Does a local Alcohol Health Champion programme have a measurable impact on health and crime outcomes? A natural experiment evaluation of Communities in Charge of Alcohol (CICA) based on triangulation of methods.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Drinking alcohol may cause harm to an individual's health and social relationships, while a drinking culture may harm societies as it may increase crime rates and make an area feel less safe. Local councils in Greater Manchester, UK, developed the Communities in Charge of Alcohol (CICA) intervention, in which volunteers were trained to give alcohol-related advice to the public and taught how to influence policies to restrict when, where and how alcohol is sold. As part of a larger study, the aim of the current project is to measure the impact of CICA on health and crime outcomes at the lower super output (LSOA) geographical aggregation. DESIGN: Quantitative evaluation using four time series analytic methods (stepped-wedge design, and comparisons to local controls, national controls and synthetic controls) with findings triangulated across these methods. A cost-benefit analysis was carried out alongside the effectiveness analysis. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The general public in Greater Manchester, UK, between 2010 and 2020. MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome of interest was alcohol-related hospital admissions. Secondary outcomes were accident and emergency (A&E) attendances, ambulance callouts, recorded crimes and anti-social behaviour incidents. FINDINGS: Triangulation of the results did not indicate any consistent effect on area-level alcohol-related hospital admissions, A&E attendances, ambulance callouts, reported crimes or anti-social behaviour associated with the implementation of CICA. The primary stepped-wedge analysis indicated an increase in alcohol-related hospital admissions following the implementation of CICA of 13.4% (95% confidence interval -3.3%, +30.1%), which was consistent with analyses based on other methods with point estimates ranging from +3.4% to 16.4%. CONCLUSION: There is no evidence of a measurable impact of the Communities in Charge of Alcohol (CICA) programme on area-level health and crime outcomes in Greater Manchester, UK, within 3 years of the programme start. The increase in alcohol-related hospital admissions was likely the result of other temporal trends rather than the CICA programme. Possible explanations include insufficient follow-up time, too few volunteers trained, volunteers being unwilling to get involved in licensing decisions or that the intervention has no direct impact on the selected outcomes.

Nonfatal and Fatal Falls Among Adults Aged ≥65 Years - United States, 2020-2021.

In the United States, unintentional falls are the leading cause of injury and injury death among adults aged ≥65 years (older adults). Patterns of nonfatal and fatal falls differ by sex and state. To describe this variation, data from the 2020 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and 2021 National Vital Statistics System were used to ascertain the percentage of older adults who reported falling during the previous year and unintentional fall-related death rates among older adults. Measures were stratified by demographic characteristics, U.S. Census Bureau region, and state. In 2020, 14 million (27.6%) older adults reported falling during the previous year. The percentage of women who reported falling (28.9%) was higher than that among men (26.1%). The percentage of older adults who reported falling ranged from 19.9% (Illinois) to 38.0% (Alaska). In 2021, 38,742 (78.0 per 100,000 population) older adults died as the result of unintentional falls. The unintentional fall-related death rate was higher among men (91.4 per 100,000) than among women (68.3). The fall-related death rate among older adults ranged from 30.7 per 100,000 (Alabama) to 176.5 (Wisconsin). CDC's Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths and Injuries (STEADI) initiative recommends that health care providers screen and assess older adults for fall risk and intervene using effective preventive strategies.

Understanding the Association of Older Adult Fall Risk Factors by Age and Sex Through Factor Analysis.

Our aim was to identify latent factors underlying multiple observed risk factors for older adult falls and to examine their effects on falls by age and sex. We performed exploratory factor analysis on 13 risk factors in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. We used log-linear regression models to measure the association between the identified factors and older adults reporting falls. We identified two underlying factors: physical and mental health limitations. These shared a 50% correlation. Physical health limitations were more strongly associated with falls among men (prevalence ratio = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.65-1.71) than women (prevalence ratio = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.49-1.54). As physical health limitations increased, men aged 65-74 had a greater association with falls compared with other age-sex subgroups. Our findings highlight the composite relationship between age, sex, and physical and mental health limitations in association with older adult falls, and support the evidence for individually tailored, multifactorial interventions.

