Prostate cancer and podcasts: an analysis and assessment of the quality of information about prostate cancer available on podcasts.

Podcasts represent a new source of information for patients and families dealing with prostate cancer, but no studies have been conducted evaluating the quality of information in them. Evaluating for: (1) quality based on the validated DISCERN criteria, (2) understandability and actionability based on the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT), (3) misinformation, and (4) commercial bias, we concluded that podcasts are currently not good sources of information for lay health consumers.

Assessment of Stress Urinary Incontinence-Related Podcasts on Stitcher.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the quality, understandability, actionability, accuracy and commercial bias of podcasts regarding stress urinary incontinence (SUI). METHODS: The first 100 Stitcher podcasts from the search, "Stress urinary incontinence" were evaluated using the validated DISCERN criteria, PEMAT tool, and a Misinformation Likert Scale. The accuracy of information was assessed by comparison to the American Urological Association (AUA) SUI Guidelines. RESULTS: Common publisher types included health/wellness channels (66%). Low-moderate quality, poor understandability and misinformation was seen in 67% (DISCERN ≤3), 69% (PEMAT understandability ≤75%) and 17% of podcasts, respectively. Treatments discussed included pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) (89%) and surgery (47%). Health and wellness channels had the most evidence of commercial bias (44%). Podcasts that discussed surgery more often emphasized shared decision-making (DISCERN15). CONCLUSION: SUI-related podcasts on Stitcher are mostly published by health/wellness channels and skewed toward discussing PFMT. Podcasts are often low-moderate quality, poorly understandable and often have commercial bias.

An Assessment of Residency Wellness Programming in Urology Training Programs.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence and characteristics of wellness programming provided in urology residency programs (URPs). METHODS: Websites for all 145 ACGME-accredited URPs in the United States were assessed for mention of "wellness" or "well-being." Program directors and/or coordinators for each URP were e-mailed asking about the presence of formal wellness programming, informal wellness activities, and wellness programming offered by the institution or graduate medical education. A description of what wellness programming was offered was also requested. RESULTS: Assessment of program websites found that 29 programs (20%) mentioned "wellness" or "well-being." Representatives from 58 URPs (40%) responded to the survey, with 38 programs (65.5%) indicating formal wellness programming and 54 programs (93.1%) indicating informal wellness programming. Compilation of data from e-mail responses and information from program websites revealed that 112 URPs (77.2%) offer residents wellness resources from the institution or graduate medical education, 58 (40%) provide wellness events for residents, and 29 (20%) provide wellness lectures to residents. Other metrics noted included presence of wellness committees, scheduled check-ins from program directors/faculty, and conferences for open resident discussion of issues. CONCLUSIONS: Given that wellness programming is a requirement for ACGME, it is unsurprising that most programs have institutional wellness programming available. Wellness programing from individual URPs appears limited, showing that there is significant room for improvement.

Debunking Four Common Gender Equity Myths.

To improve the quality of urologic care delivered to our patients, it is imperative to address and reduce existing gender disparities. This begins by debunking myths that perpetuate these disparities and working together to create meaningful systemic change, including how we hire, retain, promote, and support women.

Financial Burden of Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections in Women: A Time-driven Activity-based Cost Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To utilize Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing to quantify costs of managing recurrent urinary tract infections (RUTI) in women. METHODS: RUTI was defined as ≥2 UTIs in 6 months or ≥3 UTIs in 12 months. A care-delivery value chain outlined RUTI management (visits, urine studies, and imaging) for acute UTI followed by a form of long-term prevention. Prevention strategies included conservative therapy (Cranberry tablets, d-mannose, or lactobacillus); Estrogen therapy if postmenopausal; Antibiotic use (self-start, postcoital, or continuous regimens); or intravenous antibiotics in case of drug-resistance or intolerance. Costs of each resource were largely obtained from the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, GoodRx and local pharmacy pricing, and institutional expenses. The capacity cost rate was defined as cost of resources per minute of care. Individual costs were summed to estimate overall expense of initial RUTI workup and annual cost for each long-term prevention strategy. RESULTS: Cost of acute RUTI workup ranged from $390 to $730. Acute antibiotics cost ranged from $10 for oral trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole to $3970 for intravenous Ertapenem. Annually, mean cost of conservative therapy ranged from $50 for d-mannose to $1290 for vaginal estradiol ring, and antibiotic use for self-start $40, postcoital $60, and continuous $190. Capacity cost rate ranged from $0.003/min for urine culture to $80/min for estrogen ring. CONCLUSION: Using Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing, costs of RUTI management were efficiently determined. This offers new perspectives for patient counseling and long-term decision making.