Gloves off!: Environmental and financial impacts of an educational intervention to improve hand hygiene. A quality improvement study.

Background: Non-sterile gloves are often used inappropriately in clinical care, with associated poorer hand hygiene, and financial and environmental waste.

Methods: This before and after study assessed the impact of an educational intervention on non-sterile glove use, hand hygiene compliance, knowledge and attitudes, and environmental and financial metrics. Participants were clinical staff working in two acute surgical wards of an adult tertiary referral hospital from May 2023 to March 2024.

Validation of the Microarray Patch for Vaccination (MAPVac) scale to measure the perceptions of safety, usability, and acceptability.

Introduction: Vaccination is a crucial element of public and population health. Microarray patches (MAPs) may improve vaccine uptake due to reduced pain, being needle-free, enhanced thermostability, and potential for self or lay administration. We aimed to validate a scale that measures perceptions of MAP vaccine safety, usability, and acceptability in adults aged 18+.

Perceived safety, usability, and acceptability of microarray patches for vaccination among key populations: A mixed methods study.

Introduction: Vaccination is crucial for public and population health. Microarray patches (MAPs) could enhance vaccine uptake through reduced pain, no needles, improved thermostability and self or lay administration, but there is limited evidence. We aimed to investigate the perceptions of the general public and healthcare professionals (HCPs) aged 18 years and older about MAP vaccination.

Reducing pathology testing in emergency departments: A scoping review.

Background: Pathology testing in emergency departments (EDs) is often unnecessary, leading to avoidable financial and environmental costs without improving clinical care. This overview summarises interventions to reduce pathology testing in EDs, their effectiveness, and any resulting financial, environmental, patient, or staff impacts.

Methods: We searched multiple databases up to February 2025 and conducted citation searches.

Health benefits and harms of mammography screening in older women (75+ years)-a systematic review.

Background: There is little evidence on the balance between potential benefits and harms of mammography screening in women 75 years and older. The aim of this systematic review was to synthesise the evidence on the outcomes of mammography screening in women aged 75 years and older.

Methods: A systematic review of mammography screening studies in women aged 75 years and over.

Immunogenicity, safety, usability and acceptability of microarray patches for vaccination: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Microarray patches (MAPs) deliver vaccines to the epidermis and the upper dermis, where abundant immune cells reside. There are several potential benefits to using MAPs, including reduced sharps risk, thermostability, no need for reconstitution, tolerability and self-administration. We aimed to explore and evaluate the immunogenicity, safety, usability and acceptability of MAPs for vaccination.

Junior parkrun pilot in Australia: A real world evaluation.

Issue Addressed: Regular physical activity is important for children's health. Parkrun supports communities to deliver free, weekly, 5 km events in 22 countries around the world and is the largest physical activity model delivered at scale in the world. Junior parkrun aims to encourage children aged 4-14 years to be active outdoors through providing safe, cost-free and non-competitive weekly timed walk, run or jog over a 2-km distance.

Patient-reported health-related quality of life outcomes following mastectomy for breast cancer, with immediate, delayed or no breast reconstruction: Four-year follow-up from a prospective cohort study.

Background: Breast reconstruction (BR) improves women's health-related quality of life (HRQOL) following mastectomy for breast cancer, yet factors contributing to improved HRQOL remain unclear. This study aimed to explore the overall impact of mastectomy with or without BR on participants' perceptions of HRQOL over time in a cohort of women with high-risk breast cancer; to examine differences in mean HRQOL scores between immediate BR, delayed BR and no BR groups; to assess the influence of patient characteristics potentially associated with HRQOL scores; and to determine the feasibility of long-term collection of patient-reported outcome measures in clinical settings.

Methods: A prospective, longitudinal study of 100 women with high-risk breast cancer who underwent mastectomy with or without breast reconstruction and were likely to require post-mastectomy radiotherapy.

Rapid assessment of case recruitment tools to inform integrated surveillance of influenza and other respiratory viruses in Eastern Mediterranean countries.

Influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) case recruitment tools from 10 countries were reviewed. The contents of the existing tools were compared against World Health Organization's current guidelines, and we also assessed the content validity (accuracy, completeness and consistency). Five of the ILI tools and two of the SARI tools were rated as having high accuracy against WHO case definitions.

The Effect of Supplemental Imaging on Interval Cancer Rates in Mammography Screening: Systematic Review.

Supplemental screening with MRI or ultrasound increases cancer detection rate (CDR) in women with standard screening mammography. Whether it also reduces interval cancer rate (ICR) is unclear. This study reviewed the evidence evaluating the effect of supplemental imaging on ICR in women undergoing screening mammography.

The role of breast reconstruction choice on body image patient-reported outcomes at four years post-mastectomy for breast cancer: A longitudinal prospective cohort study.

Objectives: To examine the impact of breast reconstruction on women's perceptions of body image over time and to assess the influence of sociodemographic variables on body image.

Methods: A prospective, longitudinal cohort study, using validated breast cancer-specific questionnaires, to compare patient-reported outcomes in women choosing immediate (n = 61), delayed (n = 16) or no (n = 23) breast reconstruction.

Results: One hundred women completed baseline questionnaires that included items on body image; 30 women completed all four annual follow-up sets, while 20 women completed baseline only.

