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Objective: The Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network (HCRN) implemented a perioperative infection prevention bundle for all CSF shunt surgeries in 2007 that included the relatively unproven technique of intrathecal instillation of the broad-spectrum antibiotics vancomycin and gentamicin into the shunt. In the meantime, the field debated the use of antibiotic-impregnated catheter (AIC) shunt tubing using clindamycin and rifampin, an increasingly widespread, but expensive and controversial, technique. It is unknown whether there were changes in infecting organisms associated with the use of these techniques during CSF shunt surgery at the hospital level. Key comparison periods include during the use of intrathecal antibiotics (period 1 from June 1, 2007, to December 31, 2011, at HCRN hospitals) and AIC (period 2 from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2015, at HCRN as well as increasing over time at non-HCRN hospitals) and only standard use of routine prophylactic antibiotics (period 1 at non-HCRN hospitals). The aim of this study was to examine rates of CSF shunt surgery-related infections from 2007 to 2012 at the hospital level, including HCRN and non-HCRN hospitals, with a focus on infections with gram-negative organisms., Methods: The authors conducted a retrospective observational cohort study at 6 children's hospitals with enrollment from 2007 to 2012 and surveillance through 2015. Bimonthly rates of shunt surgery-related infections were summarized to produce an overall hospital-specific time series, as well as by HCRN/non-HCRN status. An interrupted time series analysis was performed to assess the impact of change in HCRN perioperative infection prevention bundle on overall bimonthly infection rates. Quarterly rates of gram-negative shunt surgery-related infections were summarized to produce an overall hospital-specific time series., Results: The overall bimonthly CSF shunt infection rate over time did not change significantly from 2007 to 2012. There was no difference in the trajectory of infection rates between HCRN and non-HCRN hospitals during the entire study period. No change in distributions of gram-negative organism infections was observed in hospitals from 2007 to 2015., Conclusions: There were no differences observed in hospital-level infection rates for low-risk patients undergoing CSF shunt surgery. This included analyses based on participation in the HCRN network, given their regular use of intrathecal antibiotics in period 1 and a focus on gram-negative infections with increasing adoption of AICs in period 2.

Objective: Among 3614 youth who were 9 to 12 years old and initially did not have overweight or obesity (12% [n = 385] developed overweight or obesity), we examined the natural progression of weight gain and brain structure development during a 2-year period with a high risk for obesity (e.g., pre- and early adolescence) to determine the following: 1) whether variation in maturational trajectories of the brain regions contributes to weight gain; and/or 2) whether weight gain contributes to altered brain development., Methods: Data were gathered from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. Linear mixed-effects regression models controlled for puberty, caregiver education, handedness, and intracranial volume (random effects: magnetic resonance scanner [MRI] scanner and participant). Because pubertal development occurs earlier in girls, analyses were stratified by sex., Results: For girls, but not boys, independent of puberty, greater increases in BMI were driven by smaller volumes over time in the bilateral accumbens, amygdala, hippocampus, and thalamus, right caudate and ventral diencephalon, and left pallidum (all p < 0.05)., Conclusions: The results suggest a potential phenotype for identifying obesity risk because underlying differences among regions involved in food intake were related to greater weight gain in girls, but not in boys. Importantly, 2 years of weight gain may not be sufficient to alter brain development, highlighting early puberty as a critical time to prevent negative neurological outcomes., (© 2024 The Obesity Society.)

Although pediatric growth curves provide clinical utility, using these metrics for within-person change over time can be misleading. As research is focused on understanding cardiometabolic consequences of weight gain, it is important to use precise metrics to analyze these longitudinal research questions. Despite several foundational recommendations to limit the use of reference pediatric growth curves (e.g., BMI z scores) for within-person longitudinal research, it has evolved into the "gold standard" for using growth curves for pediatric weight gain analyses. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to discuss (A) the methodology used to create reference growth curves; (B) the appropriate use of reference pediatric BMI growth curves within the context of cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses in research; and (C) how to select metrics based on desired evaluations. Careful consideration using standardized references scores is essential when assessing obesity-related questions and comorbid risk over time in pediatric populations., (© 2024 The Authors. Obesity published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Obesity Society.)

