Search results
Found 18168 matches for
We lead multidisciplinary applied research and training to rethink the way health care is delivered in general practice and across the community.
When a corrigendum is not sufficient.
We present the reasoning behind a retraction noting that even small, honest errors can result in significant changes in findings.
Do 'alternative' help-seeking strategies affect primary care service use? A survey of help-seeking for mental distress
Background. Epidemiological studies suggest that only some distressed individuals seek help from primary care and that pathways to mental health care appear to be ethnically patterned. However few research studies examine how people with common mental disorder manage their mental distress, which help-seeking strategies they employ and whether these are patterned by ethnicity? This study investigates alternative help-seeking strategies in a multi-ethnic community and examines the relationship with primary care use. Methods. Participants were recruited from four GP practice registers and 14 community groups in East London. Of 268 participants, 117 had a common mental disorder according to a valid and structured interview schedule (CIS-R). Participants were of Bangladeshi, black Caribbean and White British ethnic background. For those with a common mental disorder, we examined self-reported help-seeking behaviour, perceived helpfulness of care givers, and associations with primary care service use. Results. We found that alternative help-seeking such as talking to family about distress (OR 15.83, CI 3.9-64.5, P < .001), utilising traditional healers (OR 8.79, CI 1.98-38.93, p = .004), and severity of distress (1.11, CI 1.03-1.20, p = .006) was positively associated with primary care service use for people with a common mental disorder. Ethnic background influenced the choice of help-seeking strategies, but was less important in perceptions of their helpfulness. Conclusion. Primary care service use was strongly correlated with lay and community help-seeking. Alternative help-seeking was commonly employed in all ethnic groups. A large number of people believed mental distress could not be resolved or they did not know how to resolve it. The implications for health promotion and integrated care pathways are discussed. © 2008 Rüdell et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
Social scaffolding: Applying the lessons of contemporary social science to health and healthcare
Using current societal dilemmas, this book explores how social factors and social identity influence our health and recovery from illness. It includes recent research to present practitioners, researchers, policymakers and students of many disciplines with the material to support them in better harnessing current knowledge of the impact of social factors on health. The contents will influence collaborative working across policy, disciplinary and practice boundaries to design and deliver healthcare services. The book identifies the importance of social connectedness, social support, agency and self and group efficacy in people's health, longevity and resilience after adversity. Core perspectives include the social identity approach and a values framework for taking public health ethics into decision-making, both of which emphasise valuing people and co-productive relationships. Advocating better targeted mental health promotion and integrated interventions, this book strongly argues for a greater emphasis on social factors in evidence-based and cost-effective practice.
A public health approach to understanding and preventing violent radicalization
Background: Very recent acts of terrorism in the UK were perpetrated by 'homegrown', well educated young people, rather than by foreign Islamist groups; consequently, a process of violent radicalization was proposed to explain how ordinary people were recruited and persuaded to sacrifice their lives.Discussion: Counterterrorism approaches grounded in the criminal justice system have not prevented violent radicalization. Indeed there is some evidence that these approaches may have encouraged membership of radical groups by not recognizing Muslim communities as allies, citizens, victims of terrorism, and victims of discrimination, but only as suspect communities who were then further alienated. Informed by public health research and practice, a new approach is proposed to target populations vulnerable to recruitment, rather than rely only on research of well known terrorist groups and individual perpetrators of terrorist acts.Conclusions: This paper proposes public health research and practice to guard against violent radicalization. © 2012 Bhui et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
The promotion of children's health and wellbeing: The contributions of England's charity sector
Background. Sports and arts based services for children have positive impacts on their mental and physical health. The charity sector provides such services, often set up in response to local communities expressing a need. The present study maps resilience promoting services provided by children's charities in England. Specifically, the prominence of sports and arts activities, and types of mental health provisions including telephone help-lines, are investigated. Findings. The study was a cross-sectional web-based survey of chief executives, senior mangers, directors and chairs of charities providing services for children under the age of 16. The aims, objectives and activities of participating children's charities and those providing mental health services were described overall. In total 167 chief executives, senior managers, directors and chairs of charities in England agreed to complete the survey. From our sample of charities, arts activities were the most frequently provided services (58/167, 35%), followed by counselling (55/167, 33%) and sports activities (36/167, 22%). Only 13% (22/167) of charities expected their work to contribute to the health legacy of the 2012 London Olympics. Telephone help lines were provided by 16% of the charities that promote mental health. Conclusions. Counselling and arts activities were relatively common. Sports activities were limited despite the evidence base that sport and physical activity are effective interventions for well-being and health gain. Few of the charities we surveyed expected a health legacy from the 2012 London Olympics. © 2010 Bhui et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
