Evaluation of newborn sickle cell screening programme in England: 2010-2016.

Objective: To evaluate England's NHS newborn sickle cell screening programme performance in children up to the age of 5 years.

Design: Cohort of resident infants with sickle cell disease (SCD) born between 1 September 2010 and 31 August 2015 and followed until August 2016.

Participants: 1317 infants with SCD were notified to the study from all centres in England and 1313 (99%) were followed up.

Newborn bloodspot results: predictive value of screen positive test for thalassaemia major.

Aim: There are limited published data on the performance of the percentage of haemoglobin A (Hb A) as a screening test for beta thalassaemia major in the newborn period. This paper aims to analyse data derived from a national newborn bloodspot screening programme for sickle cell disease on the performance of haemoglobin A (Hb A) as a screening test for beta thalassaemia major in the newborn period.

Methods: Newborn bloodspot sickle cell screening data from 2,288,008 babies were analysed.

Positive screening and carrier results for the England-wide universal newborn sickle cell screening programme by ethnicity and area for 2005-07.

Aims: The overall aim of the new national newborn programme is to identify infants at risk of sickle cell disease to allow early detection and to minimise deaths and complications.

Methods: Universal screening for sickle cell disease was introduced in England between September 2003 and July 2006. The 13 newborn laboratories each screen between 25,000 and 110,000 babies a year using the existing dried bloodspot cards.

Selective decrease in consultations and antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory tract infections in UK primary care up to 2006.

Background: The aim of this study was to estimate trends in primary care consultations and antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in the UK from 1997 to 2006.

Methods: Data were analysed for 100,000 subjects registered with 78 family practices in the UK General Practice Research Database; the numbers of consultations for RTI and associated antibiotic prescriptions were enumerated.

Results: The consultation rate for RTI declined in females from 442.

Alarm symptoms and identification of non-cancer diagnoses in primary care: cohort study.

Objective: To evaluate the predictive value of alarm symptoms for specified non-cancer diagnoses and cancer diagnoses in primary care.

Design: Cohort study using the general practice research database.

Setting: 128 general practices in the UK contributing data, 1994-2000.

Implementation of universal newborn bloodspot screening for sickle cell disease and other clinically significant haemoglobinopathies in England: screening results for 2005-7.

Early results from the National Health Service Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Screening programme covering the whole of England are reported following the implementation of the national newborn blood-spot screening programme. Of the 13 laboratories performing screening, 10 chose high-performance liquid chromatography as the first screen, with isoelectric focusing as the second confirmatory test. Screening results for April 2005 to March 2007 are presented and include data from all the laboratories screening newborns in England, and almost 1.

Explaining the decline in early mortality in men and women with type 2 diabetes: a population-based cohort study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that changing utilization of lipid-lowering, antihypertensive, and oral hypoglycemic drugs may be associated with trends in all-cause mortality in men and women with type 2 diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: This was a cohort study in 197 general practices in the U.K.

Diabetes diagnosis, resource utilization, and health outcomes.

Objective: To determine the effect of a clinical diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (DM) on healthcare utilization and health outcomes.

Study Design: Cohort study.

Methods: A total of 197 United Kingdom family practices with 4974 subjects (mean age, 62.

Sudden infant death syndrome and maternal depression.

Objective: To investigate whether there is an association between sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and perinatal depression.

Method: A case-control study design was used. Cases included women registered in a British primary care database with a live birth (1987-2000) and a subsequent SIDS death.

Alarm symptoms in early diagnosis of cancer in primary care: cohort study using General Practice Research Database.

Objective: To evaluate the association between alarm symptoms and the subsequent diagnosis of cancer in a large population based study in primary care.

Design: Cohort study.

Setting: UK General Practice Research Database.

Age-related changes in consultations and antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infections, 1995-2000. Data from the UK General Practice Research Database.

Background: International studies using data aggregated for all ages have shown decreasing rates of general practice consultations for acute respiratory infections with fewer antibiotic prescriptions issued per consultation. The occurrence of different respiratory infections varies widely at different ages but we do not know whether prescribing has reduced equally in all age groups.

Objective: We aimed to determine how reductions in consultation rates and antibiotic prescribing varied with age for different respiratory infections.

Physical and psychological co-morbidity in irritable bowel syndrome: a matched cohort study using the General Practice Research Database.

