FLASC: a flare-sensitive clustering algorithm.

Exploratory data analysis workflows often use clustering algorithms to find groups of similar data points. The shape of these clusters can provide meaningful information about the data. For example, a Y-shaped cluster might represent an evolving process with two distinct outcomes.

Erector Spinae Plane Block versus Intercostal Nerve Blocks in Uniportal Videoscopic-assisted Thoracic Surgery: A Multicenter, Double-blind, Prospective Randomized Placebo-controlled Trial.

Background: Although intercostal nerve blocks are sometimes approached with caution due to concerns about potentially high local anesthetic uptake, they remain a valuable tool in specific clinical situations. On the other hand, the erector spinae plane block is currently often favored for its broader coverage and versatility. The hypothesis was that the intercostal nerve block, applied directly by surgeons under direct vision in patients undergoing uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, might offer superior analgesia and fewer complications compared to the erector spinae plane block.

Use of the non-paretic arm reflects a habitual behaviour in chronic stroke.

Background: A proportion of stroke survivors use their paretic arm less than might be expected based on their level of impairment. The resulting underuse of the paretic arm has a negative impact on participation in neurorehabilitation and functional independence. However, non-use remains poorly understood.

Evaluating Hemagglutination Inhibition Antibody Titers as a Correlate of Protection for Influenza: A Sensitivity Analysis Based on Information Theory and Causal Inference.

Introduction: Identifying hemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibody titers as a key immune correlate of protection (CoP) is crucial for developing, licensing, and monitoring the ongoing effectiveness of new influenza vaccines. Using a new statistical methodology, we explored the link between an inactivated quadrivalent influenza vaccine's impact on HI antibody titers and its effectiveness against A/H1N1-associated influenza illness.

Methods: We utilized data from a phase 3, observer-blind, randomized, controlled trial in children aged 6-35 months to assess HI antibody titers as an immune CoP.

Utilising the Benefit Risk Assessment of Vaccines (BRAVE) toolkit to evaluate the benefits and risks of Vaxzevria in the EU: a population-based study.

Background: Several COVID-19 vaccines have been licensed. To support the assessment of safety signals, we developed a toolkit to support COVID-19 vaccine monitoring and benefit-risk assessment. We aim to show the application of our toolkit in the EU using thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) associated with the Vaxzevria (AstraZeneca) vaccine as a use case.

Optimal treatment regime estimation in practice: challenges and choices in a randomized clinical trial for depression.

An important aspect of precision medicine is the tailoring of treatments to specific patient types. Nowadays, various methods are available to estimate for this purpose so-called optimal treatment regimes, that is, decision rules for treatment assignment that map patterns of pretreatment characteristics to treatment alternatives and that maximize the expected patient benefit. However, the application of these methods to real-life data has been limited and comes with nonstandard statistical issues.

Baricity of spinal bupivacaine and the incidence of hypotension in non-obstetric surgery: A systematic review.

Bupivacaine is commonly used for spinal anaesthesia. The baricity of bupivacaine (isobaric hyperbaric) may influence the spread, level of the block and the subsequent haemodynamic effects of the spinal anaesthesia. This review considers the available literature on the effect of baricity on the haemodynamic sequelae of spinal anaesthesia with bupivacaine.

Life 2.0: a comprehensive cross-sectional profiling of long-term allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation survivors compared to a matched general population cohort.

Long-term survivors after allogeneic cell transplantation (HCT) have unique needs. We performed a cross-sectional case-control study to describe the survivorship profile of 244 adult allogeneic transplantation recipients at a median of 8.4 years post-HCT and compared it to controls from the general population (matched 1:3 based on age, gender, and province of residence).

The impact of neoadjuvant therapy in patients with left-sided resectable pancreatic cancer: an international multicenter study.

Background: Left-sided pancreatic cancer is associated with worse overall survival (OS) compared with right-sided pancreatic cancer. Although neoadjuvant therapy is currently seen as not effective in patients with resectable pancreatic cancer (RPC), current randomized trials included mostly patients with right-sided RPC. The purpose of this study was to assess the association between neoadjuvant therapy and OS in patients with left-sided RPC compared with upfront surgery.

A Multimodal Patient-Centered Teleprehabilitation Approach for Patients Undergoing Surgery for Breast Cancer: A Clinical Perspective.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women worldwide, and advances in early detection and treatment have significantly increased survival rates. However, people living beyond breast cancer often suffer from late sequelae, negatively impacting their quality of life. Prehabilitation, focusing on the period prior to surgery, is a unique opportunity to enhance oncology care by preparing patients for the upcoming oncological treatment and rehabilitation.

Analysing matched continuous longitudinal data: A review.

Longitudinal data are frequently encountered in medical research, where participants are followed throughout time. Additional structure and hence complexity occurs when there is pairing between the participants (e.g.

Psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the revised neurophysiology of pain questionnaire.

