The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide rates in Hungary: an interrupted time-series analysis

BACKGROUND: From 2010 to 2019, suicide mortality fell steadily and substantially in Hungary: the declining trend remained stable, and the suicide rate decreased by more than one-third which was remarkable even from an international perspective. However, despite the declining trend, regional inequalities have always characterised the distribution of suicide mortality in Hungary. Following these favourable trends, COVID-19 appeared in Hungary on the 4(th) of March 2020 which might lead to an increase in suicides. We aimed to investigate this hypothesis in Hungary by gender, age, educational attainment, and region, as well. METHODS: To test whether the pandemic changed the declining trend of Hungarian suicide rates, the observed number of suicides during March–December 2020 (pre-vaccination period) was compared with the expected numbers (without the appearance of COVID-19). An interrupted time-series analysis was conducted by negative binomial regression using monthly data from January 2010 to February 2020 (pre-pandemic period). RESULTS: Suicide mortality increased significantly compared to the trend during the pre-pandemic period: overall (by 16.7%), among males (18.5%), in the age group 35–49 years (32.8%), and among vocational school graduates (26.1%). Additionally, significant growths in suicide rates were detected in the two regions (Central Hungary and Central Transdanubia) with the lowest COVID mortality rates (by 27.3% and 22.2%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed reversed trend in suicide mortality during the pre-vaccination period compared to the pre-pandemic period in Hungary. There were significant differences in the pattern of suicide rates by gender, age group, educational attainment, and region during the pre-vaccination period in Hungary, which might be attributed to the socio-economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings could prove useful in preventive strategies as the identification of groups at higher risk may be important for suicide prevention; however, further investigations are needed to explore the reasons. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12888-022-04322-2

The impact of the first year of COVID-19 pandemic on suicides in a collection of 27 EU-related countries

Disasters, including epidemics, have a characteristic course, both in terms of the specific events and the human reactions to them. However, it is difficult to predict whether the COVID-19 pandemic will eventually lead to an increase in suicide rates. We aimed to provide a general pattern of the change in suicide rates in the countries linked to the European Union by direct comparison of the years 2019 and 2020 by gender and age group, grouped according to the predominant religions. Overall, 27 countries were included in the analysis. Incidence rate ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were calculated to characterise annual changes in the incidence of suicide deaths. In almost two-thirds of the countries studied, suicide rates did not increase. The largest increases were observed in Catholic-majority and ‘mixed’ Catholic-Protestant countries, but this was significant only for the oldest age group (over 65 years). This increase was even more marked within some Catholic-majority countries (Hungary, Ireland, and Spain) during the first months of the pandemic. There was no statistically significant increase overall in the suicide death rates in Europe. However, the pattern of suicide rates has changed significantly in some countries, and by age group and religion, respectively

Patterns of suicide deaths in Hungary between 1995 and 2017

Hungary has had one of the highest suicide mortality rates in the world for decades. Investigating seasonality of suicide deaths is essential as its findings could be key elements in the prevention. In our study we have analyzed the seasonal effect in suicide mortality in relation to possible risk factors in Hungary during 1995–2017. Data on the numbers of suicide deaths were obtained from a published online database. Negative binomial regression was employed to investigate the effect of possible risk factors and seasonal and annual trends in suicide rates. The seasonal effect was further investigated, adding a significant risk factor from the “initial” negative binomial regression. The suicide risk was significantly (p < 0.001) higher in men than in women (incidence rate ratio: 3.48), and it increased with age and decreased with education level. Marriage was a protective factor against suicide. Annual suicide mortality declined significantly (p < 0.001 for trend) from 36.7 (95% confidence interval: 35.5–37.9) to 16.5 (15.7–17.3) per 100,000 persons per year during the study period. Significant seasonality was found in suicide rates with a peak in late June. Similar peaks were observed at each level of each risk factor. There were differences in peaks by suicide method. The peak of non-violent suicides was in early June; suicides committed by violent methods peaked half a month later. This study suggests that there was a significant seasonal effect on suicide deaths between 1995 and 2017, which remained significant even in the presence of each risk factor. To our knowledge, this has been the first study to investigate the seasonal pattern so extensively in Hungary. Our findings confirm that the environmental effects are involved in the etiology of suicide mortality

Examination of the vascularization of fetal kidney with three-dimensional power Doppler technique in pregnancies complicated by increased maternal blood pressure