Background: Infants with prematurity, low birthweight, and medical comorbidities are at high risk for developmental delays and neurodevelopmental disabilities and require close monitoring. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, high-risk infant follow-up (HRIF) programs have adapted to perform developmental assessments via telehealth., Objectives: Describe the referral rates to initiate, continue, or increase/add early intervention (EI) therapies based on in-person use of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, 4th Edition (BSID-IV) or telehealth use of the Developmental Assessment in Young Children, 2nd Edition (DAYC-2)., Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted on 203 patients seen in the HRIF program at an academic medical center in Southern California. Patients were divided into in-person (BSID-IV) and telehealth (DAYC-2) assessment groups. Statistical analyses were performed to describe demographic characteristics, medical information, and referral rates for EI therapies by the types of visits., Results: The in-person and telehealth groups demonstrated similar demographic and clinical characteristics and comparable referral rates for initiating EI therapies. Telehealth patients already receiving therapies were recommended to increase/add EI therapies at a higher rate compared to in-person patients., Conclusions: The BSID-IV is widely used to assess for developmental delays in the high-risk infant population, but in-person administration of this tool poses limitations on its accessibility. Telehealth administration of an alternative tool, such as the DAYC-2, can lead to similar EI referral rates as in-person administration of the BSID-IV. Increased use of telehealth developmental assessments can promote timely detection of developmental delays and minimize gaps in healthcare access., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors of this paper have no conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Intestinal ultrasound (IUS) is a noninvasive tool to assess bowel inflammation. There is a paucity of data on its accuracy in pediatric patients., Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic performance of bowel wall thickness (BWT) measured using IUS compared with endoscopic disease activity in children suspected of having inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)., Methods: We conducted a single-center cross-sectional pilot study of pediatric patients suspected to have previously undiagnosed IBD. Endoscopic inflammation was graded using segmental scores of the Simple Endoscopic Score for Crohn's Disease (SES-CD) and the Ulcerative Colitis Endoscopic Index of Severity (UCEIS) and classified as having healthy, mild, or moderate/severe disease activity. Association between BWT and endoscopic severity was assessed using the Kruskal-Wallis test. The diagnostic performance of BWT to detect active disease at endoscopy was evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve; sensitivity and specificity were calculated., Results: In all, 174 bowel segments in 33 children were assessed by IUS and ileocolonoscopy. An elevated median BWT was associated with increased bowel segment disease severity, classified by the SES-CD (P < .001) and the UCEIS (P < .01). Using a cutoff value of 1.9 mm, we found that the BWT had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.743 (95% CI, 0.67-0.82), a sensitivity of 64% (95% CI, 53%-73%), and a specificity of 76% (95% CI, 65%-85%) to detect inflamed bowel., Conclusion: Increasing BWT is associated with increasing endoscopic activity in pediatric IBD. Our study suggests that the optimal BWT cutoff value for detecting active disease may be less than that seen in adults. Additional pediatric studies are needed., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Down syndrome regression disorder (DSRD) is a clinical symptom cluster consisting of neuropsychiatric regression without an identifiable cause. This study evaluated the clinical effectiveness of IVIg and evaluated clinical characteristics associated with relapse after therapy discontinuation. A prospective, multi-center, non-randomized, observational study was performed. Patients met criteria for DSRD and were treated with IVIg. All patients underwent a standardized wean-off therapy after 9-12 months of treatment. Baseline, on-therapy, and relapse scores of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Total Score (NPITS), Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S), and the Bush-Francis Catatonia Rating Scale (BFCRS) were used to track clinical symptoms. Eighty-two individuals were enrolled in this study. Patients had lower BFCRS (MD: -6.68; 95% CI: -8.23, -5.14), CGI-S (MD: -1.27; 95% CI: -1.73, -0.81), and NPITS scores (MD: -6.50; 95% CI: -7.53, -5.47) while they were on therapy compared to baseline. Approximately 46% of the patients (n = 38) experienced neurologic relapse with wean of IVIg. Patients with neurologic relapse were more likely to have any abnormal neurodiagnostic study (χ 2  = 11.82, P = 0.001), abnormal MRI (χ 2  = 7.78, P = 0.005), and abnormal LP (χ 2  = 5.45, P = 0.02), and a personal history of autoimmunity (OR: 6.11, P < 0.001) compared to patients without relapse. IVIg was highly effective in the treatment of DSRD. Individuals with a history of personal autoimmunity or neurodiagnostic abnormalities were more likely to relapse following weaning of immunotherapy, indicating the potential for, a chronic autoimmune etiology in some cases of DSRD., (© 2023. Springer Nature Limited.)

