Publications by authors named "Sam Harper"
Background: In 2015, the Chinese Government launched the coal to clean heating policy (CHP), designed to improve air quality and health in China. The CHP banned household coal burning and provided subsidies for clean electric or gas-powered heating for millions of peri-urban and rural households. We aimed to investigate whether the CHP affected the incidence of acute myocardial infarction in Beijing townships.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Women in India are often responsible for unpaid household work, family caregiving, and paid work, which can contribute to poorer mental health. The provision of childcare has the potential to improve women's mental health, but evidence on the effects of providing access to daycare is limited.
Methods: We designed a cluster-randomised trial and used data from a sample of 2858 mothers with age-eligible children from 160 village hamlets in rural Rajasthan, India, to evaluate the impact of providing access to a community-based daycare programme on social and emotional aspects of women's mental health.
A cost-effectiveness analysis of RefluxStop against relevant therapeutic alternatives for chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease in Sweden.
Expert Rev Pharmacoecon Outcomes Res
October 2024
Article Synopsis
- The standard treatment for GERD is proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), but new options like RefluxStop, a minimally invasive treatment, are emerging.
- A cost-effectiveness analysis using a Markov model showed that RefluxStop is likely more cost-effective than both PPIs and Nissen fundoplication in Sweden, with high probabilities of being cost-effective.
- RefluxStop may provide a better long-term treatment option for GERD patients compared to traditional therapies, as it has shown promising results in terms of cost-effectiveness.
Article Synopsis
- GERD is commonly treated in Italy with proton pump inhibitors or laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication, but a new device called RefluxStop offers an effective alternative.
- A budget impact model was created to evaluate the financial implications of adding RefluxStop as a treatment option over five years, comparing it to standard therapies.
- The introduction of RefluxStop is expected to reduce surgical failures and reoperations while resulting in only a minor increase in the annual budget for GERD treatment in Italy.
Article Synopsis
- * In the OpenSAFELY-TPP database, 78.2% of patients had their ethnicity recorded in primary care as of January 2022, with higher rates in women and those with serious health conditions.
- * The primary care ethnicity data closely matched the 2021 UK census data, with a high consistency found among patients with multiple ethnicity records, particularly indicating issues with classification for those recorded as "Other."
Background: One of the most prevalent conditions in Western societies is gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). In Switzerland, the standard treatment for GERD is proton pump inhibitor (PPI)-based medical management, but surgical options such as Nissen fundoplication and magnetic sphincter augmentation (MSA) are available. RefluxStop is a novel device that offers an alternative solution.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- - The study examines how the Covid-19 pandemic influenced the rates of group A streptococcal infections and related antibiotic prescriptions in primary care practices across England from January 2018 to March 2023.
- - Significant findings show that infections and antibiotic prescriptions peaked in December 2022, surpassing levels seen during the 2017-18 season, with notable increases in rates for sore throat, scarlet fever, and invasive infections.
- - The research highlights a concerning trend, reporting that the rate ratios for infections and prescriptions in the 2022-23 season were considerably higher compared to the pre-pandemic period, suggesting lasting impacts from the pandemic on public health.
Aims: The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented pressure on healthcare services. This study investigates whether disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) safety monitoring was affected during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: A population-based cohort study was conducted using the OpenSAFELY platform to access electronic health record data from 24.
Aims: The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruption to routine activity in primary care. Medication reviews are an important primary care activity ensuring safety and appropriateness of prescribing. A disruption could have significant negative implications for patient care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Before the COVID-19 pandemic, access to prenatal care was lower among some socio-demographic groups. This pandemic caused disruptions to routine preventative care, which could have increased inequalities.
Objectives: To investigate if the COVID-19 pandemic increased inequalities in access to prenatal care among those who are younger, live in rural areas, have a lower socio-economic situation (SES) and are recent immigrants.
Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) is a common condition associated with heartburn and regurgitation. Standard of care for GORD patients in the UK involves initial treatment with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and laparoscopic antireflux surgery in patients unwilling to continue or intolerant of long-term PPI treatment. Recently, RefluxStop™, a novel, implantable medical device, has proven to be an efficacious and cost-effective treatment for patients with GORD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To estimate the effect of antenatal corticosteroids on newborn respiratory morbidity in twins.
Design: Regression discontinuity applied to population-based birth registry data.
