Finding effective intervention strategies to combat rising obesity levels could significantly reduce the burden that obesity and associated non-communicable diseases places on both individuals and ...the National Health Service.
In this parallel randomised-controlled trial, 76 participants who are overweight or obese (50 female) were given free access to a fitness centre for the duration of the 12-week intervention and randomised to one of three interventions. The commercial intervention, the Healthy Weight Programme, (HWP, n = 25, 10/15 men/women) consisted of twelve 1-h nutrition coaching sessions with a nutritionist delivered as a mixture of group and 1 to 1 sessions. In addition, twice-weekly exercise sessions (24 in total) were delivered by personal trainers for 12 weeks. The NHS intervention (n = 25, 8/17 men/women) consisted of following an entirely self-managed 12-week online NHS resource. The GYM intervention (n = 26, 8/18 men/women) received no guidance or formal intervention. All participants were provided with a gym induction for safety and both the NHS and GYM participants were familiarised with ACSM physical activity guidelines by way of a hand-out.
The overall follow-up rate was 83%. Body mass was significantly reduced at post-intervention in all groups (HWP: N = 18, - 5.17 ± 4.22 kg, NHS: N = 21-4.19 ± 5.49 kg; GYM: N = 24-1.17 ± 3.00 kg; p < 0.001) with greater reductions observed in HWP and NHS groups compared to GYM (p < 0.05). Out with body mass and BMI, there were no additional statistically significant time x intervention interaction effects.
This is the first study to evaluate the efficacy of both a free online NHS self-help weight-loss tool and a commercial weight loss programme that provides face-to-face nutritional support and supervised exercise. The findings suggest that both interventions are superior to an active control condition with regard to eliciting short-term weight-loss.
ISRCTN Registry - ISRCTN31489026. Prospectively registered: 27/07/16.
Two million people in the UK are experiencing long COVID (LC), which necessitates effective and scalable interventions to manage this condition. This study provides the first results from a scalable ...rehabilitation programme for participants presenting with LC.
601 adult participants with symptoms of LC completed the Nuffield Health COVID-19 Rehabilitation Programme between February 2021 and March 2022 and provided written informed consent for the inclusion of outcomes data in external publications. The 12-week programme included three exercise sessions per week consisting of aerobic and strength-based exercises, and stability and mobility activities. The first 6 weeks of the programme were conducted remotely, whereas the second 6 weeks incorporated face-to-face rehabilitation sessions in a community setting. A weekly telephone call with a rehabilitation specialist was also provided to support queries and advise on exercise selection, symptom management and emotional wellbeing.
The 12-week rehabilitation programme significantly improved Dyspnea-12 (D-12), Duke Activity Status Index (DASI), World Health Orginaisation-5 (WHO-5) and EQ-5D-5L utility scores (all
< 0.001), with the 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the improvement in each of these outcomes exceeding the minimum clinically important difference (MCID) for each measure (mean change CI: D-12: -3.4 -3.9, -2.9; DASI: 9.2 8.2, 10.1; WHO-5: 20.3 18.6, 22.0; EQ-5D-5L utility: 0.11 0.10, 0.13). Significant improvements exceeding the MCID were also observed for sit-to-stand test results (4.1 3.5, 4.6). On completion of the rehabilitation programme, participants also reported significantly fewer GP consultations (
< 0.001), sick days (
= 0.003) and outpatient visits (
= 0.007) during the previous 3 months compared with baseline.
The blended and community design of this rehabilitation model makes it scalable and meets the urgent need for an effective intervention to support patients experiencing LC. This rehabilitation model is well placed to support the NHS (and other healthcare systems worldwide) in its aim of controlling the impacts of COVID-19 and delivering on its long-term plan.
https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN14707226, identifier 14707226.
