ORCID Profile
0000-0002-6118-8911
Current Organisation
University of Aberdeen
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Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 24-07-2014
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 17-09-2018
DOI: 10.3390/HEALTHCARE6030117
Abstract: Background: The number of acute medical paediatric emergency admissions is rising. We undertook qualitative interviews with parents and clinicians to better understand what factors, other than the health status of the child, may influence decision making leading to emergency admission. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents clinicians working in general practice, out-of-hours or the emergency department (referring clinicians) and doctors working in acute medical paediatrics (receiving clinicians). Results: Ten parents, 7 referring clinicians and 10 receiving clinicians were interviewed. Parents described “erring on the side of caution” when seeking medical opinion and one mentioned anxiety. Among themes seen among referring clinicians, “erring on the side of caution” was also identified as was managing “parental anxiety” and acting on “gut instinct”. Among receiving clinicians, themes included managing parental anxiety and increasing parental expectations of the health service. Conclusions: The study of parent and referring clinician decision-making prior to a hospital admission can identify “teachable moments” where interventions might be delivered to slow or even arrest the rise in short-stay acute medical admissions in Britain and other countries. Interventions could assure parents or referring clinicians that hospital referral is not required and help clinicians understand what they perceive as “parental anxiety”.
Publisher: National Institute for Health and Care Research
Date: 05-2022
DOI: 10.3310/AWOI5587
Abstract: The role of fractional exhaled nitric oxide in guiding asthma treatment in children is uncertain. To compare treatment guided by both fractional exhaled nitric oxide and symptoms (intervention) with treatment guided by symptoms alone (standard care) in children with asthma who are at risk of an asthma exacerbation, in terms of the number of asthma exacerbations over 12 months. This was a pragmatic, multicentre, randomised controlled trial with embedded cost-effectiveness and qualitative process evaluations. Randomisation (1 : 1) was carried out using a remote web-based system and was minimised on recruitment centre, age, sex and British Thoracic Society treatment step. Clinical teams and participants were not blind to treatment allocation. The trial took place in 35 hospitals and seven primary care practices in the UK. Children aged 6–15 years with a diagnosis of asthma who were currently prescribed inhaled corticosteroids and who had one or more parent- atient-reported asthma exacerbation treated with oral corticosteroids in the 12 months prior to recruitment. Asthma treatment guided by symptoms alone (standard care) and asthma treatment guided by symptoms plus fractional exhaled nitric oxide (intervention). Treatment recommendations in both groups were protocolised within a web-based algorithm, incorporating inhaled corticosteroid adherence (objectively measured using an electronic logging device) and current treatment. The primary outcome measure was asthma exacerbations treated with oral corticosteroids in the year post randomisation. Secondary outcomes included time to first exacerbation, number of exacerbations, lung function, fractional exhaled nitric oxide, daily dose of inhaled corticosteroid, asthma control and quality of life. In total, 509 eligible participants were recruited and the primary outcome was available for 506 participants. The primary outcome occurred in 123 out of 255 (48.2%) participants in the intervention group and 129 out of 251 (51.4%) participants in the standard-care group (adjusted odds ratio 0.88, 95% confidence interval 0.61 to 1.27). There was algorithm non-compliance on 21% of assessments. Per-protocol and complier-average causal effect analysis did not change the interpretation. This non-statistically significant estimate was consistent across predefined subgroups. There were no differences between the groups in secondary outcomes. There were no serious adverse events or deaths. No meaningful differences in health service costs, direct patient costs or indirect costs to society were identified between the groups. The economic evaluation does not provide evidence to support the cost-effectiveness of the intervention. In the qualitative process evaluation, 15 trial staff and six families were interviewed. Overall, their experiences were positive. The intervention was broadly acceptable, with caveats around clinicians using the algorithm recommendation as a guide and wariness around extreme step ups/downs in treatment in the light of contextual factors not being taken into account by the algorithm. Potential limitations included the choice of cut-off point to define uncontrolled asthma and the change in fractional exhaled nitric oxide to trigger a change in treatment. Furthermore, the treatment decisions in the two groups may not have been sufficiently different to create a difference in outcomes. The RAACENO (Reducing Asthma Attacks in Children using Exhaled Nitric Oxide) trial findings do not support the routine use of fractional exhaled nitric oxide measurements as part of asthma management in a secondary care setting. The potential for other objective markers to guide asthma management in children needs to be evaluated. This trial was registered as ISRCTN67875351. This project was funded by the Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) programme, a MRC and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) partnership. This will be published in full in Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation Vol. 9, No. 4. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-10-2019
DOI: 10.1186/S13063-019-3500-7
Abstract: Childhood asthma is a common condition. Currently there is no validated objective test which can be used to guide asthma treatment in children. This study tests the hypothesis that the addition of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (F E NO) monitoring in addition to standard care reduces the number of exacerbations (or attacks) in children with asthma. This is a multi-centre, randomised controlled study. Children will be included of age 6–16 years who have a diagnosis of asthma, currently use inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) and have had an exacerbation in the previous 12 months. Exclusion criteria include being unable to provide F E NO measurement at baseline assessment, having another chronic respiratory condition and being currently treated with maintenance oral steroids. Participants will be recruited in both primary and secondary care settings and will be randomised to either receive asthma treatment guided by F E NO plus symptoms (F E NO group) or asthma treatment guided by symptoms only (standard care group). Within the F E NO group, different treatment decisions will be made dependent on changes in F E NO. Participants will attend assessments 3, 6, 9 and 12 months post randomisation. The primary outcome is asthma exacerbation requiring prescription and/or use of an oral corticosteroid over 12 months as recorded by the participant arent or in general practitioner records. Secondary outcomes include time to first attack, number of attacks, asthma control score and quality of life. Adherence to ICS treatment is objectively measured by an electronic logging device. Participants are invited to participate in a “phenotyping” assessment where skin prick reactivity and bronchodilator response are determined and a saliva s le is collected for DNA extraction. Qualitative interviews will be held with participants and research nurses. A health economic evaluation will take place. This study will evaluate whether F E NO can provide an objective index to guide and stratify asthma treatment in children. ISRCTN, ISRCTN67875351. Registered on 12 April 2017. Prospectively registered.
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Heather Morgan.