Andrew Elders

Glasgow Caledonian University | GCU · Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions Research Unit (NMAHP RU)

Introduction This research investigates how community-led organisations’ (CLOs’) use of assets-based approaches improves health and well-being, and how that might be different in different contexts. Assets-based approaches involve ‘doing with’ rather than ‘doing to’ and bring people in communities together to achieve positive change using their own...

Background: Urinary incontinence (UI) is the involuntary loss of urine and can be caused by several different conditions. The common types of UI are stress (SUI), urgency (UUI) and mixed (MUI). A wide range of interventions can be delivered to reduce the symptoms of UI in women. Conservative interventions are generally recommended as the first lin...

Introduction and hypothesis: Our aim was to compare the mid-term results of native tissue, biological xenograft and polypropylene mesh surgery for women with vaginal wall prolapse. Methods: A total of 1348 women undergoing primary transvaginal repair of an anterior and/or posterior prolapse were recruited between January 2010 and August 2013 fro...

Background Obesity increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, mobility problems and some cancers, and its prevalence is rising. Men engage less than women in existing weight loss interventions. Game of Stones builds on a successful feasibility study and aims to find out if automated text messages with or without endowment incenti...

Objective Smoking during pregnancy causes risks to mother and infant health. We investigated the feasibility and likely success of SKIP-IT, a narrative and picture-based smoking cessation intervention delivered via text messages. Methods A feasibility and pilot trial. We aimed to recruit 70 pregnant women who smoked, randomised to usual care alone...

Introduction and hypothesis Pelvic organ prolapse affects around 40% of women aged over 50 years. A multicentre parallel group randomised trial (the Pelvic Organ Prolapse PhysiotherapY (POPPY) trial) demonstrated that pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) was effective in reducing prolapse symptoms compared with no treatment. However, insight into th...

Background: non-motor symptoms such as bladder dysfunction are common (80%) in people with Parkinson's increasing the risk for falls with a negative impact on health-related costs and quality of life.We undertook STARTUP to evaluate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of using an adhesive electrode to stimulate the transcutaneous tibial nerve stim...

Conducting economic evaluations alongside randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is an efficient way to collect cost-effectiveness data. Generic preference-based measures, such as EQ-5D, are often used alongside clinical data measures in RCTs. However, in the case of female urinary incontinence (UI), evidence of the relative performance of EQ-5D with...

Objective: Report complication rates following prolapse surgery using polypropylene mesh inlay, polypropylene mesh kit, biological collagen xenografts and native tissue repairs DESIGN: Secondary analysis of the PROSPECT randomised controlled trial and cohort study. Setting: Thirty-five UK hospitals POPULATION: 2632 women undergoing anterior and/...

Background Pelvic organ prolapse is estimated to affect 41–50% of women aged > 40 years. A multicentre randomised controlled trial of individualised pelvic floor muscle training found that pelvic floor muscle training was effective in reducing symptoms of prolapse, improved quality of life and showed clear potential to be cost-effective. Provision...

Background Evidence from disease epidemics shows that healthcare workers are at risk of developing short- and long-term mental health problems. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned about the potential negative impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the mental well-being of health and social care professionals. Symptoms of mental health problems...

Aim To develop and test the psychometric properties of three instruments that measure Person‐centred Caring: as Personalization, Participation and Responsiveness. Design A three‐phase mixed methods design used two frameworks: content validity determination and quantification; consensus‐based standards for selection of health measurement instrument...

Background: Pelvic organ prolapse (or prolapse) is a common condition in women where the pelvic organs (bladder, bowel or womb) descend into the vagina and cause distressing symptoms that adversely affect quality of life. Many women will use a vaginal pessary to treat their prolapse symptoms. Clinic-based care usually consists of having a pessary...

Background: Process evaluations have become a valued component, alongside clinical trials, of the wider evaluation of complex health interventions. They support understanding of implementation, and fidelity, related to the intervention and provide valuable insights into what is effective in a practical setting by examining the context in which int...

Background: Men, particularly those living in disadvantaged areas, are less likely to participate in weight management programmes than women despite similar levels of excess weight. Little is known about how best to recruit men to weight management interventions. This paper describes patient and public involvement in pre-trial decisions relevant t...

Background: Pelvic Floor Muscle Training (PFMT) has been shown to be effective for pelvic organ prolapse in women, but its implementation in routine practice is challenging due to lack of adequate specialist staff. It is important to know if PFMT can be delivered by different staff skill mixes, what barriers and facilitators operate in different c...

Objective To assess the effectiveness of pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) plus electromyographic biofeedback or PFMT alone for stress or mixed urinary incontinence in women. Design Parallel group randomised controlled trial. Setting 23 community and secondary care centres providing continence care in Scotland and England. Participants 600 wom...

