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Successful elimination of falciparum malaria following the introduction of community-based health workers in Eastern Myanmar: A retrospective analysis. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-11-30 Aye Sandar Zaw,Ei Shwe Sin Win,Soe Wai Yan,Kyaw Sithu Thein,Vasundhara Verma,Alistair R D McLean,Thar Tun Kyaw,Nicholas J White,Frank M Smithuis
BACKGROUND Myanmar has a large majority of all malaria in the Greater Mekong Subregion. In the past decade, substantial progress was made in malaria control. The residual burden of malaria is in remote areas where currently recommended malaria elimination approaches are generally not feasible. In such hard-to-reach communities in Mon state, East Myanmar, Medical Action Myanmar introduced community
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Surgery with locking plate or hemiarthroplasty versus nonoperative treatment of 3-4-part proximal humerus fractures in older patients (NITEP): An open-label randomized trial. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-11-28 Antti P Launonen,Bakir O Sumrein,Aleksi Reito,Vesa Lepola,Juha Paloneva,Hans E Berg,Li Felländer-Tsai,Kristo Kask,Timo Rahnel,Kaspar Tootsi,Aare Märtson,Kenneth B Jonsson,Olof Wolf,Peter Ström,Kaj Døssing,Helle K Østergaard,Inger Mechlenburg,Ville M Mattila,Minna K Laitinen
BACKGROUND Proximal humerus fractures (PHFs) are common fractures, especially in older female patients. These fractures are commonly treated surgically, but the consensus on the best treatment is still lacking. METHODS AND FINDINGS The primary aim of this multicenter, randomized 3-arm superiority, open-label trial was to assess the results of nonoperative treatment and operative treatment either with
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Evaluation of point-of-care multiplex polymerase chain reaction in guiding antibiotic treatment of patients acutely admitted with suspected community-acquired pneumonia in Denmark: A multicentre randomised controlled trial. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-11-28 Mariana Bichuette Cartuliares,Flemming Schønning Rosenvinge,Christian Backer Mogensen,Thor Aage Skovsted,Steen Lomborg Andersen,Claus Østergaard,Andreas Kristian Pedersen,Helene Skjøt-Arkil
BACKGROUND Rapid and accurate detection of pathogens is needed in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) to enable appropriate antibiotics and to slow the development of antibiotic resistance. We aimed to compare the effect of point-of-care (POC) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection of respiratory pathogens added to standard care with standard care only (SCO) on antibiotic prescriptions after acute
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Evaluating pediatric tuberculosis dosing guidelines: A model-based individual data pooled analysis. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-11-21 Lufina Tsirizani Galileya,Roeland E Wasmann,Chishala Chabala,Helena Rabie,Janice Lee,Irene Njahira Mukui,Anneke Hesseling,Heather Zar,Rob Aarnoutse,Anna Turkova,Diana Gibb,Mark F Cotton,Helen McIlleron,Paolo Denti
BACKGROUND The current World Health Organization (WHO) pediatric tuberculosis dosing guidelines lead to suboptimal drug exposures. Identifying factors altering the exposure of these drugs in children is essential for dose optimization. Pediatric pharmacokinetic studies are usually small, leading to high variability and uncertainty in pharmacokinetic results between studies. We pooled data from large
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Projected health and economic impacts of sugar-sweetened beverage taxation in Germany: A cross-validation modelling study. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-11-21 Karl M F Emmert-Fees,Ben Amies-Cull,Nina Wawro,Jakob Linseisen,Matthias Staudigel,Annette Peters,Linda J Cobiac,Martin O'Flaherty,Peter Scarborough,Chris Kypridemos,Michael Laxy
BACKGROUND Taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) have been implemented globally to reduce the burden of cardiometabolic diseases by disincentivizing consumption through increased prices (e.g., 1 peso/litre tax in Mexico) or incentivizing industry reformulation to reduce SSB sugar content (e.g., tiered structure of the United Kingdom [UK] Soft Drinks Industry Levy [SDIL]). In Germany, where no tax
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Patents and regulatory exclusivities on FDA-approved insulin products: A longitudinal database study, 1986-2019. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-11-16 Anders Olsen,Reed F Beall,Ryan P Knox,Sean S Tu,Aaron S Kesselheim,William B Feldman
BACKGROUND Insulin is the primary treatment for type 1 and some type 2 diabetes but remains costly in the United States, even though it was discovered more than a century ago. High prices can lead to nonadherence and are often sustained by patents and regulatory exclusivities that limit competition on brand-name products. We sought to examine how manufacturers have used patents and regulatory exclusivities
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Income-based differences in healthcare utilization in relation to mortality in the Swedish population between 2004-2017: A nationwide register study. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-11-16 Pär Flodin,Peter Allebeck,Ester Gubi,Bo Burström,Emilie E Agardh
BACKGROUND Despite universal healthcare, socioeconomic differences in healthcare utilization (HCU) persist in modern welfare states. However, little is known of how HCU inequalities has developed over time. The aim of this study is to assess time trends of differences in utilization of primary and specialized care for the lowest (Q1) and highest (Q5) income quantiles and compare these to mortality
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Rectal artesunate suppositories for the pre-referral treatment of suspected severe malaria. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-11-09 James A Watson,Thomas J Peto,Nicholas J White
In this Policy Forum article, James A. Watson and colleagues discuss recent guidelines relating to pre-referral treatment of suspected severe malaria with rectal artesunate suppositories in remote areas.
