Controlling Inputter Variability in Vignette Studies Assessing Web-Based Symptom Checkers: Evaluation of Current Practice and Recommendations for Isolated Accuracy Metrics.

Background: The rapid growth of web-based symptom checkers (SCs) is not matched by advances in quality assurance. Currently, there are no widely accepted criteria assessing SCs' performance. Vignette studies are widely used to evaluate SCs, measuring the accuracy of outcome.

A chronological map of 308 physical and mental health conditions from 4 million individuals in the English National Health Service.

Background: To effectively prevent, detect, and treat health conditions that affect people during their lifecourse, health-care professionals and researchers need to know which sections of the population are susceptible to which health conditions and at which ages. Hence, we aimed to map the course of human health by identifying the 50 most common health conditions in each decade of life and estimating the median age at first diagnosis.

Methods: We developed phenotyping algorithms and codelists for physical and mental health conditions that involve intensive use of health-care resources.

An ecological study of NHS funded elective hip arthroplasties in England from 2003/04 to 2012/13.

Objectives: To examine the impact of NHS-funded private provision on NHS provision, access and inequalities.

Design: Ecological study using routinely collected NHS inpatient data.

Setting: England.

Does the ethnic density effect extend to obesity? A cross-sectional study of 415 166 adults in east London.

Objectives: To examine the prevalence of obesity by ethnic group and to examine the association between ethnic density and obesity prevalence.

Design And Setting: Cross-sectional study utilising electronic primary care records of 128 practices in a multiethnic population of east London.

Participants: Electronic primary care records of 415 166 adults with a body mass index recorded in the previous 3 years.

Political views of doctors in the UK: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Little is known about the political views of doctors in the UK despite doctors' importance in the functioning of the National Health Service (NHS).

Methods: This is a survey-based, cross-sectional study in which we asked questions about voting behaviour in 2015 and 2017 UK general elections and 2016 referendum on leaving the European Union (EU) (Brexit), and questions relating to recent health policies.

Results: 1172 doctors (45.

Is obesity associated with depression in children? Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: To compare the odds of depression in obese and overweight children with that in normal-weight children in the community.

Design: Systematic review and random-effect meta-analysis of observational studies.

Data Sources: EMBASE, PubMed and PsychINFO electronic databases, published between January 2000 and January 2017.

Marketization in Long-Term Care: A Cross-Country Comparison of Large For-Profit Nursing Home Chains.

This article presents cross-country comparisons of trends in for-profit nursing home chains in Canada, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. Using public and private industry reports, the study describes ownership, corporate strategies, costs, and quality of the 5 largest for-profit chains in each country. The findings show that large for-profit nursing home chains are increasingly owned by private equity investors, have had many ownership changes over time, and have complex organizational structures.

Translational phases of evidence in a prognostic biomarker: a systematic review and meta-analysis of natriuretic peptides and the prognosis of stable coronary disease.

Context: Translational phases of study are important in evaluating whether a prognostic biomarker is likely to have impact on clinical practice but systematic evaluations of such evidence are lacking.

Objective: To systematically evaluate the clinical usefulness of the published literature on the association of natriuretic peptides (NP) and prognosis in stable coronary disease.

Data Sources: MEDLINE and EMBASE until the end of July 2009, without restrictions.