Longitudinal study of diabetes prevalence and hospitalisations among care experienced and general population children in Scotland : evidence of an end of care "cliff edge"?

Objectives Care experienced people have poorer health in UK and internationally, but the direction of causation is debated. Using longitudinal cross-sectoral data linkage we explore if inequalities in diabetes prevalence and hospitalisation are present before entering care or develop during or after leaving care. Approach Health and social care data were linked for 13,830 care experienced children (CEC) and together with 649,771 general population children (GPC) their prescriptions and hospitalisations were followed from birth between 1990-2004 to study end in 2016. Diabetes prevalence was estimated as at least one prescription or inpatient hospitalisation for diabetes. We compared hospitalisation percentages and rates in the two cohorts by age and gender. Results from multivariable models adjusted for socioeconomic status, age, gender, care type/length, local authority, and comorbidities will be presented at conference. Results Diabetes prevalence was similar in both cohorts and higher in females. However, CEC had twice as many hospitalisations as GPC. Mean hospitalisations were highest among care experienced males (6 compared to 3.6 in females and 2 in GPC). 24% of CEC were hospitalised 3-9 times and 13% 10+ times, for GPC these were 19% and 3% respectively. Hospitalisation rates increase with age in both cohorts, as do differences between cohorts. At ages 0-4 hospitalisation rates are similar, by ages 12-15 CEC have twice as high and at ages 18-27 4-times higher hospitalisation rates. Among CEC, across all ages hospitalisation rates are lower while the child is in care, with the lowest rates in foster care. Hospitalisation rates are highest before entering and after leaving care. Conclusion Results for diabetes hospitalisations suggest that being in care can be good for children’s health. However, a sudden withdrawal of support can create a “cliff edge” and health may deteriorate after leaving care. Data linkage has significant potential to inform policy and practice, including supporting CEC after leaving care

Cohort profile : The 'Children's Health in Care in Scotland' (CHiCS) study-a longitudinal dataset to compare health outcomes for care experienced children and general population children

Purpose: The Children’s Health in Care in Scotland Cohorts were set up to provide first population-wide evidence on the health outcomes of care experienced children (CEC) compared with children in the general population (CGP). To date, there are no data on how objective health outcomes, mortality and pregnancies for CEC are different from CGP in Scotland. Participants: The CEC cohort includes school-aged children who were on the 2009/2010 Scottish Government’s Children Looked After Statistics (CLAS) return and on the 2009 Pupil Census (PC). The children in the general population cohort includes those who were on the 2009 PC and not on any of the CLAS returns between 1 April 2007 and 31 July 2016. Findings to date: Data on a variety of health outcomes, including mortality, prescriptions, hospitalisations, pregnancies, and Accident & Emergency attendances, were obtained for the period 1 August 2009 to 31 July 2016 for both cohorts. Data on socioeconomic status (SES) for both cohorts were available from the Birth Registrations and a small area deprivation measure was available from the PC. CEC have, on average, lower SES at birth and live in areas of higher deprivation compared with CGP. A higher proportion of CEC have recorded events across all health data sets, and they experienced higher average rates of mortality, prescriptions and hospitalisations during the study period. The reasons for contacting health services vary between cohorts. Future plans: Age-standardised rates for the two cohorts by sex and area deprivation will be calculated to provide evidence on population-wide prevalence of main causes of death, reasons for hospitalisation and types of prescription. Event history analysis will be used on matched cohorts to investigate the impact of placement histories and socioeconomic factors on health

Long term outcomes following critical care hospital admission: a prospective cohort study of UK Biobank participants

Background: This study aimed to understand the impact of a critical care admission on long-term outcomes, compared to other hospitalised patients without a critical care encounter. A secondary aim was to examine the interrelationship between emotional, physical, and social problems during recovery. Methods: We utilised data from the UK Biobank, an on-going, prospective population-based cohort study. We employed propensity score matching to assess differences in outcomes between patients with a critical care encounter and patients admitted to the hospital (first admission to hospital available) without critical care. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse emotional, physical and social outcomes following critical illness and the relationships between these health domains. Findings: Data from 1,618 patients were analysed. The median time to follow-up in the critical care cohort was 4427 days (IQR:788–6146) vs 4516 days (IQR: 811–6369) in the non-critical care, hospitalised cohort. Across the two time periods assessed (pre and post 2000), patients exposed to critical care were more likely to experience mental health issues such as depression (p < 0.01) and social isolation (p = 0.01) following discharge from hospital. The critical care cohort were also more likely to have social problems such as the requirement for government funded welfare support (p = 0.02). In the critical care cohort, social and emotional health were closely correlated (p < 0.001, 95% CI:0.33–0.54). The nature of physical problems changed over time; pre-2000 there was a significant difference between the critical and non-critical care in physical outcomes following discharge from hospital, however, there was no difference detected between the two cohorts post-2000. Interpretation: This cohort study has demonstrated that survivors of critical illness have different psycho-social outcomes to matched patients, hospitalised without a critical care encounter

