Imperial College London

Professor Mitch Blair

Faculty of MedicineSchool of Public Health

Emeritus Professor
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 8869 3881m.blair Website

 
 
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Location

 

River Island Academic Centre for Paediatrics and Child HealthNorthwick ParkNorthwick Park and St Marks Site

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Summary

 

Publications

Publication Type
Year
to

238 results found

Tanna NK, Karki M, Webber I, Alaa A, El-Costa A, Blair Met al., 2023, Knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with vitamin D supplementation: A cross-sectional online community survey of adults in the UK, PLoS One, ISSN: 1932-6203

OBJECTIVE: Assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) of a diverse population. Identify barriers and facilitators that inform routine vitamin D supplementation and self-care in the community setting. DESIGN: Cross-sectional online voluntary survey. Electronic survey link published on college Qualtrics platform and advertised widely. Study information provided with Participant Information Sheet. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: 556 community dwelling adults across the UK. METHODS: The overarching study included two phases, incorporating quantitative and qualitative methodologies. This paper reports findings from the first phase of the FABCOM-D (Facilitators and Barriers to Community (Healthy) Vitamin D status) study. Online survey questions were iteratively developed after background literature searches and piloted to ensure clarity and ease of understanding. Survey responses summarised using frequencies and percentages, and univariable and multivariable logistic regression models explored for any association. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys guided reporting. Statistical analysis performed using IBM SPSS software. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Awareness of vitamin D information sources, health benefits and testing. Attitudes to supplementation, sun exposure and fortification. RESULTS: Three quarters of the community had some awareness of vitamin D and around half were taking supplements. The two most trusted sources of information included health professionals and the NHS website. Participants were willing to pay for supplements, supporting a self-care agenda. With increasing age, there was significant reduced intake of vitamin D supplements. This aspect needs to be explored further as this could be a concern in deficiency status in the elderly. There was acceptance of food fortification but uncertainty on how to balance food intake with supplementation. CONCLUSION: We were successf

Journal article

Woodcock T, Novov V, Skirrow H, Butler J, Lovett D, Adeleke Y, Blair M, Saxena S, Majeed F, Aylin Pet al., 2023, Health and socio-demographic characteristics associated with uptake of seasonal influenza vaccination amongst pregnant women: retrospective cohort study, British Journal of General Practice, Vol: 73, Pages: e148-e155, ISSN: 0960-1643

Pregnant women are at increased risk from influenza, yet maternal influenza vaccination levels remain suboptimal. This study aimed to estimate associations between socio-demographic and health characteristics and seasonal influenza vaccination uptake among pregnant women and understand trends over time to inform interventions to improve vaccine coverage. A retrospective cohort study using linked electronic health records of women in North West London with at least one pregnancy overlapping with an influenza season between September 2010 and February 2020. We used a multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression model to identify associations between characteristics of interest and primary outcome of influenza vaccination. 451,954 pregnancies, among 260,744 women, were included. In 85,376 (18.9%) pregnancies women were vaccinated against seasonal influenza. Uptake increased from 8.4% in 2010/11 to 26.3% in 2018/19, dropping again to 21.1% in 2019/20. Uptake was lowest among women: aged 15-19 years (12%) or over 40 years (15%; OR 1.17, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.24); of Black ethnicity (14.1%; OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.53 to 0.57), or unknown ethnicity (9.9%; OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.46), lived in more deprived areas (OR least vs most deprived 1.16, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.21), or with no known risk factors for severe influenza. Seasonal influenza vaccine uptake in pregnant women increased in the past decade, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but remained suboptimal. We recommend approaches to reducing health inequalities should focus on women of Black ethnicity, younger and older women, and women living in areas of greater socio-economic deprivation.

Journal article

Tanna N, Karki M, El-Osta A, Webber I, Alaa A, Blair Met al., 2023, Knowledge, attitudes and practices associated with Vitamin D supplementation: a cross-sectional online community survey of adults in the UK, Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Working paper

Nakubulwa MA, Greenfield G, Pizzo E, Magusin A, Maconochie I, Blair M, Bell D, Majeed A, Sathyamoorthy G, Woodcock Tet al., 2022, To what extent do callers follow the advice given by a non-emergency medical helpline (NHS 111): A retrospective cohort study, PLoS One, Vol: 17, ISSN: 1932-6203

