Purpose: Critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are frequently prescribed antibiotics, with many reporting an antibiotic allergy label, predominantly to penicillin. Mislabeling contributes to suboptimal antibiotic use, increasing multidrug-resistant organisms and Clostridium difficile infections, and increased hospital length of stay. This prospective study implemented an antibiotic allergy assessment and testing program in the ICU, independently of clinical immunology/allergy services.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Preterm birth is a major cause of infant mortality and morbidity and accounts for 7-8% of births in the UK. It is more common in women from socially deprived areas and from minority ethnic groups, but the reasons for this disparity are poorly understood. To inform interventions to improve child survival and their quality of life, this study examined the socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities in preterm births (< 37 weeks of gestation at birth) within Health Trusts in England.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite the inclusion of both individual interventions and population-based measures in the Aotearoa New Zealand (Aotearoa NZ) Tobacco Control Programme, the gap between Māori, Pacific peoples and European/Asian/Other (EAO) populations in tobacco use has not decreased significantly. Tobacco control interventions that focus on individual behaviour change have produced little impact towards reducing tobacco smoking inequities for Māori and Pacific peoples in Aotearoa NZ. Using data from the New Zealand Health Survey (NZHS), this research investigates the impact of the wider determinants of health and individual-level factors on inequities in tobacco use between Māori, Pacific peoples and EAO.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities in obstetric outcomes are well established. However, the role of induction of labour (IOL) to reduce these inequalities is controversial, in part due to insufficient evidence. This national cohort study aimed to identify adverse perinatal outcomes associated with IOL with birth at 39 weeks of gestation ("IOL group") compared to expectant management ("expectant management group") according to maternal characteristics in women with low-risk pregnancies.
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