Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has been associated with exposures in the workplace. We aimed to assess the association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease study. We analysed cross-sectional data from 28,823 adults (≥40years) in 34 countries. Eleven occupations were considered an...
Background: We explore severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibody lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) performance under field conditions compared to laboratory-based ELISA and live virus neutralisation. Methods: In July 2021, 3758 participants performed, at home, a self-administered LFIA on finger-prick blood, reported and su...
Motor units convert the last neural code of movement into muscle forces. The classic view of motor unit control is that the central nervous system sends common synaptic inputs to motoneuron pools and that motoneurons respond in an orderly fashion dictated by the size principle. This view however is in contrast with the large number of dimensions ob...
Background: Beta-blocker (BB) and calcium channel blocker (CCB) antihypertensive drugs are commonly used in pregnancy. However, data on their relative impact on maternal and fetal outcomes are limited. We leveraged genetic variants mimicking BB and CCB antihypertensive drugs to investigate their effects on risk of pre-eclampsia, gestational diabete...
Objective: To evaluate the impact of ALND and SLNB on upper limb (UL) morbidity in breast cancer patients. Summary Background: Axillary de-escalation is motivated by a desire to reduce harm of ALND. Understanding the impact of axillary surgery and disparities in operative procedures on post-operative arm morbidity would better direct resources to t...
Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia or snail fever, is a debilitating neglected tropical disease (NTD), caused by parasitic trematode flatworms of the genus Schistosoma, that has an annual mortality rate of 280,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa alone. Schistosomiasis is transmitted via contact with water bodies that are home to the intermediate...
Climate change poses an unprecedented challenge to population health and health systems’ resilience, with increasing fluctuations in extreme temperatures through pressures on hospital capacity. While earlier studies have estimated morbidity attributable to hot or cold weather across cities, we provide the first large-scale, population-wide assessme...
Sham interventions in randomised clinical trials (RCTs) of physical, psychological, and self-management (PPS) therapies for pain are highly variable in design and thought to contribute to poor internal validity. It has, however, not been formally tested whether the extent to which sham controls resemble the treatment under investigation consistentl...
