Ronán Michael Conroy

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland | RCSI · Department of Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine

Background Despite the extensive use of community-based participatory research (CBPR) in health-related projects, there is limited work on how CBPR processes result in outcomes, especially in household and ambient air pollution (HAAP) research. This study explores the reflections of key informants on factors that shape the implementation and outcom...

Since climate change affects psychiatric, neurological and neuropsychological disorders, as well as brain development, the Irish Doctors for the Environment working group on mental health has changed its title and remit to brain health. Mental health professionals need to respond coherently and effectively to the climate crisis. This need challenge...

When is it ethically permissible for clinicians to surgically intervene into the genitals of a legal minor? We distinguish between voluntary and nonvoluntary procedures and focus on nonvoluntary procedures, specifically in prepubescent minors (“children”). We do not address procedures in adolescence or adulthood. With respect to children categorize...

Administration mode of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) may influence responses. We assessed if Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale – Depression subscale (HADS-D) item responses and scores were associated with administration mode. We compared (1) self...

Background Self-stigma among people who have tuberculosis (TB) can contribute to non-adherence to medication and disengagement from care. It can manifest in feelings of worthlessness, shame, and guilt, leading to social withdrawal and disengagement from life opportunities. Self-stigma may also affect families of those who have TB, or healthcare wor...

Background The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in many student populations learning online in lockdown. While the mental health consequences of lockdown are increasingly understood, the core features of ‘cabin fever’ – the experience of lockdown – are poorly described. Methods We conducted a questionnaire survey of 649 undergraduate medicine and he...

Aim Globally, household and ambient air pollution (HAAP) accounts for almost 7 million premature deaths each year. Over half of these are from incomplete biomass fuel combustion in open fires and inefficient cookstoves. Solutions to the problem remain challenging due to cost, people’s perception of pollution and unsuitability to meet user needs. S...

Introduction Self-stigma—negative self-judgements or core beliefs—can result in feelings of shame, worthlessness and self-blame, and impacts social interaction, mental health and health service utilization among people living with HIV (PLHIV). Few interventions target self-stigma among PLHIV and, to our knowledge, none until now for adolescents and...

Self-stigma among people who have tuberculosis (TB) can contribute to non-adherence to medication and disengagement from care. It can manifest in feelings of worthlessness, shame, and guilt, leading to social withdrawal and disengagement from life opportunities. Self-stigma may also affect families of those who have TB, or healthcare workers who tr...

Household air pollution (HAP), primarily from biomass fuels used for cooking, is associated with adverse health outcomes and premature mortality. It affects almost half of the world’s population, especially in low-income and low-resourced communities. However, many of the ’improved’ biomass cookstoves (ICS) aimed at reducing HAP lack empirical evid...

The seven-item Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale Depression subscale (HADS-D) and the total score of the 14-item HADS (HADS-T) are both used for major depression screening. Compared to the HADS-D, the HADS-T includes anxiety items and requires more time to complete. We compared the screening accuracy of the HADS-D and HADS-T for major depressio...

The seven-item Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale Depression subscale (HADS-D) and the total score of the 14-item HADS (HADS-T) are both used for major depression screening. Compared to the HADS-D, the HADS-T includes anxiety items and requires more time to complete. We compared the screening accuracy of the HADS-D and HADS-T for major depressio...

The lack of safe drinking water affects communities in low-to-medium-income countries most. This barrier can be overcome by using sustainable point-of-use water treatments. Solar energy has been used to disinfect water for decades, and several efforts have been made to optimise the standard procedure of solar water disinfection (SODIS process). How...

Objectives . SARS-CoV-2 vaccination has shown reduced infection severity; however, the reinfection frequency amongst unvaccinated, partially vaccinated and fully vaccinated remains unclear. This study aims to elucidate the rates and associated factors for such occurrences. Methods . This retrospective epidemiological report included 1362 COVID-19...

Angelman syndrome (AS) is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder featuring ataxia, cognitive impairment and drug-resistant epilepsy. AS is caused by mutations or deletion of the maternal copy of the paternally imprinted UBE3A gene, with current precision therapy approaches focusing on re-expression of UBE3A. Certain phenotypes, however, are difficult...

Introduction. Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 infection has been shown to reduce the severity of infection; however, the overall reinfection rate in those unvaccinated, partially vaccinated and fully vaccinated remains unclear. Therefore, this study was undertaken to elucidate the rates and associated factors for such occurrences. Methods. This was...

Background: The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in many student populations learning online in lockdown. While the mental health consequences of lockdown are increasingly understood, the core features of ‘cabin fever’ are poorly described. Methods: We conducted a questionnaire survey of 649 undergraduate medicine and health sciences students. Item c...

Background Rapid access to thrombectomy for patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO) acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is critical for improving outcome. A major challenge for the ‘drip and ship’ model is reducing the door-in-door-out time (DIDO). We propose a new protocol with the aim of reducing DIDO, without adversely affecting emergency service usa...

