Changes in sick notes associated with COVID-19 from 2020 to 2022: a cohort study in 24 million primary care patients in OpenSAFELY-TPP.

OBJECTIVES: Long-term sickness absence from employment has negative consequences for the economy and can lead to widened health inequalities. Sick notes (also called 'fit notes') are issued by general practitioners when a person cannot work for health reasons for more than 7 days. We quantified the sick note rate in people with evidence of COVID-19 in 2020, 2021 and 2022, as an indication of the burden for people recovering from COVID-19. DESIGN: Cohort study. SETTING: With National Health Service (NHS) England approval, we used routine clinical data (primary care, hospital and COVID-19 testing records) within the OpenSAFELY-TPP database. PARTICIPANTS: People 18-64 years with a recorded positive test or diagnosis of COVID-19 in 2020 (n=365 421), 2021 (n=1 206 555) or 2022 (n=1 321 313); general population matched in age, sex and region in 2019 (n=3 140 326), 2020 (n=3 439 534), 2021 (n=4 571 469) and 2022 (n=4 818 870); people hospitalised with pneumonia in 2019 (n=29 673). PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: Receipt of a sick note in primary care. RESULTS: Among people with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test or COVID-19 diagnosis, the sick note rate was 4.88 per 100 person-months (95% CI 4.83 to 4.93) in 2020, 2.66 (95% CI 2.64 to 2.67) in 2021 and 1.73 (95% CI 1.72 to 1.73) in 2022. Compared with the age, sex and region-matched general population, the adjusted HR for receipt of a sick note over the entire follow-up period (up to 10 months) was 4.07 (95% CI 4.02 to 4.12) in 2020 decreasing to 1.57 (95% CI 1.56 to 1.58) in 2022. The HR was highest in the first 30 days postdiagnosis in all years. Among people hospitalised with COVID-19, after adjustment, the sick note rate was lower than in people hospitalised with pneumonia. CONCLUSIONS: Given the under-recording of postacute COVID-19-related symptoms, these findings contribute a valuable perspective on the long-term effects of COVID-19. Despite likely underestimation of the sick note rate, sick notes were issued more frequently to people with COVID-19 compared with those without, even in an era when most people are vaccinated. Most sick notes occurred in the first 30 days postdiagnosis, but the increased risk several months postdiagnosis may provide further evidence of the long-term impact.

HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis and opportunities for vaccination against hepatitis A virus, hepatitis B virus and human papillomavirus: an analysis of the Ontario PrEP cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: Populations who seek HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) are disproportionately affected by hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human papillomavirus (HPV). We examined immunity/vaccination against these infections among participants in the Ontario PrEP cohort study (ON-PrEP). METHODS: ON-PrEP is a prospective cohort of HIV-negative PrEP users from 10 Ontario clinics. We descriptively analysed baseline immunity/vaccination against HAV (IgG reactive), HBV (hepatitis B surface antibody >10) and HPV (self-reported three-dose vaccination). We further performed multivariable logistic regression to identify characteristics associated with baseline immunity/vaccination. We used cumulative incidence functions to describe vaccine uptake among participants non-immune at baseline. RESULTS: Of 633 eligible participants, 59.1% were white, 85.8% were male and 79.6% were gay. We found baseline evidence of immunity/vaccination against HAV, HBV and HPV in 69.2%, 81.2% and 16.8% of PrEP-experienced participants and 58.9%, 70.3% and 10.4% of PrEP-naïve participants, respectively. Characteristics associated with baseline HAV immunity were greater PrEP duration (adjusted OR (aOR) 1.41/year, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.84), frequent sexually transmitted and bloodborne infection (STBBI) testing (aOR 2.38, 95% CI 1.15 to 4.92) and HBV immunity (aOR 3.53, 95% CI 2.09 to 5.98). Characteristics associated with baseline HBV immunity were living in Toronto (aOR 3.54, 95% CI 1.87 to 6.70) or Ottawa (aOR 2.76, 95% CI 1.41 to 5.40), self-identifying as racialised (aOR 2.23, 95% CI 1.19 to 4.18), greater PrEP duration (aOR 1.39/year, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.90) and HAV immunity (aOR 3.75, 95% CI 2.19 to 6.41). Characteristics associated with baseline HPV vaccination were being aged ≤26 years (aOR 9.28, 95% CI 2.11 to 40.77), annual income between CAD$60 000 and CAD$119 000 (aOR 3.42, 95% CI 1.40 to 8.34), frequent STBBI testing (aOR 7.00, 95% CI 1.38 to 35.46) and HAV immunity (aOR 6.96, 95% CI 2.00 to 24.25). Among those non-immune at baseline, overall cumulative probability of immunity/vaccination was 0.70, 0.60 and 0.53 among PrEP-experienced participants and 0.93, 0.80 and 0.70 among PrEP-naïve participants for HAV, HBV and HPV, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline immunity to HAV/HBV was common, and a sizeable proportion of non-immune participants were vaccinated during follow-up. However, HPV vaccination was uncommon. Continued efforts should be made to remove barriers to HPV vaccination such as cost, inclusion in clinical guidelines and provider recommendation.

Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme commissioning 2020-2023: associations with patient experience and QOF.

BACKGROUND: The Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) was introduced by NHS England in 2020 alongside Primary Care Networks (PCNs) with aims of increasing the workforce and improving patient outcomes. AIM: Describe the uptake of direct-patient care (DPC)-ARRS roles and its impact on patients' experiences. DESIGN AND SETTING: Ecological study using 2020-2023 PCN and Practice workforce data, registered patient characteristics, the General Practice Patient Survey, and the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). METHODS: Descriptive statistics with associations examined using quantile and linear regression. RESULTS: By March 2023, 17,714 FTE DPC-ARRS roles were commissioned by 1,223 PCNs. PCNs with fewer constituent practices had more DPC-ARRS roles per population (p<0.001) as did PCNs with more FTE GPs per population (p=0.012). DPC-ARRS commissioning did not vary with age, proportion female or deprivation of practice populations. DPC-ARRS roles were associated with small increases in patient satisfaction (0.8 percentage points increase in patients satisfied per one DPC-ARRS FTE) and perceptions of access (0.7 percentage points increase in patients reporting 'good' experience of making an appointment per one DPC-ARRS FTE), but not with overall QOF achievement. CONCLUSIONS: The commissioning of DPC-ARRS roles was associated with small increases in patient satisfaction and perceptions of access, but not with QOF achievement. DPC-ARRS roles were employed in areas with more GPs rather than compensating for a shortage of doctors. Single practice PCNs commissioned more roles per registered population, which may be advantageous to single practice PCNs. Further evaluation of the scheme is warranted.

Risk of drug-related death associated with co-prescribing of gabapentinoids and Z-drugs among people receiving opioid-agonist treatment: A national retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Prescribing of gabapentinoids and Z-drug-hypnotics has increased in the population and among people receiving opioid-agonist treatment (OAT) for opioid dependence. Evidence is mixed on whether co-prescribing of sedatives such as gabapentinoids and Z-drugs during OAT increases risk of drug-related death (DRD). METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of individuals prescribed OAT between 2011 and 2020 in Scotland. Prescribing records were linked to mortality data and other healthcare datasets (sociodemographic, comorbidity). We identified episodes of treatment with gabapentinoids/Z-drugs and used multivariable quasi-Poisson regression to model associations between co-prescription and DRD risk. RESULTS: Among 46,602 individuals with 304,783 person-years of follow-up, we found that co-prescription was common, with 25 % and 34 % ever being co-prescribed gabapentinoids and Z-drugs, respectively. Gabapentinoid exposure was strongly associated (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR)=2·18, 95 % CI=1·92, 2·46) and Z-drug exposure moderately associated (aHR=1·39, 95 % CI=1·15, 1·66) with elevated risk of DRD. Gabapentinoid exposure was associated with DRD risk on and off OAT; Z-drug exposure was less strongly associated with DRD risk when on OAT. CONCLUSIONS: Co-prescription of gabapentinoids and Z-drugs is common among OAT patients. However, co-prescription is associated with increased risk of DRD. Alternatives to prescribing sedative medications to OAT patients and/or greater monitoring - if prescribed - are needed.

