Vikram Niranjan

University College Dublin | UCD · School of Public Health, Physiotherapy & Population Science

Background Disorders affecting the nervous system are diverse and include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19. Previous publications from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study estimated the burden of 15 neurological conditio...

Patients with pulmonary fibrosis (PF) are recommended pulmonary rehabilitation which improves health outcomes. Such physical activity (PA) programmes are meant to promote sustainable behavioural change as exercise activities are valued, enjoyed and considered meaningful. Dance is one exercise form, but COVID-19 may have negatively impacted particip...

Prenatal smoking increases the risks of pre-term birth, stillbirth, neonatal death, and perinatal death as well as neurodevelopmental disorders in children. However, there is a lack of consistency in research published about association/impacts of passive smoking and low birth weight (LBW). Hence, we carried out this systematic review to determine...

Background Developing an intervention to support people who smoke and have cancer is a complex public health issue. Inclusive research development is fundamental, with public health funding agencies and research guidance emphasising the inclusion of patient and public involvement (PPI). PPI means involving ‘experts by experience’ (EBE) as partners...

Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, over 78,000 migrants have come to Ireland seeking protection. It is necessary to capture their demographics, to understand their immediate health concerns and to identify their additional service requirements to ensure that this cohort can continue to shelter healthily in Ireland. A retrospective cohort analysi...

Background Mentoring is the backbone of nursing in the classroom and clinical practice. Online learning became the teaching mode of choice during the Covid-19 pandemic. Nurse training institutions were caught off guard with the sudden changes as they were not prepared for the imposed restrictions. Reliance on face-to-face mentoring (FFM) was greatl...

While much progress has been made in reducing tobacco use in many countries, both active and passive smoking remain challenges. The benefits of smoking cessation are universally recognized, and the hospital setting is an ideal setting where smokers can access smoking cessation services as hospital admission can be a cue to action. Consistent delive...

Background Despite the well-recognised harms of smoking following a cancer diagnosis, smoking rates remain high, with reported suboptimal uptake of smoking cessation (SC) services by cancer patients. This study explored cancer patient perspectives regarding SC. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 cancer patients (from lung, b...

Objectives: Within the framework of the burden of disease (BoD) approach, disease and injury burden estimates attributable to risk factors are a useful guide for policy formulation and priority setting in disease prevention. Considering the important differences in methods, and their impact on burden estimates, we conducted a scoping literature re...

There is growing evidence that smoking cessation (SC) improves outcomes following diagnosis of cancer. Notwithstanding adverse outcomes, a significant number of those diagnosed with cancer continue to smoke. Our objective was to document the SC services provided for patients with cancer by specialist adult cancer hospitals across Ireland, a country...

This systematic literature review aimed to provide an overview of the characteristics and methods used in studies applying the disability-adjusted life years (DALY) concept for infectious diseases within European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA)/European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries and the United Kingdom. Electronic databases and...

Background: As prevalence of multimorbidity and polypharmacy rise, healthcare systems must respond to these challenges. Data are needed from general practice on specific metrics of healthcare utilisation. This research aims to establish the rates of attendance to general practice and referral to hospital; and how age, multi-morbidity and polypharm...

This systematic literature review aimed to provide an overview of the characteristics and methods used in studies applying the disability-adjusted life years (DALY) concept for infectious diseases within European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA)/European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries and the United Kingdom. Electronic databases and...

The detrimental impact of smoking on health and wellbeing are irrefutable. Additionally, smoking is associated with the development of cancer, a reduction treatment outcomes and poorer health outcomes. Nevertheless, a significant number of people continue to smoke following a cancer diagnosis. Little is understood of the smoking cessation services...

Background: General practice is well situated to promote physical activity (PA), but with PA levels declining after 45 years of age, often those who are most likely to benefit from interventions tend to be the least likely recruited to participate in research. Aims and rationale: The aim of this study was to investigate recruitment and reporting...

