International Trends in Opioid Prescribing by Age and Sex from 2001 to 2019: An Observational Study Using Population-Based Databases from 18 Countries and One Special Administrative Region.

Objective: To characterize multinational trends and patterns of opioid analgesic prescribing by sex and age.

Design, Setting, And Participants: We studied opioid analgesic prescribing from 2001 to 2019 with common protocol using population-based databases from eighteen countries and one special administrative region.

Main Outcome Measures: We measured opioid prescribing by geographical region, sex and age, estimating annual prevalent, incident, and nonincident opioid prescribing per 100 population with a 95% confidence interval (CI) and meta-analyzed the multinational and regional opioid prescribing with a random-effects model.

A qualitative exploration of community pharmacist views on providing a mental health and well-being intervention for long-term condition patients.

Background: Subthreshold depression and anxiety are common, affecting up to 24 % of people over their lifetime and are often associated with long-term conditions. Community pharmacists, who often have an established relationship with people who have long-term conditions, are well placed to identify and address subthreshold depression and anxiety and reduce the risk of progression to clinical mental health disorders.

Methods: Semi-structured individual qualitative interviews were conducted with community pharmacists to explore their perspectives on a pharmacy service for long-term condition patients with subthreshold depression and anxiety.

Collecting behavioural data across countries during pandemics: Development of the COVID-19 Risk Assessment Tool.

Tools that can be used to collect behavioural data during pandemics are needed to inform policy and practice. The objective of this project was to develop the Your COVID-19 Risk tool in response to the global spread of COVID-19, aiming to promote health behaviour change. We developed an online resource based on key behavioural evidence-based risk factors related to contracting and spreading COVID-19.

Digitally mapping the asthma journey-from diagnosis to remission.

Unlabelled: Digital technologies can play a central role in achieving precision medicine by monitoring changes in physiological and behavioural states. This could transform asthma care for the health provider and patient across the patient journey, from diagnosis to remission. For diagnosis, smartphones and artificial-intelligence-enabled devices can objectively capture respiratory symptoms, while digital peak flow meters enable home assessment of airflow variability.

A qualitative study of community pharmacists in New Zealand: mental health literacy and the barriers and facilitators to providing and receiving mental healthcare in community pharmacies.

Background: Community pharmacists (CPs) play a valuable role in the provision of mental healthcare in primary care settings; however, CPs may not be comfortable or confident doing so. Mental health literacy (MHL) of CPs and consumers, alongside factors in community pharmacies may contribute to this.

Objective: The aims of this study were to explore how MHL may affect the provision and receipt of mental healthcare in community pharmacies, and the perceived barriers and facilitators for CPs in providing mental healthcare.

An exploration of how online media portrays asthma and its treatment in New Zealand.

Introduction: Asthma is one of the most common long-term conditions worldwide. Mass media can influence public perceptions of asthma and treatment, yet there is limited literature on how online media portrays asthma and asthma treatment. The aim was to explore the portrayal of asthma and inhaled treatments in online mass media in New Zealand.

Building resilience together: actionable solutions to tackle workforce challenges and the climate crisis' impact on health systems within the commonwealth.

The emerging threats facing healthcare systems are becoming increasingly challenging to manage, from climate change effects to overburdened healthcare systems. Fundamental changes to the way that health systems develop and work together are needed to build resilience and ensure that they can withstand and continue to deliver effective care, despite emerging threats. These themes were the focus of the 2024 Commonwealth Civil Society Policy Forum, which brought together members of the Commonwealth Health Professions and Partners Alliance.

Pharmacogenomic Considerations in Antibiotic Therapy: A Pathway to Personalized Medicines with Antibiotic Use.

Antibiotics have revolutionized medicine, but their use is not without challenges. The efficacy and safety of antibiotics can vary significantly among individuals due to genetic differences. Genetic variation can influence the risk of antibiotic-related adverse effects, and understanding genetics can improve our ability to identify and manage these risks.

Correction: Implementing digital respiratory technologies for people with respiratory conditions: A protocol for a scoping review.

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

Effective Recruitment or Bot Attack? The Challenge of Internet-Based Research Surveys and Recommendations to Reduce Risk and Improve Robustness.