Hip Fracture-Related Emergency Department Visits, Hospitalizations and Deaths by Mechanism of Injury among Adults Aged 65 and Older, United States 2019.

OBJECTIVE: Describe rates of hip fracture-related emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, and deaths among older adults (aged ≥65 years) in the United States. METHODS: Data from the 2019 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project and National Vital Statistics System were used to calculate rates of hip fracture-related ED visits, hospitalizations, and deaths among older adults by select characteristics and mechanism of injury. RESULTS: In 2019, there were 318,797 ED visits, 290,130 hospitalizations, and 7731 deaths related to hip fractures among older adults. About 88% of ED visits and hospitalizations and approximately 83% of deaths related to hip fractures were caused by falls. Rates were highest among older adults living in rural areas and among those aged ≥85 years. DISCUSSION: Most hip fractures among older adults are fall-related. Healthcare providers can prevent falls among their older patients by screening for fall risk, assessing modifiable risk factors, and offering evidence-based interventions.

'A priori' external contextual factors and relationships with process indicators: a mixed methods study of the pre-implementation phase of 'Communities in Charge of Alcohol'.

BACKGROUND: It is widely recognised that complex public health interventions roll out in distinct phases, within which external contextual factors influence implementation. Less is known about relationships with external contextual factors identified a priori in the pre-implementation phase. We investigated which external contextual factors, prior to the implementation of a community-centred approach to reducing alcohol harm called 'Communities in Charge of Alcohol' (CICA), were related to one of the process indicators: numbers of Alcohol Health Champions (AHCs) trained. METHODS: A mixed methods design was used in the pre-implementation phase of CICA. We studied ten geographic communities experiencing both high levels of deprivation and alcohol-related harm in the North West of England. Qualitative secondary data were extracted from pre-implementation meeting notes, recorded two to three months before roll-out. Items were coded into 12 content categories using content analysis. To create a baseline 'infrastructure score', the number of external contextual factors documented was counted per area to a maximum score of 12. Descriptive data were collected from training registers detailing training numbers in the first 12 months. The relationship between the baseline infrastructure score, external contextual factors, and the number of AHCs trained was assessed using non-parametric univariable statistics. RESULTS: There was a positive correlation between baseline infrastructure score and total numbers of AHCs trained (Rs = 0.77, p = 0.01). Four external contextual factors were associated with significantly higher numbers of lay people recruited and trained: having a health care provider to coordinate the intervention (p = 0.02); a pool of other volunteers to recruit from (p = 0.02); a contract in place with a commissioned service (p = 0.02), and; formal volunteer arrangements (p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Data suggest that there were four key components that significantly influenced establishing an Alcohol Health Champion programme in areas experiencing both high levels of deprivation and alcohol-related harm. There is added value of capturing external contextual factors a priori and then testing relationships with process indicators to inform the effective roll-out of complex interventions. Future research could explore a wider range of process indicators and outcomes, incorporating methods to rate individual factors to derive a mean score. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN81942890, date of registration 12/09/2017.

Differences in fall-related emergency departments visits with and without an Injury, 2018.

BACKGROUND: Falls, with or without an injury, often affect the health of older adults (65+). METHODS: We used the 2018 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project to describe older adults' fall-related ED visits. We defined fall-related ED visits as those with a fall external cause of morbidity code and fall-injury related ED visits as those with an injury diagnosis code and a fall external cause of morbidity code. Percentages of fall-related and fall-injury related ED visits were analyzed by select characteristics. RESULTS: Over 86% of fall-related ED visits were fall-injury related. A higher percentage of females (87%) and rural (88%) older adults' fall-related ED visits were fall-injury related compared to males (85%) and urban older adults (86%). A higher percentage of fall-related ED visits without a coded injury (33%) were hospitalized compared to those with a coded injury (29%). CONCLUSION: The majority of fall-related ED visits included an injury diagnosis. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Researchers can consider which method of measuring ED visits related to falls is most appropriate for their study. Limiting fall-related ED visits to only those where an injury diagnosis is also present may underestimate the number of fall-related ED visits but may be appropriate for researchers specifically interested in fall injuries.

