Northern Health and Social Care Trust

Optimizing management strategies for T4b esophageal cancer: the role of TEVAR in multimodal treatment approaches

BACKGROUND: T4b esophageal cancer with aortic invasion remains a major therapeutic challenge because treatment-related tumor regression may precipitate aortoesophageal fistula formation and catastrophic hemorrhage. While chemoradiotherapy is the backbone of disease control, the r...

The Meta-Analytic Relationship between Exposure to Domestic Violence and Dissociative Symptoms

Abstract Purpose Domestic violence and the impact it has on victim-survivor’s mental health remains an international public health concern. Dissociation has often been linked to traumatic experiences and may present as a protective defense mechanism for victim-survivors of domest...

Preoperative Factors Associated with Weight Loss and Recurrent Weight Gain after Bariatric Surgery: A Longitudinal Study in a UK Public Healthcare Setting

OBJECTIVE: Bariatric surgery is an effective treatment for obesity. This study aims to identify demographic factors of weight loss and recurrent weight gain over a 10-year follow-up period. METHODS: This retrospective observational study includes 2092 patients for overall trends,...

International Comparison of Ambulance Time Intervals for Suspected Stroke/Transient Ischemic Attack Across 7 Emergency Medical Services Before and During the COVID‐19 Pandemic

BACKGROUND: International reports highlight the COVID-19 pandemic's wide-ranging impacts on time-sensitive conditions, including stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA). Comparing ambulance time intervals globally offers insights into COVID-19's effects on different health care sy...

Exploring the influence of long COVID upon self-identity: a systematic literature review

Abstract Background Long COVID (LC) is understood to be a multisystemic illness involving symptoms of an enduring nature. As underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of LC become better understood, attention has turned towards the psychological aspects of LC lived experience. Com...

A qualitative study exploring how an Emergency Medicine leadership programme was received in Ghana

Introduction Emergency Medicine (EM) is a developing specialty in several West African countries, where practitioners are increasingly assuming leadership roles despite limited training. The EM Leaders programme, originally designed for the UK context, offers leadership training...

Bullying Victimisation and Mental Health: The Mediating Role of Peer and Family Social Support

ABSTRACT Introduction Adverse childhood experiences have been consistently linked to a range of mental health related difficulties in adulthood. One such experience is bullying, which has been shown to predict psychotic symptoms. This study aimed to explore whether bullying victi...