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Impact of cervical screening by human papillomavirus genotype: Population-based estimations. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-10-27 Jiangrong Wang,K Miriam Elfström,Camilla Lagheden,Carina Eklund,Karin Sundström,Pär Sparén,Joakim Dillner
BACKGROUND Cervical screening programs use testing for human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes. Different HPV types differ greatly in prevalence and oncogenicity. We estimated the impact of cervical screening and follow-up for each HPV type. METHODS AND FINDINGS For each type of HPV, we calculated the number of women needed to screen (NNS) and number of women needing follow-up (NNF) to detect or prevent
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Screening uptake of colonoscopy versus fecal immunochemical testing in first-degree relatives of patients with non-syndromic colorectal cancer: A multicenter, open-label, parallel-group, randomized trial (ParCoFit study). PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-10-24 Natalia González-López,Enrique Quintero,Antonio Z Gimeno-Garcia,Luis Bujanda,Jesús Banales,Joaquin Cubiella,María Salve-Bouzo,Jesus Miguel Herrero-Rivas,Estela Cid-Delgado,Victoria Alvarez-Sanchez,Alejandro Ledo-Rodríguez,Maria Luisa de-Castro-Parga,Romina Fernández-Poceiro,Luciano Sanromán-Álvarez,Jose Santiago-Garcia,Alberto Herreros-de-Tejada,Teresa Ocaña-Bombardo,Francesc Balaguer,María Rodríguez-Soler
BACKGROUND Colonoscopy screening is underused by first-degree relatives (FDRs) of patients with non-syndromic colorectal cancer (CRC) with screening completion rates below 50%. Studies conducted in FDR referred for screening suggest that fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) was not inferior to colonoscopy in terms of diagnostic yield and tumor staging, but screening uptake of FIT has not yet been tested
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Long-term risk of arrhythmias in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: A population-based, sibling-controlled cohort study. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-10-19 Jiangwei Sun,Bjorn Roelstraete,Emma Svennberg,Jonas Halfvarson,Johan Sundström,Anders Forss,Ola Olén,Jonas F Ludvigsson
BACKGROUND Although previous evidence has suggested an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), its association with arrhythmias is inconclusive. In this study, we aimed to explore the long-term risk of arrhythmias in patients with IBD. METHODS AND FINDINGS Through a nationwide histopathology cohort, we identified patients with biopsy-confirmed
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Gender and water, sanitation, and hygiene: Three opportunities to build from recent reporting on global progress, 2000-2022. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-10-18 Juliet Willetts,Jess MacArthur,Naomi Carrard
In this Perspective, Juliet Willetts and colleagues discuss opportunities to stimulate progress in gender-related aspects of water, sanitation and hygiene.
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Risk factors for extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing E. coli carriage among children in a food animal-producing region of Ecuador: A repeated measures observational study. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-10-13 Heather K Amato,Fernanda Loayza,Liseth Salinas,Diana Paredes,Daniela Garcia,Soledad Sarzosa,Carlos Saraiva-Garcia,Timothy J Johnson,Amy J Pickering,Lee W Riley,Gabriel Trueba,Jay P Graham
BACKGROUND The spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria may be driven by human-animal-environment interactions, especially in regions with limited restrictions on antibiotic use, widespread food animal production, and free-roaming domestic animals. In this study, we aimed to identify risk factors related to commercial food animal production, small-scale or "backyard" food animal production, domestic
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Towards mental health as a human right: The key role of lived experience. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-10-10 Louise Gaynor-Brook,
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Measuring people's views on health system performance: Design and development of the People's Voice Survey. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-10-06 Todd P Lewis,Neena R Kapoor,Amit Aryal,Rodrigo Bazua-Lobato,Susanne Carai,Emma Clarke-Deelder,Kevin Croke,Rashmi Dayalu,Laura Espinoza-Pajuelo,Günther Fink,Patricia J Garcia,Ezequiel Garcia-Elorrio,Theodros Getachew,Prashant Jarhyan,Munir Kassa,Soon Ae Kim,Agustina Mazzoni,Jesus Medina-Ranilla,Sailesh Mohan,Gebeyaw Molla,Mosa Moshabela,Inbarani Naidoo,Jacinta Nzinga,Juhwan Oh,Emelda A Okiro,Dorairaj
Todd Lewis and co-authors discuss development and use of the People's Voice Survey for health system assessment.
