Cross Section

Objective: To estimate the choroidal thickness (CT) in healthy children aged 2-6 years old and its relation to axial length, age and gender. Methods: Cross-sectional study. CT was assessed using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) in 126 children aged 2 to 6 years. CT was measured at nine locations, including the subfovea and 1 mm and 3 mm nasal, temporal, superior and inferior to the fovea. Results: Mean subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) was 331.56±62.03 μm. The choroid was thickest at the subfoveal and 1 mm temporal area, and thinner nasally compared to temporally, superiorly and inferiorly...

BACKGROUND: Facial appearance has increasing importance to individuals and women, in particular. Till date, there are no reports of the extrinsic factors influencing skin aging in Nepalese population. OBJECTIVES: To assess the risk factors and self-perception for facial aging in Nepalese population. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 110 attendees aged 30-70 years visiting the dermatology outpatient department of B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the median urine iodine concentration (UIC) of young adults in the Top End of Northern Territory, before and after fortification of bread with iodised salt became mandatory. DESIGN, SETTING: Analysis of cross-sectional data from two longitudinal studies, the Aboriginal Birth Cohort and the non-Indigenous Top End Cohort, pre- (Indigenous participants: 2006-2007; non-Indigenous participants: 2007-2009) and post-fortification (2013-15). PARTICIPANTS: Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian young adults (mean age: pre-fortification, 17...

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the expectations of patients attending an urban primary care out-of-hours (OOH) facility with acute upper respiratory tract infection (acute URTI) regarding clinical examination, symptom management, information on their condition, reassurance, antibiotic treatment and other possible options including referral. DESIGN: Cross-sectional design. SETTING: One urban primary care OOH facility located in the midwest of Ireland...

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare utility weights of EuroQoL-five-dimension-3 levels (EQ-5D-3L) and Short-Form six-dimension (SF-6D) in a representative cohort of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). A cost-utility analysis (CUA) is designed to report the change to costs required to achieve an estimated change to quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). The quality component of a QALY is measured by utility. Utility represents the preference of general population for a given health state...

OBJECTIVES: The indicator unexpectedly long length of stay (UL-LOS) is used to gain insight into quality and safety of care in hospitals. The calculation of UL-LOS takes patients' age, main diagnosis and main procedure into account. University hospitals have relatively more patients with a UL-LOS than other hospitals. Our main research question is whether the high number of patients with a UL-LOS in university hospitals is caused by differences in additional patient characteristics between university hospitals and other hospitals...

AIMS: The current study aims to examine whether energy drink consumption is associated with intentions to try marijuana among adolescents who have never tried marijuana, and whether the effects of energy drink consumption on the intention to try marijuana vary between adolescents who have previously tried alcohol or cigarettes and those who have not. METHODS: This study employs a pooled cross-sectional design and uses a nationally representative sample of 8th (ages 13-14) and 10th (ages 15-16) grade adolescents from seven recent cohorts (2010-2016) of the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study...

There is growing evidence associating inflammatory markers in complex, higher order neurological functions, such as cognition and memory. We examined whether high levels of various inflammatory markers are associated with cognitive outcomes at 4 years of age in a mother-child cohort in Crete, Greece (Rhea study). We included 642 children in this cross-sectional study. Levels of several inflammatory markers (IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-17α, IL-10, MIP-1α, TNF-α and the ratios of IL-6 to IL-10 and TNF-α to IL-10) were determined in child serum via immunoassay...

My Fitness Pal (MFP) is a calorie-tracking smartphone application that is gaining popularity worldwide. Although MFP has the potential to be a cheap and efficient weight-loss tool, concerns that MFP could trigger, maintain, or exacerbate eating disorder symptoms have been raised. Preliminary research has documented associations between MFP use and eating disorder symptoms in women with eating disorders and in undergraduate students. However, whether these associations exist additionally in a male-only sample has not been tested...

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have highlighted risks for depression and suicide in medical cohorts, but evidence regarding psychiatric residents is missing. This study aimed to determine rates of depression, suicide ideation and suicide attempt among psychiatric residents and to identify associated individual, educational and work-related risk factors. METHODS: A total of 1980 residents from 22 countries completed the online survey which collected data on depression (PHQ-9), suicidality (SIBQ), socio-demographic profiles, training, and education...

