Influenza vaccination and COVID-19 infection risk and disease severity: A systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis of prospective studies.

Background: In light of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, the influence of influenza vaccination on the risk and severity of Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) has been a subject of debate. This systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies aim to assess the association between influenza immunization and the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and subsequent COVID-19 disease severity.

Methods: A comprehensive search of PubMed and Embase databases was performed to identify prospective studies published before March 2024.

International cross-cultural development and field testing of the primary care practice questionnaire for the PaRIS survey (PaRIS-PCPQ).

Background: The PaRIS survey, an initiative of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), aims to assess health systems performance in delivering primary care by measuring the care experiences and outcomes of people over 45 who used primary care services in the past six months. In addition, linked data from primary care practices are collected to analyse how the organisation of primary care practices and their care processes impact care experiences and outcomes. This article describes the development and validation of the primary care practice questionnaire for the PaRIS survey, the PaRIS-PCPQ.

Recommendations on self-management interventions for adults living with obesity: COMPAR-EU project.

Self-management interventions (SMIs) may improve disease management in adults living with obesity. We formulated evidence-based recommendations for SMIs within the context of the COMPAR-EU project. The multidisciplinary panel selected critical outcomes based on the COMPAR-EU core outcome set and established decision thresholds for each outcome.

Effect of on-demand vs continuous prescription of proton pump inhibitors on symptom burden and quality of life: results of a real-world randomized controlled trial in primary care patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the impact of on-demand versus continuous prescribing of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) on symptom burden and health-related quality of life in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) presenting to primary care.

Methods: Thirty-six primary care centres across Europe enrolled adult GERD patients from electronic health records. Participants were randomised to on-demand or continuous PPI prescriptions and were followed for 8 weeks.

Regression calibration of self-reported mobile phone use to optimize quantitative risk estimation in the COSMOS study.

The Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Health (COSMOS) has repeatedly collected self-reported and operator-recorded data on mobile phone use. Assessing health effects using self-reported information is prone to measurement error, but operator data were available prospectively for only part of the study population and did not cover past mobile phone use. To optimize the available data and reduce bias, we evaluated different statistical approaches for constructing mobile phone exposure histories within COSMOS.

Probable extinction of influenza B/Yamagata and its public health implications: a systematic literature review and assessment of global surveillance databases.

Early after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the detection of influenza B/Yamagata cases decreased globally. Given the potential public health implications of this decline, in this Review, we systematically analysed data on influenza B/Yamagata virus circulation (for 2020-23) from multiple complementary sources of information. We identified relevant articles published in PubMed and Embase, and data from the FluNet, Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data, and GenBank databases, webpages of respiratory virus surveillance systems from countries worldwide, and the Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network.

Predicting unplanned admissions to hospital in older adults using routinely recorded general practice data: development and validation of a prediction model.

Background: Unplanned admissions to hospital represent a hazardous event for older people. Timely identification of high-risk individuals using a prediction tool may facilitate preventive interventions.

Aim: To develop and validate an easy-to-use prediction model for unplanned admissions to hospital in community-dwelling older adults using readily available data to allow rapid bedside assessment by GPs.

Healthcare utilization patterns of individuals with depression after national policy to increase the mental health workforce in primary care: a data linkage study.

Background: The deployment of the mental health nurse, an additional healthcare provider for individuals in need of mental healthcare in Dutch general practices, was expected to substitute treatments from general practitioners and providers in basic and specialized mental healthcare (psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, etc.). The goal of this study was to investigate the extent to which the degree of mental health nurse deployment in general practices is associated with healthcare utilization patterns of individuals with depression.

Measuring persistent somatic symptom related stigmatisation: Development of the Persistent Somatic Symptom Stigma scale for Healthcare Professionals (PSSS-HCP).

Objective: Persistent somatic symptoms (PSS) describe recurrent or continuously occurring symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, or pain that have persisted for at least several months. These include single symptoms such as chronic pain, combinations of symptoms, or functional disorders such as fibromyalgia or irritable bowel syndrome. While stigmatisation by healthcare professionals is regularly reported, there are limited measurement instruments demonstrating content validity.

Pharmacists combating antimicrobial resistance: A Delphi study on antibiotic dispensing.

Background: The daily work of community pharmacists includes dispensing antibiotics, but little is known about how this should be done to ensure quality use of antibiotics.

Objective: To define specific tasks of the community pharmacist when dispensing antibiotics and to assess to what extent these tasks can be implemented in practice in Europe.

Methods: A Delphi study with community pharmacist experts in the European Economic Area.

The effectiveness of personalised surveillance and aftercare in breast cancer follow-up: a systematic review.

Purpose: Breast cancer follow-up (surveillance and aftercare) varies from one-size-fits-all to more personalised approaches. A systematic review was performed to get insight in existing evidence on (cost-)effectiveness of personalised follow-up.

Methods: PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane were searched between 01-01-2010 and 10-10-2022 (review registered in PROSPERO:CRD42022375770).

Value of the Safety Management System (VMS) frailty instrument as a frailty screener in care for older hospital patients: a systematic review.

Background: Dutch hospitals are required to screen older patients for the risk of developing functional decline using the Safety Management System (VMS) which assesses four domains associated with functional decline; fall risk, risk of delirium, malnutrition, and physical impairment.

Purpose: The aim is twofold, first to compare the VMS frailty instrument as a frailty screener with existing frailty instruments and second to provide an overview of the available evidence.

Methods: We performed a literature search to identify studies that used the VMS instrument as frailty screener to asses frailty or to predict adverse health outcomes in older hospitalized patients.

