bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Opponens pollicis silent period during a precision motor task with the isometric contraction of the ipsilateral knee extension.
Authors: Daikuya Shinichi , Okayama Yumi 
Published: June 2018

Objectives: To clarify the excitability of the central nervous system function via a difference in the feedback method, we examined the alterations in the duration of the silent period recorded from the opponens pollicis muscle during a precision motor task. This task involved isometric knee extension using visual feedback and verbal conduction.
Design: Cross-sectional study with an A-B-A task-order design.
Methods: 12 healthy adults (7 males and 5 females; mean age: 23.7 ± 2.1 years) participated in this study. SP was recorded from the opponens pollicis muscle during a precision motor task involving with isometric contraction during ipsilateral knee extension with constant torque by two kinds of feedback. The precision motor task was carried out as follows; Subjects maintained knee extension torque at a constant strength using the BIODEX SYSTEM 3 with 60° of knee flexion. The knee extension torque was set at 25% of individual maximum effort. We monitored the torque using two methods. The first method used subjects’ own visual feedback with gazing at the BIODEX screen (Task A). The second task featured torque adjustment by the examiner’s verbal instruction. Subjects’ eyes were bandaged to eliminate visual feedback (Task B). Silent period was recorded from the opponens pollicis muscle while subjects maintained ipsilateral isometric knee extension during an A-B-A task order. As a stimulus condition, a constant current rectangular wave with a frequency of 0.5 Hz and a duration of 0.2 ms, was added 16 times in the median nerve at the wrist with the intensity of supra-maximum, which maximal M wave was evoked. We compared the duration of silent period between tasks in each dominant and non-dominant side.
Results: The duration of silent period on the dominant leg was 109.1 ± 5.2 ms (Task A), 105.2 ± 7.2 ms (Task B), and 107.6 ± 6.7 ms (Task A). And that on the non-dominant leg was 111.3 ± 6.1 ms (Task A), 105.9 ± 4.4 ms (Task B), and 109.3 ± 4.4 ms (Task A). There was no significant difference on the dominant leg side. However, during Task B on the non-dominant leg side, the duration of silent period was shortened (Tukey’s test, p = 0.01, 0.08).
Conclusion: During less-skilled motor adjustment using the non-dominant leg, the motor control with verbal conduction and no visual feedback requires more afferent activation. In these cases, central nervous system function excitability associated with ipsilateral upper extremity increases, even if the task involves the lower extremity.
The effect of aerobic training and consumption of L-carnitine supplements on Gen expression of HMG-CoA reductase and LDL receptor in the liver of male Wistar rats Injected by Boldenone
Authors: Bagherzadeh Rahmani Behnam 
Published: June 2018

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of aerobic training and consumption of L-carnitine supplements on HMG-CoA reductase and LDL receptor in the liver of male Wistar rats toxicated by Boldenone. 30 male Wistar rats aged 12 weeks (weight 195±7.94g) were randomly divided into five groups: control, sham, boldenone (5mg/kg), L-carnitine, aerobic training- L-carnitine.The endurance moderate intensity training program (55-50% of maximal oxygen consumption) performed for 6 weeks and 5 times a week. Injection once a week, on an appointed day, and in the quadriceps and hamstring was conducted in depth. After anesthesia, autopsy was performed and the testes Isolated. The HMG-CoA reductase and LDL receptor expression in the samples was measured by Real Time PCR and the quantification of gene expression levels using the formula 2-ΔΔct were analyzed by One-way ANOVA and post hoc Scheffe at the significant level P<0. 05. The results showed that aerobic training and supplementation with L-carnitine was significant effect on HMG CoA reductase and LDL-R in the liver of male Wistar rats toxicated by boldenone (P=0/000). The results showed that the expression of HMG-CoA reductase changes in the liver of male Wistar rats in Group training - L-carnitine significantly lower than the control group (P=0/000). Changes in the expression of LDL-R in groups training - L-carnitine and L-carnitine increased significantly compared to control group (P=0/000). According to the findings, it seems to supplementation with L-carnitine with regular aerobic training modulating the biosynthesis of cholesterol in liver tissue.
Preterm birth, unplanned hospital contact and mortality in infants born to teenage mothers in five countries: a cross-country comparison using linked administrative data
Authors: Harron Katie , Verfuerden Maximiliane , Ibiebele Ibinabo , Liu Can , Kopp Alex , Guttmann Astrid , Ford Jane , Hjern Anders , Van der Meulen Jan , Gilbert Ruth 
Published: June 2018