The goal of this study was to investigate the fetal renal vascularization during the third trimester of gestation and the perinatal outcome in pregnancies diagnosed with hypertension. Depending on the medical history, the cases were divided into two groups: chronic hypertension group and gestational hypertension group. The vascularization and the volume of kidneys were observed in prenatal period by three-dimensional ultrasound. We monitored gestations and perinatal complications. Renal volume and vascularization were detected in 45 cases complicated by gestational hypertension and 21 cases with chronic hypertension during the 20-month study period. The alteration in fetal renal volume and vascularization may be an in utero cause of subsequent intrauterine and neonatal complications, such as Cesarean section because of fetal distress (36%), perinatal infection (24%), treatment in neonatal intensive care unit (39%), or increased perinatal mortality (1%) in affected cases. The results demonstrate that fetuses with depressed vascularization of medullae had 1.5 times the risk of an abnormal outcome compared to the control group. The volume of kidneys had a strong correlation with their vascularization. Detailed ultrasound examinations of renal parenchyma appear to be useful for the prenatal diagnosis of intrauterine hypoxia, allowing the detection of potential pathological fetal conditions in utero

Emlőrákok TNM-8 szerinti anatómiai és prognosztikai stádiumainak retrospektív vizsgálata elhunyt, valaha emlőrákos betegek adatai alapján | Evaluation of anatomic and prognostic stages of breast cancer according to the 8th edition of the TNM staging system – Retrospective analysis based on data from deceased patients once diagnosed with breast cancer

Absztrakt: Bevezetés: A tumor-nodus-metastasis (TNM) alapú stádiumbesorolás új, nyolcadik változata a hagyományos T, N és M kategóriákon alapuló anatómiai stádium mellett egy biomarkereket figyelembe vevő prognosztikai stádiumot is definiált emlőrákban. Célkitűzés: A nyolcadik stádiumbesorolásban figyelembe vett prognosztikus változók, valamint az anatómiai és prognosztikai stádiumok megoszlásának vizsgálata elhunyt, de korábban emlőrákkal diagnosztizált beteganyagban a teljes túlélés alapján. Módszer: Retrospektív vizsgálatunkba a 2010 és 2015 között a Bács-Kiskun Megyei Kórházban műtött, reszekciós mintából kórismézett, dokumentált okok miatt elhunyt emlőrákos betegeket vontuk be. A prognosztikus markerek adatait a betegek kórszövettani leleteiből nyertük. Statisztikai modelljeink az egyutas ANOVA, a Dunn-féle post hoc teszt, valamint a Kaplan–Meier-analízis voltak. Eredmények: 303 beteg adatait vizsgálva a legtöbb prognosztikus tényezőben, így az anatómiai és prognosztikai stádiumok vonatkozásában is, szignifikáns különbséget találtunk a tumoros halálozás (n = 168) és a nem tumoros halálozás (n = 135) csoportja között. Ugyancsak szignifikáns különbségeket tudtunk kimutatni egyes pT- és pN-kategóriák, gradusok, ösztrogénreceptor-státuszok között az ötéves teljes túlélés alapján. Vizsgálatunk eredményei szerint az I. és II. stádium kivételével, valamennyi további anatómiai és prognosztikai stádium különbözik a többitől túlélés tekintetében (p<0,001). Kiemelendő, hogy az egységes IV. stádiumú betegségben is adódott túlélésbeli különbség az ösztrogénreceptor-, progeszteronreceptor- és HER2-státuszok alapján determinált betegcsoportok között: a tripla negatív és ösztrogénreceptor-pozitív, HER2-negatív tumorok túlélése ebben a stádiumban is különbözött. Következtetések: Valós túlélési adatokon alapuló elemzésünk szerint az újszerű prognosztikai stádiumok a korábbi anatómiai stádiumokhoz hasonlóan elkülönítik a betegeket teljes túlélésük szerint. Eredményeink validálják az új prognosztikai stádiumbesorolást, de előre is mutatnak a jelenleg egységes IV. stádium tagolása irányában. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(35): 1373–1381. | Abstract: Introduction: The 8th edition of the Tumor-Node-Metastasis (TNM) based staging of breast cancer introduces a prognostic stage influenced by biomarkers along the traditional T, N and M categories. Aim: To retrospectively assess stage influencing prognostic variables; and the anatomic and prognostic stages on the basis of the overall survival (OS) of a cohort of deceased patients once diagnosed with breast cancer. Method: We included patients with known causes of death certified at the Bács-Kiskun County Teaching Hospital and having a history of breast cancer diagnosed on a resection specimen at the same institution. Prognostic factors were obtained from the histopathological reports. Statistics included one-way ANOVA, Dunn’s post hoc test and Kaplan-Meier curve analyses. Results: The 303 patients grouped as breast cancer related death (n = 168) or unrelated (n = 135) showed significant differences in most stage defining prognostic factors and the anatomic and prognostic stages. Significant differences in 5-year OS were observed between pT and pN categories, histological grades and estrogen receptor statuses. Except for stages I and II, significant differences were found between both different anatomic and prognostic stages (p<0.001). Stage IV is by definition uniform, but we identified survival differences between biomarker based subgroups: triple negative carcinomas had worse OS than estrogen receptor positive and HER2 negative carcinomas. Conclusions: Our analysis based on real survival data suggests that the prognostic stages separate patients according to OS similarly to the anatomic stages. The results validate the prognostic stages, but also suggest that separating stage IV disease according to biomarkers makes sense. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(35): 1373–1381

