Determinants of health-related quality of life among residents with and without COPD in a historically industrialised area.

Purpose: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with substantial morbidity, including impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Despite the prominent role of occupational factors in the aetiology of COPD, the relationship between these exposures and HRQoL has not been well elucidated.

Methods: A subpopulation from an epidemiological study, designed to assess the workplace contribution to COPD, was administered the EQ5D HRQoL tool.

Assessing the impact of selective migration and care homes on geographical inequalities in health--a total population cohort study in Sheffield.

Selective migration and moves to care homes may potentially contribute to observed socioeconomic gradients in mortality across cities and regions. Sheffield has striking socioeconomic gradients in area-level mortality across the city. We examined for evidence of selective migration and assessed the contribution of migration to observed mortality gradients.

Psychosocial impact of the summer 2007 floods in England.

Background: The summer of 2007 was the wettest in the UK since records began in 1914 and resulted in severe flooding in several regions. We carried out a health impact assessment using population-based surveys to assess the prevalence of and risk factors for the psychosocial consequences of this flooding in the United Kingdom.

Methods: Surveys were conducted in two regions using postal, online, telephone questionnaires and face-to-face interviews.

The Kidney Evaluation and Awareness Program in Sheffield (KEAPS): a community-based screening for microalbuminuria in a British population.

Background/objectives: Microalbuminuria (MA) detects subjects at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) among diabetics, hypertensives and the general population. There is still a paucity of data on prevalence and risk factors for MA in the UK. We examined in a cross-sectional study, the prevalence and risk factors for MA in the general population of Sheffield, UK.

Evaluation of methodologies for exposure assessment to atmospheric pollutants from a landfill site.

Epidemiological studies around landfill sites are limited by several factors, particularly a lack of accurate exposure assessment. Traditionally, exposure estimates are based on distance between place of residence and the landfill site. However, this measure of exposure ignores the effects that environmental factors may have upon exposure.

A population-based screening for microalbuminuria among relatives of CKD patients: the Kidney Evaluation and Awareness Program in Sheffield (KEAPS).

Background: Microalbuminuria has been used to detect subjects at risk of cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease (CKD) in patients with diabetes, those with hypertension, and the general population. However, relatives of patients with CKD have not been investigated for microalbuminuria in the United Kingdom.

Study Design: A cross-sectional study evaluating the prevalence of microalbuminuria in relatives of patients with CKD compared with the general population of Sheffield, England.

The economics of routine antenatal anti-D prophylaxis for pregnant women who are rhesus negative.

Objective: To investigate the economics of routine antenatal anti-D prophylaxis in the prevention of haemolytic disease of the newborn, in support of the NICE appraisals process.

Design: Cost effectiveness analysis.

Setting: UK NHS.

Variation in cadaveric organ donor rates in the UK.

Background: Considerable variation exists in the organ donation rate between kidney retrieval areas (KRAs) within the UK. The causes for this are unknown. This study examines whether or not observed variations are correlated with various possible explanatory factors.

Pulsatile machine perfusion vs. cold storage of kidneys for transplantation: a rapid and systematic review.

Objective: To identify and prioritize key areas for further research in kidney preservation systems.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of machine perfusion and cold storage techniques in reducing delayed graft function (DGF) and improving graft survival in recipients of kidneys from beating and non-heart-beating donors. Literature quantifying the link between DGF and graft survival was used to evaluate the potential long-term impact of machine perfusion and cold storage systems.

The mortality experience of people admitted to nursing homes.

Background: The objective of the study was to use routinely collected data to compare the mortality experience of people admitted to nursing homes from hospital and the community; and to describe changes in mortality over a 5 year period.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study and survival analysis were carried out. The subjects were 841 people admitted as Local Authority funded long-stay residents to Wakefield nursing homes between April 1993 and December 1997.

Very high cost treatment for a single individual--a case report.

A Health Authority was requested to fund immune tolerance induction for a young haemophiliac at a potential cost of up to 2 million pounds sterling over a year. The decision-making process adopted included an external review of the case, literature review to establish the evidence base for treatment, and extensive discussions with the clinicians involved. The Health Authority agreed to fund treatment, but with continuous review of the case and explicit criteria for abandoning treatment if it was not working.