Cognitive deficits and immune system dysregulation are core features of psychotic disorders. Among inflammatory markers, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) have been linked to both psychosis pathophysiology and related cognitive impairments.

We investigated associations among IL-6, TNF-α, and neurocognitive performance in 107 participants: individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR-P, n = 35), first-episode psychosis (FEP, n = 39), and healthy controls (HC, n = 33). Assessments included memory, processing speed, executive function, and social cognition. Cytokines were measured from fasting serum samples. Analyses included ANOVA, correlations, and multivariate regressions controlling for age, sex, IQ, group, and symptom severity.

TNF-α levels were significantly elevated in FEP compared to CHR-P (p = 0.0251); IL-6 differences were non-significant. FEP showed poorer performance in multiple cognitive domains, especially social cognition. CHR-P individuals exhibited intermediate profiles between FEP and HC in cognition. In adjusted regression models, IL-6 was significantly associated with undermentalization on the MASC task (β = 0.28, p = 0.0337) and showed a trend-level association with slower processing speed (β = 0.98, p = 0.075). TNF-α levels predicted poorer facial emotion recognition (β = −1.37, p = 0.0022). IQ and group were significant covariates in most models.

Our findings suggest that peripheral inflammation, particularly IL-6 and TNF-α, may selectively impact social cognitive functioning in early psychosis. Though modest, these associations highlight potential inflammatory contributions to functional impairment and support further investigation of immunological targets in early intervention.

Brazil’s public health system serves most of the population, but 25 percent of citizens rely on private health insurance. The National Regulatory Agency for Private Health Insurance and Plans (ANS) regulates private medicine reimbursements, which diverge from the public sector threshold. In 2022, the National Committee for Health Technology Incorporation (CONITEC) set a willingness-to-pay benchmark of BRL40,000 (USD8,215) per quality-adjusted life-year. The ANS has no such benchmark, highlighting a pivotal gap in economic evaluations for private health care.

This quantitative study investigated the Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) for reimbursed medicines in Brazil’s private health sector, comparing them with CONITEC’s benchmarks and international thresholds. Data were extracted from industry reimbursement submissions to the ANS and analyzed for statistical disparity and policy implications.

Preliminary findings found an ICER peak of BRL619,900 (USD127,220) per quality-adjusted life-year for talazoparib, which is used to treat certain advanced breast cancers. This contrasted sharply with CONITEC’s established threshold, indicating a critical need to evaluate ANS policies.

Early results indicate that the ICERs for some medicines surpass CONITEC’s willingness-to-pay limit, suggesting that the ANS should consider establishing a defined cost-effectiveness threshold. This is imperative to harmonize with global standards and maintain sustainable health financing.

Despite medical advancements, endocarditis still results in high mortality rates. Surgery, while often essential, elevates the risk of hyperinflammation, sepsis, and cytokine release. The use of a cytokine filter to prevent this remains controversial. This study reviewed existing literature to assess the efficacy of cytokine filters and to support its integration into supplementary health services.

An exhaustive search of the MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, Embase, LILACS, and CytoSorbents Corporation databases was conducted to identify relevant meta-analyses and systematic reviews. The study focused on randomized controlled trials and case series studies assessing the efficacy of cytokine filtration. Key variables considered were the duration of antibiotic treatment, severity of endocarditis, and surgical treatment rationale. These factors were crucial for evaluating clinical outcomes and patient survival after surgery.

The systematic reviews yielded mixed outcomes. Two found no benefits for hemoadsorption, while one found that it reduced mortality rates and intensive care unit stays based on observational studies. Randomized controlled trials, however, showed no significant impact for cytokine filters on mortality rates or postoperative hemodynamic parameters. In contrast, case series studies reported potential benefits, but these results were confounded by biases in patient allocation and failure to account for critical variables like antibiotic treatment duration, case severity, and surgical rationale. These discrepancies highlight the complexity of evaluating the effectiveness of cytokine filtration in surgical settings.

Randomized and non-randomized controlled trials on the role of cytokine filters in cardiac surgery for endocarditis reported contradictory findings. Only case series studies suggested benefits from cytokine filters, necessitating further high quality research before recommending their widespread use. Understanding the implications of these results is essential, underscoring the need for more rigorous studies to resolve these inconsistencies.

Informed healthcare policies in Brazil rely on robust health technology assessment (HTA), especially for conditions like non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We present an efficiency frontier analysis to evaluate NSCLC treatments that correlates annual treatment costs with clinical outcomes, offering a systematic approach to enhance decision-making in the Brazilian healthcare context.

