Admissions for antibiotic-resistant infections in cancer patients during first year of cancer diagnosis: a cross-sectional study.

In this study, linked Western Australian health data were used to determine presence of an antibiotic-resistant infection (ABRI) for all people diagnosed with a primary invasive cancer in 2009. Of 10 858 cancer cases, 154 (1.42%) had an ABRI. Patients with an ABRI were older (71.5 vs 66 years), and more had died in the year following diagnosis (37.7 vs 20.2%, P < 0.001). The ABRI cohort had a higher proportion of colorectal, genitourinary and haematological cancers (19.5 vs 11.9%; 14.3 vs 9.7% and 16.9 vs 5.8%, respectively). Hospital admissions with an ABRI were longer (22.3 vs 2.9 days, P < 0.001) and had a higher proportion of unplanned admissions (60.3 vs 15.2%), admissions through emergency department (36.8 vs 8.3%) and intensive care admissions (14.9 vs 1.7%, P < 0.001). Patients with solid tumours who developed an ABRI were more likely to have received chemotherapy (35.9 vs 27.8%, P = 0.04). In haematological cancer patients, a greater proportion of the admissions with an ABRI occurred after radiation therapy or chemotherapy (P = 0.01 and P = 0.005, respectively). This study is the first to report population-level data on ABRI in cancer patients. Patients with an ABRI had more hospital admissions and poorer outcomes.

Cancer health professionals need funding, time, research knowledge and skills to be involved in health services research.

Inadequate knowledge about research processes within cancer health services has the potential to limit the development of evidence-based care. A survey was emailed to 201 health professionals working in cancer services in a major city to identify perceived levels of research knowledge and barriers to conducting research. Eighty-five people (42%) responded. Barriers to conducting research included time-constraints (84%), workload (72%), limited research funding (74%) and limited knowledge (34%). Gaps in research knowledge included performing quantitative analyses (79%), gaining funds (71%), using qualitative and quantitative research methods (62 and 67%) and formulating a research proposal (54%). More nurses reported having gaps in research knowledge than other professions. Two thirds (66%) of participants reported an interest in further education. There is a need for research training for practising health professionals and a focus on research as the basis for providing evidence-based care in undergraduate courses. Research, translation of research into practice and evidence-based care need to be incorporated into health professional roles throughout their careers.

Including questionnaires with the invitation package appeared to increase the response fraction among women.

OBJECTIVE: The Breast Cancer Environment and Employment Study (BCEES) is a case--control study that began in 2009. The study experienced a lower than expected response fraction, a trend that appears to be occurring internationally. A 32-page questionnaire was included in the initial invitation to participate, and previous research suggests that long questionnaires decrease response fractions. The aim of this study was to test whether removal of the questionnaire from the invitation package increased participation. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: A randomized controlled trial was undertaken among the BCEES controls from June to August 2010. One group of 250 received the questionnaire in the initial invitation package, and the other group of 250 received only the invitation package and was sent the questionnaire after their consent was received. The proportion of responses for the two groups was compared using contingency tables and chi-square statistics. RESULTS: Those who received the questionnaire with the invitation package were more likely to consent to participate than those who did not (40.8% and 33.2%, respectively). However, this difference was not statistically significant (P=0.078). CONCLUSION: To improve response fractions and reduce time in following up nonresponses, questionnaires should be included in the invitation package.