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Prioritizing persons deprived of liberty in global guidelines for tuberculosis preventive treatment. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-10-03 Aditya Narayan,Argita D Salindri,Salmaan Keshavjee,Monde Muyoyeta,Kavindhran Velen,Zulma V Rueda,Julio Croda,Salome Charalambous,Alberto L García-Basteiro,Sheela V Shenoi,Crhistinne C M Gonçalves,Liliane Ferreira da Silva,Lia G Possuelo,Sarita Aguirre,Gladys Estigarribia,Guillermo Sequera,Louis Grandjean,Lily Telisinghe,Michael E Herce,Fernanda Dockhorn,Frederick L Altice,Jason R Andrews
In this Policy Forum piece, Aditya Narayan and colleagues discuss the challenges and opportunities for tuberculosis preventive treatment in carceral settings.
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Assessing eligibility for lung cancer screening using parsimonious ensemble machine learning models: A development and validation study. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-10-03 Thomas Callender,Fergus Imrie,Bogdan Cebere,Nora Pashayan,Neal Navani,Mihaela van der Schaar,Sam M Janes
BACKGROUND Risk-based screening for lung cancer is currently being considered in several countries; however, the optimal approach to determine eligibility remains unclear. Ensemble machine learning could support the development of highly parsimonious prediction models that maintain the performance of more complex models while maximising simplicity and generalisability, supporting the widespread adoption
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Access to publicly funded weight management services in England using routine data from primary and secondary care (2007-2020): An observational cohort study. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-09-28 Karen D Coulman,Ruta Margelyte,Tim Jones,Jane M Blazeby,John Macleod,Amanda Owen-Smith,Helen Parretti,Richard Welbourn,Maria Theresa Redaniel,Andy Judge
BACKGROUND Adults living with overweight/obesity are eligible for publicly funded weight management (WM) programmes according to national guidance. People with the most severe and complex obesity are eligible for bariatric surgery. Primary care plays a key role in identifying overweight/obesity and referring to WM interventions. This study aimed to (1) describe the primary care population in England
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Evaluating socioeconomic inequalities in influenza vaccine uptake during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cohort study in Greater Manchester, England. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-09-26 Ruth Elizabeth Watkinson,Richard Williams,Stephanie Gillibrand,Luke Munford,Matt Sutton
BACKGROUND There are known socioeconomic inequalities in annual seasonal influenza (flu) vaccine uptake. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was associated with multiple factors that may have affected flu vaccine uptake, including widespread disruption to healthcare services, changes to flu vaccination eligibility and delivery, and increased public awareness and debate about vaccination
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Comprehensive mandatory policies are needed to fully protect all children from unhealthy food marketing. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-09-25 Francesca R Dillman Carpentier,Fernanda Mediano Stoltze,Barry M Popkin
The World Health Organization (WHO) have released a new guideline, "Policies to protect children from the harmful impact of food marketing" [1] which recommends the development of comprehensive laws to reduce children's exposure to unhealthy food marketing. This new guideline extends previous recommendations [2] to limit the adverse effects of unhealthy food marketing on the health of the world's children
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Recommendations on data sharing in HIV drug resistance research. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-09-22 Seth C Inzaule,Mark J Siedner,Susan J Little,Santiago Avila-Rios,Alisen Ayitewala,Ronald J Bosch,Vincent Calvez,Francesca Ceccherini-Silberstein,Charlotte Charpentier,Diane Descamps,Susan H Eshleman,Joseph Fokam,Lisa M Frenkel,Ravindra K Gupta,John P A Ioannidis,Pontiano Kaleebu,Rami Kantor,Seble G Kassaye,Sergei L Kosakovsky Pond,Vinie Kouamou,Roger D Kouyos,Daniel R Kuritzkes,Richard Lessells,Anne-Genevieve
• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) drug resistance has implications for antiretroviral treatment strategies and for containing the HIV pandemic because the development of HIV drug resistance leads to the requirement for antiretroviral drugs that may be less effective, less well-tolerated, and more expensive than those used in first-line regimens. • HIV drug resistance studies are designed to determine
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Impact of taxes and warning labels on red meat purchases among US consumers: A randomized controlled trial. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-09-18 Lindsey Smith Taillie,Maxime Bercholz,Carmen E Prestemon,Isabella C A Higgins,Anna H Grummon,Marissa G Hall,Lindsay M Jaacks
BACKGROUND Policies to reduce red meat intake are important for mitigating climate change and improving public health. We tested the impact of taxes and warning labels on red meat purchases in the United States. The main study question was, will taxes and warning labels reduce red meat purchases? METHODS AND FINDINGS We recruited 3,518 US adults to participate in a shopping task in a naturalistic online
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Estimating the proportion of clinically suspected cholera cases that are true Vibrio cholerae infections: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-09-14 Kirsten E Wiens,Hanmeng Xu,Kaiyue Zou,John Mwaba,Justin Lessler,Espoir Bwenge Malembaka,Maya N Demby,Godfrey Bwire,Firdausi Qadri,Elizabeth C Lee,Andrew S Azman
