Wildfires and deforestation potentially have direct effects on multiple health outcomes as well as indirect consequences for climate change. Tropical rainforest areas are characterised by high rainfall, humidity and temperature, and they are predominantly found in low-income and middle-income countries. This study aims to synthesise the methods, data and health outcomes reported in scientific papers on wildfires and deforestation in these locations.

We will carry out a scoping review according to the Joanna Briggs Institute’s (JBI) manual for scoping reviews and the framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley, and Levac et al. The search for articles was performed on 18 August 2023, in 16 electronic databases using Medical Subject Headings terms and adaptations for each database from database inception. The search for local studies will be complemented by the manual search in the list of references of the studies selected to compose this review. We screened studies written in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. We included quantitative studies assessing any human disease outcome, hospitalisation and vital statistics in regions of tropical rainforest. We exclude qualitative studies and quantitative studies whose outcomes do not cover those of interest. The text screening was done by two independent reviewers. Subsequently, we will tabulate the data by the origin of the data source used, the methods and the main findings on health impacts of the extracted data. The results will provide descriptive statistics, along with visual representations in diagrams and tables, complemented by narrative summaries as detailed in the JBI guidelines.

The study does not require an ethical review as it is meta-research and uses published, deidentified secondary data sources. The submission of results for publication in a peer-reviewed journal and presentation at scientific and policymakers’ conferences is expected.

Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/pnqc7/).

We aimed to use a large dataset to compare self-reported and primary care measures of insomnia symptom prevalence in England and establish whether they identify participants with similar characteristics.

Cross-sectional study with linked electronic health records (EHRs).

Primary care in England.

163 748 UK Biobank participants in England (aged 38–71 at baseline) with linked primary care EHRs.

We compared the percentage of those self-reporting ‘usually’ having insomnia symptoms at UK Biobank baseline assessment (2006–2010) to those with a Read code for insomnia symptoms in their primary care records prior to baseline. We stratified prevalence in both groups by sociodemographic, lifestyle, sleep and health characteristics.

We found that 29% of the sample self-reported having insomnia symptoms, while only 6% had a Read code for insomnia symptoms in their primary care records. Only 10% of self-reported cases had an insomnia symptom Read code, while 49% of primary care cases self-reported having insomnia symptoms. In both primary care and self-reported data, prevalence of insomnia symptom cases was highest in females, older participants and those with the lowest household incomes. However, while snorers and risk takers were more likely to be a primary care case, they were less likely to self-report insomnia symptoms than non-snorers and non-risk takers.

Only a small proportion of individuals experiencing insomnia symptoms have an insomnia symptom Read code in their primary care record. However, primary care data do provide a clinically meaningful measure of insomnia prevalence. In addition, the sociodemographic characteristics of people attending primary care with insomnia were consistent with those with self-reported insomnia, thus primary care records are a valuable data source for studying risk factors for insomnia. Further studies should replicate our findings in other populations and examine ways to increase discussions about sleep health in primary care.

Quantifying area-level inequalities in population health can help to inform policy responses. We describe an approach for estimating quality-adjusted life expectancy (QALE), a comprehensive health expectancy measure, for local authorities (LAs) in Great Britain (GB). To identify potential factors accounting for LA-level QALE inequalities, we examined the association between inclusive economy indicators and QALE.

361/363 LAs in GB (lower tier/district level) within the period 2018–2020.

We estimated life tables for LAs using official statistics and utility scores from an area-level linkage of the Understanding Society survey. Using the Sullivan method, we estimated QALE at birth in years with corresponding 80% CIs. To examine the association between inclusive economy indicators and QALE, we used an open access data set operationalising the inclusive economy, created by the System Science in Public Health and Health Economics Research consortium.

Population-weighted QALE estimates across LAs in GB were lowest in Scotland (females/males: 65.1 years/64.9 years) and Wales (65.0 years/65.2 years), while they were highest in England (67.5 years/67.6 years). The range across LAs for females was from 56.3 years (80% CI 45.6 to 67.1) in Mansfield to 77.7 years (80% CI 65.11 to 90.2) in Runnymede. QALE for males ranged from 57.5 years (80% CI 40.2 to 74.7) in Merthyr Tydfil to 77.2 years (80% CI 65.4 to 89.1) in Runnymede. Indicators of the inclusive economy accounted for more than half of the variation in QALE at the LA level (adjusted R² females/males: 50%/57%). Although more inclusivity was generally associated with higher levels of QALE at the LA level, this association was not consistent across all 13 inclusive economy indicators.

QALE can be estimated for LAs in GB, enabling further research into area-level health inequalities. The associations we identified between inclusive economy indicators and QALE highlight potential policy priorities for improving population health and reducing health inequalities.

The Kharameh cohort study (KHCS) is one branch of the ‘Prospective Epidemiological Research Studies in Iran’, located in the south of Iran. The enrolment phase of KHCS spanned from April 2015 to March 2017, during which urban and rural residents of Kharameh were enrolled in the study. KHCS aims to investigate the incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases and cancer, and its related risk factors in a 15-year follow-up.

KHCS was designed to recruit 10 000 individuals aged 40–70 years old from both urban and rural areas of Kharameh. Thus, a total of 10 800 individuals aged 40–70 years of age were invited and, finally, 10 663 subjects were accepted to participate, with a participation rate of 98.7%.