UK national clinical guidance recommends that men with prostate cancer on androgen deprivation therapy are offered twice weekly supervised aerobic and resistance exercise to address iatrogenic harm ...caused by treatment. Very few NHS trusts have established adequate provision of such services. Furthermore, interventions fail to demonstrate sustained behaviour change. The STAMINA lifestyle intervention offers a system-level change to clinical care delivery addressing barriers to long-term behaviour change and implementation of new prostate cancer care pathways. This trial aims to establish whether STAMINA is clinically and cost-effective in improving cancer-specific quality of life and/or reducing fatigue compared to optimised usual care. The process evaluation aims to inform the interpretation of results and, if the intervention is shown to benefit patients, to inform the implementation of the intervention into the NHS.
Men with prostate cancer on androgen deprivation therapy (n = 697) will be identified from a minimum of 12 UK NHS trusts to participate in a multi-centre, two-arm, individually randomised controlled trial. Consenting men will have a 'safety to exercise' check and be randomly allocated (5:4) to the STAMINA lifestyle intervention (n = 384) or optimised usual care (n = 313). Outcomes will be collected at baseline, 3-, 6- and 12-month post-randomisation. The two primary outcomes are cancer-specific quality of life and fatigue. The parallel process evaluation will follow a mixed-methods approach to explore recruitment and aspects of the intervention including, reach, fidelity, acceptability, and implementation. An economic evaluation will estimate the cost-effectiveness of the STAMINA lifestyle intervention versus optimised usual care and a discrete choice experiment will explore patient preferences.
The STAMINA lifestyle intervention has the potential to improve quality of life and reduce fatigue in men on androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer. Embedding supervised exercise into prostate cancer care may also support long-term positive behaviour change and reduce adverse events caused by treatment. Findings will inform future clinical care and could provide a blueprint for the integration of supervised exercise and behavioural support into other cancer and/or clinical services.
ISRCTN 46385239, registered on 30/07/2020. Cancer Research UK 17002, retrospectively registered on 24/08/2022.
Rationale
Effective preoperative assessments of determinants of health status and function may improve postoperative outcomes.
Aims and Objectives
We developed risk scores of preoperative patient ...factors and patient‐reported outcome measures (PROMs) as predictors of patient‐rated satisfaction and improvement following hip and knee replacements.
Patients and Methods
Prospectively collected National Health Service and independent sector patient data (n = 30,457), including patients' self‐reported demographics, comorbidities, PROMs (Oxford Hip/Knee score (OHS/OKS) and European Quality of Life (EQ5D index and health‐scale), were analysed. Outcomes were defined as patient‐reported satisfaction and improvement following surgery at 7‐month follow‐up. Univariable and multivariable‐adjusted logistic regressions were undertaken to build prediction models; model discrimination was evaluated with the concordance index (c‐index) and nomograms were developed to allow the estimation of probabilities.
Results
Of the 14,651 subjects with responses for satisfaction following hip replacements 564 (3.8%) reported dissatisfaction, and 1433 (9.2%) of the 15,560 following knee replacement reported dissatisfaction. A total of 14,662 had responses for perceived improvement following hip replacement (lack of improvement in 391; 2.7%) and 15,588 following knee replacement (lack of improvements in 1092; 7.0%). Patients reporting poor outcomes had worse preoperative PROMs. Several factors, including age, gender, patient comorbidities and EQ5D, were included in the final prediction models: C‐indices of these models were 0.613 and 0.618 for dissatisfaction and lack of improvement, respectively, for hip replacement and 0.614 and 0.598, respectively, for knee replacement.
Conclusions
Using easily accessible preoperative patient factors, including PROMs, we developed models which may help predict dissatisfaction and lack of improvement following hip and knee replacements and facilitate risk stratification and decision‐making processes.
Osteoarthritis is a chronic musculoskeletal condition that impacts more than 300 million people worldwide, with 43 million people experiencing moderate to severe disability due to the disease. This ...service evaluation provides the results from a tailored blended model of care on joint health, physical function, and personal wellbeing.
1,593 adult participants with osteoarthritis completed the Nuffield Health Joint Pain Programme between February 2019 and May 2022. The 12-week programme included two 40-min exercise sessions per week. All exercise sessions were conducted face-to-face and were followed by 20 min of education to provide information and advice on managing osteoarthritis.
