Applying Bradford Hill to assessing causality in systematic reviews: A transparent approach using process tracing.

Background: Bradford Hill (BH) viewpoints are widely used to assess causality in systematic reviews, but their application has often lacked reproducibility. We describe an approach for assessing causality within systematic reviews ('causal' reviews), illustrating its application to the topic of income inequality and health. Our approach draws on principles of process tracing, a method used for case study research, to harness BH viewpoints to judge evidence for causal claims.

Wildfire, deforestation and health in tropical rainforest areas: a scoping review protocol.

Introduction: Wildfires and deforestation potentially have direct effects on multiple health outcomes as well as indirect consequences for climate change. Tropical rainforest areas are characterised by high rainfall, humidity and temperature, and they are predominantly found in low-income and middle-income countries. This study aims to synthesise the methods, data and health outcomes reported in scientific papers on wildfires and deforestation in these locations.

Causal Assessment of Income Inequality on Self-Rated Health and All-Cause Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Unlabelled: Policy Points Income is thought to impact a broad range of health outcomes. However, whether income inequality (how unequal the distribution of income is in a population) has an additional impact on health is extensively debated. Studies that use multilevel data, which have recently increased in popularity, are necessary to separate the contextual effects of income inequality on health from the effects of individual income on health.

Complex interventions for improving independent living and quality of life amongst community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: community-based complex interventions for older adults have a variety of names, including Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment, but often share core components such as holistic needs assessment and care planning.

Objective: to summarise evidence for the components and effectiveness of community-based complex interventions for improving older adults' independent living and quality of life (QoL).

Methods: we searched nine databases and trial registries to February 2022 for randomised controlled trials comparing complex interventions to usual care.

The Use of Inlay Bridge of the Posterior Fascia as Adjuvants to a Modified Rives-Stoppa Repair for Difficult Abdominal Wall Hernias.

Background: Major abdominal wall defects remain a highly morbid complication. Occasionally a fascial defect is encountered, that despite all surgical efforts, is unable to completely approximate at the midline. Here we describe our method and outcomes of using a bridging mesh when the posterior fascia was unable to be approximated during the repair of large postoperative ventral hernias using the modified Rives-Stoppa technique.

How do income changes impact on mental health and wellbeing for working-age adults? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Lower incomes are associated with poorer mental health and wellbeing, but the extent to which income has a causal effect is debated. We aimed to synthesise evidence from studies measuring the impact of changes in individual and household income on mental health and wellbeing outcomes in working-age adults (aged 16-64 years).

Methods: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, ASSIA, EconLit, and RePEc on Feb 5, 2020, for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quantitative non-randomised studies.

Causal assessment in evidence synthesis: A methodological review of reviews.

In fields (such as population health) where randomised trials are often lacking, systematic reviews (SRs) can harness diversity in study design, settings and populations to assess the evidence for a putative causal relationship. SRs may incorporate causal assessment approaches (CAAs), sometimes called 'causal reviews', but there is currently no consensus on how these should be conducted. We conducted a methodological review of self-identifying 'causal reviews' within the field of population health to establish: (1) which CAAs are used; (2) differences in how CAAs are implemented; (3) how methods were modified to incorporate causal assessment in SRs.

Initial Impacts of COVID-19 on Sex Life and Relationship Quality in Steady Relationships in Britain: Findings from a Large, Quasi-representative Survey (Natsal-COVID).

Intimate relationships are ubiquitous and exert a strong influence on health. Widespread disruption to them may impact wellbeing at a population level. We investigated the extent to which the first COVID-19 lockdown (March 2020) affected steady relationships in Britain.

Assessing the causal relationship between income inequality and mortality and self-rated health: protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Income inequality has been linked to health and mortality. While there has been extensive research exploring the relationship, the evidence for whether the relationship is causal remains disputed. We describe the methods for a systematic review that will transparently assess whether a causal relationship exists between income inequality and mortality and self-rated health.

Supporting Vulnerable Populations During the Pandemic: Stakeholders' Experiences and Perceptions of Social Prescribing in Scotland During Covid-19.

Social prescribing schemes refer people toward personalized health/wellbeing interventions in local communities. Since schemes hold different representations of social prescribing, responses to the pandemic crisis will vary. Intersectionality states that social divisions build on one another, sustaining unequal health outcomes.

Prenatal Vitamins and the Risk of Offspring Autism Spectrum Disorder: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Prenatal nutrition is associated with offspring autism spectrum disorder (herein referred to as autism), yet, it remains unknown if the association is causal. Triangulation may improve causal inference by integrating the results of conventional multivariate regression with several alternative approaches that have unrelated sources of bias. We systematically reviewed the literature on the relationship between prenatal multivitamin supplements and offspring autism, and evidence for the causal approaches applied.

