Julius Sim

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Verified

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• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor at Keele University

ABSTRACT Objective: Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that has major impact on people’s lives. This study examines individuals’ illness trajectories, with a particular focus on daily life experiences and self-managing. Methods: Narrative interviews were conducted, asking participants to story their daily life experiences from illness onset to t...

Introduction Fluid assessment and management is a key aspect of good dialysis care and is affected by patient-level characteristics and potentially centre-level practices. In this secondary analysis of the BISTRO trial we wished to establish whether centre-level practices with the potential to affect fluid status were stable over the course of the...

Background Preservation of residual kidney function (RKF) in dialysis patients has been associated with improved survival. RKF in the BISTRO trial was relatively well preserved and here we describe its association with survival during the trial and extended follow-up. Methods RKF, measured as the average urea and creatinine clearance (GFR) or 24-h...

Aim When developing public health measures in a pandemic, it is important to examine attitudes and beliefs relating to vaccination uptake. We report the discrimination of a single-item vaccination intention scale and derive cutpoints in terms of sensitivity (true positives) and specificity (true negatives) in relation to subsequent vaccination stat...

Background The BioImpedance Spectroscopy to maintain Renal Output randomised controlled trial investigated the effect of bioimpedance spectroscopy added to a standardised fluid management protocol on the risk of anuria and preservation of residual kidney function (primary trial outcomes) in incident haemodialysis patients. Despite the economic burd...

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are generally regarded as the gold-standard method to answer questions of treatment effectiveness. Carefully designed and rigorously implemented, they can provide unbiased estimates of average treatment effectiveness in a wide range of clinical presentations. However, they have two potential drawbacks. First, owi...

Although experiences of loss and the consequent grief are natural in human life, some individuals may have difficulty managing these events, to the point of developing significant impairment in their functioning in important life areas. Given this, the present research aimed to explore the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Adult...

Avoiding excessive dialysis-associated volume depletion may help preserve residual kidney function (RKF). To establish whether knowledge of the estimated normally hydrated weight from bioimpedance measurements (BI-NHW) when setting the post-hemodialysis target weight (TW) might mitigate rate of loss of RKF, we undertook an open label, randomized co...

This report explores what it is like to live and work in the new Berryhill Retirement Village in Stoke-on-Trent (developed by The ExtraCare Charitable Trust and Touchstone Housing Association), and shows that retirement housing does not have to be planned and developed solely with middle-class professionals in mind.

In total, 133 stakeholders were interviewed/ questionnaired: • • directors of the managing organisation: n=3 • • developer of the village: n=1 • • management staff at the village: n=8 • • staff in the village: n=1 • • GPs: n=16 • • nurses: n=13 • • physiotherapists: n=4 • • occupational therapists: n=3 • • social workers: n=27 • • tenants in a loc...

Introduction Health and well-being are fundamental to living a life of quality in old age. In this chapter we look at how living in Berryhill affects these key dimensions of growing older. We do this by drawing on both the qualitative and the quantitative data from the study in order to explore: • • understanding health and well-being; • • the hea...

Introduction Retirement villages like Berryhill are distinctive places in which to live. This is reflected in the fact that everyone who lives there has to be over the age of 55. Although there is no upper age limit, such communities are defined largely by age and age differences with respect to other groups. They can also be contrasted with negati...

This report explores what it is like to live and work in the new Berryhill Retirement Village in Stoke-on-Trent (developed by The ExtraCare Charitable Trust and Touchstone Housing Association), and shows that retirement housing does not have to be planned and developed solely with middle-class professionals in mind.

The study was guided by four main research questions and a series of subquestions: 1. What effect does the environment of Berryhill have on residents’ well-being? (How does living in the village compare with previous living environments? What are the positive and negative aspects of this retirement community and how do they change over time? Does t...

Conference 1: November 2001 “Our Changing Community” Each session was followed by small group discussions, each facilitated by two members of the research team. All discussions were tape-recorded. Refreshments were available in the morning and in the afternoon, and all who attended were entered into a raffle prize draw. On average, 17 residents att...

