Medical students and end-of-life decisions: the influence of religion.

The objective of this study was to see if medical students' attitudes about medically assisted dying were influenced by their religious background and current beliefs. A cohort study was conducted using a self-completion study questionnaire in a large UK medical school. In total, 400 out of 505 questionnaires were completed (79%).

The language of sedation in end-of-life care: The ethical reasoning of care providers in three countries.

The application of ethically controversial medical procedures may differ from one place to another. Drawing on a keyword and text-mining analysis of 156 interviews with doctors and nurses involved in end-of-life care ('care providers'), differences between countries in care providers' ethical rationales for the use of sedation are reported. In the United Kingdom, an emphasis on titrating doses proportionately against symptoms is more likely, maintaining consciousness where possible.

Administering anticipatory medications in end-of-life care: a qualitative study of nursing practice in the community and in nursing homes.

Background: In the United Kingdom, an approach to improving end-of-life care has been the introduction of 'just in case' or 'anticipatory' medications. Nurses are often responsible for deciding when to use anticipatory medications, but little is known about their experiences.

Aim: To examine nurses' decisions, aims and concerns when using anticipatory medications.

A systematic review and meta-synthesis of the impact of low back pain on people's lives.

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is a common and costly problem that many interpret within a biopsychosocial model. There is renewed concern that core-sets of outcome measures do not capture what is important. To inform debate about the coverage of back pain outcome measure core-sets, and to suggest areas worthy of exploration within healthcare consultations, we have synthesised the qualitative literature on the impact of low back pain on people's lives.

Continuous sedation until death: the everyday moral reasoning of physicians, nurses and family caregivers in the UK, The Netherlands and Belgium.

Background: Continuous sedation is increasingly used as a way to relieve symptoms at the end of life. Current research indicates that some physicians, nurses, and relatives involved in this practice experience emotional and/or moral distress. This study aims to provide insight into what may influence how professional and/or family carers cope with such distress.

Whole home exercise intervention for depression in older care home residents (the OPERA study): a process evaluation.

Background: The 'Older People's Exercise intervention in Residential and nursing Accommodation' (OPERA) cluster randomised trial evaluated the impact of training for care home staff together with twice-weekly, physiotherapist-led exercise classes on depressive symptoms in care home residents, but found no effect. We report a process evaluation exploring potential explanations for the lack of effect.

Methods: The OPERA trial included over 1,000 residents in 78 care homes in the UK.

Moral mediation in interpreted health care consultations.

This paper reports on the moral work done in routine diabetes review consultations in primary care with nurses. Consultations with fluent English speakers are compared with consultations where an interpreter was present, largely involving patients of Bangladeshi origin. The study setting was Tower Hamlets in London, where type 2 diabetes is particularly common.

Recruiting ethnic minority participants to a clinical trial: a qualitative study.

Objectives: To compare the motives and experiences of different ethnic groups participating in a randomised double blind placebo-controlled trial of montelukast in preschool wheeze, and to assess parents' or guardians' understanding of trial procedures and their implications, including the collection of genetic material.

Design: Qualitative interviews with parents or guardians.

Setting: Interviews occurred in the homes of London children recruited to a national multicentre clinical trial following primary and secondary care attendance with wheeze.

The challenge of communication in interpreted consultations in diabetes care: a mixed methods study.

Background: The experience of diabetes care for individuals from minority ethnic groups, particularly individuals of Bangladeshi origin, shows they are at a significant disadvantage.

Aim: To identify the challenges of interpreted consultations for healthcare providers and to explain the disadvantage experienced by patients from minority groups who have diabetes.

Design And Setting: Comparison of 12 interpreted consultations with 24 consultations involving fluent English speakers in four primary healthcare centres in Tower Hamlets, east London, UK.

News media coverage of euthanasia: a content analysis of Dutch national newspapers.

Background: The Netherlands is one of the few countries where euthanasia is legal under strict conditions. This study investigates whether Dutch newspaper articles use the term 'euthanasia' according to the legal definition and determines what arguments for and against euthanasia they contain.

Methods: We did an electronic search of seven Dutch national newspapers between January 2009 and May 2010 and conducted a content analysis.

'The blue one takes a battering' why do young adults with asthma overuse bronchodilator inhalers? A qualitative study.

Objective: Overuse of short-acting bronchodilators is internationally recognised as a marker of poor asthma control, high healthcare use and increased risk of asthma death. Young adults with asthma commonly overuse short-acting bronchodilators. We sought to determine the reasons for overuse of bronchodilator inhalers in a sample of young adults with asthma.

Predictors of two forms of attrition in a longitudinal health study involving ageing participants: an analysis based on the Whitehall II study.

Background: Longitudinal studies are crucial providers of information about the needs of an ageing population, but their external validity is affected if partipants drop out. Previous research has identified older age, impaired cognitive function, lower educational level, living alone, fewer social activities, and lower socio-economic status as predictors of attrition.

