BMJ open
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Chronic hypoxic and hypercapnic respiratory failure and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) are chronic diseases associated with decreased quality of life and increased mortality. The rationale behind the set up the retrospective nationwide DISCOVERY cohort was to study several questions including disease course and risk factors for incident disease, impaired quality of life, hospitalisation risk and mortality in patients with chronic respiratory failure with long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT), long-term mechanical ventilation (LTMV) and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) on treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). ⋯ In patients with chronic respiratory failure and sleep apnoea important questions regarding comorbidity burden, hospitalisation rate, mortality and treatment outcomes are still unexplored to a large extent. The DISCOVERY cohort will provide unique opportunities by its size and comprehensiveness to fill this clinically relevant gap of knowledge.
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To describe the initial dilemmas, mental stress, adaptive measures implemented and how the healthcare team collectively coped while providing healthcare services in a large slum in India, during the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ The novel threat of the COVID-19 pandemic threw insurmountable challenges potentiating disastrous consequences; slums becoming a threat to themselves, threat to the health providers and a threat for all. Perhaps, a lesson we could learn from this pandemic is to incorporate 'slum health' within universal healthcare.
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To estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer care services and overall (direct and indirect) excess deaths in people with cancer. ⋯ Dramatic reductions were detected in the demand for, and supply of, cancer services which have not fully recovered with lockdown easing. These may contribute, over a 1-year time horizon, to substantial excess mortality among people with cancer and multimorbidity. It is urgent to understand how the recovery of general practitioner, oncology and other hospital services might best mitigate these long-term excess mortality risks.
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To develop items for an early warning score (RECAP: REmote COVID-19 Assessment in Primary Care) for patients with suspected COVID-19 who need escalation to next level of care. ⋯ Items on RECAP-V0 align strongly with published evidence, clinical judgement and patient experience. The validation phase of this study is ongoing.
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Lumbar disk herniation (LDH) is a common cause of low back pain and dysfunction. Studies have shown that electroacupuncture (EA) can achieve pain relief in patients with LDH. However, there is a lack of evidence regarding the effectiveness of deep EA with strong deqi and shallow EA with no deqi in patients with LDH. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of deep EA with strong deqi and shallow EA with no deqi in the treatment of LDH. ⋯ This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (approval number: 2019-XS-ZB06). Study results will be disseminated through publication in an open access journal.