Background In 2016, 26% of UK men were estimated to be obese. Systematic reviews suggest that few men engage in formal weight loss interventions that support weight reduction and improve health. Objective To co-produce, with patient and public involvement, an acceptable and feasible randomised controlled trial design to test a men-only weight mana...

Objective: To compare standard (native tissue) repair against synthetic mesh inlays or mesh kits. Design: Randomised controlled trial. Setting: 33 UK hospitals. Population: Women having surgery for recurrent prolapse. Methods: Women recruited using remote randomisation. Main outcome measures: Prolapse symptoms, condition specific quality...

Background Improving the quality and efficiency of healthcare is an international priority. A range of complex ward based quality initiatives have been developed over recent years, perhaps the most influential programme has been Productive Ward: Releasing Time to Care. The programme aims to improve work processes and team efficiency with the aim of...

Background New surgical approaches for apical prolapse have gradually been introduced, with few prospective randomised controlled trial data to evaluate their safety and efficacy compared with traditional methods. Objective To compare surgical uterine preservation with vaginal hysterectomy in women with uterine prolapse and abdominal procedures wi...

Introduction Parkinson’s disease is the second most common chronic neurodegenerative condition with bladder dysfunction affecting up to 71%. Symptoms affect quality of life and include urgency, frequency, hesitancy, nocturia and incontinence. Addressing urinary dysfunction is one of the top 10 priority research areas identified by the James Lind Al...

Objectives To examine the acceptability and feasibility of narrative text messages with or without financial incentives to support weight loss for men. Design Individually randomised three-arm feasibility trial with 12 months’ follow-up. Setting Two sites in Scotland with high levels of disadvantage according to Scottish Index for Multiple Depriv...

Background: Endovenous laser ablation and ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy are recommended alternatives to surgery for the treatment of primary varicose veins, but their long-term comparative effectiveness remains uncertain. Methods: In a randomized, controlled trial involving 798 participants with primary varicose veins at 11 centers in the...

Background Pelvic organ prolapse is a common urogenital condition affecting 41–50% of women over the age of 40. To achieve early diagnosis and appropriate treatment, it is important that care is sensitive to and meets women’s needs, throughout their patient journey. This study explored women’s experiences of seeking diagnosis and treatment for prol...

Objective High-quality maternity care is key to long-term improvements in population health. However, even within developed welfare systems, some mothers and babies experience poorer care and outcomes. This study aimed to explore whether women’s experiences of maternity care in Scotland differs by their physical or sociodemographic characteristics....

Introduction Accidental urine leakage is a distressing problem that affects around one in three women. The main types of urinary incontinence (UI) are stress, urgency and mixed, with stress being most common. Current UK guidelines recommend that women with UI are offered at least 3 months of pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT). There is evidence th...

In an effort to improve the quality of statistics in the clinical urology literature, statisticians at European Urology, The Journal of Urology, Urology and BJUI came together to develop a set of guidelines to address common errors of statistical analysis, reporting and interpretation. Authors should “break any of the guidelines if it makes scienti...

Investigators submitting clinical research to European Urology are encouraged to follow guidelines for the reporting of statistics. Adoption of the guidelines will not only increase the quality of published papers, but also improve statistical knowledge in urology in general.

Background: Speech and language therapy (SLT) interventions for people with aphasia are complex-for example, interventions vary by delivery model (face-to-face, tele-rehabilitation), dynamic (group, 1-to-1) and provider. Therapists tailor the functional relevance and intervention difficulty to the individual's needs. Therapy regimes are planned at...

Objective: Attention control comparisons in trials of stroke rehabilitation require care to minimize the risk of comparison choice bias. We compared the similarities and differences in SLT and social support control interventions for people with aphasia. Data sources: Trial data from the 2016 Cochrane systematic review of SLT for aphasia after s...

Background: Clean intermittent catheterisation (CIC) is often recommended for people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Objective: To determine the variables that affect continuation or discontinuation of the use of CIC. Methods: A three-part mixed-method study (prospective longitudinal cohort ( n = 56), longitudinal qualitative interviews ( n = 20...

Background: Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) is estimated to affect 41%-50% of women aged over 40. Findings from the multi-centre randomised controlled "Pelvic Organ Prolapse PhysiotherapY" (POPPY) trial showed that individualised pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) was effective in reducing symptoms of prolapse, improved quality of life and showed cle...

Background: Little progress has been made in preventing pelvic floor disorders despite their significant health and economic impact. Identifying women at risk remains a key element in targeting prevention and planning health resource allocation strategies. Although events around the time of childbirth are clinically recognized as important predict...

Background: Annually an estimated 360,000 Europeans experience an impairment of language following stroke, known as aphasia. Aphasia impacts on societal participation, activities of daily living, emotional wellbeing, and returning home and to work. Systematic review evidence demonstrated the benefits of speech and language therapy on language recov...

