Azithromycin for sarcoidosis cough: an open-label exploratory clinical trial.

Background: Chronic cough is a distressing symptom for many people with pulmonary sarcoidosis. Continuous treatment with a macrolide antibiotic may improve cough. We aimed to assess the potential efficacy of azithromycin in patients with sarcoidosis and self-reported cough.

Decision-making approaches used by UK and international health funding organisations for allocating research funds: A survey of current practice.

Innovations in decision-making practice for allocation of funds in health research are emerging; however, it is not clear to what extent these are used. This study aims to better understand current decision-making practices for the allocation of research funding from the perspective of UK and international health funders. An online survey (active March-April 2019) was distributed by email to UK and international health and health-related funding organisations (e.

Systematic review of the impact of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease on mortality and adverse clinical outcomes for individuals with chronic kidney disease.

Objectives: To investigate if non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) impacts mortality and adverse outcomes for individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Design: Systematic review.

Data Sources: PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science were searched up to 1 February 2020 with no restriction on the earliest date.

Health-related quality of life, functional impairment and comorbidity in people with mild-to-moderate chronic kidney disease: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To determine the associations between comorbidities, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and functional impairment in people with mild-to-moderate chronic kidney disease (CKD) in primary care.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis at 5-year follow-up in a prospective cohort study.

Setting: Thirty-two general practitioner surgeries in England.

Predictors of children's health system use: cross-sectional study of linked data.

Background: Use of health services is increasing in many countries. Most health service research exploring determinants of use has focused on adults and on secondary care. Less is known about factors associated with the use of the emergency department (ED) and general practice (GP) among young children.

Individualised placement support as an employment intervention for individuals with chronic pain: a qualitative exploration of stakeholder views.

Background: Individualised Placement and Support (IPS) is a tailored, client-centred employment intervention for people with chronic health conditions. It involves the integration of vocational advisers within health teams to optimise return-to-work strategies. The intervention aims to get clients into employment by complementing traditional job searching skills with placements, and one-to-one mentoring alongside a work-focused health intervention.

Helping people to live well with chronic kidney disease.

Reduced glomerular filtration rate and presence of albuminuria are both associated with increased risk of several poor outcomes. People with chronic kidney disease also commonly suffer from lower quality of life than their age-matched peers. The experiences reported by patients with chronic kidney disease include being shocked by the diagnosis, being uncertain about the cause and worrying about progression and future treatment.

International prescribing patterns and polypharmacy in older people with advanced chronic kidney disease: results from the European Quality study.

Background: People with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at high risk of polypharmacy. However, no previous study has investigated international prescribing patterns in this group. This article aims to examine prescribing and polypharmacy patterns among older people with advanced CKD across the countries involved in the European Quality (EQUAL) study.

Ethnic minority disparities in progression and mortality of pre-dialysis chronic kidney disease: a systematic scoping review.

Background: There are a growing number of studies on ethnic differences in progression and mortality for pre-dialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD), but this literature has yet to be synthesised, particularly for studies on mortality.

Methods: This scoping review synthesized existing literature on ethnic differences in progression and mortality for adults with pre-dialysis CKD, explored factors contributing to these differences, and identified gaps in the literature. A comprehensive search strategy using search terms for ethnicity and CKD was taken to identify potentially relevant studies.

Loneliness, social isolation, cardiovascular disease and mortality: a synthesis of the literature and conceptual framework.

To conduct a systematic review and develop a conceptual framework on the mechanisms linking loneliness, social isolation, health outcomes and mortality. Electronic databases were systematically searched (PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus and EMBASE) from inception to October 2018 followed by manual searching to identify research on loneliness, social isolation and mortality in adults published in the English language. Articles were assessed for quality and synthesised into a conceptual framework using meta-ethnographical approaches.

The association of socioeconomic status with incidence and outcomes of acute kidney injury.

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Socioeconomic status may be negatively associated with AKI as some risk factors for AKI such as chronic kidney disease, diabetes and heart failure are socially distributed. This study explored the socioeconomic gradient of the incidence and mortality of AKI, after adjusting for important mediators such as comorbidities.

Exploring the views of stakeholders about the feasibility of carrying out a randomised controlled trial of Individual Placement and Support for people unemployed with chronic pain based in primary care (the InSTEP study).

Background: Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is a model of vocational rehabilitation originally developed to help people with severe mental illness obtain and maintain employment. Work disability is common amongst people with chronic pain conditions, yet few effective interventions exist. As part of mixed-methods feasibility research and as a forerunner to a pilot trial (In STEP), we investigated the barriers and facilitators to carrying out a future randomised controlled trial of IPS set in primary care amongst people unemployed with chronic pain.