Background: To slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus, governments across the globe instituted stay-at-home orders leading to increased stress and social isolation. Not surprisingly, alcohol sales increased during this period. While most studies primarily focused on alcohol consumption among college students or adults, this study investigates alcohol misuse among marginalized youth in the USA. We examined risk factors associated with hazardous alcohol use and binge drinking including risk behaviors, life stressors and demographic characteristics., Methods: In October 2020, youth living with or at high risk for acquiring human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), participating in community-based research to improve HIV prevention and care, were invited to complete an online survey to assess the impact of the stay-at-home orders on multiple aspects of their daily life., Results: Respondents (n = 478) were on average 23 years old; cisgender (84%), not-heterosexual (86.6%), Latino or Black/African American (73%) and assigned male at birth (83%); 52% reported being employed and 14% reported living with HIV. White participants and those who use drugs had higher odds of hazardous alcohol use and binge drinking, compared with other race categories and non-drug users, respectively., Conclusion: Contrary to findings from adult studies, we did not observe an increase in hazardous or binge drinking among youth at risk for HIV. Hazardous alcohol use and binge drinking was more likely among White participants, those who use drugs and those who were hazardous/binge drinkers prior to the COVID-19 lockdown, which points to the importance of identifying and treating youth who misuse alcohol early to prevent future alcohol misuse., (© The Author(s) 2023. Medical Council on Alcohol and Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: This study aims to describe the cohort of Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions (ATN) research program participants and evaluate whether the ATN's recently completed 5-year cycle recruited study participants who parallel the populations most impacted by HIV in the United States., Methods: Harmonized measures across ATN studies collected at baseline were aggregated for participants aged 13-24 years. Pooled means and proportions stratified by HIV status (at risk for or living with HIV) were calculated using unweighted averages of study-specific aggregate data. Medians were estimated using a weighted median of medians method. Public use 2019 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveillance data for state-level new HIV diagnoses and HIV prevalence among US youth aged 13-24 years were obtained for use as reference populations for ATN at-risk youth and youth living with HIV (YLWH), respectively., Results: Data from 3,185 youth at-risk for HIV and 542 YLWH were pooled from 21 ATN study phases conducted across the United States. Among ATN studies tailored to at-risk youth, a higher proportion of participants were White and a lower proportion were Black/African American and Hispanic/Latinx compared to youth newly diagnosed with HIV in the United States in 2019. Participants in ATN studies tailored to YLWH were demographically similar to YLWH in the United States., Discussion: The development of data harmonization guidelines for ATN research activities facilitated this cross-network pooled analysis. These findings suggest the ATN's YLWH are representative, but that future studies of at-risk youth should prioritize recruitment strategies to enroll more participants from African American and Hispanic/Latinx populations., (Copyright © 2023 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Psychological researchers often use standard linear regression to identify relevant predictors of an outcome of interest, but challenges emerge with incomplete data and growing numbers of candidate predictors. Regularization methods like the LASSO can reduce the risk of overfitting, increase model interpretability, and improve prediction in future samples; however, handling missing data when using regularization-based variable selection methods is complicated. Using listwise deletion or an ad hoc imputation strategy to deal with missing data when using regularization methods can lead to loss of precision, substantial bias, and a reduction in predictive ability. In this tutorial, we describe three approaches for fitting a LASSO when using multiple imputation to handle missing data and illustrate how to implement these approaches in practice with an applied example. We discuss implications of each approach and describe additional research that would help solidify recommendations for best practices. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Down syndrome regression disorder (DSRD) is a clinical symptom cluster consisting of neuropsychiatric regression without an identifiable cause. This study evaluated the clinical effectiveness of IVIg and evaluated clinical characteristics associated with relapse after therapy discontinuation. A prospective, multi-center, non-randomized, observational study was performed. Patients met criteria for DSRD and were treated with IVIg. All patients underwent a standardized wean off therapy after 9-12 months of treatment. Baseline, on therapy, and relapse scores of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Total Score (NPITS), Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S), and the Bush-Francis Catatonia Rating Scale (BFCRS) were used to track clinical symptoms. Eighty-two individuals were enrolled in this study. Patients had lower BFCRS (MD: -6.68; 95% CI: -8.23, -5.14), CGI-S (MD: -1.27; 95% CI: -1.73, -0.81), and NPITS scores (MD: -6.50; 95% CI: -7.53, -5.47) while they were on therapy compared to baseline. Approximately 46% of the patients (n = 38) experienced neurologic relapse with wean of IVIg. Patients with neurologic relapse were more likely to have any abnormal neurodiagnostic study (χ2 = 11.82, p = 0.001), abnormal MRI (χ2 = 7.78, p = 0.005), and abnormal LP (χ2 = 5.45, p = 0.02), and a personal history of autoimmunity (OR: 6.11, p < 0.001) compared to patients without relapse. IVIg was highly effective in the treatment of DSRD. Individuals with a history of personal autoimmunity or neurodiagnostic abnormalities were more likely to relapse following weaning of immunotherapy, indicating the potential for, a chronic autoimmune etiology in some cases of DSRD.

