Intended for healthcare professionals
The BMJ is partnering with the NIHR Dissemination (CED) to bring readers a selection of NIHR Alerts. Hundreds of NIHR-funded research papers are published every month; frontline health and care professionals cannot possibly read them all. The CED filters the research, selecting studies with novel findings, and implications for practice. These studies are reviewed by health professionals, patient and public representatives and the editorial group. Plain language summaries of these studies, NIHR Alerts, are published on the NIHR Evidence website. These summaries of important NIHR research aim to promote the use of research and bring applicable findings to the attention of decision-makers, health and social care professionals, patients and members of the public. You can read more about the BMJ and NIHR Alerts collaboration here. All authors of NIHR signals adhere to The BMJ’s enhanced criteria for conflicts of interest for education article authors.
Read the latest NIHR Alerts here:
NIHR Alerts aim to help busy health and care professionals put research into practice
Women with kidney disease can be given a personal risk assessment for pregnancy
GPs may help people at risk of self-harm by asking open questions and acknowledging distress
Home based rehabilitation after a knee replacement is as effective as physiotherapy
Self-testing for HIV could increase diagnoses in the trans community
What support do young people affected by adverse childhood experiences need?
Advice by mail is as effective as targeted interventions in preventing injuries from falls
Stressing the personal benefits of the covid-19 vaccine might encourage more people to accept it
Adults with learning disabilities want loving relationships, but may need support
People carrying excess weight have an increased risk of severe covid-19
Earlier decisions on breast and ovarian surgery reduce cancer in women at high risk
Risk of breast cancer with HRT depends on therapy type and duration
When do people with abdominal symptoms need a fast track referral?
Dexamethasone should not be given to people with a chronic subdural haematoma
Emergency care in hospitals is as good at the weekend as on weekdays
Almost half of people on long term antidepressants can stop without relapsing
Frail older people and those in deprived areas remain at risk from covid-19, even after vaccination
People of all ages benefit from drugs to lower blood pressure
One-off physiotherapy and at-home exercise are effective in treating shoulder pain
A short course of antibiotics is effective for treating pneumonia in children
Unemployment and insecure housing are linked to less successful treatment for depression
How to improve discussions about osteoarthritis in primary care
More people survived a cardiac arrest when first aiders received an app alert
The NIHR Editorial group members are:
Candace Imison, Associate Director of Evidence and Dissemination, NIHR CED.
Candace oversees the NIHR CED’s dissemination and knowledge mobilisation activity. She has extensive experience in developing health policy, most recently as Director of Policy at the Nuffield Trust and previously as Deputy Director of Policy at The King’s Fund. She has researched and published on workforce, future health care trends and service reconfiguration. Candace has senior management experience at board level for NHS providers, commissioners and regulators.
Christian Mallen, NIHR Professor of General Practice and Head of Keele Medical School.
Christian gained a degree in medicine from Nottingham University before undertaking speciality training in general practice. He has worked as a clinical academic at Keele University for 20 years, leading programmes of research on rheumatology, mental health, multimorbidity and global health. He is currently Head of Keele Medical School and Director of the NIHR School for Primary Care Research.
Shona Haining, Head of Research and Evidence, North of England Commissioning Support Unit.
Shona is highly skilled in the design, delivery and implementation of research in the healthcare sector. She completed her PhD in Biochemistry at University of Sheffield and holds qualifications in Management Studies, Health Economics and Public Sector Commissioning. Shona has in-depth knowledge of health systems, process, and challenges specifically within commissioning and primary care. She has been a co-investigator on an array of NIHR projects as well as leading on evaluation projects across many transformation areas for NHS England.
Lindsay Bearne, Professor of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation at Kingston and St George’s, University of London.
Lindsay is a registered physiotherapist and has a background in physical activity, rehabilitation and self-management research. Her current research focuses on the consequences of long-term conditions (rheumatic, musculoskeletal and vascular disease), rehabilitation, and the translation of evidence into practice. Alongside this, Lindsay is a Senior Research Fellow in Knowledge Mobilisation at NIHR CED.
David Baghurst, Director of Research Programmes, NIHR Central Commissioning Facility (CCF) and Director, NIHR Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure (NOCRI).
David’s teams manage a portfolio of NIHR Research Programmes, Units and Schools and facilitate collaboration across the NIHR Infrastructure including Biomedical Research Centres and Applied Research Collaborations. David has more than 25 years’ experience in management of technology transfer and innovation in the life science and healthcare sectors.
Jemma Kwint, Senior Research Fellow, NIHR CED.