This quantitative study analyzed NSCLC drug costs within the Brazilian healthcare system and the clinical efficacy data of pivotal studies. The data were analyzed using Python and R software. The dataset comprised drug costs and hazard ratios for overall survival. After data preparation, which involved normalization and outlier management, we constructed an efficiency frontier by ranking drugs based on cost and effectiveness. A linear regression model was then developed to extrapolate this frontier, deriving a formula that predicts treatment costs for specified improvements in overall survival.

The analysis delineated an efficiency frontier and revealed cost-effective NSCLC treatments in Brazil. The following linear regression equation was derived: overall survival = (1.033551 − 0.000003) × treatment cost (USD). This allows for the estimation of appropriate treatment costs for new therapies based on their expected clinical outcomes. This initial model provides a foundation for estimating the economic impact of new treatments.

This preliminary efficiency frontier analysis offers a novel perspective for evaluating NSCLC treatment strategies in Brazil to support sustainable healthcare policy decisions. The model is subject to limitations due to the absence of a systematic literature review. However, it represents an initial step towards a more comprehensive HTA framework. Further research should refine the model by including systematic data collection and analysis.

In Brazil, equitable access to medications is critical. There are significant pricing disparities between the National Health System and private health care, which are influenced by the National Committee for Health Technology Incorporation (CONITEC) and Law 14.307. This study investigated these disparities, with aim of proposing strategies for equitable access and sustainability in health care.

This analysis compared prices between the public and private sectors for trastuzumab and adalimumab. Public sector prices were obtained from the Health Prices Database (HPD) and private sector prices were obtained from the Unimed National Table of Materials and Medications (TNUMM), as of May 2023. The study evaluated the extent of pricing discrepancies, considering Drug Market Regulation Chamber ceiling prices and industry discounts.

The cost of the trastuzumab biosimilar, KANJINTI® (Amgen Inc.), was BRL15.79 (USD3.24) per mg in the private sector, compared with BRL4.50 (USD0.92) per mg in the public sector (a 250% difference). The original version of adalimumab, HUMIRA® (AbbVie), was priced at BRL5,450.38 (USD1,120.53) in the TNUMM versus BRL2,445.46 (USD502.33) in the HPD (a 123% difference). The adalimumab biosimilar, HYRIMOZ® (Sandoz Inc.), was priced at BRL7,723.99 (USD1,586.87) in the TNUMM compared with BRL2,449.19 (USD503.05) in the HPD (a 215% price discrepancy).

The study highlights significant disparities in drug pricing between Brazil’s public and private healthcare sectors. These disparities affect the financial sustainability of private health entities and elevate costs for consumers, potentially increasing reliance on the National Health System. Policy revisions, price parity strategies, and further studies are vital for a sustainable healthcare system.

Around the world, people living in objectively difficult circumstances who experience symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) do not qualify for a diagnosis because their worry is not ‘excessive’ relative to the context. We carried out the first large-scale, cross-national study to explore the implications of removing this excessiveness requirement.

Data come from the World Health Organization World Mental Health Survey Initiative. A total of 133 614 adults from 12 surveys in Low- or Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) and 16 surveys in High-Income Countries (HICs) were assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Non-excessive worriers meeting all other DSM-5 criteria for GAD were compared to respondents meeting all criteria for GAD, and to respondents without GAD, on clinically-relevant correlates.

Removing the excessiveness requirement increases the global lifetime prevalence of GAD from 2.6% to 4.0%, with larger increases in LMICs than HICs. Non-excessive and excessive GAD cases worry about many of the same things, although non-excessive cases worry more about health/welfare of loved ones, and less about personal or non-specific concerns, than excessive cases. Non-excessive cases closely resemble excessive cases in socio-demographic characteristics, family history of GAD, and risk of temporally secondary comorbidity and suicidality. Although non-excessive cases are less severe on average, they report impairment comparable to excessive cases and often seek treatment for GAD symptoms.

Individuals with non-excessive worry who meet all other DSM-5 criteria for GAD are clinically significant cases. Eliminating the excessiveness requirement would lead to a more defensible GAD diagnosis.

Suicide is one of the main external causes of death worldwide. People who have already attempted suicide are at high risk of new suicidal behavior. However, there is a lack of information on the risk factors that facilitate the appearance of reattempts. The aim of this study was to calculate the risk of suicide reattempt in the presence of suicidal history and psychosocial risk factors and to estimate the effect of each individual risk factor.

This systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted following the PRISMA-2020 guidelines. Studies on suicide reattempt that measured risk factors were searched from inception to 2022. The risk factors studied were those directly related to suicide history: history of suicide prior to the index attempt, and those that mediate the transition from suicidal ideation to attempt (alcohol or drug misuse, impulsivity, trauma, and non-suicidal self-injury).

The initial search resulted in 11 905 articles. Of these, 34 articles were selected for this meta-analysis, jointly presenting 52 different effect sizes. The pooled effect size across the risk factors was significant (OR 2.16). Reattempt risk may be increased in presence of any of the following risk factors: previous history, active suicidal ideation, trauma, alcohol misuse, and drug misuse. However, impulsivity, and non-suicidal self-injury did not show a significant effect on reattempt.

Most of the risk factors traditionally associated with suicide are also relevant when talking about suicide reattempts. Knowing the traits that define reattempters can help develop better preventive and intervention plans.

This study aims to develop a framework for establishing priorities in the regional health service of Murcia, Spain, to facilitate the creation of a comprehensive multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) framework. This framework will aid in decision-making processes related to the assessment, reimbursement, and utilization of high-impact health technologies.

Based on the results of a review of existing frameworks for MCDA of health technologies, a set of criteria was proposed to be used in the context of evaluating high-impact health technologies. Key stakeholders within regional healthcare services, including clinical leaders and management personnel, participated in a focus group (n = 11) to discuss the proposed criteria and select the final fifteen. To elicit the weights of the criteria, two surveys were administered, one to a small sample of healthcare professionals (n = 35) and another to a larger representative sample of the general population (n = 494).

The responses obtained from health professionals in the weighting procedure exhibited greater consistency compared to those provided by the general public. The criteria more highly weighted were “Need for intervention” and “Intervention outcomes.” The weights finally assigned to each item in the multicriteria framework were derived as the equal-weighted sum of the mean weights from the two samples.

A multi-attribute function capable of generating a composite measure (multicriteria) to assess the value of high-impact health interventions has been developed. Furthermore, it is recommended to pilot this procedure in a specific decision context to evaluate the efficacy, feasibility, usefulness, and reliability of the proposed tool.

We aimed to explore the reciprocal effects of social participation, loneliness, and physical inactivity over a period of 6 years in a representative sample of European adults over 50 years old.

A longitudinal study with a six-year follow-up period was conducted.

Four waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe project were used.

This study includes 64,887 participants from Europe and Israel, who were aged 50 or older at the first time.

The relationship between participation in social activities, loneliness and physical inactivity was analyzed, controlling for age, gender, and disability. A series of cross-lagged panel models (CLPMs) were applied to analyze the relationships among these variables.

A CLPM with equal autoregressive cross-lagged effects across waves was the best fit to the data (χ2 = 7137.8, CFI = .972, RMSEA = .049, SRMR = .036). The autoregressive effects for the three variables showed high stability across waves, and all the cross-lagged effects in the model were statistically significant. Social activity and physical inactivity maintained a strong negative cross-lagged effect, while their cross-lagged effects on loneliness were comparatively smaller. Social activity had a positive cross-lagged effect on loneliness, while physical inactivity had a negative cross-lagged effect on loneliness.

These findings highlight the importance of promoting physical activity and social participation and addressing loneliness through targeted interventions in older adults.

There is a lack of standardised psychometric data in electronic health record (EHR)-based research. Proxy measures of symptom severity based on patients' clinical records may be useful surrogates in mental health EHR research.

This study aimed to validate proxy tools for the short versions of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS-6), Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS-6) and Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS-6).

A cross-sectional, multicentre study was conducted in a sample of 116 patients with first-episode psychosis from 12 public hospitals in Spain. Concordance between PANSS-6, YMRS-6 and MADRS-6 scores and their respective proxies was evaluated based on information from EHR clinical notes, using a variety of statistical procedures, including multivariate tests to adjust for potential confounders. Bootstrapping techniques were used for internal validation, and an independent cohort from the Treatment and Early Intervention in Psychosis Program (TIPP-Lausanne, Switzerland) for external validation.

The proxy versions correlated strongly with their respective standardised scales (partial correlations ranged from 0.75 to 0.84) and had good accuracy and discriminatory power in distinguishing between patients in and not in remission (percentage of patients correctly classified ranged from 83.9 to 91.4% and bootstrapped optimism-corrected area under the receiver operating characteristic curve ranged from 0.76 to 0.89), with high interrater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.81). The findings remained robust in the external validation data-set.

The proxy instruments proposed for assessing psychotic and affective symptoms by reviewing EHR provide a feasible and reliable alternative to traditional structured psychometric procedures, and a promising methodology for real-world practice settings.