Publications by authors named "Helen Purtill"

Background: Multidisciplinary comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) improves outcomes in hospitalised older adults but there is limited evidence on its effectiveness in the emergency department. We aimed to assess the benefits of CGA in the emergency department for older adults living with frailty.

Methods: In this randomised controlled trial, we enrolled older adults (≥75 years) who presented to the emergency department with medical complaints at University Hospital Limerick (Limerick, Ireland).

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Background: The aim was to ascertain the impact of irrigation technique on human intrarenal pressure during retrograde intrarenal surgery.

Methods: A parallel randomized trial recruited patients across three hospital sites. Patients undergoing retrograde intrarenal surgery for renal stone treatment with an 11/13-Fr ureteral access sheath were allocated randomly to 100 mmHg pressurized-bag (PB) or manual hand-pump (HP) irrigation.

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Background: Robust surveillance of injury aetiology and epidemiology is recognised as fundamental for effective injury reduction and management programmes. However, while sex-specific differences in injury type and nature are noted in the literature, it is unclear if these are reflected in surveillance practices, and how the athlete is affected.

Objective: Therefore, this study aimed to systematically review contact breast injuries (CBIs) among adult female athletes.

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Human milk is the preferred source of enteral nutrition for very low birthweight (VLBW) infants, and it possibly decreases dependence on parenteral nutrition (PN) and reduces incidence of late-onset sepsis (LOS). No systematic review to date has specifically addressed the value of early versus late introduction of human milk diet (HMD) on duration of PN and incidence of LOS among VLBW infants. To review the evidence for an early versus late introduction of HMD on duration of PN and incidence of LOS in VLBW infants.

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Objectives: To determine the feasibility of completing a definitive randomised controlled trial (RCT), evaluating the clinical and cost-effectiveness of Cognitive Functional Therapy (CFT) in comparison to usual physiotherapy care (UPC), for people with persistent low back pain (LBP).

Design And Setting: A two-arm parallel feasibility RCT completed in a United Kingdom (UK) Secondary Care National Health Service (NHS) physiotherapy service.

Participants: Sixty adult participants who reported LBP lasting for more than three months, that was not attributable to a serious (e.

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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of a skin barrier ring with assisted flow in preventing peristomal skin complications (PSCs) in patients with an ileostomy and to evaluate the participants' perceptions of the device.

Design: Single-group, prospective cohort study.

Subjects And Setting: Both inpatients and outpatients with newly created (n = 14) or established (n = 1) ileostomies were recruited from 2 clinical sites in the United States: one was an academic teaching hospital system in the Midwestern United States and the second was a teaching hospital located in the Southeastern United States.

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Background: Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Despite the prevalence and associated burden of cognitive impairment post-stroke, there is uncertainty regarding optimal cognitive rehabilitation for people post-stroke. This study aimed to assess whether a multicomponent intervention, called OptiCogs, is feasible, acceptable, and safe for people with cognitive impairment post-stroke.

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Aim: The aim of this study is to gather evidence on talent management practices for nurses and midwives in an Irish hospital group, to identify any shortcomings in the current practices and to develop an evidence-based talent management framework for the hospital group.

Design: This paper details a protocol for a mixed methods research study that will be used to (1) identify, critically evaluate and summarize academic scholarship on talent management strategies for both domestically and internationally trained nurses and midwives, leading to the development of a model of talent management for this study, (2) gather evidence from both domestic and internationally trained nurses and midwives, via questionnaires and focus groups within the hospital group on current talent management practices and (3) use the model previously developed to organize our findings and develop a talent management framework for the hospital group.

Methods: The study will adapt a mixed methods approach.

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Background: frailty screening facilitates the stratification of older adults at most risk of adverse events for urgent assessment and subsequent intervention. We assessed the validity of the Identification of Seniors at Risk (ISAR), Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), Programme on Research for Integrating Services for the Maintenance of Autonomy seven item questionnaire (PRISMA-7) and InterRAI-ED at predicting adverse outcomes at 30 days and 6 months amongst older adults presenting to the Emergency Department (ED).

Methods: a prospective cohort study of adults ≥65 years who presented to the ED was conducted.

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Purpose: We prospectively assessed the ability of a novel transurethral catheterization safety valve to prevent urethral catheter balloon injury in a multi-institutional clinical setting.

Materials And Methods: A prospective, multi-institution study was conducted. The safety valve was introduced for urinary catheterization in 6 hospital groups (4 in Ireland; 2 in the UK).

