Search

To describe the distribution of femoral neck shortening after internal fixation and to determine whether shortening is associated with inferior hip function at 24 months after a hip fracture in patients 50 years of age or older.Retrospective cohort study.A secondary analysis of data from 81 clinical centers included in the Fixation using Alternative Implants for the Treatment of Hip Fractures (FAITH) trial.Three hundred fifty patients, 50 years of age or older, who had an isolated femoral neck fracture and underwent timely operative fixation of the fracture.Femoral neck shortening was measured as a categorical variable and classified into one of the following groups, as determined by the Central Adjudication Committee: no shortening, mild shortening (≤5 mm), moderate shortening (6-10 mm), or severe shortening (10 mm).The primary outcome for the current analysis was hip function, as measured by the Western OntarioMcMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index questionnaire, at 24 months after injury.Two-thirds of patients had no or mild shortening (≤5 mm), whereas one-third of patients had moderate or severe shortening (5 mm). After adjusting for surgical treatment, a greater amount of femoral neck shortening was found to be associated with poorer hip function (P0.01).We found that increasing femoral neck shortening was associated with inferior hip function. Although internal fixation often results in successful union, patients who heal in a shortened position report poorer functional outcomes.Prognostic Level II. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

In 2018, the Department for Education (DfE) commissioned a consortium led by IFF\ud Research, working with social work academics at Manchester Metropolitan University\ud and the University of Salford, to conduct a longitudinal study tracking the careers of local\ud authority child and family social workers in England over five years. The landmark new\ud study aimed to collect robust evidence on recruitment, retention and progression in child\ud and family social work by tracking individuals over a five-year period.\ud In Wave 1, 5,621 local authority child and family social workers took part in the survey,\ud comprising almost one in six of the population.\ud 1 This report covers the second year of the\ud research

Background\ud Eczema and asthma are chronic diseases with onset usually before the age of 5 years. More than 50% of individuals with eczema will develop asthma and/or other allergic diseases. Several loss‐of‐function mutations in filaggrin (FLG) have been identified in patients with eczema. However, the association of FLG with healthcare use is unknown.\ud \ud Objectives\ud To determine whether FLG mutations are associated with increased prescribing for eczema and asthma and whether increased prescribing is associated with increased healthcare costs.\ud \ud Methods\ud A secondary analysis of BREATHE, a cross‐sectional study of gene–environment associations with asthma severity, was undertaken. BREATHE data was collected for 1100 participants with asthma, in Tayside and Fife, Scotland during the period 2003–2005. Through collaboration with the Health Informatics Centre in Dundee, BREATHE was linked to accident and emergency, community prescribing and Scottish morbidity records. The data linkage allowed longitudinal exploration of associations between genetic variation and prescribing.\ud \ud Results\ud An association was found between FLG mutations and increased prescribing for mild and moderate eczema, asthma‐reliever medicine and asthma exacerbations. A strong association was found between FLG mutations and prescribing of emollients [incidence rate ratio (IRR) 2·19, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·36–3·52], treatment for severe eczema (IRR 2·18, 95% CI 1·22–3·91) and a combination of a long‐acting β2‐agonist and corticosteroids (IRR 3·29, 95% CI 1·68–6·43).\ud \ud Conclusions\ud The presence of FLG mutations in this cohort is associated with increased prescribing for eczema and asthma. Randomized controlled trials are required to determine if these individuals could benefit from management strategies to reduce morbidity and treatment costs.

The longitudinal study investigates recruitment, retention and career progression in local authority child and family social work over 5 years. This is the first of 5 reports.\ud \ud It provides workforce information for employers and policy makers.\ud \ud Topics covered in this report include:\ud •entry routes into local authority child and family social work\ud •current employment and career history\ud •workplace wellbeing\ud •management, supervision and working environment\ud •job satisfaction\ud •career progression and future career plans

In 2018, the Department for Education (DfE) commissioned a consortium led by IFF\ud Research, working with social work academics at Manchester Metropolitan University\ud and the University of Salford, to conduct a major new longitudinal study tracking the\ud careers of local authority child and family social workers in England over five years. The\ud aim of this landmark new study is to collect robust evidence on recruitment, retention and\ud progression in child and family social work. In particular it aims to establish a much\ud stronger understanding of child and family social work recruitment issues, career\ud pathways, choices and decisions and how these differ across different individual, job and\ud employer characteristics.\ud This report covers the first year (Wave 1) of the survey and follow-up qualitative\ud research, which was conducted between November 2018 and March 2019.