BackgroundChildren born to teenage mothers have greater healthcare needs than those born to mothers in their 20s and older, including higher rates of hospitalisation in childhood.
ObjectivesWe performed a cross-country comparison of maternal agerelated inequalities in infant outcomes in England, Scotland, Sweden, New South Wales (NSW; Australia) and Ontario (Canada).
MethodsWe used administrative hospital data capturing 3,002,749 singleton births surviving to discharge between 2010-2014 (2008-2012 for Sweden). We compared preterm birth (24-37 weeks of gestation), unplanned hospital admissions, emergency department visits, and mortality within 12 months of postnatal discharge, according to maternal age.
FindingsInfants born to teenage mothers experienced higher rates of preterm birth, unplanned admissions, ED visits, and mortality compared with older mothers in all countries. Despite variation in the distribution of maternal characteristics between countries, inequalities according to maternal age were similar. Infants of teenage mothers were between 1.37 (95% CI for risk ratio 1.28-1.47, Sweden) and 1.56 (95% CI 1.49-1.64, NSW) times more likely to have 1 unplanned hospital admission and between 2.25 (95% CI 1.92-2.64, England) and 3.87 (95% CI 2.07-7.36, Sweden) times more likely to die, compared with those born to mothers aged 30-34.
ConclusionsA similar excess of adverse outcomes was observed for teenage mothers in all five countries, despite different prevalence rates and support for young families. Public health strategies are needed to address these inequalities.
Mental health service users’ perceptions on the use of administrative data for research
Authors: Satinsky Emily , Driessens Corine , Crepaz-Keay David , Kousoulis Antonis 
Published: June 2018

BackgroundRecently, opportunities have been created to link health records with data routinely collected by social and economic departments. The ADRC-E (Southampton), in collaboration with the Mental Health Foundation has taken advantage of these opportunities to request information on a retrospective cohort to examine the effects of community mental health services on users in England before and after the financial crisis of 2008.
ObjectiveTo increase transparency the Mental Health Foundation assessed mental health service users’ perceptions regarding current practice with the secondary use of their administrative data.
MethodsThis three-hour focus group study identified mental health service users’ thoughts around the word ‘data’, data sharing and data protection governance.
Findings Focus group participants were generally happy to share their health data. Trust was an important factor mentioned in relation to data sharing. Participants expressed a desire for improved transparency around the use of administrative data for research purposes. When discussing safeguards the participants all agreed that they would feel more comfortable sharing their health data if there were better patient education and feedback systems in place.
ConclusionMental health service providers should strive to inform individuals using their services that their data might be used for research purposes and communicate the rights to opt out of participation. It is important for researchers and data administrators to draw the service users’ attention to relevant studies and opt-out mechanisms as well as enforce data protection and linking policies.
Are the needs of people with mental health problems met?
Authors: Tseliou Foteini , Rosato Michael , O'Reilly Dermot 
Published: June 2018

