Global, regional, and national disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 306 diseases and injuries and healthy life expectancy (HALE) for 188 countries, 1990-2013: quantifying the epidemiological transition.

Background: The Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 (GBD 2013) aims to bring together all available epidemiological data using a coherent measurement framework, standardised estimation methods, and transparent data sources to enable comparisons of health loss over time and across causes, age-sex groups, and countries. The GBD can be used to generate summary measures such as disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) and healthy life expectancy (HALE) that make possible comparative assessments of broad epidemiological patterns across countries and time. These summary measures can also be used to quantify the component of variation in epidemiology that is related to sociodemographic development.

Operationalising the capability approach as an outcome measure in public health: The development of the OCAP-18.

There is growing interest in operationalising the capability approach to measure quality of life. This paper reports the results of a research project undertaken in 2007 that sought to reduce and refine a longer survey in order to provide a summary measure of wellbeing and capability in the realm of public health. The reduction and refinement of the questionnaire took place across a number of stages, using both qualitative (five focus group discussions and 17 in-depth interviews) and quantitative (secondary data analysis, N = 1048 and primary data collection using postal surveys and interviews, N = 45) approaches.

Understanding the information needs of women with rheumatoid arthritis concerning pregnancy, post-natal care and early parenting: A mixed-methods study.

Background: Although women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) face a number of challenges in negotiating the journey to parenthood, no studies have explored the information needs of women with RA in relation to their childbearing years. This study aimed to determine the need for (and preferred mode/s of delivery of) information regarding pregnancy, post-natal care and early parenting among women with RA.

Methods: Interviews and focus groups were conducted with 27 women with RA who were pregnant in the last 5 years, currently pregnant or planning pregnancy.

Heightened cold pain and pressure pain sensitivity in young female adults with moderate-to-severe menstrual pain.

This study investigated the association between menstrual pain severity and psychophysical measures of cold and pressure pain sensitivity. A cross-sectional design was used with young women (n = 432) from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study. Menstrual pain severity and oral contraception use was obtained from questionnaires at 20 and 22-year follow-ups.

Productivity and fishing pressure drive variability in fish parasite assemblages of the Line Islands, equatorial Pacific.

Variability in primary productivity and fishing pressure can shape the abundance, species composition, and diversity of marine life. Though parasites comprise nearly half of marine species, their responses to these important forces remain little explored. We quantified parasite assemblages at two spatial scales, across a gradient in productivity and fishing pressure that spans six coral islands of the Line Islands archipelago and within the largest Line Island, Kiritimati, which experiences a west-to-east gradient in fishing pressure and upwelling-driven productivity.

MACVIA-ARIA Sentinel NetworK for allergic rhinitis (MASK-rhinitis): the new generation guideline implementation.

Several unmet needs have been identified in allergic rhinitis: identification of the time of onset of the pollen season, optimal control of rhinitis and comorbidities, patient stratification, multidisciplinary team for integrated care pathways, innovation in clinical trials and, above all, patient empowerment. MASK-rhinitis (MACVIA-ARIA Sentinel NetworK for allergic rhinitis) is a simple system centred around the patient which was devised to fill many of these gaps using Information and Communications Technology (ICT) tools and a clinical decision support system (CDSS) based on the most widely used guideline in allergic rhinitis and its asthma comorbidity (ARIA 2015 revision). It is one of the implementation systems of Action Plan B3 of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA).

Hospitalisations, admission costs and re-fracture risk related to osteoporosis in Western Australia are substantial: a 10-year review.

Objective: To quantify hospitalisation costs to Western Australia (WA) for osteoporosis-related fractures and estimate risk of readmission after incident fracture.

Methods: All hospitalisation records for WA residents aged ≥50 years admitted to a WA hospital between 2002 and 2011 due to osteoporotic fractures were extracted from the WA Hospital Morbidity Data System. Data linkage enabled identification of the first (index) fracture admission, determination of subsequent osteoporotic fracture-related readmissions, and quantification of total admission costs and bed days.

Use of low-dose oral theophylline as an adjunct to inhaled corticosteroids in preventing exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with high morbidity, mortality, and health-care costs. An incomplete response to the anti-inflammatory effects of inhaled corticosteroids is present in COPD. Preclinical work indicates that 'low dose' theophylline improves steroid responsiveness.

SurgiCal Obesity Treatment Study (SCOTS): protocol for a national prospective cohort study of patients undergoing bariatric surgery in Scotland.

Introduction: The efficacy of bariatric surgery for large-scale, long-term weight loss is well established. However, many questions remain over the continual benefits and cost-effectiveness of that weight loss for overall health, particularly when accounting for potential complications and adverse events of surgery. Health research institutes in the UK and the USA have called for high-quality longitudinal cohort studies of patients undergoing bariatric surgery, assessing outcomes such as surgical complications, mortality, diabetes remission, microvascular complications, cardiovascular events, mental health, cost and healthcare use.

BWH emergency radiology-surgical correlation: intraperitoneal urinary bladder rupture.

We describe the radiological and intraoperative correlation of two cases of intraperitoneal bladder rupture: a 23-year-old man involved in a high-speed motor vehicle collision and a 49-year-old man with hematuria and abdominal pain after a night of heavy alcohol ingestion. Both patients underwent urgent exploratory laparotomies and repair of their bladder injuries. The purpose of this article is to emphasize the importance of understanding the different etiologies of bladder rupture and recognizing the imaging findings on computed tomography (CT) and CT cystography to help guide the surgeons in the patient's management.

