The Health and Disability (HAD) Research Group is involved with the investigation of public health theory for the cause of dysfunction as a basis for intergrating prevention and early management of symptoms related to disease.  Research focuses on physical and mental disorders in adults arising from impairment of the neuro-muscular system, primarily including lower urinary tract dysfunction and learning disability.  Highlights include the Leicestershire MRC Incontinence Study involving around a quarter of a million people.  This was the first study to identify sub-optimal diet and lifestyle risk factors for urinary symptoms and to comprehensively describe morbid predictors including poor health and obesity.  This translational research also provided evidence that a Continence Nurse Practitioner service yields better outcomes than existing services in Leicestershire.

The Leicestershire Learning Disability Register involves around 3,500 adults with learning disability and their carers and provides information for research (e.g. prevalence in south Asians) and service development (e.g. Health Action Planning and the Public Health Function).  This year, with the support from the Department of Health, we have reported primary research on physical aggression, epilepsy and survival in adults with learning disability.

Methodological developments and applications include: concepts and thresholds for health care need and requirement; severity measures; graphical aetiological modelling; survival modelling; evidence-based nurse practitioner training module; Bayesian micro-simulation methods for forecasting; and methods for estimating case-register ascertainment.