BackgroundHigh levels of mental ill-health have resulted in increasing delays in the receipt of appropriate care. However, the size of the gap between mental health needs and the likelihood of receiving treatment has not been thoroughly investigated on a population-level within Northern Ireland.
ObjectivesTo that end we investigated the link between self-reported mental ill-health and likelihood of being in receipt of treatment in a population cohort.
MethodsThe 2011 Northern Ireland Census was linked to a population-wide prescribing database. The presence of a chronic mental health condition, as assessed through the Census self-reported mental health question, was compared to regular psychotropic medication use in the six and twelve months following the Census. Of the 23,803 individuals (aged 25 to 74) who reported chronic mental ill-health at the Census, 22% were not in receipt of medication over the following six months, with this being reduced down to 18.5% by the twelve month mark.
FindingsAfter adjusting logistic regression models for socio-demographic factors, men (OR=0.56: 95%CI=0.52-0.60), those of non-white ethnicity (OR=0.38: 95%CI=0.26-0.54), never married (OR=0.67: 95%CI=0.61-0.82), unemployed (OR=0.65: 95%CI=0.53-0.81) and living in a rural area (OR=0.88: 95%CI=0.79-0.98) were less likely to receive regular medication, indicating mental health unmet need.
ConclusionsA level of discord was observed between mental-ill health and medication receipt on a population level. Further focus on mental health needs and the impact of low prescribing rates on mental health patients could help ameliorate the current inequalities and reduce potential gaps in mental health treatment.
Are disability-related social security benefits modified by demographic, social and area-level factors?
Authors: O'Reilly Dermot , Rosato Michael , Maguire Aideen 
Published: June 2018

BackgroundIn the UK Disability Living Allowance (DLA) provides non means-tested contribution towards the disability-related costs of living for disabled people. Although eligibility is based on mobility/personal care needs, other factors may be important.
MethodologyThree 2011 census-based measures of self-reported health (number of chronic disabilities; activity limitation (a little; a lot); and chronic poor mental health) were linked to 2011 DLA records for people aged <65. Census returns provided individual demographic, socio-economic, social and area-level characteristics. Overall, 92.5% of DLA records were matched to 1.4 million Census records.
Interim ResultsAnalyses confirms health as the main determinant of DLA Claims uptake, but that for a given level of health uptake was: higher amongst non-married and those of lower socioeconomic status ( OR 1.76; (95%CI 1.68, 1.84) most deprived vs. least deprived), lower amongst ethnic minorities (OR 0.87 (95%CIs 0.78, 0.97) non-white vs. white), migrants (OR 0.37; (95%CI 0.34, 0.39) migrants vs. non migrants) and slightly lower in rural communities (OR 0.95; (95%CI 0.93, 0.97) rural vs. urban).
ConclusionsPoor health is the predominant determinant of disability benefits but other social and socioeconomic factors are influential. Results of these analyses might assist in enabling resources to be targeted appropriately.
Using Big Data in Policy Evaluations: the Troubled Families Programme
Authors: Knight Naomi , Han Lu , Man Lan-Ho , Taylor Ricky 
Published: June 2018

BackgroundThe Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government have carried out one of the biggest data linkage exercises in government in order to evaluate the impact of the Troubled Families Programme. Linking individual and family level data across multiple administrative datasets has proven to be both innovative and cost-effective, enabling us to place children in the broader context of their family and household circumstances for our analysis.
ObjectivesTo use administrative datasets to measure children’s service use outcomes, for both programme and comparison individuals and families, to assess the impact of the Troubled Families Programme on outcomes for ‘children needing help’.
MethodsThe comparison group provide a counterfactual, used to derive a robust assessment of the programme’s impact on children’s outcomes: in this case child safeguarding. Linked datasets means we can control for both individual and family level characteristics, such as parental employment, benefits, school attendance, children and adult offending and the circumstances of siblings. We have used propensity score matching to control for all covariates impacting on both treatment and outcome status.
FindingsPreliminary findings show a statistically significant reduction in the number of ‘children in need’ in the 6-12 month period after intervention start compared to the matched comparison group, and a reduction in the number of ‘looked after children’. There was an increase in the number of children with a ‘child protection plan’, but this was not statistically significantly different to the comparison group.
ConclusionsWhile access to such a wide range of individual and family characteristics is a key methodological advantage to evaluation, challenges include: missing data, time lags in the datasets and complex variable definitions. We have worked and continueto work with other government departments to overcome these. Whilst still in its earliest stages preliminary results for the programme’s impact are encouraging.
Can a Mixed Methods Approach help to Mitigate the ‘People Problem’ of Administrative Data for Evidence-based policy Making?
Authors: Parker Sarah 
Published: June 2018