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Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the principal cause of acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) among infants worldwide, and an important cause of morbidity, hospitalisation and mortality. While infants are universally exposed to RSV, most mortality occurs among normal term infants from low-income and middle-income countries. Breastfeeding has been suggested to have a protective effect against RSV infection.

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This paper details a protocol for a systematic review that will be used to identify, critically appraise, and synthesize current academic evidence relating talent management practices for internationally trained nurses in healthcare organizations. Databases used in the search will include CINAHL with full text (EBSCOhost), PubMED, PsycINFO, Embase, Business Source Complete, Academic Source Complete, Web of Science, and Medline. Searches are limited to studies in English.

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Background: Concern has been raised over the injury risk to school Rugby union (Rugby) players and the potential long-term health consequences. Despite the increase in studies for this cohort, the influence of playing position on injury incidence and presentation is unclear.

Purpose: To describe the incidence, nature and severity of match injuries for school Rugby in Ireland overall, and as a function of playing position.

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Purpose: To investigate the impact of eastward travel across 7 time zones on sleep, jet lag, and recovery in elite soccer athletes.

Methods: Twenty-one male and 20 female athletes (21.5 [1.

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Background: The shoulder has been reported as a frequent location of injury in adult professional and amateur rugby, with match injury incidence rates ranging from 1.8 to 3 per 1000 player-hours (h). An increased understanding of the incidence and mechanism of shoulder injuries in school rugby players is vital to establish effective injury preventive strategies and advise on appropriate rehabilitation.

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Training load (TL) is a modifiable risk factor that may provide practitioners with opportunities to mitigate injury risk and increase sports performance. A regular problem encountered by practitioners, however, is the issue of missing TL data. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of missing TL data in team sports and to offer a practical and effective method of missing value imputation (MVI) to address this.

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Background And Aims: Atherosclerotic calcification is a powerful predictor of cardiovascular disease. This study aims to determine whether circulating levels of a local/systemic calcification inhibitor or a marker of bone formation correlate with measures of coronary or extracoronary calcification.

Methods And Results: Clinical computed tomography (CT) was performed on 64 arterial disease participants undergoing carotid and lower extremity endarterectomy.

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Background: Rugby union is a physically demanding sport that carries an inherent risk of injury. Despite being a popular and widely played team sport, little is known about injuries occurring across the male and female amateur game.

Purpose: To establish and compare injury incidence, nature, and severity in male and female Irish amateur rugby union.

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Background: While pain is very common in older adults, the associated impact on daily life, including usage of medication and healthcare, varies considerably and often pain remains inadequately treated. It is not clear what is associated with this variation.

Methods: Latent class analysis (LCA) is a model-based approach to identifying underlying subgroups in a population.

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Limited research has been conducted on sleep problems in elite athletes at international competition, and how this relates to their general health and well-being. Sixty-five elite international athletes (37 males, 28 females, 21.8 ± 2.

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Background: Aetiology of births involving very low birthweight (VLBW) and extremely low birthweight (ELBW) infants is heterogeneous and preventive strategies remain elusive. Socioenvironmental measures implemented as Ireland's response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) pandemic represented a national lockdown, and have possibly influenced the health and well-being of pregnant women and unborn infants.

Methods: Regional trends of VLBW and ELBW infants in one designated health area of Ireland over two decades were analysed.

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Background And Aims: Examining factors that may explain disparities in fitness levels among youth is a critical step in youth fitness promotion. The purpose of this study was twofold; 1) to examine the influence of school-level characteristics on fitness test performance; 2) to compare Irish adolescents' physical fitness to European norms.

Methods: Adolescents (n = 1215, girls = 609) aged 13.

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Background: Cognitive Functional Therapy (CFT) is a physiotherapist-led individualized intervention for people with people with non-specific chronic low back pain (CLBP), involving biopsychosocial pain education, graded movement exposure and lifestyle coaching.

Methods: A multicentre randomized controlled trial (RCT), including 206 participants with CLBP in Ireland, supported CFT's effectiveness for reducing disability, but not pain, compared to a group exercise and education intervention. In this study, causal mediation analysis was used to determine whether the effect of CFT on disability and the lack of effect on pain (relative to a group exercise and education intervention) is mediated by certain psychological and lifestyle factors.

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Objectives: To ascertain the extent of injury surveillance and prevention practices currently in operation and the availability of qualified personnel across Rugby playing schools in the Republic of Ireland.

Design: Cross-sectional survey design.

Setting: Rugby playing schools across Ireland.

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