Interventions to support medical trainee well-being after patient death: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Medical trainees are at the forefront of end-of-life care provision in the hospital setting but often feel unprepared to manage the complex emotions after patient death. OBJECTIVES: To systematically identify and synthesize the published literature on interventions to support medical trainees dealing with patient death. METHODS: Searches were conducted in MEDLINE, Scopus, Embase, Psych Info, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CINAHL, and ERIC from inception to June 30, 2023. English language peer-reviewed publications of interventions to support medical students and residents/fellows dealing with patient death. Studies of practicing clinicians and nonphysician healthcare trainees were excluded. Two reviewers independently determined study eligibility. Discrepancies were resolved through consensus and a third reviewer served as a tiebreaker if needed. RESULTS: Of the 9107 articles retrieved, 973 underwent full-text review, and 50 studies met inclusion criteria. Most interventions targeted residents (n = 32; 64%) and were conducted in North America (n = 45, 90%). Types of interventions included preventive measures involving educational lectures and workshops (n = 19; 38%), clinical placements (n = 10; 20%), and postventions (n = 16; 32%), including debriefing and memorial services. Several interventions incorporated the arts (n = 5; 10%), including movies, drama, and artwork, and most incorporated reflective narratives (n = 16; 32%). Most interventions were limited in frequency and duration. CONCLUSIONS: This review identified several interventions to support trainees through the experience of patient death but also highlighted areas for improvement. Strengthening support for medical trainees will foster emotionally resilient physicians who are better equipped to deliver high-quality, empathetic care to dying patients and their families.

Diagnostic accuracy of prehospital lung ultrasound for acute decompensated heart failure: A systematic review and Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Lung ultrasound (LUS) reduces time to diagnosis and treatment of acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) in emergency department (ED) patients with undifferentiated dyspnea. We conducted a systematic review to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and clinical impact of LUS for ADHF in the prehospital setting. METHODS: We performed a keyword search of multiple databases from inception through June 1, 2023. Included studies were those enrolling prehospital patients with undifferentiated dyspnea or suspected ADHF, and specifically diagnostic studies comparing prehospital LUS to a gold standard and intervention studies with a non-US comparator group. Title and abstract screening, full text review, risk of bias (ROB) assessments, and data extraction were performed by multiple authors. and adjudicated. The primary outcome was pooled sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic likelihood ratios (LR) for prehospital LUS. A test-treatment threshold of 0.7 was applied based on prior ADHF literature in the ED. Intervention outcomes included mortality, mechanical ventilation, and time to HF specific treatment. RESULTS: Eight diagnostic studies (n = 691) and two intervention studies (n = 70) met inclusion criteria. No diagnostic studies were low-ROB. Both intervention studies were critical-ROB, and not pooled. Pooled sensitivity and specificity of prehospital LUS for ADHF were 86.7% (95%CI:70.8%-94.6%) and 87.5% (78.2%-93.2%), respectively, with similar performance by physician vs. paramedic LUS and number of lung zones evaluated. Pooled LR+ and LR- were 7.27 (95% CI: 3.69-13.10) and 0.17 (95% CI: 0.06-0.34), respectively. Area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.922. At the observed 42.4% ADHF prevalence (pre-test probability), positive pre-hospital LUS exceeded the 70% threshold to initiate treatment (post-test probability 84%, 80-88%). CONCLUSIONS: LUS had similar diagnostic test characteristics for ADHF diagnosis in the prehospital setting as in the ED. A positive prehospital LUS may be sufficient to initiate early ADHF treatment based on published test-treatment thresholds. More studies are needed to determine the clinical impact of prehospital LUS.

Parental Experiences of Genetic Testing.

Genetic testing is increasingly used in clinical practice in the neonatal period, including in NICUs. This testing may have psychological consequences for parents. To best support families, neonatal clinicians should be aware of the various ways in which parents view and respond to genetic testing. In this review, we summarize research on the parental experience of having a newborn infant undergo genetic testing.

Traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer's Disease biomarkers: A systematic review of findings from amyloid and tau positron emission tomography (PET).

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been discussed as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD) due to its association with dementia risk and earlier cognitive symptom onset. However, the mechanisms behind this relationship are unclear. Some studies have suggested TBI may increase pathological protein deposition in an AD-like pattern; others have failed to find such associations. This review covers literature that uses positron emission tomography (PET) of amyloid-ß and/or tau to examine subjects with history of TBI who are at risk for AD due to advanced age. A comprehensive literature search was conducted on January 9, 2023, and 24 resulting citations met inclusion criteria. Common methodological concerns included small samples, limited clinical detail about subjects' TBI, recall bias due to reliance on self-reported TBI, and an inability to establish causation. For both amyloid and tau, results were widespread but inconsistent. The regions which showed the most compelling evidence for increased amyloid deposition were the cingulate gyrus, cuneus/precuneus, and parietal lobe. Evidence for increased tau was strongest in the medial temporal lobe, entorhinal cortex, precuneus, and frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes. However, conflicting findings across most regions of interest in both amyloid- and tau-PET studies indicate the critical need for future work in expanded samples and with greater clinical detail to offer a clearer picture of the relationship between TBI and protein deposition in older subjects at risk for AD.

Interventions to support medical trainee well-being when dealing with patient death: a scoping review protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Existing literature demonstrates that medical students and residents experience complex emotions and substantial grief after patient deaths. Over time, this can lead to burnout and depression and adversely impact patient care. In response, medical schools and training programmes worldwide have developed and implemented interventions to help medical trainees to better cope with patient deaths. This manuscript provides a scoping review protocol that aims to systematically identify and document the published research reporting on the implementation or delivery of interventions to support medical students and residents/fellows in dealing with patient death. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A scoping review will be conducted following the Arksey-O'Malley five-stage scoping review method and the Scoping Review Methods Manual by the Joanna Briggs Institute. English language interventional studies published through 21 February 2023, will be identified in the following databases: MEDLINE, Scopus, Embase, Psych Info, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CINAHL and ERIC. Two reviewers will screen titles and abstracts and then independently screen full-text articles for inclusion. Two reviewers will assess the methodological quality of included studies using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument. After extraction, data will be narratively synthesised. Experts in the field will be consulted to ensure the feasibility and relevance of the findings. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval is not required as all data will be collected from published literature. The study will be disseminated through publication in peer-reviewed journals and presentation at local and international conferences.