Pandemics require the whole community to act

The COVID-19 pandemic raises pressing questions about the way we think about the public health preferences of citizens. An effective response to this crisis relies on the cooperation of every member of the community, which is why it is important that health preference research focuses on citizens’ preferences towards communal goods and collective action.

This means that we need to think about how well the tools in our methodological toolbox are up to this task. Can economic preference evaluation methods shed light on people’s concerns about the well-being of others? Can they…

Deciding whether to refer a patient to an Intensive Care Unit (or Critical Care Unit) has always been a difficult clinical and ethical challenge. The limited number of ICU beds means that decisions often have to be made about who should be referred and who should not. Intensive care can have a negative impact on the patient’s quality of life. Treatment is invasive and distressing and, for those patients who do not survive to leave hospital or who survive with a quality of life they do not value, ICU treatment may have caused harm rather than provided benefit. Optimum treatment…

The Life Under Lockdown report from King’s College has provided valuable insights into the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on population mental health in the UK. Almost half of the respondents in the survey indicated that they have felt more anxious or depressed than normal as a result of the crisis. One source of this anxiety and depression will be a fear of being exposed to adverse economic events.

Indeed, 40% of respondents indicated they are likely to face financial difficulties and 26% likely to lose their job as a result of the crisis. These rates of economic insecurity are…

Patients with undiagnosed rare diseases often undergo a long, stressful and costly testing process.  This is called the ‘diagnostic odyssey.’  Standard testing involves numerous tests, missed diagnoses, and considerable stress and uncertainty for affected individuals and families.  On average, it takes 5.6 years to get an accurate diagnosis. During this time, patients see an average of 8 doctors and receive an average of 3 misdiagnoses. It is hoped that new diagnostic tests such as whole genome sequencing will increase the number of accurate diagnoses. This may help to reduce the diagnostic odyssey for patients…

Obesity in Scotland

Severe obesity is a growing public health concern. In 2018 in Scotland, 2% of men and 5% of women were classed as morbidly obese (no data exists for severe obesity). Severe obesity leads to more hospital admissions, earlier death, and poorer quality of life due to the higher risk of obesity-related diseases. Obesity-related diseases include type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke. The cost to the health service in Scotland of people being overweight and obese is estimated to be between £363 and £600 million. The total economic costs to the country are estimated at as much as £4.6…