Enhanced surveillance of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Europe: an evaluation of the I-MOVE-COVID-19 surveillance network.

Background: A pre-existing, well-established European influenza surveillance network known as I-MOVE enabled the rapid implementation of a European multi-country COVID-19 hospital surveillance network for surveillance of hospitalized COVID-19 cases in early 2020. This network included 257 hospitals in 11 surveillance sites across nine countries. We aimed to identify whether the surveillance objectives were relevant to public health actions, whether the surveillance system met its objectives, where and how shortcomings could be improved, and whether the system was sustainable.

Exploration of health and health behaviours of undergraduate nursing students: a multi-methods study in two countries.

Background: Nurses play a vital role in health promotion, and there may be a link between a nurse's own lifestyle practices and how they educate others. Supporting health and well-being in student nurses is critical given they will be educating others once registered and practicing.

Objectives: To explore the health and health behaviours of undergraduate nursing and midwifery students considering the demands of their profession, their public health role and their ability to be role models.

Violence experienced by undergraduate nursing students during clinical placements: An online survey at a Scottish University.

Aim: To assess the prevalence of violence and experiences of violence during clinical placements, among nursing students at a Higher Education Institution (HEI) in Scotland.

Design: Cross-sectional survey, using an opt-in online questionnaire.

Participants: All 950 undergraduate nursing students aged 18 + years were eligible.

Postpartum opportunistic advice in primary care for women who have had gestational diabetes: a qualitative study of health care professionals' views.

Background: Women who have had gestational diabetes during pregnancy are at very high risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life, but their understanding of the risks is often limited. In this study we explored the views of health care professionals regarding offering brief opportunistic advice to women after their pregnancy, during unrelated consultations in primary care, relating to reducing diabetes risk.

Methods: The study took place in three Health Boards in Scotland.

How does the self-reported health of undergraduate nursing students change during their degree programme? Survey results from a Scottish University.

Background: The lifestyle behaviours, and the physical and mental health of nurses, are poorer than those of other allied health professionals, and of the general population. However, these were no less favourable among first year undergraduate nursing students at a Scottish Higher Education Institution (HEI) than among similar people of the same age. We compared health and health behaviours among the same cohort of undergraduate nursing students over the course of their degree.

Is diagnosis of type 2 diabetes a "teachable moment"? A qualitative study.

Aims: To explore the potential of type 2 diabetes diagnosis to be a "teachable moment".

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 participants (10 people with type 2 diabetes, 13 relatives of people with type 2 diabetes) in Scotland, UK. They explored cognitive, emotional and behavioural changes following diagnosis of type 2 diabetes in oneself or in a relative.

Physical activity in paid work time for desk-based employees: a qualitative study of employers' and employees' perspectives.

Background: Poor physical and mental health of employees create significant problems in the workplace. Physical activity (PA) has been shown as an effective strategy for preventing and treating numerous physical and mental health issues as well as work performance outcomes. However, there are many barriers to taking part in PA (such as lack of time) with participation rates typically low.

The development of an intervention for diabetes prevention among people with impaired glucose regulation: feasibility and acceptability of an intervention component.

Background: As part of the design process of a low-cost minimal-contact diabetes prevention intervention, we issued a blood glucose meter to people with impaired glucose regulation (who are at high risk of type 2 diabetes). We conducted a feasibility study to assess the acceptability of this intervention component and whether and how recipients engaged with it.

Methods: A blood glucose meter was given to 19 people identified through primary care, who were asked to use the meter in an exploratory way during a 4-week trial period, to try to understand the effect of different foods on the body.

Self-monitoring of blood glucose in insulin-treated diabetes: a multicase study.

Objective: To explore how and why self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is carried out in a real-world context.

Research Design And Methods: We conducted a multicase study among ten people with type 1 and insulin-treated type 2 diabetes mellitus in Scotland, alongside seven nominated support people and four healthcare professionals. All participants were interviewed in depth and six participants provided SMBG diaries.

Texting to Reduce Alcohol Misuse (TRAM): main findings from a randomized controlled trial of a text message intervention to reduce binge drinking among disadvantaged men.

Aims: To test the effectiveness of a theoretically based text-message intervention to reduce binge drinking among socially disadvantaged men.

Design: A multi-centre parallel group, pragmatic, individually randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Community-based study conducted in four regions of Scotland.

Patients' Illness Perceptions of Type 2 Diabetes: A Scoping Review.

Background: People's personal perceptions, or illness representations, of type 2 diabetes can act as barriers to successful self-management.

Introduction: Understanding patients' subjective perceptions of type 2 diabetes can aid the design of evidence-based care and appropriate educational programmes. This scoping review provides a narrative account of previous knowledge of patients' illness representations of type 2 diabetes.

A quasi-experimental evaluation of dried blood spot testing through community pharmacies in the Tayside region of Scotland.

Objective: Comparison of uptake of dried blood spot testing (DBST) for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection between community pharmacies and established services.

Design: Quantitative evaluation of a service development with qualitative process evaluation undertaken in parallel.

Setting: Six pharmacies from 36 community pharmacies within Dundee City, a large urban settlement with high levels of socioeconomic deprivation.

How active are women who play bingo: a cross-sectional study from the Well!Bingo project.

Background: The benefits of physical activity are well established, yet large numbers of people are not sufficiently active to gain health benefits. Certain population groups are less physically active than others, including older women from areas of high economic deprivation. The Well!Bingo project was established with the aim of engaging such women in the development of a health promotion intervention in a bingo club.

Prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus in Europe: A meta-analysis.

Aims: Estimates of the prevalence of gestational diabetes vary widely. It is important to have a clear understanding of the prevalence of this condition to be able to plan interventions and health care provision. This paper describes a meta-analysis of primary research data reporting the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus in the general pregnant population of developed countries in Europe.

Interventions for prevention of type 2 diabetes in relatives: A systematic review.

The relatives and partners of people with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This systematic review examines randomized controlled trials, written in English that tested an intervention, which aimed to modify behaviors known to delay or prevent type 2 diabetes, among the relatives or partners of people with type 2 diabetes. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration's tool for assessing risk of bias.

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.

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.

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.