National Health Service (NHS) 111 helpline was set up to improve access to urgent care in England, efficiency and cost-effectiveness of first-contact health services. Following trusted, authoritative advice is crucial for improved clinical outcomes. We examine patient and call-related characteristics associated with compliance with advice given in NHS 111 calls. The importance of health interactions that are not face-to-face has recently been highlighted by COVID-19 pandemic. In this retrospective cohort study, NHS 111 call records were linked to urgent and emergency care services data. We analysed data of 3,864,362 calls made between October 2013 and September 2017 relating to 1,964,726 callers across London. A multiple logistic regression was used to investigate associations between compliance with advice given and patient and call characteristics. Caller’s action is ‘compliant with advice given if first subsequent service interaction following contact with NHS 111 is consistent with advice given. We found that most calls were made by women (58%), adults aged 30–59 years (33%) and people in the white ethnic category (36%). The most common advice was for caller to contact their General Practitioner (GP) or other local services (18.2%) with varying times scales. Overall, callers followed advice given in 49% of calls. Compliance with triage advice was more likely in calls for children aged <16 years, women, those from Asian/Asian British ethnicity, and calls made out of hours. The highest compliance was among callers advised to self-care without the need to contact any other healthcare service. This is one of the largest studies to describe pathway adherence following telephone advice and associated clinical and demographic features. These results could inform attempts to improve caller compliance with advice given by NHS 111, and as the NHS moves to more hybrid way of working, the lessons from this study are key to the development of remote heal

Journal article

Beaney T, Clarke J, Woodcock T, McCarthy R, Saravanakumar K, Barahona M, Blair M, Hargreaves Det al., 2021, Patterns of healthcare utilisation in children and young people: a retrospective cohort study using routinely collected healthcare data in Northwest London, BMJ Open, Vol: 11, Pages: 1-14, ISSN: 2044-6055

ObjectivesWith a growing role for health services in managing population health, there is a need for early identification of populations with high need. Segmentation approaches partition the population based on demographics, long-term conditions (LTCs) or healthcare utilisation but have mostly been applied to adults. Our study uses segmentation methods to distinguish patterns of healthcare utilisation in children and young people (CYP) and to explore predictors of segment membership.DesignRetrospective cohort study.SettingRoutinely collected primary and secondary healthcare data in Northwest London from the Discover database.Participants378,309 CYP aged 0-15 years registered to a general practice in Northwest London with one full year of follow-up.Primary and secondary outcome measuresAssignment of each participant to a segment defined by seven healthcare variables representing primary and secondary care attendances, and description of utilisation patterns by segment. Predictors of segment membership described by age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation and LTCs.ResultsParticipants were grouped into six segments based on healthcare utilisation. Three segments predominantly used primary care; two moderate utilisation segments differed in use of emergency or elective care, and a high utilisation segment, representing 16,632 (4.4%) children accounted for the highest mean presentations across all service types. The two smallest segments, representing 13.3% of the population, accounted for 62.5% of total costs. Younger age, residence in areas of higher deprivation, and presence of one or more LTCs were associated with membership of higher utilisation segments, but 75.0% of those in the highest utilisation segment had no LTC.ConclusionsThis article identifies six segments of healthcare utilisation in CYP and predictors of segment membership. Demographics and LTCs may not explain utilisation patterns as strongly as in adults which may limit the use of routine data in predicting ut

Journal article

Zdunek K, Alexander D, Schroder-Back P, Rigby M, Blair Met al., 2021, Factors influencing the uptake of evidence in child health policy-making: results of a survey among 23 European countries, Health Research Policy and Systems, Vol: 19, Pages: 1-16, ISSN: 1478-4505

BackgroundThe ability to successfully transfer knowledge across international boundaries to improve health across the European Region is dependent on an in-depth understanding of the many factors involved in policy creation. Across countries we can observe various approaches to evidence usage in the policy-making process. This study, which was a part of the Models of Child Health Appraised (MOCHA) project assessing patterns of children’s primary care in Europe, focused on how and what kind of evidence is used in child health policy-making processes in European countries and how it is applied to inform policy and practice.MethodIn this study, a qualitative approach was used. The data were analysed in accordance with the thematic analysis protocol. The MOCHA project methodology relies on experienced country agents (CA) recruited for the project and paid to deliver child health data in each of 30 European countries. CAs are national experts in the child health field who defined the country-specific structured information and data. A questionnaire designed as a semi-structured survey instrument asked CAs to indicate the sources of evidence used in the policy-making process and what needed to be in place to support evidence uptake in policy and practice.ResultsIn our data we observed two approaches to evidence usage in child health policy formulation. The scientific approach in our understanding refers to the so-called bottom-up initiatives of academia which identify and respond to the population’s needs. Institutional approaches can be informed by scientific resources as well; however, the driving forces here are governmental institutions, whose decisions and choices are based not only on the population needs but also on political, economic and organizational factors. The evidence used in Europe can also be of an external or internal nature. Various factors can affect the use of evidence in child health policy-making. Facilitators are correlated with strong

