Reuben Ogollah

• PhD
• Keele University

Background Coronavirus disease-2019 was associated with significant mortality and morbidity in care homes in 2020–1. Repurposed antiviral drugs might reduce morbidity and mortality through reducing viral transmission, infection, replication and inflammation. We aimed to compare the safety and efficacy of potential antiviral drugs in care home resid...

Background Dupuytren’s contractures (DC) are fibrous cords under the skin of the hand that cause one or more fingers to curl gradually and irreversibly towards the palm. These contractures are usually painless but can cause a loss of hand function. Two treatments for Dupuytren’s contractures are widely used within the National Health Service (NHS)...

Background There exist many different methods of allocating participants to treatment groups during a randomised controlled trial. Although there is research that explores trial characteristics that are associated with the choice of method, there is still a lot of variety in practice not explained. This study used qualitative methods to explore mor...

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of conducting a cohort randomised-controlled trial (RCT) of a nurse-led package of care for knee pain and determine treatment sequence for use in a future trial. Methods: Open label, three-arm, single-centre, mixed-methods, feasibility cohort RCT. Adults aged ≥40 years with moderate-to-severe knee pain for...

Background: Testing for group B streptococcus (GBS) requires a vaginal-rectal swab in late pregnancy. Objective: A systematic review of the test accuracy of a self-collected swab compared with a health-care professional collected swab in the diagnosis of GBS colonisation. Search strategy: The Cochrane Library (including the Cochrane Database o...

Background Second-stage caesarean sections, of which there are around 34,000 per year in the UK, have greater maternal and perinatal morbidity than those in the first stage. The fetal head is often deeply impacted in the maternal pelvis, and extraction can be difficult. Numerous techniques are reported, but the superiority of one over another is co...

Background When conducting a randomised controlled trial, there exist many different methods to allocate participants, and a vast array of evidence-based opinions on which methods are the most effective at doing this, leading to differing use of these methods. There is also evidence that study characteristics affect the performance of these methods...

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with significant mortality and morbidity in care homes. Novel or repurposed antiviral drugs may reduce infection and disease severity through reducing viral replication and inflammation. Objective: To compare the safety and efficacy of antiviral agents (ciclesonide, niclosamide) for prev...

Objectives: To investigate whether the accuracy of placement of ultrasound-guided (US-guided) corticosteroid injections for subacromial pain (impingement) syndrome (SAPS) influences pain and function outcomes. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of data collected in a previous randomised controlled trial (RCT). Video images of US-guided subac...

Background In the UK, approximately 8% of live births are preterm (before 37 weeks gestation), more than 90% of whom are born between 30 and 36 weeks, forming the largest proportion of a neonatal units’ workload. Neonatologists are cautious in initiating full milk feeds for preterm infants due to fears of necrotising enterocolitis (NEC). There is n...

Objectives The overall purpose of this research programme is to develop and test the feasibility of a complex intervention for knee pain delivered by a nurse, and comprising both non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions. In this first phase, we examined the acceptability of the non-pharmacological component of the intervention; issues...

Methods: Attitudes to increasing physical activity to reduce risk of dementia were assessed in a national online survey promoted via online forums and public adverts. The Motivation to Change Behaviour for Dementia Risk Reduction (MOCHAD-10) scale examined motivation for lifestyle change. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify the...

Objectives: To evaluate fidelity of delivery of a nurse-led non-pharmacological complex intervention for knee pain. Setting: Secondary care. Single-centre study. Study design: Mixed methods study. Participants: Eighteen adults with chronic knee pain. Inclusion criteria: Age >40 years, knee pain present for longer than 3 months, knee pain f...

Background In the UK, approximately 8% of live births are preterm (before 37 weeks gestation), more than 90% of whom are born between 30 and 36 weeks, forming the largest proportion of a neonatal units’ workload. Neonatologists are cautious in initiating full milk feeds for preterm infants due to fears of necrotising enterocolitis (NEC). There is n...

Objectives The overall purpose of this research programme is to develop and test the feasibility of a complex intervention for knee pain delivered by a nurse, and comprising both non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions. In this first phase, we examined the acceptability of the non-pharmacological component of the intervention, issues...

Background There is a need for interventions to foster and maintain independence for people with dementia to support community living, improve morale, and reduce stigma. We investigated a social intervention to promote living well and enhance independence for people with mild dementia. Methods In this two arm parallel group, feasibility RCT at six...

Objectives To determine whether physiotherapist-led exercise intervention and ultrasound-guided subacromial corticosteroid injection is cost-effective when compared with standard advice and exercise leaflet and unguided injection in patients with subacromial pain (impingement) syndrome. Methods An incremental cost–utility analysis using patient re...

