Publications by authors named "Cronin R"

Background: Medical indemnity (MI) has become an important topic in the era of increasing number of medico-legal cases in Ireland. However, there is a sensible difference in understanding and usage of medical indemnity between Irish and international medical graduates.

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the knowledge and awareness of medical indemnity among international medical graduates in Ireland.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A study analyzed pregnancy outcomes for individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD) using national data from 2006-2018, noting limitations in existing research on the topic.
  • The research found that pregnant individuals with SCD experienced higher rates of complications such as preeclampsia, hypertension, and maternal death compared to controls without SCD.
  • Importantly, the outcomes from 2012-2018 showed no improvement over those from 2006-2011, with some complications increasing, indicating a persistent risk for pregnant individuals with SCD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This study examined the efficacy of a probiotic in reducing depressive symptom severity in people with subthreshold depression. In a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial, a probiotic (1 × 10^9 live cells per strain: LF16 (DSM26956), LR06 (DSM21981), LP01 (LMG P-21021) and 04 (DSM23233)) or placebo was taken daily for 12 weeks. Data were collected at baseline, 6 and 12 weeks including psychological symptom severity (Beck Depression Inventory, BDI; Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ; Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale, HADS; and Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale, DASS).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Painimation, a novel digital pain assessment tool, allows patients to communicate their pain quality, intensity, and location using abstract animations (painimations) and a paintable body image. This study determined the construct validity of painimations and body image measures by testing correlations with validated pain outcomes in adults with sickle cell disease (SCD). Analyses used baseline data from a multisite randomized trial of 359 adults with SCD and chronic pain.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Retention to complete follow-up surveys in extensive longitudinal epidemiological cohort studies is vital yet challenging. All of Us developed pilot interventions to improve response rates for follow-up surveys.

Study Design And Setting: The pilot interventions occurred from April 27, 2020, to August 3, 2020.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A study looked at how to manage chronic pain in adults with sickle cell disease (SCD) using digital programs for therapy and education.
  • It involved 359 adults who were split into two groups: one received cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) using an app, while the other got education about pain management.
  • After 6 months, both groups showed similar results in reducing pain interference, and there were no big differences in their daily pain levels, depression, anxiety, or quality of life.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * The study analyzed blood and urine samples from 280 adults with SCA, finding that several biomarkers (like VCAM-1, AGT, KIM-1) were significantly higher in those with PA, particularly urinary AGT, which was the strongest predictor of PA.
  • * The findings highlight the need for further research through longitudinal studies to better understand how these biomarkers can predict the development and progression of CKD in people with SCA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: Scales often arise from multi-item questionnaires, yet commonly face item non-response. Traditional solutions use weighted mean (WMean) from available responses, but potentially overlook missing data intricacies. Advanced methods like multiple imputation (MI) address broader missing data, but demand increased computational resources.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * Results showed that 35.7% of participants had PA, with higher rates linked to male sex and ACE inhibitors/ARBs use, while higher hemoglobin levels were associated with a lower likelihood of PA.
  • * Additionally, older age and higher alkaline phosphatase levels increased the odds of having a moderate eGFR (60-90), while higher blood pressure and blood urea nitrogen increased the odds of lower
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Electronic Health Records (EHR) are a useful data source for research, but their usability is hindered by measurement errors. This study investigated an automatic error detection algorithm for adult height and weight measurements in EHR for the All of Us Research Program (All of Us).

Methods: We developed reference charts for adult heights and weights that were stratified on participant sex.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * The study involved in-depth interviews with 26 bereaved parents in Aotearoa New Zealand to understand their experiences with healthcare services after losing a baby, uncovering themes like impersonal care, hospital restrictions, and limited social support.
  • * Findings highlighted that the pandemic intensified feelings of isolation for grieving parents but suggested that empathetic healthcare practices and continuity of care could help alleviate some of these challenges.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The mycobacterial cell envelope is a major virulence determinant in pathogenic mycobacteria. Specific outer lipids play roles in pathogenesis, modulating the immune system and promoting the secretion of virulence factors. ESX-1 (ESAT-6 system-1) is a conserved protein secretion system required for mycobacterial pathogenesis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: There is anecdotal evidence of Fetal Pillow® use, but no formal local information on clinician practices and perspectives.

