Trends in socioeconomic inequalities in behavioural non-communicable disease risk factors: analysis of repeated cross-sectional health surveys in England between 2003 and 2019.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that those in lower socioeconomic positions (SEPs) generally have higher levels of behavioural non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors. However, there are limited studies examining recent trends in inequalities. This study examined trends in socioeconomic inequalities in NCD behavioural risk factors and their co-occurrence in England from 2003-19. METHODS: This time-trend analysis of repeated cross-sectional data from the Health Survey for England examined the relative index of inequalities (RII) and slope index of inequalities (SII) in four NCD behavioural risk factors: smoking; drinking above recommended limits; insufficient fruit and vegetables consumption; and physical inactivity. FINDINGS: Prevalence of risk factors has reduced over time, however, this has not been consistent across SEPs. Absolute and relative inequalities increased for physical inactivity; relative inequalities also increased for smoking; for insufficient fruit and vegetable consumption, the trends in inequalities depended on SEPs measure. Those in lower SEPs experienced persistent socioeconomic inequalities and clustering of behavioural risk factors. In contrast, those in higher SEPs had higher prevalence of excessive alcohol consumption; this inequality widened over the study period. INTERPRETATION: Inequalities in smoking and physical inactivity are persisting or widening. The pattern of higher drinking in higher SEPs obscure the fact that the greatest burden of alcohol-related harm falls on lower SEPs. Policy attention is required to tackle increasing inequalities in smoking prevalence, low fruit and vegetable consumption and physical inactivity, and to reduce alcohol harm.

A cross-sectional study examining the equitability of invitation, uptake and coverage for NHS Health Check.

BACKGROUND: The evidence for access to NHS Health Check (NHSHC) varies considerably across the country. This study examined the equity in invitation, uptake and coverage of NHSHC and impact of different invitation methods. METHODS: This patient-level cross-sectional study from 52 general practices in Walsall used adjusted logistic regressions to examine the association between patient characteristics (age, sex, ethnicity and deprivation) and NHSHC access. RESULTS: Over the 5-year study period, 61 464 people were eligible for NHSHC, 66% were invited, uptake was 74% and coverage was 55%. Males had lower odds of: invitation (AOR: 0.78, 95% CI: 0.75-0.81), uptake (0.73, 95% CI: 0.70-0.77) and coverage (0.69, 95% CI: 0.66-0.71). Compared with White, the 'Other' ethnicity group (mixed backgrounds, other Asians that are not South Asians and other ethnic groups) had lower odds of: invitation (0.74, 95% CI: 0.67-0.81), uptake (0.86, 95% CI: 0.75-0.98) and coverage (0.74, 95% CI: 0.68-0.81). The most deprived areas had lower odds of invitation, uptake and coverage. Opportunistic invitation had a 25-fold increase in odds of uptake. CONCLUSIONS: The study has highlighted areas of inequities in access to NHSHC. The group most negatively affected were men, people from particular minority ethnic groups and people from deprived communities. Further actions are needed to reduce these inequities.

Impact of national COVID-19 restrictions on incidence of notifiable communicable diseases in England: an interrupted time series analysis.

BACKGROUND: Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), such as travel restrictions, social distancing and isolation policies, aimed at controlling the spread of COVID-19 may have reduced transmission of other endemic communicable diseases, such as measles, mumps and meningitis in England. METHODS: An interrupted time series analysis was conducted to examine whether NPIs was associated with trends in endemic communicable diseases, using weekly reported cases of seven notifiable communicable diseases (food poisoning, measles, meningitis, mumps, scarlet fever and pertussis) between 02/01/2017 to 02/01/2021 for England. RESULTS: Following the introduction of COVID-19 restrictions, there was an 81.1% (95% CI; 77.2-84.4) adjusted percentage reduction in the total number of notifiable diseases recorded per week in England. The greatest decrease was observed for measles, with a 90.5% percentage reduction (95% CI; 86.8-93.1) from 42 to 5 cases per week. The smallest decrease was observed for food poisoning, with a 56.4% (95%CI; 42.5-54.2) decrease from 191 to 83 cases per week. CONCLUSIONS: A total reduction in the incidence of endemic notifiable diseases was observed in England following the implementation of public health measures aimed at reducing transmission of SARS-COV-2 on March 23, 2020. The greatest reductions were observed in diseases most frequently observed during childhood that are transmitted via close human-to-human contact, such as measles and pertussis. A less substantive reduction was observed in reported cases of food poisoning, likely due to dining services (i.e., home deliveries and takeaways) remaining open and providing a potential route of transmission. This study provides further evidence of the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical public health interventions in reducing the transmission of both respiratory and food-borne communicable diseases.

Achieving a 'top-down' change agenda by driving and supporting a collaborative 'bottom-up' process: case study of a large-scale enhanced recovery programme.

There is increasing recognition that organisations need to look beyond their boundaries for new innovations. However, the introduction and implementation of best practice that has been developed externally may need different processes of implementation if a successful change process is going to be achieved. Using an enhanced recovery programme as an example, we report a case study that combines the best of a top-down approach with the principles of bottom-up collaborative working to successfully embed a large-scale quality improvement programme that was commissioned to improve the adoption of enhanced recovery in elective surgery. We describe a large-scale change programme that was established, coordinated and driven from within a central 'top' organisation but delivered and owned locally by individual organisations working collaboratively across southeast region of England. We discuss why we believe our methodology of implementing this programme was successful, the important triggers for success and the lessons we learned from the programme.