Recruiting and retaining healthcare workers in Scotland to a longitudinal COVID-19 study: a descriptive analysis.

Background: Rapid timescales for the design and delivery of research were common during the COVID-19 pandemic. The recruitment and retention of healthcare workers (HCWs) as participants in research studies are notoriously challenging, but this was exacerbated during the pandemic by the unprecedented demand placed on the workforce. The SARS-CoV-2 Immunity and Reinfection Evaluation (SIREN study) is a prospective multicentre cohort study following HCWs in the UK.

Prevalence of gestational diabetes in the United States and Canada: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: An understanding of the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus among pregnant women is essential at local, national and international level so that appropriate health care interventions can be planned, financed and delivered.

Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of primary research reporting the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus in Canada or the United States were carried out according to Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines. Four electronic databases were systematically searched in June 2023 to identify articles that reported gestational diabetes mellitus prevalence using universal screening in pregnant women from eligible general population samples.

Enhanced surveillance of hospitalised COVID-19 patients in Europe: I-MOVE-COVID-19 surveillance network, February 2020 to December 2021.

BackgroundIn early 2020, the I-MOVE-COVID-19 hospital surveillance system was adapted from an existing influenza surveillance system to include hospitalised COVID-19 cases.AimTo describe trends in the demographic and clinical characteristics of hospitalised COVID-19 cases across Europe during the first 2 years of the pandemic, and to identify associations between sex, age and chronic conditions with admission to intensive care or high dependency units (ICU/HDU) and in-hospital mortality.MethodsWe pooled pseudonymised data from all hospitalised COVID-19 cases in 11 surveillance sites in nine European countries, collected between 1 February 2020 and 31 December 2021.

Gender and diet management in type 2 diabetes.

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes is a chronic health condition that requires ongoing self-management. This often includes changes in diet, which may be open to influences from relatives. Family support in terms of diet may be linked with gender and the assumption that meal preparation is a traditionally female activity.

Health and health behaviours among a cohort of first year nursing students in Scotland: A self-report survey.

The study aim was to collect data on the health and health-related behaviours of undergraduate nursing students at a Higher Education Institution in Scotland, to identify the need for potential health behaviour change interventions as part of their undergraduate course. An anonymous self-report questionnaire (with questions about physical activity, diet, sleep, alcohol, smoking, mental health) was administered to first year nursing students at a Scottish university. The response rate was 88%, with 207 respondents (26 male, 178 female, 3 other).

Prevalence of impaired glucose regulation in Europe: a meta-analysis.

Background: Impaired glucose regulation represents an opportunity to prevent Type 2 diabetes mellitus. It is important to have a clear understanding of the prevalence of this condition in order to be able to plan interventions and health care provision. This paper presents a meta-analysis of literature assessing the prevalence of impaired glucose regulation in the general population of developed countries in Europe.

Accessing and engaging women from socio-economically disadvantaged areas: a participatory approach to the design of a public health intervention for delivery in a Bingo club.

Background: Our aim was to use participatory methods to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of using Bingo clubs for the design and delivery of an evidence-based physical activity and/or healthy eating intervention to socio-economically disadvantaged women. This paper describes the participatory process that has resulted in a physical activity intervention for women aged >55 years, ready for pilot-testing in a Bingo club setting.

Methods: Studies using different quantitative and qualitative approaches were conducted among customers and staff of a Bingo club in a city of 85,000 inhabitants in central Scotland.

Nurses respond to patients' psychosocial needs by dealing, ducking, diverting and deferring: an observational study of a hospice ward.

Background: Psychosocial support is considered a central component of nursing care but it remains unclear as to exactly how this is implemented in practice. The aim of this study was to provide a descriptive exploration of how psychosocial needs (PNs) of patients in a hospice ward are expressed and met, in order to develop an understanding of the provision of psychosocial support in practice.

Methods: An embedded mixed-methods study was conducted in one hospice ward.

The risk of total mortality and cardiovascular mortality associated with impaired glucose regulation in Tayside, Scotland, UK: a record-linkage study in 214 094 people.

Objective: Mortality among adults of all ages diagnosed with impaired glucose regulation (IGR) in Tayside, Scotland, UK, was evaluated using routinely collected healthcare data sets.

Research Design And Methods: Using record-linked data in 2003-2008, all instances of blood glucose testing in the population defined 2 cohorts of patients aged 18+years: those with IGR (whether impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT)) according to the WHO criteria, and those who were normoglycemic. They were followed in survival analyses for mortality or cardiovascular mortality (censoring deaths that occurred within a 30-day period of testing), to derive HRs (with 95% CI) for IGR status using Cox regression, adjusted for age, sex, and an area measure of deprivation.

Adherence to the Mediterranean diet by the Greek and Cypriot population: a systematic review.

Background: The traditional Mediterranean diet is defined as the dietary pattern in the countries of the Mediterranean basin between the 1950s and 1960s, and it is now widely accepted that has a beneficial effect on health. A debate exists from empirical and research data if the traditional Mediterranean diet remains the main dietary pattern of the region or if it has changed overtime.

Aims: This systematic review addresses whether the people of Cyprus and Greece still follow the traditional Mediterranean diet or whether the diet has become more 'Westernised'.

Factors associated with health-related quality of life among patients with liver cirrhosis in Egypt.

Background: Although the disease burden of liver cirrhosis in Egypt is high and there are few resources for its management, there is limited research on the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of Egyptian patients with liver cirrhosis.

Aims: To describe the HRQOL of liver cirrhotic patients in Egypt and to analyse factors associated with this construct.

Patients And Methods: A cross-sectional study with a convenience sample of 401 patients from three hospitals in Cairo, Egypt, was carried out in June-August 2011.

