Effect of Motivational Interviewing and Exercise on Chronic Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: The prevalence of chronic low back pain (CLBP) and its concomitant cost implications have continued to rise across the globe. Currently, there is no effective treatment for CLBP that leads to long-term improvement. Hence, there is growing recognition of the need for behaviour techniques including motivational interviewing (MI) to address CLBP.

Characterisation of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in healthcare workers within the United Kingdom: risk factors for infection during four successive waves.

Background: Healthcare workers were at a high risk of infection early in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. It is uncertain to what extent occupational, household and community factors contributed, and how this changed over time. We aimed to characterise the risk factors for infection over four successive waves of the pandemic in a large, UK healthcare worker cohort (SIREN).

Seeking Support: The Voice of Young Men Who Have Experienced Sexual Harm During Their Life Course.

The sexual abuse and assault of boys and men is not uncommon, and seeking support is useful in reducing negative outcomes. However, male survivors are less likely than women to seek support. Gendered norms and myths persist with several gender-specific barriers to seeking support existing for men.

Challenges for first contact physiotherapists' managing sickness absence: Consensus development using the nominal group technique.

Objective: To identify the challenges and key learning and development needs of First Contact Physiotherapists (FCPs) providing fitness for work and sickness absence certification from Occupational Health physiotherpists' viewpoints.

Design: An online modified version of the Nominal Group Technique.

Participants: A convenience sample of 21 expert occupational health physiotherapists as participants whose substantive job role was within a public or private UK based occupational health provider.

Hiding in plain sight: children with visual perceptual difficulties in schools.

Cerebral visual impairment (CVI) is increasingly being recognized as a significant cause of visual difficulties in children, particularly those with typical visual acuity, who nonetheless struggle in educational settings. This narrative review aims to elucidate the nature and impact of visual perceptual difficulties (VPD) associated with CVI in school-aged children, who often remain undiagnosed due to the current erroneous focus on visual acuity as a required diagnostic criterion for CVI. The review synthesizes findings from recent studies, highlighting that up to 3.

Impact of cigarette smoking on gut microbial dysbiosis: a structured literature review.

The gut microbiota (GM) comprises microorganisms in the human gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Lifestyle choices like smoking lead to gut dysbiosis. This review assessed the effect of cigarette smoke (CS) on gut microbial dysbiosis (GMD) in active smokers compared to non-smokers, as well as the resulting public health implications.

Exploring the gender gap in young adult mental health during COVID-19: Evidence from the UK.

Aims: To explore the prevalence of a mental health gender gap within a young adult sample during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to identify the impact of loneliness and domestic time use on young people's, and particularly young women's mental health.

Method: Using data from the UK Longitudinal Household Survey (UKHLS), this research examines mental health prior to the pandemic (2019) and during the pandemic (April 2020 until September 2021). A random-effects regression analysis was conducted to examine the effects of loneliness, and domestic factors across age and gender to ascertain their contribution to the mental health gender gap in a young adult population.

Stroke and liminality: narratives of reconfiguring identity after stroke and their implications for person-centred stroke care.

Background: The complex physical, cognitive, and psychological consequences of stroke can disrupt a survivor's sense of pre-stroke normality and identity. This can have a substantial impact on their individual and social lives. Individual reports about life after stroke have improved our understanding of this impact.

Causes, Solutions and Health Inequalities: Comparing Perspectives of Professional Stakeholders and Community Participants Experiencing Low Income and Poor Health in London.

Background: Engaging with the public can influence policy decisions, particularly towards more radical policy change. While established research exists exploring public perceptions on causes of health inequalities, much less exists on how to tackle health inequalities in the UK. Despite an emphasis on 'lived experience', currently no study has focused on how individuals with very poor health conceive of both causes of, and solutions to, health inequalities.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the antimicrobial stewardship workforce in Scottish acute care hospitals-a qualitative study.

Background: Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programmes seek to reduce the risk of antimicrobial resistance by minimizing inappropriate antimicrobial use. The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was characterized by initial widespread use of antimicrobials in patients with COVID-19, with potential negative effects on AMS efforts.

Objective: To explore the impact of the pandemic on the AMS workforce in Scottish acute care hospitals.

Systematic Review of Evidence for Conservative Management of Pelvic Organ Prolapse in Younger Women.

Introduction: Treatment of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is poorly understood in younger women as the majority of prolapse research is conducted in the older population. There is an urgent need to evaluate conservative POP treatments for management in younger women due to high surgical complications and reoperation rates.

Methods: Systematic review of the literature following PRISMA guidelines and registered in PROSPERO.

Trial to compare mixed-use (multi-use and single-use) intermittent catheter management with single-use management over 12 months (The MultICath Trial): protocol for a non-inferiority randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Evaluating the safety and acceptability of reusing catheters for intermittent catheterisation (IC) is one of the top 10 continence research priorities identified by the UK James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership in 2008. There are an estimated 50 000 IC users in England and this number is rising. Globally, both single-use catheters (thrown away after use) and multi-use/reusable ones (cleaned between uses) are used.

The Optical Nature of Myopic Changes in Retinal Vessel Caliber.

Purpose: Dimensional measures of retinal features are subject to the optical influence of ocular magnification. We examined the impact of ocular magnification on the association between axial length (AL) and measurements of retinal vessel caliber in fundus photographs.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Artificial intelligence enabled smart mask for speech recognition for future hearing devices.