Impact of vaccination on the association of COVID-19 with cardiovascular diseases: An OpenSAFELY cohort study.

Infection with SARS-CoV-2 is associated with an increased risk of arterial and venous thrombotic events, but the implications of vaccination for this increased risk are uncertain. With the approval of NHS England, we quantified associations between COVID-19 diagnosis and cardiovascular diseases in different vaccination and variant eras using linked electronic health records for ~40% of the English population. We defined a 'pre-vaccination' cohort (18,210,937 people) in the wild-type/Alpha variant eras (January 2020-June 2021), and 'vaccinated' and 'unvaccinated' cohorts (13,572,399 and 3,161,485 people respectively) in the Delta variant era (June-December 2021). We showed that the incidence of each arterial thrombotic, venous thrombotic and other cardiovascular outcomes was substantially elevated during weeks 1-4 after COVID-19, compared with before or without COVID-19, but less markedly elevated in time periods beyond week 4. Hazard ratios were higher after hospitalised than non-hospitalised COVID-19 and higher in the pre-vaccination and unvaccinated cohorts than the vaccinated cohort. COVID-19 vaccination reduces the risk of cardiovascular events after COVID-19 infection. People who had COVID-19 before or without being vaccinated are at higher risk of cardiovascular events for at least two years.

A qualitative investigation into care-leavers' experiences of accessing mental health support.

INTRODUCTION: People who grew up under the care of children's social services are a highly vulnerable group, with 50% of this population meeting the criteria for a mental health problem at any one time. Emerging evidence suggests that there is a disparity between the number of people who require support, and those that receive it, and that they face several barriers to accessing timely and effective mental health support. We have a limited understanding of how to support the mental health of this group as they 'age out' of children's social services, and the transition to independence, which occurs around the age of 18. We aimed to explore how care-leavers understand their experiences of help-seeking from formal mental health services. METHODS: We used qualitative interviews, and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis with 9 care-experienced young people aged between 18 and 25 years old. This work was co-produced by a team of care-experienced adults, from the conception of the study to write-up. RESULTS: Qualitative analysis revealed several themes which centred around: (1) taking reluctant steps towards recovery, (2) challenges with being understood and the importance of gaining an understanding of yourself, (3) navigating trust and (4) the legacy of not having your mental health needs met. CONCLUSIONS: We identified several important implications for health and social care practice, across primary and secondary health care settings. This work highlights ways to better support this highly vulnerable group in accessing evidence-based mental health support, and how to maintain engagement.

Trends in inequalities in avoidable hospitalisations across the COVID-19 pandemic: a cohort study of 23.5 million people in England.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether periods of disruption were associated with increased 'avoidable' hospital admissions and wider social inequalities in England. DESIGN: Observational repeated cross-sectional study. SETTING: England (January 2019 to March 2022). PARTICIPANTS: With the approval of NHS England we used individual-level electronic health records from OpenSAFELY, which covered ~40% of general practices in England (mean monthly population size 23.5 million people). PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: We estimated crude and directly age-standardised rates for potentially preventable unplanned hospital admissions: ambulatory care sensitive conditions and urgent emergency sensitive conditions. We considered how trends in these outcomes varied by three measures of social and spatial inequality: neighbourhood socioeconomic deprivation, ethnicity and geographical region. RESULTS: There were large declines in avoidable hospitalisations during the first national lockdown (March to May 2020). Trends increased post-lockdown but never reached 2019 levels. The exception to these trends was for vaccine-preventable ambulatory care sensitive admissions which remained low throughout 2020-2021. While trends were consistent by each measure of inequality, absolute levels of inequalities narrowed across levels of neighbourhood socioeconomic deprivation, Asian ethnicity (compared with white ethnicity) and geographical region (especially in northern regions). CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence that periods of healthcare disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in more avoidable hospitalisations. Falling avoidable hospital admissions has coincided with declining inequalities most strongly by level of deprivation, but also for Asian ethnic groups and northern regions of England.