Internet-based research has exploded in popularity in recent years, enabling researchers to offer both investigations and interventions to broader participant populations than ever before. However, challenges associated with internet-based research have also increased-notably, difficulties verifying participant data and deliberate data manipulation by bot and spam responses. This study presents a viewpoint based on 2 case studies where internet-based research was affected by bot and spam attacks.

Using routine primary care data in research: (in)efficient case studies and perspectives from the Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research.

Aim: We aimed to identify enablers and barriers of using primary care routine data for healthcare research, to formulate recommendations for improving efficiency in knowledge discovery.

Background: Data recorded routinely in primary care can be used for estimating the impact of interventions provided within routine care for all people who are clinically eligible. Despite official promotion of 'efficient trial designs', anecdotally researchers in the Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research (AUKCAR) have encountered multiple barriers to accessing and using routine data.

Implementing digital respiratory technologies for people with respiratory conditions: A protocol for a scoping review.

The value of 'data-enabled', digital healthcare is evolving rapidly, as demonstrated in the COVID-19 pandemic, and its successful implementation remains complex and challenging. Harmonisation (within/between healthcare systems) of infrastructure and implementation strategies has the potential to promote safe, equitable and accessible digital healthcare, but guidance for implementation is lacking. Using respiratory technologies as an example, our scoping review process will capture and review the published research between 12th December 2013 to 12th December 2023.

Anticholinergic burden and frailty in older inpatients: insights from analysis of admission and discharge medicines using four anticholinergic scales.

Background: Exposure to high anticholinergic burden is associated with adverse outcomes in older adults. Older adults with frailty have greater vulnerability to adverse anticholinergic effects. There is limited data on anticholinergic burden in hospitalised older adults with frailty particularly, in New Zealand.

Digital markers of asthma exacerbations: a systematic review.

Background And Objective: With the increase in use of digital technologies, there is growing interest in digital markers, where technology is used to detect early markers of disease deterioration. The aim of this systematic review is to summarise the evidence relating to digital markers of asthma exacerbations.

Methods: A systematic search of the following databases was conducted, using key search terms relating to asthma, digital and exacerbations: Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, Psycinfo, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials.

Perceptions Toward Using Artificial Intelligence and Technology for Asthma Attack Risk Prediction: Qualitative Exploration of Māori Views.

Background: Asthma is a significant global health issue, impacting over 500,000 individuals in New Zealand and disproportionately affecting Māori communities in New Zealand, who experience worse asthma symptoms and attacks. Digital technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) models, are increasingly popular for asthma risk prediction. However, these AI models may underrepresent minority ethnic groups and introduce bias, potentially exacerbating disparities.

Outcomes Related to New Persistent Opioid Use After Surgery or Trauma: A Population-based Cohort Study.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of persistent opioid use (POU) following surgery or trauma on health outcomes using linked data.

Background: Surgery and trauma can lead to POU, characterized by continuous opioid consumption following hospital discharge. Outside the United States, there is a lack of population-based studies on POU outcomes in opioid-naive patients following these events.

'I didn't want to go home' patient-identified modifiable risk factors associated with hospital readmission: a qualitative study.

Background: Hospital readmissions are costly for patients, their families and healthcare systems. Identifying and addressing risk factors can reduce the number of people who experience readmission. Few studies have explored modifiable risk factors such as health beliefs from patients' perspective to explore the complexity of risk factors for readmission.

Incidence and risk factors of new persistent opioid use after surgery and trauma: A systematic review.

Background: Persistent opioid use (POU) can occur with opioid use after surgery or trauma. Current systematic reviews include patients with previous exposure to opioids, meaning their findings may not be relevant to patients who are opioid naïve (i.e.

Development and validation of the BMQ-AIR: a screening tool for assessing patients' treatment beliefs about switching to anti-inflammatory reliever (AIR) therapy.

Introduction: Despite anti-inflammatory reliever (AIR) therapy now being the preferred treatment choice across all severities of asthma, many patients are still "attached" to their short-acting beta-agonist (SABA) reliever, believing this to be the best way to control their asthma. To encourage individuals to switch to AIR, it is important to first identify the beliefs that patients hold about AIR.

Objective: The aim of this paper was to describe the initial development and validation of the BMQ-AIR, a six-item screening tool which assesses and identifies patients' treatment beliefs about switching to AIR therapy.