Youth at-risk for HIV are also at-risk for mental health disorders and psychiatric hospitalization. Understanding the association between engagement in HIV prevention, concurrent risk behaviors, and psychiatric hospitalization may lead to improvements in integrated prevention and mental health treatment efforts. Youth at-risk for HIV, aged 14-24 years old, predominantly Black/African American and Latinx (75%) were recruited through youth-serving clinics and community sites in Los Angeles ( n  = 839) and New Orleans ( n  = 647). We compared youth with and without histories of psychiatric hospitalization on engagement in HIV prevention, concurrent risk behaviors, and demographic characteristics. We examined predictors of hospitalization using multiple imputations for missing data. Hospitalized youth (30%) were more involved in HIV programs, but were less likely to use PrEP/PEP or condoms than non-hospitalized youth. The odds of hospitalization were higher for transgender/gender nonconforming youth relative to cisgender youth; the OR was increased after adjustment for concurrent risk behaviors. Hospitalization was associated with homelessness, trauma, incarceration, substance use, and involvement in substance abuse treatment programs. There is a continuing need to integrate the diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders into HIV prevention programs to better address multiple challenges faced by vulnerable youth.

Objective: This is a secondary analysis examining neighborhood factors predicting high rates of child resilience in South African Township neighborhoods., Methods: A population cohort of South African pregnant women (98%; n = 1238), were recruited and assessed across five years with high follow-up rates (83-96%). Resilient children were identified based on consistently meeting global standards for growth, cognitive functioning, and behavior. Community infrastructure, maternal risks, and caretaking behaviors were examined based on neighborhood as predictors of childhood resilience., Results: The rate of resilient children varied significantly by neighborhood (9.5% to 27%). Mothers living in high prevalence neighborhoods (HPN) compared to low prevalence neighborhoods (LPN) were older and more likely be living with three or more people in formal housing with access to water and electricity. In the HPN, resilient children had more food security and were less likely to have mothers with depressed mood. Migration to rural areas occurred more frequently among resilient compared to non-resilient children in the HPN., Conclusion: This study applies a novel measure of resilience that is multidimensional and longitudinally defined. Living in formal housing with consistent access to food was associated with resilience. Migration to rural areas among families living in HPN suggests that rural areas could be protective., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov registration #NCT00996528., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Objective: The main objective of the study was to examine the association of migration with child growth, cognition and behaviour in South Africa., Methods: Secondary analysis assessing effects of migration on child outcomes among a population cohort of women and children (n = 1238) recruited in Cape Town, South African townships and repeatedly assessed from birth to age eight. Logistic regression models analysed sociodemographic predictors of migration and longitudinal models assessed the association of child migration, with or without their mother, on child growth, cognition and behavioural outcomes., Results: By 8 years post-birth, 41% of children born in the townships in Cape Town had migrated to the rural Eastern Cape. Staying in Cape Town, or not migrating, was associated with having an older mother. Children who migrated with their mothers were shorter and weighed less than those who did not migrate. Children who migrated had larger vocabularies and those who migrated with their mothers had fewer behavioural problems than children who stayed in Cape Town., Conclusion: Migration in South Africa between peri-urban Cape Town and rural Eastern Cape areas during a child's early years is common and is associated with both positive and negative child outcomes., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Home visiting by community health workers (CHW) improves child outcomes in efficacy trials, there is however limited evidence of impact evaluating CHW programmes when operating outside of a research project. A CHW programme, previously demonstrated efficacious in a peri-urban township, was evaluated in a deeply rural context in a non-randomised comparative cohort study. Two non-contiguous, rural areas in the Eastern Cape of South Africa of about equal size and density were identified and 1469 mother-infant pairs were recruited over 33 months. In one area, CHWs conducted perinatal home visits (intervention group). Mothers in the comparison group received standard clinic care. Maternal and child outcomes were compared between the groups at one year. Mothers in the intervention group had significantly fewer depressive symptoms than mothers in the comparison group. Children of intervention mothers attained a higher proportion of their developmental milestones, compared to children in the comparison group. There were no other significant differences between mothers and children in the two groups. It is important to establish key parameters for implementing efficacious CHW programmes, especially as the numbers of CHWs are rapidly increased and are becoming critical components of task-shifting strategies of health departments in low and middle income countries (LMIC).

