Footwear characteristics and foot problems in community dwelling people with stroke: a cross-sectional observational study.

Purpose: To explore footwear characteristics and foot problems in community dwelling people with stroke as most research to date focused on the general elderly population.

Methods: Thirty people with mild to moderate stroke (nine men, mean age 68, mean time since onset 67 months) attended a single session to assess footwear and foot problems using established podiatry foot (wear) and ankle assessments.

Results: Most participants wore slippers indoors ( = 17, 57%) and walking shoes outdoors ( = 11, 37%).

Cost-effectiveness of the PDSAFE personalised physiotherapy intervention for fall prevention in Parkinson's: an economic evaluation alongside a randomised controlled trial.

Background: PDSAFE is an individually-tailored, physiotherapist-delivered, balance, strength and strategy training programme aimed at preventing falls among people with Parkinson's. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of PDSAFE compared with usual care for people with Parkinson's at higher risk of falling, from a UK National Health Service and Personal Social Service perspective.

Methods: Resource use and quality of life data (EQ-5D-3L) were collected from 238 participants randomised to the PDSAFE intervention and 236 participants randomised to control, at baseline, 3 months, 6 months (primary outcome), and 12 months.

Participant expectations and experiences of a tailored physiotherapy intervention for people with Parkinson's and a history of falls.

Purpose: People with Parkinson's are twice as likely to fall as older people within the general population. This longitudinal qualitative study was part of a larger programme of research including a randomised controlled trial to test the effectiveness of a tailored physiotherapy intervention. Specific qualitative aims focused on a subsample of trial participants in the intervention arm of the trial, and comprised the following:To explore the expectations of participants about the intervention.

Sleep in infants and toddlers with Down syndrome compared to typically developing peers: looking beyond snoring.

Aims: To compare sleep in infants and toddlers with Down syndrome (DS) to typically developing controls, including differences in snoring and sleep ecology (sleep setting and parent behaviors).

Methods: Parents of 104 children with DS and 489 controls aged 6-36 months completed the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire (BISQ). We explored group differences, controlling for demographic variables.

Interventions for preventing falls in people after stroke.

Background: Falls are one of the most common complications after stroke, with a reported incidence ranging between 7% in the first week and 73% in the first year post stroke. This is an updated version of the original Cochrane Review published in 2013.

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of interventions aimed at preventing falls in people after stroke.

Exercise- and strategy-based physiotherapy-delivered intervention for preventing repeat falls in people with Parkinson's: the PDSAFE RCT.

Background: People with Parkinson's disease are twice as likely to experience a fall as a healthy older person, often leading to debilitating effects on confidence, activity levels and quality of life.

Objective: To estimate the effect of a physiotherapy programme for fall prevention among people with Parkinson's disease.

Design: A multicentre, pragmatic, investigator-masked, individually randomised controlled trial (RCT) with prespecified subgroup analyses.

Follow-up care after treatment for prostate cancer: evaluation of a supported self-management and remote surveillance programme.

Background: Alternative models of cancer follow-up care are needed to ameliorate pressure on services and better meet survivors' long-term needs. This paper reports an evaluation of a service improvement initiative for the follow-up care of prostate cancer patients based on remote monitoring and supported self-management.

Methods: This multi-centred, historically controlled study compared patient reported outcomes of men experiencing the new Programme with men experiencing a traditional clinic appointment model of follow-up care, who were recruited in the period immediately prior to the introduction of the Programme.

Multicentre, randomised controlled trial of PDSAFE, a physiotherapist-delivered fall prevention programme for people with Parkinson's.

Objective: To estimate the effect of a physiotherapist-delivered fall prevention programme for people with Parkinson's (PwP).

Methods: People at risk of falls with confirmed Parkinson's were recruited to this multicentre, pragmatic, investigator blind, individually randomised controlled trial with prespecified subgroup analyses. 474 PwP (Hoehn and Yahr 1-4) were randomised: 238 allocated to a physiotherapy programme and 236 to control.

Hospital nurse staffing and staff-patient interactions: an observational study.

Background: Existing evidence indicates that reducing nurse staffing and/or skill mix adversely affects care quality. Nursing shortages may lead managers to dilute nursing team skill mix, substituting assistant personnel for registered nurses (RNs). However, no previous studies have described the relationship between nurse staffing and staff-patient interactions.

The trouble with footwear following stroke: a qualitative study of the views and experience of people with stroke.

Foot problems and suboptimal footwear are risk factors for falls among the elderly. Footwear choice may, therefore, be important for people with balance impairment following stroke, but little is known about their experience. This study explored foot problems experienced following stroke, factors influencing footwear choices and views of footwear in use.

Cardiorespiratory sleep studies at home: experience in research and clinical cohorts.

Objective: To evaluate the success rates of home cardiorespiratory polygraphy in children under investigation for sleep-disordered breathing and parent perspectives on equipment use at home.

