Aims: Structured clinical interviewing is considered the gold standard in psychiatric diagnosis. The Diagnostic Assessment Research Tool (DART) is a novel modularized, non-copywritten, semi-structured interview; however, no studies have examined the psychometric properties of its alcohol use disorder (AUD) module. The primary aims of this study were to: (i) validate the factor structure of the DART AUD module and (ii) examine measurement invariance across several key demographic and subgroup factors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPublic safety personnel (PSP), such as police officers, firefighters, correctional workers, and paramedics, routinely face work stressors that increase their risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PSP may additionally face moral transgressions in the workplace (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Understanding the epidemiological parameters and transmission dynamics of Lassa fever, a significant public health threat in west Africa caused by the rodent-borne Lassa virus, is crucial for informing evidence-based interventions and outbreak response strategies. Therefore, our study aimed to collate and enhance understanding of the key epidemiological parameters of Lassa fever.
Methods: We conducted a systematic review, searching PubMed and Web of Science for peer-reviewed studies published from database inception up to June 13, 2024, to compile and analyse key epidemiological parameters, mathematical models, and outbreaks of Lassa fever.
Background: Mathematical models and advanced analytics play an important role in policy decision making and mobilizing action. The Imperial College Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Response Team (ICCRT) provided continuous, timely and robust epidemiological analyses to inform the policy responses of governments and public health agencies around the world. This study aims to quantify the policy impact of ICCRT outputs, and understand which evidence was considered policy-relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOral dosage forms are the preferred solution for systemic treatment and prevention of disease conditions. However, traditional dosage forms face challenges regarding treatment adherence and delivery of biologics. Oral therapies that require frequent administrations face difficulties with patient compliance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Maternity outcomes for women from certain ethnic groups are notably poor, partly owing to their not receiving treatment from services.
Aims: To explore barriers to access among Black and south Asian women with perinatal mental health problems who did not access perinatal mental health services and suggestions for improvements, and to map findings on to the perinatal care pathway.
Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2020 and 2021 in the UK.
Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms are hypothesized to be driven by two core motivations: harm avoidance and incompleteness. While cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for OCD, many posit that OCD presentations characterized by high incompleteness may be harder to treat. The relationship between the core motivations and treatment outcomes remains to be further explored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Staffing shortages across the healthcare sector pose a threat to the continuity of the Canadian healthcare system in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era. We sought to understand factors associated with turnover intention as well as Canadian healthcare providers' (HCPs) perspectives and experiences with turnover intention as related to both organizational and professional turnover.
Method: A convergent questionnaire mixed-methods design was employed.
Purpose: To date, no evidence-based, community-based online group intervention has been designed specifically to enhance posttraumatic growth (PTG), quality of life (QoL), sense of meaning and purpose, and satisfaction with life following a spinal cord injury (SCI). This qualitative study aims to describe participants' experiences of participating in such a program.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 people with SCI and analysed using a thematic analysis approach.
Ebola virus disease poses a recurring risk to human health. We conducted a systematic review (PROSPERO CRD42023393345) of Ebola virus disease transmission models and parameters published from database inception to July 7, 2023, from PubMed and Web of Science. Two people screened each abstract and full text.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: We investigated the potential impacts of child poverty (CP) reduction scenarios on population health and health inequalities in England between 2024 and 2033.
Methods: We combined aggregate local authority-level data with published and newly created estimates on the association between CP and the rate per 100 000 of infant mortality, children (aged <16) looked after, child (aged <16) hospitalisations for nutritional anaemia and child (aged <16) all-cause emergency hospital admissions. We modelled relative, absolute (per 100 000) and total (per total population) annual changes for these outcomes under three CP reduction scenarios between 2024 and 2033- (15% reduction), (25% reduction) and (35% reduction)-compared with a baseline CP scenario (15% increase).
The Statistics Expert Group was convened at the request of the Infected Blood Inquiry to provide estimates of the number of infections and deaths from blood-borne infections including hepatitis B virus, human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis C virus (HCV) and variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease, as a direct result of contaminated blood and blood products administered in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK). In the absence of databases of HCV infections and related deaths for all nations of the UK, a statistical model was required to estimate the number of infections and subsequent deaths from HCV acquired from blood transfusions from January 1970 to August 1991. We present this statistical model in detail alongside the results of its application to each of the four nations in the UK.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Individuals with insomnia disorder often exhibit differences between reported experiences of sleep and objectively measured sleep parameters; however, the implications of this subjective-objective sleep discrepancy during treatment remains unclear.
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) on the discrepancy between objective and subjective measures of sleep, and to assess whether changes in clinical variables such as depression, anxiety, fatigue, and beliefs about sleep, were related to changes in discrepancy.
Methods: Twenty-five participants with insomnia disorder were enrolled in group CBT-I.
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been used with increasing frequency as a therapeutic tool to alleviate clinical symptoms of obsessive compulsive-disorder (OCD). However, little is known about the effects of tDCS on neurocognitive functioning among OCD patients. The aim of this review was to provide a comprehensive overview of the literature examining the effects of tDCS on specific neurocognitive functions in OCD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOral devices, such as foil-type devices, show great potential for the delivery of poorly permeable macromolecules by enabling unidirectional release of the loaded pharmaceutical composition in close proximity to the epithelium in the small intestine or colon. However, one of the primary concerns associated with the use of foil-type devices so far has been the utilization of nonbiodegradable elastomers in the fabrication of the devices. Therefore, research into biodegradable substitute materials with similar characteristics enables drug delivery in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Standardization of procedures for data abstraction by cancer registries is fundamental for cancer surveillance, clinical and policy decision-making, hospital benchmarking, and research efforts. The objective of the current study was to evaluate adherence to the four components (completeness, comparability, timeliness, and validity) defined by Bray and Parkin that determine registries' ability to carry out these activities to the hospital-based National Cancer Database (NCDB).
Methods: Tbis study used data from U.
Background: Symptom accommodation is suggested to maintain anxiety pathology and interfere with treatment effectiveness for anxiety and related disorders. However, little is known about symptom accommodation in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
Aim: This study investigated the associations between romantic partner symptom accommodation, GAD symptoms, intolerance of uncertainty (IU), relationship satisfaction, and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) outcomes from the perspective of the person with GAD.
Importance: Nearly 75% of newly diagnosed cancer patients in the United States will receive care from a hospital that is accredited by the Commission on Cancer (CoC). To support hospitals in their quality assurance efforts, the CoC maintains a portfolio of quality measures to give hospitals compliance data with select best practices for cancer care. As the CoC quality measures have evolved over recent years, many clinicians may lack awareness of the intent and content of the measure portfolio, as well as the mechanism by which new measures originate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFConsumers range from specialists that feed on few resources to generalists that feed on many. Generalism has the clear advantage of having more resources to exploit, but the costs that limit generalism are less clear. We explore two understudied costs of generalism in a generalist amoeba predator, , feeding on naturally co-occurring bacterial prey.
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