The mental health and wellbeing impact of a Community Wealth Building programme in England: a difference-in-differences study.

Background: Wide differences in health exist between places in the UK, underscored by economic inequalities. Preston, an economically disadvantaged city in England, implemented a new approach to economic development, known as the Community Wealth Building programme. Public and non-profit organisations modified their procurement policies to support the development of local supply chains, improve employment conditions, and increase socially productive use of wealth and assets.

Impact of local air quality management policies on emergency hospitalisations for respiratory conditions in the North West Coast region of England: a longitudinal controlled ecological study.

Background: Air quality is monitored at a local level in the UK as part of the Local Air Quality Management (LAQM) system. If air quality objectives within an area are not achieved an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) is declared and action plan developed. The efficacy of this system in reducing air pollution has increasingly come into question, however very little is known about its impact on health or health inequalities.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Local Primary Care Incentive Scheme: A Difference-in-Differences Study.

National financial incentive schemes for improving the quality of primary care have come under criticism in the United Kingdom, leading to calls for localized alternatives. This study investigated whether a local general practice incentive-based quality improvement scheme launched in 2011 in a city in the North West of England was associated with a reduction in all-cause emergency hospital admissions. Difference-in-differences analysis was used to compare the change in emergency admission rates in the intervention city, to the change in a matched comparison population.

How does vulnerability to COVID-19 vary between communities in England? Developing a Small Area Vulnerability Index (SAVI).

Background: During the initial wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in England, several population characteristics were associated with increased risk of mortality-including, age, ethnicity, income deprivation, care home residence and housing conditions. In order to target control measures and plan for future waves of the epidemic, public health agencies need to understand how these vulnerabilities are distributed across and clustered within communities.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional ecological analysis across 6789 small areas in England.

Neighbourhood unemployment and other socio-demographic predictors of emergency hospitalisation for infectious intestinal disease in England: A longitudinal ecological study.

Background: Previous studies have observed that infectious intestinal disease (IID) related hospital admissions are higher in more deprived neighbourhoods. These studies have mainly focused on paediatric populations and are cross-sectional in nature. This study examines recent trends in emergency IID admission rates, and uses longitudinal methods to investigate the effects of unemployment (as a time varying measure of neighbourhood deprivation) and other socio-demographic characteristics on IID admissions for adults and children in England.

Impact of a community-based cardiovascular disease service intervention in a highly deprived area.

Objective: To examine the effects on emergency hospital admissions, length of stay and emergency re-admissions of providing a consultant-led, community-based cardiovascular diagnostic, treatment and rehabilitation service, based in a highly deprived area in the North West of England.

Methods: A longitudinal matched controlled study using difference-in-differences analysis compared the change in outcomes in the intervention population, to the change in outcomes in a matched comparison population that had not received the intervention, 5 years before and after implementation. The outcomes were emergency hospitalisations, length of inpatient stay and re-admission rates for cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Social patterning of telephone health-advice for diarrhoea and vomiting: analysis of 24 million telehealth calls in England.

Objectives: Gastrointestinal (GI) infections are common and most people do not see a physician. There is conflicting evidence of the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on risk of GI infections. We assessed the relationship between SES and GI calls to two National Health Service (NHS) telephone advice services in England.

Relationship between socioeconomic status and gastrointestinal infections in developed countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The association between socioeconomic status (SES) and health is well-documented; however limited evidence on the relationship between SES and gastrointestinal (GI) infections exists, with published studies producing conflicting results. This systematic review aimed to assess the association between SES and GI infection risk, and explore possible sources of heterogeneity in effect estimates reported in the literature.

Methods: MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science and grey literature were searched from 1980 to October 2015 for studies reporting an association between GI infections and SES in a representative population sample from a member-country of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Socioeconomic status and infectious intestinal disease in the community: a longitudinal study (IID2 study).

Background: Infectious intestinal diseases (IID) are common, affecting around 25% of people in UK each year at an estimated annual cost to the economy, individuals and the NHS of £1.5 billion. While there is evidence of higher IID hospital admissions in more disadvantaged groups, the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and risk of IID remains unclear.

Socioeconomic status is associated with symptom severity and sickness absence in people with infectious intestinal disease in the UK.

Background: The burden of infectious intestinal disease (IID) in the UK is substantial. Negative consequences including sickness absence are common, but little is known about the social patterning of these outcomes, or the extent to which they relate to disease severity.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis using IID cases identified from a large population-based survey, to explore the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and symptom severity and sickness absence; and to assess the role of symptom severity on the relationship between SES and absence.

Relationship between socioeconomic status and gastrointestinal infections in developed countries: a systematic review protocol.

Background: The association between low socioeconomic status (SES) and poor health is well documented in the existing literature. Nonetheless, evidence on the relationship between SES and gastrointestinal (GI) infections is limited, and the mechanisms underlying this relationship are not well understood with published studies pointing to conflicting results. This review aims to identify studies that investigate the relationship between SES and GI infections in developed countries, in order to assess the direction of the association and explore possible explanations for any differences in the risk, incidence or prevalence of GI infections across socioeconomic groups.

Alcohol Consumption and Parkinson's Disease Risk: A Review of Recent Findings.

Background: The association between Parkinson's disease and lifestyle exposures such as smoking, coffee and alcohol consumption have been the focus of research for several decades, with varying and often conflicting results.

Objective: This paper reviews the key features of observational studies investigating the relationship between alcohol drinking and PD risk, to determine potential sources of variability between the results.

Methods: Relevant literature from 2000-2014 was systematically retrieved using three databases.

Prevalence and Incidence of Hypoglycaemia in 532,542 People with Type 2 Diabetes on Oral Therapies and Insulin: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Population Based Studies.

Objective: To collate and evaluate the current literature reporting the prevalence and incidence of hypoglycaemia in population based studies of type 2 diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: Medline, Embase and Cochrane were searched up to February 2014 to identify population based studies reporting the proportion of people with type 2 diabetes experiencing hypoglycaemia or rate of events experienced. Two reviewers independently screened studies for eligibility and extracted data for included studies.