The 12-week joint pain programme significantly improved Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) global scores (Week 0: 37.5 17.2; Week 12: 24.0 16.6;
< 0.001), as well as subscales for pain (Week 0: 7.6 3.7; Week 12: 4.9 3.7;
< 0.001), function (Week 0: 26.0 13.0; Week 12: 16.3 12.4;
< 0.001), and stiffness (Week 0: 3.9 1.6; Week 12: 2.8 1.7;
< 0.001). Significant improvements in health-related outcomes including systolic and diastolic blood pressure (Week 0: 139 18 mmHg; Week 12: 134 17 mmHg, and Week 0: 82 11 mmHg; Week 12: 79 19 mmHg; both
< 0.001), body mass index (Week 0: 29.0 4.5 kg/m
; Week 12: 28.6 4.4 kg/m
;
< 0.001), waist to hip ratio (Week 0: 0.92 0.23; Week 12: 0.90 0.11,
< 0.01) and timed up and go (Week 0: 10.8 s 2.9; Week 12: 8.1 s 2.0;
< 0.001) were also observed. On completion of the joint pain programme, participants also reported significant improvements in all assessed aspects of self-reported wellbeing (all
< 0.001).
With reductions in physical symptoms of osteoarthritis and improvements in personal wellbeing, the joint pain programme delivered by personal trainers in a gym-setting offers a nationally scalable, non-pharmacological treatment pathway for osteoarthritis.
Introduction:
High levels of physical, cognitive, and psychosocial impairments are anticipated for those recovering from the COVID-19. In the UK, ~50% of survivors will require additional ...rehabilitation. Despite this, there is currently no evidence-based guideline available in England and Wales that addresses the identification, timing and nature of effective interventions to manage the morbidity associated following COVID-19. It is now timely to accelerate the development and evaluation of a rehabilitation service to support patients and healthcare services. Nuffield Health have responded by configuring a scalable rehabilitation pathway addressing the immediate requirements for those recovering from COVID-19 in the community.
Methods and Analysis:
This long-term evaluation will examine the effectiveness of a 12-week community rehabilitation programme for COVID-19 patients who have been discharged following in-patient treatment. Consisting of two distinct 6-week phases; Phase 1 is an entirely remote service, delivered via digital applications. Phase 2 sees the same patients transition into a gym-based setting for supervised group-based rehabilitation. Trained rehabilitation specialists will coach patients across areas such as goal setting, exercise prescription, symptom management and emotional well-being. Outcomes will be collected at 0, 6, and 12 weeks and at 6- and 12-months. Primary outcome measures will assess changes in health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) and COVID-19 symptoms using EuroQol Five Dimension Five Level Version (EQ-5D-5L) and Dyspnea-12, respectively. Secondary outcome measures of the Duke Activity Status Questionnaire (DASI), 30 s sit to stand test, General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Patient Experience Questionnaire (PEQ) and Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY) will allow for the evaluation of outcomes, mediators and moderators of outcome, and cost-effectiveness of treatment.
Discussion:
This evaluation will investigate the immediate and long-term impact, as well as the cost effectiveness of a blended rehabilitation programme for COVID-19 survivors. This evaluation will provide a founding contribution to the literature, evaluating one of the first programmes of this type in the UK. The evaluation has international relevance, with the potential to show how a new model of service provision can support health services in the wake of COVID-19.
Trial Registration:
Current Trials ISRCTN ISRCTN14707226
Web:
http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN14707226
COVID-19 is one of the biggest challenges that human beings have faced recently. Many researchers have proposed different prediction methods for establishing a virus transmission model and predicting ...the trend of COVID-19. Among them, the methods based on artificial intelligence are currently the most interesting and widely used. However, only using artificial intelligence methods for prediction cannot capture the time change pattern of the transmission of infectious diseases. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a COVID-19 prediction model based on time-dependent SIRVD by using deep learning. This model combines deep learning technology with the mathematical model of infectious diseases, and forecasts the parameters in the mathematical model of infectious diseases by fusing deep learning models such as LSTM and other time prediction methods. In the current situation of mass vaccination, we analyzed COVID-19 data from January 15, 2021, to May 27, 2021 in seven countries – India, Argentina, Brazil, South Korea, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy. The experimental results show that the prediction model not only has a 50% improvement in single-day predictions compared to pure deep learning methods, but also can be adapted to short- and medium-term predictions, which makes the overall prediction more interpretable and robust.
