Patient engagement with antibiotic messaging in secondary care: a qualitative feasibility study of the ‘review & revise’ experience

Background: We aimed to investigate and optimise the acceptability and usefulness of a patient leaflet about antibiotic prescribing decisions made during hospitalisation, and to explore individual patient experiences and preferences regarding the process of antibiotic prescription ‘review & revise’ which is a key strategy to minimise antibiotic overuse in hospitals. Methods: In this qualitative study, run within the feasibility study of a large, cluster-randomised stepped wedge trial of 36 hospital organisations, a series of semi-structured, think-aloud telephone interviews were conducted and data were analysed using thematic analysis. Fifteen adult patients who had experienced a recent acute medical hospital admission during which they had been prescribed antimicrobials and offered a patient leaflet about antibiotic prescribing were recruited to the study. Results: Participants reacted positively to the leaflet, reporting that it was both an accessible and important source of information which struck the appropriate balance between informing and reassuring. Participants all valued open communication with clinicians, and were keen to be involved in antibiotic prescribing decisions, with individuals reporting positive experiences regarding antibiotic prescription changes or stopping. Many participants had prior experience or knowledge of antibiotics and resistance, and generally welcomed efforts to reduce antibiotic usage. Overall, there was a feeling that healthcare professionals (HCPs) are trusted experts providing the most appropriate treatment for individual patient conditions. Conclusions: This study offers novel insights into how patients within secondary care are likely to respond to messages advocating a reduction in the use of antibiotics through the ‘review & revise’ approach. Due to the level of trust that patients place in their care provider, encouraging HCPs within secondary care to engage patients with greater communication and information provision could provide great advantages in the drive to reduce antibiotic use. It may also be beneficial for HCPs to view patient experiences as cumulative events that have the potential to impact future behaviour around antibiotic use. Finally, pre-testing messages about antibiotic prescribing and resistance is vital to dispelling any misconceptions either around effectiveness of treatment for patients, or perceptions of how messages may be received

Identification of a novel neuregulin 1 at-risk haplotype in Han schizophrenia Chinese patients, but no association with the Icelandic/Scottish risk haplotype.

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links fieldTo determine if neuregulin 1 (NRG1) is associated with schizophrenia in Asian populations, we investigated a Han Chinese population using both a family trio design and a case-control design. A total of 25 microsatellite markers and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped spanning the 1.1 Mb NRG1 gene including markers of a seven-marker haplotype at the 5' end of the gene found to be in excess in Icelandic and Scottish schizophrenia patients. The alleles of the individual markers forming the seven marker at-risk haplotype are not likely to be causative as they are not in excess in patients in the Chinese population studied here. However using unrelated patients, we find a novel haplotype (HAP(China 1)), immediately upstream of the Icelandic haplotype, in excess in patients (11.9% in patients vs 4.2% in controls; P=0.0000065, risk ratio (rr) 3.1), which was not significant when parental controls were used. Another haplotype (HAP(China 2)) overlapping the Icelandic risk haplotype was found in excess in the Chinese (8.5% of patients vs 4.0% of unrelated controls; P=0.003, rr 2.2) and was also significant using parental controls only (P=0.0047, rr 2.1). A four-marker haplotype at the 3' end of the NRG1 gene, HAP(China 3), was found at a frequency of 23.8% in patients and 13.7% in nontransmitted parental haplotypes (P=0.000042, rr=2.0) but was not significant in the case-control comparison. We conclude that different haplotypes within the boundaries of the NRG1 gene may be associated with schizophrenia in the Han Chinese

Is the ‘New Deal for Communities’ a New Deal for Equality? Getting Women on Board in Neighbourhood Governance

Across the EU, neighbourhoods have been the focus for achieving social cohesion and reducing social exclusion. Neighbourhood renewal and community involvement were central themes in the UK Labour government's urban policy. This article focuses on the challenge of community engagement given the heterogeneity of individuals and neighbourhoods. It uses the case study of a New Deal for Communities (NDC) partnership to explore the experiences of different women on an NDC board, including those from minority ethnic groups. The NDC in the case study provides optimism about the possibility of including diverse groups and people in neighbourhood governance, yet too little attention is still given at both national policy and neighbourhood levels to working politically and productively with concepts of ethnicity and gender