How do adolescents talk about self-harm: A qualitative study of disclosure in an ethnically diverse urban population in England
Background: Self-harm is prevalent in adolescence. It is often a behaviour without verbal expression, seeking relief from a distressed state of mind. As most adolescents who self-harm do not seek help, the nature of adolescent self-harm and reasons for not disclosing it are a public health concern. This study aims to increase understanding about how adolescents in the community speak about self-harm; exploring their attitudes towards and experiences of disclosure and help-seeking. Methods. This study involved 30 qualitative individual interviews with ethnically diverse adolescents aged 15-16 years (24 females, 6 males), investigating their views on coping with stress, self-harm and help-seeking, within their own social context in multicultural East London. Ten participants had never self-harmed, nine had self-harmed on one occasion and 11 had self-harmed repeatedly. Verbatim accounts were transcribed and subjected to content and thematic analysis using a framework approach. Results: Self-harm was described as a complex and varied behaviour. Most participants who had self-harmed expressed reluctance to talk about it and many had difficulty understanding self-harm in others. Some participants normalised self-harm and did not wish to accept offers of help, particularly if their self-harm had been secretive and 'discovered', leading to their referral to more formal help from others. Disclosure was viewed more positively with hindsight by some participants who had received help. If help was sought, adolescents desired respect, and for their problems, feelings and opinions to be noticed and considered alongside receiving treatment for injuries. Mixed responses to disclosure from peers, family and initial sources of help may influence subsequent behaviour and deter presentation to services. Conclusions: This study provides insight into the subjective experience of self-harm, disclosure and help-seeking from a young, ethnically diverse community sample. Accounts highlighted the value of examining self-harm in the context of each adolescent's day-to-day life. These accounts emphasised the need for support from others and increasing awareness about appropriate responses to adolescent self-harm and accessible sources of help for adolescents. © 2013 Klineberg et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
Gestational age and hospital admissions during childhood: Population based, record linkage study in England (TIGAR study)
AbstractObjective To examine the association between gestational age at birth and hospital admissions to age 10 years and how admission rates change throughout childhood. Design Population based, record linkage, cohort study in England. Setting NHS hospitals in England, United Kingdom. Participants 1 018 136 live, singleton births in NHS hospitals in England between January 2005 and December 2006. Main outcome measures Primary outcome was all inpatient hospital admissions from birth to age 10, death, or study end (March 2015); secondary outcome was the main cause of admission, which was defined as the World Health Organization's first international classification of diseases, version 10 (ICD-10) code within each hospital admission record. Results 1 315 338 admissions occurred between 1 January 2005 and 31 March 2015, and 831 729 (63%) were emergency admissions. 525 039 (52%) of 1 018 136 children were admitted to hospital at least once during the study period. Hospital admissions during childhood were strongly associated with gestational age at birth (<28, 28-29, 30-31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, and 42 weeks). In comparison with children born at full term (40 weeks' gestation), those born extremely preterm (<28 weeks) had the highest rate of hospital admission throughout childhood (adjusted rate ratio 4.92, 95% confidence interval 4.58 to 5.30). Even children born at 38 weeks had a higher rate of hospital admission throughout childhood (1.19, 1.16 to 1.22). The association between gestational age and hospital admission decreased with increasing age (interaction P<0.001). Children born earlier than 28 weeks had an adjusted rate ratio of 6.34 (95% confidence interval 5.80 to 6.85) at age less than 1 year, declining to 3.28 (2.82 to 3.82) at ages 7-10, in comparison with those born full term; whereas in children born at 38 weeks, the adjusted rate ratios were 1.29 (1.27 to 1.31) and 1.16 (1.13 to 1.19), during infancy and ages 7-10, respectively. Infection was the main cause of excess hospital admissions at all ages, but particularly during infancy. Respiratory and gastrointestinal conditions also accounted for a large proportion of admissions during the first two years of life. Conclusions The association between gestational age and hospital admission rates decreased with age, but an excess risk remained throughout childhood, even among children born at 38 and 39 weeks of gestation. Strategies aimed at the prevention and management of childhood infections should target children born preterm and those born a few weeks early.