Journal article

Watson G, Pickard L, Williams B, Hargreaves D, Blair Met al., 2021, ‘Do I, don’t I?’ A qualitative study addressing parental perceptions about seeking healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic, Archives of Disease in Childhood, Vol: 106, Pages: 1118-1124, ISSN: 0003-9888

Background Paediatric emergency departments have seen reduced attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Late paediatric presentations may lead to severe illness and even death. Maintaining provision of healthcare through a pandemic is essential. This qualitative study aims to identify changing care-seeking behaviours in child health during the pandemic and ascertain parental views around barriers to care.Methods Semistructured interviews were conducted with caregivers of children accessing acute paediatric services in a hospital in North-West London. Thematic content analysis was used to derive themes from the data, using a deductive approach.Results From interviews with 15 caregivers an understanding was gained of care-seeking behaviours during the pandemic. Themes identified were; influencers of decision to seek care, experience of primary care, other perceived barriers, experiences of secondary care, advice to others following lived experience. Where delays in decision to seek care occurred this was influenced predominantly by fear, driven by community perception and experience and media portrayal. Delays in reaching care were focused on access to primary care and availability of services. Caregivers were happy with the quality of care received in secondary care and would advise friends to seek care without hesitation, not to allow fear to delay them.Conclusion A pandemic involving a novel virus is always a challenging prospect in terms of organisation of healthcare provision. This study has highlighted parental perspectives around access to care and care-seeking behaviours which can inform us how to better improve service functioning during such a pandemic and beyond into the recovery period.

Journal article

Greenfield G, Okoli O, Quezada Yamamoto H, Blair M, Saxena S, Majeed F, Hayhoe Bet al., 2021, Characteristics of frequently attending children in hospital emergency departments: a systematic review, BMJ Open, Vol: 11, Pages: 1-7, ISSN: 2044-6055

Objective: To summarise the literature on frequent attendances to hospital emergency departments and describe sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of children who attend EDs frequently.Setting: Hospital emergency departments.Participants: Children <21 years, attending hospital emergency departments frequently.Primary outcome measures: Outcomes measures were defined separately in each study, and were predominantly the number of ED attendances per year.Results: We included 21 studies representing 6,513,627 children. Between 0.3% to 75% of all paediatric ED users were frequent users. Most studies defined 4 or more visits per year as a “frequent ED” usage. Children who were frequent ED users were more likely to be less than 5 years old. In the US, patients with public insurance were more likely to be frequent attenders. Frequent ED users more likely to be frequent users of primary care and have long-term conditions; the most common diagnoses were infections and gastroenteritis.Conclusions: The review included a wide range of information across various health systems, however children who were frequent ED users have some universal characteristics in common. Policies to reduce frequent attendance might usefully focus on preschool children and supporting primary care in responding to primary-care oriented conditions.

Journal article

Tanna NK, Alexander EC, Lee C, Lakhanpaul M, Popat RM, Almeida-Meza P, Tuck A, Manikam L, Blair Met al., 2021, Interventions to improve vitamin D status in at-risk ethnic groups during pregnancy and early childhood: a systematic review, PUBLIC HEALTH NUTRITION, Vol: 24, Pages: 3498-3519, ISSN: 1368-9800

Journal article

Coughlan CH, Ruzangi J, Neale FK, Nezafat Maldonado B, Blair M, Bottle A, Saxena S, Hargreaves Det al., 2021, Social and ethnic group differences in healthcare use by children aged 0-14 years: a population-based cohort study in England from 2007 to 2017., Archives of Disease in Childhood, Vol: 107, Pages: 32-39, ISSN: 0003-9888

OBJECTIVE: To describe social and ethnic group differences in children's use of healthcare services in England, from 2007 to 2017. DESIGN: Population-based retrospective cohort study. SETTING/PATIENTS: We performed individual-level linkage of electronic health records from general practices and hospitals in England by creating an open cohort linking data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink and Hospital Episode Statistics. 1 484 455 children aged 0-14 years were assigned to five composite ethnic groups and five ordered groups based on postcode mapped to index of multiple deprivation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Age-standardised annual general practitioner (GP) consultation, outpatient attendance, emergency department (ED) visit and emergency and elective hospital admission rates per 1000 child-years. RESULTS: In 2016/2017, children from the most deprived group had fewer GP consultations (1765 vs 1854 per 1000 child-years) and outpatient attendances than children in the least deprived group (705 vs 741 per 1000 child-years). At the end of the study period, children from the most deprived group had more ED visits (447 vs 314 per 1000 child-years) and emergency admissions (100 vs 76 per 1000 child-years) than children from the least deprived group.In 2016/2017, children from black and Asian ethnic groups had more GP consultations than children from white ethnic groups (1961 and 2397 vs 1824 per 1000 child-years, respectively). However, outpatient attendances were lower in children from black ethnic groups than in children from white ethnic groups (732 vs 809 per 1000 child-years). By 2016/2017, there were no differences in outpatient, ED and in-patient activity between children from white and Asian ethnic groups. CONCLUSIONS: Between 2007 and 2017, children living in more deprived areas of England made greater use of emergency services and received less scheduled care than children from affluent neighbourhoods. Children from Asian and black ethnic grou

