Screening for aspiration risk associated with dysphagia in acute stroke.

Background: Stroke can affect people's ability to swallow, resulting in passage of some food and drink into the airway. This can cause choking, chest infection, malnutrition and dehydration, reduced rehabilitation, increased risk of anxiety and depression, longer hospital stay, increased likelihood of discharge to a care home, and increased risk of death. Early identification and management of disordered swallowing reduces risk of these difficulties.

Flares in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: SLE is characterized by relapses and remissions. We aimed to describe the frequency, type and time to flare in a cohort of SLE patients.

Methods: SLE patients with one or more 'A' or 'B' BILAG-2004 systems meeting flare criteria ('new' or 'worse' items) and requiring an increase in immunosuppression were recruited from nine UK centres and assessed at baseline and monthly for 9 months.

Adherence and persistence to direct oral anticoagulants in atrial fibrillation: a population-based study.

Background: Despite simpler regimens than vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF), adherence (taking drugs as prescribed) and persistence (continuation of drugs) to direct oral anticoagulants are suboptimal, yet understudied in electronic health records (EHRs).

Objective: We investigated (1) time trends at individual and system levels, and (2) the risk factors for and associations between adherence and persistence.

Methods: In UK primary care EHR (The Health Information Network 2011-2016), we investigated adherence and persistence at 1 year for oral anticoagulants (OACs) in adults with incident AF.