Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Implementation Of Continuous Quality Improvement In Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care In Australia: A Scoping Systematic Review, Karen Gardner, Beverly Sibthorpe, Mier Chan, Ginny Sargent, Michelle Dowden, Daniel Mcaullay

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

BACKGROUND: Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) programs have been taken up widely by Indigenous primary health care (PHC) services in Australia and there has been national policy commitment to support this. However, international evidence shows that implementing CQI is challenging, impacts are variable and little is known about the factors that impede or enhance effectiveness. A scoping review was undertaken to explore uptake and implementation in Indigenous PHC, including barriers and enablers to embedding CQI in routine practice. We provide guidance on how research and evaluation might be intensified to support implementation.

METHODS: Searches were conducted in MEDLINE, CINAHL and the …

Association Of Obstructive Sleep Apnea With Hypertension: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Haifeng Hou, Yange Zhao, Xiaotong Xue, Jian Ding, Wei Jia Xing, Wei Wang

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Results: Twenty-six studies with 51 623 participants (28 314 men, 23 309 women; mean age 51.8 years) met inclusion criteria and were included in this study. Among them, six studies showed a significant association between OSA and resistant hypertension (pooled OR = 2.842, 95% CI = 1.703-3.980, P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the combination of 20 original studies on the association of OSA with essential hypertension also presented significant results with the pooled ORs of 1.184 (95% CI = 1.093-1.274, P < 0.05) for mild OSA, 1.316 (95% CI = 1.197-1.433, P < 0.05) for moderate OSA and 1.561 (95% CI = 1.287-1.835, P < 0.05) for severe OSA.

Conclusions: Our findings indicated that OSA is related to an increased risk of resistant hypertension. Mild, moderate and severe OSA are associated essential hypertension, as well a dose-response manner relationship is manifested. The associations are relatively stronger among Caucasians and male OSA patients.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep disorder …

Properties Of Traditional Bamboo Carrying Poles Have Implications For User Interactions, Ryan T. Schroeder, James L. Croft, Giang D. Ngo, John E. A. Bertram

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Compliant bamboo poles have long been used for load carriage in Asian cultures. Although this custom differs from Western conventions of rigid body attachments (e.g. backpack), potential benefits include reduced peak shoulder forces as well as metabolic transport cost savings. Evidence that carrying a flexible pole benefits locomotion remains mixed, perhaps in part because the properties of pole design (e.g. bamboo material, structural geometry, etc.) have largely been neglected. These properties influence vibrational forces and consequently, the energy required by the user to manage the oscillations. We collected authentic bamboo poles from northern Vietnam and characterized their design parameters. Four …

Predictors Of Noncompliance To Antihypertensive Therapy Among Hypertensive Patients Ghana: Application Of Health Belief Model, Yaa Obirikorang, Christian Obirikorang, Emmanuel Acheampong, Enoch Odame Anto, Daniel Gyamfi, Selorm Philip Segbefia, Michael Opoku Boateng, Dari Pascal Dapilla, Peter Kojo Brenya, Bright Amankwaa, Evans Asamoah Adu, Emmanuel Nsenbah Batu, Adjei Gyimah Akwasi, Beatrice Amoah

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study determined noncompliance to antihypertensive therapy (AHT) and its associated factors in a Ghanaian population by using the health belief model (HBM). This descriptive cross-sectional study conducted at Kintampo Municipality in Ghana recruited a total of 678 hypertensive patients. The questionnaire constituted information regarding sociodemographics, a five-Likert type HBM questionnaire, and lifestyle-related factors. The rate of noncompliance to AHT in this study was 58.6%. The mean age (SD) of the participants was 43.5 (±5.2) years and median duration of hypertension was 2 years. Overall, the five HBM constructs explained 31.7% of the variance in noncompliance to AHT with a …

An Overview Of Technical Considerations When Using Quantitative Real-Time Pcr Analysis Of Gene Expression In Human Exercise Research, Jujiao Kuang, Xu Yan, Amanda Genders, Cesare Granata, David J. Bishop

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Gene expression analysis by quantitative PCR in skeletal muscle is routine in exercise studies. The reproducibility and reliability of the data fundamentally depend on how the experiments are performed and interpreted. Despite the popularity of the assay, there is a considerable variation in experimental protocols and data analyses from different laboratories, and there is a lack of consistency of proper quality control steps throughout the assay. In this study, we present a number of experiments on various steps of quantitative PCR workflow, and demonstrate how to perform a quantitative PCR experiment with human skeletal muscle samples in an exercise study. …

Overwhelming Research And Clinical Evidence Of Exercise Medicine Efficacy In Cancer Management—Translation Into Practice Is The Challenge Before Us, Robert Newton

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The paper “Connecting people with cancer to physical activity and exercise programs: a pathway to create accessibility and engagement”1 is very timely. As the authors have convincingly demonstrated, rigorous clinical and research evidence support something of which most medical and allied health professionals are cognizant: the benefit of physical activity and exercise for people with cancer.

Rigor And Reproducibility In Research With Transcranial Electrical Stimulation: An Nimh-Sponsored Workshop, Marom Bikson, Andre Brunoni, Leigh Charvet, Vincent Clark, Leonardo Cohen, Zhi-De Deng, Jacek Dmochowski, Dylan Edwards, Flavio Frohlich, Emily Kappenman, Kelvin Lim, Colleen Loo, Antonio Mantovani, David Mcmullen, Lucas Parra, Michele Pearson, Jessica Richardson, Judith Rumsey, Pejman Sehatpour, David Sommers, Gozde Unal, Eric Wassermann, Adam Woods, Sarah Lisanby

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background

Neuropsychiatric disorders are a leading source of disability and require novel treatments that target mechanisms of disease. As such disorders are thought to result from aberrant neuronal circuit activity, neuromodulation approaches are of increasing interest given their potential for manipulating circuits directly. Low intensity transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) with direct currents (transcranial direct current stimulation, tDCS) or alternating currents (transcranial alternating current stimulation, tACS) represent novel, safe, well-tolerated, and relatively inexpensive putative treatment modalities.

Objective

This report seeks to promote the science, technology and effective clinical applications of these modalities, identify research challenges, and suggest approaches for addressing these …