Objective Neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) causes damage to the macula and severe vision loss. Bevacizumab is the most cost-effective nAMD treatment. The TANDEM trial was designed to determine whether, in patients with nAMD, low-dose bevacizumab is non-inferior to the standard dose in terms of visual deterioration and whether a b...

Background Sciatica has a substantial impact on patients and society. Current care is ‘stepped’, comprising an initial period of simple measures of advice and analgesia, for most patients, commonly followed by physiotherapy, and then by more intensive interventions if symptoms fail to resolve. No study has yet tested a model of stratified care in w...

Introduction: Knee pain due to osteoarthritis (OA) is a common cause of disability. The UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence OA guidelines recommend education, exercise and weight loss advice (if overweight) as core interventions before pharmacological adjuncts. However, implementation of these in primary care is often suboptimal....

Objectives: Little is known about the epidemiology of neuropathic pain in primary care patients consulting with low back-related leg pain. We aimed to describe prevalence, characteristics and clinical course of low back-related leg pain patients with and without neuropathic pain, consulting with their family doctor in the UK. Methods: This was a...

Objectives To compare the clinical effectiveness of (1) physiotherapist-led exercise versus an exercise leaflet, and (2) ultrasound-guided subacromial corticosteroid injection versus unguided injection for pain and function in subacromial pain (formerly impingement) syndrome (SAPS). Methods This was a single-blind 2×2 factorial randomised trial. A...

Background Sciatica has a substantial impact on individuals and society. Stratified care has been shown to lead to better outcomes among patients with non-specific low back pain, but it has not been tested for sciatica. We aimed to investigate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of stratified care versus non-stratified usual care for patients prese...

Objective To present the risks of baby death from various maternal choices on a common scale. Design Review of published data. Methods Mortality calculated as the attributable risk per activity, expressed in “baby micromorts”, the number of one in a million chances of the baby dying. Results Amniocentesis and chorionic villous sampling carry pro...

Objectives This study examined the real-world impact of patient direct access to NHS physiotherapy (self-referral) on a) general practice consultations for musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions and b) specified clinical management for patients with MSK conditions. Design and setting Natural experiment in four general practices and the associated physio...

Background: Memory services often see people with early stage dementia who are largely independent and able to participate in community activities but who run the risk of reducing activities and social networks. PRIDE is a self-management intervention designed to promote living well and enhance independence for people with mild dementia. This stud...

Older people are continuing to fall despite fall prevention guidelines targeting known falls’ risk factors. Multisite pain is a potential novel falls’ risk factor requiring further exploration. This study hypothesises that: (1) an increasing number of pain sites and widespread pain predicts self-reported falls and falls recorded in primary and seco...

Background Memory services often see people with early stage dementia who are largely independent and able to participate in community activities but who run the risk of reducing activities and social networks. PRIDE is a self-management intervention designed to promote living well and enhance independence for people with mild dementia. This study...

Objectives We have previously developed and validated the Arthritis Research UK Musculoskeletal Health Questionnaire (MSK-HQ) for use across musculoskeletal care pathways, showing encouraging psychometric test results. The objective of this study was to determine the responsiveness of MSK-HQ following MSK treatments and to determine the minimally i...

Background Memory services often see people with early stage dementia who are largely independent and able to participate in community activities but who run the risk of reducing activities and social networks. PRIDE is a self-management intervention designed to promote living well and enhance independence for people with mild dementia. This study...

Background: Pregnancy-related low back pain and pelvic girdle pain (LBP/PGP) are common and negatively impact the lives of many pregnant women. Several patient-based outcome instruments measure treatment effect but there is no consensus about which measure to use with women who have these pain presentations. Objective: The objective was to compa...

Background: Sciatica is a painful condition managed by a stepped care approach for most patients. Currently, there are no decision-making tools to guide matching care pathways for patients with sciatica without evidence of serious pathology, early in their presentation. This study sought to develop an algorithm to subgroup primary care patients wi...

Background Anxiety and depression often coexist in older people. These disorders are often underdiagnosed and undertreated, and are associated with increased use of health and social care services, and raised mortality. Barriers to diagnosis include the reluctance of older people to present to their general practitioner (GP) with mood symptoms beca...

Background: There is limited research on the economic burden of low back-related leg pain, including sciatica. The aim of this study was to describe healthcare resource utilisation and factors associated with cost and health outcomes in primary care patients consulting with symptoms of low back-related leg pain including sciatica. Methods: This...

Background Low back pain (LBP) and sciatica place significant burden on individuals and healthcare systems, with societal costs alone likely to be in excess of £15 billion. Two recent systematic reviews for LBP and sciatica identified a shortage of modelling studies in both conditions. Objectives The aim of this systematic review was to document e...

