Postgraduate medical journal
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Meta Analysis
Association between outdoor PM2.5 and prevalence of COPD: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
There were conflictions and differences among the results of cross-sectional studies association between PM2.5 and COPD prevalence. We aimed to explore the real association between outdoor PM2.5 and COPD prevalence, analyze the possible cause to the differences and conflictions in previous cross-sectional studies. Cross-sectional literatures about the association between outdoor PM2.5 and COPD prevalence were selected up to 12 September 2018. ⋯ This meta-analysis study demonstrated a conclusive association between PM2.5 and prevalence of COPD (OR: 2.32, 95%CI 1.91-2.82). The significant heterogeneity among selected studies was mainly caused by age (over 60 or not). High PM2.5 concentration should be needed in further research of the relationship between PM2.5 and chronic diseases.
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Increasing pressure on general practice prompts innovative change in service organisation. This study sought to evaluate the impact of introducing a telephone-first consultation system in a socioeconomically deprived population. ⋯ A telephone-first system in a deprived urban general practice can decrease delays to GP-patient contacts. The number of patients seeking a medical intervention did not differ irrespective of the consultation system used. The telephone-first system did not affect GP out-of-hours, laboratory investigations or secondary care contacts.
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To examine junior doctors' experience and perceptions of medical errors in which they had been involved. ⋯ There is a need to prepare junior doctors to manage, and cope with, medical error and to ensure that healthcare professionals are adequately supported throughout their careers.
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Scientific conferences in the UK are attended by practising doctors and medical students for sharing research, networking and professional development. Student/trainee conferences are typically cheaper than professional conferences, but as they are not acknowledged in national scoring systems for medical and surgical training applications, they may have worse attendance than otherwise possible. We questioned whether student/trainee conferences are of a similar scientific quality to professional conferences, while being considerably cheaper. ⋯ Our results show that student/trainee conferences offer a similar level of scientific quality to professional medical conferences in the UK at a fraction of the cost, which should be reflected within the national scoring systems.