Background Two-sample Mendelian randomization (2SMR) is an increasingly popular epidemiological method that uses genetic variants as instruments for making causal inferences. Clear reporting of methods employed in such studies is important for evaluating their underlying quality. However, the quality of methodological reporting of 2SMR studies is currently unclear. We aimed to assess the reporting quality of studies that used MR-Base, one of the most popular platforms for implementing 2SMR analysis. Methods We created a bespoke reporting checklist to evaluate reporting quality of 2SMR studies. We then searched Web of Science Core Collection, PsycInfo, MEDLINE, EMBASE and Google Scholar citations of the MR-Base descriptor paper to identify published MR studies that used MR-Base for any component of the MR analysis. Study screening and data extraction were performed by at least two independent reviewers. Results In the primary analysis, 87 studies were included. Reporting quality was generally poor across studies, with a mean of 53% (SD = 14%) of items reported in each study. Many items required for evaluating the validity of key assumptions made in MR were poorly reported: only 44% of studies provided sufficient details for assessing if the genetic variant associates with the exposure (‘relevance’ assumption), 31% for assessing if there are any variant-outcome confounders (‘independence’ assumption), 89% for the assessing if the variant causes the outcome independently of the exposure (‘exclusion restriction’ assumption) and 32% for assumptions of falsification tests. We did not find evidence of a change in reporting quality over time or a difference in reporting quality between studies that used MR-Base and a random sample of MR studies that did not use this platform. Conclusions The quality of reporting of two-sample Mendelian randomization studies in our sample was generally poor. Journals and researchers should consider using the STROBE-MR guidelines to improve reporting quality.
Background Homelessness as a complex and persistent public health challenge is an extreme form of social exclusion. Our understanding on the health of homeless populations is largely informed by research on the more visible street homelessness, highlighting ill health, substance dependencies, and reduced life expectancy. These estimates are likely to underestimate individual's health-care needs, alongside barriers to accessing care. We aimed to adopt a broad definition of homelessness to understand COVID-19-related health outcomes for this population. MethodsOur definition includes street homelessness and precarious or insecure housing, thus including those known as hidden homeless who are not in government homelessness statistics. We generated an e-cohort of individuals with recorded lived experience of homelessness in Wales, by combining information across four routine health-care datasets (primary care, inpatient care, emergency department, and substance misuse service. A population comparison group was randomly selected from the Welsh Demographic Service database. We linked the e-cohort and comparison group with COVID-19 NHS Wales Test Trace and Protect, annual district death extract, and the patient episode database to examine the COVID-19 outcomes. This study is exempt from consent due to the anonymised nature of the databank. The independent Information Governance Review Panel approved this study. Findings The e-cohort includes 15 472 individuals aged 16 years and older who visited the four health-care services in Wales since Jan 1, 2014, until July 31, 2020, including 1717 currently homeless during the pandemic in 2020 (69•2% were male and 42•0% were younger than 35 years). Of those people currently homeless during COVID-19, 54 (3•2%; 95% CI 2•4-4•1) tested positive for the virus, 16 (0•9%; 0•5-1•5) had COVID-19-related hospital admissions, and five (0•3%; 0•1-0•7) died, involving COVID-19. Compared with the general population comparison group (n=15 472), where 340 (2•20%; 1•97-2•44) tested positive, 11 (0•07%; 0•04-0•13) had COVID-19 related hospital admissions, and nine (0•06%; 0•03-0•11) died, involving COVID-19 (mentioned on death certificate).Interpretation These findings suggest that COVID-19-related outcomes were worse for individuals who were homeless during the pandemic compared with the general population. The complex health needs and pre-existing vulnerabilities people who are homeless warrant further exploration. This study is likely to underestimate the population size and health needs due to relying on people seeking health care and disclosing their homeless or housing status, to which there are recognised barriers. Accurate and standardised coding of housing status in practise is an area that needs urgent improvement.Funding Public Health Wales.
Does being bilingual convey a benefit in 'cognitive control'? Research on this question has been plagued by confounding geo-political factors which themselves might affect cognitive ability (e.g., Socio-Economic Status, immigration and culture). In the current study, we addressed this problem by exploring individuals of varying degrees of bilingualism from one and the same population, hence naturally controlling for confounding variables. The English/Spanish speaking population of Gibraltar share the same education, amenities, and culture on a very small landmass but vary in the degree to which they master multiple languages. We assessed the performance of 207 Gibraltarian children (9-10 yrs) on a battery of auditory attention tests and captured their degree of bilingualism via self-reported and 'objective' methods. We found at least 'moderate' evidence that measures of bilingualism cannot predict attentional ability. These results add to growing scepticism concerning the truthfulness of the claim that bilingualism conveys cognitive advantages.
Background Disasters such as the COVID-19 pandemic pose an overwhelming demand on resources that cannot always be met by official organisations. Limited resources and human response to crises can lead members of local communities to turn to one another to fulfil immediate needs. This spontaneous citizen-led response can be crucial to a community’s ability to cope in a crisis. It is thus essential to understand the scope of such initiatives so that support can be provided where it is most needed. Nevertheless, quickly developing situations and varying definitions can make the community response challenging to measure. Aim To create an accessible interactive map of the citizen-led community response to need during the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales, UK that combines information gathered from multiple data providers to reflect different interpretations of need and support. Approach We gathered data from a combination of official data providers and community-generated sources to create 14 variables representative of need and support. These variables are derived by a reproducible data pipeline that enables flexible integration of new data. The interactive tool is available online (www.covidresponsemap.wales) and can map available data at two geographic resolutions. Users choose their variables of interest, and interpretation of the map is aided by a linked bee-swarm plot. Discussion The novel approach we developed enables people at all levels of community response to explore and analyse the distribution of need and support across Wales. While there can be limitations to the accuracy of community-generated data, we demonstrate that they can be effectively used alongside traditional data sources to maximise the understanding of community action. This adds to our overall aim to measure community response and resilience, as well as to make complex population health data accessible to a range of audiences. Future developments include the integration of other factors such as well-being.
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