Objective: To determine the natural history of flare-ups in knee osteoarthritis and their relation to physical exposures. Design: Adults aged ≥45 years with a recent primary care consultation for knee OA/arthralgia completed a daily pen-and-paper diary for up to three months, including questions on average knee pain intensity, pain descriptors,...

Background: Criticisms about overuse of MRI in low back pain are well documented. Yet, with the exception of suspicion of serious pathology, little is known about factors that influence clinicians' preference for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at first consultation. Objective: To explore factors associated with physiotherapists' preference for...

Baseline characteristics of participants followed up and lost to follow-up at 4 and 12 months.

Multivariable associations between baseline characteristics and improvement in the RMDQ for the subsample of participants with sciatica and corroborative MRI findings of nerve root compression (n=252), combining all the six preselected set of variables.

Background Identification of sciatica may assist timely management but can be challenging in clinical practice. Diagnostic models to identify sciatica have mainly been developed in secondary care settings with conflicting reference standard selection. This study explores the challenges of reference standard selection and aims to ascertain which com...

Predictor selection and their measurement level. (DOCX)

Objective The clinical presentation and outcome of patients with back and leg pain in primary care are heterogeneous and may be better understood by identification of homogeneous and clinically meaningful subgroups. Subgroups of patients with different back pain trajectories have been identified, but little is known about the trajectories for patie...

Background: Anxiety and depression are common among older people, with up to 20% reporting such symptoms, and the prevalence increases with co-morbid chronic physical health problems. Access to treatment for anxiety and depression in this population is poor due to a combination of factors at the level of patient, practitioner and healthcare system...

Background Exercise interventions improve clinical outcomes of pain and function in adults with knee pain due to osteoarthritis and higher levels of physical activity are associated with lower severity of pain and higher levels of physical functioning in older adults with knee osteoarthritis in cross-sectional studies. However, to date no studies h...

Traditionally, low back-related leg pain (LBLP) is diagnosed clinically as referred leg pain or sciatica (nerve root involvement). However, within the spectrum of LBLP we hypothesised that there may be other, unrecognised patient subgroups. This study aimed to identify clusters of LBLP patients using latent class analysis (LCA) and describe their c...

Background Criticisms about overuse of MRI in the assessment of low back pain are well documented. Yet, with the exception of suspicion of serious pathology, little is known about factors that influence clinicians’ preference for MRI, at first consultation. This study aimed to explore factors associated with physiotherapists’ preference for MRI wit...

Background context: Evidence is lacking on the prognosis and prognostic factors for back-related leg pain and sciatica in patients seeing their primary care physicians. This could guide timely appropriate treatment and referral decisions. Purpose: To describe prognosis and prognostic factors in primary care patients with low back-related leg pai...

Supplementary Table 1: Summary of the BEEP trial interventions 18

Supplementary Table 2: Univariable associations with physical activity level at baseline, three and six months, and important increase in physical activity from baseline to six months

Background Sciatica has a substantial impact on patients, and is associated with high healthcare and societal costs. Although there is variation in the clinical management of sciatica, the current model of care usually involves an initial period of ‘wait and see’ for most patients, with simple measures of advice and analgesia, followed by conservat...

Introduction Around 17% of general practitioner (GP) consultations are for musculoskeletal conditions, which will rise as the population ages. Patient direct access to physiotherapy provides one solution, yet adoption in the National Health Service (NHS) has been slow. Setting A pilot, pragmatic, non-inferiority, cluster randomised controlled tria...

Background While knee osteoarthritis (OA) is characterised as a slowly progressive disease, acute flares, episodes of severe pain, and substantial fluctuations in pain intensity appear to be part of the natural history for some patients. We sought to estimate what proportion of symptomatic community-dwelling adults might be affected, and to identif...

Background Low back pain (LBP) and pelvic girdle pain (PGP) during pregnancy are common and often accepted as a ‘normal’ part of pregnancy. Many women receive little in the way of treatment, and yet pain interferes with sleep, daily activities and work and leads to increasing requests for induction of labour or elective caesarean section. The aim o...

Background and study aims: Mucosal views can be impaired by residual bubbles and mucus during gastroscopy. This study aimed to determine whether a pre-gastroscopy drink containing simethicone and N-acetylcysteine improves mucosal visualisation. Patients and methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial recruiting 126 subjects undergoing routi...

Objective To investigate how attitudes and beliefs about exercise relate to physical activity behavior in older adults with knee pain attributable to osteoarthritis (OA). Methods We conducted secondary data analyses of a randomized controlled trial of exercise interventions (ISRCTN: 93634563). Participants were adults ≥45 years old with knee pain...

