Kirsty O'Brien

Comparison of self-reported health & healthcare utilisation between asylum seekers and refugees: an observational study

BackgroundAdult refugees and asylum seekers living in Western countries experience a high prevalence of mental health problems, especially post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety. This study compares and contrasts the prevalence of health problems, and potential risk factors as well as the utilisation of health services by asylum seekers and refugees in the Irish context.MethodsCross sectional study using validated self reported health status questionnaires of adult asylum seekers (n = 60) and refugees (n = 28) from 30 countries, living in Ireland. Outcome measures included: general health status (SF-36), presence of PTSD symptoms and anxiety/depression symptoms. Data on chronic conditions and pre or post migration stressors are also reported. The two groups are compared for utilisation of the health care system and the use of over the counter medications.ResultsAsylum seekers were significantly more likely than refugees to report symptoms of PTSD (OR 6.3, 95% CI: 2.2–17.9) and depression/anxiety (OR 5.8, 95% CI: 2.2–15.4), while no significant difference was found in self-reported general health. When adjusted by multivariable regression, the presence of more than one chronic disease (OR 4.0, 95%CI: 1.3–12.7; OR 3.4, 95% CI: 1.2–10.1), high levels of pre migration stressors (OR 3.6, 95% CI: 1.1–11.9; OR 3.3, 95% CI: 1.0–10.4) or post migration stressors (OR 17.3, 95% CI: 4.9–60.8; OR 3.9, 95% CI: 1.2–12.3) were independent predictors of self reported PTSD or depression/anxiety symptoms respectively, however, residence status was no longer significantly associated with PTSD or depression/anxiety. Residence status may act as a marker for other explanatory variables; our results show it has a strong relationship with post migration stressors (χ2 = 19.74, df = 1, P < 0.001).In terms of health care utilisation, asylum seekers use GP services more often than refugees, while no significant difference was found between these groups for use of dentists, medication, hospitalisation or mental health services.ConclusionAsylum seekers have a higher level of self reported PTSD and depression/anxiety symptoms compared to refugees. However, residence status appears to act as a marker for post migration stressors. Compared to refugees, asylum seekers utilise GP services more often, but not mental health services.

Predicting streptococcal pharyngitis in adults in primary care: a systematic review of the diagnostic accuracy of symptoms and signs and validation of the Centor score

BackgroundStratifying patients with a sore throat into the probability of having an underlying bacterial or viral cause may be helpful in targeting antibiotic treatment. We sought to assess the diagnostic accuracy of signs and symptoms and validate a clinical prediction rule (CPR), the Centor score, for predicting group A β-haemolytic streptococcal (GABHS) pharyngitis in adults (> 14 years of age) presenting with sore throat symptoms.MethodsA systematic literature search was performed up to July 2010. Studies that assessed the diagnostic accuracy of signs and symptoms and/or validated the Centor score were included. For the analysis of the diagnostic accuracy of signs and symptoms and the Centor score, studies were combined using a bivariate random effects model, while for the calibration analysis of the Centor score, a random effects model was used.ResultsA total of 21 studies incorporating 4,839 patients were included in the meta-analysis on diagnostic accuracy of signs and symptoms. The results were heterogeneous and suggest that individual signs and symptoms generate only small shifts in post-test probability (range positive likelihood ratio (+LR) 1.45-2.33, -LR 0.54-0.72). As a decision rule for considering antibiotic prescribing (score ≥ 3), the Centor score has reasonable specificity (0.82, 95% CI 0.72 to 0.88) and a post-test probability of 12% to 40% based on a prior prevalence of 5% to 20%. Pooled calibration shows no significant difference between the numbers of patients predicted and observed to have GABHS pharyngitis across strata of Centor score (0-1 risk ratio (RR) 0.72, 95% CI 0.49 to 1.06; 2-3 RR 0.93, 95% CI 0.73 to 1.17; 4 RR 1.14, 95% CI 0.95 to 1.37).ConclusionsIndividual signs and symptoms are not powerful enough to discriminate GABHS pharyngitis from other types of sore throat. The Centor score is a well calibrated CPR for estimating the probability of GABHS pharyngitis. The Centor score can enhance appropriate prescribing of antibiotics, but should be used with caution in low prevalence settings of GABHS pharyngitis such as primary care.

