This proof-of-concept study explored the feasibility and acceptability of research cafés as a community-based model to engage racially minoritised communities in health research, with a focus on mental health.

Adopting a community peer research approach, a research team led by researchers from racially minoritised backgrounds, partnered with four voluntary organisations to conduct four research cafés. A mixed-methods feasibility design combined descriptive quantitative questionnaire data with thematic analysis of discussion notes to evaluate the impact of these cafés in South West London.

The study took place in Wandsworth, Kingston, Croydon and Sutton, in community venues provided by the voluntary organisations.

A total of 75 participants from racially minoritised backgrounds attended the sessions. Participants were intentionally selected based on age, ethnicity, location, mental well-being experiences and willingness to engage in mental health research.

Quantitative data were collected on participant attendance, demographics and feedback. Qualitative data captured participant perceptions and experiences related to healthcare and research.

The study took place between October 2023 and March 2024. Out of the 112 individuals who registered, 75 people attended with 74 contributing to the analysis (excluding one on the day sign-up). Participants were predominantly Asian/Asian British (62%) and Black/Black British (31%). All participants reported feeling comfortable and respected. Understanding of research improved for 96% and 95% expressed interest in further research involvement, most commonly the idea of joining a peer research network (64%). Participants also highlighted a need for training in research methods and communication skills for ongoing involvement. Five main themes emerged from the café discussions: (1) systemic barriers to accessing safe healthcare and mistrust of UK healthcare systems; (2) the need for cultural competence and sensitivity in healthcare and research; (3) research as a positive step for change; (4) barriers to research participation and (5) the importance of incentives and feedback for research participation.

Preliminary findings suggest that diverse and inclusive community-based partnerships are the basis for developing research cafés as a feasible and acceptable model for engaging racially minoritised communities in health research. They complement existing participatory approaches by creating inclusive, peer-facilitated spaces that build trust, improve awareness and generate high intention for future involvement and participation. Future studies are needed to test the model’s scalability across different geographic and demographic contexts and evaluate its long-term impact on research literacy, participation and equity.

The use of data science for health research produces complex ethical, legal and social challenges that traditional ethical oversight mechanisms struggle to address. In Nigeria, the current ethical guidelines were not designed for these challenges which include pervasive data environments, consent for secondary data use, algorithmic decision-making and bias, privacy risks, involvement of commercial entities, data colonisation, inequitable benefit-sharing and commercial data holdings. To address these gaps, we developed a draft guideline incorporating principles like trust, veracity, global justice and alternative ethical approval mechanisms. Here, we describe the protocol for a study aimed at validating the guideline through stakeholder consensus on the content, feasibility and acceptability of this subcode for national implementation.

We describe the use of a modified e-Delphi approach to iteratively synthesize expert opinions about ethical oversight for data science health research (DSHR) led by a multidisciplinary working group from the Bridging Gaps in the ELSI of Data Science Health Research in Nigeria (BridgELSI) team. We will invite 65 experts, including health researchers, ethics committee members, data scientists, health policymakers, funders and key opinion leaders in Nigeria to participate. Participants will rate 13 core principles, including global justice, algorithmic bias, data governance and related governance provisions on importance, desirability for inclusion in national guidelines, feasibility and confidence in implementation, using 5-point Likert scales, with optional free-text comments. We will summarise responses using descriptive statistics, assess consensus and polarity using pre-specified thresholds for the mean and IQR, and iteratively refine statements between rounds using qualitative content analysis of comments.

Ethical approval was obtained from the Nigerian National Health Research Ethics Committee and the University of Maryland IRB, and participants will provide informed consent. Results will be shared with the expert panel and national regulators and disseminated via publications and conferences.

Drug and vaccine safety information relevant to pregnant individuals is typically insufficient, especially so for persons living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Pregnancy exposure registries (PERs) and similar systems are used to monitor medical products safety. A better understanding of the landscape of PERs in LMICs can support medicines regulatory system strengthening and preparation for new vaccine and drug introductions.

To identify PERs and related health data collection platforms in LMICs that systematically record pregnancy exposures to medical products and pregnancy outcomes to inform how future efforts, such as new vaccine introductions and treatment programmes, can better support maternal populations in these countries.

Scoping review based on methodology outlined in the Joanna Briggs Institute manual for scoping reviews.

Electronic search of Medline/PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and Global Index Medicus in June 2022, and key informants via online survey in July 2022 and interviews.

Eligible resources included registries, surveillance systems and databases that collect information on exposures to medical products during pregnancy and on subsequent maternal, perinatal and neonatal outcomes in populations located entirely or partially in LMICs. Eligible records were published from January 2000 through June 2022.

Search results were screened and data extracted using a standardised form by two independent reviewers. Instances of discordance were resolved by a third reviewer. Identified systems were categorised by resource type.

A total of 7515 records from electronic searches were screened, with 396 selected for full-text review and 47 additional records obtained from other sources. From these, 45 data collection systems located in African, Asian and Latin American LMICs were identified, with 36 currently in operation. These resources were grouped into six categories based on structure and approach and summarised according to key features, strengths and weaknesses.

This scoping review identified several resources in LMICs dedicated to drug and vaccine safety in pregnancy, but findings indicate that more investment will be needed to ensure such efforts are widespread and sustainable. Understanding the current landscape of such resources in these settings is an important step towards improving safe, world-wide access to life-saving interventions for pregnant populations.