•The time-dependent SIRVD can measure and evaluate the parameters in the epidemic.•The combination of mathematical model of infectious diseases and deep learning is useful.•The SIRVD-DL performs better than single deep learning method and is suitable for short and medium term forecasts.•The moving average method is effective for the COVID-19 data smoothing.
Abstract Background and aims Smokers typically have a lower body mass index (BMI) than non‐smokers, while smoking cessation is associated with weight gain. In pre‐clinical research, nicotine in ...tobacco smoking suppresses appetite and influences subsequent eating behaviour; however, this relationship is unclear in humans. This study measured the associations of smoking with different eating and dietary behaviours. Design A cross‐sectional analysis of data from health assessments conducted between 2004 and 2022. Setting An independent healthcare‐based charity within the United Kingdom. Participants A total of 80 296 men and women (mean ± standard deviation SD: age, 43.0 ± 10.4 years; BMI, 25.7 ± 4.2 kg/m 2 ; 62.5% male) stratified into two groups based on their status as a smoker ( n = 6042; 7.5%) or non‐smoker ( n = 74 254; 92.5%). Measurements Smoking status (self‐report) was the main exposure, while the primary outcomes were selected eating and dietary behaviours. Age, sex and socioeconomic status (index of multiple deprivation IMD) were included as covariates and interaction terms, while moderate‐to‐vigorous exercise and sleep quality were included as covariates only. Findings Smokers had lower odds of snacking between meals and eating food as a reward or out of boredom versus non‐smokers (all odds ratio OR ≤ 0.82; P < 0.001). Furthermore, smokers had higher odds of skipping meals, going more than 3 h without food, adding salt and sugar to their food, overeating and finding it hard to leave something on their plate versus non‐smokers (all OR ≥ 1.06; P ≤ 0.030). Additionally, compared with non‐smokers, smoking was associated with eating fried food more times per week (rate ratio RR = 1.08; P < 0.001), eating fewer meals per day, eating sweet foods between meals and eating dessert on fewer days per week (all RR ≤ 0.93; P < 0.001). Several of these relationships were modified by age, sex and IMD. Conclusions Smoking appears to be associated with eating and dietary behaviours consistent with inhibited food intake, low diet quality and altered food preference. Several of these relationships are moderated by age, sex and socioeconomic status.
Wastewater-based epidemiology has potential as an early-warning tool for determining the presence of COVID-19 in a community. The University of Arizona (UArizona) utilized WBE paired with clinical ...testing as a surveillance tool to monitor the UArizona community for SARS-CoV-2 in near real-time, as students re-entered campus in the fall. Positive detection of virus RNA in wastewater lead to selected clinical testing, identification, and isolation of three infected individuals (one symptomatic and two asymptomatic) that averted potential disease transmission. This case study demonstrated the value of WBE as a tool to efficiently utilize resources for COVID-19 prevention and response. Thus, WBE coupled with targeted clinical testing was further conducted on 13 dorms during the course of the Fall semester (Table 3). In total, 91 wastewater samples resulted in positive detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA that successfully provided an early-warning for at least a single new reported case of infection (positive clinical test) among the residents living in the dorm. Overall, WBE proved to be an accurate diagnostic for new cases of COVID-19 with an 82.0% positive predictive value and an 88.9% negative predictive value. Increases in positive wastewater samples and clinical tests were noted following holiday-related activities. However, shelter-in-place policies proved to be effective in reducing the number of daily reported positive wastewater and clinical tests. This case study provides evidence for WBE paired with clinical testing and public health interventions to effectively contain potential outbreaks of COVID-19 in defined communities.
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•Positive detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater led to selected clinical testing.•WBE identified one symptomatic and two asymptomatic individuals in a dorm.•79 positive wastewater samples provided early warnings of infection(s) in 13 dorms.•Cases increased following holidays and shelter-in-place policies proved effective.•WBE paired with clinical testing and interventions effectively contained outbreaks.
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