The COVID-19 pandemic led to major disruptions in society across many spheres, including healthcare, the economy and social behaviours. While early predictions warned of an increased risk of suicide during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, rates of suicide deaths remained stable or decreased over that period for most countries. In contrast, the prevalence of suicidal ideation doubled and suicide attempts slightly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in the adult general population worldwide, accompanied by a higher prevalence of major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders. While these data can tell us what happened, they cannot tell us why. Qualitative suicide research seeks to understand experiences of individuals with suicide-related thoughts and behaviours, provides an in-depth exploration of their lives and interactions with others and centres their views and unique context. There is little qualitative research focusing on suicidality during the pandemic. This study will use a qualitative approach to explore the extent and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Canadians who experienced suicidality and review their experiences of accessing mental healthcare to identify key components in supporting safety and recovery.

This study will involve approximately 100 semistructured interviews with participants across four Canadian provinces and will explore experiences with suicide-related thoughts and behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic. Transcripts will be analysed through qualitative analysis informed by constructivist grounded theory.

The study was approved by the Research Ethics Board of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto Academic Health Sciences Network (for JZ: CAMH REB No 104-2022). In addition to traditional peer-reviewed presentations and publications, a report will make study findings accessible to policy makers, media and the public.

Although as many as 92% of survivors of physical intimate partner violence (IPV) report impacts to the head and/or non-fatal strangulation (NFS) that raise clinical suspicion of brain injury (BI), there are no evidence-based methods to document and characterise BI in this vulnerable population, limited clinical practice guidelines and insufficient understanding about long-term risks for conditions including Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). This leaves most survivors of IPV-caused BI (IPV-BI), overwhelmingly women, without adequate access to medical care and support, safe housing, back-to-school/work accommodations or follow-up care for long-term neurocognitive health. Although traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an established ADRD risk factor, little is known about the attributable risk of ADRD due to IPV-BI, particularly in women.

Our overarching objectives are to (1) use plasma biomarkers as novel tools to assist clinicians to improve diagnosis of IPV-BI at the acute, subacute and chronic stages in a manner sensitive to the needs of this vulnerable population and (2) raise awareness of the importance of considering IPV-BI as a potential ADRD risk factor. A prospective observational study funded by the US Department of Defense (HT9425-24-1-0462), Brain Canada (6200) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (523320-NWT-CAAA-37499) leverages collaborative research at multiple clinical sites in British Columbia to maximise equity, diversity and inclusion among participants, with a target enrolment of n=600 participants.

The Advocates, Academics, Survivors and Clinicians to END Intimate Partner Violence Biomarkers study, which is predicated on pre-specified research questions, represents one of the most significant community-based studies on plasma biomarkers affected by an IPV-BI incident. Of particular significance is the fact our study uses robust biomarker approaches being applied in the TBI and ADRD fields to determine how the biomarker profile after IPV-BI compares to typical TBI and the early stage of neurodegenerative disorders.

This study was approved by the University of British Columbia Clinical Research Ethics Board (H24-01990, H22-02241 and H16-02792) and the Island Health Research Ethics Board (H22-03510). Upon publication of primary papers, de-identified data and biospecimens will be made widely available, including the US Federal Interagency Traumatic Brain Injury Research (FITBIR) federated database. Our data and integrated knowledge translation activities with persons with lived experience of IPV-BI and those working in the healthcare sector will be synthesised into co-designed and implemented knowledge tools to improve outcomes for survivors of IPV-BI.

In critical care, intensive care unit (ICU) staff and physicians often estimate patients' height and weight visually, impacting calculations for cardiac function, ventilation, medication, nutrition and renal function. However, accurate assessment is challenging in critically ill patients. This study evaluates the accuracy of visual estimations by ICU staff.

Descriptive cross-sectional study.

National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Karachi, Pakistan.

We included a convenient sample of adult (≥18 years) cardiac patients admitted to the critical care unit in this study. Patients who refused to give consent, trauma/surgery of lower limbs or patients with below-knee or above-knee amputation were excluded to avoid bias.

A convenient sample of cardiac ICU patients was included. Measured weight (kg) and height (cm) were compared with visual estimations by senior ICU nurse, senior non-ICU nurse, ICU consultants, fellows and residents. Correlation and agreement were analysed using Bland–Altman plots and 95% agreement limits.

