The impact of amended controls on the advertising of infant formula in the UK: findings from a before and after study

2013 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-22
Author(s):  
Roger Dickinson ◽  
Barrie Gunter ◽  
Julian Matthews ◽  
Jennifer Cole
2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengyuan Wang ◽  
Mikhail Traskin ◽  
Dylan S. Small

AbstractThe before-and-after study with multiple unaffected control groups is widely applied to study treatment effects. The current methods usually assume that the control groups’ differences between the before and after periods, i.e. the group time effects, follow a normal distribution. However, there is usually no strong a priori evidence for the normality assumption, and there are not enough control groups to check the assumption. We propose to use a flexible skew-t distribution family to model group time effects, and consider a range of plausible skew-t distributions. Based on the skew-t distribution assumption, we propose a robust-t method to guarantee nominal significance level under a wide range of skew-t distributions, and hence make the inference robust to misspecification of the distribution of group time effects. We also propose a two-stage approach, which has lower power compared to the robust-t method, but provides an opportunity to conduct sensitivity analysis. Hence, the overall method of analysis is to use the robust-t method to test for the overall hypothesized range of shapes of group variation; if the test fails to reject, use the two-stage method to conduct a sensitivity analysis to see if there is a subset of group variation parameters for which we can be confident that there is a treatment effect. We apply the proposed methods to two datasets. One dataset is from the Current Population Survey (CPS) to study the impact of the Mariel Boatlift on Miami unemployment rates between 1979 and 1982.The other dataset contains the student enrollment and grade repeating data in West Germany in the 1960s with which we study the impact of the short school year in 1966–1967 on grade repeating rates.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaio Bin ◽  
Adler Araújo Ribeiro Melo ◽  
José Guilherme Franco Da Rocha ◽  
Renata Pivi De Almeida ◽  
Vilson Cobello Junior ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND AIRA is an AI designed to reduce the time that doctors dedicate filling out EHR, winner of the first edition of MIT Hacking Medicine held in Brazil in 2020. As a proof of concept, AIRA was implemented in administrative process before its application in a medical process. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study is to determinate the impact of AIRA by eliminating the Medical Care Registration (MCR) on Electronic Health Record (EHR) by Administrative Officer. METHODS This is a comparative before-and-after study following the guidance “Evaluating digital health products” from Public Health England. An Artificial Intelligence named AIRA was created and implemented at CEAC (Employee Attention Center) from HCFMUSP. A total of 25,507 attendances were evaluated along 2020 for determinate AIRA´s impact. Total of MCR, time of health screening and time between the end of the screening and the beginning of medical care, were compared in the pre and post AIRA periods. RESULTS AIRA eliminated the need for Medical Care Registration by Administrative Officer in 92% (p<0.0001). The nurse´s time of health screening increased 16% (p<0.0001) during the implementation, and 13% (p<0.0001) until three months after the implementation, but reduced in 4% three months after implementation (p<0.0001). The mean and median total time to Medical Care after the nurse’ Screening was decreased in 30% (p<0.0001) and 41% (p<0.0001) respectively. CONCLUSIONS The implementation of AIRA reduced the time to medical care in an urgent care after the nurse´ screening, by eliminating non-value-added activity the Medical Care Registration on Electronic Health Record (EHR) by Administrative Officer.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S479-S479
Author(s):  
Silvia I Gnass