Households experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) and food insecurity are at high risk of lifelong physical and behavioral difficulties. Longitudinal data from a perinatal home-visiting cluster-randomized controlled intervention trial in South Africa townships were used to examine the relationships between household settings and mothers' histories of risk and children's behavior problems at 3 and 5 years of age. IPV, food insecurity, maternal depressed mood, and geriatric pregnancy (at age of 35 or older) were consistently associated with children's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Aggressive behavior was more prevalent among 3- and 5-year olds boys, and was associated with maternal alcohol use. The effects of these factors on child behavior were more prominent than maternal HIV status. There is a continuing need to reduce IPV and household food insecurity, as well as supporting older, depressed, alcohol using mothers in order to address children's behavioral needs.

Objective: Examine resiliency among a South African population cohort of children of mothers living with HIV (MLH) and mothers without HIV (MWOH) in low-income townships over the first 5 years of life., Design: A cluster randomized controlled intervention trial evaluating child resiliency and the effects of home visiting in township neighborhoods from pregnancy through 5 years postbirth., Methods: The population of pregnant women in 24 matched neighborhoods were recruited and randomized by neighborhood to a standard care condition (n = 594) or a paraprofessional home visiting intervention condition (n = 644). Mothers and children were assessed at 2 weeks, 6, 18, 36, and 60 months postbirth (92-84% follow-up; 10.2% mortality). Resilient children were identified based on consistently meeting global standards for growth, cognitive functioning, and behavior. Maternal HIV status (n = 354 MLH; n = 723 mothers without HIV MWOH), intervention condition, maternal risks, caretaking, sociodemographic characteristics, and neighborhood were examined as predictors of child resiliency over time using analysis of variance, chi-square analyses, and Fisher's exact tests, where appropriate., Results: None of HIV-seropositive children (n = 17) were resilient; 19% of 345 HIV-exposed but uninfected children of MLH were resilient, a rate very similar to the 16% among MWOH. Resiliency was significantly associated with lower income, food security, not having a live-in partner, and the absence of maternal risk (i.e., not being depressed, using alcohol, or being a victim of intimate partner violence). Being randomized to a home visiting intervention, maternal breastfeeding for at least 3 months and attending a preschool crèche were also unrelated to resiliency. Although matched pairs of neighborhoods had similar rates of resilient children, resiliency varied significantly by neighborhood with rates ranging from 9.5 to 27%., Conclusion: We set a new standard to define resiliency, as consistently recommended by theoreticians. Although seropositive children are not resilient, uninfected children of MLH are as resilient as their peers of MWOH. Typical protective factors (e.g., home visiting, breastfeeding, preschool) were unrelated to resiliency over the first 5 years of life., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov registration #NCT00996528.