A total of 356 patients were evaluated, of whom 204 (57.3%) were male, with a mean age of 55.2 ± 14.3 years. The median SOFA score was 3 [2–5], and 101 patients (28.4%) were on mechanical ventilation. The mean difference between measured and estimated weight by senior non-ICU nurse was 4.7±9.2 [–13.38–22.83] kg, senior ICU nurse was 7.8±9.9 [–11.56–27.12] kg, ICU consultants was 3.0±6.6 [–9.89–15.79] kg, ICU fellow was 3.0±7.1 [–10.88–16.92] kg and ICU resident was 8.0±9.6 [–10.83–26.79] kg. Similarly, the mean difference between measured and estimated height by senior non-ICU nurse was 2.0±7.3 [-12.36–16.34] cm, senior ICU nurse was 2.4±7.5 [–12.19–17.00] cm, ICU consultants was 1.5±5.6 [–9.51–12.48] cm, ICU fellow was 1.1±5.5 [–9.68–11.95] cm and ICU resident was 2.3±8.5 [–14.40–19.01] cm.

The findings indicate that healthcare professionals tend to overestimate both weight and height. The accuracy of these estimations varied among professional groups, underscoring the potential clinical consequences of such errors. This emphasises the need for objective measurements in clinical decision-making.

Transitions from the emergency department (ED) to home are high-risk periods for medication-related harm. Pharmacist-led interventions during this period may improve medication safety and care continuity, yet co-design approaches to develop such interventions remain underused. The aim of this study is to co-design a pharmacist-led transition of care programme for patients discharged from the ED.

This study will be conducted at a 371-bed secondary-care teaching hospital in Qatar and will follow two sequential phases using qualitative and participatory methods. Phase I will involve focus groups and semistructured interviews with key stakeholders (clinical pharmacists, physicians, nurses and patients or patient representatives). Phase II will consist of an intervention co-design workshop with decision makers (leaders, policymakers and representatives from Phase I). Participants will be recruited using purposive and snowball sampling. Interviews will be audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data will be analysed using an inductive-deductive approach, guided by the Theoretical Domains Framework, the Care Transitions Framework and the APEASE (Affordability, Practicability, Effectiveness/cost-effectiveness, Acceptability, Side-effects/safety, Equity) criteria for evaluation of intervention feasibility.

The anticipated outcome is a prototype intervention detailing target recipients, core components, workflow, implementation strategies and supporting tools. This prototype will be pilot-tested to assess feasibility and inform further refinement.

The study was approved by the Medical Research Centre of Hamad Medical Corporation-Qatar (MRC-01-24-699) and Qatar University Institutional Review Board (QU-IRB 009/2025-EM). Written informed consent will be obtained from all study participants prior to participation. Research findings will be disseminated through institutional stakeholder briefings, presentations at national and international scientific conferences and publication in peer-reviewed journals. Patient representatives will contribute throughout the intervention development process.

Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) are conditions with progressive cognitive decline. Still, people living with late-stage ADRD (PLWD) have been reported to exhibit transient recovery of communication or behavioural abilities that had seemingly been lost. These lucid episodes (LEs) are underinvestigated and poorly understood. This study aims to advance scientific understanding of the incidence, prevalence and predictors of LEs and assess from family caregivers if LEs are associated with changes they make in care planning or experiences with burden, distress or grief.

This study recruited 545 caregivers from five ADRD-related registries in the USA. Eligibility included caregivers over 18 years who currently provide care to someone with moderate to very severe ADRD and can complete online questionnaires. Using a longitudinal observational study design, consented caregivers will be assessed monthly for 1 year using online questionnaires that inquire about witnessing LEs. If witnessed, the context and content of the LE is reported. Changes in caregiver decision-making about care for the PLWD, and caregiver burden, distress and grief are assessed at baseline, 6 and 12 months.

Analysis of baseline data will assess descriptive aspects of LEs that are currently unknown (eg, prevalence, content, antecedents, duration). Longitudinal analysis will examine the incidence of LEs, characteristics of PLWD and caregivers that are predictors of episodes, and the associations between LEs and caregiver outcomes (eg, burden, distress, grief).

This study is being conducted in accordance with all Federal Policies for the Protection of Human Subjects. The protocol has been approved by the Mayo Clinic Institutional Review Board (ID 22-006861). Findings will be presented at scientific conferences and disseminated through journal publications and outreach efforts with collaborating partners invested in brain health and caregiver support.

This study explored the experience of stigma and access to healthcare by persons with long COVID from the majority Dutch and two ethnic minority populations (Turkish and Moroccan) living in the Netherlands.

This was a cross-sectional qualitative study that employed inductive and deductive thematic approaches to data analysis using MAXQDA.

Between October 2022 and January 2023, 23 semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants of Dutch, Moroccan and Turkish ethnic origins with long COVID living in the Netherlands. Participants were men and women aged 30 years and above.

Guided by the concepts of stigma and candidacy, the findings are structured according to the broader themes of stigma and access to care. The findings show that people with long COVID suffer self and public stigma resulting from the debilitating illness and symptoms. Especially among Turkish and Moroccan ethnic minority participants, strong filial obligations and gendered expectations of responsibility and support within their communities further worsen self-stigma. This experience of stigma persisted within healthcare where lack of information and appropriate care pathways led to feelings of frustration and abandonment, especially for participants with pre-existing health conditions which further complicate candidacy. Under the access to healthcare theme, the findings show multiple challenges in accessing healthcare for long COVID due to several multifaceted factors related to the various stages of candidacy which impacted access to care. Particularly for Turkish and Moroccan ethnic minority participants, additional challenges resulting from limited access to information, pre-existing structural challenges and experience of stereotyping based on ethnicity or assumed migrant identity by health professionals further complicate access to health information and long COVID care.

The findings call for urgent attention and research to identify and coordinate healthcare for long COVID. There is also a need for accessible, informative and tailored support systems to facilitate patients’ access to information and care pathways for long COVID. Providing tailored information and support, addressing the various barriers that hinder optimal operating conditions in healthcare and leveraging on social networks is crucial for addressing stigma and facilitating candidacy for persons with long COVID towards improving access to care.

This study aimed to explore the experience of online sexual abuse among school-going Bangladeshi youth.

A convergent parallel mixed-method study. The quantitative strand employed a self-administered questionnaire survey conducted in classroom settings, while the qualitative strand used in-depth interviews guided by semistructured protocols. Data from both strands were analysed separately and then merged.

Grade 9–10 students from four randomly selected schools in both an urban and a rural area of Bangladesh participated in the study. A total of 456 students participated in the quantitative survey, and 16 were subsequently interviewed for qualitative data.

The frequency of online sexual abuse along with its contributing factors and patterns, including victim’s characteristics, perpetrator’s identity, potential avenue of abuse, knowledge and psychosocial consequences.

About 88% of the participants reported using the Internet, and nearly 53% reported being victims of online sexual abuse at some point in their lives. The occurrence of common sexual abuses included online grooming (53%), cyberflashing (38%), sexting (35%), sexual solicitation (18%) and sextortion (12%) among Internet users. The odds of being sexually abused online were higher among urban children (OR=2.04, 95% CI 1.21–3.45), who spent more hours daily on the Internet (OR=1.09, 95% CI 1.01–1.18), who visited more social media (OR=1.42, 95% CI 1.27–1.59) and who used more Internet devices (OR=1.93, 95% CI 1.25–2.98). Many participants were aware of these incidents but did not know how to respond to online sexual abuse. Social media, chat groups and video games were described as primary avenues for abuse, while unemployed male young adults and partners in love affairs were identified as the possible perpetrators. Psychosocial consequences such as anxiety, depression, helplessness, stress, distrust, lack of concentration, social isolation, self-hate and suicidal attempts were reported by the victims. Encountering online sexual abuse also manifested in academic underperformance.

Urgent multisectoral measures are needed to address online sexual abuse to safeguard children’s right to be protected on online platforms.

Rapid urbanisation and the dense population of Bangladesh foster the growth of slum settlements, where poverty and food insecurity are magnified by economic instability and inflationary pressures, adversely affecting psychological health.

This study aimed to assess household food security and its influence on psychological well-being among adults living in urban slums of Bangladesh.