Convalescent plasma (CP) therapy in COVID-19 disease may improve clinical outcome in severe disease. This pilot study was undertaken to inform feasibility and safety of further definitive studies. This was a prospective, interventional and randomized open label pilot trial in patients with severe COVID-19. Twenty COVID-19 patients received two 200...

Oligonucleotide therapies offer precision treatments for a variety of neurological diseases, including epilepsy, but their deployment is hampered by the blood brain barrier (BBB). Previous studies showed intracerebroventricular injection of an antisense oligonucleotide (antagomir) targeting microRNA-134 (Ant-134) reduced evoked and spontaneous seiz...

Objectives To quantify the prevalence and nature of adverse events in acute Irish hospitals in 2015 and to assess the impact of the National Clinical Programmes and the National Clinical Guidelines on the prevalence of adverse events by comparing these results with the previously published data from 2009. Design and methods A retrospective chart r...

Objective: This study aimed to determine if the implementation of large-scale patient safety initiatives have been successful in reducing overall and preventable adverse event rates in hospital inpatients. Design: The design used in this study was systematic review and meta-analysis. Data resources: We followed our published protocol (PROSPERO...

Objective To systematically review evidence for the association between trauma experienced in childhood or adolescence, and the subsequent experience of affective or psychotic mental disorders in adulthood. Methods Electronic databases (Scopus, Medline (for Ovid), EMBASE, and PsychINFO) were searched for peer‐reviewed, longitudinal cohort studies...

Background Despite being a vital part of medical workforce planning and development, how medical students and graduates choose their career specialty is still not well understood. This study aimed to identify the factors medical graduates consider important influences in their choice of specialty after their first year of practice, and to test the...

Abstract MicroRNAs perform important roles in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Sequencing as well as functional studies using antisense oligonucleotides indicate important roles for microRNAs during the development of epilepsy through targeting transcripts involved in neuronal structure, gliosis and inflammation. MicroRNA-22...

There is a lack of reliable and valid measurement tools to assess neck function in infants with congenital muscular torticollis, and most physiotherapists use visual estimation, which has not been adequately tested for reliability in this population. We examined the reliability of visual estimation of head tilt and active neck rotation in the uprig...

Objectives Validated diagnostic interviews are required to classify depression status and estimate prevalence of disorder, but screening tools are often used instead. We used individual participant data meta-analysis to compare prevalence based on standard Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale – depression subscale (HADS-D) cutoffs of ≥8 and ≥11 v...

Background: Intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) and anaemia are major health problems. This study assessed the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections, anaemia and associated factors among pre-school children in rural areas of the Tigray region, northern Ethiopia. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 610...

MicroRNAs perform important roles in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Sequencing as well as functional studies using antisense oligonucleotides, indicate important roles for microRNAs during the development of epilepsy through targeting transcripts involved in neuronal structure, gliosis and inflammation. MicroRNA-22 (miR-22)...

MicroRNAs perform important roles in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Sequencing as well as functional studies using antisense oligonucleotides, indicate important roles for microRNAs during the development of epilepsy through targeting transcripts involved in neuronal structure, gliosis and inflammation. MicroRNA-22 (miR-22)...

MicroRNAs perform important roles in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Sequencing as well as functional studies using antisense oligonucleotides, indicate important roles for microRNAs during the development of epilepsy through targeting transcripts involved in neuronal structure, gliosis and inflammation. MicroRNA-22 (miR-22)...

A concise guide to writing a research paper.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Objective: Two previous individual participant data meta-analyses (IPDMAs) found that different diagnostic interviews classify different proportions of people as having major depression overall or by symptom levels. We compared the odds of major depression classification across diagnostic interviews among studies that administered the Depression s...

We present a consensus-based checklist to improve and document the transparency of research reports in social and behavioural research. An accompanying online application allows users to complete the form and generate a report that they can submit with their manuscript or post to a public repository.

Abstract Background Emigration of domestically-trained health professionals is widespread, including in Ireland which has the highest rate of medical graduates in the OECD. Ireland’s failure to retain graduates necessitates high levels of international recruitment. This study aimed to identify factors associated with recently graduated doctors’ int...

Background: Medical schools increasingly incorporate teamwork in their curricula but medical students often have a negative perception of team projects, in particular when there is unequal participation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether a novel peer evaluation system improves teamwork contributions and reduces the risk of students...

RNA therapies such as oligonucleotides (OGNs) offer precision treatments for a variety of neurological diseases, including epilepsy but their deployment is hampered by the blood brain barrier (BBB). Here we used brain imaging and assays of serum proteins and tracer extravasation, to determine that BBB disruption occurring after status epilepticus i...

We seek to clarify and assess the underlying moral reasons for opposing all medically unnecessary genital cutting of female minors, no matter how severe. We find that within a Western medicolegal framework, these reasons are compelling. However, they do not only apply to female minors, but rather to non-consenting persons of any age irrespective of...

Aspirin non-response is associated with poor outcome but there is no agreement between the different methods to asses it. Weight has been shown to be a predictor of poor response but only using one method. In this study, we determine the effects of weight on different assays of platelet function. The response to aspirin was determined in 138 cardio...

