DRUG DISINVESTMENT FRAMEWORKS: COMPONENTS, CHALLENGES, AND SOLUTIONS.

Objectives: Value assessments of marketed drug technologies have been developed through disinvestment frameworks. Components of these frameworks are varied and implementation challenges are prevalent. The objective of this systematic literature review was to describe disinvestment framework process components for drugs and to report on framework components, challenges, and solutions.

Ethnic density and risk of mental ill health - The case of religious sectarianism in Northern Ireland: A population data linkage study.

An ethnic group that lives in a neighbourhood in which it is in the minority, termed 'lower ethnic density,' tends to report a higher incidence of mental ill-health. This population-based study investigated for the first time the existence of an own-group density effect among Catholic and Protestant communities in Northern Ireland. The entire Northern Ireland born Catholic and Protestant working age (n = 1, 004,060) enumerated population in the 2011 Census of Northern Ireland were included in the study via administrative data-linkage methodology.

Relationship between hyperbaric oxygen therapy and quality of life in participants with chronic diabetic foot ulcers: data from a randomized controlled trial.

Aims: To investigate the effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in participants with diabetes and chronic foot ulcers.

Methods: Using data from a randomized controlled trial, we included 103 participants (49 in hyperbaric oxygen therapy group and 54 in sham group) for analyses. The primary outcome was HRQoL as measured by the EQ-5D-3L instrument, while secondary outcomes included quality of life evaluated by the Short Form 36 (SF-36) and Diabetic Foot Ulcers Scale-Short Form (DFS-SF).

Systematic review and meta-analysis of renal replacement therapy modalities for acute kidney injury in the intensive care unit.

Purpose: To compare clinical outcomes among critically ill adults with acute kidney injury (AKI) treated with continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), intermittent hemodialysis (IHD) or sustained low efficiency dialysis (SLED).

Materials And Methods: We completed a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies published in 2015 or earlier using MEDLINE®, EMBASE®, Cochrane databases and grey literature. Eligible studies included randomized clinical trials (RCTs) or prospective cohort studies comparing outcomes of mortality, dialysis dependence or length of stay among critically ill adults receiving CRRT, IHD or SLED to treat AKI.

What do register-based studies tell us about migrant mental health? A scoping review.

Background: Previous studies investigating the mental health of migrants have shown mixed results. The increased availability of register data has led to a growing number of register-based studies in this research area. This is the first scoping review on the use of registry and record-linkage data to examine the mental health of migrant populations.

Volunteering and mortality risk: a partner-controlled quasi-experimental design.

Background: The consensus that volunteering is associated with a lower mortality risk is derived from a body of observational studies and therefore vulnerable to uncontrolled or residual confounding. This potential limitation is likely to be particularly problematic for volunteers who, by definition, are self-selected and known to be significantly different from non-volunteers across a range of factors associated with better survival.

Methods: This is a census-based record-linkage study of 308 733 married couples aged 25 and over, including 100 571 volunteers, with mortality follow-up for 33 months.

Caregiving, volunteering or both? Comparing effects on health and mortality using census-based records from almost 250,000 people aged 65 and over.

Background: the health impacts of caregiving and volunteering are rarely studied concurrently, despite the potential for both synergies and conflicts. This population-based study examines the association of these activities on health and subsequent mortality.

Method: a census-based record-linkage study of 244,429 people aged 65 and over, with cohort characteristics, caregiving and volunteering status, and presence of chronic health conditions derived from the Census returns.

Lessons from a national audit of acute pancreatitis: A summary of the NCEPOD report 'Treat the Cause'.

The National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) is an independent organisation whose remit is to review the quality of medical and surgical care provided in the United Kingdom. We undertook a review into the care provided to patients treated for acute pancreatitis during a 6 month study period between 1st January and 30th June 2014. This included assessment of care at an organisational level, clinical level within hospitals and external peer review.

Illustration of the Impact of Unmeasured Confounding Within an Economic Evaluation Based on Nonrandomized Data.

Propensity score (PS) methods are frequently used within economic evaluations based on nonrandomized data to adjust for measured confounders, but many researchers omit the fact that they cannot adjust for unmeasured confounders. To illustrate how confounding due to unmeasured confounders can bias an economic evaluation despite PS matching. We used data from a previously published nonrandomized study to select a prematched population consisting of 121 patients (46.

Does equality legislation reduce intergroup differences? Religious affiliation, socio-economic status and mortality in Scotland and Northern Ireland: A cohort study of 400,000 people.

Religion frequently indicates membership of socio-ethnic groups with distinct health behaviours and mortality risk. Determining the extent to which interactions between groups contribute to variation in mortality is often challenging. We compared socio-economic status (SES) and mortality rates of Protestants and Catholics in Scotland and Northern Ireland, regions in which interactions between groups are profoundly different.

Influence of Heterogamy by Religion on Risk of Marital Dissolution: A Cohort Study of 20,000 Couples.

Heterogamous marriages, in which partners have dissimilar attributes (e.g. by socio-economic status or ethnicity), are often at elevated risk of dissolution.

