Upsala journal of medical sciences
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The burden of disease from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic is large; however, suicide affects the population year after year. From a public health perspective, it is important to not neglect contributors to the total burden of disease. The aim of this paper is to compare years of life lost (YLL) to suicide with those lost to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). ⋯ YLL to suicide affects Sweden year after year, foremost attributable to the younger age groups, whereas YLL to COVID-19 is foremost attributable to the elderly. On average, each suicide generates four times more YLL than a COVID-19 death. Enormous efforts and resources have been put on tackling the pandemic, and without these, the burden would probably have been much larger. However, from a public health perspective, it is important to not neglect other contributors to the total burden of disease where national efforts also may have an impact.
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Electronic medical records (EMRs) are adopted for storing patient-related healthcare information. Using data mining techniques, it is possible to make use of and derive benefit from this massive amount of data effectively. We aimed to evaluate validity of data extracted by the Customized eXtraction Program (CXP). ⋯ Utilisation of the CXP software can be considered as an effective way to extract relevant EMR data without significant errors. Hence, by extracting from EMRs, CXP accurately identifies patients and has the capacity to facilitate research studies and clinical trials by finding patients with the requested code as well as funnel down itemised individuals according to specified inclusion and exclusion criteria. Beyond this, medical procedures and laboratory data can rapidly be retrieved from the EMRs to create tailored databases of extracted material for immediate use in clinical trials.
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Better knowledge of long-term symptoms following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the so-called post-COVID-19, in non-hospitalized patients is needed. The aim of this study was to study persisent symptoms up to 12 months after COVID-19 in non-hospitalized patients and their impact on work ability. We also investigated predictors of persistent symptoms. ⋯ This study indicated that many people who had mild COVID-19 might have a variety of long-term symptoms. It highlights the importance of considering work ability after mild COVID-19.
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Observational Study
Effects of lipid-lowering treatment intensity and adherence on cardiovascular outcomes in patients with a recent myocardial infarction: a Swedish register-based study.
Oral lipid-lowering treatment (LLT) is the standard of care for patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, insufficient treatment intensity and poor adherence can lead to suboptimal treatment benefit, rendering patients at increased risk of CVD. ⋯ The proportion of post-MI patients with high LLT intensity and adherence has increased in recent years, with little change after transfer from specialist to primary care. The combination of LLT intensity and adherence is important for preventing future cardiovascular events.
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The aim was to investigate inferences of statistically significant test results among persons with more or less statistical education and research experience. ⋯ Misinterpretation of P-values and statistically significant test results persists also among persons who have substantial statistical education and who work professionally with statistics.