A cross-sectional study using convenient sampling was conducted among 300 adults in slums in Dhaka, Bangladesh, using a semistructured questionnaire to collect data on sociodemographics, food security and mental health status. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to observe the influence of food insecurity on mental health status, controlling for other covariates.

The majority of the participants experienced food insecurity, with 38.0% expressing severe food insecurity. High levels of psychological distress were observed, including stress (54.7%), anxiety (63.3%) and depression (73.3%). Older adults (aOR 4.5, 95% CI 1.3 to 15.5) and females (aOR 4.1, 95% CI 2.0 to 8.4) had higher odds of experiencing anxiety. Single individuals were more prone to experience depression, while homemakers exhibited elevated levels of both depression and anxiety. Furthermore, moderate to severe food insecurity was significantly associated with higher odds of depression (aOR 2.8, 95% CI 1.2 to 6.7) and anxiety (aOR 8.2, 95% CI 3.3 to 20.3) compared with no or mild food insecurity.

This study highlights the pervasive influence of household food insecurity on urban slum dwellers’ psychological well-being. Addressing vulnerabilities tied to age, marital status and occupation is crucial for alleviating mental health burdens.

The influence of short-term variations in blood pressure (BP) in acute stroke on clinical outcomes remains uncertain. Our study explores the relationship between BP variability (BPV) from stroke admission up to 72 hours and in-hospital and 1-year mortality.

Retrospective observational cohort study.

Hamad General Hospital (HGH) a tertiary care stroke centre in Qatar.

2820 participants were initially included. After the exclusion of ineligible subjects, 2554 patients (82.5% male, median age 53±9 years) were included. 893 (34.96%) were from the Middle East and North Africa, 1302 (50.98%) were from South Asia, 258 (10.10%) from Southeast Asia, 9 (0.35%) were from East Asia and 92 (3.60%) were from other regions. Eligible participants were adult patients above 18 years of age who presented with acute ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke. Excluded individuals were those younger than 18 years, had incomplete data, had transient ischaemic attack (TIA), had severe hypoglycaemia on admission (

We measured the BP every 4 hours over 3 days with a total of 18 readings from stroke admission. We then categorised BPV into five (L1–L5) and four (L1–L4) levels for systolic and diastolic BPs, respectively, and evaluated their association with mortality.

There were increased odds of in-hospital mortality with increased systolic and diastolic variability (L2, OR 2.64, 95% CI 1.44 to 4.84; L3, OR 4.20 95% CI 2.14 to 8.24; L4, OR 10.14, 95% CI 4.93 to 20.85; L5, OR 23.18, 95%CI 10.88 to 49.37), (p=0.002 to

In a retrospective cohort of ethnically diverse acute stroke patient population, BPV was significantly associated with both in-hospital and 1-year mortality. Further prospective research is needed to define BPV and establish interventions and management accordingly.

Identifying individuals at risk of suicide remains an ongoing challenge. Previous research investigating risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviours (STB) has been informative for assessing suicide risk. However, the complex biological, psychological and sociocultural factors underlying STB have not been comprehensively captured to date, which has limited our understanding of how these factors interact to influence STB. Moreover, acute care settings, such as emergency departments (EDs), are often first points of contact for individuals with STB, highlighting a need for more research in these settings.

We aim to (1) characterize a cohort seeking care for STB and their clinical trajectories; (2) situate the cohort by comparing its characteristics and outcomes to other groups seeking emergency care; (3) explore their experiences of seeking care; and (4) examine blood-based biomarkers modulating risk for STB. Using a multimethod, prospective cohort design, we will follow up to 500 people aged 16 or older presenting to the ED with STB at a psychiatric hospital over 1 year. Analyses will involve descriptive statistics and latent profile analysis to characterize the cohort, hypothesis tests and regression models to situate the cohort, qualitative analysis based on a realist research framework to understand experiences, and within-participant comparisons of proteins, mRNA and epigenetic DNA modifications to examine biomarkers of contrasting states of STB.

This study was approved by the hospital’s Research Ethics Board with safeguards in place to ensure the well-being of participants and research team. An integrated knowledge translation approach will be used for dissemination, wherein patient and family advisors are engaged throughout each study phase. Findings will enhance our understanding of the multifactorial nature of suicide risk, inform strategies for prevention and provide important insights into characteristics, experiences and outcomes of individuals with STB, who are under-represented in mental health research.