Scoping review of exposure questionnaires and surveys in interstitial lung disease.

Background: Many interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) have clear causal relationships with environmental and occupational exposures. Exposure identification can assist with diagnosis, understanding disease pathogenesis, prognostication and prevention of disease progression and occurrence in others at risk. Despite the importance of exposure identification in ILD, there is no standardised assessment approach.

Providing effective care and support for autistic adults with mental health issues.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that is characterised by features such as persistent differences in social interaction and communication, specialised interests and sensory processing issues. It has been identified that autistic people are increasingly likely to experience various mental health issues, and often encounter challenges in accessing appropriate healthcare and a lack of understanding from healthcare professionals. This article explores the co-occurrence of autism and mental health issues in adults, and explains the role of nurses in providing care and support for this population.

Providing the right support and care for male victims of domestic abuse.

This article seeks to update and expand on earlier work published by the author on the subject of domestic violence against men almost 15 years ago. Since 2008, the language associated with domestic abuse has moved on, with most documents such as the newly enacted Domestic Abuse Act 2021 using either gender-neutral or gender-inclusive pronouns. However, men who experience domestic abuse continue to feel stigmatised and ignored by a discourse and framework that are still largely female oriented and driven.

Anticipatory grief and bereavement: the perspective of an individual with autism.

Much has been written around the meaning and impact of grief and grieving on people's lives following the death of a person, and anticipatory grief/grieving is receiving increased attention in nursing and healthcare. However, the impact of anticipatory grief on an autistic male adult has received far less research exposure than that of neurotypical (non-autistic) adults. This article, 'written' in the form of a letter by the author to community nurses, seeks to address this.

Barriers to identifying occupational asthma among primary healthcare professionals: a qualitative study.

Introduction: Occupational asthma (OA) accounts for one in six cases of adult-onset asthma and is associated with a large societal cost. Many cases of OA are missed or delayed, leading to ongoing exposure to the causative agent and avoidable lung function loss and poor employment-related outcomes. Enquiry about work-related symptoms and the nature of work by healthcare professionals (HCPs) is limited, evident in primary and secondary care.

Beyond adverse outcome pathways: making toxicity predictions from event networks, SAR models, data and knowledge.

Adverse outcome pathways have shown themselves to be useful ways of understanding and expressing knowledge about sequences of events that lead to adverse outcomes (AOs) such as toxicity. In this paper we use the building blocks of adverse outcome pathways-namely key events (KEs) and key event relationships-to construct networks which can be used to make predictions of the likelihood of AOs. The networks of KEs are augmented by data from and knowledge about assays as well as by structure activity relationship predictions linking chemical classes to the observation of KEs.

Real world experience of response to pirfenidone in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a two centre retrospective study.

Introduction: Pirfenidone has been shown to reduce the decline in forced vital capacity (FVC) compared to placebo in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Previous studies have suggested that patients with a more rapid decline in FVC during the period before starting pirfenidone experience the greatest benefit from treatment. The purpose of this retrospective observational study was to investigate the response to pirfenidone in IPF patients, comparing two groups stratified by the annual rate of decline in FVC % predicted prior to treatment.

Outcome of Hospitalization for COVID-19 in Patients with Interstitial Lung Disease. An International Multicenter Study.

The impact of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) has not been established. To assess outcomes in patients with ILD hospitalized for COVID-19 versus those without ILD in a contemporaneous age-, sex-, and comorbidity-matched population. An international multicenter audit of patients with a prior diagnosis of ILD admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 between March 1 and May 1, 2020, was undertaken and compared with patients without ILD, obtained from the ISARIC4C (International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium Coronavirus Clinical Characterisation Consortium) cohort, admitted with COVID-19 over the same period.

Identifying causation in hypersensitivity pneumonitis: a British perspective.

Background: Establishing whether patients are exposed to a 'known cause' is a key element in both the diagnostic assessment and the subsequent management of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP).

Objective: This study surveyed British interstitial lung disease (ILD) specialists to document current practice and opinion in relation to establishing causation in HP.

Methods: British ILD consultants (pulmonologists) were invited by email to take part in a structured questionnaire survey, to provide estimates of demographic data relating to their service and to rate their level of agreement with a series of statements.

Epidemiology of silicosis: reports from the SWORD scheme in the UK from 1996 to 2017.

Objective: To document the demographic risk factors of workers reported to have silicosis in the UK.

Methods: All cases of silicosis reported to the Surveillance of Work-related and Occupational Respiratory Disease (SWORD) scheme between January 1996 and December 2017 were classified into one of eight industry categories, and one of five age groups. In addition, to investigate whether there had been any temporal change, mean age and range at diagnosis was plotted for each year.

Managing Asbestos-Containing Materials in the Built Environment: Report of a Health and Safety Executive and Government Office for Science Workshop.

The duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises is described in the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. Health and Safety Executive (HSE) policy and guidance on asbestos in the built environment in Great Britain is that asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) that are in good condition and unlikely to be disturbed can be managed in place. Where ACMs are in poor condition or likely to be disturbed they should be repaired, encapsulated or, if necessary, removed.

Metal worker's lung: spatial association with .

Background: Outbreaks of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) are not uncommon in workplaces where metal working fluid (MWF) is used to facilitate metal turning. Inhalation of microbe-contaminated MWF has been assumed to be the cause, but previous investigations have failed to establish a spatial relationship between a contaminated source and an outbreak.

Objectives: After an outbreak of five cases of HP in a UK factory, we carried out blinded, molecular-based microbiological investigation of MWF samples in order to identify potential links between specific microbial taxa and machines in the outbreak zone.

Diagnosis and management of myasthenia gravis.

Myasthenia gravis is a rare long-term neurological condition that is characterised by fluctuating skeletal muscle weakness and fatigue, as well as respiratory difficulties. It is both an acquired autoimmune disease and a chronic neuromuscular disorder. Because of its rarity, myasthenia gravis is relatively unknown and may be unfamiliar to many nurses.

Meeting the healthcare needs of adults on the autism spectrum.

People with Asperger's syndrome/high functioning autism (AS/HFA) are just as likely to experience the full range of health conditions and needs as 'neurotypicals', people who do not have AS/HFA. However, many people with AS/HFA fall between the cracks of health service design and provision as they do not receive support from learning disabilities or mental health services. This article highlights the need for a comprehensive review of healthcare provision, led by people on the autism spectrum.

Predicting skin sensitisation using a decision tree integrated testing strategy with an in silico model and in chemico/in vitro assays.

There is a pressing need for non-animal methods to predict skin sensitisation potential and a number of in chemico and in vitro assays have been designed with this in mind. However, some compounds can fall outside the applicability domain of these in chemico/in vitro assays and may not be predicted accurately. Rule-based in silico models such as Derek Nexus are expert-derived from animal and/or human data and the mechanism-based alert domain can take a number of factors into account (e.

Disability discrimination in healthcare services and employment.

This article discusses the meaning and philosophical basis of disability discrimination in health care. It focuses on aspects of language that influence discourse about disability and affect the experiences of people with disabilities. Reference is made to the experiences of those who have an autism spectrum condition, with a specific focus on three NHS employees with Asperger syndrome, in relation to disability discrimination.