Aims: To assess obstetrician use of the Fetal Pillow®, knowledge of relevant research, and interest in a proposed randomised controlled trial in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Materials And Methods: Anonymous cross-sectional survey of practising obstetricians and obstetric trainees in Aotearoa New Zealand distributed by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

To accelerate medical breakthroughs, the All of Us Research Program aims to collect data from over one million participants. This report outlines processes used to construct the All of Us Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) survey and presents the psychometric characteristics of SDOH survey measures in All of Us. A consensus process was used to select SDOH measures, prioritizing concepts validated in diverse populations and other national cohort surveys.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Bacterial pathogens use protein secretion systems to transport virulence factors and regulate gene expression. Among pathogenic mycobacteria, including and , the ESAT-6 system 1 (ESX-1) secretion is crucial for host interaction. Secretion of protein substrates by the ESX-1 secretion system disrupts phagosomes, allowing mycobacteria cytoplasmic access during macrophage infections.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Diabetes in pregnancy is diagnosed in 6% of pregnancies annually in Aotearoa-New Zealand, disproportionately affecting multi-ethnic, low socio-economic women. Little is known about the care experience of this population within the model of midwifery continuity-of-care, including views of telehealth care.

Aim: Increase understanding of the experience of diabetes in pregnancy care, including telehealth, among multi-ethnic, low socio-economic women receiving midwifery continuity-of-care.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to explore the impact of the Fetal Pillow® on maternal and neonatal health during caesarean sections in two New Zealand maternity units.
  • Data from 1,703 caesarean births were analyzed, comparing instances before and after the Fetal Pillow®'s introduction and between two different units, one using the device and one not.
  • The results showed no significant differences in rates of uterine incision extensions or neonatal outcomes, indicating that further randomized controlled trials are needed to determine the Fetal Pillow®'s effectiveness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The mycobacterial cell envelope is a major virulence determinant in pathogenic mycobacteria. Specific outer lipids play roles in pathogenesis, modulating the immune system and promoting the secretion of virulence factors. ESX-1 (ESAT-6 system-1) is a conserved protein secretion system required for mycobacterial pathogenesis (1, 2).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Sickle cell disease (SCD) affects around 100,000 people in the U.S. and costs about $3 billion for medical care each year, but the financial struggles of patients are not well understood.
  • A study surveyed patients and caregivers to see how SCD affects their jobs and work attendance, finding many people miss work or lose their jobs because of the disease.
  • The findings show that adults with SCD and caregivers often deal with job loss and missing workdays, which adds up to a serious economic burden that should be considered in future health evaluations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Depressive symptoms are prevalent in individuals living with sickle cell disease (SCD) and may exacerbate pain. This study examines whether higher depressive symptoms are associated with pain outcomes, pain catastrophizing, interference and potential opioid misuse in a large cohort of adults with SCD. The study utilized baseline data from the 'CaRISMA' trial, which involved 357 SCD adults with chronic pain.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Reliability studies of placental examination have shown differing interobserver agreement for certain pathological features, a lack of uniform reporting criteria and variable experience among pathologists. In previous analyses we have shown that placental pathology differs by ethnicity. This validation study was performed to investigate whether bias related to ethnicity is a feature of placental pathology reporting in New Zealand (NZ).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Depression may contribute to transition risk among young adults with sickle cell disease (SCD). It is unclear if they receive depression screening because primary care providers (PCPs) routinely perform this screening, but PCP use declines with age. This retrospective study of young adults with SCD during their final year of pediatric hematology care identified 51 (91%) had PCPs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a rare but costly condition in the United States. Super-utilizers have been defined as a subset of the population with high health care encounters or expenditures. Although super-utilizers have been described in other disease states, little is known about super-utilizers among adults with SCD.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF