Articles

Dropping risk stratification with subsequent treatment-risk paradox in non ST elevation acute coronary syndromes: a clinical audit in Iraq

Risk stratification is the cornerstone in managing patients with Non-ST Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes (NSTE-ACS) and can attenuate the unjustified variability in treatment and guide the intervention decis...

Authors: Zainab Atiyah Dakhil and Hasan Ali Farhan

Evidence-based practice in primary healthcare from the managerial point of view – a national survey

The vast availability of and demand for evidence in modern primary healthcare force clinical decisions to be made based on condensed evidence in the form of policies and guidelines. Primary healthcare managers...

Authors: Tobias Abelsson, Helena Morténius, Ann-Kristin Karlsson, Stefan Bergman and Amir Baigi

A qualitative study of evidence-based therapeutic process in mental health services in Ghana– context-mechanisms-outcomes

Evidence-based clinical practice is an inherent component of mental health professional practice in developed countries. However, little is known about professional perspectives of evidence-based practice in m...

Authors: Eric Badu, Anthony Paul O’Brien, Rebecca Mitchell and Akwasi Osei

Telehealth to support referral management in a universal health system: a before-and-after study

Management of patient flow within a healthcare network, allowing equitable and qualified access to healthcare, is a major challenge for universal health systems. Implementation of telehealth strategies to supp...

Authors: Sabrina Dalbosco Gadenz, Josué Basso, Patrícia Roberta Berithe Pedrosa de Oliviera, Stephan Sperling, Marcus Vinicius Dutra Zuanazzi, Gabriel Gausmann Oliveira, Ivonice Martins da Silva, Raphael Mendes Motta, Luana Gonçalves Gehres, Érica de Brito Mallmann, Átila Szczecinski Rodrigues, Daniela V Pachito and Beatriz de Faria Leao

Patient involvement at the managerial level: the effectiveness of a patient and family advisory council at a regional cancer centre in Sweden

In cancer care as well as other types of treatment and care, little is known about the contribution of Patient and Family Advisory Councils (PFACs) operating at the managerial level in healthcare organizations. T...

Authors: Mio Fredriksson and Anton Modigh

Using a human-centred design approach to develop a comprehensive newborn monitoring chart for inpatient care in Kenya

Job aids such as observation charts are commonly used to record inpatient nursing observations. For sick newborns, it is important to provide critical information, intervene, and tailor treatment to improve he...

Authors: Naomi Muinga, Chris Paton, Edith Gicheha, Sylvia Omoke, Ibukun-Oluwa Omolade Abejirinde, Lenka Benova, Mike English and Marjolein Zweekhorst

Predictors of institutionalization in users of day care facilities with mild cognitive impairment to moderate dementia

Most people with dementia wish to remain at home for as long as possible. Therefore, it is important to know the predictors of institutionalization, especially those that can be influenced. The aim of the pres...

Authors: Klara Spiegl, Katharina Luttenberger, Elmar Graessel, Linda Becker, Jennifer Scheel and Anna Pendergrass

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patterns of attendance at emergency departments in two large London hospitals: an observational study

Hospitals in England have undergone considerable change to address the surge in demand imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of this on emergency department (ED) attendances is unknown, especially for n...

Authors: Michaela A. C. Vollmer, Sreejith Radhakrishnan, Mara D. Kont, Seth Flaxman, Samir Bhatt, Ceire Costelloe, Kate Honeyford, Paul Aylin, Graham Cooke, Julian Redhead, Alison Sanders, Helen Mangan, Peter J. White, Neil Ferguson, Katharina Hauck, Shevanthi Nayagam…

Individual notions of fair data sharing from the perspectives of Swiss stakeholders

The meaningful sharing of health data between different stakeholders is central to the advancement of science and to improve care offered to individual patients. However, it is important that the interests of ...

Authors: Lester Darryl Geneviève, Andrea Martani, Bernice Simone Elger and Tenzin Wangmo

Process evaluation of an implementation study in dementia care (EIT-4-BPSD): stakeholder perspectives

Behavioral and psychological symptoms of distress in dementia (BPSD) are major drivers of poor quality of life, caregiver burden, institutionalization, and cost of care in nursing homes. The Evidence Integrati...

