Latest Issue – Editors’ Choice
The importance of primary care research in the management of respiratory disease
We are delighted to start the year with an important paper from the IPCRG (Pinnock et al., pg 19) which, togetherwith the linked editorial by Holgate (pg 1), both highlight the importance of primary care research in respiratory medicine and the need for it be funded appropriately. Pinnock et al. have prioritised the original 145 research questions in the earlier IPCRG Research Needs Statement (http://dx.doi.org/10.4104/pcrj.2010.00021), using a three-stage e-Delphi process involving 23 international experts. 62 research questions obtained the 80% priority threshold and seven achieved 100% consensus. Holgate emphasises the significance of this paper and, using the example of the 3-fold increase in respiratory research funding which followed the formation of the multi-professional UK Respiratory Research Collaborative (UKRRC), demonstrates how the respiratory research community can work together to meet these exciting challenges.
Statins for COPD: a challenge to conventional beliefs?
On pg 35, Lawes et al. present the first national cohort study to assess whether statin use is associated with reduced mortality in COPD patients. Using hospitalisation, drug dispensing and mortality records for all New Zealanders aged 50-80 discharged from hospital with a first admission for COPD, 596 statin users and 1,091 non-users were followed-up for up to 4 years. After adjustment for age, sex, ethnic group, history of heart disease, diabetes and prescriptions for frusemide, statin use was associated with a 30% reduction in all-cause mortality at 3-4 years, irrespective of a past history of heart disease or diabetes. In his thought-provoking editorial on pg 5, Pearson postulates what this might mean, and calls for an urgent RCT on statin use in COPD.
SMART in primary care: where are we?
Riemersma et al. (pg 50) report a study on 102 primary care patients with mild-to-moderate asthma who received either budesonide/formoterol as Single inhaler Maintenance And Reliever Therapy (SMART) or usual care treatment, in which the primary outcome was bronchial hyper-reactivity (BHR) measured by PD20-histamine at 12 months. Despite a 59% lower dose of ICS, BHR and other outcomes remained stable in the SMART group and peak flow values improved. In their linked editorial (pg 8), Thomas and Pavord summarise the ongoing controversy over SMART and put this paper in context.
Asthma deaths – identifying risk factors early
The UK National Review of Asthma Deaths started on 1st February 2012 (see correspondence from Levy on pg 18), so the paper by Anagnostou et al. (pg 71) is highly topical. The authors report on paediatric deaths occurring over 2001-2006 in the Eastern Region of the UK. 20 children (median age 11.5 years) died, nine of whom had presumed mild-moderate asthma. Half died in the summer months, suggesting a seasonal cause, but only three had had formal allergy testing. Six children had been prescribed long-acting b2-agonist (LABA) inhalers but were not on inhaled steroids. Stephenson and Shields put this paper in context (pg 13), and call for the construction of primary care at-risk asthma registers.
Dawning of a new lung age?
The 2010 PCRJ paper by Newbury et al., (http://dx.doi.org/10.4104/pcrj.2010.00029) on the need to update lung age equations, is now followed by their paper on pg 78, in which they present new lung age equations which perform better than those used previously. In his linked editorial (pg 15), Cooper congratulates the authors on a well-designed study, but concludes that the intrinsic limitations of using ‘lung age’ mean that the concept should not be adopted widely and that this is another ‘false dawn’ for lung age. What do you think? We will be delighted to receive correspondence on this important issue.
Journalwatch@pcrj: a new section in the PCRJ
Finally, on pg 115, we present a new section in the PCRJ, Journalwatch@pcrj. This will be a regular feature in each issue from now on, containing summary reviews of relevant papers from the top respiratory and general medical journals worldwide. We hope you find these useful!
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Online first: latest articles
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1: Acute rhinosinusitis – does quality of life explain continued
rates of antibiotic overusage?
Sam Friedlander • Published online: 17 May 2012
2: Is hospitalisation for COPD an opportunity for advance care
planning? A qualitative study
David Seamark, Susan Blake, Clare Seamark, Michael E Hyland, Colin Greaves, Margaret Pinnuck, David Ward, Adam Hawkins, David Halpin, The East Devon Respiratory Research Group • Published online: 17 May 2012
3: Obesity, airflow limitation, and respiratory symptoms: does it
take three to tango?
Frits ME Franssen • Published online: 17 May 2012
4: Streptococcus pyogenes upper respiratory infections and their effect on atopic conditions
Osman Yusuf • Published online: 17 May 2012
5: 6th World Conference of the IPCRG - Breathing New Life 25th-28th April 2012, Edinburgh, Abstracts accepted for publication in the Primary Care Respiratory Journal
• Published online: 28 March 2012
HTML text now available for all new articles
The PCRJ now offers full HTML text of all articles published since January 2012. Simply click on the article page and the HTML text article is immediately available. As before, the full article PDF is available free of charge to all.
Who’s citing PCRJ articles? Data from Scopus now added
We have expanded our service showing who is citing PCRJ articles to include data from Scopus as well as CrossRef. On each article page there is a link in the right hand column: Cited by. This opens a page displaying those articles retrieved from the CrossRef database which cite the selected article. In addition, there is now a link telling you how many times the article has been cited in Scopus; up to 20 of the citing articles can then be viewed via a link to the Scopus website. For more information on CrossRef’s Cited-by Linking Service, click here. For more information on Scopus, click here.
See all the PCRJ facts and figures
Click About the PCRJ to see all the key PCRJ information – latest journal statistics, Aims and Scope, and key features for authors and readers.
Fast manuscript handling
- Average time from submission to first decision = 22 days
- Average time from submission to final decision = 34 days
 Click journal statistics for more information.
PCRJ now has single-blind or open peer review
Following the PCRJ International Editorial Board meeting held during the ERS Congress meeting in September, the journal’s standard peer review process will be single-blind rather than double-blind. This means that there is now no need for authors to send an anonymised manuscript when they submit an article. Referees will therefore know authors’ names when reviewing a manuscript. In addition, reviewers will be able to declare themselves to authors if they so wish, thus making for a completely open peer review process. Please see the new Guide for authors for further information regarding manuscript submission.
New Guide for authors • New Statistical guidelines
See the new Guide for Authors.
This updated guidance supersedes all previous PCRJ author instructions, and highlights the fact that the PCRJ now operates single-blind or open peer review. It contains new instructions for authors wishing to submit manuscripts, including new
Statistical guidelines.
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All correspondence to:
The Editors-in-Chief
c/o Tricia Bryant, PCRS-UK Publications
Smithy House
Waterbeck
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DG11 3EY
UK
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