Implementation of Health-Related Social Needs Screening at Michigan Health Centers: A Qualitative Study.

PURPOSE: Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) are leaders in screening for and addressing patient's health-related social needs but variation exists in screening practices. This variation is relatively unexplored, particularly the influences of organizational and state policies. We employed a qualitative descriptive approach to study social needs screening practices at Michigan FQHCs to characterize screening processes and identify drivers of variation in screening implementation. METHODS: Site visits and semistructured interviews were conducted from October 2016 through March 2017, to explore implementation of social needs screening in clinical practice. Five FQHCs were selected through maximum variation sampling. Within each site, snowball sampling identified care team members highly knowledgeable about social needs screening. We conducted 4 to 5 interviews per site. Transcripts were analyzed using a thematic approach. RESULTS: We interviewed 23 participants from 5 sites; these sites varied by geography, age distribution, and race/ethnicity. We identified 4 themes: (1) statewide initiatives and local leadership drove variation in screening practices; (2) as community health workers (CHWs) played an integral role in identifying patients' needs, their roles often shifted from that of screener to implementer; (3) social needs screening data was variably integrated into electronic health records and infrequently used for population health management; and (4) sites experienced barriers to social needs screening that limited the perceived impact and sustainability. CONCLUSIONS: FQHCs placed value on the role of CHWs, on sustainable initiatives, and on funding to support continued social needs screening in primary care settings.

COVID-19 Myth Busters: Comparing knowledge and perceptions amongst the dental workforce at an institution in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Currently, world is suffering from a respiratory disease names as COVID-19. This is a novel coronavirus (n-CoV), a new strain which has not been previously identified in humans and it has spread in more than 100 locations internationally due to which it is termed as "public health emergency of international concern" (PHEIC) by the World Health Organization So far, no study done as yet to assess whether the dental workforce is aware about the facts and myths related to Covid-19 awareness. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to analyze and compare the level of awareness about the facts and myths related to COVID-19 amongst faculty, dental students and prep year students of the College of Dentistry (COD) as part of an awareness campaign. METHODS: An awareness test about COVID-19 was designed using information from the World Health Organization's (WHO) Myth Busters Awareness webpage. The questionnaire was administrated online to faculty and students, of the College of Dentistry and preparatory year students who had applied for the admission to the dental college using a secure enterprise online assessment platform (Blackboard). The tests were administered over a period of three months from March to June 2020. A written informed consent was obtained. RESULTS: The online COVID-19 awareness test was administered to 810 participants, out of which 325 (40%) were prep year students, 429(53%%) were dental students, and 56 (7%) were faculty members. Analysis of the results showed that 86% of the Faculty were able to correctly identify the facts and the myths related to COVID-19 followed by 81% of the prep year students and 74% of the dental students. Preparatory year student's knowledge related to COVID-19 was found to be high when compared to dental students (26.47±4.27, 23.67±6.2). Student to faculty knowledge score did not differ significantly (p = 0.808). CONCLUSION: This study reports about a successful pilot test conducted to assess the perceived knowledge about facts and myths related to corona virus amongst the dental workforce.

Incidental Diagnosis on Orthopantomography of Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis with Multifocal Jaw Involvement: A Case Report of Single-System Disease.

BACKGROUND Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a relatively rare neoplasm with a strong inflammatory component. It has diverse clinical manifestations, which range from a single lesion or multiple bony lesions to severe multisystem involvement. Approximately 10% to 20% of cases of LCH occur in the jaw, with the posterior mandible being the site most frequently involved. CASE REPORT We report on the case of a 42-year-old man who presented with bilateral osteolytic lesions in the posterior mandible that were incidentally discovered during routine radiographic screening. Histological examination of the specimen confirmed the diagnosis of LCH. CONCLUSIONS This case illustrates the importance of orthopantomography (OPG) as a screening tool in new patients to perform an overall evaluation of the teeth and surrounding structures, such as the bone, temporomandibular joint, and sinuses. Moreover, OPG can be used to screen for the presence of asymptomatic lesions that are often diagnosed incidentally on radiographs.

Pharyngeal pack placement in minor oral surgery: A prospective, randomized, controlled study.

We conducted a prospective, randomized, controlled study to investigate the influence of pharyngeal pack placement on postoperative nausea, vomiting, and throat pain after minor oral surgery. Our study group was made up of 80 patients-45 men and 35 women, aged 19 to 52 years (mean: 27.3)-who underwent a minor oral surgical procedure under general anesthesia. Patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups: 20 patients who received a pharyngeal pack under videolaryngoscopic guidance (video guidance group), 20 who had a pack placed blindly (blind insertion group), and 40 patients who received no pack at all (control group). Postoperative nausea occurred in only 4 patients (20%) in the blind insertion group (p < 0.007). No patient experienced postoperative vomiting. Postoperative throat pain occurred in all 20 video guidance patients (100%), in 17 of the blind insertion patients (85%), and in 20 of the controls (50%). The difference between the controls and each of the two pack groups was statistically significant (p < 0.006); the difference between the two pack groups was not significant.