Description: Objectives To investigate factors influencing the effectiveness of intensive sound masking therapy on tinnitus using logistic regression analysis. Design The study used a retrospective cross-section analysis. Participants 102 patients with tinnitus were recruited at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, China. Intervention Intensive sound masking therapy was used as an intervention approach for patients with tinnitus. Primary and secondary outcome measures Participants underwent audiological investigations and tinnitus pitch and loudness matching measurements, followed by intensive sound masking therapy. The Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) was used as the outcome measure pre and post treatment. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to investigate the association of demographic and audiological factors with effective therapy. Results According to the THI score changes pre and post sound masking intervention, 51 participants were categorised into an effective group, the remaining 51 participants were placed in a non-effective group. Those in the effective group were significantly younger than those in the non-effective group (P=0.012). Significantly more participants had flat audiogram configurations in the effective group (P=0.04). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that age (OR=0.96, 95% CI 0.93 to 0.99, P=0.007), audiometric configuration (P=0.027) and THI score pre treatment (OR=1.04, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.07, P〈0.001) were significantly associated with therapeutic effectiveness. Further analysis showed that patients with flat audiometric configurations were 5.45 times more likely to respond to intervention than those with high-frequency steeply sloping audiograms (OR=5.45, 95% CI 1.67 to 17.86, P=0.005). Conclusion Audiometric configuration, age and THI scores appear to be predictive of the effectiveness of sound masking treatment. Gender, tinnitus characteristics and hearing threshold measures do not seem to be related to treatment effectiveness. A further randomised control study is needed to provide evidence of the effectiveness of prognostic factors in tinnitus interventions.

Description: Objectives To evaluate the relationship between pupillary response to light, myopia and disk halo size. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Single refractive surgery centre. Participants In this study, 197 right eyes of 197 patients between 20 and 35 years of age were evaluated for disk halo size and pupillary response to light with a vision monitor. Primary and secondary outcome measures Halo radius, age, spherical equivalent (SE), axial length (AL), initial diameter, amplitude of contraction, latency of contraction, duration of contraction, velocity of contraction, latency of dilation, duration of dilation, velocity of dilation, maximum pupil, minimum pupil, average pupil and dark pupil. Results Significant associations were found between disk halo size and SE (r=–0.219, P=0.002), AL (r=0.152, P=0.033) and minimum pupil (r=0.149, P=0.037). There were no associations between disk halo size and initial diameter, amplitude of contraction, latency of contraction, duration of contraction, velocity of contraction, latency of dilation, duration of dilation, velocity of dilation, maximum pupil, average pupil, dark pupil and age (P〉0.05). A significant difference in disk halo size was detected between the low-moderate and high myopia (SE〈 –6 D) groups (P=0.002) and between the small and large (minimum pupil≥4 mm) minimum pupil size groups (P=0.014). Conclusions Patients with a high SE and large minimum pupil size (minimum pupil ≥4 mm) suffered more disability glare than those with a low SE and small minimum pupil size.

Description: Objectives To compare the subsequent fertility and risk of recurrence of an ectopic pregnancy (EP) in women who had had an EP, according to the type of surgical treatment they received—that is, salpingectomy, salpingostomy or tubal anastomosis. Methods A retrospective cohort study was carried out between January 2003 and September 2011 of 618 patients admitted to hospital with tubal EP and who had received surgical treatment (salpingectomy, n=434; salpingostomy, n=112; and tube anastomosis, n=72). Main outcomes included the first intrauterine pregnancy (IUP) and recurrent EP. Results The crude IUP rates up to 24 months after surgery were 55.5% for salpingectomy, 50.9% for salpingostomy and 40.3% for tubal anastomosis treatments. In the multivariate-adjusted model, with the patients receiving salpingectomy as the reference group, HR for patients after salpingostomy and tubal anastomosis treatments for IUP were 0.912 (95% CI 0.762 to 2.017) and 0.619 (95% CI 0.328 to 0.927), respectively. The 2-year cumulative recurrent EP rates were found to be 8.1% for salpingectomy, 6.3% for salpingostomy and 16.7% for tubal anastomosis treatments. Taking the patients receiving salpingectomy as the reference group, the patients who received tubal anastomosis had a positively higher risk of recurrent EP (HR=2.280; 95% CI 1.121 to 4.636) in univariate analysis. Adjustment for other potential confounders only slightly attenuated the HR. Conclusions The patients with an EP receiving tubal anastomosis treatments appeared to have a lower 2-year rate of IUP and a higher risk of recurrent EP after adjustment for other potential risk factors.