Implementing Germ Defence digital behaviour change intervention via all primary care practices in England to reduce respiratory infections during the COVID-19 pandemic: an efficient cluster randomised controlled trial using the OpenSAFELY platform.

BACKGROUND: Germ Defence ( www.germdefence.org ) is an evidence-based interactive website that promotes behaviour change for infection control within households. To maximise the potential of Germ Defence to effectively reduce the spread of COVID-19, the intervention needed to be implemented at scale rapidly. METHODS: With NHS England approval, we conducted an efficient two-arm (1:1 ratio) cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) to examine the effectiveness of randomising implementation of Germ Defence via general practitioner (GP) practices across England, UK, compared with usual care to disseminate Germ Defence to patients. GP practices randomised to the intervention arm (n = 3292) were emailed and asked to disseminate Germ Defence to all adult patients via mobile phone text, email or social media. Usual care arm GP practices (n = 3287) maintained standard management for the 4-month trial period and then asked to share Germ Defence with their adult patients. The primary outcome was the rate of GP presentations for respiratory tract infections (RTI) per patient. Secondary outcomes comprised rates of acute RTIs, confirmed COVID-19 diagnoses and suspected COVID-19 diagnoses, COVID-19 symptoms, gastrointestinal infection diagnoses, antibiotic usage and hospital admissions. The impact of the intervention on outcome rates was assessed using negative binomial regression modelling within the OpenSAFELY platform. The uptake of the intervention by GP practice and by patients was measured via website analytics. RESULTS: Germ Defence was used 310,731 times. The average website satisfaction score was 7.52 (0-10 not at all to very satisfied, N = 9933). There was no evidence of a difference in the rate of RTIs between intervention and control practices (rate ratio (RR) 1.01, 95% CI 0.96, 1.06, p = 0.70). This was similar to all other eight health outcomes. Patient engagement within intervention arm practices ranged from 0 to 48% of a practice list. CONCLUSIONS: While the RCT did not demonstrate a difference in health outcomes, we demonstrated that rapid large-scale implementation of a digital behavioural intervention is possible and can be evaluated with a novel efficient prospective RCT methodology analysing routinely collected patient data entirely within a trusted research environment. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial was registered in the ISRCTN registry (14602359) on 12 August 2020.

A Scoping Review of Factors Associated With the Mental Health of Young People Who Have "Aged Out" of the Child Welfare System.

Young people who grow up in care and then exit care around the age of 18 (care-leavers) are a particularly vulnerable group, at increased risk for mental health problems even relative to other care-experienced groups. Yet, little is understood about the factors underpinning this association. We used scoping review methods to synthesize the quantitative and qualitative literature on factors that are associated with mental health problems for care-leavers. Following rigorous methods, we systematically searched three scientific databases spanning psychology and social care and identified 23 peer-reviewed studies for inclusion. This review highlights the heterogeneity of this research, in terms of methodology and topics investigated. Topics included are as follows: pre-care maltreatment, care-related experiences, psychological factors (emotion regulation), social support, education, and adult functioning (e.g., housing, finances, employment). We found mixed and inconsistent findings across research studies. The strongest evidence-base is around the influence of social support upon the mental health of recent care-leavers, though methodological problems are discussed. The field benefits from several large-scale observational and longitudinal research studies. However, there is an over-reliance upon retrospective reporting, and the use of unvalidated measures is common. It is apparent that there are significant gaps in our current understanding of the mental health of care-leavers, in particular around modifiable factors. We discuss potential directions for future empirical research, both in terms of methodology and factors investigated.

Secondary data analysis of social care records to examine the provision of mental health support for young people in care.

