How To Analyse Your Research Data? Illustrations with Hands-On Exercises Using SPSS

Statistical analysis for a quantitative study is often perceived to be the most difficult step by a novice researcher. The objective of this paper is to provide step by step guides to analyse quantitative data. A common research topic on diabetes is used to illustrate the approach in data analysis. There are several statistical software packages available to assist researchers in data analysis. SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) software is applied in the hands-on example. The dataset about blood glucose control in diabetic patients and a trial version of SPSS are made available online. Having studied the paper and practiced the hands-on example, a reader is expected to be able to apply and interpret appropriate statistical tests for his/ her research

Prevalence and associated risk factors of depression, anxiety and stress in pregnancy

Background: Pregnancy is considered as state of emotional well-being. However, pregnancy increases the vulnerability to emotional and psychological conditions such as depression, anxiety, stress and psychoses which have implications to the mother and adverse perinatal outcomes. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence and identify the obstetrical and socioeconomic risk factors associated with common mental disorders in the antepartum period by screening and clinical diagnostic interview.Methods: This was a cross sectional study of pregnant women receiving antenatal care in two antenatal health clinics at Malaysia. Pregnant women were screened twice (16-22 weeks and 34-36 weeks) for common mental disorders by administering depression anxiety and stress scale (DASS-21). A detailed structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio-demographic and obstetric characteristics of subjects. Women who screened positive for common mental disorders (DASS 21 scores: depression > 10, anxiety >8, stress >15) were clinically assessed by trained clinician using mini international neuropsychiatric interview (MINI).Results: Among 288 women screened, the overall prevalence of antenatal depression, anxiety and stress was 23.6% (n=68) in the second trimester and 24.7% (n=71) in third trimester. The commonest mental health problems are anxiety, 18.8% depression 6.9% and stress 4.2%. Diagnostic clinical interview with MINI diagnosed 34% with adjustment disorder, 23% with anxiety spectrum conditions (panic and GAD) and 8.5% major depressive illness. There was no significant difference in developing common mental disorders between second and third trimester (p>0.05). The socio-demographic factors associated with mental health disorders were low socioeconomic status (p<0.02), lack of family support (p<0.028), partner violence (p<0.002) and obstetrics factors include unplanned pregnancy (p<0.01).Conclusions: Anxiety, depression and stress are associated with identifiable socioeconomic and obstetric risk factors

The genetic architecture of type 2 diabetes

The genetic architecture of common traits, including the number, frequency, and effect sizes of inherited variants that contribute to individual risk, has been long debated. Genome-wide association studies have identified scores of common variants associated with type 2 diabetes, but in aggregate, these explain only a fraction of heritability. To test the hypothesis that lower-frequency variants explain much of the remainder, the GoT2D and T2D-GENES consortia performed whole genome sequencing in 2,657 Europeans with and without diabetes, and exome sequencing in a total of 12,940 subjects from five ancestral groups. To increase statistical power, we expanded sample size via genotyping and imputation in a further 111,548 subjects. Variants associated with type 2 diabetes after sequencing were overwhelmingly common and most fell within regions previously identified by genome-wide association studies. Comprehensive enumeration of sequence variation is necessary to identify functional alleles that provide important clues to disease pathophysiology, but large-scale sequencing does not support a major role for lower-frequency variants in predisposition to type 2 diabetes

A multi-ancestry genome-wide study incorporating gene-smoking interactions identifies multiple new loci for pulse pressure and mean arterial pressure

Elevated blood pressure (BP), a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality, is influenced by both genetic and lifestyle factors. Cigarette smoking is one such lifestyle factor. Across five ancestries, we performed a genome-wide gene-smoking interaction study of mean arterial pressure (MAP) and pulse pressure (PP) in 129 913 individuals in stage 1 and follow-up analysis in 480 178 additional individuals in stage 2. We report here 136 loci significantly associated with MAP and/or PP. Of these, 61 were previously published through main-effect analysis of BP traits, 37 were recently reported by us for systolic BP and/or diastolic BP through gene-smoking interaction analysis and 38 were newly identified (P <5 x 10(-8), false discovery rate <0.05). We also identified nine new signals near known loci. Of the 136 loci, 8 showed significant interaction with smoking status. They include CSMD1 previously reported for insulin resistance and BP in the spontaneously hypertensive rats. Many of the 38 new loci show biologic plausibility for a role in BP regulation. SLC26A7 encodes a chloride/bicarbonate exchanger expressed in the renal outer medullary collecting duct. AVPR1A is widely expressed, including in vascular smooth muscle cells, kidney, myocardium and brain. FHAD1 is a long non-coding RNA overexpressed in heart failure. TMEM51 was associated with contractile function in cardiomyocytes. CASP9 plays a central role in cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Identified only in African ancestry were 30 novel loci. Our findings highlight the value of multi-ancestry investigations, particularly in studies of interaction with lifestyle factors, where genomic and lifestyle differences may contribute to novel findings.Peer reviewe

Sodium valproate induced necrotising pancreatitis: A case report

Sodium valproate is one of the most common first-line antiepileptics prescribed for primary and secondary generalised seizures. However, serious complications associated with sodium valproate, such as acute pancreatitis, need to be considered when choosing this medication for treating epilepsy in certain populations such as children and persons with intellectual disability. We report a case of a 21-year-old man with intellectual disability who presented to the emergency department with an acute abdomen, vomiting and diarrhoea. He had to undergo an emergency exploratory laparotomy during which acute necrotising pancreatitis was diagnosed intra-operatively. We believe that the recent increase in sodium valproate dosage for his epilepsy was the cause of the pancreatitis. Carers of such persons should be adequately informed regarding possible life-threatening complications of medications prescribed to avoid delay in diagnosis and unwanted incidents

Post dengue neurological complication

Dengue infection is highly endemic in many tropical countries including Malaysia. However, neurological complications arising from dengue infection is not common; Gullain–Barre syndrome (GBS) is one of these infrequent complications. In this paper, we have reported a case in which a 39-year-old woman presented with a neurological complication of dengue infection without typical symptoms and signs of dengue fever. She had a history of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) followed by an upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) weeks prior to her presentation rendering GBS secondary to the post viral URTI and AGE as the most likely diagnosis. Presence of thrombocytopenia was the only clue for dengue in this case