We have had a flurry of new papers published over the summer that we have added to our publications page:
PhD student Afnan Alhrbi, has published a systematic review that brings together evidence about the nutritional status of children with autism. The review suggests that children with autism were found to consume lower amounts of protein, calcium, vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin K, folate, riboflavin, thiamine and niacin; and in terms of nutrient levels, children with autism had significantly lower levels of folate and vitamin D: Alhrbi, A., Vlachopoulos, D., Healey, E. M., Massoud, A. T., Morris, C., Revuelta Iniesta, R. (2025). Nutritional Status of Children Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 38(4), e70099. https://doi.org/10.1111/jhn.70099
Rachel Knight Lozano, NIHR funded PhD student and physiotherapist, has led a paper on a protocol for a core outcome set for chest health in children with cerebral palsy: Knight Lozano R, Morris C, Shannon H, Bell K, Malyon H, Melluish J, Latour J. (2025) Core outcome set and measures of chest health in children and young people with cerebral palsy in the community setting: the CHESTI study protocol. BMJ Open 2025;15:e105309. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-105309
Another paper from our Healthy Parent Carers programme of research describes how we sought to identify the important health outcomes for parent carers for evaluating parent carer-focused interventions using a published well-being framework. This work highlighted key domains such as stress, anxiety/depression, and self-esteem; and that failure to measuring reductions in ‘negative’ dimensions, risks missing important changes. McGlinchey, C., Harniess, P., Borek, A.J., Garrood, A., McDonald, A., Boyle, F., Logan, S. and Morris, C. (2025). What Are the Important Health and Well-Being Outcome Dimensions for Parent Carers of Disabled Children? A Qualitative Study. Health Expectations, 28(4), p.e70358. https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.70358
Colleagues in Sussex, led by Sarah Crombie, have published research testing the acceptability and feasibility of a novel night-time postural intervention called Breathe-Easy which aims to improve respiratory health in children and young people with complex neurodisability: Crombie, S., Sellers, D., Kapur, A., Baskerville, J., Bremner, S., & Morris, C. (2025). Acceptability and feasibility of a novel postural management night-time intervention to improve respiratory health of children and young people with complex neurodisability (Breathe-Easy): proof of concept study. Physiotherapy, 101816. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physio.2025.101816
A paper led by PhD student Kirsten Prest, describes research to adapt an established, community-based intervention for supporting caregivers of children with complex neurodisability in low and middle income countries for use in the UK context: Prest, K., Barnicot, K., Hurt, C., Badenhorst, F., Borek, A., Whyte, M., Harniess, P., Jannath, A., Lassman, R., Morris, C., Osbourne, R., Smythe, T., Tann, C. J., Thomas, K., Wilson, E., Harden, A., Heys, M. (2025). Adapting a Participatory Group Programme for Caregivers of Children with Complex Neurodisability from Low-, Middle-Income Countries to a High-Income Setting: Moving from “Baby Ubuntu” to “Encompass”. International journal of environmental research and public health, 22(7), p.1144. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22071144