Costs of care trajectories of people with dementia compared with matched controls. Longitudinal analysis of linked health and administrative data.

Objectives: To provide insight into the health and social care costs during the disease trajectory in persons with dementia and the impact of institutionalization and death on healthcare costs compared with matched persons without dementia.

Methods: Electronic health record data from family physicians were linked with national administrative databases to estimate costs of primary care, medication, secondary care, mental care, home care and institutional care for people with dementia and matched persons from the year before the recorded dementia diagnosis until death or a maximum of 4 years after the diagnosis.

Results: Total mean health and social care costs among persons with dementia increased substantially during the disease trajectory, mainly due to institutional care costs.

Global analysis of respiratory viral circulation and timing of epidemics in the pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 pandemic eras, based on data from the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS).

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly changed respiratory viruses' epidemiology due to non-pharmaceutical interventions and possible viral interactions. This study investigates whether the circulation patterns of respiratory viruses have returned to pre-pandemic norms by comparing their peak timing and duration during the first three SARS-CoV-2 seasons to pre-pandemic times.

Methods: Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System data from 194 countries (2014-2023) was analyzed for epidemic peak timing and duration, focusing on pre-pandemic and pandemic periods across both hemispheres and the intertropical belt.

How does guided group reflection work to support professional identity formation in postgraduate medical education: A scoping review.

Purpose: In postgraduate medical education, guided group reflection is often applied to support professional identity formation. However, little is known about how guided group reflection is shaped and how it works. Our scoping review synthesizes existing evidence about various approaches for guided group reflection, their aims, components and potential working mechanisms.

The Association Between Stuttering Burden and Psychosocial Aspects of Life in Adults.

Purpose: Stuttering is a speech condition that can have a major impact on a person's quality of life. This descriptive study aimed to identify subgroups of people who stutter (PWS) based on stuttering burden and to investigate differences between these subgroups on psychosocial aspects of life.

Method: The study included 618 adult participants who stutter.

Pre-COVID-19-pandemic RSV epidemiology and clinical burden in pediatric primary care in Italy: a comparative analysis across two regions for the 2019/2020 season.

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in children under 5 years have a significant clinical burden, also in primary care settings. This study investigates the epidemiology and burden of RSV in Italian children during the 2019/20 pre-pandemic winter season.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted in two Italian regions.

Challenges to Exploring the Patient Perspective in Palliative Care Conversations: A Qualitative Study Among Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Chronic Heart Failure Patients and Their Health Care Professionals.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to reveal the challenges faced in exploring the patient's perspective as experienced by patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or chronic heart failure and their health care professionals (HCPs), including the circumstances under which these challenges are experienced during palliative care conversations.

Methods: This is a qualitative, explorative study in the Netherlands using purposive sampling to create diversity in demographic variables of both patients and HCPs. Semistructured interviews with 12 patients and 7 HCPs were carried out with the use of topic lists.

Change in Age profile of Respiratory Syncytial Virus disease over the course of annual epidemics: a multi-national study.

Objectives: We aimed to study whether the percentwise age distribution of RSV cases changes over time during annual epidemics.

Methods: We used surveillance data (2008-2019) from the Netherlands, Lyon (France), Portugal, Singapore, Ecuador, South Africa, and New Zealand. In each country, every season was divided into "epidemic quarters", i.

Low-value chronic prescription of acid reducing medication among Dutch general practitioners: impact of a patient education intervention.

Background: Dyspepsia is a commonly encountered clinical condition in Dutch general practice, which is often treated through the prescription of acid-reducing medication (ARM). However, recent studies indicate that the majority of chronic ARM users lack an indication for their use and that their long-term use is associated with adverse outcomes. We developed a patient-focussed educational intervention aiming to reduce low-value (chronic) use of ARM.

Task shifting in Dutch nursing practice: A repeated cross-sectional analysis of nurses' experiences.

Aim: This study aims firstly to identify shifts in the execution of medical tasks by nurses in the past decade. Secondly, it aims to explore nurses' perspectives on task shifting: how they think task shifting affects the quality of care, the attractiveness of nursing practice and their collaboration with physicians.

Design: A quantitative repeated cross-sectional study.

Outpatient Video Visits During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Survey Study of Patients' Experiences and Characteristics.

Background: During the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic, an exponential increase in video consultations replacing in-person outpatient visits was observed in hospitals. Insight into patients' experiences with this type of consultation is helpful for a broad, sustainable, and patient-centered implementation of video consultation.

Objective: This study aims to examine patients' experiences with video consultation during the COVID-19 pandemic and identify discriminative patient and consultation characteristics to determine when video consultation is most feasible.

Social concordance and patient reported experiences in countries with different gender equality: a multinational survey.

Background: Patient reported experiences (PREMs) are important indices of quality of care. Similarities in demography between patient and doctor, known as social concordance, can facilitate patient-doctor interaction and may be associated with more positive patient experiences. The aim of this research is to study associations between gender concordance, age concordance and PREMs (doctor-patient communication, involvement in decision making, comprehensiveness of care and satisfaction) and to investigate whether these associations are dependent on a countries' Gender Equality Index (GEI).

Understanding healthcare communication in age-related macular degeneration care: A mixed-methods review of patients' perspectives.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of irreversible visual impairment among people aged 50 years and older. Earlier research has indicated that the communication process between patients and healthcare professionals (HCPs) leaves considerable room for improvement in AMD care. Effective communication is essential to enhance trust in the professional and understanding of the diagnosis and treatment, and decrease anxiety and stress related to illness.