Publications by authors named "Amanda J Cross"

Generating and translating high-quality evidence is integral to providing safe and effective medication management for residents of aged care homes. Residents are often under-represented in trials of medication effectiveness and safety. This paper reviews opportunities and challenges for generating and translating evidence for safe and effective medication management in aged care homes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * Approximately 17.4% of residents used at least one strong anticholinergic medication, with significant variation across countries (from 1.3% in China to 27.1% in Italy).
  • * The findings indicated higher usage among residents with cognitive impairment and those classified as most frail, suggesting the need for targeted deprescribing to minimize medication-related risks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: People living with dementia and their carers often experience difficulties in effectively managing medications and have indicated they lack necessary support, information and guidance. Recognising the medication management information needs of this population is an important first step in addressing these issues.

Objectives: To identify the priorities for information on medication management expressed by people living with dementia and their carers.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Flexible sigmoidoscopy screening reduces colorectal cancer incidence and mortality; however, uncertainty exists about the duration of protection and differences by sex and age. We assessed effects of once-only flexible sigmoidoscopy screening after 21 years' follow-up.

Methods: The UK Flexible Sigmoidoscopy Screening Trial is a multicentre randomised controlled trial that recruited men and women aged 55-64 years from general practices serving 14 hospitals.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to create a consensus list of the top 10 signs and symptoms of adverse drug events (ADEs) for residents in long-term care facilities using certain medications.
  • Conducted via a 3-round Delphi approach, healthcare professionals from 13 countries evaluated various signs and symptoms, prioritizing those that impact quality of life and can be easily monitored.
  • After three rounds, the final list of prioritized signs and symptoms included issues like recent falls, daytime drowsiness, abnormal movements, confusion, and dizziness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The adiposity influence on colorectal cancer prognosis remains poorly characterised. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis on post-diagnosis adiposity measures (body mass index [BMI], waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, weight) or their changes and colorectal cancer outcomes. PubMed and Embase were searched through 28 February 2022.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Low physical activity and high sedentary behaviour have been clearly linked with colorectal cancer development, yet data on their potential role in colorectal cancer survival is limited. Better characterisation of these relationships is needed for the development of post-diagnosis physical activity and sedentary behaviour guidance for colorectal cancer survivors. We searched PubMed and Embase through 28 February 2022 for studies assessing post-diagnosis physical activity, and/or sedentary behaviour in relation to all-cause and cause-specific mortality and recurrence after colorectal cancer diagnosis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The role of diet in colorectal cancer prognosis is not well understood and specific lifestyle recommendations are lacking. We searched for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and longitudinal observational studies on post-diagnosis dietary factors, supplement use and colorectal cancer survival outcomes in PubMed and Embase from inception until 28th February 2022. Random-effects dose-response meta-analyses were conducted when at least three studies had sufficient information.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A systematic review was conducted on factors like body weight, physical activity, and diet, to evaluate their impact on colorectal cancer prognosis, analyzing 167 publications, mostly observational studies.
  • The evidence indicated a complex, reverse J-shaped relationship between body mass index and cancer prognosis, but overall evidence quality was conservative due to potential biases.
  • Limited-suggestive findings were noted for recreational physical activity and healthy dietary patterns in reducing mortality risks, highlighting the need for more robust studies to develop effective lifestyle recommendations for colorectal cancer patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Gut barrier dysfunction and related inflammation are known to be associated with the development and progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). We investigated associations of 292 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 27 genes related to endotoxins/lipopolysaccharide (LPS) sensing and tolerance, mucin synthesis, inflammation, and Crohn's disease with colon and rectal cancer risks. Incident CRC cases (N=1,374; colon=871, rectum=503) were matched 1:1 to controls nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Clinical practice guidelines recommend against the routine use of psychotropic medications in residential aged care facilities (RACFs). Knowledge brokers are individuals or groups who facilitate the transfer of knowledge into practice. The objective of this trial is to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of using knowledge brokers to translate Australia's new Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Appropriate Use of Psychotropic Medications in People Living with Dementia and in Residential Aged Care.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: Randomized clinical screening trials have shown that sigmoidoscopy screening reduces colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality. Colonoscopy has largely replaced sigmoidoscopy for CRC screening, but long-term results from randomized trials on colonoscopy screening are still lacking.

