Original Article
COVID-19
Kuok Ho Daniel Tang
Abstract
Vaccination has offered the hope of restoring life to pre-COVID-19 normalcy. However, new COVID-19 cases have continued to emerge and have increased in certain regions even with increasing vaccination coverage. This study aims to explore the correlations between daily COVID-19 case fatality rates, vaccination ...
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Vaccination has offered the hope of restoring life to pre-COVID-19 normalcy. However, new COVID-19 cases have continued to emerge and have increased in certain regions even with increasing vaccination coverage. This study aims to explore the correlations between daily COVID-19 case fatality rates, vaccination coverage as well as daily new cases and deaths of COVID-19 in Malaysia. It aims to compare the pre- and post-vaccination COVID-19 case fatality rates and examine if any difference between the rates is statistically significant. It also aims to identify the main predictors of COVID-19 case fatality rates. This study obtained the data of daily new cases and deaths of COVID-19, as well as the daily vaccination coverage in Malaysia from official platforms and government offices for non-parametric statistical analysis. It explored the Spearman’s correlations between daily COVID-19 case fatality rates, daily new COVID-19 cases and deaths as well as the vaccination coverage in Malaysia. It examined the difference in the pre- and post-vaccination daily COVID-19 case fatality rates with Mann-Whitney U Test. It constructed a multiple regression model to identify the significant predictors of the daily case fatality rates. This study shows that daily COVID-19 case fatality rates are positively correlated with daily new COVID-19 cases and deaths, and vaccination coverage. It reveals that post-vaccination case fatality rates are lower than pre-vaccination and the difference is statistically significant. People fully vaccinated per 100 population is a significant predictor of the decline of daily case fatality rates.
Original Article
Cancer Screening
Fatih Kara; Bekir Keskinkilic; Murat Turkyilmaz; Fahriye Unlu; Selin Dundar; Erkin Aribal; Serap Gultekin; Aysenur Oktay
Abstract
Introduction: Population based breast cancer screening program was recently implemented in Turkey and is being performed for 40–69 years old women. The aim of this study was to document early results and evaluate the effectiveness of this program. Materials-Methods: 348,638 women who were screened ...
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Introduction: Population based breast cancer screening program was recently implemented in Turkey and is being performed for 40–69 years old women. The aim of this study was to document early results and evaluate the effectiveness of this program. Materials-Methods: 348,638 women who were screened in 2016 were included in this study. All data was obtained from National centralized reporting system and from Cancer Registry database for end results. BI-RADS 1-2 was used for benign findings, and BI-RADS 0, 4 or 5 for recalls according to level of suspicion. The age distribution, recall rate, cancer detection and interval cancer rates were reviewed. The stages of detected cancers were evaluated and compared with that of nonscreened group in the same time interval.Results: 43.2% of women were between 40-49 years old, and 56.8% were 50-69 in screening population. 70% of screen detected cancers were in age group of 50-69. Total recall rate was 5.6% (n=19,607). Malignancy rate was 70.2% for BI-RADS 5 recalls, 19.2% for BI-RADS 4, and 1.7% for BI-RADS 0 categories. The rate of screen-detected cancers was 3.2 per 1000 screening exams (n=1,120). The percentage of early stage disease was higher in screened group (54.3%) compared to nonscreened one (46.7%). In 231 women interval cancers were recorded (0.66 per 1000 screened women). Conclusion: According to initial results, Turkey's newly implemented population based breast cancer screening program seems to be feasible and effective. This analysis suggests that breast cancer screening program should be continued with increasing coverage of target population.
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