BACKGROUND Cholera surveillance relies on clinical diagnosis of acute watery diarrhea. Suspected cholera case definitions have high sensitivity but low specificity, challenging our ability to characterize cholera burden and epidemiology. Our objective was to estimate the proportion of clinically suspected cholera that are true Vibrio cholerae infections and identify factors that explain variation in
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Tuberculosis prevalence after 4 years of population-wide systematic TB symptom screening and universal testing and treatment for HIV in the HPTN 071 (PopART) community-randomised trial in Zambia and South Africa: A cross-sectional survey (TREATS). PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-09-08 Eveline Klinkenberg,Sian Floyd,Kwame Shanaube,Linda Mureithi,Thomas Gachie,Petra de Haas,Barry Kosloff,Peter J Dodd,Maria Ruperez,Chali Wapamesa,James Michael Burnett,Nico Kalisvaart,Nkatya Kasese,Redwaan Vermaak,Albertus Schaap,Sarah Fidler,Richard Hayes,Helen Ayles,
BACKGROUND Tuberculosis (TB) prevalence remains persistently high in many settings, with new or expanded interventions required to achieve substantial reductions. The HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 071 (PopART) community-randomised trial randomised 14 communities to receive the "PopART" intervention during 2014 to 2017 (7 arm A and 7 arm B communities) and 7 communities to receive standard-of-care
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Cost-effectiveness analysis of interventions to improve diagnosis and preventive therapy for paediatric tuberculosis in 9 sub-Saharan African countries: A modelling study. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-09-06 Nyashadzaishe Mafirakureva,Sushant Mukherjee,Mikhael de Souza,Cassandra Kelly-Cirino,Mario J P Songane,Jennifer Cohn,Jean-François Lemaire,Martina Casenghi,Peter J Dodd
BACKGROUND Over 1 million children aged 0 to 14 years were estimated to develop tuberculosis in 2021, resulting in over 200,000 deaths. Practical interventions are urgently needed to improve diagnosis and antituberculosis treatment (ATT) initiation in children aged 0 to 14 years and to increase coverage of tuberculosis preventive therapy (TPT) in children at high risk of developing tuberculosis disease
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Modern slavery in the United Kingdom: The illegal migration act risks undermining efforts to combat exploitation. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-09-05 Sian Oram
The Illegal Migration Act, which recently passed through the United Kingdom (UK) parliament, poses a serious threat to the well-being of victims of modern slavery and efforts to combat exploitation. The Act gives the UK Government greater powers to deny support and allow the detention and deportation of potential victims and has been widely criticised, including by medical associations and charities
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Multiple anthropometric measures and proarrhythmic 12-lead ECG indices: A mendelian randomization study. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-08-08 Maddalena Ardissino,Kiran Haresh Kumar Patel,Bilal Rayes,Rohin K Reddy,Greg J Mellor,Fu Siong Ng
BACKGROUND Observational studies suggest that electrocardiogram (ECG) indices might be influenced by obesity and other anthropometric measures, though it is difficult to infer causal relationships based on observational data due to risk of residual confounding. We utilized mendelian randomization (MR) to explore causal relevance of multiple anthropometric measures on P-wave duration (PWD), PR interval
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Effect of index HIV self-testing for sexual partners of clients enrolled in antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs in Malawi: A randomized controlled trial. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-08-04 Kathryn Dovel,Kelvin Balakasi,Khumbo Phiri,Frackson Shaba,Ogechukwu Agatha Offorjebe,Sundeep K Gupta,Vincent Wong,Eric Lungu,Brooke E Nichols,Tobias Masina,Anteneh Worku,Risa Hoffman,Mike Nyirenda
BACKGROUND HIV testing among the sexual partners of HIV-positive clients is critical for case identification and reduced transmission in southern and eastern Africa. HIV self-testing (HIVST) may improve uptake of HIV services among sexual partners of antiretroviral therapy (ART) clients, but the impact of HIVST on partner testing and subsequent ART initiation remains unclear. METHODS AND FINDINGS We
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Age- and sex-specific hospital bed-day rates in people with and without type 2 diabetes: A territory-wide population-based cohort study of 1.5 million people in Hong Kong. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-08-04 Hongjiang Wu,Aimin Yang,Eric S H Lau,Xinge Zhang,Baoqi Fan,Mai Shi,Chuiguo Huang,Ronald C W Ma,Alice P S Kong,Elaine Chow,Wing-Yee So,Juliana C N Chan,Andrea O Y Luk
BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes affects multiple systems. We aimed to compare age- and sex-specific rates of all-cause and cause-specific hospital bed-days between people with and without type 2 diabetes. METHODS AND FINDINGS Data were provided by the Hong Kong Hospital Authority. We included 1,516,508 one-to-one matched people with incident type 2 diabetes (n = 758,254) and those without diabetes during
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Cervical cerclage for prevention of preterm birth and adverse perinatal outcome in twin pregnancies with short cervical length or cervical dilatation: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-08-03 Francesco D'Antonio,Nashwa Eltaweel,Smriti Prasad,Maria Elena Flacco,Lamberto Manzoli,Asma Khalil