Do differences in religious affiliation explain high levels of excess mortality in the UK?

Background: High levels of mortality not explained by differences in socioeconomic status (SES) have been observed for Scotland and its largest city, Glasgow, compared with elsewhere in the UK. Previous cross-sectional research highlighted potentially relevant differences in social capital, including religious social capital (the benefits of social participation in organised religion). The aim of this study was to use longitudinal data to assess whether religious affiliation (as measured in UK censuses) attenuated the high levels of Scottish excess mortality.

Matched Case-Control Comparative Study of Laparoscopic Versus Open Pancreaticoduodenectomy for Malignant Lesions.

Introduction: Advances in surgical technologies allowed safe laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD). The aim of this study is to compare the oncologic outcomes of LPD to open pancreaticoduodenectomy (OPD) in terms of safety and recurrence rate.

Materials And Methods: A cohort of 30 patients were matched for age, sex, American Society of Anaesthesiologists, tumor size, pancreatic duct diameter, and histopathologic diagnosis on a 1:1 basis (15 LPD, 15 OPD).

Improved outcomes for hepatic trauma in England and Wales over a decade of trauma and hepatobiliary surgery centralisation.

Background: Over the last decade trauma services have undergone a reconfiguration in England and Wales. The objective is to describe the epidemiology, management and outcomes for liver trauma over this period and examine factors predicting survival.

Methods: Patients sustaining hepatic trauma were identified using the Trauma Audit and Research Network database.

Prevalence and factors associated with depression and depression-related healthcare access in mothers of 9-month-old infants in the Republic of Ireland.

Aims: Untreated maternal depression during the postpartum period can have a profound impact on the short- and long-term psychological and physical well-being of children. There is, therefore, an imperative for increased understanding of the determinants of depression and depression-related healthcare access during this period.

Methods: Respondents were 11 089 mothers of 9-month-old infants recruited to the Growing Up in Ireland study.

Comparison of adjuvant gemcitabine and capecitabine with gemcitabine monotherapy in patients with resected pancreatic cancer (ESPAC-4): a multicentre, open-label, randomised, phase 3 trial.

Background: The ESPAC-3 trial showed that adjuvant gemcitabine is the standard of care based on similar survival to and less toxicity than adjuvant 5-fluorouracil/folinic acid in patients with resected pancreatic cancer. Other clinical trials have shown better survival and tumour response with gemcitabine and capecitabine than with gemcitabine alone in advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer. We aimed to determine the efficacy and safety of gemcitabine and capecitabine compared with gemcitabine monotherapy for resected pancreatic cancer.

Feasibility of an altruistic sperm donation program in Canada: results from a population-based model.

Background: Stringent donor-screening criteria and legislation prohibiting payment for donor gametes have contributed to the radical decline of donor insemination (DI) using sperm provided by Canadian men. Thus, many individuals rely on imported sperm. This paper examines the feasibility of an altruistic sperm donation (ASD) program to meet the needs of Canadians.

Which long-term illnesses do patients find most limiting? A census-based cross-sectional study of 340,000 people.

Objectives: To investigate associations between a widely used measure of self-assessed health (limiting long-term illness, LLTI) and 11 long-term health conditions.

Methods: Information on LLTI and health conditions was obtained from 2011 Census returns for a 28% representative sample of the Northern Ireland population (n = 342,868). Logistic regression was used to predict LLTI by sex and age group for each condition found in isolation, adjusting for marital status, social class, household car access, housing tenure, and educational attainment.

The utility and impact of information communication technology (ICT) for pre-registration nurse education: A narrative synthesis systematic review.

Objectives: To evaluate and summarise the utility and impact of information communication technology (ICT) in enhancing student performance and the learning environment in pre-registration nursing.

Design: A systematic review of empirical research across a range of themes in ICT health-related education.

Data Sources: Science Direct, Cinahl, AMED, MEDLINE, PubMed, ASSIA, OVID and OVID SP (2008-2014).

The Effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and acceptability of Community versus Hospital Eye Service follow-up for patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration with quiescent disease (ECHoES): a virtual randomised balanced incomplete block trial.

Background: Patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) usually attend regular reviews, even when the disease is quiescent. Reviews are burdensome to health services, patients and carers.

Objectives: To compare the proportion of correct lesion classifications made by community-based optometrists and ophthalmologists from vignettes of patients; to estimate the cost-effectiveness of community follow-up by optometrists compared with follow-up by ophthalmologists in the Hospital Eye Service (HES); to ascertain views of patients, their representatives, optometrists, ophthalmologists and clinical commissioners on the proposed shared care model.

Nanomedicines for advanced cancer treatments: Transitioning towards responsive systems.

The development of nanomedicines for the treatment of cancer focuses on the local targeted delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs to enhance drug efficacy and reduce adverse effects. The nanomedicines which are currently approved for clinical use are mainly successful in terms of improved bioavailability and tolerability but do not necessarily increase drug performance. Therefore, there is a need for improved drug carrier systems which are able to deliver high doses of anti-cancer drugs to the tumor.