Progression from gestational diabetes to type 2 diabetes in one region of Scotland: an observational follow-up study.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate long-term risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) following a diagnosis of gestational diabetes and to identify factors that were associated with increased risk of T2D.

Methods: An observational cohort design was used, following up all women diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) attending a Diabetes Antenatal Clinic in the Dundee and Angus region of Scotland between 1994 and 2004 for a subsequent diagnosis of T2D, as recorded on SCI-DC (a comprehensive diabetes clinical information system).

Results: There were 164 women in the study who were followed up until 2012.

A mobile phone intervention to reduce binge drinking among disadvantaged men: study protocol for a randomised controlled cost-effectiveness trial.

Background: Socially disadvantaged men are at a substantially higher risk of developing alcohol-related problems. The frequency of heavy drinking in a single session is high among disadvantaged men. Brief alcohol interventions were developed for, and are usually delivered in, healthcare settings.

Identifying which septic patients have increased mortality risk using severity scores: a cohort study.

Background: Early aggressive therapy can reduce the mortality associated with severe sepsis but this relies on prompt recognition, which is hindered by variation among published severity criteria. Our aim was to test the performance of different severity scores in predicting mortality among a cohort of hospital inpatients with sepsis.

Methods: We anonymously linked routine outcome data to a cohort of prospectively identified adult hospital inpatients with sepsis, and used logistic regression to identify associations between mortality and demographic variables, clinical factors including blood culture results, and six sets of severity criteria.

A multifaceted intervention to improve sepsis management in general hospital wards with evaluation using segmented regression of interrupted time series.

Problem: Antibiotic administration to inpatients developing sepsis in general hospital wards was frequently delayed. We aimed to reproduce improvements in sepsis management reported in other settings.

Context: Ninewells Hospital, an 860-bed teaching hospital with quality improvement (QI) experience, in Scotland, UK.

Quality of life and well-being of people receiving haemodialysis treatment in Scotland: a cross-sectional survey.

End-stage renal disease is a complex, progressive and debilitating illness that affects patients' quality of life, physical and mental health, well-being, social functioning and emotional health. A cross-sectional survey was carried out in renal dialysis centres in Scotland to assess patients' health status and the impact of haemodialysis treatment on quality of life and well-being. Participants scored considerably lower than the UK general population in all domains of health-related quality of life, although mental health components were nearer to general population norms than physical health components.

Self-monitoring of blood glucose in type 2 diabetes: patients' perceptions of 'high' readings.

Among 207 non-insulin using patients with type 2 diabetes in Tayside, Scotland, who self-monitored blood glucose, we present evidence that many are tolerant of higher blood glucose levels than are clinically advisable; this may explain the lack of empirical evidence for the clinical benefits of self-monitoring in this group.

Case management vocational rehabilitation for women with breast cancer after surgery: a feasibility study incorporating a pilot randomised controlled trial.

Background: There is a paucity of methodologically robust vocational rehabilitation (VR) intervention trials. This study assessed the feasibility and acceptability of a VR trial of women with breast cancer to inform the development of a larger interventional study.

Methods: Women were recruited in Scotland and randomised to either a case management VR service or to usual care.

Self-monitoring among non-insulin treated patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: Patients' behavioural responses to readings and associations with glycaemic control.

Aim: To investigate self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) behaviour among non-insulin treated patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, and to evaluate associations with glycaemic control.

Methods: Eligible patients in 23 GP practices in Tayside, Scotland, were identified (18-75 years, no insulin treatment, SMBG reagent strips dispensed in 2009). Consenting patients were administered questionnaires addressing SMBG behaviour: these primary data were record-linked to clinical data (including HbA1c) from a validated population-based diabetes clinical information system, then anonymised.

Translating and testing the Liver Disease Symptom Index 2.0 for administration to people with liver cirrhosis in Egypt.

The Liver Disease Symptom Index (LDSI) 2.0 is a simple, short and specific liver disease questionnaire in English, but an Arabic version does not exist, therefore we translated the LDSI-2.0 into Arabic and tested its psychometric properties in a pilot cross-sectional study.

Factors influencing the use of complementary and alternative medicine and whether patients inform their primary care physician.

Objectives: Use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) is widespread. Several studies have explored why individuals chose to use CAM but there are fewer data to explain how its use 'dovetails' with conventional medicine. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of CAM use in the adult population in Australia and the proportion that seek advice or tell their primary care physician after CAM use, and also to investigate which demographic characteristics, health behaviours and health status are associated with CAM use and disclosure.

Effect of Metformin on mortality in patients with heart failure and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) plus chronic heart failure (CHF) is a common but lethal combination and therapeutic options are limited. Metformin is perceived as being relatively contraindicated in this context, although mounting evidence indicates that it may be beneficial. This study was carried out to investigate the use of metformin therapy for treating patients with DM and CHF in a large population-based cohort study.

Drugs dispensed in primary care during pregnancy: a record-linkage analysis in Tayside, Scotland.

Background: For many regularly used drugs, evidence for safe use in pregnancy has not been established. Despite this, international studies have identified high levels of drug prescribing among pregnant women.

Objective: To investigate the patterns of prescribing of drugs to women who gave birth in Tayside, Scotland, in 2007.

New users of metformin are at low risk of incident cancer: a cohort study among people with type 2 diabetes.

Objective: The antidiabetic properties of metformin are mediated through its ability to activate the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). Activation of AMPK can suppress tumor formation and inhibit cell growth in addition to lowering blood glucose levels. We tested the hypothesis that metformin reduces the risk of cancer in people with type 2 diabetes.