Correction to: Developing a Framework for Public Involvement in Mathematical and Economic Modelling: Bringing New Dynamism to Vaccination Policy Recommendations (The Patient - Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, (2021), 10.1007/s40271-020-00476-x)
© 2021, The Author(s). The article “Developing a Framework for Public Involvement in Mathematical and Economic Modelling: Bringing New Dynamism to Vaccination Policy Recommendations”, written by Sophie Staniszewska, Edward M. Hill, Richard Grant, Peter Grove, Jarina Porter, Tinevimbo Shiri, Sue Tulip3, Jane Whitehurst, Claire Wright, Samik Datta, Stavros Petrou, Matt Keeling was originally published electronically on the publisher’s internet portal on 21 October 2020 without open access. With the author(s)’ decision to opt for Open Choice the copyright of the article changed on 28 January 2021 to © The Author(s) 2021 and the article is forthwith distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. The original article has been corrected.
The effect of smoke-free legislation on the mortality rate of acute myocardial infarction: a meta-analysis
Abstract Background Several studies have demonstrated that smoke-free legislation is associated with a reduced risk of mortality from acute myocardial infarction (AMI). This study aimed to examine and quantify the potential effect of smoke-free legislation on AMI mortality rate in different countries. Methods Studies were identified using a systematic search of the scientific literature from electronic databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Embase, Google Scholar, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), from their inception through September 30, 2017. A random effects model was employed to estimate the overall effects of smoke-free legislation on the AMI mortality rate. Subgroup analysis was performed to explore the possible causes of heterogeneity in risk estimates based on sex and age. The results of meta-analysis after excluding the studies with a high risk of bias were reported in this study. Results A total of 10 eligible studies with 16 estimates of effect size were included in this meta-analysis. Significant heterogeneity in the risk estimates was identified (overall I2 = 94.6%, p < 0.001). Therefore, a random effects model was utilized to estimate the overall effect of smoke-free legislation. There was an 8% decline in AMI mortality after introducing smoke-free legislation (RR = 0.92, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.90–0.94). The results of subgroup analyses showed that smoke-free legislation was significantly associated with lower rates of mortality for the following 5 diagnostic subgroups: smoke-free in workplaces, restaurants and bars (RR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.90–0.95), smaller sample size (RR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.89–0.95), study location in Europe (RR = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.85–0.94), regional study area (RR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.89–0.94), and no previous local smoke-free legislation (RR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.90–0.93). However, there was not much difference in AMI mortality rates after the legislation between the longer (RR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.86–0.98) and shorter follow-up duration subgroups (RR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.89–0.94). Conclusion Smoke-free legislation could significantly reduce the AMI mortality rate by 8%. The reduction in the AMI mortality rate was more significant in studies with more comprehensive laws, without prior smoke-free bans, with a smaller sample size, at the regional level, and with a location in Europe.
