Publications by authors named "Philip Hannaford"
Symptoms are a common reason for contact with primary care. This study investigated associations between symptom-related, demographic, social, and economic factors on general practice (GP) help-seeking. Secondary analysis of responses to a 25-symptom questionnaire, from 10 904 adults aged ≥50 years reporting at least one symptom in the preceding year.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To investigate how social context and social network activation influence appraisal and help-seeking for symptoms potentially indicative of cancer.
Methods: Semi-structured telephone interview study. Community dwelling adults who had experienced at least one symptom potentially indicative of cancer within the last month were sampled from a national symptom survey.
We assessed the risk of any and site-specific cancers in a case-control study of parous women living in northeast Scotland in relation to: total number of pregnancies, cumulative time pregnant, age at first delivery and interpregnancy interval. We analysed 6430 women with cancer and 6430 age-matched controls. After adjustment for confounders, women with increasing number of pregnancies had similar odds of cancer diagnosis as women with only one pregnancy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo determine cervical cancer risk associated with contemporary hormonal contraceptives, we conducted a cohort study of women aged 15 to 49 living in Denmark from 1995 to 2014, using routinely collected information about redeemed prescriptions, incident cancer and potential confounders. Poisson regression calculated adjusted cervical cancer risks among different contraceptive user groups by duration of use, time since last use, hormonal content and cancer histology. During >20 million person-years, 3643 incident cervical cancers occurred.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of telephone cognitive-behavioral therapy (tCBT) in preventing chronic widespread pain (CWP) among adults identified as high risk through a screening questionnaire.* -
- In a trial involving 996 participants, results showed no significant difference in CWP onset between those receiving tCBT and those receiving usual care; however, those who underwent tCBT reported a better quality of life.* -
- Although tCBT didn’t prevent CWP, it was found to be cost-effective and improved participants' overall well-being, highlighting the potential benefits of low-cost mental health interventions.*
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to investigate the link between hormonal contraceptive use and the risk of endometrial cancer in women under 50, using a cohort from Denmark over nearly two decades.
- Findings revealed that women who ever used hormonal contraceptives showed a reduced risk of developing endometrial cancer compared to non-users, with the greatest protection seen among current or recent users of combined contraceptives.
- Former users of hormonal contraception still enjoyed reduced risks more than a decade after cessation, highlighting the long-term protective effects of these contraceptives against endometrial cancer.
Background: Cancer awareness campaigns aim to increase awareness of the potential seriousness of signs and symptoms of cancer, and encourage their timely presentation to healthcare services. Enhanced understanding of the prevalence of symptoms possibly indicative of cancer in different population subgroups, and associated general practitioner (GP) help-seeking behaviour, will help to target cancer awareness campaigns more effectively.
Aim: To determine: i) the prevalence of 21 symptoms possibly indicative of breast, colorectal, lung or upper gastrointestinal cancer in the United Kingdom (UK), including six 'red flag' symptoms; ii) whether the prevalence varies among population subgroups; iii) the proportion of symptoms self-reported as presented to GPs; iv) whether GP help-seeking behaviour varies within population subgroups.
Copper intrauterine device use and HIV acquisition in women: a systematic review.
BMJ Sex Reprod Health
January 2020
Objectives: To review systematically copper intrauterine device (Cu-IUD) use and HIV acquisition in women.
Methods: We searched Pubmed, Embase and the Cochrane Library between database inception and 26 June 2019 for longitudinal studies comparing incident HIV infection among women using an unspecified IUD or Cu-IUD compared with non-hormonal or no contraceptive users, or hormonal contraceptive users. We extracted information from included studies, assessed study quality, and summarised study findings.
Objective: To update a 2016 systematic review on hormonal contraception use and HIV acquisition.
Methods: We searched Pubmed and Embase between 15 January 2016 and 26 June 2019 for longitudinal studies comparing incident HIV infection among women using a hormonal contraceptive method and either non-users or users of another specific hormonal contraceptive method. We extracted information from newly identified studies, assessed study quality, and updated forest plots and meta-analyses.
