A Cross-Sectional Survey of Fixed-Dose Combination Antihypertensive Medicine Prescribing in Twenty-Four Countries, Including Qualitative Insights.

Background: Treatment inertia, non-adherence and non-persistence to medical treatment contribute to poor blood pressure (BP) control worldwide. Fixed dose combination (FDC) antihypertensive medicines simplify prescribing patterns and improve adherence. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with prescribing FDC antihypertensive medicines and to understand if these factors differ among doctors worldwide.

Data-driven quality improvement program to prevent hospitalisation and improve care of people living with coronary heart disease: Protocol for a process evaluation.

Background: Practice-level quality improvement initiatives using rapidly advancing technology offers a multidimensional approach to reduce cardiovascular disease burden. For the "QUality improvement in primary care to prevent hospitalisations and improve Effectiveness and efficiency of care for people Living with heart disease" (QUEL) cluster randomised controlled trial, a 12-month quality improvement intervention was designed for primary care practices to use data and implement progressive changes using "Plan, Do, Study, Act" cycles within their practices with training in a series of interactive workshops. This protocol aims to describe the systematic methods to conduct a process evaluation of the data-driven intervention within the QUEL study.

INFLATE: a protocol for a randomised controlled trial comparing nasal balloon autoinflation to no nasal balloon autoinflation for otitis media with effusion in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

Background: Otitis media with effusion (OME) is common and occurs at disproportionately higher rates among Indigenous children. Left untreated, OME can negatively affect language, development, learning, and health and wellbeing throughout the life-course. Currently, OME care includes observation for 3 months followed by consideration of surgical ventilation tube insertion.

Gender Comparison of Receipt of Government-Funded Health Services and Medication Prescriptions for the Management of Patients With Cardiovascular Disease in Primary Care.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and risk factors remains a major burden in terms of disease, disability, and death in the Australian population and mental health is considered as an important risk factor affecting cardiovascular disease. A multidisciplinary collaborative approach in primary care is required to ensure an optimal outcome for managing cardiovascular patients with mental health issues. Medicare introduced numerous primary care health services and medications that are subsidised by the Australian government in order to provide a more structured approach to reduce and manage CVD.

QUality improvement in primary care to prevent hospitalisations and improve Effectiveness and efficiency of care for people Living with coronary heart disease (QUEL): protocol for a 24-month cluster randomised controlled trial in primary care.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD), including coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke, is the leading cause of death and disability globally. A large proportion of mortality occurs in people with prior CHD and effective and scalable strategies are needed to prevent associated deaths and hospitalisations. The aim of this study is to determine if a practice-level collaborative quality improvement program, focused on patients with CHD, reduces the rate of unplanned CVD hospitalisations and major adverse cardiovascular events, and increases the proportion of patients achieving risk factor targets at 24 months.

The association between patient activation and self-care practices: A cross-sectional study of an Australian population with comorbid diabetes and chronic kidney disease.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the association between performance of self-care activities and patient or disease factors as well as patient activation levels in patients with diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Australia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among adults with diabetes and CKD (eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73m ) who were recruited from renal and diabetes clinics of four tertiary hospitals in Australia.

Implementation of a consumer-focused eHealth intervention for people with moderate-to-high cardiovascular disease risk: protocol for a mixed-methods process evaluation.

Introduction: Technology-mediated strategies have potential to engage patients in modifying unhealthy behaviour and improving medication adherence to reduce morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD). Furthermore, electronic tools offer a medium by which consumers can more actively navigate personal healthcare information. Understanding how, why and among whom such strategies have an effect can help determine the requirements for implementing them at a scale.

Self-management in patients with diabetes and chronic kidney disease is associated with incremental benefit in HRQOL.

