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Introduction: There are limited and conflicting data regarding the impact of hepatitis C in pregnancy on adverse birth outcomes. Methods: Using the Surveillance for Emerging Threats to Pregnant People and Infants Network (SET-NET), a large surveillance cohort, we describe birth outcomes among a cohort of people with HCV in pregnancy in total and by reported substance use. Results: Among 1418 infants, 89% were born to people with reported substance use during pregnancy. The proportion born preterm was 20%, 13% were small-for-gestational age and 34% of term infants required intensive care. Conclusions: Assessments of recent changes to recommendations for HCV screening in pregnancy should evaluate the impact on maternal access to care for both HCV treatment as well as comorbidities such as substance use disorder which may contribute to adverse birth outcomes. Significance: Incidence of hepatitis C in pregnancy is increasing. Prematurity, small-for-gestational age, and intensive care unit admission were common among this surveillance cohort of infants born to people with hepatitis C in pregnancy with high frequency of substance use. Assessments of recent changes to recommendations for HCV screening in pregnancy should evaluate the impact on maternal access to care for both HCV treatment as well as comorbidities such as substance use disorder which may contribute to adverse birth outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There are growing concerns about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of older adults. We examined the effect of the pandemic on the risk of depression in older adults. Methods: We analyzed data from the prospective cohort study of Korean older adults, which has been followed every 2 years. Among the 2308 participants who completed both the third and the fourth follow-up assessments, 58.4% completed their fourth follow-up before the outbreak of COVID-19 and the rest completed it during the pandemic. We conducted face-to-face diagnostic interviews using Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview and used Geriatric Depression Scale. We performed generalized estimating equations and logistic regression analyses. Results: The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increased depressive symptoms in older adults [ b (standard error) = 0.42 (0.20), p = 0.040] and a doubling of the risk for incident depressive disorder even in euthymic older adults without a history of depression (odds ratio = 2.44, 95% confidence interval 1.18–5.02, p = 0.016). Less social activities, which was associated with the risk of depressive disorder before the pandemic, was not associated with the risk of depressive disorder during the pandemic. However, less family gatherings, which was not associated with the risk of depressive disorder before the pandemic, was associated with the doubled risk of depressive disorder during the pandemic. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly influences the risk of late-life depression in the community. Older adults with a lack of family gatherings may be particularly vulnerable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smoking is a risk factor for gastric cancer (GC) and causes oxidative stress. Antioxidant vitamins may protect against oxidative stress. This study aimed to determine the association between dietary antioxidant vitamin intake and GC risk according to smoking status and the histological subtype. This case-control study included 286 pairs of patients with GC and controls aged 20–79 years enrolled at two hospitals from 2002 to 2006, matched by age (± 2 years), sex, hospital, and participation period (± 1 years). Dietary information was collected using a quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). When stratified by smoking status, increased intake of vitamin C (OR = 0.38; 95% CI = 0.17–0.84 for highest vs. lowest; P for trend = 0.033) and folate (OR = 0.28; 95% CI = 0.12–0.64 for highest vs. lowest; P for trend = 0.003) decreased GC risk in nonsmokers. Vitamin C (P for interaction = 0.043) and folate (P for interaction =0.015) levels were significantly associated with smoking status. Similar results were observed in nonsmokers with diffuse and mixed types of GC, but not in those with intestinal type of GC. Therefore, we found an inverse association between higher intake of dietary vitamin C and folate with the risk of GC among nonsmokers. These protective associations were strong in nonsmokers with diffuse and mixed types of GC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: An assessment of paraspinal muscle degeneration based on magnetic resonance imaging has been used to investigate both sarcopenia and myosteatosis. The morphologic changes in cross‐sectional area and fat infiltration of the paraspinal muscles can affect pain outcomes after epidural steroid injection. Methods: Patients ≥65 years of age who underwent fluoroscopy‐guided lumbar epidural steroid injections were enrolled. Good analgesia was defined as ≥50% reduction in pain score at 4 weeks after injection. Cross‐sectional area and grade of fat infiltration of the paraspinal muscles on magnetic resonance images at the level of L3–L4 disc were measured. Patient demographics, pain‐related factors, clinical factors, and paraspinal muscle measurements were