The psychometric properties of a novel task-based dance self-efficacy measure for older adult dance program participants.

Background: Self-efficacy for dance may reflect individual differences in factors likely to influence dance program participation. This study investigated the psychometric properties of six novel task-based dance self-efficacy (t-bDSE) questions for older adults participating in two large-scale dance intervention trials (N = 530; N = 131).

Methodology: Internal consistency of t-bDSE was assessed and items validated according to age, gender, physical ability, cognitive status, psychosocial wellbeing, dance experience and exercise behaviour.

Impact of the age expansion of breast screening on screening uptake and screening outcomes among older women in BreastScreen western.

Objectives: To assess the impact of age expansion of screening (EOS) of the target age group from 50 to 69 to 50-74 in Australia, which began mid-2013, by examining screening uptake and outcomes of older women, and by identifying factors associated with continuing screening after reaching the age of 75 years.

Methods: Retrospective study using data from women aged 65+ who attended BreastScreen Western Australia between 2010 and 2017 for free mammograms. Screening uptake and screening outcomes were calculated for the periods before (2010-2012) and after (2015-2017) the age EOS to women aged 70-74.

Mortality of ethnic minority groups in the UK: a systematic review protocol.

Introduction: Growing ethnic diversity in the UK has made it increasingly important to determine the presence of ethnic health inequalities. There has been no systematic review that has drawn together research on ethnic differences in mortality in the UK.

Methods: All types of observational studies that compare all-cause mortality between major ethnic groups and the white majority population in the UK will be included.

Low-Level Laser Treatment Is Ineffective for Capsular Contracture: Results of the LaTCon Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Breast reconstruction with implants can be complicated by symptomatic capsular contracture, especially after radiotherapy. A phase I, nonrandomized clinical trial demonstrated improvement in capsular contracture and avoidance of revision surgery with low-level laser therapy. This phase II, double-blind, randomized controlled trial assessed the efficacy of low-level laser for treating capsular contracture in women with breast reconstruction following mastectomy for breast cancer.

Simulated versus traditional occupational therapy placements: A randomised controlled trial.

Background/aim: Professional practise placements in occupational therapy education are critical to ensuring graduate competence. Australian occupational therapy accreditation standards allow up to 200 of a mandated 1000 placement hours to include simulation-based learning. There is, however, minimal evidence about the effectiveness of simulation-based placements compared to traditional placements in occupational therapy.

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of embedded simulation in occupational therapy clinical practice education: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Clinical placements are a critical component of the training for health professionals such as occupational therapists. However, with growing student enrolments in professional education courses and workload pressures on practitioners, it is increasingly difficult to find sufficient, suitable placements that satisfy program accreditation requirements. The professional accrediting body for occupational therapy in Australia allows up to 200 of the mandatory 1000 clinical placement hours to be completed via simulation activities, but evidence of effectiveness and efficiency for student learning outcomes is lacking.

Social Dancing and Incidence of Falls in Older Adults: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial.

Background: The prevention of falls among older people is a major public health challenge. Exercises that challenge balance are recognized as an efficacious fall prevention strategy. Given that small-scale trials have indicated that diverse dance styles can improve balance and gait of older adults, two of the strongest risk factors for falls in older people, this study aimed to determine whether social dance is effective in i) reducing the number of falls and ii) improving physical and cognitive fall-related risk factors.

A theoretical analysis showed that blinding cannot eliminate potential for bias associated with beliefs about allocation in randomized clinical trials.

Objectives: To explore the theoretical justification for blinding in randomized trials and make recommendations concerning the implementation and interpretation of blinded randomized trials.

Study Design And Setting: A theoretical analysis was conducted of the potential for bias in randomized trials with successful blinding (ie, trials in which beliefs about allocation to treatment or control groups are independent of actual allocation). The analysis identified conditions that must be satisfied to ensure that blinding eliminates the potential for bias associated with beliefs about allocation.

Can social dancing prevent falls in older adults? a protocol of the Dance, Aging, Cognition, Economics (DAnCE) fall prevention randomised controlled trial.

Background: Falls are one of the most common health problems among older people and pose a major economic burden on health care systems. Exercise is an accepted stand-alone fall prevention strategy particularly if it is balance training or regular participation in Tai chi. Dance shares the 'holistic' approach of practices such as Tai chi.

Internet trials: participant experiences and perspectives.

Background: Use of the Internet to conduct randomised controlled trials is increasing, and provides potential to increase equity of access to medical research, increase the generalisability of trial results and decrease the costs involved in conducting large scale trials. Several studies have compared response rates, completeness of data, and reliability of surveys using the Internet and traditional methods, but very little is known about participants' attitudes towards Internet-based randomised trials or their experience of participating in an Internet-based trial.

Objective: To obtain insights into the experiences and perspectives of participants in an Internet-based randomised controlled trial, their attitudes to the use of the Internet to conduct medical research, and their intentions regarding future participation in Internet research.

Internet-based randomized controlled trials: a systematic review.

Background: The internet is increasingly being used to conduct randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Knowledge of the types of interventions evaluated and the methodological quality of these trials could inform decisions about whether to conduct future trials using conventional methods, fully online or a mixture of the two.

Objective: To identify and describe the scope of internet-based RCTs for human health condition interventions and evaluate their methodological quality.