Methods: This project examined attrition in participants of the Whitehall II study aged between 51-71 years, using data from questionnaires participants have completed biennially since 1985 when the study began.

Altruism and participation in longitudinal health research? Insights from the Whitehall II Study.

Research that follows people over a period of time (longitudinal or panel studies) is important in understanding the ageing process and changes over time in the lives of older people. Older people may choose to leave studies due to frailty, or illness and this may diminish the value of the study. However, people also drop out of studies for other reasons and understanding the motivation behind participation or drop out may prevent further loss of valuable longitudinal information and assist the continuation of longitudinal studies.

Communication about adherence to long-term antipsychotic prescribing: an observational study of psychiatric practice.

Purpose: Partial or non-adherence is common in people taking antipsychotic medication. A good therapeutic alliance is thought by psychiatrists to encourage engagement with a service and improve adherence. This paper aims to examine how psychiatrists and patients communicate in outpatient consultations about partial or non-adherence to antipsychotic prescribing.

The practice of continuous deep sedation until death in Flanders (Belgium), the Netherlands, and the U.K.: a comparative study.

Context: Existing empirical evidence shows that continuous deep sedation until death is given in about 15% of all deaths in Flanders, Belgium (BE), 8% in The Netherlands (NL), and 17% in the U.K.

Objectives: This study compares characteristics of continuous deep sedation to explain these varying frequencies.

Learning to manage COPD: a qualitative study of reasons for attending and not attending a COPD-specific self-management programme.

The aim of this article is to understand the reasons for attending a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)-specific self-management (SM) programme and how attendance at such programmes might be improved. A total of 20 qualitative semistructured interviews were carried out with patients and with lay programme tutors involved in the Better Living with Long term Airways disease (BELLA) pilot trial. Thematic framework data analysis was used.

Attitudes to participation in a lung cancer screening trial: a qualitative study.

Background: Earlier diagnosis of lung cancer is key to reducing mortality. New evidence suggests that smokers have negative attitudes to screening and participation in lung cancer screening trials is poor (<1 in 6 of those eligible). Understanding participation is important since uptake in screening trials is likely to predict uptake in screening programmes.

How pressure is applied in shared decisions about antipsychotic medication: a conversation analytic study of psychiatric outpatient consultations.

The professional identity of psychiatry depends on it being regarded as one amongst many medical specialties and sharing ideals of good practice with other specialties, an important marker of which is the achievement of shared decision-making and avoiding a reputation for being purely agents of social control. Yet the interactions involved in trying to achieve shared decision-making are relatively unexplored in psychiatry. This study analyses audiotapes of 92 outpatient consultations involving nine consultant psychiatrists focusing on how pressure is applied in shared decisions about antipsychotic medication.

Financial incentives to encourage healthy behaviour: an analysis of U.K. media coverage.

Background: Policies to use financial incentives to encourage healthy behaviour are controversial. Much of this controversy is played out in the mass media, both reflecting and shaping public opinion.

Objective: To describe U.

Eating disorders in the media: The changing nature of UK newspaper reports.

Objective: Concern has been expressed about the adequacy of media reporting about eating disorders (EDs) and the impact of this on public understanding. We analyse messages about EDs in UK newspapers, comparing these with US news reports, and show changes over time and between types of newspaper.

Method: Three thousand five hundred and eighty-three national press news articles were analysed using content and keyword analysis.

The role of doctors' religious faith and ethnicity in taking ethically controversial decisions during end-of-life care.

Background And Aims: The prevalence of religious faith among doctors and its relationship with decision-making in end-of-life care is not well documented. The impact of ethnic differences on this is also poorly understood. This study compares ethnicity and religious faith in the medical and general UK populations, and reports on their associations with ethically controversial decisions taken when providing care to dying patients.

How the mass media report social statistics: a case study concerning research on end-of-life decisions.

The issue of whether it is right to be concerned about the accuracy with which mass media report social scientific research is explored through a detailed case study of media reporting of two surveys of UK doctors' end-of-life decision-making. Data include press releases, emails and field notes taken during periods of media interest supplemented by a collection of print and broadcast media reports. The case study contributes to existing knowledge about the ways in which mass media establish, exaggerate and otherwise distort the meaning of statistical findings.

The physical examination in telecardiology and televascular consultations: a study using conversation analysis.

Objective: This paper describes communication in the physical examination phases of telemedicine consultations.

Methods: Using the method of conversation analysis, we draw on 10 telemedicine consultations (five telecardiology and five televascular) between primary and tertiary care in the UK.

Results: Physical examination is absent in telecardiology consultations.

Interviews and internet forums: a comparison of two sources of qualitative data.

We report a comparative keyword analysis of interviews and Internet postings involving people with breast and prostate cancer and discussion of sexual health. Interviewees produce retrospective accounts, their content guided by interviewers' questions, which might elicit rich biographical and contextual details. Internet exchanges concern participants' current experiences and contain detailed accounts of disease processes, medical procedures, bodily processes, and, in the case of sexual health, sexual practices.