Background: To improve earlier presentation with potential symptoms of cancer, accurate data are needed on how people respond to these symptoms. It is currently unclear how self-reported medical help-seeking for symptoms associated with cancer by people from the community correspond to what is recorded in their general practice records, or how well the patient interval (time from symptom onset to first presentation to a health-professional) can be estimated from patient records.
Method: Data from two studies that reviewed general practice electronic records of residents in Scotland, (i) the 'Useful Study': respondents to a general population survey who reported experiencing symptoms potentially associated with one of four common cancers (breast, colorectal, lung and upper gastro-intestinal) and (ii) the 'Detect Cancer Early' programme: cancer patients with one of the same four cancers.
Importance: The association between the use of hormonal contraceptive and pancreatic cancer among premenopausal women has until now been unclear. This is the first study to investigate the risk of pancreatic cancer in pre-menopausal women.
Objective: To determine whether hormonal contraception increases the risk of developing pancreatic cancer in pre-menopausal women.
Objectives: To investigate the association between contemporary combined hormonal contraceptives (including progestogen types in combined preparations and all progestogen-only products) and overall and specific types of ovarian cancer.
Design: Prospective, nationwide cohort study.
Setting: Denmark, 1995-2014.
Background: Little is known about whether contemporary hormonal contraception is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer.
Methods: We assessed associations between the use of hormonal contraception and the risk of invasive breast cancer in a nationwide prospective cohort study involving all women in Denmark between 15 and 49 years of age who had not had cancer or venous thromboembolism and who had not received treatment for infertility. Nationwide registries provided individually updated information about the use of hormonal contraception, breast-cancer diagnoses, and potential confounders.
Aims: This study was designed to evaluate whether survival rates in patients with heart failure (HF) are better than those in patients with diagnoses of the four most common cancers in men and women, respectively, in a contemporary primary care cohort in the community in Scotland.
Methods And Results: Data were obtained from the Primary Care Clinical Informatics Unit from a database of 1.75 million people registered with 393 general practices in Scotland.
Background: Oral contraceptives have been used by hundreds of millions of women around the world. Important questions remain regarding the very long-term cancer risks that are associated with oral contraception. Despite previous research, important questions remain about the safety of these contraceptives: (1) How long do endometrial, ovarian, and colorectal cancer benefits persist? (2) Does combined oral contraceptive use during the reproductive years produce new cancer risks later in life? (3) What is the overall balance of cancer among past users as they enter the later stages of their lives?
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the very long-term cancer risks or benefits associated with the use of combined oral contraceptives, including the estimated overall life-time balance.
Background: Specialist-led cancer follow-up is becoming increasingly expensive and is failing to meet many survivors' needs. Alternative models informed by survivors' preferences are urgently needed. It is unknown if follow-up preferences differ by cancer type.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective And Design: Some studies suggest that specific hormonal contraceptive methods [particularly depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA)] may increase women's HIV acquisition risk. We updated a systematic review to incorporate recent epidemiological data.
Methods: We searched for articles published between 15 January 2014 and 15 January 2016 and hand-searched reference lists.
Article Synopsis
- Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can help patients with fibromyalgia, especially those at high risk of developing chronic widespread pain (CWP), by potentially preventing symptoms and reducing management costs.
- A randomized trial will compare telephone-delivered CBT (tCBT) to usual care for these high-risk patients, with the aim of recruiting 473 participants for each group.
- The effectiveness of tCBT will be evaluated based on the development of CWP after 12 months, making this the first trial focused on preventing fibromyalgia or CWP.
Background: There has been no comprehensive examination of the public's understanding of, and attitudes towards, NHS 24.
Aim: To investigate the public's use of NHS 24 and explore their understanding of, and beliefs about, the service.
Design And Setting: Population-based cross-sectional study of adults in Scotland.
Article Synopsis
- The MUSICIAN study aimed to evaluate the long-term effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of two non-drug treatments—telephone cognitive behavior therapy (tCBT) and a tailored exercise program—for chronic widespread pain (CWP).
- Conducted as a randomized controlled trial in the UK, the study involved 442 participants, with follow-up conducted 24 months post-treatment to assess patient-reported health outcomes.
- Results showed that both tCBT and exercise were significantly more effective than usual care, with tCBT providing the best long-term benefits and cost-effectiveness for improving quality of life.