Introduction This chapter turns the spotlight on the means by which older people are enabled to play a part in actively creating a new retirement village lifestyle for themselves. Retirement communities like Berryhill are centrally concerned with the well-being and quality of life of residents. One way in which this is addressed is through encourag...

Introduction In this concluding chapter, we first provide a brief overview of the main findings from the study. Although the research lasted for three years, it is important to stress that it is not, and cannot be, a definitive and conclusive piece of work – Berryhill Retirement Village was in existence before the study began, and will continue to...

This report explores what it is like to live and work in the new Berryhill Retirement Village in Stoke-on-Trent (developed by The ExtraCare Charitable Trust and Touchstone Housing Association), and shows that retirement housing does not have to be planned and developed solely with middle-class professionals in mind.

Introduction Today, policy makers and providers are increasingly aware that housing and care services for older people need to be more flexible, innovative and inclusive. Developments designed to empower, provide choice and promote the autonomy of older people are being explored and encouraged (DoH, 2001; Peace and Holland, 2001; Riseborough, 2002)...

(i) Questionnaires to residents – the tools Short Form-12 The SF-12 is a 12-item health scale adapted from the original version SF-36 (Ware and Sherbourne, 1992). It assesses eight dimensions of health: physical functioning, mental health, social functioning, role limitations because of physical problems, role limitations because of mental problems...

IntroductionStudies show that the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected people with diabetes and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. During the first 6 months of the UK lockdown, > 6.6 M glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) tests were missed. We now report variability in the recovery of HbA1c testing, and its association with diabetes control and...

Objectives: To explore acceptability of and preferences for the introduction of varicella vaccination to the UK childhood immunisation schedule. Design: We conducted an online cross-sectional survey exploring parental attitudes towards vaccines in general, and varicella vaccine specifically, and their preferences for how the vaccine should be ad...

Background: We investigated factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake, future vaccination intentions, and changes in beliefs and attitudes over time. Methods: Prospective cohort study. 1500 participants completed an online survey in January 2021 (T1, start of vaccine rollout in the UK), of whom 1148 (response rate 76.5 %) completed another...

Aim To investigate UK parents’ vaccination intention at a time when COVID-19 vaccination was available to some children. Methods Data reported are from the second wave of a prospective cohort study. We conducted a mixed-methods study using an online survey of 270 UK parents (conducted 4–15 October 2021). At this time, vaccination was available to...

Objective To investigate symptom reporting following the first and second COVID-19 vaccine doses, attribution of symptoms to the vaccine, and factors associated with symptom reporting. Methods Prospective cohort study (T1: 13–15 January 2021, T2: 4–15 October 2021). Participants were aged 18 years or older, living in the UK. Personal, clinical, an...

Purpose Forty percent of stroke survivors have a persistent lack of function in the upper limb, causing significant disability. Most personal-care tasks and meaningful activities require bi-manual function of both upper limbs. However, lower-limb mobility is often viewed as the priority in stroke services. Perspectives of stroke survivors on priori...

Objective: To investigate symptom reporting following the first and second COVID-19 vaccine doses, attribution of symptoms to the vaccine, and factors associated with symptom reporting. Methods: Prospective cohort study (T1: 13-15 January 2021, T2: 4-15 October 2021). Participants were aged 18 years or older, living in the UK. Personal, clinical, a...

Metasynthesis is an approach to synthesizing primary qualitative research, and may take either an aggregative or an interpretive approach. In either case, the resulting synthesis inevitably occurs at a remove from both the empirical and the theoretical contexts of the original research. We argue that seeking to retain these contexts in the synthesi...

This systematic review’s purpose was to evaluate the effectiveness of lower-limb and foot somatosensory stimulation to improve balance and gait post-stroke. PRISMA reporting guidelines were followed. Included studies: randomized controlled trials (RCTs), published in English with ethical approval statement. Studies of conditions other than stroke,...