compared between good and poor analgesia groups. The factors associated with pain outcomes after injection were identified using multivariate analysis. Results: A total of 245 patients consisting of 149 and 96 patients in the good and poor analgesia groups, respectively, fully satisfied the study criteria for analysis. Patients of older age, opioid use, and high‐grade foraminal stenosis were frequently observed in the poor analgesia group. The grade of fat infiltration of the paraspinal muscles was significantly higher in the poor analgesia group (Grade 2, 20.8% vs. 42.7%, p < 0.001), and this result was predominantly observed in female patients. However, there was no difference in the muscle cross‐sectional area between the two groups (18.29 ± 3.16 vs. 18.59 ± 3.03 cm2/m2, p = 0.460). The percentage of patients with good analgesia decreased as the grade of fat infiltration increased (Grade 0 = 75.0%, Grade 1 = 65.8%, Grade 2 = 43.0%, p < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that preinjection opioid use [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.926, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.084–3.422, p = 0.025], moderate to severe foraminal stenosis (aOR = 2.859, 95% CI = 1.371–5.965, p = 0.005), and high‐grade fat infiltration of the paraspinal muscles (aOR = 4.258, 95% CI = 1.805–10.043, p = 0.001) were significantly associated with poor analgesia after injection. Conclusion: High fat infiltration of the paraspinal muscles at the mid‐lumbar region appeared to be an independent factor associated with poor analgesia after epidural steroid injection in elderly patients with symptomatic degenerative lumbar spinal disease receiving conservative care. However, the cross‐sectional area of the paraspinal muscles was not associated with pain relief after injection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Smoking or weight loss is a risk of tuberculosis (TB) development. However, the impact of weight change after smoking cessation on the occurrence of TB remains elusive. We aimed to determine the relationship between weight change after smoking cessation and the risk of TB development. Methods: We conducted a population-based cohort study using the national database in Republic of Korea. Of the 10,490,491 subjects who underwent health check-up in 2009, we enrolled 9,953,124 subjects without a previous TB history and followed them until 2017. We divided all study participants into the following three groups: never, former, and current smokers. The primary endpoint was newly developed TB. Results: Among 9,953,124 subjects analyzed, 5,922,845 (59.5%) were never smokers, 1,428,209 (14.4%) were former smokers, and 2,602,080 (26.1%) were current smokers. The risk of TB development was significantly higher in current smokers than in never smokers (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 1.158; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.131–1.186). Among current smokers, individuals who stopped smoking and maintained weight after baseline evaluation had a significantly lower risk of TB development compared with those who continued to smoke (aHR 0.771; 95% CI 0.741–0.892). However, even after smoking cessation, individuals who lost weight were at a significantly higher risk of TB development compared with those who continued to smoke (aHR 1.327; 95% CI 1.119–1.715). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that smoking is a risk factor for TB and weight maintenance (neither gaining or losing) after quitting smoking might reduce the risk of TB development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Subsyndromal depression is prevalent and associated with poor outcomes in late life, but its effect on the risk of dementia has barely been investigated. This study is aimed to investigate the effect of subsyndromal depression on dementia risk in cognitively normal older adults and patients with mild cognitive impairment. Methods: Data were collected from a nationwide, population-based, prospective cohort study on a randomly sampled Korean elderly population aged 60 years or older, which has been followed every 2 years. Using 6-year follow-up data of 4456 non-demented elderly, the authors examined the risk of dementia associated with late-onset subsyndromal depression using multivariate Cox proportional hazard models. After standardized diagnostic interviews, subsyndromal depression and dementia were diagnosed by the operational diagnostic criteria and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition criteria, respectively. Results: Subsyndromal depression tripled the risk of dementia in non-demented elderly individuals (hazard ratio = 3.02, 95% confidence interval = [1.56, 5.85], p < 0.001). In subgroup analyses, subsyndromal depression was associated with the risk of dementia in cognitively normal participants only (hazard ratio = 4.59, 95% confidence interval = [1.20, 17.54], p = 0.026); chronic/recurrent subsyndromal depression with increasing severity during the follow-up period was associated with the risk of dementia (hazard ratio = 15.34, 95% confidence interval = [4.19, 56.18], p < 0.001). Conclusion: Late-onset subsyndromal depression is a potential predictor of incident dementia when it is chronic or recurrent with increasing severity in cognitively normal older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]