Journal article

Milne-Ives M, Neill S, Bayes N, Blair M, Blewitt J, Bray L, Carrol ED, Carter B, Dawson R, Dimitri P, Lakhanpaul M, Roland D, Tavare A, Meinert E, and rest of the ASK SNIFF Consortiumet al., 2021, The impact of digital educational interventions to support parents caring for acutely ill children at home and factors that affect their use: systematic review protocol, JMIR Research Protocols, Vol: 10, ISSN: 1929-0748

Emergency and urgent care healthcare services are overburdened and the use of these services by acutely ill infants and children is increasing. A large proportion of these visits could be sufficiently addressed by other healthcare professionals. Uncertainty about the severity of a child’s symptoms is one of many factors that play a role in parents’ decisions to take their children to emergency services, demonstrating the need for improved support for health literacy. Digital interventions are a potential tool to improve parents’ knowledge, confidence, and self-efficacy at managing acute childhood illness. However, existing systematic reviews related to this topic need to be updated and expanded to provide a contemporary review of the impact, usability, and limitations of these solutions.

Journal article

Zdunek K, Schroder-Back P, Alexander D, Vlasblom E, Kocken P, Rigby M, Blair Met al., 2021, Tailored communication methods as key to implementation of evidence-based solutions in primary child health care, European Journal of Public Health, Vol: 31, Pages: 92-99, ISSN: 1101-1262

BackgroundEvidence-based policies should underpin successful implementation of innovations within child health care. The EU-funded Models of Child Health Appraised project enabled research into effective methods to communicate research evidence. The objective of this study was to identify and categorize methods to communicate evidence-based research recommendations and means to tailor this to stakeholder audiences.MethodsWe conducted an online survey among national stakeholders in child health. Analysis of the most effective strategies to communicate research evidence and reach the target audience was carried out in order to ensure implementation of optimal child health care models at a national level.ResultsRepresentatives of stakeholders from 21 of the then 30 EU MS and EEA countries responded to the questionnaire. Three main approaches in defining the strategies for effective communication of research recommendations were observed, namely: dissemination of information, involvement of stakeholders and active attitude towards change expressed in actions. The target audience for communicating recommendations was divided into two layers: proximal, which includes those who are remaining in close contact with the child, and distal, which contains those who are institutionally responsible for high quality of child health services. They should be recipients of evidence-based results communicated by different formats, such as scientific, administrative, popular and personal.ConclusionsInfluential stakeholders impact the process of effective research dissemination and guide necessary actions to strengthen the process of effective communication of recommendations. Communication of evidence-based results should be targeted to each audience’s profile, both professional and non-professionals, by adjusting appropriate communication formats.

Journal article

Greenfield G, Blair M, Aylin P, Saxena S, Majeed F, Bottle Ret al., 2021, Characteristics of frequent paediatric users of emergency departments in England: an observational study using routine national data, Emergency Medicine Journal, Vol: 38, Pages: 146-150, ISSN: 1472-0205

BACKGROUND:Frequent attendances of the same users in emergency departments (ED) can intensify workload pressures and are common among children, yet little is known about the characteristics of paediatric frequent users in EDs. AIM:To describe the volume of frequent paediatric attendance in England and the demographics of frequent paediatric ED users in English hospitals. METHOD:We analysed the Hospital Episode Statistics dataset for April 2014-March 2017. The study included 2 308 816 children under 16 years old who attended an ED at least once. Children who attended four times or more in 2015/2016 were classified as frequent users. The preceding and subsequent years were used to capture attendances bordering with the current year. We used a mixed effects logistic regression with a random intercept to predict the odds of being a frequent user in children from different sociodemographic groups. RESULTS:One in 11 children (9.1%) who attended an ED attended four times or more in a year. Infants had a greater likelihood of being a frequent attender (OR 3.24, 95% CI 3.19 to 3.30 vs 5 to 9 years old). Children from more deprived areas had a greater likelihood of being a frequent attender (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.54 to 1.59 vs least deprived). Boys had a slightly greater likelihood than girls (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.06). Children of Asian and mixed ethnic groups were more likely to be frequent users than those from white ethnic groups, while children from black and 'other' had a lower likelihood (OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.05; OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.06; OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.86 to 0.90; OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.87 to 0.92, respectively). CONCLUSION:One in 11 children was a frequent attender. Interventions for reducing paediatric frequent attendance need to target infants and families living in deprived areas.

Journal article

Blair M, Downe S, Gordon A, Musgrave L, Homer C, Etherington Cet al., 2021, Baby Buddy app evaluation-effective uplift in breast feeding despite unclear mechanism, MHEALTH, Vol: 7

Journal article

Blair M, 2020, Caring for infants after hospital discharge – Are we doing enough?, Early Human Development, Vol: 150, Pages: 1-3, ISSN: 0378-3782

Journal article

Coughlan C, Liddell B, Watson M, Blair Met al., 2020, Rethinking complex needs with patient and carer perspectives, The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, Vol: 4, Pages: 719-720, ISSN: 2352-4642

Journal article

Greenfield G, Blair M, Aylin P, Saxena S, Majeed F, Hoffman M, Bottle Aet al., 2020, Frequent attendances at emergency departments in England, Emergency Medicine Journal, Vol: 37, Pages: 597-599, ISSN: 1472-0205

Background: A small proportion of patients referred to as ‘frequent attenders’ account for a large proportion of hospital activity such as emergency departments (ED) attendances and admissions. There is lack of recent, national estimates of the volume of frequent ED attenders. We aimed to estimate the volume and age distribution of frequent ED attenders in English hospitals.Method: We included all attendances at all major EDs across England in the financial year 2016–2017. Patients who attended 3 times or more were classified as frequent attenders. We used a logistic regression model to predict the odds of being a frequent attender by age group.Results: 14,829,519 attendances were made by 10,062,847 patients who attended at least once. 73.5% of ED attenders attended once and accounted for 49.8% of the total ED attendances. 9.5% of ED attenders attended 3 times or more; they accounted for 27.1% of the ED attendances. While only 1.2% attended 6 times or more, their contribution was 7.6% of the total attendances. Infants and adults aged over 80 years were significantly more likely to be frequent attenders than adults aged 30-59 years (OR=2.11, 95% CI 2.09 to 2.13, OR=2.22, 95% CI 2.20 to 2.23, respectively). The likelihood of hospital admission rose steeply with the number of attendances a patient had.Conclusion: One in ten patients attending the ED are frequent attenders and account for over a quarter of attendances. Emergency care systems should consider better ways of reorganising health services to meet the needs of patients who attend EDs frequently.

Journal article

Rigby M, Deshpande S, Blair M, 2020, Child health research and planning in Europe disadvantaged by major gaps and disparities in published statistics, European Journal of Public Health, Vol: 30, Pages: 693-697, ISSN: 1101-1262

BackgroundPopulation data, such as mortality and morbidity statistics, are essential for many reasons, including giving context for research, supporting action on health determinants, formulation of evidence-based policy for health care and outcome evaluation. However, when considering children, it is difficult to find such data, despite children comprising one-fifth of the European population and being in a key formative life stage and dependent on societal support. Moreover, it would be expected that there should be confidence in the key child health data available, with little to no discrepancy between recognized health statistic databases.MethodsThis study explored the main health databases in or including Europe to collate child mortality data, for both all-cause and specific-cause mortality. Tables were constructed for comparison of values and rankings.ResultsThe results show that there are major differences in reported mortality data between two prominent health statistic databases, difference in coding systems, and unannounced changes within one of the databases.ConclusionsThe lack of health data for children seems compounded by challenges to the trust and credibility, which are vital if these data are to have utility. Children and society are the losers, and resolution is needed as a priority.

Journal article

Rigby MJ, Chronaki CE, Deshpande SS, Altorjai P, Brenner M, Blair MEet al., 2020, European Union initiatives in child immunization-the need for child centricity, e-health and holistic delivery, European Journal of Public Health, Vol: 30, Pages: 449-455, ISSN: 1101-1262

BACKGROUND: Low childhood immunization rates in Europe are causing concern and have triggered several EU initiatives. However, these are counter-factual as they make immunization a stand-alone issue and cut across best practice in integrated child health services. They also focus unduly on 'anti-vax' pressures, generalize 'vaccine hesitancy' and overlook practical difficulties and uncertainties encountered by parents in real world situations about presenting children for immunization. Meanwhile European expertize in child health electronic record systems and relevant standards are ignored despite their being a potentially sound foundation ripe for enhancement. METHODS: Situation and literature reviews, and cohesion of two European research projects, led to shared investigation. As a result, two cross-sectoral expert workshops were held to consider digital health standards for harmonizing integrated preventive child health including immunization, and the work of other stakeholders such as the World Health Organisation and the European Centre for Disease Control. RESULTS: Progress in child health information models and digital health standards was assessed, areas needing further standards development identified and desirable steps towards innovation in service delivery and record keeping agreed. CONCLUSION: The European Commission, member states and child health stakeholders should take an integrated approach to child health with immunization as a component. Service delivery should be sensitive to parental concerns and challenges, and the way child- and family-centric data are recorded and used should be enhanced. Services should be enabled by the International Patient Summary and related electronic health record standards and linkages, and evaluated to assess most effective systems and practice.

Journal article

Julies P, Lynn RM, Pall K, Leoni M, Calder A, Mughal Z, Shaw N, McDonnell C, McDevitt H, Blair Met al., 2020, Nutritional rickets under 16 years: UK surveillance results, ARCHIVES OF DISEASE IN CHILDHOOD, Vol: 105, Pages: 587-592, ISSN: 0003-9888

Journal article

Ruzangi J, Blair M, Cecil E, Greenfield G, Bottle R, Hargreaves D, Saxena Set al., 2020, Trends in healthcare use in children aged less than 15 years; a population-based cohort study in England from 2007 to 2017, BMJ Open, Vol: 10, ISSN: 2044-6055

Objective To describe changing use of primary care in relation to use of urgent care and planned hospital services by children aged less than 15 years in England in the decade following major primary care reforms from 2007 to 2017Design Population-based retrospective cohort study.Methods We used linked data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink to study children’s primary care consultations and use of hospital care including emergency department (ED) visits, emergency and elective admissions to hospital and outpatient visits to specialists.Results Between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2017, there were 7 604 024 general practitioner (GP) consultations, 981 684 ED visits, 287 719 emergency hospital admissions, 2 253 533 outpatient visits and 194 034 elective admissions among 1 484 455 children aged less than 15 years. Age-standardised GP consultation rates fell (−1.0%/year) to 1864 per 1000 child-years in 2017 in all age bands except infants rising by 1%/year to 6722 per 1000/child-years in 2017. ED visit rates increased by 1.6%/year to 369 per 1000 child-years in 2017, with steeper rises of 3.9%/year in infants (780 per 1000 child-years in 2017). Emergency hospital admission rates rose steadily by 3%/year to 86 per 1000 child-years and outpatient visit rates rose to 724 per 1000 child-years in 2017.Conclusions Over the past decade since National Health Service primary care reforms, GP consultation rates have fallen for all children, except for infants. Children’s use of hospital urgent and outpatient care has risen in all ages, especially infants. These changes signify the need for better access and provision of specialist and community-based support for families with young children.

Journal article

Plumptre I, Tolppa T, Blair M, 2020, Parent and staff attitudes towards in-hospital opportunistic vaccination, Public Health, Vol: 182, Pages: 39-44, ISSN: 0033-3506

ObjectivesRecent trends of ‘vaccine hesitancy’ have resulted in calls for public health campaigns to improve immunisation uptake to World Health Organisation (WHO) targets. One potential strategy to improve uptake is to offer opportunistic vaccination to those hospital in-patients who have missed them. We aimed to evaluate parental and staff attitudes about introducing such a service for hospitalised children.Study designCross sectional questionnaire-based design.MethodsWe developed and distributed a questionnaire for parents/guardians of paediatric inpatients aged 5 years and under, and a questionnaire for frontline paediatric staff (including medical, nursing and allied health professionals). Vaccination rates were assessed through discussion with parents and by reviewing the personal child health record.ResultsOne-hundred families and 100 paediatric staff participated. Local vaccination rates were significantly below the WHO target (P < 0.001), particularly for the Bacille Calmette-Guerine (BCG) vaccination (P = 0.001). Both parents (89/100, 89%) and staff (87/100, 87%) regarded inpatient opportunistic vaccination acceptable. Parents of children with chronic disease reported a potentially higher rate of missed vaccinations, stating reasons of frequent illness and inpatient stays. The majority of staff (81/95, 85.3%) would be willing to support inpatient vaccination if appropriately trained. A significant minority had reservations.ConclusionsOpportunistic vaccination is a strategy deemed acceptable by the majority of parents and staff. Children with chronic disease would especially benefit from opportunistic inpatient immunisation. In order to facilitate this, improved digital access to primary care vaccination records and investment in staff training, education and support would be required.

