Diversity of invited speakers at endocrinology conferences.

OBJECTIVE: To assess diversity of gender and geographical location of institutional affiliation among invited speakers at major international endocrinology conferences. DESIGN AND METHODS: Descriptive study of characteristics of invited speakers at eight general and discipline-specific endocrinology conferences held annually in Europe and North America 2013-2019. Main outcomes were gender, geographical location of institutional affiliation and frequency of repeat presentations among invited speakers. RESULTS: Of 2375 invited speakers who gave 3522 presentations, 843 (35.5%) were women. Five hundred and ninety-four (25.0%) speakers gave >1 presentation at any conference. The proportion of women speakers declined as the number of presentations per speaker increased. Of speakers giving two and seven presentations, respectively, 36.0% and 20.0% were women. 52.9% of speakers were from institutions in North America, and 25.6% from institutions in Western Europe. Fewer than 5% of speakers were from institutions in each of Eastern Europe, Asia, South America, Africa and Oceania. The proportions of speakers who were women and from each geographical area were unchanged over 7 years. Up to one in three speakers gave >1 presentation at an individual conference (range 9.9%-32.2%). CONCLUSIONS: Women and speakers from institutions outside of North America and Western Europe are underrepresented among invited speakers at major international endocrinology conferences. Longitudinal data indicate no change in either speaker characteristic over the time period examined. These underrepresentations are more marked among speakers who give repeat presentations.

Frequency and risk factors for cognitive dysfunction in peritoneal dialysis patients.

OBJECTIVE: There is limited data on cognition in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD). We assessed prevalence and associated risk factors of neurocognitive impairment (NCI) in PD patients. DESIGN AND METHODS: A cross-sectional cohort study of 149 PD patients at a single centre between 2016 and 2020 who underwent neurocognitive screening at defined intervals by Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination - Revised (ACE-R) with incorporated Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Paired-sample t-test was used to compare cognitive performance to the general population and compare cohorts for dichotomous risk factors. Residual renal function (RRF) and clearance kinetics were evaluated using local regression models. Sub-analysis was performed in patients with cerebrovascular disease (CVD). RESULTS: Patients on PD performed poorly in ACE-R screening compared to population norms, with discrepancy in all cognitive domains. In patients without CVD, attention and language domains were comparable to norms. The MMSE detected cognitive impairment in 2% of studied patients, significantly fewer than when the ACE-R was applied (32%). Age, gender, diabetic status and depression were associated with lower neurocognitive screening performance (p < .05). Dialysis vintage beyond 12 months conferred poorer cognitive performance. RRF correlated with cognitive performance. CONCLUSION: Patients on PD have higher prevalence of NCI than the general population, primarily with impairments in memory, fluency and visuospatial reasoning. CVD confers poorer performance in attention and language domains. The MMSE is ineffective in detecting subtle NCI in this population compared with ACE-R. Risk factors for NCI include age, gender, diabetic status, depression and vintage beyond 12 months. Protective factors include RRF.