A pilot randomised controlled trial investigating a Mediterranean diet intervention in pregnant women for the primary prevention of allergic diseases in infants.

BACKGROUND: Observational studies suggest a potentially protective role of the Mediterranean diet (MD) in allergic diseases, including asthma. Large scale randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are needed to test the hypothesised allergy-prevention benefits of a MD during pregnancy. The present two-arm pilot RCT in pregnant women at high-risk of having a child who would develop allergic disease investigated maternal recruitment, retention and acceptability of an MD dietary intervention in the UK. The trial also assessed the effect of the intervention on MD adherence scores at 12 and at 24 weeks post-randomisation. METHODS: Thirty women were recruited at around 12 weeks of gestation. Retention was high (28 out of 30; 93%). The intervention was acceptable to participants. Mean (SD) adherence to the MD at baseline was 12.4 (2.9) in the intervention arm (n = 14) and 13.0 (1.9) in the control arm (n = 16), where 24 represents maximal adherence. There was a favourable short-term change in MD score: the adjusted mean difference (intervention - control) in the change in MD score from baseline to 12 weeks post-randomisation was 2.4 (95% confidence interval = 0.6-4.2, P = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS: The trial provides important insights into recruitment, retention and sustaining the dietary intervention, which will be used in the design of a large RCT.

Applying preventable drug-related morbidity indicators to the electronic patient record in UK primary care: methodological development.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Measuring and assessing the quality of health care services is an issue of high international importance. Providing data can be reliably extracted, making use of the electronic patient record (EPR) could help practitioners fulfil clinical governance obligations and ultimately improve the quality of patient care. The objective of this paper is to describe (i) the process used to apply a series of clinical indicators for preventable drug-related morbidity (PDRM) in the EPR, (ii) problems encountered and (iii) our attempts to resolve them. METHOD: The PDRM indicators were applied retrospectively in the EPR of all patients aged 18 years and over in nine general practices using the Morbidity Information and Query Export Syntax (MIQUEST) computer software programme. RESULTS: Issues identified as requiring attention when attempting to extract data from the EPR include considering the ranges to be used for age and biochemical test results, accuracy of diagnosis and drug coding, the level of complexity of the information needed, and how best to manipulate the resulting data. Practical difficulties encountered were ensuring the query coding schemes were sufficiently robust and comprehensive to secure reliable data extraction, the number of MIQUEST queries required to express each indicator, the time-consuming nature of the stages involved in the data manipulation process. DISCUSSION: Despite some practical difficulties, we have successfully used MIQUEST to identify potential preventable drug-related morbidities from the EPR. The quality of information that can be extracted from the EPR is obviously limited by the accuracy and completeness of the data on the system and the ability of the enquirer to reliably extract and manipulate that data. CONCLUSION: Although some of the problems encountered were specific to the MIQUEST software, many, including considering appropriate ranges for age and biochemical test results and paying careful attention to the reliability of drug and diagnosis coding, are relevant whenever data are extracted from the EPR for any purpose.

Indicators for preventable drug related morbidity: application in primary care.

AIM: To apply in practice a series of validated indicators for preventable drug related morbidity (PDRM). DESIGN: A pilot study to identify retrospectively potential PDRM events over a 2 year 3 month time frame using the MIQUEST computer software program. SUBJECTS AND SETTING: The electronic patient record of all patients aged 18 years and over in nine English general practices. OUTCOME MEASURES: The number of potential PDRM events identified, as defined by the indicators. RESULTS: Five hundred and seven potential PDRM events were identified from 49 658 electronic patient records, giving an overall incidence of 1.0%. A small number of the indicators (n = 4) accounted for approximately 60% of the events, while for many indicators few events were identified. The most common events related to the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in patients with congestive heart failure or hypertension, lack of monitoring in patients prescribed angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, and the use of hypnotic-anxiolytic agents. CONCLUSIONS: A small number of indicators contributed to the majority of the PDRM events. Interrogation of electronic patient records in primary care using computerised queries shows potential for detecting PDRM.

Influenza vaccination in patients with asthma: effect on peak expiratory flow, asthma symptoms and use of medication.

This pilot study was undertaken to examine whether killed influenza vaccine causes exacerbations in asthmatic adults. Thirty-three stable asthmatics recorded peak expiratory flow (PEF), asthma symptoms, and use of asthma medication for 2 weeks, and then received killed influenza vaccine. Thereafter they recorded PEF, asthma symptoms and use of medication for a further 2 weeks. Comparison of recordings during the 2 weeks before and after vaccination revealed that influenza vaccine was not associated with reduction in PEF (P = 0.76), increase in asthma symptoms (P = 0.17) or use of asthma medication (P = 0.58). Similar results for PEF (P = 0.49), asthma symptoms (P = 0.17), and asthma medication (P = 0.16) were obtained when the analysis was restricted to the 2 days before and after vaccination.