Objective: To estimate the additional screening benefit of colonoscopy compared with sigmoidoscopy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates the relationship between specific lipid metabolites and colorectal cancer risk using data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), comparing 1,591 colorectal cancer cases with matched controls.
  • - Out of 97 lipid metabolites analyzed, 24 showed an inverse association with colon cancer risk, notably hydroxysphingomyelin (SM (OH)) C22:2 and acylakyl-phosphatidylcholine (PC ae) C34:3, which remained significant even after adjustments.
  • - The findings suggest that higher pre-diagnostic levels of certain lipids may be linked to a lower risk of developing colorectal cancer, warranting further research to confirm these associations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Understanding how analgesics are used in different countries can inform initiatives to improve the pharmacological management of pain in nursing homes.

Aims: To compare patterns of analgesic use among Australian and Japanese nursing home residents; and explore Australian and Japanese healthcare professionals' perspectives on analgesic use.

Methods: Part one involved a cross-sectional comparison among residents from 12 nursing homes in South Australia (N = 550) in 2019 and four nursing homes in Tokyo (N = 333) in 2020.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Helicobacter species (spp.) have been detected in human bile and hepatobiliary tissue Helicobacter spp. promote gallstone formation and hepatobiliary tumors in laboratory studies, though it remains unclear whether Helicobacter spp.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Pharmacists involvement in residential aged care facilities has traditionally been limited to that of an external contractor providing medication reviews, or medication supply.

Aim: To explore Australian pharmacists' interest and perceived preparedness to work as on-site pharmacists in residential aged care.

Method: National cross-sectional anonymous online survey open for two weeks (September 17th to October 1st 2022) consisting of Likert-type, multiple choice and multiple selection questions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: High quality endoscopy is key for detecting and removing precursor lesions to colorectal cancer (CRC). Adenoma detection rates (ADRs) measure endoscopist performance. Improving other components of examinations could increase adenoma detection.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Resistin is a protein involved in inflammation and angiogenesis processes and may play a role in the progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, it remains unclear whether resistin is associated with increased mortality after CRC diagnosis. We examined pre-diagnostic serum resistin concentrations in relation to CRC-specific and all-cause mortality among 1343 incident CRC cases from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In this study, we aimed to provide novel evidence on the impact of changing lifestyle habits on cancer risk. In the EPIC cohort, 295,865 middle-aged participants returned a lifestyle questionnaire at baseline and during follow-up. At both timepoints, we calculated a healthy lifestyle index (HLI) score based on cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, body mass index and physical activity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Middle-aged multidomain risk reduction interventions targeting modifiable risk factors for dementia may delay or prevent a third of dementia cases in later life. We describe the protocol of a cluster randomised controlled trial (cRCT), HAPPI MIND (Holistic Approach in Primary care for PreventIng Memory Impairment aNd Dementia). HAPPI MIND will evaluate the efficacy of a multidomain, nurse-led, mHealth supported intervention for assessing dementia risk and reducing associated risk factors in middle-aged adults in the Australian primary care setting.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Cancers are the leading cause of death in England. We aimed to estimate trends in mortality from leading cancers from 2002 to 2019 for the 314 districts in England.

Methods: We did a high-resolution spatiotemporal analysis of vital registration data from the UK Office for National Statistics using data on all deaths from the ten leading cancers in England from 2002 to 2019.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To explore the roles of early adopters of Australia's embedded on-site pharmacist model in supporting quality use of medications in residential aged care facilities (RACFs).

Methods: Qualitative semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 pharmacists working as embedded on-site pharmacists, or beyond the scope of traditional consultant pharmacist roles in Australian RACFs. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed independently by two investigators using an inductive approach.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Obesity is linked to gastric cancer, with specific hormones playing a role in increasing the risk of both cardia gastric cancer (CGC) and non-cardia gastric cancer (NCGC).
  • The study utilized data from multiple cohorts (EPIC, ATBC, and UK-Biobank) and assessed the relationship between obesity-related hormones and gastric cancer occurrence through various statistical methods.
  • Key findings indicate that hormones like insulin-like growth-factor-1 and leptin are associated with increased risk, while ghrelin and dehydroepiandrosterone appear to have a protective effect against NCGC and CGC, respectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The effects of vitamin E supplementation on cancer and other chronic diseases are not clear. We compared the serum metabolomic profile of differing vitamin E dosages in order to re-examine the previously observed changes in a novel C lactone sulfate compound, androgenic steroids, and other metabolites. A total of 3409 women and men previously selected for metabolomics studies in the PLCO Cancer Screening Trial were included in this investigation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF