Publications by authors named "Eastwood K"

Background: Sex-based disparities in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) presentations exist and women often have worse outcomes after an ACS event. Calling the emergency medical services (EMS) initiates prehospital diagnosis and treatment and reduces in-hospital time to treatment. This study aims to identify factors affecting the intention to call EMS and EMS usage in Australian women and men.

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Background: The number of women entering pregnancy with overweight or obesity is increasing. This can increase the risk for excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) which is associated with health complications for mother and baby. There are limited evidence-based interventions within antenatal care settings to encourage healthy eating and physical activity behaviours and support women with managing GWG.

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Article Synopsis
  • The eighth annual summary from the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) focuses on the latest findings in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and emergency cardiovascular care, building on a comprehensive review from 2020.
  • This summary is based on the evaluation of recent resuscitation evidence by experts from six different ILCOR task forces, who utilized specific criteria to assess the quality of evidence and reached consensus treatment recommendations.
  • The document also identifies key areas where more research is needed, sharing insights into the task forces’ discussions through sections like Justification and Evidence-to-Decision Framework Highlights.
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This is the eighth annual summary of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With Treatment Recommendations; a more comprehensive review was done in 2020. This latest summary addresses the most recent published resuscitation evidence reviewed by the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation task force science experts. Members from 6 International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation task forces have assessed, discussed, and debated the quality of the evidence, using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation criteria, and their statements include consensus treatment recommendations.

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Background: Prompt recognition of symptoms and response to acute coronary syndrome (ACS) are crucial for reducing pre-hospital delay. This study compares culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) and non-CALD Australian populations in terms of their (i) ACS symptom knowledge and (ii) intention to call emergency medical services (EMS) for ACS.

Method: This cross-sectional study used data from HeartWatch, an online survey collected by the National Heart Foundation of Australia between 2018 and 2020 for Australian adults aged ≥18 years.

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Aims: Studies consistently report longer prehospital delays in culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) patients experiencing acute coronary syndrome (ACS). A scoping review was conducted to describe terms and methods used to define and identify CALD populations and summarise available evidence on factors related to prehospital delays in ACS studies involving CALD populations.

Methods And Results: We searched six electronic databases for published studies and Google Scholar for grey literature to identify studies on prehospital treatment-seeking in CALD immigrants experiencing ACS.

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Aim: To determine the effect of CPR delivery surface (e.g. firm mattress, floor, backboard) on patient outcomes and CPR delivery.

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Background: The "chain of survival" was first systematically addressed in 1991, and its sequence still forms the cornerstone of current resuscitation guidelines. The term "chain of survival" is widely used around the world in literature, education, and awareness campaigns, but growing heterogeneity in the components of the chain has led to confusion. It is unclear which of these emerging chains is most suitable, or if adaptations are needed in particular contexts to depict key actions of resuscitation in the 21st century.

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Introduction: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common congenital anomaly, representing a significant global disease burden. Limitations exist in our understanding of aetiology, diagnostic methodology and screening, with metabolomics offering promise in addressing these.

Objective: To evaluate maternal metabolomics and lipidomics in prediction and risk factor identification for childhood CHD.

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Background: Preconception health has the potential to improve parental, pregnancy and infant outcomes. This scoping review aims to (1) provide an overview of the strategies, policies, guidelines, frameworks, and recommendations available in the UK and Ireland that address preconception health and care, identifying common approaches and health-influencing factors that are targeted; and (2) conduct an audit to explore the awareness and use of resources found in the scoping review amongst healthcare professionals, to validate and contextualise findings relevant to Northern Ireland.

Methods: Grey literature resources were identified through Google Advanced Search, NICE, OpenAire, ProQuest and relevant public health and government websites.

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Good water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) enhance healthy living and safe environments for child development. The study aimed to evaluate the impact of an educational intervention on WASH status, knowledge, attitudes and practices in early child development (ECD) centres in low socio-economic areas in the Nelson Mandela Bay in 2021. This quasi-experimental, one group, pre-post-test study elicited responses from 51 ECD practitioners (1 per ECD centre).

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Article Synopsis
  • Antibiotics are frequently prescribed for respiratory infections in primary care despite evidence showing minimal benefit and a contribution to microbial resistance; point-of-care tests could help reduce unnecessary prescriptions.
  • A randomized controlled trial is being conducted in the UK with participants providing swab samples and being assigned to either receive a rapid microbiological test or standard care to assess the impact on antibiotic prescribing.
  • The study will evaluate antibiotic prescription rates, patient symptom tracking, and follow-up medical records over six months, aiming to recruit 514 patients to achieve strong statistical validity.
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Malaria presents a huge threat to pregnant women, their foetus, and children below five years. This study is aimed at assessing malaria prevalence, associated clinical symptoms, and urine abnormalities among pregnant women in Aba metropolis, Abia State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional study involving 450 pregnant women purposively selected from nine health care centres was conducted.

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Background: There is a high prevalence of autoimmune conditions in women specially in the reproductive years; thus, the association with adverse pregnancy outcomes has been widely studied. However, few autoimmune conditions/adverse outcomes have been studied more than others, and this umbrella review aims to consolidate existing knowledge in this area with the aim to provide new knowledge and also identify gaps in this research area.

Methods: Medline, Embase, and Cochrane databases were searched from inception to December 2023.

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Background: The prevalence of autoimmune conditions is two-fold higher in women than in men, especially during the reproductive years. Autoimmune conditions have been associated with a greater risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, and some conditions have been studied more than others with inconsistent findings. The objective of this umbrella review was to identify, appraise, synthesise, and consolidate findings from published systematic reviews of autoimmune conditions and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

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Mass-casualty incidents have a significant global impact. Despite calls for improved disaster-preparedness training, most medical curriculums do not include formal disaster-medicine education. In 2021, the Medical Council of Canada introduced new disaster-medicine learning objectives.

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The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation engages in a continuous review of new, peer-reviewed, published cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid science. Draft Consensus on Science With Treatment Recommendations are posted online throughout the year, and this annual summary provides more concise versions of the final Consensus on Science With Treatment Recommendations from all task forces for the year. Topics addressed by systematic reviews this year include resuscitation of cardiac arrest from drowning, extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation for adults and children, calcium during cardiac arrest, double sequential defibrillation, neuroprognostication after cardiac arrest for adults and children, maintaining normal temperature after preterm birth, heart rate monitoring methods for diagnostics in neonates, detection of exhaled carbon dioxide in neonates, family presence during resuscitation of adults, and a stepwise approach to resuscitation skills training.

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The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation engages in a continuous review of new, peer-reviewed, published cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid science. Draft Consensus on Science With Treatment Recommendations are posted online throughout the year, and this annual summary provides more concise versions of the final Consensus on Science With Treatment Recommendations from all task forces for the year. Topics addressed by systematic reviews this year include resuscitation of cardiac arrest from drowning, extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation for adults and children, calcium during cardiac arrest, double sequential defibrillation, neuroprognostication after cardiac arrest for adults and children, maintaining normal temperature after preterm birth, heart rate monitoring methods for diagnostics in neonates, detection of exhaled carbon dioxide in neonates, family presence during resuscitation of adults, and a stepwise approach to resuscitation skills training.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study addresses the issue of polypharmacy in pregnant women, highlighting the need for more research on the safety of their complex medication plans, particularly focusing on adverse and protective effects of various medications during pregnancy.
  • It employs real-world data from the UK to conduct a pharmacovigilance study assessing medication safety in women during the preconception period and the first trimester.
  • A multidisciplinary expert team will analyze and reach consensus on the signals of associations between medication exposure and pregnancy outcomes to filter out misleading data for further evaluation.
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Article Synopsis
  • Multimorbidity (presence of multiple health conditions) is prevalent among pregnant women, with 16.8% experiencing it and 3.6% having complex multimorbidity (four or more conditions) in a study of over 27,000 pregnancies.
  • The prevalence of multimorbidity increases with maternal age, ranging from 10.2% in younger women (15-19) to 21.4% in those aged 40-44.
  • Pregnant women with multimorbidity have higher rates of preterm birth (PTB), at 11.6%, compared to 6.7% in those without, and 15.6% in those with complex multimorbidity.*
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Article Synopsis
  • This study developed a core outcome set for future research on pregnant women with multimorbidity to tackle issues of inconsistent outcome reporting across studies.
  • The development process involved a systematic literature search, focus groups, and Delphi surveys engaging diverse stakeholders, including affected women and healthcare professionals.
  • The final core outcome set identified 11 key outcomes, including maternal death, severe morbidity, and baby survival rates, which should be consistently measured in related research.
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Article Synopsis
  • A qualitative study was conducted to identify important outcomes for pregnant women with multiple long-term health conditions by involving women, their partners, and healthcare professionals in focus groups.
  • The study found 63 outcomes related to maternal health, child health, and healthcare utilization, with new outcomes discovered that haven't been previously emphasized in the literature.
  • Participants highlighted the importance of care processes, particularly the need for effective information sharing during transitions in healthcare, showing a consensus on the significance of various outcomes across different stakeholders.
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Background: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is recognized by emergency physicians (EPs) as an important technology that will affect clinical practice. Several AI-tools have already been developed to aid care delivery in emergency medicine (EM). However, many EM tools appear to have been developed without a cross-disciplinary needs assessment, making it difficult to understand their broader importance to general-practice.

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