Background It is important to understand the effects of population ageing on disease burden and explore conditions that drive poor health in later life to prevent or manage these. We examined the development of disease burden and its components for major disease groups among older adults in Europe over the last 30 years. Methods Using data from th...

What can we learn from the history of Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) in healthcare and research across global jurisdictions? Depending on region and context, the terminology and heritage of involvement in research vary. In this paper, we draw on global traditions to explore dominant themes and key considerations and critiques pertaining to PP...

Background The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on cancer services and will have likely led to delayed early detection and diagnosis. In response, the Irish Cancer Society (ICS) planned and delivered seven cancer roadshow events run on 15 days across seven shopping centres in four deprived areas based on Trinity National Deprivation Index, 2...

Background Smoking continuation or uptake after a diagnosis of cancer is associated with decreased treatment efficacy, health deterioration, and worse survival outcomes; nonetheless, many patients with cancer continue smoking after their diagnosis. The extent and effectiveness of smoking cessation services in this cohort is poorly understood, but e...

Background The benefits of smoking cessation (SC) for cancer patients are widely recognised. However, there has been a limited emphasis on SC in this context and it continues to be a challenge for cancer patients. As part of a larger feasibility study aiming to develop a structured SC pathway for cancer patients in Ireland, this qualitative study e...

Cancer services were negatively affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic and will have likely delayed early detection and diagnosis. The Irish Cancer Society (ICS) planned and delivered a number of cancer roadshow events in 4 deprived regions in Ireland to address improvements in awareness of cancer signs, importance of screening, positive lifestyle c...

Background Higher rates of cancer are reported in smokers compared to non-smokers, and continued smoking following a cancer diagnosis is associated with reduced health outcomes and survival. Despite international evidence of increased risks, a substantial percentage of people with a cancer diagnosis continue to smoke. Patients may be unaware of the...

Background: Physical activity (PA) is recommended in the management of patients with pulmonary fibrosis (PF) to improve health outcomes. Dance is one such form of PA which is meaningful, valuable, enjoyable and has demonstrated positive physical and mental health effects. Methods: With pre-post design, 16 patients, members of the Irish Lung Fibr...

Dance has been highlighted as one of the most enjoyable, safe, and feasible forms of physical activity, improving physical health, mental health, and general well-being, among various patients. Little is known about the effect and impact of dance interventions to improve health among patients with pulmonary diseases, and research lacks a robust syn...

Background Despite the progress made in smoking reduction in Ireland, smoking remains a challenge, particularly in cancer patients where post-diagnosis smoking has detrimental impacts on treatment and survival. This audit was of existing hospital smoking cessation services (SCS) for all patients (including cancer) at the eight specialist adult canc...

Background Early detection and diagnosis of cancer is essential to improve outcomes. The Covid 19 pandemic has resulted in a growing backlog of patients with cancer symptoms who have not presented or are waiting for urgent time-critical diagnostic services. It is generally agreed that this disruption will lead to later stage presentation and increa...

Background Calculating the disease burden due to injury is complex, as it requires many methodological choices. Until now, an overview of the methodological design choices that have been made in burden of disease (BoD) studies in injury populations is not available. The aim of this systematic literature review was to identify existing injury BoD st...

Significance: The benefits of smoking cessation (SC) post cancer diagnosis are undervalued despite substantial evidence of benefit. A comprehensive cancer management strategy should include a tailored SC approach. The National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Moonshot initiative also supports collaborative research. Our Irish Cancer Society-funded res...

This chapter systemically examines the “knock-on” effects of COVID-19 on healthcare service provision in Argentina, Ireland, and South Africa. As pandemic preparedness and response took central priority, healthcare systems were rapidly reorganised—with widescale staff and resource redeployment to the COVID-19 effort—whilst routine services became p...

Smoking among cancer patients leads to poorer outcomes, yet many patients continue smoking. As part of a feasibility study of smoking cessation for cancer patients in Ireland, smoking rates were reviewed. Hospital Inpatient Enquiry (HIPE) data on the smoking status of discharges with a cancer diagnosis (overall, breast, lung, cervical and head and...