Validation and comparison of fall screening tools for predicting future falls among older adults.

BACKGROUND: Falls are the leading cause of injuries among older adults in the United States (US). Falls are preventable and clinicians are advised to screen for fall risk yearly. There are many falls screening tools and not all have been validated for their ability to predict future falls. METHODS: We enrolled 1905 community-dwelling older adults into a 13-month study using a probability-based representative panel of the US population recruited from NORC at the University of Chicago's National Frame. Respondents completed a baseline survey, 11 monthly fall calendars, and a final survey. The baseline survey included six falls screening tools (the Stay Independent, Three Key Questions (3KQ), a modified American Geriatric/British Geriatric tool, the short Falls Efficacy-1[FES-I]) and two single screening questions ("I have fallen in the past year" and "How many times did you fall in the past 12 months?"). The baseline and final survey collected demographic and health information, including falls. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios, and corresponding 95% confidence intervals were calculated in SAS using weighted proportions. RESULTS: There were 1563 respondents who completed the final survey (completion rate 82%). Sensitivity estimates ranged from 22.5% for the short FES-I to 68.7% for the 3KQ. Specificity estimates ranged from 57.9% for the 3KQ to 89.4% for the short FES-I. CONCLUSIONS: Falls screening tools have varying sensitivity and specificity for predicting the occurrence of a fall in the following 12 months.

A mixed methods analysis evaluating an alcohol health champion community intervention: How do newly trained champions perceive and understand their training and role?

Globally, alcohol harm is recognised as one of the greatest population risks and reducing alcohol harm is a key priority for the UK Government. The Communities in Charge of Alcohol (CICA) programme took an asset-based approach in training community members across nine areas to become alcohol health champions (AHCs); trained in how to have informal conversations about alcohol and get involved with alcohol licensing. This paper reports on the experiences of AHCs taking part in the training through the analysis of: questionnaires completed pre- and post-training (n = 93) and semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of five AHCs who had started their role. Questionnaires explored: characteristics of AHCs, perceived importance of community action around alcohol and health, and confidence in undertaking their role. Following training AHCs felt more confident to talk about alcohol harms, give brief advice and get involved in licensing decisions. Interviews explored: AHCs' experiences of the training, barriers and facilitators to the adoption of their role, and how they made sense of their role. Four overarching themes were identified through thematic analysis taking a framework approach: (a) perceptions of AHC training; (b) applying knowledge and skills in the AHC role; (c) barriers and facilitators to undertaking the AHC role; and (d) sustaining the AHC role. Findings highlight the challenges in establishing AHC roles can be overcome by combining the motivation of volunteers with environmental assets in a community setting: the most important personal asset being the confidence to have conversations with people about a sensitive topic, such as alcohol.

Implementation of a Nutrition Care Bundle and Improved Weight Gain of Extremely Preterm Infants to 36 Weeks Postmenstrual Age.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of a nutrition care bundle in improving growth in premature infants during neonatal hospitalization. STUDY DESIGN: This study was a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data for 584 surviving infants with birth weight ≤1000 g and gestational age 24-29 weeks admitted to a single-center neonatal intensive care unit between July 3, 2005, and June 6, 2016. Participants were divided into 3 discrete epochs based on evolving nutrition practices during the study period: epoch 1, baseline, open-bay setting; epoch 2, improved lactation staffing, introduction of high-protein formula, single-family room setting; epoch 3, complete nutrition care bundle. Infants in each epoch were evaluated for the primary outcome of change in weight z-score between postnatal day 7 and 36 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA) or discharge if sooner. Univariate and multivariable regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the effect of clinical variables on outcome. RESULTS: Significant increases in weight z-score between day of life 7 and 36 weeks PMA were observed across the 3 epochs, which accounted for 31% (P < .0001) of the variance. Variables that were positive predictors of weight z-score change included birth weight z-score, cesarean delivery, and later epochs of nutritional support. Variables that were negative predictors of weight change included gestational age, postnatal steroids, and days on parenteral nutrition. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of a nutrition care bundle was associated with improved weight gain in extremely low birth weight infants.