Objectives To explore acceptability of and preferences for the introduction of varicella vaccination to the UK childhood immunisation schedule. Design We conducted an online cross-sectional survey exploring parental attitudes towards vaccines in general, and varicella vaccine specifically, and their preferences for how the vaccine should be admini...

Objective The objective of this review was to identify barriers and facilitators related to self-management from the perspectives of people with shoulder pain and clinicians involved in their care. Data sources CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, Embase, ProQuest Health, Web of Science, and Scopus were searched from inception to March 2022. R...

Objectives To investigate UK parents’ vaccination intention at a time when COVID-19 vaccination was available to some children. Study design Data reported are from the second wave of a prospective cohort study. Methods Online survey of 270 UK parents (conducted 4-15 October 2021). At this time, vaccination was available to 16- and 17-year-olds an...

Background We investigated factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake, future vaccination intentions, and changes in beliefs and attitudes over time. Methods Prospective cohort study. 1500 participants completed an online survey in January 2021 (T1, start of vaccine rollout in the UK), of whom 1148 (response rate 76·5%) completed another surv...

Background: Corticosteroid injection is a common treatment for individuals experiencing musculoskeletal pain, and it is part of the management of numerous orthopaedic conditions. However, there is concern about offering corticosteroid injections for musculoskeletal pain because of the possibility of secondary adrenal insufficiency. Questions/purp...

Context Adrenal incidentalomas are increasingly being identified during unrelated imaging. Unlike AI clinical management, data on referral patterns in routine practice are lacking. Objective To identify factors associated with AI referral Design We linked data from imaging reports and outpatient bookings from a large UK teaching hospital. We exam...

Objectives To investigate factors associated with intention to have the COVID-19 vaccination following initiation of the UK national vaccination programme. Study Design 1,500 adults completed an online cross-sectional survey (13th–15th January 2021). Methods Linear regression analyses were used to investigate associations between intention to be...

Background: Somatosensory stimulation of the lower extremity could improve motor recovery and walking post-stroke. This pilot study investigated the feasibility of a subsequent randomized controlled trial (RCT) to determine whether task-specific gait training is more effective following either (a) intensive hands-on somatosensory stimulation or (b)...

Objective To investigate the likelihood of having the seasonal influenza vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic in individuals who were eligible to receive it. Design We conducted a cross-sectional online survey in July 2020. We included predictors informed by previous research, in the following categories: sociodemographic variables; uptake of...

Background Shoulder pain is a significant cause of pain and disability in the general population. ¹ Current research suggests that shoulder pain can be resistant to treatment and is often recurrent. ² Systematic review-level evidence shows modest short-term benefits for most current treatments. ³ Effective self-management strategies that equip pati...

Aim: To investigate factors associated with intention to have the COVID-19 vaccination following initiation of the UK national vaccination programme. Methods: 1,500 adults completed an online cross-sectional survey (13th to 15th January 2021). Linear regression analyses were used to investigate associations between intention to be vaccinated for CO...

Prior to a main randomized clinical trial, investigators often carry out a pilot or feasibility study in order to test certain trial processes or estimate key statistical parameters, so as to optimize the design of the main trial and/or determine whether it can feasibly be run. Pilot studies reflect the design of the intended main trial, whereas fe...

To investigate factors associated with intention to be vaccinated against COVID-19 we conducted a cross-sectional survey of 1,500 UK adults, recruited from an existing online research panel. Data were collected between 14th and 17th July 2020. We used linear regression analyses to investigate associations between intention to be vaccinated for COVI...

We investigated likelihood of having the seasonal influenza vaccination in 645 participants who were eligible for the vaccination in the UK. 55.8% indicated they were likely to have the vaccination. Previous research suggests that increasing uptake of the influenza vaccination may help contain a COVID-19 outbreak, so steps need to be taken to conve...

