A primer on quality indicators of distance education.

In the past decade, there has been an enormous growth of distance education courses and programs in higher education. The growth of distance education is particularly evident in the field of health education. However, the enormous potential of distance education is tempered by one overriding question: How does one ensure that distance education coursework and degrees are of high quality? To this end, the purpose of this study is twofold: to identify quality indicators of distance education and to provide implications of the identified quality indicators for health education researchers and practitioners. The results of the study reveal common benchmarks and quality indicators that all parties deem important in designing, implementing, and evaluating distance education courses and programs.

Risk of Allergic Reactions to Recurrent Intravenous Penicillin Administration in Penicillin Skin Test Negative Patients.

BACKGROUND: Patients with a history of penicillin allergy who are found to be skin test negative to penicillin are able to tolerate repeated oral doses of penicillin with low rates of resensitization. However, the resensitization rate after repeated doses of intravenous penicillin is less clear. OBJECTIVE: We sought to evaluate the risk of allergic reactions to repeated doses of intravenous penicillin in patients who previously reported penicillin allergy and were found to be penicillin skin test and oral challenge negative. METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted between 2010 and 2016 of adult patients who were treated at our academically affiliated hospitals. Patients included in the review had negative penicillin allergy testing and were treated with 2 or more courses of intravenous penicillins. Charts were evaluated to identify any adverse drug reactions. RESULTS: Thirty-two patients met our inclusion criteria. The index penicillin-associated reactions ranged from rash to hypotension and were, for the most part, remote as 75% had reported reactions more than 10 years previously. More than 50% of patients received 3 or more courses of intravenous penicillins. The most frequently repeated intravenous penicillin overall was piperacillin/tazobactam. Thirty-two patients received a total of 111 courses of intravenous penicillins and none developed an immediate hypersensitivity reaction. CONCLUSIONS: In patients who report penicillin allergy and have negative penicillin allergy testing, repeated administration of intravenous penicillin antibiotics appears to be safe. Larger prospective studies should be performed to confirm these observations.

Consumption of sport-related dietary supplements among NCAA Division 1 female student athletes.

OBJECTIVES: To determine factors that influence sport-related dietary supplement consumption among NCAA Division 1 female student athletes and to estimate the plausibility of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) for predicting the use of sport-related dietary supplements among NCAA Division 1 female student athletes. METHOD: Self-report data were collected by questionnaire from 207 NCAA Division 1 female student athletes. Parameter estimates of 3 TPB-based models were calculated using Mplus software. RESULTS: The TPB-based models explained 64-66% and 18% of variance in behavioral intention and behavior, respectively, with subjective norm being the strongest predictor of dietary supplement consumption intention. CONCLUSIONS: Results support plausibility for the TPB to predict sport-related dietary supplement consumption among NCAA Division 1 female student athletes.

Constrictive pericarditis presenting as a calcified anterior cardiac mass.

Constrictive pericarditis is an infrequent disorder. We report the case of a 52-year-old man with constrictive pericarditis with an uncommon anterior associated pericardial mass. Upon diagnosis of constrictive pericarditis, the patient underwent pericardectomy and resection of the mass. He is well 6 months postoperatively, with complete resolution of his heart failure symptoms.