Abstract Background In order to improve outcomes, including reduced surgical infection rate and costs, a revised universal preoperative decolonization protocol was implemented on a trial basis. Methods In a 12 month before and after study at a public teaching hospital in southern California, an alcohol based nasal antiseptic was introduced in place of nasal povidone iodine (PVI) for all surgical patients pre-operatively, paired with chlorhexidine (CHG) bathing which was already in place. All surgical procedures were included, the most common being cholecystectomy, cesarean section and hip fracture. The alcohol nasal antiseptic was selected to replace the PVI nasal antiseptic based on efficacy, staff preference and cost. At the same time, surgical team members began self-application of the alcohol nasal antiseptic each day prior to surgical procedures. This was not mandatory and compliance was not tracked, though informal feedback and observation revealed most surgical team members were applying the nasal antiseptic prior to cases daily. Results In comparison to the 6 month baseline period where there were 27 SSI in 1188 procedures, during the 6 month study period there were 10 SSI in 1253 procedures, representing a 63% reduction (p=.0162) for all types of procedures. We have observed a reduction of 17 SSIs in 2019, compared to the previous year, during the 6 months period. That means a saving of $589,420 during the same period. Conclusion Preoperative universal decolonization with alcohol based nasal antiseptic in place of nasal PVI, paired with CHG bathing, was effective in reducing SSI rate and associated costs. Further study is needed to measure and assess the impact of surgical team member nasal decolonization on patient infection risk and rate. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures


2015 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Horder ◽  
Kate Fitz-Gibbon

AbstractIn October 2010, the UK Parliament brought into effect law that replaced the partial defence to murder of provocation with a new partial defence of “loss of control”, applicable to England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Although it retained some key features of its controversial predecessor, the new partial defence was in part designed better to address the gendered contexts within which a large number of homicides are committed. In examining the impact of the reforms, we will focus on long-held concerns about the treatment of sexual infidelity as a trigger for loss of control in murder cases. The article undertakes an analysis of English case law to evaluate the way in which sexual infidelity-related evidence has influenced perceptions of a homicide defendant's culpability, for the purposes of sentencing, both before and after the implementation of reform. The analysis reveals that, in sentencing offenders post reform, the higher courts have failed to follow the spirit of the reforms respecting the substantive law by effecting a corresponding change in sentencing practice.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 1179-1220
Author(s):  
M. T. Perks ◽  
J. Warburton