Authors: Liza Behrens, Marie Boltz, Kiernan Riley, Karen Eshraghi, Barbara Resnick, Elizabeth Galik, Jeanette Ellis, Ann Kolanowski and Kimberly Van Haitsma

Physical functioning and mental health treatment initiation and retention for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder: a prospective cohort study

Most US adults with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) do not initiate mental health treatment within a year of diagnosis. Increasing treatment uptake can improve health and quality of life for those with PT...

Authors: Wei Duan-Porter, David B. Nelson, Kristine E. Ensrud and Michele R. Spoont

Socio-demographic, clinical and service use determinants associated with HIV related stigma among people living with HIV/AIDS: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Defining HIV-related stigma (HRS) can be problematic due to structural inequalities, cultural differences, discrimination by health care providers and the limitations of tools measuring stigma for people livin...

Authors: Bahram Armoon, Peter Higgs, Marie-Josée Fleury, Amir-Hossien Bayat, Ladan Fattah Moghaddam, Azadeh Bayani and Yadollah Fakhri

The consequences of COVID-19 lockdown for formal and informal resource utilization among home-dwelling people with dementia: results from the prospective PAN.DEM study

COVID-19 isolated home-dwelling people with dementia (PwD) from home care services, respite care, and daytime activities. We aimed to investigate the consequences of these restrictions on informal (family, fri...

Authors: Maarja Vislapuu, Renira C. Angeles, Line I. Berge, Egil Kjerstad, Marie H. Gedde and Bettina S. Husebo

Detrimental changes to the health and well-being of healthcare workers in an Australian COVID-19 hospital

Most studies examining the psychological impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers (HCWs) have assessed well-being during the initial stages or the peak of the first wave of the pandemic. We aimed to measure th...

Authors: Joanne M Stubbs, Helen M Achat and Suzanne Schindeler

Household expenditure for immunization among children in India: a two-part model approach

Despite the Indian government’s Universal Immunization Program (UIP), the progress of full immunization coverage is plodding. The cost of delivering routine immunization varies widely across facilities within ...

Authors: Shobhit Srivastava, Pradeep Kumar, Shekhar Chauhan and Adrita Banerjee

Pharmacist-led intervention in treatment non-adherence and associated direct costs of management among ambulatory patients with type 2 diabetes in southwestern Nigeria

Non-adherence to recommended therapy remains a challenge to achieving optimal clinical outcome with resultant economic implications.

Authors: Aduke E. Ipingbemi, Wilson O. Erhun and Rasaq Adisa

Expectations and needs of socially vulnerable patients for navigational support of primary health care services

Primary healthcare is the main entry to the health care system for most of the population. In 2008, it was estimated that about 26% of the population in Quebec (Canada) did not have a regular family physician....

Authors: Carine Sandrine Ngo Bikoko Piemeu, Christine Loignon, Émilie Dionne, Andrée-Anne Paré-Plante, Jeannie Haggerty and Mylaine Breton

“Saying goodbye all alone with no close support was difficult”- Dying during the COVID-19 pandemic: an online survey among bereaved relatives about end-of-life care for patients with or without SARS-CoV2 infection

During the SARS-CoV2 pandemic, protection measures, as well as visiting restrictions, had a severe impact on seriously ill and dying patients and their relatives. The study aims to describe the experiences of ...

Authors: Karlotta Schloesser, Steffen T Simon, Berenike Pauli, Raymond Voltz, Norma Jung, Charlotte Leisse, Agnes van der Heide, Ida J Korfage, Anne Pralong, Claudia Bausewein, Melanie Joshi and Julia Strupp

Provision of pharmaceutical care to suspected high-risk COVID-19 patients through telehealth: a nationwide simulated patient study

The COVID-19 pandemic has overburdened the healthcare facilities, which demanded the use of alternative and effective methods for delivering healthcare services. The use of telehealth has become a necessity to...

Authors: Rania Itani, Hani M J Khojah, Fatima Jaffal, Deema Rahme, Lina Karout and Samar Karout

Challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic by family carers of people living with dementia towards the end of life

People living with dementia account for a large proportion of deaths due to COVID-19. Family carers are faced with making significant and emotive decisions during the pandemic, including decisions about end of...