Validity of British Thoracic Society guidance (the CRB-65 rule) for predicting the severity of pneumonia in general practice: systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND The CRB-65 score is a clinical prediction rule that grades the severity of community-acquired pneumonia in terms of 30-day mortality. AIM The study sought to validate CRB-65 and assess its clinical value in community and hospital settings. DESIGN OF STUDY Systematic review and meta-analysis of validation studies of CRB-65. METHOD Medline (1966 to June 2009), Embase (1988 to November 2008), British Nursing Index (BNI) and PsychINFO were searched, using a diagnostic accuracy search filter combined with subject-specific terms. The derived (index) rule was used as a predictive model and applied to all validation studies. Comparison was made between the observed and predicted number of deaths stratified by risk group (low, intermediate, and high) and setting of care (community or hospital). Pooled results are presented as risk ratios (RRs) in terms of over-prediction (RR>1) or under-prediction (RR<1) of 30-day mortality. RESULTS Fourteen validation studies totalling 397 875 patients are included. CRB-65 performs well in hospitalised patients, particularly in those classified as intermediate (RR 0.91, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.71 to 1.17) or high risk (RR 1.01, 95% CI = 0.87 to 1.16). In community settings, CRB-65 over-predicts the probability of 30-day mortality across all strata of predicted risk, low (RR 9.41, 95% CI = 1.75 to 50.66), intermediate (RR 4.84, 95% CI = 2.61 to 8.69), and high (RR 1.58, 95% CI = 0.59 to 4.19). CONCLUSION CRB-65 performs well in stratifying severity of pneumonia and resultant 30-day mortality in hospital settings. In community settings, CRB-65 appears to over-predict the probability of 30-day mortality across all strata of predicted risk. Caution is needed when applying CRB-65 to patients in general practice.

Developing an International Register of Clinical Prediction Rules for Use in Primary Care: A Descriptive Analysis

PURPOSE We describe the methodology used to create a register of clinical prediction rules relevant to primary care. We also summarize the rules included in the register according to various characteristics. METHODS To identify relevant articles, we searched the MEDLINE database (PubMed) for the years 1980 to 2009 and supplemented the results with searches of secondary sources (books on clinical prediction rules) and personal resources (eg, experts in the field). The rules described in relevant articles were classified according to their clinical domain, the stage of development, and the clinical setting in which they were studied. RESULTS Our search identified clinical prediction rules reported between 1965 and 2009. The largest share of rules (37.2%) were retrieved from PubMed. The number of published rules increased substantially over the study decades. We included 745 articles in the register; many contained more than 1 clinical prediction rule study (eg, both a derivation study and a validation study), resulting in 989 individual studies. In all, 434 unique rules had gone through derivation; however, only 54.8% had been validated and merely 2.8% had undergone analysis of their impact on either the process or outcome of clinical care. The rules most commonly pertained to cardiovascular disease, respiratory, and musculoskeletal conditions. They had most often been studied in the primary care or emergency department settings. CONCLUSIONS Many clinical prediction rules have been derived, but only about half have been validated and few have been assessed for clinical impact. This lack of thorough evaluation for many rules makes it difficult to retrieve and identify those that are ready for use at the point of patient care. We plan to develop an international web-based register of clinical prediction rules and computer-based clinical decision support systems.

Clinical prediction rules in practice: review of clinical guidelines and survey of GPs

BACKGROUND The publication of clinical prediction rules (CPRs) studies has risen significantly. It is unclear if this reflects increasing usage of these tools in clinical practice or how this may vary across clinical areas. AIM To review clinical guidelines in selected areas and survey GPs in order to explore CPR usefulness in the opinion of experts and use at the point of care. DESIGN AND SETTING A review of clinical guidelines and survey of UK GPs. METHOD Clinical guidelines in eight clinical domains with published CPRs were reviewed for recommendations to use CPRs including primary prevention of cardiovascular disease, transient ischaemic attack (TIA) and stroke, diabetes mellitus, fracture risk assessment in osteoporosis, lower limb fractures, breast cancer, depression, and acute infections in childhood. An online survey of 401 UK GPs was also conducted. RESULTS Guideline review: Of 7637 records screened by title and/or abstract, 243 clinical guidelines met inclusion criteria. CPRs were most commonly recommended in guidelines regarding primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (67%) and depression (67%). There was little consensus across various clinical guidelines as to which CPR to use preferentially. SURVEY Of 401 responders to the GP survey, most were aware of and applied named CPRs in the clinical areas of cardiovascular disease and depression. The commonest reasons for using CPRs were to guide management and conform to local policy requirements. CONCLUSION GPs use CPRs to guide management but also to comply with local policy requirements. Future research could focus on which clinical areas clinicians would most benefit from CPRs and promoting the use of robust, externally validated CPRs.

Optimized retrieval of primary care clinical prediction rules from MEDLINE to establish a web-based register

OBJECTIVES Identifying clinical prediction rules (CPRs) for primary care from electronic databases is difficult. This study aims to identify a search filter to optimize retrieval of these to establish a register of CPRs for the Cochrane Primary Health Care field. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING Thirty primary care journals were manually searched for CPRs. This was compared with electronic search filters using alternative methodologies: (1) textword searching; (2) proximity searching; (3) inclusion terms using specific phrases and truncation; (4) exclusion terms; and (5) combinations of methodologies. RESULTS We manually searched 6,344 articles, revealing 41 CPRs. Across the 45 search filters, sensitivities ranged from 12% to 98%, whereas specificities ranged from 43% to 100%. There was generally a trade-off between the sensitivity and specificity of each filter (i.e., the number of CPRs and total number of articles retrieved). Combining textword searching with the inclusion terms (using specific phrases) resulted in the highest sensitivity (98%) but lower specificity (59%) than other methods. The associated precision (2%) and accuracy (60%) were also low. CONCLUSION The novel use of combining textword searching with inclusion terms was considered the most appropriate for updating a register of primary care CPRs where sensitivity has to be optimized.