Background: Young people in care are much more likely to experience mental health difficulties than the general population, yet little is known about the provision of mental health support for this group in the United Kingdom. Methods: Using routinely collected social care data, we explored the provision of mental health support for 112 young people in care in the UK. We identified young people experiencing elevated internalising or externalising difficulties in their first year in care (based on strengths and difficulties questionnaire scores) and extracted data on mental health referrals and provision. We generated descriptive statistics relating to provision of mental health support and used regressions to examine predictors of mental health provision, and associations between support and mental health outcomes one and 2 years later. Results: Eighty-one percent of the children (n = 79) were referred to mental health services in their first year of being in care. Referrals were usually for emotional or conduct problems. Those with higher externalising symptoms were more likely to be referred than those with higher internalising symptoms (OR = 1.2, (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01, 1.38)). Females were more likely to access support than males (OR = 3.82 (95% CI: 1.2, 13.3)). Sixty-eight percent of children (n = 66) accessed mental health services in their first year of being in care. Of those who accessed services, support ended prematurely for 29 (44%) of them, often due to placement instability or disengagement. Accessing support in the first year of care was not associated with changes in mental health 1 year (OR: 2.14 (95% CI: 0.62,7.29)), or 2 years after entering care (OR: 0.72-8.57, (95% CI: 0.72, 8.57)), although methodological limitations are noted. Conclusions: Mental health difficulties for children in care are recognised quickly, but mental health support may be difficult to access, with issues evident in retention and engagement.

Access to publicly funded weight management services in England using routine data from primary and secondary care (2007-2020): An observational cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Adults living with overweight/obesity are eligible for publicly funded weight management (WM) programmes according to national guidance. People with the most severe and complex obesity are eligible for bariatric surgery. Primary care plays a key role in identifying overweight/obesity and referring to WM interventions. This study aimed to (1) describe the primary care population in England who (a) are referred for WM interventions and (b) undergo bariatric surgery and (2) determine the patient and GP practice characteristics associated with both. METHODS AND FINDINGS: An observational cohort study was undertaken using routinely collected primary care data in England from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink linked with Hospital Episode Statistics. During the study period (January 2007 to June 2020), 1,811,587 adults met the inclusion criteria of a recording of overweight/obesity in primary care, of which 54.62% were female and 20.10% aged 45 to 54. Only 56,783 (3.13%) were referred to WM, and 3,701 (1.09% of those with severe and complex obesity) underwent bariatric surgery. Multivariable Poisson regression examined the associations of demographic, clinical, and regional characteristics on the likelihood of WM referral and bariatric surgery. Higher body mass index (BMI) and practice region had the strongest associations with both outcomes. People with BMI ≥40 kg/m2 were more than 6 times as likely to be referred for WM (10.05% of individuals) than BMI 25.0 to 29.9 kg/m2 (1.34%) (rate ratio (RR) 6.19, 95% confidence interval (CI) [5.99,6.40], p < 0.001). They were more than 5 times as likely to undergo bariatric surgery (3.98%) than BMI 35.0 to 40.0 kg/m2 with a comorbidity (0.53%) (RR 5.52, 95% CI [5.07,6.02], p < 0.001). Patients from practices in the West Midlands were the most likely to have a WM referral (5.40%) (RR 2.17, 95% CI [2.10,2.24], p < 0.001, compared with the North West, 2.89%), and practices from the East of England least likely (1.04%) (RR 0.43, 95% CI [0.41,0.46], p < 0.001, compared with North West). Patients from practices in London were the most likely to undergo bariatric surgery (2.15%), and practices in the North West the least likely (0.68%) (RR 3.29, 95% CI [2.88,3.76], p < 0.001, London compared with North West). Longer duration since diagnosis with severe and complex obesity (e.g., 1.67% of individuals diagnosed in 2007 versus 0.34% in 2015, RR 0.20, 95% CI [0.12,0.32], p < 0.001), and increasing comorbidities (e.g., 2.26% of individuals with 6+ comorbidities versus 1.39% with none (RR 8.79, 95% CI [7.16,10.79], p < 0.001) were also strongly associated with bariatric surgery. The main limitation is the reliance on overweight/obesity being recorded within primary care records to identify the study population. CONCLUSIONS: Between 2007 and 2020, a very small percentage of the primary care population eligible for WM referral or bariatric surgery according to national guidance received either. Higher BMI and GP practice region had the strongest associations with both. Regional inequalities may reflect differences in commissioning and provision of WM services across the country. Multi-stakeholder qualitative research is ongoing to understand the barriers to accessing WM services and potential solutions. Together with population-wide prevention strategies, improved access to WM interventions is needed to reduce obesity levels.