Authors: Narin Aker, Emily West, Nathan Davies, Kirsten J. Moore, Elizabeth L. Sampson, Pushpa Nair and Nuriye Kupeli

Determinants of the need for respite according to the characteristics of informal carers of elderly people at home: results from the 2015 French national survey

The demographic and social changes associated with population aging and the increasing incidence of chronic diseases underscore the importance of the role of informal carers. The number of informal carers is i...

Authors: Wilfried GUETS and Lionel PERRIER

Attitude towards COVID 19 vaccines and vaccine hesitancy in urban and rural communities in Tamil Nadu, India – a community based survey

Effective and safe COVID 19 vaccines have been approved for emergency use since the end of 2020 and countries are actively vaccinating their people. Nevertheless, hesitancy towards the vaccines exist globally.

Authors: Kenneth Grace Mascarenhas Danabal, Shiva Shankar Magesh, Siddharth Saravanan and Vijayaprasad Gopichandran

The determinants of burnout and professional turnover intentions among Canadian physicians: application of the job demands-resources model

Burnout among physicians is growing at an exponential rate and many are leaving the profession. Nevertheless, the specific antecedents and intermediary stages involved in predicting their professional turnover...

Authors: Denis Chênevert, Steven Kilroy, Kevin Johnson and Pierre-Luc Fournier

Examining the cost-effectiveness of personal protective equipment for formal healthcare workers in Kenya during the COVID-19 pandemic

Healthcare workers are at a higher risk of COVID-19 infection during care encounters compared to the general population. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) have been shown to protect COVID-19 among healthcare...

Authors: Jacob Kazungu, Kenneth Munge, Kalin Werner, Nicholas Risko, Andres I. Vecino-Ortiz and Vincent Were

Towards equity: a retrospective analysis of public sector radiological resources and utilization patterns in the metropolitan and rural areas of the Western Cape Province of South Africa in 2017

The reduction of inequality is a key United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goal (WHO, Human Resources for Health: foundation for Universal Health Coverage and the post-2015 development agenda, 2014; Tran...

Authors: Beulah Christina van Zyl, Michelle Monique Barnard, Keith Cloete, Amanda Fernandez, Matodzi Mukosi and Richard Denys Pitcher

A decade of commitment to hospital quality of care: overview of and perceptions on multicomponent quality improvement policies involving accreditation, public reporting, inspection and pay-for-performance

Quality improvement (QI) initiatives such as accreditation, public reporting, inspection and pay-for-performance are increasingly being implemented globally. In Flanders, Belgium, a government policy for acute...

Authors: Astrid Van Wilder, Jonas Brouwers, Bianca Cox, Luk Bruyneel, Dirk De Ridder, Fien Claessens, Kristof Eeckloo and Kris Vanhaecht

Variation in referrals from primary care to scheduled paediatric services in North and East Scotland -a cross-sectional study

Factors contributing to decisions to refer children for scheduled appointments at medical paediatric outpatient clinics are not well understood. Our aim was to describe practice-level characteristics associate...

Authors: Smita Dick, Ryen Crabb, Claire McFaul, Clare MacRae, Philip Wilson and Steve Turner

Health care utilization and health-related quality of life of injury patients: comparison of educational groups

Differences in health care utilization by educational level can contribute to inequalities in health. Understanding health care utilization and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of educational groups may ...

Authors: Marjolein van der Vlegel, Inge Spronk, Joost Oude Groeniger, Hidde Toet, Martien J. M. Panneman, Suzanne Polinder and Juanita A. Haagsma

Rural citizen-patient priorities for healthcare in British Columbia, Canada: findings from a mixed methods study

The challenge of including citizen-patient voices in healthcare planning is exacerbated in rural communities by regional variation in priorities and a historical lack of attention to rural healthcare needs. Th...

Authors: Jude Kornelsen, Christine Carthew, Kayla Míguez, Matilda Taylor, Catherine Bodroghy, Kathryn Petrunia and Delia Roberts

Cost utility analysis of Remdesivir and Dexamethasone treatment for hospitalised COVID-19 patients - a hypothetical study

Sars-Cov-2 is a novel corona virus associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Remdesivir and Dexamethasone are two treatments that have shown to be effective against the Sars-Cov-2 associated disease...