Abstract. This paper describes the implementation of a novel mitigation approach and subsequent adaptive management, designed to reduce the transfer of fine sediment in Glaisdale Beck; a small upland catchment in the UK. Hydro-meteorological and suspended sediment datasets are collected over a two year period spanning pre- and post-diversion periods in order to assess the impact of the channel reconfiguration scheme on the fluvial suspended sediment dynamics. Analysis of the river response demonstrates that the fluvial sediment system has become more restrictive with reduced fine sediment transfer. This is characterised by reductions in flow-weighted mean suspended sediment concentrations from 77.93 mg L−1 prior to mitigation, to 74.36 mg L−1 following the diversion. A Mann–Whitney U test found statistically significant differences (p < 0.001) between the pre- and post-monitoring median SSCs. Whilst application of one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) on the coefficients of sediment rating curves developed before and after the diversion found statistically significant differences (p < 0.001), with both Log a and b coefficients becoming smaller following the diversion. Non-parametric analysis indicates a reduction in residuals through time (p < 0.001), with the developed LOWESS model over-predicting sediment concentrations as the channel stabilises. However, the channel is continuing to adjust to the reconfigured morphology, with evidence of a headward propagating knickpoint which has migrated 120 m at an exponentially decreasing rate over the last 7 years since diversion. The study demonstrates that channel reconfiguration can be effective in mitigating fine sediment flux in upland streams but the full value of this may take many years to achieve whilst the fluvial system, slowly readjusts.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Panovska-Griffiths ◽  
J Ross ◽  
S Elkhodair ◽  
C Baxter-Derrington ◽  
C Laing ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundWe compared impact of three pre-COVID-19 interventions and of the COVID-19 UK-epidemic and the first UK national lockdown on overcrowding within University College London Hospital Emergency Department (UCLH ED). The three interventions: target the influx of patients at ED (A), reduce the pressure on in-patients’ beds (B) and improve ED processes to improve the flow of patents out from ED (C).MethodsWe analysed the change in overcrowding metrics (daily attendances, the proportion of people leaving within four hours of arrival (four-hours target) and the reduction in overall waiting time) across three analysis. The first analysis used data 01/04/2017-31/12-2019 to calculate changes over a period of six months before and after the start of interventions A-C. The second and third analyses focused on evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, comparing the first 10 months in 2020 and 2019, and of the first national lockdown (23/03/2020-31/05/2020).ResultsPre-COVID-19 all interventions led to small reductions in waiting time (17%, p<0.001 for A and C;9%, p=0.322 for B) but also to a small decrease in the number of patients leaving within four hours of arrival (6.6%,7.4%,6.2% respectively A-C,p<0.001).In presence of the COVID-19 pandemic, attendance and waiting time were reduced (40% and 8%;p<0.001), and the number of people leaving within four hours of arrival was increased (6%,p<0.001). During the first lockdown, there was 65% reduction in attendance, 22% reduction in waiting time and 8% increase in number of people leaving within 4 hours of arrival (p<0.001). Crucially, when the lockdown was lifted, there was an increase (6.5%,p<0.001) in the percentage of people leaving within four hours, together with a larger (12.5%,p<0.001) decrease in waiting time. This occurred despite the increase of 49.6%(p<0.001) in attendance after lockdown ended.ConclusionsThe mixed results pre-COVID-19 (significant improvements in waiting time with some interventions but not improvement in the four-hours target), may be due to a ‘spill-over effect’ where clogging up one part of the ED system affects other parts. Hence multifaceted interventions and a system-wide approach to improve the pathway of flow through the ED system is necessary.During 2020 and in presence of the COVID-19 epidemic, a shift in public behaviour with anxiety over attending hospitals and higher use of virtual consultations, led to notable drop in UCLH ED attendance and consequential curbing of overcrowding.Importantly, once the lockdown was lifted, although there was an increase in arrivals at UCLH ED, overcrowding metrics were reduced. Thus, the combination of shifted public behaviour and the restructuring changes during COVID-19 epidemic, maybe be able to curb future ED overcrowding, but longer timeframe analysis is required to confirm this.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Dalbosco Gadenz ◽  
Josué Basso ◽  
Patrícia Roberta Berithe Pedrosa de Oliviera ◽  
Stephan Sperling ◽  
Marcus Vinicius Dutra Zuanazzi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Management of patient flow within a healthcare network, allowing equitable and qualified access to healthcare, is a major challenge for universal health systems. Implementation of telehealth strategies to support referral management has been shown to increase primary care resolution and to promote coordination of care. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of telehealth strategies on waiting lists and waiting times for specialized care in Brazil. Methods Before-and-after study with measures obtained between January 2019 and February 2020. Baseline measurements of waiting lists were obtained immediately before the implementation of a remotely operated referral management system. Post-interventional measurements were obtained monthly, up to six months after the beginning of operation. Data was extracted from the database of the project. General linear models were applied to assess interaction of locality and time over number of cases on waiting lists and waiting times. Results At baseline, the median number of cases on waiting lists ranged from 2961 to 12,305 cases. Reductions of the number of cases on waiting lists after six months of operation were observed in all localities. The magnitude of the reduction ranged from 54.67 to 88.97 %. Interaction of time measurements was statistically significant from the second month onward. Median waiting times ranged from 159 to 241 days at baseline. After six months, there was a decrease of 100 and 114 waiting days in two localities, respectively, with reduction of waiting times only for high-risk cases in the third locality. Conclusions Adoption of telehealth strategies resulted in the reduction of number of cases on waiting lists. Results were consistent across localities, suggesting that telehealth interventions are viable in diverse settings.


Author(s):  
Samantha Besson

This chapter examines the reception of the ECHR in the UK and Ireland both before and after incorporation. Both countries incorporated the ECHR using roughly the same model. One might have assumed that the mode of incorporation into a dualist legal order would largely determine outcomes. In Ireland and the UK, however, the impact of acts of incorporation was heavily mediated by pre-existing constitutional structure and practice.


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