Tom Marshall

..The resource cost and health implications of these differences are quantified in this paper...

..However the pilot project was not a robust evaluation. There was a need for an efficient evaluation that would not disrupt the planned rollout of the project...

..Furthermore, the proportion of inadequate smears is known to vary widely amongst providers. This study investigates this variation using Shewhart's theory of variation and control charts, and suggests strategies for addressing this...

..Although the presenting features of the cancer are well described, the risks they convey are less well known. This study aimed to quantify the risk of cancer for different symptoms, across age groups and in both sexes...

..This paper calculates the cost-effectiveness of aspirin, antihypertensive treatments and statins for prevention of cardiovascular disease...

..To determine the relationship between expressed preferences for drug treatment to prevent coronary disease and several participant and general practitioner characteristics among patients attending coronary risk screening...

..This paper derives these probabilities for a US population and illustrates them visually in a readily understandable format...

..This study uses a randomized controlled trial design to investigate the effects of two forms of data presentation--league tables and control charts--on health service decision-makers...

..However, it is not known to what extent this information is already available to clinicians, or the extent to which it is used...

..The ability to use a more efficient strategy has a value. This paper models the costs and benefits of a number of identification strategies and estimates the additional value of an information-based strategy...

..This article calculates positive and negative predictive values for blood pressure measurement and assesses the frequency of clinically important blood pressure misclassification...

..This paper investigates agreement between the identification of special cause variation in risk adjusted and observed hospital specific mortality rates after coronary artery bypass grafting in New York hospitals...

..018). Because of biological variation in blood pressure, most young adults on treatment for hypertension have been misclassified as hypertensive. Most who have been correctly diagnosed are either clinically obese or have kidney disease...

..This paper analyses the test characteristics of using such a strategy for identification of high risk patients...

..A pilot cardiovascular disease prevention project was implemented in the inner-city West Midlands. It was evaluated by comparing its effectiveness to a control group where full implementation was delayed by a year...

..59-0.64), and at age 65-74 years, it is 0.94 (95% CI: 0.91-0.96). About 39% of adults under 45 years diagnosed as high risk are not at high risk. Cardiovascular risk assessment should be targeted at high-risk populations...

..Plagiarism is a common issue in education. Software can detect plagiarism but little is known about prevention...

..To illustrate visually the lifetime probabilities of the principal outcomes of the UK breast screening programme in a readily understandable format...

..The practice of taking blood tests at the same time as measuring blood pressure may potentially bias estimations of blood pressure...

..The initiative produced only modest improvements in prescribing practice, a finding the authors found difficult to explain. This paper reanalyses the data from an audit of antibiotic prescribing for sore throat in general practice...

..To develop a model to determine resource costs and health benefits of implementing guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in primary care...

..The control chart is a method of distinguishing between these two kinds of variation: it is used in industry to effect improvement and may be useful in primary care...

..To facilitate this process, the Department of Public Health and Epidemiology at the University of Birmingham developed a toolkit for carrying out a health care needs assessment of the prison population...

..To determine the discrimination characteristics of a new algorithm and two existing symptom scoring systems for identification of patients with suspected colorectal cancer...

..However, there are no data on how many must be assessed, how much cardiovascular disease can be prevented or which patients are most likely to benefit...

..To determine which treatments for preventing coronary heart disease should be offered to which patients by assessing their incremental cost effectiveness...

..Therefore, if choice is to be a real driver of change in health care it needs to encompass patient empowerment and be based on a more collaborative approach to decision making between patients and professionals...

..Although guidelines indicate when patients are eligible for antihypertensives and statins, little is known about whether general practitioners (GPs) follow this guidance...

..DISCUSSION: The differences between the two sources of in-hospital death counts were not large enough to influence the Dr Foster ranks but were sufficient to raise concern about the validity and completeness of mortality data in the NHS...

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..Over-the-counter (OTC) simvastatin 10 mg became available in the UK in July 2004 with the aim of improving primary prevention of ischemic heart disease...

..65%. Community programs for CVD prevention appear to have generally achieved favorable changes in overall CVD risk and, with adaptation to current circumstances, deserve continued consideration as possible approaches to preventing CVD...

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..This study was designed to: (1) assess the maintenance and calibration of sphygmomanometers in use in primary care; (2) assess the clinical, ethical, legal and public health implications of our findings...

..To assess whether providing women with additional information on the pros and cons of screening, compared with information currently offered by the NHS, affects their intention to attend for screening...

..The study aimed to identify issues voluntarily raised by clinicians surrounding the decision to prescribe preventive treatment for CHD...

..This study was undertaken to determine the optimal cut-off points of WC for predicting incident CVD and metabolic syndrome in an Iranian population...

..This used control charts for analysis and followed a scientific strategy for investigating special cause variation...

..g. BP 140/90 mmHg); but this fails to adequately accommodate a common cause of variation--the play of chance...

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..We wished to establish the frequency of unexpected hypoglycemia observed in non diabetic patients outside the intensive care unit and to determine if they have a plausible clinical explanation...

..This method may offer a way of describing 25,OHD3 deficiency between observers worldwide...

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..To determine the frequency of overuse injury in indoor climbers, the common sites of such injury, and the factors that influence the probability that a climber will have sustained an overuse injury while climbing indoors...

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..To discover what types of scientific misconduct are most likely to influence the results of a clinical trial...

..Concurrent validity of maternal opinion of child development was estimated in a cross-sectional, population-based survey of 6-59-mo children (n=3025), using a standard measure devised from the Denver Developmental Screening Test...

..To test the application of statistical methods to detect data fabrication in a clinical trial...

..The position of the trochlear groove was more medial in patients with patellofemoral instability compared with normal knees. Groove position was more important than shape when predicting which patellae were likely to dislocate...

..The impact of improved postpartum health care, especially management of maternal infections and especially in primiparous women, on the prevalence of subclinical mastitis and its consequences requires investigation...

..Before developing countries reinforce home-based births with a skilled attendant, research is needed to compare the feasibility, cost, effectiveness, acceptability, and implications for health-care equity in both approaches...

..If a standardised measure of development status (z-scores) is required, this can be obtained by dividing the score by its standard deviation. Concurrent and discriminant validity of the score must be examined in further studies...

..Area of residence modified the effects of socioeconomic conditions on children s growth. Housing and sanitation programs are potentially beneficial to offset the negative effect of social disadvantage on children's growth...

..Our aim was to determine how severe obstetric complications in Burkina Faso affect a range of health, social, and economic indicators in the first year post partum...

..To examine the effects of the home environment on unintentional domestic injuries and related health care attendance in infants from deprived families...