Assessing effective interventions to improve trial retention : do they contain behaviour change techniques?

This research was supported by the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government’s Health and Social Care Department. KG was supported by an MRC Methodology Research Fellowship (MR/L01193X/1).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Scattering theory for the Schr\"odinger-Debye System

We study the Schr\"odinger-Debye system over $\mathbb{R}^d$ iu_t+\frac 12\Delta u=uv,\quad \mu v_t+v=\lambda |u|^2 and establish the global existence and scattering of small solutions for initial data in several function spaces in dimensions $d=2,3,4$. Moreover, in dimension $d=1$, we prove a Hayashi-Naumkin modified scattering result.Comment: 22 page

Risk factors and mortality associated with multimorbidity in people with stroke or transient ischaemic attack: a study of 8,751 UK Biobank participants

Background: Multimorbidity is common in stroke, but the risk factors and effects on mortality remain poorly understood. Objective: To examine multimorbidity and its associations with sociodemographic/lifestyle risk factors and all-cause mortality in UK Biobank participants with stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA). Design: Data were obtained from an anonymized community cohort aged 40–72 years. Overall, 42 comorbidities were self-reported by those with stroke or TIA. Relative risk ratios demonstrated associations between participant characteristics and number of comorbidities. Hazard ratios demonstrated associations between the number and type of comorbidities and all-cause mortality. Results were adjusted for age, sex, socioeconomic status, smoking, and alcohol intake. Data were linked to national mortality data. Median follow-up was 7 years. Results: Of 8,751 participants (mean age 60.9±6.7 years) with stroke or TIA, the all-cause mortality rate over 7 years was 8.4%. Over 85% reported ≥1 comorbidities. Age, socioeconomic deprivation, smoking and less frequent alcohol intake were associated with higher levels of multimorbidity. Increasing multimorbidity was associated with higher all-cause mortality. Mortality risk was double for those with ≥5 comorbidities compared to those with none. Having cancer, coronary heart disease, diabetes, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease significantly increased mortality risk. Presence of any cardiometabolic comorbidity significantly increased mortality risk, as did any non-cardiometabolic comorbidity. Conclusions: In stroke survivors, the number of comorbidities may be a more helpful predictor of mortality than type of condition. Stroke guidelines should take greater account of comorbidities, and interventions are needed that improve outcomes for people with multimorbidity and stroke

Theory-guided interviews identified behavioral barriers and enablers to healthcare professionals recruiting participants to maternity trials

Acknowledgments We would like to thank all the truly heroic maternity healthcare providers who gave up their time during the height of the pandemic to contribute to this study.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Development of a co-designed behaviour change intervention aimed at healthcare professionals recruiting to clinical trials in maternity care

Acknowledgements We would like to thank all of the stakeholders who generously and freely gave up their time during the COVID-19 pandemic to contribute to this study. Funding The Health Research Board—Trial Methodology Research Network (Ireland) funded this doctoral study. The funders had no involvement in study design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data; reporting; or the decision to publish.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Acceptability and Feasibility of Portable Eye-Tracking Technology within a Children’s Dynamic Sport Context:An Exploratory Study with Boys Who Play Grassroots Football

Teaching practices are moving from decontextualised to more representative curricula. Although this is argued to be a positive step, low motor competence is a continual issue in primary-aged school children. One methodological approach to investigate ways to improve motor competence, eye tracking, is moving to more representative tasks. So far, eye-tracking research using static activities has demonstrated a positive association between motor competence and earlier fixation and longer duration. However, this research has been constrained to laboratory settings and tasks, or discrete activities (e.g., throw and catch). This study seeks to understand how to conduct more representative eye-tracking research in primary school-aged children. To this end, thirteen 10–11-year-old children were fitted with an eye-tracker during a typical football coaching session. Children were asked acceptability-based questions, and eye-gaze data were captured to illustrate what children attended to under a representative dynamic football-based activity. Based on the voices of children and captured eye-gaze data, six practical implications for research in this population are proposed: (1) conduct eye-tracking research indoors (where possible); (2) ensure long hair or fringes are secured so as not to obscure line of sight; (3) run the same activity to increase comparability across children wearing the eye-tracker; (4) use a properly fitted backpack (if a backpack is to be used); (5) assure children about the capability and hardiness of the eye-tracker, as they do not need to change the way they move; (6) explain there may be some discomfort with the nose clip, head strap, and battery weight and ensure that children wish to continue

Behavioural approaches to recruitment and retention in clinical trials : a systematic mapping review

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Multimorbidity and co-morbidity in atrial fibrillation and effects on survival: findings from UK Biobank cohort

Aims: To examine the number and type of co-morbid long-term health conditions (LTCs) and their associations with all-cause mortality in an atrial fibrillation (AF) population. Methods and results: Community cohort participants (UK Biobank n = 502 637) aged 37–73 years were recruited between 2006 and 2010. Self-reported LTCs (n = 42) identified in people with AF at baseline. All-cause mortality was available for a median follow-up of 7 years (interquartile range 76–93 months). Hazard ratios (HRs) examined associations between number and type of co-morbid LTC and all-cause mortality, adjusting for age, sex, socio-economic status, smoking, and anticoagulation status. Three thousand six hundred fifty-one participants (0.7% of the study population) reported AF; mean age was 61.9 years. The all-cause mortality rate was 6.7% (248 participants) at 7 years. Atrial fibrillation participants with ≥4 co-morbidities had a six-fold higher risk of mortality compared to participants without any LTC. Co-morbid heart failure was associated with higher risk of mortality [HR 2.96, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.83–4.80], whereas the presence of co-morbid stroke did not have a significant association. Among non-cardiometabolic conditions, presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (HR 3.31, 95% CI 2.14–5.11) and osteoporosis (HR 3.13, 95% CI 1.63–6.01) was associated with a higher risk of mortality. Conclusion: Survival in middle-aged to older individuals with self-reported AF is strongly correlated with level of multimorbidity. This group should be targeted for interventions to optimize their management, which in turn may potentially reduce the impact of their co-morbidities on survival. Future AF clinical guidelines need to place greater emphasis on the issue of co-morbidity