Of the 10 663 participants, 5944 (55.7%) were women, and 6801 (63.7%) were rural residents. The mean age of the participants was 51.9±8.2 years. 41.8% of the participants were aged 40–49, 35.2% were aged 50–59 and the remaining 23% were 60–70 years old. Until March 2020 (first 3 years of follow-up), the total number of patients diagnosed with NCDs was 1565. Hypertension, type 2 diabetes and acute ischaemic heart disease were the most common NCDs. Furthermore, the total number of deaths during the first 3 years of follow-up was 312, with cardiovascular diseases (38.7%) as the most common cause of death, followed by cerebrovascular diseases (11.8%) and cancer (16.2%).

The remaining 12 years of follow-up will inevitably shed light on the genetic, lifestyle/socioeconomic status, and environmental risk and protective factors of NCDs.

To determine whether periods of disruption were associated with increased ‘avoidable’ hospital admissions and wider social inequalities in England.

Observational repeated cross-sectional study.

England (January 2019 to March 2022).

With the approval of NHS England we used individual-level electronic health records from OpenSAFELY, which covered ~40% of general practices in England (mean monthly population size 23.5 million people).

We estimated crude and directly age-standardised rates for potentially preventable unplanned hospital admissions: ambulatory care sensitive conditions and urgent emergency sensitive conditions. We considered how trends in these outcomes varied by three measures of social and spatial inequality: neighbourhood socioeconomic deprivation, ethnicity and geographical region.

There were large declines in avoidable hospitalisations during the first national lockdown (March to May 2020). Trends increased post-lockdown but never reached 2019 levels. The exception to these trends was for vaccine-preventable ambulatory care sensitive admissions which remained low throughout 2020–2021. While trends were consistent by each measure of inequality, absolute levels of inequalities narrowed across levels of neighbourhood socioeconomic deprivation, Asian ethnicity (compared with white ethnicity) and geographical region (especially in northern regions).

We found no evidence that periods of healthcare disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in more avoidable hospitalisations. Falling avoidable hospital admissions has coincided with declining inequalities most strongly by level of deprivation, but also for Asian ethnic groups and northern regions of England.

Over 40 million people in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) experience serious health-related suffering (SHS) annually and require palliative care. Patient and caregiver experiences of SHS in LMICs are understudied despite their importance in guiding palliative care provision. Diabetes and cancer are the second-leading and third-leading causes of death in Mexico, causing a significant SHS burden on patients, families and health systems. This study examines SHS and palliative care from the point of view of patients with cancer and diabetes and their caregivers.

A qualitative descriptive study based on in-depth telephone interviews was conducted between August 2021 and February 2022. Data were analysed through inductive thematic analysis.

Overall, 20 patients with end-stage cancer, 13 patients with diabetes and 35 family caregivers were interviewed individually.

Participants were recruited from two family medicine clinics and a pain clinic in Mexico City.

Seven themes emerged: (1) suffering as a multifaceted phenomenon, (2) diversity in perceptions of suffering, (3) different coping strategies, (4) need and perceived importance of relief from suffering, (5) barriers to accessing services to relieve suffering, (6) demand for the health sector’s active and humane role in addressing suffering and (7) preferences and need for comprehensive care for relief from suffering. The primary coping strategies included family companionship, protective buffering and faith-based support. Participants lacked knowledge of palliative care. They expressed the importance of relief from suffering, viewing it as the health sector’s responsibility and requesting more humane, personalised care and access to medicines and pain clinics.

The multifaceted nature of SHS highlights the health system’s responsibility to provide high-quality palliative care. Policies to enhance access to palliative care should integrate it into primary care, redesigning services towards patient and caregiver biopsychosocial and spiritual needs and ensuring access to medicines and competent health personnel.

Nearly 30 000 Mexican women develop breast cancer annually, frequently presenting unmet supportive care needs. In high-income countries, incorporating electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs) into cancer care has demonstrated potential for increasing patient-centred care and reducing unmet needs. No such ePRO interventions have been implemented in Mexico. This paper presents the study protocol for designing and evaluating an ePRO digital health application combined with proactive follow-up by nurses.

We designed a two-component intervention for women receiving breast cancer treatment: a responsive web application for monitoring ePROs and clinical algorithms guiding proactive follow-up by nurses. We will conduct a pilot test of the intervention with 50 patients with breast cancer for 6 weeks to assess feasibility and adjust the application. We will conduct a parallel arm randomised controlled trial assigning 205 patients each to intervention and control in one of Mexico’s largest public oncology hospitals. The intervention will be provided for 6 months, with additional 3 months of post-intervention observation. The control group will receive usual healthcare and a list of breast cancer information sources. Women diagnosed with stages I, II or III breast cancer who initiate chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy will be invited to participate. The primary study outcome will be supportive care needs; secondary outcomes include global quality of life and breast symptoms. Information on the outcomes will be obtained through web-based self-administered questionnaires collected at baseline, 1, 3, 6 and 9 months.

The National Research and Ethics Committees of the Mexican Institute of Social Security approved the study (R-2021-785-059). Participants will sign an informed consent form prior to their inclusion. Findings will be disseminated through a policy brief to the local authorities, a webinar for patients, publications in peer-reviewed journals and presentations at national and international conferences.

NCT05925257.