Journal article

Blair M, Wortley E, McGuff K, 2020, Placing education at the centre of the outpatient clinic improves learning and experiences for everyone using the multilevel attainment of learning, teaching and support (MALTS) approach, Archives of disease in childhood - Education & practice edition, Vol: 105, Pages: 2-6, ISSN: 1743-0585

A large proportion of consultant time is spent in outpatient practice. This setting provides an excellent learning environment for different levels of a trainee if well organised. This article describes an evidence-based teaching approach and its evaluation by trainees, patients and carers in a typical district general hospital setting which it is hoped others might find helpful.

Journal article

Dharmarajah K, Fawcett M, Blackstock S, Soni A, Watson M, Blair Met al., 2020, Tackling childhood obesity in the community using a participatory action research project with local children and young people, Health Education and Care, Vol: 4, Pages: 1-5, ISSN: 2398-8517

Introduction: Co-production of health services is becoming more routine with young people but such involvement in research lags behind, especially in the field of health promotion research. Our aim was to co-design and test a community intervention with parents and children focused on changing lifestyle behaviours which might contribute to childhood obesity on a deprived local housing estate in London.Methods: Within the context of an established integrated care collaborative, we supported parent and child volunteers to co-design and deliver a health and well-being intervention for local children. This was in the form of a 6-week “sprint” of exercise and healthy living activities. The subsequent evaluation was carried out by two children who were trained in basic qualitative and quantitative research methods by us. They designed, conducted and analysed data from intervention participants with repeat follow-up and analysis at 2 years.Results: Twenty-six children were recruited with 12 completing the programme and 7 followed up for 2 years. Young people aged 12 and older universally felt they could communicate their views better in a focus group led by a local young person with established trust and agency. We observed the value of our peer evaluator’s contribution to the design process and their insights during analysis.Post programme there were improvements in physical activity and nutrition scores in participants using validated scores, and themes relating to healthy living which were retained at 2 years.Discussion: The use of participatory evaluation in a citizen-driven intervention allowed us to breakdown barriers such as ?? within hard to reach communities, as well as enabling more meaningful results. We have demonstrated the desirability and acceptability of participatory research with children and young people. This intervention also reinforces that small, community–designed and delivered initiatives have the power to effect behaviour c

Journal article

Michaud P-A, Visser A, Vervoort J, Kocken P, Reijneveld S, Blair M, Alexander D, Rigby M, Weber M, Jansen Det al., 2019, Do European Union countries adequately address the healthcare needs of adolescents in the area of sexual reproductive health and rights?, Archives of Disease in Childhood, Vol: 105, Pages: 40-46, ISSN: 0003-9888

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are of particular relevance given their potential short-term or long-term health consequences. This study evaluates recommendations and policies regarding access to care in this area in 31 European countries (European Union (EU) plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland). METHODS: As part of the EU funded Models of Child Health Appraised project, data were gathered using a 43-item questionnaire sent to experts responsible for collecting information in each country. RESULTS: Ten countries have not developed any formal policy or recommendation that guarantee the respect of confidentiality and the possibility of consulting a physician without parents knowing. Nearly half of the countries do not have centres specialised in adolescent healthcare, tackling comprehensive health issues or focusing specifically on SRH. Access to emergency contraception and information regarding pregnancy, including testing, is easy in most countries. However, oral contraception is delivered free of charge in only 10 countries. Twenty-three countries do not meet current standards in terms of providing policy-based pregnancy care, and only 13 have set up special programmes for pregnant adolescents. In only seven countries can adolescents definitely have their pregnancy terminated without their parents knowing (and in another seven countries in selected situations). CONCLUSION: The provision and availability of adolescent-friendly SRHR care are far from optimal in around half of the surveyed countries. These results call for the review and implementation of policies, specialised healthcare centres and training initiatives for primary care providers.

Journal article

Lee C, Tanna N, Blair M, Yusuf Y, Khalief H, Lakhanpaul Met al., 2019, Getting underneath the skin: A community engagement event for optimal vitamin D status in an 'easily overlooked' group, Health Expectations, Vol: 22, Pages: 1322-1330, ISSN: 1369-6513

BACKGROUND: Patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) is recognized as important for improved quality in health service provision and research. Vitamin D is one area where PPIE has potential to benefit public health initiatives, particularly for women and children with increased skin pigmentation (ie at high risk of deficiency) who are easily overlooked. OBJECTIVE: We report findings from a community PPIE event that explored the knowledge, barriers and promoters for optimal vitamin D status amongst an exemplar high-risk and easily overlooked population group. METHODS: Two researchers and one PPIE lead facilitated a single group discussion with twenty members of the Somali community from across west London. All attendees were women of reproductive age, or knew a mother and child that could benefit from a targeted initiative. The discussion was recorded, transcribed verbatim, organized and coded using NVivo 12 Pro to identify emergent themes underpinned by the Health Behaviour Model. RESULTS: Attendees thought community safety and competing demands of technology and education impacted on sun exposure and lifestyle activity. Language barriers impacted on access to health care. Attendees also felt the mother figure was 'the most important' influencer of both child and wider community health. DISCUSSION: Although further discourse is needed, this event emphasizes that it is important that the public voice is heard in informing, designing and evaluating appropriate public health interventions amongst specific ethnic groups. Insights from this Somali population have suggested benefit from using verbal health messages that are specifically targeted at mothers, compared with the general population.