BACKGROUND The optimal approach to prevent preterm birth (PTB) in twins has not been fully established yet. Recent evidence suggests that placement of cervical cerclage in twin pregnancies with short cervical length at ultrasound or cervical dilatation at physical examination might be associated with a reduced risk of PTB. However, such evidence is based mainly on small studies thus questioning the
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Analysis of bacterial vaginosis, the vaginal microbiome, and sexually transmitted infections following the provision of menstrual cups in Kenyan schools: Results of a nested study within a cluster randomized controlled trial. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-07-25 Supriya D Mehta,Garazi Zulaika,Walter Agingu,Elizabeth Nyothach,Runa Bhaumik,Stefan J Green,Anna Maria van Eijk,Daniel Kwaro,Fredrick Otieno,Penelope Phillips-Howard
BACKGROUND Nonhygienic products for managing menstruation are reported to cause reproductive tract infections. Menstrual cups are a potential solution. We assessed whether menstrual cups would reduce bacterial vaginosis (BV), vaginal microbiome (VMB), and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) as studies have not evaluated this. METHODS AND FINDINGS A cluster randomized controlled trial was performed
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Effect of prenatal micronutrient-fortified balanced energy-protein supplementation on maternal and newborn body composition: A sub-study from the MISAME-III randomized controlled efficacy trial in rural Burkina Faso. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-07-24 Alemayehu Argaw,Laeticia Celine Toe,Giles Hanley-Cook,Trenton Dailey-Chwalibóg,Brenda de Kok,Lionel Ouédraogo,Anderson Compaoré,Moctar Ouédraogo,Amadi Sawadogo,Rasmané Ganaba,Katrien Vanslambrouck,Patrick Kolsteren,Carl Lachat,Lieven Huybregts
BACKGROUND Micronutrient-fortified balanced energy-protein (BEP) supplements are promising interventions to prevent intrauterine growth retardation in low- and middle-income countries. On the other hand, one concern with blanket prenatal supplementation programs using energy-dense supplements is that they could lead to more maternal and/or infant overweight. However, evidence is lacking on the potential
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Risk factors for inadequate and excessive gestational weight gain in 25 low- and middle-income countries: An individual-level participant meta-analysis. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-07-24 Anne Marie Darling,Dongqing Wang,Nandita Perumal,Enju Liu,Molin Wang,Tahmeed Ahmed,Parul Christian,Kathryn G Dewey,Gilberto Kac,Stephen H Kennedy,Vishak Subramoney,Brittany Briggs,Wafaie W Fawzi,
BACKGROUND Many women experience suboptimal gestational weight gain (GWG) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), but our understanding of risk factors associated with GWG in these settings is limited. We investigated the relationships between demographic, anthropometric, lifestyle, and clinical factors and GWG in prospectively collected data from LMICs. METHODS AND FINDINGS We conducted an individual
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Incidence of diabetes following COVID-19 vaccination and SARS-CoV-2 infection in Hong Kong: A population-based cohort study. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-07-24 Xi Xiong,David Tak Wai Lui,Matthew Shing Hin Chung,Ivan Chi Ho Au,Francisco Tsz Tsun Lai,Eric Yuk Fai Wan,Celine Sze Ling Chui,Xue Li,Franco Wing Tak Cheng,Ching-Lung Cheung,Esther Wai Yin Chan,Chi Ho Lee,Yu Cho Woo,Kathryn Choon Beng Tan,Carlos King Ho Wong,Ian Chi Kei Wong
BACKGROUND The risk of incident diabetes following Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination remains to be elucidated. Also, it is unclear whether the risk of incident diabetes after Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is modified by vaccination status or differs by SARS-CoV-2 variants. We evaluated the incidence of diabetes following mRNA (BNT162b2), inactivated
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Induction of labour at 39 weeks and adverse outcomes in low-risk pregnancies according to ethnicity, socioeconomic deprivation, and parity: A national cohort study in England. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-07-20 Patrick Muller,Amar M Karia,Kirstin Webster,Fran Carroll,George Dunn,Alissa Frémeaux,Tina Harris,Hannah Knight,Sam Oddie,Asma Khalil,Jan Van Der Meulen,Ipek Gurol-Urganci
BACKGROUND Ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities in obstetric outcomes are well established. However, the role of induction of labour (IOL) to reduce these inequalities is controversial, in part due to insufficient evidence. This national cohort study aimed to identify adverse perinatal outcomes associated with IOL with birth at 39 weeks of gestation ("IOL group") compared to expectant management ("expectant
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Paternal and maternal psychiatric history and risk of preterm and early term birth: A nationwide study using Swedish registers. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-07-20 Weiyao Yin,Jonas F Ludvigsson,Ulrika Åden,Kari Risnes,Martina Persson,Abraham Reichenberg,Michael E Silverman,Eero Kajantie,Sven Sandin
BACKGROUND Women with psychiatric diagnoses are at increased risk of preterm birth (PTB), with potential life-long impact on offspring health. Less is known about the risk of PTB in offspring of fathers with psychiatric diagnoses, and for couples where both parents were diagnosed. In a nationwide birth cohort, we examined the association between psychiatric history in fathers, mothers, and both parents
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Correction: Collateral impacts of pandemic COVID-19 drive the nosocomial spread of antibiotic resistance: A modelling study. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-07-19
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004240.].