Understanding Modifiable and Unmodifiable Older Adult Fall Risk Factors to Create Effective Prevention Strategies.

Each year, more than 1 in 4 older adults in the United States report a fall and 1 in 10 a fall injury. Using nationally representative data from the 2016 US Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, we evaluated demographic, geographic, functional, and health characteristics associated with falls and fall injuries among adults aged 65 years and older. Analyses included descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression to produce crude and adjusted percentages by characteristic. Characteristics most strongly associated with increased fall risk in order of adjusted percentage were depression, difficulty doing errands alone, and difficulty dressing or bathing. Characteristics most strongly associated with fall injury risk in order of adjusted percentage were depression, difficulty dressing or bathing, and being a member of an unmarried couple. The diverse health and functional characteristics associated with increased falls and fall injuries confirm the importance of screening and assessing older adult patients to determine their individual unique risk factors. Health care providers can use tools and resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's STEADI (Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths, and Injuries) initiative to screen their older adult patients for fall risk, assess at-risk patients' modifiable risk factors, and intervene to reduce risk by prescribing evidence-based interventions.

How can communities influence alcohol licensing at a local level? Licensing officers' perspectives of the barriers and facilitators to sustaining engagement in a volunteer-led alcohol harm reduction approach.

Despite the World Health Organization's assertion that communities need to become involved in reducing alcohol harm, evidence of community engagement in alcohol licensing decision-making in England remains limited. The evaluation of the Communities in Charge of Alcohol (CICA) programme offers policymakers, Licensing authorities and public health practitioners, evidence regarding a specific volunteer-led, place-based approach, designed to enable community engagement in licensing with the aim of reducing localised alcohol harm. This study explored factors affecting the sustainable involvement of volunteers in alcohol licensing decision-making from six licensing officers' perspectives, through semi-structured interviews. Routinely collected crime, disorder, and hospital admissions data were reviewed for further context as proxy indicators for alcohol-related harm. Licensing officers perceived sustainable engagement to be impacted by: (i) the extent of alignment with statutory requirements and local political support; (ii) the ability of licensing officers to operationalise CICA and support local assets, and; (iii) the opportunity for, and ability of, volunteers to raise licensing issues. The perspectives of licensing officers indicate complexities inherent in seeking to empower residents to engage in licensing decision-making at a community level. These relate to statutory and political factors, funding, social norms regarding engagement in licensing decision-making, and the need for networks between critical actors including responsible authorities and communities. The evidence indicates that after increasing community capacity to influence alcohol availability decision-making at a local level, communities continue to struggle to influence statutory processes to affect alcohol availability where they live and work. More understanding of how to enable effective community engagement is required.

National rates of non-fatal emergency department visits and hospitalisations due to fall-related injuries in older adults 2010-2014 and 2016: transitioning from ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM.

BACKGROUND: This study describes rates of non-fatal fall-injury emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalisations before and after the US 2015 transition from the 9th to 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM). METHODS: ED visit and hospitalisation data for adults aged 65+ years were obtained from the 2010-2016 Healthcare Cost and Utilisation Project. Differences in fall injury rates between 2010 and 2014 (before transition), and 2014 and 2016 (before and after transition) were analysed using t-tests. RESULTS: For ED visits, rates did not differ significantly between 2014 and 2016 (4288 vs 4318 per 100 000, respectively). Hospitalisation rates were lower in 2014 (1232 per 100 000) compared with 2016 (1281 per 100 000). CONCLUSION: Increased rates of fall-related hospitalisations could be an artefact of the transition or may reflect an increase in the rate of fall-related hospitalisations. Analyses of fall-related hospitalisations across the transition should be interpreted cautiously.