The prevalence of abnormal preoperative coagulation tests in pediatric patients undergoing spinal surgery for scoliosis.

BACKGROUND CONTEXT Multilevel spinal fusion surgery for deformity correcting spinal surgery in pediatric patients with scoliosis has typically been associated with significant blood loss. The mechanism of bleeding in such patients is not fully understood. Coagulation abnormalities, which may be associated with scoliosis, are thought to play a role. PURPOSE To document and compare the prevalence of preoperative coagulation abnormalities among patients with scoliosis attending a pediatric orthopedic department for spinal fusion surgery with patients attending for minor surgery. STUDY DESIGN An observational study. All patients were recruited from a pediatric tertiary referral center in Dublin, Ireland. PATIENT SAMPLE Coagulation profile results were prospectively collected over a 2-year period from 165 spinal surgery patients. In total, 175 patients were included in the non-scoliosis group. These patients attended the day ward for minor procedures and were recruited over a 4-month period. OUTCOME MEASURES The primary outcome measure was the coagulation profiles, which included prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), and thrombin time (TT). Levels of Coagulation Factors II, V, VII, and X were also recorded. METHODS All blood samples were sent to the haematology laboratory to establish the coagulation profile. The primary outcome was the presence of an abnormal coagulation screening test (if any of PT, APTT, or TT were abnormal). Prothrombin time, APTT, and TT were also analyzed as individual continuous variables, as well as Coagulation Factors II, V, VII, and X. Regression analysis was used to compare the coagulation profile of scoliosis patients with that of non-scoliosis patients. There were no outside funding sources or any potential conflict of interest associated with this study. RESULTS The scoliosis patients were more likely to have an abnormal preoperative screening test compared with non-scoliosis patients, with an odds ratio of 2.6. Further analysis showed statistically significant longer clotting times for patients with scoliosis compared with those without; PT (t=3.37, p=.001), APTT (t=4.26, p<.001), TT (t=4.52, p<.001). Of the coagulation factors analyzed, only factor X was significantly different in scoliosis patients compared with non-scoliosis controls (t=-4.41, p<.001). CONCLUSIONS Children with scoliosis have a higher prevalence of preoperative coagulation abnormalities compared with normal healthy patients.

PIPc study: development of indicators of potentially inappropriate prescribing in children (PIPc) in primary care using a modified Delphi technique

Objective There is limited evidence regarding the quality of prescribing for children in primary care. Several prescribing criteria (indicators) have been developed to assess the appropriateness of prescribing in older and middle-aged adults but few are relevant to children. The objective of this study was to develop a set of prescribing indicators that can be applied to prescribing or dispensing data sets to determine the prevalence of potentially inappropriate prescribing in children (PIPc) in primary care settings. Design Two-round modified Delphi consensus method. Setting Irish and UK general practice. Participants A project steering group consisting of academic and clinical general practitioners (GPs) and pharmacists was formed to develop a list of indicators from literature review and clinical expertise. 15 experts consisting of GPs, pharmacists and paediatricians from the Republic of Ireland and the UK formed the Delphi panel. Results 47 indicators were reviewed by the project steering group and 16 were presented to the Delphi panel. In the first round of this exercise, consensus was achieved on nine of these indicators. Of the remaining seven indicators, two were removed following review of expert panel comments and discussion of the project steering group. The second round of the Delphi process focused on the remaining five indicators, which were amended based on first round feedback. Three indicators were accepted following the second round of the Delphi process and the remaining two indicators were removed. The final list consisted of 12 indicators categorised by respiratory system (n=6), gastrointestinal system (n=2), neurological system (n=2) and dermatological system (n=2). Conclusions The PIPc indicators are a set of prescribing criteria developed for use in children in primary care in the absence of clinical information. The utility of these criteria will be tested in further studies using prescribing databases.

Patient preferences for breast cancer referral: development and pilot study.

Background Levels of referral to specialist breast clinics in Ireland have increased from 23,575 referrals in 2006 to 37,631 referrals in 2010 [1]. Over this period however, levels of breast cancer diagnosis have remained relatively consistent [1]. This means that more women are being exposed to potentially harmful investigations without an increase in benefit. The aim of the project was to assess patient preferences for a watchful waiting programme versus immediate referral to a specialist breast clinic for triple assessment, if presenting to their General Practitioner with breast symptoms that have a low risk of malignancy.