The protocol for this review has been registered with Open Science Framework (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/FU5AT).

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterised by progressive airflow limitation that is not fully reversible and is associated with an abnormal inflammatory response of lungs to noxious particles and gases. The inflammatory and reparative processes occurring in the lungs induce a ‘spill-over’ of inflammatory mediators into the circulation, resulting in an increase in systemic inflammation, which is further increased during acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD), leading to the development of extra-pulmonary comorbidities, such as cognitive impairment. Cognitive impairment affects up to 61% of people living with COPD. Heightened levels of inflammation have been linked to increased risk of cognitive impairments; however, the exact mechanisms remain unclear, thus hampering the development of therapeutics. This study aims to determine whether patients hospitalised with an acute COPD exacerbation show impaired cognitive function compared with recovery (~day 45), and whether such dysfunction is associated with systemic inflammation and oxidative stress.

A prospective, observational study will be conducted at Austin Health in Victoria, Australia. Eligible participants will be assessed during admission for AECOPD and following stabilisation (approximately day 45). The primary outcome is the difference in cognitive function between admission for AECOPD to recovery using non-verbal cognitive tests. Secondary outcomes are changes in systemic markers of inflammation, oxidative stress and ACE2 catalytic activity. Tertiary outcomes are anxiety and depression scores.

Ethical approval has been granted in Australia by Austin Health Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC 56099) with governance approval at Austin Hospital. The results will be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and presented at national and international scientific conferences. Findings will be disseminated to consumers in publications for lay audiences.

Video games have been linked to a range of positive and negative effects on the mental health of adolescents and young adults. However, to better understand how games affect the mental health of young people, their use and experiences must be situated in the sociocultural and personal life contexts of individuals. Drawing from a cultural-ecosocial approach, this study combines cross-sectional and digital phenotyping measures to examine the effects of video games on the mental health of youth.

Participants will be young people aged 16–25 years from the community and living in the province of Quebec, Canada. An initial sample of 1000 youth will complete a cross-sectional survey online, including measures of socio-demographic context, gaming practices and experiences, streaming practices and experiences, as well as personality and well-being. Qualitative questions will explore personal views on games and mental health. A subsample of 100 participants will be selected for digital phenotyping, including daily surveys of well-being, gaming, streaming and social experiences, combined with passive mobile sensing (eg, geolocation). Analyses will include regression and mixed models for quantitative data, reflexive thematic analysis for qualitative data, and an integration of quantitative and qualitative results using participatory methods.

The study received ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board of McGill University (24-02-015). The dissemination of results will be conducted in partnership with a multi-stakeholder advisory committee, including youth who play video games, and will involve peer-reviewed publications, presentations to policymakers in Quebec, and workshops for clinicians and researchers.

Postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) represent a significant cause of postoperative morbidity and even mortality. However, there is a lack of consensus regarding this composite endpoint, the definition of the individual components, classification and optimal outcome measures. This study aims to refine the PPCs composite framework by evaluating its construct validity, assessing the necessity and risks of a composite measure and exploring the feasibility of differentiating severity categories.

A Delphi consensus process will be conducted, engaging an international multidisciplinary group of 30–40 panellists, including clinicians, researchers, patients, public representatives and health economists. Through iterative rounds, the study will seek agreement on the individual components of the PPCs composite. Additionally, consensus will establish a framework for a composite outcome measure based on a standardised severity classification, appropriate timeframes and weighted grading of PPCs.

Consensus, defined by ≥75% concurrence in multiple choice questions or on Likert–scale statements, will be evaluated from round 2 onwards. Delphi rounds will be continued until all statements have reached stability of responses evaluated by ² tests or the Kruskal-Wallis test.

The study will be conducted in strict compliance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and will adhere to ACCORD guidance for reporting. Ethics approval has been obtained for this study from the University of Wolverhampton, UK (SOABE/202425/staff/3). Informed consent will be obtained from all panellists before the commencement of the Delphi process. The results of the study will be published in a peer–reviewed journal with the authorship assigned in accordance with ICMJE requirements.

NCT06916598 (clinicaltrials.gov).

Globally, about 74% of deaths are attributed to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Tobacco use is one of the key risk factors of NCDs. Tobacco taxes can discourage the use of tobacco. However, how increasing tobacco taxation may reduce the burden of NCDs is not well studied.

This study examines whether higher cigarette taxes are associated with reduced premature deaths—death before the age of 70—from NCDs using multicountry panel data.

The study analysed country-level panel data of 152 countries from 2008 to 2020 collected from various sources. The annual burden of NCDs was measured by the proportion of deaths due to NCDs before age 70 in each country. The tax rate on cigarettes—both specific and total—was used as a key explanatory variable. Other covariates include MPOWER score net of taxes, tobacco prevalence and other country-level characteristics. Panel data regressions with various combinations of country and year fixed effects were used to estimate the association between tobacco taxation and the burden of NCDs.

Cigarette tax was significantly (p

The study provides important evidence that increasing tobacco taxation could be an effective tool in reducing the burden of NCDs. Countries aiming to curb the burden of NCDs could consider raising tobacco taxes.