Trajectories of Mediterranean Diet Adherence and Risk of Hypertension in China: Results from the CHNS Study, 1997–2011
Evidence indicates that longitudinal changes in dietary patterns may predict variations in blood pressure (BP) and risk of incident hypertension. We aimed to identify distinct trajectories in the levels of Mediterranean diet adherence (MDA) in China and explore their association with BP levels and hypertension risk using the China Health and Nutrition Survey 1997–2011 data. Three levels of MDA were constructed. The trajectories in these levels were constructed using group-based trajectory modeling. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to measure the association between MDA trajectory groups and the risk of incident hypertension after adjusting for covariates. Finally, 6586 individuals were included. Six distinct MDA trajectory groups were identified: persistently low and gradual decline; rapidly increasing and stabilized; persistently moderate; slightly increasing, steady, and acutely descending; slightly decreasing and acutely elevated; and persistently high. The systolic BP and diastolic BP were significantly lower in trajectory groups with rapidly increasing and stabilized MDA; slightly increasing, steady, and acutely descending MDA; and persistently high MDA. Cox regression analysis showed that the risks of developing hypertension were relatively lower in the group with slightly increasing, steady, and acutely descending MDA (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.17, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.09–0.32) and the group with rapidly increasing and stabilized MDA (HR = 0.32, 95% CI: 0.23–0.42), but the risk was the highest in the trajectory with persistently moderate MDA (HR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.84–1.08). In conclusion, MDA in China was categorized into six distinct trajectory groups. BP was relatively lower in trajectory groups with initially high or increasing MDA levels. Greater MDA was significantly associated with a lower risk of developing hypertension.
Predicting stage of exercise among patients with type 2 diabetes: A test of the extended theory of planned behavior
© 2020 Gao et al. Purpose: This study aimed to predict stage of exercise among Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes by using an extended theory of planned behavior model (TPB) incorporating descriptive norm and self-identity. Patients and Methods: Participants (N=791) were included in a cross-sectional study. Structural equation modeling was used to explain how the extended TPB could predict the stage of exercise. Results: The model accounted for 41% of the variance in stage of exercise and 81.1% of the variance in intention. Intention (β=0.359, P<0.01) and self-identity (β=0.236, P<0.001) had a direct effect on stage of exercise. Self-identity (β=0.261, P<0.001), descriptive norm (β=0.035, P<0.05) and PBC (β=0.683, P<0.001) were strong predicators of intention. The effects of self-identity and PBC on behavior were significantly mediated via intention. Age, BMI and stage of diet behavior were found to be significantly related to intention and behavior. Conclusion: This study has tested the usefulness of the extended TPB for explaining exercise in Chinese diabetic patients. To promote patients to start or continue exercising, interventions should target self-identity and controllability for physical activity.
Associations between dietary patterns and the incidence of total and fatal cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality in 116,806 individuals from the UK Biobank: a prospective cohort study
Background: Traditionally, studies investigating diet and health associations have focused on single nutrients. However, key nutrients co-exist in many common foods, and studies focusing solely on individual nutrients may obscure their combined effects on cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality. We aimed to identify food-based dietary patterns which operate through excess energy intake and explain high variability in energy density, free sugars, saturated fat, and fiber intakes and to investigate their association with total and fatal CVD and all-cause mortality. Methods: Detailed dietary data was collected using a 24-h online dietary assessment on two or more occasions (n = 116,806). We used reduced rank regression to derive dietary patterns explaining the maximum variance. Multivariable Cox-proportional hazards models were used to investigate prospective associations with all-cause mortality and fatal and non-fatal CVD. Results: Over an average of 4.9 years of follow-up, 4245 cases of total CVD, 838 cases of fatal CVD, and 3629 cases of all-cause mortality occurred. Two dietary patterns were retained that jointly explained 63% of variation in energy density, free sugars, saturated fat, and fiber intakes in total. The main dietary pattern was characterized by high intakes of chocolate and confectionery, butter and low-fiber bread, and low intakes of fresh fruit and vegetables. There was a positive linear association between the dietary pattern and total CVD [hazard ratio (HR) per z-score 1.07, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04–1.09; HR 1.40, 95% CI 1.31–1.50, and HR 1.37, 95% CI 1.27–1.47 in highest quintile]. A second dietary pattern was characterized by a higher intakes of sugar-sweetened beverages, fruit juice, and table sugar/preserves. There was a non-linear association with total CVD risk and all-cause mortality, with increased risk in the highest quintile [HR 1.14, 95% CI 1.07–1.22; HR 1.11, 95% CI 1.03–1.19]. Conclusions: We identified dietary patterns which are associated with increased risk of CVD and all-cause mortality. These results help identify specific foods and beverages which are major contributors to unhealthy dietary patterns and provide evidence to underpin food-based dietary advice to reduce health risks. total CVD all-cause mortality total CVD all-cause mortality