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The age profile of respiratory syncytial virus burden in preschool children of low- and middle-income countries: A semi-parametric, meta-regression approach. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-07-17 Marina Antillón,Xiao Li,Lander Willem,Joke Bilcke,,Mark Jit,Philippe Beutels
BACKGROUND Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections are among the primary causes of death for children under 5 years of age worldwide. A notable challenge with many of the upcoming prophylactic interventions against RSV is their short duration of protection, making the age profile of key interest to the design of prevention strategies. METHODS AND FINDINGS We leverage the RSV data collected on
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Antimicrobial resistance: Strengthening surveillance for public health action. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-07-12 Silvia Bertagnolio,Amitabh Bipin Suthar,Olga Tosas,Kitty Van Weezenbeek
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Understanding the impact of antimicrobial resistance on outcomes of bloodstream infections in low- and middle-income countries. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-07-12 Marlieke E A de Kraker
Marlieke de Kraker discusses a systematic review and meta-analysis reporting the magnitude and consequences of bloodstream infections in low- and middle-income countries.
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Blood-based epigenome-wide analyses of 19 common disease states: A longitudinal, population-based linked cohort study of 18,413 Scottish individuals. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-07-06 Robert F Hillary,Daniel L McCartney,Hannah M Smith,Elena Bernabeu,Danni A Gadd,Aleksandra D Chybowska,Yipeng Cheng,Lee Murphy,Nicola Wrobel,Archie Campbell,Rosie M Walker,Caroline Hayward,Kathryn L Evans,Andrew M McIntosh,Riccardo E Marioni
BACKGROUND DNA methylation is a dynamic epigenetic mechanism that occurs at cytosine-phosphate-guanine dinucleotide (CpG) sites. Epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) investigate the strength of association between methylation at individual CpG sites and health outcomes. Although blood methylation may act as a peripheral marker of common disease states, previous EWAS have typically focused only
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Value of a catch-up HPV test in women aged 65 and above: A Danish population-based nonrandomized intervention study. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-07-06 Mette Tranberg,Lone Kjeld Petersen,Anne Hammer,Miriam Elfström,Jan Blaakær,Susanne Fogh Jørgensen,Mary Holten Bennetsen,Jørgen Skov Jensen,Berit Andersen
BACKGROUND High-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) test is replacing cytology as the primary cervical cancer screening test due to superior sensitivity, but in most countries women ≥65 years have never had an HPV test despite they account for around 50% of cervical cancer deaths. We explored the effect of a catch-up HPV test among 65- to 69-year-old women without previous record of HPV-based screening
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Antimicrobial Resistance: Addressing a Global Threat to Humanity. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-07-03 Timothy R Walsh,Ana C Gales,Ramanan Laxminarayan,Philippa C Dodd
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Exposure of progressive immune dysfunction by SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia: A prospective cohort study. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-06-29 Kai Qin,Kazuhito Honjo,Scott Sherrill-Mix,Weimin Liu,Regina M Stoltz,Allisa K Oman,Lucinda A Hall,Ran Li,Sarah Sterrett,Ellen R Frederick,Jeffrey R Lancaster,Mayur Narkhede,Amitkumar Mehta,Foluso J Ogunsile,Rima B Patel,Thomas J Ketas,Victor M Cruz Portillo,Albert Cupo,Benjamin M Larimer,Anju Bansal,Paul A Goepfert,Beatrice H Hahn,Randall S Davis
BACKGROUND Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) have reduced seroconversion rates and lower binding antibody (Ab) and neutralizing antibody (NAb) titers than healthy individuals following Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) mRNA vaccination. Here, we dissected vaccine-mediated humoral and cellular responses to understand the mechanisms underlying CLL-induced immune
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Efficacy and Safety of Tofacitinib in Patients with Polymyalgia Rheumatica (EAST PMR): An open-label randomized controlled trial. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-06-29 Xinlei Ma,Fan Yang,Jinzhi Wu,Bei Xu,Mengdi Jiang,Yiduo Sun,Chuanying Sun,Ye Yu,Danyi Xu,Lanlan Xiao,Chunyun Ren,Chunyan Chen,Zi Ye,Junyu Liang,Jin Lin,Weiqian Chen
BACKGROUND Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is a common inflammatory disease in elderly persons whose mechanism of pathogenesis has not been elucidated. Glucocorticoids are the main first-line treatments but result in numerous side effects. Therefore, there is a need to explore pathogenetic factors and identify possible glucocorticoid-sparing agents. We aimed to study the pathogenetic features of the disease
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Impact of antibiotics on gut microbiome composition and resistome in the first years of life in low- to middle-income countries: A systematic review. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-06-27 Charlie C Luchen,Mwelwa Chibuye,Rene Spijker,Michelo Simuyandi,Caroline Chisenga,Samuel Bosomprah,Roma Chilengi,Constance Schultsz,Daniel R Mende,Vanessa C Harris
BACKGROUND Inappropriate antimicrobial usage is a key driver of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are disproportionately burdened by AMR and young children are especially vulnerable to infections with AMR-bearing pathogens. The impact of antibiotics on the microbiome, selection, persistence, and horizontal spread of AMR genes is insufficiently characterized and
