Boosting treatment outcomes via the patient-practitioner relationship, treatment-beliefs or therapeutic setting. A systematic review with meta-analysis of contextual effects in chronic musculoskeletal pain.

Objective: To ascertain whether manipulating contextual effects (e.g. interaction with patients, or beliefs about treatments) boosted the outcomes of non-pharmacological and non-surgicaltreatments for chronic primary musculoskeletal pain.Design: Systematic review of randomized controlled trialsData Sources: We searched for trials in six databases, citation tracking, and clinical trials registers. We included trials that compared treatments with enhanced contextual effects with the same treatments without enhancement in adults with chronic primary musculoskeletal pain.Data synthesis: The outcomes of interest were pain intensity, physical functioning, global ratings of improvement, quality of life, depression, anxiety, and sleep. We evaluated risk of bias and certainty of the evidence using Cochrane Risk of Bias tool 2.0 and the GRADE approach, respectively.Results: Of 17637 records, we included 10 trials with 990 participants and identified 5 ongoing trials. The treatments were acupuncture, education, exercise training, and physical therapy. The contextual effects that were improved in the enhanced treatments were patient-practitioner relationship, patient beliefs and characteristics, therapeutic setting/environment, and treatment characteristics. Our analysis showed that improving contextual effects in non-pharmacological and non-surgical treatments may not make much difference on pain intensity (mean difference [MD] : -1.77, 95%-CI: [-8.71; 5.16], k = 7 trials, N = 719 participants, Scale: 0-100, GRADE: Low)) or physical functioning (MD: -0.27, 95%-CI: [-1.02; 0.49], 95%-PI: [-2.04; 1.51], k = 6 , N = 567, Scale: 0-10, GRADE: Low) in the short-term and at later follow-ups. Sensitivity analyses revealed similar findings.Conclusion: Whilst evidence gaps exist, per current evidence it may not be possible to achieve meaningful benefit for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain by manipulating the context of non-pharmacological and non-surgical treatments

Lagged association between climate variables and hospital admissions for pneumonia admissions in South Africa

Pneumonia is a leading cause of hospitalization in South Africa. Climate change could potentially affect its incidence via changes in meteorological conditions. We investigated the delayed effects of temperature and relative humidity on pneumonia hospital admissions at two large public hospitals in Limpopo province, South Africa. Using 4062 pneumonia hospital admission records from 2007 to 2015, a time-varying distributed lag non-linear model was used to estimate temperature-lag and relative humidity-lag pneumonia relationships. Mean temperature, relative humidity and diurnal temperature range were all significantly associated with pneumonia admissions. Cumulatively across the 21-day period, higher mean daily temperature (30 °C relative to 21 °C) was most strongly associated with a decreased rate of hospital admissions (relative rate ratios (RR): 0.34, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.14–0.82), whereas results were suggestive of lower mean daily temperature (12 °C relative to 21 °C) being associated with an increased rate of admissions (RR: 1.27, 95%CI: 0.75–2.16). Higher relative humidity (>80%) was associated with fewer hospital admissions while low relative humidity (<30%) was associated with increased admissions. A proportion of pneumonia admissions were attributable to changes in meteorological variables, and our results indicate that even small shifts in their distributions (e.g., due to climate change) could lead to substantial changes in their burden. These findings can inform a better understanding of the health implications of climate change and the burden of hospital admissions for pneumonia now and in the future

Vasomotor symptoms resulting from natural menopause:a systematic review and network meta-analysis of treatment effects from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline on menopause

Background: Vasomotor symptoms (VMS) are the hallmarks of menopause, occurring in approximately 75% of postmenopausal women in the UK and are severe in 25%. Objectives: To identify which treatments are most clinically effective for the relief of VMS for non-hysterectomized women in natural menopause. Search Strategy: English publications in MEDLINE, Embase and The Cochrane Library up to 13th January 2015 were searched. Selection Criteria: Randomized trials (RCTs) of treatments for women with a uterus for the outcomes of frequency of VMS (up to 26 weeks), vaginal bleeding and discontinuation. Data Collection and Analysis: Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA) using mean ratios (MRs) and odd ratios (ORs). Main Results: Across the three networks, 47 RCTs of 16 treatment classes (N=8326 women) were included. When compared to placebo, transdermal oestradiol and progestogen (O+P) had the highest probability of being the most effective treatment for VMS relief (69.8%) (MR: 0.23 [95%CrI (0.09, 0.57)] whereas oral O+P was ranked lower than transdermal O+P, although oral and transdermal O+P were no different for this outcome (MR: 2.23 [95%CrI (0.7, 7.1)]. Isoflavones and black cohosh were more effective than placebo, though not significantly better than O+P. Not only were SSRIs or SNRIs found ineffective in relieving VMS but they also had significantly higher odds of discontinuation than placebo. Limited data were available for bleeding therefore no conclusions could be made. Conclusions: For non-hysterectomized women, transdermal O+P was the most effective treatment for VMS relief

Non-optimal apparent temperature and cardiovascular mortality: the association in Puducherry, India between 2011 and 2020

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), the leading cause of death worldwide, are sensitive to temperature. In light of the reported climate change trends, it is important to understand the burden of CVDs attributable to temperature, both hot and cold. The association between CVDs and temperature is region-specific, with relatively few studies focusing on low-and middle-income countries. This study investigates this association in Puducherry, a district in southern India lying on the Bay of Bengal, for the first time. METHODS: Using in-hospital CVD mortality data and climate data from the Indian Meteorological Department, we analyzed the association between apparent temperature (Tapp) and in-hospital CVD mortalities in Puducherry between 2011 and 2020. We used a case-crossover model with a binomial likelihood distribution combined with a distributed lag non-linear model to capture the delayed and non-linear trends over a 21-day lag period to identify the optimal temperature range for Puducherry. The results are expressed as the fraction of CVD mortalities attributable to heat and cold, defined relative to the optimal temperature. We also performed stratified analyses to explore the associations between Tapp and age-and-sex, grouped and considered together, and different types of CVDs. Sensitivity analyses were performed, including using a quasi-Poisson time-series approach. RESULTS: We found that the optimal temperature range for Puducherry is between 30°C and 36°C with respect to CVDs. Both cold and hot non-optimal Tapp were associated with an increased risk of overall in-hospital CVD mortalities, resulting in a U-shaped association curve. Cumulatively, up to 17% of the CVD deaths could be attributable to non-optimal temperatures, with a slightly higher burden attributable to heat (9.1%) than cold (8.3%). We also found that males were more vulnerable to colder temperature; females above 60 years were more vulnerable to heat while females below 60 years were affected by both heat and cold. Mortality with cerebrovascular accidents was associated more with heat compared to cold, while ischemic heart diseases did not seem to be affected by temperature. CONCLUSION: Both heat and cold contribute to the burden of CVDs attributable to non-optimal temperatures in the tropical Puducherry. Our study also identified the age-and-sex and CVD type differences in temperature attributable CVD mortalities. Further studies from India could identify regional associations, inform our understanding of the health implications of climate change in India and enhance the development of regional and contextual climate-health action-plans