Relationship between pharmacotherapy for major depressive disorder and healthcare utilisation in British Columbia, Canada: a retrospective population-based cohort.

Objectives: To describe the population that meets the criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) in British Columbia (BC), compare patterns of healthcare utilisation between those with MDD who are and are not prescribed pharmacotherapy, and assess these relationships in models that control for potential confounding variables.

Design: We used a population cross-sectional study design among a cohort of individuals living with MDD and examined the relationship between pharmacotherapy and healthcare utilisation between 2019 and 2020 using linked billing and administrative data.

Setting: This study identified individuals with MDD using a validated case definition of International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes in BC, Canada.

Application of core functions and forms in complex health intervention research: a scoping review protocol.

Introduction: The ability of healthcare, community and public health systems to effectively implement and disseminate research innovations depends on contextual factors at multiple interconnected levels of influence (eg, the innovation, individual, provider/implementor, organisation and health system). Recently, there has been an increase in the development of complex interventions designed to target multiple levels, designed for or adapted to the context in which they are delivered. Two concepts from complex systems thinking have been increasingly used to operationalise such interventions-core functions (theory and evidence-driven purposes of interventions) and forms (adaptable activities that perform each core function).

Decades in the Making: The Evolution of Digital Health Research Infrastructure Through Synthetic Data, Common Data Models, and Federated Learning.

Traditionally, medical research is based on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for interventions such as drugs and operative procedures. However, increasingly, there is a need for health research to evolve. RCTs are expensive to run, are generally formulated with a single research question in mind, and analyze a limited dataset for a restricted period.

Effects of expressive helping writing during stem cell transplant: Randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Most cancer patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant report elevated symptoms and reduced health-related quality of life during peritransplant. These concerns can become persistent. A prior randomized controlled trial showed that expressive helping-a low-burden, brief intervention combining expressive writing with a novel peer support writing exercise-reduced psychological distress and physical symptoms in long-term transplant survivors with moderate/high persistent symptoms.