Design: Prospective observational study.

Setting: Sheffield, Evelina London and Southampton Children's Hospitals.

Home oximetry to screen for obstructive sleep apnoea in Down syndrome.

Objective: Children with Down syndrome are at high risk of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and screening is recommended. Diagnosis of OSA should be confirmed with multichannel sleep studies. We aimed to determine whether home pulse oximetry (HPO) discriminates children at high risk of OSA, who need further diagnostic multichannel sleep studies.

Compassionate care intervention for hospital nursing teams caring for older people: a pilot cluster randomised controlled trial.

Objective: Compassionate care continues to be a focus for national and international attention, but the existing evidence base lacks the experimental methodology necessary to guide the selection of effective interventions for practice. This study aimed to evaluate the Creating Learning Environments for Compassionate Care (CLECC) intervention in improving compassionate care.

Setting: Ward nursing teams (clusters) in two English National Health Service hospitals randomised to intervention (n=4) or control (n=2).

A comparison of different ways of including baseline counts in negative binomial models for data from falls prevention trials.

A common design for a falls prevention trial is to assess falling at baseline, randomize participants into an intervention or control group, and ask them to record the number of falls they experience during a follow-up period of time. This paper addresses how best to include the baseline count in the analysis of the follow-up count of falls in negative binomial (NB) regression. We examine the performance of various approaches in simulated datasets where both counts are generated from a mixed Poisson distribution with shared random subject effect.

Follow-up care after treatment for prostate cancer: protocol for an evaluation of a nurse-led supported self-management and remote surveillance programme.

Background: As more men survive a diagnosis of prostate cancer, alternative models of follow-up care that address men's enduring unmet needs and are economical to deliver are needed. This paper describes the protocol for an ongoing evaluation of a nurse-led supported self-management and remote surveillance programme implemented within the secondary care setting.

Methods/design: The evaluation is taking place within a real clinical setting, comparing the outcomes of men enrolled in the Programme with the outcomes of a pre-service change cohort of men, using a repeated measures design.

Reliability, feasibility, and validity of the quality of interactions schedule (QuIS) in acute hospital care: an observational study.

Background: Research into relational care in hospitals will be facilitated by a focus on staff-patient interactions. The Quality of Interactions Schedule (QuIS) uses independent observers to measure the number of staff-patient interactions within a healthcare context, and to rate these interactions as 'positive social'; 'positive care'; 'neutral'; 'negative protective'; or 'negative restrictive'. QuIS was developed as a research instrument in long term care settings and has since been used for quality improvement in acute care.

It takes two: the influence of dance partners on the perceived enjoyment and benefits during participation in partnered ballroom dance classes for people with Parkinson's.

Purpose: To explore the views of people with Parkinson's and their dance partners on the influence and issues surrounding dancing with an able-bodied dance partner during partnered ball room dance classes.

Methods: In depth, semi-structured interviews explored purposively selected participants' experiences and views about dance classes. Fourteen people with Parkinson's and their dance partners (six spouses, two friends/relatives, five volunteers) were interviewed within a month of completing the 10-week dance class program.

Prevalence and predictors of obstructive sleep apnoea in young children with Down syndrome.

Background: Children with Down syndrome (DS) are vulnerable to obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) because of their unique craniofacial anatomy and hypotonia. Understanding the predictors of OSA in DS may enable targeted screening.

Methods: Children with DS (n = 202) aged from six months to below six years (110 boys) were recruited from three UK children's hospitals.

Inter-rater reliability of the QuIS as an assessment of the quality of staff-inpatient interactions.

Background: Recent studies of the quality of in-hospital care have used the Quality of Interaction Schedule (QuIS) to rate interactions observed between staff and inpatients in a variety of ward conditions. The QuIS was developed and evaluated in nursing and residential care. We set out to develop methodology for summarising information from inter-rater reliability studies of the QuIS in the acute hospital setting.

A survey exploring self-reported indoor and outdoor footwear habits, foot problems and fall status in people with stroke and Parkinson's.

Background: Ill-fitting shoes have been implicated as a risk factor for falls but research to date has focused on people with arthritis, diabetes and the general older population; little is known about people with neurological conditions. This survey for people with stroke and Parkinson's explored people's choice of indoor and outdoor footwear, foot problems and fall history.

Methods: Following ethical approval, 1000 anonymous postal questionnaires were distributed to health professionals, leads of Parkinson's UK groups and stroke clubs in the wider Southampton area, UK.

Quantity and quality of interaction between staff and older patients in UK hospital wards: A descriptive study.

Background: The quality of staff-patient interactions underpins the overall quality of patient experience and can affect other important outcomes. However no studies have been identified that comprehensively explore both the quality and quantity of interactions in general hospital settings.

Aims & Objectives: To quantify and characterise the quality of staff-patient interactions and to identify factors associated with negative interaction ratings.