Jemma leads on NIHR Evidence’s Themed Reviews, which bring together recent research on topics of strategic importance for the UK health and social care system. She has a background in postdoctoral medical research embedded in an NHS setting and extensive experience of working within the NIHR. Prior to joining CED, Jemma worked for 10 years identifying and prioritising research topics for NIHR commissioning.
Helen Saul, Editor-in-Chief, NIHR Evidence.
Helen gained a BA in medical science from Cambridge University before training in medical journalism with the GP newspaper, Pulse. In a long freelance career, she reported on medicine and science for Sky News, BBC Radio Four and BBC World Service. She was a regular contributor to national newspapers and magazines, including New Scientist, and was news editor of European Journal of Cancer for many years.
Deniz Gursul, Research Dissemination Officer, NIHR CED.
Deniz holds a DPhil in neonatal pain and brain imaging from University of Oxford, and gained experience in medical writing before joining CED. She is involved in the selection of papers for Alerts and Themed Reviews, and ensures the scientific accuracy of products on NIHR Evidence.
Samantha Cassidy, Science Writer NIHR Evidence.
Samantha holds a Masters in neuroscience from King's College London and has worked for various medical publishers both as an editor and a project manager. She writes NIHR Alerts and aims to communicate scientific findings in a meaningful way to different audiences.
Sarah Deria, Editorial Assistant, NIHR CED.
Sarah holds a Masters in Global Public Health and Policy from Queen Mary University, London. She carries out an initial screen of all NIHR-funded papers to select those which meet our criteria. Sarah works as part of the team to prepare Alerts and to engage professional organisations and patient support groups with the research findings.
Victoria Bartle, Member of the Public
Victoria has been involved in Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) work since leaving employment in 2016 due to multiple long term health conditions (MLTC). She is an NIHR research champion, a co-applicant on the research collaborative ADMISSION, and the PPI representative for the NIHR MLTC Translational Research Collaboration. She was recently appointed to the North East and Yorkshire Research for Patient Benefit funding committee.
Mashkura Begum, Member of the Public
Mashkura has worked in the voluntary and public sector for 20 years. She currently works on community development, engagement and asset-based regeneration for a housing association in the West Midlands. She holds a law degree and is Chair of trustees at a women’s development organisation, Saathi House. Mashkura is a Director of the social enterprise, Communities Engage and Thrive (CET) which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of disadvantaged communities.
• Pedometers can help people get more active as part of an exercise programme
• Computerised speech and language therapy can help people with aphasia find words following a stroke
• Online patient feedback is positive, but not used effectively
• Tranexamic acid is safe to use following mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury
• Group cognitive behavioural courses may reduce fatigue from rheumatoid arthritis
• Twenty miles per hour speed zones reduce the danger to pedestrians and cyclists
• Losing weight following diagnosis of type 2 diabetes boosts chance of remission
• Planned earlier delivery for late pre-eclampsia may be better for mothers
• Clinicians prescribe antibiotics for childhood respiratory tract infection based on assessment, rather than parental expectation
• Keyhole hysterectomy is effective for women with heavy menstrual bleeding
• More than 50% of hip replacements seem to last 25 years
• More than 80% of total knee replacements can last for 25 years
• Partial knee replacement could be first choice for some patients with osteoarthritis
• C reactive protein testing in general practice safely reduces antibiotic use for flare-ups of COPD
• Levetiracetam is a useful alternative to phenytoin for epileptic seizures in children
• Routine use of progesterone does not prevent miscarriage
• Antimicrobial central venous catheters do not reduce infections in pre-term babies
• Telephone or internet delivered talking therapy can alleviate irritable bowel symptoms
• National quality improvement programmes need time and resources to have an impact
• Cardiac rehabilitation for heart failure can improve quality of life and fitness
• Whole body MRI is effective for identifying metastatic disease in colorectal cancer patients
• Smartphones can improve adherence rates for TB treatment
• Antiretroviral treatment can reduce the risk of HIV transmission between male partners to ‘zero’
• Laser eye procedure is safe and effective as an early treatment for glaucoma
• A traditional hip implant is as effective as newer types for people over 65
• Setting goals can help people with early stage dementia improve function
• E-cigarettes helped more smokers quit than nicotine replacement therapy
• Does fluoxetine improve recovery after stroke?
• Can treating vitamin D deficiency reduce exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?
• Patient centred care for multimorbidity improves patient experience, but quality of life is unchanged
• Negative pressure dressings are no better than standard dressings for open fractures
• Adrenaline can restart the heart, but is no good for the brain
• Repeat thyroid function tests for healthy older people are not needed
• People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations prefer early discharge, then treatment at home
• Lifestyle changes may be more important than drugs for mild hypertension
• New airway device as good as tracheal tube insertion for out-of-hospital resuscitation