Clinical determinants of plasma cardiac biomarkers in patients with stable chest pain

Objective: Troponin and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) concentrations are associated with cardiovascular risk in stable patients. Understanding their determinants and identifying modifiable clinical targets may improve outcomes. We aimed to establish clinical and cardiac determinants of these biomarkers. Methods: This was a prespecified substudy from the randomised Scottish Computed Tomography of the Heart trial, which enrolled patients 18–75 years with suspected stable angina between 2010 and 2014 (NCT01149590). We included patients from six centres in whom high-sensitivity troponin I and BNP were measured (Singulex Erenna). Patients with troponin >99th centile upper reference limit (10.2 ng/L) or BNP ≥400 ng/L were excluded to avoid inclusion of patients with myocardial injury or heart failure. Multivariable linear regression models were constructed with troponin and BNP as dependent variables. Results: In total, 885 patients were included; 881 (99%) and 847 (96%) had troponin and BNP concentrations above the limit of detection, respectively. Participants had a slight male preponderance (n=513; 56.1%), and the median age was 59.0 (IQR 51.0–65.0) years. The median troponin and BNP concentrations were 1.4 (IQR 0.90–2.1) ng/L and 29.1 (IQR 14.0–54.0) ng/L, respectively. Age and atherosclerotic burden were independent predictors of both biomarkers. Male sex, left ventricular mass and systolic blood pressure were independent predictors of increased troponin. In contrast, female sex and left ventricular volume were independent predictors of increased BNP. Conclusions: Troponin and BNP are associated with coronary atherosclerosis but have important sex differences and distinct and contrasting associations with CT-determined left ventricular mass and volume

Emergency Department Escalation in Theory and Practice: A Mixed-Methods Study Using a Model of Organizational Resilience

Study objective Escalation policies are used by emergency departments (EDs) when responding to an increase in demand (eg, a sudden inflow of patients) or a reduction in capacity (eg, a lack of beds to admit patients). The policies aim to maintain the ability to deliver patient care, without compromising safety, by modifying “normal” processes. The study objective is to examine escalation policies in theory and practice. Methods This was a mixed-method study involving a conceptual analysis of National Health Service escalation policies (n=12) and associated escalation actions (n=92), as well as a detailed ethnographic study of escalation in situ during a 16-month period in a large UK ED (n=30 observations). Results The conceptual analysis of National Health Service escalation policies found that their use requires the ability to dynamically reconfigure resources (staff and equipment), change work flow, and relocate patients. In practice, it was discovered that when the ED is under pressure, these prerequisites cannot always be attained. Instead, escalation processes were adapted to manage pressures informally. This adaptive need (“work as done”) was found to be incompletely specified in policies (“work as imagined”). Conclusion Formal escalation actions and their implementation in practice differed and varied in their effectiveness. Monitoring how escalation works in practice is essential in understanding whether and how escalation policies help to manage workload

Maternal alcohol intake prior to and during pregnancy and risk of adverse birth outcomes: evidence from a British cohort

Background: Evidence is conflicting regarding the relationship between low maternal alcohol consumption and birth outcomes. This paper aimed to investigate the association between alcohol intake before and during pregnancy with birth weight and gestational age and to examine the effect of timing of exposure. Methods: A prospective cohort in Leeds, UK, of 1303 pregnant women aged 18–45 years. Questionnaires assessed alcohol consumption before pregnancy and for the three trimesters separately. Categories of alcohol consumption were divided into ≤2 units/week and >2 units/week with a non-drinking category as referent. This was related to size at birth and preterm delivery, adjusting for confounders including salivary cotinine as a biomarker of smoking status. Results: Nearly two-thirds of women before pregnancy and over half in the first trimester reported alcohol intakes above the Department of Health (UK) guidelines of ≤2 units/week. Associations with birth outcomes were strongest for intakes >2 units/week before pregnancy and in trimesters 1 and 2 compared to non-drinkers. Even women adhering to the guidelines in the first trimester were at significantly higher risk of having babies with lower birth weight, lower birth centile and preterm birth compared to non-drinkers, after adjusting for confounders (p<0.05). Conclusions: We found the first trimester to be the period most sensitive to the effect of alcohol on the developing fetus. Women adhering to guidelines in this period were still at increased risk of adverse birth outcomes. Our findings suggest that women should be advised to abstain from alcohol when planning to conceive and throughout pregnanc