Characterisation of a New Human Alveolar Macrophage-Like Cell Line (Daisy).

Purpose: There is currently no true macrophage cell line and in vitro experiments requiring these cells currently require mitogenic stimulation of a macrophage precursor cell line (THP-1) or ex vivo maturation of circulating primary monocytes. In this study, we characterise a human macrophage cell line, derived from THP-1 cells, and compare its phenotype to the THP-1 cells.

Methods: THP-1 cells with and without mitogenic stimulation were compared to the newly derived macrophage-like cell line (Daisy) using microscopy, flow cytometry, phagocytosis assays, antigen binding assays and gene microarrays.

Limited health literacy is associated with reduced access to kidney transplantation.

Limited health literacy is common in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and has been variably associated with adverse clinical outcomes. The prevalence of limited health literacy is lower in kidney transplant recipients than in individuals starting dialysis, suggesting selection of patients with higher health literacy for transplantation. We investigated the relationship between limited health literacy and clinical outcomes, including access to kidney transplantation, in a prospective UK cohort study of 2,274 incident dialysis patients aged 18-75 years.

Predicting Risk of Recurrent Acute Kidney Injury: A Systematic Review.

Background: Although the epidemiology of acute kidney injury (AKI) has been well described, less is known about recurrent AKI (r-AKI). We undertook a systematic review to identify incidence, risk factors, and outcomes of r-AKI.

Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane, Web of Science were searched, from inception to December 2017, for quantitative studies on adults with AKI, where follow-up included -reporting of r-AKI.

Socio-economic status and outcomes for patients with age-related macular degeneration.

Objectives: To explore disparities in severity of baseline disease, treatment completion, and treatment outcomes among patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) receiving anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy by socio-economic status (SES) and distance from home to hospital.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Methods: Data from clinic records of 756 wet AMD patients receiving treatment for wet AMD with aflibercept between May 2013 and Jan 2017 were obtained.

International comparison of trends in patients commencing renal replacement therapy by primary renal disease.

Aim: To examine international time trends in the incidence of renal replacement therapy (RRT) for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) by primary renal disease (PRD).

Methods: Renal registries reporting on patients starting RRT per million population for ESRD by PRD from 2005 to 2014, were identified by internet search and literature review. The average annual percentage change (AAPC) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of the time trends was computed using Joinpoint regression.

Acute kidney injury in the UK: a replication cohort study of the variation across three regional populations.

Objectives: A rapid growth in the reported rates of acute kidney injury (AKI) has led to calls for greater attention and greater resources for improving care. However, the reported incidence of AKI also varies more than tenfold between previous studies. Some of this variation is likely to stem from methodological heterogeneity.

Health literacy and patient outcomes in chronic kidney disease: a systematic review.

Background: Limited health literacy affects 25% of people with chronic kidney disease (CKD), and may reduce self-management skills resulting in poorer clinical outcomes. By disproportionately affecting people with low socio-economic status and non-white ethnicity, limited health literacy may promote health inequity.

Methods: We performed a systematic review of quantitative studies of health literacy and clinical outcomes among adults with CKD.

The Association of Serum Free Light Chains With Mortality and Progression to End-Stage Renal Disease in Chronic Kidney Disease: Systematic Review and Individual Patient Data Meta-analysis.

Objective: To clarify the associations between polyclonal serum free light chain (sFLC) levels and adverse outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) by conducting a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analyses.

Patients And Methods: On December 28, 2016, we searched 4 databases (MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and PubMed) and conference proceedings for studies presenting independent analyses of associations between sFLC levels and mortality or progression to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in patients with CKD. Study quality was assessed in 5 domains: sample selection, measurement, attrition, reporting, and funding.

The clinical utility and cost impact of cystatin C measurement in the diagnosis and management of chronic kidney disease: A primary care cohort study.

Background: To reduce over-diagnosis of chronic kidney disease (CKD) resulting from the inaccuracy of creatinine-based estimates of glomerular filtration rate (GFR), UK and international guidelines recommend that cystatin-C-based estimates of GFR be used to confirm or exclude the diagnosis in people with GFR 45-59 ml/min/1.73 m2 and no albuminuria (CKD G3aA1). Whilst there is good evidence for cystatin C being a marker of GFR and risk in people with CKD, its use to define CKD in this manner has not been evaluated in primary care, the setting in which most people with GFR in this range are managed.