In recent years, Lip-reading has emerged as a significant research challenge. The aim is to recognise speech by analysing Lip movements. The majority of Lip-reading technologies are based on cameras and wearable devices.

Assessment of Tamarind Seed Polysaccharide (TSP) and Hyaluronic Acid (HA) Containing Ophthalmic Solution to Maintain Tear Osmolarity, Ocular Surface Temperature (OST) and Tear Production.

Background: The enhancement of ocular drug delivery is achieved by using biopolymer carriers in liquid ophthalmic preparations. Using natural polysaccharides to formulate ocular medications is attractive because they are economical and readily available. The primary goal of the study was to assess the safety and effectiveness of Tamarind seed polysaccharide (TSP)/Hyaluronic acid (HA) containing Rohto eye drops (TSP/HA drops) in alleviating the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease (DED) under dry environmental conditions using controlled environmental chamber (CEC).

Research priorities for antimicrobial stewardship nurses in a middle-income country: a nominal group technique study.

Background: Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) have become important strategies for addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Despite the increasing number of international publications identifying the important roles played by nurses as part of ASPs in low- and middle-income countries, this topic is yet poorly researched. This study aimed to identify priority research gaps in the Brazilian context concerning nurses' performance in ASPs from the perspective of nursing professionals and explore the main themes among the ideas generated by these nurses.

Outdoor health intervention for refugees, migrants, and asylum-seekers: A mixed-methods pilot study.

Despite the multifaceted and diverse challenges that refugees, migrants, and asylum-seekers experience when entering a new country, they remain notably underrepresented in the evaluation and understanding of the health and wellbeing impacts of outdoor health interventions. We addressed this knowledge gap by a mixed-methods evaluation (questionnaires, focus groups and photo elicitation activity) facilitated by a community researcher. Qualitative data (focus groups and photo elicitation activity) revealed that the participants saw the social component of outdoor activities as a critical factor in improving their wellbeing, an insight not captured by established quantitative wellbeing scales.

Radiographer chest x-ray reporting in Scotland in 2023: An exploratory study into the attitudes and challenges concerning the development of a standardised, countrywide reporting service.

Background: The increasing backlog of chest x-ray (CXR) reports in Scotland is well documented, as is reporting radiographer's (RR) ability to provide a cost effective solution to this. Despite this, only 8 CXR RRs currently work in Scotland. This qualitative descriptive study will explore the perceived reasons for this lack of role development by investigating the relevant enablers and challenges.

The perceptions and experiences of final year undergraduate diagnostic imaging students when facilitating peer-assisted learning within the simulated learning environment.

Introduction: The persistent shortage of radiographers in the UK has prompted the exploration of innovative education models to enhance practice-based learning. Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL) has been advocated as a viable method to increase clinical training capacity, yet its application in Diagnostic Imaging is constrained by regulations on ionising radiation. This study investigates the perceptions and experiences of final-year undergraduate Diagnostic Imaging students facilitating PAL within a simulated learning environment.

Characteristics of Student-Led Clinics in the Allied Health Professions: Protocol for a Scoping Review.

Background: Student-led clinics can provide students from allied health professions with the opportunity to gain valuable placement experience as an integral component of their preregistration program, enabling them to develop their competencies, professional skills, and administrative and leadership skills. Student-led clinics have the capacity to help meet the demand for appropriate practice-based learning opportunities, as there is an expectation that all allied health professions students should have high-quality learning experiences, ensuring the future workforce is fit for purpose. An overview of existing student-led clinics will increase our understanding of key characteristics, assisting education providers who may be considering the development of their own clinics.

Embedding Tree-Based Intrusion Detection System in Smart Thermostats for Enhanced IoT Security.

IoT devices with limited resources, and in the absence of gateways, become vulnerable to various attacks, such as denial of service (DoS) and man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks. Intrusion detection systems (IDS) are designed to detect and respond to these threats in IoT environments. While machine learning-based IDS have typically been deployed at the edge (gateways) or in the cloud, in the absence of gateways, the IDS must be embedded within the sensor nodes themselves.

Guidance for engagement in health guideline development: A scoping review.

Background: Health guideline developers engage with interested people and groups to ensure that guidelines and their recommendations are relevant and useful to those who will be affected by them. These 'interest-holders' include patients, payers/purchasers of health services, payers of health research, peer review editors, product makers, programme managers, policymakers, providers, principal investigators, and the public. The Guidelines International Network (GIN) and McMaster University Guideline Development Checklist describes 146 steps of the guideline process organized into 18 topics.

Comparative educational effectiveness of AI generated images and traditional lectures for diagnosing chalazion and sebaceous carcinoma.

Sebaceous carcinoma is difficult to distinguish from chalazion due to their rarity and clinicians' limited experience. This study investigated the potential of AI-generated image training to improve diagnostic skills for these eyelid tumors compared to traditional video lecture-based education. Students from Orthoptics, Optometry, and Vision Research (n = 55) were randomly assigned to either an AI-generated image training group or a traditional video lecture group.

Adults With Intellectual Disabilities and Incontinence: Assessment and Toileting Issues.

Background: Urinary and bowel incontinence are more common in adults with intellectual disability (ID), compared to the general population. Little is known about their incontinence experiences and toileting issues. The aim was to learn about their experiences and toileting issues.