An asset-based community development approach to reducing alcohol harm: Exploring barriers and facilitators to community mobilisation at initial implementation stage.

Globally there is a need to engage communities in actions to reduce alcohol harm. This paper reports on the initial implementation phase of an asset-based community development (ABCD) approach to reducing alcohol harm in ten pre-identified areas across Greater Manchester (UK). This qualitative study highlights the experiences of stakeholders responsible for, or engaged in, implementation. Findings show that it is challenging to recruit sufficient volunteers in a specific, small area/community, which may limit the ability to build health assets. Wider policy and organisational factors that should be understood prior to implementing a place-based volunteer-led health promotion programme are also identified. TRIAL REGISTRATION: https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN81942890.

Antenatal Risk Factors Associated with Spontaneous Intestinal Perforation in Preterm Infants Receiving Postnatal Indomethacin.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if antenatal variables affect the risk of spontaneous intestinal perforation (SIP) among preterm infants when prophylactic indomethacin is used. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective case-control study of infants <29 weeks of gestational age between January 2010 and June 2018 at one hospital. SIP was defined as acute abdominal distension and pneumoperitoneum without signs of necrotizing enterocolitis at <14 days of life. Each case (n = 57) was matched with 2 controls (n = 114) for gestational age and birth year. Maternal and infant data were abstracted until the SIP or equivalent day for controls. Univariate analyses were followed by adjusted conditional logistic regressions and reported as OR and 95% CI. RESULTS: Mothers of cases were younger, more often delivering multiples (31% vs 14%, P = .007), and less abruptions (15% vs 29%, P = .045) but did not differ in intra-partum betamethasone, magnesium, or indomethacin use. Prophylactic indomethacin was given on day 1 to 99% of infants. SIP was associated with a shorter interval from last betamethasone dose to delivery (46 hours vs 96 hours, P = .01). Dopamine use (14% vs 4%, P = .02), volume expansion (23% vs 8%, P = .003), and high grade intraventricular hemorrhage (28% vs 8%, P = .0008) were related postnatal factors. The adjusted odds of SIP increased by 1% for each hour decrease between the last dose of betamethasone and delivery (OR 1.01, 95% CI 1.002-1.019) and with multiple births (OR 2.66, 95% CI 1.05-6.77). CONCLUSIONS: Antenatal betamethasone given shortly before delivery is associated with an increased risk of SIP. Potential interaction with medications such as postnatal indomethacin needs study.

Correlation between chorionic plate vascularization and risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in extremely preterm infants.

INTRODUCTION/OBJECTIVES: The chorionic plate vessels of the placenta are in direct continuity with the fetal vasculature, suggesting chorionic and fetal angiogenesis may be subjected to similar regulatory mechanisms. In this study, we determined the correlation between chorionic plate vascularization and complications of prematurity, focusing on bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and other conditions with important microvascular components. METHODS: We performed a clinicoplacental analysis of 127 extremely preterm infants (23-28 weeks gestation). Chorionic plate vascularization was assessed by number and density of perforating chorionic vessels (PCVs). Charts were reviewed for relevant maternal and neonatal data, including respiratory, neurologic and gastrointestinal complications of prematurity. RESULTS: The placentas displayed marked variability in number (36-523/placenta) and density of PCVs (0.46-3.74 PC V/cm2). The median PCV density of infants with severe BPD was significantly higher than that of infants without BPD (1.51 PC V/cm2 versus 1.09 PC V/cm2, P < 0.05). Conversely, the frequency of moderate-to-severe BPD was 33% higher in infants with PCV density ≥1.50 PC V/cm2 than in those with PCV density <1.50 PC V/cm2 (56% versus 40%, P < 0.01). There was no correlation with neonatal neurologic or gastrointestinal complications. CONCLUSION: Chorionic plate vascularization correlates with frequency and severity of BPD, supporting a vascular basis that in part is antenatal in origin. Quantitative assessment of chorionic plate vascularization may allow early identification of preterm infants at high risk for BPD (proposed threshold: PCV density ≥1.50 PC V/cm2). The lack of correlation between chorionic vascularization and neurologic/gastrointestinal complications suggests these conditions may have less important antenatal and/or vascular contributions.

