Methods: We used administrative health databases for the province of Ontario (1994–2006) to perform a population-based matched retrospective cohort study. The exposed group comprised 438 069 adults with newly diagnosed diabetes. The unexposed comparison group — those without known diabetes — consisted of 2 059 708 individuals, matched 5:1 to exposed persons, by birth year, sex and local health region. We excluded individuals with pre-existing liver or alcohol-related disease. The primary study outcome was the subsequent development of serious liver disease, namely, liver cirrhosis, liver failure and its sequelae, or receipt of a liver transplant.

Results: The incidence rate of serious liver disease was 8.19 per 10 000 person-years among those with newly diagnosed diabetes and 4.17 per 10 000 person-years among those without diabetes. The unadjusted hazard ratio was 1.92 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.83–2.01). After adjustment for age, income, urban residence, health care utilization and pre-existing hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity and cardiovascular disease, the hazard ratio was 1.77 (95% CI 1.68–1.86).

Interpretation: Adults with newly diagnosed diabetes appeared to be at higher risk of advanced liver disease, also known as diabetic hepatopathy. Whether this reflects nonalcoholic fatty liver disease or direct glycemic injury of the liver remains to be determined.

Methods: We received permission from 75 (83%) of 92 schools in southwestern Ontario, Canada, to enrol children in the fourth grade (ages 9 and 10 at baseline). Informed consent from the parents of 2278 (95.8%) of 2378 children in these schools was obtained at baseline. The main outcome measures were body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. Children were followed up over two years, from the spring of 2005 to the spring of 2007.

Results: Over the course of the study, we identified 111 children (46 boys and 65 girls) who had possible developmental coordination disorder. These children had a higher mean BMI and waist circumference at baseline than did those without the disorder; these differences persisted or increased slightly over time. Children with possible developmental coordination disorder were also at persistently greater risk of overweight (odds ratio [OR] 3.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.34–5.07) and obesity (OR 4.00, 95% CI 2.57–6.21) over the course of the study.

Interpretation: Our findings showed that children with possible developmental coordination disorder were at greater risk of overweight and obesity than children without the disorder. This risk did not diminish over the study period.

Methods: We conducted this three-year prospective cohort study in six Canadian emergency departments. The study involved adult trauma patients who were alert and whose condition was stable. We provided two hours of training to 191 triage nurses. The nurses then assessed patients using the Canadian C-Spine Rule, including determination of neck tenderness and range of motion, reapplied immobilization and completed a data form.

Results: Of the 3633 study patients, 42 (1.2%) had clinically important injuries of the cervical spine. The kappa value for interobserver assessments of 498 patients with the Canadian C-Spine Rule was 0.78. We calculated sensitivity of 100.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] 91.0%–100.0%) and specificity of 43.4% (95% CI 42.0%–45.0%) for the Canadian C-Spine Rule as interpreted by the investigators. The nurses classified patients with a sensitivity of 90.2% (95% CI 76.0%–95.0%) and a specificity of 43.9% (95% CI 42.0%–46.0%). Early in the study, nurses failed to identify four cases of injury, despite the presence of clear high-risk factors. None of these patients suffered sequelae, and after retraining there were no further missed cases. We estimated that for 40.7% of patients, the cervical spine could be cleared clinically by nurses. Nurses reported discomfort in applying the Canadian C-Spine Rule in only 4.8% of cases.

Conclusion: Use of the Canadian C-Spine Rule by nurses was accurate, reliable and clinically acceptable. Widespread implementation by nurses throughout Canada and elsewhere would diminish patient discomfort and improve patient flow in overcrowded emergency departments.

Methods: We prospectively measured daily PELOD scores and calculated the change in scores over time for 1806 consecutive patients admitted to seven pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) between September 1998 and February 2000. To study the relationship between daily scores and mortality in the PICU, we evaluated changes in daily scores during the first four days; the mean rate of change in scores during the entire PICU stay between survivors and nonsurvivors; and Cox survival analyses using a change in PELOD score as a time-dependent covariate to determine the optimal days for measuring daily scores.

Results: The overall mortality among the 1806 patients was 6.4%. A high PELOD score (≥ 20 points) on day 1 was associated with an odds ratio (OR) for death of 40.7 (95% confidence interval [CI] 20.3–81.4); a medium score (10–19 points) on day 1 was associated with an OR for death of 4.2 (95% CI 2.0–8.7). Mortality was 50% when a high score on day 1 increased on day 2. The course of daily PELOD scores differed between survivors and nonsurvivors. A set of seven days (days 1, 2, 5, 8, 12, 16 and 18) was identified as the optimal period for measurement of daily PELOD scores.

Interpretation: PELOD scores indicating a worsening condition or no improvement over time were indicators of a poor prognosis in the PICU. A set of seven days for measurement of the PELOD score during the PICU stay provided optimal information on the progression of multiple-organ dysfunction syndrome in critically ill children.