Gender parity in scientific authorship in a National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre : a bibliometric analysis

Objective: Scientific authorship is a vital marker of achievement in academic careers and gender equity is a key performance metric in research. However, there is little understanding of gender equity in publications in biomedical research centres funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). This study assesses the gender parity in scientific authorship of biomedical research. Design: Descriptive, cross-sectional, retrospective bibliometric study. Setting: NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). Data: Data comprised 2409 publications that were either accepted or published between April 2012 and March 2017. The publications were classified as basic science studies, clinical studies (both trial and non-trial studies) and other studies (comments, editorials, systematic reviews, reviews, opinions, book chapters, meeting reports, guidelines and protocols). Main outcome measures: Gender of authors, defined as a binary variable comprising either male or female categories, in six authorship categories: first author, joint first authors, first corresponding author, joint corresponding authors, last author and joint last authors. Results: Publications comprised 39% clinical research (n=939), 27% basic research (n=643) and 34% other types of research (n=827). The proportion of female authors as first author (41%), first corresponding authors (34%) and last author (23%) was statistically significantly lower than male authors in these authorship categories (p<0.001). Of total joint first authors (n=458), joint corresponding authors (n=169) and joint last authors (n=229), female only authors comprised statistically significant (p<0.001) smaller proportions, that is, 15% (n=69), 29% (n=49) and 10% (n=23) respectively, compared with male only authors in these joint authorship categories. There was a statistically significant association between gender of the last author with gender of the first author (p<0.001), first corresponding author (p<0.001) and joint last author (p<0.001). The mean journal impact factor (JIF) was statistically significantly higher when the first corresponding author was male compared with female (Mean JIF: 10.00 vs 8.77, p=0.020); however, the JIF was not statistically different when there were male and female authors as first authors and last authors. Conclusions: Although the proportion of female authors is significantly lower than the proportion of male authors in all six categories of authorship analysed, the proportions of male and female last authors are comparable to their respective proportions as principal investigators in the BRC. These findings suggest positive trends and the NIHR Oxford BRC doing very well in gender parity in the senior (last) authorship category. Male corresponding authors are more likely to publish articles in prestigious journals with high impact factor while both male and female authors at first and last authorship positions publish articles in equally prestigious journals

Regional Histopathology and Prostate MRI Positivity: A Secondary Analysis of the PROMIS Trial

Background: The effects of regional histopathologic changes on prostate MRI scans have not been accurately quantified in men with an elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level and no previous biopsy. / Purpose: To assess how Gleason grade, maximum cancer core length (MCCL), inflammation, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN), or atypical small acinar proliferation within a Barzell zone affects the odds of MRI visibility. / Materials and Methods: In this secondary analysis of the Prostate MRI Imaging Study (PROMIS; May 2012 to November 2015), consecutive participants who underwent multiparametric MRI followed by a combined biopsy, including 5-mm transperineal mapping (TPM), were evaluated. TPM pathologic findings were reported at the whole-prostate level and for each of 20 Barzell zones per prostate. An expert panel blinded to the pathologic findings reviewed MRI scans and declared which Barzell areas spanned Likert score 3–5 lesions. The relationship of Gleason grade and MCCL to zonal MRI outcome (visible vs nonvisible) was assessed using generalized linear mixed-effects models with random intercepts for individual participants. Inflammation, PIN, and atypical small acinar proliferation were similarly assessed in men who had negative TPM results. / Results: Overall, 161 men (median age, 62 years [IQR, 11 years]) were evaluated and 3179 Barzell zones were assigned MRI status. Compared with benign areas, the odds of MRI visibility were higher when a zone contained cancer with a Gleason score of 3+4 (odds ratio [OR], 3.1; 95% CI: 1.9, 4.9; P < .001) or Gleason score greater than or equal to 4+3 (OR, 8.7; 95% CI: 4.5, 17.0; P < .001). MCCL also determined visibility (OR, 1.24 per millimeter increase; 95% CI: 1.15, 1.33; P < .001), but odds were lower with each prostate volume doubling (OR, 0.7; 95% CI: 0.5, 0.9). In men who were TPM-negative, the presence of PIN increased the odds of zonal visibility (OR, 3.7; 95% CI: 1.5, 9.1; P = .004). / Conclusion: An incremental relationship between cancer burden and prostate MRI visibility was observed. Prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia contributed to false-positive MRI findings