The more the micropapillary pattern in stage I lung adenocarcinoma, the worse the prognosis: a retrospective study on digitalized slides

Although the majority of lung adenocarcinomas show mixed pattern, only the predominant component is taken into account according to the novel classification. We evaluated the proportion of different patterns and their impact on overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Patterns were recorded according to predominance and their proportions were rated and calculated by objective area measuring on digitalized, annotated slides of resected stage I lung adenocarcinomas. Spearman’s rank correlation, Kaplan-Meier models and the log rank test were used for statistical evaluation. Two hundred forty-three stage I adenocarcinoma were included. Lepidic pattern is more frequent in tumours without recurrence (20 vs. 8%), and lepidic predominant tumours have favourable prognosis (OS 90.5%, DFS 89.4%), but proportions above 25% are not associated with improving outcome. Solid and micropapillary patterns are more frequent in patients with recurrence (48 vs. 5% and 13 vs. 4%) and predominance of each one is associated with unfavourable prognosis (OS 64.1%, DFS 56.3% and OS 28.1%, DFS 28.1%, respectively). Above 25%, a growing proportion of solid or micropapillary pattern is not associated with worsening prognosis. In contrast, tumours having micropapillary pattern as secondly predominant form a different intermediate group (OS 51.1%, DFS 57.8%). Our study was based on measured area of each growth pattern on all available slides digitalized. This is the most precise way of determining the size of each component from the material available. We propose using predominant and secondly predominant patterns for prognostic purposes, particularly in tumours having solid or micropapillary patterns. © 2018 Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Natur

The value of PLA2R antigen and IgG subclass staining relative to anti-PLA2R seropositivity in the differential diagnosis of membranous nephropathy

The diagnostic performance of PLA2R and IgG subclass staining of kidney biopsies relative to anti-PLA2R seropositivity in the differentiation of primary and secondary membranous nephropathy (pMN, sMN) was examined. Besides PLA2R staining - which has a lower specificity than anti-PLA2R antibody serology - there is insufficient knowledge to decide which IgG1-4 subtype immunohistological patterns (IgG4-dominance, IgG4-dominance/IgG1-IgG4-codominance or IgG4-dominance/IgG4-codominance with any IgG subtype) could be used to distinguish between pMN and sMN.87 consecutive Hungarian patients (84 Caucasians, 3 Romas) with the biopsy diagnosis of MN were classified clinically as pMN (n = 63) or sMN (n = 24). The PLA2R and IgG subclass staining was part of the diagnostic protocol. Anti-PLA2R antibodies were determined by an indirect immunofluorescence test in 74 patients with disease activity.For pMN, the sensitivity of anti-PLA2R seropositivity was 61.1%, and the specificity was 90.0%; and similar values for PLA2R staining were 81.0%, and 66.7%, respectively. In all stages of pMN, IgG4-dominance was the dominant subclass pattern, while the second most frequent was IgG3/IgG4-codominance. The sensitivity and specificity scores were: IgG4-dominance 52.2% and 91.7%, IgG4-dominance/IgG3-IgG4-codominance 76.2% and 87.5%, IgG4-dominance/IgG1-IgG4-codominance 64.2% and 75%, and IgG4-dominance/codominance with any IgG subclass 92.1% and 70.8%, respectively. Anti-PLA2R seropositivity, glomerular PLA2R, and IgG4-dominance/codominance significantly correlated with each other. The IgG4 subclass was rarely encountered in sMN.In our series, IgG4-dominance had the highest specificity in the differentiation of MN, just as high as that for anti-PLA2R seropositivity. The specificity values of PLA2R staining and IgG4-dominance/codominance with any IgG subclass or IgG4-dominance/IgG1-IgG4 codominance were ≤ 75%. Apart from IgG4 dominance, IgG4-dominance/IgG3-IgG4-codominance also had good statistical value in differentiating pMN from sMN. As IgG subclass switching during the progression of pMN was not the feature of our cohort, pMN in Hungarian patients is presumed to be an IgG4-related disorder right from the start. Although anti-PLA2R seropositivity has become the cornerstone for diagnosing pMN, if a kidney biopsy evaluation is conducted, besides the staining of PLA2R antigen, the evaluation of IgG subclasses provides relevant information for a differential diagnosis. Even in cases with IgG4-dominance, however, malignancy should be thoroughly checked