Publications by authors named "Macarthur C"

Objectives: To assess the feasibility of an intervention of midwifery support for antenatal pelvic floor muscle exercises (PFME) to prevent postnatal urinary incontinence (UI).

Design: Feasibility and pilot cluster randomised controlled trial. Clusters were community midwifery teams.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study focuses on aiding Children with Medical Complexity (CMC) as they transition to adult healthcare, addressing gaps in support and coordination that negatively impact their care.
  • PITCare is a randomized controlled trial involving 154 CMC and their caregivers, assessing an intensive transition support program that connects patients with a multidisciplinary team for two years post-18.
  • Outcomes will include successful care transition rates and patient satisfaction, with qualitative interviews to gather insights on the experience of various stakeholders, while ethics approval has been secured for the study.
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Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disease involving memory impairment, confusion, and behavioural changes. The disease is characterised by the accumulation of amyloid beta plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain, which disrupt normal neuronal function. There is no known cure for Alzheimer's disease and due to increasing life expectancy, occurrence is projected to rise over the coming decades.

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Background: Since 2020, the General Medical Services contract requires GP practices in England to offer women a GP appointment 6-8 weeks after birth: the '6-8 week postnatal check' or 'consultation'. Historically, provision of checks was variable, and women still frequently report poor experiences.

Aim: To explore GPs' and women's perspectives of the 6-8 week postnatal check, including key components and timing.

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Objective: To determine the change in English emergency postnatal maternal readmissions 2007-2017 (pre-COVID-19) and the association with maternal demographics, obstetric risk factors and postnatal length of stay (LOS).

Design: National cohort study.

Setting: All English National Health Service hospitals.

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Objectives: Persistent obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) after adenotonsillectomy (AT) has been reported in 20%-30% of children. The aim of this study was to determine the predictive value of drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) at the time of AT on subjective AT outcomes.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of children aged 2-18 years being treated with AT for sleep disordered breathing (SDB) with one or more risk factors for AT failure: age >7 years, obesity, severe baseline OSA, Black race.

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Objective: To investigate pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD; urinary incontinence (UI), faecal incontinence (FI) and prolapse) ≥20 years after childbirth and their association with delivery mode history and demographic characteristics.

Design: Cohort study with long-term follow-up.

Setting: Maternity units in Aberdeen and Birmingham (UK) and Dunedin (NZ).

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Introduction: Incorporating shared decision-making (SDM) with children and families in hospitals was a top priority identified by patients, caregivers, and clinicians. Bronchiolitis, a common and costly reason for hospitalization in children, is an exemplar condition to study SDM in hospitals. Internationally, clinical practice guidelines differ when recommending intravenous (IV or parenteral) or nasogastric (NG or enteral) fluids for hospitalized infants with bronchiolitis who are unsafe to be fed orally.

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Article Synopsis
  • The COVID-19 pandemic significantly altered local transportation habits, leading to changes in motor vehicle collision (MVC)-related emergency department visits and hospitalizations in Ontario.
  • An interrupted time series analysis from March 2016 to December 2022 revealed a 31.5% decrease in ED visits and a 6.0% decrease in hospitalizations for vehicle occupants, while pedestrian injuries showed similar trends.
  • In contrast, cyclists experienced a 12.8% increase in ED visits and a dramatic 46.0% rise in hospitalizations, indicating a surge in cycling injuries during the pandemic, possibly due to a rise in recreational cycling.
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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic altered traffic patterns worldwide, potentially impacting pedestrian and bicyclists safety in urban areas. In Toronto, Canada, work from home policies, bicycle network expansion, and quiet streets were implemented to support walking and cycling. We examined pedestrian and bicyclist injury trends from 2012 to 2022, utilizing police-reported killed or severely injured (KSI), emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalization data.

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Introduction: Childbirth-related perineal trauma (CRPT) is the most common complication of childbirth affecting 80% of women overall after vaginal birth. There remains a lack of comprehensive evidence relating to the prevalence of subsequent health problems. Current evidence is related to short-term outcomes, for example, pain, but there is less known about longer-term outcomes such as infection, wound dehiscence, pelvic floor function and psychological outcomes.

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Importance: Bronchiolitis is the most common and most cumulatively expensive condition in pediatric hospital care. Few population-based studies have examined health inequalities in bronchiolitis outcomes over time.

Objective: To examine trends in bronchiolitis-related emergency department (ED) visit and hospitalization rates by sociodemographic factors in a universally funded health care system.