Authors: Andrea Carta and Claudio Conversano

Playful strategies to foster the well-being of pediatric cancer patients in the Brazilian Unified Health System: a design thinking approach

Cancer care can negatively impact children’s subjective well-being. In this research, well-being refers to patients’ self-perception and encompasses their hospital and care delivery assessment. Playful strateg...

Authors: Leandro Miletto Tonetto, Valentina Marques da Rosa, Priscila Brust-Renck, Megan Denham, Pedro Marques da Rosa, Craig Zimring, Irini Albanti and Leslie Lehmann

Stakeholder engagement in the health policy process in a low income country: a qualitative study of stakeholder perceptions of the challenges to effective inclusion in Malawi

Inclusive engagement in healthcare policies and decision-making is essential to address the needs of patients and communities, reduce health inequities and increase the accountability of the government. In low...

Authors: Sarah C. Masefield, Alan Msosa, Florence Kasende Chinguwo and Jean Grugel

Interventions to reduce low-value imaging – a systematic review of interventions and outcomes

It is estimated that 20–50% of all radiological examinations are of low value. Many attempts have been made to reduce the use of low-value imaging. However, the comparative effectiveness of interventions to re...

Authors: Elin Kjelle, Eivind Richter Andersen, Lesley J. J. Soril, Leti van Bodegom-Vos and Bjørn Morten Hofmann

Disability insurance benefit application in Switzerland: an analysis of linked administrative and survey data

The guiding principle of disability insurance in Switzerland is ‘rehabilitation before pension’. Access to rehabilitation measures to restore, maintain or improve the earning capacity of individuals with disab...

Authors: Szilvia Altwicker-Hámori

Parental perception of neonatal transfers from level 3 to level 2 neonatal intensive care units in Calgary, Alberta: qualitative findings

Retro-transfers from level 3 to 2 NICUs in Alberta’s regionalization of neonatal care system are essential to ensure the proper utilization of level 3 NICUs for complex neonatal cases. Parents often experience...

Authors: Aliyah Dosani, Prashanth Murthy, Shafana Kassam, Baldeep Rai and Abhay K. Lodha

Number of musculoskeletal pain sites leads to increased long-term healthcare contacts and healthcare related costs – a Danish population-based cohort study

People with musculoskeletal pain seek more healthcare than the general population, however little is known about the long-term effect on healthcare use. The aim of this study was to examine the consequences of...

Authors: S. Mose, P. Kent, A. Smith, J. H. Andersen and D. H. Christiansen

What is the impact of removing performance-based financial incentives on community health worker motivation? A qualitative study from an infant and young child feeding program in Bangladesh

Community health worker (CHW) motivation is an important factor related to health service quality and CHW program sustainability in low- and middle-income countries. Financial and non-financial motivators may ...

Authors: Jeffrey Glenn, Corrina Moucheraud, Denise Diaz Payán, Allison Crook, James Stagg, Haribondhu Sarma, Tahmeed Ahmed, Adrienne Epstein, Sharmin Khan Luies, Mahfuzur Rahman, Margaret E. Kruk and Thomas J. Bossert

Economic burden of comorbid chronic conditions among survivors of stroke in China: 10-year longitudinal study

The coexistence of chronic diseases among people with stroke is common. However, little is known about the extent of incremental healthcare expenditures associated with having physically and psychologically ch...

Authors: Ji Zhang, Suhang Song, Yang Zhao, Gaoting Ma, Yinzi Jin and Zhi-Jie Zheng

Correction to: Self-managed occupational therapy and physiotherapy for adults receiving inpatient rehabilitation (‘My Therapy’): protocol for a stepped-wedge cluster randomised trial

Authors: Natasha K. Brusco, Christina L. Ekegren, Nicholas F. Taylor, Keith D. Hill, Annemarie L. Lee, Lisa Somerville, Natasha A. Lannin, Derick Wade, Rania Abdelmotaleb, Libby Callaway, Sara L. Whittaker and Meg E. Morris

Patterns of hospital utilization in the Unified Health System in six Brazilian capitals: comparison between the year before and the first six first months of the COVID-19 pandemic

To analyze the temporal evolution of the pattern of hospital use in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil.

