Research reviews

Analysis of cough sounds captured on a smartphone can potentially be used to help diagnose common respiratory conditions in children, a study from Western Australia has shown. The study authors conclude: ‘We have demonstrated that automated cough analysis delivers good diagnostic accuracy in detecting common childhood respiratory diseases including pneumonia, RAD, croup, bronchiolitis, upper and lower respiratory tract disorders. It can be used as a diagnostic aid for childhood respiratory disorders.’

Abnormal spirometry and FeNO results are common in children with asthma managed in primary care and relate poorly to symptom scores, a UK study has shown.

The majority of patients with genitourinary (GU) symptoms do not attend sexual health clinic (SHCs), although many would consult their GP, an analysis of Natsal-3 survey data has shown. Natsal-3 is a probability sample survey of sexual behaviour involving 15,162 women and men in Britain aged 16-74 years.

Men who have sex with men (MSM) may transmit oropharyngeal gonorrhoea to partners by kissing, a cross-sectional study from Australia has found.

Middle-aged individuals with a high body mass index (BMI) and those whose BMI had significantly increased since the age of 20 had an increased prevalence of breathlessness, a population-based study has found.

Opportunistic finding of bundle branch block (BBB) in primary care patients without major cardiovascular disease should be considered a warning of future heart failure, a retrospective cohort study from Denmark concludes.

Supplementary long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) such as omega-3 have no effect on the prevention of diabetes or on glucose metabolism, a large meta-analysis commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) has found.

A large Swedish study has suggested that gabapentinoid medications are associated with an increased risk of suicidal behaviour and unintentional overdose in adolescents and young adults.

Good cardiorespiratory fitness in midlife may lower the risk of developing and dying from COPD, a prospective cohort study from Denmark has found.

The cardiovascular and overall mortality benefits of stopping smoking far outweigh the risks of weight gain and acquiring type 2 diabetes, a study from the United States has shown.

A study from the United States has found that patients prescribed tramadol for postoperative pain have a higher risk of prolonged opioid use relative to those given other short-acting opioids.

A retrospective population based cohort study from the United States has found a modest correlation between older paternal age and adverse perinatal outcomes.

Teenagers are reticent to search for sexual health information online, a small qualitative study has found.

Automatic external loop recording (ELR) is not suitable as a single monitoring device for AF screening following stroke, a prospective cohort study from Denmark has concluded.

Although an educational intervention increased respiratory consultations in smokers it did not improve detection of lung cancer, in a randomised controlled trial from Australia.

Parental alcohol use disorder is associated with an increased likelihood of marriage to a spouse with alcohol use disorder, a Swedish population-based study has found. In particular, daughters of affected mothers were more likely to have an affected spouse.

A novel cuffless device recorded significantly higher values for both systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) compared with standard equipment for 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring, in a small study from Switzerland.

A small but well designed pilot study from Scandinavia has suggested that afternoon exercise improves blood glucose in type 2 diabetes more effectively than exercise in the morning.

An increase in the use of e-cigarettes (vaping) has been associated with a drop in smoking by teenagers and young adults, a time trend analysis from the United States has found.

Individuals who suffer abuse as children are more likely to use marijuana or cocaine later in life, a study from the United States has found.

Current guidelines advise treating paroxysmal AF in the same way as sustained AF but the evidence is weak, with only one retrospective analysis comparing the risk of stroke in patients with paroxysmal AF vs chronic AF (analysis of the SPAF trials, performed 15 years ago and limited to patients treated with aspirin). The ACTIVE W trial showed that warfarin is more effective than aspirin plus clopidogrel for the prevention of vascular events (stroke, embolism, MI and vascular death) in patients with AF. A recent substudy of this trial looked at the risk of stroke in 1,202 patients with paroxysmal AF compared with 5,495 with sustained AF, and the effectiveness of thromboprophylaxis in these patients. ' This substudy has shown that the risk of stroke is similar, irrespective of whether AF is paroxysmal or sustained, and that anticoagulation therapy is equally effective in both groups. Other factors, such as age and cardiovascular comorbidity, remain central to the ultimate choice of thromboprophylaxis in these patients.'