Background Adverse events are any injuries caused by healthcare management, which result in disability, increased length of stay or death. The Irish National Adverse Event Study (INAES)(1) used the Harvard Medical Practice, 2-step methodology of retrospective chart review(2) to determine the adverse event rate in the Irish inpatient cohort. Method...

NB You the datafile used in this guide is available as a supplementary resource. You can download it in the Linked Data tab below. This guide helps SPSS users to get started with Stata. It does this by showing how common SPSS commands work in Stata – commands like FREQUENCIES or T-TEST. By seeing how Stata works doing tasks you are already familia...

Background: Intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) and anaemia are major health problems. This study assessed the prevalence of IPI, anaemia and associated factors among pre-school children in rural areas of the Tigray region, northern Ethiopia. Methods A community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 610 pre-school children in rural com...

Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) is a chronic neurological disease characterized by recurrent seizures. The antiepileptic drugs currently available to treat mTLE are ineffective in one-third of patients and lack disease-modifying effects. miRNAs, a class of small noncoding RNAs which control gene expression at the post-transcriptional level, pl...

Objectives This cross-sectional study was designed to measure burnout and its impact on risk of depression in a medical student population, comparing the preclinical and clinical years. Design We conducted a survey of 269 medical school students in both preclinical and clinical years at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, using the Beck Depr...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210152.].

Introduction Self-stigma–negative self-judgements resulting in shame, worthlessness and self-blame–may play a crucial role in emotional reactions and cause emotional distress among many people living with HIV and other chronic illnesses. Furthermore, self-stigma negatively impacts on self-agency, quality of life, adherence to treatment, and access...

Questionnaire administered to participants. (DOC)

Guides for pre- and post-programme Focus Group Discussions and post-programme interviews. (DOCX)

Questionnaire responses (Stata .dta file). (DTA)

List of categories, themes, and sub-themes. (XLSX)

Stata .do file of calculations performed. (DO)

Permission granted by EMH Swiss Medical Publishers to reproduce Fig 1. (PDF)

Background: Point prevalence surveys (PPSs) collect data on hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) at one point in time but do not provide information on incidence over the entire admission or impact on patients or healthcare resources. Retrospective record review examines the entire admission to determine adverse event prevalence, incidence, preventa...

The chapter covers key features of self-stigma and methods to measure it. We first present several challenges in defining self-stigma, notably the need to consider its complex nature. We then highlight common drivers and domains of self-stigma, and their relevance to people being treated for TB or having survived it. We then focus on the assessment...

Objective: To investigate whether scores on a psychological measure of concentration and interpersonal characteristics, The Attentional and Interpersonal Style Inventory (TAIS), are associated with performance of surgical skills. Design: Postgraduate surgical trainees completed an operative surgical skills assessment in the simulation laboratory...

It seems ironic that a guide to writing abstracts runs to almost twenty pages. Abstracts writing presents a unique challenge : an abstract is high-stakes – getting your work presented, published and read depends more on your abstract than any other factor. At the same time, an abstract is tiny. So you have to make every word count. So there are lot...

This study was designed to quantify and understand burnout and depression in a medical student population, comparing the pre-clinical and clinical years of medical education. We aimed to explore the relationship between the extent of burnout and likelihood of depression.

Objective We derive a novel model-based metric for effective adherence to medication, and validate it using data from the INhaler Compliance Assessment device (INCATM). This technique employs dose timing data to estimate the threshold drug concentration needed to maintain optimal health. Methods The parameters of the model are optimised against pa...

Additional information on model fitting, calculation of likelihood functions, and optimal dosage calculation. (DOCX)

Minimal dataset required to reproduce primary result (Table 5). (DTA)

Example raw INCA data for use with stata code (S1 Stata Code). (DTA)

Demonstration stata code for calculation of threshold adherence metric. (DO)

This manual gives tables of sample sizes for a wide variety of study designs, including means, proportions, agreement and reliability. Each design is covered in an independent section. It also has a discussion of sample size in multivariable analysis, and in qualitative research. Other sections include design of pilot studies and animal studies....

Introduction: Inability to identify stroke warning signs accurately is an important cause of delay in seeking medical attention, leading to potential ineligibility for acute intervention. We report on post-campaign findings (wave 2) of national surveys to estimate changes in population knowledge following a media-based Face, Arm, Speech, Time stro...

Background: Although brief cessation advice from healthcare professionals increases quit rates, smokers typically do not get this advice during hospitalisation, possibly due to resource issues, lack of training and professionals' own attitudes to providing such counselling. Medical students are a potentially untapped resource who could deliver ces...

Background: District hospitals in Africa could meet the essential surgical needs of rural populations. However, evidence on outcomes is needed to justify investment in this option, given that surgery at district hospitals in some African countries is usually undertaken by non-physician clinicians. Methods: Baseline and 2-3-month follow-up measur...

Background The Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel focuses particularly on migration of doctors from low- and middle-income countries. Less is understood about migration from high-income countries. Recession has impacted several European countries in recent years, and in some cases emigration has reached unp...