Linkage of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) to Avon & Somerset Police regional police records.

This data note describes a new resource for crime-related research: the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) linked to regional police records. The police data were provided by Avon & Somerset Police (A&SP), whose area of responsibility contains the ALSPAC recruitment area. In total, ALSPAC had permission to link to crime records for 12,662 of the 'study children' (now adults, who were born in the early 1990s).  The linkage took place in two stages: Stage 1 involved the ALSPAC Data Linkage Team establishing the linkage using personal identifiers common to both the ALSPAC participant database and A&SP records using deterministic and probabilistic methods. Stage 2 involved A&SP extracting attribute data on the matched individuals, removing personal identifiers and securely sharing the de-identified records with ALSPAC. The police data extraction took place in July 2021, when the participants were in their late 20s/early 30s. This data note contains details on the resulting linked police records available. In brief, electronic police records were available from 2007 onwards. In total, 1757 participants (14%) linked to at least one police record for a charge, offence 'taken into consideration', caution, or another out of court disposal. Linked participants had a total of 6413 records relating to 6283 offences. Almost three quarters of the linked participants were male. The most common offence types were violence against the person (22% of records), drug offences (19%), theft (17%) and public order offences (11%). This data note also details important issues that researchers using the local police data should be aware of, including the importance of defining an appropriate denominator, completeness, and biases affecting police records.

Associations between self-reported healthcare disruption due to covid-19 and avoidable hospital admission: evidence from seven linked longitudinal studies for England.

OBJECTIVES: To examine whether there is an association between people who experienced disrupted access to healthcare during the covid-19 pandemic and risk of an avoidable hospital admission. DESIGN: Observational analysis using evidence from seven linked longitudinal cohort studies for England. SETTING: Studies linked to electronic health records from NHS Digital from 1 March 2020 to 25 August 2022. Data were accessed using the UK Longitudinal Linkage Collaboration trusted research environment. PARTICIPANTS: Individual level records for 29 276 people. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Avoidable hospital admissions defined as emergency hospital admissions for ambulatory care sensitive and emergency urgent care sensitive conditions. RESULTS: 9742 participants (weighted percentage 35%, adjusted for sample structure of longitudinal cohorts) self-reported some form of disrupted access to healthcare during the covid-19 pandemic. People with disrupted access were at increased risk of any (odds ratio 1.80, 95% confidence interval 1.39 to 2.34), acute (2.01, 1.39 to 2.92), and chronic (1.80, 1.31 to 2.48) ambulatory care sensitive hospital admissions. For people who experienced disrupted access to appointments (eg, visiting their doctor or an outpatient department) and procedures (eg, surgery, cancer treatment), positive associations were found with measures of avoidable hospital admissions. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence from linked individual level data shows that people whose access to healthcare was disrupted were more likely to have a potentially preventable hospital admission. The findings highlight the need to increase healthcare investment to tackle the short and long term implications of the pandemic, and to protect treatments and procedures during future pandemics.

UK research data resources based on primary care electronic health records: review and summary for potential users.