Background: Mechanical thrombectomy was approved by NICE as a treatment for stroke in 2016. However, most of the evidence is from studies conducted during working hours. Only few centres in the UK perform thrombectomies out-of-hours. The Royal Stoke University Hospital (RSUH) has offered thrombectomies over 24 h (24/7) since 2010. The aim of this...

Aim: To investigate factors associated with intention to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Methods: Online cross-sectional survey of 1,500 UK adults, recruited from an existing online research panel. Data were collected between 14th and 17th July 2020. We used linear regression analyses to investigate associations between intention to be vaccinated f...

Background Cardiorespiratory impairments are considered the main cause of mortality in the late stages of Parkinson's. Aerobic exercise has been shown to improve pulmonary function in asthmatic patients and in healthy people. However, effects of aerobic exercise on cardiopulmonary function in people with Parkinson's have not been investigated. Ther...

Objective: To compare electrodiathermy with helium thermal coagulation in laparoscopic treatment of mild-to-moderate endometriosis. Design: Parallel-group randomized controlled trial. Setting: A UK endometriosis centre. Population: Non-pregnant women aged 16-50 with a clinical diagnosis of mild-to-moderate endometriosis. Methods: If mild o...

Moral rights feature prominently and are relied on substantially in debates in bioethics. Conceptually, however, duties can perform the logical work of rights, but not vice versa, and reference to rights is therefore inessential. Normatively, rights, like duties, depend on more basic moral values or principles, and attempts to establish the logical...

Background: Stroke can bring about a profound disruption to people’s lives, but what is less understood is the effect that specific dysfunctions can have. The aim of this study was to explore stroke survivors’ experiences of upper-limb dysfunction over time. Methods: 13 adult stroke survivors engaged in a series of up to four semi-structured interv...

Introduction Adrenal incidentalomas are lesions that are incidentally identified while scanning for other conditions. While most are benign and hormonally non-functional, around 20% are malignant and/or hormonally active, requiring prompt intervention. Malignant lesions can be aggressive and life-threatening, while hormonally active tumours cause v...

Background: Feasibility studies and external pilot studies are used increasingly to inform planning decisions related to a definitive randomized controlled trial. These studies can provide information on process measures, such as consent rates, treatment fidelity and compliance, and methods of outcome measurement. Additionally, they can provide in...

Focus group methodology generates distinct ethical challenges that do not correspond fully to those raised by one-to-one interviews. This paper explores, in both conceptual and practical terms, three key issues: consent; confidentiality and anonymity; and risk of harm. The principal challenge in obtaining consent lies in giving a clear account of w...

Introduction: A Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) examination is often described by patients as frightening and uncomfortable. To prepare patients for an MRI examination, this study explored the use of virtual reality (VR) simulation compared to a mock MRI scan (full-scale MRI machine replica, without internal magnets). Methods: Twenty participan...

Background: Adrenal incidentalomas (AI) are incidentally identified lesions whilst scanning for other purposes. They are mostly benign and hormonally inactive but about 20% are hormonally-active or malignant, requiring prompt intervention. The overall reported AI prevalence is 3-5% but increases with age (up to 7% of those above 70 years). Guidelin...

Background: Adrenal incidentalomas (AI) are incidentally identified lesions whilst scanning for other purposes. They are mostly benign and hormonally inactive but about 20% are hormonally-active or malignant, requiring prompt intervention. The overall reported AI prevalence is 3-5% but increases with age (up to 7% of those above 70 years). The arra...

Outcome-adaptive randomization (OAR) has been proposed as a corrective to certain ethical difficulties inherent in the traditional randomized clinical trial (RCT) using fixed-ratio randomization. In particular, it has been suggested that OAR redresses the balance between individual and collective ethics in favour of the former. In this paper, I exa...

Approximately 50% of ankle fractures require internal fixation. A tourniquet is often used to create a bloodless operative field, but its effect on hospital length of stay (LOS) is unclear. This article reports a parallel-group observer-blinded randomized trial of the effect of tourniquet use on LOS. One hundred eighty-eight adult patients requirin...