Specifying the target difference in the primary outcome for a randomised controlled trial: guidance for researchers.

Background: Central to the design of a randomised controlled trial is the calculation of the number of participants needed. This is typically achieved by specifying a target difference and calculating the corresponding sample size, which provides reassurance that the trial will have the required statistical power (at the planned statistical significance level) to identify whether a difference of a particular magnitude exists. Beyond pure statistical or scientific concerns, it is ethically imperative that an appropriate number of participants should be recruited.

The role of nontechnical skills in simulated trauma resuscitation.

Objective: Trauma team training provides instruction on crisis management through debriefing and discussion of teamwork and leadership skills during simulated trauma scenarios. The effects of team leader's nontechnical skills (NTSs) on technical performance have not been thoroughly studied. We hypothesized that team's and team leader's NTSs correlate with technical performance of clinical tasks.

Cost-effectiveness analysis alongside clinical trials II-An ISPOR Good Research Practices Task Force report.

Clinical trials evaluating medicines, medical devices, and procedures now commonly assess the economic value of these interventions. The growing number of prospective clinical/economic trials reflects both widespread interest in economic information for new technologies and the regulatory and reimbursement requirements of many countries that now consider evidence of economic value along with clinical efficacy. As decision makers increasingly demand evidence of economic value for health care interventions, conducting high-quality economic analyses alongside clinical studies is desirable because they broaden the scope of information available on a particular intervention, and can efficiently provide timely information with high internal and, when designed and analyzed properly, reasonable external validity.

Barrett's Oesophagus Surveillance versus endoscopy at need Study (BOSS): protocol and analysis plan for a multicentre randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: The absolute annual risk of patients with Barrett's oesophagus (BO) developing oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) is ≤ 0.5%. Screening BO patients for malignant progression using endoscopic surveillance is widely practised.

Hospital expenditure at the end-of-life: what are the impacts of health status and health risks?

Background: It is important for health policy and expenditure projections to understand the relationship between age, death and expenditure on health care (HC). Research has shown that older age groups incur lower hospital costs than previously anticipated and that remaining time to death (TTD) was a much stronger indicator for expenditure than age. How health behaviour or risk factors impact on HC utilisation and costs at the end of life is relatively unknown.

A Criterion-based Approach for the Systematic and Transparent Extrapolation of Clinical Trial Survival Data.

Trial data often does not cover a sufficiently long period of time to truly capture time-toevent endpoints, however, Health Technology Assessment (HTA) bodies often require overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) estimates. Often, significant survival effects are found beyond the time period observed in clinical trials, thus, extrapolation of trial results is required for health economic and HTA evaluations. This paper looks at different techniques that can be used to extrapolate trial data, as well as criteria that should be used to select the most appropriate technique.

Internet-based implementation of non-pharmacological interventions of the "people getting a grip on arthritis" educational program: an international online knowledge translation randomized controlled trial design protocol.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects 2.1% of the Australian population (1.5% males; 2.

Policy-into-practice for rheumatoid arthritis: randomized controlled trial and cohort study of e-learning targeting improved physiotherapy management.

Objective: To examine the effectiveness of a physiotherapy-specific, web-based e-learning platform, "RAP-el," in best-practice management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using a single-blind, randomized controlled trial (RCT) and prospective cohort study.

Methods: Australian-registered physiotherapists were electronically randomized into intervention and control groups. The intervention group accessed RAP-eL over 4 weeks.

Temporal trends and risk factors for readmission for infections, gastrointestinal and immobility complications after an incident hospitalisation for stroke in Scotland between 1997 and 2005.

Background: Improvements in stroke management have led to increases in the numbers of stroke survivors over the last decade and there has been a corresponding increase of hospital readmissions after an initial stroke hospitalisation. The aim of this study was to examine the one year risk of having a readmission due to infective, gastrointestinal or immobility (IGI) complications and to identify temporal trends and any risk factors.

Methods: Using a cohort of first hospitalised for stroke patients who were discharged alive, time to first event (readmission for IGI complications or death) within 1 year was analysed in a competing risks framework using cumulative incidence methods.

Celecoxib inhibits early cutaneous wound healing.

Background: Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is an inducible enzyme that is rapidly upregulated in response to injury, resulting in the production of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), a primary mediator of inflammation and wound healing. The selective COX-2 inhibitor, celecoxib, is was used to treat pain and inflammation. When used to treat injuries, we postulated that loss of PGE2 activity by COX-2 inhibition would have detrimental effects on wound healing.

Antitumor effects of hyaluronan inhibition in desmoid tumors.

Desmoid tumors (DTs) are rare, mesenchymal tumors that exhibit features of an abundant wound healing process. Previously, we showed that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are constituents of DTs and may contribute to desmoid tumorigenesis via activities associated with wound healing. Hyaluronan (HA) is a long-charged chain of repeating glucuronate and N-acetylglucosamine disaccharides that is synthesized by HA synthases (HAS) and degraded by hyaluronidases (HYAL).

Development and validation of a cost-utility model for Type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Aims: To develop a health economic model to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of new interventions for Type 1 diabetes mellitus by their effects on long-term complications (measured through mean HbA1c ) while capturing the impact of treatment on hypoglycaemic events.

Methods: Through a systematic review, we identified complications associated with Type 1 diabetes mellitus and data describing the long-term incidence of these complications. An individual patient simulation model was developed and included the following complications: cardiovascular disease, peripheral neuropathy, microalbuminuria, end-stage renal disease, proliferative retinopathy, ketoacidosis, cataract, hypoglycemia and adverse birth outcomes.