Background & objectives: The age at which menopause naturally occurs may reflect nutritional and environmental circumstances as well as genetic factors. In this study we examined natural menopause as a marker of women's health at the population level in India and in some major States. Methods: Data from the Indian District Level Household Survey (D...

Many pregnant women experience low back pain. Acupuncture appears to be a safe, promising intervention but evidence is needed about its clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. Objectives To assess the feasibility of a future large randomised controlled trial (RCT) testing the additional benefit of adding acupuncture to standard care (SC) fo...

Background Musculoskeletal problems are common, accounting for up to 30 % of general practitioner (GP) consultations and are a major cause of chronic disability worldwide. Demand for health care for musculoskeletal conditions is likely to continue to rise given the ageing population and the increasing impact of these common painful conditions. Phys...

Background Patients with back pain radiating to the leg(s) report worse symptoms and poorer recovery than those with back pain alone. Robust evidence regarding their epidemiological profile is lacking from primary care, the setting where most of these patients will present and be managed. Our objective was to describe the characteristics of patient...

Introduction: Despite advances in endoscope technology there is still a significant miss rate of neoplastic lesions during gastroscopy. Mucosal views are frequently impaired by residual bubbles and mucus.Method: We conducted an RCT in 126 patients attending for routine gastroscopy. Subjects were randomised in a 1:1:1ratio to receive a pre-procedure...

Pregnancy-related low back pain (LBP) is very common. Evidence from a systematic review supports the use of exercise and acupuncture, although little is known about the care received by women with pregnancy-related back pain in the UK. To describe current acupuncture and standard care management of pregnancy-related LBP by UK physiotherapists. Cros...

Summary This study examined the post-sterilization autonomy of women in south India in the context of early sterilization and low fertility. Quantitative data were taken from the third round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) carried out in 2005-06, and qualitative data from one village each in Kerala and Tamil Nadu during 2010-11. The i...

Objectives In randomized trials, the primary analysis should be consistent with the intention-to-treat (ITT) principle and should address missing data appropriately to draw valid inferences. This review focuses on current practices relating to the ITT principle and methods to handle missing data in the major musculoskeletal journals. Study Design...

Malignant pleural mesothelioma is an incurable cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. The United Kingdom has the highest death rate from mesothelioma in the world and this figure is increasing. Median survival is 8 to 12 months, and most patients have symptoms at diagnosis. The fittest patients may be offered chemotherapy with palliative intent. Fo...

Background: Chronic conditions such as diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease are common in people with gout and are associated with poorer quality of life and higher mortality. However, our understanding of the role of psychological comorbidity in gout remains unclear. Frequent experience of severe pain, social isolation and strained family...

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions generally necessitate long-term follow up of largely self-reported outcomes; thus, such RCTs are prone to missing outcome data, mainly because of participant dropout/non-response. Recent years have seen a rise in the application of methods for dealing with missing outco...

Background - In many low-and middle-income countries, there is high maternal, infant and child mortality due in part to low contraceptive use and high unmet need for family planning. The aim of this overview of systematic reviews is to synthesise the findings of systematic reviews conducted in this area to assess the impact of various contraceptive...

falls disproportionately affect older people, who are at increased risk of falls and injury. This pilot study investigates shock-absorbing flooring for fall-related injuries in wards for frail older people. we conducted a non-blinded cluster randomised trial in eight hospitals in England between April 2010 and August 2011. Each site allocated one b...

This paper examines the extent of inequalities in human resource provision at India's Heath Sub-Centres (HSC)-first level of service provision in the public health system. 'Within state' inequality explained about 71% and 'between state' inequality explained the remaining 29% of the overall inter-HSC inequality. The Northern states had a lower heal...

In India, female sterilization accounts for 66% of contraceptive use, and age at sterilization is declining. It is likely that some women regret having been sterilized, but data on the prevalence of, and the social and economic correlates of, regret at the national level are insufficient. Data for analysis came from 30,999 sterilized women aged 15-...

Objectives Preventable neonatal mortality due to tetanus infection remains common. We aimed to examine antenatal vaccination impact in a context of continuing high neonatal mortality in rural northern India. Methods and Findings Using the third round of the Indian National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2005–06, mortality of most recent singleton bir...

Studies have widely documented the socioeconomic inequalities in maternal and child health related outcomes in developing countries including India. However, there is limited research on the inequalities in advice provided by public health workers on maternal and child health during antenatal visits. This paper investigates the inequalities in advi...

STUDY BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Predicting outcome at endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) remains difficult. Our aim was to identify the risk factors for failed ERCP. A prospective multicenter study of ERCP was performed in 66 hospitals across England. Data on 4561 patients were collected using a structured questionnaire completed at t...