Saturation has attained widespread acceptance as a methodological principle in qualitative research. It is commonly taken to indicate that, on the basis of the data that have been collected or analysed hitherto, further data collection and/or analysis are unnecessary. However, there appears to be uncertainty as to how saturation should be conceptua...

In his detailed response to our paper on sample size in qualitative research, Norman Blaikie raises important issues concerning conceptual definitions and taxonomy. In particular, he points out the problems associated with a loose, generic application of adjectives such as ‘qualitative’ or ‘inductive’. We endorse this concern, though we suggest tha...

There has been considerable recent interest in methods of determining sample size for qualitative research a priori, rather than through an adaptive approach such as saturation. Extending previous literature in this area, we identify four distinct approaches to determining sample size in this way: rules of thumb, conceptual models, numerical guidel...

Background Stroke is a major cause of death and disability worldwide. Hypoxia is common after stroke and is associated with worse outcomes. Oxygen supplementation could prevent hypoxia and secondary brain damage. Objectives (1) To assess whether or not routine low-dose oxygen supplementation in patients with acute stroke improves outcome compared...

Medical science and other sources, such as the media, increasingly inform the general public’s understanding of disease. There is often discordance between this understanding and the diagnostic interpretations of health care practitioners (HCPs). In this paper – based on a supra-analysis of qualitative interview data from two studies of joint pain,...

In Reply Dr Saber and colleagues note that many patients in SO2S had mild strokes and suggest that this may explain the lack of observed benefit (OR, 0.97 [95% CI, 0.89-1.05]) from low-dose oxygen supplementation for 72 hours after acute stroke. To support this argument, they highlight the nonsignificant improved functional outcome (OR, 1.28 [95% C...

Importance Hypoxia is common in the first few days after acute stroke, is frequently intermittent, and is often undetected. Oxygen supplementation could prevent hypoxia and secondary neurological deterioration and thus has the potential to improve recovery. Objective To assess whether routine prophylactic low-dose oxygen therapy was more effective...

Objective To examine how individuals experience the process and consequences of receiving a diagnosis of fibromyalgia syndrome. Methods A systematic literature search of qualitative studies up to May 2016 was performed. Twenty-eight reports including information on patients’ diagnostic experiences were subjected to an interpretive analysis in acco...

Background The aim was to assess the feasibility of a single-centre, single-blind, randomized, crossover design to explore the effects of two slow-release dopamine agonists, ropinirole and pramipexole, on cued recall in Parkinson’s disease. As the design required a switch from the prescribed agonist (pramipexole-to-ropinirole, or ropinirole-to-pram...

Background In recent years, the evidence-based practice (EBP) movement has become embraced by clinicians and scientists world-wide. A guiding principle of the EBP is that the best evidence available should inform clinical practice. At the same time, patients' experiences should be taken into consideration in the clinical disicion-making. Over the y...

Background: Preserved residual kidney function (RKF) and normal fluid status are associated with better patient outcomes in incident haemodialysis patients. The objective of this trial is to determine whether using bioimpedance technology in prescribing the optimal post-dialysis weight can reduce the rate of decline of RKF and potentially improve...

IntroductionTo explore how adaptive choice-based conjoint (ACBC) analysis could contribute to shared decision-making in the treatment of individual patients with osteoarthritis (OA). Methods In-depth case study of three individuals randomly selected from patients with OA participating in an ACBC analysis exercise. Eleven members of a research users...

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders have been identified globally as the second most common healthcare problem for 'years lived with disability', and of these shoulder conditions are amongst the most common, frequently associated with substantial pain and morbidity. Exercise and acupuncture are often provided as initial treatments for musculoske...

Primary Research Aim: To explore the feasibility of delivering MTS or textured insoles in combination with Task-Specific Gait Training (TSGT) treatment, designed to increase sensory awareness and sensory function within the foot after stroke. Design: randomized, single blinded, two-group mixed methodology feasibility trial; Randomisation to either...

Aim: A proof-of-concept study to explore whether DNA methylation at first diagnosis is associated with response to disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Patients & methods: DNA methylation was quantified in T-lymphocytes from 46 treatment-naive patients using HumanMethylation450 BeadChip...

Background Musculoskeletal conditions involving the shoulder are common and, because of the importance of the upper limb and hand in daily function, symptoms in this region are commonly associated with functional impairment in athletic and non-athletic populations. Deriving a definitive diagnosis as to the cause of shoulder symptoms is fraught with...

Chronic widespread pain (CWP) is common in the general population. It is unclear how people reporting this problem present in primary care; they may regularly consult for regional pains without being recognized as having a generalized condition. Our objectives were to determine the prevalence of people consulting in primary care for musculoskeletal...

Introduction: Various prognostic models have been developed for acute stroke, including one based on age and five binary variables ('six simple variables' model; SSVMod) and one based on age plus scores on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSSMod). The aims of this study were to externally validate and recalibrate these models, and...

Data for the testing of the prognostic models. (DTA)

Background: Shoulder pain resulting from subacromial impingement syndrome (SAIS) is a common problem with a relatively poor outcome. There is little research exploring physical therapists' perspectives on the management of the syndrome. Objectives: To investigate physical therapists' perceptions and experiences regarding the use of exercise in t...

Accurate diagnosis of pneumonia complicating severe stroke is challenging due to difficulties in physical examination, altered immune responses and delayed manifestations of radiological changes. The aims of this study were to describe early clinical features and to examine C-reactive protein (CRP) as a diagnostic marker of post-stroke pneumonia.Pa...

Supplemental data. (PDF)

Contingency Table. (PDF)

Background: The TATE trial was a multicentre pragmatic randomized controlled trial of supplementing primary care management (PCM)-consisting of a GP consultation followed by information and advice on exercises-with transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), to reduce pain intensity in patients with tennis elbow. This paper reports the hea...

Chronic widespread pain (CWP) is common and associated with poor general health. There has been no attempt to derive a robust prevalence estimate of CWP, or assess how this is influenced by socio-demographic factors. This study therefore aimed to determine, through a systematic review and meta-analysis, the prevalence of CWP in the adult general po...

Natural experiments are an important methodology often used to answer research questions that would, otherwise, be impossible to address, or employed because of ethical concerns about the use of randomisation to interventions that carry known risks. The UK Medical Research Council (MRC) recently produced an extremely useful document discussing the...

Objective: To examine how older people can best be helped to live well with musculoskeletal pain. Methods: A mixed-methods study integrating quantitative analysis of a longitudinal cohort survey with 60 semi-structured interviews. Results: Comparison of “expected” to “reported” interference suggested that social activity, physical activity, and “in...

Despite past attempts to develop theoretical frameworks to explain diagnostic behaviour, recent work suggests that the sociology of diagnosis needs further development. Accordingly, this article explores the diagnostic search in fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), a biomedically unexplained disorder. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 peopl...

Introduction: Routine oxygen supplementation (ROS) is commonly prescribed to prevent stroke-related hypoxia and secondary brain damage. However, early results of The Stroke Oxygen Study (SO2S) show that routine oxygen supplementation does not affect mortality and disability at 3 months. Objectives: to establish whether routine oxygen supplementatio...

Rationale, aims and objectives: Patient preferences, increasingly solicited as part of person-centered healthcare approaches, are an important part of optimizing the pharmacological treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). Recent choice experiments have explored this issue using two types of conjoint analysis: choice-based conjoint analysis (CBCA) and ada...

Pneumonia is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in patients with stroke fed via nasogastric tubes and may be because of vomiting and gastro-oesophageal regurgitation. The aim of the study was to assess whether regular treatment with metoclopramide, a D2-receptor antagonist with antiemetic and gastric prokinetic actions, could reduce the rate...