Redefining undergraduate nurse teaching during the coronavirus pandemic: use of digital technologies.

During the current coronavirus pandemic, undergraduate nurse teaching is facing many challenges. Universities have had to close their campuses, which means that academics are working from home and may be coping with unfamiliar technology to deliver the theoretical part of the undergraduate nursing curriculum. Emergency standards from the Nursing and Midwifery Council have allowed theoretical instruction to be replaced with distance learning, requiring nursing academics to adapt to providing a completely virtual approach to their teaching. This article provides examples of tools that can be used to deliver the theoretical component of the undergraduate nursing curriculum and ways of supporting students and colleagues in these unprecedented times.

Differences in Evaluating Fall Risk by Primary Care Provider Type.

This study assessed differences in clinical fall risk assessment of older adults (65+) and clinical resources used by primary care providers (PCP). We used Porter Novelli's 2016 DocStyles survey to examine clinical behavior data from PCPs (n=1128). Compared to other practitioners, nurse practitioners (NP) reported a higher percentage of their patients were older adults. The majority of NPs reported screening for falls risk routinely, but most did not use standardized fall-risk assessments to assess risk factors. There were also differences in the types of clinical resources used by NPs and other PCPs to evaluate the safety profile of medications.

Pathology of Neonatal Non- albicans Candidiasis: Autopsy Study and Literature Review.

INTRODUCTION/OBJECTIVES: Non- albicans Candida species such as Candida parapsilosis and Candida glabrata have emerged as prevalent pathogens in premature infants. The aim of this study was to systematically delineate the histopathologic findings in neonatal non- albicans candidiasis. METHODS: We performed a retrospective clinicopathologic analysis of extremely premature (23-28 weeks' gestation) infants diagnosed with invasive candidiasis. Archival autopsy tissues were subjected to periodic acid-Schiff, methenamine-silver and anti- Candida (immuno)histochemical stains, as well as dual anti- Candida and anti-cytokeratin or anti-CD31 immunofluorescence assays. In addition, we studied the prevalence of intestinal Candida colonization in a consecutive autopsy series of extremely premature infants. RESULTS: Based on positive postmortem blood and/or lung cultures, invasive candidiasis (3 non- albicans and 11 Candida albicans) was diagnosed in 14 of the 187 extremely premature infants examined between 1995 and 2017. In contrast to the well-known inflammatory and tissue-destructive phenotype of congenital C. albicans infection, invasive non- albicans candidiasis/candidemia caused by C. parapsilosis and C. glabrata was inconspicuous by routine hematoxylin-eosin-based histopathologic analysis despite a heavy fungal presence detected in intestines, lungs, and blood by targeted (immuno)histochemical assays. Intestinal colonization by Candida species was identified in 16 of the 26 (61%) extremely premature neonates who had lived for at least 1 week, as assessed by anti- Candida immunostaining. CONCLUSION: Invasive neonatal non- albicans candidiasis/candidemia appears to have no distinct histopathologic signature. Based on the notoriously low sensitivity of fungal blood cultures and the observed high frequency of Candida intestinal colonization (>50%), it is likely that non- albicans candidiasis/candidemia may be underdiagnosed in (deceased) preterm infants. Routine inclusion of targeted (immuno)histochemical fungal detection strategies in the perinatal autopsy may lead to deeper insight into the prevalence and clinical relevance of neonatal non- albicans candidiasis.