Studies of new Higgs boson interactions through nonresonant HH production in the b¯bγγ fnal state in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for nonresonant Higgs boson pair production in the b ¯bγγ fnal state is performed using 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. This analysis supersedes and expands upon the previous nonresonant ATLAS results in this fnal state based on the same data sample. The analysis strategy is optimised to probe anomalous values not only of the Higgs (H) boson self-coupling modifer κλ but also of the quartic HHV V (V = W, Z) coupling modifer κ2V . No signifcant excess above the expected background from Standard Model processes is observed. An observed upper limit µHH < 4.0 is set at 95% confdence level on the Higgs boson pair production cross-section normalised to its Standard Model prediction. The 95% confdence intervals for the coupling modifers are −1.4 < κλ < 6.9 and −0.5 < κ2V < 2.7, assuming all other Higgs boson couplings except the one under study are fxed to the Standard Model predictions. The results are interpreted in the Standard Model efective feld theory and Higgs efective feld theory frameworks in terms of constraints on the couplings of anomalous Higgs boson (self-)interactions

Searches for lepton-flavour-violating decays of the Higgs boson into eτ and μτ in \sqrt{s} = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

Abstract This paper presents direct searches for lepton flavour violation in Higgs boson decays, H → eτ and H → μτ, performed using data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The searches are based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy s $$\sqrt{s}$$ = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1. Leptonic (τ → ℓνℓντ) and hadronic (τ → hadrons ντ) decays of the τ-lepton are considered. Two background estimation techniques are employed: the MC-template method, based on data-corrected simulation samples, and the Symmetry method, based on exploiting the symmetry between electrons and muons in the Standard Model backgrounds. No significant excess of events is observed and the results are interpreted as upper limits on lepton-flavour-violating branching ratios of the Higgs boson. The observed (expected) upper limits set on the branching ratios at 95% confidence level, B $$\mathcal{B}$$ (H → eτ) < 0.20% (0.12%) and B $$\mathcal{B}$$ (H → μτ ) < 0.18% (0.09%), are obtained with the MC-template method from a simultaneous measurement of potential H → eτ and H → μτ signals. The best-fit branching ratio difference, B $$\mathcal{B}$$ (H → μτ) → B $$\mathcal{B}$$ (H → eτ), measured with the Symmetry method in the channel where the τ-lepton decays to leptons, is (0.25 ± 0.10)%, compatible with a value of zero within 2.5σ

Measurement of the H → γ γ and H → ZZ∗ → 4 cross-sections in pp collisions at √s = 13.6 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive Higgs boson production cross section is measured in the di-photon and the Z Z∗ → 4 decay channels using 31.4 and 29.0 fb−1 of pp collision data respectively, collected with the ATLAS detector at a centre of-mass energy of √s = 13.6 TeV. To reduce the model dependence, the measurement in each channel is restricted to a particle-level phase space that closely matches the chan nel’s detector-level kinematic selection, and it is corrected for detector effects. These measured fiducial cross-sections are σfid,γ γ = 76+14 −13 fb, and σfid,4 = 2.80 ± 0.74 fb, in agreement with the corresponding Standard Model predic tions of 67.6±3.7 fb and 3.67±0.19 fb. Assuming Standard Model acceptances and branching fractions for the two chan nels, the fiducial measurements are extrapolated to the full phase space yielding total cross-sections of σ (pp → H) = 67+12 −11 pb and 46±12 pb at 13.6 TeV from the di-photon and Z Z∗ → 4 measurements respectively. The two measure ments are combined into a total cross-section measurement of σ (pp → H) = 58.2±8.7 pb, to be compared with the Stan dard Model prediction of σ (pp → H)SM = 59.9 ± 2.6 p