Weathering the storm: A qualitative study of social prescribing in urban and rural Scotland during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives: The non-clinical approach known as social prescribing aims to tackle multi-morbidity, reduce general practitioner (GP) workload and promote wellbeing by directing patients to community services. Usual in-person modes of delivery of social prescribing have been virtually impossible under social distancing rules. This study qualitatively examined and compared the responses of three social prescribing schemes in Scotland to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Disrupted prevention: condom and contraception access and use among young adults during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey.

Background: The initial response to COVID-19 in the UK involved a rapid contraction of face-to-face sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services and widespread use of remote workarounds. This study sought to illuminate young people's experiences of accessing and using condoms and contraception in the early months of the pandemic.

Methods: We analysed data, including open-text responses, from an online survey conducted in June-July 2020 with a convenience sample of 2005 16-24-year-olds living in Scotland.

Assessing causality in epidemiology: revisiting Bradford Hill to incorporate developments in causal thinking.

The nine Bradford Hill (BH) viewpoints (sometimes referred to as criteria) are commonly used to assess causality within epidemiology. However, causal thinking has since developed, with three of the most prominent approaches implicitly or explicitly building on the potential outcomes framework: directed acyclic graphs (DAGs), sufficient-component cause models (SCC models, also referred to as 'causal pies') and the grading of recommendations, assessment, development and evaluation (GRADE) methodology. This paper explores how these approaches relate to BH's viewpoints and considers implications for improving causal assessment.

Economic evaluation of surgical treatments for women with stress urinary incontinence: a cost-utility and value of information analysis.

Objectives: Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and stress-predominant mixed urinary incontinence (MUI) are common conditions that can have a negative impact on the quality of life of patients and serious cost implications for healthcare providers. The objective of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of nine different surgical interventions for treatment of SUI and stress-predominant MUI from a National Health Service and personal social services perspective in the UK.

Methods: A Markov microsimulation model was developed to compare the costs and effectiveness of nine surgical interventions.

Surgical treatments for women with stress urinary incontinence: a systematic review of economic evidence.

Background: Surgical interventions for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in women are commonly employed following the failure of minimally invasive therapies. Due to the limited information available on the relative cost-effectiveness of available surgeries for treating SUI, a de novo economic analysis was conducted to assess costs and effects of all relevant surgeries. To inform the economic analysis, the objective of this review was to identify and assess the quality of existing economic evaluation studies on different surgical interventions for the treatment of SUI in women.

Surgical interventions for women with stress urinary incontinence: systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Objectives: To compare the effectiveness and safety of surgical interventions for women with stress urinary incontinence.

Design: Systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Eligibility Criteria For Selecting Studies: Randomised controlled trials evaluating surgical interventions for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence in women.

Surgical treatments for women with stress urinary incontinence: the ESTER systematic review and economic evaluation.

Background: Urinary incontinence in women is a distressing condition that restricts quality of life and results in a large economic burden to both the NHS and women themselves.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of surgical treatment for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in women and explore women's preferences.

Design: An evidence synthesis, a discrete choice experiment (DCE) and an economic decision model, with a value-of-information (VOI) analysis.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound and/or colour duplex ultrasound for surveillance after endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair: a systematic review and economic evaluation.

Background: Endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is less invasive than open surgery, but may be associated with important complications. Patients receiving EVAR require long-term surveillance to detect abnormalities and direct treatments. Computed tomography angiography (CTA) has been the most common imaging modality adopted for EVAR surveillance, but it is associated with repeated radiation exposure and the risk of contrast-related nephropathy.

Bariatric surgery, lifestyle interventions and orlistat for severe obesity: the REBALANCE mixed-methods systematic review and economic evaluation.

Background: Adults with severe obesity [body mass index (BMI) of ≥ 35 kg/m] have an increased risk of comorbidities and psychological, social and economic consequences.

Objectives: Systematically review bariatric surgery, weight-management programmes (WMPs) and orlistat pharmacotherapy for adults with severe obesity, and evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of treatment.

Data Sources: Electronic databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and the NHS Economic Evaluation Database were searched (last searched in May 2017).

The problem with relying on dietary surveys: sociocultural correctives to theories of dietary change in the Pacific islands.

Background: Dietary surveys are frequently used as the basis for theorising nutritional change and diet-related non-communicable disease emergence (DR-NCD) in the Pacific islands. However, findings from historical survey data do not always align with ethnographic evidence.

Aims: This paper aims to examine the extent to which the two types of evidence can lead to similar conclusions, and draw out the implications for current theories of, and interventions addressing, nutritional change.

Multiple-frequency bioimpedance devices for fluid management in people with chronic kidney disease receiving dialysis: a systematic review and economic evaluation.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a long-term condition requiring treatment such as conservative management, kidney transplantation or dialysis. To optimise the volume of fluid removed during dialysis (to avoid underhydration or overhydration), people are assigned a 'target weight', which is commonly assessed using clinical methods, such as weight gain between dialysis sessions, pre- and post-dialysis blood pressure and patient-reported symptoms. However, these methods are not precise, and measurement devices based on bioimpedance technology are increasingly used in dialysis centres.