Authors: Margareth Crisóstomo Portela, Claudia Cristina de Aguiar Pereira, Sheyla Maria Lemos Lima, Carla Lourenço Tavares de Andrade and Mônica Martins

Implementation of social needs screening in primary care: a qualitative study using the health equity implementation framework

Screening in primary care for unmet individual social needs (e.g., housing instability, food insecurity, unemployment, social isolation) is critical to addressing their deleterious effects on patients’ health ...

Authors: Connor Drake, Heather Batchelder, Tyler Lian, Meagan Cannady, Morris Weinberger, Howard Eisenson, Emily Esmaili, Allison Lewinski, Leah L. Zullig, Amber Haley, David Edelman and Christopher M. Shea

How costly is the first prenatal clinic visit? Analysis of out-of-pocket expenditure in rural Sri Lanka - a country with free maternal health care

This study aimed to determine the magnitude of and factors associated with out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) during the first prenatal clinic visit among pregnant women in Anuradhapura district, Sri Lanka, whic...

Authors: Sajaan Praveena Gunarathne, Nuwan Darshana Wickramasinghe, Thilini Chanchala Agampodi, Indika Ruwan Prasanna and Suneth Buddhika Agampodi

Implementation of a proactive referral tool for child healthcare professionals to encourage and facilitate parental smoking cessation in the Netherlands: a mixed-methods study

Recently, the parent-tailored telephone based smoking cessation counseling program ‘Smoke-free Parents’ was shown to be effective in helping parents to quit smoking. To implement this program in child healthca...

Authors: Tessa Scheffers-van Schayck, Bethany Hipple Walters, Roy Otten and Marloes Kleinjan

Domiciliary dentistry clinics: a multiple case study in the province of Quebec, Canada

The demand for more flexible and person-centered models of oral healthcare delivery is increasing and while mobile and domiciliary dental services have the potential to increase access to oral healthcare among...

Authors: N. Makansi, J. Rousseau and C. Bedos

Integrated early childhood development policy in Iran: a stakeholder analysis

Many stakeholders are involved in the complicated process of policy making in integrated early childhood development (IECD). In other words, there are many challenges for IECD policy making in developing count...

Authors: Omolbanin Atashbahar, Ali Akbari Sari, Amirhossein Takian, Alireza Olyaeemanesh, Efat Mohamadi and Sayyed Hamed Barakati

Webcam use in German neonatological intensive care units: an interview study on parental expectations and experiences

To bridge the physical distance between parents and children during a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) stay, webcams are used in few German NICUs. They allow parents to view their infant even when they cann...

Authors: Alinda Reimer, Laura Mause, Jan Hoffmann, Pauline Mantell, Johanne Stümpel, Till Dresbach and Nadine Scholten

The views of public service managers on the implementation of National Health Insurance in primary care: a case of Johannesburg Health District, Gauteng Province, Republic of South Africa

The South African government is implementing National Health Insurance (NHI) as a monopsony health care financing mechanism to drive the country towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Strategic purchasing, w...

Authors: S D Murphy and S Moosa

How can we improve patients’ access to new drugs under uncertainties? : South Korea’s experience with risk sharing arrangements

New drugs including cancer drugs and orphan drugs are becoming increasingly more expensive. Risk sharing arrangements (RSAs) could manage the risk based on both financial impact and the health outcome of new d...

Authors: Boram Lee, Eun-Young Bae, SeungJin Bae, Hyun-Jin Choi, Kyung-Bok Son, Young-Sil Lee, Suhyun Jang and Tae-Jin Lee

Qualitative analysis of Iranian sixth five-year economic, social, and cultural development plan from universal health coverage perspective

This research analyzed the Sixth Five-Year Economic, Social, and Cultural Development Plan of the Islamic Republic of Iran (6NPD) to shed light on how the plan addresses the Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

Authors: Mahdi Mahdavi and Haniye Sadat Sajadi

Comparing primary care Interprofessional and non-interprofessional teams on access to care and health services utilization in Ontario, Canada: a retrospective cohort study

Many countries, including Canada, have introduced primary care reforms to improve health system functioning and value. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between receiving care from inter...

Authors: Wissam Haj-Ali, Brian Hutchison, Rahim Moineddin, Walter P. Wodchis and Richard H. Glazier