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Caloric reductions needed to achieve obesity goals in Mexico for 2030 and 2040: A modeling study. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-06-26 Francisco Reyes-Sánchez,Ana Basto-Abreu,Rossana Torres-Álvarez,Martha Carnalla-Cortés,Alan Reyes-García,Boyd Swinburn,Rafael Meza,Juan A Rivera,Barry Popkin,Tonatiuh Barientos-Gutiérrez
BACKGROUND In Mexico, obesity prevalence among adults increased from 23% in 2000 to 36% in 2018, approximately. Mexico has not defined short- or long-term obesity goals, obscuring the level of effort required to achieve a relevant impact. We aimed to explore potential obesity goals for 2030 and 2040 in Mexico and to estimate the required caloric reductions to achieve them. METHODS AND FINDINGS We obtained
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Association between migration and severe maternal outcomes in high-income countries: Systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-06-22 Maxime Eslier,Elie Azria,Konstantinos Chatzistergiou,Zelda Stewart,Agnès Dechartres,Catherine Deneux-Tharaux
BACKGROUND Literature focusing on migration and maternal health inequalities is inconclusive, possibly because of the heterogeneous definitions and settings studied. We aimed to synthesize the literature comparing the risks of severe maternal outcomes in high-income countries between migrant and native-born women, overall and by host country and region of birth. METHODS AND FINDINGS Systematic literature
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The impact of inpatient bloodstream infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-06-22 Kasim Allel,Jennifer Stone,Eduardo A Undurraga,Lucy Day,Catrin E Moore,Leesa Lin,Luis Furuya-Kanamori,Laith Yakob
BACKGROUND Bloodstream infections (BSIs) produced by antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) cause a substantial disease burden worldwide. However, most estimates come from high-income settings and thus are not globally representative. This study quantifies the excess mortality, length of hospital stay (LOS), intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and economic costs associated with ARB BSIs, compared to
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Prevalence and clonal diversity of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae causing neonatal infections: A systematic review of 128 articles across 30 countries. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-06-20 Ya Hu,Yongqiang Yang,Yu Feng,Qingqing Fang,Chengcheng Wang,Feifei Zhao,Alan McNally,Zhiyong Zong
BACKGROUND Klebsiella pneumoniae is the most common pathogen causing neonatal infections, leading to high mortality worldwide. Along with increasing antimicrobial use in neonates, carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae (CRKP) has emerged as a severe challenge for infection control and treatment. However, no comprehensive systematic review is available to describe the global epidemiology of neonatal CRKP
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Implications of reducing antibiotic treatment duration for antimicrobial resistance in hospital settings: A modelling study and meta-analysis. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-06-15 Yin Mo,Mathupanee Oonsivilai,Cherry Lim,Rene Niehus,Ben S Cooper
BACKGROUND Reducing antibiotic treatment duration is a key component of hospital antibiotic stewardship interventions. However, its effectiveness in reducing antimicrobial resistance is uncertain and a clear theoretical rationale for the approach is lacking. In this study, we sought to gain a mechanistic understanding of the relation between antibiotic treatment duration and the prevalence of colonisation
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Major trauma presentations and patient outcomes in English hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic: An observational cohort study. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-06-14 Carl Marincowitz,Omar Bouamra,Tim Coats,Dhushy Surendra Kumar,David Lockey,Lyndon Mason,Virginia Newcombe,Julian Thompson,Antoinette Edwards,Fiona Lecky
BACKGROUND Single-centre studies suggest that successive Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related "lockdown" restrictions in England may have led to significant changes in the characteristics of major trauma patients. There is also evidence from other countries that diversion of intensive care capacity and other healthcare resources to treating patients with COVID-19 may have impacted on outcomes
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Migraine and risk of premature myocardial infarction and stroke among men and women: A Danish population-based cohort study. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-06-13 Cecilia Hvitfeldt Fuglsang,Lars Pedersen,Morten Schmidt,Jan P Vandenbroucke,Hans Erik Bøtker,Henrik Toft Sørensen
BACKGROUND Migraine carries risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke. The risk of premature MI (i.e., among young adults) and stroke differs between men and women; previous studies indicate that migraine is mainly associated with an increased risk of stroke among young women. The aim of this study was to examine impact of migraine on the risk of premature (age ≤60 years) MI and ischemic/hemorrhagic
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Global incidence in hospital-associated infections resistant to antibiotics: An analysis of point prevalence surveys from 99 countries. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-06-13 Ruchita Balasubramanian,Thomas P Van Boeckel,Yehuda Carmeli,Sara Cosgrove,Ramanan Laxminarayan
