OBJECTIVE To determine the effectiveness of a patient-initiated disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD) self-monitoring service for people with rheumatoid (RA) or psoriatic arthritis (PsA) on methotrexate. METHODS A two-arm, single-centre, randomised controlled trial assessing superiority in relation to healthcare use, clinical and psychosocial outcomes. Participants were 100 adults wit...

BACKGROUND Exercise may be effective in treating depression, but trials testing its effect in depressed women are rare. AIM To compare the effect of exercise of preferred intensity with exercise of prescribed intensity in thirty-eight women living with depression. METHODS A Pragmatic RCT of 12 sessions of exercise at preferred intensity compared with 12 sessions at prescribed intensity. Bec...

BACKGROUND Recent research suggests that an imbalance of the intestinal microbiota and a dysfunctional intestinal barrier might trigger irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). As probiotics have been reported to restore the intestinal microbiota and the gut barrier, the therapeutic potential of probiotics within IBS became of strong interest. AIM To assess the efficacy of Bifidobacterium bifidum MIMB...

INTRODUCTION Patients who sustain open lower limb fractures have reported infection risks as high as 27%. The type of dressing applied after initial debridement could potentially affect this risk. In this trial, standard dressings will be compared with a new emerging treatment, negative pressure wound therapy, for patients with open lower limb fractures. METHODS AND ANALYSIS All adult patient...

BACKGROUND Appropriate understanding of health information by patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) is fundamental for better management of risk factors and improved morbidity, which can also benefit their quality of life. OBJECTIVES To assess the relationship between health literacy and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with ischaemic heart disease (IHD), and to investi...

Background. The prevalence of constipation in the (German) population has been shown to be 14.9% in a telephone survey, but more detailed data are required to characterize the sociographics and clinical characteristics of persons with different types of functional constipation, either constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C) or functional constipation with or without meeting Ro...

AIM To investigate the association between patterns of alcohol consumption and self-reported physical and mental health in a population with a high prevalence of hazardous drinking. DESIGN Cross-sectional study of an age-stratified random sample of a population register. SETTING : The city of Izhevsk, The Russian Federation, 2008-09. PARTICIPANTS A total of 1031 men aged 25-60 years (68% re...

BACKGROUND The distressed (Type D) personality is associated with poor health status (HS) and increased inflammatory activation in heart failure (HF). We tested whether multiple inflammatory biomarkers mediated the association between Type D personality and the course of self-reported HS over 18 months. METHODS HF outpatients (n=228, 80% male, mean age 67.0±8.7 years), filled out the Type D q...

BACKGROUND The incidence, progression and related risk factors for recent-onset knee pain (KP) remain uncertain. This study aims to examine the natural history of KP including incidence and progression and to identify possible phenotypes and their associated risk factors. METHODS A prospective community-based cohort of men and women aged 40 years or over within the East Midlands region (UK) w...

Introduction: Carers of individuals with social care needs (including frail elderly people, those at risk of falls and those requiring night sitting), are subject to high levels of carer burden, social isolation and poor psychological outcomes. Carers’ worries and concerns include leaving the individual alone; risks of harm to the care-recipient; or household emergencies in their absence. At pr...