Objective: The consequences of maternal depressed mood on children's growth, health, and cognitive and language development are examined over the first 3 years of life., Method: Pregnant women in 24 periurban township neighborhoods in Cape Town, South Africa (N = 1,238 mothers) were randomized by neighborhood to a home visiting intervention or a standard care condition. Reassessments were conducted for 93%-85% of mothers at 2-weeks, 6-, 18-, and 36-months postbirth. Regressions were conducted on measures of children's growth, behavior, language, and cognition to examine the impact of four patterns of depressed mood: antenatal only (n = 154, 13.8%), postnatal only (n = 272, 24.3%), antenatal and postnatal (n = 220, 19.7%), and no depressed mood on any assessment (n = 473, 42.3%)., Results: Patterns of depressed mood were similar across intervention conditions. Depressed mothers were significantly less educated, had lower incomes, were less likely to be employed or to have electricity; were more likely to report problematic drinking of alcohol, experience food insecurity, interpersonal partner violence, and to be HIV seropositive. At 36 months, the pattern of maternal depressed mood over time was significantly associated with children's compromised physical growth, both in weight and height, and more internalizing and externalizing symptoms of behavior problems. Measures of language and cognition were similar across maternal patterns of depressed mood., Conclusions: Mothers who report depressed mood face significantly more life challenges, both environmental stressors related to poverty and other problematic behaviors. More proximal, postnatal depressed mood appears to have a larger influence on their children, compared with antenatal depressed mood. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).)

Background: Differences between early-onset and late-onset adult asthma have not been comprehensively described using prospective data., Aims: To characterise the differences between early-onset and late-onset asthma in a longitudinal cohort study., Methods: The Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study (TAHS) is a population-based cohort. Respiratory histories and spirometry were first performed in 1968 when participants were aged 7 (n=8583). The cohort was traced and resurveyed from 2002 to 2005 (n=5729 responses) and a sample, enriched for asthma and bronchitis participated in a clinical study when aged 44 (n=1389)., Results: Of the entire TAHS cohort, 7.7% (95% CI 6.6% to 9.0%) had early-onset and 7.8% (95% CI 6.4% to 9.4%) late-onset asthma. Atopy and family history were more common in early-onset asthma while female gender, current smoking and low socioeconomic status were more common in late-onset asthma. The impact on lung function of early-onset asthma was significantly greater than for late-onset asthma (mean difference prebronchodilator (BD) FEV 1 /FVC -2.8% predicted (-5.3 to -0.3); post-BD FEV 1 FVC -2.6% predicted (-5.0 to -0.1)). However, asthma severity and asthma score did not significantly differ between groups. An interaction between asthma and smoking was identified and found to be associated with greater fixed airflow obstruction in adults with late-onset asthma. This interaction was not evident in adults with early-onset disease., Conclusions: Early-onset and late-onset adult asthma are equally prevalent in the middle-aged population. Major phenotypic differences occur with asthma age-of-onset; while both share similar clinical manifestations, the impact on adult lung function of early-onset asthma is greater than for late-onset asthma., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.)

Background: Missing data are common in medical research, which can lead to a loss in statistical power and potentially biased results if not handled appropriately. Multiple imputation (MI) is a statistical method, widely adopted in practice, for dealing with missing data. Many academic journals now emphasise the importance of reporting information regarding missing data and proposed guidelines for documenting the application of MI have been published. This review evaluated the reporting of missing data, the application of MI including the details provided regarding the imputation model, and the frequency of sensitivity analyses within the MI framework in medical research articles., Methods: A systematic review of articles published in the Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine between January 2008 and December 2013 in which MI was implemented was carried out., Results: We identified 103 papers that used MI, with the number of papers increasing from 11 in 2008 to 26 in 2013. Nearly half of the papers specified the proportion of complete cases or the proportion with missing data by each variable. In the majority of the articles (86%) the imputed variables were specified. Of the 38 papers (37%) that stated the method of imputation, 20 used chained equations, 8 used multivariate normal imputation, and 10 used alternative methods. Very few articles (9%) detailed how they handled non-normally distributed variables during imputation. Thirty-nine papers (38%) stated the variables included in the imputation model. Less than half of the papers (46%) reported the number of imputations, and only two papers compared the distribution of imputed and observed data. Sixty-six papers presented the results from MI as a secondary analysis. Only three articles carried out a sensitivity analysis following MI to assess departures from the missing at random assumption, with details of the sensitivity analyses only provided by one article., Conclusions: This review outlined deficiencies in the documenting of missing data and the details provided about imputation. Furthermore, only a few articles performed sensitivity analyses following MI even though this is strongly recommended in guidelines. Authors are encouraged to follow the available guidelines and provide information on missing data and the imputation process.