The attitudes, knowledge and confidence of healthcare professionals about cannabis-based products.

Background: Use of cannabis-based products is becoming more frequent, and it is important that healthcare professionals are informed and confident about them when making evidence-based decisions about their use. This study aimed to gain an international perspective on the attitudes, knowledge, and confidence of healthcare professionals about cannabis-based products.

Methods: An online questionnaire regarding these products was completed by 1580 healthcare professionals (neurologists, psychiatrists, general practitioners, pharmacists and nurses) from 16 countries across Asia, Europe, Oceania, South America, and the Middle East.

Estimating the likelihood of epilepsy from clinically noncontributory electroencephalograms using computational analysis: A retrospective, multisite case-control study.

Objective: This study was undertaken to validate a set of candidate biomarkers of seizure susceptibility in a retrospective, multisite case-control study, and to determine the robustness of these biomarkers derived from routinely collected electroencephalography (EEG) within a large cohort (both epilepsy and common alternative conditions such as nonepileptic attack disorder).

Methods: The database consisted of 814 EEG recordings from 648 subjects, collected from eight National Health Service sites across the UK. Clinically noncontributory EEG recordings were identified by an experienced clinical scientist (N = 281; 152 alternative conditions, 129 epilepsy).

The impact of epilepsy and antiseizure medications on sleep: Findings from a large European survey in adults with epilepsy and matched controls.

Objective: To assess the impact of epilepsy and antiseizure medications (ASMs) on sleep quality in people with epilepsy (PWE).

Methods: An online survey was conducted in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK among PWE taking >1 ASM and matched controls. Sleep quality was evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI).

Rapid switching from levetiracetam to brivaracetam in pharmaco-resistant epilepsy in people with and without intellectual disabilities: a naturalistic case control study.

Background: Approximately one quarter of people with an intellectual disability (PwID) have epilepsy of whom nearly three-quarters are pharmaco-resistant. There are higher reported neuropsychiatric side-effects to anti-seizure medication (ASM) in this group. Levetiracetam (LEV) is a first-line ASM with a stronger association with neuropsychiatric symptoms for PwID than other ASMs.

Protocol for a realist and social return on investment evaluation of the use of patient-reported outcomes in four value-based healthcare programmes.

Introduction: There is growing recognition that in order to remain sustainable, the UK's National Health Service must deliver the best patient outcomes within available resources. This focus on outcomes relative to cost is the basis of value-based healthcare (VBHC) and has led to interest in the recording of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) to measure patient perspectives on the impact of a health condition on their lives. Every health board in Wales is now required to collect PROMS as part of routine care.