CaHRU Research Forum November 2016

CaHRU_logotypeCaHRU, in conjunction with NHS partners including East Midlands Ambulance Service and Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trusts, held its latest Research Forum of 2016 on 16th November. The forum followed its usual two-hour format with three speakers giving detailed presentations about a study they have been working on and then responding to questions.

brayford_arc1The first presentation was from Dr Murray Smith, CaHRU’s health economist and econometrician, who talked about ‘An Economic Feasibility Study on the Fluoridation of Drinking Water in the East Midlands’. This study is being led by NHS Nottingham City on behalf of all nine primary care trusts in the East Midlands. It examined the cost of setting up fluoridation plants, where they would be and the cost of ongoing maintenance. Ultimately, the feasibility study will produce a report for each of the areas covered by the nine participating primary care trusts.

Next was Professor Niro Siriwardena who presented on behalf of Dr Zahid Asghar on their study examining the performance of candidates with dyslexia in the Applied Knowledge Test (ATK) for Membership of the Royal College of Desk1General Practitioners (RCGP). A key finding of the study was that there was no evidence of differential attainment in candidates declaring dyslexia compared with those who did not once other candidate attributes such as age, gender, ethnicity and country of primary medical qualification had been accounted for.

Dr Stephanie Armstrong concluded the Research Forum by presenting findings from the Network exploring the Ethics of Ambulance Trials (NEAT) study. This is a Wellcome funded study led by the University of Lincoln and involving a number of other UK, as well as Dutch and Swiss, universities. The study has been running for less than a year but has already achieved an impressive set of outcomes. These include: a systematic review of published randomised controlled trials; a review of global and national regulations; and preliminary results of interviews with expert informants, paramedics and patients who have been involved in ambulance trials.

By Viet-Hai Phung

Experts convene for Wellcome funded Network Exploring Ethics in Ambulance Trials (NEAT) project meeting

NOn 4th November 2016, CaHRU played host to an eminent group of researchers, ethicists and patient representatives in a meeting to discuss ethics in ambulance based trials. The group was formed as part of the Network Exploring Ethics in Ambulance Trials (NEAT) project, funded by the Wellcome Trust, which is seeking to understand the issues related to ethics in ambulance trials. The meeting had two main objectives, firstly to update the network on the findings of the NEAT project to date and secondly to discuss potential recommendations and future funding opportunities.

neat_ws1In the morning presentations by Dr Adele Langlois and Dr Stephanie Armstrong, outlined the findings of the project to date. These included a systematic review of published randomised controlled trials, a review of global and national regulations and the preliminary results of interview studies with expert informants, paramedics and patients who have been involved in ambulance trials. The morning sessions generated a lot of lively debate centring on both consent models and regulations, and in fact where there was agreement and conflict between these areas.

NAfter a pleasant lunch the discussion continued with possible recommendations of the project being that more work need to be done to clarify the guidance and regulations ultimately leading to a code of practice for ambulance trials and accompanying common ethics framework. Funding opportunities were discussed and the day ended with an agreement that there should be a commitment to continue the work of the network through collaborative research opportunities.

By Dr Stephanie Armstrong

Implementation science and research methods seminar: statistical modelling of time series data

Dr Murray SmithThe latest CaHRU Implementation Science and Research Methods seminar was presented by Dr Murray Smith on 25th October 2016, on the topic of statistical modelling of time series data. Dr Smith, research fellow at the Community and Health Research Unit (CaHRU), is an econometrician with a wide range of experience and research interests in micro-econometric modelling, health informatics, health economic modelling, mathematical statistics and computer algebra. Murray has previously worked as an Associate Professor in the Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics at the University of Sydney, Australia, and as an Associate Professor at the School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham before coming to the University of Lincoln. His research has focuses on the quality of use of pharmaceutical medicines in chronic disease, with analyses that utilise prescribing data drawn from a large database of general practice patient records.

segmentedregressionHe introduced his topic by defining (and giving examples) of data, and related these to how researchers can statistically model time series data in different ways. Murray described four fundamental components of times series including: time (Tt); Cycle (Ct); Seasonal (St) and Irregular (It). He also gave examples of Time Series Analysis Curves such as survival data, Engle’s AutoRegressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (ARCH) and segmented regression. He showed how modelling time series data can be useful for quality improvement research, as this can facilitate the measurement of outcomes or impact over time and extrapolate or estimate future values or outcomes. A time series method (using segmented regression) is being used in a paper currently being prepared by Dr Murray Smith and Professor Niro Siriwardena for publication.