Background Insufficient physical activity (PA) is a leading risk factor for premature death worldwide. Ireland’s public healthcare system, the Health Service Executive (HSE), has supported the development of the National Exercise Referral Framework (NERF) to tackle low levels of PA amongst those with non-communicable diseases (NCDs). ‘NERF centres’...

Background As prevalence of multimorbidity and polypharmacy rise, health care systems must respond to these challenges. Data is needed from general practice regarding the impact of age, number of chronic illnesses and medications on specific metrics of healthcare utilisation.Methods This was a retrospective study of general practices in a universit...

Background Assessment of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) resulting from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) requires specific calculation methods and input data. The aims of this study were to: (i) identify existing NCD burden of disease (BoD) activities in Europe; (ii) collate information on data sources for mortality and morbidity; and (iii)...

Objective The objective of this study is to explore the experiences and perspectives of general practitioners’ and medical students’ use of, and behaviour on, social media and to understand how they negotiate threats to professional and personal life on social media. Design A two-phase qualitative design was used, consisting of semistructured inte...

Background Exercise prescribing can help patients to overcome physical inactivity, but its use in general practice is limited. The purpose of this narrative review was to investigate contemporaneous experiences of general practitioners and patients with exercise prescribing. Method PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct and Cochrane reviews were reviewed...

OBJECTIVES The involvement of individuals and communities in health decision‐making is enshrined in WHO policies. However, migrant groups are under‐represented in health decision‐making processes. Our aim was to explore migrants’ involvement in health policy, service development and research in the WHO European Region to identify levers for inclusi...

Aims Healthcare systems urgently required policies to guide the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this review was to document the healthcare policies developed during the initial wave of widespread COVID-19 transmission in Ireland. We further sought to determine the key focus and impact of these policies. Methods We conducted a rapid r...

Background Longitudinal integrated clerkships (LICs) are a relatively new model of clinical medical education, whereby students participate in patient care over time and develop relationships with those patients’, their clinicians, and other health care staff involved in the care of those patients. It has been called ‘relationship-based education’...

Background: Insufficient physical activity (PA) is a leading risk factor for premature death worldwide. The Health Service Executive (HSE) National Exercise Referral Framework (NERF) aims to improve PA levels to manage NCDs. ULMedX is one such NERF centre offering an exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (EBCR) programme with the aim of interventio...

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has evolved as a pandemic of unimaginable magnitude. The health care system is facing a tremendous challenge to provide ethical and quality care. The transformation of the patient-based care to population-based care during the COVID-19 pandemic has raised ethical dilemma among urologists. Our objective...

Introduction: In this era of globalization, urbanization, and rapidly expanding unhygienic food corners across the globe, the incidence of food poisoning is very common nowadays. Aim: The aim of our study was to investigate the perceptions and readiness of schoolteachers to accept notifications on food poisoning as a part of education to the stu...

The incidence of small- and medium-size renal stones is rising. Stone clearance, bleeding, urine leak, and infectious complications are major concerns for urologists. They can choose the best technique from a list of armamentarium available. Minimally invasive approach like percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) has significantly influenced renal ston...

In a bid mitigate the spread of HIV and AIDS since it was diagnosed, several interventions ranging from palliative care, increased access to HIV treatment to manage opportunistic infections and the current drive of improving clinical outcomes through suppression of viral load are all aimed at prolonging survival of HIV and AIDS patients. The author...

Background: India is facing burden of non-communicable diseases and oral cancer is one of the leading public health issue. This is a descriptive study from Aurangabad district, Maharashtra, India to evaluate epidemiologic profile of oral cancer patients who underwent treatment during 2012 to 2016.Methods: Demographic and clinical profile of 500 pat...

Background: Oral cancer incidence is constantly rising in India and is one of the major public health issues. This is a retrospective study from Aurangabad district (MS) of India to evaluate epidemiologic profile of oral cancer patients from 2005 to 2014. Methods: The 10 year data of oral cancer was obtained from the PCBR Aurangabad which was avail...