BACKGROUND: The range and scope of electronic health record (EHR) data assets in the UK has recently increased, which has been mainly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Summarising and comparing the large primary care resources will help researchers to choose the data resources most suited to their needs. AIM: To describe the current landscape of UK EHR databases and considerations of access and use of these resources relevant to researchers. DESIGN & SETTING: Narrative review of EHR databases in the UK. METHOD: Information was collected from the Health Data Research Innovation Gateway, publicly available websites and other published data, and from key informants. The eligibility criteria were population-based open-access databases sampling EHRs across the whole population of one or more countries in the UK. Published database characteristics were extracted and summarised, and these were corroborated with resource providers. Results were synthesised narratively. RESULTS: Nine large national primary care EHR data resources were identified and summarised. These resources are enhanced by linkage to other administrative data to a varying extent. Resources are mainly intended to support observational research, although some can support experimental studies. There is considerable overlap of populations covered. While all resources are accessible to bona fide researchers, access mechanisms, costs, timescales, and other considerations vary across databases. CONCLUSION: Researchers are currently able to access primary care EHR data from several sources. Choice of data resource is likely to be driven by project needs and access considerations. The landscape of data resources based on primary care EHRs in the UK continues to evolve.

A qualitative exploration of chronic pain management of older adults in remote and rural settings.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization predicts that the number of older adults will nearly double between 2015 and 2050. Older adults are at a higher risk of developing medical conditions such as chronic pain. However, there is little information about chronic pain and its management in older adults especially those residing in remote and rural areas. AIM: To explore views, experiences, and behavioural determinants of older adults regarding chronic pain management in remote and rural settings in Scottish Highlands. METHOD: Qualitative one-to-one telephone interviews were conducted with older adults with chronic pain residing in remote and rural areas in the Scottish Highlands. The interview schedule was developed by the researchers, validated, and piloted prior to use. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and independently thematically-analysed by two researchers. Interviews continued until data saturation. RESULTS: Fourteen interviews were conducted with three key themes emerging: views and experiences with chronic pain, need to enhance pain management, and perceived barriers to pain management. Overall, pain was reported as severe and negatively impacted lives. Majority of interviewees used medicines for pain relief but noted that their pain was still poorly controlled. Interviewees had limited expectation for improvement since they considered their condition a normal consequence of ageing. Residing in remote and rural areas was perceived to complicate access to services with many having to travel long distances to see a health professional. CONCLUSION: Chronic pain management in remote and rural areas remains a significant issue among older adults interviewed. Thus, there is a need to develop approaches to improve access to related information and services.

Feminizing hormone therapy in a Canadian cohort of transgender women with and without HIV.

BACKGROUND: Potential bidirectional drug-drug interactions between feminizing hormone therapy (FHT) and antiretroviral therapy (ART) are of concern for trans women with HIV and their healthcare providers. This study aimed to characterize patterns of FHT and ART among trans women with HIV and to compare serum hormone levels to trans women without HIV. METHODS: Charts of trans women were reviewed at seven HIV primary care or endocrinology clinics in Toronto and Montreal from 2018 to 2019. ART regimens, FHT use, serum estradiol, and serum testosterone levels were compared on the basis of HIV status (positive, negative, missing/unknown). RESULTS: Of 1495 trans women, there were 86 trans women with HIV, of whom 79 (91.8%) were on ART. ART regimens were most commonly integrase inhibitor-based (67.4%), many boosted with ritonavir or cobicistat (45.3%). Fewer (71.8%) trans women with HIV were prescribed FHT, compared to those without HIV (88.4%) and those with missing/unknown status (90.2%, p < 0.001). Among trans women on FHT with recorded serum estradiol (n = 1153), there was no statistical difference in serum estradiol between those with HIV (median: 203 pmol/L, IQR: 95.5, 417.5) and those with negative (200 mol/L [113, 407]) or missing/unknown HIV status (227 pmol/L [127.5, 384.5) (p = 0.633). Serum testosterone concentrations were also similar between groups. CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort, trans women with HIV were prescribed FHT less often than trans women with negative or unknown HIV status. There was no difference in serum estradiol or testosterone levels of trans women on FHT regardless of HIV status, providing reassurance regarding potential drug-drug interactions between FHT and ART.

Recreational Marijuana Use, Adolescent Cognitive Development, and Schizophrenia Susceptibility.