Setting: British Columbia, Canada, 2008-2018.
Background: Timely evidence of the comparative effectiveness between COVID-19 therapies in real-world settings is needed to inform clinical care. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir versus sotrovimab and molnupiravir in preventing severe COVID-19 outcomes in non-hospitalised high-risk COVID-19 adult patients during Omicron waves.
Methods: With the approval of NHS England, we conducted a real-world cohort study using the OpenSAFELY-TPP platform.
Background: In Canada, all provinces implemented vaccine passports in 2021 to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission in non-essential indoor spaces and increase vaccine uptake (policies active September 2021-March 2022 in Quebec and Ontario). We sought to evaluate the impact of vaccine passport policies on first-dose SARS-CoV-2 vaccination coverage by age, and area-level income and proportion of racialized residents.
Methods: We performed interrupted time series analyses using data from Quebec's and Ontario's vaccine registries linked to census information (population of 20.
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic affected how care was delivered to vulnerable patients, such as those with dementia or learning disability.
Objective: To explore whether this affected antipsychotic prescribing in at-risk populations.
Methods: With the approval of NHS England, we completed a retrospective cohort study, using the OpenSAFELY platform to explore primary care data of 59 million patients.
Background: Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) cause head and neck cancer (HNC), which is increasing in incidence in developed countries. We investigated the prevalence of alpha (α), beta (β), and gamma (γ) HPVs among HNC cases and controls, and their relationship with sociodemographic, behavioral, and oral health factors.
Methods: We obtained oral rinse and brush samples from incident HNC cases (n = 369) and hospital-based controls (n = 439) and tumor samples for a subsample of cases (n = 121).
Article Synopsis
- - The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted NHS primary care services, leading to the creation of the OpenSAFELY Service Restoration Observatory (SRO) to track clinical activity trends throughout this period.
- - An open-source data management framework was developed to analyze electronic health records from 48 million adults, focusing on key measures like blood pressure monitoring and asthma reviews from January 2019 to December 2021.
- - While most clinical activities showed signs of recovery by April 2021, some measures like medication and blood pressure reviews continued to experience notable reductions, indicating lasting impacts from the pandemic.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination programme in England was extended to include all adolescents and children by April 2022. The aim of this paper is to describe trends and variation in vaccine coverage in different clinical and demographic groups amongst adolescents and children in England by August 2022. With the approval of NHS England, a cohort study was conducted of 3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To implement complex, PINCER (pharmacist led information technology intervention) prescribing indicators, on a national scale with general practice data to describe the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on safe prescribing.
Design: Population based, retrospective cohort study using federated analytics.
Setting: Electronic general practice health record data from 56.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigated how different demographic and clinical groups experienced varying mortality risks related to COVID-19 across five pandemic waves in England, using data from the OpenSAFELY platform.
- A total of nearly 19 million adults were analyzed across each wave, with significant trends showing a decrease in crude COVID-19-related death rates from the first wave to the fifth.
- The highest standardized death rates were found among older adults and those with certain health conditions, such as advanced kidney disease or dementia, especially in the first wave of the pandemic.
Impact evaluation of the TAMANI project to improve maternal and child health in Tanzania.
J Epidemiol Community Health
June 2023
Background: The Tabora Maternal and Newborn Health Initiative project was a multicomponent intervention to improve maternal and newborn health in the Tabora region of Tanzania. Components included training healthcare providers and community health workers, infrastructure upgrades, and improvements to health management. This study aimed to examine the impact of trainings on four key outcomes: skilled birth attendance, antenatal care, respectful maternity care and patient-provider communication.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common, chronic gastrointestinal condition characterized by heartburn, chest pain, regurgitation, and bloating. The current standard of care includes chronic treatment with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) or, in selected patients, laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery. RefluxStop is a novel implantable device indicated for GERD patients eligible for laparoscopic surgical treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study aimed to determine patient eligibility and describe the coverage of antiviral drugs and neutralising monoclonal antibodies (nMAB) as treatments for COVID-19 in community settings in England.
- A retrospective analysis was conducted on data from 23.4 million people, focusing on outpatients with COVID-19 who were at high risk for severe outcomes between December 2021 and April 2022.
- Out of 93,870 high-risk patients identified, only 19,040 (20%) received treatment, with variations in treatment rates based on factors like age, ethnic background, risk group, and NHS region.