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Military personnel are a unique population with heightened vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections (STIs), often exhibiting higher prevalence rates than civilians due to demographic, environmental and occupational factors. These vulnerabilities underscore the need for global prevalence estimates to guide effective, evidence-based interventions. This study aims to quantify the global burden of STIs among military personnel, providing a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment.
This systematic review will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Guidelines (2020). Using the CoCoPop (Condition, Context, and Population) framework, a comprehensive search strategy will be conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, Global Health and Scopus to retrieve peer-reviewed records published between January 2010 and June 2025. Eligible studies will report numerical STI prevalence data among military personnel. Studies with insufficient information to calculate prevalence or those relying on self-reported STI data will be excluded. Data extraction will include study details, military descriptors, STI prevalence and diagnostic methods. Risk of bias will be assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical assessment tool for prevalence and incidence studies. Prevalence estimates with 95% CIs will be reported for each STI and, where appropriate, pooled for curable STIs. Subgroup analyses will stratify prevalence by geographic region, service status, deployment status and socioeconomic factors. Heterogeneity will be evaluated within predefined subgroups using the I² statistic. Data will be presented in comprehensive tables and visualised with graphical tools, including forest plots for subgroup analyses and pooled estimates.
Ethical approval is not required for this review. The results will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication and conference presentations.
CRD42023472113.
Children with limited access to dental care can be negatively impacted by reduced frequency of oral health monitoring, delays in diagnosis of dental disease and increased waits for dental care, resulting in them experiencing more disease (extent and amount). Smartphone-based intraoral photography has been cited as having the potential to improve oral health monitoring for children through screening; however, it has not been well evaluated, and its limitations are unclear. The picture-perfect study aims to assess diagnostic accuracy, feasibility and acceptability to determine whether remote photographic monitoring can be effectively integrated into pathways of dental care for children aged 6-16 years.
Observational, cross-sectional, mixed-methods study with three workflows: Workflow 1: development of user-friendly, comprehensive guidance to help parent/carers (parents) take high-quality intraoral photographs of their children’s mouths. The guidance will be codesigned with parents and healthcare professionals. Workflow 2: diagnostic accuracy using intraoral photographs taken by a parent of their children will be evaluated by comparing clinicians' diagnoses from the photographs to gold-standard clinical visual-tactile examinations. Parent–child dyads (n=110) will be recruited to capture intraoral photographs using positioning aids, guidance and smartphones provided by the research team. The diagnoses will focus on plaque accumulation, gingival health, restoration status and dental caries. Diagnostic accuracy will be assessed using sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and area under the curve. Workflow 3: assessment of feasibility and acceptability will be through task completion rates, photograph quality and participant feedback. Qualitative interviews and an online survey will capture parents’ and children’s experiences. Observational data will provide insights into practical challenges.
This study, approved by the National Health Service (NHS) Research Ethics Committee (Integrated Research Application System [IRAS]: 24/EE0137), will be conducted in adherence to the Declaration of Helsinki and Good Clinical Practice (GCP) guidelines. Written informed consent will be obtained from all participating parents, with age-appropriate assent from children prior to enrolment. Participants have the right to withdraw at any time without explanation, and their data will be anonymised to ensure privacy and confidentiality. Study findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals, conference presentations and reports to relevant stakeholders.
The study protocol has been registered on the Open Science Framework: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/WX29D.
The Surrey Communication and Language in Education Study (SCALES) cohort was established to estimate prevalence, persistence and impact of developmental language disorders on cognition and mental health, using newly established international consensus diagnostic criteria.
A population sample of 7267 children aged 4–5 years (59% of eligible children), who started state-maintained school in Surrey, England in 2011–2012 for whom teacher-rated screening data on language, behaviour and early learning goals were available. A subsample of monolingual children enriched for language difficulties completed intensive assessments in year 1 (age 5–6, n=529), year 3 (age 7–8, n=499), year 6 (age 10–11, n=384) and year 8 (age 12–13, n=246). Screening data for 7013 children has been linked to the UK Department of Education National Pupil Database data on special educational needs provision and academic progress.
Language disorders are more prevalent than other neurodevelopmental conditions (such as autism) and more common in areas of socioeconomic disadvantage. Language is a highly stable trait. Language status at school entry is therefore strongly predictive of long-term education progress, the need for specialist support, general cognitive abilities and increased risk for poor mental health, through its effects on social and emotional development.
The SCALES cohort will leave compulsory education in 2025 and we are planning to track academic qualifications and post-18 destinations. SCALES data are publicly available via the UK Data Service: DOI: 10.5255/UKDA-SN-8967-1 and DOI:
FreshRSS 