QIlogoDr Smith concluded his interesting presentation by recommending three key books for further reading on Statistical Modelling of Time Series Data: Time Series Analysis by Jame D Hamilton, Time Series Analysis: Forecasting and Control by George E. P. Box et al. and Introduction to Time Series and Forecasting by Peter J. Brockwell & Richard A. Davis. He made the session so interesting that participants asked for further presentations on time series analysis. For his next seminar, Murray will focus more on use of the method for current research at CaHRU to enable more researchers to apply this method to their research.

By Joseph Akanuwe

CaHRU at SAPC Annual Scientific Meeting in Dublin 2016

Despina A team from CaHRU, Dr Coral Sirdifield, Dr Jo Middlemass, Despina Laparidou and Professor Niro Siriwardena, attended the 45th Annual Scientific Meeting of the National Society of Academic Primary Care (SAPC) held at Dublin Castle from 6th-8th July where they gave oral, elevator and poster presentations. The conference opening plenary was given by Prof Margaret Cupples from Belfast who spoke on non-pharmacological interventions for cardiovascular prevention. After parallel session and posters Prof Chris Dowrick delivered the 3rd Helen Lester memorial lecture on his work on depression and mental illness, and this was followed by a drinks reception at the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland.

JoDespina Laparidou (above right) gave an oral presentation on challenges for carers of people with dementia and their support needs from health and social care providers. Jo Middlemass (left) gave an elevator presentation on perceptions and experiences of telemonitoring in older patients with multimorbidity. Niro Siriwardena presented on behalf of Jolien Vos on personal care networks of older people with multimorbidity. Coral Sirdifield presented her poster entitled ‘What does qualitative research on patients’ experiences tell us about how to support safer prescribing of benzodiazepines and and z-drugs?’ Dr Zahid Ashgar’s Dublinposter entitled ‘Suspected cross-sectional study of factors associated with transport to hospital after a suspected convulsion or seizure’ was also presented at the conference.

While they were there, the team also had a little time to sample the cultural delights of Dublin including open air music, Irish dancing and the lively Temple Bar, culminating in an enjoyable conference dinner on Thursday evening.

By Jo Middlemass

CaHRU presents at College Research Showcase

Members of the CaHRU team recently attended the College of Social Science Research Showcase at the University of Lincoln on 4 July 2016. The event aimed to present the work being undertaken across the College of Social Science. The day started with registration and a poster-viewing session. Posters portrayed research from a variety of areas, ranging from animal and comparative psychology, “Dogs and humans respond to emotionally competent stimuli by producing different facial actions” (Catia Correia Caeiro, Dr Kun Guo, Prof Daniel Mills) to other topics from the Schools of Psychology, Health & Social Care and Sport & Exercise Science.

WP_20160704_09_36_33_RichThe rest of the day included presentations from across the College of Social Science, with Dr Jo Middlemass (pictured right) giving the first presentation of the day on her innovative work on the EU funded CHROMED project (Clinical Trials for Elderly Patients with Multiple Diseases), entitled “Perceptions and experiences of tele-monitoring in older patients with multi-morbidity- a qualitative study”. Other CaHRU members also gave excellent presentations including Mohammed Iqbal (“A non-randomised control study to investigate the effectiveness of a novel pain assessment tool for use by ambulance clinicians: improving prehospital pain management”), Dr Zahid Asghar (“Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study of Factors Associated with Transport to Hospital in Patients with Suspected Convulsions presenting to Ambulance Services”), WP_20160704_12_33_22_RichJoseph Akanuwe ( pictured left “Exploring service user and practitioner perspectives of QCancer use in primary care consultations”), Viet-Hai Phung (“Delivering ambulance service care that meets the needs of EU Accession migrants in Lincolnshire”), Fiona Togher (“The use of cognitive interviews to enhance the quality of a Patient Reported Experience Measure (PREM) for use in NHS ambulance services”), Dr Stephanie Armstrong (“Network exploring the Ethics of Ambulance based clinical Trials (NEAT)”), and Despina Laparidou (“Challenges for carers of people with dementia and their support needs from health and social care providers: a qualitative study”). Overall, the event was an excellent opportunity for all researchers to present their work and ‘showcase’ the wonderful projects taking place within CaHRU.

A quick break for a final session of poster viewing was followed by the keynote speaker, Prof Martin Tovee from the School of Psychology, giving an excellent talk on “Body Image, Eating Disorders and the Media”. The day was brought to its close with a reception, where delegates had the opportunity to further discuss the presentations given earlier and share thought-provoking ideas.

By Despina Laparidou