Journal article

Hoang U, James AC, Liyanage H, Jones S, Joy M, Blair M, Rigby M, Lusignan SDet al., 2019, Determinants of inter-practice variation in ADHD diagnosis and stimulant prescribing: Cross-sectional database study of a national surveillance network, BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine, Vol: 24, Pages: 155-161, ISSN: 2515-446X

Early recognition, identification and treatment of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can reduce detrimental outcomes and redirect their developmental trajectory. We aimed to describe variations in age of ADHD diagnosis and stimulant prescribing among general practitioner practices in a nationwide network and identify child, parental, household and general practice factors that might account for these variations. Cross-sectional study of children aged under 19 years registered within a general practice in the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) network in 2016, RCGP RSC has a household key allowing parent and child details to be linked. Data from 158 general practices and 353 774 children under 19 were included. The mean age of first ADHD diagnosis was 10.5 years (95% CI 10.1 to 10.9, median 10, IQR 9.0-11.9) and the mean percentage of children with ADHD prescribed stimulant medications among RCGP RSC practices was 41.2% (95% CI 38.7 to 43.6). There was wide inter-practice variation in the prevalence of diagnosis of ADHD, the age of diagnosis and stimulant prescribing. ADHD diagnosis is more likely to be made later in households with a greater number of children and with a larger age difference between adults and children. Stimulant prescribing for children with ADHD was higher in less deprived practices. Older parents and families with more children fail to recognise ADHD and may need more support. Practices in areas of higher socio-economic status are associated with greater prescribing of stimulants for children with ADHD.

Journal article

Rigby M, Deshpande S, Blair M, 2019, Another blow to credibility in published data sources, LANCET, Vol: 394, Pages: 26-27, ISSN: 0140-6736

Journal article

Deshpande S, Rigby M, Blair M, 2019, The Limited Extent of Accreditation Mechanisms for Websites and Mobile Applications in Europe., Medinfo 2019, Pages: 158-161

A potentially useful resource for health promotion and guidance is eHealth. However, this field also presents challenges, and one of the most important obstacles is the lack of regulation, without which citizens including young people may be exposed to misleading or risky information and applications. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent of accreditation processes for mobile applications (apps) and websites in European countries, to determine whether regulation is on the agenda. A survey was conducted in 28 European Member States and 2 European Economic Area countries, between 2017 and 2018. Twenty-seven responses were collected. Six countries have accreditation processes for apps and eight countries have accreditation processes for websites. However, processes are fragmented and there is variety within and amongst countries.

Conference paper

Zdunek K, Schröder-Bäck P, Alexander D, Rigby M, Blair Met al., 2019, Contextual determinants of CHILDREN'S health care and policy in Europe, BMC Public Health, Vol: 19, ISSN: 1471-2458

BACKGROUND: The main objective of this study was to explore the contextual determinants of child health policies. METHODS: The Horizon 2020 Models of Child Health Appraised (MOCHA) project has one Country Agent (CA) in all 30 EU and EEA countries. A questionnaire designed by MOCHA researchers as a semi-structured survey instrument asked CAs to identify and report the predominating public and professional discussions related to child health services within the last 5 years in their country and the various factors which may have influenced these. The survey was issued to CAs following validation by an independent Expert Advisory Board. The data were collected between July and December 2016. The data was qualitatively analysed using software Nvivo11 for data coding and categorization and constructing the scheme for identified processes or elements. RESULTS: Contextual determinants of children's health care and policy were grouped into four categories. 1) Socio-cultural determinants: societal activation, awareness, communication, trust, freedom, contextual change, lifestyle, tolerance and religion, and history. 2) Structural determinants which were divided into: a) external determinants related to elements indirectly correlated with health care and b) internal determinants comprising interdependent health care and policy processes. 3) International determinants such as cross-nationality of child health policy issues. 4) The specific situational determinants: events which contributed to intensification of debates which were reflected by behavioural, procedural, institutional and global factors. CONCLUSIONS: The influence of context across European countries, in the process of children's health policy development is clearly evident from our research. A number of key categories of determinants which influence child health policy have been identified and can be used to describe this context. Child health policy is often initiated in reaction to public discontentment.

Journal article

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