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Objective: To determine the positivity rate of congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) testing among universal, hearing-targeted CMV testing (HT-cCMV) and delayed targeted dried blood spot (DBS) testing newborn screening programs, and to examine the characteristics of successful HT-cCMV testing programs.

Study Design: Prospective survey of birth hospitals performing early CMV testing.

Setting: Multiple institutions.

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Purpose: Population-based prevalence surveys are essential for decision-making on interventions to achieve trachoma elimination as a public health problem. This paper outlines the methodologies of Tropical Data, which supports work to undertake those surveys.

Methods: Tropical Data is a consortium of partners that supports health ministries worldwide to conduct globally standardised prevalence surveys that conform to World Health Organization recommendations.

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Introduction: Breastfeeding has health benefits for infants and mothers, yet the UK has low rates with marked social inequalities. The Assets-based feeding help Before and After birth (ABA) feasibility study demonstrated the acceptability of a proactive, assets-based, woman-centred peer support intervention, inclusive of all feeding types, to mothers, peer supporters and maternity services. The ABA-feed study aims to assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of the ABA-feed intervention compared with usual care in first-time mothers in a full trial.

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Article Synopsis
  • Children and families are increasingly participating as equal partners in child health research, but there's a lack of attention to authorship issues in this area.
  • A study analyzed 230 articles from 12 systematic reviews on patient engagement in child health, finding that only 7% listed patient partners as authors, while 18% acknowledged them by name in the acknowledgment sections.
  • The results indicate that patient partners are more often acknowledged than formally credited as authors, highlighting the need for better understanding and support for their roles in research.
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Objective: To examine the associations between several potential predictors (child biologic, social, and family factors) and a positive screen for developmental delay using the Infant Toddler Checklist (ITC) at the 18-month health supervision visit in primary care.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of healthy children attending an 18-month health supervision visit in primary care. Parents completed a standardized questionnaire, addressing child, social, and family characteristics, and the ITC.

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Background: There are few data on patient and public involvement (PPI) in pragmatic trials. We aimed to describe the prevalence and nature of PPI within pragmatic trials, describe variation in prevalence of PPI by trial characteristics and compare prevalence of PPI reported by trial authors to that reported in trial publications.

Methods: We applied a search filter to identify pragmatic trials published from 2014 to 2019 in MEDLINE.

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There is little evidence on the prevalence of the double burden and association between body mass index (BMI) and iron deficiency among young children living in high-income countries. We conducted a cross-sectional study of healthy children, 12-29 months of age, recruited during health supervision visits in Toronto, Canada, and concurrently measured BMI and serum ferritin. The prevalence of a double burden of underweight (zBMI < -2) and iron deficiency or overweight/obesity (zBMI > 2) and iron deficiency was calculated.

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Background: Adolescents with physical disabilities of childhood often require a transition from pediatric to adult systems as part of life-long, comprehensive health care once they reach 18 years of age. The process of transition can be complex, challenging, and influenced by health-related factors and availability of health care resources.

Objective: To provide a baseline profile of health-related quality of life, health management, social participation, and health care utilization for adolescents 16 years of age with spina bifida (SB), acquired brain injury (ABI), or cerebral palsy (CP) in Toronto, Canada.

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Importance: Identifying research priorities of patients with concussion, their caregivers, and their clinicians is important to ensure future concussion research reflects the needs of those who will benefit from the research.

Objective: To prioritize concussion research questions from the perspectives of patients, caregivers, and clinicians.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional survey study used the standardized James Lind Alliance priority-setting partnership methods (2 online cross-sectional surveys and 1 virtual consensus workshop using modified Delphi and nominal group techniques).

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Background: Advances in screening and diagnostics have changed the way in which we identify and diagnose congenital anomalies.

Objective: To examine changes in rates of prenatal diagnosis of congenital anomalies over time and by demographic characteristics.

Methods: We undertook a population-based retrospective cohort study of all children born in Western Australia between 1980 and 2020 and diagnosed with a congenital anomaly.

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Objectives: Develop an understanding of the views and experiences of general practitioners (GPs) about their role in postnatal care, including barriers and facilitators to good care, and timing and content of planned postnatal checks.

Design: Qualitative systematic review.

Data Sources: Electronic database searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PubMed, Web of Science, PsychINFO from January 1990 to September 2021.

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Background: In Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research launched the Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) in 2011. The strategy defines 'patient-oriented research' as a continuum of research that engages patients as partners, focuses on patient priorities, and leads to improved patient outcomes. The overarching term 'patient' is inclusive of individuals with personal experience of a health issue as well as informal caregivers including family and friends.

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