Aphasia is an impairment of language. It affects the production and comprehension of speech and the ability to read or write and is always due to injury to the brain most commonly from a stroke. To date, we lack high quality data on recovery profiles, the individual and treatment characteristics that contribute to optimum recovery. Our RELEASE stud...

Background: The use of transvaginal mesh and biological graft material in prolapse surgery is controversial and has led to a number of enquiries into their safety and efficacy. Existing trials of these augmentations are individually too small to be conclusive. We aimed to compare the outcomes of prolapse repair involving either synthetic mesh inla...

Background: Pelvic floor muscle training can reduce prolapse severity and symptoms in women seeking treatment. We aimed to assess whether this intervention could also be effective in secondary prevention of prolapse and the need for future treatment. Methods: We did this multicentre, parallel-group, randomised controlled trial at three centres i...

Background The use of mesh in prolapse surgery is controversial, leading to a number of enquiries into its safety and efficacy. Objective To compare synthetic non-absorbable mesh inlay, biological graft and mesh kit with a standard repair in terms of clinical effectiveness, adverse effects, quality of life (QoL), costs and cost-effectiveness. Des...

Aphasia (language impairment) affects 50,000 people in the UK annually and 61% will have persistent communication difficulties at one year post-stroke1. Language recovery can be aided by speech and language therapy (SLT)2. However, the individual characteristics and SLT features which influence optimum rehabilitation and recovery in post stroke aph...

Background: One in three women who have a prolapse operation will go on to have another operation, though not necessarily in the same compartment. Surgery can result in greater impairment of quality of life than the original prolapse itself (such as the development of new-onset urinary incontinence, or prolapse at a different site). Anterior and p...

This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: To synthesise Cochrane reviews of conservative interventions, as described above, for the prevention or treatment of female urinary incontinence. Outcomes are described below.

Background: Dentists prescribe approximately 10% of antibiotics dispensed in UK community pharmacies. Despite clear clinical guidance, dentists often prescribe antibiotics inappropriately. This cluster-randomised controlled trial used routinely collected National Health Service (NHS) dental prescribing and treatment claim data to compare the impac...

Development of the TRiaDS written behaviour change intervention. (PDF)

TIDieR checklist. (PDF)

CONSORT checklist. (PDF)

Example audit and feedback chart, including behaviour change message and health board comparator. (PDF)

Background and aims: Nalmefene has been approved in Europe for the treatment of alcohol dependence and subsequently recommended by the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). This study examines critically the evidence base underpinning both decisions and the issues arising. Methods: Published studies of nalmefene were ident...

We want to pool datasets with: • at least10 people with stroke-related aphasia • information on aphasia severity for each individual. • information on length of time since their stroke We welcome anonymised datasets regardless of • study design (e.g. trial or registers) • aphasia or language outcome measure used • language modality (expression, com...

Background: General dental practitioners (GDPs) regularly prescribe antibiotics to manage dental infections although most infections can be treated successfully by local measures. Published guidance to support GDPs to make appropriate prescribing decisions exists but there continues to be wide variation in dental antibiotic prescribing. An intervi...

Background: Aphasia affects a third of stroke survivors equating to an estimated 50,000 people in the UK and 5.6 million worldwide annually. Due to its impact on social functioning, emotional wellbeing, hospital discharge destination and returning to work, effective and efficient rehabilitation interventions are vital. Systematic review evidence ba...

Background: Dupuytren's disease is a slowly progressive condition of the hand, characterised by the formation of nodules in the palm that gradually develop into fibrotic cords. Contracture of the cords produces deformities of the fingers. Surgery is recommended for moderate and severe contractures, but complications and/or recurrences are frequent...

Under a conventional two-arm randomised trial design, participants are allocated to an intervention and participating health professionals are expected to deliver both interventions. However, health professionals often have differing levels of expertise in a skill-based interventions such as surgery or psychotherapy. An expertise-based approach to...

Foam sclerotherapy (foam) and endovenous laser ablation (EVLA) have emerged as alternative treatments to surgery for patients with varicose veins, but uncertainty exists regarding their effectiveness in the medium to longer term. To assess the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of foam, EVLA and surgery for the treatment of varicose vein...

Topic: To compare the accuracy of optical coherence tomography (OCT) with alternative tests for monitoring neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and detecting disease activity among eyes previously treated for this condition. Clinical relevance: Traditionally, fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) has been considered the reference s...

This is the fifth statistics note produced by the Ophthalmic Statistics Group (OSG) which is designed to be a simple guide to ophthalmic researchers on a statistical issue with an applied ophthalmic example. The OSG is a collaborative group of statisticians who have come together with a desire to raise the statistical standards of ophthalmic resear...

Background: Age-related macular degeneration is the most common cause of sight impairment in the UK. In neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), vision worsens rapidly (over weeks) due to abnormal blood vessels developing that leak fluid and blood at the macula. Objectives: To determine the optimal role of optical coherence tomograph...