Lifetime depression, sleep disruption and brain structure in the UK Biobank cohort.

Whether depression and poor sleep interact or have statistically independent associations with brain structure and its change over time is not known. Within a subset of UK Biobank participants with neuroimaging and subjective and/or objective sleep data (n = 28,351), we examined associations between lifetime depression and sleep disruption and their interaction with structural neuroimaging measures, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Sleep variables were: self-reported insomnia and difficulty getting up; actigraphy-derived short sleep (<7 h); sustained inactivity bouts during daytime (SIBD); and sleep efficiency.

Working towards consensus on the assessment of mood after severe acquired brain injury: Focus groups with UK-based professionals.

Objective: The assessment of mood after brain injury is more challenging when people have ongoing severe cognitive and receptive communication impairments. There is no gold standard on how these assessments should be undertaken. This study aimed to reach a consensus on this among specialists working with this population.

Examining trends in the incidence of HIV infection among people with a history of drug use to inform an outbreak investigation and response: A retrospective cohort study.

Background: In the context of an outbreak of HIV among people who inject drugs in Glasgow, Scotland, identified in 2015, our objectives were to: (1) develop epidemiological methods to estimate HIV incidence using data linkage, and (2) examine temporal changes in HIV incidence to inform public health responses.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study involving data linkage of laboratory HIV testing data to identify individuals with a history of drug use. Person-years (PY) and Poisson regression were used to estimate incidence by time period (pre-outbreak: 2000-2010 and 2011-2013; early outbreak: 2014-2016; ongoing outbreak: 2017-2019).

Assessment of mood after severe acquired brain injury: Interviews with UK clinical psychologists and medical professionals.

Objective: Mood assessment is challenging when people have cognitive and receptive communication impairments after severe brain injury. This study explored how UK-based medical and psychology professionals working with people with severe cognitive and communication impairments after brain injury assess mood in this population.

Design: Following their participation in an online survey, professionals were invited to participate in individual semi-structured interviews.