Louise Baxter

University College London | UCL · Arts and Sciences

Background Community and cultural engagement can support recovery, help symptom management and increase social connections for people with lived experience of mental health conditions. However, research suggests that people with mental health conditions experience significant barriers to participation. The aim of this study was to explore barriers...

Background There is growing evidence for the use of social prescribing to improve the mental health of patients. However, there are gaps in understanding the experiences of General Practitioners (GPs) when engaging in social prescribing for patients with mental health problems. Aims To explore the barriers and enablers faced by General Practitione...

Background: There is growing evidence for the use of social prescribing as a means to improve the mental health of patients. However, there are gaps in understanding the barriers and enablers faced by General Practitioners (GPs) when engaging in social prescribing for patients with mental health problems. Methods: This study uses a qualitative a...

Participatory music engagement has the capacity to support well-being. Yet, there is little research that has scrutinized the processes through which music has an effect. In this meta-ethnography [PROSPERO CRD42019130164], we conducted a systematic search of 19 electronic databases and a critical appraisal to identify 46 qualitative studies reporti...

There is increasing emphasis on psychological and social approaches to managing and treating mental illness, including a growing evidence base on the effectiveness of community-based social interventions including arts and heritage activities, library programmes, volunteering schemes, nature-based activities and community groups. However, there is...

Rationale: There is a growing literature on the benefits of arts and cultural engagement for mental health. However, whether poor mental health is a barrier to engaging in cultural activities remains unclear. Objective: To identify whether there are differential participation rates in community cultural activities amongst those with differing le...

Background: There is a large literature on the health benefits of engagement with the arts. However, there are also well-recognised challenges in ensuring equity of engagement with these activities. Specifically, it remains unclear whether individuals with poor mental health experience more barriers to participation. This study used a behaviour ch...

Pan American Health Organization's (PAHO) ProVac Initiative aims to strengthen countries' technical capacity to make evidence-based immunization policy. With financial support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, PAHO established the ProVac International Working Group (IWG), a platform created for two years to transfer the ProVac Initiative'...

Pneumonia is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality in children under 5 in Egypt, and the Ministry of Health of Egypt is considering introducing pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) in its national immunization program. We performed an economic analysis to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of this vaccine in Egypt and to provide...

Although the mortality from diarrheal diseases has been decreasing dramatically in Iran, it still represents an important proportion of disease burden in children <5 years old. Rotavirus vaccines are among the most effective strategies against diarrheal diseases in specific epidemiological conditions. This study aimed to evaluate the cost-effective...

Background: For many years, low- and middle-income countries have made efforts to strengthen national decision-making on immunization. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) ProVac Initiative was established to help expedite the use of evidence-based decision-making around new vaccine introduction. This initiative provides training in user-fr...

Background: Optimal therapy for children with chronic hepatitis C is unclear. Two treatment regimens are currently licensed in children. Objectives: To assess the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of peginterferon alfa-2a (Pegasys®, Roche) and peginterferon alfa-2b [ViraferonPeg®, Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD)] in combination with ribavi...

OBJECTIVES: To assess the cost-effectiveness of peginterferon ?-2a and peginterferon ?-2b in combination with ribavirin compared to best supportive care (BSC), for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) in children and young people aged 3 to 17 years. METHODS: A Markov state-transition economic model of chronic HCV in children and young p...

It is important that the level of general anaesthesia (GA) is appropriate for the individual patient undergoing surgery. If anaesthesia is deeper than required to keep a patient unconscious, there might be increased risk of anaesthetic-related morbidity, such as postoperative nausea, vomiting and cognitive dysfunction. This may also prolong recover...

Background: Peginterferon alfa and ribavirin combination therapy is an effective treatment for many patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV). Reducing the length of treatment may be advantageous. We performed a systematic review and economic evaluation to assess shorter treatment duration of this regimen. Methods: We searched fourteen bibli...

Objective: to assess the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of peginterferon alfa and ribavirin for the treatment of chronic hepatitis c virus (HCV) in three specific patient subgroups affected by recent licence changes: those eligible for shortened treatment courses [i.e. those with low viral load (LVL) and who attained a rapid virolog...

Study found that treatment with recombinant human growth hormone gave significantly greater benefits in stature for children with growth hormone deficiency (GHD), Turner syndrome, Prader–Willi syndrome, chronic renal insufficency, short stature homeobox-containing gene deficiency, and those who were small for gestational age, than for untreated chi...

Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) is licensed for short stature associated with growth hormone deficiency (GHD), Turner syndrome (TS), Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), chronic renal insufficiency (CRI), short stature homeobox-containing gene deficiency (SHOX-D) and being born small for gestational age (SGA). To assess the clinical effectiveness a...

To assess the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of bariatric surgery for obesity. Seventeen electronic databases were searched [MEDLINE; EMBASE; PreMedline In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations; The Cochrane Library including the Cochrane Systematic Reviews Database, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, DARE, NHS EED and HTA database...

OBJECTIVES To assess the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of bariatric surgery for obesity. DATA SOURCES Seventeen electronic databases were searched [MEDLINE; EMBASE; PreMedline In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations; The Cochrane Library including the Cochrane Systematic Reviews Database, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, DARE...

To update and extend a 2006 report on the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of adefovir dipivoxil (ADV) and pegylated interferon alpha (PEG-alpha) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Thirteen bibliographic databases were searched including MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library. Searches were run from the beginning of 2005...

To review the evidence on the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of non-occupational postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) for HIV. Eleven electronic databases were searched from inception to December 2007. Selected studies were assessed, subjected to data extraction using a standard template and quality assessment using published criteria. Stu...

GH therapy can increase short-term growth and improve (near) final height. Increases in height are such that treated individuals remain relatively short when compared with peers of normal stature. Large, multicentre RCTs are required which should focus on final height and address quality of life and cost issues.

Background Idiopathic short stature (ISS) refers to children who are very short compared with their peers for unknown or hereditary reasons. Recombinant human growth hormone (GH) has been used to increase growth and final height in children with ISS. Objectives To assess the effects of recombinant human GH on short‐term growth and final height in...

To evaluate the effectiveness of cardiac markers to quantify anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity in children with cancer. Systematic review using a priori methods. Seven studies, all with methodological limitations, were identified. One RCT suggests that cardiac troponin can be used to assess the effectiveness of the cardio-protective agent dexraz...

It is difficult to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of technologies for reducing or preventing cardiotoxicity and about the use of cardiac markers in children as the evidence is limited in quantity and quality. The lack of standardisation for monitoring and reporting cardiac performance is problematic. Not all studies report effectiveness i...

Background: Idiopathic short stature (ISS) refers to children who are very short compared with their peers for unknown or hereditary reasons. Recombinant human growth hormone (GH) has been used to increase growth and final height in children with ISS. Objectives: To assess the effects of recombinant human GH on short-term growth and final height...

Turner syndrome (TS) is a genetic disorder affecting the sexual development and appearance of girls and women. Women with TS are much shorter than other women (by about 21 cm or eight inches). To try to overcome slow growth, recombinant growth hormone (hGH) has been given. The hormone is injected under the skin several times a week until final adul...

This review systematically assessed the evidence on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of cardioprotection against the toxic effects of anthracyclines given to children with cancer. We searched eight electronic databases, including Medline and the Cochrane Library, from inception to January 2006 for systematic reviews and randomised controlled tri...