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Introduction: British South Asians have a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity than the wider population. Bradford (UK), with its high Pakistani presence and levels of economic deprivation, has exceptionally high instances, especially in deprived areas where many Pakistanis reside. British Pakistani women in Bradford are more likely to be overweight and obese. There is uncertainty on how these women can be aided to manage their weight. Therefore, the objective of this study was to explore the obesity concerns of Pakistani women living in deprived inner‐city areas of Bradford. Methods: Three focus groups interviews were carried out with 23 Pakistani women living in deprived areas of Bradford. Data were analysed thematically. Results: This exploratory study identified a wide range of concerns that women had around managing their weight. Participants disclosed distrust in information given around medication, conflicting dietary information and reported low levels of trust in women‐only organized physical activities. Cultural barriers were identified, which included the gender role of the woman, the lack of culturally appropriate dietary advice, cultural misunderstandings of what constitutes a healthy diet and healthy weight, the lack of culturally suitable exercise facilities and conforming to family and community expectations. Other concerns were language barriers around a lack of understanding, the inability to read Urdu and reliance on others to translate information. Conclusion: These findings have implications for researchers, local authorities, policy makers and others with an interest in reducing the rates of obesity in this population. Recommendations include training health practitioners to be culturally aware of the diet and eating practices of this community, exploring different ways to support socially isolated women to be more physically active at home, addressing physical activity and diet misconceptions and designing obesity management information materials appropriate for a range of literacy levels. Patient or Public Contribution: Public contributors were involved in the development of the interview guide and design of the research. A pilot focus group with participants not included in the present paper was used to help test and refine the focus group questions. Interview transcripts were member checked by participants, and participants assisted with data analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Patient safety research has tended to focus on hospital settings, although most clinical encounters occur in primary care, and to emphasize practitioner errors, rather than patients' own understandings of safety. Objective: To explore patients' understandings of safety in primary care. Methods: Qualitative interviews were conducted with patients recruited from general practices in northwest England. Participants were asked basic socio‐demographic information; thereafter, topics were largely introduced by interviewees themselves. Transcripts were coded and analysed using NVivo10 (qualitative data software), following a process of constant comparison. Results: Thirty‐eight people (14 men, 24 women) from 19 general practices in rural, small town and city locations were interviewed. Many of their concerns (about access, length of consultation, relationship continuity) have been discussed in terms of quality, but, in the interviews, were raised as matters of safety. Three broad themes were identified: (i) trust and psycho‐social aspects of professional–patient relationships; (ii) choice, continuity, access, and the temporal underpinnings of safety; and (iii) organizational and systems‐level tensions constraining safety. Discussion: Conceptualizations of safety included common reliance on a bureaucratic framework of accreditation, accountability, procedural rules and regulation, but were also individual and context‐dependent. For patients, safety is not just a property of systems, but personal and contingent and is realized in the interaction between doctor and patient. However, it is the systems approach that has dominated safety thinking, and patients' individualistic and relational conceptualizations are poorly accommodated within current service organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Introduction This study aimed to validate the SCOFF, an eating disorders (ED) screening questionnaire, in a multiethnic general population sample of adults. Method A two-stage design was employed using the South East London Community Health Study phases I and II data. A total of 1,669 participants were screened using the SCOFF in SELCoHI, and 145 were administrated an ED clinical interview in SELCoHII. We explored the diagnostic validity of the questionnaire restricting to the 145 individuals with the clinical questionnaire. Results Sensitivity and specificity of the SCOFF were 53.7 and 93.5%, respectively. Conclusion The SCOFF showed good levels of specificity but low sensitivity, resulting in a high percentage of false negatives. Given the low sensitivity found in our sample the SCOFF is likely to be a suboptimal measure for the identification of ED in the community. © 2014 The Authors International Journal of Eating Disorders Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Int J Eat Disord 2015; 48:312-316) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Certain dietary patterns have been associated with higher risk of noncommunicable diseases, with South Asians identified as a high-risk group. The present study aimed to identify the association between dietary patterns and the metabolic syndrome ( MS) in South Asians living in the UK. Methods Dietary patterns were derived by principal component analysis from 15 different food groups using an ethnic-specific food frequency questionnaire. MS risk factors, including obesity and hypertension, were measured, whereas existing conditions of dyslipidaemia and hyperglycaemia were self-reported. Participants ( n = 100) were divided into quartiles based on dietary factor scores and the link between dietary patterns and risk factors was investigated. Results Three different patterns were derived, which together explained 46% of the total diet variation; eastern pattern, mixed pattern and western pattern. An inverse correlation was found between the eastern pattern and education P = 0.05). A direct correlation was found between the western pattern and physical activity ( P = 0.05) and the overall risk of MS ( P = 0.05). Body composition was altered as residence time in the UK increased, with a reduction in muscle mass (29-26%) and an increase in body fat (31-37%). Diagnosis criteria for MS were found in 20% of the participants. Conclusions Dietary acculturation, including a reduction in vegetarianism, an increased intake of caffeinated drinks and altered meal patterns, may be associated with the higher prevalence of MS in migrant South Asians in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]