Background: Understanding pain and its mechanisms can play an important role in (post-) cancer rehabilitation. In order to test patient's knowledge of pain, the Revised Neurophysiology of Pain Questionnaire was developed and translated into Dutch (RNPQ-NL). However, its psychometric properties have not been examined yet.

Evaluating time-to-event surrogates for time-to-event true endpoints: an information-theoretic approach based on causal inference.

Putative surrogate endpoints must undergo a rigorous statistical evaluation before they can be used in clinical trials. Numerous frameworks have been introduced for this purpose. In this study, we extend the scope of the information-theoretic causal-inference approach to encompass scenarios where both outcomes are time-to-event endpoints, using the flexibility provided by D-vine copulas.

Technology supported High Intensity Training in chronic non-specific low back pain (the Techno-HIT trial): study protocol of a randomised controlled trial.

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is one of the most common chronic musculoskeletal disorders worldwide. Guidelines recommend exercise therapy (ET) in CLBP management, but more research is needed to investigate specific ET modalities and their underlying mechanisms. The primary goal of this study is to evaluate the short-term and long-term effectiveness of a time-contingent individualised high-intensity training (HIT) protocol on disability compared with a time-contingent moderate-intensity training (MIT) as used in usual care, in persons with severely disabling CLBP.

Assessing the Operational Characteristics of the Individual Causal Association as a Metric of Surrogacy in the Binary Continuous Setting.

In a causal inference framework, a new metric has been proposed to quantify surrogacy for a continuous putative surrogate and a binary true endpoint, based on information theory. The proposed metric, termed the individual causal association (ICA), was quantified using a joint causal inference model for the corresponding potential outcomes. Due to the non-identifiability inherent in this type of models, a sensitivity analysis was introduced to study the behavior of the ICA as a function of the non-identifiable parameters characterizing the aforementioned model.

An international film dosimetry intercomparison to establish a multi-center audit framework.

Background: In 2021, a Technical Meeting was hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) where it was recommended that a standardized method for assessing the accuracy of film dose calculations should be established.

Purpose: To design an audit that evaluates the accuracy of film dosimetry processes. To propose a framework for identifying out-of-tolerance results and to perform an international pilot study to test the audit design.

Psychological Factors Influencing Healthcare Utilization in Breast Cancer Survivors with Pain.

Introduction: Pain is a prevalent side-effect seen in breast cancer survivors (BCS). Psychological factors are known role-players in pain mechanisms. Both pain and psychological factors contribute to or interact with healthcare use (HCU).

A competing risks model to estimate the risk of graft failure and patient death after kidney transplantation using continuous donor-recipient age combinations.

Graft failure and recipient death with functioning graft are important competing outcomes after kidney transplantation. Risk prediction models typically censor for the competing outcome thereby overestimating the cumulative incidence. The magnitude of this overestimation is not well described in real-world transplant data.

Proportion of treatment effect explained: An overview of interpretations.

The selection of the primary endpoint in a clinical trial plays a critical role in determining the trial's success. Ideally, the primary endpoint is the clinically most relevant outcome, also termed the true endpoint. However, practical considerations, like extended follow-up, may complicate this choice, prompting the proposal to replace the true endpoint with so-called surrogate endpoints.

Pairwise fitting of piecewise mixed models for the joint modeling of multivariate longitudinal outcomes, in a randomized crossover trial.

Many statistical models have been proposed in the literature for the analysis of longitudinal data. One may propose to model two or more correlated longitudinal processes simultaneously, with a goal of understanding their association over time. Joint modeling is then required to carefully study the association structure among the outcomes as well as drawing joint inferences about the different outcomes.

On sample size calculation in drug interaction trials.

Drug-drug interaction (DDI) trials are an important part of drug development as they provide evidence on the benefits and risks when two or more drugs are taken concomitantly. Sample size calculation is typically recommended to be based on the existence of clinically justified no-effect boundaries but these are challenging to define in practice, while the default no-effect boundaries of 0.8-1.

Personalized Multimodal Lifestyle Intervention as the Best-Evidenced Treatment for Chronic Pain: State-of-the-Art Clinical Perspective.

Chronic pain is the most prevalent disease worldwide, leading to substantial disability and socioeconomic burden. Therefore, it can be regarded as a public health disease and major challenge to scientists, clinicians and affected individuals. Behavioral lifestyle factors, such as, physical (in)activity, stress, poor sleep and an unhealthy diet are increasingly recognized as perpetuating factors for chronic pain.

Early results of a remote dosimetry audit program for lung stereotactic body radiation therapy.

Background And Purpose: A dosimetry audit program based on alanine electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and radiochromic film dosimetry, may be a valuable tool for monitoring and improving the quality of lung stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). The aim of this study was to report the initial, independent assessment of the dosimetric accuracy for lung SBRT practice using these dosimeters in combination with a novel phantom design.

Materials And Methods: The audit service was a remote audit program performed on a commercial lung phantom preloaded with film and alanine detectors.