BackgroundIntegrating administrative data from multiple sources offers important statistical insights that can expedite the knowledge-to-policy development cycle. Yet, administrative data lack contextual complexity because they are designed to measureservice contact and not service experience. Put differently, they tell us about people’s movements through systems of intervention but not about the people using services. Reliance on administrative data alone therefore risks omitting criticaldimensions of experience and perspective which, when interrogated, have the potential to inform programme and policy design.
ObjectivesThis poster demonstrates how a sequential (explanatory) mixed methods design will be operationalised in a study that examines the temporal dynamics of family homelessness in Dublin, Ireland.
Methodological ApproachOver the course of the research, the Pathway Accommodation and Support System (PASS) and Local Authority housing list will be linked to create a rich dataset of the subpopulation of homeless families which will be supplemented with primarydata generated by in-depth interviews with families experiencing particular trajectories through homelessness. A core goal is to illustrate how data integration will occur with the aim of: 1) contextualising administrative (quantitative) data withnarrative (qualitative) findings; and 2) examining experiential dimensions of family homelessness that cannot be captured by the study’s administrative datasets.
ConclusionsIt is argued that ‘mixing’ quantitative and qualitative techniques can contribute to fuller understanding of the circumstances that facilitate or block families’ paths to housing stability and advance knowledge of the type(s) of policy and housinginterventions needed to ensure that families successfully exit homelessness and remain housed.
Originality/ValueThe development and implementation of a mixed methods approach has the potential to produce an explanatory framework by integrating the reach and rigour of administrative data with the depth and nuance of qualitative inquiry. This, in turn, will yield more robust understanding of effective and appropriate policy responses.
The Relationship Between Health and Homelessness in Scotland
Authors: Waugh Andrew , Rowley David , Clarke Auren 
Published: June 2018

BackgroundHomeless people are among the most vulnerable and socially excluded in society, exhibiting higher premature mortality and multiple morbidity. This study links health and homelessness data for the first time at a national level in Scotland.
ObjectivesThis study adds to the evidence base on the relationship between homelessness and health needs, including how homeless people exhibit multiple or complex needs.
MethodThis study matches those who have experienced homelessness in Scotland since 2002 (n=430,000) with two people of the same age and sex – at random, one control is chosen from the 20% least deprived areas in Scotland and another from the 20% most deprived. This gives 1.3 million people in total. Each cohort is linked to a wide range of health datasets. More detail on the methodology is presented in a separate talk (Challenges of Analysing Case-Control Datasets: A Health andHomelessness Case Study) at this conference.
FindingsAt the 2018 ADRN Health and Wellbeing session, we wish to present on our findings that we are publishing shortly before the conference. Large and complex differences were found between the cohorts in health service use and outcomes, particularly for the homeless. Analysis is presented on the different health datasets used, including acute and mental-health admissions, A&E attendances, outpatient appointments, prescriptions and drugs misuse assessments. We also discuss findings for activity related to particular issues including drugs and alcohol. Furthermore, notable differences were also found between once only and repeat homeless individuals.
ConclusionsThe range of linked health data used in this study has enabled invaluable evidence to be collected on the scale, severity and complexity of the health needs of homeless populations in Scotland.
Comparing two measures of multimorbidity in hospitalised patients
Authors: Robertson Lynn , Ayansina Dolapo , Marks Angharad , Black Corri 
Published: June 2018

