Category: Research

Pain in the …Big toe

by Anthony Maher. BSc Hons, MSc, FCPodS, Clinical Lead Consultant Podiatric Surgeon, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

A lot of the time we pay little attention to our feet, that is until something goes wrong. Most of us, luckily, will only occasionally experience foot pain sometime in our life, but for some that pain can be significant, causing pain when walking, limiting choice of footwear and even reducing activity or increasing the risk of falls.

The big toe joint or 1st metatarso-phalangeal joint is one of the most common areas of the foot to become painful (Gilheany, Landorf, & Robinson, 2008; Maher & Kilmartin, 2011).…

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The Doctor Will Zoom You Now

The Doctor Will Zoom You Now was a rapid, qualitative research study designed to understand the patient experience of remote and virtual consultations. The report makes recommendations for both patients and healthcare professionals for getting the most out of a remote healthcare experience.

Remote consultations and the use of technology offer some great opportunities to make significant improvements to general practice, hospital outpatient and community appointments, but making the most of this opportunity means understanding the patient experience. The project was led in partnership with Traverse, National Voices and Healthwatch England.…

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Women and young people hit hardest by lockdown

Study suggests women and young people have been hardest hit psychologically by coronavirus lockdown

A new study, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, has looked at the potential impact of the coronavirus pandemic on population mental health.

  • It found that there was an overall increase in mental distress in people aged 16 years and older in the UK.
  • This did not affect all groups equally, with some subgroups showing marked increases. Factors most strongly linked with mental health deterioration were those associated with pre-existing health inequalities, such as gender and age.
…

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What are the experiences of ethnic minorities with pain management?

invitation posterAn invitation to participate in research: We want to know your experiences of living with pain in London

Recent findings have shown that chronic pain affects up to 50% of the UK population [1]. Of this, Black adults have been found to have higher levels of “high-impact” pain in comparison to their White counterparts [2]. This disparity in the incidence of pain is also reflected in the contributory factors to pain. Researchers [1] have found many factors that are associated with the development of chronic pain including comorbidity, mental health and employment status – factors that are more prevalent in ethnic minorities [3] [4].…

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Important new axial SpA & COVID-19 APPG Clinical Survey

NASS would like to bring your attention to an important new clinical survey on the impact that COVID-19 is having on axial SpA (AS) services and care.

The survey has been developed to help inform the work of a new inquiry that is being carried out by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Axial Spondyloarthritis. Findings from the survey will support the APPG, the National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society (NASS) and other stakeholders in the area to identify key recommendations that can be put forward to help safeguard the provision of axial SpA (AS) care and ensure that patients are able to receive the best care possible in the months ahead.…

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What questions would you like to see answered by psoriatic arthritis research?

The British Psoriatic Arthritis Consortium is working with the James Lind Alliance to run a priority setting partnership (PSP). The aim is to create a national top-10 list of research priorities for psoriatic arthritis. They want ideas and thoughts from people with different experiences and backgrounds: those with psoriatic arthritis, their families, carers and clinicians.

The survey has now been open for two months and 228 surveys have been completed. You can read information on who has completed the survey so far in the survey’s update document.…

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Reumavid study

Reumavid is a questionnaire investigating the consequences of the covid-19 pandemic on people living with rheumatic conditions in United Kingdom.

The survey is aimed at people living with rheumatic diseases who are experiencing confinement due to COVID-19.

Its aim is to describe the consequences of the pandemic on the evolution of the disease, support services, healthcare, the quality of life and the emotional well-being of people living with rheumatic diseases.

This study is promoted by National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society (NASS), National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS), and Arthritis Action, and conducted by the Health & Territory Research (HTR) of the University of Seville, with the support of Novartis Pharma AG.…

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Global rheumatology patient survey – Covid 19

Pain UK would like to alert you to the work of the Covid-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance, an organisation established to “collect, analyze and disseminate information about COVID-19 and rheumatology to patients, physicians and other relevant groups to improve the care of patients with rheumatic disease.”

Rheumatology patients are invited to complete a patient survey, whether or not they have been diagnosed with COVID-19. A worldwide consortium of doctors, scientists and patient groups are seeking your views on the current situation. Tell them how it is for you via this link.

£4 million for musculoskeletal research

Research funding awarded by Nuffield Foundation’s Oliver Bird Fund

The Nuffield Foundation has awarded £4 million to six teams across five UK Universities for research to improve the lives of people living with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions by influencing policy and practice. Two of the awards, made in partnership with Versus Arthritis, will develop innovative ways to join up MSK data across an area to improve care and service provision. The remaining projects look at different aspects of the causes, consequences, and experiences of living with MSK.…

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NAIF inpatient falls

The first report of the new continuous National Audit of Inpatient Falls (NAIF) provides a detailed look into the care and management of patients who sustain a hip fracture as the result of a fall while they are in hospital.

Falls are the most frequently reported incident affecting hospital inpatients, with 247,000 falls occurring in inpatient settings each year in England alone (NHS Improvement). The data collected by NAIF and presented in this report provide ample opportunity to identify areas in which to enhance the quality of care for people who sustain an inpatient hip fracture. …

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