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome is a common problem known to have a complex relationship with psychological disorders and other physical symptoms. Little information, however, is available concerning physical and psychological comorbidity in irritable bowel syndrome patients studied over an extended period.

Aim: To evaluate physical and psychological morbidity 2 years before and during 6 years after the time of diagnosis in incident cases of irritable bowel syndrome and control subjects.

No association between immunization and Guillain-Barré syndrome in the United Kingdom, 1992 to 2000.

Background: Our goal was to determine whether immunization is associated with the incidence of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS).

Methods: We analyzed data for all patients registered with 253 general practices in the United Kingdom General Practice Research Database from 1992 to 2000, with a mean of 1.8 million registered patients.

Headache and migraine in primary care: consultation, prescription, and referral rates in a large population.

Background/aims: Headache is the most common new neurological symptom seen by general practitioners and neurologists. This study describes headache consultation, prescription, and referral rates in a large sample of UK general practices.

Methods: Analysis of data from patients > or = 15 years registered at 253 UK general practices diagnosed with headache/migraine from 1992 to 2000.

Predictive validity of different definitions of hypertension for type 2 diabetes.

Background: Models to predict diabetes or pre-diabetes often incorporate the assessment of hypertension, but proposed definitions for 'hypertension' are inconsistent. We compared the classifications obtained using different definitions for 'hypertension'.

Methods: We compared records for 5158 cases from 181 family practices, who were later diagnosed with diabetes and prescribed oral hypoglycaemic drugs, with 5158 controls, matched for age, sex and family practice, who were never diagnosed with diabetes.

Incidence of common compressive neuropathies in primary care.

Apart from carpal tunnel syndrome, there are no population based studies of the epidemiology of compressive neuropathies. To provide this information, new presentations of compressive neuropathies among patients registered with 253 general practices in the UK General Practice Research Database with 1.83 million patient years at risk in 2000 were analysed.

Variations in antibiotic prescribing and consultation rates for acute respiratory infection in UK general practices 1995-2000.

Background: Antibiotic prescribing by GPs in the UK has declined since 1995.

Aim: We investigated whether general practices that issue fewer antibiotic prescriptions to patients presenting with acute respiratory infections had lower consultation rates for these conditions.

Design Of Study: Retrospective data analysis.

Intraclass correlation coefficient and outcome prevalence are associated in clustered binary data.

Background And Objective: To describe the association between values for a proportion and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).

Methods: Analysis of data obtained from the General Practice Research Database (GPRD) for variation between United Kingdom general practices and results from a Health Technology Assessment (HTA) review for a range of outcomes in community and health services settings.

Results: There were 188 ICCs from the GPRD, the median prevalence was 13.

Increased utilization of primary care 5 years before diagnosis of type 2 diabetes: a matched cohort study.

Objective: To determine whether case subjects who were later diagnosed with type 2 diabetes utilized primary care differently from control subjects who remained free from diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: We conducted a matched cohort study using the U.K.

Why has antibiotic prescribing for respiratory illness declined in primary care? A longitudinal study using the General Practice Research Database.

Background: Antibiotic prescribing by general practitioners (GPs) increased in the 1980s and peaked in 1995. Prescribing volumes subsequently fell by over a quarter between 1995 and 2000, mostly accounted for by reduced antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory illnesses. We aimed to investigate changes in consultation rates and the proportion of consultations with antibiotics prescribed for different types of respiratory tract infections.

Trends in antihypertensive and lipid-lowering therapy in subjects with type II diabetes: clinical effectiveness or clinical discretion?

Hypertension and lipid disorders in type II diabetes contribute to increased coronary risk, but optimal drug therapy has not been defined. We investigated primary care physicians choices of antihypertensive and lipid-lowering therapy for subjects with type II diabetes diagnosed with hypertension. Subjects were registered with 105 UK general practices in the General Practice Research Database and prescribed oral hypoglycaemic drugs for the first time between January 1993 and December 2001.

Variations in glucose self-monitoring during oral hypoglycaemic therapy in primary care.

Objective: To describe the prescription of glucose self-monitoring materials in the first 12 months after initiation of oral hypoglycaemic therapy.

Methods: Cohort study of subjects registered with UK general practices and prescribed oral hypoglycaemic drugs for the first time between January 1993 and December 1998. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, year, prevalent coronary heart disease and clustering by practice.