BackgroundMultimorbidity is recognised as a complex and growing health challenge. Currently there is no “gold standard” multimorbidity measure and few studies have compared measures in hospitalised patients.
ObjectivesWe aimed to evaluate two published multimorbidity measures in routine hospital episode data in NHS Grampian, Scotland.
MethodsWe used the Scottish Morbidity Record (SMR) data for the years 2009-2016. We included all adults admitted to hospital in the Grampian region of Scotland (population 588,100) during 2014. Morbidities were identified from inpatient admissions during the five years prior to admission date in 2014 (ICD-10 codes). Two multimorbidity measures were used: Charlson (Quan 2005), and Tonelli et al (2015); and multimorbidity was defined as ≥2 morbidities. Kappa statistics assessed agreement between the two measures in classifying patients as multimorbid. The association between multimorbidity and mortality, readmissions, and length of stay was examined using regression methods with odds ratios (OR) or incidence rate ratios (IRR) calculated as appropriate.
FindingsIn 41,545 adults (median age 62 years, 52.6% female), multimorbidity prevalence was 15.1% (95% CI 14.8%-15.5%) using Charlson and 27.4% (27.0%-27.8%) using Tonelli - agreement 85.1% (Kappa 0.57). After adjusting for covariates, multimorbidity was associated with an increased risk of longer length of stay, (Charlson IRR 1.10 (1.03, 1.18; p=0.005); Tonelli IRR 1.11 (1.04, 1.18; p<0.001)) and readmission (Charlson OR 2.06 (1.94, 2.19; p<0.001); Tonelli OR 2.12 (2.01, 2.22; p<0.001)). Multimorbidity had a higher risk of mortality when measured using Charlson (Charlson OR 2.71 (2.52, 2.92; p=<0.001); Tonelli OR (1.84 (1.72, 1.98; p<0.001)).
ConclusionsMultimorbidity measures operationalised in hospital episode data identified those at risk of poor outcomes and will be useful for future multimorbidity research and use in secondary care data systems.
End of Life Care in Scotland: Trends in the Population in Need of Palliative Care
Authors: Schneider Anna , Atherton Iain 
Published: June 2018

BackgroundEstimation of population-wide palliative care needs is crucial for end-of-life care planning, and literature around it has grown in the last years. However, no estimates have yet been published for Scotland.
ObjectivesThis paper provides estimates of how many people require palliative care in Scotland and describes changes in the composition of this subpopulation. What are their living arrangements? How have their medical conditions, health service use, and health trajectories changed?
Methods (including data)The analysis is based on linked hospital records, death records, and Scottish Census data from 2001/02 and 2011/12. The palliative care estimation method by Murtagh et al. is utilised, as well as the illness trajectories distinguished by Murray et al. Comparative cross-sectional descriptive statistics are provided.
FindingsWhile a recent paper suggests that palliative care need in England/Wales has increased from 72.5% in 2006 to 74.9% in 2014, the share of people with a palliative care need among all deaths in Scotland has decreased from 80.6% to 78.3% in the period of this study. The share of people aged 85+ rose from 26.6% to 31.4%, and we observe a doubling of cases with prolonged dwindling at the end of their life. Despite their high need for care, 4 in 5 people lived in a private household in their last year of life, and 1 in 3 people lived alone.
ConclusionsOur findings suggest a change in the volume of care need and in the types of care required. They have strong implications for care providers.
Validating Synthetic Longitudinal Populations for evaluation of Population Data Linkage
Authors: Dalton Tom , Kirby Graham , Dearle Alan , Akgün Özgür , Mackenzie Monique 
Published: June 2018

Background’Gold-standard’ data to evaluate linkage algorithms are rare. Synthetic data have the advantage that all the true links are known. In the domain of population reconstruction, the ability to synthesize populations on demand, with varying characteristics, allows a linkage approach to be evaluated across a wide range of data. We have implemented ValiPop, a microsimulation model, for this purpose.
ApproachValiPop can create many varied populations based upon sets of desired population statistics, thus allowing linkage algorithms to be evaluated across many populations, rather than across a limited number of real world ’gold-standard’ data sets.
Given the potential interactions between different desired population statistics, the creation of a population does not necessarily imply that all desired population statistics have been met. To address this we have developed a statistical approach to validate the adherence of created populations to the desired statistics, using a generalized linear model.
This talk will discuss the benefits of synthetic data for data linkage evaluation, the approach to validating created populations, and present the results of some initial linkage experiments using our synthetic data.