Aims: There is insufficient and inconsistent data regarding the association between diabetes self-management, the process of facilitating the knowledge, skill, and ability necessary for diabetes self-care, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in people with diabetes and moderate to severe chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Methods: In a cross sectional study, participation in diabetes self-management assessed by the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) questionnaire and HRQOL was examined in 308 patients with diabetes and CKD (stages 3 to 5) recruited from outpatient diabetes and renal clinics of 4 public tertiary hospitals. Associations were examined by Pearson correlation coefficients and hierarchical multiple regression after controlling for potential confounders.

Identifying health service barriers in the management of co-morbid diabetes and chronic kidney disease in primary care: a mixed-methods exploration.

Background: Co-morbid diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are common in primary care but health care can be suboptimal.

Objective: In this multi-centre mixed-methods study, we investigated GPs' perspectives on health service barriers in managing diabetes and CKD as an initial step towards health care improvement.

Methods: Four focus groups were conducted among GPs in Australia's two largest cities.

Primary and tertiary health professionals' views on the health-care of patients with co-morbid diabetes and chronic kidney disease - a qualitative study.

Background: Health-care for co-morbid diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD) is often sub-optimal. To improve health-care, we explored the perspectives of general practitioners (GPs) and tertiary health-care professionals concerning key factors influencing health-care of diabetes and CKD.

Methods: A total of 65 health professionals were purposively sampled from Australia's 2 largest cities to participate in focus groups and semi-structured interviews.

Effect of antidepressant treatment on cognitive impairments associated with depression: a randomised longitudinal study.

Background: Antidepressant treatment failure is a common problem worldwide. In this study, we assess whether or not an important aspect of depression, cognitive impairment, is untreated by antidepressants by studying the effect of acute antidepressant treatment on a range of cognitive domains.

Methods: In this randomised longitudinal study, which is part of the International Study to Predict Optimized Treatment in Depression (iSPOT-D) trial, we assessed the effects of acute antidepressant treatment in a large patient population, across clinical remission outcomes, on a range of cognitive domains: attention, response inhibition, executive function during visuospatial navigation, cognitive flexibility, verbal memory, working memory, decision speed, information processing speed, and psychomotor response speed.

A cognitive-emotional biomarker for predicting remission with antidepressant medications: a report from the iSPOT-D trial.

Depression involves impairments in a range of cognitive and emotional capacities. It is unknown whether these functions can inform medication choice when considered as a composite predictive biomarker. We tested whether behavioral tests, grounded in the neurobiology of cognitive and emotional functions, predict outcome with common antidepressants.

Improving paediatric asthma outcomes in primary health care: a randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of the Practitioner Asthma Communication and Education (PACE) Australia program, an innovative communication and paediatric asthma management program for general practitioners.

Design: Randomised controlled trial.

Setting: General practices from two regions in metropolitan Sydney.

Potential implications of genomic medicine in general practice.

Genomic research can link specific molecular genetic information with specific diseases. Implications of genomic medicine in general practice include developments in screening and diagnosis, predicting disease prognosis, and optimising preventive and therapeutic care. As users or co-producers of genomic information, or as collaborators in genomic research, general practitioners can help realise the potential of advances in genomic research.

General practice consultations - how well do doctors predict patient satisfaction?

Background: While patient satisfaction with the general practice consultation has been extensively researched, there have been relatively few studies of doctors' perception of patient satisfaction. This study sought to measure how accurately doctors are able to predict patient satisfaction with consultations in general practice.

Methods: Adult patients consulting about new episodes of illness in general practice completed a consultation satisfaction questionnaire.

Asthma and older people in general practice.

WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW: Why is there undiagnosed and untreated asthma in older people in the community and in general practice? What patient, general practitioner and organisational factors contribute to this? Are current best practice guidelines appropriate for older people with asthma? WHAT WE NEED TO DO: Undertake broad community and general practice screening to identify characteristics of older people with undiagnosed asthma. Analyse GPs' perspectives and decision-making processes for older people with dyspnoea. Undertake targeted research in general practice, trialling decision-making frameworks for older patients with dyspnoea.