High-density lipoprotein cholesterol and all-cause mortality by sex and age: a prospective cohort study among 15.8 million adults
ConclusionsKorean adults showed U-curve associations of HDL-C with mortality, regardless of sex, and age. Younger adults had a lower optimal range and a stronger positive association with mortality than older adults in the high HDL-C range. Even moderately high HDL-C levels are not necessarily a sign of good health, especially in young adults. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 12, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Systemic inflammatory regulators and risk of Alzheimer ’s disease: a bidirectional Mendelian-randomization study
ConclusionThe systemic inflammatory regulators considered did not appear to be associated with the risk of Alzheimer ’s disease. Conversely, specific systemic inflammatory regulators may be downstream effects of Alzheimer’s disease or consequences of common factors causing both inflammation and Alzheimer’s disease. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 12, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Early-childhood cytomegalovirus infection and children ’s neurocognitive development
ConclusionIn this large-scale prospective cohort, we observed some evidence for adverse neurocognitive effects of postnatal CMV infection on general intelligence during early childhood, although not with lasting effect. If confirmed, these results could support the implementation of preventative measures to combat postnatal CMV infection. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 11, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

An egalitarian society? Widening inequalities in premature mortality from non-communicable diseases in Australia, 2006 –16
ConclusionsWidening of inequalities in premature mortality rates is a major public health issue in Australia in the context of slowing mortality decline. Inequalities are partly explained by major risk factors for CVDs and NCDs: being overweight or obese, lack of exercise, poor diet and smoking. There is a need for urgent policy responses that consider socioeconomic disadvantage. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 8, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Per-partnership transmission probabilities for Chlamydia trachomatis infection: evidence synthesis of population-based survey data
ConclusionsThe model provides statistically rigorous estimates of per-partnership transmission probability, with associated uncertainty, which is crucial for modelling and understanding chlamydia epidemiology and control. Our estimates incorporate data from several sources, including population-based surveys, and use information contained in the correlation between number of partners and the probability of chlamydia infection. The evidence synthesis approach means that it is easy to include further data as it becomes available. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 8, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Versatility of the clone-censor-weight approach: response to “trial emulation in the presence of immortal-time bias”
We welcome the tutorial by Maringe and colleagues on the clone-censor-weight approach to target trial emulation for observational comparative effectiveness research (CER).1 The authors used a motivating example (effect of surgery within 6  months of diagnosis on lung cancer survival) to demonstrate its application for immortal time bias. We would like to expand on the versatility of the clone-censor-weight approach by bringing other applications to the readers’ attention (seeTable  1 for a non-exhaustive overview). In all cases, cloning overcomes assignment ambiguity at follow-up time zero that can occur both in dynam...
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 8, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Coverage of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy in four sub-Saharan countries: findings from household surveys
ConclusionsThe IPTp3+ uptake in the survey districts was far from the universal coverage. However, one of the study districts in Mozambique showed a much higher coverage of IPTp3+ than the other areas, which was also higher than the 2018 average national coverage of 41%. The reasons for the high IPTp3+ coverage in this Mozambican district are unclear and require further study. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 8, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

The human exposome and health in the Anthropocene
(Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 8, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

The impact of particulate matter air pollution (PM2.5) on atherosclerosis in modernizing China: a report from the CATHAY study
ConclusionsAir pollution is strongly associated with markers of early atherosclerosis, suggesting a potential target for preventive intervention. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 8, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Reply to: Versatility of the clone-censor-weight approach: response to ‘‘trial emulation in the presence of immortal-time bias’’
We thank Zhaoet al.1 for their interest in our recent article2 which aims to provide a step-by-step tutorial for the design and analysis of emulated target clinical trials from observational data, to prevent immortal-time bias. In particular, we would like to thank the authors for illustrating the versatility of the concept of cloning within the trial emulation framework by describing a wide range of applications. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 8, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Software Application Profile: Bayesian estimation of inverse variance weighted and MR-Egger models for two-sample Mendelian randomization studies —mrbayes
We present our package, mrbayes, for the open source software environment R. The package implements Bayesian estimation for inverse variance weighted (IVW) and MR-Egger models, including the radial MR-Egger model, for summary-level data in Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses.ImplementationWe have implemented a choice of prior distributions for the model parameters, namely; weakly informative, non-informative, a joint prior for the MR-Egger model slope and intercept, and an informative prior (pseudo-horseshoe prior), or the user can specify their own prior distribution.General featuresUsers have the option of fitting the ...
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 8, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Development and validation of a prognostic model based on comorbidities to predict COVID-19 severity: a population-based study
ConclusionsThe Gal-COVID-19 scores provide risk estimates for predicting severity in COVID-19 patients. The ability to predict disease severity may help clinicians prioritize high-risk patients and facilitate the decision making of health authorities. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 8, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Global trend of aetiology-based primary liver cancer incidence from 1990 to 2030: a modelling study
ConclusionPLC incidence rates and case numbers are anticipated to increase at the global level through 2030. The increases in people afflicted by NASH and among older people suggest a dearth of attention for these populations in current prevention strategies and highlight their priority in future schedules for global control of PLC. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 8, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

The effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme levels on COVID-19 susceptibility and severity: a Mendelian randomization study
ConclusionGenetically decreased serum ACE levels were not associated with susceptibility to, or severity of, COVID-19 disease. These data suggest that individuals taking ACE inhibitors should not discontinue therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 8, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research

Ethnic-minority groups in England and Wales —factors associated with the size and timing of elevated COVID-19 mortality: a retrospective cohort study linking census and death records
ConclusionDifferences in COVID-19 mortality between ethnic groups were largely attenuated by geographical and socio-demographic factors, though some residual differences remained. Lockdown was associated with reductions in excess mortality risk in ethnic-minority populations, which has implications for a second wave of infection. (Source: International Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: International Journal of Epidemiology - December 8, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research