BACKGROUND: College students are at increased risk for self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITB) and sexual risk behaviors (SRB). Although students with a history of SITB appear to be more prone to SRB, the mechanisms linking these risk behaviors remain largely unexplored. Previous research points to emotional control (EC), defined as one's awareness and adaptability of emotions, as a potential mechanism explaining the relationship between SITB and SRB.1 METHODS: Data included 722 college students attending two different universities in the northeast and southeast regions of the United States...

BACKGROUND: Overt and subclinical thyroid dysfunction has been reported to be related to depression. Thyroid diseases have been known to occur more frequently in women. However, scarce data are available on effects and sex differences of changes in thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels, with a normal range of thyroid hormones, on depression. This study aimed to investigate the association between TSH levels and depressive symptoms, according to sex, in individuals from the general population with free thyroxine (fT4) values within the normal range...

BACKGROUND: The relationship between obstetric variables and postpartum post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and its influence on quality of life (QoL), have scarcely been studied. OBJECTIVE: Determine the prevalence of PTSD at postpartum weeks 4 and 6, and its relation with perinatal variables and quality of life METHOD: A cross-sectional study with 2990 Spanish puerperal women in Spain. Data were collected on socio-demographic and obstetric variables, and on newborns...

OBJECTIVES: In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to explore the mechanisms of early cognitive impairment in a post stroke non-dementia cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) cohort by comparing the SVD score with the structural brain network measures. METHOD: 127 SVD patients were recruited consecutively from a stroke clinic, comprising 76 individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 51 with no cognitive impairment (NCI). Detailed neuropsychological assessments and multimodal MRI were performed...

BACKGROUND: Diarrhea is one of the most common causes of child morbidity and mortality in refugee camps, aggravated by inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene services, and malnutrition, particularly in developing countries. METHODOLOGY: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted to assess acute diarrhea and associated risk factors among under-five children in refugee and host communities in Gambella Region, Ethiopia. Descriptive statistics were used, and bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were performed to identify variables associated with diarrhea...

Overt polyautoimmunity (PolyA) corresponds to the presence of more than one well-defined autoimmune disease (AD) manifested clinically in a single patient. The current study aimed to describe the main characteristics of juvenile PolyA in a pediatric rheumatology setting and analyze the chronological aspects, index cases, familial autoimmunity, and clustering pattern. This was a cross-sectional and multicenter study in which 313 children with overt PolyA were included. Patients were systematically interviewed and their medical records reviewed using a questionnaire that sought information about demographic, clinical, immunological, and familial characteristics...

BACKGROUND: MDR-TB is a major threat to global TB control. In 2015, 580,000 were treated for MDR-TB worldwide. The worldwide roll-out of GeneXpert MTB/RIF® has improved diagnosis of MDR-TB; however, in many countries laboratories are unable to assess drug resistance and clinical predictors of MDR-TB could help target suspected patients. In this stud, we aimed to determine the clinical factors associated with MDR-TB in Bamako, Mali. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study of 214 patients with presumed MDR-TB admitted to University of Bamako Teaching Hospital, Point-G between 2007 and 2016...

The family food environment plays an important role in supporting children's dietary quality, regulating eating behaviors, and promoting a healthy weight status. However, relatively little is known regarding parent-level factors that support or hinder parents' ability to create health-promoting family food environments. The current study examines whether executive function among mothers, or mothers' capacity to control their thoughts, emotions, and actions, is associated with qualities of the family food environment that support children's healthy eating and weight...

OBJECTIVES: To describe the risk of hypoglycaemia during Ramadan and determine its risk factors, and the impact of hypoglycaemia on patients' behaviour. METHODS: A cross-sectional multi-country observational study, with data captured within 6 weeks after Ramadan 2015. Patients' and disease characteristics and its management, the risk of hypoglycaemia and patients' response to hypoglycaemia were recorded RESULTS: A cohort of 1759 patients; majority with type 2 diabetes mellitus from North Africa, Arabian Gulf, Saudi Arabia, and the Indian subcontinent...

INTRODUCTION: After a clinical examination, in order to implement an appropriate treatment planning, additional examinations such as lateral cephalograms, were performed. They were submitted to a cephalometric analysis such as the Tweed-Merrifield analysis. These cephalometric analyses based on a synthesis of aesthetic criteria established for a Caucasian European-American white people population could not serve as the reference for an African population. The aim of our study was to help establish the cephalometric norms of the Tweed-Merrifield's craniofacial and aesthetic analysis for a consulting population in the city of Ouagadougou...