Background: We investigated how low marijuana (MJ) use levels, the typical use pattern in most adolescent users, affect cognitive maturation and schizophrenia risk. Methods: In two complementary adolescent samples where the majority reported minimal MJ use, we compared cognitive performances before and after MJ use initiation. The Iowa sample (40 first-degree relatives and 54 second-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia and 117 control subjects with no schizophrenia family history) underwent a battery of standardized neuropsychological tests at 0, 18, and 36 months. Based on self-administered Timeline Followback interviews, 26.5% of adolescents had emergent MJ use (eMJ) during follow-up. The second sample (n = 3463), derived from a birth cohort, received substance use and sustained attention assessments between ages 10 and 15 years. Mixed linear models and regression analyses tested the effects of eMJ on longitudinal changes in cognitive performance. Results: In the Iowa sample, longitudinal changes in 5 of 8 cognitive domains were significantly associated with eMJ. On sustained attention, visuospatial working memory, and executive sequencing, adolescents with eMJ showed less age-expected improved performance. In addition, first-degree relatives with eMJ were less improved on processing speed and executive reasoning than first-degree relatives without eMJ. In the birth cohort, greater intraindividual variability in reaction times (indicative of poorer sustained attention) was significantly associated with more frequent MJ use and with recreational use levels. Conclusions: Nonheavy MJ use disrupts normal adolescent maturation and compounds aberrant adolescent maturation associated with familial schizophrenia risk. These findings underscore the importance of reducing adolescent MJ access in the context of increased availability to high-potency MJ.

Epicosm-a framework for linking online social media in epidemiological cohorts.

MOTIVATION: Social media represent an unrivalled opportunity for epidemiological cohorts to collect large amounts of high-resolution time course data on mental health. Equally, the high-quality data held by epidemiological cohorts could greatly benefit social media research as a source of ground truth for validating digital phenotyping algorithms. However, there is currently a lack of software for doing this in a secure and acceptable manner. We worked with cohort leaders and participants to co-design an open-source, robust and expandable software framework for gathering social media data in epidemiological cohorts. IMPLEMENTATION: Epicosm is implemented as a Python framework that is straightforward to deploy and run inside a cohort's data safe haven. GENERAL FEATURES: The software regularly gathers Tweets from a list of accounts and stores them in a database for linking to existing cohort data. AVAILABILITY: This open-source software is freely available at [https://dynamicgenetics.github.io/Epicosm/].

National PReCePT Programme: a before-and-after evaluation of the implementation of a national quality improvement programme to increase the uptake of magnesium sulfate in preterm deliveries.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the National PReCePT Programme (NPP) in increasing use of magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) in preterm births. DESIGN: Before-and-after study. SETTING: Maternity units (N=137) within NHS England and the Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) in 2018. PARTICIPANTS: Babies born ≤30 weeks' gestation admitted to neonatal units in England. INTERVENTIONS: The NPP was a quality improvement (QI) intervention including the PReCePT (Preventing Cerebral Palsy in Pre Term labour) QI toolkit and materials (preterm labour proforma, staff training presentations, parent leaflet, posters for the unit and learning log), regional AHSN-level support, and up to 90 hours funded backfill for a midwife 'champion' to lead implementation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: MgSO4 uptake post implementation was compared with pre-NPP implementation uptake. Implementation and lifetime costs were estimated. RESULTS: Compared with pre-implementation estimates, the average MgSO4 uptake for babies born ≤30 weeks' gestation, in 137 maternity units in England, increased by 6.3 percentage points (95% CI 2.6 to 10.0 percentage points) to 83.1% post implementation, accounting for unit size, maternal, baby and maternity unit factors, time trends, and AHSN. Further adjustment for early/late initiation of NPP activities increased the estimate to 9.5 percentage points (95% CI 4.3 to 14.7 percentage points). From a societal and lifetime perspective, the health gains and cost savings associated with the NPP effectiveness generated a net monetary benefit of £866 per preterm baby and the probability of the NPP being cost-effective was greater than 95%. CONCLUSION: This national QI programme was effective and cost-effective. National programmes delivered via coordinated regional clinical networks can accelerate uptake of evidence-based therapies in perinatal care.