NHS Bolton Library Presents… Primary Care News, Research and Opinion: Week Ending 13th May 2012

Please find below a selection of the most relevant and interesting news stories of the past week. Including:

New Library Arrivals

Commissioning

• PCTs failing to implement continence guidance
• Local commissioning board offices will be fewer than planned
• NHS managers accept government pensions deal
• Plans for national communications service scrapped | News | Health Service Journal
• Increase in public spending on health slowed in 2010, as private health spending rose | BMJ

Primary Care

• Payment to help quit smoking “works,” says study
• NHS ‘can’t cope’ with multi-disease patients
• Ministers block release of NHS risk register
• Head to Head: Are doctors justified in taking industrial action in defence of their pensions?
• Strategies to increase influenza vaccination rates: outcomes of a nationwide cross-sectional survey of UK general practice

 

Public Health

• Are different health promotion interventions required to prevent young men and women binge-drinking?
• Social determinants of health and well-being among young people. Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study
• Adult Obesity Prevalence in English Regions 1993-2010
• Who stays, who drops out? Biosocial predictors of longer term adherence in participants attending an exercise referral scheme in the UK

Strategies to increase influenza vaccination rates: outcomes of a nationwide cross-sectional survey of UK general practice

Strategies to increase influenza vaccination rates: outcomes of a nationwide cross-sectional survey of UK general practice — Dexter et al. 2 (3) — BMJ Open.

This article is available freely via Open Access. Please click on the above link to view it fully.

Abstract

Objective To identify practice strategies associated with higher flu vaccination rates in primary care.

Consultation launched on how to label food

Food manufacturers, supermarkets and health experts are to be asked their views on the best way to label the nutritional content of food.

via BBC News – Consultation launched on how to label food.

Contraceptive patch, ring and clot risk

Contraceptive patch, ring and clot risk.

NHS Choices examines the science behind the newspaper headlines.

Conclusion

This large study provides valuable information on the rate of VTE that may be experienced among users of hormonal contraception.

However, the findings are not completely surprising. Oestrogen-containing hormonal contraceptives are already known to increase the risk of VTE, and medical professionals already consider this potential side effect when prescribing contraception and monitoring patients. Instead of revealing some new or major danger, this study provides a good indication of how the risks compare for a variety of different contraceptive methods.

NICE may approve botox for chronic migraines

NICE may approve botox for chronic migraines – Health news – NHS Choices.

NHS Choices examines the science behind the newspaper headlines.

Links to the headlines

Botox given go-ahead for migraine sufferers. The Guardian, May 11 2012

Botox migraine jab set to be offered on NHS, says NICE. BBC News, May 11 2012

Botox to be the new treatment for chronic migraine. The Independent, May 11 2012

Hope for thousands who suffer migraines as treatment involving botox is given the green light. Daily Mail, May 11 2012

Free Botox on the NHS… but only for those with chronic migraines. Daily Mirror, May 11 2012

Botox jabs on the NHS to bash migraine on the head. Metro, May 11 2012

Migraine sufferers to get botox jabs on NHS. Daily Express, May 11 2012

Links to the science

NICE. Migraine (chronic) – botulinum toxin type A: final appraisal determination. Published online May 10 2012

 

Public health concerns for anti-obesity medicines imported for personal use through the internet: a cross-sectional study

Public health concerns for anti-obesity medicines imported for personal use through the internet: a cross-sectional study — Khan et al. 2 (3) — BMJ Open.

This article is available freely via Open Access. Please click on the above link to view it fully.

Abstract

Objective To explore the circulation of anti-obesity medicines via the internet and their quality.

Who stays, who drops out? Biosocial predictors of longer term adherence in participants attending an exercise referral scheme in the UK

BMC Public Health | Abstract | Who stays, who drops out? Biosocial predictors of longer term adherence in participants attending an exercise referral scheme in the UK.

This article is available freely via Open Access. Please click on the above link to view it fully.

Background

Exercise referral schemes are one of the most popular forms of physical activity intervention in primary care in the UK and present an opportunity to better understand the factors related to exercise adherence. But standard schemes tend to be delivered over a short period and so provide information about the factors associated with short term adherence. This retrospective register-based study of a longer duration scheme allowed investigation of longer term adherence.

Plans for national communications service scrapped | News | Health Service Journal

via Exclusive: Plans for national communications service scrapped | News | Health Service Journal.

This article is solely the work of the HSJ. For a full copy of the article please contact the library.

Plans to set up a national communications service for clinical commissioning groups have been abandoned, HSJ has learnt.

 

Socioeconomic inequalities in mortality from conditions amenable to medical interventions: do they reflect inequalities in access or quality of health care?

BMC Public Health | Abstract | Socioeconomic inequalities in mortality from conditions amenable to medical interventions: do they reflect inequalities in access or quality of health care?.

This article is available freely via Open Access. Please click on the above link to view it fully.

Abstract (provisional)

Background

Previous studies have reported large socioeconomic inequalities in mortality from conditions amenable to medical intervention, but it is unclear whether these can be attributed to inequalities in access or quality of health care, or to confounding influences such as inequalities in background risk of diseases.