BACKGROUND Hospital-associated infections (HAIs) are an important cause of morbidity and mortality around the world. Many HAIs are caused by drug-resistant bacterial pathogens, but there are major gaps in our understanding of the number of hospital-associated drug-resistant infections (HARIs) worldwide. As such, we estimated trends in prevalence of HARIs caused by high priority pathogens (Escherichia
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The association between alcohol consumption and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma according to glycemic status in Korea: A nationwide population-based study. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-06-12 Eun Ju Cho,Goh Eun Chung,Jeong-Ju Yoo,Yuri Cho,Dong Wook Shin,Yoon Jun Kim,Jung-Hwan Yoon,Kyungdo Han,Su Jong Yu
BACKGROUND Alcohol and diabetes are known risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, it is unclear whether the association between alcohol consumption and HCC risk differs by fasting serum glucose level and diabetes. We investigated the dose-response relationship between alcohol consumption and the risk of HCC according to glycemic status. METHODS AND FINDINGS This population-based observational
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Same-day testing with initiation of antiretroviral therapy or tuberculosis treatment versus standard care for persons presenting with tuberculosis symptoms at HIV diagnosis: A randomized open-label trial from Haiti. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-06-09 Nancy Dorvil,Vanessa R Rivera,Cynthia Riviere,Richard Berman,Patrice Severe,Heejung Bang,Kerlyne Lavoile,Jessy G Devieux,Mikerlyne Faustin,Giovanni Saintyl,Maria Duran Mendicuti,Samuel Pierre,Alexandra Apollon,Emelyne Dumond,Guyrlaine Pierre Louis Forestal,Vanessa Rouzier,Adias Marcelin,Margaret L McNairy,Kathleen F Walsh,Kathryn Dupnik,Lindsey K Reif,Anthony L Byrne,Stephanie Bousleiman,Eli Orvis
BACKGROUND Same-day HIV testing and antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation is being widely implemented. However, the optimal timing of ART among patients with tuberculosis (TB) symptoms is unknown. We hypothesized that same-day treatment (TB treatment for those diagnosed with TB; ART for those not diagnosed with TB) would be superior to standard care in this population. METHODS AND FINDINGS We conducted
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Patterns of antibiotic use, pathogens, and prediction of mortality in hospitalized neonates and young infants with sepsis: A global neonatal sepsis observational cohort study (NeoOBS). PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-06-08 Neal J Russell,Wolfgang Stöhr,Nishad Plakkal,Aislinn Cook,James A Berkley,Bethou Adhisivam,Ramesh Agarwal,Nawshad Uddin Ahmed,Manica Balasegaram,Daynia Ballot,Adrie Bekker,Eitan Naaman Berezin,Davide Bilardi,Suppawat Boonkasidecha,Cristina G Carvalheiro,Neema Chami,Suman Chaurasia,Sara Chiurchiu,Viviane Rinaldi Favarin Colas,Simon Cousens,Tim R Cressey,Ana Carolina Dantas de Assis,Tran Minh Dien,Yijun
BACKGROUND There is limited data on antibiotic treatment in hospitalized neonates in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We aimed to describe patterns of antibiotic use, pathogens, and clinical outcomes, and to develop a severity score predicting mortality in neonatal sepsis to inform future clinical trial design. METHODS AND FINDINGS Hospitalized infants <60 days with clinical sepsis were enrolled
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Risk of myocarditis and pericarditis after a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine booster and after COVID-19 in those with and without prior SARS-CoV-2 infection: A self-controlled case series analysis in England. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-06-07 Julia Stowe,Elizabeth Miller,Nick Andrews,Heather J Whitaker
BACKGROUND An increased risk of myocarditis or pericarditis after priming with mRNA Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines has been shown but information on the risk post-booster is limited. With the now high prevalence of prior Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, we assessed the effect of prior infection on the vaccine risk and the risk from COVID-19 reinfection
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Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing and its determinants among outpatient children in 3 low- and middle-income countries: A multicentric community-based cohort study. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-06-06 Antoine Ardillon,Lison Ramblière,Elsa Kermorvant-Duchemin,Touch Sok,Andrianirina Zafitsara Zo,Jean-Baptiste Diouf,Pring Long,Siyin Lach,Fatoumata Diene Sarr,Laurence Borand,Felix Cheysson,Jean-Marc Collard,Perlinot Herindrainy,Agathe de Lauzanne,Muriel Vray,Elisabeth Delarocque-Astagneau,Didier Guillemot,Bich-Tram Huynh,
BACKGROUND Antibiotic resistance is a global public health issue, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where antibiotics required to treat resistant infections are not affordable. LMICs also bear a disproportionately high burden of bacterial diseases, particularly among children, and resistance jeopardizes progress made in these areas. Although outpatient antibiotic use is a major
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Treatment effect modification due to comorbidity: Individual participant data meta-analyses of 120 randomised controlled trials. PLOS Med. (IF 15.8) Pub Date : 2023-06-06 Peter Hanlon,Elaine W Butterly,Anoop Sv Shah,Laurie J Hannigan,Jim Lewsey,Frances S Mair,David M Kent,Bruce Guthrie,Sarah H Wild,Nicky J Welton,Sofia Dias,David A McAllister
BACKGROUND People with comorbidities are underrepresented in clinical trials. Empirical estimates of treatment effect modification by comorbidity are lacking, leading to uncertainty in treatment recommendations. We aimed to produce estimates of treatment effect modification by comorbidity using individual participant data (IPD). METHODS AND FINDINGS We obtained IPD for 120 industry-sponsored phase